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LOST BEAUTY
Jwani Mwaikusa
There are
only white women around:
Awful
fakes of white females
Reflecting
an awful mass of ugliness:
And I
want a lady
To mount
the rostrum with
And
announce to the world:
“Black is
beautiful!”
Yes,
I want a
black beauty queen
With
ebony thighs and huge hips
With skin
sweating blackness
And a
face dark as the night
And bare
breasts bouncing
Vigour
and energy.
But my
eyes, oh my eyes!
They
don’t see anything black;
It’s only
white skins and masks
Flashing
past and slashing,
Destroying
my sight so
I can’t
get what I want.
I cry and
sing to them
The
inbred tune of our people,
I shout
to them in the black tongue
But no
black sister hears me;
Only
white masks I see.
I turn
and weep upon myself
And then,
only then I realize:
I am not
black either.
INTRODUCTION
Lost
beauty is a critical poem written by a late Tanzanian professor, Jwani Mwaikusa
(1952-2010) that clearly depicts the effects both colonialism and
neo-colonialism have had on Africans and African culture in general. Today most
Africans are suffering from colonial hangovers. While some wish they were born
white, some have taken a further step trying to make themselves look white. So
they strongly struggle to appear at their best, think, act and live like white
people. What they forget however is what was described by Okot P’Bitek in the
“song of Lawino” that “The graceful giraffe cannot become a monkey”. This is to
say Africans should remain Africans and white people should remain as they are.
THEMATIC
ANALYSIS
EFFECTS
OF NEO-COLONIALISM
Principally, the poem assesses the effects
colonialism has had on the African culture. African culture has been seriously
damaged by what Africans were fooled to believe as the way of civilized people.
Today most
Africans, (especially women), struggle to change their skin colour using
cosmetics, curl their hair and as if that’s not enough they wear wigs with
different white women’s hair fashions. They don’t even realize that black
African colour is stronger than that of their white counterparts. Nevertheless,
according to the poet the more they beautify themselves in white fashions the
uglier they look (line 3). He has the following to say (lines15-17)
There are only white women around:
Awful fakes of white females
Reflecting an awful mass of ugliness:
AFRICAN
NATURAL BEAUTY
Initially Africans were very proud of their body
morphology, but in the turn of the 20th and 21st
centuries things have changed dramatically. Africans were created naturally
beautiful, and for so long they have lived appreciating this wonderful
creation. However, after the coming of white people things have changed in a
sense that Africans now cling to the culture that is not theirs. Not only has
this affected the way they look at things but also the way they themselves
appear. It is hard nowadays to get a naturally beautiful African lady. They
curl their hair and wear wigs to look like white women. They don’t realize that
black is beautiful the poet as says. (Lines 9-14)
I want a black beauty queen
With ebony thigh and huge hips
With skin sweating blackness
And a face dark as the night
And bare breast bouncing
vigour and energy
AWARENESS
The poet’s reflection on himself draws a clear
picture of awareness and consciousness by showing how grand this dilemma is. He
goes back and looks at himself; perhaps the way he dresses, the food he eats,
the language he uses, the education he has and his general lifestyle and comes
into a conclusion that these values are not African either. This is to say the
poet is aware that colonialism has left effects to both African men and women.
This sense of awareness comes to him in the last stanza when he says;
I turn and weep upon myself
And then only then I realize
I am not black either.
PRIDE AND
IDENTITY
The poet seems to table a discussion for African to
debate and arrive at a conclusion on whether or not the direction we are
heading is right. We need to stop a bit and rethink where we came from where we
are, where we should have been. We are losing our identity as Africans while in
the process we shall never be white people altogether. This has been a concern
of most African novelists, poets/poetess, and playwrights. Since white people
never wish to change and look like Africans, then why should Africans do? Since
the graceful giraffe cannot become a monkey, let us be proud of our African
identity and struggle to create a black identity. As the poet says in (lines
4-7);
And I want a lady
To mount the rostrum with
And declare to the world
Black is beautiful.
PROTEST
The poet is showing an open protest against the
behaviour of some African ladies who have neglected their culture and are busy
cherishing the culture from Europe. The poet calls upon the Africans to reflect
back and see that there is something going wrong.
I shout to them in the black tongue
But no black sister hears me;
GUIDING QUESTIONS
a) What
does the title “Lost beauty” tell you?
The title shows that there was some kind of beauty
initially which has been lost now. It simply refers to Africans who have lost
their natural African beauty in the process of trying to look like white people
by using artificial designs.
b) The
poet says “my eyes oh my eyes! They don’t
see anything black” what does he mean?
Considering the surrounding atmosphere in the poem it shows that all the
people around him have masked themselves with European fashions and he can’t
find one who is displaying the qualities that are completely African.
c) Who
is the persona in this poem? How do you know?
The persona is an African man
who is aware of how European culture has dismantled African culture. This is
revealed when he says that he wants a lady, which means he is a man.
d) Comment
on the tone and the mood of the poem.
The tone is lamenting, satirical
and sarcastic. The persona cries for the change that has taken place, but
later he realises that even himself is affected by this change. This makes his
mood sad and unhappy.
e) What
type of a poem is this?
It is a modern? freeverse poem since there is variation in the number
and length of lines in every stanza. Some lines are made up of only one word as
in the 1st line of stanza two. “Yes”
But also the poem does not follow regular rhyming scheme.
f)
The poet says, “I shout to
them in a black tongue” what do
the words “black tongue” mean?
The fact is, there is no black tongue in colour, but ‘black’ here implies African tongue. In
other words it means in a way (language) that Africans can hear and understand.
g)
Comment on the figures of speech and poetic devices.
Ø
Simile;
And a face dark as the night
Ø
Hyperbole :
“to mount the rostrum with and
announce to the world” the fact is that one cannot announce to the whole
world from a rostrum (stage)
“With a skin sweating blackness” there is no skin that can sweat blackness.
“And a face dark as the night” (no one can have a face dark as the night.)
“Ebony thighs” (human thighs cannot be as black as ebony wood)
Ø
Reiteration
My eyes oh, my eyes!
Ø
Imagery
“White masks”,
blackness, white skins, huge hips are images of sight (visual images)
Cry, sing, shout and
weep are images of
sound (audio images)
Ø
Alliteration
Black beauty queen
And bare breast bouncing….
Ø
Symbolism
Black tongue –African language
White women/skins/masks –Black African ladies who use cosmetics to change
their skin colour
h) Read
again the last line of the last stanza. In what sense is the poet not black?
The poet realizes that he is not black in a sense that the white men
values have affected him as well. This may be in terms of his education,
dressing style, language, and the general lifestyle and not in terms of skin
colour.
i) What
message do you get from the poem?
Ø
Africans
should be proud of their natural identity.
Ø
Black
is beautiful. Appreciate who you are.
Ø
No
matter how hard Africans try to change and imitate white people, they will
remain Africans.
Ø
Don’t
judge others because you might be having the same problem.
Ø
Men
should be proud of natural black African ladies.
RELEVANCE
ü
The
poem is relevant to most African countries since the effects of colonialism
have affected the whole continent.
ü
Today
a lot of women struggle to change their black skins to become white by using
cosmetics. Some even hate their black hair and wear wigs or curly their hair.
There are men who are proud of marrying natural African ladies.
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