Dissident Veteran For Peace: Colonial Mentality

Dissident Veteran For Peace

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America." —Alexis de Tocquevile. Democracy in America, Book I, Chapter XV.

With a nod to the Most Rev. Dom Helder Camara: When I support Palestinians some call me an 'anti-Semite', when I try to explain why I stand in solidarity with Palestinians they call me a Nazi.

"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." —Major General Smedley Butler, USMC (ret.)

"... no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end." —character of O'Brien in 1984, part 3, ch. 3 by George Orwell.

"Every prophet has realized that nobody loves you for being the enemy of their illusions. Every prophet has realized that most of us want peace at any price as long as the peace is ours and somebody else pays the price. That is why the prophet Jeremiah said, ' "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace,' ..." —The Rev. William Sloane Coffin. "Not to Bring Peace, But a Sword."

Monday, July 28, 2008

Colonial Mentality

With his kind of social consciousness and political awareness Fela will continue to write outstanding and relevant lyrics and with his music the world is sure to keep on listening. --Remi Akano, 1976.

I heard Seun Kuti on the radio the other day and it took me back to the 80s when I first heard his late father Fela Kuti's classic song "Colonial Mentality." Fela Kuti was a pioneer of Afrobeat music and a keen political critic.

Below is a long clip of the song (to hear the entire song, click here; for lyrics and translation, click here). At bottom, is an interview with Fela where he talks about colonialism in Nigeria and the "craziness" and "madness" of/about democracy. The song he refers to in the interview is "Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense."