Now, Hegel -- he very famously said that Africa was a place without history, without past, without narrative. Yet, I'd argue that no other continent has nurtured, has fought for, has celebrated its history more concertedly. The struggle to keep African narrative alive has been one of the most consistent and hard-fought endeavors of African peoples, and it continues to be so. The struggles endured and the sacrifices made to hold onto narrative in the face of enslavement, colonialism, racism, wars and so much else has been the underpinning narrative of our history.
Sasa, Hegel -- alikuwa na usemi maarufu kuwa Afrika ilikuwa ni sehemu bila historia, bila nyakati za kale, bila hadithi. Bado, nitasema kwamba hakuna bara ambalo limekuza, limepigania, limesherehekea historia yake kwa vifijo. Harakati za kuhakikisha simulizi za Afrika zinabaki hai zimekuwa ni mojawapo ya harakati endelevu na zilizopiganiwa kwa juhudi za watu wa Afrika, na inaendelea kuwa hivyo. Harakati zilizofanyika na kujitoa mhanga kutunza hadithi hizi kwa mtazamo wa ukoloni wa kitumwa , ubaguzi wa rangi, vita na vingine vingi vimekuwa uthibitisho wa hadithi hizi katika historia yetu.
And our narrative has not just survived the assaults that history has thrown at it. We've left a body of material culture, artistic magistery and intellectual output. We've mapped and we've charted and we've captured our histories in ways that are the measure of anywhere else on earth. Long before the meaningful arrival of Europeans -- indeed, whilst Europe was still mired in its Dark Age -- Africans were pioneering techniques in recording, in nurturing history, forging revolutionary methods for keeping their story alive. And living history, dynamic heritage -- it remains important to us. We see that manifest in so many ways.
Na simulizi zetu bado hazijaweza kushinda mateso ambayo historia imesababisha. Tumeacha mwili wa nyenzo ya utamaduni, mamlaka ya sanaa, na matokeo ya weledi. Tumeweka ramani na chati na tumeweza kuinasa historia yetu katika namna ambazo ni kipimo cha popote pengine duniani. Zamani sana kabla ya kuwasili kwa watu wa Ulaya -- hakika, wakati Ulaya ilikuwa bado katika dimbwi wakati wa Zama za Giza -- Waafrika walikuwa wakivumbua njia za kurekodi, na kukuza historia, kuunda njia za mapinduzi kwa ajili ya kutunza hidithi zao iendelee kuwa hai. Na historia inayoishi, urithi unaokua -- inabaki kuwa muhimu kwetu. Tunaona hili likijidhihirisha katika njia nyingi.
I'm reminded of how, just last year -- you might remember it -- the first members of the al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Dine were indicted for war crimes and sent to the Hague. And one of the most notorious was Ahmad al-Faqi, who was a young Malian, and he was charged, not with genocide, not with ethnic cleansing, but with being one of the instigators of a campaign to destroy some of Mali's most important cultural heritage. This wasn't vandalism; these weren't thoughtless acts. One of the things that al-Faqi said when he was asked to identify himself in court was that he was a graduate, that he was a teacher. Over the course of 2012, they engaged in a systematic campaign to destroy Mali's cultural heritage. This was a deeply considered waging of war in the most powerful way that could be envisaged: in destroying narrative, in destroying stories. The attempted destruction of nine shrines, the central mosque and perhaps as many as 4,000 manuscripts was a considered act. They understood the power of narrative to hold communities together, and they conversely understood that in destroying stories, they hoped they would destroy a people.
