I hated growing up in Africa.
Given the chance, I would have migrated or been adopted by Angelina Jolie. I would have moved anywhere but Africa.
I know that seems extreme but when you watch the news, movies, or TV shows, the depiction of Africa SUCKED and continues to SUCK!
Sure, we can say they are trying to diversify the way Africans are presented.
Sure, we can say that Africans are telling more and more of their own stories but I still feel underrepresented.
Where is the African who did not grow up in the slums or the village?
Who is the African that went to private school?
What of the African that has tasted the spoils of the Western World?
How is the African that went to school in America, the UK or Australia?
Are they happy? Sad? Do they miss home or have they said their final goodbyes to home?
Where am I in this almost one-sided depiction of Africans?
There is more to being African than what we see, read, hear, or even taste.
In Swahili, the word 'Kutibu' means to treat/heal.
If I may take creative license and stretch that concept to my blog and form a neologism of sorts, KuTIBA, since it goes with my blogs name - This is Bev's Africa (T.I.B.A.)
With this blog, I hope to heal the rift between what it means to be African and the idea of 'Africanness.'
To heal the rift that is years of colonialism and lack of knowledge about the place we call home.
This blog is for the girl who learned about her country and continent after she left them.
The person searching for a link that helps them remain as African as possible without being tainted by the West.
This is for the Pan-Africanists that can see the connection and communication that takes place on social media between Africans and the African diaspora without their knowledge.
This blog will hopefully be one of the most random, most insightful or just plain wrong thing that you read, and that is okay. I am still learning and my opinions and thoughts change faster than politicians can steal money.
So without further ado, I welcome you to my little corner of the internet where I can throw my jar of coins (my version of two cents) into the mix.
Welcome to my version of Africa.