This semester I decided to take a class called the Introduction to Contemporary Africa and the few weeks I have attended it so far, it has become my favorite class so much that the thought of attending makes me so jovial.

Because I am African a lot of my friends had amused me by saying that I just wanted an easy A in the class, since my ethnicity would guarantee me one. This was far from the main reason and on top of that not feasible. Africa constitutes of 54 countries and I have only been to two of those so this should clearly show that I cannot have knowledge that vast.

Being in that class I have been exposed to a lot of current events, political successes, wars, coos, and inventions on my continent to the extent that each after class, I leave the room feeling openminded. One main thing I have realized is how events are connected all over the continent. For example, a lot of African countries have a reputation of corrupt leaders, and a lot of critics just blame stupidity for that. Which is incorrect because if we go back to history, there was a time every African country was colonized except Ethiopian. Following a wave of African countries fighting for independence, liberation leaders were put into power. These iconic figures were the brave, tough, visionary military gurus who led their subordinates in war but were not expects at governing a country. What followed after that were several corrupt presidents who stayed in power for longer than they were supposed to. And of course, the economy of the African states would suffer. Another huge contributing factor to the state of African countries is the position the western colonizers left the governance of their colonies. Yes, they granted independence to the countries but did not both to teach Africans to administer the policies they had set in place. African countries had a different culture of governance before the colonialism, and that system was what they were skilled for; not the policies the western colonizers brought with them. What you ended up finding, was a disorganized system, not because the leaders were illiterate but they were not knowledgeable.

Next time you hear in the news about a child dying from cholera in Africa or a father killed in a demonstration, before jumping into the conclusion that Africans are so uncivilized take some time to study the history that led them to where they are. You will be enlightened.