Their words
“A nation without a past is a lost nation, and a people without a past is a people without a soul.”
Source: Graduation address, University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, 15 May 1970
Context Four years after independence, he urged graduates to write their own history books and prove that Africa's past was as worth studying as any other, against colonial claims to the contrary.
Pick the card background
More words from Politics & Governance
“If yesterday I fought as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself.”
Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe♥ 0
“Africa should have one identity, one nationality, one people, one currency, one army.”
Muammar Gaddafi Libya♥ 0
“The branch will not break in the arms of the chameleon.”
Mathieu Kérékou Benin♥ 0
Membership
Become a member. It's free.
Members get our weekly briefing on the leaders and forces shaping Africa and its diaspora, and unlock every game on the Play page.
Already a member? Log in