Angola The African Dream

Angola, the African Dream. A box of photos, black & white and amber, under the old woman’s bed, tell of young faces and success. Cars drive up and down an avenue called Liberty. Angola, even the most humble state functionary had a black servant. And the white people were deaf to the dark voices of independence. The Portuguese settlers had been promised a land of plenty, and the local people would be their willing serfs. Foreign legion soldiers helped them flee the wrath of the exploited. Back in Portugal again, dipping their hands in manual work, the African dream was over. Photos never tell a story it’s a blank canvas made up of shadows and the unspoken. Memories will be sweet and often untrue. People who had to return back to poverty, will insist they brought civilization to Angola, especially now that the avenue of Liberty, in Luanda, is potholed.