Africa, the continent which houses Alexandria,
the city of medieval global power and influence,
Africa, the land that gave birth to damsel Lake Victoria, the beauty of the great lakes region,
Africa, where is thy spear?
The son of wealthy Mansa Musa, the prince of the Benin Empire,
the son of Emperor Haile Selassie,
the land of the Cape of Good Hope Zulu personified!
Africa, where is thy spear?
Oh, the magnificent continent, set between two beautiful oceans
of Indian and Atlantic! the land of diamond, gold, salt, beautiful oils and ointments,
Africa, you gave and never borrowed,
You were fruitful,
Africa, where is thy spear?
The continent of beautiful cultures, dances and festivals and great
carnivals of strong princesses,
the land of the brave Northern Sahara star, Queen Amina,
the land of historic Queen Sheba and warrior Queen Idia,
Africa, where is thy spear?
Africa, where is thy spear?
Where is your cocoa, rubber, oil palm, yams and groundnuts?
Africa, where is your strong agile hand of productivity?
Are you now prodigious? Are you still valiant, courageous and conquering in nature?
Africa, where is thy pride and spear?
Africa, the land of Ubuntu, the father of Kwame Nkrumah,
Africa, oh, you produced Mandela and Kofi Annan, the father of Julius Nyerere,
Africa, you gave us the spirit of Ujama!
Africa, where is thy spear?
Where is thy spear?
Do we need to remind you of the battle of Adowa?
Oh, Italy is alive to tell the story,
Where is Ethiopia your brave son?
Remember El Kanemi, your son, Ashanti Kotoko of the Gold Coast,
Africa where is thy spear?
Africa, where is thy spear?
The indomitable spirit of the Cameroons and its green luscious forests,
Dakar, is cold, fresh from breeze of the Atlantic,
Africa, are you not nearly there?
Assuredly, Morocco is thriving, Kigali your son has risen,
Accra your son is up and Gaborone is lightened up,
Cape Town remains beautiful
Africa, where is thy spear?
Africa where is thy spear?
The great River Niger, the Limpopo, Zambezi, the Nile and Mediterranean Sea pass
through your beautiful bowels,
Africa, your own the resources at Mambila plateau,
and the entire Congo archipelago belongs to you,
Africa the father of the Gulf of Guinea, you are priceless.
Africa get up, set up on the journey to stardom.
Africa where is thy spear?
A tribute to David Diop (1927-1960),
Author of Africa my Africa
