By Tolson Banner
(BlackNews.com) — Pomp and circumstance. Pageantry and pontification. A wedding day of bliss. The British crown and the daughter of African dust. A matrimony reverberating the cradle of civilization.
The Britain holdings were once so vast this phrase was coined: “The sun never sets on the British Empire”.
And so too was the vastness of its colonial empire that this phrase is apropos: “The England Empire eclipsed the sun from shining on Mother Africa”.
Set against this historical backdrop, we witness a love story juxtaposed against amour and neocolonialism; against exploitation and the affairs of the heart; against the raping of Africa’s mineral wealth and its people and the breaking of royal tradition.
The bride to be was Meagan Markle, a bi-racial, African-American of humble beginnings. It appears Markle bedazzled her husband to be with her stunning charms and striking beauty.
Born of an African-American mother and a father of American-European descent, Markle stormed onto the British Monarch scene with grace and panache; giving rise and inspiration to the downtrodden – ushering in “A change gonna come” moment? We shall see.
The groom, born with the proverbial silver spoon, Prince Henry, Duke of Sussex, on the other hand was of British royalty.
Prince Harry, as he is more commonly known, is the younger son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, who in 1997 died in a car crash in Paris. He stands sixth in line to the British throne.
Prince Harry’s boyish ways wooed the crowd – breaking many young girl hearts in waiting.
With the white nationalistic fervor still smoldering from Brexit, Prince Harry came across as altruistic and egalitarian.
On the surface, we saw the festive occasion glamorized by the paparazzi and celebrities. But a slight adjustment to our apertures reveal the cunningness of the British benevolent indifference to their colonial past and present.
According to news reports, it was estimated the royal wedding cost a whopping $45 million (U.S. money) with the royal family only paying $2 million of that cost. The $43 million balance was paid by the British taxpayers, raising eyebrows about austerity.
The black entertainment at the royal wedding was ubiquitous on TV. The royal family reached into their triangular enslavement trade bag and pulled out soul-stirring performances from the black choir who gave us “Stand By Me” to the black Bishop who delivered a Martin Luther King-like sermon on LOVE.
Even the black young cellist performing “Ave Maria” gave us a rendition that made our hearts stand still.
But the black inclusion in the royal gala doesn’t dismiss the racial/economic strife and historical colonial rape of the African Diaspora exercised by Britain.
Historians have documented with the introduction of sugar in Barbados (1640) by the Dutch, enslaved labor was needed more than ever. Britain seized upon this opportunity and transported 3.1 million Africans to British colonies in the Caribbean, North and South America and to other countries.
The cheap labor wasn’t just assigned to colonial times. A recent article in Esquire magazine, stated during the years after WWII, the British government opened its doors to Africans from Trinidad and Jamaica to augment their work force.
They became known as the Windrush Generation, in honor of the ship that brought them to the UK. Today these black Brits are treated as illegal aliens, unemployed and homeless.
The pillage and plunder of Africa’s minerals and resources still continue to this day.
In a report titled, “The New Colonialism” published by War On Want (2016), over 100 companies, mostly British, control Africa’s key mineral resources such as gold, platinum, diamonds, copper, oil, gas, and coal.
Collectively, they control over $1 trillion worth of Africa’s resources.
There’s a note of mockery here. Africa (Alkebulan – the ORIGINAL name) was discovered as the cradle of civilization by two Brits, born in Kenya: Drs. Louis and Mary Leaky.
The two Brits demonstrated that humans evolved in Africa which later became the basis for the riches the British royal family put on display doing the royal wedding. All done with a smile of benevolent indifference.
There are many who hold promise for the interracial newlyweds. The soulful balladeer Terry Collier poses this question in one of his classic R&B songs, “What Color is Love?”
We shall see if the royal-love bliss is the COLOR OF MONEY.
Tolson Banner is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where he majored in Broadcast Journalism, graduating magna cum laude. He became the first African-American Public Information Officer with NASA. He later attended Howard University’s Graduate School of Business, graduating with an MBA in Marketing/Finance. After graduating from Howard U, he worked at BET as a Marketing Manager and wrote the final report for Washington, DC’s cable TV franchise award. He is currently a national consultant, writer and columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].
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