The Nkosi and the Negasi, by Aman Gebremeskel
The
Nguni and Ge’ez terms for king must have common ancestry! Or maybe one is
derived from the other. But there is another connection that is too hard to
miss. Over the past century two kings from each civilization have captured the
imagination of the world... and transformed it forever.
As romantic as it may sound to speak of the lives of Madiba and Teferi in glorious terms the reality is a lot messier and all too human. Both stories – set apart by 40 years – start off with two modern young African men who attempted to satisfy their thirst for power by ingeniously leveraging the power of their occupiers.
Both Madiba and Teferi were largely educated by colonial Europeans but due to their African royal heritage they were also immersed in their traditional doctrines. Both were turned into world icons – Teferi in the 1940s and Madiba in the 1980s – turning on its head the natural hierarchy of the races that had established itself since the mid 19th century. And both died old men after 60 years of active political life leaving their nations proud and free but swimming in a pool of political and economic mess.
Physically speaking the two couldn’t have been more different. Madiba was a tall muscular boxer while Teferi was a small frail man. However both realized that the power of 20th century kings lay in ideas rather than armaments. As such they devoted a great deal of time speaking and writing rather than fighting with swords.
If Tefari’s Geneva speech to the League of Nations was proud and impassioned in the midst of his collapsing nation then the statements from the docks of the Rivonia trials by Madiba a generation later would confound his captors for its confidence and power in the face of his certain death. Stories from old scripture of empty handed weak men who brought their captors and victors to their knees were brought back to life in the 1930s and 60s.
But the most striking aspect of these two kings is how they exploited the crisis and weakness of the global powers of their time to further their own goals. In the 1980s Madiba offered a largely destructive western civilization salvation in the eyes of its own rebelling children by lending his legitimacy to the capitalist cause, just as Teferi had done in the 1940s by convincing the world that a victory for the Allies – a desperate grouping of oppressive imperialists – meant freedom for all people of the world.
In the end both kings were criticized bitterly by their own people for forgiving and embracing their tormentors in exchange for Italians and Afrikaners helping to run aspects of their nations that were too technical for Africans. By the 1970s Ethiopians revolted and pursued an aggressive policy of indigenization... choosing political and economic sovereignty over economic development. Forty years later all signs point to South Africans pursuing a policy of indigenization... but maybe this time with economic success in tow.
As romantic as it may sound to speak of the lives of Madiba and Teferi in glorious terms the reality is a lot messier and all too human. Both stories – set apart by 40 years – start off with two modern young African men who attempted to satisfy their thirst for power by ingeniously leveraging the power of their occupiers.
Both Madiba and Teferi were largely educated by colonial Europeans but due to their African royal heritage they were also immersed in their traditional doctrines. Both were turned into world icons – Teferi in the 1940s and Madiba in the 1980s – turning on its head the natural hierarchy of the races that had established itself since the mid 19th century. And both died old men after 60 years of active political life leaving their nations proud and free but swimming in a pool of political and economic mess.
Physically speaking the two couldn’t have been more different. Madiba was a tall muscular boxer while Teferi was a small frail man. However both realized that the power of 20th century kings lay in ideas rather than armaments. As such they devoted a great deal of time speaking and writing rather than fighting with swords.
If Tefari’s Geneva speech to the League of Nations was proud and impassioned in the midst of his collapsing nation then the statements from the docks of the Rivonia trials by Madiba a generation later would confound his captors for its confidence and power in the face of his certain death. Stories from old scripture of empty handed weak men who brought their captors and victors to their knees were brought back to life in the 1930s and 60s.
But the most striking aspect of these two kings is how they exploited the crisis and weakness of the global powers of their time to further their own goals. In the 1980s Madiba offered a largely destructive western civilization salvation in the eyes of its own rebelling children by lending his legitimacy to the capitalist cause, just as Teferi had done in the 1940s by convincing the world that a victory for the Allies – a desperate grouping of oppressive imperialists – meant freedom for all people of the world.
In the end both kings were criticized bitterly by their own people for forgiving and embracing their tormentors in exchange for Italians and Afrikaners helping to run aspects of their nations that were too technical for Africans. By the 1970s Ethiopians revolted and pursued an aggressive policy of indigenization... choosing political and economic sovereignty over economic development. Forty years later all signs point to South Africans pursuing a policy of indigenization... but maybe this time with economic success in tow.
Reproduced
with permission.
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