Righteous Rage
From survival to revolutionary living
Wake up and smell the revolution.
It is time.
There comes a point when a people, pushed too long to the edge of survival, no longer whisper their pain. They roar.
According to Afrobarometer's 2024 Report, 'Across Africa, public trust in key institutions and leaders is weakening,' with fewer than half of citizens expressing trust in their president, Parliament, courts of law, and police. This decline underscores a growing crisis of confidence in political institutions across the continent.
This is why; instead of the leaders supporting Ibrahim Traore, it was and is the other way around. It is the people showing camaraderie. In every street corner in Ouagadougou(where even the elders rose up), in the dusty market roads of cities across Africa, and through the still humming sounds of the Sahel, there’s a fire beneath the surface. It's the fire of betrayal, of historical pillaging, of the continued exploitation of Africa and her people. But it's also the fire of hope; a righteous rage that’s starting to boil over. Of enough is enough.
The proof is in the pudding.
Righteous rage is more than anger. It is a spiritual ignition of justice that propels people from passive endurance to revolutionary transformation. This anger is not individualistic. It is a collective defiance against systems that have dehumanised, looted, erased, and silenced. This form of anger has been pivotal in various revolutions and social movements. For instance, the righteous anger felt during the Arab Spring led to significant political upheavals across the Middle East. Similarly, as enunciated in the The New Yorker; the civil rights movement in the United States was fuelled by collective anger against racial injustice. The Collective is The Powerful.
From the assassinated dreams of Patrice Lumumba to the revolutionary stance of Thomas Sankara, African history is soaked in blood and brilliance. But it is also ripe for rebirth.
Just picture that moment before the rain starts pouring. That is the where Africa is. The drumbeats are all calling. Loudly. A growing clamour.
The Anatomy of Righteous Rage
Unlike fleeting personal anger, righteous rage is a conscious, deliberate force. It emerges not from wounded ego, but from wounded justice. It is the thunderous demand to dismantle what oppresses and build what uplifts.
Vu Le, writing in Nonprofit AF, says that righteous anger is about seeing others suffer and feeling compelled to act. It is, in effect, the backbone of any true revolutionary consciousness. It compels individuals to question the status quo and envision alternatives to oppressive systems.
Historically, this rage has fuelled resistance; from anti-colonial struggles to anti-apartheid movements. It is the anger that kept Dedan Kimathi fighting in the forest, that made Queen Nzinga of Angola outmaneuver colonial forces, and that today inspires African youth to question the silence of their so-called leaders.
No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come
~Victor Hugo(French Novelist and Philosopher)
Imperialism is a terrible student. It never learns(Should have listened to your brother above…because that didn’t age well). It’s coup d'état(/ˌkuː deɪˈtɑː/) habit is the epitome of defining insanity. The West has long loved a coup d'état every now and then in their destabilisation efforts of African governments(over 215 instigated since the 50s). There is nothing like training African soldiers for capacity building but the more sinister connection building on the ground for remote control.
Dead But Still Living: The Survival Mindset
Many Africans exist in a psychological and spiritual limbo: dead but still living. We hustle, survive, push, and grind; but rarely live. Colonial and post-colonial violence has replaced dreams with survival instincts.
Psychology Today describes this as a hyper-activated survival mode. The mind remains trapped in trauma loops, constantly reacting rather than creating.
How can you dream of a better Africa when all you’ve known is endurance? How do you build, when every system tells you your value lies in being a global extraction point, not a global player?
Yet, recognising this state is the first step.
From this realisation comes the righteous rage necessary to shift the narrative—from surviving to thriving, from coping to constructing a new order.
The Silence of the Powerful: Why the Rage Must Rise
As Ibrahim Traoré(whose role model is Thomas Sankara) makes clear, his bold rejection of neocolonialism; his insistence on self-determination, resource sovereignty, and African unity; is dangerous to entrenched powers. Traoré’s leadership exposes a devastating truth: many African leaders are silent not because they are wise, but because they are complicit.
From the youtube video by Lynn Ngugi with DJ. Bwakali on The Real Reason They Want to Kill Ibrahim Traoré:
"Burkina Faso is establishing a national gold reserve to back its currency with actual gold... the alliance of Sahel states is uniting with military cooperation and a resource-backed currency.”
This is revolutionary. This is why the system is shaking. This is why the West is panicking(WamePANIC!).
Because Africa, for the first time in generations, is trying to control its own narrative; and resources.
