Nigger, Native, Negro???

I simply refuse to be a part of these failed and failing African intellectualisation attempts. To date we have learnt little to nothing, still using derogatory prose’s to acclaim our Africanness, have we no pride or inimitability to define our selves than to use disparaging terms liked Negro, Navite, Nigger to name the few ineffectual words used synonymously with black? I fail to believe that we can decry ourselves, our culture, our language, heritage and pride by acclaiming it to be backward and primitive. We may as well call ourselves primate.

After many years of fighting colonialism and its entrenched ills, we cling on to it with all we have. When will Africans learn that they are the uncontested masters of their intellect, not succumbant to any conformist glare? The issue at hand is the cloning of intellectualism as a reaction to certain concerns, which offers immediate solutions, which see no fruitation, no tomorrow and no sagacity.

In the late nineteenth century we saw the augmentation of Negritude, a term to be notorious as a movement formed in the 1930’s. Initially set to be: a consciousness of and pride in the cultural and physical aspects of the African heritage and the state or condition of being black.

Negritude was originally a literary and ideological movement of French-speaking black intellectuals, reflects an important and comprehensive reaction to the colonial situation. This movement, which influenced Africans as well as Blacks around the world, specifically rejects the political, social and moral domination of the West. The term, which has been used in a general sense to describe the black world in opposition to the West, assumes the total consciousness of belonging to the black race.

In contrast to this broad definition, a narrower one pertains to artistic expression. The literature of Negritude includes the writings of black intellectuals who affirm black personality and redefine the collective experience of blacks. A preoccupation with the black experience and a passionate praise of the black race provides a common base for the imaginative expression in association with romantic myth of Africa.

The external factor defining the black man in modern society is colonialism and the domination by the white man, with all the moral and psychological implications. Negritude rehabilites Africa and all blacks from European ideology that holds the black inherently inferior to the white -- the rationale for Western imperialism.
Etymology: the word Négritude was coined by Aimé Césaire, from the French word nègre, which was equivalent to "black" or "Negro" in France but "nigger" in Martinique. Césaire deliberately and proudly incorporated this pejorative word into the name of his ideological movement. The mere existence of this formation is disputed, noting that not even blacks understood its wished-for ideological impetus and how it would transform society.

The founders of la Négritude, known as les trois pères (the three fathers), were originally from three different French colonies in Africa and the Caribbean but met while living in Paris in the early 1930s. Although each of the pères had different ideas about the purpose and styles of la Négritude, the movement was generally characterized by a reaction to colonialization, denunciation of Europe's lack of humanity, rejection of Western domination and ideas and an identity crisis, acceptance of and pride in being black; valorization of African history, traditions, and beliefs and alignment of Marxist ideas. This movement was clearly a reactionary device, which sought yet failed to unite the African intelligence. Only secondary to its purpose was the introduction, protection and mainstreaming of African literature and narrative. And I put it that poetry, and literature in its entirety is not and can never be the only truest form of history, it plays a crucial role however in telling a tale of what was and tracing the steps of humanity.
Among its critics are Frantz Fanon - Student of Césaire, psychiatrist, and revolutionary theoretician, Frantz Fanon dismissed the Négritude movement as too simplistic. Jacques Roumain - Haitian writer and politician, founder of the Haitian Communist Party, published La Revue indigène in an attempt to rediscover African authenticity in the Antilles. JWole Soyinka - Nigerian dramatist, poet, and novelist opposed to la Négritude, believing that by deliberately and outspokenly taking pride in their color, black people were automatically on the defensive: « Un tigre ne proclâme pas sa tigritude, il saute sur sa proie » (A tiger doesn't proclaim its tigerness; it jumps on its prey).
Not withstanding its evident shortfalls and exceptional misnomers the movement was formed as an elitist diagration from the real issues of colonial Africa, its historical evolution into a movement is flunked with supposed to be Marxist ideological prescript and little affirmative black conscientisation. It almost dummy copies the plight of Black Consciousness: the term Black Consciousness stems from American educator W. E. B. DuBois's evaluation of the double consciousness of American black's being taught what they feel inside to be lies about the weakness and cowardice of their race. DuBois echoed Civil War era black nationalist Martin Delaney's insistence that black people take pride in their blackness as an important step in their personal liberation. This line of thought was also reflected in the American black nationalist, Marcus Garvey, as well as Harlem Renaissance philosopher Alain Locke and in the salons of the Nardal sisters in Paris and furtehr qualified by South Africa’s Black Consciousness Movement as lead by Steven Bantu Biko. Biko's understanding of these thinkers was further shaped through the lens of postcolonial thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, Léopold Senghor, and Aimé Césaire. Biko reflected the concern for the existential struggle of the black person as a human being, dignified and proud of his blackness, in spite of the oppression of colonialism, such as fought for in the Négritude philosophy. Which leads me to conlude that Negritude was a philosophy and not an ideological manifestation as claimed by its founders. However the use of Negro in its formation leaves it suspect to the dehumilasation of the same people its sought to deboundage.

