tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59396926530253035522024-03-14T09:13:53.786-07:00Diary of a Serial Schizo - D.of.ASSAny and everything discussed any and every way by yours truly, the Chief Chef of Mischief. Schizophrenic tendencies will emerge as I take you this way today and thatta way tomorrow. All in the times of a Serial Schizo.Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-74702357689503895562021-01-21T00:21:00.001-08:002021-01-21T00:38:29.426-08:00Crashing on Heaven's Gate: Kenya'$ Ghetto Havens<div><b>How many licks does it take till you get to the centre of the O?</b></div><div>The Art of Seduction in a world choke-fulla hubris and self driven folk geared - by self or other - towards a distinction of themselves from others based on what triggers their likes and dislikes, fannies and dicks, offense and defense, is slowly petering out into all out warfare between the sexes.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I say slowly, because fortunately, this itsy bitsy denudation and lack thereof bullshit has yet to hit your rural areas in full force. Sure, there are isolated sexists gallivanting about, usually driven by political machineries they barely understand, but most certainly will in the end. And before you agree, that means you, sexy lady making a buck stepping on everything in your path with balls, as much as it does the loud motherfucker whistling at your phat ass from across the road in his hooptie. </div><div><br></div><div>The beauty of living in what is now referred generically as the Female Genital Mutilation headquarters of the world, is that you slowly come to realize how distinct and varied our valued belief systems really were. And how there is more to culture than traditions long since obliviated by good sense. </div><div><br></div><div>You see men and women, boys II girls, all working together, tagging war and exchanging ideas, laughter, and most importantly, domestic responsibility.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Lemme see that thong?</b></div><div>See it's all push and pull, shove and plunge, give and take, in this big thing we call life. Why anybody buys into the bullshit that institutionalized the very fundaments it seems to fight profit from is beyond me. If you give it a name, then it's already won... What are you good for? </div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>Do you wanna get funky with me?</b></div><div>Religious bellies belief has bred the disbelief that belies humanity. Sit down, nun-yuh-Father's business. Religion isn't just about your sects and cults. It is a way of life that is just as soon replicated, for better or worse. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Capitalism against Socialism, Marx against America, Einstein escaping Germany, Ubuntu against Ukabila, and yes: Islam against Christianity, Catholic against everything, Protestant against good sense, and every church against Kiuna, Ng'ang'a et al.</div><div>We simply get pissed when some smart ass-wipe has the audacity to learn the ideals we call our own and make better money, dick or good pussy than we ever could doing it š°ššš±</div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>I don't want no scrubs, a scrub issa guy that can't get no love from me.</b></div><div>The late great Hip-hop god of the golden coming of age of Kenyan music says: moss, moss, polepole, haraka haraka haina baraka. He was a buccaneer at a time when it was not entirely popular to be Muslim in Kenya. He died young and fast, and that is how we like our poets and artists. Dead and gone into the K-ruptions of our loves and memories. E-sir real con, and a broken drum fool of conundrum, making art to reflect social more where none lives.</div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>Don't get mad: get even. </b></div><div>Kirk Franklin is the diva of the Afro Gospel scene, as is Mr Madea on the Afro American screens. So what if you don't like what they offer? Get up, struggle like they have, understand the basics of the systems they stride across, then bring us your high quality shite for mass production. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div>If Gengetone is a representative of society, who says slapstick isn't? Does it have to both be proper to your swaying sensibilities and sweet to your popularity for it to count as good, not great? </div><div><br></div><div>Who taught Kenyans to run so amok on our own standards that we are happy to choke each other for breakfast š„ art cafĆ© lattes? Ya leo ni leo, yalondwele sipite; accept, move the fuck on. Get even as fast as you can, coz daily bread and kids and and and...</div><div><br></div><div><b>(Puff Puff ) Pass the (couversier/Dutchie pon di left hand side #Alloftheaboveandthensomecockandtail</b></div><div>Let go of each other, watch from the sidelines as life batters us all to pulps, then whine that peepÅ« have changed, become addicts, need divine ass from distance sistances, who look you askance talking bout cancerous AIDS and disoders, for men are dogs.</div><div><br></div><div> Slap some money on the problem, make it less shameful to us, and keep it away, fattening and drooling so we can have some peace in our spaces of comfort, in the zone.</div><div><br></div><div>You reap what you sow, dear heifers and cock-and-bulls. So bathe in it and wade through the chaotic murk that we allow to fester every day. Challenge me to a dogfight, however, and know only this much: I play for the long run in a long game. Marathon your way on, sprint the fuck outta dodge, I'ma just walk at my own pace, and rhythmically rhyming balance, to my chosen destination.</div><div><br></div><div>Fortunately, you have the same options I did:</div><div><br></div><div>Death after decay.</div><div> Or decay after death?<br></div><div><br></div><div><b>It's driving me outta my mind ...never trust a big butt and a smile. </b></div><div><i>If I were you I'd take precaution.</i></div><div>Scheme as we may, and we will have to, the endgame is simple: do I play evil for good, or become evil for good? Choosing a side means learning to be fit at the art of surviving the seduction of pretense.</div><div><br></div><div>Be who you are, or nothing at all. Honest dicks and rude bitches get along swimmingly; it's your eye candy and holy Joe you've gotta watch out for. I'd much sooner vote for a Sonko in this day and age than I would a Bensouda. </div><div><br></div><div>A bad mummajumma with an attitude will 9 times outta 10 ride or die with you, if you suit her fancy as much as she suits yours. In life, love, and affairs of the mind, body, soul and beershara.</div><div><br></div><div><b><i>Conclusions? </i></b></div><div>Can't outrun Freddie when his Jason's going nowhere. So, towards that effect...</div><div><i><b>Vacancy</b></i>: now hiring Call Girl. Duties inclusive but not entirely limited to answering short calls, coz a nigga fucking tired of y'all; sounding like a pornstar, coz a nigga still wants to give you a raising rise; and miscellaneous, coz a nigga might wanna be buried next to someone, and she might as well do. And of course, she will make you feel honoured to sell me your soul, so sweet and patient and payable she is.</div><div>Ciao for now. </div><div><br></div><div>Do as I say, nut as I do š</div><div><br></div><div>Why? Butt I cunt?</div><div><br></div><div><b><u><i>Footnote</i></u></b>: Satire? Who gives a flying fuck? Coz enyewe butt me I cunt with entrĆ©es! </div><div><br></div><div>Bye for real šš±š¬š </div><div><br></div>Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-3355672193178544852015-02-13T21:59:00.000-08:002019-08-07T12:22:33.633-07:00The Poor Valentine <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Look up, dear Valentina. That means you too, Valentino.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />Those nails have seen enough polish. Get them to work. That screen, with the Persies and Drogbas and Toures innā going nowhere. You bought that recording gizmo that DSTV offers, did you not? Use it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />Go to church. Pray for a miracle. Thank God for that new car.<br /><br /><br />Consume. Thank the creator for allowing it.<br /><br /><br />Poverty begins in the mind. It springs forth, off my fatherās lack of forethought. It comes from his disregard of his duty to build upon my forefatherās simple ways, his subsistence from farm production. <br /><br /><br />Poverty is in the āmineā; in your own mine. I want. I must have. I should doās and donāts, because they asked it of me. But it does not end there.<br /><br /><br />It seeks pigeonholes. It wants company, assertion, reiterationā¦noise.<br /><br /><br />It does not want silence. It is afraid it will see right through itself. It worries that it will wonder why it spends a small companyās annual budget ā nay, its entire 5 year plan ā on a palatial room in a well-marketed castle for a dead saint. <br /><br /><br />What else could 2.4 million Kenya shillings produce?<br /><br /><br />And thereās a million voicesā¦<br /><br /><br />Poverty is in the experience, in the lack; in the lack of experience, the wastage of luckā¦ It is not original.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I want to be original; to be creative and be part of the solution. Donāt you? Of course you do. You have been asked, time and again, to be that guy; that girl.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But howā¦? <br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How do you create original solutions to a self-perpetuating problem? How do you, when that self-recycling problem raised you? Molded your every thought, every experience and wordā¦your very voice? Molded you in its own mould, molded you against that mould?<br /><br /><br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How do you tell others not to be poor, when your perception of poverty varies so often? When their happiness and your own misconceive each other, do not converge to build better for each other?<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The answer is so simple, to me, right now. Mind matters. Darkness matters, as much as the light guiding us out does. The journey, all with one accord, must matter. Divergent thought, critical, matters.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Can we not teach our children to know themselves, accept others, and tolerate only that which they must, to get where they need to be? Can we not show them that access to resources, to information, to people, matters more than that vision board with the flashing wedding lights?<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I believe that we have no option but to do just that. We have no option but to walk, we who can and believe we know how to. We will amuse some. Others will ignore us. We will face challenges. <br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Above all, we will remember that challenges are opportunities waiting to be reached for. We will constantly eat new experiences, meet new meats, and grow our reach.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We will grab the opportunities by their throat, choke our poverty into oblivion.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Only then, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">shall </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">one ably willing generation: </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">#EndPovertyInKenya.</span></div>
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Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-86152969025135750392015-01-24T23:28:00.002-08:002020-02-27T20:27:55.984-08:00Up Yours, Dear Kenyan Mangina: Go Suck a Real Dick |<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>āWomen always talking ābout what men, do, we donāt ever talk about what</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>women doā¦at least till now.ā</i></span></div>
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- Ying Yang Twins, NAGGING.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Yuh </span><a href="http://ncfm.org/2013/01/news/domestic-abuse-violence/feminist-feel-good-science-explains-domestic-violence/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">heard</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">? </span></td></tr>
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Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, you said?<br /><br /><br />Give. me. a fucking break. I will now pretend you felt the sense to see that as the exclamation - from within your own little hellās kitchen - which it truly is.<br /><br /> <br />I have been watching you, skunk. Regarding your every move with suspicion, as you waltz from convention to the next, heels held at the ready to poke out the next <b>man</b>splaining eye you meet.<br /><br /> <br />And you meet them.<br /><br /><br />Everywhere you look, you see them. You actively seek them out, your funky 3-week soggy sock attitude stinking up every space you crawl into, every hole you skunk through. Itās lonely on your side of the bed, and you take it out on every little wanker with his dick out between his hands.<br /><br /> <br />Because he is OBVIOUSLY creaming for your loins. How could he not be? Look at you and all that you 'guts going on'. Look at him as he sits and gropes and gapes at your *big brain*. <br /><br /><br />Who the fuck told Kenyan "feminists" that they could sit around and mutually masturbate, in their little regurgitating rooms, fixing their makeup just right, and proclaim a ācrisis for the mensā every two bloody <strike>cycles</strike> <strike>menstrual flows</strike> seconds? <br /><br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I know you're lying coz your lips are moving..."</i></div>
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- Meghan Trainor, Lips Are Movin'</div>
<br /><br />Who, dear little winner with the silenced little weiner, whack-slapped your little brain so far up her ass that you lap up and spit out everything she says up like the little mongrel she has made you? <br /><br /><br />Who the fuck made cuckolding mainstream? <br /><br /><br /><br />I went for the Storymoja Hay Festival last year. A <strike>mensed up</strike> bloody mess of a thing it has become lately, yet perfectly so. It is a representation of a little cosmetic cosmos we like to call a second or third cumming of the liberal Kenya. It lives in small dark "enlightened" crevices it calls *spaces* in Nairobi, arrogantly proclaiming its ignorance whenever a chance presents itself. <br /><br /><br />Now at this festival, there was perhaps no more indicative a bullshit session of Kenyaās faux liberati scum as the forum dubbed ,āThe! Future! of Men!: What is it like to be a man in Kenya today? of Men!: What is it like to be a man in Kenya today?ā <br /><br />Continues <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2015/01/up-yours-dear-kenyan-mangina-go-suck_24.html">here</a>: click at your own fucking peril</span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now at </span><a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2015/01/up-yours-dear-kenyan-mangina-go-suck.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">this</span> </a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">festival, there was perhaps no more indicative a bullshit session of Kenyaās faux liberati scum as the forum dubbed ,</span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">āThe! Future! of Men!: </b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What is it like to be a man in Kenya today? of Men!: What is it like to be a man in Kenya today?ā </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />It was moderated by the consummate prick that is Oyunga Pala, supposedly in conversation with his little big dickmate Biko Zulu, but eventually groped by the now infamous Tony Mochama.We both know you came to drool at Biko, little girl. So sad you were that he did not show, you pulled off your panties and put the roof on fire. But did not squirt it off at the end, when it really was the least you coulda done.<br /><br /><br />I will not sit here and talk about what has been extensively cataloged by every feminist blog between here and kingdom chick-bean-flicking cum. As an audience member, I did that. Internal monologues between me and myself, and later with one puny cocked weasel Yule Mbois Mndialala who thinks himself some sort of autonomous wankster god on Facebook.<br /><br /><br />The session turned out quite as I had expected. In these Kenyan *spaces,* the right to doublethink has categorically been displayed as a privilege the *mens* should ā make that capital, underlined, bold *Must* ā check. It is whipped out in such fancy colours that you, the menses, actually do. You do check these privileges your dick gave you over her pussy.<br /><br /><br />Women have been silent for so long in Kenya, the second they grow a pair of brain cells, they feel they own the privileged right to whip it out and shut you up with it.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />Who said that victims cannot be graceful victors? All I see in these streets are victims walking around either moaning about their victimized little minds, or masquerading as victors to manifest their victim mentality in every puny argument their weak ideas present: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>āmanslammingāthis, </i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>
</i></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>āmanspreadingā that, āmaninistā thisā¦ </i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>āmanspreadingā that, āmaninistā thisā¦ </i></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>[Caution: spoken with a loud curling Kilimani twang, or else...] </b></div>
<br /><br />What is it with you little bitches and your manventions? Ok, I get that you need to vent your manly frustrations, but really? You gave yourselves a label, so we need one too? Donāt we already have enough in our liquor cabinets? <br /><br /><br />Donāt you see that these one-size-fits-alls will be your undoing?<br /><br /><br />Tell me, dear little femininely shamed slut of a feminist, how when a man drinks himself silly and has his way with your tired but equally drunk hung-out-together-all-night ass, it is rape. It becomes rape when you wake up, remember your inhibitions were more than slightly off their ticking rockers, and so you could not have been in any position to give his drunken ass consent.<br /><br /><br />I will wait for you to swallow that. <br /><br /><br />As a matter of fact, I will rephrase it for your weak little bitch-fitting brain-denying cunt: he was high, his cognition holds up; you were high, yours does not. How can you turn around and look me in the eye, away from your place of invisibility, as you sing that doublethink back into my ear?<br /><br /><br />Do you even realize how vile that parseltongue is to me?</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At the <b><i>Future of Men </i></b><i>rolling in the <b>Hay</b></i> session, you and your ilk stormed the house. <br /><br /><br />Check. <br /><br /><br />You were pricked by Tony and the like. <br /><br /><br />Check. <br /><br /><br />You stormed out. <br /><br /><br />Double twice check. <br /><br /><br />So you proceeded to whip your imagined dicks off onto the mic, and refused to back down when it was your turn to. Order, dear little vadge-badge, applies to you too. <br /><br /><br />If you grab the mic off my hands because your fragile little angina tells your vagina that it needs to bring its monologue out into the public, and so fuck me as I wait for my turn to speak:<br /><br /><i><br /></i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><i><b>*you are that little mansplaining, manspreading, manslamming prick you so love to detest.*</b></i></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Start acting aware of your surroundings. Get away from your phoneās little screen and <i>tembea </i>fucking Kenya. Otherwise you will get plowed down by people who are also unaware of their surroundings. And for the life of your (un)born sons and daughters, little bitch, get a life and live it. <br /><br /><br />Screaming bloody murder and oh ānot all menā means all men, but āno means noā? <br /><br /><br />Will you stop and get a hold of your export brains before they fall completely out off your imported bra?<br /><br /><br />In closing, here are the immortal words of T.O.K., the same ones you danced your skinny ass off to before it grew fatty cellulite and made you a fat angry bitch:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>No way, Jose, we nuh go ever stay, a gurl fi know she haffi give it up</i></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
</i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>before we payā¦</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>
</i></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Coz if she donāt play, then we donāt pay!</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<br /><br />Think about that too, every time we pay your way for a lay. Because if I have to hear you claim to have more sensible investments than we do, coz you got land and shit? You and your funny nanny of a fanny will see how gaskets truly blow. <br /><br /><br />Yelling how there's a mansis up in every nigga-fucking large hall that lets you pander your Bull. How there are no men left up in this bitch.<br /><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Bring it! What? We right here, We're not going anywhere.We right here, This is ours and we don't share... We right here, Bring your crew coz we don't care...</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>- DMX, We Right Here</b></div>
<br /><br />If you can't find a good one, so you wanna whip up your own little mangina to Lorde over, get the fuck outta my way. I am human. You can take that broken groupthinking gender kaleidoscope and shove it where my sunny little dick will never shine.<br /><br /><br />And now, in true closing, I will quote my friend Smitta Smitten, the one yāall tried to smite ā all hail, ye mighty smiters ā <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>āoh dear, better legal gold than legal leadā¦n both are better than legally dead!ā</i></div>
<br /><br />Now go manfist your Audre-manifesting self or some shit. I'm out.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;">
Signed,</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b>Marquis de Sadness </b></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Member of the World Fuck You Media</i>. </div>
</span></div>
</div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-51954727441038789682015-01-15T00:00:00.001-08:002015-01-13T21:41:29.502-08:00Ghururi Ya Mutula Verdict: Itās ok NOT to mourn him - Pt 1<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Nairobi. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">30th </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">April, 2013 |</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I wrote this post in the dead of the
night, perhaps hoping that I could publish it in said ungodly hours. Partly
because my significant other, aka consort, disclosed to me how she thought my
blog was becoming rather āsuddenā lately. Translation: it has gone </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ghafla</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">. Or maybe it had something to do
with the fact that </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mheshimiwa</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Senior
Counsel (SC) Mutula Kilonzoās hardly gone cold yet, which in Kenyan and African
circles decrees that thou shalt not speak ill of him. Let alone suggest that he
not be mourned. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It also might explain why I opted out of
entitling this piece ā<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How to write about
fallen heroes</i>ā <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[though <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scumbags</i> would be the actual term I
circumvent in this case, depending on whose story youāre reading.] </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Which is precisely what I want to get
into today: the scumbag/ hero that was Mutula Kilonzo, a concept otherwise referred
to in political discourse as an āif-by-whiskey.ā This is the subjectivist
fallacy ā meaning a claim that something is true for one person but not the
other ā supposing that a response to an inquiry is contingent on how it is
made; is it made using strong negative connotations, or using strong positive undertones?
That is to say, āwas Mutula Kilonzo a scumbag?ā or āwas Mutula Kilonzo a
hero/saint?ā This is the same ideology that would have you pointed at the
MAUMAU* or South Africaās ANC (African National Congress) as terrorists on the
one hand, and freedom fighters on the other. Ditto the Taliban, the Afghan
Mujahedeen, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabiaā¦oh, sod it! the Middle East.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The same creed can be applied in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">doublespeak</i>, thereby seeming to assert
both faces of the matter at hand, and acting on the listenerās subjectivity to
concur with whichever part he or she supports. In essence, when well-executed,
the if-by-whiskey allows skilled politicians to take a position without taking
it. Listen to Obama often and youāll pick up on this nifty little trick.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In its original context, the
if-by-whiskey draws this name from a speech delivered during a trial in 50s
America, as to whether alcoholic beverages should continue to be forbidden or
legalized. In essence, it was a reversal of Kenyaās <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mututho Laws, </i>seeing as liquor was illegal, and the lawyer who made
the speech was looking to <a href="http://grammar.about.com/b/2007/07/25/euphemisms-dysphemisms-and-distinctio-soggy-sweats-whiskey-speech.htm"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">have it authorized</span></a>:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ā</span></b></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">My friends, I had
not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time.
