Ode to Samir Amin

Rhyming along the sound of guitar

Cascades my ode to Comrade Samir

You have left us, Dear Samir, but your spirit remains

Whilst I do my yogic meditation to ancient gods

Next to me I see you musing in revolutionary study

You appear to me in my heavenly trance

Can you hear me Samir, from my earthly stance?

Remember, remember that time in November 2012

When in Oxford you came to Pambazuka

And we talked about imperialism and Africa’s surrender

Shame, shame, we roared to leaders in Africa

Alas! Their eyes and ears are closed to Africa’s plunder

Alas! Our leaders have put the people in a blender.

Darkened are the clouds with NATO hawkish planes

Bombarding Africa to loot for gold, copper and oils

For the military-industrial-techno-financial chains

Disembodying Africa, mutilating Africa, for their spoils

Shame, shame, we roar to ruling classes of African compradors

Corrupted by money and power are our conquistadors

On the starving, dying bodies of our children and progenitors

Remember, Remember, the month of January 2018

When in Dakar we met for the Rapport Alternatif Sur l’Afrique

On Report Zero of RASA we embellished its theme:

From concept to the reality of Africans

Epistemological archaeology of African thoughts

Question of power and its devolution in Africa

Desirable futures in transformative sovereignty

Paradigms, frameworks, criteria, and African contexts

You have left us, Dear Samir, but only your body

Your spirit will continue to fuel the African revolutions

Until the Empire succumbs and its spineless toddies

Will flee to their hidden loots for their final dissolution

So proud am I Dear Samir

To visit you from my earthly stance

* Professor Yash Tandon is from Uganda and has worked at many different levels as an academic, a teacher, a political thinker, a rural development worker, a civil society activist, and an institution builder.