Developing Africa, Not Westernizing It | Laiqa Walli | TEDxYouth@AKAMombasa

Summary

This passionate speech addresses the tendency of African generations to seek validation from the West and the importance of embracing African identity, culture, and innovation. It criticizes the conflation of Westernization with development and calls for a reevaluation of African traditions and indigenous knowledge. The speaker encourages a mindful approach to preserving African heritage and adapting external solutions to fit the African context, advocating for a future where Africa is defined by its own progress, not Western influence.

Takeaways

• 🌏 The speaker emphasizes the importance of not reducing Africa to Western stereotypes, highlighting the continent's diversity in tribes, languages, and unique ways of life.
• 🗣️ There is a call to recognize and value indigenous languages and cultures, using the speaker's mother's insistence on learning Swahili as an example of preserving cultural heritage.
• 📚 The script points out the tendency of African generations to seek validation from the West, suggesting that this mindset undermines self-reliance and innovation within Africa.
• 🏛️ The speaker criticizes the notion that Westernization and development are synonymous, arguing that Africa should focus on its own authentic solutions to problems rather than mimicking Western approaches.
• 🌱 The importance of traditional knowledge systems and practices is underscored, with the example of 'tossa' farming in Niger being a successful, indigenous method overlooked by external interventions.
• 🌍 A geographical perspective is provided, illustrating how the Western world is a small fraction of the global population and land, yet has a disproportionate influence on Africa's self-image.
• 👥 The script encourages the audience to be mindful of their choices and actions, as they contribute to the collective narrative about Africa and its potential for development.
• 🔄 The concept of 'contextualizing knowledge' is introduced, advocating for the adaptation of external ideas to fit within Africa's unique cultural and social contexts.
• 👩‍🏫 The speaker acknowledges the complexity of the issue, suggesting that while some Western ideas may be beneficial, they should be critically assessed and integrated thoughtfully.
• 👐 The script concludes with a call to action for the audience to take ownership of Africa's future, to resist the passive acceptance of Western dominance, and to actively promote the continent's own strengths and solutions.
• 🎨 A metaphor is used to describe the potential for Africa to develop in a way that is distinct from Western models, suggesting a vibrant and diverse future if the continent embraces its own identity and potential.

Q & A

What is the main issue the speaker addresses regarding the perception of Africa?

The speaker addresses the issue of Westernization overshadowing the unique cultural, linguistic, and developmental aspects of Africa, leading to a negative self-image and a lack of innovation.

How does the speaker describe the common response to questions about life in Africa from a Western perspective?

The speaker describes the common response as downplaying the cultural richness of Africa and instead focusing on similarities with the West, such as the presence of English, KFC, and Pizza Hut.

What are some unique aspects of Africa that the speaker feels are often overlooked?

The speaker mentions the world's most genetically diverse people, the existence of 3,000 tribes, 2,000 languages, fresh produce markets, unique transportation methods like tuk-tuks, and traditional knowledge systems.

Why does the speaker believe the current generation is making a grave mistake?

The speaker believes the current generation is making a grave mistake by seeking validation from the West and worsening the image of Africa, instead of embracing and promoting its own unique qualities and solutions.

What is the speaker's view on the relationship between Western culture and the perception of superiority?

The speaker views the relationship as problematic, where Western culture is often seen as superior, influencing language, fashion, dietary choices, and the promotion of Western arts over African ones.

What does the speaker argue about the difference between Westernization and development?

The speaker argues that Westernization and development are not the same; Westernization can hinder African innovation and progress, while development should be about solving African problems with authentic, context-relevant solutions.

What is the significance of the speaker's mother's decision to teach her Gujarati and Swahili?

The decision signifies the importance of preserving and valuing one's native language and culture, and the potential for language and culture to contribute positively to personal and societal development.

Why does the speaker feel that the fading away of the Swahili language in parts of East Africa is a problem?

The speaker feels it's a problem because language is a crucial part of cultural identity and heritage, and its loss represents a loss of connection to one's roots and traditions.

What is the 'tossa' farming technique mentioned by the speaker, and why is it significant?

The 'tossa' farming technique is a traditional method used in Niger that involves digging dams and holes to collect rainwater for natural irrigation. It is significant because it represents an effective, local solution that was overlooked in favor of a costly and unsuccessful Western approach.

What does the speaker suggest as the first step towards addressing the issue of Western superiority in Africa?