Inanikumbusha jinsi, mwaka jana tu -- mnaweza kukumbuka -- wanachama wa kwanza wa kundi linalohusiana na al Qaeda l a Ansar Dine walishtakiwa kwa makosa ya kivita na kupelekwa the Hague Na mmojwapo mwenye sifa mbaya alikuwa Ahmad al-Faqi, aliyekuwa ni kijana raia wa Mali na alishtakiwa kwa mauaji ya kimbari na sio utakaso wa kikabila, lakini pamoja na kuwa mchochezi wa kampeni ya kuharibu moja ya urithi muhimu wa utamaduni nchini Mali. Huu haukuwa uharibifu; hayakuwa matendo yasiyo ya kufikiri. Moja ya vitu ambavyo al-Faqi alisema alipoulizwa kujitambulisha mahakamani alisema kwamba yeye ni mhitimu wa chuo, alikuwa ni mwalimu. Katika kipindi cha mwaka 2012, walishiriki katika kampeni ya kuharibu urithi wa utamaduni wa Mali. Hii ilichukuliwa kama kuanzisha vita katika njia yenye nguvu sana ingeweza kutanabahika: katika kuharibu simulizi, katika kuharibu hadithi. Walijaribu kuharibu hekalu tisa, za msikiti wa kati na labda maandiko mengi zaidi ya 4000 ilipangwa kufanyika hivyo. Walielewa nguvu ya simulizi katika kufanya jamii kuishi pamoja, na walielewa fika kwamba kwa kuharibu hadithi, walikuwa na matumaini wataharibu na watu.
But just as Ansar Dine and their insurgency were driven by powerful narratives, so was the local population's defense of Timbuktu and its libraries. These were communities who've grown up with stories of the Mali Empire; lived in the shadow of Timbuktu's great libraries. They'd listened to songs of its origin from their childhood, and they weren't about to give up on that without a fight. Over difficult months of 2012, during the Ansar Dine invasion, Malians, ordinary people, risked their lives to secrete and smuggle documents to safety, doing what they could to protect historic buildings and defend their ancient libraries. And although they weren't always successful, many of the most important manuscripts were thankfully saved, and today each one of the shrines that was damaged during that uprising have been rebuilt, including the 14th-century mosque that is the symbolic heart of the city. It's been fully restored.
Lakini kama ilivyo kwa Ansar Dine na uasi wao waliendeshwa na simulizi zenye nguvu, kama ilivyo kwa wakazi wa Timbuktu walivyolinda maktaba zao. Hizi ni jamii ambazo zimekulia katika hadithi za dola ya Mali; waliishi katika kivuli cha maktaba kuu za Timbuktu. Wamesikiliza nyimbo asilia kuanzia utotoni, na hawakuwa tayari kukata tamaa katika hilo bila kupambana. Katika miezi migumu ya 2012, wakati wa uvamizi wa Ansar Dine, Watu wa Mali, wakazi wa kawaida, walihatarisha maisha yao kwa kuficha nyaraka katika sehemu iliyo salama, kufanya lile linalowezekana kulinda majengo ya kihistoria na kulinda maktaba zao za kale. Na ingawa si muda wote walifanikiwa, maandiko mengi muhimu yaliwezwa kutunzwa salama, na leo kila moja ya hekalu ambalo liliharibiwa nyakati za machafuko limekarabatiwa tena, ukijumuisha na msikiti wa karne ya 14 ambao ndiyo alama ya kitovu cha jiji. Umekarabatiwa kikamilifu.
But even in the bleakest periods of the occupation, enough of the population of Timbuktu simply would not bow to men like al-Faqi. They wouldn't allow their history to be wiped away, and anyone who has visited that part of the world, they will understand why, why stories, why narrative, why histories are of such importance. History matters. History really matters. And for peoples of African descent, who have seen their narrative systematically assaulted over centuries, this is critically important. This is part of a recurrent echo across our history of ordinary people making a stand for their story, for their history.
Lakini hata katika nyakati za machafuko ya utekaji, idadi kubwa ya watu wa Timbuktu hawakusalimu amri kwa watu kama al-Faqi. Hawakuweza kuruhusu historia yao ifutike, na yoyote ambaye amewahi kuzuru sehemu hiyo ya dunia, ataweza kuelewa ni kwanini, kwanini hadithi, kwanini simulizi zina umuhimu huo mkubwa. Historia ina umuhimu. Historia ina muhimu sana. Na kwa walio na nasaba ya Afrika, ambao wameshuhudia simulizi zao zikinyanyaswa katika karne, Hii ni muhimu sana. Hii ni sehemu inayojirudia katika katika historia yetu ya watu wa kawaida kusimama kwa ajili ya hadithi zao, historia yao.
