Containment is usually characterized first by the colonization of the human mind and spirit. This is intended to cloud and internalize the human spirit with fear and sense of worthlessness. And it conditions behavior to the status quo which leads to acceptance of the normalization of the abnormal and where those suppressed don’t see themselves as makers of their own culture and history. Perhaps Bantu Steve Biko articulated this insight in the way which can be best understood, that ‘the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.’
At heart, it is designed to assert control and influence over the human mind. The role of psychological warfare is designed for these purposes, and in many aspects it is the determining factor. The break down of communication and trustworthy relationships enable the effective implementation of psychological warfare through rumors and confusion, which finally results in division. This policy has been most affective in counter insurgency situations of protracted conflict.
Any transformative initiative therefore must necessarily involve a deliberate process of decolonizing the mind, which must be aimed in lifting the human mind from the hegemonic conditions and in instilling new values. Without such a liberative process, the oppressed will continue in the path of the status quo and within the value system which has been artificially imposed. This continuation would only feed into a cycle that will create a reality in which victims would then become oppressors. Such a tragic event would negate the principles of freedom.
Hence, there is a critical need to identify and reconstitute the cultural base and values which was fragmented by the unjust status quo. It means identifying what is and what is not and acting upon it. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o describes it beautifully while responding to western accusations of the prevalent culture of corruption in Africa. He says “They wash their hands of what is happening, as if they have never had anything to do with the corruption, with massacres, with backwardness. My concern is with these colonial distortions. There are elements which are indigenous, but they are also external. You can’t understand one without the other. The tendency is to leave out one of the elements in the equation. But an equation without all its elements is no longer an equation.”
Ngugi further emphasizes on the need to challenge and transform the system because of the terrible moral decay. He adds, “An individual can go, but the system continues.” To bring change the decolonization of the human mind and spirit is needed. If not, one will only continue to sign songs written and taught by others. Change needs imagination and for imagination, you need to free your mind.
