In the Feb. 1 issue of the DIGEST, Student GovernmentAssociation president Arthur Monroe made the statement “Lacumba means the heartof Africa…”in the article entitled, “Southern plans for new mascot.” Myquestions for Brother Monroe and whoever else is responsible for the spread ofthis information are these: Since when and says who? Did Nelson Mandella giveyou this definition?
Were you visited by the spirit of Stephen Biko andtold by him that the name “Lacumba” had an African meaning? Was the meaning ofLacumba’s name given to you in a song by Miriam Makeba? Notice that the lastnames of the aforementioned legends are all African.
“Lacumba” on the other hand…
In 1971,a contest was held here at SU called “Name the jaguar” and the winning studentcame up with the name “Lacumba.” According to SU spokeswoman Amanda Larkins,”Lacumba is not an African word; it doesn’t have a meaning.” I stumbled acrossthis on the internet so it could very well be wrong information.
For a moment, let’s say that it is incorrectinformation on the internet and the name “Lacumba” does in fact mean “the heartof Africa.”
You meanto tell me that for all these years we’ve had the heart of Africa confinedright here on campus next to the tennis court? We don’t even have anAfrican-American studies program at this historically black college, but youmean to tell me that we’ve had the heart of the motherland, the pulse of ourculture, the drumbeat of our heritage locked up in a cage like a slave onHarding Blvd. across the street from Subway? You mean to tell me that it sitswell with the body of black people here at Southern University to have theheart and pride of Africa symbolized by a live beast behind bars? If “Lacumba”does mean “the heart of Africa”, then we as descendants of Africans should havemore respect for that name than to give it to an animal whose freedom we’vetaken and thrown in a cage like our ancestors were thrown below deck on slaveships in chains.
If theinformation that I received on the internet is correct and the name “Lacumba”is in fact a meaningless word with no African association, then we have allbeen terribly misinformed and immediate rectification should be made by thoseresponsible.
It might not be a big deal to a lot of “us”, but it’sreally not something to be taken lightly. If it’s ok for “us” to fabricateaspects of our culture, then it’s ok for “somebody else” to do the same and weshouldn’t get upset when people like the author of the racist story Sambo create characters like “Black
Mumbo” and “Black Jumbo” and say those are Africannames. Either way, for black people to attach Africa to something captive isdespicable.
