Inside Africa: Black Lives Matter - Even In Africa
From the streets of Minneapolis to the streets of Ouidah, Benin, the sentiment for many is the same: Black Lives Matter. Ouidah historically as a port European colonizers utilized to transport captured Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to be slaves in the Americas. These men, women and children faced horrible, inhumane conditions in this journey to work as slaves in sugar cane and tobacco fields. Approximately 1 million of them came through the Portoguese-claimed Fort in Ouidah, “the Door of No Return.” Benin has chosen to renovate the Ouidah Fort to serve as a place for future generations to remember a difficult history and celebrate overcoming it, a starting point for moving forward after past generations of suffering. The Fort also houses a history museum.
Initiatives like Benin’s are not uncommon as Black Lives Matter makes its way across the Atlantic. The Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2013 but has been more recently revived after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The message went international with protests occurring all over the world. It has also been the catalyst for many African countries to face their histories of colonialism and racial injustice. While standing in solidarity with Floyd and the other Black Americans killed by police, Africans taking part in the movement are looking at systems that were put in place by European colonialism in the 19th century.
In another part of the continent, South African rugby players have sparked conversations after choosing to not kneel in support of the Black Lives Matter movement prior to the start of their English Premiership matches. Though the T-shirts stating “Black Lives Matter” were worn, not all felt compelled to kneel, causing some controversy, as kneeling during athletic events often does. The sports minister said he was contacting the SA Rugby president in order to better understand the motivations for those who chose to not kneel, stating that any acts of racism or intolerance would not be accepted moving forward with the matches. It is the mixed response to the Black Lives Matter movement that has become so common as it gains traction internationally.
There are calls to decolonize African education and calls to remove colonial monuments, like in South Africa, where the “Rhodes Must Fall” movement sought to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes, a British colonialist. There is also a Change.org petition with more than 5,500 signatures as of August 19 to rename many streets and landmarks in Uganda so that they no longer were named for colonialists who ravaged the country. It is a push to remove any symbols that “glorify these individuals and help perpetuate a legacy of colonial conquest, occupation, subjugation, and control.” The petition states that by removing these symbols, Uganda can begin the process of decolonization, allowing the country to move forward.
The Black Lives Matter movement also highlights Africa’s own struggle with violence and racial injustice. Police brutality and violence are not incidents that just happen in the United States, even if that is where the movement can trace its roots. Similar cases of unarmed citizens being killed by police forces, being arrested during protests, and other forms of injustice are happening all the time in African countries. The African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, shortly after Floyd’s death, released a statement condemning his murder and calling for U.S. officials to take action against the officers involved. The statement read, “Recalling the historic Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the United States of America made by African Heads of State and Government, at the OAU’s First Assembly Meeting held in Cairo, Egypt from 17 to 24 July 1964, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission firmly reaffirms and reiterates the African Union’s rejection of the continuing discriminatory practices against Black citizens of the United States of America.” Though Black Lives Matter is a relatively new movement, the African Union’s stance on discrimination and racial injustice in the United States has remained consistent for decades. However, this statement drew some criticism as many pointed out that the type of violence Mahamat spoke out against was happening in Africa as well.
In Kenya, a 13-year-old boy was shot with a stray bullet and at least 15 others have been killed since the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic. In Sierra Leone, police opened fire on people who had gathered to protest the move of a power plant that could impact the area’s electricity supply in Makeni. At least four protesters were killed and many others injured. More and more deaths happen in countries across Africa, just like they happen in America. Critics of Mahamat’s statement raise the issue that looking across the Atlantic for discrimination does little for the injustices experienced on the homefront, which is where the Black Lives Matter movement takes root.
It is a need to reclaim a history clouded by European influence and the suffering of African ancestors torn from their homes. The start is by no longer glorifying colonialists in history with statues and street names. It is addressing the influence these people still have on education and the lens often used to view the continent. Another movement is #ANF, Africa No Filter, which held a summit in February bringing speakers and artists together to discuss how Africa can reclaim its own narrative and “deprive the stain of colonialism,” as stated by the poet, Lebohang Nova Manago. #ANF shifted the focus to artists and “culture makers,” people who can bring forward understanding and change perceptions of the continent that do not put the colonists at the center.
