Nihilism In Africa

Hope. It is often said that hope is the force that keeps one moving in times of darkness. It is light. For many darkness is temporary, however, what do you do when that darkness lasts 450 plus years. The first group of Africans were brought to America, as slaves, in 1564. Since this moment African Americans have faced centuries of oppression, from the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the mass incarcerations of this present decade. Throughout this period darkness people of color have fought back against both their oppressors and their struggle. However, after 450 plus years of fighting, at what point does one loses hope in the fight for social justice? Many have loss hoped and have accepted the idea that there is no grand justice, and the situation …show more content…
West argues that one cannot cure Nihilism but rather tame it through love and care. However, equally important to the taming of nihilism is literature. Nihilism is a product of the desensitization of oppression that one faces every day. One starts to believe the negative images and words of their oppressors. Nihilism is an autonomous cycle that continues from negative ideas and form more negative ideas. According to West, “A major contemporary strategy for holding the nihilistic threat at bay is a direct attack on the sense of worthlessness and self-loathing in black America” (225). In this West urges many to dispel the negative ideas and word of the oppressor which in turn produce this sense of worthlessness and self-loathing. One way to dispel these ideas is through literacy. As many of the propaganda against people of color is done through the media. If one is literate, it can be said that one has to capacity to tell the falsified truth of the media—which keep their oppressors in power—from the hidden truths of reality. …show more content…
It is particularly strong in the African American community. According to West, one can group nihilism in the same boat as alcoholism, a disease of the mind with no cure however it can be tamed. Literacy is a strong tool in taming nihilism. In regards to Douglass, Coates, and Malcom literacy was able to tame their nihilistic disease. To combat nihilism in African American societies ne would have to go about teaching literacy rather than being literate. Media literacy, music literacy, and economic literacy are all equally important. A community void of literacy is prey to not only oppression but also