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| President Nana Addo delivers independence day speech |
In
many ways, what the President did was to render his version of our recent
political history about which there is little consensus, with many contested
claims on both sides -especially between the United Party's (UP's) and the
convention People's Party's (CPP's) versions of events.
While
the speech was generally commendable in lauding the contributions of people as
diverse as the musicologist Dr Ephraim Amu, Yaa Asantewaa and the formidable
Dede Ashikisham, the President also seized the opportunity to condemn what he
called the "infamous Preventive Detention Act of 1958" and celebrated
many of the prominent politicians who were detained under it.
The
Act, of course ,has been the subject of debate for years and the famous Supreme
Court case- "RE:AKOTO AND 7 OTHERS"- on its legality and whether
Parliament or the Constitution of Ghana alone was [then] sovereign and supreme
crystallises the differing opinions on this part of our history perfectly. And
it seems to me that opposing sides on this issue will remain irreconcilable for
a long time. The President, however, has every right, particularly as a human
rights lawyer, to state his position unequivocally on this issue and I respect
him for that.
Victims of bombings
However,
taken as whole, for a speech that was part a lesson in political history and
part tribute to the many who played major les in our struggle for independence,
the President left out key sections of our community who are more than dotted
ellipses in that historical narrative. Specifically, there was no mention or
tribute to the many innocent people who lost their lives through the very
turbulent years of sustained bombings in the early 1960s. One doesn't have to
apportion blame or take sides to acknowledge that these dastardly acts
occurred. Here is a sampling of what the President left out of his version of
our history.
In
1962, the ceremonial opening of Ghana's third Parliament in the new Republic
which was scheduled for September 25 was postponed until October 2 because of a
bomb explosion in the West End Arena of Accra on September 20 that injured 100
people.
According
to the London Times "[ a] public meeting had been held in the West End
Arena and the crowd set out in a torchlight procession led by Young Pioneers
when after less than a mile, the bombs went off. Most of the casualties were
members of the Young Pioneers." This explosion came right off the heels of
an earlier bomb attempt on President Nkrumah's life on September 9 on Independence
Avenue.
Kulungugu explosion
The
Kulungungu explosion which occurred when a bomb grenade was thrown near
President Nkrumah's car while on his way back from talks with President Maurice
Yameogo in Upper Volta did not feature either. President Nkrumah himself
escaped unhurt but four people were killed and 56 others, including members of
the President's entourage, were injured. This bomb attempt so shook the world
that Queen Elisabeth II and British Prime Minister Sir Harold Macmillan sent
messages of sympathy. The Queen's
message read as follows: - "I was shocked to learn of the attempt on your
life. My husband and I are greatly relieved that you are unharmed. Please
convey an expression of our sincere sympathy to those who were injured."
Yet, this cataclysmic event that shaped our political discourse and even led to
the unprecedented sacking of then Chief Justice Arku Korsah did not get a
mention in our current President's version of our history. One wonders: did Chief
Justice Arku Korsah not get a mention because of 'Re: Akoto'?
It
is also particularly notable because among the series of prosecutions brought
by the Attorney-General for the Kulungugu bomb attack was one 'State v Otchere'
heard by a Special Court constituted by Justice K.Arku Korsah, Chief Justice,
Mr Justice W. B. Van Lare and Mr Justice E.Akufo Addo, both Justices of the
Supreme Court of course, Justice E.Akufo-Addo was the father of our current
President. And all three Justices found Robert Benjamin Otchere (a member of
Parliament for the United Party) "guilty on both counts of conspiracy to
commit treason and treason and convict[ed] him accordingly." The Justices
(including the current President's father) also concluded that Joseph Yaw Manu, the second accused, also a
member of the United Party "bears full responsibility for all the acts of
the said Obetsebi Lamptey [celebrated by the current President] and therefore
for the Kulungugu incident, and we therefore, find him guilty on both counts of
(a) conspiracy to commit treason and (b) treason, and we convict him
accordingly".
But
neither this nor the victims of Kulungugu were acknowledged in our current
President's version of our political history.
