Mutuality, resistance and egalitarianism^57could not progress beyond a certain point in the study of the
Bible. In a letter he wrote to the missionaries of the mission, he
eventually asked to be released from the mission work: “When
consciousness talks, let it be truly heard. Here is my question:
when someone offers a shirt or a loaf of bread to a beggar, what is
his goal, and why? I’m not the one to tell you, but I think that it
is to do the beggar good. (When consciousness speaks...)” (circa
1942; my translation). Although his separation would only occur
a few years later, one could observe how the process of moral and
political detachment was already taking place.
From this perspective, Toko’s political consciousness stemmed
from a progressive acknowledgement of an unjust hierarchized
system that was in itself contradictory with the notions of spir-
itual liberation taught by the Baptists; shortly before leaving to
Léopoldville, Toko decides to organize a farewell party, inviting
students, local elders and mission leaders. In the party, he appears
wearing a sisal bag and singing a kikongo hymn that said: “The
turncoat has worn a bag, the turncoat has worn a bag, the turn-
coat has worn a bag”.^25 This was seen as an announcement of
a future inversion of the state of affairs. It is said that by that
time Toko also sang hymns in Kikongo where he summoned the
Africans to “open their eyes”^26 – in what can be understood as a
progressively public contestation to the work of the missionaries.
Once in Léopoldville, Toko would nevertheless continue his
collaboration with the Baptist missions, teaching in the Itagar
mission’s Sunday school. As some elder Tokoists I interviewed in
Luanda recall, his dominical classes were cramped with eager stu-
dents, while the Baptists’ church remained almost empty in their
services. This situation provoked discomfort and growing suspi-
cion in the Baptist leaderships. In parallel with the choir activi-
ties, he led an autonomous group of Bible students, known as the
Anciens Élèves, who spent their free time reading and translating
the Bible into the local language, kikongo, as well as learning other
languages (namely English). During these meetings, Toko would
introduce and discuss literature from other movements, such as
the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower (their proselytist branch)
publications, a book called Luz e Verdade (“Light and Truth”) that
Toko had found in the rubbish bin in his previous visit to Luanda.