Maya Angelou's 'I Rise' but with an African twist
Still Africa will rise
Maya Angelou’s ‘I Rise’ has long been my favorite poem. After memorizing the original poem, I gave it an African twist to lift my spirit when happenings across the continent become too heartbreaking.
May it also be the same kind of beacon for you on this long, oft-heartbreaking journey of transforming Africa into not an afterthought.
Still Africa Will Rise
You may write Africa down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod her in the very dirt
But still, like dust, Africa will rise.
Does Africa's sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
Cause she walks like she's got oil wells
Pumping in the depths of the Sahara.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still, Africa will rise.
Did you want to see Africa broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by her soulful cries?
Does Africa's haughtiness offend you?
Aww, don't take it too awful hard
'Cause she laughs like she's god gold mines
Diggin' in Ghana's backyard.
You may shoot Africa down with your words,
You may cut her with your eyes,
You may kill her with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, Africa will rise.
Does Africa's sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That she dances like she's got diamonds
At the meeting of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa?
Out of huts of history's shame
Africa will rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
Africa will rise
She's a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling, she bears in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
Africa will rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
Africa will rise
Bringing the gifts that her ancestors gave,
Africa is the dream and the hope of a colonial past.
Africa will rise
Africa will rise
Africa will rise.
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