Just as in the 19th century, enslaved peoples of African descent in the Caribbean fought under threat of punishment, fought to practice their religions, to celebrate Carnival, to keep their history alive. Ordinary people were prepared to make great sacrifices, some even the ultimate sacrifice, for their history. And it was through control of narrative that some of the most devastating colonial campaigns were crystallized. It was through the dominance of one narrative over another that the worst manifestations of colonialism became palpable.
Ilipofika karne ya 19, Waafrika waliofanywa watumwa katika visiwa vya Caribbean walipambana chini ya tishio la adhabu, walipambana kuamini katika dini zao, kusherehekea, kuweka historia yao hai. Watu wa kawaida walijiandaa kujitoa mhanga kwa kiasi kikubwa, wengine hata kufanya sadaka za juu kabisa, kwa ajili ya historia yao. Na ilikuwa kupitia udhibiti wa simulizi ambapo baadhi ya kampeni za kutisha za ukoloni zilitatuliwa. Ilikuwa kupitia utawala wa simulizi moja dhidi ya nyingine kwamba uovu uliotokana na ukoloni ukawa dhahiri.
When, in 1874, the British attacked the Ashanti, they overran Kumasi and captured the Asantehene. They knew that controlling territory and subjugating the head of state -- it wasn't enough. They recognized that the emotional authority of state lay in its narrative and the symbols that represented it, like the Golden Stool. They understood that control of story was absolutely critical to truly controlling a people. And the Ashanti understood, too, and they never were to relinquish the precious Golden Stool, never to completely capitulate to the British. Narrative matters.
Ambapo, mwaka 1874, Waingereza waliwashambulia watu wa dola ya Ashanti, Walitawala Kumasi na kukamata watu wa Asantehene. Walijua kwamba kudhibiti mipaka na kumsumbua kiongozi wao -- haikuwa inatosha. Walitambua kwamba hisia za mamlaka ya taifa zipo katika simulizi zake na alama ambazo inawakilisha, kama Kigoda cha Dhahabu. Walielewa kwamba udhibiti wa hadithi ulikuwa muhimu sana katika kuwadhibiti watu. Na watu wa Ashanti walielewa, pia, na hawakuwa tayari hata kidogo kuachia Kigoda cha Dhahabu cha thamani, kusalimu amri kwa Waingereza. Hadithi ni muhimu.
In 1871, Karl Mauch, a German geologist working in Southern Africa, he stumbled across an extraordinary complex, a complex of abandoned stone buildings. And he never quite recovered from what he saw: a granite, drystone city, stranded on an outcrop above an empty savannah: Great Zimbabwe. And Mauch had no idea who was responsible for what was obviously an astonishing feat of architecture, but he felt sure of one single thing: this narrative needed to be claimed.
Mwaka 1871, Karl Mauch, mwanajeolojia aliyefanya kazi zake Afrika Kusini, alikutana na jengo lisilo la kawaida jengo la mawe lililokuwa limetelekezwa. Na hakuweza kuunda upya ambacho aliona: mwamba, jiji la jiwekavu, likiwa limekwama na kuchomoza juu ya uwanda usio na kitu: Zimbabwe Kuu. Na Mauch hakutambua nani aliyehusika na usanifu wa jengo ulio dhahiri kuwa maridadi, lakini alikuwa na uhakika wa jambo moja: hizi hadithi zilitakiwa kuelezwa.
He later wrote that the wrought architecture of Great Zimbabwe was simply too sophisticated, too special to have been built by Africans. Mauch, like dozens of Europeans that followed in his footsteps, speculated on who might have built the city. And one went as far as to posit, "I do not think that I am far wrong if I suppose that that ruin on the hill is a copy of King Solomon's Temple." And as I'm sure you know, Mauch, he hadn't stumbled upon King Solomon's Temple, but upon a purely African complex of buildings constructed by a purely African civilization from the 11th century onward.
