By Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga
Apparently swathes of blacks worldwide are now content with
the euphoria of liberty that they peacefully enjoy. It is really important to understand how that
liberty was achieved. Absolutely, the
world has changed now. What used to be
oppression on black people is
the pinnacle of freedom and human rights which they enjoy with great
ecstasy.
Not long ago
the world witnessed the iconic phenomenal American black African writer in 1993, Angelou
recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of
President Bill Clinton, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation
since Robert Frost at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. Moreover, after so many years of bitter
tussle of racial segregation in USA, today there is black president (Barack
Obama).
Significantly, it took so many decades for black people to
be completely recognized as full human beings by the previous white oppressive
administration. The commencing of
Atlantic slave trade cultivated the different type of new man in black
situation. Slavery was subsequently
resisted and rejected whole by African slave themselves, from intellectual
Fredrick Douglas, Booker T Washington etc.
In fact, it must be taken into cognizance that Africans both
in Africa and in Diaspora resisted oppression with intellect and diligent. This is not a hush-hush or a myth, but is
the tangible evidence that blacks themselves should feel proud.
For instance, Lorraine
Hansberry played a very impressive and pivotal role for the liberty of
black people all over the world.
Firstly, she was born in Chicago (USA).
The vigor and the enthusiasm that she had against racial oppression were
very dramatic. Factually, she was one of
the charismatic people that man can rely on for inspiration, she epitomised the
symbol of liberty and intellectual resistance.
Her immense effort in expressing antipathy towards discombobulating
racial oppression was essentially outstanding.
Importantly, she is the first black female in the USA to
write a major play. Her first known
work, the play “A Raisin in the Sun” highlighted the lives of Black Americans
living under racial segregation. After
she moved to New York City, Hansberry worked at the Pan-Africanist newspaper
“Freedom” and she dealt with intellectuals such as Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois.
Much of her work during this time concerned the African struggle for
liberation and their impact on the world.
Hansberry was a remarkable young woman who invested all her
entire energy for the freedom of the black people. Her vision of black freedom was not narrowly concentrated
on black American only but was globally oriented
It is not far-fetched to suggest that
Lorraine Hansberry's literary achievements must have influenced many excellent
African writers over the
decades; including early great African writers who visited or studied in America. I have in mind African writers
like Ama Ata Aidoo, Ayi Kwei Armah (both
from Ghana), Zulu Sofola, Obi Egbuna, Ola Rotimi (Nigerians), Richard Rive, Mongane Wally Serote, Sindiwe Magona (South
Africans). Or even Zimbabwe's Tsitsi
Dangarembga, who as a young woman also wrote plays.
On many occasions Hansberry was passionate about
Africa. She wrote in support of the Mau
Mau Uprising in Kenya, criticizing the mainstream media for its biased
coverage. She was particularly
interested in the situation of Egypt, “the traditional Islamic ‘cradle of
civilization,’ where women had led one of the most important fights anywhere
for the equality of their sex.”
Incredibly, as young as she was, she successfully spawned
extraordinary literary works that are tremendously gripping. The thrilling enthusiasm of her effort is
sacrosanct. This is the type of the
character the world needs to emulate.
Although, she died young at the age of 34 in 1965 she had witness the
dream of Free Africa when Ghana become independent in the late 50s. In response to the independence of Ghana, led
by Kwame Nkrumah, Hansberry wrote: “The
promise of the future of Ghana is that of all the colored people of the world;
it is the promise of freedom.”
It is fundamentally important to remember Hansberry as an
inspiration for the survival to the black people. Invariably I am completely convinced that
Africans have to celebrate the achievements of Black literature at home and
abroad. Black Africans have Nobel prize
winners in literature in Africa (Wole Soyinka) and abroad (Toni Morrison). It is further necessary to acknowledge how
black literature keeps on proliferating.
Credit must significantly be given to the sublime Lorraine Hansberry,
not because of her remarkable political activism but albeit also as a
superlative, prodigious and transcendent iconic writer.