These
atrocities were preceded by explosions much earlier, and prior to the visit of
the Queen of England to Ghana. On November 6,1961, a bomb explosion went off
near the national lottery building in Accra. While no damage was done to
property and no persons were injured, the police took away and detonated other
timed devices found at the location. According to reports, three hours later,
"a second bomb went off near big roadside hoarding carrying coloured
pictures of the Queen and Nkrumah".All that occurred while the British
Foreign Secretary Duncan Sandys was on a reconnaissance visit to Accra to
assess possible security risks with the Queen's visit. To assure Her Majesty's
safety, Sandys undertook a personal tour of Accra and at one point even got out
of his car at Black Star Square to examine the damage to the Independence Arch
from an earlier explosion on Saturday, November 4.
Things
got so unstable and frightening that the British government threatened to
cancel the ate visit by the Queen. In a' statement to the House of Commons in
London, Foreign Secretary Duncan Sandys assured British Members of Parliament that,
"If it should appear to us [the British government] that the visit would
involve abnormal risks, we would not hesitate to advise cancellation."
Earlier, the British government and Yard officers to Accra to examine security
arrangements to ensure it was safe for Her Majesty to travel.
Pretence and trials
The
Queen's visit passed without incident but the bomb explosions did not cease
after she left or the Kulungugu trials. On January 9,1963, another bomb
explosion claimed the lives of four people and injured 85 in Accra. By then,
such bomb explosions had killed 21 people and injured 400 citizens of our newly
independent country. These faceless and nameless victims, almost all of whom
were neither politicians nor activists, did not get a mention in President's
roll of honour nor were they acknowledged even simply, as innocent victims of
the struggle.
I
had hoped that given his radical youth and his father's involvement in the
trials of the bomb atrocities that blighted our politics and nation in the
1960s, that the President would be more balanced in his historical narrative.
Alas, I was wrong.
The speech pretended to be all-inclusive, but it was sadly a partial history of our country, with a personal point of view- the President's.
The speech pretended to be all-inclusive, but it was sadly a partial history of our country, with a personal point of view- the President's.
Sixty
years on, one would think pretence, denials and obfuscations would be a thing
of the past and we would be mature and grown-up enough to admit all our faults.
The President's speech, however, demonstrates that we are not yet ready for an
open and honest conversation about our past. We will remain divided until we
get a President who is committed to healing our nation and embracing all our
stories.
So
here is to all the victims of the bomb explosions of the 1960s who were left
out of our President's address on March 6, 2017. Your sacrifices, though not
offered voluntarily, have not gone unnoticed. One day, you too will get your deserved
memorial.
Credit:
Daily Graphic
Editorial
THE DEBATE
The
debate about Ghana’s history instigated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his speech on the 60th
anniversary of Ghana’s Independence is raging like wild fire and we earnestly
hope that it would not lead to a deeper polarisation of the Ghanaian society.
We
have joined this heroic duty only as a means of clarifying our history with a
view to shaping today and moving forward into a tomorrow of hope for the
working people of Ghana.
Today,
we are republishing an article by Ekow Nelson which was originally carried by
the “Daily Graphic’ which shows the extent to which the Nkrumah government was
subverted by anti-national forces which had group themselves into a so-called
National Liberation Movement (NLM).
This
violent opposition to Nkrumah caused hundreds of deaths of innocent children,
women, and the innocent.
It
is the reckless actions of these violent tribalists which compelled the Nkrumah
Government to pass the Preventive Detention Act to save the lives and
properties of innocent Ghanaians.
It
is our hope that as we debate our history, we will pledge to never return to
the days of irresponsible opposition.
Vanderpuije Not Happy With Game Centres
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| Tsentse, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije |
Dr
Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, the Ablekuma South Member of Parliament has warned game
centres operating in the constituency to adhere to the laws barring children
under age to patronise their facilities or face closure.
He
said one of the areas of critical concern was the protection of the rights of
the child and the provision of their social amenities and support against
harmful practices, hence the need for the game centres not to admit them to
jeopardise their future.