Then came along the lousy Capitalist Nigger regime, which occupied our debate for a moment, silly to say the least a book which became one the most talked about because it successfully disrespected the black men’s ability to think and generate an income. It totally fell short of saying that black people are stupid and primate, believing in Ubuntu which does not put food on the table. This book found solace in capitalistic alligence where explotation is crucial to the victory of such a system. In trying to put his thought across the author dehumilised the black men furtehr by calling him a nigger. This book is a waiste of time to read with its never ending bickering. The issues at hand is the deminutive use of Nigger to explain and give life to black people, it is unecceptable.

Chika Onyeani, the author of Capitalist Nigger: The Road to Success: A Spider-Web Doctrine , an uniquely odious mixture of self-loathing, lies, and unreconstructed stupidity claims to be the acquintance of black wisdom which would get him somewhere, question, were is he now? Such bickering has proved useless to say the least and a waist of time at the most, derogratory proses are all over his book, while unjustified glorifications of countries such as China and India are questionable, as a larger population of on India live well below the poverty line. It is then safe to say that Onyeani’s book is silly to say the list.

Amidst all this chaos, the Africa Institute of South Africa in partnership with the Ministry of Arts and Culture, the Centre for Policy Studies, the Institute for Global Dialogue and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Accord) over a period of two days, May 3-4 set up the Native Club providing grounds for all forms of idiocies to come to the fore as commentators, including some wags, charlatans, idiots and clowns, pontificate on this matter to their hearts' satisfaction, failing to really give a plausible critic to this formation. As many criticised its formation, many rebutted and tried tirelessly to defend this irrational organ of so-called clever blacks. It was not until president Mbeki who had inaugurated the forum who asked the question in parliament, “If really the Native Club is for native South Africans, then what of the Afrikaner who has fought to claim his space as a native South African?, I ask what of the Khoi who is the real native South African who was treated badly by the Nguni’s who came flushing in, in the late 12th century, early 13th century, are they not the sole inhabitants, the native South African, who have been cast aside as menace to the societal order, whose language and culture are reminiscent of latter day native dwellings. Why is it that when we define the order of the day we become selective of history and oblivious to much of current affairs or similar plights fought for by those who believed the same. In all frankness the Afrikaaner felt the exact same way, of preserving and cultivating their culture and pride against white, European domination, and where did that lead us – Broenderbond. Sam Raditlhalo in his protracted sentiments confuses matters relating to the incomplete cycle of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with critics of Mbeki, to curriculum transformation and the education fraternity in its entirety, to more racially inclined arguments that claim that white academics do not understand the societal order. He confuses his rebutting and tends to be emotional in his proclamations making his input obsolete in their defence of the Native Club. This phenomenon is questionable, its projected end product not known to most of us. This club set to house intellects we know not who they were chosen is set to direct and redirect the thinking, practise and culture of black people. How this can be done with the exclusion of the same architects who led society to today is a mystery.

