“How long shall they kill our prophets…?” as Bob Marley said, “… while we stand aside and look?”Sir Bob Marley said it all: How long shall we let these conquerors beat us down? bombard us? kill our prophets? What were Lumumba, Sankara, Cabral, Um Nyobé, Ouandié, Khadafi, Ben Barka, or Gbagbo’s sins? To love their country: to want to save their countries from western greed. What were we doing when they were all killed? Why on earth are we, Africans, just looking (and sometimes applauding) while some countries, Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, and now Mali are being bombed? Why and how long are we going to look while our prophets are being killed?

I just heard of Charles Blé Goudé being arrested. My heart is broken as I hear some Africans applaud… yes my heart is shattered when I hear people say “oh he deserved it.” Deserved what? Deserve being beaten to death because he stood up for his country while external forces were invading it? Deserve being humiliated because he dared walk out in the streets of Abidjan bare-handed to fight external forces, because he brought the youth together, because he woke Ivorians and Africans to their rights to respect, independence, and fairness? Yes… as Sir Marley said: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery [slavery of the mind; slavery mentality: ignorant mentality]”… “Have no fear for atomic energy.” Some African head of states said when Côte d’Ivoire and Libya were being bombed ” It is better not to say anything; we will just agree with these westerners otherwise they will bomb us too!” now peaceful Mali is under attack; peaceful and desertic Mali is being bombed. Which other peaceful African country will be next? It is better to rise, save our prophets, and talk… than to drink the milk of cowardice, fear, treachery, and ignorance. Have no fear for atomic energy, just stand against injustice… that is way better than treachery or the cancer of betrayal as Amilcar Cabral called it.  Enjoy Sir Marley, and remember that the milk of cowardice never saved our ancestors, and will never save us; our ancestors thought that they were sparing themselves from harm, but 50, 100, 500 years later their children are still fighting the battles they should have fought in the first place.  History repeats itself… are we still going to stand aside while our prophets are being killed? are we going to fear atomic energy, and run as cowards? No matter how far we run, or how much we hide, they are coming for us… we might have seeming peace for 20 years, but our children will still have to fight our battles!