Emancipate

'Its not what you call me but what I answer too, that matters most.'
An African proverb.
Africa equals black,
a colour braced, glorified yet suppressing.
Our minds are shut down, slavery of the worst kind.

'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery',
uttered by many, hindered by few.
We sing but don't understand
that we are our own mental slaves
and very few of us realise it or act upon it.
We would rather look to outside influence
and conform to their ways.

We say we free,
yet see them as superior,
while we are all equal.
Equal in the sense that
we are all masters of our minds
and because of our inequality mindsets,
we are mental slaves.

You utter and scream
about how proud of an African you are,
but the first to be disgusted of your tradition.
Tradition you grew up in.
They tell you something is wrong with it,
you are quick to agree.

Do you ever take time
to look back at your mother and grandmother?
What is wrong with them?
Nothing!
But you choose to ignore that,
feel as though you are more wise,
just because you are more westernised.

Sit yourself down
and realise how shameful you are.

Look for the true beauty in black,
in the scars and the marks.
Look to history with pride
and realise how strong your people are.
Help them heal the wounds.

Many are still mental slaves
but you cannot blame them,
not all scars are pretty.

You follow the ways of those they fought against,
but you with no scar, no mark,
you no longer have to conform.
Be yourself, be true and make them proud.

Emancipate!