I figured I’ll be cool
Tell you how I feel
How you make me feel
Cupid’s long suffering fool
A story that cannot be told
But now as it starts to unfold
My true emotions to unveil
I think it’s too hard for me
To say I love you
Would be to rekindle
My feelings anew
Thus my hope and trepidation
For Rubicon not to cross
Friday, January 30, 2009
Let's break this taboo
There he sits moping over things he wishes he could change. I still do not get how one girl can have that effect on him. As his friend I have had to endure numerous conversations where he tells me how he can never be held to ransom by his feelings for a particular lady yet here is moping almost to tears for one and pining desperately for this same one.
Who is this special lady I ask him. With the hunger in his eyes burning bright, he tells me a story of an extremely likeable, exceptionally smart and overwhelming beautiful young lady who intruded into his world at a very early age and staked a claim in his heart by challenging him. Those early years were according to him, his observational phase of male female interactions so there was nothing he could do besides throw those furtive glances her way, hope that she recognized his interests and deny, deny, deny when the inevitable childish linkup was made.
We all had those childhood crushes I tell him, but there’s a reason why they are called childhood crushes. With deep soulful eyes he tells me that those were his exact thoughts until he saw her years later. The years had been kind to her. She was still good looking, still smart and still likeable. The only thing that changed was that he was able to look into her eyes and tell her all those thoughts running through his mind about the two of them, before she could respond, he left.
It seems fate has conspired to keep you apart then I say to him. Then fate must have a really wicked sense of humor because after some time it brought us back in touch, he tells me. Stumped, I ask him to tell me why he is moping then if he is now in contact with her.
He responds, during the time we were apart, we both went on with life. We met people and made promises that we are obligated to keep. He goes on to say, I still felt something when I read her name or saw her photo so when I happened to be where she resides, I decided to pay her a visit and explore those feelings that I had. Those feelings were either a childhood crush in which case I would clear out my head, or they were greater feelings than I had the capacity to address presently.
Now I was leaning over, my ears close to his lips, my mind massaged with thoughts of what a great love story this is and I wasn’t disappointed. He told me of the feelings that cascaded through his whole being when he saw her after a very long time. He could barely take his eyes off her for the first minutes that he saw her. Comparisms of her and a Greek goddess were not far apart especially as she had on a white dress with yellow (gold) trimmings. The voice was still as he had remembered, a soothing childish one, the face was still the same, radiant, daring one to deny its beauty yet at the same time possessing a personable manner that said I am just like you and I don’t have to pretend to be better than you. Every thought remembered was beautiful, every laughter genuine and every hand gesture graceful.
Then what happened, I urge him on. Nothing, he says. I left…again. Did you at least tell her how you feel? He tells me he did but he could not ask any more of her as he did not want to be selfish by coming between the relationship she already has. What did the young lady say? Nothing, he says…again.
That’s enough reason for your despondency I say. That’s not why I’m sad, he counters. What then is the reason for your countenance? I ask. Regret, he says, regret that I did not say what I really had in mind.
Let’s break this taboo, just you and I
I know I wouldn’t ask it if I were he
But this time I can only be a faithful servant of my emotion
Who is this special lady I ask him. With the hunger in his eyes burning bright, he tells me a story of an extremely likeable, exceptionally smart and overwhelming beautiful young lady who intruded into his world at a very early age and staked a claim in his heart by challenging him. Those early years were according to him, his observational phase of male female interactions so there was nothing he could do besides throw those furtive glances her way, hope that she recognized his interests and deny, deny, deny when the inevitable childish linkup was made.
We all had those childhood crushes I tell him, but there’s a reason why they are called childhood crushes. With deep soulful eyes he tells me that those were his exact thoughts until he saw her years later. The years had been kind to her. She was still good looking, still smart and still likeable. The only thing that changed was that he was able to look into her eyes and tell her all those thoughts running through his mind about the two of them, before she could respond, he left.
It seems fate has conspired to keep you apart then I say to him. Then fate must have a really wicked sense of humor because after some time it brought us back in touch, he tells me. Stumped, I ask him to tell me why he is moping then if he is now in contact with her.
He responds, during the time we were apart, we both went on with life. We met people and made promises that we are obligated to keep. He goes on to say, I still felt something when I read her name or saw her photo so when I happened to be where she resides, I decided to pay her a visit and explore those feelings that I had. Those feelings were either a childhood crush in which case I would clear out my head, or they were greater feelings than I had the capacity to address presently.
Now I was leaning over, my ears close to his lips, my mind massaged with thoughts of what a great love story this is and I wasn’t disappointed. He told me of the feelings that cascaded through his whole being when he saw her after a very long time. He could barely take his eyes off her for the first minutes that he saw her. Comparisms of her and a Greek goddess were not far apart especially as she had on a white dress with yellow (gold) trimmings. The voice was still as he had remembered, a soothing childish one, the face was still the same, radiant, daring one to deny its beauty yet at the same time possessing a personable manner that said I am just like you and I don’t have to pretend to be better than you. Every thought remembered was beautiful, every laughter genuine and every hand gesture graceful.
Then what happened, I urge him on. Nothing, he says. I left…again. Did you at least tell her how you feel? He tells me he did but he could not ask any more of her as he did not want to be selfish by coming between the relationship she already has. What did the young lady say? Nothing, he says…again.
That’s enough reason for your despondency I say. That’s not why I’m sad, he counters. What then is the reason for your countenance? I ask. Regret, he says, regret that I did not say what I really had in mind.
Let’s break this taboo, just you and I
I know I wouldn’t ask it if I were he
But this time I can only be a faithful servant of my emotion
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
My Journey and Welcome
She can barely look at me, not because she is disappointed in me, but because she misses me already. Her hidden tears remind me that to this my lady, I will always be her baby boy.
She looks at me with relief, to her I am her miracle, this young man whose mom filled her world with laughter a few decades back, now been tasked with taking her to see her beloved.
She can look at me and she does so as an acquaintance, a fellow wayfarer, a companion to spend these long uneventful hours that are a prelude to the untold joys to come.
Her gaze draws me in. Eyes fair in salutation and adoration, whisperings of her wealth and beauty clearly not understatements. She is adorned in bling. Gold, silver diamond, rutile bauxite and of course a lady’s best friend. Her natural curves are a sight to behold. Enhanced, her contours and peaks just cry out to be mounted and enjoyed with time and not ravished with reckless abandon. Now I allow those eyes to envelope me. At last I am in my lady…..sorry, our lady’s bosom.
She looks at me with relief, to her I am her miracle, this young man whose mom filled her world with laughter a few decades back, now been tasked with taking her to see her beloved.
She can look at me and she does so as an acquaintance, a fellow wayfarer, a companion to spend these long uneventful hours that are a prelude to the untold joys to come.
Her gaze draws me in. Eyes fair in salutation and adoration, whisperings of her wealth and beauty clearly not understatements. She is adorned in bling. Gold, silver diamond, rutile bauxite and of course a lady’s best friend. Her natural curves are a sight to behold. Enhanced, her contours and peaks just cry out to be mounted and enjoyed with time and not ravished with reckless abandon. Now I allow those eyes to envelope me. At last I am in my lady…..sorry, our lady’s bosom.
What's in a Name
My name is David Manley. I am a young Sierra Leonean student living in the united states. No, i have never been in combat. no, i have never held a gun and no i have never held an uncut diamond.
My name is David Manley. I have loved and i have lost and i can never tell you which was better. Yes i can talk, i just don't think you're worth the effort.
There has only been one Nelson Mandela, one Shaka Zulu, one Alexander the Great and one mother Theresa, and just like everyone else i want to make my name mine. Like everyone else when ever my name is mentioned i want it to be in a topic about me, that is my incentive to succeed. Whenever David Manley comes up, whether in my generation or the following ones, there must be no confusion about who exactly is been mentioned.
My name is David Manley, over the past two months, i have left school, started school, lost friends, made new ones, fixed my car, had it break down, bought a Wii,taken it back, become an uncle, found out i have two sisters, planned a trip home, canceled it and now I'm still thinking about it.
My name is David Manley. Yes i love the thrill of politics and i make no excuses for that titillating feeling i have when I'm in front of an audience, the absolute delight i feel after having convinced an audience about something that i had set out to do. I respect whatever audience i am privileged to address but i have absolutely no tolerance for the ignorant who are determined never to reason with words but are determined to be manipulated by whoever can make an utterance. I would love to think that i cannot be easily manipulated unconsciously the unconscious provision been added after having discovered that sometimes you have to pretend to be manipulated to keep the peace.
My name is David Manley. I am flawed i know, i have tasted failure not as much as i have tasted success, but just enough for me to hate failure. I get wounded and i can only take so much. Just because i don't cut back does not mean i don't feel the pain.
My name is David Manley. yes i didn't get to say goodbye, but that's because i know i'll see you again soon.
My name is David Manley and you might not want to forget that name in a hurry.
My name is David Manley. I have loved and i have lost and i can never tell you which was better. Yes i can talk, i just don't think you're worth the effort.
There has only been one Nelson Mandela, one Shaka Zulu, one Alexander the Great and one mother Theresa, and just like everyone else i want to make my name mine. Like everyone else when ever my name is mentioned i want it to be in a topic about me, that is my incentive to succeed. Whenever David Manley comes up, whether in my generation or the following ones, there must be no confusion about who exactly is been mentioned.
My name is David Manley, over the past two months, i have left school, started school, lost friends, made new ones, fixed my car, had it break down, bought a Wii,taken it back, become an uncle, found out i have two sisters, planned a trip home, canceled it and now I'm still thinking about it.
My name is David Manley. Yes i love the thrill of politics and i make no excuses for that titillating feeling i have when I'm in front of an audience, the absolute delight i feel after having convinced an audience about something that i had set out to do. I respect whatever audience i am privileged to address but i have absolutely no tolerance for the ignorant who are determined never to reason with words but are determined to be manipulated by whoever can make an utterance. I would love to think that i cannot be easily manipulated unconsciously the unconscious provision been added after having discovered that sometimes you have to pretend to be manipulated to keep the peace.
My name is David Manley. I am flawed i know, i have tasted failure not as much as i have tasted success, but just enough for me to hate failure. I get wounded and i can only take so much. Just because i don't cut back does not mean i don't feel the pain.
My name is David Manley. yes i didn't get to say goodbye, but that's because i know i'll see you again soon.
My name is David Manley and you might not want to forget that name in a hurry.
A United States of Africa
I really love the concept of continental pan Africanism. According to MSN Encarta, continental pan Africanism advocates the unity of states and peoples of Africa. The initial proponents of this theory proposed a United States of Africa, and the ever-present civil conflicts and waste of natural resources should point all the more to the wisdom of this proposition. To read the minds of such great African philosophers and proponents of continental pan Africanism like Jomo Kenyata, Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Steve Biko, Haile Selasie, Julius Nyerere, Patrice Lumumba, Kenneth Kaunda and Banda Hastings Kamuzu is enlightening all the more so when you consider the cumulative wealth of the continent compared to the overall suffering. Imagine, as Nelson Mandela famously said; … (the) dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent, (The) dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses, (the) dream of an Africa, which is in peace with itself.
