--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The colonists usually say that it was…" description: "\"The colonists usually say that it was they who brought us into history: today we show that this is not so. They made us leave history, our history, to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/amilcar-cabral-30540_colonists_the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-th_1865740.png" --- # The colonists usually say that it was they who brought us… ![“The colonists usually say that it was they who brought us into history: today we show that this is not so. They made us leave history, our history, to follow them, right at the back, to follow the progress of their history.” quote by Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/amilcar-cabral-30540_colonists_the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-th_1865740.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/amilcar-cabral-30540_colonists_the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-th_1865740.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/amilcar-cabral-30540_colonists_the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-th_1865740.png) > “The colonists usually say that it was they who brought us into history: today we show that this is not so. They made us leave history, our history, to follow them, right at the back, to follow the progress of their history.” [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Colonial powers claim they advanced history, but they actually erased indigenous narratives, forcing locals to follow imposed timelines. **In simple terms:** Colonial narratives erase local histories. Key Takeaway Recognize and restore suppressed histories. Themes colonialism history identity resistance Mood reflective critical Type historical political When to use this quote - education curricula - museum exhibits - community storytelling - policy reform Key Concepts decolonization narrative control cultural erasure Questions to Reflect On - How can societies reclaim erased histories? - What role does education play in this? A Different Perspective Colonial narratives can be deeply entrenched, making revision difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Colonists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonists/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [“Yesterday was history, today is challenging, and tomorrow will be destination”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaw-moo/yesterday-was-history-today-is-challenging-and-tomorrow-will-be/) Kaw Moo > [We did it. Make no mistake: We have written history. Today there's a change of guards in Denmark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helle-thorning-schmidt/we-did-it-make-no-mistake-we-have-written-history-today-there-s-a/) [Helle Thorning-Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helle-thorning-schmidt/) > [I got more mail than anybody on the history of The Today Show, but half of it was to get me off the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-scott/i-got-more-mail-than-anybody-on-the-history-of-the-today-show-but/) [Willard Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-scott/) > [Today you play for a place in history, today you play for immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-houllier/today-you-play-for-a-place-in-history-today-you-play-for-immortality/) [Gerard Houllier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-houllier/) > [We have to forget the past. History is something that even today we are paying the consequences, and the future is integration. We all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/we-have-to-forget-the-past-history-is-something-that-even-today-we/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [The pre-war empire had been sufficiently informal and sufficiently cheap for Parliament to claim authority over it without having to concern itself too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-colley/the-pre-war-empire-had-been-sufficiently-informal-and-sufficiently/) [Linda Colley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-colley/) > [By today’s standards King George III was a very mild tyrant indeed. He taxed his American colonists at a rate of only pennies per…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/by-today-s-standards-king-george-iii-was-a-very-mild-tyrant-indeed-he/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please; and in case of intolerable oppression, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/all-men-have-a-right-to-remain-in-a-state-of-nature-as-long-as-they/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Film is like a colony and there are very few colonists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/film-is-like-a-colony-and-there-are-very-few-colonists/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I'm deeply interested in the photograph as a record of an encounter and enjoy putting myself in a timeline of image-makers, alongside other travelers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-meiselas/i-m-deeply-interested-in-the-photograph-as-a-record-of-an-encounter/) [Susan Meiselas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-meiselas/) > [ \[Albert\] Camus' was born in Algeria of French nationality, and was assimilated into the French colony, although the French colonists rejected him absolutely because… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-camus/albert-camus-was-born-in-algeria-of-french-nationality-and-was/) [Catherine Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-camus/) > [In my last I contended that none of those ties which are necessary to bind a people together and make them one, existed between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-wharton/in-my-last-i-contended-that-none-of-those-ties-which-are-necessary-to/) [William H. Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-wharton/) > [The right of ordinary citizens to possess weapons is the most extraordinary, most controversial, and least understood of those liberties secured by Englishmen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-lee-malcolm/the-right-of-ordinary-citizens-to-possess-weapons-is-the-most/) Joyce Lee Malcolm > [I have experience and I am employing it in the service of a Chilean road for Chile's problems. We always take advantage of experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-allende/i-have-experience-and-i-am-employing-it-in-the-service-of-a-chilean/) [Salvador Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-allende/) > [Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; second, to liberty; third, to property; together with the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/among-the-natural-rights-of-the-colonists-are-these-first-a-right-to/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) ## More by Amilcar Cabral > [We must walk rapidly but not run. We must not be opportunists, nor allow our enthusiasms to make us lose the vision of concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/we-must-walk-rapidly-but-not-run-we-must-not-be-opportunists-nor/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [One of the most serious errors, if not the most serious error, committed by colonial powers in Africa, may have been to ignore or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/one-of-the-most-serious-errors-if-not-the-most-serious-error/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/always-bear-in-mind-that-the-people-are-not-fighting-for-ideas-for/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/hide-nothing-from-the-masses-of-our-people-tell-no-lies-expose-lies/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [We must act as if we answer to, and only answer to, our Ancestors, our children, and the unborn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/we-must-act-as-if-we-answer-to-and-only-answer-to-our-ancestors-our/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [Educate ourselves; educate other people, the population in general, to fight fear and ignorance, to eliminate little by little the subjection to nature and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/educate-ourselves-educate-other-people-the-population-in-general-to/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [A people who free themselves from foreign domination will be free culturally only if, without complexes and without underestimating the importance of