AfricanRevolutionaryWriters,Part4a

AmilcarCabral,19241973

AmilcarCabral

Thesecondtextforthisweek(attached)isAmilcarCabrals
speechonNationalLiberationandCulture.Thisspeechwas
originallydeliveredonFebruary20,1970,aspartoftheEduardo
MondlaneMemorialLectureSeriesatSyracuseUniversity,
Syracuse,NewYork.Thatismorethanfortyyearsago,yetthe
speechisasfreshandasrelevantasifithadbeenwritten
yesterday,andbasedonappraisalofourpresentcircumstances.

Foreigndomination

canbemaintainedonlybythepermanent,organized
repressionoftheculturallifeofthepeopleconcerned,wrote
Cabral.Attemptedassimilationisamoreorlessviolent
attempttodenythecultureofthepeopleinquestion.Itdoes

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 notwork.Infacttherearenowaysinwhichthecolonisercan
succeed.

itisgenerallywithintheculturethatwefindtheseedof
opposition,whichleadstothestructuringanddevelopmentof
theliberationmovement,saysCabral.

nationalliberationtakesplacewhen,andonlywhen,national
productiveforcesarecompletelyfreeofallkindsofforeign
domination.Theliberationofproductiveforcesand
consequentlytheabilitytodeterminethemodeofproduction
mostappropriatetotheevolutionoftheliberatedpeople
necessarilyopensupnewprospectsfortheculturaldevelopment
ofthesocietyinquestion,byreturningtothatsocietyallits
capacitytocreateprogress,saysCabral.

Cabraldevelopstheideathatwemusttakeintoaccountthe
factthat,facedwiththeprospectofpoliticalindependence,the
ambitionandopportunismfromwhichtheliberationmovement
generallysuffersmaybringintothestruggleunconverted
individuals.Thelatter,onthebasisoftheirlevelofschooling,
theirscientificortechnicalknowledge,butwithoutlosinganyof
theirsocialclassbiases,mayattainthehighestpositionsinthe
liberationmovement,hewarns.

Cabralconcludes

theliberationstruggleis,aboveall,astrugglebothforthe
preservationandsurvivaloftheculturalvaluesofthepeople
andfortheharmonizationanddevelopmentofthesevalues
withinanationalframework.

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InPortuguese:Alutacontinua!

CabralsTheWeaponofTheorywasusedintheintroductory
partofthiscourse.

TheimportancethatthisoutstandingrevolutionaryAmilcarCabral
placedonculturalandintellectualoutputisplaintosee.The
MozambicanscholarAquinodeBragana(likeCabral,amartyr),
colleagueofanotherintellectualandmartyr,RuthFirst,called
intellectualworkaninstrumentoftherevolution.Itisthe
grounduponwhichtherevolutionstands.

AquinodeBraganawaskilledinthe19October1986aircrashin
whichPresidentSamoraMachelalsodied,thirteenyearsafterthe
murderofAmilcarCabral.

Wearenotyetsafeenoughtothinkthatthekillingofpolitical
intellectualsandpoliticalcadresisathingofthepast,orthat
attemptsatorganizedrepressionoftheculturallifeofthe
peoplehaveceased.

Atleast13oftherevolutionarywritersinthisserieswereviolently
killed.Oneofthemwaskilledsincethecoursewasfirstgiven,and
now.Therevolutionmuststrivetomakethemurderedheroeslive
againthroughtheirwritings.

Theaboveistointroducetheoriginalreadingtext:AmilcarCabral,National
LiberationandCulture,1970.

TodownloadanyoftheCUcoursesinPDFfilespleaseclickhere.