If there is one thing such a Country will do, it will be to help the majority of Americans to know a bit of Geography. Picture this scene, you are out with your guys and you meet some of their friends. Upon been introduced to them, they ask where you’re from. You say Africa. With an intriguing smile, the next statement is usually something bizarre. Asking about something they’ve seen on national geographic or more often than not, asking you if you know such and such a person because they are also from Africa.
Then often times I end up giving geography lessons to people whose educational system warrants that they know at least the amount of geography that helps them determine Africa is a continent and not a country. People’s ignorance and naivety comes to the forefront when they consider Africa as a country. I sometimes feel guilty in my criticisms of the stupidity of those people who consider Africa as a country and not a continent. Is it their fault they do not know the difference between fantasy and reality, can they be faulted for the medias negative portrayal of the African continent? But then I feel justified voicing my opinion as I never considered all African Americans to be gangster looking, gun toting, bling wearing, cuss uttering people, or Caucasians as either racists trailer trash simpletons or rich and shallow opportunists so I fail to see why all Africans should be portrayed as crotch covering, tree living, belly swollen, war loving and uncivilized polygamist mammals.
Strong language you may say, but I didn’t come up with them. Isn’t it funny how it is the sweet and innocent looking ones who always come up to you and ask questions like how did you dress, what did you eat, did you live in trees, did you have zebras and lions as pets, how many wives did you have, have you ever flown on a plane.
Besides the simplification of geography for some imbeciles, a unification of Africa will provide the forum for maximizing the wealth of all individual states. If we are to believe Aristotle, then a united Africa will not only be a superpower, it will be the greatest nation in the world, because Aristotle said “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. All the African Countries have great things to bring to the table, and the juxtaposition of individual parts will make an awesome whole.
Sierra Leone for example, Can be the greatest country in the world if we really put our mind to it, but it can never be greater than a united Africa can be. It is just coming out of a brutal civil war that not only ravaged the whole country, but also exposed the inhuman capabilities of our fellow men. However, there ceases to be no shortage of tourists to that country, primarily because of Diamonds, but also because of the rich cultivable land, the rich marine resource, the wild rainforest and the strong, diverse and intelligent human resource. Consider what Sierra Leone has to offer to a United States of Africa, finance from the sale of minerals like Diamond, Rutile, Bauxite, Gold, Iron ore, ilmenorutile, platinum, chromites, manganese, cassiterite, molybdenite and a host of others to back a strong economy, jobs in the marine industry, and the propensity to be utilized as a whole state of tourist resorts.
Nigeria, The most populous country in Africa, 2nd largest economy, largest army, and more educated country in Africa. With our economic power, and political strength we can unite Africa. We can provide manpower to other nations that do not have sufficient manpower, issue loans, and offer economic aid, we can unite the continent into a powerful political block. Develop the continent militarily. (By Oluseyi Oyegunwa)
Dreamlike you may say, but maybe, just maybe we can act towards fulfilling the dream of a united states of Africa. God bless Sierra Leone, God bless Africa. God bless us all. For it is not going to be easy but as Samuel Hume, a young African intellectual and poet whom I admire succinctly put it;
The plan....Pan Africanism. United States of the Motherland.
Unity...the dream of her children philosophers shattered!...By their borthers hands.
Many still dream the dream
Many still believe in
The geaographically challenged mistakenly concludes,
What's seen on TV everyone includes
Unknown to them..that's what she is..
Country or Continent?..for now..Continent, please
Aristotle: "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
Oh!..how I, you, them, we all long to see the start.
Of a great superpower Africa
With her great natural riches to offer:
Diamonds, gold, rutile, chromintes..
A few of her immeasurable might..
A difficult task to be alike...
United States of Africa.
Having said all this, is the dream of a united Africa realistic? I would love to think so, but then I am no African leader fighting to maintain power over my territory or an European businessman or statesman, compounding the misery of a divided Africa by trading in illicit goods or war materials, or using the plight of Africans as a platform to gain office only to end up continuing the exploitation of Africans.
If there is one thing such a Country will do, it will be to help the majority of Americans to know a bit of Geography. Picture this scene, you are out with your guys and you meet some of their friends. Upon been introduced to them, they ask where you’re from. You say Africa. With an intriguing smile, the next statement is usually something bizarre. Asking about something they’ve seen on national geographic or more often than not, asking you if you know such and such a person because they are also from Africa.
Then often times I end up giving geography lessons to people whose educational system warrants that they know at least the amount of geography that helps them determine Africa is a continent and not a country. People’s ignorance and naivety comes to the forefront when they consider Africa as a country. I sometimes feel guilty in my criticisms of the stupidity of those people who consider Africa as a country and not a continent. Is it their fault they do not know the difference between fantasy and reality, can they be faulted for the medias negative portrayal of the African continent? But then I feel justified voicing my opinion as I never considered all African Americans to be gangster looking, gun toting, bling wearing, cuss uttering people, or Caucasians as either racists trailer trash simpletons or rich and shallow opportunists so I fail to see why all Africans should be portrayed as crotch covering, tree living, belly swollen, war loving and uncivilized polygamist mammals.
Strong language you may say, but I didn’t come up with them. Isn’t it funny how it is the sweet and innocent looking ones who always come up to you and ask questions like how did you dress, what did you eat, did you live in trees, did you have zebras and lions as pets, how many wives did you have, have you ever flown on a plane.
Besides the simplification of geography for some imbeciles, a unification of Africa will provide the forum for maximizing the wealth of all individual states. If we are to believe Aristotle, then a united Africa will not only be a superpower, it will be the greatest nation in the world, because Aristotle said “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. All the African Countries have great things to bring to the table, and the juxtaposition of individual parts will make an awesome whole.
Sierra Leone for example, Can be the greatest country in the world if we really put our mind to it, but it can never be greater than a united Africa can be. It is just coming out of a brutal civil war that not only ravaged the whole country, but also exposed the inhuman capabilities of our fellow men. However, there ceases to be no shortage of tourists to that country, primarily because of Diamonds, but also because of the rich cultivable land, the rich marine resource, the wild rainforest and the strong, diverse and intelligent human resource. Consider what Sierra Leone has to offer to a United States of Africa, finance from the sale of minerals like Diamond, Rutile, Bauxite, Gold, Iron ore, ilmenorutile, platinum, chromites, manganese, cassiterite, molybdenite and a host of others to back a strong economy, jobs in the marine industry, and the propensity to be utilized as a whole state of tourist resorts.
Nigeria, The most populous country in Africa, 2nd largest economy, largest army, and more educated country in Africa. With our economic power, and political strength we can unite Africa. We can provide manpower to other nations that do not have sufficient manpower, issue loans, and offer economic aid, we can unite the continent into a powerful political block. Develop the continent militarily. (By Oluseyi Oyegunwa)
Dreamlike you may say, but maybe, just maybe we can act towards fulfilling the dream of a united states of Africa. God bless Sierra Leone, God bless Africa. God bless us all. For it is not going to be easy but as Samuel Hume, a young African intellectual and poet whom I admire succinctly put it;
The plan....Pan Africanism. United States of the Motherland.
Unity...the dream of her children philosophers shattered!...By their borthers hands.
Many still dream the dream
Many still believe in
The geaographically challenged mistakenly concludes,
What's seen on TV everyone includes
Unknown to them..that's what she is..
Country or Continent?..for now..Continent, please
Aristotle: "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
Oh!..how I, you, them, we all long to see the start.
Of a great superpower Africa
With her great natural riches to offer:
Diamonds, gold, rutile, chromintes..
A few of her immeasurable might..
A difficult task to be alike...
United States of Africa.
Having said all this, is the dream of a united Africa realistic? I would love to think so, but then I am no African leader fighting to maintain power over my territory or an European businessman or statesman, compounding the misery of a divided Africa by trading in illicit goods or war materials, or using the plight of Africans as a platform to gain office only to end up continuing the exploitation of Africans.
TIME
Time and tide wait for no man. A pompous and self-satisfied proverb, and was true for a billion years; but in our day of electric wires and water-ballast we turn it around: Man waits not for time nor tide. Mark Twain
A saying true in the 20th Century and truer still in the 21st. The seeming disregard to time is never more evident than now. All of us at one point in our lives wish to be younger or older. Usually when we’re kids, we look forward to our 18th birthday. At 18 we look forward to our 21st. At 21 we look forward to 40, after
which we start reminiscing about 18 and 21. You may think that’s not you. But how
many of us went through grade school, just looking forward to high school, go
there and after two years start straining at the leash to start college, after which we either loose momentum and don’t want to get out, or we are just waiting to be let loose on the world.
What’s wrong with this? Absolutely nothing. The problem comes when you so look forward to the future that you neglect utilizing the present. One’ s full potential is never fully realized in such a circumstance.
Another problem is that we so look forward to certain stages of the future that when we get to those stages we are deceived into thinking that we are accomplished. A problem facing many present day college students is the thought that college is the summit in life. In high school, college looks like the beautiful snow capped hills we adore from afar. Some do not realize that the best view can be attained from the peak, but the path to get there is arduous and challenging. Requiring every iota of commitment if you are to succeed. Because how else can you interpret the behavior of bright young men and women, getting into college, just for them to neglect their studies, stop attending classes, start experimenting on various vices with no thought of life after college. One statistic that most college students can quote is that in the United States, going to college means you are more likely to make more than the high school graduate. However some students are forgetting that firstly, the key words are “ more likely? and secondly the comparism is with an inferior measurement. Just as anyone can find one other person he is comparatively in a better circumstance than, so also, the above statistics is meaningless.
It is time we realize we are living history. What we do today determines how future generations regard us. We each have responsibilities to society, not only to seek our own aims, but also help others achieve them. Do we want to bequeath to our siblings, the future generation, the culture of unproductivity after college? There has been the awakening generation, the transcendental generation, the abolitionists generation, the greatest generation, silent generation, baby boomers, generation Y, please don’t let us be known as the unproductive generation.
Never have we had it quite like we do now. Allow me to expound on this, using the words of Charles Dickens in “A Tale of Two Cities?.
