The Crying Queen of Africa
Biography of Leticia Nyerere

INTRODUCTION

The crying queen of Africa!
How long had it been thus?
You, that were queen of Africa,
With face down into dust!

To come from rags, to excellence,
And then brought down again:
Your kindness and intelligence
Shackled with loss and pain!

Passed between many powers
And torn by them to shreds -
They all sought to devour you,
And then they sought you dead -

How could you be so exquisite,
So gentle and so kind,
When you are nearly destitute
And pained in heart and mind?

Surrounded by sorrow,
You kept the light alive -
And on each passing morrow
You rose, and toiled, and strived!

And yet remained benificent,
And generous, and warm,
And looked simply magnificent
Through sunlight and through storm!

And now you’re in the Parliament,
You’ve triumphed over all –
In Tanzanian government
Instilling mind and soul!

Triumphant queen of Africa!
Inspiring to the world!
You are again in Africa -
Now let your voice be heard.

CHILDHOOD

In Africa, in Africa,
On Tanzanian soil,
Was born the queen of Africa
In heat and rain and toil.

The parents taught her from the start
To be ready for life
Be self-sufficient, strong and smart
And when the time arrived

From Africa, from Africa
On double-engine plane
She went - a girl from Africa -
To a great northern land.

She felt lost, but the Russians
Were friendly to her, and
They asked a lot of questions
Till she could understand

That they wanted to know
Her and her world, as such:
And they were giving, though
They said word "nyet" too much.

She met folks from all over
The third and second worlds,
From everywhere and nowhere
Men, women, boys and girls,

She studied many languages
And sciences and arts
Her natural intelligence
Combined with people smarts

Made her a youthful favorite
Within the second world
And she became warm, elegant
And happy as a bird.

Russia's supposed poverty
Was for her giant wealth:
She had possessed no property
But all her needs were met

She studied subjects rigorously
All things to understand
And lived life fully, vigorously,
And gathered many friends.

She gained not only knowledge
But strength and wisdom too
And after going to college
She became dream come true.

SINGLE LIFE IN TANZANIA

To Africa, to Africa
From Russia she arrived.
She went back home to Africa
And started her new life.

In Dar-Es-Salaam she began
A secretarial business
And grew in name and capital -
And still, and nonetheless,

Remained kind, warm and elegant
And pleasant to behold -
And how is this relevant?
Learn once the story's told.

The son of a great president
Nyerere, no one less,
Became her client and he spent
Much money in the press.

And then he asked to marry her
And she said to him, yes.
They married in great ceremony
And all thought they were blessed.

MARRIED LIFE IN TANZANIA

In Africa, in Africa
Nyerere's son and her
Became the talk of Africa
And traveled all the world.

Nyerere loved Leticia
He knew that she was smart
He saw her mind, ambition, and
A girl of his own heart:

And when she had her infant,
Julius she named him.
Two more came out, few years apart -
She still was fit and trim.

She started woman's magazine
That still sells far and wide -
She sought to serve and yet to win:
All that was on her mind -

Beloved in-law she remained,
Africa's jet set queen,
Flying to China, Russia, Spain
And places unforeseen.

And yet the queen was crying
Both outside and within:
The people were not satisfied
No matter what she did,

However much she tried to please
It never was enough.
Oh how could this have come to be?
Why did this happen? How?

She looked outside, folks walking by,
And saw love in their eyes -
Where was the love in her own life?
Why all this darkness? Why?

She tried all things, mistakenly,
And nothing ever worked;
Whatever she gave, was taken, and
Expected of her more

Her mind was cluttered with debris
And arguments and pain;
She never had a day of peace
And so was going insane;

She gave and gave, and strove, and yet
Nobody gave respect;
Despair, guilt, fear and regret
Were screaming in her head;

Nothing would work; nothing was right;
In pain the queen would cry
Whatever she did, still worse it got -
She did not know why.

For thirteen years this went forth -
No matter how she tried,
The agony kept getting worse
And sorrow multiplied:

“Is this my life?” thought crying queen
“This, what life has in store?”
She who began a magazine
And business, and still more?

She wanted peace of heart and thought
To focus on her kids;
She sought to be what she was taught
And to do real deeds;

“Is this my life – entirely –
Is this the end for me?”
Fly, crying queen, across the sea
And then you can be free!

After much agony and fear
At last she did decide
To get her kids and disappear
In middle of the night

Three months before the President died,
Leticia challenged Fates
And took a plane, kids at her side,
To the United States.

LIFE IN UNITED STATES

From Africa, from Africa
Arrives the fallen queen
Carrying warmth of Africa
Still looking like a dream

But now she must herself survive
And for her kids provide.
She must learn how to stay alive
And keep them at her side.

She works as an accountant;
There’s insufficient pay.
She works then for the government
To serve and to protect.

The children mix with druggies,
She changes neighborhoods
She toils, and cleans, and struggles
Like no one knew she could.

She wakes, four in the morning,
Comes home late at night
And then she works from home
Struggling just to survive

It’s do all this each coming day
Simply to make ends meet,
Or lose everything that she has
And wind up on the streets.

Nobody thinks she is a queen
But she knows: She must strive
To do all for herself and kids
And struggle to survive.

She starts organization
To help Tanzanian kids.
She works on reputation
Mid races, peoples, creeds,

The wolf's maw of survival
Is breathing down her neck -
Thus greet the new arrival
Who's fallen off the track.

Thus treat the fallen beauty?
How far? How long? How true?
Who was the undisputed
Princess, and brilliant too?

Survival, unforgiving,
Is screaming in her face:
Now go and make a living
Or be destroyed, erased -

She answers, I am working,
Now leave my kids alone!
All come, at her heart jerking,
Desiring her undone,

Her mother dies, and when she leaves
For Africa, the friends
And family meet her and kids
And help her understand

How much she’s loved - the President’s wife
Supports her through her grief,
And as though it was her own life
Provides her with relief.

She gets herself a mansion
For her three kids and her.
She gathers the attention
Of people from all over

In Africa she gains respect;
They see she is strong-willed
And while it is a little late
It is accepted still,

And she accepts and she’d forgive
And says that they are great -
And for the people such as these
No, it is not too late!

She says she’s struggled all her life
Whatever she achieved
And every day was more of strife
For as long as she’s lived,

And that when people see one’s strength
And one’s consistency
One can indeed gather respect
From sea to shining sea.

Leticia stays majestic
And giving, strong and smart:
Hard-working and domestic
And with a giving heart

She tends to kids, to work, and
To Tanzanian youth:
An Africa's black orchid
In which resides God's truth.

Momentous consummation!
Her elegance and will
Make for a combination
Like rose or daffodil,

A woman who combines the best
Of the worlds old and new:
Gentle, polite, gorgeously dressed
And free and thoughtful too!

A woman who is feminine
And in her spirit kind,
Cultured, strong and intelligent
And sweet in heart and mind,

Now deep, for all the pain she's seen,
But choosing to make light -
Still looking - being - like a dream
Like no one knew she might -

Great hostess, parent, saleswoman -
Really, she has it all!
And in the darkness, like the sun,
She shines to light the world,

With pain that she has suffered
Growing in empathy,
With truths she has uncovered
Shimmering like a sea,

Hoping to turn her energy
To help the ones in pain,
And use strength and intelligence
To shine like light of day,

With all the things she knows
And all at that she’s become
To make all good things grow
And make them bloom as one.

ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT

To Africa, to Africa
Leticia returns
Straight out of America
And uses what she's learned

To make a run for Parliament -
A woman candidate -
There, to improve the government
And humanize the state.