Due to the the influence of foreign culture, particularly, western because of colonization, black African communities now look more or less like mongrels who don't know whether to follow the fast dying traditional cultures or the allure of western influence which we can't fully comprehend. So, as it is at the moment , we are a race at the crossroads in the sense that we don't know what religion, culture, standards or even language to follow. But then, for how long can we keep this important decision in abeyance before we regress to a rudderless race? Now, if we decide to completely follow the European culture which seems to offer more allure, for how long shall we play-catch before we are fully accepted as an equal? The whites, Jews, Indians. Chinese, Arabs etc. have their ethos which are closely tied to their cultural upbringing and religion. In fact, among the white people, they go further with their uniqueness such that the Dutch, Italians, Americans, British etc. are easily differentiated. If that's the case, why not Kenyans, Ghanaians, Ugandans, etc? Put it differently, is it possible for us as disparate communities to retrace our cultural steps but still develop a national ethos code to give us some identity? I think so, although it will require real hard work and determination.
Lets look at housing for instance. In the traditional rural African homestead, there were separate living quarters for the man, adolescent and adult sons, and the mother with the daughters and younger children. But with the advent of "westernization", this changed and people started living in single units albeit partitioned with simple materials which didn't give privacy to the family members anymore. I remember, earlier stories in my village, that pointed to men who had decided to get "saved" but forgot there is such thing as incest and started abusing their daughters due to this close proximity and erosion of cultural moral standards. However, some may say that it's easier to to discuss this in the context of rural setups, but surely, how do other races who live in urban centers in larger proportions than us go about it but still manage to maintain their morals and standards? The present housing state in Kibera, Mathare, and Mukuru slums where fathers have to virtually share the same sleeping mat with their adult daughters is not only abominable but untenable. Our government should sit down with our architects and engineers to come up with high rise buildings that cater for the needs of every family and accord them the necessary privacy. That's one of the codes we need to develop in our ethos.
Traditionally we lived as close knit families where we cared for each other such that the elderly, children, people with special needs were looked after. We collectively participated in ceremonies, family disputes, marriages, etc. Our families are now threatened with disintegration because of foreign influence and we seem to be losing ground quite fast. However, every community had traditions that helped regulate every day life of families. These traditions are not completely lost and if we wanted we could publish those relevant cultural norms that are acceptable and people could follow them for orderliness. In cases where there are mixed marriages, the two separate volumes of cultural values could be availed and a compromise sought depending on what the couple wants for the children. This could form another important step in developing our ethos.
We are aware that language is an important tool for the identity of any community and the current assault to our mother tongues due to the wrong notion that they are inferior is slowly killing us. We need to go back and publish vernacular books to help teach it at the primary school level. In the urban areas, special tuition could be done over the weekends so that people may learn whatever vernacular language they so wish to pursue without any hindrances.
Religion is certainly important for the moral and spiritual health of any community. But the way Christianity and Islam were introduced to Africans left no doubt that the intention was to undermine our beliefs and make us complete slaves in the mind. We however know that this assertion and assault by the foreigners was misplaced and wrong. In order to to correct it and get out of this mess, we need to deliberately de-culturilize the minds of our people, starting with the very young , so that we may grow our self worth once more. We could start by introducing debriefing classes in our schools and other public fora so as to gain good ground faster before we lose out completely. People need to know the truth because no religion is superior to the other contrary to foreign assertions. With this outline, I think, it's quite possible to build on it and eventually come up with a national ethos to give us the identity that we need.
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