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Africa Quotes

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Africa Quotes

“The Yoruba terms obinrin and okunrin do express a distinction. Reproduction is, obviously, the basis of human existence, and given its import, and the primacy of anafemale [anatomical female] body-type, it is not surprising that the Yoruba language describes the two types of anatomy. The terms okunrin and obinrin, however, merely indicate the physiological differences between the two anatomies as they have to do with procreation and intercourse. They refer, then, to the physically marked and physiologically apparent differences between the two anatomies. They do not refer to gender categories that connote social privileges and disadvantages. Also, they do not express sexual dimorphism because the distinction they indicate is specific to issues of reproduction. To appreciate this point, it would be necessary to go back to the fundamental difference between the conception of the Yoruba social world and that of Western societies.” “… I argued that the biological determinism in much of Western thought stems from the application of biological explanations in accounting for social hierarchies. This in turn has led to the construction of the social world with biological building blocks. Thus the social and the biological are thoroughly intertwined. This worldview is manifested in male-dominant gender discourses, discourses in which female biological differences are used to explain female sociopolitical disadvantages. The conception of biology as being ‘everywhere’ makes it possible to use it as an explanation in any realm, whether it is directly implicated or not. Whether the question is why women should not vote or why they breast-feed babies, the explanation is one and the same: they are biologically predisposed.” “The upshot of this cultural logic is that men and women are perceived as essentially different creatures. Each category is defined by its own essence. Diane Fuss describes the notion that things have a ‘true essence … as a belief in the real, the invariable and fixed properties which define the whatness of an entity.’ Consequently, whether women are in the labor room or in the boardroom, their essence is said to determine their behavior. In both arenas, then, women’s behavior is by definition different from that of men. Essentialism makes it impossible to confine biology to one realm. The social world, therefore, cannot truly be socially constructed.”

FeminismGenderColonialismAfricaSociologyNigeria
Book:The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses
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“THE LILIES This morning it was, on the pavement, When that smell hit me again And set the houses reeling. People passed like rain: (The way rain moves and advances over the hills) And it was hot, hot and dank, The smell like animals, strong, but sweet too. What was it? Something I had forgotten. I tried to remember, standing there, Sniffing the air on the pavement. Somehow I thought of flowers. Flowers! That bad smell! I looked: down lanes, past houses-- There, behind a hoarding, A rubbish-heap, soft and wet and rotten. Then I remembered: After the rain, on the farm, The vlei that was dry and paler than a stone Suddenly turned wet and green and warm. The green was a clash of music. Dry Africa became a swamp And swamp-birds with long beaks Went humming and flashing over the reeds And cicadas shrilling like a train. I took off my clothes and waded into the water. Under my feet first grass, then mud, Then all squelch and water to my waist. A faint iridescence of decay, The heat swimming over the creeks Where the lilies grew that I wanted: Great lilies, white, with pink streaks That stood to their necks in the water. Armfuls I gathered, working there all day. With the green scum closing round my waist, The little frogs about my legs, And jelly-trails of frog-spawn round the stems. Once I saw a snake, drowsing on a stone, Letting his coils trail into the water. I expect he was glad of rain too After nine moinths of being dry as bark. I don't know why I picked those lilies, Piling them on the grass in heaps, For after an hour they blackened, stank. When I left at dark, Red and sore and stupid from the heat, Happy as if I'd built a town, All over the grass were rank Soft, decaying heaps of lilies And the flies over them like black flies on meat...”

NatureChildhoodFlowersAfrica
Book:Going Home
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“This week, Zuma was quoted as saying, 'When the British came to our country, they said everything we are doing was barbaric, was wrong, inferior in whatever way.' But the serious critique of Zuma is not about who is a barbarian and who is civilised. It is about good governance, and this is a universal value, as relevant to an African village as it is to Westminster. If you are unable to keep your appetites in check, you are inevitably going to live beyond your means. And this means you are going to become vulnerable to patronage and even corruption. That is why Jacob Zuma's 'polygamy' is his achilles heel.”

