S a r a f i n a B o o k s

More Knowledge More Power

So, you are curious and you want to know Who I Am?

I AM A STRONG BLACK WOMAN FIGHTING FOR MY PEOPLE

As a woman who traces her ancestry to Africa, pejoratively dubbed the Dark Continent to connote its inhabitants’ supposed primitive ways, I am a living testament of the malignance of age-old inter-ethnic prejudices.  Without the cultural demonization that lent impetus to the economic drive behind the trans-Atlantic slave trade, I would probably not be who I am today.  I have dedicated my life to combat cultural misconceptions particularly as it regards my ancestral culture and, whenever it happens, applaud efforts to redress historical injustices.

It is along this vein that I will cite an adage from my African ancestral past:  Until the lion learns to write, the hunter will always be the hero.  Put in layman’s terms, the victim of historical injustices ought to have a say in the process of redressing the said wrongs.  As it is, others are doing the talking which is exactly what prompted me to seek a role, no matter how small, to lend a voice in these proceedings.  The merits of my participation or those similarly inclined should be self-evident.  Unlike the animal in a zoo or a circus, Africans from the homeland and the Diaspora have a voice and should speak for themselves.  Though an entrepreneur, the primary goal of my business is dedicated to the dissemination of African historical facts previously ignored, plagiarized or basically distorted.

It is not asking for much when those of us who have an august agenda of seeking an amicable and mutually beneficial correction of historical distortions approach agencies responsible for funding individuals and organizations with goals running parallel to ours.  But, alas! we have been systematically denied the monies that should be at our disposal anyway.  We seek no ulterior motives nor is it our intention to undermine notions that are equally healthy for the multicultural society that were are.  I am not prone to entertaining conspiratorial theories but the obstinacy and persistence with which our efforts have been rebuffed leaves one to ponder after all, if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck, we can be forgiven were we to conclude that it is a duck.  Yes, there seems to be a palatable fear of anything that is deemed Afri-centric especially if its sources are independent of government-sanctioned groups or individuals.  The constant denial of support of agendas such as mine smacks of willful tactics to stifle academic and cultural honesty.

My products are heavily Afri-centric, which seems to account for the torrid time I have had to endure in my arduous task of seeking funding, publicity or securing a place to expose my books at functions such as any cultural occasion in the Netherlands.  What it is that could be deemed so threatening about Afri-centrism is beyond me.  We have been imbued in ethnocentrism in basically every fiber of our lives and adding the African facet should be considered a relief and long overdue.  As it is, those of us who harbour sincere Afri-centrism fall under the dark shadow of the disapproving frown of society when our ideas should spur a lively and educational debate on the role of the African to modern civilization.

Up until such openness is embraced, I will continue the revolution for my Brothers and Sisters.

FORWARD EVER BACKWARD NEVER

Power to the People