Only The Simple Despise Culture

Different religions, Different beliefs

Undermining my culture

Looking down upon my tradition

Making fun of my language

Telling my children..

They have no God!

                                        - Lucky Dube

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of decades, Lucky Dube was a South African international reggae artist famed for his electrifying stage performances and thought-provoking, conscious music that tackled social injustice in its various manifestations.

His gift of gab that was so effortlessly translated into timeless, melodious tunes immortalised in more than 15 studio albums spanning over two decades can only be compared to that of Tupac Shakur, the slain American gangstar rapper, and of course the legendary Bob Marley. The trio's work ethic is something worth emulating - a story for another day.

I refer to myself as an authority when it comes to the work and life of these three artists as I have purposely studied almost all of their work over time, including some of their posthumous offerings; and their magnum opus which can best be summed up as their genius to celebrate life in all its aspects, the good and the bad, supersedes any of their popular songs that earned them fortunes. Everyone on earth can enjoy at least one of their songs because there is always something for everyone for the diverse aspects of life be it on love, politics, rights, divorce, loss, culture, tragedy, partying, the afterlife, food and so forth that one can  relate to and that at times speaks too closely to heart, thus confirming music’s role as a therapeutic agent. In my opinion, that’s the mark of greatness in an artist. I’m not sure you can genuinely say that about many well-known artists, living or not. The Beatles might come close, if what some of my acquaintances say is true; but I’ll soon find out.

Back to the topic at hand, I do not in any way profess to be a follower of the Nazaretha Church ,which is one of the oldest indigenous churches in Africa, as the late Dube was. However, the sentiments expressed in the above excerpt from the opening lyrics of Shembe (is the way) form the basis of my opinion today that I am sure can be echoed by half the globe with a definite sense of pride and I dare say that You too can relate.

Plus I love the organ which gives the song a religious connotation from the outset, the percussion, the trumpet, the bass, beats - I love beats - the magnificent back up singers, and the melodious lyrics from the maestro himself. You should probably listen to the song right now if you never have -  search in Google, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGXM6wbYNpw , Tubidy or whatever works; just play it before you proceed so that we can ride on the same wave from here on.

Identity

The concept of wa-kwitu¹ (a person from our place-in Kamba language) popularised in the 80’s by a certain Kenyan author (I’m a bit embarrassed I can’t recall his name nor the book title despite taking all reasonable effort, but was illuminating nevertheless) is based on the premise that tribe precedes the individual; that is to say you are first born of a certain tribe or lineage from where you derive your name and identity.

Therefore, you join the community by receiving a name and must continue propagating its ideals from a personal standpoint as well as world view. You’d agree that if you were born in the Middle East, you would most probably be a Muslim, or if your parents were Indian, there’s a high chance that holidays like Diwali and The Ganesh festivals would be prominently marked on your calendar.

In the same token, culture comes before nationality and religion.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was taught by his parents to observe the Jewish traditions to the letter. For instance, he was circumcised on the 8^th day as was the Jewish custom for every boy child; and He also memorably celebrated The Passover that commemorates the Jews’ last day in Egypt in the last supper with His disciples, and so forth.

As a matter of fact He says in Mathew 5:17  that, “Do not think I came to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill it.” Thus underscoring the fact that religion is meant to nourish one’s spirituality,but social mannerisms that set a people apart and that define how they interact are what constitute culture, and that none should be neglected at the expense of the other.

It is noteworthy that Jesus had a strong identity with his Jewish culture so much so that in his early ministry there’s an instance where he had refused to heal the daughter of a Canaanite woman who had been possessed by demons because she was not Jewish!

Language

Nobel laureate for literature nominee Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o who holds dual professorship in Comparative Literature and Performance Studies at the University of California, Irvine, advocates for the use of indigenous languages to tell stories of a people so as to ensure that they do not lose their intended meaning during translation and that such languages are not swallowed up by the lingua franca viz English, French, German e.t.c which  might also not tell the story as well as the vernacular would.

The idea does not only make economic sense, in so far as these people can benefit from the proceeds (monetary and otherwise) of translating their diverse works into other languages, but  also draws interest from diverse quarters.