However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I
will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with
controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right,
here is how I feel about whiskey:</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">If when you say whiskey you mean the
devilās brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence,
dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally
takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink
that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous,
gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame
and helplessness, then certainly I am against it.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">But, if when you say whiskey you mean
the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when
good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on
their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean
Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the
old gentlemanās step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which
enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for
a little while, lifeās great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you
mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of
dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled
children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build
highways and hospitals and schools; then I am certainly for it.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">This is my stand. I will not retreat
from it. I will not compromise.</span></span><span class="usercontent"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ā</span></b></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Noah āSoggyā Sweat, Jr., lawyer, State
of Mississippi</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Now, letās ignore the obvious
political incorrectness of some bits and pieces of the speech ā it was, after all,
1952; blacks and women still had no tangible rights in the good old US of A.
The 19<sup>th</sup> Amendment to the US constitution, establishing womenās
suffrage in 1920, was still in its youth, and it would be another 13 years
before the Voting Rights Act outlawed the prejudiced practices accountable for
the pervasive disenfranchisement of āniggers.ā All that overlooked, was that a
great speech or what? It had everything so well orchestrated and maneuvered
that I could picture the jury nodding in agreement. As were you, possibly, and
I, certainly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Remember how I mentioned </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">the listenerās
subjectivity, though? Well it would seem that ā</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">when [the jury]
said whiskey [they meant] the devilās brew . . . that topples the Christian man
and woman from the pinnacle of righteous[ness]ā and not āthe ale that puts a
song in their hearts and laughter on [good fellowsā] lips.ā It would be a long
14 year wait before this legislation came to pass.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">I hear you want to think, āWhy the
extended analogy?ā Well, hereās why:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Itās an analogy from the legal canons,
for one, one that fits SC Mutulaās first love, one that he so thrived in.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">It allows me to make use of my
āif-by-Mutulaā relativist fallacy.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Now if-by-Mutula you mean ā</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">the dead
object that does not agree with my living spirits,ā the University of Nairobi
lawyer who persecuted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">innocent</i>
āstudent leaders who served a decade or so ago at the height of Moi's KANU
rule,ā</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
arguing that they should be suspended for 55 years; if-by-Mutula you mean the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scumbag</i> who ā</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">spent the
better part of his illustrious career entrenching the skunk that today pervades
so many sectors in the Governance of Kenya,</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ā minting his firm
billions while at it, or the ā</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">late newcomer in the reform process who
was part of the brains that negotiated a heavily imbalanced power-sharing
accord leading to a rancorous Grand Coalition Government in which he was rewarded
with a ministerial position;</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ā if-by-Mutula you mean the man who ā</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">was very much
a pro-establishment intellectual care-giver,ā the man who, had he āchosen to
advance the rule of law and positive jurisprudence on certain cases in this
countryās history, Kenya would have made massive leaps in the manner those in
government handle public properties and human rights,ā then āin all fairness,
let those who mourn him wipe their tears in somber ululations, but let those of
us denied the luxury of shedding crocodile tears by knowledge and appreciation
of the checkered past of the fallen legislator toss champagne (if you can
afford it) and breathe a sigh of democratic relief, knowing so well that nature
has rebalanced the earth.ā </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">If-by-Mutula you refer to this despicable man, then
āas to whether he deserves to be remembered as a reformist, I leave such
niceties to his pack of irrational mourners, and people who lack the core to
put his past in the political context it belongs,ā because āthis is a sad week
with spasms of celebration by true revolutionaries, and as they say at the
University, "a comrade is always right"!ā If this be your Mutula, </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">then like my Alma
mater comrade and Facebook friend <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/04/mourning-kilonzo-this-is-how-i-see-it.html"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Dikembe Disembe</span></a>, quoted extensively in the last two
paragraphs, </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">āI
will not mourn Mutula Kilonzo. Period.ā I acknowledge that āit </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">is indeed
shocking that I remain indifferent even as the "country as a whole"
is engaged in mourning,ā</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> and I will accept the insults ensuing
from the partisanship inspired by my labeling him thus</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/04/ghururi-ya-mutula-verdict-its-ok-not-to_30.html" style="color: #9fc5e8;">Continue to part II</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>* MAUMAU</b> - <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mzungu Aende Ulaya, Mwafrika Apate Uhuru, literally translates from Swahili to White Man Goes [back] Abroad, African Gains Independence. Note how MAUMAU sounds waaaay cooler than WMGAAGI. It was the freedom fighter/terrorist organization that fiercely opposed British rule in Kenya.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-75343033291136184572015-01-15T00:00:00.000-08:002015-01-13T21:38:23.198-08:00Ghururi Ya Mutula Verdict: Itās ok NOT to mourn him - Pt 2<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="usercontent"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Continues from <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/04/ghururi-ya-mutula-verdict-its-ok-not-to.html"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">part I</span></a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">But if-by-Mutula you mean ā</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">the consummate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wanjikus' Katiba</i> (Kenyaās constitution)
and rights advocate and defender of recent years,ā a man whose mantra can be
equated to </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">āthou shalt not kill nor sit in the council of conspirators
planning the death of another man;ā if-by-Mutula you mean the defender of the justice
system so rigorous he believed that āour duty is not to do justice; the
fundamental duty of a criminal defense lawyer is to zealously represent his
client within the bounds of the law, and to defend the justice system which is
hinged on the principle that no man shall be found guilty of a criminal offense
unless the prosecutor proves his case beyond any reasonable doubt;ā the man who
believed that āto do otherwise would be to invite anarchy in the justice
system,ā because āmany innocent people may be condemned to death or
imprisonment if the standard of proof was to be lowered below "any
reasonable doubt," and would advice that āin contrast, the duty of a
prosecutor is not to simply prosecute, but to do justice.ā </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> If-by-Mutula you
mean the āvintageā legal mind āunder whose able tutelageā his daughter, Kethi
Kilonzo, āmany years later had the audacity to stand in court and pursue what
her father opposed in 1992 and 1997: the petitioners' case to have the results
of a presidential election annulled on the basis of "glaring electoral
malpractices";ā one in whom the law coursed his veins so much that āas a
defense lawyer in a criminal case he would, as required, discredit the
witnesses, facts, assertions, evidence, or whatever the prosecutor presents
against his client, "within the bounds of the law", even though he
may know or believe it to be truthful or accurate,ā and dutifully āpresent any
viable defense, no matter his personal feelings about its true merit;ā
if-by-Mutula you mean the defense lawyer who would we never knowingly present
false testimony, but would use true testimony to whatever benefit he could for
his client, no matter how horrific the crime or evil the defendant,ā because āfactual
guilt plays no role whatsoever in the duty of a defense lawyer to zealously
defend his client, and there should never be a moral dilemma once a lawyer
assumes the duty to defend.ā </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">If-by-Mutula you talk of the defense lawyer whose
ābrief was to use whatever tools were available under the law to obtain an
acquittal, dismissal or the best possible outcome, whether based upon fact or
law, whether capitalizing on a tactical error by the prosecution or advantage
offered to the defense,ā and whose āfunction as such was not to judge, or
impose his sensibilities or morality, but to defend his client,ā because āthat
is as it should always be if the justice system is to have any credibility,ā
then by all means, like this separation of law from moral dilemma quoted
extensively from <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-complete-post-from-wanjiku.html"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Wanjiku Revolution Kenyaās pos</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">t</span></a>, I too āhope that as we
prepare to inter the bones of Snr. Counsel Mutula Kilonzo, we will understand
his roles during the KANU days and in the recent years. That he was simply a
good lawyer, who did his duty according to his education and training. And so</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> <span class="textexposedshow">may the Lord
rest his soul in eternal peace!ā</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Yet
like @WanjikuRevolt goes on to ask, āhow can </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">we reconcile
ourselves with Mutula the tax evader who earned over 1 billion from a single
case</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
representing a Wanjiku tax-/pensions-funded institution?ā </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And right here is where the entire
fallacy falls apart. In the past 15 months, Kenya has seen 4 high-profile
politicians perish, among them John Michuki, Njenga Karume, former Vice
President (VP) George Saitoti, and now Mutula Kilonzo. The first two died
naturally, a cardiac arrest and cancer respectively cancelling them out rather
quietly. The last two, however, died rather mysteriously, with the former VP ā
then Internal Security Minister ā and his then assistant minister Orwa Ojode,
crashing and burning in a contentious helicopter āaccident.ā</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Now a lot has been said about these four
men, and particularly about how they acquired their vast wealth; I will not
delve into that. Even more has been said about their double-edged political
personalities, pro-status quo before the end of Moiās era, yet somewhat
effective and ineffectual in almost equal measure during Master Kibakiās reign.
I will avoid getting sucked into that easy wormhole just as well. What is more
interesting to me is the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and
their equally very dead compatriots; that these 4 āGood, Bad & Uglyā men
have been more equal in mourning than the 1000+ who died in the 2007/08 Post
Election Violence (PEV); that they deserved multi page-spreading obituaries and
state-funded ads reminding us that they have died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never mind the little ignominious detail that
the families which survived them have more money to better lick their wounds
with than the 600k+ who survived PEV, but died as citizens to be reborn as
refugees in their own land (IDPs). </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A sickening development I noticed on my
Social Media timelines was the prevalence of universal condolence messages to
Mutulaās bereaved from Kambas and Luos, while Kikuyus and their consorts seemed
universally cynical. I feel the need to remind you of your lanes, people. You
belong in that lower echelon of many that died during the PEV and went by
unnoticed. Not in the upper stratum of creamed crops whose death becomes a
national event and tragedy.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="usercontent"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One death is a tragedy; the death of a million
is a statistic </span></b></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 220.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> ā<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Joseph Stalin </span></span></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The Kikuyu and the Kamba have, in my
mind, coexisted rather well in the past, and it was only in the run-in to the
elections that there emerged differences. How reconcilable is yet to be seen,
but it was rather telling that old Kikuyu people I know, for the first time in
my life, shared the little-known āfactā that the Kamba were <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the
most ruthless</i></b> Home Guards during the colonial Emergency period. That
may well be so, and the fact that the Kamba collaborated with the British is
hardly a secret. Neither is the fact that some of the most rewarded
collaborators were from the Kikuyu community. That it was used as a deriding
fact to demonstrate the general population of our Kamba peopleās affinity to
ācollaborate with the oppressors,ā or cross over to the dark side, if you like,
was rather telling of my peopleās contentment to subsist upon a microcosm of
the crutches of the very same dirty tribal linen that so paralyses them.</span></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When the news, quickly captured in images
distributed transversally on Social Media, that Kalonzo Musyoka had broken down
as he relayed the news of Mutula Kilonzoās death to the people gathered at the
funeral he was attending when he received the news, the first responders
disparaging his act as a campaign maneuver were from my tribe. Now Iām not one
to rush into the defense of ANY politicianās intentions, and certainly not one
as convoluted by double standards as the former Vice President. I am equally
not one, however, to let tribal bigotry ā however nuanced ā simply slide.</span></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Mutula Kilonzo admittedly separated
ethics and emotion from his practice of law in life; in death, we should not be
expected to be ethical or emotional in our analysis of his passing either. But
we should be logical. No one man is all good or all bad: he defended the
despotic Moi and made a trailer-load of money while at it, but was instrumental
in the constitutional reforms, and depending on who you choose to believe, was
a humanitarian ā a Rotarian ā with the reform agenda etched deeper in his heart
than any of our remaining crop of August House(s) bosses. </span></span><br />
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></span>
<span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Not only is it ok, however, NOT to mourn him. It is also in one fell swoop ethical, legal and hardly a moral dilemma NOT to. It's a choice, like everything else.</span></span>Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-19590584535077769992014-12-27T07:45:00.002-08:002014-12-27T08:43:59.540-08:00Why You Need an Insecure Woman in Your Bed<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because <span style="font-size: large;">pussy</span>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Plain good old Hawaiian <i>punani</i>, coochie, cunt, whatever the fuck you wanna call it. And lots of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In fact, I was gonna tell you why you should date insecure women, but then...date? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why the fuck would you wanna do that to yourself? You cannot possibly think, my nigga, that you have what it takes, should have what it takes, to deal with her demented assortment of fractured battered esteem issues.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you do, even think you do, <i><b>shurrup! </b></i>and take a seat. This first lesson is free, save for that glass of whisky you need to walk out and acquire - go all G4S a bank if you must - to properly digest this here wisdom a brother's laying on you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right now. Go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Seriously. Go fill it up. I'll wait. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">______________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now that we have your inebriating attention, why insecure women? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well for one, she doesn't have an opinion. Even when she develops a brain and grows a voice, she keeps both to herself. The ideal woman. On occasion she shares them with her friends Udaku and Lil Yule Spreader. But not you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Idyllic? Of course. She will never once say no, for one. When you want <b><i>it</i></b>, she knows to want <i><b>it</b></i> too. Like a scene from your favourite porn flick, she will do whatever you want, her face revealing absolutely nothing on just how much she doesn't wanna be there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why? Because she has a pathological need to be needed, that's why. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, for those rare moments where the parallax error her height disadvantage on you allows her to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">think herself your equal, to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">look you in the eye - <b><i>doh!</i></b> - a few items for your arsenal will hereby be enumerated...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. <b>A devil of a tongue</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This asset will, like an assegai, allow you to take a stab at her bag full of inadequacies - which she conveniently reveals as you court her. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like an assegai, it will allow you to be close enough to pick up her pieces and piledrive her to bed in a flash. Instances where this is effective include, but are not restricted to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It's easy to see why he left/ beat/ cheated on you."</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I gave up on so many other options to be with you."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And a personal favourite:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Don't start your usual pouting. I can't stand that cry-baby shit."</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. <b>A fist</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VTRGn0mJAlSL-pKfYWohSe1UeCzpL51TbPdQ6ezMJ_pd5-KtVqc6WNnE3pkV1VAOE9b2bEzUmyYvS0mgwNDREmZY9ToEnIRC5VDYhoveKC0NAsU5ul5FzRgB0UFIKccITA5cPNB9khLo/s1600/SAFEHOUSE-400x381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VTRGn0mJAlSL-pKfYWohSe1UeCzpL51TbPdQ6ezMJ_pd5-KtVqc6WNnE3pkV1VAOE9b2bEzUmyYvS0mgwNDREmZY9ToEnIRC5VDYhoveKC0NAsU5ul5FzRgB0UFIKccITA5cPNB9khLo/s1600/SAFEHOUSE-400x381.jpg" height="380" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This one is not as important as the latter. For one, this one can land you in a cell. Losing you her pussy in the progress. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But who are we kidding; men get away with rape, stripping and defiling young slits before dumping them in latrines like the poop they are. So save the fist for a rainy day, when you need a sparring partner who returns no punches (coz What Would Jesus Do?) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jail cells are for murder here, occasionally, and chicken thieves. Not violators in the sacrosanctness of blissful houses. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, this little bit of ammo is not entirely as ironclad as the tongue. Women have been taught that physical violence is a no-no, so her latent brain may at some point pick up on that bit of annoying man-hating feminist noise. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And? You lose her pussy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3. <b>An apology</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can hear you scoff, nigga. Take a sippy, lad because </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">when it comes to apologies, you will want to be as choice and rare as her force of will is. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the immortal words of Usher - a god of pussy ways himself - <i>she came to give it to you</i>. <i>It ain't what you do, it's what you do it like</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This one can only </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">be</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> best illustrated with a case scenario. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Say she comes to a party with <i>just a </i><b>male </b><i>friend</i>. You need to assert your authority over that piece of ass you call yours. Property rights and that jazz. You need to, in no uncertain terms, use that snake of a tongue to backlash her into submission about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now - and this is the important bit so put that glass down - when the tables turn, cue the apology. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Say she complains when you:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">a) make her walk/ drive you all the way to a club, </span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">b) leave her at the entrance and tell her to make her way home, </span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">c) and proceed to waltz into the club to catch pints with two female workmates,</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">d) thereby making her cry all the way home;</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">say that you are sorry. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When she points out how you acted when it was her with <i>just-a-friendly</i> guy, tell her that you understand, and that you are sorry she felt the need to cry about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It ain't what you say. It's what you say it like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27f7yR6VpI6NpNH6y_VRq7cbbO4KK3zeeAwcBogZK0aCWdY2zb23MreM9dzK_9xCdmtd8WQn11UR59JY90D9jr1y3RMHBrRieHSD4jrKwIOXhONSBw7_9AD68cLKlQl96G2Ru5eNq4bw-/s1600/Jin-e_Udo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27f7yR6VpI6NpNH6y_VRq7cbbO4KK3zeeAwcBogZK0aCWdY2zb23MreM9dzK_9xCdmtd8WQn11UR59JY90D9jr1y3RMHBrRieHSD4jrKwIOXhONSBw7_9AD68cLKlQl96G2Ru5eNq4bw-/s1600/Jin-e_Udo.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After all, she needs your affirmation like a fat kid loves cake. She ain't going nowhere. Remember how I said you would get <b>lots </b>of pussy? Well, apply these steps and you need no more resolutions in 2015. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because you will have a lot of her pussy this way, those two work colleagues', and at the end of it all, whatever she says you can throw back at her. You don't even need to hide your passwords and phone and shit. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Show her what you are doing and she will still cling on to you for dear breath. Fuck her best friend, hell, the one chick whose sight she cannot stand even - she will stay right there, loyal. Fuck what Chris Brown says about it. Fuck her after a particularly lovely date with a chick who did not put out, because blueballs sting...and she is always available.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At this point, grasshopper, you will be thinking about karma. Nope. She is not real, ergo no bitch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Your life is what you make of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would rather be ScarJo watching Timberlake whine like a little bitch about <i>what goes</i> <i>around </i>coming <i>back around</i>. Coz YOLO. Who cares if the car crashes at the end of the scene and you, ScarJo, die? Who says that shit has anything to do with anything?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltPlgHcxLmG58Ob5oR0cxZ_aLDhULC7EfToUm629olrCixlLk-p2cLZ1iUc2l3-m4_Ril6zr5nyHg-txzu5Hf1KGBsBbIgScpThFjVsD5na8n8FYBwTXDMxYf4TaS43hF20WH-LIh-eYT/s1600/jessica-biel-scarlett-johansson-doodle-wenn-ivan-nikolov-wenn20003094__oPt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltPlgHcxLmG58Ob5oR0cxZ_aLDhULC7EfToUm629olrCixlLk-p2cLZ1iUc2l3-m4_Ril6zr5nyHg-txzu5Hf1KGBsBbIgScpThFjVsD5na8n8FYBwTXDMxYf4TaS43hF20WH-LIh-eYT/s1600/jessica-biel-scarlett-johansson-doodle-wenn-ivan-nikolov-wenn20003094__oPt.jpg" height="400" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wouldn't you wanna be her too?</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What women want: a man who is rugged,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">likes the outdoors, likes meeting new</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">people, is determined, always takes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">control and is not afraid to take risks.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So there; the perfect man, according to</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">women, is a Serial killer.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">|</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Waga Odongo</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Verdict: If you get her to love you, it doesn't matter what you do; she will learn to like it all.</span>Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-7067150782470005792014-12-03T23:13:00.001-08:002014-12-24T22:10:23.140-08:00Under the Starless Waters of My Mind: A Sob Story <div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I haven't taken a shower in a month; haven't had a hot meal in two. I live on a patch of sponge I never leave, that has seen better creatures than I; pathogens I fear are more authentic than my pathological self-deception has felt in ages. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I haven't worn clean clothes in months, couldn't be bothered to wash any this past half year. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And no I am not. At least in the sense that I live in a house, I am not homeless. Not any more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The same cannot be said for my homeless heart. It cannot be said for the war raging in my mind-fields, the running battles of my sanity. It cannot be said for this crippling feeling creeping through my bloodstream from all the cold side-glances and death stares; all the stink eyes I feel these imagined stinkers training on my back. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I used to love writing. Reading brought me joys like no other form of pastime ever could. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Literature was the one tonic I had on standby to defuse the toxic mines that often waylay my mind.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">"[N]ow my heart stumbles on things I don't know. My weakness I feel I must finally show..."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Mumford & Sons, Awake My Soul.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Lately, and lately is perhaps a safe word, I find myself at a loss. It's not so much what to read or write; I have </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">at my disposal</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"> more books than I could ever make it through in a lifetime, and a few more lifetimes worth of writing I could put my quill to.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">It's the whys and wherefores that escape me. Reading, and indeed writing, has lost its taste in me.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Am I saying anything different from what's out there? Is anyone? Better yet, is any of what's already out here, what's sensible and sensitive at least -- be it my own or otherwise -- proving at all effective?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Yet there's always more to it. It's never quite as simple as that. It's not that I am never happy even at my most depressed. The real challenge is always in staying happy. Not finding a reason to smile, but finding reason in a smile. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">At my most manic, the conflict that becomes of the contradictions we come to naturalize into our convictions barely fazes me. My days are spent vigorously moving forward, sailing over depressive interlude after the next. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">These contradictions are relentless, though. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">With every mile I run the steeplechase</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">, they hoist the barrier a notch higher, and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">I</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"> begin to sense that I will </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">eventually land face first into the water jump passage.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">"Under the water you scream so loud but the silence surrounds you..."</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Justin Timberlake, Blue Ocean Floor.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet that knowledge, knowing how close my hand is to the self-destruct buzzer, does little to stop its eventuality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gradually it becomes </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">inevitable.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Pretty soon m</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">y revolving door of hobbies hinges on sleeping and disappointing everyone close to me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Disappointing myself is the only job I seem to excel at.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For a few days I will try, in vain appreciation of what's coming, to steady the ship. Or at least, to not rock the boat. Guilt-riddled days turn into seeking nights, finding precious if short-lived pleasures in the escape of silent apathy a good Series provides. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then another. Just one more episode...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Night turns to day as avoidance becomes an effortless art. My tethered mind is now vast uncharted territory, fast emptying of all hope. It's such a big place; spacious rooms infinitely supplied with shame and regret. I tell myself that if I can hold fast to my steadfast passions then we won't get lost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Only the colour fades off them too, and they no longer stand unwavering in deep seated support of my sundered soul. Questions replace certainties in my resolve of who I am; doubt clouds my conviction in what I believe; deep down I feel broken, disconnected, defective - surrounded by the happy continuous illusory perfection of friend and foe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ridiculous, I should know, these thoughts. I have known. I want to get back to knowing, for the life of me. Perhaps it's time to take that pill, lull the good with the bad altogether and just be 'normal.' Just perhaps, I need it more than I need my personality untamed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Independently shackled. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Untainted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Blemished. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Or do I?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">" I need freedom now, I need to know how to live my life as it's meant to be..."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mumford & Sons, The Cave.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfGujXQV3pqNPr8BNlpAlTtGO6P_URD4ELprbRNm62kUbmAhx2W8YaFcWpXbrBtfA9FoZJwcD5SOdIq0SDDcsVrjvQX4vZMos1NNXGJnDgRWFPERwjqFJTxs87d2or3fZ8YUIqvNz2UrZ/s1600/o-ROBOT-HUGS-570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfGujXQV3pqNPr8BNlpAlTtGO6P_URD4ELprbRNm62kUbmAhx2W8YaFcWpXbrBtfA9FoZJwcD5SOdIq0SDDcsVrjvQX4vZMos1NNXGJnDgRWFPERwjqFJTxs87d2or3fZ8YUIqvNz2UrZ/s1600/o-ROBOT-HUGS-570.jpg" height="640" width="391" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.robot-hugs.com/helpful-advice/"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">R</span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">obot Hugs</span></a>: <span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 36px; text-align: start;"><b>What If People Treated Physical Illness Like Mental Illness?</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-72021949512330642782013-11-14T06:53:00.000-08:002013-11-27T06:00:20.184-08:00Kwa Nini? The Curio City of Nairobi | #SondekaFest<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Living in the city, any city, and certainly Nairobi city, can
turn anyone into a highly amassed creature. High on the daily calls for
efficiency a day by day city life presents, it becomes easy to float silently past
life and its moments of living, forgetting our childhood curiosity.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An interesting word, that. Curiosity. The foundation of
knowledge, this insatiable word is. A word that gleans with cuteness and a
motherās pride every time a child asks why. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kwa nini? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember that? My mother certainly would. From the second I
learnt the words, they became a sacred chant in my childhood search for reason.
