The Black Man’s Burden: The Diaspora's Urgent Mandate to Awaken Africa's Sleeping Giants
Part IV: The African revolution will not be streamed
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Many of us associate this quote with Nelson Mandela - South Africa’s first black president - but it was actually American author and 2024 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson who said it. A case where the Mandela Effect is literally at work.
The point of the quote goes beyond mere trivia though as it shines a light on the rationale behind the point of the closer of this article series: the twins of learned helplessness and the victim mentality.
The concept of Learned helplessness is best illustrated by the experiment that gave birth to it in the 1960’s. In this study, dogs were placed inside a shuttle box divided into two by a small barrier. The first half of the barrier was free of any interventions, a harmless, innocuous sectioned space which the dog would jump over. However, once the dog made its way to the second half of the shuttle box it would receive a painful electric shock. Afterwards, the same affected dogs would be placed into another shuttle box that was split into two - only this time, no electric shock was applied to the second half. The results were that the dogs, traumatized by their past experiences, refused to ever venture into the second half for fear of receiving another shock. Their past experiences went on to define their current, and future trajectory.
We could argue that a similar phenomenon can be seen in some people, who unfortunately find themselves prisoners to their trauma in spite of what things have come to be now. Learned helplessness feeds into self-victimization, as some individuals go on to believe that their fate is largely decided by circumstances beyond their control, with them increasingly looking at life through the prism of an external locus of control. This tends to leave the person looking outward, rather than inward, for solutions to their problems. But, in doing so they’re probably less likely to successfully tackle their problems resulting in more shortcomings. Subsequently serving to confirm and even justify their learned helplessness, setting off a vicious, self-reinforcing cycle.
The opening quote highlights the fear that we all exhibit at times when it comes to fulfilling our human potential and pursuing our dreams. Looking at ourselves in the mirror and admitting that we might be the problem is hard to do. It’s difficult to acknowledge failure and the fact that we can, and more importantly, aren’t necessarily doing better. But, such introspection and self-accountability serves a purpose in that figuring out your failures and weaknesses better positions you to identify how you can succeed moving forward. In order to bounce back and get back on your feet, you need to first find them.
This is where the internal locus of control comes into play, enabling you to understand, identify and find ways to bend the universe to your will, and adapt your environment to your needs. It’s this ability that is the lifeblood of the human spirit and it is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. All the way back to our days of making and manipulating fire, to today where we have gone on to occupy outer space and innovate medicine that regrows human limbs.
With that said, we still have individuals and communities out there who unknowingly subscribe to a mindset which comfortably rests in the external locus of control. This includes one too many of the people who look like me: African descendants.
The last 500 years have not been kind to us: slavery, the slave trade, colonialism and racial discrimination have reared their ugly heads in, defining much of our existence for many of us, consequently leaving us battered, bruised and traumatized. Nonetheless, bruises eventually form into battle scars, and carry with them lessons for the future.
And the longer those of us refuse to embrace them, take ownership of our lives, and begin the journey of rehabilitation and reform by becoming the captains of our ships and the masters of our fates, the longer the words of mine and countless others fall on deaf ears and we continue to wonder, what happened?
Since the 1960’s, as African nations began the march to liberation and independence on one side of the ocean, and black people and black descendants won the battle for full equality under the law on the other side, a peculiar narrative has formed and come to dominate the popular imagination.
The narrative of racism and the black plight has inculcated the minds of a lot of African descendants, as well as others. More than a few of us have adopted it as our worldview, with us viewing almost everything through the lens of race, racial hierarchy and white supremacy.
This mindset has too many followers to count. It is also supported and propelled by a vast expanse of industries ranging from music and entertainment, media and journalism, academia, political and social activism, and corporate CSR repackaged under the terms ESG (environmental, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). Each year, billions of dollars are thrown into advocating this message.
A message that not only divides and separates us from other ethnicities, but from ourselves. African descendants who openly oppose this view, or are not seen as speaking out for it are usually ostracized in ways that are both big and spectacular, and smaller, and more pernicious in nature too. In particular, black conservative voices, the racially oblivious among us, and even those who may pursue hobbies or interests that fall outside of what has been deemed the ‘black experience’ can end up falling victim to this. This, in turn has the bleak effect of restricting the human ingenuity that we can tap into for mobilization, collaboration and development.
For instance, black conservative voice Candace Owens has the largest podcast of any woman in the world. She founded the Blexit Movement, and is dedicating her life to creating an alternative space for black people to engage each other and cooperate in. And time and time again, she has shown a willingness to make inroads with her many black detractors, most recently seen in her interview with popular US urban radio station and media platform, The Breakfast Club earlier this year. With all that said, in a stunning example of how Black Excellence is selectively applied, you will not hear much about her in the black mainstream, and what little you do hear is usually seasoned with condescending speech laced with racial epithets.
It serves to highlight what has been aptly put by black American commentator for the Wallstreet Journal, Jason Riley as wartime thinking. Too many African descendants - especially those inhabiting the Western World - navigate through life under these presupposed conditions. The result being that precious energy and time that could be better directed to capacity and community building is instead expended on preparing for battle and confrontation with the ‘other’. And ethnic members seen as not being entirely onboard are then culled as a means to reinforcing the troops.