IT WAS the best of times; of all the times past, this is the time I love been in. Not that I have any other choice or that I do not fantasize about experiencing occasions in other ages, like been present at Christ’s birth, but I’d rather live in my age anyway. We have virtually everything in this age. Information has never been more widely accessible, opportunities more widespread or comforts more readily available. Technology has provided more available time as we can now do everything at a faster rate. Everything from making coffee to reproducing can be done at our own time and convenience. Inexplicably, this has also been:
The worst of times; technology provides more time without really providing positive outlets for the utilization of the extra time. It has come to look like whatever time we save is used to destroy our own lives. Think of loneliness and depression that leads to our taking our own lives, obesity that comes from laziness. We would wake up late, grab an instant coffee, jump into our cars, go to class, jump back into our car, get to our rooms, use the internet to find works that have already been done so that we can plagiarize in our homework, just to sit in front of the video game all day. We even end up going online to get cheat codes, just do that we can finish a game and go to the next one.
it was the age of wisdom; The 21st century produces innovations everyday. Theories that have existed for ages, are been tested and strengthened or disproved. With the entry into the educational sector of minorities, more knowledge is made available to more members of our generation.
it was the age of foolishness; Now more than ever before is the wisdom of the elders been neglected. We negate all their wise words saying they are not of our time and therefore they do not understand our situation, failing to realize that their knowledge is gained from past experiences and mistakes they do not want us to undergo. We claim modernity without roots, forgetting that after having done all, we must refer again to our history, for history not only repeats itself, but knowledge of the past can alter our future, as some wiser than myself already said.
it was the epoch of belief; self belief, with a lot of market for all the self help books, claiming to help you believe in yourself, telling you that you have full control of your fate, your destiny.
it was the epoch of incredulity; Everything is questioned, our relevance in the universe, superiority to beasts, Peculiarity, the existence of God and even what determines our sexuality.
it was the season of Light, The end of slavery, apartheid, more philanthropists everywhere in the world.
it was the season of Darkness; loss of conscience, degeneneration of man by his works to base bestiality. Wickedness and the favorable light shown on witchcraft by the writers and producers
it was the spring of hope; Hope springs eternal, but for their to be hope, there must exist a better. As the world retrogresses into deceit, wickedness and chaos, the promise of a better place has never been more appealing. The best way to go through this life is to endure it, having hope of the greatest and most precious promise, that of a new Heaven and a New Earth.
it was the winter of despair; wars, natural disasters, aids, discouragement make the news everyday. We have now come to expect a calamity everyday. In fact we always expect bad news and are shocked when good news, makes the news.
we had everything before us; our choices to make, our lives to live
we had nothing before us; Life it seems is always against us
we were all going direct to Heaven; that would have given God the greatest pleasure
we were all going direct the other way- …thankfully, not all true either.
In all these things, we must have something to be thankful for and something to ponder over. Let’s use our time wisely; we have the option of getting everything express, but with this opportunity comes more responsibility. We must make the best use of our awarded time, for as Carl Sandburg, the great American journalist, poet, historian, biographer, and autobiographer, who wrote a Pulitzer prize winning biography on Abraham Lincoln notably stated, “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.?
A saying true in the 20th Century and truer still in the 21st. The seeming disregard to time is never more evident than now. All of us at one point in our lives wish to be younger or older. Usually when we’re kids, we look forward to our 18th birthday. At 18 we look forward to our 21st. At 21 we look forward to 40, after
which we start reminiscing about 18 and 21. You may think that’s not you. But how
many of us went through grade school, just looking forward to high school, go
there and after two years start straining at the leash to start college, after which we either loose momentum and don’t want to get out, or we are just waiting to be let loose on the world.
What’s wrong with this? Absolutely nothing. The problem comes when you so look forward to the future that you neglect utilizing the present. One’ s full potential is never fully realized in such a circumstance.
Another problem is that we so look forward to certain stages of the future that when we get to those stages we are deceived into thinking that we are accomplished. A problem facing many present day college students is the thought that college is the summit in life. In high school, college looks like the beautiful snow capped hills we adore from afar. Some do not realize that the best view can be attained from the peak, but the path to get there is arduous and challenging. Requiring every iota of commitment if you are to succeed. Because how else can you interpret the behavior of bright young men and women, getting into college, just for them to neglect their studies, stop attending classes, start experimenting on various vices with no thought of life after college. One statistic that most college students can quote is that in the United States, going to college means you are more likely to make more than the high school graduate. However some students are forgetting that firstly, the key words are “ more likely? and secondly the comparism is with an inferior measurement. Just as anyone can find one other person he is comparatively in a better circumstance than, so also, the above statistics is meaningless.
It is time we realize we are living history. What we do today determines how future generations regard us. We each have responsibilities to society, not only to seek our own aims, but also help others achieve them. Do we want to bequeath to our siblings, the future generation, the culture of unproductivity after college? There has been the awakening generation, the transcendental generation, the abolitionists generation, the greatest generation, silent generation, baby boomers, generation Y, please don’t let us be known as the unproductive generation.
Never have we had it quite like we do now. Allow me to expound on this, using the words of Charles Dickens in “A Tale of Two Cities?.
IT WAS the best of times; of all the times past, this is the time I love been in. Not that I have any other choice or that I do not fantasize about experiencing occasions in other ages, like been present at Christ’s birth, but I’d rather live in my age anyway. We have virtually everything in this age. Information has never been more widely accessible, opportunities more widespread or comforts more readily available. Technology has provided more available time as we can now do everything at a faster rate. Everything from making coffee to reproducing can be done at our own time and convenience. Inexplicably, this has also been:
The worst of times; technology provides more time without really providing positive outlets for the utilization of the extra time. It has come to look like whatever time we save is used to destroy our own lives. Think of loneliness and depression that leads to our taking our own lives, obesity that comes from laziness. We would wake up late, grab an instant coffee, jump into our cars, go to class, jump back into our car, get to our rooms, use the internet to find works that have already been done so that we can plagiarize in our homework, just to sit in front of the video game all day. We even end up going online to get cheat codes, just do that we can finish a game and go to the next one.
it was the age of wisdom; The 21st century produces innovations everyday. Theories that have existed for ages, are been tested and strengthened or disproved. With the entry into the educational sector of minorities, more knowledge is made available to more members of our generation.
it was the age of foolishness; Now more than ever before is the wisdom of the elders been neglected. We negate all their wise words saying they are not of our time and therefore they do not understand our situation, failing to realize that their knowledge is gained from past experiences and mistakes they do not want us to undergo. We claim modernity without roots, forgetting that after having done all, we must refer again to our history, for history not only repeats itself, but knowledge of the past can alter our future, as some wiser than myself already said.
it was the epoch of belief; self belief, with a lot of market for all the self help books, claiming to help you believe in yourself, telling you that you have full control of your fate, your destiny.
it was the epoch of incredulity; Everything is questioned, our relevance in the universe, superiority to beasts, Peculiarity, the existence of God and even what determines our sexuality.
it was the season of Light, The end of slavery, apartheid, more philanthropists everywhere in the world.
it was the season of Darkness; loss of conscience, degeneneration of man by his works to base bestiality. Wickedness and the favorable light shown on witchcraft by the writers and producers
it was the spring of hope; Hope springs eternal, but for their to be hope, there must exist a better. As the world retrogresses into deceit, wickedness and chaos, the promise of a better place has never been more appealing. The best way to go through this life is to endure it, having hope of the greatest and most precious promise, that of a new Heaven and a New Earth.
it was the winter of despair; wars, natural disasters, aids, discouragement make the news everyday. We have now come to expect a calamity everyday. In fact we always expect bad news and are shocked when good news, makes the news.
we had everything before us; our choices to make, our lives to live
we had nothing before us; Life it seems is always against us
we were all going direct to Heaven; that would have given God the greatest pleasure
we were all going direct the other way- …thankfully, not all true either.
In all these things, we must have something to be thankful for and something to ponder over. Let’s use our time wisely; we have the option of getting everything express, but with this opportunity comes more responsibility. We must make the best use of our awarded time, for as Carl Sandburg, the great American journalist, poet, historian, biographer, and autobiographer, who wrote a Pulitzer prize winning biography on Abraham Lincoln notably stated, “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.?
The Fifth Estate
"Yonder sits the fourth estate and they are greater than them all" These were words uttered by Edmond burke, looking up at the press gallery some years after the French Revolution. The concept of the fourth estate was thought of as a means of influencing positively the first three estates, nobles, clergy and commoners.
Nowadays the fourth estate has grown as powerful as the first three and one may be mistaken for considering it the most powerful. With this power has come misuse and as the fourth estate has conveniently abdicated its responsibility of adequately and impartially serving as a system of checks and balances to the first three estates, it follows that there should arise a clarion call for a fifth estate.
The fifth estate has been the most difficul to define. Random House Webster's dictionary defines it as 'any class or group in society other than the nobility, the clergy, the middle class, and the press'. I am advocating that we the youths be considered as the fifth estate.
Why should we be considered an estate? In fact, what does estate have to do with anything in the present state of striving to achieve our dreams? You may even be wondering, the object or purpose of such an expose.
To me it means everything. The subject of identity has always interested me. Been able to not only determine how a person acts and responds, but also how he/she feels about his/her actions is intriguing.
If we consider ourselves as the fifth estate, then we start to realise how important our contributions are, not only to the welfare of our individual communities but to the world society as a whole. We will no longer think Utopia, but we will experience it, as the world would be a perfect place of bliss, if all youths, disregard social constructs, personal egos and selfish motivations, and work towards the advancement of society as a whole.
You can be a pessimist and argue all you can trying to persuade yourself that this paper is unnecessary or you can be an optimist and a pragmatist, saying this can work if you start doing something, anything.
Nowadays the fourth estate has grown as powerful as the first three and one may be mistaken for considering it the most powerful. With this power has come misuse and as the fourth estate has conveniently abdicated its responsibility of adequately and impartially serving as a system of checks and balances to the first three estates, it follows that there should arise a clarion call for a fifth estate.
The fifth estate has been the most difficul to define. Random House Webster's dictionary defines it as 'any class or group in society other than the nobility, the clergy, the middle class, and the press'. I am advocating that we the youths be considered as the fifth estate.
Why should we be considered an estate? In fact, what does estate have to do with anything in the present state of striving to achieve our dreams? You may even be wondering, the object or purpose of such an expose.
To me it means everything. The subject of identity has always interested me. Been able to not only determine how a person acts and responds, but also how he/she feels about his/her actions is intriguing.
If we consider ourselves as the fifth estate, then we start to realise how important our contributions are, not only to the welfare of our individual communities but to the world society as a whole. We will no longer think Utopia, but we will experience it, as the world would be a perfect place of bliss, if all youths, disregard social constructs, personal egos and selfish motivations, and work towards the advancement of society as a whole.
You can be a pessimist and argue all you can trying to persuade yourself that this paper is unnecessary or you can be an optimist and a pragmatist, saying this can work if you start doing something, anything.
AGE OF PESSIMISM
An age when Beliefs, love, relationships and hope are all ideals that crave to indulge our optimistic nature that there is really something better out there, that the state of our present existence cannot possibly be all that we were meant to attain. That there is essentially some good, maybe not of the toe curling mind tingling capacity, but of the feeling greater than satisfaction, because come to think of it, satisfaction is all about settling. Is there ever a point when one is justified in resting on his laurels? The answer the world provides us is that the endless stratification of everything in and about the world we live in propels us to always look for the next step. Why else would a seemingly perfect couple cheat? Why else would someone who has lost the capacity to love enter into a relationship of convenience and steadfastly refuse to move on. Hell, what drives the CEOs the Chairmen, president? Have we ever questioned why no two people look at love, relationships and cheating in the same light? No two people have the same opinion what a successful career is and definitely no two people can provide the same answer that we all steadfastly seek, what is that one thing that we can attain to which will make us contentedly happy?
