As Black History Month drew to a close, we wanted to round-up the celebrations and commemorations with a showcase of our student's work. Art work, poetry, musical performances, history projects - a whole host of wonderful pieces to reflect the event. We were especially blown away by Kosisochukwu's, Year 11, creative writing. It cleverly and beautifully draws comparisons between the continent of Africa and an injured fox.
An injured fox or The Continent of Africa? First free in the wild fending for herself, bearing rare fruits and raw materials like gold and unique diamonds. Most importantly, she is the mother of all cultures. She breastfed the child that now bites her breasts. The heart that loved all that hearts of gold is now shattered into tiny pieces and is now seen as invaluable as salt - a playground for evil doers. My mother is now in bronze shackles, she now is a slave to debt. She cries like a siren lost in a sea of crude oil looking for a sailor to save her. Unfortunately, it’s too late.
Africa now is home to more than 1 billion people; it is truly a diverse continent. The Motherland is a continent with the world’s largest free trade area and a 1.2-billion-person market. This continent is composed of low, lower- middle, upper-middle-, and high-income countries; 26 of which are fragile or conflict-affected. Africa is now caught in a vicious circle of instability which prevents people from undertaking normal economic activities and prevents her from functioning as she should. This is caused by undermining development and governance which then creates poverty and weakness providing fertile ground for more conflict. The countries in Africa are looked down on by the Western world because of the past and present exploitation and the lack of sharing and management of wealth. This status was caused by the western world using neo colonialism to elude African countries during foreign trade. For example, Ghana supplies cocoa to most of the western countries, yet most of these commodities are obtained using her children and unfair trade.
My Mothers’ child, Sierra Leone was once referred to as ‘The diamond eye of Africa.’ That eye now bleeds as severed hands gouge out her eyes.
The red fox struts through the arctic, her paws leave the evidence of her presence in the snow. Her fur, the shade of the sunset, protects her from becoming cold inside, as droplets of snow slowly slide down the tip of her pointy ears. Her ears sensitive as she hears the last of her pack yearn for her help. The ice caps slowly melt as the ice she stands upon breaks her away from her home. Awakened by this thought, she is relieved of the horrible future she will find herself in. She strolls to feel in touch with nature again. Finding comfort, she decides to rest on a spot. The extreme heat of the arid desert, sun blinding to her eyes, her paws sink into the seamless sands; hidden scorpions lay low under the sand ready to slowly annihilate its next victim. She hears shrieks that are almost deafening but very familiar, the last of her pack, rushing to help. A sting from the scorpion causes a sharp pain that awakens her. Shocked, she strolls looking for a body of water, the yearns and shrieks are projected as she walks north. Instantaneously, a fast SUV almost separates her from her habitat, ‘BEEP Beep!’ it roars as it fades away. Escaping, her blue blood gushes from her side, her rear left thin, long leg fails her as she struggles to walk. Her strut is fading, her fur is losing its glow as she continues walking into the great unknown, expecting a breakthrough.
That fast SUV is the western culture that has now not only urbanized my mother but is disintegrating the bond between her and her children. My mother is hurt. My mother is injured from debt: the lack of her children’s knowledge on how to expand her resources haunts them. She sits on a throne of blooded thorns as her children suffer from hunger and lack of electricity while the Emirates are eating the fruits of her labour: her Gold, her heart. Thus, leaving her almost paralyzed. Neglected, she tries to stand up, but she falls to her face.