Baadaye aliandika kuhusu usanifu wa mabaki ya Zimbabwe Kuu liliokuwa na ustadi wa hali ya juu, mahususi mno kuweza kujengwa na Waafrika. Mauch, kama ilivyo kwa Wazungu wengi ambao walifata nyayo zake, walikisia ni nani ambaye alikuwa amejenga jiji lile. Na mmoja alienda mbali hadi kufikia kudai, "Sidhani kama nitakuwa nakosea sana kama nikiwaza kwamba mabaki ya kilima kile yameiga hekalu ya Mfalme Suleimani." Na nina uhakika mnafahamu, Mauch, hajawahi kwea hekalu ya Mfalme Suleimani, lakini ameona jengo mahususi na maridadi la Kiafrika liliojengwa na uungwana wa Kiafrika kuanzia karne ya 11 na kuendelea.
But like Leo Frobenius, a fellow German anthropologist who speculated some years later, upon seeing the Nigerian Ife Heads for the very first time, that they must have been artifacts from the long-lost kingdom of Atlantis. He felt, just like Hegel, an almost instinctive need to rob Africa of its history. These ideas are so irrational, so deeply held, that even when faced with the physical archaeology, they couldn't think rationally. They could no longer see. And like so much of Africa's relationship with Enlightenment Europe, it involved appropriation, denigration and control of the continent. It involved an attempt to bend narrative to Europe's ends.
Lakini kama ilivyo kwa Leo Frobenius, mwanaanthrolojia kutoka Ujerumani ambaye aliyekisia miaka kadhaa baadaye, baada ya kuona Vichwa vya kabila la Ife Nigeria kwa mara ya kwanza, alisema vinyago hivi lazima vitakuwa vya falme za kale za Atlantis. Alihisi, kama vile ilivyokuwa kwa Hegel, mazoea ya kuhitaji wa kupotosha historia ya Afrika. Haya mawazo ni ya upuuzi, yaliyoshikiliwa, kana kwamba yanapokutana na akiolojia, hayawezi kuwa na maana. Hawakuweza kuona. Na kama ilivyo kwa mahusiano ya Kiafrika katika Ulaya iliyopevuka, ilijumuisha ugawaji, bughudha na udhibitu wa bara. Ilijumuisha jaribio la kupindisha simulizi kukidhi makusudi ya Ulaya.
And if Mauch had really wanted to find an answer to his question, "Where did Great Zimbabwe or that great stone building come from?" he would have needed to begin his quest a thousand miles away from Great Zimbabwe, at the eastern edge of the continent, where Africa meets the Indian Ocean. He would have needed to trace the gold and the goods from some of the great trading emporia of the Swahili coast to Great Zimbabwe, to gain a sense of the scale and influence of that mysterious culture, to get a picture of Great Zimbabwe as a political, cultural entity through the kingdoms and the civilizations that were drawn under its control. For centuries, traders have been drawn to that bit of the coast from as far away as India and China and the Middle East. And it might be tempting to interpret, because it's exquisitely beautiful, that building, it might be tempting to interpret it as just an exquisite, symbolic jewel, a vast ceremonial sculpture in stone. But the site must have been a complex at the center of a significant nexus of economies that defined this region for a millennium.
