Cultural Loss: What will be for our successors?
By Yero Jallow
With the world getting to the next level of civilization and development, it is very easy to predict the loss of our valuable cultures in the near future, if a greater part has not been lost already. For those bored with the pounding of the politics here and there which is a noble call to duty, here I share a historical fact about the Fulbe, as shared by the Fulani Diva Ina Baba Coulibaly and storyteller Bokarr Hammadou Farina.
I too, listen to music, but more to my take away from it is the message. I know many others too listen to it for the same reason. This is not to rob the entertainment, the excitement, the spirit upliftment, peace and tranquility that music offers. Music really gets into the hearts and minds. Over time, it has served as a healer to distress, a weapon for praise-singing kings, queens, people of prominence and more so, a courage-giving weapon for heroes and heroines. To me, music offers more than all that can be said, and for whatever reason it existed, it fulfilled its obligations, though there are times when it didn’t represent the oppressed and the downtrodden, in the case of some commercialized music. The latter is solely for material venture, and in it, a great loss of value, as and when it empowers oppressing kings through traditional praise-singing.
Agreeing with our historians that oral tradition was passed through the traditional griots (singers), despite its continuity, but its gradual fading away signals an undisputable fact about our cultural loss inevitable. I have seen Suntou Touray of the United Kingdom and others do some cultural revival in their writings, but soon afterwards, the swinging political pendulum takes the momentum.
In the short music clip, the Fulani Diva Ina Baba Coulibaly and historic storyteller Bokarr gives a little history on the origin of the Fulbe. According to the narrator, the Fulbe can be traced to the time of Prophet Musa (PBUH), a case in point; Jehreh Frerehnee is the father of the Fulbe. In it, Bokarr narrated an encounter between Jehreh and the Pharaoh of Egypt. The Pharaoh wanted to marry Jehreh’s daughter, and to the Pharaoh’s disappointment, Jehreh refused to give his daughter to him, in protection of his Fulbe identity, which certainly cost him an embargo from Pharaoh. Pharaoh is known in history as a brutal king who lived during the time of Musa (PBUH), and what largely defined him was his lack of faith and arrogance, which ended up costing him a catastrophic ending.
Agreeably, the Fulbe, known for herding are widely dispersed in many parts of Africa. It is a known fact that the herdsmen move with their animals in search of greener pastures and safety dwellings. There were some that may have been forced to move because of danger zones, especially in areas where land conquerors were interested in dominating. The Fulbe are very protective of “Puulaghu” (an inner spirit that composes nobility, reality, humility, kindness, responsibility, and pride of identity), which is preserved and so hard to give up. Notwithstanding the strong cultural lineage, they also over the years formed great intellectuals when it came to Islamic education, and contributed greatly to its propagation in Africa and beyond its boundaries. Some of the jovial relationships that exist between the Fulbe and other tribes shows a great way to relate and establish relationship, hence tribes and identify, according to the Holy Scriptures is meant for people to identify themselves so they can relate, sympathize and love one another. Despite these set foundations by a creator up above, human factors, includes wish for dominance and hostility. This element comes to affect human existence in no small way.
Bokarr also shared an idiomatic expression, where a wolf was given a flock of sheep, and instead of rejoicing, the wolf started crying. Onlookers enquired, “Wolf: You are given a whole flock of sheep. Why are you crying?” In reply, the wolf said, “The hypocrites won’t agree with me having it overnight, and before daybreak, they would have spoiled the windfall for me.”
Notably, the Fulani Diva’s music is rich. It touches on history and heroism of the lineage. It is also an educational institution where many can revive their cultural identity. It will be hard to see its continuity. That makes me conclude that unless something is done about it, we are headed for cultural extinction, in which case, our world would have been reduced to a whole different level. That answers what will remain for our successors and that makes the fear of cultural extinction a reality.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2MPWvsOcC0&list=PLt_G1ZGOQLFQ0ELAsi4mw4GBZEOYmIzMa&index=14