This February, the nation unites to celebrate the bicentennial of the end of the African slave trade. Black History Month is a time to honour and acknowledge contributions made by members of the black community who were never properly awarded for their heroism. Iconic African Americans such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and W.E.B. Du Bois devoted their lives to blurring the colour line.
Musicians like Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Bob Marley and James Brown sang a similar tune, re-educating the world through song. Their music spoke on behalf of a silenced community, helping to create a world where, as Michael Jackson sang, “it don’t matter if you’re black or white.”
Looking back at a time when slaves occupied the economic market like laptop computers do now-as commodities-we feel disgust and utter embarrassment for the actions of our ancestors. These thoughts take us on the worst trip one can experience-a guilt trip. Such horrible treatment of our fellow human beings now seems unimaginable.
But does it really, or have we simply returned from the guilt trip with no desire to go back?
It’s great that we dedicate a month in remembrance and recognition of African American martyrs who died trying to make the world a better place. But what about those who die every day from hunger and disease, unrecognized? Another speech celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. won’t repay the sweat and blood spilled on plantation fields long ago, and if we don’t start acknowledging those in need in the present day, they won’t be among us much longer either.
Beyonce can survive without another Grammy for her empowering songs. But African families starving to death and children living a life of illness only to die in their preteens can’t survive without our aid.
If you want to feel better about yourself, stop putting up posters of Bob Marley in your room to feel like you’re making a difference. Get up and stand up for the rights of the poor, because they can’t.
How come only huge pandemics like AIDS get media coverage when most of the African continent remains enslaved by poverty? A lack of education, food, water, and medicine has chained Africa’s population back into slavery.
Poverty is not racist. It doesn’t pick its victims based on skin colour. Hunger and disease are experienced by every ethnic group, and therefore all races should join in the effort to eradicate the circumstances that cause these hardships.
A friend’s trip to Ghana served as a rude awakening and a window on the sheltered world we live in. There a community of 4,000 people in a town called Larabanga live in dreadful conditions and lack the staples of life: water, education, and healthcare. The community’s water supply is a local dam two kilometers away, so the people of Larabanga are forced to carry heavy containers of polluted water on their heads under the sweltering sun in order to stay hydrated.
As for education, there is one elementary school (serving grades one through six) with six rooms and an approximate daily attendance of 600 students. You do the math. The nearest medical centre is about 30 kilometres away, and staff there has no access to a car in case of emergencies.
In light of stories like these, it’s worth asking who was really set free those 200 years ago. People are still enslaved by poor circumstances. The town of Larabanga is unfortunately not even close to representing the extent of poverty present across much of the African continent.
This February, before we get too sentimental about black people being able to sit at the front of a bus and hold hands with white people, let’s think about those communities where there are no buses to sit on and no white people to hold hands with. Families have no food, no water, no medical care, and no education. Let’s think about them before giving ourselves a pat on the back for finally treating black people like human beings.
