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Re-reading Nana Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” after so many years of personal maturity is like eating mango for the 1000th time and noticing new flavors. There is so much to learn about our cultures in the way he narrates the everyday life of Okonkwo and the village.
Seeing all the dimensions of an Afrikan people in practice is necessary for those who desire to shift towards the Afrikan paradigm. The traditions in motion, like the intimate usage of proverbs to accentuate and lubricate conversation, show one of my favorite dimensions.
However, certain aspects of our cultures need to be revised. One must spit out the seeds of a watermelon to farm it again. Even though we enjoy much of our traditions because they ensure our longevity, there must be a constant vigilance for aspects that no longer serve us…like pruning a fruit tree to trigger a surge of vitality.