Na kama Mauch alivyotaka kutafuta jibu la swali lake, "Wapi ambapo Zimbabwe Kuu au lile jengo kubwa la jiwe lilitokea?" hakuwa na budi kuanza kutafuta jibu lake maili elfu moja kutokea Zimbabwe Kuu, mwishoni mashariki ya bara, ambapo Afrika inakutana na Bahari ya Hindi. Alitakiwa kufatilia dhahabu na bidhaa kutoka baadhi ya dola maarufu za biashara za pwani ya Waswahili hadi Zimbabwe kuu, kupata uhalisia wa kiwango na ushawishi wa huo utamaduni wa kistaajabisha, kupata picha ya Zimbwabwe Kuu kama utambulisho wa kisiasa na kitamaduni kupitia falme na ustaarabu ambao ulitokana na mamlaka yake. Kwa karne, wafanyabiashara wamekuwa wakivutiwa kuja pwani kutokea mbali sehemu kama India na China na Mashariki ya Kati. Na inatamanisha kutafsiri ya kwamba, kwa sababu ya umaridadi wake, lile jengo, inatamanisha kulitafsiri kama kito maridadi, kinachoashiri, kinyago kikubwa cha sherehe katika jiwe. Lakini eneo hilo lilikuwa tata katikati ya kiungo muhimu cha uchumi ambapo imeelezea eneo hili kwa milenia
This matters. These narratives matter. Even today, the fight to tell our story is not just against time. It's not just against organizations like Ansar Dine. It's also in establishing a truly African voice after centuries of imposed histories. We don't just have to recolonize our history, but we have to find ways to build back the intellectual underpinning that Hegel denied was there at all. We have to rediscover African philosophy, African perspectives, African history.
Hii inajalisha. Hizi simulizi ni muhimu. Hata leo, mapigano ya kueleza hadithi zetu hayapingani na muda. Hayapingani na taasisi kama Ansar Dine. Ni katika kuanzisha sauti ya kweli ya Waafrika baada ya karne ya historia za kuwekwa. Hatuna haja ya kuitawala kikoloni historia yetu, bali kutafuta njia za kujenga upya ugunduzi wa utaalamu ambao Hegel alikataa uwepo wake. Tunatakiwa kuitambua upya filosophia ya Kiafrika, Mtazamo wa Kiafrika, historia ya Kiafrika.
The flowering of Great Zimbabwe -- it wasn't a freak moment. It was part of a burgeoning change across the whole of the continent. Perhaps the great exemplification of that was Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire, probably the greatest empire that West Africa has ever seen. Sundiata Keita was born about 1235, growing up in a time of profound flux. He was seeing the transition between the Berber dynasties to the north, he may have heard about the rise of the Ife to the south and perhaps even the dominance of the Solomaic Dynasty in Ethiopia to the east. And he must have been aware that he was living through a moment of quickening change, of growing confidence in our continent. He must have been aware of new states that were building their influence from as far afield as Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili sultanates, each engaged directly or indirectly beyond the continent itself, each driven also to invest in securing their intellectual and cultural legacy. He probably would have engaged in trade with these peer nations as part of a massive continental nexus of great medieval African economies.
Kuchanua kwa Zimbabwe Kuu -- haukuwa muujiza. Ilikuwa ni ya sehemu ya mabadiliko yanayokua barani kote. Pengine kielelezo kikubwa cha hili ilikwa ni Sundiata Keita, muanzilishi wa dola ya Mali, pengine ni dola yenye nguvu kuliko zote ambayo Afrika Magharibi imeshuhudia. Sundiata Keita alizaliwa mwaka 1235 , alikulia katika nyakati kuu. Alishuhudia mpito kati ya utawala wa kiukoo wa Berber hadi kaskazini, atakuwa aliwahi sikia kuhusu kukua kwa dola ya Ife upande wa kusini na pengine hata utawala wa dola ya kikukoo ya Solomaic huko Ethiopia upande wa mashariki. Na lazima alikuwa akitambua kwamba alikuwa akiishi katika nyakati za mabadiliko yanayokwenda haraka, za kukua kwa ujasiri katika bara letu. Lazima alitambua kuhusu mataifa mapya ambao walikuwa wakijenga ushawishi wao kutokea mbali kama Zimbabwe Kuu na Masultani wa Kiswahili, kila mmoja alichangia barani moja kwa moja au pasipo moja kwa moja, kila mmoja aliwekeza katika kulinda maarifa yao na urithi wa utamaduni. Pengine alikuwa akifanya biashara na haya mataifa ya wenzake katika muda wa muunganiko wa bara nyakati za uchumi mkubwa wa Afrika.