The speaker suggests being mindful and conscious of one's decisions, including what is said, eaten, and worn, as these actions contribute to the broader cultural narrative and can either perpetuate or challenge Western dominance.

How does the speaker propose redefining the terms 'Westernization' and 'development'?

The speaker proposes redefining these terms subjectively, based on their relevance to one's own life and context, to ensure that they support rather than hinder authentic African progress.

What is the speaker's view on the necessity of adapting Western knowledge to fit the African context?

The speaker believes that Western knowledge should be adapted, not adopted wholesale, to fit the African context, emphasizing the importance of cultural and historical relevance in decision-making.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Challenging Western Perceptions of Africa

The speaker addresses the common tendency to describe African countries by Western standards, such as the presence of English, KFC, or Pizza Hut, rather than celebrating the continent's unique cultural diversity, languages, and traditions. They criticize the focus on Western validation and the neglect of African innovations and knowledge systems. The speaker calls for a shift in perspective, urging the audience to recognize and value Africa's rich heritage and to stop seeking approval from the West.

05:02

📚 Embracing African Languages and Traditional Knowledge

This paragraph discusses the importance of preserving and promoting African languages and traditional knowledge. The speaker shares a personal story about learning Swahili and the societal pressures to prioritize English. They highlight the irony of Western solutions failing in Africa while traditional methods, like 'tossa' farming in Niger, prove successful. The speaker emphasizes the need to credit and utilize African ideas and to resist cultural imperialism that erodes African culture and traditions.

10:03

🛠 Contextualizing Solutions for African Development

The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of contextualizing knowledge and solutions for African development. The speaker argues against the wholesale adoption of Western practices and advocates for adapting them to fit African contexts. They encourage the audience to be mindful of their decisions, to redefine their understanding of development and Westernization, and to promote the cultural and historical significance of Africa. The speaker concludes with a call to action to put Africa on the map for itself, not for the West, and to define Africa's future.

Keywords

💡Westernization

Westernization refers to the adoption of Western culture, values, and practices by non-Western societies. In the video, it is discussed as a process that might overshadow the unique cultural heritage of African societies and is presented as a potential obstacle to authentic development. The speaker criticizes the tendency to equate Westernization with progress and development, using the example of how Western culture is often preferred over local traditions and languages.

💡Cultural Imperialism

Cultural imperialism is the dominance of one culture over another, often leading to the erosion of the less dominant culture's traditions and values. The video highlights this concept by discussing the historical and ongoing influence of Western culture on Africa, which has led to the suppression of indigenous knowledge systems and the adoption of Western ideals as the standard.

💡Authenticity

Authenticity in the context of the video refers to the genuine, original, and unique aspects of African culture and development that are distinct from Western influences. The speaker advocates for embracing authenticity in ideas and solutions, rather than blindly adopting Western models, to foster true progress and innovation within African societies.

💡Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous knowledge encompasses the traditional practices, skills, and understanding developed by a community over generations. The video mentions the disregard for such knowledge in favor of Western solutions, using the example of the World Bank's failed project in Nigeria compared to the success of the traditional 'tossa' farming method.

💡Diversity

Diversity in the video is used to describe the vast range of languages, tribes, and cultures present in Africa. It is highlighted as a strength and a source of richness that should be celebrated and preserved, rather than being overshadowed by a homogenizing Western influence.

💡Self-Representation

Self-representation is the act of portraying oneself or one's culture without external influence. The speaker emphasizes the importance of Africans representing themselves authentically to the world, rather than seeking validation from the West or conforming to Western expectations.

💡Language

Language is a key aspect of cultural identity and communication. The video script discusses the importance of preserving and valuing African languages like Swahili, which are at risk of being replaced by more globally dominant languages such as English.

💡Development

Development in the video is contrasted with Westernization, suggesting that true development should be rooted in local context and needs, rather than simply imitating Western models. The speaker argues for a redefinition of development that is relevant to African societies and their unique challenges.

💡Cultural Erasure

Cultural erasure refers to the loss of cultural identity and practices due to the dominance of another culture. The video warns against the risk of cultural erasure in Africa as a result of Westernization and the adoption of foreign cultural practices over local ones.

💡Innovation

Innovation in the context of the video is the creation of new ideas, solutions, and methods that are relevant to local contexts. The speaker criticizes the tendency to import Western solutions and calls for more African innovation that is grounded in local knowledge and traditions.

