O ALLAH

[Baruti M. Kamau]

Could I break
the chasms of history,
And kiss my people
across the water?

Could I befriend Dabo,
And marry Morowa?

Could I master Hausa,
And eliminate my coma?

Could I kiss Morowa,
And make love to my people
Across the water?

[Baruti M. Kamau]

Exposition of A Poem
By Baruti M. Kamau, Editor-in-Chief
Barutiwa News Service (BNS)

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) an American poet, essayist and physician of English descent, considers language to be "the blood of the soul". The entailment of his metaphorical concept of language being the blood of the soul brings to mind the dynamics of word usage. It is well known among scholars, writers and great orators that the impact of a well chosen word on individuals is tremendous, moreso than the correctness of the expressed idea. It is also known that language is central to identity and the way in which peoples perceive themselves. The purpose of this essay is to expound on a poem I had written in the summer of 1989 in an attempt to confute the propaganda that language is not central to one's group identity. Hence underlying the essence of my poem, "O Allah," is the contention of African diaspora identity in the west is fragmented without recapturing a Black African language. This idea shall be explained and developed in detail in the following exposition.

Each stanza in my poem is a supplication to God. It is a supplication embroiled in the African diaspora experience in the west. It can only be understood with vast knowledge of African diaspora history, which the first stanza refers too. The first and second stanza runs thus:

"Could I break the chasms of history,
and kiss my people across the water?

Could I befriend Dabo,
and marry Morowa?"

The question arises; what is meant in the first and second stanza? The first stanza is an effort to express in a concise, innovative and poetical manner a need for a potent Pan-Africa that would correct what was wronged during slavery and colonialism with intent to unite all Black African peoples politically, economically, linguistically and culturally for the first time in history. The second stanza is an elaborate reinstatement of the first stanza that could be subsequently interpreted as a means toward achieving the end of a united and powerful Negroid race. In other words, a significant strategy for race unity is for Black African peoples (including Blacks in the diaspora) to marry one another. In historical terms, remarriage between the two peoples would facilitate and strengthen race solidarity and decrease misconceptions about one another that slavery and colonialism fostered. That is what I meant when poetically supplicating:

"Could I befriend Dabo,
and marry Morowa?"

The third stanza:

"Could I master Hausa
and eliminate my coma?"

is a direct defense of my earlier thesis about language being central to identity. Previously, I quoted Oliver W. Holmes as saying: "Language is the blood of the soul." This quotation and its entailments are excellent linguistic warriors of the message I'm trying to convey in the third stanza.

Historically, it is true that the slave institutions set up in the Americas were bent on destroying the spirit of their newly arrived captives. One of the methods used by the European slave masters in the Americas was to brutally prevent all African peoples from speaking their languages and impose their European language (such as English, French, Spanish and Dutch) on the captives and their children born on the plantations.

Consequently, these African peoples lost their languages. Thus the blood circulation to their soul was arrested; since, language is the blood of the soul. Due to my awareness of this history, I have always agonized over the fact I speak English as a first language. Yet I shall break the chasms of history and kiss my people across the water. The blood circulation to the soul has been arrested, but not permanently. Language is central to identity as water is essential to life. A people lacking a language of their own is a people destined for genocide. The African diaspora survived the brutalities and degradation of the so-called new world's slave institutions. Our people shall also prevail over the influence of slavery upon us.

The fourth and last stanza is my expression of a intimate and seductive yearning to return to Black Africa in all of its complexities. It is a conclusion and reasserts the entire essence of my poem "O Allah". It can be literally interpreted as my desire to marry a Black woman from the diaspora or Africa who is dedicated to the advancement and unification of our peoples.

This results from my belief that the most significant means towards race unity and solidarity can be effectively achieved through Black African diaspora and Black African peoples marrying one another. Furthermore, the need for the resurrection of Black African languages among the Black African diaspora can easily be solved through Afro-centric marriages. As long as we keep in mind our objective is to develop our people to a high measure of economic, political, cultural and intellectual security to defend our people from future non-Black aggression. We must remember so long as our languages live our people live also.

Source:  http://www.barutiwa.com/cgi-bin/bns/publish/article_108.shtml

[Fulanizzle]

just beautiful

[Hafsy_Lady]

OAWWWWW This is absolutelyyyyyyy perfect