Kokoro Lyrics - Fatoumata Diawara

Why are we not proud of who we are? We are black Africans, 

descendants of Sunjata Keita, the emperor of the Mandé people. 

We have our own culture and civilisation, which we must be proud of. 

Instead, we want to look like Westerners, Chinese, Asians, 

and Arabs by bleaching our skin, selling off our land and resources, 

and adopting their fashions. As a result, 

we are lost and our traditions escape us. 

So who will come to defend our African dignity in our place? 

Let's not turn our back on our traditions 

Let's embrace them, be proud of them 

Let's not abandon our traditions 

We need to welcome them, like a miracle 

Let's not turn our back on them 

They want to destroy our traditional values 

Because we are Africans 

We have lost all our cultural references 

Because they see us as slaves 

Our ancestors have abandoned us 

They want to kill our traditions 

Because we are Africans 

Our human warmth is disappearing 

I bow before our ancestral traditions, mother 

I pray to the spirits of our ancestors 

I bow before our ancestral traditions 

Why are we not proud of who we are? 

We try to look like Europeans, by bleaching our skin 

We try to look like the Chinese and sell off our resources to them 

We think that being Muslim means to cover ourselves from top to toe 

We want to look like Indians by applying their bindi to our forehead 

Who will carry on Sunjata's heritage? 

I, Diawara Fanta proudly stand up and 

vow to carry on the ancestral heritage 

Who will build Africa for us? 

Who will live the African life in our stead? 

We have lost all our cultural references to western culture 

If we do not respect ourselves, no one will ever respect us 

Why are we not proud of who we are? 

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