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Mshairi
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7:55
From: Mshairi
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Once…
it was all there
in the timbre of his voice
when he spoke her name
the softness of his lips
as he kissed her brow
the gentleness of his fingers
when he held her hand
it was in the radiance of his smile
when he saw her face
the look in his eyes
while gazing at her
the warmth of his embrace
as he held her close
he laughs it off
says she jests
in her heart she knows
where once was love
only ashes remain
Re-posted for D.M.
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6:56
From: Mshairi
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The first time it happened
She wore dark glasses, wept all day
Hormones, we sniggered
The second time it happened
Walked into a wall she said
Alcohol, we smugly declared
Signed her cast, wished her well
The third time it happened
Fell down the stairs she said
And wouldn’t smile
Lover’s tiff, we winked
The fourth time it happened
A bee stung her she said
Frolicking in the park, we laughed
The fifth time it happened
She didn’t come in
We heard she was broken
Like a toy
Which no-one could
Ever
Put back together again
If only
We had known
We cried
Re-posted for D.M.
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6:32
From: Mshairi
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I love the way some of his songs are prefixed by rap-like storytelling. Listening to ‘I Stand Accused’, approximately 10 minutes long, always makes me smile. The pathos!
‘By the time I get to Phoenix’ is also long. Approximately, 18 minutes long.
Although very similar, Isaac Hayes’s voice is not as rich and as expressive as Barry White’s. When exploring his discography however, it is clear to see that his music is very influential.
Isaac Hayes IS a soul music icon.
R.I.P.
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3:05
From: Mshairi
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In darkness
he sits
and waits
silently
she glides through the open door
the tinny tinkle
of the silver bells
on her ankle beads &
the staccato beat
of his heart
serenading
her arrival
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6:27
From: Mshairi
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Heart filled with hurt which increases and grows
What they do to the voiceless this child knows
Sent here to protect soldiers with big egos
Of these men and pain this child knows
Come here to serve instead turmoil follows
The sickness of human nature this child knows
That one promises food laughing with his fellows
A full stomach won’t stop the ache this child knows
Viciously abused as if something she owes
Her life has forever been altered this child knows
Not a soul to save her when her blood flows
There will be no-one to turn to this child knows
Swaggering like earth owners and heroes
Nothing will happen to them this child knows
She wishes to fly far away from her woes
Nothing will ever change this child knows
Peacekeepers ‘abusing children’
For UN spokesman Nick Birnback to say that it “was impossible to ensure “zero incidents” within an organisation that has up to 200,000 personnel serving around the world” is a just a load of old cobblers.
This abuse of human rights is happening because the survivors are “orphans, children separated from their parents and families, and children in families dependent on humanitarian assistance”, according to the report by Save the Children (.pdf file) . In other words, voiceless people.
The very people that organisations such as the UN and Save the Children are meant to be supporting and caring for.
The poet, W. H. Auden wrote, “Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table”. How true.
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12:00
From: Mshairi
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 I am extremely pleased, proud and honoured to present the International Carnival of Pozitivities (2.10).
The Carnival consists of interesting, moving and sometimes funny articles, poems and vidoes by people affected by HIV/AIDs. I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I did.
Forward to the Carnival,
We begin in Africa. Nata, in Botswana, is a village of 5000 people located on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans. Unfortunately, HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the people of this small village. Botswana has the second highest HIV infection rate in Africa. Melody and Martha write entertainingly, and with lots of pictures, about the day the AIDS Fair came to Nata! posted at The Nata village blog. Melody and Martha also celebrate their blog’s 2nd anniversary. The Nata village blog is dedicated to the people of Nata who despite enormous losses and challenges still have the courage and determination to fight the ravages of this pandemic.
Giles Crouch, Slimconomy, writes about the many wild and weird claims made by people (unscrupulous and/or misguided) regarding the cure for HIV/AIDs and highlights the fact that the Internet has become the place where people can make declarations that have yet to be officially approved and especially with regard to herbal cures. “The Web means anything can be published. Any claims made. When people are suffering from a fatal disease, certainly any option will be investigated, herbs included”, he writes.
