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The Colonially Ill
by Kala Grant
Despite the enlightened philosophies of our cultural prophets riding the waves of electronic media on a daily basis and many published academic debates on self-preservation and identity development, we continue to be victims of our own purposeful ignorance as well as a state of constant paralysis of imperialist conditioning.
Having recognised the source of our paradoxical existence and conditioned thinking many of us embark on a nemesis against all things western and imperial looking to pan African discourses and seeking out the non-existent authentic existence before that Atlantic displacement that was slavery. We go through phases of disillusionment in an attempt to redefine our birthing place as home where struggles of racial, political and economical natures spawn a people that have remained undefeated by the bludgeoning of the rules of control and divide that was the basis of all societies Caribbean. From Rastafari, to Myal, to stick fighting, to Shango, to Pocomania, to Obeah, to Voodoo, to Revivalism, to Bruckings, to Calypso, to Mento, to Salsa, to Jazz, to Carnival, to Reggae, to Dancehall, to Soca, to Jing Ping, to Hip Hop we fight, we struggle, we rage against the oppressive forces of western economic and social stronghold and yet we still remain for the most part enslaved.
There is much work to do, much disillusionment to swallow like castor oil before our societies can realise their full independence and become enlightened. We have passed the stage where it is unheard of to read and teach our own writings on our own culture in schools of all levels, we have passed the stage where we never knew we had the right to equality and justice, we have passed the stage where acceptance is all. So what stage are we at now? It is normally upon reflection of the past that we recognise our developments as we shed what was to self-actualise and even within this self-actualisation we still look to grow and sieve through those parts of our identities that still remain constrained by colonial thinking. So it is difficult while in the process of transition to recognise where we are until we have moved beyond that revolutionary point. The question is are we still a revolutionary people with the vision to achieve or have we come full circle becoming once again passive resisters who grumble and complain about our existence and do nothing to instigate change?
We have slipped into the modus operandi of the global feeders who unify on the basis of imperialism. We are one under the American flag and so in global uniform individuality and cultural difference becomes a being of the past out of place in the villaging of cable networks and Internet collapsing of space and time. Our consumed images are American for the most part and local representation becomes more displaced among what has become the norm in our lives. So in the rat race we have stepped on our own to quickly exchange masters. Many see America as the enemy but I strongly disagree, America is simply being the imperial power it has always been. We are our own enemy by not treasuring our past enough to understand the ultimate betrayal of our daily actions that belittle our culture and race is the simple dismissal of our achievements and individual resources. After all, who wants local dishes when we can go to Kentucky or McDonalds?
by
Miss Kala Nneka Grant (PhD Candidate)
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