ipl-logo

Colonialization And Colonialism

1519 Words7 Pages
The African proverb states: “Until lions have their own historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter”. The need for a historical account by the native people is necessary to counter the repetitive inaccurate accounts written by the colonialists. Alternative voices are presented through director Raoul Peck’s film Sometimes in April, and Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poems “We Are Going” and “Municipal Gum”. These texts all explore the ongoing impact of colonization by challenging and expanding the colonial narratives of racial superiority and assimilation of identity. They achieve this through different contexts and experiences but the similar idea that all colonialism leads to the destruction of a civilisation in which the natives continue to carry the marks of history. Sometimes in April portrays the ongoing destructive presence of colonisation in Rwanda through challenging and expanding on the colonial narratives of racial superiority and identity. For centuries before the colonisation of Rwanda, its natives were all united and shared the same land, culture, religion. However Belgium colonisers imposed racial classification and exploitation between the two dominant tribes; Tutsis and Hutus. Hutus were treated as slaves which created deep resentment that fuelled the Rwandan genocide (United Nations, 2018). The film opens with colonial images, a historical reminder that colonialism did not lead to civilisation but dissension at the origin of the Rwandan tragedy,
Open Document