Until the white came

 Until the Whites Came…

 

Until the whites came, the “Yamiris” never knew the “Yaribas,” everyone was a king in their own lands.

Until the whites came, our religions were sacred, highly valued and respected. We could call on “Amadioha” without being called “barbaric.” “Sango” divinely judged our theft cases transparently. “Oya,” the beautiful river goddess was easily prayed to, to give us beautiful children and bless them with the understanding of our traditions and wisdom to keep our cultural heritage going.

Until the whites came, our songs were precious to us, our clothing were unique to our cultures, our languages were valued without the “vernacular” tag.

Until the whites came…

Our cultures were not called barbaric. Our religions were not called old-fashioned

Our languages were not called vernacular

Our dark skin and curly hair glittered in the bright African sun

Our “shuku” and “patewo” hairstyles were the height of aesthetics of our young girls

Our women wriggled their “bum-bums” to the melody of our music

But when the whites came, they asked us to close our eyes in prayer to their foreign God, and while our eyes were still closed, they stole our heritages from us in exchange for one mirror that made us see our cultures and traditions through their eyes.

Until the whites came, we were a beautiful people with amazing cultures and beautiful traditions.

Until the whites came, we were black, bold and beautiful, not black, ugly and retarded.

Nwaozor Gift