Afro Culture: Perception And Identity.

If you haven't lived in or travelled to any given society, you remain at the mercy of the present day media and source literature to educate you on the lifestyle and culture of the people. For African culture in particular, a lack of literature written for Africans by Africans on pre-colonial Africa has already imposed a gap of the world knowledge on African culture. And then you have the modern day media that will have you believe the continent is a den of sick children and starvation.

For the longest time, achievements of Africans in the humanities have gone either unnoticed, or out rightly stolen. The Maasai tribe people among many unconventional approaches towards life have a most interesting treatment for lawbreakers. In place of punishment they bring the perpetrator to the middle or a circle where other tribesmen jump around them and remind them of all the good deeds they had done in the past. The philosophy behind this completely goes against the idea that innately humans are savages and are made moral by society and civilization. The Maasai people on the other hand believe innately we are already good, so when someone errs from the path of goodness, instead of getting punished which validates that they are bad, the person must be reminded of who he or she is, which is a good person.

It is no secret that people are more likely to go into prison again after their first visit. That is because the ex-convict tag already condemns them to a sector of society where making an honest living is hard. Who wants to hire someone that has been tagged a criminal.

The stigma sticks with the person everyday which serves as a reminder that they a criminal and soon they internalize this and become what the world says they are. This can also be seen in schools where classes are reserved for 'dull' kids to reinforce the idea that they aren't smart. Malcom Gladwell pointed out in his book Outliers how lots of professional athletes get picked from trials at school level and from then they are told that they have talent and go on to work even harder because they get better training and internalize the idea.

The effect of social and personal reinforced idetity cannot be understated. We cannot continue perciving ourselves as inferior, this is idea is quick to propagate itself into statements like 'the African/Nigerian factor' and it is dangerously limiting to our progress.

For the longest time, the identity of Africans has be depicted to be singularly backwards and our culture and worldviews retrogressive. Without the understanding that pre-colonial African worldviews did not consist of rampant savagery and existed in certain aspects even more civil than Western society, it is impossible to resolve an inferiority complex that burdens lots of Africans. I think it is about time the cultural legacy of Africans gets a second look for improved perspective.

With the underlying assumption that West is always best, the African constantly finds himself trying to copy without even understanding. If not for our own sakes, for the unborn children of this continent, we must work towards developing a sense of identity that lets them know that their dreams and ideas are just as valid as any other child around the globe. For far too long we have lived in the shadows of our colonial masters afraid of becoming self-aware enough to chart our own destiny.

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