Notes on 'The Wretched of the Earth'

Ndapwa Alweendo, 16 September 2013

Reading The Wretched of the Earth was a surprisingly emotional experience. On the one hand, Fanon writes with a prescience that is breath-taking in its accuracy. His chapter on the pitfalls of national consciousness is still extremely relevant to many post-colonial states, which left me which a sense of disappointment. At the same time, the reader is given hope as they are constantly reminded that revolution is not unattainable, even as any oppressive system does its best to suppress it. While the decolonisation movement was not consolidated in many postcolonial states, the very fact of its occurrence is testament to the potential for revolutionary change inherent in an oppressive system.

Born Free & in Search of Political Answers

by Ndapwa Alweendo, The Namibian, 24 November 2009

THE hype leading up to this year’s presidential and National Assembly elections has been particularly fascinating to me. As a first-generation ‘born-free’, I am one of many young Namibians voting for the very first time. And I think it’s this fact that makes our approach to the polling stations so unique.

From what I can tell, many older Namibians vote out of loyalty, and not because they think their party will do the best at running the country. Their approach to the elections seems completely backwards. We should vote looking forward, instead of remembering past glories.