I am someone who believes in Africa. I also believe that Africans have their destiny in their hands.
We have what it takes to be a great continent, to create our own industries, our own technology, and innovation. We do not have to wait for someone from another planet to come and solve our problems.
There are however a lot of things hindering the progress of Africans. One of such is identity.
Identity according to dictionary.com is condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is; the qualities, beliefs, etc., that distinguish or identify a person or thing:
Identity is the key to Greatness and Africans have run away from this fundamental key to greatness.
We need Africans to identify themselves as Africans. Being African is not only being born in this lovely continent but also identifying the problems in Africa and contributing your quota to solving these problems.
Identifying yourself as an African also involves unlocking potentials, being proud of your environment, appreciating your skin colour, your dialects, accents, and culture, and promoting your African content.
I belong to a generation who think they are cursed because they are Africans. They bleach their skin, copy foreign culture and style and promote foreign content. They seek to do everything possible to be foreign.
We suffer an identity crisis when we think that the Western or foreign culture is better than ours, but the truth is that the more we try to do so the more we make them superior and the more the gap between us and them is widened and the more we suffer from inferiority complex.
The gap is only narrowed by coming down to self-reflections, looking at your lineage, personal life, family, society, country, and continent. This will open a new understanding of our identity and you will realise that you have more to solve, endowed with resources, full of potential and that you can make this continent great. You too can leave a mark on this continent, you have the new technology Africa has been longing for to solve droughts, water problems, electricity, peace, health and etc but it is only when you are a proudly African.
I strongly advise that you listen to African music, watch African content, promote African celebs and support anything African because these speak your language, your struggles, your hope and celebrate your success. With
When we are proud of our identity, we can make our continent great
This article was written by Tinashe Bonde and originally posted on MOTIVATING AFRICA
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