And like all of those great empires, Sundiata Keita invested in securing his legacy through history by using story -- not just formalizing the idea of storytelling, but in building a whole convention of telling and retelling his story as a key to founding a narrative for his empire. And these stories, in musical form, are still sung today.
Na kama ilivyo kwa hizi dola zote kubwa, Sundiata Keita aliwekeza katika kulinda urithi wake kupitia historia katika kutumia hadithi -- si katika kuweka rasmi wazo ya kuhadithia, lakini katika kujenga kanuni nzima kuhadithia na kuhadithia tena hadithi zake kama ufunguo wa kutambua hadithi za dola yake. Na hizi hadithi, katika mfumo wa muziki, mpaka leo zinaimbwa.
Now, several decades after the death of Sundiata, a new king ascended the throne, Mansa Musa, its most famous emperor. Now, Mansa Musa is famed for his vast gold reserves and for sending envoys to the courts of Europe and the Middle East. He was every bit as ambitious as his predecessors, but saw a different kind of route of securing his place in history. In 1324, Mansa Musa went on pilgrimage to Mecca, and he traveled with a retinue of thousands. It's been said that 100 camels each carried 100 pounds of gold. It's been recorded that he built a fully functioning mosque every Friday of his trip, and performed so many acts of kindness, that the great Berber chronicler, Ibn Battuta, wrote, "He flooded Cairo with kindness, spending so much in the markets of North Africa and the Middle East that it affected the price of gold into the next decade."
Sasa, miongo kadhaa baada ya kifo cha Sundiata, mfalme mpya alichukua dola, Mansa Musa, mfalme maarufu wa dola hiyo. Sasa, Mansa Musa ni maarufu kwa dhahabu nyingi aliyojilimbikizia na kwa kutuma wajumbe kwenye mahakama za Ulaya na Mashariki ya Kati. Alikuwa ni mtu mwenye malengo na imara kama waliomtangulia, lakini aliona njia tofauti ya kulinda nafasi yake katika historia. Mwaka 1324, Mansa Musa alikwenda kwenye hija mjini Mecca, na alisafiri na maelfu ya wafuasi. Inasemekana kwamba ngamia 100 kila mmoja alibeba ratili 100 za dhababu. Imeandikwa kwamba alijenga msikiti ulio kamili kila ijumaa katika safari yake, na kufanya matendo mengi ya kikarimu, kwamba bohari mkuu wa dola ya Berber, Ibn Battuta, aliandika, "Aliifurika Cairo kwa ukarimu, alitumia sana katika masoko ya Afrika ya Kaskazini na Mashariki ya Kati kiasi kwamba iliathiri bei ya dhahabu katika muongo uliofatia."
And on his return, Mansa Musa memorialized his journey by building a mosque at the heart of his empire. And the legacy of what he left behind, Timbuktu, it represents one of the great bodies of written historical material produced by African scholars: about 700,000 medieval documents, ranging from scholarly works to letters, which have been preserved often by private households. And at its peak, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the university there was as influential as any educational establishment in Europe, attracting about 25,000 students. This was in a city of around 100,000 people. It cemented Timbuktu as a world center of learning. But this was a very particular kind of learning that was focused and driven by Islam.
Na wakati anarudi, Mansa Musa aliacha historia ya safari yake kwa kujenga msikiti kwenye kitivo cha dola yake. Na urithi wa alioacha nyuma, Timbuktu, inawakilisha moja ya mihimili muhimu ya historia iliyoandikwa iliyoandaliwa na wanazuoni wa Kiafrika: zapata nyaraka 700,000 za kale, kuanzia kazi za wanazuoni hadi barua, ambazo zimetunzwa mara nyingi na nyumba za watu binafsi. Na katika kilele chake, mnamo karne ya 15 na ya 16, chuo kule kilikuwa na ushawishi kama taasisi nyingine yoyote barani Ulaya, kuvutia yapata wanafunzi 25,000. Hii ilitokea katika jiji la watu wapatao 100,000. Iliweka msingi wa kuifanya Timbuktu kuwa kituo cha dunia cha mafunzo. Lakini huu ulikuwa mfumo mahususi wa kujifunza ambao ulilenga na kuendeshwa kwa Kiislam.