Dr
Vanderpuije gave the warning when Heads of Basic Schools in the constituency
paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra.
He
said children were venerable and therefore needed protection, support and
guidance to save them against any negative acts.
He
said it was important for every parent or community to give due attention to
the education of their children, who would be the future leaders of the
country.
The
MP said the primary responsibility of ensuring quality teaching and learning
was to ensure greater accountability between the teachers and their students to
create a friendly environment that would encourage the children to learn hard
in their academic work.
Dr
Vanderpuije said he would continue to collaborate with the Accra Metropolitan
Assembly to put up more of the Millennium School buildings in the constituency.
He
said motivating teachers was key to improving quality, accessibility and
relevance of education, adding that; “I can assure you that teachers will be
motivated to enable them to play their roles effectively towards attainment of
this goal.”
“There
is the need for academic achievement now,” and therefore every teacher should
exhibit greater consciousness, commitment and sacrifice to efficiently teach
his or her children,” he said.
Dr
Vanderpuije said he had instituted an award ceremony for 2017 best three
schools in the constituency and to make it more competitive and urged the
teachers to avoid absenteeism.
He
called on parents to get involved in bringing their children up to be
responsible citizens by constantly liaising with the teachers to bring about
quality education.
Mr
John Wilson Adjololo, the Head-teacher of the Korle Gonno Roman Catholic Boys’
School, and the spokesperson for the teachers, expressed concern about the
children patronising the game centres in the area and called on the MP to check
their activities.
He
was grateful to the MP for his support to the area and hoped that he would not
hesitate to source further help for the schools in the constituency.
GNA
International Day of
Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
Statement
by UN Women on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital
Mutilation, 6 February 2017.
While
there has been an overall decline in the prevalence of
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) across countries, this progress is likely to be
offset by rapid population growth in countries where FGM occurs, unless efforts
to eliminate the practice are renewed in light of recent research, and urgently
stepped up.
A 2016 report of the UN Secretary-General shows the single largest factor influencing the continuation of female genital mutilation to be the desire for social acceptance and avoidance of social stigma. The social norms, customs and values that condone FGM are multi-faceted, vary across countries and even between communities, and can change over time. This presents a powerful and complex challenge for all those engaged in the effort to end FGM.
The importance of education to address negative social norms has been demonstrated in Egypt, where the reduction in the risk of girls undergoing FGM has been linked both to the educational attainment of their mothers, as well as of other women in their communities.
We have witnessed how the powerful personal testimony and advocacy of activists such as Jaha Dukureh in The Gambia can bring increased understanding of the issues to local communities and amplify the voices of a growing movement calling upon leaders to put an end to this practice.
A 2016 report of the UN Secretary-General shows the single largest factor influencing the continuation of female genital mutilation to be the desire for social acceptance and avoidance of social stigma. The social norms, customs and values that condone FGM are multi-faceted, vary across countries and even between communities, and can change over time. This presents a powerful and complex challenge for all those engaged in the effort to end FGM.
The importance of education to address negative social norms has been demonstrated in Egypt, where the reduction in the risk of girls undergoing FGM has been linked both to the educational attainment of their mothers, as well as of other women in their communities.
We have witnessed how the powerful personal testimony and advocacy of activists such as Jaha Dukureh in The Gambia can bring increased understanding of the issues to local communities and amplify the voices of a growing movement calling upon leaders to put an end to this practice.
Further
research needed
The
collection and analysis of data is crucial to better tailor our interventions
in light of the specific factors associated with the practice globally.
Further research is needed in areas outside Africa, as FGM is also
prevalent in Latin America, South-East Asia and areas of the Middle East, as
well as now being present in the United States and United Kingdom. We must pay
greater attention to the risks associated with migration and the greater
movement between borders. Women and girls are still extremely vulnerable, even
in countries which are not traditionally associated with the practice of FGM,
if families on the move maintain the practice.
Need to
complement legal structures
Legal
structures, however, are only part of the solution; they must be complemented
by multiple prevention strategies, for example mobilizing communities, and
influencing social norm change, and engaging those who can bring about those
changes, such as men and boys, civil society and faith-based leaders. In Somalia,
the Y-PEER network has helped mobilize young people, including young men to
discuss sensitive issues, such as female genital mutilation.
FGM is inextricably linked with other forms of gender inequality, such as violence against women and girls, and other harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages. To accelerate progress towards ending FGM, we are working with governments, local administrations and civil society partners to address the root causes that perpetuate unequal power relations between women and men, and also with sister agencies, such as UNICEF and UNFPA, on their long-standing campaigns. Together, we must keep this issue at the forefront of the human rights agenda.
FGM is inextricably linked with other forms of gender inequality, such as violence against women and girls, and other harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages. To accelerate progress towards ending FGM, we are working with governments, local administrations and civil society partners to address the root causes that perpetuate unequal power relations between women and men, and also with sister agencies, such as UNICEF and UNFPA, on their long-standing campaigns. Together, we must keep this issue at the forefront of the human rights agenda.
KNUST leads effort to increase aquaculture and vegetable production
By
Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Florence Afriyie Mensah
The
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is leading the
nation’s effort to increase vegetable and fish production through the
introduction of an integrated aquaculture system.
Under
this, nutrient-rich pond water and sediment would be used for fish culture and
vegetable production.
A
2015 research report of the university made available to the Ghana News Agency
(GNA) said this would not only ensure efficient use of water, nutrients and
other resources but also reduce pollution of natural water bodies for
continuous fish production even in the dry season.
It
indicated that the Department of Fisheries and Watershed Management of the
University “is rolling out a tilapia-hatchery-vegetable aquaponics system”,
under which nutrient-rich effluent water from tilapia tanks would be utilized
to grow vegetables and the clean water returned to the fish tanks - to promote
climate smart agriculture.
“To
enhance uptake, the Department has trained farmers in stocking practices, best
management practices, farm management and farm budgeting in fish
culture.”
It
has additionally identified local feed ingredients to boost tilapia production.
The
report said studies were also underway to formulate tilapia feed, using local
ingredients to bring down the cost of commercial feed.
The
Department has again located markets for various sizes of tilapia and promoting
their production in ponds to meet both domestic and commercial demands.
The
increased knowledge of the market demand for various sizes of fish among
farmers, it noted, had raised the production of tilapia and catfish in Ashanti,
Brong-Ahafo, Eastern and the Western Regions.
As
part of strategy to increase public awareness and education on fish farming,
the report announced the setting up of a Friday market at the premises of the
Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources.
The
aim is not only to market the various sizes of tilapia and other fish stocks,
but to also improve direct engagement with the general public.
The
people would have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of fish production, pond
and feed management, while engendering confidence in those eager to venture
into aquaculture business.
GNA
South Africa proposes sinister new
Afrophobic laws
A group of protesters trying to displace immigrants were
confronted by police as they attempted to enter a predominantly Somali
neighbourhood in Pretoria West. Police separated the groups and released stun
grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowds. Photo: Groundup
Government’s proposals
to clampdown on immigration and a recent disgraceful xenophobic march against
African and Asian nationals living in South Africa reveals a society from top
to bottom, across the political spectrum, confused and at odds with the values
embraced by its Constitution.
The morning of the xenophobic march, a caller into a radio show of the
national public broadcaster said, “It’s not the Pakistanis and the Somalis, but
the Nigerians who are the criminals.” Such absurd views and national
stereotyping are not new. The radio presenter dutifully read out deeply
prejudiced SMSs, which listeners had sent in, without any comment on their
stupidity.
Outrageous notions
persist with depressing frequency: the Somalis cheat local businesses, the
Zimbabweans steal jobs, the Chinese are smugglers, the Indians are crooks, the
Nigerians are scammers, and local South Africans are dead beats, who prefer to
live on social grants rather than lift a finger to help themselves.