Granted, the words were mostly used after instances of mischief, with my
motherās responses followed ā or, more usually, substituted ā by a slap on the
wrist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Usikanyage carpet na viatu. [Donāt step on the carpet with
your shoes on]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āKwa nini?ā</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Usikalie kitanda sio yako. [Donāt sit on a strangerās bed]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āKwa nini?ā</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Usikule switiā¦</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, you get the picture. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Somewhere along the way, many of us lose this curiosity. A
response mechanism, really, to questions we quickly learned were frowned upon in
and of themselves. The unusual becomes usual, driven by the need to be civil.
Or else.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQwQqu2S161NFnCh-5QDn3hQtezL__qgLxBUnciqOTNfeokQ2Nm01AyRc3jsdvR0rH9lfaZ9XwsoW9y2Aq-gk7zjxHxxKZLo1-xR8p0ZvtUBjve94BUZciYdTKTmrejN9KhNXxOTl8d7E/s1600/Sondeka+Fest2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQwQqu2S161NFnCh-5QDn3hQtezL__qgLxBUnciqOTNfeokQ2Nm01AyRc3jsdvR0rH9lfaZ9XwsoW9y2Aq-gk7zjxHxxKZLo1-xR8p0ZvtUBjve94BUZciYdTKTmrejN9KhNXxOTl8d7E/s320/Sondeka+Fest2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The artist, however, seems to retain something of the
childās visual strategy: how to look at the world before knowing. The artist
reminds us to feel, reminds us to listen, reminds us to stop and stare. The
artist reminds us to observe and experience our lives and what lives in them.
The words that breathe lyric into our verve; the sights that brush colour into
our toneless workstations; the beats that pounce onto our spirit and make it
bounce; the whiffs of scent which infuse our senses, suffusing scentless days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āOnly the poets, by which I mean all artists, know who we
are. Not the soldiers, not the statesmenā¦ People who do not know you, who will
never know youā¦you are responsible to those people, to lighten their darknessā¦ā
</span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: right; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->James Baldwin, 1962</span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: right; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyone who visits Nairobi will quite likely leave it with a
memento. A curio to remind them of their visitā¦ the sites they went to, and
what sights they meant to see but could not. Maasai amulets made by Maasai
Market craftsmen. Postcards made from aerial views of Mount Kenya. Heck, even
recipes of their favourite Swahili dish.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It doesnāt come easy, however. Being an artist entails a
total risk of everything. You have to respect your craft, to learn its power,
as well as respect its ability to cause personal pain and torment. You have to
be humble enough not to let your art destroy you, because it can; because in
all likelihood, it will.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fortunately, art has been steadily rising in Kenya these
past 20 years. Creative organizations such as Kuona Trust and the Go Down Arts
Centre, as well as Kwani Trust, Storymoja Africa and more recently Pawa254,
have all served the Kenyan art scene immensely, proving that there is indeed a
living to be made off artistic avenues. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This month, as from 29<sup>th</sup> November to the 1<sup>st</sup>
of December, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Creatives.Garage?fref=ts"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Creatives Garage</span></a> will be curating ā<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Sondekafest?fref=ts"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Sondeka Fest</span></a>ā, a festival
designed to highlight the potential possibilities that the creative industry
has, and to promote it as an investment area as we celebrate Kenyaās milestone
of turning 50. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1vEdyG3JMyczRTiHfacf7goz24UBgh_FdNtupqb96BJn4Wh5aIls-I7RQUjmuiqysq_NMfQcOZF_evV2D4Si0j9zFjJFUA660HL52Cj-reiDz9Lu1gIDASsNVJCkVp2aX5Btrv7eXkK4/s1600/Sondeka+Fest3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1vEdyG3JMyczRTiHfacf7goz24UBgh_FdNtupqb96BJn4Wh5aIls-I7RQUjmuiqysq_NMfQcOZF_evV2D4Si0j9zFjJFUA660HL52Cj-reiDz9Lu1gIDASsNVJCkVp2aX5Btrv7eXkK4/s400/Sondeka+Fest3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To excite our curiosityā¦ to remind us what it felt like to
create.</span></div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-38805528405281891422013-10-17T07:36:00.004-07:002013-10-17T08:42:57.264-07:00The Women who Lay Over Us<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women are not equal to men. In structure, in theory and in
practice, men are more equal than women. Sure, love takes its toll equally on
all; some more than others. Sure, the sum of this āsomeā is not entirely made
up of women; <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-women-who-lay-me.html"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">experience and interaction abound to prove it</span></a>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure, money should be split equitably between the sexes. Yet
many a girl gets what she wants, many a times, based on what she can give āback
to senderā. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Lay over ā a temporary break in a journey; </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>usually imposed by scheduling requirements. </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is where the <b><i>needs argument</i></b> usually comes in. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āI have needs to take care ofā, <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-women-who-lay-me.html"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">says <i>Stoopy</i></span></a>, in justifying her multiple
streams of income. Streams ā you will often find ā that she pays for in kind
sex, love without benefits, or smiles and pet names. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes, just sometimes,
streams that are paid for in rape allegations and entrapped alimony.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Watching world wrestling this
weekend, the ironies of our hypocrisy ā as concerns the stereotypically weaker
sex ā could not have been clearer were they erected in crystal pillars. It was
a tag-team match, one in which two guys chose to beat the brains out of each
otherās brawn. We shall call them Egg-face and Egghead. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The guys went at each other. Fought hard, fought smartā¦or
some semblance of it. The rules of a tag team are that a teammate usually does
not interfere with the ongoing fight. Eggheadās tag-team partner would thus
remain in his corner, until such a point as Egghead tags him in. At that point,
Egghead leaves the ring, taking his associateās position at the corner. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Further, unless Egg-face can get to his partner before
Eggheadās <i>partner-in-crime</i> gets to
him, then ā ideally ā ānew bloodā should continue to pound on him. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This particular match was different. Whereas the tag-team
partner is usually another man, this time, on the sidelines stood female
reinforcements. Two women wrestlers. We shall call them the sidelined
girlfriends, henceforth SGs. Two things quickly emerged:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">a)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There was a special rule for the Eggsā SGs. If
Egghead tags in his SG, then Egg-face has to tag in her counterpart. Because
men do not fight women. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">b) </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The match was won when Eggheadās SG hit Egg-face
below the belt. You know, in the luggage; in āthe boysā. Egghead then took
over, pinning Egg-face to the ground for the 3 count. Game over.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now letās recap. A woman cannot be hit by a man, when in the
middle of a fight she signed up for; that would be wrong. She is not structured
to be hit in a fight, within a ring, by a guy. Her body is her weakness, in
this fight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The same woman can hit a man. She can take him out by going
for his weakest point, his weakest weakness. This she can do at a time when she
is not supposed to be interfering with the action in the ring. She can then
stand by and watch a strong man mop up, and take the credit for her kill. Her
body is still her weakness, you see, in this win. Because while she can opportune
a hit that cripples a guy momentarily, physique says she might not stand any
chance pinning the man down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before Westgate took over Kenyan airwaves, two similar women
had been consistently portrayed as the shamed queens. Rachel Shebesh, a Member
of Parliament who took a gubernatorial smack in her cheek. Caroline Mutoko, a
Radio Diva who took an unsanitary senatorial blast in her ear. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two women who were in a fight with two men. Let me rephrase
that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two powerful, privileged, obnoxious women, who purport to speak for all Kenyan women, pit their
fists ā metaphorically speaking ā against two powerful, privileged, obnoxious
men, who purport to speak for everyone. In a fight whose rules these two women expected to control, having carefully
choreographed it to be on the record.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For a second, letās walk away from the fight I feel coming,
as to whether so-or-so deserved ā womanly as she was, is ā the reaction her
transgressing action brought bare. Letās walk as far as Germany, shall we?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lay over </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ā</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> To p</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ostpone for future action</span></i></b></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the heart of the Holocaust, it has emerged, were women as
brutal as Hitlerās men. A mother, who shot fat-nosed Children of the Ark. A
nurse, who injected lethal fluid into Jewish campers, turning their blood as
cold as her own. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These German women were complicit to the white-washing of
Jewish lives from German nationalism. They killed, directly or indirectly. Just
as the terrorist who allegedly warned a pregnant lady he clearly liked, that
there would soon be a stampede at the Westgate Mall, was her savior. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet only a small number of these women, such as Irma Grese ā
a concentration camp guard ā were punished, and fittingly so, for their crimes
in Nazi Germany. Like the accountant who helped Pattni, aka Pastor Paul, rob
Kenya blind with government sanctioned scams, or the lawyer who fattened his
career protecting Nyayoās corrupt regime, the naming and shaming game did not
apply to these women.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Closer home, a young girl took a knife and stabbed her
father dead. She had been repeatedly raped by her guardian, and could no longer
take it. While the penalty for rape is surely not death, this case was, and is,
justifiably a case of self-defense. For one, she could not possibly rape him
back; but more so, rape is a twisted power play, one that deprives its victim
of choice, not to mention scarring them both physiologically and
psychologically.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I do wonder, though, if the tables were reversed, whether a
17-year old who killed his female guardian would be pardoned on a self-defense
claim. Whether his plea would be given a slap in the hand without warranting a
visit to the doctorās, at the very least, to help him with the trauma that got
him to take anotherās life. I wonder if, simply because he were male, the
question would not be as to whether there was any immediate danger to his life.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wonder if, as with the case of Duduzile āDuduā Manhenga, it
matters that life is precious, and unless it is taken justifiably, then it
matters not by whom; just how, and perhaps why. Dudu has been called, in disclaiming her culpability in an accidental homicide, both a 'good person' and a '<a href="http://herzimbabwe.co.zw/dudu-manhenga-is-justice-served#.Ulz-DVDIs8p"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">woman of God</span></a>.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYyLHu4i3z7W0IRA5J10lsJqKb-0f8fM6KyfptAtbOYXF2pQAH2lJ6sxSx3hAgCkFUjsbGLBq4Y2weHZQOQcfPxpiTawV0zVXRwKRD8eTzq_bSdnm2WJ8SEFxCeN5wcc8JyPBw7jq0L2H/s1600/Dudu-Manhenga-721x591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYyLHu4i3z7W0IRA5J10lsJqKb-0f8fM6KyfptAtbOYXF2pQAH2lJ6sxSx3hAgCkFUjsbGLBq4Y2weHZQOQcfPxpiTawV0zVXRwKRD8eTzq_bSdnm2WJ8SEFxCeN5wcc8JyPBw7jq0L2H/s400/Dudu-Manhenga-721x591.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While Dudu's case has many complexities that have little to do with her femininity and a lot to do with her Godliness, even as I write this, a big part of me feels sorry for her. That part of me that feels that a woman should be excused for her actions, simply because she is a woman, and the world has not cut her enough slack. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The same part that forgets to tell girls - as we tell them that they can be anything, as we tell them that they can be like men - that the world they live in does not truly think so. That the men around them will not live in fear of defilement as they walk home late at night. That they do not have to worry much about what happens to their bodies when they're drunk and passed out at an inconvenient spot in a ditch. That while it's OK to push for equal opportunity, equal circumstance can never be achieved.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That same part, I would imagine, that this comment recently criticized in a discussion I was involved in:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[There is a line between] "rape" and consensual sex at a party. Getting drunk with a
girl is not necessarily sexual assault or rape [sic]. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">It still bothers me that it is expected that a drunk man is responsible for ALL
his decisions and actions, but a drunk woman is not responsible for her
decisions and actions. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Where's the equality?</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
Either drunk people can still make sound decisions about sex, or they can't.
Pick one.</span></span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lay over </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ā</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> To p</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><i>lace on top of; to superimpose</i></b></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What many women do not always get, in getting what they
want, is what they deserve. What their needs often forget, in justifying what some
women get ā usually and quite simply because of their structure ā is the inherent
irony. The irony in expecting to be taken seriously in complete disregard of what
you look like, when your other hand willingly accepts money and gifts; because
of what you look like.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The irony in complaining about the worldās evil hold on
womenās necks, when in the same breath expecting women to receive lighter or no
sentences for their transgressions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thereās a million voices</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To tell you, what you</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Should be thinking</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So you better sober up</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For just a second.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: right; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-align: right; text-indent: -0.25in;">-</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-align: right; text-indent: -0.25in;">Youssou Nādour.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To rapeā¦ to abort; two <i>unwanted</i>
<i>mutually</i> <i>inconvenient </i>verbs that demonstrate just how much more men equal,
than women. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These two verbs; two <i>doing
words</i> that pit their choices against each other while consciously ignoring
the woman. Choices that societyās misinterpretations of feminism forget to
mention. Mention that <i>some men</i> <b>choose</b> to rape a woman <b>of their choice</b>. Mention that when a
woman aborts, it is <i>often</i> out of <b>lack of choice</b>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not every woman, societyās feminism seems to ignore
mentioning, aborts for lack of choice. Being born male, contrary to societyās
ignorant double standards, does not herald a predisposition to rape a female. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two words that are consistently peddled to generalize womenās
fears and struggles, while simultaneously in many cases pitting men in general
as the cause of these fears and struggles. In one fell swoop ignoring the fact
that these are not, should not be, absolute issues. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This, especially not, where gender were concerned. Because
pitting men against women, not only defeats the purpose of seeking a solution;
it entirely closes our eyes, locking out the few in society who do not ascribe
to our definitions of gender.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What happens when we
refuse to think for our selves? Absolute and systemized pigeonholes become
systemic definitions of right and wrong, and provisions for selective
absolution. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By labeling yourself - dear feminist, dear counter-feminist, dear activist - you simply label others. Because a label asks them, from the get-go, if they are "for us; or against us." </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">___________________________________________</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-align: right; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Written by Fred Wambugu Maina.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Photo by Fungai Machirori.</b></span></div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-75990030086495846242013-10-15T01:18:00.005-07:002013-10-15T01:18:59.278-07:00The Lover || by @MarunduMuturi<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Every whisper is <span style="font-size: large;">heart-breaking beauty</span>,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Each tear a waterfall of raging emotion.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">No wrong can she do,</span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">No imperfection in his eyes.</span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She is the angel that makes gods green,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The maiden men only see yet cannot fathom.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her sway is the very pulse of the universe,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Her voice is god's own song.</span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She births dreams in her bosom
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And in her breast they are brought to life.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She is the saint and the savior.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And in his <i>enrapturement </i>he is trapped.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Enslaved </span>in his incomprehension,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He basks in his fulfillment of her caprices.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The lover...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9n7VyzMP5Y637o8KcyG7JMAPZpk0cvupd2F01P_COrdqDirVDknhZV2ItzLv9XJZT8_l-EI28EWs2z_csGeaXRBTUW443smg0o14xJhkwI-XaAr_HYm3iCz-Yg5hxbE6ReYag9VaYDNa/s1600/Kiss+Kulture+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9n7VyzMP5Y637o8KcyG7JMAPZpk0cvupd2F01P_COrdqDirVDknhZV2ItzLv9XJZT8_l-EI28EWs2z_csGeaXRBTUW443smg0o14xJhkwI-XaAr_HYm3iCz-Yg5hxbE6ReYag9VaYDNa/s400/Kiss+Kulture+large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Image from <a href="http://www.kissonline.com/kisskulture/KISS+Kulture/127">Kiss Kulture</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
</pre>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-53800428089368041812013-10-10T07:04:00.000-07:002013-10-15T01:06:20.714-07:00The Smoker || by @MarunduMuturi<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She brought the cigarette to her lips,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Boldly, delicately,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like a first kiss promised and ready for delivery.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The grey turned to red,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her cheeks drawn in in anticipation,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Slowly squeezing life out of the dead stark stick.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLw270RG6b23xGONLVZ6n7JA3GzF17wcV0ZpLh659s1wLVSCA5TnHBOFFJSm9_L_uryw-LwsqERrew0eTtIaHwV7oEYzuClKLTgp38jBHf1wobe4p7r6YMnCB-sVULfb5y7paTbiIw4s8j/s1600/ugly-evil-old-woman-smoking-2848705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLw270RG6b23xGONLVZ6n7JA3GzF17wcV0ZpLh659s1wLVSCA5TnHBOFFJSm9_L_uryw-LwsqERrew0eTtIaHwV7oEYzuClKLTgp38jBHf1wobe4p7r6YMnCB-sVULfb5y7paTbiIw4s8j/s320/ugly-evil-old-woman-smoking-2848705.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-ugly-evil-old-woman-smoking-image2848705"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">DreamsTime</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her hand moved contemplatively to the ash tray</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And her finger tips tap-tap-tap-danced for a fleeting.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">A </span><span style="font-size: large;">fervent </span>romance.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Shaking off the past,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And out of her orifice of riches</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smoke ephemeral, ethereal.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I sat transfixed,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Doubting that the innocuous deviltry before me</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Could turn me into a child.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Beautiful in her arrogance,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smug, assured,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She turned away slightly in half-smile sardonic.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Poised in thought</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For a moment she remained,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Soon the fire was back to her lips.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dark, intense,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mysterious, alluring,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She looks at nothing and sees everything.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aloof</span>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She seeks herself out in darkness,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With red-tipped pen between her fingers,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her secrets written in smoke.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nothing said, all said.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I dare not approach her.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The light we shared has ebbed out,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her cigarette a bitter metaphor.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Apt</span>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She glances,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amused and mocking.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before her sits liquid fire.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To cauterize the wounds within?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am still drawn to her,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The ashes in my heart potent,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Their smokes bliding me.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I stumble in her wake.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She is smoke,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The present winds cannot her stand.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is she real?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't dream of her, I don't hold her.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The smoker has become</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What she sought in refuge, in coolness.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another passing, fickle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Beautiful tragedy</span>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finished, the butt's tossed aside.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She tosses things aside.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unself-consciously,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Used to tosssing things aside.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I take one more look.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span> <span style="font-size: large;">walk </span>away.</span></div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-71152139003680567702013-10-08T07:56:00.000-07:002013-10-08T07:56:34.366-07:00Noni || by @MarunduMuturi<div style="text-align: center;">
<pre>Wallflower by night,
Temptress, woman by day.
