Moroccan family.

I’ve sort of touched on this before, but in the spirit of narrative and family histories that are frequently assaulted, I figured I would share this again. I think that honest depictions of actual families is more telling than the constraints that a state or movement has imposed upon us.

My grandparents got married in the early 1950s in Morocco. My grandmother came from an Amazigh family that owned land in Bzou, a village in Azilal between Beni Mellal and Marrakesh. According to my grandmother they spoke a Tamazight language, though she is not wholly sure of which one and she can still recall some of it. They were forced to move to Sale in the first half of the 20th century. My grandfather was an Arab(*gasp*) from a village between Meknes and Fez, not too far from Zerhoun. He also spoke a uniquely regional dialect, which erred more on the side of Arabic spoken outside of the country with a strange affinity for the sound “gah,” it was quite cute. He was also forced to move to Sale in the early 20th century because his father wasn’t the best with finances and the land they owned sort of got squandered away. 

In the 1950s my grandfather became good friends with my great uncle and was married to my Bziwiya grandmother. Much of her family resented this because he was from a family of Arabs. To this day, my great-aunt will often make the ask whenever my grandmother visits her, or we visit her as to how the Arabs are doing - referring to my grandfather’s side. No doubt there is a historical resentment, and if you actually subscribe to an honest account of history within countries like Morocco you can gain a sounder illustration of that. 

Its absolutely bizarre that in an effort to have a more nuanced history we dismiss political dynamics, attitudes about marriage and tribal structures that have long existed. Many Moroccans have recorded family histories and many know their tribe and origins on a basis of simple nisba mechanics coupled with indigenous and linguistic ones. There has undoubtedly been Arabization of North Africa, indigenous language has often been neglected and the nature of the state in countries like Morocco is really inhibiting whenever it comes to honest perceptions about the histories of such countries and what they mean to all of us. It is something that we have to be more conscious of and honest about whenever we discuss our roots and identity.

My identity lies in part with the story above, not what some activists tell me. I know where they come from, you simply do not.

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  1. roxygen posted this