Now, it somewhat made sense for many of us to take on this doctrine in yesteryears, when that was all a lot of us knew as that was what we had so extensively been exposed to.
However, over half a century has elapsed since then. We are now in a period of relative peace. Indeed, in that time, we have seen an African descendant twice elected to lead the most powerful country in the world, millions upon millions of us can now be found in all professions, trades and fields everywhere on the planet. Our musical heritage is the soundtrack to humanity, and we’re just getting started.
We, 1.8 billion souls in all corners of the globe, bound together by our African ancestry, are not victims, together, we are powerful beyond measure. Our time is now!
And right now, our present and future is fought between two competing narratives: Africa Rising and the foreboding spectre of neocolonialism. The former is rooted in Africa and African descendants taking the reins of business and enterprise, technology, and arts and culture to etch a bright existence for its abundant youth. The latter, insists we relive our traumas by preoccupying itself with the past, and seeking salvation in vague political and institutional solutions, working to minimize the role that we as individuals, families and societies have in shaping our own destiny.
I would argue that nothing better sums up the chasm between these two competing narratives than a video produced by YouTuber Mr Beast that recently went viral. The White American social entrepreneur traveled to multiple parts of Africa, donating money and equipment to build 100 wells in rural villages. Access to fresh water supplies is the basis of life. Those villages are now in a position to use clean water without fear of contracting fatal diseases. It will also be directed to irrigating local farms, helping to improve food security and raise the incomes of the locals. Irrespective of what Mr Beast’s underlying intentions may have been - this should be viewed as a hand up, not a hand-out.
While many (likely those more amenable to the Africa Rising narrative) cheered this initiative on and took it as inspiration to do more to make changes in whatever way they can, there were also the usual naysayers and haters. A lot of these were African descendants, who were mostly stationed abroad and/or led relatively comfortable lives. They threw the usual attacks of him being a ‘white saviour’, only concerned with exploiting Africans for his own personal gain. It was a disappointing sight to see, even the more cynical among us should at least use it as motivation and research material for similar initiatives of our own. But what we got instead were crabs in a barrel pulling down the few who are actually doing something.
Change starts from within and shapes everything we interact with thereafter. The twins of the victim mentality and learned helplessness have to be absolutely obliterated away from our cultures. Because by externalizing the causes of our misgivings, we also unknowingly externalize the solutions. Fortunately, a ray of hope amongst us shines through, that possesses the power to part the dark clouds and open our horizons. And it’s the Africans of the Motherland themselves.
With a median age of 19, which is 11 years below the global median and 25 years below (or more than half) that of the European Union’s, most Africans are growing up in what many of us would deem as a post-racial world. Most of them don’t even remember when Barack Obama was elected to the presidency, they were entering their teenage years when the first Black Panther was released. The date of birth for a 19 year old in 2024 is 2005, the same year that arguably the biggest female popstar of the 21st Century in Rihanna, first debuted into the Big Time. What was seen as exceptional for older age cohorts is simply normal for most Africans.
Not only that, as I have touched on in past articles, the average African is a 21st Century kid. Or, what I like to call the Smartphone Generation. Therefore, the Africa that they’ve lived through and experienced is worlds away from the one that older Millennial, Gen X and Boomer generations witnessed, whether from up close or from afar. Africa now has its own billionaires, tech giants, investment gurus, global popstars and actors and big-time social media influencers. Again, I really have to reiterate that this is not the Africa of the 1990’s and 1980’s.
Not only that, the Smartphone Generation within Africa also only knows what was - until very recently - a globe in which the United States ruled as the sole world superpower. The English speaking African youth speaks it with an American twang, consumes American music and film and educates themselves with mostly American educational and training content. Polls also show that Africans largely view the USA very positively, there are four million members of the African Diaspora in the United States too.
My experiences interacting with African youth during my travels across the continent imparted on me an impression of a culture that has inherited the American can-do attitude, their slight naive sense of optimism, along with the belief that everything can be made into a business. They believe that they can do anything and that life is about the pursuit of happiness. The African youth flick on their smartphones and laptops and only see a world of opportunity and manufactured riches emblazoned across their WhatsApp, Facebook and TikTok feeds - they’re young, hungry and bursting at the seams with energy. They’ve learnt not to expect anything from their governments, get it how you can is the motto. In other words, the African Smartphone Generation doesn’t have time for pissing and moaning about past gripes and historical injustices and distant politics.
I think that African youth are firmly in the Africa Rising camp. Maybe, as Africa’s prominence on the world stage continues to elevate, this narrative will overpower the countless grains of sinking sand that help the misguided beliefs of neocolonialism and racial injustice spread and survive, and pull us under.
Bearing this in mind, with all their energy and initiative, youth still need guidance and preparation for the world ahead of them. The African Diaspora can fill these shoes, I really do believe and almost feel like I know this, the question is, do you?