An age of Perceptions and psychoanalysis. There have always been express sentiments against caring about what people say about us while at the same time everything we say do and even sometimes think is based on how people will perceive us. Decisions from what to name your baby, whether or not you sleep with someone on the first date or not, whether or not you choose an acceptable reason to end a prolonged romantic entanglement, what subjects we choose on research papers, whether or not we say I do because we are scared that such an opportunity may never present itself to how a nation should respond to threats both internally and externally are based on perceptions.
An age when heroism is mocked and bravery is overrated. For giving up less than a percent of your salary to a good cause you are considered a hero. Never a day passes when we are not reminded that it takes something special for one to be a hero, super strength, super speed, ability to fly, see through objects or set them on fire. Of course it is hard to live up to the heroics of our predecessors, there are no more nations to establish, democracies to fight for, Injustices to right, lives to save…oh wait, the situations are still there, just waiting for people to step up. But it will not happen, because some people see and ignore the problems, some people see and write about the problems, some people see, try to help and end up exacerbating the problem and some people see the problem and look for ways to benefit from them. Either way, the problem remains the same or it grows worst and then we can help people so we can feel good about ourselves. At the first sign of trouble of whatever shape, we run back to our safety zones and prepare to draw up a petition when another one of our bloodthirsty and incompetent buffoon of African leaders decides they want to kill another hundred or thousand of his people so that he can buffer up that foreign bank account that he is desperately trying to bump up for the day he’s not in power when he knows that he loves power so much that he may end up dying on the throne or immediately afterwards when a bunch of the same politicians who switched parties will indict him for some crimes they all collaborated to commit.
An age when failing to tell your partner about your actions or interactions is never about protecting your partner but about your feeling of guilt. Admittedly when you do something bad and you are not guilty about it you are referred to as a psychopath but for those who do so in the name of love, they are called partners. How much so? When something is done by one party in the relationship whether at the moment the action is committed or sometime afterward, there is the opportunity for them to share that with their partner. Justifications are then needed when the party feels guilty about their action or interaction and the other party is not made fully aware of what exactly happened in the name of love, consideration for the other partner and the guise of protecting the other party. Where then were those considerations when the action or interaction was taking place?
An age when you can never really know people more than they know themselves; whatever you find out about someone is what they reveal about themselves to you. This explains why it seems so romantic when that special someone shares a secret memory with you. Why the truly closed ones always keep you at arm’s length without it seeming so and why different people oftentimes have different perceptions of us.
An age when the grass is never ultimately greener on the other side; Whether it is the greener pasture of a better developed country, the greener pasture of the arms of a convenient lover or the greener pastures of a life of ignorance and arrogance.
An age when Life sucks and you are left with the option of dealing with it or giving up when after it’s all said and done, the outcome’s still the same.
An age of Perceptions and psychoanalysis. There have always been express sentiments against caring about what people say about us while at the same time everything we say do and even sometimes think is based on how people will perceive us. Decisions from what to name your baby, whether or not you sleep with someone on the first date or not, whether or not you choose an acceptable reason to end a prolonged romantic entanglement, what subjects we choose on research papers, whether or not we say I do because we are scared that such an opportunity may never present itself to how a nation should respond to threats both internally and externally are based on perceptions.
An age when heroism is mocked and bravery is overrated. For giving up less than a percent of your salary to a good cause you are considered a hero. Never a day passes when we are not reminded that it takes something special for one to be a hero, super strength, super speed, ability to fly, see through objects or set them on fire. Of course it is hard to live up to the heroics of our predecessors, there are no more nations to establish, democracies to fight for, Injustices to right, lives to save…oh wait, the situations are still there, just waiting for people to step up. But it will not happen, because some people see and ignore the problems, some people see and write about the problems, some people see, try to help and end up exacerbating the problem and some people see the problem and look for ways to benefit from them. Either way, the problem remains the same or it grows worst and then we can help people so we can feel good about ourselves. At the first sign of trouble of whatever shape, we run back to our safety zones and prepare to draw up a petition when another one of our bloodthirsty and incompetent buffoon of African leaders decides they want to kill another hundred or thousand of his people so that he can buffer up that foreign bank account that he is desperately trying to bump up for the day he’s not in power when he knows that he loves power so much that he may end up dying on the throne or immediately afterwards when a bunch of the same politicians who switched parties will indict him for some crimes they all collaborated to commit.
An age when failing to tell your partner about your actions or interactions is never about protecting your partner but about your feeling of guilt. Admittedly when you do something bad and you are not guilty about it you are referred to as a psychopath but for those who do so in the name of love, they are called partners. How much so? When something is done by one party in the relationship whether at the moment the action is committed or sometime afterward, there is the opportunity for them to share that with their partner. Justifications are then needed when the party feels guilty about their action or interaction and the other party is not made fully aware of what exactly happened in the name of love, consideration for the other partner and the guise of protecting the other party. Where then were those considerations when the action or interaction was taking place?
An age when you can never really know people more than they know themselves; whatever you find out about someone is what they reveal about themselves to you. This explains why it seems so romantic when that special someone shares a secret memory with you. Why the truly closed ones always keep you at arm’s length without it seeming so and why different people oftentimes have different perceptions of us.
An age when the grass is never ultimately greener on the other side; Whether it is the greener pasture of a better developed country, the greener pasture of the arms of a convenient lover or the greener pastures of a life of ignorance and arrogance.
An age when Life sucks and you are left with the option of dealing with it or giving up when after it’s all said and done, the outcome’s still the same.
CALL FOR GRASSROOT MOBILISATION OF SUPPORT FOR A UNIFIED AFRICA
MODEL AFRICAN UNION
If the model African Union is a good simulation of the African Union then the hope for a better Africa and its peoples is far from been realized. After spending a few days in a simulation of the African Union I now understand why the quest for a United Africa seems to be the stuff of legends. However I still left the session with the idea that a United Africa is the best way forward towards addressing its current problems.
If there is one word that can describe my experience at the session, that word would be enlightenment. It is understood that any bureaucracy would slow down decision making processes but when those decisions have more to do with how many lives are saved and impacting the lives of millions of people one would think that differences would be easily shoved aside.
From my stint as a delegate I can see why this does not happen. I should firstly commend all the delegates. Some put real effort into preparing for the sessions and were in character throughout the session. However as a body my impression is that we failed. We, in the name of the people we represent hid behind native traditions, protection of individual sovereignty and impracticability to make decisions that we think are stabilizing our positions in the African continent but which are in actual fact further sinking the African continent into despair.
The resolutions themselves were generally good. All of them were made in good faith. Some more practical than others and some that can only be described as lofty ideals. However I believe that most of these resolutions were not discussed based on their merit but on the various factors that had to do more with diplomatic relations and a facade of individual governments.
In my mind the concern has never been about if a United States of Africa is a good thing. Minds greater than I have always been discussing it. Nelson Mandela once described a United Africa as a dream that we should act upon. In fact, he described this dream as a state of peace. He stated it as; … (the) dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent, (The) dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses, (the) dream of an Africa, which is in peace with itself. The concern about a Unified Africa has always been about its difficulty since the cultures are so diverse.
BLACK IS FOR SUNDAY
In complete contrast to the session, the day after my return to campus I was fortunate enough to see the Invisible Children Documentary, “Black is for Sunday”. It was a documentary about what people face in a Ugandan refugee displaced camp. This documentary further strengthened my resolve to see a Unified Africa. Having hailed from a war ravaged nation, I thought I knew all there was to know about sufferings during conflict times, but the documentary proved to me that that was not the case. I don’t know what the others were thinking while viewing the movie, but in my own case all I felt was shame. I was ashamed to see the suffering that we Africans could place on each other. Ashamed to see that there were still people who lived in poverty and perpetual fear of their lives in a place I call home. Ashamed that even in their worst state young children would appeal to a nation that was thousands of miles away for help, rather than reach out to all the people around them. I felt I had failed them.
CONTENTION
I firmly believe that this is the time when we need to get together to push for a unified Africa. A united Africa admittedly will not mean an immediate end to all the suffering. However a unified Africa will be a stepping stone towards the establishment of the greatest empire yet. It will assure the African people that we are committed to working with each other for the common good. It will assure them that the resources are theirs and they will be used for the general welfare. It will also assure them that their representatives think about their needs and are not only there to pursue their personal agenda.
CALL TO ACTION
The roadblocks to a unified Africa are varied but chief among them is the thirst of our leaders to hold onto power which is easier in separate states. As such therefore, if we think a united Africa is the best way forward we have to let them know that they are there because we put them there and they should be listening to our calls. This can be achieved by mobilizing the young people, facilitating discussions about the benefits of a unified Africa, a reception of suggestions about how the blocks can be shoved aside, the shape of the unified Africa and primary issues that are to be addressed. A call to a united Africa from the grassroots level is not only necessary but timely.
If the model African Union is a good simulation of the African Union then the hope for a better Africa and its peoples is far from been realized. After spending a few days in a simulation of the African Union I now understand why the quest for a United Africa seems to be the stuff of legends. However I still left the session with the idea that a United Africa is the best way forward towards addressing its current problems.
If there is one word that can describe my experience at the session, that word would be enlightenment. It is understood that any bureaucracy would slow down decision making processes but when those decisions have more to do with how many lives are saved and impacting the lives of millions of people one would think that differences would be easily shoved aside.
From my stint as a delegate I can see why this does not happen. I should firstly commend all the delegates. Some put real effort into preparing for the sessions and were in character throughout the session. However as a body my impression is that we failed. We, in the name of the people we represent hid behind native traditions, protection of individual sovereignty and impracticability to make decisions that we think are stabilizing our positions in the African continent but which are in actual fact further sinking the African continent into despair.
The resolutions themselves were generally good. All of them were made in good faith. Some more practical than others and some that can only be described as lofty ideals. However I believe that most of these resolutions were not discussed based on their merit but on the various factors that had to do more with diplomatic relations and a facade of individual governments.
In my mind the concern has never been about if a United States of Africa is a good thing. Minds greater than I have always been discussing it. Nelson Mandela once described a United Africa as a dream that we should act upon. In fact, he described this dream as a state of peace. He stated it as; … (the) dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent, (The) dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses, (the) dream of an Africa, which is in peace with itself. The concern about a Unified Africa has always been about its difficulty since the cultures are so diverse.
