Oh Africa why; why you Betray me?
Oh Lord, Is it a sin for me to be born in Africa
Then why do my own people treat me so un-African
I never asked to be born in this continent, but you made me in your image
So why does my fellow African brother treat me with such disdain
All l ever want to do is build the Motherland, but my brother next door wants to damage
When is our self-hate and lack of self esteem going to end, for my heart bleeds with pain?
For how long shall we suffer, the streets of Mogadishu are filled with my brothers and sisters in hunger
Why is poverty so synonymous to this beautiful continent? I wonder and as l ponder for an answer…..
My sisters are being raped in the Congo, while Darfur sizzles with an endless massacre
Is it a sin for me to be African, then why oh Africa why…..
Why do you betray me?
My own land is rich of natural resources, instead of them being a blessing they seem to be a curse
In this day and age, my own African brother vehemently carries a machete to cut my throat
Where is the African brotherhood like it was in my neighborhood, it gets worse, so help me God rest my case?
Yet, we all made in his image so we may create and not hate, please learn to appreciate and not hurt
Nevertheless, l still dream big, for a brighter day is not far ahead
Why do you judge me on my ethnicity, yes my language is different
And that is the beauty of the Motherland, can you comprehend?
Africa, so beautiful, yet so painful
Africa , so together, yet so far apart
The potential within is so powerful, yet so hurtful
Oh Africa why, why do you betray me
I am the son of the soil
Oh my Motherland, why then do you take me so far away from my Mother and my family
I go overseas, l can never be at easy, they treat me like cheese; they are quick to accost and deport
In my Motherland, my brother crosses a man-made border trying to find better life
Why does it have to be so hard to be African?
My nieces and nephews are scattered all over, they seek my support
Yet l can never change or even try to be American
All they faced with is poverty
For l am African and proud of my Afro centrism
I pray to the Lord, come set me free
In my own mother’s land, l feel like l am in prison
Set me free and take me to heaven
Just the other day, l couldn’t believe what l saw with my very own eyes,
I thought my television set was playing tricks on my mind so l had to unwind,
My brother from another mother was burnt alive, Just trying to survive
His sin, being an African from the other end of the Motherland
So why is it my Mama’s land, when my brother dies like a savage?
Who are you to claim l am taking your job
Wake up my brother and educate yourself
You don’t need to be in the mob
Carrying a machete in this day and age, that’s so lame, and what a shame
Go ahead and blame apartheid, you still loath and so lost in the past
Dust yourself up and gaze into the future
Not only for yourself but your posterity too
The opportunities are insurmountable all you need is hope
Oh your vision is blurred so you cant cope
Oh Lord, l know during my final hour on judgment day the blame will be on me
So let me do my tiny part to re-build my Motherland
In Harare, my brothers are getting whipped and killed
While in Joburg my sister is raped and lynched
Abroad we are arrested and deported.
In Nairobi, the slums are ablaze with self-hatred
On the Niger Delta, the kids have no peace in sight, despite the oil what a plight
In Sierra Leone the streets are lonely for fear of a sniper
In Senegal they paddle man-made rafts, drowning trying to cross the Atlantic
Oh yes it’s tough, it isn’t easy being African, yet l can never seize
To fight for a bigger, better, and brighter Africa
The wise say, the purpose of life is a life of purpose
Then ‘Aluta continua…… our struggle goes on and on’
Take me to the round-table; let me get the wisdom of our fallen heroes
The very same struggle that Chief Albert Mvumbi Luthuli died for
Mvumbi you said it best, ‘Africa cast your eyes beyond the past, look at the present,
Recognize and preserve the rights of man and the establishment of a united Africa’
Samora Machel, l know you tossing and turning, Oliver Tambo, your heart is sinking,
Patrice Lumumba, you feel betrayed, Nkwame Nkrumah, your dream is my dream
Steven Bantu Biko you feel so let down, Chris Hani, your mission still unaccomplished
Joshua Mqhabuko Nkomo, a true son of the soil, Julius Nyerere, a man of the people
Long live Nelson Rohlihlahla Mandela, please Lord give us another leader like him
Madiba, You re-iterated it best, ‘we are just afraid of our own light’
Our glow in the dark….. oh Lord no more panic attacks on my Mother
United we stand and divided, forever we plunder, like thunder…..Oh Africa why, why do you betray me? I’m only African…. from the Motherland…. on the other end!
Ka-Ngwenya
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