PoliticsSexRacismCorruptionBritishBritainSouth AfricaSelf ControlAfricaCivilisationPolygamyPatronageGood GovernanceWestminsterSuperiority Complex2010Jacob ZumaCulture Of Africa
Author:Mark Gevisser
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“Even from where I stood I could tell that they were American. Their body language. The way they wore their clothes. The rhythm of their loud voices stabbing at the morning's peace. Their confidence. That aura of entitlement. Kofi would later tell me that this entitlement swagger was something white men from every part of the world had when in rural Africa, but that is beside the point.”

ConfidencePrivilegeAfricaAmericansSwaggerBody Language
Book:The Book of Phoenix
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“If people's night fears of sorcery - which negatively influences their decision to use mosquito nets - fail to impress the outsider, the brute everyday reality remains; in a number of rural African villages it is still much too common for very real hyenas to snatch people, especially children, out of their own homes as they lie sleeping at night, because of the lack of a good front door.”

SecurityAfricaConstraintsPublic HealthMalariaBehaviorsHyenasBehavioral ChangeMalaria EradicationVillagesPredationMosquito Net
Author:T.K. Naliaka
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“Like most young people in Ghana’s rural areas in those days, for much of my childhood I pictured America as a heavenly place where neither poverty nor any of the myriad problems we saw all around us existed. From what little history I was taught in elementary and middle school, I knew about slavery and how Blacks in America were treated during that era, but I also knew that slavery had long since been abolished. What I envisioned was an America in which people of all races lived happily and in perfect harmony.”

GoalAmerican DreamAfricaDreamingExpats
Book:The Boy from Boadua: One African’s Journey of Hunger and Sacrifice in Pursuit of a Dream
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“One morning, as he sat at his desk, he heard the sound of a horse's hooves on the path outside his house. He stepped out on to the verandah. There, on a tall grey horse, sat Morgane. 'I've come to have my picture painted,' she said. She took off her hat and her long black hair cascaded below her shoulders. 'You said you would,' she added, before dismounting. She wore a pair of moleskin jodhpurs and a white shirt, open at the neck. Her skin was radiant from the African sun.”

RomanceMysteryBritishSuspenseAuthorAfricaKenyaColonialPb NorthGirl In The Picture
Book:Girl in the Picture
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“To be able to influence Tanzanian literature and African literature, and sell our books in Tanzania as well as in our continent, we need to be committed to what we do. And what we do is writing. Write as much as you can. Read as much as you can. Use the library and the internet carefully for research and talk to people, about things that matter. To make a living from writing, and make people read again in Tanzania and Africa; we must write very well, very good stories.”

PeopleWritingInfluenceBooksInternetResearchLibraryCommittedAfricaReadWriteThings That MatterSellTanzaniaAfrican LiteratureContinentWhat We DoTanzanian LiteratureTalk To PeopleVery Good StoriesWrite Very Well
Author:Enock Maregesi
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“Most people write me off when they see me. They do not know my story. They say I am just an African. They judge me before they get to know me. What they do not know is The pride I have in the blood that runs through my veins; The pride I have in my rich culture and the history of my people; The pride I have in my strong family ties and the deep connection to my community; The pride I have in the African music, African art, and African dance; The pride I have in my name and the meaning behind it. Just as my name has meaning, I too will live my life with meaning. So you think I am nothing? Don’t worry about what I am now, For what I will be, I am gradually becoming. I will raise my head high wherever I go Because of my African pride, And nobody will take that away from me.”

