
Of Black Servitude Without Slavery
The Unspoken Politics of the English Language (Africa Seminal Ideas Series)
by Agwu Ukiwe Okali
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Pub Date Mar 25 2016 | Archive Date Aug 25 2017
Description
With the acquisition of English, one also acquires not just the words and expressions, but, most critically, the system of thought and mindset associated with the language. Therein lies the crux of the matter: the unfortunate implications of this global dominance of the English language for the black race, and which implications form the subject of this book. Everyone knows that in English bad things are “black” and “black” things are not good (e.g. black spot, black day and blackmail). By the same token, good things are “white” and “white” things are not bad (white knight, white magic, white lie). The unfortunate, and dangerous, thing is that this categorization is not only widespread throughout the language, but is systemic and systematically applied.
This “blackness of bad/badness of black” concept, together with its accompanying mindset, and the consequences which flow from it for both black and white people, and for humanity at large, is the focus of this book. Of Black Servitude Without Slavery: The Unspoken Politics of The English Language avers that this “blackness of bad/badness of black” mindset, unavoidably imported into the realm of race relations, creates a situation in which black people effectively are held in perpetual psychological servitude, and the white person, independent of himself or herself, is imbued from childhood with a mindset of negativity towards “black” things, thus, wittingly or otherwise, negating the notion of equality of the races, which mindset he or she actually has to work hard to overcome. In substantiation of this averment, the author undertakes an exposition of the role and impact of the “blackness of bad” mindset in the daily lives of both black and white people, and ultimately of society-at-large.
Among the contexts in which the subject is analyzed are those of race relations, the black image and black self-esteem, Western aesthetics, including the idea of beauty, constitutional law,and the administration and enforcement of criminal justice. The author, after thus exploring the broad ramifications for society of this essentially systemic defamation of the black race embodied in the "blackness of bad/badness of black, etc." terminology, with accompanying mindset, goes on to proffer a unique and effective solution, together with an implementing campaign, to remedy this situation as an urgent imperative of our time.
Of Black Servitude Without Slavery: The Unspoken Politics of The English Language is a book of wide-ranging coverage that would engage anyone involved or interested in issues of philosophy, politics, linguistics, human rights, race relations, law, social justice and equity, and, for that matter, social behavior.
A Note From the Publisher
Author is available for interviews, blog tours, autographed tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.
Advance Praise
"Of Black Servitude Without Slavery should be made compulsory reading for all sons and daughters of Africa, especially the younger ones, and all those who share a common commitment to justice, peace and human dignity." - Ibrahim Gambari, Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Former Nigerian Foreign Minister
"This is a book to crow about. Dr. Okali has concluded that if we are going to continue to speak this (English) language (... is there any other to speak today?), we must do something to help purify it so that it does not abuse us, we African speakers of the language.... I can only end...by asking that the redemptive action begin!" - Kole Omotoso, Noted African literary figure
Marketing Plan
About the Author:
I am the Founder-Chairman of The Okali Seminal Ideas Foundation for Africa (OSIFA), a non-profit Foundation dedicated to fostering a culture of ideas within African societies, with the aim thereby of ending the continent’s “ideas-dependency”. I was born in Nigeria, where I attended the country’s elite King’s College, Lagos. I hold degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LL.B) and Harvard Law School (LL.M and SJD). I am a long-standing member of the Connecticut (USA) State Bar.
After a stint as a corporate lawyer in the US private sector, I went on to pursue a distinguished career at the United Nations, last serving as Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, with the rank of United Nations Assistant Secretary General.
Among my cherished accomplishments in UN service was my pioneering restitutive/restorative justice idea that mandates integrating assistance to victims, through special Trust Funds, into the conventional “retributive” approach of punishing the culprit in criminal justice systems - an idea that was adopted in the set-up of the permanent International Criminal Court, in 1998. I also authored the key strategy paper for the successful campaign to elect the first African UN Secretary-General, in 1991, ushering in the idea of “equitable rotation” of the post.
I wrote my book OF BLACK SERVITUDE WITHOUT SLAVERY...to expose what I consider to be the most dangerous unrecognized idea in the English language: the “blackness of bad/whiteness of good” narrative, which decrees that the bad, sad and ugly things of life shall be presented as “black” while the good, happy and beautiful are presented as “white”, thereby creating and/or endorsing the race-hierarchy mindset that continues to bedevil race relations today and defy decades of race-equality campaign.
Married, with two children, I am keen on matters of social justice, international politics, philosophy and the world of ideas, including the meaning of life and the after-life. I am also a keen sports fan, especially soccer and tennis, with my favorite soccer teams being Enyimba International in Nigeria and Arsenal in the English Premier League. I have also been known to dabble in poetry from time to time for my own self-expression and amusement.
Available Editions
EDITION | Paperback |
ISBN | 9780996834322 |
PRICE | $18.75 (USD) |
PAGES | 236 |