And since I first visited Timbuktu, I've visited many other libraries across Africa, and despite Hegel's view that Africa has no history, not only is it a continent with an embarrassment of history, it has developed unrivaled systems for collecting and promoting it. There are thousands of small archives, textile drum stores, that have become more than repositories of manuscripts and material culture. They have become fonts of communal narrative, symbols of continuity, and I'm pretty sure that many of those European philosophers who questioned an African intellectual tradition must have, beneath their prejudices, been aware of the contribution of Africa's intellectuals to Western learning. They must have known of the great North African medieval philosophers who had driven the Mediterranean. They must have known about and been aware of that tradition that is part of Christianity, of the three wise men. And in the medieval period, Balthazar, that third wise man, was represented as an African king. And he became hugely popular as the third intellectual leg of Old World learning, alongside Europe and Asia, as a peer.
Na tangu mara ya kwanza nitembelee Timbuktu, Nimetembelea maktaba nyingi barani Afrika, na licha ya mtazamo wa Hegel kusema Afrika haina historia, sio tu kwamba ni bara lenye historia ya kuaibisha, limeweza kutengeneza mifumo ya kipekee ya kukusanya na kuistawisha. Kuna maelfu ya hifadhi ndogo za nyaraka, ghala za malighafi za vitambaa, ambazo zimekuwa zikitunza nyaraka na malighafi za utamaduni. Zimekuwa herufi za simulizi za jamii, alama ya muendelezo, na nina uhakika kwamba wengi wa wanafilosofia wa Ulaya ambao walihoji utamaduni wa Kiafrika lazima, chini ya ubaguzi wao, watakuwa wanatambua mchango wa maarifa ya Kiafrika kwa kujifunza Kimagharibi. Lazima walitambua kuhusu wanafilosophia wa kale wa Afrika ya Kaskazini ambao waliongoza Mediterranian. Watakuwa wanatambua na kujua kuhusu utamaduni ambao ni sehemu ya Ukristo, kuhusu mabwana watatu wenye hekima. na katika zama za kati, Balthazar, bwana wa tatu, aliwakilishwa kama mfalme wa Kiafrika. Na alikuja kuwa maarufu sana kama mguu wa tatu wa kisomi wa mafunzo ya Dunia ya Zamani, pamoja na Ulaya na Asia, kama wenzake.
These things were well-known. These communities did not grow up in isolation. Timbuktu's wealth and power developed because the city became a hub of lucrative intercontinental trade routes. This was one center in a borderless, transcontinental, ambitious, outwardly focused, confident continent. Berber merchants, they carried salt and textiles and new precious goods and learning down into West Africa from across the desert. But as you can see from this map that was produced a little time after the life of Mansa Musa, there was also a nexus of sub-Saharan trade routes, along which African ideas and traditions added to the intellectual worth of Timbuktu and indeed across the desert to Europe. Manuscripts and material culture, they have become fonts of communal narrative, symbols of continuity. And I'm pretty sure that those European intellectuals who cast aspersions on our history, they knew fundamentally about our traditions.
Haya yalikuwa yakifahamika fika. Hizi jamii hazikukulia katika kutengwa. Utajiri na nguvu ya Timbuktu ulikua kwa sababu jiji lilikuja kuwa kitovu cha misafara ya biashara iliyo na faida kati ya mabara. Hiki kilikuwa kituo kimoja katika bara lisilo na mipaka, kwa safari za mabara, lililo na malengo, lenye mtazamo dhahiri na kujiamini. Wafanyabiashara wa dola ya Berber , walibeba chumvi na vitambaa na bidhaa mpya zenye thamani na kuelekea Afrika ya Magharibi kupitia katika jangwa. Lakini kama unavyoona katika ramani hii ambayo ilitengenezwa muda mfupi baada ya maisha ya Mansa Musa, kulikuwa pia na muunganiko wa njia za biashara kusini mwa jangwa la Sahara, ambapo mawazo ya Waafrika na tamaduni ziliongezea katika maarifa ya thamani ya Timbuktu na hakika katika jangwa kuelekea Ulaya. Nyaraka na malighafi za utamaduni, zimekuja kuwa maandishi ya simulizi za jamii, alama ya muendelezo. Na nina uhakika kuwa wale wasomi wa Ulaya ambao wanasengenya historia yetu, walijua kiundani kuhusu utamaduni wetu.