African AmericanAfricaBlack WomenAfrican AmericansBlack Lives MatterBlack HistoryBlacknessAfrica QuotesAfrican American AuthorsAfricanAfrican AuthorsBlack History MonthAfrican QuotesBlack AmericaBlack GirlAfrican LiteratureNelson MandelaAfrican CultureBlack Girls RockAfrican WomenAfricansAfrican ContinentBlack QueenBlack WomanAfrican LeadersBlack Is BeautifulAfrican ProverbAfrican UnionBlack In AmericaBlack AmericansAfrican FictionAfrican PeopleAfrican LanguagesAfrican SayingAfrican WriterKwame NkrumahAfrican National CongressBlack LiteratureAfrica PeopleAfrican CitizensAfrican DevelopmentAfrican DictatorsAfrican Great LakesAfrican WomanDesmond TutuKofi AnnanAfrica LeadersAfrica Will ShakeAfrican BelievesAfrican DescentAfrican FreethinkerAfrican My MotherlandAfrican SocialismBlack Book AuthorBlack IntellectualsAfrica HouseAfrica S PredicamentAfrica S WealthAfrican CulturalAfrican Cup Of NationsAfrican Development BankAfrican Great HealerAfrican HealerAfrican JujuAfrican SafariAfrican Story TellingAfrican Traditional HealerAfricanaAfricana StudiesChina AchebeAfrica HerbalistAfrican VoodooBlack Literary Classics
Book:Wealth for all Africans: How Every African Can Live the Life of Their Dreams
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“It is a tragedy, at rate at which EBOLA VIRUS is spreading in West Africa. It is a fatal disease in the history of the world. Intensive education (formal and informal approaches) of the citizens of African can help prevent the spread. International cooperation is urgently needed to combat the EBOLA virus.”

EducationCitizensDiseaseInternationalHelping OthersEducatedHelpfulCombatCooperationHelpEducateCitizenshipEducational PhilosophyAfricaInternational RelationsPreventingEducation SystemEducational QuotesHelping HandPreventionInternational CommunityVirusInternational LawHelpersCollege LifeEbolaDiseasesCitizenInternational AuthorsWest AfricaSupporting OthersDisease PreventionHelping The NeedyPreventEducaçãoAfricansSupportive QuotesInternational DevelopmentCollaborateSupportingEducated PeopleCitizen Of The WorldEbola VirusPrevention Is Better Than CureCities And CountriesCitizens Of The WorldCollaborationsHelping The PoorCitizens Of HumanityEbola In West AfricaSupportive ActionsEbola In AfricaHelping OutPreventative MedicineEbola DiseaseEbola OriginEbola SpreadEbola VictimsHelping MankindCooperation SPrevention Of Diseases In AfricaPrevention Of EbolaSupporting FamilyEbola In Central AfricaEbola In SpainEbola In UsaEducate ChildrenPrevent ItCombat DiseasesEducate PeopleEducate The Youth Of AfricaEducate Women
Author:Lailah Gifty Akita
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“Then there was Mr Mandela. Everybody knew about Mr Mandela and how he had forgiven those who had imprisoned him. They had taken away years and years of his life simply because he wanted justice. They had set him to work in a quarry and his eyes had been permanently damaged by the rock dust. But at last, when he had walked out of the prison on that breathless, luminous day, he had said nothing about revenge or even retribution. He had said that there were more important things to do than to complain about the past, and in time he had shown that he meant this by hundreds of acts of kindness towards those who had treated him so badly. That was the real African way, the tradition that was closest to the heart of Africa. We are all children of Africa, and none of us is better or more important than the other. This is what Africa could say to the world: it could remind it what it is to be human.”