BLACK IS FOR SUNDAY
In complete contrast to the session, the day after my return to campus I was fortunate enough to see the Invisible Children Documentary, “Black is for Sunday”. It was a documentary about what people face in a Ugandan refugee displaced camp. This documentary further strengthened my resolve to see a Unified Africa. Having hailed from a war ravaged nation, I thought I knew all there was to know about sufferings during conflict times, but the documentary proved to me that that was not the case. I don’t know what the others were thinking while viewing the movie, but in my own case all I felt was shame. I was ashamed to see the suffering that we Africans could place on each other. Ashamed to see that there were still people who lived in poverty and perpetual fear of their lives in a place I call home. Ashamed that even in their worst state young children would appeal to a nation that was thousands of miles away for help, rather than reach out to all the people around them. I felt I had failed them.
CONTENTION
I firmly believe that this is the time when we need to get together to push for a unified Africa. A united Africa admittedly will not mean an immediate end to all the suffering. However a unified Africa will be a stepping stone towards the establishment of the greatest empire yet. It will assure the African people that we are committed to working with each other for the common good. It will assure them that the resources are theirs and they will be used for the general welfare. It will also assure them that their representatives think about their needs and are not only there to pursue their personal agenda.
CALL TO ACTION
The roadblocks to a unified Africa are varied but chief among them is the thirst of our leaders to hold onto power which is easier in separate states. As such therefore, if we think a united Africa is the best way forward we have to let them know that they are there because we put them there and they should be listening to our calls. This can be achieved by mobilizing the young people, facilitating discussions about the benefits of a unified Africa, a reception of suggestions about how the blocks can be shoved aside, the shape of the unified Africa and primary issues that are to be addressed. A call to a united Africa from the grassroots level is not only necessary but timely.
QUESTIONS
The end of the year and the start of another is usually a time for evaluations. Personally 2007 has the distinct honor of being the year I learnt so many valuable life lessons. However, maybe as a sign of how far I have to go in life, I was still left with a lot of questions when 2008 was ushered in. Some of these I have noted with the hope that someone may guide me through these issues that I struggle to comprehend.
On compromising for change
Having finally recognized the fact that we should be the change in the world, the awareness has come with the willingness to engage in all the means of propagating this change. With the older generation that we always blame and rightly so for the onset of all our problems resigned to not stopping the change but at the same time not doing anything to help bring about this change, what is the effect of this compromise?
On Relationships
With the continuing trend of divorces the striking scenario is the inevitability of the end of relationships. Never mind the fact that the one or two good and long-lasting relationships now prove the exception to the rule of long relationships, people still blindly seek, enter and stay in relationships for wrong reasons and seem to be shocked at the eventual outcome. Someone close to me expressed shock at the statistics of the number of married couples that get a divorce and then enter into same sex relationships. To me the reaction and not the statistics surprised me. With the capitalist mentality comes the idea of settling. Increasingly people enter into and stay in relationships not because they are in love but because they feel a sense of safety and security.
Is it too much to expect that people who do not love each other will quit settling and put themselves out to find love? Is it my youth that concentrates on love as the basis of a relationship instead of security? Is it too much to ask that when couples only reason for being together is because they feel comfortable with each other? When there is an absence of spark and excitement, when if they are having sex and one of them has never had an orgasm, they still settle for less? Eventually, someone gets hurt and then people start wondering, should we give second chances?
On Education and Media
This past weekend I had a conversation with a couple of college students. As conversations usually go when you’re meeting another college student for the first time, the conversation led to places of origin. It did not strike me until on the drive back to campus that when I said I’m from Sierra Leone, both the students told me they’ve heard about Sierra Leone. As refreshing as this seems, because it is such a huge change from past discussions were people never heard of Sierra Leone, it raises questions of whether Hollywood is the villain in exploiting the market of present day issues or is it the answer to the issue of people actively refusing to study. Whichever one it is anyway, the question remains, why is a history changing fact like the fact that Africans have as much a claim to the discovery of the Americas, been that they set foot on this continent long before Columbus did, not been the subject of a movie.
On friendship
Is there something that is too strong for a friendship to endure? In a world that is struggling to trust and has determined that no one and nothing can be trusted, friends were the buffers between us and the world. When friends do let us down as is in our humanity to do, when do we say enough is enough and this is too much weight on our friendship?
On change
I have lived through my share of changes and if there has been any certainty it is that this year has been the one with most changes for me. The United States which is ever changing is at a period of decision making it has in its power, the choice to for the first time elect a person of African origin or a woman as its president. Meanwhile, around the world, politicians are been assassinated, elections are been rigged, people are dying of starvation, and diseases and disguised genocide is still going on. Why then does change occur and what does it have in store for us.
INEVITABLY
In evaluating the past year, one has to ask oneself, what did I do to deserve all this love? For me my mother’s love has always been the greatest and the ever present, yet year after year it never ceases to amaze me how her love for me grows. The final question then is what will you do, for that person who loves you wholeheartedly, without regret, without bounds and without asking anything in return for it?
On compromising for change
Having finally recognized the fact that we should be the change in the world, the awareness has come with the willingness to engage in all the means of propagating this change. With the older generation that we always blame and rightly so for the onset of all our problems resigned to not stopping the change but at the same time not doing anything to help bring about this change, what is the effect of this compromise?
On Relationships
With the continuing trend of divorces the striking scenario is the inevitability of the end of relationships. Never mind the fact that the one or two good and long-lasting relationships now prove the exception to the rule of long relationships, people still blindly seek, enter and stay in relationships for wrong reasons and seem to be shocked at the eventual outcome. Someone close to me expressed shock at the statistics of the number of married couples that get a divorce and then enter into same sex relationships. To me the reaction and not the statistics surprised me. With the capitalist mentality comes the idea of settling. Increasingly people enter into and stay in relationships not because they are in love but because they feel a sense of safety and security.
Is it too much to expect that people who do not love each other will quit settling and put themselves out to find love? Is it my youth that concentrates on love as the basis of a relationship instead of security? Is it too much to ask that when couples only reason for being together is because they feel comfortable with each other? When there is an absence of spark and excitement, when if they are having sex and one of them has never had an orgasm, they still settle for less? Eventually, someone gets hurt and then people start wondering, should we give second chances?
On Education and Media
This past weekend I had a conversation with a couple of college students. As conversations usually go when you’re meeting another college student for the first time, the conversation led to places of origin. It did not strike me until on the drive back to campus that when I said I’m from Sierra Leone, both the students told me they’ve heard about Sierra Leone. As refreshing as this seems, because it is such a huge change from past discussions were people never heard of Sierra Leone, it raises questions of whether Hollywood is the villain in exploiting the market of present day issues or is it the answer to the issue of people actively refusing to study. Whichever one it is anyway, the question remains, why is a history changing fact like the fact that Africans have as much a claim to the discovery of the Americas, been that they set foot on this continent long before Columbus did, not been the subject of a movie.
On friendship
Is there something that is too strong for a friendship to endure? In a world that is struggling to trust and has determined that no one and nothing can be trusted, friends were the buffers between us and the world. When friends do let us down as is in our humanity to do, when do we say enough is enough and this is too much weight on our friendship?
On change
I have lived through my share of changes and if there has been any certainty it is that this year has been the one with most changes for me. The United States which is ever changing is at a period of decision making it has in its power, the choice to for the first time elect a person of African origin or a woman as its president. Meanwhile, around the world, politicians are been assassinated, elections are been rigged, people are dying of starvation, and diseases and disguised genocide is still going on. Why then does change occur and what does it have in store for us.
INEVITABLY
In evaluating the past year, one has to ask oneself, what did I do to deserve all this love? For me my mother’s love has always been the greatest and the ever present, yet year after year it never ceases to amaze me how her love for me grows. The final question then is what will you do, for that person who loves you wholeheartedly, without regret, without bounds and without asking anything in return for it?
THE COST OF THE CAUSE
A few decades ago, my ancestors undertook the burden of a massive project, the ousting of westerners from the motherland and the cessation of exploitation of African resources, much more than an issue of taxation without representation, the people were tired of being used as the medium of harvesting the resources which were used to further exploit them.
Halfway across the world another group of people undertook their own project. The American Negro grew tired of its status in society. A class below all else, baser even than work animals, the only rights that the American Negro seemingly had, was the right to at least be seen in the same place as Westerners, even though this situation proved irrelevant because they could no sooner call America home as they would call Africa home..
A few decades before that, The women declared war on a perception, the perception of themselves as lesser humans, fit only to perform basic domestic duties, to be seen but not heard. Martin Luther took on the Catholic Church, challenging the power of the pope. Fighting for the recognition of all humans as equal before God and hence each with the ability for direct contact with God.
The people who spearheaded these movements were exemplary positive radicals whose sense of right and wrong were not much different from those of the majority of the people around them. The difference between these folks and others was their determination to take on the mountain that was their challenge.
These people had to oftentimes witness, false reasoning, torture, ignorance and ultimately betrayal. They lost family, friends, and some lost the homeland they were fighting for, branded as radicals, secessionists enemies of the peace, they ended up been statesmen, freedom fighters, reformists and martyrs, but throughout their struggles they stayed on course for their cause.
Inarguably they were a successful lot. Gradually their dreams were realized. Their determination to see change no matter the cost they had to pay proved telling. Even though some of them lost their lives before their dreams were realized, an argument may be made that their death contributed to the end of such struggles.
Today our generation is faced with its own set of problems. The threat of a coming disaster of calamitous proportions seems certain, the questions been asked are, whether our generation will sit back and watch it happen, and what will the disaster be like. At the present moment, it is a close call between an environmental disaster linked to unsustainability or global warming, or nuclear disaster. It is like the world in its humanity is waiting for a suicidal member of one of the marginalized minorities like Tibetans, African Americans, Palestinians or Africans to seize control of a nuclear weapon or blow up the world into oblivion, either that or a flood that wipes out all the landmass.
Fortunately I am among people who realize not only that there is a problem, but that actions must be made to tackle these issues. Typified by the college’s institution of a Sustainability and Environmental Studies program (SENS) that seeks to promote the participation as well as education in Environmental and sustainability issues, the SGA that has determined to push forward its mandate of encouraging and sponsoring campus wide events that contribute towards awareness raising of contemporary issues and the efforts of the student body who are forever fastidious in attending conferences, seminars, workshops and implementing whatever strategies learned to address changes, and even identify and address issues of concern. In this month alone Berea college students have attended or will be attending, Engaging our World Conference, Emerge Conference, Power Shift and the National Baha’i convention to name but a few. Furthermore, Student activist refused to stay silent when injustices like Jena Six, Assault on Meghan Williams and the continuing crises in Tibet carry on.
Such efforts I am certain are highly appreciated however the question that has remained unasked is what price we put on those causes. What is the cost we are willing to pay to end those injustices. When we are here, are we willing to boycott food service for serving non fair trade items, boycott the bathrooms because of unsustainable tissues? Are we willing to walk to Wal-Mart because the school shuttle does not use biodiesel fuel, resign our job because we drive school vehicles that continue to pollute the atmosphere? As international Students, are we willing when we get back to our respective countries to raise our voices against all the injustices even if it means losing jobs we came all the way to the United States to study for?
