Page 19 - Volume 1_Go home mzungu Go Home_merged with links
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Notes from the Author
Who is the m’zungu?
m’zungu
m̩̩ 'zuŋ u is a Bantu language term used in the African Great Lakes region and
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wider East Africa (i.e. Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Democratic
Republic of the Congo) to refer to people of European descent. Originally used to
ɡ
m̩̩
describe European explorers, 'zuŋ u is now often used to describe all
foreigners or simply someone who speaks English.
"M’zungu - Wikipedia."
Accessed June 17, 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mzungu.
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“Go home m’zungu, Go Home!’ (Volume 1 of the trilogy)
‘Go home m’zungu, Go Home!’ does not mean that all m’zungu are unwelcome in Africa. I chose
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this title for the 1 volume because it sums up much of the African’s view of that time when
Europeans ruled Africa.
‘Go home m’zungu, Go Home!’ is also me cursing the colonial mindset of those non-Africans
who continue to think like the colonial m’zungu. Some still believe that European colonisation of
Africa was a ‘good thing’, that it left Africa ‘better off’. These people, and others, adopt a
condescending approach to Africa, to the development of African economies and to the subject of
International Aid. Such people are simply the colonial m’zungu brought back to life.
My title ‘Go home m’zungu, Go Home!’ is directed at these people. It’s a way of telling the
m’zungu that so long as he continues his colonial views towards Africa, he will be unwelcome. Go
away and come back with a different attitude. Build a new, more mutually beneficial relationship.
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See Africa as a partner and enjoy a bigger share of the economic success of 21 century Africa.
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