HumanityAfricaMandelaHeart Of Africa
Book:Tears of the Giraffe
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“Have you a room that you could let?" "Yes, I have a room that I could let, but I do not want to let it. I have only two rooms, and there are six of us already, and the boys and girls are growing up. But school books cost money, and my husband is ailing, and when he is well it is only thirty-five shillings a week. And six shillings of that is for the rent, and three shillings of that is for the rent, and three shillings for travelling, and a shilling that we may all be buried decently, and a shilling for the books, and three shillings is for clothes and that is little enough, and a shilling for my husband's beer, and a shilling for his tobacco, and these I do not grudge for he is a decent man and does not gamble or spend his money on other women, and a shilling for the Church, and a shilling for sickness. And that leaves seventeen shillings for food for six, and we are always hungry. Yes I have a room but I do not want to let it. How much could you pay?" "I could pay three shillings a week for the room." "And I would not take it." "Three shillings and sixpence." "Three shillings and sixpence. You can't fill your stomach on privacy. You need privacy when your children are growing up, but you can't fill your stomach on it. Yes, I shall take three shillings and sixpence.”

South AfricaAfricaCry The Beloved CountryAlan Paton
Book:Cry, the Beloved Country
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“All roads lead to Johannesburg. If you are white or if you are black they lead to Johannesburg. If the crops fail, there is work in Johannesburg. If there are taxes to be paid, there is work in Johannesburg. If the farm is too small to be divided further, some must go to Johannesburg. If there is a child to be born that must be delivered in secret, it can be delivered in Johannesburg.”

AfricaCry The Beloved CountryAlan Paton
Book:Cry, the Beloved Country
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“The situation with regard to insulin is particularly clear. In many parts of the world diabetic children still die from lack of this hormone. ... [T]hose of us who search for new biological facts and for new and better therapeutic weapons should appreciate that one of the central problems of the world is the more equitable distribution and use of the medical and nutritional advances which have already been established. The observations which I have recently made in parts of Africa and South America have brought this fact very forcible to my attention.”

ChildrenScienceMedicineTreatmentAfricaDiabetesSouth AmericaPathologyHormoneDiscoverer Of Insulin
Author:Charles Herbert Best
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“Kolonia Santita ilikuwa na tani 627.54 za madawa ya kulevya ilizokuwa imezikusanya kwa siri kwa muda wa miezi 9 mfululizo. Ilikuwa imepanga kuzisafirisha ndani ya siku 10 baada ya kutokea kwa mauaji ya Tijuana-San Diego, katika mpaka wa Meksiko na Marekani; kwenda Asia, Afrika, Amerika, Ulaya na Australia, kabla ya kukamatwa na Mamlaka ya Kudhibiti Madawa ya Kulevya na Ugaidi wa Kimataifa Duniani WODEA. Kokeini tani 183, heroini tani 90, methamfetamini tani 81, eksitasi tani 27.54 (vidonge milioni 110.16). Bangi tani 186, uyoga wa kichawi tani 60. Madawa hayo yalikuwa na thamani ya mtaani ya shilingi za Kitanzania trilioni 12.9.”

AmericaAuthorityTerrorismAustraliaAfricaAsiaCocaineCannabisNarcoticsAfrikaAmerikaEcstacyBangiEksitasiMexico United States BorderTijuana San Diego Massacre
Author:Enock Maregesi
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“Monique was the most unlikely girl to be tending bar at a place like the French Hotel in Monrovia. She was the girl guys would ask, “What’s a sweet girl like you doing in a place like this?” I, like everyone else, liked Monique and always chatted her up. Monique loved the attention and had a heavy hand with the bottles. The later into the evening it got, the more she poured. In Liberia there were no laws holding a bartender responsible for the inebriated actions of their patrons and she was just being friendly. What’s more is that all the expats kept returning. Monique was a dark haired beauty. Slight of stature, she had a pleasant demeanor and a cute French accent. Having some difficulty with English, she would listen intently and try to repeat what was said. Her mannerisms were a delight to watch as she tended bar. For the men, in this hot forsaken place, Monique was a breath of fresh air and an attentive young female to talk to. Her French perfume was a most pleasant contrast to the foul odors that normally filled the air in Monrovia. I liked Monique, didn’t everyone? She was a hot French mademoiselle and looked the part with her cute slightly turned up nose, brown eyes and dark brown hair. In fact she looked very much like Leslie Caron. No one took photos like they do today, so just to give you an idea of how she looked, I was tempted to use a publicity photo of Leslie. However with copyright laws being what they are, I prudently resisted that idea. Although Monique always flirted with me, it was always in a cute or perhaps an innocent way. Without the little encouragement, which I hoped for, I was starting to think of her more like a sister. No, that wasn’t quite it. Although she was always flirtatious and cutesy, the truth was that she just wasn’t available to me and I didn’t know why.”