In the quiet of the noise
And in the darkness of the light,
I saw her.
Poised regally.</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZCEnhk-HjuDyKJEqaP5XJuJ7fC_PdetZwg9aExeSc1yOcPA2m1w9ljTUdD-yXCAz5oYgGzB4c9Sf3bITVu4Ufy6ejJ5T7oDHfbiV4-zkclBQ8M9RtKzUkJFXTvVfY4gxTSEHCS0rEMx0/s1600/498_max.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZCEnhk-HjuDyKJEqaP5XJuJ7fC_PdetZwg9aExeSc1yOcPA2m1w9ljTUdD-yXCAz5oYgGzB4c9Sf3bITVu4Ufy6ejJ5T7oDHfbiV4-zkclBQ8M9RtKzUkJFXTvVfY4gxTSEHCS0rEMx0/s320/498_max.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="http://cghub.com/images/tag/panther/view:fitscreen/"><span style="color: #38761d;">CGhub</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre> Powerul in her stillness, her silence,
Nary seduced by her wine
Which stood subdued red
And cowardly before her.
The tendrils of her unspoken unwitting seduction
Caressed my inebriated soul.
I was drawn to her.
Inexplicably, inexorably.
Right there
I needed to touch her,</pre>
</div>
<pre> </pre>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<pre>To take her in my embrace
And drown in her intoxicating essence.
I wanted her pain to become mine,
Us to ravish each other with abandon.
I could trace these words on her golden skin,
Make her sweat my ink.
Instead,
I drowned in dreams and drink.</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYDz9qWRgejf5kKFu6WVLE1UCy4Jk-IaIDIWFTKToYmjw9LsaWBNAilrsrwWtXb2kuYU9-4hRWh88sJXthlQa4KeIOBD3OHND6a8bZSzAyq0XpJ40So1tAo180wrPEUGVNleUUeqWd7q7/s1600/708_max.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYDz9qWRgejf5kKFu6WVLE1UCy4Jk-IaIDIWFTKToYmjw9LsaWBNAilrsrwWtXb2kuYU9-4hRWh88sJXthlQa4KeIOBD3OHND6a8bZSzAyq0XpJ40So1tAo180wrPEUGVNleUUeqWd7q7/s400/708_max.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=eoG9r0IEMO20xM&tbnid=wO-rQtwSiDs-hM:&ved=0CAYQjhwwADgQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcghub.com%2Fimages%2Ftag%2Fpanther%2Fview%3Afitscreen%2F&ei=vBtUUqarHqOR0AXB1ICgCA&psig=AFQjCNHK0Sh3mTjMZGvfmqJ36RGTHTpDtA&ust=1381330236576821"><span style="color: #38761d;">CGhub</span></a>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<pre></pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre> Imaginings of what could have been
Blinding me to the moment.
In the end,
When the silence had killed the noise
The earth stood still.
Yet, I still throbbed, as she still tugged.</pre>
</div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-63271854702210562092013-10-02T05:31:00.001-07:002013-10-02T05:32:35.887-07:00Lost in a Name || by @asalisali<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He called me <span style="font-size: large;">That </span>name,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
Which he conjured up in his wet dream.<br />
It slithered from his lips and lashed my back,<br />
till my flesh gave way and in my bones<br />
Saw what he always longs to see; Himself.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
He called me <span style="font-size: large;">That </span>name.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0JNto2hXAsBwui3WIxVGvcRRkLZe6PMR9bWhkphzKRSBzNABx6USoJ5YTLB11BhXmjGwimkipgx3krDNeXnwW6F-rzE0kcJQaR_-Z80XUR2ADEVB6Vmt9Vr65jIDw46-nz6UwGO6sbHa/s1600/women+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0JNto2hXAsBwui3WIxVGvcRRkLZe6PMR9bWhkphzKRSBzNABx6USoJ5YTLB11BhXmjGwimkipgx3krDNeXnwW6F-rzE0kcJQaR_-Z80XUR2ADEVB6Vmt9Vr65jIDw46-nz6UwGO6sbHa/s1600/women+3.jpg" height="140" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
Which his forefathers bestowed on his mother,<br />
and her mother before that.<br />
Her ring which I now wear, ties me everyday to his name.<br />
The name which falls from his tongue and anchors me to this dry,<br />
unimaginative place.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
He calls me <span style="font-size: large;">His </span>name.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
It scatters all my colours and I am left in grey,<br />
Where anything goes and I am nothing.<br />
That 'badge of pride' I am told to wear religiously,<br />
binds itself to my backbone like a Succubus.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
When he calls me <span style="font-size: large;">His </span>name,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
it precedes my speech and translates my language,<br />
before I can introduce myself.<br />
They hear him before they see me.<br />
Sadly he manifests in my fading grace,<br />
every time I am called. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKbrVdp0mq9Q2Tk2NPbZMl93NgKUMJxOenU_JSYdspT0hXh-WFfrR2LYk26x2ccvITOrqUNKXXgsE6vb9udvi-mK8RjVAiJB_7LQ8zVHtzeGXBJDCoRWmGXbUyXAcLGcT6gGAJWmA20Qh/s1600/Women+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKbrVdp0mq9Q2Tk2NPbZMl93NgKUMJxOenU_JSYdspT0hXh-WFfrR2LYk26x2ccvITOrqUNKXXgsE6vb9udvi-mK8RjVAiJB_7LQ8zVHtzeGXBJDCoRWmGXbUyXAcLGcT6gGAJWmA20Qh/s1600/Women+2.jpg" height="200" width="171" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-40688994254292179642013-09-25T04:52:00.004-07:002013-09-25T05:13:20.395-07:00Itās All Over Now: Kubali Matokeo? No. Time to START Living, if #WeAreOne.<style type="text/css">
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A lot has changed since the late hours
of Saturday morning. Life has needlessly gone to waste. Our inept
governance and disaster response reactions have once again come to
the fore. Even worse, our inhuman opportunism in moments of human
pain further sullied a bloody backdrop.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
15 years ago today, we were heading
towards 50 days from our first involuntary encounter with Al Qaeda.
212 were dead, and countless lives scarred by a disaster I was too
young to fully comprehend. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The only thought on my mind, on August 7<sup>th</sup>
1998, was my 11<sup>th</sup> birthday the following day. Would they
cook chapatti at my grandmaās ā where I was heading, seated in
the passenger seat of a matatu, as news of the bomb blast broke on
the dashboard dead ahead of me ā or ugali?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
4 months ago, Storymoja Africa asked me
to imagine the world with them. Gladly, I did. Imagination is the
stuff of dreams, you see, and boy do I love to dream. What I care for
more than dreams, however, is to see these dreams come true. I wait
patiently to make them be. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What happened on Saturday, while I had
imagined it before, is no dream. It is a nightmare, the easiest kind
of reality that comes from imagination. It was, however, no surprise
to me. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Last month, days before the August 7
memorial, I happened to be at Memorial Park. The park sits at what
would be our Ground Zero ā the site of the ā98 terror attack. Let
us now recap what we learnt then, and how we have applied it since.
Iāll save you the trouble with one statement:</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>A lot has <span style="font-size: large;"><i>not</i></span> changed
since the late hours of Saturday morning.</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As I learnt while talking to someone at
our Ground Zero cenotaph, only the direct victims of what is now a
fatefully insignificant tragic statistic in Kenyaās history
actually remember it. The park may be called a āmemorial,ā but
beyond it simply being a commemorative plaque of one dreadful event
in Nairobi hiss stories, the monument is now a simple revenue
collection bin. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That some choose to piggy-back on the
park to fill their piggy-banks is hardly new. It is also, sadly, no
news. Your government is still inept. Your morality is still for sale
to the highest bidder. Your public utilities are still inutile. Your
health system still sucks. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
You still donāt know who you are; still
canāt tell what you need from what you want. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
You will still sit on
your arse and wait for the next tragedy ā small or monumental,
natural or otherwise. You will wait only for you to react; to say, to
never think or act independently.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
ā<b>Stupid is as stupid
does. Are you happy with your life today? Time is a blessing, that
ticking clock has been sent to remind you that your life is valuable.</b></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>It is also futile; it
has a beginning and it has an end.ā</b></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://sevensentences.com/2013/08/07/time-to-start-living/"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Seven Sentences</span></a></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And so tomorrow you will wake up. It
may take longer than 24 hours, but tomorrow you will wake up. You
will shed your patriotism. You will lose your nationalism. You will
lose your leased ideals and leeched morality. Latch on to your good
old need to feed off your brotherās flesh.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Indeed you will accept, you will move
on, your choices will have no consequences.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Already you wonder what these tens of
lives lost, these disquieting tens of hours under siege have done to
your money. What they have done to Kenyaās economy, and if we can
recover. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Already you replace past silent tragedies with this latest
loud one. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Already you are marveling at the picturesque pictorials of
gore, talking about the effectiveness of their insensitivity. Already
you are rising up to defend your respective tribal leaderās squirms
or otherwise squeamish action during the skirmish. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Already you are
baying for blood. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Accusing your Eastleigh brother, that
Somali Arab-looking brother you donāt know, for the acts of terror
inspired not by race or place, but by creed. Already you are talking
of reactions to these terrifying actions of terror. You have killed ā
if understandably so ā every last gunman in that mall. Make no
mistake, dear KDF , for I applaud your patiently conclusive reaction. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was, after all, in self-defense. You were, after all, doing a job that should only be yours as a last resort.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A job you did in defense of inhabitants ā temporary
or permanent ā of Westgate, who on the day became hostages and
victims. It is by no fault of your own that every possible trail ā
it would seem ā as to whom and the wherefores of the attack, runs
cold. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We are left in an all too familiar
position now, however: that of shooting in the dark.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
People died in 80 odd hours from Saturday morning.
They died at a rate, perhaps, of 1 life per hour; a rate, more so, of
countless hungry, overall. Countless wept, overall, but few of these
weepers were conscious, sadly. </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUnV5YwE7gdrG2r-DeHmpu-YHaQxXGlJgrl_RsJmwaPApc4FnO_k6yZxzk64RYtDOjV9z0U3tCMKHNbl35_iamxZHQ4IrQMDR91rikT02dR_EX2aaScK4DhyphenhyphenFlJ1V8McouZ8YOM_VMzcO/s1600/Tim.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUnV5YwE7gdrG2r-DeHmpu-YHaQxXGlJgrl_RsJmwaPApc4FnO_k6yZxzk64RYtDOjV9z0U3tCMKHNbl35_iamxZHQ4IrQMDR91rikT02dR_EX2aaScK4DhyphenhyphenFlJ1V8McouZ8YOM_VMzcO/s400/Tim.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nigh fell. Many prayed. They did the natural
thing when confronted by the unknown. They went for the unseen.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That is no critique, this atheist might
add, for the unseen comforted me too. I went for my music. And while
unlike any god this music could be heard, I had but my own
interpretations of this music to go by. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In this way I was similar to
some religious folk; but not to those who rely on what is interpreted
to them of what they believe to be their own script.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That kind is no different from the ilk
that shot to death unconfirmed denizens in the dozens of dozens.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But already, dear hustler, you have
returned to Kenya to help ācalm the situationā downā¦ to "<span style="color: #b4a7d6;"><a href="http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000094060&story_title=icc-to-decide-on-ruto-s-request-for-adjournment"><span style="color: #b4a7d6;">participate in security briefings</span></a></span>." </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
To consult. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because
these attackers <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/icc-excuses-ruto-after-kenya-mall-shooting/1755092.html"><span style="color: #b4a7d6;">chose a time when you were not here to strike</span></a>. Of
course they did it in spite of you, not to spite you, dear hustler.
Donāt come chasing waterfalls, while your colleagues sit chasing
after doves in and outta parliament.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">We hope that some people
will begin to contextualize what is going on and begin to appreciate
the challenges that Kenya is going through, the region is going
through, and the complications that are brought by what is going on
<span style="color: #b4a7d6;"><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/icc-excuses-ruto-after-kenya-mall-shooting/1755092.html"><span style="color: #b4a7d6;">here</span></a></span>.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;">"</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
H.E. the VP of Kenya, W.S. Ruto, in "The Hustlers also Cry".</div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What does it matter? After all,
opportunity ā bloody or otherwise ā is for the strongest to reap
from. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In light of the
circumstances and the views heard during the hearing, the Chamber
excuses Mr Ruto from the proceedings.</span></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">For the moment the excusal is
permitted for one week only, subject to any further requests that
Defence counsel<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>may make <b>if need be to extend it</b>,</span></span>" <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Judge Chile
Eboe-Osuji <a href="http://mobile.nation.co.ke/News/ICC-allows-William-Ruto-to-leave-Hague-over-Westgate-attack/-/1950946/2003820/-/format/xhtml/-/mekkxy/-/index.html"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">swallowed</span></a>. Hook<span style="font-size: small;"> and</span> line sunk.</span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This too shall pass. Not because we are
a strong nation. Not because we are unscarred; because we are
oblivious to our own bloodshed. At the least, this time around, we
have a common enemy. Who that enemy will be, however, remains to be
seen as the year closes down. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I am worried. Not slighted, for that
would imply ā if only by similarity of sound ā that it was
slight. Worried, you see, sounds to me like war. It sounds like all
out warfare unto the few in my town who think they know, while
knowing not. To those who forget to feel, because ā and get this ā
they have bills to pay. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We all have bills to pay. We all need
passion. Yet passion pays no bills. So ask yourself this:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
ā<b>If you donāt like
what you are doing right now, if your [life and work donāt] wow
youā¦then why are you still doing [that]?ā</b></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Seven Sentences</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
To paraphrase <a href="http://sevensentences.com/2013/08/07/time-to-start-living/"><span style="color: #b4a7d6;">one of my favorite quotidian reads</span></a>, quoted and attributed extensively through this post,
is it simply because family responsibilities? Or is it because
financial security? Perhaps itās because some other lying,
cheating, stealing reason?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
ā<b>A good dream wonāt
make you poor, if you think it through, if you plan it wellā¦ā</b></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">S<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">even Sentences</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So if youāre doing what you donāt
mean to be, then every time you are asked why youāre still at it,
forget every other <b>excuse</b>, and give this reason:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">I cannot
think my dream through. I cannot plan it well enough to follow it
throughā¦</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-wd-XNKqgG3tzX2LkaYedW2JbZ6lXXAOhU9LXrLdz-4sYT2XhF_m8RPUFbkYHqDFm8jPqrFi834nwdRZf7Elgogsp26R-3p9T_PxKVHcLSShnUDoWeMYZyVR2CArMS5E5ENs_YhWSAQ2/s1600/Tim2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-wd-XNKqgG3tzX2LkaYedW2JbZ6lXXAOhU9LXrLdz-4sYT2XhF_m8RPUFbkYHqDFm8jPqrFi834nwdRZf7Elgogsp26R-3p9T_PxKVHcLSShnUDoWeMYZyVR2CArMS5E5ENs_YhWSAQ2/s1600/Tim2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Only say you care about the world if
you care enough to suffer through doing something to impact it.
Regardless of what happens to you through it all.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Riskiest Thing You Can
Do Right Now Is To Simply Keep Doing The Same Old Thing. </span>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-6429401570274711282013-09-24T01:58:00.000-07:002013-09-25T04:55:02.730-07:00Look What Weāve Done<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What have we done to the world?</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What about all the peace that you
pledge your only son?</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><wbr></wbr><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> - Michael
Jackson, Earth Song.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Nairobi, Sunday 22nd September 2013</b></span> </span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A man whose voice I wanted to meet died yesterday. A soul
whose words I was dying to pick floats away to the unknown. This man I never
met. I had not the pleasure of hearing him speak. Not once did I have the
knowing want to hear him, not once having truly known him.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I remember sitting in the room, staring at my itinerary.
Only 6pm, yesterday. Counting the men sat up front in the panel that met East
with West, wondering.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Wandering whispers had been going round my electrified
world, about gunmen in a mall. Hijackers, the loud repeat went. Custom had me
less than kindly about the soft digital voices. It was a happy day, a day of
joy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A first, in many days.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I remember saying that privilege is our problem, our very
lack of true being. I remember thinking of privilege as multifaceted ā as a
list of bubbles we need blow away. I even said, after thinking little of it,
that the gunmen were fighting privilege.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was a happy day, you see. A day of joy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A first in 3 days for me, since the festive Storymoja Hay
had begun. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was a sad day elsewhere, I later saw. A day of grey, mere
hours into a loveless warfare of disbelieved belief. Awareness everywhere. Voids of conscience filled up, bit by agony
bit, with violent information. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I was happy. Oblivious. Peacefully lacking awareness,
disconnected from the world around, plugged into a literary Utopia. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Then I saw the missive a friend bottled into my sea of
inter-netted waters. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What about it? They gave a kill order 10 days ago, I had
thought. Hijackers are probably dead by now, I breathed in. There couldnāt
possibly be more to this than simple burglary-gone-bad. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Maybe, even, just a sick fundamentalist retaliation for that
classist war of emotion and word gone by. A war that was electrified and
shared. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A war whose weapons lay down 4 months before yesterday. A
war whose only weapon was a wordy affair laced with shades of class, and the
art of CafƩ. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I was dead wrong.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">One call and I realized how wrong I was.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Malli was in the parking lot, looking. Calling. I went out
in a haze, slightly piqued at her for getting me out of the world of poetry
Fatou had engrossed my self in. The lovely Fatou; a queen of projected soul
from Sierra Leone. She sounded, I think, like sex on the imagination. Her words
pricked, her bosom heaved, her eyes soaring to the skies of the roof. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">She would later say, of her countryās civil war, how much
she felt. How ā even whilst away through it all ā she was its victim. A window
to her mindās heart would crack open, and she would tell me. She would speak to
me of the friends and uncles who died, the mothers and sisters who got their
legs undone, their sanctity defiled. Her soul forever soiled by a vivid living
memory. A memory of what was. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A memory of what would soon be, for me?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I could not forgive her, sitting in the car park with a
mutual friend, for getting me away from Fatou. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But the conversation turned, and I did. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The man beside Malli, with the dreaded locks, spoke. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">āSee what your religions do?ā</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Heās an atheist</i>,
Malli explained. I shrugged, indifferent.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">āAt least your hair would have
survived the gunmen, Freddy. Are there any dreadlocked Muslims?ā he said, his
tired hurt eyes arresting my heart.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The gunmen, I soon learnt, were more fundamentalist than I
had thought earlier. Creed killers; killers masked by creed, swathed by hatred,
hidden by race, their faces hidden behind their killing shields. Socked, soaked
with the blood of dozens of innocent lives they had taken indiscriminately,
turned Nairobi into a killing field.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">They were Mujahedeen.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A chilly wobble I have not felt in many moons shook my core
as I walked back to the room, the haze I left it in replaced by an uncertain
daze. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A man from the West was baring his heart out in word when I
got in, gradually levitating spirits, relegating conscience back to the drop.