We, South Africans and Africans in general have become good at formulating forum, organs etc to suit our thirst for stardom. Anything to get a group of people around the table discussing little to nothing, going to boss barads which bear no fruits but a mocked up social gathering were husbands swap wives and promiscuity reigns freely. When are we going to learn that the actual intellect is the one divorced from popular culture and direct politics, because whether we like it or not such forums are about who knows who, who is attracted to who and this being the perfect place to advance that prime cause. An intellectual need to be un-connected to his subject so as to allow his subjectivity to flow without fear of biasness or leniency to a certain group. We need him to be adjacent and observant of socio – politico order of the day. A traditional intellectual needs not be part of his field of specialisation, he’s tools of analysis need to be from a traceable distance, yet accurate in their proclamations. While the organic intellectual lives in the space were he is specialising, he is thus closer to the subject to make a better-brewed analysis, he is able to depict the status quo as is. He is at an advantage, as he is not perceived as an outcast, but an integral part of society. Hence the need to bridge the gap, a necessity less obvious to the architects of the Native Club. And, when ever have different specialists come together, what good can come out of an arena when people less relevant to it will seat and discuss its merit and demerits. To date I fail to understand the birth of this club, and its anticipated outcome. Could it be a basic project of the Africa Institute, planned without planning, or could it be someone’s dim-witted brainchild? What ever it is it is unduly occupying our public discourse as it will all in the due course prove to be a white elephant? Who ever came up with the idea please try harder, define first who is a Native, and what exactly is a Native, primates are Native, I am not a Native.

We should rather heighten the need for an African philosophy which would align all our frustrations – African Consciousness, the groundings of which would be understood within the Black Consciousness Movement, with an African tinge, as blackness alone is subjective and Africanness is not subjected to skin tone but rather affinity to African pessimism.

In my next input I will further qualify African Consciousness.
I respite my Crate

Mine

Mine is to be
To live
To share
To love
And to give
Mine is not by body
Mine is my spirit
Mine is to give praise to the flesh that makes me me
It is to enrich my spirituality with all that lies within
Mine it to be
All I need to do is be
Therefore I am

A conversation with Africa

Africa, my Africa
Listen to me when I talk
Long have you entreated for your place in the world
Standing outside tall walls
Pleading the enemy for your life

They gave you no hope
Enslaved you and made you their own
They sat around a table
And carved you into pieces
They fought for your heart
Divided your brain and made run your legs
for their evils
The scramble was a humiliating gasp
At the cruelty of those cloaked with wealth and faints hearts

You unbandaged your self
Only to volunteer further subjugation
This time you have volunteered yourself for reliance
You have opened your gate wide, allowing the enemy to enter
Africa why are you doing this
Have you no faith in your own capacity
Have you no pride
No dreams to make up your own mind
To ferment your own riches
And make live your own dreams

Colonialisation was enforced on you, Africa
Recolonialisation is your choice

The first time you were the victim
The second time around you are a volunteer Victim

Wake up and stand your ground Africa

AFRICAN INTELLECTUALISM - WERE TO FROM HERE

Intelligence
Is a most complex practical property of mind, integrating numerous mental abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan and solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language and learn. Wikipedia, Encyclopedia

Intellectualism

Is the quittance of human life, identity, culture, expression, appearance and idiom, it is not a farce or a charade of written text or well read speeches, it is not confined to encrypted notes or poetic gestures.

An intellectual
Is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, speculate on, or ask and answer questions with regard to a variety of different ideas.

Gramci in his Prison Notebooks argues that the notion of ‘intellectuals’ as a distinct social category in men are potentially intellectuals in the sense of having an intellect and using it, but not all are intellectuals by social function. Intellectuals in the functional sense fall into two groups. In the first place there are the “traditional” professional intellectuals, literary, scientific and so on, whose position in the interstices of society has a certain inter-class aura about it but derives ultimately from past and present class relations and conceals an attachment to various historical class formations. Secondly, there are the “organic” intellectuals the thinking and organising element of a particular fundamental-social class. These organic intellectuals are distinguished less by their profession, which may be any job characteristic of their class, than by their function in directing the ideas and aspirations of the class to which they organically belong.

Risorgimento’s views are that intellectuals play a mediation function in the struggle of class forces in a political struggle. The working class, like the bourgeoisie before it, is capable of developing from within its ranks its own organic intellectuals, and the function of the political party, whether mass or vanguard, is that of channelling the activity of these organic intellectuals and providing a link between the class and certain sections of the traditional intelligentsia. The organic intellectuals of the working class are defined on the one hand by their role in production and in the organisation of work and on the other by their “directive” political role, focused on the Party. It is through this assumption of conscious responsibility, aided by absorption of ideas and personnel from the more advanced bourgeois intellectual strata that the proletariat can escape from defensive corporatism and economism and advance towards hegemony.

