NOT YET UHURU: WHY AFRICA’S TRUE LIBERATION IS PSYCHOLOGICAL

In this clip, anthropologist Dr Marimba Ani states a bold and uncompromising truth: the most excellent tool of colonialism has been the conquest of the African mind. European dominance persisted not through violence alone but because Africans had learned to see themselves through the eyes of their conquerors, a perspective that unfortunately persisted for many.

She argues that some Africans today still subjugate themselves mentally and unconsciously. The colonial venture was so successful that true liberation now needs not only political treaties or military might but the intellectual determination to demolish the myth of European superiority, aka white supremacy. Indeed, if we could eradicate this, then their influence would crumble.

Her comments resonate with the revolutionary insight of pan-African titans such as Kwame Nkrumah and Walter Rodney: imperialism extends beyond blatant external control; it becomes internalised, often unrecognised, subtly inserted into educational systems, languages, religions and economic structures, all historically designed to secure African subjugation. African liberation will not be achieved through integration into neocolonial structures or the assumption of European norms of 'civilisation'; instead, it demands the deconstruction of the colonial mentality. It calls for us to reclaim our history and values.

Video Credit: Kentah Gwanjez via X

Sources

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339064635_Mental_Decolonization_A_Pathway_to_Sustainable_Development_in_Africa

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308773706_Frantz_Fanon_Internalized_Oppression_and_the_Decolonization_of_Education

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