Before the march
a pamphlet circulated saying Nigerians and
Zimbabweans ‘hijack our buildings, sell drugs, inject young South African
ladies with drugs and sell them as prostitutes’. A march against an undeniable
crime problem in the inner city is one thing, but a march against foreign
nationals is utterly unacceptable.
Such prejudice against
nationals of certain foreign states can be found among the rich and the poor;
from civil society organisations such as the Mamelodi Concerned Residents (who
convened the march) to city officials; from politicians on the left and centre
to the far right; from nurses and teachers to the police. Police regularly extort bribes, victimise or
fail to protect foreign
nationals.
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| South African President Jacob Zuma |
Recently, a circular was distributed by a
primary school saying:
‘If any foreign child arrives here on Monday we will phone the police to come
and collect your child and you can collect your child at the police station’.
It said the instructions came after meeting Home Affairs officials. After a
public outcry, it was withdrawn.
To mark his first
hundred days in office, newly elected DA Mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba
said he was “declaring war against illegality”, by which he meant the 115,000
undocumented, mostly African, immigrants he alleges occupy the inner city and
are getting in the way of a business opportunity for property developers. So
much for the man who founded the hair product line Black Like Me.
In the following weeks,
Mashaba was pleading for peace and condemning xenophobia. But the dog whistle had been heard.
On a wing and prayer,
South Africa has not seen the same scale of displacement, murder and mayhem it
saw during the spate of violence characterised by Afrophobia of 2008. However,
the country is on a knife edge. Any politician using the word “war”, while
promising mass evictions and blaming immigrants for government’s failure to police
crime and steward the economy is courting disaster.
Violence against
immigrants has never stopped; it continually simmers with devastating consequences for innocent
people caught
in the middle. Eleven Somali nationals were killed in Khayelitsha, Cape Town,
in the past month alone, including three shopkeepers who were gunned down on
the same day at different locations according to police. The instances of
violence against African immigrants in this new year countrywide are too many
to enumerate here.
Officially, on paper
and under the Constitution, South Africa has one of the best and most advanced
approaches to immigration, allowing immigrants to settle freely wherever they
choose and enjoy full and equal protection under the bill of rights. This is a
humane, practical and sensible approach.
But on the ground,
African and Asian immigrants face institutionalised bureaucratic harm,
with numerous policy decisions and administrative actions being taken, such as closing access to processing centres, that almost seem designed to turn
perfectly law-abiding foreign nationals into
undocumented and
therefore “illegal” immigrants. The immigration process is so opaque, most opt
for asylum.
By not allowing people
to work, study, become documented and assimilate, government creates the very
conditions for which it then proceeds to blame foreign nationals.
Immigrants locked
themselves in a home as the violence spread. Photo: Groundup
There are now thousands
of Malawians and Zimbabweans detained and living in the most
appalling conditions in
South African prisons.
Of course, there are
also instances where South Africans have protected, helped or gone to the rescue of foreign
nationals and
where people co-exist quite happily. But politicians exploit prejudice. Lip
service is paid to African solidarity, but it is clear that both the ANC and
the DA want to clamp down on immigration in the erroneous belief that this will
somehow relieve social pressures. It will not. Only the economy and a less
corrupt government can do that. Wiping out a class of entrepreneurs and sorely
needed skills will do more harm than good to South Africa’s failing economic
engine.
A new green paper (a
discussion document drafted by a Ministry and the first step to making new
laws) from the Department of Home Affairs is extremely sinister, and so is the
proposal for a new Border Management Authority.
Under the proposals,
asylum seekers will lose their rights and will be prevented from living
normally while their cases are being assessed.
Most alarmingly,
processing centres are to built on the border, with the South African
government seemingly not having learned a thing from the disastrous examples of
the European Union, Turkey and Australia.
This is the South
African version of Trump’s wall. It won’t work. It will create centres of
misery and abuse. It will have a terrible effect on the areas where these places
are created. It will harm South Africa’s international image and it will cost a
fortune down the line.
It will be interesting
to see who gets the contracts in the US to build Trump’s Mexico wall and
administer it. Soon it will be time to start asking, the same questions, closer
to home.