He sang a second poem out, did Kwame, and I felt my conscience ease back into
the oblivion of bliss.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If you know your woman</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">ā¦your sins are enough for her to
leave and never return.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><wbr></wbr><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><wbr></wbr><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> - Kwame
Dawes.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yet the unoccupied seat continued to linger in my mindās
trunk. Where was Kofi?</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">***</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In an ideal world, where bullets know whoās guilty, Iād say
guns were a necessary evil. In the world
I live in, bullets have no mind, but reckless freckled kills of their own. My
euphoria dissolves at once. Kofi, it emerges, has become one of these freckles. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><sup>1</sup>And
death, when he comes</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">to the door with his
own</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">inimitable calling
card</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">shall find a
homestead </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">resurrected with
laughter </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">and dance </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">and the festival of
the meat</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">of the young lamb and
the</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">red porridge</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">of the new corn.</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He is now some body. Somebody I did not used to know.
Somebody I know now. Somebody I can only now ever know by his documents:</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><sup>2</sup>On this
dirty patch </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">a tree once stood</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">shedding incense on
the </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">infant corn: </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">its boughs stretched
across </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">a heaven </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">brightened by the
last fires of a tribe</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">They sent strangers
and</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">builders</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">who cut that tree</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">planting in its place</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A huge senseless
cathedral</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">of doom.</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">***</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If Iām going to die young, it may be from a piece of mechanic metal, tarmac-ridden by intoxicated thought. It may be from a piece of sharp metal, of a shrapnel-led existence making do with my material. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Itāll be by a serf-inflicted
bullet through my brains, not self-inflicted bullets in my mind. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Free thought. Free to think and think freely, thinking alone.
Not with the group-thinking faith that brainwashed a gun into taking away one
of the great minds of our times. Kwame Dawes, hours before he found out that
his uncle Kofi had been killed in the Westgate Mall terror attack, had said to
those of us gathered at Ford Hall, that although our fathersā āsense of self
was so brutalized, they gave us something to hold on to.ā </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It certainly was not fear. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I hold on to the world, and the world doesnāt need to be
changed. Change is always <i>evitable</i> unless you can become the world, feel the
pain the world does. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If I am to die young, I will have lived old. I will have been happy; having held on to my bold peace, in
bold scattered pieces. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As will my body rest. </span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case
he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always seem
untimely. This is because a real writer is always shifting and changing and
searching. The world has many labels for him, of which the most treacherous is
the label of Success. But the man behind the label knows defeat far more
intimately than he knows triumph. He can never be absolutely certain that he
has achieved his intention.</i></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">James
Baldwin; <b>Eight Men</b>, in <i>Nobody Knows My Name</i>. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin-right: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZJW9dTlGnH4yIvmuzxI00abnC3TyJSwWK4bVC0ZUoI3lLkYZwMcxF2ZqaONZrCs6AdLwYRJxxF3jp5Irb6u230v200dpaTlsl1u1jp8m5EaC9zBzp8JHKbUgY_h9t9NcyNNn0BfevmBY/s1600/Dawes+Awoonor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZJW9dTlGnH4yIvmuzxI00abnC3TyJSwWK4bVC0ZUoI3lLkYZwMcxF2ZqaONZrCs6AdLwYRJxxF3jp5Irb6u230v200dpaTlsl1u1jp8m5EaC9zBzp8JHKbUgY_h9t9NcyNNn0BfevmBY/s1600/Dawes+Awoonor.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kofi Awoonor (left) and Kwame Dawes (right)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-right: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-right: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><sup>1-2</sup> Excerpts from Poems
written by the late great Kofi Awoonor. </span></div>
<div style="margin-right: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-right: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Lived 13<sup>th</sup> March 1935 ā 21<sup>st</sup>
September 2013.</span></div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-85502941495100369342013-09-09T10:59:00.001-07:002013-09-09T11:05:43.820-07:00The Women Who Lay ME<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><b>Nairobi, July 21, 2013; </b><b>10.45 am.</b></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw7b-RIYjZeTsqWbExlBa0FGJEFBlClLRPQBAWmffaXknCMuO2vd3X7_D4C9wJUjN_VUEVJUh7EqftMT1Gsk0T_zya_hWkkp6VTiE9w9gjS4zJ2Ne4xlfrpTdH7Vm9jgS8VL8-YsOrXpLB/s1600/Fliers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw7b-RIYjZeTsqWbExlBa0FGJEFBlClLRPQBAWmffaXknCMuO2vd3X7_D4C9wJUjN_VUEVJUh7EqftMT1Gsk0T_zya_hWkkp6VTiE9w9gjS4zJ2Ne4xlfrpTdH7Vm9jgS8VL8-YsOrXpLB/s400/Fliers.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px; text-align: start;">Timothy Mwaura Wambugu's Photography; </span><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Fred Wambugu Maina's Writing</span></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">There is no
need, and indeed there never is, to quantify thoughts about women. This is one
opinion, a personal one. It is also the overriding frame with which the next
few words are to be read, if not the very same they were written in.</span></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: white;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><sup><span style="line-height: 115%;">1 </span></sup></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">To beat or strike down
with force.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At this point,
I will allow the first general quantification of women. We will attempt to call
her <i>Stoopy</i>, this little feminine generalization; perhaps only she, ever so
feminine, can explain my own physical ā and beyond ā relations with women. I
might even get to the sub-atomic particulars of wrath, love and fire ā all mine
ā for, about and from women.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why? Because
while I like the ā<i>care less</i>ā attitudes women around me have developed in
response to such outright <b>stratification </b>as is <i>Stoopy</i>, I also like being real.
I can only be as real as my own experiences are. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So perhaps it serves better
logic to stalk off with these āimported airsā women have been walking on. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Enter the
women who lay me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">ā</span></b>Such docile
creatures, women are. Women are drama queens, such little bundles of
explosively combustible chemicals. Women are elementary; probable; possible.
Women are not plausible. They are hardworking multi-taskers; women can take a
hit and be silent while at it. They can take another hit. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women are
short, literally and figuratively; so portrayed in literature, so assumed in
their ability to move furniture around. <i>I
kid you not</i>. Women are lovers. Women are quiet in their suffering. Women
are sufferers: mass sufferers in the subjugator systems of The World, <i>et al</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women are
housewives. Women are <i>mani-pedis</i> and
mothers; women are not career-led. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women are to
be submissive; the perfect woman is to be patient, kind, servant, willing, and savant to the manās needs; strong under conventional duressā¦<span style="font-size: large;"><b>ā</b></span> Thus Spake
<i>Stoopy</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">āI do not let
women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly; [or]</span></span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">āI do not
permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she <b><i>must</i></b>
be quiet; [further]</span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">āI exhort
therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in
authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">For this is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.ā</span></span></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><sup><span style="line-height: 115%;">2</span></sup></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> To dispose or spread over
or on a surface; to press down giving a smooth and even surface.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are no
accusations to be advanced; no duties or burdens, the lot of us is under
punishment, should we be so willing to acquiesce to it. Many women have been
laid to such faulty inspection, for all of time in her eternity; for most, the
order barked at them, becomes them.</span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Man</span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">: Silence!</span></i></span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Nanny</span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">: Sit at your corner!</span></i></span></span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEtt9HwR7X8Hd1NLl7droNMLtS5Z6KT0jPk84sCC-IqVojbfljcbbTx_ZjRTtkiU4HXD8cv-k59EIKEqp1RjKDqoN9wiTF9pSmGrbJmQhRY33EM_5feMRRtYuj5-54j_7nxEVbszU_Jyl/s1600/Modela.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEtt9HwR7X8Hd1NLl7droNMLtS5Z6KT0jPk84sCC-IqVojbfljcbbTx_ZjRTtkiU4HXD8cv-k59EIKEqp1RjKDqoN9wiTF9pSmGrbJmQhRY33EM_5feMRRtYuj5-54j_7nxEVbszU_Jyl/s1600/Modela.jpg" /></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women are
dyslexia. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Dyslexia is a woman.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>ā</b></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dyslexia is characterized by difficulty with
learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension despite normal
intelligence;<b>ā</b> thus spake the worldās freest ā most used, and sometime abused ā encyclopedia. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The
worldās most womanly encyclopedia, that is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why are you
still reading, woman? When, do you reckon, will I stop bullying? When, do I
reckon, <i>will you be bullied no more</i>? </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A woman I know told me recently, that her
mother told her </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">ā </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">showed her really, in analogizing life </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">ā</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">that she is to āwear your
seat-belt when you sit in the front seat...ā</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is this the
front seat? Are you, dear <i>feminist</i>,
driving it? Are you, perhaps more likely, riding shotgun? I wonder what the <i>buck</i>shot feels like; how much better the
headlights are, coming right back at you, dear ā<i>doe</i>, a deer, a female deerā¦ā<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A mother is
the elixir of her childās life. Her blood is as thick as it will be allowed to
be. Like water, the more it is allowed to flow out of her cuts and bruises, the
more her elixir extinguishes, long before she has the chance to be her childās
life. Yet unlike water, blood clots.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have taken advantage of this ability of
blood to clot, calling them strong, our underprivileged and underfed,
overworked and overborne āweaker sexā. Blaming them for not being stronger,
criticizing them when they become too strong. Telling them that they do not have all the answers; paradoxically blaming them when they ask "why?"<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Never ever
being, never ever being real; the lot of us. Being a woman is a criminal action, and
being a man the ultimate disciplinary action; the ultimate violent reaction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">"Inside
of you is a smart, powerful, dynamic, capable, self-confident, alive, alert,
fabulous woman! Let her come out and play. The world is waiting for
you."</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 115%; text-align: right;"> </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 115%; text-align: right;">- Louise L. Hay</i></span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><sup><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 115%;">3 </span></sup></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">To bring forth and deposit
(and egg); to place for rest or sleep, especially: bury.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To give and to take away; such was my mother, the woman who
first laid me. An egg was my self, an odd quarter century and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a twenty-fifth of this next </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ago. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">āWhy am I soft in the middle now?ā Can you call me Al? Call me what
you like; my mother gave what she took; and she got a lot of bad, disposed of
it, left with the good and gave it to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just like that, five years ago today, so too was she taken.
Taken by men; by a manly system... by an unhealthy Hospitalized system of
protocol resigned ā not designed ā to live and let leave. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Living, you see, is
for the fittest; for the blurred lines between price and bids, prize and greed.
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The expression <i>āpre-loved, not brand newā</i> perhaps attempts
to sum me up; in my own estimation of my self, it is the lasting lesson from my
mother: the self-supply of responsibility, a yearning for release from the
shackles of commune. At the same time, <i>tis</i>
the realization that our individuated <b>response abilities </b>are interconnected:
and much as life goes on, when a loved one moves on to a ābetter placeā, moving
forward is that much harder. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are internally connected to them by choosing to
love them. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><sup>4 </sup>To bring against or into contact with something: apply; to
prepare or position for action or operation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have had bosses, in my time doing the corporate do-do. My
immediate bosses, it turns out, have all been women. In all except one case. I
have found many of them ā within the confines of the office ā to be headstrong
misogynists masquerading in thinly-unveiled misandry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One particular incident springs to mind. A bikini bash I
went for, liked and was liked, particularly by this one womanās drunken tongue.
Four months later, she was seating across the table from me, next to the male
CEO of the company and his female second in command, who turned out to be her friend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There I
was, being interviewed for a job under the direct supervision of a woman I was
not sure I wanted to be under.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Much more recently, I got back into employment in a
Consultant capacity, under an open-minded trio of women. With more than enough
experience in the sado-masochistic world of <i>femdom</i> that is many of this kind of
scenario, I vetted them as hard as they vetted me, before deciding to work with
them. I should actually be signing that contract by end of this month, fully 2 months
after I agreed to start working with them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand, one particular woman I got involved with
recently ā in a corporate, not corporeal way ā is quite the epitome of whatās wrong
with misguided <i>feminism</i>; the kind
that ignores the very fundaments of itself, assumes that being manly equals
being feminist. A Kenyan living in Diaspora, a South African tired of <i>having to be</i> Kenyan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Choices, it has been said, have consequences. Whether in the
unions or communions, matrimony or testimony, beds or leads. The pervaded scent
of āquotidian violenceā as one <a href="https://www.gukira.wordpress.com/">Keguro
Macharia</a> calls it, is fast becoming an epidemic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My argument, if it ever was one, is not that women āsubmit for examination and judgementā by men. It is not that they ācopulate with them; often vulgar.ā It is not that they silently lay back as the fists are laid to their noses. It is that they prepare, personally, to be well-laid; to be contrived, not misconstrued.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is, in fact, an argument that as a woman is, so is a man; human. If we are to continue to lay each other equitably, it will have to be under each other, laying our respective businesses before each other with our intentions clear, our attentions bare.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before we can call ourselves āweā, let us first define the
āIā that makes āusā. This, however, is my truth. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; text-align: left;">Only </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><i>mine</i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; text-align: left;">...</span></td></tr>
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<b><sup>1-4</sup> Various definitions of the word ālayā<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-91527649664144493592013-09-04T04:48:00.001-07:002013-09-05T21:48:51.722-07:00Did Kenya Get the @BBCAfrica Debate Right?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Q: What do you get when you assemble a bunch of figurative </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ass kickers,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> literal ass kissers, and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a spate of wanna-be literary social climbers?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A: Another #BBCAfricaDebate, Kenya edition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Debates, contrary to what you want to think about them, are not persuasive. They are not about agreeing with the other party based on anything more than the facts in contention. Debates, above and beyond all else, are about contending in context. That is, a debate should have rules and a title governing the exchange of varied factual blows.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[To debate it] is to win it with no bloodshed...or bullying; just on facts...even if defense lawyers have proved otherwise.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Rasthadan N</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Debates are social. They require the interaction of human specimen in collective coexistence. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the broader discipline of Socio-linguistics -- which studies the effects of any and all aspects of society -- the idea of social networks further contextualizes context, in such interactions. Depending on the looseness or tightness -- or the not so tight looseness -- of interaction by specimen in a network, social mores can be observed or disregarded in debate. As you may imagine, my debate is about to disregard any and all social mores.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the past, I have gone to debates. How I know that they are debates, is because they are usually contextual. Take #OffTheRecord at Pawa 254's Hub, for instance. They may just as well call them debates, since terming them 'conversations' takes away from the fact that we do not assemble there every Tuesday to simply converse, or converse simply. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fact is that there is normally little spontaneous in an #OffTheRecord debate; little polite or half-baked; because the only give and take in a debate is usually one involving meat-pie exchanges of the humble kind. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why, thank you kindly for asking. A good debate, one finds, also has an outcome. A resolution, if you will. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Conversations are held </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">on bar stools, with</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> bar-tenders; another form of <i>kusema na kutender. </i>A</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ccept
and bend over</span></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">if you will</span>. There is absolutely no intention to resolve anything in a conversation, because conversation is about making -- or looking for -- company. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Any resolution, say between male and female species at a pub, usually involves vertical projectiles of appendages, and inebriated horizontal standi.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The BBC Africa Debate, held last week Thursday at the Multimedia University, resembled a bar-room conversation. There was the sober friend, in the form of moderator Audrey Brown from South Africa. She was quick to lay down the rules of the debate. I paraphrase:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"We have a 1-hr time limit. It will be recorded for transmission tomorrow at 7pm. We hope that participants respect each other, listen, use Simple English, keep it lively and scintillating, with a limit the use of Kenyan jargon and acronyms. You can mention it in full but don't draw the BBC audience into the intricacies of the IEBC, CORD, or Jubilee...</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When selected to give your opinion, state your name, title, then proceed to give succinct and expressive comments. This is a debate, not a referendum...</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">" </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There were three sets of seating set up. On the Panel Seats sat Peter Horrocks, Director of the BBC World Service; Julie Gichuru, Royal Media Services' Group Digital Business Manager and Talk Show host; Mohammed Adow, an Al Jazeera roving correspondent based in Doha; and Nanjira Sambuli, iHub Research Hub's New Media Strategist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the Expert Seats sat a host of experts. There was Ian Noble, Regional Director at Internews Network; </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Joseph Warungu, a former head of BBC's African News and Current Affairs; Monica Waceke, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation's Television Programs Manager; Solomon <a href="http://www.twitter.com/smugera">Mugera</a>, a manager at BBC World Service; Jenerali Ulimwengu, a Tanzanian expert; Waweru Mburu, <a href="http://mulaamabooks-africaconservatio.blogs.it/2011/03/19/royal-media-s-waweru-s-kenya-s-critical-yaliyotendeka-program-10856388/">an expert</a> 'critic'; </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Patrick Gathara, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/gathara" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">an expert</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">; Tony Gachoka, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonygachoka" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">an expert</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">; and many other experts, excluding --sadly -- Larry Madowo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That was precisely the problem. Not that Madowo did not show. That all these experts were thrown into one room and expected to tackle anything more than their own mix of agendas. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The topic of the day -- 'Is International Media getting Africa Right?' -- could have been answered, I felt, with a set of simple questions: </span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">who is African? Kenyan?</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">who is International in Media?</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">is such a question, asked in a specific setting -- Kenya's new 'diaspora' -- relevant?</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Instead, and despite the sober judge having laid down house rules not half an hour before, 'Kenya happened'. Sideshows began to dominate, tangents developed; CVs became opinions to be expressed never so succinctly in the debate, experts abused Simple English; a particular panelist became a mouthpiece channeling 'Mirror, Mirror on the wall, how pretty my media house is...' </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He was not, I felt, supposed to be part of that panel, but on an expert seat. In fact the most sensible speakers of the day happened to be the most silent. I had seen Gathara perform as a Kwani? panelist back in mid-year; he should perhaps, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">given </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">his performance </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">as an expert at this particular debate,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> have stuck to it - and his usually good Star and online panels</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was just some of the bad and ugly, though. There was, as is true of Kenya's rice, more than just chaff. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ian Noble, formerly the Editor in Chief at Radio France International (RFI), said towards the end of the show, that 'Africa is not one place, and not Kenya specifically.' He gave an example of Eastern Chad, where the audience is glued to RFI, mitigating this with the fact that in one particular region he was stationed, the was only one internet cafe. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kenya, a new friend says, may lack water and occasionally black out, yet:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">"...[and] these
<i>wazungus </i>cannot understand, how there is no portable water but 3G internet is
readily available. I had to tell them internet is a need while water is a
relative variable."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Julie Gichuru gave a couple of solid points herself, and one that sticks out was on what Jenerali called the flight by night interviews that make a PhD expert on matters Africa. This was in regard to the sort of interviews carried out on your CNNs and Fox News on Africa. Jenerali's view was that there are motivations and conditions that force International correspondents' hands, and thus "affect who's doing what" in Africa. His feeling was that people not embedded to Africa should balance their perspective and need to make a mark with factual and culture-sensitive information. He went on to credit Al Jazeera and the BBC for their fusion of local knowledge and international perspective. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The BBC, in particular, he noted, had diversified its 'voice and colour' giving the News a global feel and outlook. Peter Horrocks, in appreciating Jenerali's remarks, added that what we see here in Kenya with Sophie Ikenye is replicated worldwide, in South and North America as in Europe; locals getting to be the BBC's voice, that is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, as with the <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fikadebate">#FIKADebate</a> before it in the midriff of the past month, the debate was not truly a debate. It was a forum: for some, to vent; for others, to beat their chests in public; yet for others, it was a chance to interact and drink tea and goodies, get free notebooks, and maybe learn something.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was one of those. And I learnt a few things:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Multimedia University has warthogs! Go figure...</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Julie Gichuru, and credit to her, credits her sources everywhere she goes. </span></li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijZHwtlaOHMxXl6EGWG6zbaCvhbggZMB39FqGPXWJ5lo3Q-8Hf33h-1lHMdxqqAFFOqEGW8FgNTOfUn1ZMKObEeKOYNPfo4kWWnbxzlgnqCQDQZEUyOYLPyIgW2r-63tgOa7H1Zd8epUg/s1600/Twitter4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijZHwtlaOHMxXl6EGWG6zbaCvhbggZMB39FqGPXWJ5lo3Q-8Hf33h-1lHMdxqqAFFOqEGW8FgNTOfUn1ZMKObEeKOYNPfo4kWWnbxzlgnqCQDQZEUyOYLPyIgW2r-63tgOa7H1Zd8epUg/s1600/Twitter4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She not only read the Tweet out at the debate, but credited <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jonksplicit">Jonathan Paul</a>. She had no idea the bugger was actually at the Debate. A commendable job, and one lesson Clay Muganda could have used <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/05/plagiarist-beginnings-in-league-with.html">way back when</a>.</span><br />
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<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
<li>The BBC is conducting research into its changing role as part of the International Media fraternity, and as such, needs to listen to the changing world around them. The Swahili Service, for instance, clearly lacks the oomph that the English Service does. Tighter budgets as from next year -- when funding is cut off by the UK government -- mean that this debate was not just a moment of <strike>woo-sah</strike> release for Kenyans. It was data, for the BBC.</li>
</span></ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
<li>The dichotomy of the media, International vs Local, is really not as stringent as we try to make it seem. Local Media is, after all, busy talking about donkey's getting raped to death by men. And ignoring completely when Poets are whipped to submission by Military types at the mausoleum. A silence, one imagines, that they have practised long, since Pattni began tormenting Kenyan families in 1991. So why should the International Media then be taken up to challenge, when our own Media "errs in caution, stumbling over the <i>Arap Sang effect</i><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">?"</span></li>
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<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
<li>In true fashion, we are still a stereotype nation. We generalize everything. "Local Media is messed up." "International Media sucks." "Social Media rules." "Social Media is a menace that should be curbed." "We are Kenya's Think Tank..." Be specific. I liked it when facts were used, and facts were corrected, as opposed to simply saying "Kenyans like ... don't like..." </li>
