There is a global-social strata. On this strata and believe it or don’t but it exists, being African places you at the base of the pyramid. Whether you live in a 6-bedroom house in Egypt or you drive a 4x4 wheel drive in Ghana, who cares? To the rest of the world, your everyday living is synonymous to the hungry child from ‘Africa’ who is in almost every commercial on Aid in Western TV commercials.
To everyone else, as long as you reside in that continent, you must be hungry! And when you arrive in the West, possibly, you didn’t board a plane to get here. I do wonder how people think we get here though…oh i get it! Voodoo!
We probably chant all night and by the next morning, without passports or visas, we find ourselves 24hours-or-more away from the beloved and yet mysterious continent!
I thought ignorance was bliss but certainly, such overt and obvious admission of cluelessness, sometimes baffles me and other times, robes me in an ambassadorial garment, ready to educate my foreign comrades on the ‘Dark continent of Africa’, at least for the most part, that is what they know!
I realized I didn’t have to explain anymore! Being African and a passionate one at that, I am always tempted to launch into a “that-is-not-what-it -is-sessions”! But who am I, to dissuade that woman at church who once reminded her teenage daughter one Sunday that I was from Africa and yet spoke “such good English” that, yes I have been learning English from kindergarten! Not only would her daughter begin to doubt all her mother may have told her about Africa, which would certainly make her out to be a liar, but it would also mean that CNN and BBC her most trusted TV channels for world news were equally a bunch of ‘people' putting out false knowledge.
No, I would take the high road and smile upon hearing her admission of my flawless expression in the Queen’s language in the country Columbus discovered and walk away. At least after singing some songs of worship from Australia, I would not feel that bad when I notice people wonder where I learned these songs. At least, they don't ask! But the incredulous look on their faces is enough to construct in plain language exactly what their thought processes are that instant.
Till next time, I will be walking along and telling you about the adventures of a nomadic African!
