A Colonized Mind

On the 6th of march 1957 a young leader by the name of Dr kwame Nkrumah stood in front of a multitude of his fellow country men and women at the independent square in Accra and made a solemn speech declaring Ghana a free country. Years later both historians and scholars have both scoped and studied this independent proclamation and the appropriateness of his usage of the word ‘free’.

Anyway since the present is the golden child of both the past and the future let me share with you a brief history of our country.

The 15th century saw the arrival of the Portuguese on our shores and the Dutch joined them in 1598 and by the 17th century the English, Danes and Swedes have all completed the European invasion as some might call it. The later part of the 19th century saw the Dutch together with English traders remaining and after the Dutch withdrew in 1874, Ghana became a British protectorate.

Our beloved country got its name from the old Ghana empire which was extended through out the western part of Africa between the year 790-1076 and this kingdom was also known to have collaborated with several king and queendoms on the continent to form a trade union which was intended to boost their respective economy's and of course to prevent any acts or rumours of war amongst themselves. The name 'Ghana' also stands for the warrior king. Now when the British officially took over the administration of our country in 1874 something very important got shelved and the reign of the colony as fate designed it begun.

The British colonial rule which calendared between 1874-1957 not only both redefined and question our competence as human beings, it also excluded us from the possibility of participating in the very governance of our country and sovereignty, thus setting an exemplary foundation for all the dictators who would emerge on our nation's political scene on a later date, in other words since colonial rule isn't democratic, it could never entertain the notion of voting for or against anyone in particular, because it's more or less or altogether a form of dictatorship in itself.

Inclusive participation in governance would’ve catapulted our country to great heights, because after all two hands are better than one and in it democracy which literally means the rule of the people would have flourished.

Psychologists have always known the relation between the verbal and the non verbal components and how these interact with each other in our subconscious and also how they ultimately define our physical well-being and conditions, either positive, negative or in every sense.

The Jewish mysticism of Kabbalah has it that the physical world is a projection of the I. The I meaning the ultimate mind of the universe.

And so guess what, to colonize the mind is to distort the mental projection of the mind, the projection meaning the mirror image of the very person who is being colonized and when this happens clarity becomes confusion leaving one's previous state of confidence and assurance for uncertainty, doubt and fear. This is also a situation when one looks in the mirror only to see a false image of oneself.

The word “colonize” in the English dictionary means;

1. to transplant

2. to bring under control or subjection; conquer

3. to cause to become subservient; subdue

4. to enslave

And so now with the true meaning of the word “colonize” in sight, do we understand why 52 years after the British programmed our minds and left us to ponder on our own fate and existence, we are still very much under control and not ourselves?

The failures of our economy coupled to the mismanagement of our resources to the various coup d’états are all rooted in our colonial past. The colonial traditions, ceremonies and education system still run our everyday affairs and it’s as if the British left, but never really went.

And if we are corrupt, it's because the British who had a hand in our upbringing corrupted us with their corruption.

Dr Nkrumah should have refrained from using the word 'free', because we were not free then and we are surely aren't free now either, but we are getting there and we will get there.

The German psychologist and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote;

When the doors of our perception are cleansed, we will see things as they are as opposed to the way they are not.