TURINAWE EMMANUEL

Valentine’s Day, celebrated globally on February 14, is often portrayed as a day of love and affection. However, beneath the veneer of roses, chocolates, and romantic gestures lies a Eurocentric dogma that has subtly displaced the indigenous African concepts of love, community, and relationships. This article explores how Valentine’s Day became entrenched in African societies and the ways in which it has contributed to the erosion of traditional African perspectives on love. The Origins of Valentine’s Day     Valentine’s Day traces its roots to ancient Roman festivals and a Christian martyr  named  Valentine , and through later folk traditions it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of  romance  and love in many regions of the world. , eventually evolving into a commercialized celebration of romantic love in the West. This European tradition was exported to Africa through colonialism, globalization, and cultural imper...

In the year 1900, beneath the vast savanna skies of the Great Rift Valley, Thabo’s village of KwaZulu thrived in the heartbeat of tradition, yet trembled under the encroaching shadow of colonial rule. The village, a circle of mud-and-wattle huts around a cattle kraal, buzzed with life—children’s laughter, the lowing of cattle, the rhythmic strike of hoes in millet fields. But the air carried a new tension, mingling woodsmoke with whispers of iron-wielding strangers. Thabo, a warrior cloaked in lion-skin, was guided by the Seven Stars, the constellation his people revered as ancestral spirits, their light pulsing in his dreams with a call to protect KwaZulu. Thabo’s days wove into the village’s rhythm. At dawn, he led cattle to graze, his obsidian-tipped spear ready for lions or raiders. His mother, Nia, tended crops with the women, her stories of the Seven Stars teaching children like Thabo’s brother, Jomo, to honor the land. Evenings brought fireside dances, Thabo’s movements mirrorin...