MARGE, YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND anything if you don’t get up and go in order to keep in the know…. Now, you take all this talk about Africa—what do you know about Africa? … That’s right—nothin’! Or even worse than nothin’ because we don’t know anything but a pack of fancy lies.
All our education about Africa comes from bad moving pictures. You know how they show us bunches of “wild folk” goin’ crazy and bein’ et up by lions, tigers and snakes. We see pictures about Africans dancin’ all day and drummin’ all night … and ain’t it funny, Marge, how the animal always eats the African and not the white man?
Yes, girl, I went to an African meetin’ tonight. No, it wasn’t given by African people, but it was all about Africa…. Well, the evenin’ started out with speakers tellin’ things about Africa and how Africans are different groups of people and not all one single thing…. Well, like in Europe—you know there’s English, French, Italians and Germans but yet you can plainly hear how they are different even though these people are all Europeans…. That’s right, there are even more groups of Africans than there are different Europeans.
Then someone explained all about African art and sculpture, and they showed us beautiful photographs of the things.
… No, Marge, we didn’t get to see any of the real stuff. How could we when it’s all in the British Museum?
Another speaker told us about history and slavery and all such as that, finally ending up with today and what’s going on now. And believe me when I say THINGS ARE POPPIN’! …
Wait, Marge, don’t get excited. Save that for later. It seems that the South Africans are breakin’ the Jim Crow laws! … Just like if you was to walk in a Mississippi waitin’ room, tear down the “white” sign and sit yourself down! HOW ’bout THAT AFRICA! … Oh, honey, thousands of ’em are doin’ that in trains, in the parks and everywhere.
But what bugged me was the “discussion” they had at the meetin’. Marge, you should have been there to hear the people arguin’ back and forth about “WHAT THE AFRICAN WANTS” and “WHAT THE AFRICANS DON’T WANT.” … Yes, that took up all the discussion time, and it kept battin’ around from one person to the other: “The African wants this and not that” … and on and on it went….
All of a sudden I jumped straight up and hollered, “There ain’t no mystery about that! Africans want to be free! … How in the devil can you sit and hear how they’re starved, whipped, kept out of schools, jailed and shot down and then ask WHAT the African wants?” … I went right on…. “You folks been talkin’ so uppity ’bout ‘Are Africans fit to govern themselves?’ … ‘are they educated enough?’ and all such trash…. Let me tell you one thing,” I says: “If educated folk can’t do anything but jail, whip, starve and abuse, what in the devil makes you think they are anything but unfit to rule!”
Yes, I did! … I squared right off: “There’s two schools of thought over there: One says privileges for white folk alone, while the other says FREEDOM FOR ALL.” I shook my fist at them, Marge. “Shame, shame, shame!” I cried.
And I tell you, they got quiet when I laid down the law…. “Stop all this pussyfootin’ pretense about ‘you can’t understand’…. Right is right and wrong is wrong, FREE AFRICA! Then I turned and asked, “Now who don’t understand that?”
… Well, maybe I did make a scene, Marge, but I’m sick and tired of folks pretendin’ they don’t know the score just so they can duck the issue, ’cause we all got to go when the wagon comes and it behooves each and every one of us to “put up or shut up” as the gambler said…. Sure, Marge, the truth is just pure beautiful!