The most important message the recent celebrations of Adwa’s victory over imperial Italy sent was that the victory is not only Ethiopia’s victory but that of Africa’s. It was a victory shared with black people world’ over. As such, it is the first moment in history that created the conditions for Africans and black people in Diaspora to walk tall and be proud of their ancient heritages. Because of Adwa, they now stand united against oppression by negative global political and economic forces that sabotage their efforts for comprehensive independence. The African victory at Adwa has pushed Africa’s consciousness to the next level by creating conditions for taking at least two crucial steps towards the continent’s full independence.
The first is the inclusion of the Victory of Adwa into the African Union Charter as the most important event of the 20th century that has led to Africa’s unity. The second step might be the annual celebration of Adwa Victory Day not only in Ethiopia, its birth place, but also throughout Africa. As a complementary step to the two major initiatives, one can perhaps suggest that an all African International Cultural Centre should be opened in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa which is the symbol of African unity and the centre of struggle against colonialism and neocolonialism.
Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah wrote his book entitled, “Neocolonialism the Last Stage of Imperialism” in 1965. After 60 years of Africa’s political independence from colonialism, the major themes of the book still remain valid to present day political conditions both within Africa and in relations between Africa and the Western world in particular. The new colonialism is called neocolonialism and has several manifestations: economic, political, diplomatic and social. However, cultural neocolonialism is often relatively overlooked while the other dimensions are overemphasized.
“One variant of neocolonialism theory critiques cultural colonialism, the desire of wealthy nations to control other nations’ values and perceptions through cultural means such as media, language, education and religion, ultimately for economic reasons.”
Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci once wrote that cultural hegemony was the instrument through which a ruling class imposes its values and beliefs and practices over the rest of society that is forced to accept these values as its own. This theory might also applied to study the relationships between neocolonial (or global powers) and the poorer countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America they dominate by using their wealth and powers to impose their cultures on the African people in particular. “Cultural imperialism uses wealth, media power and violence to implement the system of cultural hegemony that legalizes materialism.”
Africa is nominally or politically independent but it has not become independent in the full sense of the term because she is still depending on rich Western countries to ran its economy manage its politics and conduct its diplomacy. Thus, Africa is still living under the yoke of Western neocolonialism and will remain so until it achieves all rounded independence in the politics, economy, socially as well as culturally. This is however something all Africans nowadays understand and recognize but they can do nothing to overcome it because of the heavy handed way with which the rich countries are conducting their affairs with Africa.
If there was one thing the recently concluded Africa’s summit meeting of heads of state and governments, failed to address, it was the need to give more emphasis to Africa’s cultural renewal or revolution. Whenever people talk about Africa’s renaissance they mostly talk about its economic rise and advancement or its political democratization. Culture is almost always pushed to the margin of major concerns. And yet all civilizations that have achieved material advancements have done so by simultaneously modernizing their cultures.
Culture is given different meanings at different times and places in history. The Age of Revolution in European history for instance consisted of, the period between 1789 to 1848 both times marked by the radical restructuring of society or radical shifts in power relationships, mainly in France and Germany. “The Age of Revolution mid-19th century during which a number of significant revolutionary movements occurred in most of Europe and the Americas.” The other historical instance of revolution in culture occurred in Mao’s China. “Its stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. Though it failed to achieve its main objectives, the Cultural Revolution marked the effective return of Mao to the centre of power.”
When we talk of Cultural Revolution or revolution per se, we are not talking about applying the European or Chinese model of radical changes in the African context. Africa cannot as a continent, undergo any kind of revolution be it political, social or economic. But it can undergo a radical transformation in its culture with the objectives of doing away with cultures that are un-African or contrary to African aspirations of social progress by purging African societies of the rudiments of colonialism and neocolonialism as well as archaic traditional practices that are inappropriate to the continent’s developmental aspirations. In Africa, we don’t talk of Cultural Revolution but of cultural renewal or cultural renaissance by using these terms interchangeably.
The African Union (AU) has adopted what is known as the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance in 2021. “The objectives of the Charter are, among other things, “To assert the dignity of African men and women as well as the popular foundations of their culture, to promote freedom of expression and cultural democracy which is inseparable from social and political democracy, to preserve and promote African cultural heritages through preservation, restoration and rehabilitation, to combat and eliminate all forms of alienation, exclusion and cultural oppression everywhere in Africa ….”
The objectives of the Charter are broader than the few points indicated above. They include for instance the need to encourage cultural cooperation among Member States of the AU through the use of African languages, the promotion of inter-cultural dialogue, to integrate cultural objectives in development strategies, among others.
In the first place, the Charter was adopted relatively late although there were policies that guided the objectives of the African cultural aspirations in the previous years. Whatever the timing for the adoption of the Charter may be, it is now the major document that is guiding the organization’s cultural objectives in Africa. What we have to look into at this particular juncture, is whether the provisions of the Charter were being effectively implemented in the last few years since its adoption.
To be honest, three years into the adoption of the Charter cannot be a great time for the implementation of the above objectives that are complex and demanding longer time to implement by their very nature. You cannot assert he dignity of African men and women as well as the popular foundations of their culture in a mere three years. The promote freedom of expression and cultural democracy requires decades of relentless and committed efforts. The preservation of African cultural heritages through restoration and rehabilitation requires more time, resources and day to day follow up and critical thinking. Likewise, you cannot combat and eliminate all forms of alienation , exclusion and cultural oppression in African within three or four years.
Instead of time frame, what we should discuss here is whether initial steps have been taken in this direction in the last three years since the adoption of the Charter. Africa does not lack experts or scholars who are capable of writing of legal documents or articulating them on paper. What it seriously lacks are practical steps that can be counted and are visible on the ground. Three years may not be a long time even to lay the groundwork of the entire edifice of Africa’s cultural renewal. Yet, at least the first pillars of the building should start to appear.
Unfortunately, there is also serious shortcoming in this area. As the latest AU summit has made it clear and as the AU Secretary General Mussa Faki Ibrahim has made it crystal clear Africa has not yet taken steps to promote the ideals of the charter such as Pan-African unity and democracy and peace building. Many years have passed since Africa pledged to “silence the guns” for instance but the guns have become louder than ever as the summit was conducted.
Let us take one example: Africa’s cultural heritage. Why is it so important that experts are presenting sophisticated and learned analyses of the nature as well as the need for preserving this heritage. As we all know, “African heritage is the history, cultural practices and beliefs of the African people. It is important to preserve African heritage because it helps us understand our past and where we came from. It also helps us understand our culture and how we relate to each other.”
The real question here must be: what have we done so far in order to translate this conviction into reality.
If we look at the balance sheet of cultural relationships between Africa and the rich countries of the West, we realize that they are still based on the old paradigm of dominance of the former by the latter. We can even say that Western cultural dominance has become even more subtle as it presents itself as the culture of humanity as a whole which is basically a deception.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 15 MARCH 2024
