The White Skins - Dora Amoako

"THE WHITE SKINS"

By Dora Amoako

• 
  Okomfo Anokye bid Asanteman farewell to begin the journey for the cure for death Bathed in the Antoa river were 300 Asafo(warriors) of superhuman strength
  They journeyed north, headed towards the land beyond the corn
  Over mountains, hills, deserts and through valleys
  Then journeyed some more till the soil turned from red to black and then brown
  After crossing the narrow river they came to a strange land with white soil
  Cold to the feet, men lived in strange stone houses and wore heavy clothing
  The Asafo were bewildered because never have they seen so many Albinos
  They asked and wondered “are we in Asamando(Land of the Dead)”?
  Are these people ghosts?
  Surely, this land must be cursed because of the sheer number of albinos
  
  OKOMFO ANOKYE REPLIED
  "Yes they look pale, white skin; they even talk funny through their nose
  With long stringy hair and smell like wet chicken
  Mansa Musa and Sundiata did mention them
  Their elders once upon a time visited the triangular mansions (pyramids) of our ancestors to learn
  They might look human but I doubt if they are fully human because Odumankoma (God/Creator) didn’t finish coloring them
  And they have no soul because they do not name their young after seven days.
  Aaah!! Look at these savages they eat with sticks
  Aaah!! See how their men wear horsehair on their heads.
  Sebi sebi they even eat like animals see how their meat is still drenched with blood.
  I think they are not far from animals so we should treat them as such
  But flowing through their land is the “fountain of youth”-the cure of death
  They don’t know its importance, but we do
  So we need to find a way to steal it with least resistance
  
  HERE IS THE PLAN
  Let us bribe them gifts of salt, gold, kente
  Let’s mesmerize them with our charms, talisman and potions
  And if they resist we will tell Mami Wata(River Goddess) to drown their kids
  And when we fight them we will summon our motia (dwarfs).
  Infact they are no match for our sophisticated weaponry
  After we take their land, we will enslave them so they can work by the river
  To carry gourds of the fountain back to Asanteman
  Let us break down their confidence so we don’t need to use physical force
  Let us paint sasabonsam(Devil) white so they will associate evil with their skin color
  And let us brag about the virility of our Odumankuma and the beauty of Asaase Yaa
  Yes, a white skin women will never feel beautiful till she tans her skin and pumps her breasts and buttocks
  Let us make them forget their culture, let us make them forget their history and hate themselves
  Because that is the only way they will fail to see the treasure that lies in their backyard,fail to see anything of value coming from them
  That is the only way they will allow us to tap the river for free
  
  ………..So they set to work on their plan
  Coercing and killing
  Capturing the men to work by the river so they can carry gourds upon gourds to far away Asanteman
  True to his word Okomfo Anokye did bring the cure for death back to Asanteman
  But that it because Owuo (Death) moved to the Land of the whiteskins
  So the more the river was tapped by the Ashanti’s the more members of the white skins aged and died.
  The river that nurtured them was being taken; they were dying without knowing why
  They said their gods have forgotten them so they inturn shunned their gods
  Hercules, Zeus, Pluto were now names mentioned with scorn and disgust
  They embraced the gods of Asanteman and feverishly poured libations and celebrated every single Afahye(festival)
  
  …………….Over 500 years later and the story remains the same
  Now the young whiteskins are scared, they refuse to stay and wither
  They see how everyone in Asanteman is young and fresh
  They want a piece of the good life
  So they pack themselves in boats, ships and hustle for visa
  Anything to help them get to Asanteman for a better life
  The white skins have forgotten the treasure that still flows in their backyard
  So they risk their life to travel to Asanteman where they work as menial servants, constantly demeaned by the dark skins
  Who make it a point to remind them of their deficiency in melanin
  They are a people living in Amnesia
  Still dying even though they have the cure
  The rest of the world awaits their awakening.
  Will they white skins wise up?
  We live to find out.
  
  ICON