Watch Rolihlahla (Nelson)Mandela Documentary on Pluto TV

My mind and spirit has been in South Africa for the past 3 months. There is something very strong that is pulling me towards this African country…A very heavy feeling that I never felt before about South Africa!

I seriously cannot stop listening and dancing to Amapiano music, and I have a deep desire to speak Xhosa fluently! It’s like it has taken over me (in a good way) and at the same time, trying to send me a very important and urgent message.

Xhosa, along with Zulu, is one of the official languages spoken in South Africa, one of many Bantu languages, and belongs to one of the Niger-Congo languages.

My DNA shows that I am mostly Nigerian-Western Bantu-Congo-Cameroon, but who knows if a little Southern Bantu (Zulu or Xhosa) or Eastern Bantu (Swahili) is not in the mix? If history is correct in its documentation of Western and Central Africans traveling to East and South Africa during what was called the Bantu Migration, there may be a very meaningful reason as to why I feel a strong connection to Tanzania, (my connection with Tanzania started in 2020) and now to South Africa as well.

( I will write about my first encounter with South Africa at the age of 12 in another blog post.)

During a wave of expansion of people in Sub-Saharan Africa that began 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, Bantu-speaking populations – estimated today as reaching some 310 million people – ‘gradually’ left their original homeland of West-Central Africa and travelled eastwards and southwards in the continent. A genomic study conducted by the “Institut Pasteur”, the CNRS[2] and a broad international consortium using a huge amount of data (of over 2,000 samples) collected from individuals in 57 populations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa managed to retrace the persistently controversial migratory routes of these populations.

The heartland[1] of Bantu languages is somewhere in the Congo River basin rain forest. [1] By ‘heartland’ I mean the part of a region considered essential to the viability and survival of the whole, especially a central land area relatively invulnerable to change or attack….Many authors believe Bantu people originated from southern West Africa in the region between the Niger delta and the Sanaga River in Southern Cameroon. From there, they moved eastwards and southwards as summarized by Cartwright[2] on the following map.

Source: Professor Stephen T.M. Lukusa. Bantulingual.com-Causes of Bantu Migration-Origin of Bantu People

( I also will write about The Bantu migration later as I learn and study more.)

South Africa is calling!

Going about my Sunday evening just relaxing, I decide to skip NetFlix, and see what is on PlutoTV.

As I scroll down to check out what shows were on live, South Africa presents itself to me in the form of Rolihlahla (Nelson) Mandela Documentary.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela-

First president of South Africa-Lawyer-Activist (fought against apartheid) Philanthropist

I try to never go anywhere unless I feel led to

As I devote myself to study and learn more about my own African roots, I am also devoting my time and energy into studying the whole continent of Africa.

I have been to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in East Africa 3 times-as my very first out of the country travels, I felt a strong calling (urge) to go to Tanzania.

No matter how many times people from all over the world have bragged about South Africa, I personally had to be drawn towards it in some kind of way, to even want to visit.

Most of my visits in Africa have been for spiritual, cultural, and potential business reasons-and I will go to as many countries in Africa as I can, as each one (unexpectedly) present itself before me…

I believe South Africa will be next!

As I have written in previous posts, I have had West and East African friends and co-workers (Nigerians, Cameroonians, and Kenyans) here in the United States for over 10 years-(not knowing back then that most of my maternal African DNA resides in Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu) this is why I say unexpected, because I thought that Nigeria would be the very first African country that I would end up going to-or at least the second?

I believe that before you visit any city state country or continent for the first time, (but especially Africa because of its vast diversity) you should take the time to thoroughly study and learn about the people, language, cultures, ethnicities, tribes, currency, economy, politics, a country's past and present struggles, along with their past and present victories-most importantly, an in depth study of its history.

South Africa is calling…And I must go!

“1,000 years ago, Africans migrated to the South. The Xhosa nation settled with their cattle in the eastern part of what is now called South Africa. European settlers arrived in the middle of the 17th century. They fought the Africans and drove them off their land, sewing the seeds of hatred, that lasted for centuries. It was here in the Eastern cape, that Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. He was of Royal blood. a descendant of Thembu Chiefs….

Source-Mandela Documentary

“It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.”

Mandela

*Side Note: Back in the day, a lot of our African American grandparents and parents, stayed glued to the television news when it came to Mandela, as if he was our president!

Mandela has stated in a speech he gave in the USA in 1994, that President Bill Clinton and George Bush both supported his country and the apartheid struggle. He also reminded Africans in America, that Africa is OUR continent.