A World Without Africa

Too often one sees, hears and reads so much negativity about Africa. To many, it is home. To others, it’s the “Motherland”, symbolizing the land of beginnings and a permanent alternative destination.

To still others, Africa is The Dark Continent. Once, in distant memory, great, now no more so. Poverty, war, strife, desperation, fear, worry: the root and sum of all fears that can be possibly imagined, dwell in Africa, some would imagine.

Many have attempted to solve the riddle of Africa. From colonization, to trade, with all the ramifications, Africa has at various times been prodded and pushed in different directions in an attempt to “make it work”. “Work”, in this case, being the attempt to make Africa yield her bounty and fertility, in recognizably profitable ways. From the African farming the land, to the business executive interested in running a profitable venture; the sightseer visiting Africa’s tourist hotspots – the beaches, safaris, cultural landmarks, the volunteer aid workers interested mainly in the human potential of Africa. All and many more are fascinated either consciously or subconsciously, by Africa and the potential in Africa.

Africa is vital. And like every other continent is essential to the earth’s wellbeing, Africa is necessary for the smooth running of the world’s cosmos. We are all interrelated and interconnected.

So let’s suppose, for one moment, that, Africa did not exist. Tough one. Besides, would anyone really wish that Africa cease to exist? Africa is necessary, not only as a source of human potential, but also for her resources which are so relatively easier to utilize. But most importantly, Africa is needed as a base from which to compare other nations and measure the state of the world in general. At the other end of the overall global thermometer is the western world in general and the United States in particular.

A world without Africa is a world without soil. Just as earth is needed for seeds to grow into harvest, so Africa is necessary as a source- call it a wellspring. A world without Africa is like a world without water. Just as water is crucial to existence, so is Africa necessary for washing the universal moral conscience and keeping the world human. A world without Africa is a world without inhabitants. We are all citizens of this globe. Anthropologists have theorized about the out of Africa migration. If all humans origins were in Africa, then it follows that without Africa, there’d be no humans. A world without Africa is a world without money. Africa‘s resources are important in the global economy. Every country’s financial turf is intertwined worldwide. The domino effect. One goes down, and there’s a backlash in most others. For good or for bad. A world without Africa is a world without love. African music in its various modifications and ramifications has influenced the modern world in one way or another, since the dawn of time.

So, as you can see, I’m having a little trouble imagining what the world would be like without Africa. Sure, many of the streets in Africa may not be paved with gold, or the trees lined with silver, but nothing beats the sight of an African sunrise, sunset or plain old terra firma. The call of Africa is universal, speaking not only to Africans born or
raised there, but also to many who find themselves in Africa for reasons as varied as the continent itself. The call of Africa is steady- a pulsating rhythm, which says what we want to hear. A call reflecting and nurturing either the good or the dire in our humanity.