Hopefully it may not come to that. Hopefully all will contribute towards bearing the costs of the cause that we are in together. It is frequently said that the greatest trick the devil played is to convince humanity that he does not exist.
The greatest challenge we will face in our quest to take on the challenges we face will be that of ignorance, the people who believe that global warming is a myth, that racism issues do not affect them and that the plight of the Tibetan monks is no way related to them. The sooner we can get to them with the idea that the world is a community that relies on all its members for its continuity, the easier our task will be. For the more people we have in this our cause the less the individual cost.
Halfway across the world another group of people undertook their own project. The American Negro grew tired of its status in society. A class below all else, baser even than work animals, the only rights that the American Negro seemingly had, was the right to at least be seen in the same place as Westerners, even though this situation proved irrelevant because they could no sooner call America home as they would call Africa home..
A few decades before that, The women declared war on a perception, the perception of themselves as lesser humans, fit only to perform basic domestic duties, to be seen but not heard. Martin Luther took on the Catholic Church, challenging the power of the pope. Fighting for the recognition of all humans as equal before God and hence each with the ability for direct contact with God.
The people who spearheaded these movements were exemplary positive radicals whose sense of right and wrong were not much different from those of the majority of the people around them. The difference between these folks and others was their determination to take on the mountain that was their challenge.
These people had to oftentimes witness, false reasoning, torture, ignorance and ultimately betrayal. They lost family, friends, and some lost the homeland they were fighting for, branded as radicals, secessionists enemies of the peace, they ended up been statesmen, freedom fighters, reformists and martyrs, but throughout their struggles they stayed on course for their cause.
Inarguably they were a successful lot. Gradually their dreams were realized. Their determination to see change no matter the cost they had to pay proved telling. Even though some of them lost their lives before their dreams were realized, an argument may be made that their death contributed to the end of such struggles.
Today our generation is faced with its own set of problems. The threat of a coming disaster of calamitous proportions seems certain, the questions been asked are, whether our generation will sit back and watch it happen, and what will the disaster be like. At the present moment, it is a close call between an environmental disaster linked to unsustainability or global warming, or nuclear disaster. It is like the world in its humanity is waiting for a suicidal member of one of the marginalized minorities like Tibetans, African Americans, Palestinians or Africans to seize control of a nuclear weapon or blow up the world into oblivion, either that or a flood that wipes out all the landmass.
Fortunately I am among people who realize not only that there is a problem, but that actions must be made to tackle these issues. Typified by the college’s institution of a Sustainability and Environmental Studies program (SENS) that seeks to promote the participation as well as education in Environmental and sustainability issues, the SGA that has determined to push forward its mandate of encouraging and sponsoring campus wide events that contribute towards awareness raising of contemporary issues and the efforts of the student body who are forever fastidious in attending conferences, seminars, workshops and implementing whatever strategies learned to address changes, and even identify and address issues of concern. In this month alone Berea college students have attended or will be attending, Engaging our World Conference, Emerge Conference, Power Shift and the National Baha’i convention to name but a few. Furthermore, Student activist refused to stay silent when injustices like Jena Six, Assault on Meghan Williams and the continuing crises in Tibet carry on.
Such efforts I am certain are highly appreciated however the question that has remained unasked is what price we put on those causes. What is the cost we are willing to pay to end those injustices. When we are here, are we willing to boycott food service for serving non fair trade items, boycott the bathrooms because of unsustainable tissues? Are we willing to walk to Wal-Mart because the school shuttle does not use biodiesel fuel, resign our job because we drive school vehicles that continue to pollute the atmosphere? As international Students, are we willing when we get back to our respective countries to raise our voices against all the injustices even if it means losing jobs we came all the way to the United States to study for?
Hopefully it may not come to that. Hopefully all will contribute towards bearing the costs of the cause that we are in together. It is frequently said that the greatest trick the devil played is to convince humanity that he does not exist.
The greatest challenge we will face in our quest to take on the challenges we face will be that of ignorance, the people who believe that global warming is a myth, that racism issues do not affect them and that the plight of the Tibetan monks is no way related to them. The sooner we can get to them with the idea that the world is a community that relies on all its members for its continuity, the easier our task will be. For the more people we have in this our cause the less the individual cost.
EDUCATION'S PLACE IN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT
Whenever I complained about my allowance and pestered my parents to raise it, my grandparents always told me the state of affairs of students in their own days. In my high school days I did not think much of their explanations, considering it just part of the usual lecture I was given whenever I asked for more money and that was all it symbolized to me. Now I have come to think of all those events and am starting to wonder about the place of education In Africa.
A delightful young lady once told me that education is one very important way of combating the major problems of Africa. I often wondered if such a proportionate entity as Africa’s problems could have such a simple solution, but now I am trying to look past my skepticism and realize the main issue for what it is, what difference if any does education make in any society, with emphasis on Africa.
Do we really appreciate the role education plays in our lives? Just a few decades ago the cost of education was cheap not so much in financial terms but in its accessibility. The people who benefited the most from it where those who realized its importance and were ready to undergo them with their walking barefoot to school over a long distance, the continued cramming of information because of the limited availability of books and the amount of non-school related work they had to do in the house of the teachers and headmaster.
Presently a lot of things have changes. People go to school to pass the time, because they have to and because there is nothing else they could be doing. Some might even argue that education is not good since instead of trying to bring out what is in people, tries to condition them into a fixed way of thought as expressed in the anecdote, “How high can you jump”.
The rational behind this anecdote, been that the formal system of education does not allow us to think outside the box. Rather, it streamlines our way of thought.
Another argument for the inefficiency of a formal system of education is the fact that presently because of the lack of the infrastructure and limited training, its institution is usually adopted without adequate research and without its restructuring to fit the African society.
Whatever the issues or arguments, education has a lot of positives. Its claim to be the strongest agent of socialization cannot be refuted. Even though schools serve as a breeding ground for indoctrination into the current political system of the state, the youthfulness commands that a lot of debate be carried out. In an area free of supervision, governments are criticized, policies debated on and ideas raised up and squashed. It is a testament to this, that every government however tyrannical fears students. How many times have students been the forerunners of change in a society? Whether idealism is taught in schools, or young people just happen to have it as part of the growing up process, the schools play an integral role in changing the face of Africa.
As we approach the 21st Century, my generation gets prepared for the daunting task of moving Africa from the 18th to the 21st Century. One thing we want to do is coax all factors that will aid us in this process and relegate all negative factors to the past. Hopefully, education is one of the positives we can carry with us throughout our daunting task. As it sets up the platform not only for bringing forth our ideas, but also provides us with enough information about the past, so that we can avoid the pitfalls that come with our idealism.
A delightful young lady once told me that education is one very important way of combating the major problems of Africa. I often wondered if such a proportionate entity as Africa’s problems could have such a simple solution, but now I am trying to look past my skepticism and realize the main issue for what it is, what difference if any does education make in any society, with emphasis on Africa.
Do we really appreciate the role education plays in our lives? Just a few decades ago the cost of education was cheap not so much in financial terms but in its accessibility. The people who benefited the most from it where those who realized its importance and were ready to undergo them with their walking barefoot to school over a long distance, the continued cramming of information because of the limited availability of books and the amount of non-school related work they had to do in the house of the teachers and headmaster.
Presently a lot of things have changes. People go to school to pass the time, because they have to and because there is nothing else they could be doing. Some might even argue that education is not good since instead of trying to bring out what is in people, tries to condition them into a fixed way of thought as expressed in the anecdote, “How high can you jump”.
Flea trainers have observed a predictable and strange habit of fleas while training them. Fleas are trained by putting them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the cardboard box over and over and over again. As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top.
When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They won't jump out because they can't jump out. Why? The reason is simple. They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high. Once they have conditioned themselves to jump just so high, that's all they can do! (http://www.liraz.com/Anecdote.htm )
The rational behind this anecdote, been that the formal system of education does not allow us to think outside the box. Rather, it streamlines our way of thought.
Another argument for the inefficiency of a formal system of education is the fact that presently because of the lack of the infrastructure and limited training, its institution is usually adopted without adequate research and without its restructuring to fit the African society.
Whatever the issues or arguments, education has a lot of positives. Its claim to be the strongest agent of socialization cannot be refuted. Even though schools serve as a breeding ground for indoctrination into the current political system of the state, the youthfulness commands that a lot of debate be carried out. In an area free of supervision, governments are criticized, policies debated on and ideas raised up and squashed. It is a testament to this, that every government however tyrannical fears students. How many times have students been the forerunners of change in a society? Whether idealism is taught in schools, or young people just happen to have it as part of the growing up process, the schools play an integral role in changing the face of Africa.
As we approach the 21st Century, my generation gets prepared for the daunting task of moving Africa from the 18th to the 21st Century. One thing we want to do is coax all factors that will aid us in this process and relegate all negative factors to the past. Hopefully, education is one of the positives we can carry with us throughout our daunting task. As it sets up the platform not only for bringing forth our ideas, but also provides us with enough information about the past, so that we can avoid the pitfalls that come with our idealism.
THE DYING ART OF ELOQUENCE
When he speaks,
The air, a chartered libertine, is still.
- William Shakespeare
I have often wondered about the attainment of such a powerful gift. Not so long ago I grew disgruntled with using simple words and decided to enter the arena of verbosity, with the idea that my literal growth should be evidenced by the extension of my vocabulary.
Central to the start of this period in my life was the influence of literature. The mesmeric speeches of Shakespeare like those present in Julius Caesar, words that meant a lot more than they do nowadays,
I am supposed to hail from a culture that is very capable in passing on messages orally; this in my opinion helps me appreciate really great oratory, with no particular sense of how to be a great orator myself. The proverbs have been replaced by easily discovered quotations online, my voice corrupted by the constant effort to speak English in an unaccustomed manner, and the beauty of words themselves have been lost by my constant quest to make things overtly simplistic or satisfy my childish desires for obfuscation, hence the neglect of words like cavalier, chivalry, courtship. Inevitably, with the loss of such words comes the disappearance of the pure meaning of such words, and it is descriptive of my generation that instead of maintaining these words, we are always searching for newer and more ambiguous words to replace them, just so we can stake a claim on our dynamic existence.
The difficulty with the current trend is that you can hardly say something that will not sound trite. LOVE has been so misused that you can barely manage to say it and convey its deepest meaning at the same time, as such it has been so mistrusted that you risk scaring people away by using it. Almost every statement now has an automatic response, that originality and excellent eloquence is viewed as a dying art, and not the norm.
Then again, how many people would appreciate the true beauty of the language? It always seems easier to say “sup”, than delighted to make your acquaintance. What does this say about me? Besides screaming, “Geek”, it may mean many other things.
I find myself wondering whether all this while my extensive vocabulary has just been used to mask my inability to communicate well. Maybe I am just making up for my lack in expressing myself in the current slang and my communication skills are at best inadequate
The air, a chartered libertine, is still.
