ABSTRACT
Nationalism was both blessing and curse for the new African nations—a blessing because it won their hotly desired freedom. Moreover, it is unlikely that the new African will reject altogether his tribal loyalty, his old gods, and his traditional family customs in the process of cementing national ties. African societies contributed no Kants, no Beethovens, no Michelangelos. Intellectually and politically this was virgin soil. African nativists placed emphasis upon traditional cultural traits and upon the old values. Traditional African societies utilized a variety of cooperation patterns, but these did not necessarily correspond with socialist techniques. The Organization of African Unity threatened to invade Rhodesia, a prospect not especially feared by the strongly armed Rhodesians. Some concluded that black African nationalism was to be accepted as a permanent feature in Kenyan life. In effect, the African experience was a recapitulation of that in America and Europe.
