My late ‘big friend and guru’ Sun Ra, in his rehearsal rap sessions to his ‘Space’ musicians, would occasionally remind them that the English language and its dictionaries were not invented with Black people in mind; or meant to favour Black people. He would then reel out examples to the effect that words like blackmail, blackleg and black day meant things sinister, dubious and outright negative! In other words, everything black is plain bad!
For Sun Ra, the joke was definitely on black people when they chose to use words like blackmail and blackleg in the same context as was intended by the originators of the English language, a look through any version; English or American, of the English Dictionary immediately confirms that the English language “never meant black any good;” to borrow an African-American twist on the language.
Like it or not, Christmas has become world big business. And it is fuelled by the buzz words of the English language. The commercialisation of Christmas is welcomed by businessmen of all faiths, more so as it is reckoned that generally people spend more money on festivities and presents over the Christmas period than in all the other eleven months put together.
I must confess that I am not a big Christmas fan as I am put off by the business hype of the festival season and the forced need to be “nice to everybody.” Many years back, I liked to escape to the predominantly Muslim countries of West Africa; Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, to get away from all the overbearing business fever of Christmas and its accompanying season of goodwill to all!
All the same, predictably and paradoxically; always unexpectedly, the spirit of the Christmas season always creeps in and one is caught up in the build-up. I was in Benin City in the second week of November and I went to the famous and central Oba Market to transact some business early one morning. I was jolted into another state of reality when; whether on cue or not I do not know, the music shop next to where I was suddenly switched from blaring current Naija hip-hop hits to Christmas carols. Definitely, it was a rude shock as it promptly dawned on me that the year had flown fast and Christmas was around to seal the point.
Back in Lagos with the month of December inching towards Christmas; the tell-tale signs of Christmas in the air are inescapable! The huge Coca Cola Christmas tree on the grounds of the National Theatre, Iganmu, is ready for commissioning, the traffic is much heavier with shoppers who have converged from all over Nigeria to do their Christmas shopping in the nation’s commercial capital, then there are the holiday makers and the advertising blitz on radio, television, bill boards and in the shops urging us to buy for Christmas.
I was taken aback recently when I heard the Christmas song, ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas’ being played by a local band at a social function. Out of curiosity, I asked some young male and female graduates in their thirties at the venue; whether they knew what ‘white Christmas’ meant. Incredibly, none of them did! When I explained to them that the song simply wished for a Christmas with snow; for Father Christmas or Saint Nicholas to smoothly ski into town with his bag full of presents and the ambiance of snow on trees and rooftops, they were still at a loss. “Anyway,” quite a number of them told me “I like the song and Christmas carols!”
I suppose since Christmas is part of a religious pantheon we have accepted from the ‘western’ world under the faith of Christianity, we are saddled with the dilemma of totally accepting the way Christmas is celebrated in the ‘parent’ countries or to find alternatives and substitutions in the modality of celebration.
As I drove down Kingsway Road in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday afternoon, I was struck by the number of young street hawkers peddling miniature artificial-fir Christmas trees, red Santa Claus headgear and many other ‘western’ symbols of Christmas. Interestingly, on the divide between the traffic lanes on Kingsway Road were a series of Christmas trees decorated with ribbons and red balls; which I suppose fit into the on-going general beautification project in Lagos. Then to my utmost shock I saw a series of Christmas trees white with simulated snow; and I realised that we had lost it in our bid to be ‘civilised and European.’
I recall a country Blues song in which the Black American singer states that, “Christmas time is coming/and I wish to see Santa Claus.” It’s tongue-in-cheek as the singer is well aware that white America cannot offer him a good Christmas. Coca Cola Nigeria as they pride themselves with using local personnel to build Africa’s biggest Christmas tree are seriously aware of the need to bring Christmas home with their concept of a Black Santa.
Surely, it will not be out of place to also celebrate our Christmas with Nigerian/African Christmas carols composed by Akin Euba. We can add our own cultural flavour to Chirisimasi. “Odun de!”
-Tam Fiofori c tam fiofori, dec.6,2009.