Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Murray to Lane, Upper Volta, April/May 1957 -- "I feel inexpressibly sad"


This was ostensibly a letter to me, written from Upper Volta (now Burkina-Faso). But since I was 7 and not yet able to appreciate the drama of African independence, it was really a diary entry. Murray had been excited to spend time in Africa countries as colonialism loosened its hold. The reality as he found it, despite the music and dancing, was full of foreboding. He certainly was right that there was hell to pay in the Congo.


E.T.Mensah and the Tempos Band of Ghana. c.1958. Image: BBC Attic







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