AfricaBeautiful GirlLiberiaMma Captain Hank BrackerMonrovia
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater Two...."
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“Some say that because the United States was wrong before, it cannot possibly be right now, or has not the right to be right. (The British Empire sent a fleet to Africa and the Caribbean to maintain the slave trade while the very same empire later sent another fleet to enforce abolition. I would not have opposed the second policy because of my objections to the first; rather it seems to me that the second policy was morally necessitated by its predecessor.)”

PoliticsUnited StatesMoralityBritainAfricaImperialismIraq WarAbolitionBritish EmpireCaribbeanSlave TradeAmerican ImperialismAnti Americanism
Book:A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq
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“I have had my mother's wing of my genetic ancestry analyzed by the National Geographic tracing service and there it all is: the arrow moving northward from the African savannah, skirting the Mediterranean by way of the Levant, and passing through Eastern and Central Europe before crossing to the British Isles. And all of this knowable by an analysis of the cells on the inside of my mouth. I almost prefer the more rambling and indirect and journalistic investigation, which seems somehow less… deterministic.”

HistoryJournalismInvestigationAfricaGeneticsAncestryDeterminismEastern EuropeGenealogyNational GeographicSavannaSub Saharan AfricaMediterranean SeaCentral EuropeBritish IslesLevant
Book:Hitch 22: A Memoir
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“You can no longer see or identify yourself solely as a member of a tribe, but as a citizen of a nation of one people working toward a common purpose.”

TribesAfricaAfrica QuotesTribalismAfricanAfrican AuthorsAfrican QuotesTribeAfrican LiteratureNelson MandelaAfrican CultureAfrican WomenAfricansAfrican ContinentAfrican LeadersAfrican ProverbTribalAfrican UnionAfrican FictionAfrican PeopleAfrican LanguagesAfrican SayingAfrican WriterKwame NkrumahAfrican National CongressAfrica PeopleAfrican CitizensAfrican DevelopmentAfrican DictatorsAfrican Great LakesAfrican WomanDesmond TutuKofi AnnanAfrica LeadersAfrica Will ShakeAfrican BelievesAfrican DescentAfrican FreethinkerAfrican My MotherlandAfrican SocialismAfrica HouseAfrica S PredicamentAfrica S WealthAfrican CulturalAfrican Cup Of NationsAfrican Development BankAfrican Great HealerAfrican HealerAfrican JujuAfrican SafariAfrican Story TellingAfrican Traditional HealerAfricanaAfricana StudiesChina Achebe
Book:Wealth for all Africans: How Every African Can Live the Life of Their Dreams
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“The rate spread of EBOLA VIRUS in West Africa, is big tragedy. It is a fatal disease in the history of the world. Intensive education (formal and informal approaches) of the citizens of African can help prevent the spread. International cooperation is urgently needed to combat the EBOLA virus.”

