Written piece
The Hope that Kills?
Princess Kodua
Ghana
About this piece
A vivid slideshow of the current occurences in Africa and the world at large that raises endless questions about humanity and hope.
The Hope that Kills?
I see with my third eye,
The brutal kidnapping and killings of Nigerian children;
Future leaders whose futures are now imaginations.
I witness the threatening floods in Accra;
That questions the very structures put in place for safety.
I see the xenophobic attacks in South Africa;
And wonder if we all have the same blood flowing through us.
I sense the intangible fear of the recurring Ebola in Kenya;
A virus that struck disaster before COVID-19.
And I cry for the Sahel regions that are in desperate need of humanitarian need.
Climate, wars, hunger, murders, dispacements...
Human evils and human doings...
Yet I remember a time in school when we were taught Pan-Africanism, humanity and the Hope of the Black Star.
A time when we sung our anthems with pride and certainty.
A time when everything felt conquerable.
A time where hope was free and abundant,
Tangible even, like our daily school uniforms.
Do we let the present determine the future?
Or the past determine it?
Do we hold on to the flickering faith of our fore fathers and ancestors?
And strive for a better Africa, a better world?
Do we just hope for the best in our own small worlds?
Do our best to merely survive on earth?
Go through the simulations and wish the next generation the best?
Or is it the hope that things will eventually get better,
That make us reluctant to push harder, demand better, and stand up for good?
Genuinely, is it the hope that kills?