A classic illustration of this is Paulo Coelho, the legendary Brazilian author of bestsellers such as The Alchemist,The Zahir and Adultery who introduced his country, previously only known for soccer and The Carnival festival, as a literature powerhouse just as Nobel laureate nominee Professor Ngugi did with his native Kenya - the only difference being that the latter was accepted by his peers at home before launching in to the diaspora while the converse was the case for the former.

Professor Ngugi proceeds to explain that the first way the colonialists, slave and apartheid masters ensured that they had their victims by the noose is by the use of language. They purposed that the subject gradually develop some level of disdain for his own vernacular, and whether by design or by his own vernacular’s limited vocabulary as pertains to the application Western education, disseminated information in the foreign language.This action was two-pronged because it also ensured that education other than that acquired in the classroom was relegated as backward and retrogressive. The master needed only provide an impetus for the native to hate himself and his way of life; and boy, did he succeed!

At this juncture it’s proper to recognise that colonization of the victims was not only a Western affair. Many African societies invaded other fellow African Nations and annihilated the men and married their women (we’ll get back to that a bit later) in order to propagate their values and culture as superior to others' as they expanded their horizons and scrambled for the limited resources.

It is also noteworthy that the invasion was not limited to fellow Africans. In The Barbary slave trade, the North Africans invaded Europe and operated white slave markets after capturing them and also seizing their trading ships along the Mediterranean for centuries - a not so popular topic according to  Professor Robert Davis in his book Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800.

Education

The sole purpose of education has always been to enable an individual make better decisions in life when they act on it. Whether one attains it in a classroom setting or at the feet of a master craftsman, it remains incumbent on him or her to reproduce what they have learned for personal growth with the superior objectives of advancing the knowledge and mentoring others in future.

While formal, western education is largely materialistic and profit-centred, Culture is pragmatic and relationship - centred. The learning and application happens in real time  through interaction with mentors as they share wisdom passed from generation to generation on how to deal with various life eventualities; holding true to the adage that to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

A lucky, wise person is the one who pursues the best of both worlds.

Commercialising culture

Other than exploiting their gift of administration to spread their tentacles across the world in the last few centuries, The British were able to remain dominant by exporting their rich and diverse culture in the form of language, fashion or dressing, invented almost all manner of sports for recreation that we are hooked to (largely as a result of meticulous marketing), music, science, theatre and literature.

World's highest try scorer,Collins Injera heading for the touch line.

Though we have continuously outshined the inventors, we have invariably become net-importers of culture.

Quick thought: Which Olympic sport can attribute its origin to your country?

Are you saying your forefathers  didn’t have any games for recreation? I digress.

It is also important to appreciate that culture affects our very own way of life and by extension how we do business. It is a key consideration for businesses when entering new markets whereby its impact is thoroughly researched  before such entry. This is because what might be acceptable to your own people might not be as easily accepted by others.

A reality in this regard commonly taught in business schools is the issue of translating slogans into the foreign market’s dialect. Like Pepsodent learned the hard way when they entered the South East Asia where people eat the betel nuts to blacken their teeth as a mark of beauty; their slogan ‘brighten your teeth’ became counter-productive to the launch.

Gender Equality a fallacy

In almost all cultures, women are considered as delicate and precious, if not superior to men. As a matter of fact, there’s a saying that goes, 'God could not be everywhere so He created mothers'.

So, women who see nothing better to do with their lives than to try and equate themselves with men usually sell themselves too short. There’s nothing wrong with ambition as long as it is not misguided by insecurity and egotistic factors.

It is a proven fact that all great men in history were richly influenced by their mothers or mother figures even at their peak productivity. Is there a nobler role than that? Abraham Lincoln is known to have said, ''Everything I am, I owe it to my mother.'' 

Moving forward, I feel it would be more effective if we discussed about gender equity as opposed to gender equality. 

In most cultures, women have no age-sets like men do, and their fundamental role as the carriers of the community is why they were and still are held in such high regard. After reaching marriageable age, a woman would be married off to the most suitable man regardless of his race, nationality, tribe or religion! in exchange for wealth to the family. This cannot be said of men.