EducationHistoryHealthInternationalHealth CareWorking TogetherCollaborationCombatHistorianHealthy LivingCitizenshipAfricaInternational RelationsVirusInternational LawHealth And FitnessEbolaDiseasesFormal EducationHealth Care SystemHealth Care ReformHistory Of MankindWest AfricaHistoriansAdult EducationHistory Repeating ItselfWorking With PeopleInternational CooperationWorking OutHistory PoliticsInformal EducationAdult LifeCitizen Of The WorldHistory Of ThoughtCities And CountriesCitizens Of The WorldHistory Of PhilosophyCitizens Of HumanityCooperation And AttitudeInformation LiteracyEbola In West AfricaEbola In AfricaPreventative MedicineEbola DiseaseEbola OriginEbola SpreadEbola VictimsCooperation SPrevention Of Diseases In AfricaPrevention Of EbolaHealth CareersInformalAdult LiteracyHealth Care Reform In AfricaInformal FallacyInformal Sector
Author:Lailah Gifty Akita
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“A good investment is like a good fruit tree. From its conception, it grows exponentially larger consistently and reliably. It’s required input in a small percentage of its output. It regularly gives back to the broader ecosystem, helping multiple other lives to prosper. And it produces an abundance of fruit for the enjoyment of its owner.”

AmericaInvestmentInvestingAfricaNigeriaHendrith SmithKenyaNaira
Book:The Wealth Reference Guide: An American Classic
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“The Whiteman told of another country beyond the sea where a powerful woman sat on a throne while men and women danced under the shadow of her authority and benevolence. She was ready to spread the shadow to cover the Agikuyu. They laughed at this eccentric man whose skin had been so scalded that the black outside had peeled off. The hot water must have gone into his head. Nevertheless, his words about a woman on the throne echoed something in the heart, deep down in their history. It was many, many years ago. Then women ruled the land of the Agikuyu. Men had no property, they were only there to serve the whims and needs of the women. Those were hard years. So they waited for women to go to war, they plotted a revolt, taking an oath of secrecy to keep them bound each to each in the common pursuit of freedom. They would sleep with all the women at once, for didn't they know the heroines would return hungry for love and relaxation? Fate did the rest; women were pregnant; the takeover met with little resistance.”

ColonialismAfricaKenyaAfrican LiteratureKenyan LiteraturePost Colonial Literature
Book:A Grain of Wheat
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“There's organized confusion on African roads while driving in the cities. If you want to mess up Afican Cities very easy, just fly in 100 Americans put them on the road and tell them to drive.”

CitiesMusicAfrican AmericanAfricaCityNigeriaKenyaAfrican American AuthorsNairobiHarmon Okinyo QuoteNigerian QuotesAfrican CitizensAfrican CitiesAfrican CityAfrican RoadsClassic ManClassic Man MusicClassicmanJedinnaJidennaJidenna Classic ManJidenna NigeriaJidenna Theodore MobissonKenya NairobiNigerian IgboThe Chief
Author:Jidenna
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“The year the Europeans seized Jomo Kenyatta (1952), Chepusepa and I were sharing our homestead with Arimo, a Teso, who was a headman of the local road crew. One day, Arimo's son found an ostrich's nest between Amudat and Katabok, while he was watching cattle. There were six eggs, and both of our cowherds took one. The brought the two eggs to our home and put them in the ashes near the fire. After two weeks, they hatched. I remember the baby ostriches walking about, eating millet and stones. Arimo took care of them, and they grew quite large. One night a leopard got the female, but the male continued to thrive, and Arimo harvested its feathers twice. Then, one day, when it was fully grown, our ostrich wandered into the town of Amudat. A European saw it and asked the people, "Where did this come from?" "Oh, it is the 'ox' of a man named Arimo, they told him. The European immediately summoned Arimo to Amudat. "Do you have license to keep an ostrich?" he demanded. "Of course not!" Arimo replied. "This ostrich doesn't belong to anyone else--it's mine. So why do I need a license?" But the European decreed,"From this day on, you must not keep this ostrich without a license. If you do, you will go to jail for stealing from the government!" That was only the beginning. The Europeans have been seizing our pet ostriches ever since. When other people heard about Arimo's trouble, they killed their ostriches so they could at least have the feathers. Another man was so angry, he killed his female ostrich and destroyed all her eggs.”

AfricaImperialismKenya
Author:Pat Robbins
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