Crocodile and Dog are good friends. They meet and help each other. On a party day, Dog invites Crocodile to share a good meal of beans.
Beans! I will gladly accept to share them with you, says the crocodile.
The female Dog, the spouse of Dog, presents the host with a good plate well garnished. But before eating the dog says:
It is a custom where I come from: to eat, the guest must sit down.
But Crocodile cannot sit down. He tries, but unfortunately, tired, and humiliated, he goes home to his place, leaving Dog and his wife, very happy, eating the beans without him.
Dog
Crocodile, then, prepares a good couscous for his birthday and invites his friend Dog. Dog arrives early with his wife. The smell of the sauce fills the entire household.
It smells good, says the dog.
Yes, very soon we will sit down, but start by drying your noses, because to eat this birthday meal, you must be clean!
Unfortunately, Dog always has a wet nose. Dog and female Dog go outside to dry their noses under the sun. But nothing changes. In the evening, they still have a wet nose. Then Crocodile enjoys his delicious meal alone.
Angry, Dog leaves his friend swearing: « Beware if I ever find you outside the water! »
Crocodile answers Dog: « Beware if I ever meet you near my waters! »
« Are we friends, or are we enemies? »
The French original can be found onOuologuem Blog. Translated to English by Dr. Y., Afrolegends.com
Imagine stumbling across your history, and learning that you are the descendant of a very powerful king? Imagine that all your life, you have lived a tough life, unconscious of your heritage, doing things, and just knowing that somehow, somewhere things should be different? Well, in 2013, during a trip to Ghana, Promise Adamah who has lived in England for over 50 years, found out that her grandfather was a very prominent Ewe King in Ghana, King Togbui Adamah II. She was handed a lot of papers in plastic bag by her aunt, and when she got home, opened it, and found out the truth about herself, and her family. Her family then decided to donate over 100 old letters and papers, official and personal documents, dating as far back as the 1880s to the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) in Brixton, London. These give a snapshot into the life for an Ewe Fia (king). Togbui Adamah II was a paramount Ewe Fia of Some in south eastern Ghana. The findings are believed to be the first of its kind to be found in such quantity and entirety in the Ewe community. Promise Adamah’s rich family history is now exposed at the Black Cultural Archives of London, it is Family Ties – The Adamah Papers exhibition. Enjoy the video below from the BBC.
For this year’s Mother’s Day celebration, I introduce you to another African classic: Elvis Kemayo – Mama. Elvis Kemayo hails from Cameroon, and is particularly well-known for this song, and ‘Cameroun, berceau de mon enfance (Cameroon, craddle of my childhood)’ Enjoy ‘MAMA’, and do remember to cherish your mother!
Prince Alemayehu, son of Emperor Tewodros II, as photographed in 1868 by Julia Cameron
Here is another outrageous article about British looting in Africa, and particularly in Ethiopia. The remains of Prince Alemayehu, son of the Emperor Tewodros II are still in Great Britain 150 years after his death. How preposterous is this! When the Ethiopian government asks, the British say that they cannot identify his bones, when in this day and age the remains of King Richard III of England have been identified 500 years after his death (Body found under parking lot is King Richard III, scientists prove). This makes you wonder: After King Mkwawa, and Prince Alemayehu, how many African kings, princes, and queens’ remains are still stuck in Europe?
Below are snippets of the article; for the full version, go to: The Guardian.
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For150 years, Ethiopians have been asking when Prince Alemayehuwill come home. The orphan prince, a descendant of Solomon, was taken to England – some say “stolen” – after British soldiers looted his father’s imperial citadel following the Battle of Magdala in1868. The fortress was looted and razed to the ground. It is said to have taken 15elephants and 200 mules to remove the loot.
Emperor Tewodros II
He died at the age of18, after an unhappy childhood, and was buried at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle at the request of Queen Victoria. Now, as discussions take place with the Victoria & Albert Museum about the return of royal treasures taken by British forces during the battle, the Ethiopian government told the Observer it is “redoubling” its efforts to finally bring back the prince’s remains. Last week there were celebrations in Addis Ababato commemorate the life of the prince’s father, Tewodros II, on the 150th anniversary of his death in the battle. A selection of the objects in the V&A’s possessionwent on display last week.
[The poet Lemn Sissay said:] “The first corrupt theft of an Ethiopian child was this one in 1868,” Sissay said. “He was taken from his family. He deserves, too, for his remains to go back to Ethiopia, back to where he was stolen from.”
In the aftermath, as the British forces carried off crowns, scrolls and fine clothing, a war artist cut a lock of Tewodros’ hair. The lock of hairis now at the National Army Museum in London. Sissay and others believe that a DNA test could establish whether any of the remains in the grave match it. …
After the sacking of Maqdala, a British officer named Tristram Speedy took the prince and his mother, the Empress Tiruwork Wube, to Britain. The empress died on the way and before the party was due to embark on a ship from Alexandria in Egypt, the officer ordered all the other Ethiopians to return. …
The intensity of feeling among Ethiopians is growing, according to the Ethiopian embassy. “Ethiopians revere Prince Alemayehu as a young prisoner of war – he was only seven years old when taken hostage,” it said in a statement. “Prince Alemayehu remains the son of a hero, who chose to end his own life, rather than surrender to foreign soldiers. Ethiopians view the Prince with the same level of affection and respect.”
As you travel around Africa, have you ever wondered about the name of the second largest city of Angola, Huambo ?
Previously called Nova Lisboa (New Lisbon) after the capital of Portugal, Huambogot its name from Wambu, one of the 14 old Ovimbundu kingdoms of the central Angolan plateau. The Ovimbundu, an old tribe of Angola, which originally arrived from Eastern Africa, had founded their central kingdom of Bailundu as early as the 15th century. Wambuwas one of the smaller kingdoms and was hierarchically under the King of Bailundu, though it enjoyed, as the other kingdoms, a considerable degree of independence.
The House of the Governor in Huambo (Source: Wikipedia)
Situated in the Angolan central highlands, Huambois located near the headwaters of the Kunene River. It was founded in 1912 by Portuguese colons and was called Nova Lisboa until 1975, when it resumed its name of Huambo. It is located 600 km southeast of the capital Luanda, and 220 km east of Benguela; it is at high altitude, on a plateau 1800 m above sea level. Huambo is a main hub on the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela (CFB) (the Benguela Railway), which runs from the port of Lobito in Angola, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo‘s southernmost province, Katanga. It is the second industrial city of the country, and a big agricultural center.
If you ever visit Huambo, as you tour its neighborhoods, and get on the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela, remember that it was once an old Ovimbundu kingdom, Wambu, and reconnect with the feel of this ancient kingdom!
Crocodile and Dog are good friends. They meet and help each other. On a party day, Dog invites Crocodile to share a good meal of beans.
Il faut souffrir pour être belle
African Heritage 