“If Siberia had been darkness and cold and marked by death and deprivation, Africa was heat and color and life”: How the same continent of Africa demonised in the Polish-British Joseph Conrad’s raving racist Heart of Darkness novella just 40 years earlier (1902) saves the lives of over 30,000 desperate Polish refugees forced from their homeland in east Europe during the 1939-1945 war

(Polish refugees fleeing the 1939-1945 war from their homeland in Europe safe in Tengeru, Tanzania, 1946 ... photo credit: Jonathan Durand, director, Memory is our Homeland –documentary on the history of these over 30,000 refugees from Poland in east/southern Africa, 1942-1952)

1. Abdi Latif Dahir, “The little known story of the Polish refugees who fled to East Africa during World War II”, Quartz Africa, 16 May 2019,

https://qz.com/africa/1620841/the-polish-refugees-in-tanzania-during-world-war-ii/?fbclid=IwAR1Pz1QG6Wv-eBlCfBzq5XfxAwhW3A4ZiCGYOTSRCWgARy64-EXeC_ltNVE (accessed 17 May 2019)

2. On Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, see Chinua Achebe’s incomparable exposition,

“An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’” Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co., 1988, pp.251-261:

https://re-thinkingafrica.blogspot.com/2015/08/b.html

(Wayne Shorter Septet, “The all seeing eye” [personnel: Shorter, tenor saxophone; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Grachan Moncur III, trombone, James Spaulding, alto saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Joe Chambers, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliff, NJ,US, 15 October 1965)

*****Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe is the author of The longest genocide – since 29 May 1966 (2019) and co-author, with Lakeson Okwuonicha, of Why #DonaldTrump is #great for #Africa (2018)

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

Mmuo Biafra strikes! As the British Labour party fractures over the antisemitism/racism crisis of its leader Jeremy Corbyn with this morning’s dramatic resignation from the party of seven influential members of parliament (Lucina Berger, Chuka Umunna, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker), a reminder that this affliction in the party started half a century ago – 53 years ago to be exact, when the then Labour leader and prime minister, Harold Wilson, centrally directed the prosecution of the Igbo genocide, the foundational genocide of post-(European)occupation Africa, with Britain’s client-state Nigeria … More resignations are expected from the party as this crisis worsens

(Harold Wilson: “would accept a half million dead Biafrans if that was what it took...”)

Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

“Diminution-of-African life”

AT the apogee of phase-III of this genocide, summer 1968-autumn 1969, 23 years after the horrendous Jewish genocide in east and central Europe carried out by Germany, Harold Wilson informed Clyde Ferguson (United States state department special coordinator for relief to Biafra), on record, that he, Harold Wilson, “would accept half a million dead Biafrans if that was what it took” the Nigerian génocidaires to destroy the Igbo resistance to the genocide (Roger Morris, Uncertain Greatness: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy, 1977: 122). Wilson pursued his genocide drive against the Igbo, steeped in that overarching ideological rubric of the expressed “diminution-of-African life” that constitutes the engaging, subjugating template of 400 years of pan-European enslavement of the African humanity in the Americas and elsewhere, beginning in the 15th century, and Europe’s consequent occupation of the African homeland itself (see, for instance, Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, African Literature in Defence of History: An essay on Chinua Achebe, 2001: 1-54).

Wilson’s Igbo death-wish tally of 500, 000 represented 4.2 per cent of the Igbo population at the time. The prime minister’s on the ground African executioners led by Fulani islamist/jihadists, fulsomely obliged their “massa” Wilson, murdering 3.1 million Igbo by 12 January 1970 – 2.6 million more Igbo than the Labour leader’s slaughtering target or 25 per cent of the Igbo population. 

WILSON would later acknowledge the extent of the British role in the sheer savagery of the Igbo genocide. In his memoirs, he noted that the Nigeria genocidist military, equipped zealously by Britain, expended more small arms ammunition in its campaign to achieve its annhilative mission in Biafra than the amount used by the British armed forces “during the whole” of the Second World War (Harold Wilson, Labour Government, 1964-1970: A Personal Record, 1971: 630, added emphasis). Robert Scott, military advisor in the British diplomatic mission in Nigeria then couldn’t agree more with Wilson on the subject. Scott stated that as Nigerian genocidist military forces unleashed their attacks on Biafran cities, towns and villages, they are the “best defoliant agent known” (Daily Telegraph, London, 11 January 1970). Chillingly dreadful...

(Jeremy Corbyn: current Labour party leader)

Intelligible
SEEN AGAINST this background of Harold Wilson’s repugnant involvement in the Igbo genocide, the very trenchant charge of antisemitism and racism that current Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has had from some of his colleagues and other prominent persons in Britain, including, especially, those seven members of the party who have just quit, becomes hugely intelligible...

(The seven members of parliament who made their exit from the British Labour party today: [l-r] Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Chuka Umunna*****, Angela Smith, Gavin Shuker) (pic and graphics: Daily Mail, London, Monday 18 February 2019)

SNIPPETS of comments made by two of the seven members of the Labour party during the London press conference today announcing their exit from the party:

Luciana Berger:  “I am embarrassed and ashamed to remain in the party … [the Labour party] is “institutionally anti-Semitic … I cannot remain in the party that I have today come to the sickening conclusion is anti-Semitic … I am leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation”.

