By Kodwo BRUMPON
“Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.” – African proverb
It is no secret that many Africans and African societies struggle to esteem themselves highly. This is a complex issue rooted in historical, cultural, and socio-economic factors that span over centuries.
The reasons behind this appalling attitude are deeply nuanced and understanding them requires delving into a combination of colonial histories, modern societal dynamics, and the shifting priorities of contemporary life.
Notwithstanding that, the time has come for us to garner the courage to change the narrative and altogether create a renewed sense of identity, pride, and purpose, that ensures that we, and our children and the future generations, can stand tall and be counted among those who are proud of themselves and their heritage.
We have always hesitated when it comes to improving ourselves because beyond the painful difficulty of renouncing who we are presently, the cost of courageously outgrowing our views, forging new and meaningful values, and clarifying priorities that currently exist outside our comfort zones is a price deem on the high side.
We are holding ourselves back because we have curated a “culture that contractually binds the present self to the future self in mortgages and marital vows, presuming unchanging desires, forgetting that who we are is shaped by what we want and what we want goes on changing as we go on growing.”
For many of us, the question at the fore of our thought is how can build up ourselves “in such a way as to foster that prized form of personal dignity, along with its sibling qualities of confidence and self-esteem?” For starters, we to accept that our appalling attitudes are not serving us right and there is a need to improve.
Then we need to appreciate that we are wholly responsible for our lives and understand that role as being the source from which we can garner any form of self-respect. We need to stop pointing figures at our history and cultural practices and take charge of what we do and can do. It is time to cultivate resilience in the face of all the adversities surrounding us and develop the courage to dream even when hope seems dim and darkened.
All in all, we must recognise the need to leave a legacy that allows our descendants to connect themselves with our stories to impact on their identity, motivation, and sense of purpose. We must imagine the unimaginable and theme the legacy a celebration of the self-esteem of the African, and for that matter the Ghanaian.
It must be a bold creative choice that bellows the notion that we would never measure our experiences with that of others, for our uniqueness is what sustains us and makes us who we are. The heart of our legacy should be focused on being ourselves, with the many layers of hardships and wonderfulness embedded therein.
As with all change, this requires us giving up some things or most of the stuff what we presently cherish, in order to let in new things, especially the beautiful virtues that sparkle along the path of the endless movements of life. We must begin with seeing how we desire our children and their children to honour us when we are no longer alive. What kind of ancestors do we want them to liken us to?
Are we going to be the historical generation that made excuses citing colonial suppression and the erosion of the indigenous practices of our fathers, and thus left with nothing to build on; or we are going to have the courage to dream and build a flourishing society?
Many of the things we identify with are inherently foreign. But that does not mean we have to discard them. Rather, they should inspire us to double our efforts at researching into the suppressed indigenous practices which were labeled ‘pagan’ or ‘uncivilised’ to unearth the authentic values that were hidden in them.
We must take what we did not understand about our ancestors and indigeneity and render it simply for appreciation. It would take a lot of stamina, courage, energy, and heart to do that. But it is what we must do to arrive at the ‘wide-awakeness’ which is needed to make us esteem ourselves in the most beautiful and highest way. We would have to find and nurture new collaborations with everyone in order to make ourselves and what we do meaningful for our humanity…
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Kodwo Brumpon is an executive coach at Polygon Oval, a forward-thinking Pan African management consultancy and social impact firm driven by data analytics, with a focus on understanding the extraordinary potential and needs of organisations and businesses to help them cultivate synergies, that catapults into their strategic growth, and certifies their sustainability.
Comments, suggestions, and requests for talks and training should be sent to him at [email protected]