Steve Schalchlin is a songwriter, singer, pianist, actor, proto-blogger and internet legend amongst his many accomplishments. He writes about his recent performance in Chicago and writes that the group he performed for were “from the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, and I always love singing for medical students to remind them that patients are real people”. He hopes the students will remember ”we are vulnerable and we are scared and we usually feel helpless when caught up in the system. It’s hard enough to survive when you’re healthy in this world”.
Yerom presents a very funny video on Safer Sex. Rather risqué (be careful where you watch it) but hilarious, YouTube - AIDS/SIDA | L’avion (The Plane). In English, the text basically reads: “At least they had safe sex…”
“A recent study revealed that more than 30 percent of people living with HIV in New York City are 50 years old or older. Most have been infected for decades. But what’s worrying is the older adults who’re getting new infections”. Supermansaga presents a news report which highlights the worrying rise of HIV/AIDs among older people.
Deb Serani, Dr. Deb, presents a beautiful video - Love is Love is Love which shows us that there is no difference when it comes to love.
I love reading about road trips i.e. something going wrong with the car, the pit stops, the traveling companions etc and Shawn Decker in his blog entitled My Pet Virus does not disappoint. Shawn, who lives positively, writes about traveling with his wife Gwenn to “Milford, PA, to speak for the Pike County AIDS Awareness Day, and the 6-hour trek took close to 10 hours, delayed by traffic, rain and fog”. Despite the ups and down and the minor irritations, the trip is a success. Shawn writes “Gwenn and I spend a lot of time educating about HIV/AIDS and explaining that, by and large, we lead a pretty normal life with my pet virus”.
“I can honestly say that after 24 years of living with HIV I have been angry at it more than once. I have been angry for many reasons and I have been angry because HIV didn’t take me like it did so many others”, writes Mike in a very moving post. There is some hope, however. ”I know that some of my anger will diminish once the first signs of spring appear but some of them just don’t go away at the changing of the season. I can only hope that on most days the anger is balanced out with hope and dreams of what tomorrow may bring”.
Moffie tells it like it is in a post entitled: The HIV Closet. “If you are HIV + and not comfortable with your new state of health, you need to read this and absorb its content to your life…I don’t care if you are a Gay person, a Straight woman or Straight man: it is a part of you and a part of who you are. You might deny it, but to do so is not only futile, but is also very damaging to your own psyche. In the same way, HIV is now part of who you are. It will be with you until you die, and that is just the way it is.”
Brian Diggs of BlackAIDS.org writes about a presentation by Julian Bond, the NAACP Chairman speaking out on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS. “A veteran civil rights advocate and former Georgia state representative and senator, Bond, 68, said he’s motivated to advocate on behalf of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS because many of them are rendered silent by the stigma attached to the disease and “suffer alone” as a result.”
And on cue, the British Columbia People with AIDS Society write on HIV/AIDs stigma and calls for its end. ”Stigmatization is a social practice that brands an individual or group as disgraceful and devalues them because of some actual or perceived characteristic. It is a powerful force that negatively influences not only the way an individual or group is viewed, but also often the individual or group’s self-perception and self-image”.
The Alliance of AIDS Services, Carolina, is organising an AIDSWalk + Ride, Raleigh, NC, USA on Saturday May 8 to raise funds to support programs and services for persons living with HIV/AIDS in the region. Further information can be found on Ron’s blog, 2sides2ron.
Paul Kidd presents a video, We are the world posted at buggery.org.
Wille J. Phillips, talented author, artist and rap artist, debuts and guest writes over at 2sides2ron in a post which is the first in a series of chapters of Willie’s science-fiction martial arts novel, Godfist Legend: Zero7. Willie’s work is not HIV-related and offers a brief respite from the norm.
Bill Mann, poet also debuts and guests and presents a lovely poem at 2sides2ron. The poem is entitled “Resurrection of Renewal” and includes the following lines:
Coming of Spring
Revels a new call
Of awakening
A powerful resurrection.
The wonderfully named, Shadowstar ex Machina, aka, Willie J. Phillips guests also at 2sides2ron and presents a poem “Sometimes Forget”.