Noam, Chomsky. 1967 argues that there are broadly, three modern definitions at work in discussions about intellectuals. Firstly, 'intellectuals' as those deeply involved in ideas, books, the life of the mind. Secondly, and here largely arising from Marxist 'intellectuals' as that recognisable occupational class consisting of lecturers, teachers, lawyers, journalists, and suchlike. Thirdly, cultural "intellectuals", being those of notable expertise in culture and the arts, expertise which allows them some cultural authority, and who then use that authority to speak in public on other matters.

Intellectuals have been viewed as a distinct social class often significantly contributing to the formation and phrasing of ideas, they are both creators and critics of ideology. (Furedi, Frank. 2004). I beg to differ with this assertion, as intellectuals are cannot be distict from societal order least their intellect be put under question, even the traditional intellectual must have a basic understanding of the environment of his specialised study.THE AFRICAN INTELLETUAL The elementary flaw in the beckoning of African Intellectualism is undue glorification awarded to castigatory academics, which provide relic manifestations of theoretic explanations and preponderances of intellectualism. Sono, T (1994) writes in his thesis, “Dilemmas of African intellectuals in Africa. Political and cultural constraints”, that to even talk about African intellectuals and intellectualism is to grant such a non existing appendage a favour, he bases his argument on a framework of Western rationalism which in his phobic view is the epitome of ranking intellectualism. Odera Oruka, (1991) however dismisses such mislead utterances as ignorant and fixated on formative formulations of intellectualism in Africa. He points out that African intellectualism on its own is netted on ethonophilosophy profoundly found in Africa, he also insist that intellectualism in not prescribed by written text alone but that oral culture is also a form of critical philosophy.The issue at hand then becomes the need to reclaim and redefine African intellectualism at the ideological level, creating protuberance of twined notions of the real African basis of intellectualism therefore an inauguration of African combat at an ideological and philosophical level.It is a known fact that much of the insecurities and lack of clarity about the status and agenda of African intellectuals relates to the lack of dialogue between themselves and the lack of connectedness. African intellectuals spend most of their time trying to earn points and approval from white intellectuals. There are few forums exclusively for African intellectuals to encourage thought and exchange of ideas. The other issue facing African intellectuals is the ‘linchpin …academic legitimation and placement, the individual certification and positioning take priority over content, orientation and quality intellectual output. There is a lack of questioning of the intellectual paradigms; this has proven to be an inescapable dilemma for most African intellectuals. Most if not all black intellectual have to pass through white bourgeois academy or its black imitators before capturing any intellectual grounds. There is however visible negritude towards African formulated concepts celebrated world wide, but these alone do not solidify or connote intellect.The absence of African voices in academy also puts to question the role of African intellectualism, Africans are physically absent from institutions of Higher Learning in the country and continent and in the literature that recommends and prescribes academic programmes. The greatest deficit is that African languages like African culture have been confined to the periphery of the academy. Epistemologies have however lead to post colonial knowledge production, wherein factories of Africans are producing African identities and cultures beyond colonial subjugation, these are transformative realms which challenge Western rationalism and dismiss it as further colonialisation of minds and thoughts of African intellectuals. The late Claude Ake noted that most African intellectuals are a replica and carbon copy of faint western intellectualism with no imputes on Africa.

Our own Comrade Jabulani Nxumalo, commonly known as Cde Mzala was very passionate about the role of what he termed, ‘revolutionary intellectuals’ and their role in society.
Revolutionary intellectuals are activists. All serious intellectuals (progressive or conservative) understand that intellectual work requires research, study and disciplined effort. But revolutionary intellectuals are also activists. Like the outstanding revolutionary intellectuals before him (Marx, Engels, Lenin, Luxemburg, Gramsci, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Castro, Che Guevara, Cabral, and many more), Mzala was an intellectual, but also an activist. There needs to be a constant unity of theory and practice. Practice without theory is blind. Theory without the constant test of practice is liable to be dogmatic, formulaic, and just plain wrong.