</span></ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">This could be the start of something good. I prefer, unlike some younger Turks who were in my company on the day, to have some faith in progress, and critique stupid acts as and when they appear. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Fact: the BBC adds some value to our reporting scene.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Fact: the BBC needs value to exchange with its audience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Fact: the BBC makes money, to spend money, covering World News. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">So if you're sick of International Media, what about the pot that called this kettle black at the debate?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kenya, did not, get the #BBCAfrica Debate right.</span> </span></div>
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Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-27274821675507289692013-09-03T05:46:00.003-07:002013-09-03T07:04:46.278-07:00Uongozi: Same Script, Different Words... Pt III<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">When
Intentions meet Choices, Lasting Consequences are borne</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Leadership, in my book ā written by a life wrought with diverse
experiences, observation, interaction, and experimentation ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>the art of influencing<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>oneself<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>or others, through<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>conscious or subconscious<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>thought,
speech and action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">It<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is also<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>the science of knowing what one wants<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>in life<i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and accepting it<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>regardless of any perceived or real consequences; insofar as the
individual stays true to themselves, and to their principles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Leadership is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>open
to constructive critique</i>, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>ready
for detraction</i>. It must never cower; leadership is not about being afraid
of making mistakes. It<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>never
embraces failure</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Good leaders look at situations with as objective an eye as the
subject of oneās self, or others, can be. They take any mistakes they make in
their stride. True leadership, however, also entails<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>never ignoring mistakes</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>made</i>; it is about learning to<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>take them as negative feedback</i>, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>using this feedback to better ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>or completely remodel<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>the thought, speech and action
processes that get one to the point of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>collision
with unforeseen realities</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Leadership is simultaneously<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>the pursuit of abundant<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and
specific<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>lessons<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to learn from</i>, and the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>sharing of these lessons<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>with
others through action or speech. It is the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>relevant use<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>of<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>these specific lessons learnt<i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>over time<i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>in a holistic sense as per the
attendant situation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">However, leadership<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>does not entail blazing a path for others to
follow</i>. This is to say that good leadership, in its purest form, is
not a conscious effort, but a lifestyle. It is a lonely road; interconnected
with narrow boulevards that do not<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>require justification
or solicit compliments. These streets are ideas spoken in action that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>seeks to complement its surroundings</i>, not clash unnecessarily with them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6cAu3IdZIM2ibF_WnyLIu4XjZazcXui0wvEjSu8TS24QGMjJmbslgMS9XM1RTuNvgYvR7LBBKuRgxNjUq8a2iBvVoG0q4y72e0qwfYhahtm-YTb3b7tERveJ3iJ-8I4MbOVxYHTjT1Hl/s1600/vulture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6cAu3IdZIM2ibF_WnyLIu4XjZazcXui0wvEjSu8TS24QGMjJmbslgMS9XM1RTuNvgYvR7LBBKuRgxNjUq8a2iBvVoG0q4y72e0qwfYhahtm-YTb3b7tERveJ3iJ-8I4MbOVxYHTjT1Hl/s1600/vulture.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Leadership<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is important because<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>whether
applied inwardly or outwardly,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>insofar
as it is applied properly<i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>it
seeks to<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>identify salient issues<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>find equitable solutions<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>for
them; even if we, personally, emerge to be the problem in hand. In fact, by
recognizing that we have<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>a choice to make<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>in every situation we are faced
with, and that we have the ability to deal with these choicesā consequences, we
are<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>at peace with ourselves</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">While global issues such as world
peace remain within the dynamics of our day to day lives, eventually, it comes
down to a simple truth: we come into this world alone; we leave it alone. If we
are not at peace with ourselves, it follows that it is simply impossible for us
to be truly at peace with our environs, and their inhabitants.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">A true leader is cognizant of the
fact that they<i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>as well as
their communityās world, are influenced by their environment; be it<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>national,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>regional<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>international</i>. They will remember this, even as they feel the
pain their people live ā if not<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>merely
exist</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>survive</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>ā within. While<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Emotional Intelligence</i>, defined as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>āthe ability to identify, assess
and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groupsā</i>, is a
necessary facet of leadership, it<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>must</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>be complimented by a realistic and
wider perspective view of the factors that prevail on any individual or
community, for them to be prepared to coexist with others, as well as each
other.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfiTfm6hsQV0lFTqiAKRd5So5gNIkHzaTuCwUiEfokFIrUT_Anlce_xlkCM6ouUlVkyEZF4OIBfDOCWKAzZAOrPor9IV90CrZdCeer_02CLuQAZhae4I3L_WD3I05IESiED10ObxDeUsi2/s1600/uongozi...1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfiTfm6hsQV0lFTqiAKRd5So5gNIkHzaTuCwUiEfokFIrUT_Anlce_xlkCM6ouUlVkyEZF4OIBfDOCWKAzZAOrPor9IV90CrZdCeer_02CLuQAZhae4I3L_WD3I05IESiED10ObxDeUsi2/s1600/uongozi...1.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This is
why I believe that it is essential for any leader to be at peace with their
inner selves first.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To lead
themselves first, before they think of leading ā or, arguably, before they<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>are</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>allowed to</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>lead others. The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>truism<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>goes that we
should<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>ābe change that we want to seeā</i>;
and while<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>altruism<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is an
admirable quality when<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>applied thoughtfully,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>including
all stakeholders<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>in
every step<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>of<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>the<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>thought</i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>speech</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>actions<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>on the way, the aforementioned<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>truism</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>can hardly be ignored.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Only when<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>the public<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>has
become<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>a
collective of self-led individuals<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>can
development truly be sustainable. Responsibility<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>ceases to be a burning ball</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to be tossed around; leadership
disengages itself<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>from the idea that it is a<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>āhot seatā</i>; it becomes<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>a series of personal choices, ones
that we learn to embrace<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and
be<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>liable for</i>. When
Emotional Intelligence<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>is<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>guided
by a holistic perspective<i>,</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>on
an all-inclusive path,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>pathological altruism</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>can arguably be avoided.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Pathological altruism is defined as<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>ā<i>behaviour in which attempts
to promote the welfare of another, or others, results instead in harm that an
external observer would conclude was reasonably foreseeable</i>.ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/06/04/1302547110.full.pdf"><sup><span lang="EN-GB">[1]</span></sup></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Instances of
misguided altruism would include tribalism, nepotism, racism, classism, and the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>culture of giving handouts</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in the name of social responsibility.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Numerous practical examples exist
to demonstrate the fact that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>handout culture<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is
as much a part of the problem</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>ā
in Kenya particularly, Africa and the world in general ā as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>it has</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>tried to be a solution</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 17.77777862548828px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">One of
the most</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><i> </i></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">widely read<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">and</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><i> </i></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">visited urban cases</i><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">in point</i><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">would be</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Kibera</i><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">slum, in Nairobi. Ironically, many
residents of the new</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Kibra</i><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">constituency in Kenya may never read a
book, or visit any place beyond their own microcosm of life in the slum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Whereas the hardware is important
to any solution, it is essential to remember that the software is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>just as crucial, if not critical</i>, to its sustainability. This
is to say that any leader who throws money and assets at a problem, without
putting in the necessary man-hours in thought, is heading blindingly fast on a
collision course towards failure.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Real
value</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>can only be adjudged
on equitable exchange of significance,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>where
both parties<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>the leadership and the people<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>led<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>ā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>emerge satisfied. Good leadership
is conscious of this<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>balance<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in the exchange of value</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>most important quality<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>a
leader should have is that of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>confident thought and action.
Indecisiveness, however subtle, is a sign of weak leadership. This<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>is not<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to say that a
leader acts rashly,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>or worse<i>,
brashly;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>careful thought,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>drawing
from<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>specific lessons
learnt in the past</i>, should be applied in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>the
making of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>bold yet calculated risks</i>. The process must be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>expedited<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>expedient<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in manner</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as each presented scenario requires.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Further, leadership<i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>in the<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>socio-political context,</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>entails the<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>making of leaders</i>. By
this I mean that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>a good leader<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>does not simply lead<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>themselves</i>,
or<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>others</i>. Their<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>confidence is infectious</i>, and they engage themselves in the
process of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>showing<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>ā
not telling ā<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>others</i>,
how to lead themselves; this sets off a chain of choices for the rest: to lead
themselves and others, or not to. Confident<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>leaders
lead; others make choices, become leaders, by observing them.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In the<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>global<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>context<i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>leadership also entails<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>realizing that<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>while problems are diverse<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>situational all over the
world,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>solutions are
practically<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>always possible</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>when discourse towards progressive
action is encouraged.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">As of 2013,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>there are 39 states in the world<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>recognized as<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>the<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries</i>, HIPCs. A Joint Initiative designed by the International Monetary
Fund, IMF, and the World Bank, it ā<i>ensure(s) that no poor country faces a
debt burden it cannot manage</i>.ā<span class="apple-converted-space"><sup> </sup></span><sup>[</sup></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/hipc.htm"><sup><span lang="EN-GB">2</span></sup></a></span><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">]</span></sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Of the 36 HIPCs whose<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>debt reduction package has
been approved</i>, 30 are in Africa. By many accounts, there are between 195
and 205 countries in the world. Including the newest ā the Republic of South
Sudan ā Africa, both continental and islanded, has 54 of these countries.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8VNDBmSA_8LDgZKJCjFGqn335LljZcRfzVgQt7FJD7IOtaTP1b1bofChpifwjKWrqAsj9c_UjAwXXjiPEaJNg0-DEZxCZJ2nSuKZr0Uzs_ZkqNgYuwpqqPUICgcQPbss9mCvsA1FkGH1/s1600/So+funny+I+forgot+to+laugh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8VNDBmSA_8LDgZKJCjFGqn335LljZcRfzVgQt7FJD7IOtaTP1b1bofChpifwjKWrqAsj9c_UjAwXXjiPEaJNg0-DEZxCZJ2nSuKZr0Uzs_ZkqNgYuwpqqPUICgcQPbss9mCvsA1FkGH1/s320/So+funny+I+forgot+to+laugh.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Are we, as Africans, satisfied with
having<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>30 of our own<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>classified as both<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>āheavily indebtedā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>āpoorā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>countries, in a worldwide<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>list that features<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>less than 40 countries</i>? Should the Pan-African agenda be proud
of this damning statistic? Should we, as Kenyans, be happy that we do not
feature in this list? Forget that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>over 50%<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>of Kenya lives below the poverty line</i>;
a line that is as<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>physical<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>in<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>class separatism<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>as
it is<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>real<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>in<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>the pain of watching a child go hungry</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Granted, the poor and the hungry ā
usually one and the same ā made certain choices that have brought them to the
point where they are passengers in their own lives. Or have they? Do<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>slums exist more in their inhabitantsā minds</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>than they do in the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>murky drainage</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>systems, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>systemic hygiene cancers</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>standard to slums? </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Do<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>slum inhabitants consider their surroundings āpoorā āmurkyā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>or<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>āunhygienicā</i>? Perhaps most
debatable is this question:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>whether
in the mind,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>or<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>in the environs,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>who has put the slum in the man</i>?</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Finally,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>āa good and lasting legacyā<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is
my parting shot: it is what true leadership, whether personal, interpersonal or
communal, means to me. That when you, as a leader, are gone, those who are left
behind are better for your having been; that they have learnt to always be as
they were when you were, even when you no longer are.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Should your leadershipās<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>intentions be true<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to
all stakeholderās needs, your<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>choices made<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>based on these<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>intentions be purely good, then the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>consequences would be the right legacy; and one that can stand the
test of time.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R34zeIENR0Cc-6-URSSA6Iet6HFGS4P0OHW0Dhh9qNV07x3zRkvhhnDQ6C7W6vsfk_-5s3wygVOY8GBbO2LY_UPyvubbcMz5d9tLXKrQkrj3EZiRjod9sHnYW62014Pixml8PxDnc_Cp/s1600/graffitidownload.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R34zeIENR0Cc-6-URSSA6Iet6HFGS4P0OHW0Dhh9qNV07x3zRkvhhnDQ6C7W6vsfk_-5s3wygVOY8GBbO2LY_UPyvubbcMz5d9tLXKrQkrj3EZiRjod9sHnYW62014Pixml8PxDnc_Cp/s1600/graffitidownload.jpg" /></a></span><br />
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Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-74362437463989833612013-09-03T05:34:00.000-07:002013-09-03T05:50:30.530-07:00Uongozi: Same Script, Different Words... Pt II<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Essence of True,
Pure, and Good Leadership </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Leadership, in my book ā written by a life wrought with diverse experience, observation, and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">interaction ā is good, pure and true. It means knowing what one wants in life, and accepting </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">it regardless of any perceived or real consequences; insofar as the individual stays true to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">themselves, and to their principles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Leadership should be open to critique, constructive and detractive. It must, however, never </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cower, because leadership is not about being afraid of making mistakes; it is about never </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">embracing failure. It is about looking at situations with as objective an eye as the subject of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">oneās self can be, and taking any mistakes made in oneās stride. Leadership, however, entails </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">never ignoring mistakes; it is about learning to take them as negative feedback, and using this </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">feedback to better ā or even completely remodel ā the thought, speech and action processes </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that get one to the point of collision with an unforeseen reality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Leadership is simultaneously the pursuit of abundant ā and specific ā lessons to learn from; </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">lessons which may in turn be imparted to others. It is the relevant use of these specific lessons </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">learnt over time, in a more holistic sense; for instance, a good learner will contextualize lessons </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">learnt in computer hardware and software communications, as appropriate, in actual human </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">relationships. By realizing, to further elaborate, that while both the technological hardware and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">software of our times have to exist harmoniously for maximum efficiency, the same lesson can </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">be inferred to stand true for physical and non-physical aspects of human relationships. This can </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">be justified by recalling that machines were invented to make human work easier.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, leadership does not entail blazing a path for others to follow. This is to say that good </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">leadership, in its purest form, is not a conscious effort, but a lifestyle. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is a lonely road; interconnected with narrow boulevards that do not require justification or </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">solicit compliments, but instead seek to complement their surroundings, not clash unnecessarily </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">with them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Leadership is important because when applied inwardly, it acknowledges that we, personally, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">are the problem. By recognizing that we have the choice to make in every situation we are faced </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">with, and that we have the ability to deal with these choicesā consequences, we are at peace </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">with ourselves. While global issues such as world peace remain within the dynamics of our day </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">to day lives, eventually, it comes down to a simple truth: we come into this world alone, and we </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">leave it alone. If we are not at peace with ourselves, it then follows that it is impossible for us to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">be truly at peace with our environs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The truism goes that we should ābe change that we want to seeā; and while altruism is an </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">admirable quality when applied thoughtfully, the aforementioned truism can hardly be ignored. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Only when the public has become a collective of self-led individuals can development truly be </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">sustainable. Because then, responsibility ceases to be a burning ball to be tossed around, and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">leadership disengages itself from the idea that it is a āhot seatā. Leadership then becomes a </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">series of personal choices, choices we have learnt to embrace and be liable for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The most important quality a leader should have is that of confident thought. Indecisiveness, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">however subtle, is a sign of weak leadership. This is not to say that a leader acts rashly, or </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">worse, brashly; careful thought, drawing from specific lessons learnt in the past, should be </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">applied in the making of bold yet calculated risks. The process must be as expedited and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">expedient in manner as each presented scenario requires. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Further, leadership, in the socio-political context, entails the making of leaders. By this I mean </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that a good community leader does not simply lead themselves, or others. They engage </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">themselves in the process of showing others, through their thought, speech, and action how to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">lead themselves. They are leaders, and so the rest become leaders through them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the global, African and Kenyan contexts, leadership entails realizing that while problems </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">are diverse and situational all over the world, solutions are practically always possible when </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">discourse towards progressive action is encouraged. There is a communal leader in all levels of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">society, and by finding a way to bridge the gap between these leadersā access to each other, an </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">equitable solution to specific problems can indeed be achieved. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It would be instructive to remember, also, that there is no need to reinvent the wheel: especially </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in the Information Age, where access to information has been greatly increased, locating </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">problem-solving techniques has become far a much easier process. The goal, once these </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">techniques have been learnt, is to apply solutions to real problems, and to have adapted the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">solutions as per the problems at hand.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The adaptation process, for sustainabilityās sake, would further need to be appropriate to the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">problemās environment: local capacity of the people affected by the problem would have to be </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">increased through training, and the hardware used made out of locally producible technology. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In terms of software, which here refers to the thought process involved in seeking solutions, the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">local capacity would need a change in mindset to understand the solutions developed, ideally </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">through culturally-sensitive trainings in a locally-appropriate language.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As of 2013, there are 39 states in the world recognized as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">HIPCs. They have been identified by a Joint Initiative designed by the International Monetary </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fund, IMF, and the World Bank, so as āto ensure that no poor country faces a debt burden it </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cannot manage.