Statues Upright Title Deeds
Statues are upright title deeds. They are proof of possession of the land and everything on it and underneath. Everything, includes people.
That’s why Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy took photographs of ‘Natives’, rolled their fingerprints on a piece of paper and printed permits, so that they should walk as servants, on land they previously owned.
Statues are made of chrome, iron and other materials. They are bells that tell you what language is spoken and what food is served, toast or croissants.
Statues were also warning signs, to prevent disputes about ownership. That was important because European powers fought over land. History books tell us Britain won most of the time because of a powerful navy.
That’s why Canada has two official languages, English and French. Quebec is a French-speaking Canadian province with a rocky relationship with the rest of the country, which is mainly English.
Statues are upright title deeds, that’s why most of them are outside government buildings. What was being governed? Land, land possession to be precise. ‘Natives’ had to understand that Europe now owned them and the land. In some countries, the Queen exiled stubborn traditional rulers.
Bollywood, the film industry based in Mumbai sometimes structures films around how Europe and Jesus invaded India. The Queen has more statues because of the British Empire. Portugal is a small colonizer by comparison but it owned Goa, a part of India.
Bollywood has made films like Josh, starring Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan, which deal with the presence of the Catholic Church in Goa, the land question and why Portuguese used to be the official language.
Statues trigger different emotions. It depends on who is standing before them. One thing the Queen cannot deny is that they are upright title deeds.
Indigenous people were ‘primitive’ because they had this ridiculous belief that nature belongs to all. They did not have a piece of paper with a signature, called a title deed.
This is another ‘written podcast’ by Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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