positive accretions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/a-people-who-free-themselves-from-foreign-domination-will-be-free/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [Tell no lies' claim no easy victories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/tell-no-lies-claim-no-easy-victories/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [We are not going to eliminate imperialism by shouting insults at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/we-are-not-going-to-eliminate-imperialism-by-shouting-insults-at-it/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [Culture is simultaneously the fruit of a people's history and a determinant of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/culture-is-simultaneously-the-fruit-of-a-people-s-history-and-a/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [We are fighting so that insults may no longer rule our countries, martyred and scorned for centuries, so that our peoples may never more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/we-are-fighting-so-that-insults-may-no-longer-rule-our-countries/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [National liberation is necessarily an act of culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/national-liberation-is-necessarily-an-act-of-culture/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [We must practice revolutionary democracy in every aspect of our Party life. Every responsible member must have the courage of his responsibilities, exacting from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/we-must-practice-revolutionary-democracy-in-every-aspect-of-our-party/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [No matter how hot the water from your well, it will not cook your rice...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/no-matter-how-hot-the-water-from-your-well-it-will-not-cook-your-rice/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) [Explore all 15 Amilcar Cabral quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) ## More Colonists quotes > [Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; second, to liberty; third, to property; together with the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/among-the-natural-rights-of-the-colonists-are-these-first-a-right-to/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [I have experience and I am employing it in the service of a Chilean road for Chile's problems. We always take advantage of experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-allende/i-have-experience-and-i-am-employing-it-in-the-service-of-a-chilean/) [Salvador Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-allende/) > [The right of ordinary citizens to possess weapons is the most extraordinary, most controversial, and least understood of those liberties secured by Englishmen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-lee-malcolm/the-right-of-ordinary-citizens-to-possess-weapons-is-the-most/) Joyce Lee Malcolm > [In my last I contended that none of those ties which are necessary to bind a people together and make them one, existed between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-wharton/in-my-last-i-contended-that-none-of-those-ties-which-are-necessary-to/) [William H. Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-wharton/) > [ \[Albert\] Camus' was born in Algeria of French nationality, and was assimilated into the French colony, although the French colonists rejected him absolutely because… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-camus/albert-camus-was-born-in-algeria-of-french-nationality-and-was/) [Catherine Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-camus/) > [I'm deeply interested in the photograph as a record of an encounter and enjoy putting myself in a timeline of image-makers, alongside other travelers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-meiselas/i-m-deeply-interested-in-the-photograph-as-a-record-of-an-encounter/) [Susan Meiselas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-meiselas/) > [Film is like a colony and there are very few colonists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/film-is-like-a-colony-and-there-are-very-few-colonists/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please; and in case of intolerable oppression, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/all-men-have-a-right-to-remain-in-a-state-of-nature-as-long-as-they/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [By today’s standards King George III was a very mild tyrant indeed. He taxed his American colonists at a rate of only pennies per…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/by-today-s-standards-king-george-iii-was-a-very-mild-tyrant-indeed-he/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [The pre-war empire had been sufficiently informal and sufficiently cheap for Parliament to claim authority over it without having to concern itself too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-colley/the-pre-war-empire-had-been-sufficiently-informal-and-sufficiently/) [Linda Colley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-colley/) > [It is easy to gain a definite notion of the furnishing of colonial houses from a contemporary and reliable source - the inventories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/it-is-easy-to-gain-a-definite-notion-of-the-furnishing-of-colonial/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) > [“For the future welfare of the settlement, it was essential that all the colonists—Leideners and Strangers alike—learn to live together as best they could.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-philbrick/for-the-future-welfare-of-the-settlement-it-was-essential-that-all/) [Nathaniel Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-philbrick/) > [I descend from both Philadelphia Quakers and Carolina colonists whose families were separated by the Revolutionary War. That helped give me insight into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-rutherfurd/i-descend-from-both-philadelphia-quakers-and-carolina-colonists-whose/) [Edward Rutherfurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-rutherfurd/) > [“Colonists of, ah, Per Ardua, meet your autonomous colonisation unit!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-baxter/colonists-of-ah-per-ardua-meet-your-autonomous-colonisation-unit/) [Stephen Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-baxter/) > [We should have scant notion of the gardens of these New England colonists in the seventeenth century were it not for a cheerful traveller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/we-should-have-scant-notion-of-the-gardens-of-these-new-england/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) [Browse all 47 Colonists quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonists/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The colonists usually say that it was they who brought us into history: today we show that this is not so. They made us leave history, our history, to follow them, right at the back, to follow the progress of their history.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amilcar Cabral" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-they-who-brought-us-into/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Colonists" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-they-who-brought-us-into/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/amilcar-cabral-30540_colonists_the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-th_1865740.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/amilcar-cabral-30540_colonists_the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-th_1865740.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/amilcar-cabral-30540_colonists_the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-th_1865740.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The colonists usually say that it was they who brought us into history: today we show that this is not so…” — Amilcar Cabral", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amilcar Cabral", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The colonists usually say that it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-they-who-brought-us-into/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/the-colonists-usually-say-that-it-was-they-who-brought-us-into/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```