My Africa by Dei-Anang

My Africa

When vision was short
and knowledge scant,
Men called me Dark Africa
Dark Africa?
I, who raised the regal pyramids
and held the fortunes of Conquering Caesars
In my tempting grasp.
Dark Africa?
Who nursed the doubtful child
Of civilization
On the wand’ring banks of the life-giving Nile,
And gave to the teeming nations
Of the West a Grecian gift.

Michael Dei-Anang

Michael Dei-Anang (1909-1977), Ghanaian poet, playwright, and novelist, was born at Mampong- Akwapim, Ghana and attended Achimota College, Ghana and the University of London before entering the civil service, where he served in several ministries in the colonial and post-colonial periods. He was one of the main pillars in Kwame Nkrumah's African Secretariat, which was mainly concerned with the liberation of the rest of Africa still under colonial rule. He was arrested and detained for two months after the fall of Nkrumah in 1966.

Follow us on Twitter