(ThyBlackMan.com) “I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me”-African revolutionary and former Prime Minister and President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah
Those words by the legendary Kwame Nkrumah remind Africans all over the world of their connection to their home continent to Africa and to each other regardless of where they were born. For many Africans, their national allegiance is to their country of birth as many Africans born in America identify themselves using the term “African-American”. Brutal, dehumanizing colonization stripped Africans brought to America of their language, culture, and customs and forced them to assimilate and separate from their African heritage. This separation away from their African heritage isn’t exclusive to Africans born in America as displayed by WNBA star Liz Cambage and allegations of her horrific and disgusting language that shows the importance of knowing your identity and having pride in your heritage.
One of the more well-known athletes in the WNBA is Los Angeles Sparks center Liz Cambage. Her size, outspokenness, and basketball story are among the features that make Liz Cambage stand out. She was the second overall pick of the 2011 WNBA Draft after being a force playing professional basketball in Australia. Her professional basketball career has seen some highs and lows including being a multiple-time WNBA All-Star and having a five-year absence from the WNBA to play basketball overseas. However, she returned to the WNBA in 2018 and has been one of the league’s best players since.
Cambage’s background was that she was born in London to a Nigerian father and Australian mother, before moving to Australia with her mother after her parents separated when she was an infant. During her childhood in Australia, Cambage admitted it was difficult to relate to a mostly white environment, saying, “I was a black girl growing up in a very white-washed Australia. I didn’t really have too many role models to look up to here in Australia.” Cambage added, “I’m very lucky that my basketball career took me to America because that’s where I really discovered myself and my true black identity living over there.” As a daughter of interracial couple, it is clear that Liz Cambage had some challenges in her mostly white environment in Australia.
Liz Cambage is now 30 years old and a woman with a plethora of different experiences internationally by virtue of her basketball career. Her self-identity continues to be something she is struggling with by virtue of a recent report that indicated that Cambage used racial slurs against Nigerian women’s basketball players during a scrimmage at UNLV last year. Reportedly, several Australian players and Nigerian players claimed Liz Cambage referred to Nigerian players as “monkeys” and said, “go back to your third world country.” While Cambage attempted to move past the report by responding on social media and claiming she “did not use the racial slur towards the Nigerian team” but did take responsibility for her involvement in the incident.
This is definitely an instance of “she said, she said” but it is hard to refute that many people vouching against Cambage. As a person with African heritage by virtue of her father, Cambage needs to review the history of Africa to understand how connected she is to the Nigerian basketball players she insulted and that the financial issues within Nigeria and all of Africa are the result of underdevelopment brought on by colonization and exploitation. Liz Cambage’s alleged words show that we need to understand African history, our connection, and what causes the current circumstances in Africa so we can change things for the better.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines