TwoCents | FOR MY WOKE BROTHERS - by Jefferson Nnadiekwe

The death of the Queen of England, is no more breaking news. It's been a week since the news of her demise seized the attention of the entire world. But, as we that one thing know about life, nobody's death can halt it - life goes on. The next important thing other than her funeral, is the ascension of the new King of England. For those who like to be in the know, you'd be aware of certain rites necessary for the coronation, when that time comes. Let me apologize to anyone who may hope that some of these rites would be outlined. This is not that type of article. What I want to address is culture. And this is to my woke African brothers and members of the 'saner clime' club. Somehow, we are interested and even intrigued by these rites required for the coronation of the King of England. A lot of people even derive some sort of pride, in their ability to tell these rites off the top of their head. But these are mostly the same people who tag Africa as backward, for choosing to preserve some rites of their own. The idea of culture to some people, is African.. and backward. These people believe that the western world isn't bothered by such trivial thing as culture. However, the English coronation rites beg to differ. In case you do not know, the preparations and ceremonies required for the coronation of the British monarch, is ancient culture to the British. Whatever we may watch on our television screens on that date, is what has been practiced for generations. And that is what would be done, irrespective of the evolution or advancement of the world. There are a lot of Africans who feel sophistication, requires the denigration of culture, while promoting western values. They try to act and live like the whites. They propose that we get rid of our traditions in order to become an advanced continent. These are the people who tag anything American or European as 'sane', in comparison to Africa. Isn't it an irony that the people which we so badly want to be like, preserve their culture, while we discard ours? An English man absolutely honors the British monarchy system and all the values attached to it. A woke African dishonors the African monarchy system and labels its values as crude. What we do when we try to live like a European man, is wanting to borrow his culture. It's denouncing our identity and self worth. Every man has his culture and tradition - these words are not exclusive to Africa, like many of us think. It is time that we accept ours, in the same proud manner we accept the foreign ones.

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