💡Contextualization

Contextualization is the process of adapting ideas or practices to fit a specific social, cultural, or environmental context. The video encourages the contextualization of knowledge and solutions to ensure they are relevant and effective within African societies, rather than simply mirroring Western approaches.

Highlights

The speaker emphasizes the importance of not reducing Africa to Western stereotypes and instead recognizing its diversity, including 3,000 tribes and 2,000 languages.

A critique of the tendency to seek validation from the West and the need for Africa to embrace its own representation in the 21st century.

The personal story of the speaker's mother, who insisted on the importance of learning Swahili despite societal pressure to prioritize English.

The societal ridicule faced by the speaker's mother for choosing to educate her daughter in Swahili, reflecting broader cultural biases.

The argument that Westernization and development are not synonymous, and the dangers of conflating the two concepts.

The speaker's call for Africa to leverage its own knowledge systems, traditions, and cultures for development, rather than solely relying on Western models.

A case study from Nigeria where a World Bank project failed while a traditional African method succeeded, highlighting the value of indigenous knowledge.

The historical context of Africa's colonization and how it has shaped current attitudes towards Western validation and cultural imperialism.

The idea that using forks and knives may not be as beneficial as traditional African eating methods, challenging Western dietary norms.

The speaker's personal gratitude for her mother's decision to maintain Swahili as a language and culture in her upbringing.

Three actionable steps proposed by the speaker: being mindful, redefining terms like 'Westernization' and 'development', and contextualizing knowledge.

The importance of not mirroring Western solutions but adapting them to fit African contexts, with the example of Mombasa's town painting.

The speaker's assertion that ignoring the problem of cultural imperialism makes one an agent of modern colonization.

A call to action for collective efforts to put Africa on the map for its own sake, not for Western interests.

The final message that the future of Africa is in the hands of its people, with the power to define its path independent of historical colonization.

Transcripts

[Music]

