The west, and with its colonial, imperialist version of identity, has set fire to the meaning and the purpose of identity. Amidst the confusion created as a result of this attack on “identity,” we must enforce the basics in order to excise the chaff away from the point.
In Traditional Ntoaboma, there’s no Identity but that which is tied to People, Land and Resources.
When I say I am Guan, from Ntoaboma, I am signifying that I belong to the Guans, i.e. the Guans have some inalienable responsibility for my life and well-being, and that I belong to the family of Guans who come from Ntoaboma to be specific.
How do I relate to an Ewe person from Ntoaboma? An Ewe person from Ntoaboma also has the same tie to Ntoaboma that I have, except that she belongs to the Ewes of Ntoaboma. That is, there’s only so much I can do to help an Ewe sister from Ntoaboma. Taflatse, if she were to fall ill, the Ewe families of Ntoaboma would be directly responsible for her well-being—outside of friendships and other relationships that I may have with her.
To say that I am a man, also means I am a Guan man from Ntoaboma. Now you see? My manhood, my life and my “inheritance” are tied to the Guan men, and people of Ntoaboma more directly, to Ntoaboma in general and to Guans everywhere else.
The reason this is important is to establish direct lines of responsibility and consequences (Actions and Reactions). That is, in Ntoaboma, there’s no such thing as a kind of Identity without skin in the game. For instance, you can’t say that you are a Penguin from Ntoaboma. There are no Penguins in Ntoaboma, and there’s no Land for Penguins in Ntoaboma, and we certainly will not share in the responsibility for Penguins or share our resources with Penguins. Full stop!
I understand. If you are neoliberal, you are probably already fuming like a distressed fish on a charcoal grill. I understand. The neoliberal, which is the colonial, imperialist version of Identity is the one that is dislocated from People, Land and Resources. You see? Why do imperialists want this kind of Identity, you may ask? Simple, you guessed it. So they can dislocate you and take your Land and Resources!
Brilliant. The Mis-Educated Than His Ancestors, the METHA, is full of pomp and pageantry and he’s so intoxicated with the belief in his own brilliance that he affects the singular perception that he is brighter, more intelligent, than his conqueror. What fools that they are! The imperialist is very bright. In fact, he is brighter than the Metha, that’s how the colonialist conquered the Metha.
Perhaps by accepting that the imperialists are indeed very bright, the Metha might begin to assess, and re-assess, his own thoughts, which up to now, continue to shackle him to his conqueror! Identity is more than just the word—for if it didn’t mean something materially immediate, your Ancestors would not have poured their Blood for it.
But let the Metha continue their drunkenness… For those of us in Ntoaboma we’ll continue to cherish our People, our Land and our Resources. And we will bloody anyone who dares to dislocate it.
