I have read a part from the book I Speak of Freedom: A Statement of African Ideology by Kwame Nkrumah. Once he was a political leader of Ghana, the first European colony, which gained independence. In this passage Nkrumah’s views are not limited to Ghana but refer to the whole African continent. He supports the idea of the African Union and confident in its success. Nkrumah believes that unity is the source of the African power.
This fragment starts with the reminder that Europeans in their attempts to civilize Africa, just used its resources and enslaved people. But these memories should be forgotten and the continent should prepare for the future. Nkrumah points out on the potential of Africa. There are plenty of mineral resources and valuable crops. The forests are full of trees. Moreover, Africa possesses huge water storages. On the other hand, the author admits that only 1% of this potential is used at the moment. Therefore, it is extremely important to create the union of the African countries. According to Nkrumah, it would help to distribute the resources and to achieve the prosperity of the whole continent. The leader emphasizes that Africa should be untied despite the differences in language or culture as the independence and mutual help is what should be significant for the Africans. Nkrumah also highlights the positive changes in the attitude to Africa from the world community. This was achieved, he believes, because of the mutual support of the African nations. Thus, the unification will be helpful in achieving the real independence from Europe.
In this short passage, Nkrumah critically evaluates the present state of matters in Africa. A lot of countries are living in poverty having incredible storages of the natural resources. Besides, African countries are weakened by the civil wars, which are supported from the outside. The only way the continent is able to survive is to unite. I agree with the author that unification is the most effective solution in this case. I suppose that this idea led to the foundation of the African Union, which is still functioning on the premises of the continent. Furthermore, Nkrumah also supports the independence of every African country regardless its size or the amount of population. He expresses his support towards every of new flag, the sign of the independency. Therefore, these words of the Ghana leader might have inspired the other colonies to oppose the colonial rules.
Being the voice of the African people, Kwame Nkrumah clearly states the main problem of Africa. Despite the creation of the African Union, the continent experiences the lack of unity. However, the author of the passage is optimistic and illustrates his hope for unification with the events in the Sahara and Congo. Therefore, it can be said that the progress is felt and Africa has chances to become united and benefit from this cooperation using the rich natural resources. At this moment, continent has not achieved the goal described by Kwame Nkrumah but it should be said the African Union is actively operating on the premises of almost countries of the continent. Therefore, the true union as well as the independence can be achieved, though the implementation of this plan requires a lot of time.
The fragment of this book impressed me with the hope and faith Kwame Nkrumah uses to express his view on the African future. The continent has all the opportunities for the well-being. The only thing that is needed is the unity. This optimism left the reader convinced in the reality of such scenario. Hopefully, the modern African leader would be able to follow the ideals of Nkrumah.
History Reaction Paper: Essay You Might Want To Emulate
Type of paper: Essay
Topic: Nkrumah, Continent, Africa, Union, Literature, Resources, Independence, African Union
Pages: 2
Words: 600
Published: 03/08/2023
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