Although I did not watch the much-publicized British Royal Wedding (Prince William and Kate Middleton) today I caught a quick glimpse of the vows and the balcony kiss.
I could not help but remember the last time I was in front of Buckingham Palace happily posing for a picture; I looked at the TV screen animated, naming members of the British Royal Family as their faces appeared. I felt English.
I believe it was the great Ngugi wa Thiong'o who said something to the effect that the trouble with trying to decolonize yourself or your mind is that you see just how impossible it is to do that. I thought of Ngugi at that moment because I know I would not be able to identify members of our Royal Families in Botswana (we have several such families).
I knew I did not have a picture of myself in Serowe at the Khama memorials or in Nhabe in front of Kgosi Tawana 1's old residence. I convinced myself that I was only watching a news report about Will and Kate just because I like weddings. Yes, I like weddings in the same emotional voyeuristic way I like award shows. Whatever. I knew deep down there was a connection I felt with this wedding because all my education and socialization in a former British protectorate has been preparing me to culturally identify more closely with such events than King Mswati's yearly marriages. Even in my energized Afrocentrism there are cracks that sometimes show when an event like today's Royal Wedding come up. And our hopelessly colonized curriculum on the continent is to blame for much of this.
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