ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
Talking Africa
By Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Date note: Undated Facebook note, written between 2011 and 2014.
Tags: capitalism, communism, organisation
Replying to a commenter who argued that communism never enslaved Africa, and that Africans practised communal living long before Karl Marx:
Capitalism, communism: those are just words.
When the rubber hits the road, this is what humans have, or do not have: the ability to organize and be organized.
Do so-called "Africans" have this ability? If so, is anything preventing "Africans" from creating their own "…ism" and following through with it?
On another note, I am not sure a discussion about "Africa" can rest on the premise that Africans are "one people". Are they? You tell me.
— Wanaku Verdzekov
Reading & grammar
Reading level: Gr 9–11
Understand
- What was the commenter's claim about communism in Africa?
- What does the author say matters more than "-isms"?
- Why does the author question the idea that Africans are "one people"?
Grammar focus: the suffix -ism. -ism turns a word into a system or belief: capital → capitalism, tribe → tribalism. The author invites Africans to create "their own '…ism'".
Try it: Make three new -ism words that describe ideas you believe in, and define each in one sentence.
Discuss: Is the ability to organize more important than which political system a country chooses? Argue your position.