Do They Know It is Christmas Time?

 I always listen to Christmas music in December. I did so in 2023. One particular song caught my attention. That’s why I am blogging about it.

On Sunday, 24th November 1984, a group of famous musicians gathered in London and recorded “. Do They Know It Is Christmas Time” to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. While the philosophy behind the entire project is noble, and noteworthy, some parts of the lyrics is not commendable.

I am particularly sad and disturbed about that part of the lyrics that question whether they “ Do they know it is  Christmas Time?”. With all due respect, Ethiopians, and the Coptic Church has had a long  Christian tradition since the First Century. It was said that some of the Apostles brought the Christian religion to Ethiopia after the Resurrection. Some Coptic priests even claim that the Arc of the Covenant is in Ethiopia.

I once saw a program on television whereby  Ethiopian Coptic Christians traveled several miles from their rural outposts in the countryside to celebrate Christmas in an ancient Coptic cathedral. So, how can Ethiopians have no knowledge of Christmas?

One line in the song also says” Nothing ever grows in Africa”. Sure there is famine  and droughts and poverty in Africa but to say nothing ever grows in Africa is incorrect. Ghana and The  IvoryCoast provide the world with all the cocoa they need. 

It is sad to note that in the West, Africa is always associated with bad stuff:pogroms: coups, famine, economic problems, diseases, even cannibalism. Thank to Joseph Conrad, Africa will always be associated with the “ Dark Continent. Remember “ The Heart of Darkness” ? Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart “as a direct answer to Joseph Conrad ‘s depiction of Africa and Africans. 

Dr. Kyegyir Aggrey, a U.S. educated Africanist scholar once said “ in Africa, there is always something new.” Whatever is new in Africa is not always bad. Of late, rare earth elements have been discovered in Africa such as lithium in Ghana and other countries. For once, let see Africa as a rare earth continent. And something good.  

Bibliographic salute:

Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart. Heinemann, 1958.

Martin Meredith: TheFate of Africa: A History of the   Continent .