so you've traveled abroad to a Western

country and somebody asks you Wow

you're from Africa so how is it like

living there

what do you respond to that it might go

something like yeah I'm from East Africa

it's kind of a different life but we all

speak English we have a KFC we got a

Pizza Hut so it's not that different

think about that response when we're

trying to describe our country or our

continent as a whole we tend to focus on

the qualities that is a Western we

forget the fact that the world's most

genetically diverse people are here they

belong to 3,000 tribes they speak 2,000

languages and we also forgot to tend to

mention the fact that we have a readily

available fresh produce on our markets

we have unique methods of transports

like my tattoos and tuk tuks which you

don't get in many places our generation

is making a grave mistake and it's a

mistake we must recognize because we are

worsening the image of Africa and by

this generation I mean you and me

because we're the future and we're the

leaders of today and tomorrow so why do

we still seek validation from the West

we are the sole representation of Africa

and its people in the 21st century but

we travel back so ancient let us look at

a different scenario when I was growing

up and it was time for me to learn my

languages my mom was certain that I had

to know Gujarati which is my native

language but the debates came to play

when deciding between English and

Swahili you see my mom went to a

kiswahili medium school so she learned

math history science all in our national

language and as she pursued her passion

for being an educator her language

didn't hinder her development in fact

she graduated with a PhD recently and

she has maintained her love and fluency

for the language so it's understandable

that she would want her daughter to grow

up in the exact same language and its

cultures but our society ridiculed her

it seemed odd they said I'd turned out

to be uneducated they said I would be

socially disadvantaged they said I

wouldn't be ready for the world but here

I am and I want to thank my mom for

making that decision because I love

speaking Kiswahili and it saddens me to

know that in parts of East Africa the

culture of speaking this language is

slowly but surely fading away when you

look at these two scenarios you can

easily tell that we some house affiliate

this Western culture with superiority we

can see it by the mere fact that we

affiliate superiority just with the

English language we see it through our

fashion sense our dietary choices and

the fact that we commonly promote

Western Arts over our own and nowadays

countries have started to think that

westernization and developments are the

same thing which they are not Africa

needs to realize this so what do I mean

by the Western world I see in this

picture the red countries which include

Canada the US and most of Europe are the

Western world and if you take a closer

look or even a look from a mile away

you can tell how little population and

land they actually occupy at least in

comparison to the rest of the blue world

yet Africa the magnanimous continent and

all of its 54 countries are so focused

on mirroring that tiny fraction

the curse we must break through from

because this superiority is the root

cause of our problem whereby

westernization is hindering our African

innovation when we suppress the option

of coming up with new and authentic

ideas we continue to be inferior until

we start looking within rather than

beyond until we start coming up with our

authentic ideas to solve our own

problems we must take authority of our

progress forget coming up with

innovations what about the pre-existing

knowledge systems what about our

traditions and cultures the stuff that's

already been discovered by our ancestors

we disregard this as if it's inadequate

and we've reached a time in place where

we think they're inadequate and that is

sad because they are so valid to our

continents development when you take a

look at a case study in now in the

Nigeria public where the World Bank

swooped in to deal with the problem of

food scarcity due to drought they

employed a project that costed over a

hundred million dollars and guess what

it failed miserably and in the exact

same African country they were using a

traditional method known as tossa which

is positively flourishing this farming

technique included digging dams and

holes in order to collect the rainwater

and naturally irrigate the crops simple

but why didn't the World Bank consider

it why didn't they use it because Niger

would have solved their problem a long

time ago if they did countries like

Malawi Chad Zambia they could implement

this exact same African system of

farming and if we gave the well-deserved

credit to our African ideas and maybe

our continent would have been in a much

better place

perhaps Muammar Gaddafi was rights as

controversial as it may have been

he was rights in Runa in uniting the

people of Africa to believe in

themselves rather than pleading the

world to believe in us because it's

ironic that the same people we plead to

believe in us are those who defined us

in the first place our continent has

been so heavily influenced by the West

our countries were drawn on a map by the

West when they discovered us think about

it was it that our knowledge and culture

was non-existent before a Portuguese

navigator sailed to our coast

they literally validated our existence

so it's no wonder that our leaders

continued to idolize it and make our

countries look more like the West ladies

and gentlemen I must we emphasize that

these two concepts are just not the same

there's an ongoing cultural imperialism

and as we let that imperialism go by

we're washing away the remains of our

cultures and our traditions let's take a

very common example most of us use forks

and knives to eat our dinner today why

don't you use your hands you might say

son hygienic unhealthy ill-mannered the

list goes on but you're wrong because

your fingers they contain natural

bacteria which is good for your gut and

it helps in digestion but that's just

too uncivilized nowadays it was my mom's

decision that Western ideals were simply

not ideal for my family that have

enabled me to engage my community being

able to speak in Kiswahili has given me

a new lens to look to look through and

live my life and I would never give that

up so just like my mom did what are some

of the choices you could make number one

being mindful being conscious of your

decisions what you say what you eat what

you wear it makes a difference because

you are an important piece of the big

solution puzzle so I hope you play your

part number two redefine your terms

westernisation developments they're

subjective I promise they're subjective

to your own lives so you need to make a

definition that is relevant to you and

this might sound kind of easy but it's

not it's hard for our minds to practice

and when things get hard we question

when things that hard we question and we

start to give up because sometimes there

are some Western solutions our continent

might not be able to survive without

things like the education systems it's

controversial but maybe Africa would be

worse off without the West maybe there's

some ideas we just have to borrow but

that's ok because we live in an

interdependent world right in this in

such Kanab scenarios we need to number-3

contextualize the knowledge we cannot

adopt we must adapt so that it fits into

our context we must not mirror these

Western solutions because we live in a

different context for a reason and this

means instead of making decisions like

painting over Mombasa's town to make it

look like Greece blue and white we

should think about promoting the

cultural and historical significance in

the buildings in Old Town Mombasa that's

more relevant

[Applause]

you see it gets kind of hard but I think

it's worth it and I really hope you

think it's worth it too because if we

strive to make these changes then maybe

just maybe our continent would look like

this westernization mirroring Western

ideals development making progress as a

continent mutually exclusive events

they're not the same at all there are a

lot of gray areas when you try to define

the two terms and draw a line but that's

because they've never been any

boundaries between the two terms

in history the problem we're dealing

with is very colorful so there will be

no black and white solution to it and it

seems pretty impossible but that doesn't

mean you sit back and go with the flow

because if you ignore this problem then

you are becoming an agent of modern

colonization and that is regretful we

must collectively make the efforts to

put Africa on the map and this time for

itself not for the West to divide and

conquer like it was ever theirs to take

control of the Scramble for Africa was

over a long time ago and now the

continent is in your very hands what you

choose to do with that will define

Africa's future

[Applause]