ā</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of the 36 HIPCs whose debt reduction package has been approved, 30 are in Africa. By many </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">accounts, there are between 195 and 205 countries in the world. Including the newest country ā </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the Republic of South Sudan ā Africa, both continental and islanded, has 54 of these countries.ā </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are we, as Africans, satisfied with having 30 of our own classified as both āheavily indebtedā </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and āpoorā countries, in a worldwide list that features less than 40 countries? Should the Pan-African agenda be proud of this damning statistic? Should we, as Kenyans, be happy that we do </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">not feature in this list? Must we forget that over 50% of Kenya still lives below the poverty line, a </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">line that is as physical in class separatism as it is real in the pain of watching a child go hungry?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Granted, the poor and the hungry, usually one and the same, have made certain choices that </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">have brought them to the point where they are passengers in their own lives. Or have they? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is debatable as to whether slums exist more in their inhabitantsā minds than they do in the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">murky drainage systems, and systemic hygiene cancers that are standard to slums. Even </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">more debatable is whether the slum inhabitant considers his or her surroundings as āpoorā. But </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">perhaps most debatable is this question: whether in the mind, or in the environs, who has put </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the man in the slum? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Only by responding to this question can we possibly claim to have a basis for progression to any </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">sustainable desired objective.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, āa lasting legacyā is my parting shot: it is what true leadership, whether personal or </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">communal, means to me. That when you, as a leader are gone, those who are left behind are </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">better for your having been, and have learnt to be as they were when you were, even when you </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">are no longer present.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Should the leadershipās intentions be true to the peopleās needs, the choices made based on </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">these intentions purely good, the consequences would be the right legacy; and one that can </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">stand the test of time.</span>Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-35126791417617898882013-09-03T05:26:00.000-07:002013-09-03T05:50:30.527-07:00Uongozi: Same Script, Different Words... Pt I<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">UONGOZI: The Essence of True, Pure, and Good Leadership |</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An Essay's first draft...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āNumerous areas in rural Kenya are over three hoursā walking distance from the nearest </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">watering hole, leaving many Kenyan countryside residents without proper access to clean </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">water. Water Mobile Cart, WMC, is a weekly service delivery initiative that distributes fresh, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">clean water directly to your home for a monthly subscription fee.ā</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The above are sample problem and solution statements that would feature in a leaderās thought </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">processes. This is because, in my view, leadership means possessing the ability to not only </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">perceive actual problems in a society, but to go beyond them and find suitable solutions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the example above, the leader would seem to have gone further than the simplistic phase of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">stating a problem and its solution; he considers the fact that for any community to appreciate </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and own a solution, they should ā ideally ā buy into it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Numerous practical examples exist to demonstrate the fact that the handout culture is as much </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a part of the problem, in Kenya particularly and Africa in general, as it has tried to be a solution. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the most widely read and visited urban cases in point would be Kibera slum, in Nairobi. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ironically, many residents of the new Kibra constituency in Kenya may never read a book, or </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">visit any place beyond their own microcosm of life in the slum. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whereas the hardware is important to any solution, it is essential to remember that the software </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">is just as crucial, if not critical, to its sustainability. This is to say that any leader who throws </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">money and assets at a problem, without putting in the necessary man-hours in thought, is </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">heading blindingly fast on a crash course towards failure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Further, the thought process, should it not be inclusive of the people whose lives are affected </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by the problem, will usually end in disappointment. Leading is as much about listening as it is </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">about thinking, showing and telling. It is also instructive to note that said inclusion would need to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">come in the planning, execution, and maintenance stages of problem solving. This is what true </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">leadership is about: finding effective ways to involve the community being led, in the journey to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">their desired destination.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The kind of leadership that is pure, good and true is important because if left to our own </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">devices, we ā as Kenyans, as Africans, as citizens of the world ā have far too often been the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">architects of our own destruction. Leadership is about showing, through consistent action, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">thought and speech, a path towards the betterment of society. Take the following instance, as </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">my second example, into consideration:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āAs of 2013, there are 39 states in the world recognized as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">HIPCs. They have been identified by a Joint Initiative designed by the International Monetary </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fund, IMF, and the World Bank, so as āto ensure that no poor country faces a debt burden it </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cannot manage.ā</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of the 36 HIPCs whose debt reduction package has been approved, 30 are in Africa. By many </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">accounts, there are between 195 and 205 countries in the world. Including the newest country ā </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the Republic of South Sudan ā Africa, both continental and islanded, has 54 of these countries.ā </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are we, as Africans, satisfied with having 30 of our own classified as both āheavily indebtedā </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and āpoorā countries, in a worldwide list that features less than 40 countries? Should the PanAfrican agenda be proud of this damning statistic? Should we, as Kenyans, be happy that we do </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">not feature in this list? Must we forget that over 50% of Kenya still lives below the poverty line, a </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">line that is as physical in class separatism as it is real in the pain of watching a child go hungry?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Granted, the poor and the hungry, usually one and the same, have made certain choices that </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">have brought them to the point where they are passengers in their own lives. Or have they? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is debatable as to whether slums exist more in their inhabitantsā minds than they do in the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[1] </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">murky drainage systems, and systemic hygiene cancers that are standard to slums. Even </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">more debatable is whether the slum inhabitant considers his or her surroundings as āpoorā. But </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">perhaps most debatable is this question: whether in the mind, or in the environs, who has put </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the man in the slum? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Only by responding to this question can we possibly claim to have a basis for progression to any </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">desired objective.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The answer to this question, while considering the fact that the slum in question is not only </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">physical but mental, is the most important test of any leaderās capacity to lead. The most </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">important quality a leader should possess is the ability to place himself in the shoes of his </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">people, without forgetting that he has a role that transcends anyoneās personal gratification. This </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">is to say that while the ideal leader must be conscious of his communityās woes, he must also </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">remember that his own personal interests, and those of his people, are compliant to outside </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">forces. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bringing together the first and second examples given above, allow me to demonstrate why I </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">believe my statement on the best quality of a leader to be true. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The initial problem, as stated, is that there are ānumerous areas in rural Kenyaā which are </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">more than āthree hoursā walking distance from the nearest watering holeā, and therefore āmany </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kenyans in the countrysideā reside āwithout proper access to clean water.ā A true, pure and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">good leader will also be cognizant of the fact that his communityās world is influenced by its </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">environment, be it national, regional or international. They will remember this, even as they feel </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the pain their people live ā if not merely exist and survive ā within. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While Emotional Intelligence, defined as āthe ability to identify, assess and control the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">emotions of oneself, of others, and of groupsā, is a necessary a facet of leadership, it must be </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">complimented by a realistic and perspective view of the factors that prevail on any community, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">for the community to be prepared to coexist with other communities within its nation, region, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">continent or the world. When Emotional Intelligence is guided by a realistic and holistic </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">perspective on an all-inclusive path, pathological altruism can arguably be avoided.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pathological altruism is defined as ābehaviour in which attempts to promote the welfare of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">another, or others, results instead in harm that an external observer would conclude was </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">reasonably foreseeable.ā </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Instances of misguided altruism would include tribalism, nepotism, racism, classism, and the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">culture of giving handouts in the name of social responsibility. This, mind you, is to name but a </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">few. Real value, however, can only be judged on an equitable exchange of significance, where </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">both parties ā the leadership and the people led ā emerge satisfied.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good leadership is conscious of this balance in the exchange of value. Therefore, the Water </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mobile Cart in the first example would have the vision to enable the communityās self-supply</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">of water in the long-term; the leadership of WMC would possibly be conscious of the United</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nations Millennium Development Goals, MDGs; it would also know that water provision to poor </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">communities cuts across MDGs 1 and 7 ā that is, first, eradicating extreme hunger and poverty; </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and seventh, ensuring environmental sustainability. Such knowledge, plus the fact that MDG 8 </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">envisions ādeveloping a global partnership for developmentā would be vital towards empowering </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">this hypothetical community beyond reliance on the leadership of WMC.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A lasting legacy; that is what leadership means to me. That when you, as a leader are gone, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">those who are left behind are better for your having been, and have learnt to be as they were </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">when you were, even when you are no longer present.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Should the leadershipās intentions be true to the peopleās needs, the choices made based on </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">these intentions purely good, the consequences would be the right legacy; and one that can </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">stand the test of time.</span>Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-68458621145708910542013-09-02T15:00:00.000-07:002013-09-01T03:44:44.095-07:00Blurred Lines: The Mortality of Straight Thought~ For @Storymoja's #WazaDunia<br />
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P { margin-bottom: 0.08in }</style><span lang="en-GB">Act I, Sin-band 1.</span><br />
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<span lang="en-GB">On 14</span><sup><span lang="en-GB">th</span></sup><span lang="en-GB">
July, round about 2000hrs EAT, I happened to be at the scene of a
crime. A bunch of crooks got tired of sitting in front of prison
bars, cuddling prisoners' heads with the butts of their guns.
Frustrated with guarding their own species of sex, never having to do
more than butt the prisoners, let loose on the streets of Pwani Si
Kenyaās Shanzu. Problem.</span><br />
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<span lang="en-GB">Their foray into the
armpits of the Tourist Townās foliage set the neighbourhood alight.
Literally. Gunshots left, right and centre, mostly aimed at the sky.
These crooks were exchanging smiles, snatching guns from each other
as kids to toys. Much to the shit loosenings of the innocent
bystanders.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">Every Dick, Dick and
Dick legally outside Shimo La Tewa's prison gates instantly became a
candidate for the hostile reception party these crooksā boots,
whips, blows, bayonets and gun barrels had in store for them. Forget
that many of these men were trying to get home to Mtwapa after a long
hard dayās work in the sputtering of Tourist Hotels that are the
mainstay of the Coastās economy.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">Act II,
Sin 1.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB">You drop
a cigarette in a litter zone. This zone, it so happens, is not a
designated litter bin. It is, however, a litter bin nonetheless.
Problem.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Solution?
You pick up your butt and walk off, right?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">***</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Act III,
Sin-band 1.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">All the
world's problems are, from every individual, picked up and dumped in
one designated problem tank. They are then shared out equitably to
every individual on the planet. It is then said that we would all,
unequivocably, drop the new problems, pick up our shitty little
problems and stalk off. Never looking back, the Lot's wives of us.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">***</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Are the
above scenarios similar? Is Act II Sin 1 similar to Act III Sin-band
1? Is the problem tank analogy the same as the litter bin hyper
thesis?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Perhaps.
They all have problems. The second and third are probably most
correlatable, but even then, not quite.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Unlike
litter, our problem tank is full of material and immaterial issues.
That cigarette's butt, plastic bottle, Java cup, busted Mobile phone,
condom, condom wrapper, lollipoop-stick, or black gangsta hoodie in
the bin. They can all be picked up. They can all be dropped. Easy
peasy...quite the breezy.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Can you
do the same for ā or with ā a social problem? Moreso, is the
problem equal when exhibited by different individuals?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Does a
high-class call girl, for instance, suffer through the same issues a
street-walking strumpet does? Is prostitution a problem, or just the
hive that nests problematic bees?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Act IV
Sin 1</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">A guy
stands at a podium. As he takes out a card from his pocket, out fall
not one ā not two ā but a six-pack of sex-packs. Guy is a
lecturer, preacher, politician, president or other exalted panel
speaker doing his mouth runs in an auditorium full of eager young
grasping sponges of minds. Like minds. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Society
preaches protection and safe sex. Yet:</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Guy
will most likely be embarrassed.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Crowd
will quite likely erupt in laughter, aka LOL, alias LTAO.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">These
like-minded eager to learn folks will still ā quite likely ā bear
this double standard. Preach protection, then shake their damn heads
at it in equal measure. Problem?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">***</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">We live in a quite
stratified society. Where every individual, despite being individual,
unique, is expected ā or expects ā to fit in. One in which there
are tonnes of eager boxes waiting patiently to be filled. To be
entered. We have levels and lanes, wigs and high-roads full of
self-interest and other-disinterest. Yet all these somehow merge for
and/or against common enemies.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">What common enemies?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Recently, our common
enemy has either been very sexual or very religious. Or very
religiously sexual, sexually religious. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Very sexual. Very
homo. Very natural. Very same.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Because sex, like it
or not, is natural. Take a look at your general pubic configuration
and have yourself a gory light bulb moment. Hey socket, meet plug. Go
ye forth and electrify.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSalPUZF6AM6jC0F-lL6w7kNNIwa2bEaZfbcVslrXThamP7-WTC9vQ9gcHI099gL5zaluPCE6LEUFlzmZw_nBhQVBlWnyHG7G5-YEju_QIsbG49inTF0C6vmLY2cwcnULLe8gv0gjwKnh/s1600/homo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSalPUZF6AM6jC0F-lL6w7kNNIwa2bEaZfbcVslrXThamP7-WTC9vQ9gcHI099gL5zaluPCE6LEUFlzmZw_nBhQVBlWnyHG7G5-YEju_QIsbG49inTF0C6vmLY2cwcnULLe8gv0gjwKnh/s320/homo.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Because homo, like
it or don't, is same. <i>Homosex</i>, is same nature. As in natural. See
history books. You were not taught by some outside force to be
straight or <i>curveballed</i>. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Because individual,
like it or not, we are. As a planet, we are a globe full of
individual persons, with individual needs, and individual goals.
Should one individual's needs be to score goals aplenty for the
'same' team, then that prerogative is their own to do with as they
please.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">As is their bum and
pubic region.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">What's stopping you
from doing as you please, always caring too fucking much about your
neighbours shit et al? <i>Mavi usioyala, yakuwashiani</i>?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">What's should stop
me from being?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Status quo?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">It's nigh on
impossible to simply sit there and talk about the issue of
homosexuality as an exclusive issue. Yet, and this is where
#teamHappy goes wrong, our problems are interconnected. Before your
brain goes into overdrive, dear reader, trying to figure out if I
think homosexuality is a problem that needs a solution, let me spell
it out for you: being gay is a problem.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Homosexuality in
itself, you will find, is not the problem. However, the modalities of
being curvedānot-straight, are. And not just for 'the gays'. It is
in fact in the way society interacts, when it cares to, with them,
and how they react to it. How they interact with society, if they
bother, and how it reacts to them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">There seems to be a
certain protocol and bureaucracy that correlates gay guy sex to
feminism; where feminism refers to being feminine. And since women
need to be controlled in our society lest they run wild and refuse to
open their legs in silence, so need the gay guys.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">The irony is that
when manly men are shackled, the have the luxury of revolting. Not so
much for their women, and their womenly men. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Did the MauMau
revolt because they were denied land that was rightfully theirs, or
because they then had to walk around this land with a noose around
their necks, from whence hang a metallic pedantic pendulum of
identification?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">The Kipande, a
colonial ID system that was basically the equivalent of Slave
TrackIt, still exists. Not only in our linguistic parlance, where we
still reserve the term for our wallets and IDs; but also in our
minds.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">We still call them
kipande, and like women's tribal names, they remain as their cultural
society intended them to. Women, in my native tongue, are -lashed
'silence'. Directly translated, 'mutumia' refers to 'person whose
lips are sealed'. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Men, conversely, are
called 'choice', or 'brave', depending on which scenario of
preference they are zooming in on. 'Muthuri' is the 'person who
chooses,' while 'mundu-urume' is the 'person who is brave.' Choice is
a man, bravery is a man. Silence is a woman. And what is a man's
choice?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HQ9PaC_tEhcAjB0I34-r126wY-pmZ_CWhFN75D8MTNNmzJwdrxth5OY3LYUMUhqk_XEYrkX6V6fLimj9T15Ao2GnU_fEfZp3yLX5NRu13_QjkziuBN5x0r4SG5GY87gLbZZnHp_lu8cR/s1600/paris-hilton-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HQ9PaC_tEhcAjB0I34-r126wY-pmZ_CWhFN75D8MTNNmzJwdrxth5OY3LYUMUhqk_XEYrkX6V6fLimj9T15Ao2GnU_fEfZp3yLX5NRu13_QjkziuBN5x0r4SG5GY87gLbZZnHp_lu8cR/s320/paris-hilton-1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span lang="en-GB">Man's choice is as
to which woman's lips he will seal. Which women he will bravely
silence, awed as they will be by his courage and ability to choose so
well. It's no wonder the <i>blowjob</i> is such a fast-rising ā and
arousing ā sensation. The only sound she can make then would be a
gaggle or slurp...but I digress.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">What society, thus,
cannot fathom, is why any man would choose to be silenced. The gay
guy, being so 'womanly', is expected to be just as silent. Because he
so chose to be. A woman. Yet in true double standard, he is also
expected not to choose to 'be a woman'; not to 'be a 'Desperate
Housewife'; not to 'be a queen'. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">He is expected to
choose. To be brave. To be man.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Ergo, it's either
'take your pride parade where it belongs. In a closet far far away'
... or 'why don't you be...somebody? Why are you being...a woman?'</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">And just to make it
a tad worse, sometimes it's either...or...or die.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">So why bother coming
out? Why not simply be who you are, and not have to come out into the
shit streets in defense of who you, I, we...are? Pride at having come
out should be the bravest, most stupid choice a guy can make.</span><br />
<span lang="en-GB"><br /></span>
<span lang="en-GB">[First Published on July 19th 2013]</span></div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-46659382882921437152013-09-01T22:30:00.000-07:002013-09-01T22:07:04.690-07:00Sex? Just Like Obama, Yes We Can. <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">O...Bummer! *<a href="http://storymojaafrica.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/sex-oh-yes-i-do-french_freddy-is-going-to-talk-about-it/"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Runs away from the N(A)SA</span></a>*</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āYou have 18 kids? Do you pay child support?ā</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āI canāt pay no child support! They [the women] knowā¦ā he
canāt afford it, says the very '<i>ign'ant</i>' black American-sounding young man.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">āWhat about contraception? Is that not an option for you?ā
responds the bemused inquisitor, to the amusement of a live crowd, from the
cued laughing sounds of it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">āI was youngā¦and ambitious.ā</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was an audio recording played yesterday morning on my
trustee <a href="http://twitter.com/1055XFM"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">@105.5XFM</span></a>, the everyday all-day Kenyan rock-headās station. Of course I
donāt know that the perp was black, nor do I know that the inquisitor was
white. But: suspicions a-sneaky, my mind a-freaky.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now think about it. Is this kinda brouha (because the last
ha was deemed inadmissible to sense) not the very crap we allow in our society
when we consciously ignore any and all talk about sex? Forget that he has a whole
football team, nay, an entire changing room, of children. They could probably
play a game of 11-aside, with the women part of the teams, and still have
enough bodies leftover to play linesmen and part of the fan support. As the man
plays referee, since any self-respecting football fan will tell you that the
ref is the biggest fool on the pitch. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Iāll admit to being sorry, however, for being so overly
presumptuous as to figure the man could actually afford all the equipment
required to facilitate this kinda game, let alone a Sunday dinner complete with
cornbread and some Kool Aid. Because drinking Kool Aid makes you Kool, nigga!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">See what we do to ourselves, black people? Of course there
are crazy white people out there, as there are reds and yellows; the KKK and
general redneck fuckerries of yore, the red Communist brouha, the red
vein-juice regularly flowing in the Middle East and India. But this? This could
be avoided with a simple culture of honest open talk!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">āSon. This is your penis. If you put it in thisā¦ā father
proceeds to show Google image of a vagina to Young Turk, āā¦without thisā¦ā
another Google image of a condom āā¦being wrapped around your penisā¦ā</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How hard was that? Are your sensitivities now pricked anywhere
near <b><i>hard</i></b>
enough? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No harder than this poor sodās prick was when he went on a
fucking rampage, I might imagine. I sincerely hope you wonāt prefer thinking
that your daughter is not going to be affected. How do you know? How can you
say, for certain, that this, or worse, is not what awaits her in the jungle we
cultivate for our future by not talking about sex and the <b><i>precious gift</i></b> that is
womanhood? Or as one particular <a href="http://www.freespoken.net/2013/03/unearthing-the-wench/"><span style="color: #741b47;">wench</span></a> Iād like
to biblically āknowā says, her ā<b><i>laughter and the sweet scented sanctity
between [her] legsā</i></b><i>?</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-NmvQUSf9BPXwNPYTRv4vIFNk9RVisYiauFB3cMHRMBLAqYuC-BaQXY8_bZJOZDENGhyphenhyphenw2lDWgAq131whkK1Bx1jeKHeaHKaa0RELJCS4UQeT0JsAw-25hAySjXKBo6rVXvzMgmBAQK1/s1600/EroticBookCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-NmvQUSf9BPXwNPYTRv4vIFNk9RVisYiauFB3cMHRMBLAqYuC-BaQXY8_bZJOZDENGhyphenhyphenw2lDWgAq131whkK1Bx1jeKHeaHKaa0RELJCS4UQeT0JsAw-25hAySjXKBo6rVXvzMgmBAQK1/s1600/EroticBookCover.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><a href="http://storymojaafrica.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/sex-oh-yes-i-do-french_freddy-is-going-to-talk-about-it/">Story #2</a> </span>for Storymoja Africa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Imagine a world in which sex was discussed freely. Iām
talking about Vagina Monologues held in the chiefās baraza out in the middle of
<b><i>Jangwa</i></b>
County, in the desert, not in Capital Cities and City Halls. Waza Dunia.
