An honest examination of the african

[Type R]

Originally Posted by jackofhearts

Whatever. A.M's my homegirl, she's retaliating at you for calling me a nerd. She gets that I'm the white hotness.

I am seriously thinking of applying to join the White Race. Where do I find application forms? What is the application fee? Processing time? I'd like to start rehearsing the Pledge of Allegiance -- direct me to a good site where I can find it..

Jack out...this thread is for my learnin', not participatin'.

It seems that we now have a "white guests only" thread now?

Hilarious!

[Realistik Dreamer]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by A.M Nafusi

We have blamed the European for our problems for long. Now, i want us to honestly examine ourselves, we Africans. Time to stop the romantic delusions.
Are we that progressive?

We have to define what we mean by progressive. Alot of African people resent the communal thinking of Africans. So they think "making it" is the individual Economic Man that the west has adopted.

Its not easy because the communal thinking in Africa if genuine is based on reciprocity/give a little, take a little.

This system has been messed up because our economic systems are corrupted by our leaders. By us. So now instead of reciprocity we have people who have and most who are unable/disempowered to help much due to harsh economic constraints. Of course I speak generally because even if one has millions he can still get help from those with none.

How is it that barely 100 yrs ago if a child lost his parents he would still have family but now even a child with both parents alive is thrown outin the streets to fend for himself. In "modern developing" Africa?

Was our communalism primitive, terrible incompatible with "development" Progress?

What is progress, development? If we answer these then maybe we can see what rubbish we Africans have within us that we must discard. Perhaps its more of adjusting?

Our ruling classes in Africa prefer to steal everything and the masses to suck up to them. What a bunch of sad miserable rulers these!


On the other hand the individualistic efficient economic man of the west when adopted by Africans leads to pure misery. After one is worn out with the consumerism and bling bling exposure-you are left with that showiness as your sole purpose and a fundamental loneliness. Very unAfrican/human. There is so much mongering and "intelligent, opinionated" talk on African culture being stifling-wanting to own the individual.

By Africans themselves as they absorb the neo-conservative, neo-liberal, individualistic bosh of western thought. As if it is perfect.


We all know that a big number of people in the west despite of their creature comforts are on medication to fight depression. A number of Africans into this lifestyle are joining them.

So what I am saying is African Communalism has been bastardized and we who criticize it need to understand how we can adopt it to modern times.

And My friend Nyamwaya from Kisii amuses me everytime she tells of her visits back to their ancestral home. Her father stands them outside a hotel room and says; 'you see those mountains over there, that is your grandparents place. But we can not go there'. It is witchcraft heaven.

There is no stronger, powerful belief than the belief based on fear.

So Africans have had this witchcraft nonsense and as you say, western education did not scrap that fear of being given the evil eye from our parents' generation. And many youth even now.

Let us also keep in mind that the arabs & europeans came with their torridly fearsome tales of hot hell. So every culture has had silly superstitions. Thats life. Ignorance.

This is why when we say African spirituality we are talking about yanking out even our own silly jokes invented by some of us in ancienttimes-rather than adopting tat & nonsense from Arabia & Rome/jeruslem.

We Africans reserve the right to modify/revise our ideas to reflect reality in modern times.

Just like the europeans hardly believe in literal hell or heaven today.

Did the European teach the African this jealous too?

No. What they did cleverly was divide and rule. Read more on a devil called Captain Lugard who was rewarded by his ugly queen Victoria (why that lake still bears her name is beyond me Africans!) for his devious tactics all over the place especially Nigeria. Divide and rule was very scientific.


Look at what happened in Rwanda. Again fueled by Belgian colonial Legacy.

Having said this-we Africans are prone to pettiness I think because we dont know the facts. Our educational systems in Africa and diaspora do not CONNECT US FUNDAMENTALLY.

At the end of the day it is a scientific fact that Africans are interrelated in a bloody mix left, right & centre. Cultural differences came due to environment.

Eg. eastern Nairobians are fluent sheng speakers. They invented it.

Nairobian kids in westlands, kilimani etc speak mainly engsheng -a sneering mix of english & swa.

They are still Kenyans.

In come politicians & other chancers and a fire can be lit between these these two lots of Nairobian youths.

In short-we must study the simililarities rather than our differences as Africans. Both within the motherland and in diaspora.OUR COMMON SOURCE IS AFRICA.Period.

Then our stupid jealousies will be channeled in dealing with the harsh, hard, concrete fact of uneccesary BLACK AFRICAN POVERTY. Worldwide.

[That Girl]

@My buddy Jack, I can't help but notice the cold war between you n Type R. Relax...He is one of the good guys There are very few people I would vouche for in here, but Type R tops my list.

[That Girl]

@Type R, you can see me for an application Welcome Karibu! (I think I spelled it right).