- William Shakespeare
I have often wondered about the attainment of such a powerful gift. Not so long ago I grew disgruntled with using simple words and decided to enter the arena of verbosity, with the idea that my literal growth should be evidenced by the extension of my vocabulary.
Central to the start of this period in my life was the influence of literature. The mesmeric speeches of Shakespeare like those present in Julius Caesar, words that meant a lot more than they do nowadays,
I am supposed to hail from a culture that is very capable in passing on messages orally; this in my opinion helps me appreciate really great oratory, with no particular sense of how to be a great orator myself. The proverbs have been replaced by easily discovered quotations online, my voice corrupted by the constant effort to speak English in an unaccustomed manner, and the beauty of words themselves have been lost by my constant quest to make things overtly simplistic or satisfy my childish desires for obfuscation, hence the neglect of words like cavalier, chivalry, courtship. Inevitably, with the loss of such words comes the disappearance of the pure meaning of such words, and it is descriptive of my generation that instead of maintaining these words, we are always searching for newer and more ambiguous words to replace them, just so we can stake a claim on our dynamic existence.
The difficulty with the current trend is that you can hardly say something that will not sound trite. LOVE has been so misused that you can barely manage to say it and convey its deepest meaning at the same time, as such it has been so mistrusted that you risk scaring people away by using it. Almost every statement now has an automatic response, that originality and excellent eloquence is viewed as a dying art, and not the norm.
Then again, how many people would appreciate the true beauty of the language? It always seems easier to say “sup”, than delighted to make your acquaintance. What does this say about me? Besides screaming, “Geek”, it may mean many other things.
I find myself wondering whether all this while my extensive vocabulary has just been used to mask my inability to communicate well. Maybe I am just making up for my lack in expressing myself in the current slang and my communication skills are at best inadequate
The Second Independence
Considering the fact that the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain and a lot of other European countries serve as hosts to tens of thousands of Africans a year, one starts to grasp the concept of just how many Human resources are continually been lost by Africa. The host nations hold the privilege of determining how the immigrants are perceived, depending on their economic viability. However this does not stop the continuing debate about the effects this migration on the migrants themselves or the continent they hail from. Some argue it’s good because it exposes these immigrants to a far better way of life, while others argue that it leads to the continuing destruction of the future of Africa. Because of the convincing arguments from both sides, one can never be really sure who is right. What one can then do is consider the ramifications of those who leave the continent to pursue educational opportunities overseas.
The impact foreign educated Africans have had on Africa cannot be overestimated. From the period of initial contact between Africa and the Western world, through the transatlantic slave trade, afterwards, and unto the present day, Select students have found their way into the Diaspora, searching for the attainment of good education. The first stream of Pan-Africanists, who transported the continent from colonialism to independence like Robert Mugabe, Julius Nyerereh, and Kwame Nkrumah, all had some form of Western Education.
Presently the initial cause for the struggle for all those Pan-Africanists has been addressed. Africa has gained independence from its colonial masters. However, the struggle does not end here; there are a lot more problems affecting Africa now than had been at any moment in history. The ignominy of been the least developed continent in the world is overshadowed only by the fact that we have all the available resources to turn this negative statistics around but we fail to do so.
Blessed with fertile lands, marine resources, mineral resources and now extremely capable human resources, the attainment of the second independence, ( freedom from complete dependability on non-western governments and institutions, in combination with the freedom from preventable environmental disasters, human calamities and institutional calamities brought about by ignorance and corruption), is a realistic dream.
As foreign educated Africans, what then is our responsibility towards the accomplishment of this great idea? Do we even owe any responsibility towards contributing to African development? Most of us have asked ourselves these questions at one time or the other. Considering the fact that we all personally know the struggles we go through to attain our education it comes as no surprise that we question our responsibility or lack thereof to others. Admittedly, Africa did not send you here, when you need money, Africa does not contribute to your personal funds, you work hard for every simple advantage you can get. Well and good, I cannot tell you why myself, but I will use the words of a more eloquent persona to do so. In his Speech “I’ve been to the mountaintop” delivered on 3rd April 1968, Martin Luther King said in reference to the parable of the rich man who fell on thieves on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. “…the first question that the priest asked -- the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
We are born Africans, and as such our fate is forever linked with the continent. The state of the continent reflects on us. Realizing that our pride or disappointment about the continent rests with our actions or inactions should propel us to seek the welfare of that great continent.
Every great movement has a point of change, the catalyst that defines that movement. What then is going to be ours? We do not have to wait till the only means left to us to turn around the deplorable state of our motherland entails violent means. We do not have to wait till whole communities are wiped out, cultures vanquished, religions lost or the resources for development have either been carted off to foreign nations or the benefits have been funneled into the pockets of petty politicians feeding on the ignorance of the people.
I am tired of feeling ashamed whenever Africa is mentioned, because what usually follows is a depiction of an uninhabitable land, with pictures of naked starving children, either carrying guns or carrying fatal diseases or pictures of well dressed, well fed, articulate men, seemingly badly informed about the very people they are trying to represent, or in some cases with no idea how to help. Are you tired enough to do something? Then prepare yourself for the second independence of Africa, and remember the words of Winona LaDuke, “There is no social change fairy. There is only change made by the hands of individuals.”
The impact foreign educated Africans have had on Africa cannot be overestimated. From the period of initial contact between Africa and the Western world, through the transatlantic slave trade, afterwards, and unto the present day, Select students have found their way into the Diaspora, searching for the attainment of good education. The first stream of Pan-Africanists, who transported the continent from colonialism to independence like Robert Mugabe, Julius Nyerereh, and Kwame Nkrumah, all had some form of Western Education.
Presently the initial cause for the struggle for all those Pan-Africanists has been addressed. Africa has gained independence from its colonial masters. However, the struggle does not end here; there are a lot more problems affecting Africa now than had been at any moment in history. The ignominy of been the least developed continent in the world is overshadowed only by the fact that we have all the available resources to turn this negative statistics around but we fail to do so.
Blessed with fertile lands, marine resources, mineral resources and now extremely capable human resources, the attainment of the second independence, ( freedom from complete dependability on non-western governments and institutions, in combination with the freedom from preventable environmental disasters, human calamities and institutional calamities brought about by ignorance and corruption), is a realistic dream.
As foreign educated Africans, what then is our responsibility towards the accomplishment of this great idea? Do we even owe any responsibility towards contributing to African development? Most of us have asked ourselves these questions at one time or the other. Considering the fact that we all personally know the struggles we go through to attain our education it comes as no surprise that we question our responsibility or lack thereof to others. Admittedly, Africa did not send you here, when you need money, Africa does not contribute to your personal funds, you work hard for every simple advantage you can get. Well and good, I cannot tell you why myself, but I will use the words of a more eloquent persona to do so. In his Speech “I’ve been to the mountaintop” delivered on 3rd April 1968, Martin Luther King said in reference to the parable of the rich man who fell on thieves on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. “…the first question that the priest asked -- the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
We are born Africans, and as such our fate is forever linked with the continent. The state of the continent reflects on us. Realizing that our pride or disappointment about the continent rests with our actions or inactions should propel us to seek the welfare of that great continent.
Every great movement has a point of change, the catalyst that defines that movement. What then is going to be ours? We do not have to wait till the only means left to us to turn around the deplorable state of our motherland entails violent means. We do not have to wait till whole communities are wiped out, cultures vanquished, religions lost or the resources for development have either been carted off to foreign nations or the benefits have been funneled into the pockets of petty politicians feeding on the ignorance of the people.
I am tired of feeling ashamed whenever Africa is mentioned, because what usually follows is a depiction of an uninhabitable land, with pictures of naked starving children, either carrying guns or carrying fatal diseases or pictures of well dressed, well fed, articulate men, seemingly badly informed about the very people they are trying to represent, or in some cases with no idea how to help. Are you tired enough to do something? Then prepare yourself for the second independence of Africa, and remember the words of Winona LaDuke, “There is no social change fairy. There is only change made by the hands of individuals.”
Today's bunch of sissies and yesterday's radicals
I've grown fond of my school's food service. Not so much because of the quality of the food, but because of the human community that I can observe. It is intriguing to me that in the next decade this bunch of babbling, reticent, self assured and frightened looking group of young folks will be the doctors, nurses, lawyers, diplomats, policy makers and ultimate leaders of the society. I cannot help wondering, how does this future look?
Our generation is characterized by our lackadaisical attitude. We are the only generation with no absolutes. Our tendency for compromise provides us with the opinion that we are at peace with everyone, but is our tendency for compromise leading to the demise of a society of values? Or is compromise the only guarantee of our future.
The previous generation had to answer this question and because of them we are aware of a lot more injustices happening today. They became known as radicals, but that didn't stop them. Yesterday's radicals defined right and wrong, regardless of whether it went against societal views, regardless of whether it brought about a division among segments of a society. Issues of Racism, Sexism, Ethnocentrism and cultural imperialism were brought out into open discussion and even when the political movement waged wars that were unjust, yesterday's radicals made their opinions known through positive radical means.
Am I advocating a radical uprising among our generation? This generation that has become secure in its safety of materialism. Absolutely not. I cannot deny the fact that fear of loosing the little status and safety we have in life, compels us to be inactive. Honestly, I will not drop out of school, save my fees and use it to help alleviate the suffering of the host of people in developing countries. What then am I asking of my peers?
The relief from fear, fear from been considered as radicals, fear from loosing our sense of safety and most important, Hope. Most people fail to act because of perceptions. Radicals are regarded as lawless troublemakers whose thirst for the disruption of society can only be matched by their belief that they are doing something right. What a lot of people fail to realize is that all change started as radicalism, going against societal opinions in order to foster change. Where are we to start looking for change, when the situation looks so hopeless?
Our forefathers in their quest for a better life made a lot of mistakes, mistakes that we are paying for and that we will be suffering from in the not too distant future. Destruction of the environment, discrimination and exploitation and subsequent murder of third world economies are all failures of the past generation that have been bequeathed to us. So in actual fact the situation looks hopeless. Who then wants to invest in a hopeless situation? Definitely not I, so this may be why I am scared of leaving my safety zone to help when another may just pick up the position I left and the devastation or inaction still continue. Where then do we gain hope from?
Our knowledge of history teaches us that change always starts slowly, but once it gains momentum, there is no stopping it. All that's required is for a few people to believe it. We are no longer the future leaders, we are the leaders. Our silence and cowardice now is not so different to that of those of our forefathers who stayed silent during, the holocaust, during slavery, and during the subjugation and subsequent exploitation of African resources. Together, we can raise our voices, together we can recover the courage we lost, together we can hold opinions and act upon them, not just allowing everyone to revert to doing what they think is best, but making use of our social institutions in defining societal values.
I refuse to be called chicken any more, and trust me, its no reflection on the chicken served at food services.