On his blog, dropdeadhappy, Mark Kokocki presents an article on shame written by guest writer, M. Dewayne Benson, comedian, poet, writer and POZ speaker. “What echoes in my ear is that everyone seems to feel shame on some level. Why is this? Certainly shame devalues us and our self esteem…As adults we should learn to accept and love who we are and what we have done! Otherwise we only hold ourselves back from change and/or progress in this life”.
Last but not least, Gug, GayUganda, writes about the complexity and strengths of the extended family in Africa. In the story of his uncle, who is terminally ill, Gug shows how differently people deal with death. Of his uncle he writes, “He is sick, and dying, and knows it. He has fallen back to his extended family, and they surround him. Reconciled to death’s appointment, he can even afford to crack morbid jokes, alarming and embarrassing the relatives who are distraught and fearful. But he is ready, and I hope when mine comes, I am as ready!”.
Gug also writes about Lesbians and HIV in Africa and the problems ‘of a hidden, closeted society…A society of the shadows”, where HIV prevention campaigns fail to address gay people because of “official inertia and homophobia”.
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13:01
From: Mshairi
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Over the last few months, what we have seen of Africans (mainly Kenyans and occasionally Zimbabweans) on the BBC have been people in extreme situations. The images have either been of people dying or dead, people running away from vigilante groups or the police, people demonstrating or people (and especially and worryingly, children) looting and burning. Sometimes the images have been of people doing all the above, all at the same time.
Watching the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency based in Botswana on the BBC the other night was a relief as the story featured Africans getting on with their daily lives. Fancy that. The drama/comedy, gentle and funny, featured the utterly lovely Jill Scott as Mma Ramotswe, the detective and was lovingly directed by Anthony Minghella who unfortunately died a few weeks ago.
Credit must also go to the cinematographer who managed to capture the heat, dust, bright, vivid colours and the complex beauty of Africa. It was almost possible to taste this dust and feel the heat in far away (and wintry) London.
The story dealt with difficult issues including domestic violence and superstition from Mma Ramotswe’s point of view and here, the issue was all about Jill Scott’s amazing talent and the strength she brought to the character. Jill Scott had the Botswanian accent down to perfection and looked the part (being of ‘traditional build’). She was authentic and everything focused around her (the camera certainly loves her).
My only gripe was Jill Scott only sung once. She should have sung around the house, while driving, etc. Any excuse to hear Jill Scott sing.
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5:21
From: Mshairi
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I am extremely pleased to announce that the next International Carnival of Pozitivities will be taking place on this blog in April. The International Carnival of Pozitivities is a blog carnival for people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. This includes every human being on the planet Earth. The aim of this initiative is to [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Coming soon – The International Carnival of Pozitivities (2.10)", url: "http://www.mshairi.com/blog/?p=444" });
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9:12
From: Mshairi
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I learned two things upon arriving in the UK many moons ago. First, the name Enid was pronounced ‘EEnid’ and not ‘EHnid’ as I had been pronouncing it ever since I begun reading
Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books. The other was that ginger beer, always a mystery to my young mind, i.e. how could children [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Golly! No more lashings of ginger beer", url: "http://www.mshairi.com/blog/?p=443" });
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6:19
From: Mshairi
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Yesterday was No Smoking Day here in the UK. I am ecstatic this year as I don’t have to have to go through the unending cycle of convincing myself that I need to quit only to see the day come and go with me still smoking. Oh the guilt and the denial.
This cycle went on [...]
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17:29
From: Mshairi
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Stand aside Patrick ‘Jon-Luc’ Stewart and Sir Ian ‘Gandalf’ McKellen and bow to the new king of theatre, Chiwetel Ejiofor, who last night won the Laurence Olivier award for best actor.
Chiwetel has been excellent in everything I have seen him in and especially in Children of Men - my favourite film of 2007.
Truth [...]
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5:19
From: Mshairi
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A scholar asked a boatman to row him across the river
The journey being long the scholar begun to blather
“Mr. Boatman,” he called out, “Let’s have a conversation.”