Revolutionary intellectuals are part of a collective. This activism is not individualistic activism. Mzala's activism was embedded within the organisational structures of a broad national liberation movement. The unity of theory and practice that he fostered was a collective theory and a collective practice. His intellectual activities were, in the first place, interventions in the context of the programmes, the strategies, the key documents, and the internal debates of a movement. And the practice by which he sought to illuminate and critique this collective theory was primarily the collective practice of the movement and its mass base. This is not to say that Mzala never wrote for a wider audience, or never studied other struggles, but his positions and perspectives were always rooted in the collective of the South African liberation movement. Jeremy Cronin sings Mzala’s praises as a devout revolutionary intellectual.

Revolutionary intellectuals are not dogmatic or elitist. The dangers of intellectual dogmatism and elitism are, indeed, real, not least in organisations that regard themselves as vanguard formations. There is always the danger that theory will be used to show-off or bully and intimidate.
Many of us will have had the experience of comrades who quote from the "classics", or use jargon, not to illuminate a point, but to display their "superior" knowledge. We will all be familiar with the dogmatic invoking of an "authority", the unchallengeable word of this or that leader, or of "headquarters" - not to assist a discussion, but to silence debate.
Simply put African intellectualism still has to conquer the space to be noted as an existing surfeit of mental power, based on African notions, launguage, ethonophilosophy and ideology. Let us not be afraid to challenge western intellectualism and create our own. From this early stage, as students let us lead by example by writing papers and formulating ideologies to take Africa forward. I consider myself well read with a capacity to write and be heard, this I will take forward and be a panacea of African intellectualism.

The prowess and ingenuity by which some of our African prenouned intellectuals who departed earth cannot be forgotten, when centuries ago great kingdoms adorned the hills and plains of Vhembe Village, rights Joel Netshitenzhe. This was a representation of the unique African civilisation and intellect. It is important to note that every civilisation has the prerogrative to sustain and advance its plight through knowledge management and knowledge creation. Every day we should reach new hieghts of intellectualisation. In our journey of creation and discovery we should multiply our efforts in sustaining our knowledge through, poetry, music, story telling, paintings lest our history be distroyed by modern day technological advancements. The African writer should put down on paper the experiences of our people, while the African producer puts together on film the bare rationale and emotions of our historic revolutionary struggles.

The skill and originality of Africa’s knowledge base is still to be awarded its due recognition – but this will only happen when Africans begin to qualify and amass knowledge from their own experiences. Lest African knowledge remain a mystery to our children’s children.

Where are African poets and writers, SEK Mqhayi, JJR Jolobe, WB Rhubusane, and others, to write books, prose and daring poetry in our own indigenous cliques, were are the sons of Sontonga to give us melodies which will change the plight of our civilisation.

We applaud the efforts made by some African leaders in creating an Africanised intellectual paradigm. Frantz Fanon, a Caribbean-born medical doctor who joined the freedom struggle of the Algerian people against the French colonial masters, wrote several books that were to become a source of inspiration for freedom fighters in other parts of Africa. Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania is exemplary of a leader who understood the importance of language as Tanzania and Kenya are to date the only countries in Africa whose national language are indigenous languages, in Tanzania, Swahili is the official language although English still plays a role in the public life. Julius Nyerere himself translated into Swahili much work by Shakespear and enthusiastically promoted new literature in Swahili. We can from these experiences learn that the preservation of African intellectualsim should be at the helm of our progression as a continent, we cannot in absentia dominate the thinking and direction of the world. The time to be at the forefront of our own intellectualisation is now.

Other organs such as the Native Club, and philosophies like Negritude, Pan Africanism and Black Consciosness should be applauded for their unembigious stand on the fermentation of African thought, the African Union and Nepad for ensuring African solutions for African challenges.

On the dawn of the age of discovery let us define our cause and create a platform to be heard. Let us teach our history from the origins of our continent, our Arabic name Afriquia to our many different groupings, kingdoms, sultanats and clans. Let us appreciate that Haile Selassie created a religion, Rastafarianism and that queen Sheba and Ashante adorned praise in the power of the African woman. Let imbongi, our praise singers tel the story of how we came about and the prophets that of our future trail.NOTE: intellectualism does not belong to a soul or group of people, it is shaped according to time, space, available tools of analysis and ideological prescriptions amongst others.

I am an intellectual!

I Respite my Crate