I too sing Cameroon - Sarah Anyang Agbor

I too sing Cameroon¹.

I am the ninth and tenth provinces

Or is it regions?

I just want to be human,

Not superhuman

Accepted as a person

I know how you perceive me:

“Traitor”, “Opposition”, BamiAnglo2

A figment of your own imagination.

Why do you see an Anglophone and you hear-

“Gunshots!? Crisis!? Protests!? Grumblings!?

You got criminals! We’ve got criminals!” 

I too can feel

I too can dream 

I too can lead.

But you look down on me

And call me “Anglofou”3

You say you are the top dog 

And I the underdog.

Now I am the country nigger “Anglofou”

Now I am the house nigger. 

Tomorrow 

When the stakes are down

Will it be my turn to look down at you?

Will I call you “Franco Fool?”

Or will I call you brother?

That tomorrow will surely come

No one will dare say to me: 

“Anglofou”4; “Parlez Anglais”5

“Les Anglos-la”6

Besides, I have walked up the ladder

With the virus of bilingualism

And I will sit at the table

And you will see the good in me. 

I too, sing Cameroon!

---

Sarah Anyang Agbor [Sarah Mbi Enow Anyang Agbor] (20th century) Cameroon

Source: Free Verse Issue 22 Spring 2012

1. Inspired by the talk on Harlem Renaissance, DVC series at the American Embassy in Yaoundé on 28-09-2007.
2. A Bamileke who has grown up with English as a second language, hence, such a person is a Bamileke from predominantly French-speaking Cameroon by origin and Anglophone by culture.
3. Anglophone fool; crazy English-speaking person
4. An abusive term, most often used by Francophones, to denigrate Anglophones.
5. Speak English
6. Those Anglophones