Re: The Philosophies of Ayi Kwei Armah
"The events that have shattered our people were not
simply painful events. They were disasters. They
were strange, unnatural catastrophes. Those who
survived them could only survive in part because they
found ways to forget the catastrophes. When you're
still close to past dangers that threatened to wipe
you out, even remembrance pains you. Our people
forgot a lot of things in order to survive. We even
went beyond forgetfulness. To forget thoroughly the
shattering and the dispersal of a people that was once
whole, we have gone so far as to pretend we have
always been these silly little fragments each calling
itself a nation. Is forgetfulness natural? It is
natural, but only for a while, not for all time.
Forgetfulness helps the diseased cross over the time
of greatest pain. It is a sort of sleep, like the
sleep brought on by herbs to help a sick man rest when
his disease has exhausted him. In that case
forgetfulness works toward health. But when the
period of forgetfulness is prolonged unnaturally, then
it doesn't work towards health. It works toward
death."
-Ayi Kwei Armah
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