I had the good luck of being on the same plane with The Late Singer Lucky Dube
He was a very humble man and spoke very little. In our talk I asked, which of the South African tribes he came from? He replied “ I am a South African “ all in his soft voice
I took another look at him from head to toe , and he asked why?
I replied I admired him a lot. He asked ,why ,again
The reason was simple . The settlers in South Africa where he came from had for years, to make it easy for suppression tried to make South Africans
Identify with their tribe. They split them into units called homelands
There was Kwazulu, for Zulus
Xhosaland (Transkei, Ciskei) for Xhosas
Pedi land for Pedis
Qwaqwa , for the Qwaqwa
Basotholand for Sothos
Venda for Bavenda
Bophutatswana for the Tswana
It therefore amazed me that he did not project a tribe but a nation
It is in the light of this I reproduce one of his songs , a favorite of mine
“Different Colours , one people”
Breaking those barriers
All over the world was not an easy thing
Yesterday your mouth was shut, yeah
Couldn' t make a sound, eh boy
But it' s such a good feeling today
When I can hear them from across the ocean singing this song
The whole world should be singing all the time
Chorus: (x3) We' re... Different colours / one people
Hey you government, never try to separate the people
Hey you politician, Never try to separate the people
They were created in the image of God
And who are you to separate them
Bible says, he made man in his image
But it didn' t ,say black or white
Look at me you see black
I look at you I see white
Now is the time to kick that away
And join me in my song
\
Different colours ,one people
Different colours, one people x3
Hey you politician
Never separate the people, here
Hey you man, hey you man
Never try to separate the people
Some were from America
We were from South Africa
Some were from Japan
We were from China
Some were from Australia
We were from UK
Some were from Zimbwabwe
We were from Ghana
Some were from Jamaica
We were from Russia
Some were from Aha ha ha
We were from Uhu hu hu
Different colours, one people
Different colours, one people
I believe if some can over come the tribal and racial chasm . we all can
Kojo Tamakloe is a Pan Africanist who believes it is time for Africa to Unite
