The Importance of Afrikan Languages and Worldview

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

The Importance of Afrikan Languages and Worldview
By Obadele Kambon

By conservative estimates there are 1,800 documented languages in Afrika covering approximately 11,730,000 square miles. Within this space is much linguistic variation. However, the common thread which binds the languages of the Black people of Afrika is a common worldview. Worldview can be understood as the overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. Worldview can also be defined as a collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.

We find similar essential aspects built into Afrikan languages throughout Afrika, such as concepts of interdependence (Obi dan bi – Someone depends on another [Twi language of Ghana, West Afrika], respect for elders (Omode le ni aso to agba, sugbon, ko le ni akisa to agba – A child may have as many clothes as an elder but does not have as many rags (a symbol of experience and wisdom) [Yoruba language of Nigeria, West Afrika]) and reciprocity (Aimu t’owo re wa ko gba t’owo eni – One who doesn’t bring his/her hand (to give) doesn’t receive that which is in the hand of another [Yoruba language of Nigeria, West Afrika])

Language and culture comprise all of the values that we use to view and interpret the world, our place in the world and ourselves. Both language and culture spring forth from the worldview which has given birth to them.

An example of the values and beliefs of worldview built into language is how we find a perception of the world in English language in which everything Black is associated with badness. Black Monday, Black cat, Blackballed, Blacklisted, Black people, etc. This is not a universal concept, but one that is intimately linked with a European worldview which is encapsulated in European languages. It is also a concept that has vast implications for Black people, how Black people view the world and ourselves.

It is essential for Afrikan (Black) people throughout the world to reclaim and cherish our Afrikan tongues because, as stated by renown Kenyan author According to Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Decolonizing the Mind, 1981) “language is never simply a neutral instrument to convey meaning, but rather a culturally subjective system reflecting peoples' worldview. Language symbolizes the common beliefs and psychological make-up of the community from which it springs.” Thus language imposes a worldview upon those who speak it that has a profound conscious and subconscious impact on what we think, how we think, when we think and why we think.

Afrikan languages are also important for Afrikan people because, as stated by educator Dr. Carter G. Woodson, "Who prescribes the diameter of your knowledge circumscribes the circumference of your activity." There is no more effective way to do this than to cut a people off from their language and thus from knowledge of their own healing systems, spiritual systems, philosophical tradition and themselves. As an Akan proverb states, Nea ne epa da wo nsa no, na woye n’akoa “You are the slave of the one whose handcuffs are on your wrists.” Afrikan languages and the Afrikan worldview from which they spring offer possibilities of liberation necessary for Afrikan (Black) people throughout the world.

Obadele Kambon is the founder and lead instructor of Abibitumi Kasa Afrikan Language Institute (AKALI). AKALI Twi, Yoruba and now Wolof language classes are currently offered at Betty Shabazz International Charter School and Malcolm X College. He also teaches Afrikan Language courses at Chicago State University, Winnie Mandela Intergenerational Alternative High School, and throughout the Chicagoland community. He also teaches students throughout the nation and world via online conference software at AKALI’s website http://www.abibitumikasa.com . He has earned Master of Arts Degrees in both Linguistics and African Languages and Literature and is currently pursuing a doctorate in African Languages and Literature. He can be contacted at (773) 696-5765 or via email at obadelekwame@abibitumikasa.com.

[pain]

Great article Obadele. I remember reading a passage in Yurugu that spoke to this and it confirmed for me something that I had suspected about language because I'm always seeing how Black people, even in the foreign languages we now speak, are always attempting to change it. It's like there's some sort of link directly from the asili to the mechanism of speech and I saw the action of us always altering these foreign languages we speak as a sign that our asili had not been changed. It's always trying to get us back to being who we actually are.

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

Baba Wade Nobles has said that “power is the ability to define reality and have others respond to that definition is if it were their own.” Further, the reality of today is based upon the concepts and theories of yesterday. These are concepts that are eternally linked to a specific culture. A specific language with a specific history. According to Ngugi wa Thiong'o, “language carries culture, and culture carries...the entire body of values by which we come to perceive ourselves and our place in the world.” It is said that, “the one who prescribes the diameter of your knowledge determines the circumference of your activity.” In other words, “a cow grazes where it is tied” and “cattle is only as good as the field in which it grazes.” How we are able to and choose to conceive of the world is mediated by language. It is through conceptual incarceration within the prison of an alien language designed and intended to serve only its master, that the alien is able to shape our destiny by shaping our very thoughts. Our ancestors say:

Watch your thoughts for they become your actions
Watch your actions for they become your habits
Watch your habits for they become your character
Watch your character for it becomes your destiny

As it is individually, so it is collectively. For our ancestors say “the actions of one generation become the history of the next generation. The actions of many generations become the traditions of a people.” Afrikans in general and Afrikans in the Diaspora in particular have endeavored to re-conceptualize the world through language. Oftentimes, lacking other options, through the language forced upon us. However, it is said, “the dog does not prefer bones to meat, it is just that no one ever gives him meat.” We are the long awaited hunters. “You are the slave of the one whose handcuffs are on your wrists,” We are the long awaited liberators. It is us! We who have been entrusted by our Ancestors. We, the guardians of our languages, hold the key to re-conceptualizing reality for the best interests of Afrikans throughout the world: those in Afrika and those abroad. That we may speak our reality into the future; that we may shape the destiny of our children, of our children's children, of our children's children's children, and for the still more beautyful ones yet to be born.

This is our charge as we reclaim the Akan and Yoruba languages and through it the essence of Afrikan philosophy and the Afrikan worldview. For our goal of the total liberation of all Afrikan people from the grasp of white world terror domination.

In this class, the student will learn our proverbs, our songs, our stories, our Ifa verses, our greetings and more and be empowered to teach others gaining self-confidence in the language through competence in the language.

!!!Welcome to the world of Abibitumi Kasa!!!