Mike Gapes: “I am sickened that the Labour Party is now a racist, anti-Semitic party”.

*****It is immensely significant to note that Chuka Umunna, one of these now seven ex-Labour party members of the British parliament, is Igbo British, born in England in October 1978, 12 years after the launch of the Igbo genocide

Marcus Roberts Septet, “Nebuchadnezzar” (personnel: Roberts, piano; Wycliffe Gordon, trombone; Wessell Anderson, alto saxophone; Herbert Harris, tenor saxophone; Chris Thomas, bass; Maurice Carnes, drums; Herlin Riley, percussion; recorded: Mastersound Studios, Astoria, New York, US,  9-10 August 1989/10 December 1989 and The Saenger Theatre, New Orleans, US, 15 December 1989)

*****Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe is author of the recently published The longest genocide – since 29 May 1966 (2019)  (https://re-thinkingafrica.blogspot.com/2019/01/published-longest-genocide-since-29-may.html)

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe

“Tribe” and “tribes” and genocidist Nigeria

Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

IN STRIKING contrast to the name Biafra which rattles the sensibilities of the leadership of the Hausa-Fulani/islamist-led genocidist Nigeria so irredeemably (http://re-thinkingafrica.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/blog-post.html), 
the notorious epithet, “tribe”, is arguably this grouping’s most enduring mantra. Even though “tribe” has no meaning in any African language, it is invoked by regime spokespersons with such relish as part of its broader historical anti-African worldview, particularly its visceral hostility to African agency which includes its opposition to the restoration-of-African-independence (in this southwestcentral Africa region) from the British conquest and occupation. The Igbo led this freedom movement during 1930s-October 1960 and, pointedly, if not predictably in response, the grouping launched the Igbo genocide with full British involvement.

It should be obvious that there is, in fact, no “tribe” or its plural “tribes” in genocidist Nigeria nor indeed anywhere else in Africa; definitely, not in Biafra.

AS in the rest of the world, there are peoples or nations in Africa: Igbo people or Igbo nation, Gĩkũyũ people or Gĩkũyũ nation, Wolof people or Wolof nation, Ndebele people or Ndebele nation, Herero people or Herero nation, Tiv people or Tiv nation, Kanuri people or Kanuri nation, Bini people or Bini nation, Luo people or Luo nation, Akan people or Akan nation, etc., etc. Elsewhere in the world, for instance, there are Scottish people or Scottish nation, Catalonian people or Catalonian nation, Welsh people or Welsh nation, Kurdish people or Kurdish nation... Each and every people or nation, whatever their size, wherever found in the world, has a profoundly layered history that embodies and projects its inheritance.

Dehistoricisation

This is the background or context that helps to elucidate the contemporary use of the tag, “tribe”, in genocidist Nigeria and indeed anywhere else on earth. “Tribe” is a racist Western anthropological/sociological categorisation of African peoples/nations and others elsewhere that pan-European World conquered and occupied, beginning in the 15th century CE. It is essentially a conqueror-epithet aimed chiefly to dehistoricise or deny the history of these hitherto subjugated peoples as a means of “rationalising” the conquest while simultaneously privileging the concocted state-name (“Nigeria”, “Niger”, “Gold Coast”,  “Rhodesia”, “Côte d’Ivoire”, “Upper Volta”, “Guinea-R”, “Guinea-S”,  “Guinea-T”...) it has imposed on the peoples’ states or homelands in the wake of the conquest (at times the occupation mischievously but incorrectly interchanges its designation of its concocted, imposed name on the peoples with the term “the nation”!).

CONSEQUENTLY, “tribe” is often employed in uncritical academia and media as a weapon to demonise these peoples. This is why, in its rampant usage, no one in their right mind would dare refer to 5 million Scots as “tribe” or 7.5 million Catalans as “tribe”, whilst, for example, cavalierly categorising the 25 million Oromo or 20 million Amhara as “tribe”. Nothing but geographical emplacements (namely, Scots and Catalans are peoples in Europe; Oromo and Amhara are peoples in Africa) dictate the choice made in these last four classifications, underlying its sheer racist tract.

(John Coltrane & Don Cherry, “Focus on sanity” [personnel: Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Cherry, pocket trumpet; Percy Heath, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums; recorded: Atlantic Studios, New York, US, 28 June/8 July 1960])

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe

Perpetuating racist stereotypes

An anonymous viewer’s complaint to the BBC, London, over the broadcaster’s television evening news bulletin on the just released 2016 “A” level (pre-university) examination results, Thursday 18 August 2016:

I was so disheartened and frankly disgusted to watch BBC’s reporting of the “A” level results on the evening news. After speaking about how the country, largely, did well the visuals opened up with a young African descent woman who had scored D and U grades and was clearly unconcerned with these results! As you well know, there are literally thousands of African descent students who today would have received great passes from their schools. A big shame to you BBC for perpetuating such racist and stereotypical attitudes. You have such an important opportunity and an obligation as a public broadcaster (funded by the taxpayer) to dispel these myths and portray all children fairly and truthfully, but instead your news presentation is nothing more than a propaganda tool for the overpaid bleeding heart liberals that populate the management of this anachronistic organisation.

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe