We sympathise with those whose story we know
Author Zakes Mda explains why it’s important for African children to see images of themselves that do not originate in Hollywood
24 July 2022 - 00:00
Once upon a time we were Igbos. It was in 1966 and I was a young artist in Maseru, Lesotho. I was working with more mature painters such as Meshu Mokitimi, Phil Motsusi and Paul Ncheke. We heard that some folks in northern Nigeria were killing our Igbo people. Massacre after massacre. The killers were mentioned – they were some ethnic and religious groups. We did not know them. We only knew the Igbo. Our Igbo. Of course, we read in the newspapers that the antagonists were mostly Hausa in the north and Yoruba in the west. But still, we did not know them...
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