Editorial
Destination: Benin, Africa. A trip to the Source - Part I
 The
plane was making its final descent and as required I fastened my
seat belt meanwhile looking by the window to see the land where
I will walk in less than five minutes. Africa, finally. Close to
fourteen hours of travel, I am finally there. I was anxious, I realized,
as I peaked at the window once more. What would I find in Africa?
I've been raised as many of us to think of it as a "dark continent"
inhabited by primitive people, a place where the light of civilization,
or rather the light of so-called western civilization has not yet
shined upon. I had been raised with Africa but have never met Africa.
That was the purpose of my trip: to meet Africa, the true Africa,
not the pale and dark shadow endowed to me by my western upbringing.
 Everything
I had learnt about the continent so far has been through the thick
and narrow glasses of westerners, black or white, curious and fearful
of it. Through their eyes, I have learnt almost everything I knew
or think I knew about Africa; the image was often incomplete and
I was often left unsatisfied. My quests often resulted with more
questions. As I grew up the need to find answers to these questions
became more pressing. It was necessary for me to understand or know
Africa if I wanted to better understand Haiti. Africa is the place
whence Haiti sprung up, quite painfully, as you know. Jettisoned
across the Atlantic we never stopped wanting to reconnect to our
point of origin, at least spiritually. Here lies the cause of the
great dilemma of our lives. We fiercely love Africa in a nostalgic
way but at the same time we have learnt to repress and shun upon
everything about us that is African. We have learnt to identify
vodou with evil, for some to even look upon our language with
disdain and we have been told not to listen and appreciate drum-based
music. It is only recently that Rasin music gained
acceptance as mainstream music.
 Yet,
at the same time, we are proud of the African in us. The blood,
figth, sacrifices and heroism of the ancestors that has gained us
freedom and independence; it has sustained us in our continued fight
for social and political justice in our land. It is their blood
that has taught us to fight for our right at any cost. How many
times do you hear a Haitian telling you that it is the blood of
Dessalines that runs in his/her veins when he/she is about to fight
against the common plight affecting black people? But the same phrase
is often used as a curse too: "You're like Dessalines,
you're a savage". Africa is a source of strength, yet
at the same time we say that "Depi nan Guinen nèg
rayi nèg". We ourselves feel the pain and the
injustice of those harsh words immediately after uttering them.
Indeed, The conflict is tearing us apart. We want to love Africa,
we don't know how to. We want to be African, but we Haitians don't
know how.
Those feelings brought me to Africa
as they have brought countless other Haitians, Jamaicans, Trinidadians
and African-Americans to the continent. I myself was gonna discover
Africa through Benin, in West Africa.
The plane smoothly touched the soil
and a couple of minutes later I took my first gulp of air in Africa.
Familiarity enveloped me immediately. There were no frantic emotional
sobs though, just a deep and clear feeling of having somhow returned
home. In fact if the guy at the custom office had not looked at
me and said "Welcome to Benin" I would have
been tempted to belive I was Haiti. Looking at my passport the custom
agent asked, stated really "you're Haitian?"
"...Yes, I am" "then you're Beninese".
He said it so naturally. I'm Haitian, I'm Beninese. It was
a statement that would be repeated to me throughout my stay in Benin.
I realized how true this statement was as I discovered Benin and
its people. Haiti was everywhere I turned, in the smile of the people,
their fierce hospitality, their pride in their history and culture,
in their dances and music, their art. I felt at home and I was made
to feel so.
 Let
us set aside sentimentalism for a while. Some hard facts. To begin
with, you are probably wondering what country I'm talking about.
If you do not know, Do not feel ashamed; you're one of many who
do not know whether there was a country in Africa called Benin.
I always get the same reaction: "You went to Africa?
Where in Africa?" "Benin" I
would answer expecting to ring a bell. "Benin? Where
is that?" Then I would go on "Well it's
in West Africa. It was called Dahomey until 1975" "Oh
Dahomey, that's where Haitians are from!" So where
is Benin? What are the languages spoken in Benin? What are the different
ethnic groups living in Benin? How does Benin relate to Africa
and Africa to Benin? How does Haiti relate to Benin and Africa in
a bigger context? Is there any connection between our Vodou and
Benin? The Beninese, How do they feel about us?
In the coming weeks, we will try to
bring some answers to those questions. We will tell you about the
ancient kingdom of Abomey. We will talk about the slave trade etc.
We will have a lot to say and what is more, a lot of pictures to
show you. Better yet, we will make this experience richer by extending
this discussion to Vodou . In trying to understand Africa, we will
try to better understand that religion, its impact on our way of
lives and put it in a more global context. However, we do not think
this discussion will be complete if we do not hear from you. We
are gonna as well as we can to expose you to a lot of information.
However, we want to hear from you. We invite you to write
us . As well, we open the discussion boards
to you (as they have always been). Come and share your experience,
thoughts, stories, questions with us.
 Before
leaving, I offer you these factlets about Benin:
- Benin lies on the West Coast of Africa on 112,620 square
kilometers and is inhabited by 6,305,567 (July 1999 est.)
- In Benin there are more than 40 ethnic groups speaking 51 languages.
French is the official language. The other most important languages
are Fon and Yoruba in the South.
- Porto-Novo is the official capital; Cotonou is the seat of
government
- Benin was home to the famous 18th century kingdom of Dan-Xome,
meaning inside Dan's stomach.
- Most Haitians trace their ancestry to Benin.In particular Toussaint
Louverture's grandfather was the King of Allada (sic).
- Benin is the cradle of Vodou. Many of the Beninese vodou Gods,
such as Legba, Ogu, or Damballah, were transplanted to Haiti during
slavery.
- Religious syncretism characterizes Benin; there, Christianity,
Islam and Vodou cohabit peacefully.
- Benin is the birthplace of the
internationally famous artists Angelique Kidjo and
Djimon Hounsou (Amistad)
Additional Information
Books on Benin
Music and crafts
|
