AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE: How Africa Shapes The World
Author: Tukufu Zuberi
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN : 978-1-4422-1641-9
Reviewer: Dr Dawn Gould
Professor Zuberi, Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennyslvainia, has written an easy to read, absorbing and welcomed history of the African continent. He recounts how, over a long period of time, the wealth of this continent has been, in a sense, stolen for European usage rather than for the benefit of the local inhabitants. In a straight forward tone he further underscores the abuse of the peoples both socially and economically and questions whether equal value was gained by Africa for their contribution to the other parts of the world.
Reference is made to the many African citizens who willingly fought on the side of the allies in World War 2. Soldiers came back to their respective homelands hoping that for them it would be possible to look forward to future improvement. This was not a hope that was difficult to appreciate. They had after all experienced a different world, a different social scale. There could be improved possibilities for the future. Instead, independence and democracy, manipulated by determined politicians, local and from the East and the West, became a slow and sorrowful journey. The intervention of the Cold War became a battlefield by the super powers, the United States of America and the then Soviet Union, fought for the loyalty of the various African people. A future for an improved life was overshadowed by the battles of others.
Time as usual passes and when the Berlin Wall fell a desire for a better African future was once more ignited. Instead there were periods of genocide, local warfare coupled with religious fundamentalism. Then a crash of thunder reverberated through the lands: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was to be released from prison, apartheid was to be something of the past, Africa was to have a renaissance. This man perhaps could become a protector of human rights.
But today has this African dream come to pass? One constantly hears of further dissension, corruption and fighting. A settled life in many parts of this continent seems to be far off. So what now? Can one still go on referring to the abuse by others and in this way forgetting the misdeeds of African citizens themselves?
The author feels strongly about the history of the African continent. There is an underlying sense of deep emotion and personal loss. He has travelled to the different countries, met the various heads of state and opposition politicians. However, for this reader, there is a certain amount of subjectivity in the writing. Professor Zuberi seems to feel that while Africa might arise it possibly will not be able to throw off the machinations of its enemies. This concern is perhaps more clearly set out in the dedication: Naima Margaret Zuberi/On her first birthday in/The hope that her bright /Eyes may one day see/The World/I dream
Included in this work are maps, “Screenshots from African Independence”, selected chronology of events, notes and an index. I am pleased to have read this book.