The Brainwashed

The story of the Muse brothers, kidnapped and exploited in the late 19th century, resonates eerily with the experiences of colonized peoples worldwide. Just as the brothers were forced to abandon their identities and adopt a false narrative, colonialism imposed its own distorted reality on tyrannized nations, whitewashing evil to be rated an act of love.

Colonizers employed psychological manipulation to erase indigenous cultures, languages, and beliefs, replacing them with their own dominant narratives. This cultural brainwashing perpetuated the myth of colonial superiority, legitimizing exploitation, extreme cruelty and oppression. They forced on Africans brain killing religions that makes the dead to rule over the living. Whereas, whenever the living hopes on the dead, foolishness becomes the game of the living.

In 1899, a shocking abduction took place in Truevine, Virginia, that would leave a lasting impact on the lives of two young albino brothers, George and Willie Muse. The siblings, ages 6 and 9, were kidnapped and forced into a life of captivity, exploitation, and psychological manipulation.

For decades, the Muse brothers were exhibited as circus freaks, paraded in front of gawking crowds, and subjected to inhumane treatment. But what’s even more breathtaking is how their evil captors, the circus owners, manipulated their minds, erasing their true identities and instilling a false narrative. In the same vein, colonial nations manipulated the minds of their victims to regard the colonial people as saviors and as a People who led them to salvation and çivilization. A salvation the colonial people only use as a tool for domination and exploitation, while the said çivilization is an indoctrination full of corrupt practices.

The Muse brothers were told they were orphans, that their parents had abandoned them, and that their captors were their saviours. They were forced to perform degrading acts, and their albino condition was sensationalized for profit. On the part of colonialism, Africans were made to forget their colorful historical achievements before the Transantlantic slave trade while demonizing their cultures. Whereas, most of the evil cultures were stylishly embedded into the African community by colonial actors via their addictive political religion as it was in the case of the killing of twins.

In their bid to sabotage African public acceptance of a Calabar awesome twin deity, Ying and Yang, who were celebrated as the giver of twin babies, the colonialists stylishly demonized the birth of twins which led to the killing of twins in some African regions and later took the glory of being the ones to stop the killing of twins via Mary Slessor, who was chosen by the colonial community to act in that capacity.

The colonial evil kneel of devastating effects of psychological manipulation and brainwashing has been on the neck of African continent for so long, suffocating the governance and the unity processes. It facilitates the political manipulative machineries of the West against the African community, blindfolding African leaders to seek solutions from those who created, sustain and benefit from the actual problems. The Muse brothers’ story serves as a testament to the power of coercive control, which can distort reality, destroy autonomy, and leave lasting psychological scars.

We must work to reclaim and rediscover the cultural identities that were forcibly suppressed. Only through this process of healing and decolonization can we break free from the chains of historical brainwashing and forge a path towards true self-reliance.

AMB. EZEWELE CYRIL ABIONANOJIE is the author of the book, ‘The Enemy Called Corruption’ ; an award winner ‘Best Columnist Of The Year’,  ‘Giant In Security Support’ among other local and international awards. He is the Founder/President of Peace Ambassadors Global.