OH AFRICA... Motherland and Cradle of Humanity

Today it is known beyond any doubt that all human being came from Africa. No wonder why Africa is called and referred to as the Motherland, Cradle of humanity. I am writing these few lines filled with renewed pride of being born in Africa. I came to work today and somehow got inspired by a young and extremely talented Artist from Gambia by the name of Sona Jobarteh. Her music truly represents what makes Africa the Motherland and probably the best hope for humanity.

In his 1981 New York Times article entitled “AFRICA'S INFLUENCE ON JAZZ AND POP” John Rockwell said: “To speak of Africa as if it offered a single, consistent musical style is, of course, a ludicrous oversimplification. As John Storm Roberts points out in his informative book, ''Black Music of Two Worlds,'' Africa offers an area four times the size of the United States, with some 2,000 tribes speaking between 800 and 2,400 tongues, depending on whether some are counted as dialects or languages.”

There is no single continent on earth that has not benefited from Africa’s human resources, natural resources, heritage and much more. In today’s tumultuous world, I believe the world needs Africa more than ever. Africa, our Motherland, understand that the world is at lost today in part because you have not fully preserved your identity. Your culture has always been the source of inspiration for other cultures around the world regardless of whether it was through slavery, colonization, immigration, and no honest individual on earth today can ignore your significant contribution to the world. Eastern music finds its root in northern African instruments from Egypt, Morocco, etc…  

Natural styles such as clapping, dancing accompanied with simple instruments such as balafons, tam-tams, koras, flutes, percussions, conga, drums, are the cradle of many vibrant styles of music around the world. Think about salsa, merengue, tango, gospels, jazz, and much more. Some of the world greatest musicians or entertainers in the music industry such as Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Shakira had no other choice but to succumb to the influence and power of your beautiful sounds.

Africa, the world crumbles when you crumble, the world is lost when you are lost. You have been a true embodiment of what being resilient means. Everyone that I have met and who traveled to Africa told me how their African experience has positively transformed their lives. Some of the world greatest have said it better than I can. In the same article mentioned above from the New York Times, John Rockwell writes “everywhere Western musicians are turning to Africa, either for reaffirmation of a lost or dimly remembered ethnic heritage or for a more abstract kind of inspiration.” Despite enduring the most vicious atrocities in mankind’s history and being deprived of its vital natural and human resources, African are still standing and dancing. 

Mandela said it best that “the curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope.”

Africa, the world needs your inspiration. You have shown the world how happiness is always within reach. Preserving your identity, cultures, and heritage is what the world needs the most today. If you don’t know what this means, then look at Sona Jobarteh. Not only is she beautiful, but the way she dresses also inspires decency, nobility, beauty, grace, and excellence. Her music is curiously beautiful and it “uplifts even as it tells a sad tale.” Your identity is the cradle of human identities. If you fail to preserve your identity, the world will be severed from its natural source of inspiration. You have shown and continue to demonstrate to the world that we don’t need wars or conflicts; that happiness is not the matter of what you have or don’t have, but a way of life; that despite constantly being oppressed, taken advantage of, life is worth living.

My dear continent, I urge you to preserve your identity, cultures, and heritage. Your diaspora, our true global citizens, needs to constantly return home to recharge, get re-energized, and return to their host countries to spread our common human values just as bees are necessary for pollination. Be proud of who you are, the noble role you have played and will need to play in building the brightest history of mankind. Preserve your unique sense of beauty, your art, your music, your land, and everything else that is the envy of the world. Being a cradle of mankind is an enormous responsibility but a proud one. When your other sons and daughters from other continents with different skin color will learn the lessons of happiness from you, maybe, and only maybe will they stop depriving you of the benefits of your own natural resources.