A hidden continent Found
Earth has a concealed
continent called ‘Zealandia’ hidden in the Pacific Ocean and attached to New
Zealand, according to newly published research.
A team of 11
researchers found that New Zealand and New Caledonia are actually part of a
huge 4.9 million sq km (1.89 million square-mile) single slab of continental
crust that is separate from Australia.
The study, published by the Geological Society of
America, found that the region is 94 percent submerged, mostly as a result of
crustal thinning before the supercontinental break-up, using upgraded
satellite-based elevation and gravity map technology.
"The scientific
value of classifying Zealandia as a continent is much more than just an extra
name on a list," the scientists wrote. "That a continent can
be so submerged yet unfragmented makes it a useful and thought-provoking
geodynamic end member in exploring the cohesion and breakup of continental
crust."
The team says it should
be considered a geological continent, rather than the previously-held theory
that it was a collection of continental islands and fragments.
“Based on various
lines of geological and geophysical evidence, particularly those accumulated in
the last two decades, we argue that Zealandia is not a collection of partly
submerged continental fragments but is a coherent 4.9 Mkm2 continent,” the
study concludes.
As geologists count
Europe and Asia as one giant continent called ‘Eurasia’, the new addition of
Zealandia brings the total number of official geologic continents to seven.© Zealandia’s crust
thickness typically ranges from 10 to 30km (six to 19 miles) and is roughly the
size of India. It’s believed to have broken off from Antarctica about 100
million years ago, and then again from Australia about 80 million years ago.
Researchers behind the
study are calling Zealandia a “realisation” rather than a “discovery”,
as New Zealand has been considered a continent in its own right by some experts
in the field for years.
"This is not a
sudden discovery but a gradual realisation; as recently as 10 years ago we
would not have had the accumulated data or confidence in interpretation to
write this paper," the study’s authors wrote.
“Zealandia
illustrates that the large and the obvious in natural science can be overlooked.”
James Baldwin (1924-87) on American “innocence”
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| James Baldwin |
By Prakash Kona
In
their blind rejection of tragedy, in their fear of that dreadful genre that
tells us the truth of our failures as individuals and as a people, in that lack
of knowledge that our public lives are doomed to destruction because our
private lives are warped, Americans have condemned themselves to an
unforgivable innocence. Nowhere is this innocence more clearly revealed than in
their foreign policy in the third world.
"No
society can smash the social contract and be exempt from the consequences, and
the consequences are chaos for everybody in the society."
“I
never met a people more infantile in my life”, the black American writer James
Baldwin observed of Americans while speaking to Richard Goldstein in 1984. He
would certainly have been amused with Donald Trump who embodies the infantilism
of an entire nation at its most sophisticated.
Innocence
is one word that Baldwin uses in a way that combines pity with disgust. It is
not the Christian child-like innocence that is a passport to the kingdom of
heaven. It is termed innocence because of a refusal to grow; an innocence
trapped in an unwillingness to take responsibility for one’s actions; a
dangerous kind of innocence because it devastates the lives of others with
absolute conviction in its own righteousness; an innocence incapable of coming
to terms with reality. It is the innocence with which David will betray himself
in the process of betraying those who love him in the novel Giovanni’s
Room. It is the innocence of someone who cannot have a personal life
because they are incapable of being committed to themselves as persons.
‘Infantilism’
is the word that is a synonym to this kind of innocence because it prefers to
see the past as utopia rather than as history. Interestingly, as a nation
America celebrates that kind of innocence which is reflected in popular culture
especially cinema and music. It is a culture that has no place for tragedy
unless couched in consumerist fantasies of a life forever. If, according to
Baldwin, “white Americans do not believe in death” it is because they have
rejected tragedy. As Baldwin notes in The Fire Next Time, “Life is tragic
simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one
day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time.”
I
don’t think Donald Trump is aware of that sun which is going down for the last
time. I don’t think Obama was aware of the essential tragedy that lies in being
caught within a temporality that limits all human power. The same goes for
Reagan, Clinton, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. Yet, every post-war President of the US
shares in that terrible innocence that is at the heart of what being an
American is all about.
