African, Child of France

Together

We were not poor.

We were together.

In the stairwells echoed the accents of the world.

Africa crossed paths with Europe.

The Caribbean met Asia.

The Lesson

The East met the West.

And without realizing it, we were learning life's most beautiful lesson: that a neighbor is worth more than a prejudice.

I am a child of France.

Of her lights.

Of her poets.

France

Of her philosophers.

Of her promises.

But also of her silences.

For France is a beautiful woman who sometimes hides old wounds beneath her makeup.

A woman capable of greatness, and of failure.

Contradictions

A nation that proclaimed the Rights of Man, while at times denying the humanity of others.

A nation that opened its doors to those fleeing hatred, while sometimes exporting domination across distant seas.

I know her contradictions.

I have studied them.

I have loved them.

Ancestral Voice

I have fought them.

For we never criticize a country more than when we love it deeply.

Then one day, the voice of my ancestors returned.

Softly.

Like the wind of the desert.

South

Like a distant drum that only the heart can hear.

It said: "Never forget where you come from."

And so I looked south.

Toward Chad.

Toward that red earth where those who carried my name before me now rest.

Bridge

Toward that ancient dust that knows my story better than I know it myself.

I became a traveler between two memories.

When I walk in France, Africa walks beside me.

When I walk in Africa, France walks beside me.

I am that bridge.

Unfinished Conversation

I am that meeting place.

I am that unfinished conversation between two histories still learning to understand one another.

I have often been asked to choose.

As though one could choose between the heart and the soul.

As though one could tear out a root without bringing down the tree.

Choosing Both

So I answered: I choose both.

I choose blue, white, and red.

I also choose red, gold, and green.

I choose the fifty-four nations of Africa.

I choose the African Union.

Memory And Future

I choose the ancestors.

I choose the Republic.

I choose memory.

I choose the future.

For my identity is not a border.

Horizon

It is a horizon.

I am French when I defend liberty.

I am Chadian when I honor my ancestors.

I am Cameroonian by birth, and an Indomitable Lion when my spirit refuses to bend.

I am African when I dream of a united continent.

Many Things

I am a citizen of the world when I extend my hand beyond languages, beyond borders, and beyond flags.

I am all of these things at once.

And I will never apologize for being many things.

France gave me wings.

Africa gave me roots.

Roots And Wings

Cameroon gave me the strength of the lion.

And a man who possesses both roots and wings fears no horizon.

I am a child of France.

I am a son of Chad.

I was born in Cameroon.