Queen's Jubilee and My Name

I have an English name because we could not go to school without a ‘Christian’ name. The Queen and her forefathers called us British subjects, and teachers told us Britain was ‘the mother country.’

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is a celebration of her reign over her tiny poor country made rich, by free gold and diamonds and agricultural bounty, stores like Harrods and Selfridges called fruits from the Empire.

I have a Christian name because the baptism certificate could not have a ‘barbaric’ name. I had to be baptized, to be cleansed of all primitiveness and became a child of Jesus, the colonizing agent working in tandem  with land theft.

This Jubilee is special to the Queen because she will be celebrating with her grand and great grandchildren. The British public might find it ‘absolutely preposterous’ to learn that she also has millions more in Africa, the so-called dark continent.

Preposterous or not, the fact remains that if her kids are Charles, Andrew, Edward and Anne, there are millions more in countries the royal navy took by force.

If her grand children are Eugenie, William and Harry, there are millions more in countries so pillaged by Britain, they are now called ‘poor’ and need G7 aid. If her great grand children are George, Charlotte, Louis and Archie, there are millions more around the world.

The names on our birth certificates come mainly from the royal family. We were not human beings, but British subjects. It is something royal speech writers must include in the Queen’s speech to celebrate what is erroneously called ‘70 years of service.’

It is actually a disservice to brown and black people her ancestors dismissed as savages in order to get ‘free land'. It is racism we continue to live with. 

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.