And yet, the old guard stays silent. That silence is betrayal. It is why the righteous rage must rise from the ground up. And mans-oh-so-hot has set the stage by speaking to us…directly and saying
The Loud Roar of the African Woman
Thomas Sankara once said that “the revolution and women’s liberation go together.” The time has come for the African woman to roar, unapologetically.
Mekatilili wa Menza. Queen Nzinga. Yaa Asantewaa. These were not anomalies; they were the blueprint. Yet, the voice of the African woman has been muted by patriarchy, colonization, and tradition.
As Lynn Ngugi tirelessly advocates, African women must not just be included—they must lead. The African woman, mother of mankind, holds the spiritual force to reshape a broken continent. When she rises, the earth shakes.
And African men?(yes you!) You too must rise; not in domination but in reflection. As leaders like Traoré and Lumumba exemplify, real strength lies in reclaiming kingship not over others but over yourself. Living as a subject in your own land is unacceptable. This generation of African men must step up to rebuild Africa, brick by boring brick, bone by brazen bone, bare hand by brilliant bare hand.
Leadership is service-ship. You don’t lord it over people. If patterns don’t work. They have to change. Bend/Break
Education as Revolution: Read, Read, Read
Malcolm X only went to school until grade 8. He became a hustler, a prisoner; and then, a revolutionary. How? He read. He reinforced his revolutionary stand by reading.
Patrice Lumumba devoured books and colonial documents to understand the enemy. That’s why they feared him.
Decolonize your education. Read voraciously. Make it your weapon.
Some of my Favourite recommendations(more at the end of the article):
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney: A jolt to action. A must-read that’s still thunderously relevant 60 years on.
Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo: A scathing analysis of the global aid industrial complex.
How the West Was Lost by Dambisa Moyo: Understand the decaying foundations of Western economic dominance.
Revolution doesn’t just happen in the streets. It happens in the mind.
As a Kenyan, I know education is under seige. The best person I know to articulate this is none other than Wandia Njoya who is a scholar, social and political commentator and blogger based in Nairobi, Kenya on her Blog The Elephant and brilliantly in this youtube video:
Yet, beautifully, we are at critical mass. Knowledge is decentralised. And so is discernment. The youngest population in the world is poised for a fulcrum moment. Take it. Apathy is not an option.
Love one educative thing forward at a time. It adds up.
Like I am here. With intellectual hope. The database has to survive for the descendants to thrive.
From Rage to Revolution: Channelling the Fire and Awakening to possibility
As highlighted in Message Magazine’s article on Learning to Have Righteous Rage, righteous anger fuels the engine of justice, prompting individuals to reflect and act in alignment with their values.
Anger alone is not enough. It must be focused, disciplined, and strategic.
Organise
Don’t just march; mobilise. Don’t just react; strategize. Collective power without structure fizzles out. Righteous rage must be the fuel, but organisation is the engine. Create networks. Form alliances. Build movements with vision and purpose. Whether it's in your village, your WhatsApp group, your community centre, or your online platform; organize. No revolution sustains itself without people planning behind the passion. Kenya didn’t march for Traore. I am actually saving face writing this too. The writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of re-education and regeneration that must be done. In fact, she should march right in front. The very front.
Revolutionise your education.
Read like your liberation depends on it; because it does. Become an intellectual insurgent. Study movements. Study economics. Study African history. Study Spirituality. Study the systems that oppress and the strategies that dismantle them. Teach your children truth before textbooks. Libraries, podcasts, discussion circles; whatever form it takes, knowledge must be weaponized.
Build local economies.
Money is power. Keep it circulating within your communities. Support African-owned businesses. Cooperate. Grow your own food. Trade with intention. The more self-reliant we become, the less leverage exploitative systems have. Stop shipping your kids to go build foreign universities and foreign real estate when we can do that here by truly…truly stepping in the arena of Kujiheshimu is the sexiest thing in the known universe. There is nothing casual about the serious business that is leadership. The individual is the collective. And we have to first reflect, rewrite. And then rebuild.
Especially in awareness of the traditional sources of wealth creation capital and labour; as well as the new-age sources of wealth creation media and code.
What we don’t change we allow.
Support leaders who speak truth; and hold them accountable.