And today, as strident forces like Ansar Dine and Boko Haram grow popular in West Africa, it's that spirit of truly indigenous, dynamic, intellectual defiance that holds ancient traditions in good stead. When Mansa Musa made Timbuktu his capital, he looked upon the city as a Medici looked upon Florence: as the center of an open, intellectual, entrepreneurial empire that thrived on great ideas wherever they came from. The city, the culture, the very intellectual DNA of this region remains so beautifully complex and diverse, that it will always remain, in part, located in storytelling traditions that derive from indigenous, pre-Islamic traditions. The highly successful form of Islam that developed in Mali became popular because it accepted those freedoms and that inherent cultural diversity. And the celebration of that complexity, that love of rigorously contested discourse, that appreciation of narrative, was and remains, in spite of everything, the very heart of West Africa.
Na leo, majeshi kama Ansar Dine na Boko Haram yanapata nguvu Afrika ya Magharibi, ni uzalendo wa kutoka moyoni, ulio na msukumo, upinzani wa kisomi ambao unashikilia utamaduni wa kale katika hali njema. Wakati Mansa Musa alipoifanya Timbuktu kuwa mji wake mkuu, aliangalia jiji hili kama familia ya Medici ilivyo kwa jiji la Florence: kama kitovu kilicho wazi, cha kisomi, kwa dola ya kijasiriamali ambayo ilifanikiwa kwa mawazo makuu popote pale yalipotokea. Jiji,utamaduni, vinasaba vya maarifa ya eneo hili vinabaki kuwa maridadi mno na vilivyo vya kila aina, kwamba siku zote itabaki, katika nafasi, iliyopo katika utamaduni wa kusimulia hadithi uliotoka kwa wenyeji, tamaduni za kabla ya Uislamu. Mfumo wa Uislamu uliopata mafanikio sana uliochipuka Mali ulipata maarufu kwa sababu ulikubali uhuru na unadhifu wa mchanganyiko wa tamaduni. Na seherehe za aina ya mfumo huo, ule upendo halisi wa maongezi ya ushidani, heshima ya simulizi, ulikuwa na unabaki kuwa, japokuwa na yote, kuwa ndiyo moyo wa Afrika Magharibi.
And today, as the shrines and the mosque vandalized by Ansar Dine have been rebuilt, many of the instigators of their destruction have been jailed. And we are left with powerful lessons, reminded once again of how our history and narrative have held communities together for millennia, how they remain vital in making sense of modern Africa. And we're also reminded of how the roots of this confident, intellectual, entrepreneurial, outward-facing, culturally porous, tariff-free Africa was once the envy of the world.
Na leo, mahekalu na misikiti iliyohujumiwa na Ansar Dine imejengwa upya, wengi walioshiriki katika uharibifu huu wamefungwa gerezani. Na tumebaki na somo kubwa la kujifunza, linalokumbusha tena jinsi gani historia yetu na simulizi imeunganisha jamii pamoja kwa milenia, jinsi gani inabaki kuwa muhimu katika kuleta maana ya Afrika ya kisasa. Na tunakumbushwa ni jinsi gani mizizi ya ujasiri huu, wa kisomi, wa kijasiriamali inayotazama nje, iliyo na tamaduni pole, Afrika isiyotoza chochote hapo zamani ilionewa wivu na dunia.
But those roots, they remain.
Lakini mizizi hiyo, bado ipo.
Thank you very much.
Asante sana.
(Applause)
(Makofi)