Self-serving and pompous he asked in eager anticipation
“Eh, Mr. Boatman, ever read poetry or erudite epics
Or sat down to study grammar and learn phonetics”
“No, I never did [...]
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6:57
From: Mshairi
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On International Women of Colour Day, I celebrate by highlighting the work of Magdalene Odundo, Professor of Ceramics at the University College for the Creative Arts.
I cherish the memory of a workshop I attended where Magdalene, soft spoken and charming, presented her work. We, the audience, gave a collective gasp of awe and admiration as [...]
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5:57
From: Mshairi
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It has been interesting to read the controversy regarding Jane Fonda’s recent use of the C-Word on telly in America while discussing the V Monologues with the author, Eve Ensler.
My late grandfather regularly insulted us - his granddaughters - using the Gikuyu translation of the word. The Gikuyu version sounds 10008 million times worse [...]
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6:53
From: Mshairi
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Moved on
Did you think I would languish
Heartsick and broken
When you said it was all over
You needed to move on
Did you think I would bore my friends
With tales of you
On the telephone all the time
When you said I was cramping your style
Holding you back
Did you think I would curl up and die
Listen to Billie Holliday
All day [...]
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0:24
From: Mshairi
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The UK government is planning to re-introduce the ‘sus’ law which allows police to stop and search people at random. The move, apparently, is an attempt to bring down the knife and gun crime numbers on London’s streets.
Along the years, the overwhelming majority of people stopped have been from black and ethnic minorities while [...]
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4:57
From: Mshairi
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This is the house that hate built
This is the rock
That lay in the house that hate built.
This is the boy
That threw the rock
That lay in the house that hate built.
This is the machete
That killed the boy
That threw the rock
That lay in the house that hate built.
This is the man
That used the machete
That killed the boy
That [...]
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0:56
From: Mshairi
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we hear a woman’s raped every
30 minutes this fact needs to be
adjusted as 56 & more
many more were assaulted
inside the first 2 days of
premeditated brutality
of the elephants’ skirmish
their bodies are the frontline
where foes are belittled
& age-old grudges viciously settled
meanwhile rallies sermonise
peacemakers negotiate &
dealmakers mediate
they play the blame game who instigated
what who killed whom [...]
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17:55
From: Mshairi
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I dreamed of death last night
Chaotically strewn corpses
Decomposing body parts
I dreamed of death last night
My mind buzzed ceaselessly
Befuddled by the sickening reek of death
I dreamed of death last night
With a requiem my heart awoke battered &
Frayed & welcomed me to
The eighth circle of hell
Where death and life are as one
Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy
I [...]
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17:52
From: Mshairi
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Intoxicated by a fleeting madness
A triumphant thrill courses through his veins
Ears deaf to the wails of desperation
Eyes blind to the sight of destruction
He hurls the child back inside the blazing church
Without a backward glance he walks away
Blood lust sated
Will he sleep that night?
Will he dream that night?
Will he dream of victory
Of vanquished enemies
The stench of [...]
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17:49
From: Mshairi
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This is the time
This is the time of the whirlwind
The coming of uncertainty
The establishment of arrogance
The occurrence of intransigence
The naming of indifference
The institution of the indefinite
The creation of the unknown
This is the time of turmoil
The beginning of the end?
kenyaelection07+poetry
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5:59
From: Mshairi
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 Celebrating Women Musicians from South America
Today is International Women’s Day (IWD).This day recognises the struggle by women to eradicate the cultural, legal and political obstacles that stop them from attaining economic independence and that create an unequal gender status quo. In addition, the day celebrates the progress of women throughout the world despite the limitations imposed upon them.
As with every IWD, the list of women one would like to honour and celebrate and who are an inspiration is an ever lengthening one. This list would be extremely long as one would be duty bound to mention all the women, famous or unknown, working to make a difference.
Nonetheless, as with every IWD, my list, were I to produce it, would include some regulars as I would include my mother, my wonderful sisters (both biological and non-biological), peace activists, law makers, Nobel laureates, leaders, lecturers and professors, writers and poets and not forgetting women bloggers and my online support network - the indefatigable group that supports me when I am faced with misogynists.
