IANA Blog- September 2022
Happy September,
Yeah…you see that picture…so, I’m pretty sure you know by now, but I might as well inform you that Elizabeth Windsor, also known as, Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom, died on Thursday, September 8th. I remember driving back home, when I received the news on 102.9 KBLX on the radio. While driving, I heard,
“We have breaking news…Queen Elizabeth II has passed away…thoughts and prayers…”
The first thing that went through my mind was “Social Media is about to light her ass up!!” Of course, I said this with a chuckle on my face and just like I expected…Social Media lit her ass up, with some legendary comments, memes and jokes…I saw it from different parts of the world…I saw jokes from the Irish (look up Lizzy’s in a Box), jokes from Indians/Pakistanis, jokes from Indigenous people, jokes from the Scottish, jokes from UK, jokes from America (obviously) and of course jokes from the African diaspora. From our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean to our brothers and sisters here in America and the UK, and of course from all parts of Africa. It felt like everyone was taking shots…and you know I had to take my shots too.
As I was looking through Social Media to see the memes and jokes, I also saw a lot of people grieving online, I saw people mourning online and even thoughts and prayers from so-called African “Leaders,” including Nigeria’s own “He Who Must Not be Named”...Buhari…who thinks that Nigeria “wouldn’t be complete without a chapter on her,” and called the Queen, an “‘outstanding leader’ who dedicated her life to making her Nation, the Commonwealth and the entire world a better place.” Of course I read his response, while rolling my eyes and shaking my head.
What really had me irritated was when I saw people on Social Media legit defending the actions of Queen Elizabeth II. I saw others saying how we shouldn’t make fun of her death, because she has a family mourning her, or telling others to “respect the dead,” or trying to act like she was “saving the world.” I even saw BBC Africa claim that she had a “relationship” with all of Africa, when we know what that “relationship” really is. Don’t even get me started on what I saw on the National News over the Weekend. Honestly I’m not surprised, but there was still a part of me that was like, “Are y’all f***ing serious?”
I remember my friend telling me how when Winnie Mandela died and she read the New York Times, they wrote an article on the “Mother of the Nation,” and framed her as a criminal, a mugger and a murderer. While the media and some of these delusional people try to rewrite Queen Elizabeth’s legacy as a leader, we all should know her for what she really is…an imperialist…a colonizer…and a thief.
As mentioned, BBC tried to rebrand the Queen’s colonialism on Africa as a “relationship,” but we know that relationship was nothing but an “abusive relationship,” especially when she benefited from the colonization of Africa. She was queen of 32 countries which were under control of the British…10 of them coming from Africa…one of them being Nigeria. We can’t forget about what happened to Kenya under her reign and her involvement in the Mau Mau uprising. We can’t forget how she was queen during the Apartheid regime in South Africa. We can’t forget that she benefited from the abduction of stolen Africans who were transported to America, and the Caribbean. And, of course the monarchy was not popular in Nigeria, espescially as Nigeria gained its independence under President Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1963…I forgot to mention…she was also involved with backing Nigeria against the BIAFRA during the infamous Nigerian Civil War.
As I said before, the Queen is a well known thief, walking around with what was stolen from Africa, especially with the largest clear cut diamond in the world, ‘The Great Star of Africa,’ which was stolen from South Africa. Continuing to live off the wealth of her family and ancestors who reaped off the profits of slavery, and its not just Africa that has suffered under the Queen’s reign…it’s every other nation that had to deal with her reign…in India…in Ireland…many of the Caribbean islands.
It’s good to know that people are putting others in check about the Queen’s past, especially Dr. Uju Anya, Nigerian-American Linguistics Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Anya is of Igbo descent and had family members who died in the Nigerian Civil War. It seems her tweets about the Queen apparently pissed off some people, including billionaire Jeff Bezos. She didn’t apologize for her tweets…and as far as I’m concerned, she shouldn’t have to.
As far as I can tell, I don’t remember Queen Elizabeth (or anyone in that Royal family) ever acknowledging the crimes of her past or the crimes that the family has perpetrated, so why should we mourn for her? I sure as hell ain't doing it and if you’re African, you shouldn’t waste any tears for this colonizer. As I said, she and her family stood on the shoulders of Africans who suffered under her reign, whether it be the Africans on the continent or any of the enslaved Africans who were stolen and forced into American and Caribbean chattel slavery. As my friend from Berkeley states, “The death of one person does not mean the death of the system,” as the reign of the Monarchy is now passed down to the Queen’s son, King Charles III, but we should not allow anyone to try and rewrite history and paint the former Queen as some saint, or some leader or someone who was fighting for Africa’s independence like they’re claiming she did. We need to remember her for who she really was.
As South African activist, Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters said, “WE DO NOT MOURN THE DEATH OF A COLONIZER AND A MURDERER WHO CAME AND KILLED OUR PEOPLE!” and “If there really is life and justice after death, may Elizabeth and her ancestors get what they deserve.”
As for me, I’ll continue to not mourn for the so-called Queen. Instead, I’ll continue to mourn for the many Africans...and other oppressed people who died fighting against British colonialism…and raise a clenched fist for those continuing to fight imperialism. All power to all the people. ✊🏾
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/14/uju-anya-queen-nigeria-colonialism-empire
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/10/queen-death-colonies-atrocities-british-empire
https://twitter.com/EFFSouthAfrica/status/1567960426066984961
https://twitter.com/UjuAnya/status/1567933661114429441
https://twitter.com/1hood/status/1571260915672141830
https://twitter.com/BBCAfrica/status/1567950901330976769
https://twitter.com/Africa_Archives/status/1567877143698329601
https://mobile.twitter.com/ajplus/status/1572994885874958336
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