In
their blind rejection of tragedy, in their fear of that dreadful genre that
tells us the truth of our failures as individuals and as a people, in that lack
of knowledge that our public lives are doomed to destruction because our
private lives are warped, Americans have condemned themselves to an
unforgivable innocence. Nowhere is this innocence more clearly revealed than in
their foreign policy in the third world. In no uncertain terms, Baldwin makes
the point toward the end of his last interview with Quincy Troupe, “It’s the
only hope the world has, that the notion of Western hegemony and civilization
be contained.” In sustaining the hegemony of powerful global elites who serve
as engine for corporate capitalism America is guilty of keeping alive the
notion of a civilization obsessed with its own sense of racial, moral and
political superiority.
A
culture or civilization must have a notion of mortality in order to come out of
the morbid state of innocence. Power, fame and wealth thrive as ideals to be
achieved where people have an illusion of permanence. In the
epic Mahabharata the demi-god Yaksha asked King Yudhishthira, “What
is the greatest wonder on earth?” The just king replied with perfect
equanimity: “We see death all around us; yet, we think that our life on earth is
permanent.” Not only is it a response that would have pleased Baldwin
immensely, but something he himself would have given if the Yaksha would pose
him such a seemingly strange question.
While
refusing to see himself as a “spokesman” Baldwin insists on viewing himself as
a “witness.” “A spokesman assumes that he is speaking for others.” This does
not happen with the one who bears “witness to the truth.” The truth for Baldwin
is that America as a nation is trapped in its own innocence, in its own
language and in its own false image of itself as a leader and liberator of the
world. Though this to a large extent is reflected in its race relations it is
true of everything else as well such as politics and sexuality.
When
asked if there was a “particularly American component of homophobia,” Baldwin
responded, “Americans are terrified of feeling anything. And homophobia is
simply an extreme example of the American terror that’s concerned with growing
up.” Where race, sexuality and politics will meet is the point of realization
that if you cannot mature in your understanding of one of them, you are not
going to mature in the others as well. Thus, racism will only be the other face
of homophobia – and both, are rooted in the same “terror of the flesh” that
underlies a foreign policy wherein weapons are sold to the ruling classes of
the third world and reactionary nations such as Saudi Arabia and Israel enjoy
the diplomatic and military support of the United States.
The
innocence which in fact is fear to “experience” life is in fact a deep-rooted
fear of knowing the other person. It is a fear that disturbs because it tells
us the truth about ourselves. It is only through the truth that one could ever
come out of the self-imposed innocence. Talking of Norman Mailer, whose “gifts”
he admires and is “fond” of as a person, Baldwin notes that, “he's a perfect
example of what it means to be a white writer in this century, a white American
writer in this country. It affords too many opportunities to avoid reality.”
The
discovery of the truth about oneself is impossible where one does not deal with
the reality that takes the shape of another person, and not an imaginary figure
constructed by television, film-makers and politicians.
This
terror of the other person is a terror of being spoken back to and described in
terms that we do not like to hear. The “real terror that engulfs the white
world,” according to Baldwin is, “the terror of being described by those
they've been describing for so long.” The alternative to the terror of facing
the truth as is revealed through the mouth of another person is of course a
death-like innocence coming out of a terror of living.
*
Prakash Kona is a writer, teacher, researcher and Professor of English
Literature at The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad,
India. He is the author of Conjurer of Nights [poetry: 2012, Waterloo
Press, Hove, UK]; Nunc Stans [Creative Non-fiction: 2009, Crossing
Chaos enigmatic ink, Ontario, Canada], Pearls of an Unstrung
Necklace [Fiction: 2005, Fugue State Press, New York] and Streets
that Smell of Dying Roses [Experimental Fiction: 2003, Fugue State Press,
New York]. His research interests broadly include women’s studies, film studies
and Third World politics and writing.
Source:
Pambazuka
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