In 1954, Agostinho Neto, Angola’s first president (before he became president) wrote a chez d’oeuvre titled Bamako, after the capital of the country of Mali. The poem appeared in his collection Sagrada Esperança (Sacred Hope), in 1974. The poem is an ode to African unity, resilience, and rebirth, all based on the rich history of the great Empire of Mali, and the continent as a whole. Neto refers to Africa’s tallest mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro. In his poem, he weaves in the great rivers of the continent, Niger and Congo, particularly focusing on the soil’s fertility from the abundant flow of the river Niger, and the tantalizing immensity of the river Congo. Above all, he highlights the warmth of its people, their friendship, their resilience (‘strong roots’), and their kindness. He builds on the pain of slavery and centuries of hurt to offer hope, the living fruit of Africa’s future; in Bamako, he says, we will conquer death! Why Bamako, one may ask? Bamako is special as it was part of the great Empire of Mali, where the oldest constitution in the world saw the light (Kouroukan Fouga, la Constitution de l’Empire du Mali – la plus vieille constitution republicaine au monde?), and is also known as the crossroad of West Africa, where germinated centuries’ old history of great West African kingdoms in Mali, and its rich traditions.
Below is Bamako! by Agostinho Neto, published in Sagrada Esperança, in 1974. You can find it on AgostinhoNeto.org
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Bamako by Agostinho Neto
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Bamako! ali onde a verdade gotejante sobre o brilho da folha se une à frescura dos homens como as raízes fortes sob a tépida superfície do solo e onde crescem amor e futuro fertilizados na generosidade do Níger sombreados na imensidão do Congo ao sabor da aragem africana dos corações
Bamako! ali nasce a vida e cresce e desenvolve em nós fogueiras impacientes de bondade
Bamako! ali estão os nossos braços ali soam as nossas vozes ali o brilho esperança dos nossos olhos se transforma imenso numa força irrepreensível da amizade
secas as lágrimas choradas nos séculos na África escrava de outros dias vivificado o sumo nutritivo do fruto o aroma da terra em que o sol desencanta kilimanjaros gigantes sob o céu azul da paz.
Bamako! fruto vivo da África de futuro germinado nas artérias vivas de África
Ali a esperança se tornou árvore e rio e fera e terra
ali a esperança se vitoria amizade na elegância da palmeira e na pele negra dos homens
Bamako! ali vencemos a morte e o fruto cresce – cresce em nós na força irresistível do natural e da vida connosco viva em Bamako.
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Bamako! There, where the dripping truth on the leaf’s shine unites with the freshness of men like strong roots beneath the warm surface of the soil and where love and future grow fertilized in the generosity of the Niger shaded in the immensity of the Congo to the taste of the African breeze of hearts
Bamako! there life is born and grows and develops within us impatient fires of kindness
Bamako! There are our arms There our voices sound There the hopeful glow of our eyes Immensely transforms into an irrepressible force of friendship
dry the tears cried for centuries in the enslaved Africa of other days vivified the nutritious juice of the fruit the aroma of the earth where the sun disenchants giant Kilimanjaros under the blue sky of peace.
Bamako! living fruit of Africa’s future germinated in the living arteries of Africa
There hope became tree and river and beast and earth
There hope triumphs over friendship in the elegance of the palm tree and in the black skin of men
Bamako! There we conquer death and the fruit grows – it grows within us in the irresistible force of nature and life living with us in Bamako.
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