African Diaspora Dialogue with Mahama Bawa (Part III)
For years Mahama Bawa ran “Kobos”, an African clothes store in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington D.C. Kobos was more than just a store where patrons could get fine formal and casual wear imported directly from Africa, it was a place for progressive exchange of ideas and dialogue between the Diaspora of Africans.
rastafaritoday.com: So, you spoke about working for Africa in small ways, how are you working for the American community?
African Diaspora Dialogue
Yaya Bawa: The whole concept of this shop was motivated by what I saw was a void in the early 80s, I used to hear people talk about African Americans not identifying themselves in terms of their heritage… this whole criticism of people not wanting to be African in the materialistic manifestation of it which I think is very important-that Africans should manifest who they are in the materialistic sense. So, I kept asking myself, how can people manifest their culture if they have no institution or resources? Later, the opportunity came for something like this to be done, and we went ahead and established this (shop). The primary force behind this (shop) is not just to sell clothes, but also to give people an opportunity to see what Africa can do for itself and give people a place where they can come and feel comfortable. This is their own space, they don’t have to apologies for how they walk in, they don’t have someone looking over their back… they can ask questions about their culture, ask questions, seek information, seek direction, ask questions about Africa. My focus has really been on the African-American community and the Caribbean community, to give them an opportunity, a window to Africa using clothing…
I always say, Africa is like a castle, it has many doors and windows, music, food, clothes, religion, philosophy. All of these can be a window for a woman’s entry into Africa. A woman can be a man’s entry to Africa.
If there is one story that typifies our mission, this is the story; we have people who have actually relocated to Ghana who started with us with one article of clothing-and now they have retired, living in Ghana.
And it comes from a deep understanding that all African people are cousins. I am not interested in whether you say you are Jamaican, Barbadian, from Brazil, from Chicago; those are accidents in terms of place of birth. We are African people. We start from that premise. Now if you believe in protecting and defending the interest of Africa, we can sit at the table and eat with us. If you decide that you are not going to defending and protecting the interest of Africa, then we are not going to share our bread with you. But you are still a part of the family; it is just that we will not let you guard the south gate. (laughs) Now what matters is what are you doing about your African-ness, and if you are interested in that, you can come and break bread.
rastafaritoday.com: What do you think Africa is for the rest of the world?
Yaya Bawa: Well, there are two things, there is what Africa is for the rest of the world, and there is what the world thinks Africa is. Africa is their mother, for everybody! This is the mother of all nations, like it or not, we are all Africans. Unfortunately, because of the history of people and conquest, Europe in particular, has not been able to fully play her role as part of the African human family. But I believe that eventually, this too will change. There was a time when this was not the case I always remind people that this neglect and disrespect for Africa is something created in the last few hundred years. Prior to that, Africa was at the center of human civilization, she gave birth to new civilizations, she gave birth to ideas she nurtured other civilizations, they came in and participated in her experiments, they went away and did some new things, Africa looked at her children doing new things and she borrowed ideas from those children also. This is what has happened until the colonial experiment, when Europe began not only to colonize the people and their resources but also to colonize their ideas and information and to come up with this notion of inferiority and superiority to which Africa has been subjected to.
The way I see it now is for Africans themselves, to understand this process, to see what has happened to them and to understand that in the process of colonization, their mind has been deeply affected. And therefore their appreciation of their own selves and values has been seriously depreciated. And if they are able to understand that, then they have to come up with a counter strategy of elevating themselves back to their former sense of worth and glory. When they are able to that for themselves, then Europe and all the other parts of the world will have to look at a new reality of African people who accept themselves, African people who do things for themselves who create new ideas for themselves.
For example there is no reason the concept of development should remain singly at the level of European definition of production and distribution-there is no reason why that should be the only formula. Especially when you realize that prior to the development of capitalism in Europe, there were other forms of production that people lived with-and had new ideas. This was only one stage in the development of man, which happened to coincide with the development of Europe. What Africa has to do is to come up with their own definition of the best forms of production and distribution of resources. And live it and if they are able to do that and redefine themselves, and bring up their values to their contemporary lives, they don’t have to ask for anyone’s respect. But as long as African elites play second fiddle, and imitate European concepts and ideals, then Europeans have no reason to respect you… see anytime you imitate somebody, you are naturally second. So it’s time for us as African people to just say to ourselves that we have so much in terms of material and human resources to be able to create our new institutions, to reach back and to embrace the African world view, to bring out principles, processes and ideas that can be alive today and give them their contemporary flavor and superstructure and to make them work for our people. And once we are able to do that, then we can feed ourselves, clothe ourselves and we can look at each other, admire each other and stop killing each other because now we feel better about each other!
Like crabs in a bucket, each one wants to get out and as a result we are pulling each other we and destroying each other because we want to be who we are not, and as long as you are trying to be who you are not, then your soul is not at rest. And a soul that is not at rest is a violent soul and it can wreak havoc in its environment. So when you see what is going on in the continent, you have to understand, these are disturbed souls. These are not normal people! And until you bring their normalcy back, by letting people remain in their reality–there is an African reality, just as there is a Japanese, Indian, European reality. If you take people out of their reality and impose upon them something alien, you create a monster. You distort the person.
This is not to say for example that an African cannot look at China, Japan and see beauty in some things and then and then re-enforce his own with that beauty. For example, I know Europeans who have big homes and have an African Art and some things… that’s sharing in the human experience. But that does not denying this man his heritage, he lives as a European. He just flirts with Africa when he needs to and he can even go and have an African meal when he wants to. His whole life is not centered around Africa. The African should be able to do that; Live as an African, and if there is something he wants to experience which is Asian or Europe, then he can do that. But he cannot remain there. Because if he remains there then the crisis begin, and that is what Fanon was dealing with, the alienation of the black man. When the black man is constantly in crisis, especially the educated African, he doesn’t really know who he really is. He is born an African but he is being raised with European ways. He can never become a European and yet he is loosing his African heritage. What you have there is a crisis. Now if it is this class that we are drawing our leadership from, imagine what you have?
rastafaritoday.com: That is the class from which we are drawing our leadership.
Yaya Bawa: Exactly! Educated in ways that are alien to their own.
rastafaritoday.com: Educated to imitate.
Yaya Bawa: Yes!
Mahama Bawa has since closed Kobos now lives in Ghana where he tends to his farm.
