"The Gikuyu ancestors provided a proverb which states
'Nobody knows where he goes, but only whence he
comes.' I do not know what it feels like to live
without the need to defend against the European
cultural assault against my consciousness. Since I
have been old enough to recognize it for what it is, I
have never lived a day without having to prepare
myself in some way to deal with being African in a
world dominated by people who believe themselves to be
superior to Africans. My struggle to change myself is
at the same time a struggle to change this type of
world -- to take away the ability of white supremacy
ideology to reproduce its methods of domination and
control through me. I have resigned myself to a life
of struggle. There are no shorcuts and no easy ways
out. I see my role during this period of existence as
helping to build institutions that will enable the
next generation to collectively advance farther along
the path. The institutions we build do not constitute
home, they are part of our means of getting home.
They are, at best, what Nkrumah referred to as
'liberated zones.' They can shelter us and enable us
to nurture our young, but they are a means to what we
seek, not what we seek. As long as we live in an
environment where political control is used in the
interests of an alien culture and where we are forced
to defend ourselves against attacks on the knowledge
and ways of knowing practiced by our ancestors since
antiquity, we are not home. We must not be confused
about this. If we allow ourselves to be content with
temporary advantages of any sort, whether they be
industries or independent schools, while living under
the rule of another people we are confusing political
opportunism with sovereignty. What will truly set us
free, as Cabral was able to summise, is to be
liberated 'not merely from the foreigner's culture but
from foreign rule altogether.'"

-Mwalimu J. Shujaa
To Heal a People