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Liberator 5.1 |
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What does it mean to the fate of African-descended people to have their most recent history represented to the world by a man preferring to detail a half century-old sex scandal for pejorative "entertainment" over a viable academic undertaking of the subject? What is the consequence of the largest commercial chain of book distributors in the United States to present this work to the American public as "history?" On December 11, 2005, after returning to my home town of Shreveport, Louisiana, I glanced at the shelf display of books categorized under the heading "African American" to find none other than the recently published book authored by Martin Meredith, "The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair." I stared in wonder at its presence that infiltrated the continuity of classic African American texts such as Dubois’ "Souls of Black Folks" and Woodson’s "Miseducation of the Negro." Inciting further fury was my realization that it stood as the lone representative text (in the only Barnes and Nobles in Shreveport, LA) that even proclaimed to address African history. My distaste and severe disapproval of Martin Meredith’s text originated when I witnessed him speaking about his work in Oxford, England. St. Antony’s College of Oxford University hosts a University-wide African Studies lecture series each week of the academic term. On October 27th, two academics who recently published books on Africa were guest of the series. One of which, on this day, was one Martin Meredith. His recently published book was to be the focus of a 30 minute dialogue preceding questions from the audience. Mr. Meredith began his discussion on his text--a whopping 752 pages--by first explaining that his background was that of a journalist and not an academic. He then mentioned that in his book he included a story and an extended footnote concerning Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at its declaration of independence in June of 1960. Patrice Lumumba was assassinated soon after in January 1961. He is regarded by many as a martyr for African independence. In fact, acclaimed historian and United Nations correspondent on African Affairs John Henrik Clarke states, "he might have become one of the most astute national leaders of the twentieth century." The story Martin Meredith chose to extrapolate on, however, was one regarding Lumumba’s alleged affairs with a white women during a visit to The White House in July of 1960. This story, according to Meredith has been confirmed as having actually happened. He continued to explain the details of the sex scandal for the entirety of his allotted speaking time. For a man who has written so prolifically on Africa’s post-independence history, "Why is this particular event so important?" one might ask. Mr. Meredith shared the answer with his disgruntled and perplexed audience at the end of his speech: "Events like this one are particularly important to understanding African politics after independence because President Lumumba, like many of his African counterparts, was more concerned with sleeping with une bonne blanche than seriously dealing with the political problems of the Congo during the early 1960s." It was at this point that I, as an observer, could no longer endure this insulting charade and took my leave of the discussion. However, the statement, as it was made in a formal academic setting at Oxford University, is not as unsettling as encountering the reality of its widespread distribution (finding it on the shelf as the only African history book in a large book store). The school of thinkers who sit behind the Western guise of development and modernization to characterize the continent and African peoples as being trapped inevitably in "the heart of despair" is debilitating not only for those implicated in the judgment, but also for those who seek an understanding of African cultures and histories. It is for this reason that this writer poses the question to readers and African descended peoples, "Does the author of your history narrate your fate?" If so, what is our responsibility to regain or demand the authority of our history through internally generated accounts of our past and predicted future?
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