THE EDITOR, Sir:
IT IS a trite law that those nations which place their own cultural survival on the agenda have always managed to guarantee its citizenry security and happiness. This is what we as a nation have failed to do since we took independence. What we did was to implement an educational system which has and is still relegating the study of our culture to just the brief interlude called slavery. So what we have are graduates who have never been told of the greatness of their ancestors, such as Ya-AsanteWa, Shaka Zulu etc., but they are versed like any British child in the exploits of the Battle of Trafalgar.
This certainly has implications for the level of nationalistic confidence and ultimately the level of creative thinking that a graduate will put into creating solutions for national problems. The end result is a nation that lacks the self-love to ensure its own survival. Today look at what the leaders of the G8 countries are doing. They meet next to ensure that their legacy is continued via their current policies.
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
You do not need to wonder why they act in the manner they do towards developing countries, as we all know that even George Bush did some history classes and in these classes he was taught of the conquering (read theft) of the native Americans' land, and so he feels empowered to do what is presently being done in Iraq and Afghanistan.
What do we do? We teach our children that they are not Africans and that there was never a time when we Africans
contributed to the march of human development. Now we see this manifesting itself in our love for things 'foreign', and so we decry the death of our local agricultural sector. We need to look at the connection between what we teach and the impact that it has on our national decisions. The recent decision by the Ministry of Education to teach diversity must be revisited, as I cannot remember a time when the Africans of Jamaica were systematically taught about themselves.
So how do we now justify teaching our students about other people, when they have not learned self-love? Maxine Wilson and her entourage at Heroes Circle should really, if she is interested in culture, try to create the first real primary and secondary school course that looks at what Marcus Garvey had to say to the young people. We have no respect because we have no power and we have no power because our leaders have failed and are still failing to show us that our history is littered with greatness from the Nile to Dahomey.
Teach that and forget about the diversity trick, as I know for sure that 90 per cent of any war is cultural and we are engaged in a war of survival in this world.
I am, etc.,
MATONDO MUKULU
survivah@hotmail.com
London
Via Go-Jamaica
