Africa-Press – Malawi. Monday, we yet again celebrated the life of Reverend John Chilembwe, a true pan-Africanist who died fighting British colonialists in 1915. Chilembwe Day is a public holiday that is never short of controversy as some pockets of Malawians believe this man is overrated and he is not supposed to be hailed as a hero among us.
In all honesty, most of the arguments that these critics raise reveal exactly what Chilembwe was fighting against – colonial subjugation that ensures that Africans remain ignorant of themselves and look up to Westerners as heroes.
Some of those who argue against Chilembwe are quick to blurt that this man did nothing heroic as he only fought for his own rights in Chiradzulu District.
Others go further to claim that had it not been for Chilembwe, Malawi would have been developed by now. They say that Chilembwe was too quick to chase the white man out of the country before that white man developed it.
These people point to countries like South Africa where they say white people left late and developed that place. Such arguments are ridiculous and disappointing at the same time. They smell of ignorance.
To begin with, Chilembwe is held as a hero, not because he liberated Nyasaland, but because he was the first man to stand up against colonial injustice.
It is easy to speak from a place of comfort today about life during colonial occupation, but those who lived then will tell you that it was hell. Colonialism was a form of slavery brought home. Africans were enslaved in their own homelands and forced to work for free in mega farms whose output benefitted white people and not them.
Colonialists owned almost all the land that they came upon, leaving black people beggars in their own land. Chilembwe and his army were against such injustices and it is absurd how and why somebody may want to look down at such courage.
Another group of ignoramuses is of those who think colonialists came to Africa to develop the place. That may be what the imperialists tell you in their books, but it is not true.
Colonialism was there to appropriate property for the colonial masters in Europe. These people came here to loot. It was even worse in settler colonies like Zimbabwe and South Africa – where the whites wanted to stay because the places had so many resources to exploit.
These people invested in South Africa because they also took the land – made it theirs and subjected the natives to the worst form of segregation known as apartheid. Their stay there is nothing to smile about.
It should not be surprising that, in their pretence at knowledge and understanding, some people choose to look down at pan-Africanist thinkers lie John Chilembwe. We are still living under Western dominance anyway, and the knowledge often produced for consumption in the mainstream is Eurocentric.
It has always been part of the colonial project to ensure that black people and Africans should not think highly of themselves and their people. The hero should be the white man who has all the power to save us from damnation. Even his god reigns over our idols. That is what colonialism did to us.
Today, we are still looking for white saviours as we continue to despise ourselves and our abilities. Even our political leadership believes that Malawi can develop with Western aid and guidance.
We are still under the shackles of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Our president and his team waste a lot of resources travelling to the West in search of white saviours.
Perhaps we have not read simple books like Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, or Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid. The answers to our questions are in our faces but we choose to close our eyes or look the other way.
The name John Chilembwe should remind us that we need to be proud and stand tall as Africans. It is a name that must give birth to fight within our hearts.
One thing we learn from this man is that it does not matter whether you win or not, but there is no other option in the face of injustice than to rise against the oppressor.
It is amazing how today Chilembwe stands tall at Trafalgar Square – the heart of colonial authority – casting a shadow over white power. Now, that is a hero.
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