[That Girl]

@RD, White people r evil, the whole world is africa, the dollar is dead, the pyramid is upside down, keep preaching

[okiedokes]

Very informative thread, Nafusi. acq, I feel you on that entitlement thing. When you call to say hello, all someone is telling you is how poor they are. I have this friend whose response to what's up is, "poor oh, poor will kill me". I kid you not. I got sick of it and cut down on the calls. Now we don't talk after she went nuts on me(i.e nasty letter) for not calling soon enough when her semi-nude photos hit the web....like I live my life following hers. I can't blame her, she calls herself a "superstar" each time she is criticised. LOL

[jasakwa]

Its traditional and it all began from family levels.In those days men were polygamous,so each wife would divide her children accordingly.The sons would often compete for attention and in the process jealousy got a chance.

After many years of repetiion th vice incypted into the genetic code of africans.It will take years to get rid of it.

[Devine]

A.M, Type R has a point. Jealousy did not start with Africans and it certainly wont end there. Cain and Abel ring a bell. While we may not go around killing each other, we are trying our best to protect the little we have but also trying to prevent others from getting what we got by throwing dead cats over the fence .

I remember when I was little watching TV in Kenya and s'one mentioned good jealousy and bad jealousy. I think you know what I'm getting at, good jealousy I'll see what you got and want to get some for myself, and you could teach me how to get it. Bad jealousy is seeing what you got and I don't want you to have it, nor will I share with you how to get what I have.

You mostly see bad jealousy in 3rd world countries or poorer parts on rich countries. I feel that we are all given a lot of potential. Smart ones know how to manouver and get out of poverty, dumb ones may be handed everything on a silver platter but squander it to nothing.

[A.M Nafusi]

@RD well said. At times i forget that u are a genius. I think the african is at cross-roads, which way to go?

@okie
after a while, it becomes very hard to communicate with such people. However much you try. They want you to be a friend to all, help all, but when something bad befalls u, they sneer and say 'she thot she knew it all'

@devine i get you. Jealousy is not bad at all, it is a human thing . However, when it spills over and retards the development of a group, it is time to deal with it. Especially that bad jealousy you mentioned. Perhaps more people, in rural africa need lessons on how to channel this feeling positively like rd has mentioned. As a teenager, it bothered me that all young girls and boys were married by the age of 14 in both my ancestral homes. Those we tried to help simply dismissed us as overgrown city sluts. Braids alone would get you branded as a slut. I do not know where yo'll originate, but where i come from, we had this thing of going to the village for xmas & easter (for me it was a nightmare, too much farm work). the people will line up to wave as you pass by. Very friendly and lovely. The next morning, about 15 will visit for a cup of tea or problems here and there. One would think; maybe if i heped them help themselves, we can be good neighbors. Nope, they are disinterested in that kind of help. One incident that stuck out of my mind was listening to a girl 3 years younger than me (i was 15, she 12), telling me confidently that she was married and very proud of it. That i was getting old in school. She already had had a miscarriage. She was married to a 15 year old who had 2 other women. i was not shocked years later when aids swept thru the village. joh, this aint a hyperbole. I believe my village is in a class of its own. here was the grand plan. Let us establish a good school in these two villages to help uplift these people. Three men got into it: get the people with the problems to be involved. We only asked for 5 kes contribution, or building materials; trees dotted over the village. Come the day of the meeting, not even the head school teacher gave the 5 bob. It was the 3 men who initiated the idea, and us who had been dragged to the event screaming and wailing (don't know of many teenagers who want to be doing such). these villagers are not exactly poor. They had a booming sugar industry to support them economically. The men spent days drinking, some sell their animals to drink not to pay 5 shillings for the school fund. Oh! they are very keen quakers, never missing the sunday service. type r, should we accept this because it is a human thing? using kenyan stats, recall that 70% of people live in rural areas, and 65% are in poverty. Those figures are probably on the higher side.

The way we operate is that we create problems and expect someone to solve them without our input. Currently, we have an org. Here in chicago that helps aids orphaned children in worst hit regions of kenya. I was going thru one district: busia. The place is devastated. When u come from a society where heads of households are 70-80 illiterate year-olds, there is a problem. The idea is to have those who are able guide these grandparents: educate and encourage. I am expecting that my fellow africans will look at it as their own problem, and while appreciating foreign help, show more committment. All i see is: we need higher pay for the volunteers, new motorbikes because the bicycles are hard to maintain, new computers the old ones are few and slow. My problem is that we hunger for things that are out of our reach, things we can not afford nor maintain instead of woking with what we have. We do not just hunger for them, we expect someone to deliver them. Ok. Maybe am being harsh but i think we need to view african problems as our issues, not anyone alse's because we create them. Take more responsibility. i will be back to whine about the failed role of those of us who shoud know better (my friedn type r is in this group:d :d ). That was for the ruralites.

[Realistik Dreamer]

You poor thing You are always wailing and moaning. Whats up with that?

Get some sunshine. Oh-and dont forget your UV sunscreen.


Silly little weasel