AS BLACK PEOPLE AFRICA’S OUR HOME!

Pan-African icon Marcus Garvey once said, ‘Africa is for the Africans at home and abroad.’ Well, the message is being heard loud and clear in this interview with Shakina Chinedu, who left the UK for Africa.

She’s a member of the African Diaspora Returnees Association and explains her decision to make Gambia her new life. Despite being born in the UK, she says her family were never fully ‘accepted’ in society. There’s also a few choice words for the reporter who pedals negative cliches about Africa.

Of course, the diaspora returning to the motherland is nothing new. As early as 1887, the Kansas African Emigration Association sought to repatriate Africans from the United States in order to build ‘a United States of Africa for the elevation of the African.’

Shakina does a good job explaining why making the move has been worthwhile for her. Yes, there’s sacrifice. But as she puts it, ‘If you think the West was paved in Gold, it wasn’t.' Africa likes her and she likes Africa. What’s not to like?