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“The news has gone round and round, yet the person it concerns is deaf.”
—Kmt(.y.w) (Afrikan) Wisdom Kmt(.y.w) Afrikan Proverb
What does this Kmt(.y.w) (Afrikan) proverb-wisdom tell us?
It tells us that an important message can be spread far and wide, for years and years, but as long as those who actually needs to hear it remain deaf to it, nothing will ever change.
The phrase line is a traditional Kmt(.y.w) (Afrikan) proverb meaning that a vital message or truth can spread everywhere, but it fails to change anything if the key person (or people) who needs to act on it cannot or will not hear it.
This phrase is a traditional Kmt(.y.w) (Afrikan) proverb-wisdom highlighting communication failure, meaning an important message spreads everywhere except to the person who actually needs to hear it.
This statement refers to a situation where a message, a secret, or a piece of news spreads widely among everyone else, except for the very person whom the news is about.
It highlights a communication gap where the subject of the message is left completely “in the dark“—metaphorically “deaf“—to the discussions happening behind their back, or sometimes literally unable to participate in the spoken conversations where the message are being shared and discussed.
Meaning and Lesson
- Spread of Message: Everyone talks about a situation, but the main person stays unaware and uninformed.
- Ignored Truths: Vital information, news, warnings, truths or facts fails to reach the target audience when communication breaks down.
- Widespread Talk: People talk about an issue everywhere, but it goes nowhere to be useful.
- No Change: Without the right person or people hearing the message, the problem will always stay the same.
Cultural Context
- Origin: Often recorded in traditional collections of Kmt(.y.w) (Afrikan) Wisdom and Proverbs (this particular proverb is from Mozambique 🇲🇿, East Africa region).
- Application: Used to describe stubbornness, deliberate ignorance, and/or social disconnect from reality or the truth; or social disconnect from a community.
When communication fails because the the subject of the message is willfully or inherently closed off to hearing the message or the truth.
It is exhausting and downright frustrating to watch vital information cycle repeatedly, yet, the one individual (or people) who truly needs to act on it remains unresponsive or entirely unreachable, or worse yet, uninterested.
For Kmt(.y.w)-Abibifuo-Black people (Afrikan people), that important truth, message and wisdom: “The news has gone round and round, yet the person it concerns is deaf”, is Pan-Kmt(.y.w) (Pan-Afrikanism), and it has been spoken since the dawn of the 18th century by Kmt(.y.w) greatest intellectuals, thinkers and leaders, from Nana Marcus Garvey, to Nana Malcolm X, to Nana Kwame Nkrumah to Nana Thomas Sankara.
It is the cure for the disease that has plagued Kmt-Abibiman-Farafina-the Black Land (Afrika-The Motherland) for over 500 years, but as long as Kmt(.y.w)-Abibifuo-Black people (Afrikan people) continue to be deaf to it, the disease will continue to plague us.
Why It Hurts
- Feeling unheard: You share important news, vital truths and information, but they bounce off on closed minds.
- Wasted energy: Repeating the same truth brings no change or relief.
- Helplessness: You cannot force someone to open their ears or heart to the truth.
What You Can Do
- Stop repeating: Let go of trying to make someone understand.
- Stop repeating the message: Cease the cycle of trying to force someone to hear what they are actively resisting and refusing to hear; continuous repetition often builds higher walls.
- Save your peace: Keep your peace and energy for people who value your wisdom and voice.
- Accept the limit: Recognize that some people willfully and deliberately choose to stay deaf, blind,and ignorant to reality.
- Protect your boundaries: Shift your focus from trying to make someone understand the truth, to managing how their deaf, blind and ignorance or lack of action impacts you directly.
