Writers across the African continent, through an open letter, have expressed support for Americans protesting police ill-treatment of people of colour in the country.
The letter was co-signed by over a hundred writers under the aegis of the African Authors Sans Frontieres. Authors like Mohale Mashigo, Chris Abani, Leila Aboulela, Lola Shoneyin, Zukiswa Wanner, Mukoma wa Ngugi, and others are involved in this landmark intervention.
“As African writers without borders who are connected beyond geography with those who live in the United States of America and other parts of the African diaspora, we state that we condemn the acts of violence on Black people in the United States of America. We note in dismay that what Malcolm X said in Ghana in 1964 that ‘for the twenty million of us in America who are of African descent, it’s not an American dream; it’s an American nightmare’ remains true for 37 million in 2020,” the letter partly read.
The letter further condemned the killing of numerous African Americans including George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, among others.
“We assert that Black Lives Matter. As writers, we raise our fists in solidarity with those who refuse to be silenced. To our brothers and sisters in the United States, we stand with you,” it added.
However, the writers also called on African governments to offer to those “who choose it: refuge, homes and citizenship in the name of pan-Africanism.”