It’s such a disgrace, therefore, that a growing number of spineless men are purporting  to be too westernized or over-religious to the extent of deeming their culture as inferior or unnecessary altogether. Men are supposed to be custodians of culture and should be its proud ambassador.

For all intents and purposes polygamy might be impractical today, but this could explain why African cultures rewarded it with a higher status since their lineage would not be confined to their localities or even wider borders. Think of Barack Hussein Obama,Sr. or Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

Subculture

Having said that, culture is not only under threat from invasion by other mainstream cultures. Urban trends and fads have taken root in almost every facet of our youth’s lives; from language, dressing, group dynamics, music, sports and even religion. This can be evident in the sheng or pidgin language, the urban dictionary, fashion, tattoos, gang associations as well as cult following of sport and music icons.

The danger of these subcultures is that they normally don’t outlast a generation. What your parent appreciated as trendy music or fashion, unless you are the eclectic type, would probably not be hip to you. Unfortunately some youth do not recover during this impressionable stage.

Nonetheless, these subcultures also do have a positive side in that they eradicate negative ethnicity which brought our country into a precipice after the 2007 General Elections. Children born after that will in future not take us seriously if they learn that we almost destroyed our nation because of our last names.

Tolerance

The thing about culture is, what might be stupid to you might be sacrosanct to another. Therefore, a higher degree of tolerance portrays intelligence.

You can always learn from other cultures to improve on your own lifestyle. It might be on how you dress, people skills, food, music, folklore and so forth.

What is dangerous, and as Africans we get so vulnerable owing to our generally disadvantaged socio-economic status, is following others' cultural practices blindly just because they throw us a buck.

Most westerners, for instance, do not understand how offensive and unAfrican homosexuality is. Despite what science says and what the bill of rights pronounces, male to male intimacy is a dud from the outset in that it does not serve the primary objective of propagating the forefathers’ lineage.

Therefore,while imbibing what is good and progressive with other cultures, it is important to ensure that our fundamental beliefs are not diluted for the sake of courting acceptance from anyone. Steve Covey (7 Habits Of Highly Effective People) advises that it is easy to make decisions when you know what your values are.

Just to play the devil’s advocate here for a moment, should such a time come when we as a people view homosexuality as an acceptable way of life, we’ll embrace it after going through what its western proponents have. For instance, to compare the Americans who ratified their constitution two centuries ago, with some recently formed republics like Kenya which promulgated her very progressive constitution barely 5 years ago is getting our priorities in the wrong order, as our President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta reminded US President Obama during his visit to Kenya last year.

In the United States it took decades of lobbying, reforms, public sensitisation and scientific research for such laws to be okayed and still most conservative, Christian States will hear none of it to-date!

It is imperative that as a people we do not follow others’ cultures blindly without first interrogating the substance behind their initial objective. So, while we adopt their progressive lifestyles, let’s leave their bad ones to them.

In Conclusion

Without proper, religious and/or cultural grounding from a young age, youth become like smoke in the wind and can be easily swayed to engage in unacceptable vices so long as they find acceptance and an identity. The importance of culture in this regard rests in the fact that it focuses on the role of mentors to guide the younger on the ways of life. Everyday becomes a learning process and correction is instant through reprimand with reference to folklore, taboo and sometimes directed superstition.

For instance, a common superstition is that if you see your elder relative’s nakedness, you’ll instantly turn blind. Of course there’s no scientific basis for this, but it worked well to curtail chances of incestuous relationships arising, and people indicted of such acts were forthwith ostracized.

Ponder this: In the past, most traditional societies had no jails, juvenile correctional facilities, street children, child trafficking and rehabs. What changed?

There’s no culture that is superior to the other; the bottom line is how does such culture enhance the lives of its people.

With this in mind, it is easy to recognise that there’s a lot of good that can be learned from all cultures. Appreciating your own culture will, therefore, enable you to see value in other people’s cultures as well without patronizing them.

Irrespective of where you come from, have strong pride and a warrior-like defiance should someone dare threaten the good that is your forefathers’ teachings as the legendary Lucky Dube closes in the song Shembe:

       ‘No one will undermine my religion,

       No one will undermine my culture anymore!’

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1. I would appreciate any leads on this