Back to Africa?

Planning on going 'back to Africa'? Planning on relocating there?

I have an issue with so many black people wanting to go 'back to Africa' - you may have heard it yourself. Africa - said with a whimsical gleam and a sigh- 'Africa!'

Now I am not criticising those who are off-spring of descendants taken forcibly from parts of Africa to far off lands - we may be the visible products of those people. But I am now of the strong opinion that there isn't anything to 'go back to'. Understand my point. I am not saying Africa is full of all the negative stereotypes, those which have been force fed to the masses. What I am saying is don't go to 'Africa' (the continent, not the country - I do have to spell that out) seeking a life 'we' had many generations ago. What does that mean anyway?
Africa is like anywhere else - there is beauty, hardship, wealth, vibrancy, educated and the non-educated and it is difficult to pigeonhole anything about it.
Africa is a diverse, rich, amazing, continent with people who just want to get on with their lives.

Now, which part do you want to go back to? Do you know anyone there? Do you understand the culture? Are you going there to teach the 'natives' the errors of their ways? Are you, even worse, going there on a missionary trip to bring the Lord/Allah/Buddha or any other deity into the lives of the people of the continent? Do you view people who live in North Africa as 'not real Africans'?
Other questions to ask are: What can you actually contribute to the diverse continent? What skills and abilities do you have that are necessary for you to have a full and productive life there? How will you be really viewed by the citizens of your chosen country?
Answer these basic questions before you set out on your relocation journey. I am always encouraging people to take a chance and do something different. Forget the fears which your societies put on you to enable you to stay in jobs and lifestyles which are not fulfilling just so you can keep paying taxes and get a pension. So I am a strong advocate of trying your luck rather than remain sheep-like and then die.

I knew a black woman from the Americas whose marriage broke down after many years. She was devastated and after a long period of severe depression, tried to get to grips with the fact she was a single mother and experiencing the trauma of divorce. She decided that Africa was the way for her to be heading. Whilst visiting Ghana (after a dream told her to go to Africa) she was welcomed by the people and was crowned Queen Mother of a village. She travelled to Nigeria and became a Yoruba Priestess and learned the rituals and incantations of some of the people.
Some people I know, born in Africa, raised in Africa and still have blood ties with the continent state that those people are viewed, in some cases, as cash-cows. Africa doesn't need New Age shamans to teach their grandmothers to suck eggs. Africa doesn't need more theistic legends.
Africa, the continent, needs people who will contribute positively to the development of the individual countries. Scientists, educators, engineers, town planners, astronomers, ethical bankers and investors, recycling expertise, medical staff and so on. But guess what? They already exist right there in Africa, but are lured away, understandably, by the enticements of the 'developed' countries, draining the countries of their human resources. Under-developing the continent continues by the big guns. Destabilizing the efforts made by many people toward progress.

Designer Africans: Another sad sight are the 'designer Africans' - you know those who worship anything Egyptian and wear big chunky ankhs and wrap their heads with cloths, swathed in white clothes designed by someone in Greenwich Village or Portobello Road or the Latin Quarter. They feel part of an exclusive group; superior and visibly so.
What am I saying? You don't need to be part of a group to make a difference. You certainly don't need to show your inverted insecurities so visibly.
How do I know this? Because I have been there, experienced that faux feeling of being superior and, with hindsight, it is all very sad. Being part of the 'designer African' groups made me feel included whilst living in a society where I felt, at times, excluded. Attending meetings where everything about other 'races' was viewed with disdain - history regarding white people started and stopped with barbarism.
If you are a person who loves being part of a clique, that's fine, but just accept that that is what it is - a clique, a club exclusive. A place where those who don't accept your views or education or supposed viewpoints or worldviews are on the outside.
Just do a search on Google and see how many cliques are available where we, black people, spend money trying to identify with an Egyptian era which was corrupt, based on mythology and theism, exclusive, elitist, cruel and barbaric, sycophantic and full of superstition - amongst other things. Why are we attaching ourselves to that era?

I have a book in front of me as I write which I bought 15 years ago in a black bookshop in London. It is by a man called Ra Un Nefer Amen entitled 'A Wholistic Guide to Female Health Disorders'. The preface states the following:

‘...Throughout the book, you are advised to seek the help of professionals,
especially those involved in Homeopathic medicine.
The homeopathic use of herbs and minerals is advocated here because we have found it to be constant with the laws governing the functions of the body.
''Homeopathy'' has been defined as ''like cures like'', that is, give the substance to cure an illness that the substance itself will cause! In order to comprehend this
seeming paradox, let's look into a not too well comprehended (by doctors) law of
the body's interaction with substances (drugs, certain nutrients, etc.).’

Now, I can only applaud people who give health advice which will enable others to be the best they can and overcome some form of illness. I cannot do the same for others who peddle pseudo-science as fact. Homeopathy is fake. Homeopathy is a placebo system which appears to make a difference because a homeopathic 'expert' has spent an hour each week with the 'patient' as opposed to 8 minutes maximum with a hard-pressed GP. You need no medical qualifications in order to set yourself up as homeopathic practitioner, no vetting - just decide one day that that will be your business, gen up on the buzz words, read a few books written by other con artists, get a few empty bottles and fancy labels and start advertising. Watch the money start to roll in.

There is no other word for it but criminal. Prescribing water - which is what they do - pretending it has 'magical curative properties' and charging money for it is criminal. Conning people into believing that taking Nux Vomica , Rhus Tox or any other homeopathic remedies is plain wrong.

I understand that we, as humans, are largely ignorant of so many things, but we now have the opportunity to free ourselves of false ideologies which are designed to turn our minds from reason and rationale and fatten the pockets and the prestige of those who should know better.

These 'back to Africa' people, in this instance, are negative. They promote ideas about spirituality and how wonderfully spiritual black people are - some even say we are genetically 'higher' (whatever that means) from other 'races'. They wrap themselves in the glowing adoration of their minions and worst of all they stop people living in the here and now. Just think of how much time is spent harking back to an era that is not now - is not in this moment. How much time is spent conducting nonsense rituals, saying prayers to non-existent entities, so many rules and regulations on what you can and cannot do as a woman or a man. It is sad and unproductive. It doesn't help - only hinders and, ironically, arrests development.

I urge caution, people. I urge caution.

My 'home' is wherever I am - Africa or anywhere else.