Our generation is characterized by our lackadaisical attitude. We are the only generation with no absolutes. Our tendency for compromise provides us with the opinion that we are at peace with everyone, but is our tendency for compromise leading to the demise of a society of values? Or is compromise the only guarantee of our future.
The previous generation had to answer this question and because of them we are aware of a lot more injustices happening today. They became known as radicals, but that didn't stop them. Yesterday's radicals defined right and wrong, regardless of whether it went against societal views, regardless of whether it brought about a division among segments of a society. Issues of Racism, Sexism, Ethnocentrism and cultural imperialism were brought out into open discussion and even when the political movement waged wars that were unjust, yesterday's radicals made their opinions known through positive radical means.
Am I advocating a radical uprising among our generation? This generation that has become secure in its safety of materialism. Absolutely not. I cannot deny the fact that fear of loosing the little status and safety we have in life, compels us to be inactive. Honestly, I will not drop out of school, save my fees and use it to help alleviate the suffering of the host of people in developing countries. What then am I asking of my peers?
The relief from fear, fear from been considered as radicals, fear from loosing our sense of safety and most important, Hope. Most people fail to act because of perceptions. Radicals are regarded as lawless troublemakers whose thirst for the disruption of society can only be matched by their belief that they are doing something right. What a lot of people fail to realize is that all change started as radicalism, going against societal opinions in order to foster change. Where are we to start looking for change, when the situation looks so hopeless?
Our forefathers in their quest for a better life made a lot of mistakes, mistakes that we are paying for and that we will be suffering from in the not too distant future. Destruction of the environment, discrimination and exploitation and subsequent murder of third world economies are all failures of the past generation that have been bequeathed to us. So in actual fact the situation looks hopeless. Who then wants to invest in a hopeless situation? Definitely not I, so this may be why I am scared of leaving my safety zone to help when another may just pick up the position I left and the devastation or inaction still continue. Where then do we gain hope from?
Our knowledge of history teaches us that change always starts slowly, but once it gains momentum, there is no stopping it. All that's required is for a few people to believe it. We are no longer the future leaders, we are the leaders. Our silence and cowardice now is not so different to that of those of our forefathers who stayed silent during, the holocaust, during slavery, and during the subjugation and subsequent exploitation of African resources. Together, we can raise our voices, together we can recover the courage we lost, together we can hold opinions and act upon them, not just allowing everyone to revert to doing what they think is best, but making use of our social institutions in defining societal values.
I refuse to be called chicken any more, and trust me, its no reflection on the chicken served at food services.
AFRICA
Nothing in the entire universe is as unique and diverse and so full of meaning as Africa. Our search for a better understanding of such a great continent and its institutions will go a long way towards our process of self discovery. If there’s one thing however that Africa tries to project to us, it is the plea for recognition as the life source of mankind.
The second largest continent in the world, it boasts the most resources whether mineral, natural or human, arguably the most cultural diversity and inarguably and most important, boasts of been the resting place of mankind’s past. However,
exploitation, has taken so much of a toll on this great place that it seems to be buried under a huge burden of hopelessness.
If great books were determined by titles, then anyone who authored Africa would command the envy of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and all the other great authors that have trod the surface of the earth. The name “Africa” tells a story of its own. Derived from the terms “Afri” and “ca”, both together meaning land of the Afris, its entire history has been characterized by subjugation and exploitation. It was named by the Romans after they subjugated the people, trying to prevent the up rise of a major power. Colonized by the Western world in order for its resources to be exploited and presently it’s been exploited by its own children.
Can people be forgiven for their exploitation of Africa? For if it is the cradle of mankind, and then it means all mankind has a right to its resources. The situation is hopeless anyway; why not apportion the resources to other places that will use them to develop the human community? I can be sympathetic to people who think this way, for they do not realize this simple and self evident truth, that there is no mankind without Africa. It does not only hold true for the past, but it holds the key to the future of all humankind.
What about the bright spots? Does Africa have any? Or has hope been eternally lost to this continent. Questions like this are been asked more frequently now, because people realize that Africa is a burden to the world. Whereas the Western Economy was trying to exploit the African economy by giving out loans with substantial interest rates, it is now trying to cancel the debt of African nations. It does this, not because it suddenly has a conscience attack, but because it realizes that the best way to profit from the African economy is to use the African market instead of destroying it. The Western Economy cannot keep up supporting the African Economy because this act is like pouring water into a bottomless jar. It only keeps the developed Western Market from developing further.
Gradually also, people are starting to realize that Africa cannot be subjugated for long. Not because it is strong, but because an attempt to break the will of its people only serves as a reminder of the link between all humanity, but because the attempt at subjugation requires as much sacrifice on the part of the servant, as it does vigilance on the part of the master.
It is time we realize that Africa is the bane of our existence. We cannot keep on feeding off our life source without any provision for its replenishment. The past century has been characterized by the law of the jungle, with the strong feeding off anything it can lay its hands on in order to maintain its position of strength. Africa now is whispering to us a silent plea. It has given of itself freely, with no questions asked; all it requires of us is that we take care of it in return. Its sweet melody of the benefits of such actions goes unheeded. Beware, it seems to be saying, “I brought you into this world and I sustain you, I also have the propensity to take away my gift of life”.
The second largest continent in the world, it boasts the most resources whether mineral, natural or human, arguably the most cultural diversity and inarguably and most important, boasts of been the resting place of mankind’s past. However,
exploitation, has taken so much of a toll on this great place that it seems to be buried under a huge burden of hopelessness.
If great books were determined by titles, then anyone who authored Africa would command the envy of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and all the other great authors that have trod the surface of the earth. The name “Africa” tells a story of its own. Derived from the terms “Afri” and “ca”, both together meaning land of the Afris, its entire history has been characterized by subjugation and exploitation. It was named by the Romans after they subjugated the people, trying to prevent the up rise of a major power. Colonized by the Western world in order for its resources to be exploited and presently it’s been exploited by its own children.
Can people be forgiven for their exploitation of Africa? For if it is the cradle of mankind, and then it means all mankind has a right to its resources. The situation is hopeless anyway; why not apportion the resources to other places that will use them to develop the human community? I can be sympathetic to people who think this way, for they do not realize this simple and self evident truth, that there is no mankind without Africa. It does not only hold true for the past, but it holds the key to the future of all humankind.
What about the bright spots? Does Africa have any? Or has hope been eternally lost to this continent. Questions like this are been asked more frequently now, because people realize that Africa is a burden to the world. Whereas the Western Economy was trying to exploit the African economy by giving out loans with substantial interest rates, it is now trying to cancel the debt of African nations. It does this, not because it suddenly has a conscience attack, but because it realizes that the best way to profit from the African economy is to use the African market instead of destroying it. The Western Economy cannot keep up supporting the African Economy because this act is like pouring water into a bottomless jar. It only keeps the developed Western Market from developing further.
Gradually also, people are starting to realize that Africa cannot be subjugated for long. Not because it is strong, but because an attempt to break the will of its people only serves as a reminder of the link between all humanity, but because the attempt at subjugation requires as much sacrifice on the part of the servant, as it does vigilance on the part of the master.
It is time we realize that Africa is the bane of our existence. We cannot keep on feeding off our life source without any provision for its replenishment. The past century has been characterized by the law of the jungle, with the strong feeding off anything it can lay its hands on in order to maintain its position of strength. Africa now is whispering to us a silent plea. It has given of itself freely, with no questions asked; all it requires of us is that we take care of it in return. Its sweet melody of the benefits of such actions goes unheeded. Beware, it seems to be saying, “I brought you into this world and I sustain you, I also have the propensity to take away my gift of life”.
FEAR
Until I could differentiate between fear and reverence, I never knew whether fear is good or bad. At my age which is more than most people would guess I have come to realize that few things are inherently good or bad, there is always space for compromise, therefore it came as no surprise for me that there can be good and bad fear.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, fear God and keep his commandments, all these and more lead me to respect this fear, the good fear, meaning reverence, but is this the only kind of good fear? What about the fear that leads you to action, or in some cases inaction.
The world today is rife with fear, the fear for the future. As much as parents today would love to believe that they are entitled to more fear because of their care for their children, it is inarguable that all stratums of society have their own fears. At school, fear is instilled in you, whether it is so that you will work hard to get good grades for college, act carefully so you can get a good job, or just so you don't soil your family's name or reputation is in my opinion no way different. At the workplace, fear of failing to receive that monthly check propels you to work harder, and even in relationships that are destined to failure will hold for a long time, if the partners are afraid of been lonely.
What about cowardice? Inasmuch as it deters you from acting or propels you to perform some action because of the repercussions, then it is in some manner, fear. However because cowardice and fear are defined according to perceptions, things are never really certainly determined one way or another.
What am I afraid of? I am afraid of been a failure, a lot of people have put far too much into me, or are expecting a whole lot more from me for me to let them down. Afraid of success that I will be so much of a success that I forget to help those who need it. Afraid of the future, that situations have been left to deteriorate far too much by the older generation and that our generation will not have the adequate capability or resources to turn this tide. Afraid of the past, for it holds so many secrets that can stop us from going forward. Afraid of love, for my heart is too weak and easily broken. Afraid of not loving, for life is too long to be spent with just oneself. Afraid of progress, for it entails the cutting down of fresh obstacles. Afraid of staying put, for the world will still go on without me.
In all my fears however, there are some things that are certain, I am a man, made by God, for a reason, loved by my family, that special one and friends, A sojourning African.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, fear God and keep his commandments, all these and more lead me to respect this fear, the good fear, meaning reverence, but is this the only kind of good fear? What about the fear that leads you to action, or in some cases inaction.
The world today is rife with fear, the fear for the future. As much as parents today would love to believe that they are entitled to more fear because of their care for their children, it is inarguable that all stratums of society have their own fears. At school, fear is instilled in you, whether it is so that you will work hard to get good grades for college, act carefully so you can get a good job, or just so you don't soil your family's name or reputation is in my opinion no way different. At the workplace, fear of failing to receive that monthly check propels you to work harder, and even in relationships that are destined to failure will hold for a long time, if the partners are afraid of been lonely.
What about cowardice? Inasmuch as it deters you from acting or propels you to perform some action because of the repercussions, then it is in some manner, fear. However because cowardice and fear are defined according to perceptions, things are never really certainly determined one way or another.
What am I afraid of? I am afraid of been a failure, a lot of people have put far too much into me, or are expecting a whole lot more from me for me to let them down. Afraid of success that I will be so much of a success that I forget to help those who need it. Afraid of the future, that situations have been left to deteriorate far too much by the older generation and that our generation will not have the adequate capability or resources to turn this tide. Afraid of the past, for it holds so many secrets that can stop us from going forward. Afraid of love, for my heart is too weak and easily broken. Afraid of not loving, for life is too long to be spent with just oneself. Afraid of progress, for it entails the cutting down of fresh obstacles. Afraid of staying put, for the world will still go on without me.
In all my fears however, there are some things that are certain, I am a man, made by God, for a reason, loved by my family, that special one and friends, A sojourning African.
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