By Okey Anueyiagu
As a young boy growing up in a household of books, I questioned many of life’s
contradictions. My father, who was an avid writer, editing many radical
newspapers, provided me with an environment of information on various
issues stemming from racism, colonialism, and the injustices that rule our
world.
One of the major issues that agitated my mind then was the issue of race and
the prejudices against the black race. I was betrothed with how insidiously the
problem of race, color, tribe and religion all interconnect with a range of words
and images, to the extent that black becomes associated with the dark, the
evil, the shadowy, the hopeless, and with sadness and corruption, while white
is associated with hopeful, light, cheerful, clean, elegance and purity.
I began to ask my father questions surrounding these anomalies. I asked him
the real meaning of being black. I wanted to know how these systemic despairs
about the black race have become prevalent. My father was very patient with
my prodding, and somewhat nagging questions. He took his time and explained
certain things to me.
My father would often point me in the direction of his writings; his ploy to get
the whiteman, (the colonialist) to realize his racist follies; to bring him to a
psychological point, where he feels a certain sense of compassion and becomes
self-conscious of his sins against the black race. He allowed me ample time to
read and discover by myself the genesis of the problems of colonialism and the
impact on our race and our country.
As a child, my early susceptibility to the fears and anxieties of oppression and
discrimination, be it from within or from outside, was palpable and
perspicacious. I felt a certain gravity, and an unusual strain, mixed with deep
anger and confusion. I constantly brooded over these occurrences, wondering
if the problem of colour and its complications was real or imaginary.
It did not take me long to realize that racism is part of the exploitative motives
and actions of the white race against the black and brown peoples of the
world. For the white man, the realization that the black skin is all that is
required to keep him and members of his race in money, prosperity, power and
comfort was the motivation for racism.
began to mature and started reading and studying the many elements of
race issues, I encountered the role of religion and the economy in the
perpetration of this evil. From time, I became aware that until we, the black
and brown emancipate ourselves from mental and physical slavery, and
become no longer the white man’s social and economic prey, the problems of
race may never go away.
Throughout my academic life, I have become quite aware of my blackness
without any iota of ambivalence. I have never seen my colour as a category to
transcend, or a limitation to overcome, but was deeply inspired to constantly
make conscious and passionate effort to affirm my blackness with pride.
Today, as I reflect on my introduction to my father’s editorials on racism and
colonialism; his preaching and admonitions on our black identity, and all the
poignant complications with which the subjects were surrounded, I feel
confident that I may have learnt a thing or two.
My feelings deeply represent a pilgrimage to the soil of my father and his
ancestors. I believe that every black person, no matter what planet he or she is
from, must undertake a spiritual journey and an understanding of the meaning
of being black. There is an excruciating pain that is associated with the colour
black, and also a gleaming beauty too. That pain and the power to summount
it, and transform it into strength in endurance is the essence of being Black.
With a touch of reminiscent of my father’s writings on racism and colonialism, I
began my inquisitive journey into the vileness of this phenomenon. With the
publication of my book; Biafra, The Horrors of War, The Story of a Child
Soldier, I started a new book prospectively titled; Try Being Black For One Day.
This book in the works, chronicles the journey of blacks into slavery, the pains
and agonies of this perilous crime against humanity, the wickedness of
colonialism and then, my personal experiences of racism in the hands and
homes of white people.
The matters of Black and White as complicated as they have become may
never provide us with a resolution to our quest for peace in the world.
Dr.Okey Anueyiagu
July, 2022
