Ex Africa semper aliquid novi!

"SOMETHING NEW ALWAYS COMES OUT OF AFRICA!"
When these words were spoken, it was horror that came to the mind of the Europeans. It didn't help that those who came to plunder the continent opted to call the people savages, rather than a people who were intellectual, with advanced means of production. After all, if they were to say that Africans were not so primitive, it would make it harder to justify the plunder. yes, it can be supposed that its true. However, whenever people hear of Africa, there is no qualm about the pain, suffering, diseases and starving children. After all, National Geographic has been kind enough to show people the destitution of Africa.
No one can deny that this is indeed in existence.
However, people have not come to appreciate the complexity of Africa.
“The magic and romance of Africa still lives with us. From all walks of life, men and women of different nations have poured into Africa: to explore it, to conquer it, and to question it" (Rubadiri, 1964) Some succeeded in exploring and conquering Africa and if Kipling’s White Man’s Burden is any indication, the Europeans thought they were doing a great favor to the Africans by colonizing them. However, those who went there with questions have yet to get their answers. The African continent carries a mystery that is yet to be solved. For its vastness and beauty, Africa still houses the most under-served populations of the world. Africans certainly owe it to themselves to find a new path that will lead them to development. Whether this new path is termed as the African renaissance or a rebirth of African Socialism, Africans must seize the moment and turn inwards to rind within themselves the solutions to their problem (Martin, 1993)
Frantz Fanon was the one who said that "Each generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it” (Fanon, 1965, 206). It should be the mission of the present generation of Africans to revive Africa. They have been given a great start. All the authors of the different articles point to that specific truth. African centers will have to be built to focus on African studies. This will give rise to true scholarship of Africa’s history. The African Renaissance ultimately offers a new beginning for Africa. It is a way that Africans can revive their “values of creativity, generosity, communal spirit and hospitality” and to reinsert their pride and dignity. To achieve this, recapturing the African spirit is key. This spirit is on display in African culture, in the dances, in the magnificent architecture, and art. This spirit is ever present in the pyramids and sphinxes of Egypt, the stone buildings of Axum, the ruins of Carthage and Great Zimbabwe, the rock paintings of the San, the carvings of the Makonde and the stone sculptures of the Shona, just to name a few. It must be that when we hear the words Ex Africa semper aliquid novi!” (Something new always comes out of Africa), the world will think of glory and not horror.