During last year’s IWD, my focus was on celebrating African women’s musicians. The magnificent divas who have managed to achieve world class fame and recognition in face of adversity through their talent and sheer hard work.
Continuing on the theme of music and musicians as the arts are very close to my heart, I want to focus on three women musicians of African descent from South America or the Latin world. These women’s ancestry is partly or wholly African - a fact that is acknowledged and splendidly reflected in their music. They too have had to overcome hardship. As Virginia Rodrigues (see below) said at the start of her career: “I have three strikes against me: I’m a woman, I’m black and I’m poor.”
These women truly make up the soundtrack of my life and the lives of many people as their songs encompass universal themes such as love, joy, life, sorrow, struggle, etc. Additionally and more important, the women are exceptionally talented and their music superb and superlative.
(more…)
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3:45
From: Mshairi
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An unexpected hitch has arisen leading to KenyaUnlimited, the home of the Kenyan Blogs Webring, going offline for a couple of days.
We hope to back online as soon as is possible.
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18:00
From: Mshairi
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As night deepens, thrilled we stand in wonder
in awe, a crystalline sky a mantle of stars.
Spectacularly ascending over the surface
the moon regally glides over earth’s shade
little by little, once a crescent then engulfed
we marvel at moonlight’s luminosity loss. A
lingering darkening an effervescent cerise glow
vivid hues of gray and orange. Heads and minds
uplifted we lose perspective as we gaze too
long at cosmic splendour. Tender hearts souls
yearning in solitude
mortified by our inconsequence
astounded by divine magnificence.
Images of the lunar eclipse, March 3-4, 2007 via the BBC. Image above - Francis Williamson, image below - Matt Ohman.
Other amazing images here
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3:59
From: Mshairi
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I am not racist; I can assert to the highest degree
some of my best friends are black so how can I be?
I am not racist, non-white people fill my work place
yellow, red and of course, the black race
I am not racist; you must see this isn’t an attack
after all, my boyfriend is black
I am not racist but it really is just a question of reality
black people simply have a different mentality
I am not racist, I had just gotten on stage
was heckled, took it badly and went into a rage
I am not racist but why do blacks sometimes act so odd
why are they always so slipshod?
I am not racist, racism is a common malaise
and we are all racist in many ways
I am not racist, together with their sporting agility
I admire black people’s natural musical ability
I am not racist! I am not being nasty or even unkind
I am just outspoken and like to speak my mind
I am not a racialist; another word I’ve noticed
is that different from being a racist?
I am not racist but…
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4:59
From: Mshairi
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In early January, I received an e-mail from a man, Mr. Pierre, who wrote to say he was the artistic agent of Florence Béal-Nénakwé, an ‘artist-painter who paints the reminiscences of the African childhood’. He also told me that Florence Béal-Nénakwé ‘paints of oil on canvas, in all vibrations as well as in the field of form as of the chromatic range’. He finished by telling me, rather charmingly I thought, that he was inviting me to ‘divide and discover her artworks and her African imaginary’.
Subsequent e-mails to discover what he meant when he asked me to ‘divide’ remain unanswered.
As Mr. Pierre did not provide any other information on Florence Béal-Nénakwé, I undertook a Google search and found that Florence Béal-Nénakwé is a cubist artist from Cameroon and has exhibited her work quite widely. I also found the information below from this website.
Confirming her African roots through her art, the artist Florence Beal-Nenakwe paints recollections of her Cameroonian childhood. Entirely self-taught, she brings us a picture rich in colour, the inner energy alone linked to her native Cameroon and to her personal life enables her to project this gaiety and hope on canvas. Going from exhibition to exhibition since 1996, she displays her canvases and shares a message of tolerance and acceptance of the difference in the physical or in forms.
I did ‘discover’ Florence Béal-Nénakwé’s artworks as Mr. Pierre had thoughtfully provided the artist’s website.
I love the bright, vivid colours which remind me of the colours you see on a Sunday morning in Africa when people are dressed in their best church-going clothes. I am also intrigued by the messages and stories to be found in different layers when one spends time looking at the artwork.
The paintings below are my favourites.
African carnival
(more…)
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