Ọbádélé Kambon
University of Ghana
The Routledge Handbook of Language and Race
This chapter examines the symbolic and practical implications of removing statues as anti-Black symbols of soft power, through the lens of classical principles of mꜢꜤt ‘Maat’ (often translated in the context of seven cardinal virtues of truth, balance, justice, order, harmony, reciprocity, propriety/
righteousness) and srwḏ tꜢ n Kmt ‘Restoring the Land of Black People’. By analyzing the contemporary effort to remove Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s statue at the University of Ghana and the ancient campaign led by Amnirense qore li kdwe li, the kdke of kši ‘Kush’, to behead and decimate the statue of Augustus, the chapter shows that, although separated by millennia, both efforts are united in their fight against the subtle yet powerful influence of artistic representations in perpetuating and projecting soft power, offering profound insights into the dynamics of power, memory, and the ongoing struggle for Abibifahodie ‘Black Liberation’.
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