Support does not mean blind loyalty. Celebrate integrity, not charisma. Ask questions. Demand transparency. Back leaders like Ibrahim Traoré who choose sovereignty over submission. But never forget; they serve you, not the other way around. Aware in wanting to live for something better. This means living while living. Not living while dead. Be the change you want to see in the micro and macro. It adds up. That 30 pieces of silver nonsense is getting nauseatingly old and disappointingly so. Are you not embarrassed(yes you RutoMustGo)?
Teach history. Demand land. Reclaim resources.
Know your ancestors. Know your land. Know your rights. Historical awareness is not nostalgia; it’s a revolutionary necessity. I watched a private screening of The Battle for Laikipia and I.WAS.UPSET. Comma upset. Not full stop. As How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney powerfully exposes, the theft of land and legacy was no accident; it was strategy. This timeless, thunderous call to RE-MEMBER reminds us: without land, there is no freedom; without memory, there is no future.
Elevate women’s voices. In every way possible.
African women are not auxiliaries in this movement; they are architects. Empower, uplift, protect, and follow the lead of women. The revolution is incomplete without their liberation. In fact; I don’t understand why women are not the de-facto rulers of the world. It is about time too. Thomas Sankara said so in his unwavering declaration that “the revolution and women’s liberation go together. We do not talk of women's emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge of human compassion. It is a basic necessity for the revolution to triumph.” He reminded us that “women carry the other half of the sky”. GORGEOUS. by all accounts. Any movement that does not prioritise women’s freedom is bound to collapse under its own weight. Sankara saw in African women the strength, wisdom, and resilience that could transform societies; not as supporters, but as leaders, visionaries, and warriors of justice.
Decolonize your dreams, decisions and deeds. Local Everything.
Stop chasing what was never meant for you. Your purpose was never to replicate the West but to reawaken Africa. It is in the rebirth of an African consciousness. Decolonizing begins in the mind. Dream in Swahili. Dream in Wolof. Dream in Oromo. Dream with ancestral fire. Let every deed reflect ancestral wisdom. Feisty. Reclaim the right to imagine a future rooted in your soil, not someone else’s shadow. The revolution begins when everything; from your ambition to your buying habits.
Becomes local. Think African. Act African. Be African.
Build institutions. Own the narrative. Back leaders of integrity.
Start the school. Launch the cooperative. Run the media house. Found the think tank. Don’t wait for legitimacy—create it. We must move from resistance to reconstruction. Because systems built by others for their gain will never serve our liberation. The youth of Africa need to stop waiting for their time to come in the name of the leaders of tomorrow. Tomorrow land Anyone? We are the ones we have been waiting for. Take up space. No more luxury of complaining about bad leadership from the sidelines. Inspiration that can change Africa. The numbers are there. Step into the arena.
Righteous rage fuels the engine of justice. True. I also urge objectivity always. Embracing righteous rage requires a balance between passion and reason. As discussed in The Guardian by Elif Shafak, anger against inequality needs to be coupled with feelings such as empathy and love to avoid toxicity and promote constructive outcomes. Let it not destroy us; let it construct something worthy of our ancestors.
Violence and Judgement have been the forever dance partners of this emotion, but I dream of anger that can be equalled to that force that the radicle needs to push the seed out of the earth to become a plant. This is an anger that can coexist with love, joy, sadness and pain.
Controlling people is all about narratives. And we must set the narrative straight. When your enemy is making moves, you can’t fight with mere rhetoric. Not arms. But concrete means to rebut the behemoth that is the Western propaganda machine. By storytelling to increase knowledge in their awakening. Tell stories. Keep them.
Righteous rage is not an end but a beginning; a catalyst that propels individuals from passive endurance to active resistance. It awakens the consciousness, urging people to "smell the coffee/revolution and wake up" to the realities of injustice in Africa and their capacity to effect change one active citizen after another. Be mad. Do something.
By acknowledging and harnessing this form of anger, individuals can transition from merely surviving to actively shaping a more equitable and just future.
Black is Queen/King. There is NO WAY superfluous to humanoids is my portion. You?
And Imperialism will have no chance.
Systems and Processes crush nonsense. And Culture EATS Code for breakfast.
May our choices reflect our hopes not our fears
Today Alliance of Sahel States…Tomorrow The United States of Africa.
Yeah? Yeah!
Thanks for reading!
Further Reading Suggestions:
#RighteousRage #AfricaRising #DecolonizeAfrica #TraoreTruth #ReadToResist #PanAfricanPower #EndNeocolonialism #AfricanRenaissance #AwakenAfrica #WomenOfTheRevolution #ReclaimAfrica #BooksNotChains