What trouble do I want to make today, and who do I want to piss off on the anniversary of the day I escaped death while following the rat race?

Well, I want to piss off my fellow African elites who think that moving on means forgetting about the trauma inflicted upon our continent. Our ’empire’ educated elites want us to roll up our sleeves, lace our boots, and move on with it, because the colonizer, disguised as a progressive neoLiberalist, says so. But I have bad news for them: until that ongoing drama is dealt with, forget so-called progress! Yes, some of us will thrive and do well in our own small corner, but that won’t make a dent in the big scheme of things.

The Unaddressed Past

What am I making trouble about? I am talking about what Dr. Gabriel Ruhumbika reminds us of in 2025. Dr. Ruhumbika writes:

“The accursed trade caused wars between ethnicities and between clans within ethnicities, and it gave rise to raiding bandits who ambushed, attacked, and captured people. As a result of the chaos that ensued, many kingdoms and states disintegrated and fell apart; there was no more security or rule of law anywhere, and people were killing one another everywhere, in addition to marauding bandits capturing their own people and selling them to European and Arab slave traders. Some historians estimate that, taking into account those who were sold into slavery abroad, those who died in transit, and those who perished within Africa itself from the effects of the slave trade in the 400 years of trade in human beings, Black Africa may have lost not less than 100 million of its own people.” (Ruhumbika, 2025, p. 8)

Relevance in the Modern Era

But why is this important in this day and age of AI, and especially today when we are celebrating the birth of Christ? Do Africans need to be reminded about something that is in the past? I disagree with those who dismiss the slave trade and all its ramifications because it is “in the past.” As Dr. Ruhumbika puts it, “…we must be perpetually reminded and aware of; How we were! How we were destroyed! What we must do.” In Kiswahili, it can be expressed as: _Tulivyokuwa! Tulivyoangamizwa!
Tunavyowajibika!_
(“How we were! How we were destroyed! What we must do!”).

The Weight of History

As Dr. Ruhumbika succinctly puts it, “No other group of human beings has ever been subjected to oppression, inequity, and dehumanization by fellow human beings so thoroughly…and for so long.”
Let us wake up, for the so-called luxuries we elites enjoy are just material things that will fade into the past, but our plight will remain and continue to weigh on us. I am sick and tired of my own “empire”-educated sisters and brothers celebrating crumbs thrown their way just to pacify their individual egos while we collectively suffer.

The Disparity

Don’t you get depressed when you drive your air-conditioned, bulletproof, imported vehicle into a neighborhood with no school, no gutter, no running potable water, no electricity, no hospital? The list is long, but let me also mention the water pathways choked with debris that cause disease and trauma.

A Call to Action

Africa, my Africa, you must wake up and smell the nsima and the ugali and the banku dade. The time is now! Why do we put up with this nonsense? Yes, I am making trouble, but what else do you expect from a troublemaker on the eve of Christmas? It is exactly 26 years ago when I almost lost my life while following the rat race. Now, let that sink in!