Imagine. Your. World.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is what we have here enough? Can we prevent the
proliferation of single-seed families all over our world without engaging our
children in better preparation for their futures? And believe you me, <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2011/05/everything-we-do-we-do-it-for-sexby.html"><span style="color: #38761d;">sex
runs this world</span></a>, so the kids had better get used to the idea. As should
you, dear reader. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Any time I hear or sniff out even the sneakiest scent of
sex, I just as quickly wanna sign up for a piece of that action. Take Sunday,
for instance. I promise it was after the duly allowed church-going hours, so
you can set those anti-XFreddy placards and Red-Armed pitch-forks down. The
effigy looks good, though; methinks me likey!
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*wink wink-back at
The 150 Shades, me love you long time*</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back to Sunday, and Back to The Future. At least mine,
thatās for sure. There I was, seated by my trusty lappyā¦ Weāll call her
Lap-Danceā¢. So there she is dancing on my lap, sailing through the Twitter
sphere of life, and voilĆ : a new follower! A female follower at that, mused my
mind. Something about the profile picture and name just oozed femininity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, normally, I donāt bother myself too much with who follows
or doesnāt, until, at least, I use a Social Media tool or other after a while
and bulk-unfollow any baggage I donāt need on my timeline. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But something about
her Twitter love handle just got me curious. So I shift Lap-Danceā¢ on my
place-that-we-will-not-mention-coz-society-says-so, and click on the profile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The following is a word for word transcript of what my mind
told me, and what I said back to it, in the next 15 minutes:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mind: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dude! This has got to be the Social Experiment of the
Hour!</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
<br />
Me: </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nay, nay, nay, nigger!
This one will serve for the decade!</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
<br />
Mind: </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was just an
interesting Twitter handle, with an interesting regal looking feather of a
profile pic that followed me.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
<br />
Me: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Curious,
you read <a href="http://www.twitter.com/dowombre">her bio</a>.</span></blockquote>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>ā</b>Davina Owombre, a Nigerian short story
writer. A published author of a<br />
sexy title known simply as <i>āSarahā</i>,
in a collection titled āSee You Next<br />
Tuesday: The Second Coming.ā<b>ā</b></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mind: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The bio said coming. Twice! Further, it said that she
would, would <i>āSarahā</i>, see you next
Tuesday!</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Me: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And
so you engaged her. Asked her if you were really gonna see her next Tuesday.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mind: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then you immediately sent a link to her, a review I had
just finished </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">reading, about her story. Sometimes you can be such a nitwit, Me.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Me: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yeah, right. I didnāt hear you complaining as we sparred
on, did Davina and I, segued in jest...</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mind: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But whose idea was it to request a trade? One of my
stories, for her <i>'Sarah'</i>, remember
that, nitwit?</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Me: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of āyour storiesā? Are you
kidding me right now? Who types them out? Do you fool? And will you stop
calling me nitwit, nitwit?</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh wellā¦let the two of them keep on arguing. You and I, dear
reader, can be happy to know that, as it turns out, Davina said yes. She sent
me a copy of ā<i>Sarahā</i>, which began
thus:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">āA sweaty cowboy staggered up, grabbing a chair. The cowboy
still on the floor crawled toward the bar. Other cowboys in the room went wild
booing and cheering. The chair-grabber raised the chair and broke it on his
opponentās back.ā</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The ending, however, was less Coward of the County, and more
Hero of the village:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">āSarah smiled her new special smile. And she parted her legs
ever so slightly to reveal white underwear only he could see. <i>Ani </i>settled down
to read.ā</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="color: #222222;">The short </span><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/SeeYouNextTuesday.htm"><span style="color: #a64d79;">story was effortless</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, Davinaās scenes so flawlessly
curved out that they formed a mental picture as they oozed out of the page
straight to my eyes. </span></span>She is now in my box :) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The gmail kind, just
so we're clear. Not the vagina synonym. Or the Kenyan version of it, Just plain little old inbox. And the ā<i>sheā</i> in this
case is <i>'Sarah'</i>...not Davina.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OK, I lie. The last email I sent Davina, after a series of
them between us, ended thus:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;">You naughty gal you. Wink
accepted. Wink countered, seen and raised with a </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;">tip of the little Johnny. Or
is it the little Akpor?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;">__________________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;">Davina Owombre is a pseudonym
that the author of āSarahā keeps as private as possible (hence no picture)
because she had to sort of go 'underground' after receiving a barrage of
criticisms and threats in Nigeria for daring to publish a same-sex short story
involving Africans long before it was fashionable to do so (we're talking about
a decade ago). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #222222;">She will feature in Freddyās
</span><a href="http://storymojaafrica.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/sex-oh-yes-i-do-french_freddy-is-going-to-talk-about-it/"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">second piece of the month for Storymoja</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, every month, between now and October
1st. So tune in, every second Tuesday of the month, for more of Sarahās wiles
;)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First Published on June 11th 2013, for Storymoja Hay Festival.</div>
Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-6488716141841693532013-08-27T21:25:00.000-07:002013-08-27T23:07:17.121-07:00The Return of MOI: Kenya's Post Erection Insolence<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everybody loses it, I have oft found, continue to find. Perhaps this is why, in writing this piece, I sat and took a long hard think as to how I'd say what I need say, and appear not to bitch. Appearances, however, are a tart clich<span style="font-size: 16px;">Ć©</span> filled with deceptive pastry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXziExNZmAyXJrRao1-mdSwmGzvLWmOtB8-WGgI3NLqetGyg8_7KeVBZsr_o3ryco3Qm0EKzNm2F70kHt7a5dn7WkqNCXyyUvJ3VULeQVIu1vFq1JRuKRZs_LhmHlWD4LDvweWNRhdk82/s1600/bitch+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXziExNZmAyXJrRao1-mdSwmGzvLWmOtB8-WGgI3NLqetGyg8_7KeVBZsr_o3ryco3Qm0EKzNm2F70kHt7a5dn7WkqNCXyyUvJ3VULeQVIu1vFq1JRuKRZs_LhmHlWD4LDvweWNRhdk82/s320/bitch+1.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">This is not a bitch post. My mother had it tested.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have also oft found that I disappoint people a lot. More on appearances -- remember them? -- than it is on the deliberate intention to deceive. The appearance that I fit into a box: the 'one of us' box; the 'not for us' box; the 'uptight' box; 'the easy-go-lucky' box...and much more recently, the '(not) Kumbaya my Lord' boxes. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently, however, a new series of boxes has seemed to emerge. The 'serious', 'loaded' or 'seriously loaded' box, depending on where the boxer stands. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You see, I decided to start a company. I have done business before, but this time I chose to go it the long hard narrow way that is incorporation in Kenya. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Being as I find action to be incorporated in thought and speech, I talked about the company; it was soon to be that the company took on a life of its own. A story, one oft finds, that I will tell another day; since that is not why we're assembled in this dark cyber room, pretending to speak to you. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We're gathered here today, dear brethren and sirens, to cast our minds back to the days when Kenya was born. 50 years ago, right?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wrong. Dead wrong. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbH-vsRmgH6RHHba4ha1KgTEjizgGuEwkkAdFaAgmIYOFrsPF00RiEeIu-FqC8HVbXqH4rvP5dV7yCF7l6zZ5z_QJ8uk-x2T4GybFaPf0tVS_iUWviQA0L4JOski4-N0Fho-K60bS2Tmv5/s1600/Wrong+Turn+3+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbH-vsRmgH6RHHba4ha1KgTEjizgGuEwkkAdFaAgmIYOFrsPF00RiEeIu-FqC8HVbXqH4rvP5dV7yCF7l6zZ5z_QJ8uk-x2T4GybFaPf0tVS_iUWviQA0L4JOski4-N0Fho-K60bS2Tmv5/s1600/Wrong+Turn+3+3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">In fact, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Wrong Turn </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">kinda-</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">dead wrong.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kenya was born of the fecal matter that sprung out of the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Race for Africa</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. Just in case the wording fools you, we're talking about </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">race</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> in a 'Hey ye! hey ye! scramble, let us partition Africa's scrambled eggs' kinda way. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Race <b>for </b>Africa</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not the colored race, nor the colorful races. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those races are not the kind we speak of. The race we do, today, is the same one that invaded - and continues to invade - the dusty </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; vertical-align: super;">1</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; vertical-align: super;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cave-dwelling </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; vertical-align: super;">2</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, Provincial Roman populace </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; vertical-align: super;">3</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> now known as Africa. The same one that occupied, annexed -- and continues to occupy, annex -- this land, named for all intents and purposes after </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">some king-doomed place, in or around present-day Tunisia</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; vertical-align: super;">4</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The race -- your History books will tell you, if you bother yourself with them -- that colonized and civilized my ancestors. It continues to colonize and civilize their children's great grand children.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Race <b>for </b>Africa</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The only race that has been for Africa. The <i>violent race</i>; a bloody winner-takes-all <i>race; </i>one that named, shamed and took <i>Africa</i>, continues to name, shame<i> and </i>take <i>Africa</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The capital race; a Capitalist's <i>race </i>wrought in steel, iron and capital murder; not a colored race, nor a colorful race.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even the people who live in the continent called Africa certainly are not <i>for </i>it. They spring <i>from </i>it, in more ways than one. They are sometimes born in it, into it; sometimes they choose to live in it, fly into it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Always fly in. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You don't hear <i>Amistad</i>-like stories of people drowning in their boat-fulls; on their way from Spain, crossing the 15 odd Strait of Gibraltar kilometers into Morocco, and to the blissful freedom of oblivion's claws.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pggRmj5-dkLNYFd3cZbhzTYyCmNRKxZ5d0yxbR_XBwRxRa0pLLIPO9qrqgPoxFpYREsIJbQTZVbTOqAj0o2ThdBxNbZRsa8YpF4VUMTfyiYOAuKWqZ7djobDOSpQiCNYQ3yuk6e8dECf/s1600/Strait_of_gibraltar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pggRmj5-dkLNYFd3cZbhzTYyCmNRKxZ5d0yxbR_XBwRxRa0pLLIPO9qrqgPoxFpYREsIJbQTZVbTOqAj0o2ThdBxNbZRsa8YpF4VUMTfyiYOAuKWqZ7djobDOSpQiCNYQ3yuk6e8dECf/s320/Strait_of_gibraltar.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Strait of Gibraltar as seen from space by NASA, 14 April 1994.<br />(North is to the left: The Iberian Peninsula is on the left; North Africa on the right)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What you do hear, is those born in it, when given the Green chance, springing the blank <i>off of </i>her sperm-fulls of potential </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">blanks</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. If they're <i>lucky </i>enough to be worth their host country economy's while.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFr6KeqEJ4jeIaB_WaLoZt4obRHOcjezby3Q_fOiV-wHu-VR6iOf-xIyO5HS7reg1EVR8PbNG0wdtztXt-sRcgS7xQO8A6HF7VgpNi-1qZ9UAKEGXq2np8GnOQIy34j37CjpCd98VElM5o/s1600/bitch+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFr6KeqEJ4jeIaB_WaLoZt4obRHOcjezby3Q_fOiV-wHu-VR6iOf-xIyO5HS7reg1EVR8PbNG0wdtztXt-sRcgS7xQO8A6HF7VgpNi-1qZ9UAKEGXq2np8GnOQIy34j37CjpCd98VElM5o/s1600/bitch+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #666666;">Yes sir, Frank Njenga sir! Ladies first...</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The people of Africa, as she is now, spring from Africa. Spring; not from what it was when it wasn't Africa, but from what it is since it has been Africa. For over half a century towards the 19th Century's close of business, before the boss said there would be no pay for overtime, the dusty slum-dwellers of the black land were prepped. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lubed, more like, by a hegemony -- an informal governance, if you will -- of military superiority and economic dominance. That, and the influencing promise of slave-ship detours to Religiosity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Long before the land- and mind- grabbing began -- long before the lines drew, the mines blew -- there lived a Berber named Leo Africanus. The Moorish 16th Century diplomat and author is said to have written of the land west of the Nile Valley, in a <i><b>Descrittione dell'Africa</b></i>. A <b><i>Description of Africa</i> </b>in which he proposed that his home was <i><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">aphrike,</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> from the Greek ĪĻĻĪ¹ĪŗĪ®. With the suffix </span><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">ĻĻĪ¹ĪŗĪ®, meaning "cold and horror", and a prefix that to this day means 'without', he described his home as being 'without cold or fear/ horror.' He is also said to have traveled to Timbuktu and back - literally, before it became a European byword for inaccessibility.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">He never once crossed the Sahara, nor saw Nigeria, Kenya or South Africa. He did see a lot of the Songhai Empire, travel through Cairo to Constantinople and Bologna. Go figure. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rhodes_Colossus" title="w:The Rhodes Colossus"><span style="color: #741b47;">The Rhodes Colossus</span></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">:
<span style="color: #666666;">Caricature of</span> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cecil_John_Rhodes" title="Cecil John Rhodes"><span style="color: #741b47;">Cecil John Rhodes</span></a>, <span style="color: #999999;">after he announced plans for a
telegraph line and railroad from Cape Town to Cairo. December, 1892</span>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">The irony that you - supposedly - are going to figure, is that the man after whom Africa was more likely christened </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; vertical-align: super;">5</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">did not see most of what he described, but rather relied on what he was informed of. </span></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">did not see Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa, countries supposedly synonymous with Africa today. See <b><i>Africa Rising</i></b> narrative.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">quite possibly did not intend to describe any more than his own knowledge. That is, he described what lands he conquered -- also later known as 'discovered' -- in his travels. Mostly North Africa; this he compared, one might imagine, to what else he had seen. Namely some bits and pieces of Italia, Anatolia (Asia Minor) and what lay in between.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: center;">This is what became of Leo's knowledge, in 1600.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> '<b><i>A Geographical Historie of Africa</i></b>' was proclaimed.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">To Africanus, however, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">aphrike </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">was what he knew; and he certainly knew a lot. Quite like many of our own leaders, wannabe leaders and pretend leaders today do. He had read, you see. He had been told, you will find. He had also traveled and seen some, and concluded that what he had seen -- related to what he had read, and been told to think -- was true. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">He had not, one finds, experienced every nook and cranny of what landmass became Africa; much - again - like many of our African Union peeps. Peeps who be presidents: many simply peeping abroad and sipping high teas as their small portions of the cake Africa rot in their mouths.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">I am no apologist of Europe - or Britain, for that matter - in as far as her Colonial History is concerned. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;"> I am </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">no apologist of Africa -- or Kenya, for that matter --</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;"> in as far as her recovery, or pretense thereof from said history, is concerned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">But; inasmuch as facts be considered, then the following remain true:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">Kenya is not Kenya for Kenya's interests.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">Neither is Africa for her own interests.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Being Kenyan, Ugandan, Burkinabe or South African (what does this even mean? Where does South begin?) counts for naught in as far as bread puts up tables.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">Who, pray tell then, is African? Who is Kenyan?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">I am who I am. I think -- dream even -- but not like Umair Haque does, or thinks I should or shouldn't. I do, but not like my brother and friend Boniface Mwangi may or may not think I should. I say, but not as my good foreign friends -- TED -- and gooder local enemies -- GOK -- think I should. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">My thinking -- my dreaming, even -- and my doings and sayings, are my own. They should not come to be sought to presume that I have this, that or that there. <i>This </i>being money and women, as they go together... oh so tenderly well. <i>That</i> being expensive phones... and that there?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;"><i>That there</i> being leadership. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">Because I will, by default, likely disappoint these boxes. At the very least, my appearance will.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;"> <b>.::0 To be continued 0::.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ps: This is still not a bitch post. It was the return of <i>moi</i>, French for <i>me</i>. Or the return of My Own Interests. Or the return of President Moi. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To see what actual bitch posts look like, contact me <a href="http://storymojaafrica.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/conversations-between-opinionated-guys-straight-meets-out-featuring-french_freddy-and-kenyanphil/"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">here</span></a>, <a href="http://diaryofaserialschizo.blogspot.com/2013/07/miss-sexy-miseducation-of-sex-education.html"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://storymojaafrica.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/viva-afrique-the-good-the-bad-the-shame-of-tana-country-french_freddy/"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">here</span></a>. They may or may not really be bitchy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">1-4. From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa#Etymology"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Africa's Etymology</span></a>, see hypotheses on: dust, cave, Africa Province - capital city being Carthage - and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">Ifriqya - being modern-day Tunisia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">5. My own presumption, based on little actual knowledge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: center;">* The next installment of today's piece features: Kenya's colony, and how it led us to where and who we are to date, our post election insolence, and '</span><a href="http://t.co/F2mdYNjKY8" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">my own interests</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: center;">' culture... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: center;">DISCLAIMER: It may or may not be titled as follows. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: center;">"From Kenya to Africa: One Big School Full OF FAKE Bitches."</span></div>
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Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939692653025303552.post-43154983014930785532013-08-19T01:44:00.000-07:002013-08-19T01:45:19.855-07:00Once a-mugging, Always a-mugging: Ku #FikaDebate na @FreethinkersKE<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What do you get when you handpick a gathering of fiercely opinionated, incredibly knowledgeable, supremely conscious beings and throw them at a topic? As was evident with the #FikaDebate on Twitter and Facebook this past Saturday, this formula yields an explosive Top Trend on the Kenyan micro-blogosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was fortunate to be present for a FIKA meeting on 9<sup>th</sup> August 2013; seated directly opposite me on a couch across the room, a man ā amongst men ā who goes simply by Lord Vasquo, pitted his immense wit against mine. The subject was, as it turns out, as to whether perfection is achievable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was to be the second head-on clash Vasquo and I would be involved in, within less than a month of our first acknowledgement of each otherās disturbing existences.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Such an infinitesimal question, to which many would simply respond with a yes or no, caused an explosion the likes of whose inestimable damage was rather predictable: Lord Vasquo now has a great friend in me; because ā I always say ā you keep your brilliant arch-nemeses close enough to figure out where they stash their kryptonite.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A bit later in the meeting, a lady who calls herself Dagitari sat next to me, a chap named Eric completing the sandwich. On my right side, trench-coat and cigarette pack at hand, Bluetooth piece dangling from his ear, sat a man known only as Double S. Being as the topic had strayed to knowledge and use of Condoms by teenagers, I immediately pulled a Kamenchu on Dagitari:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yule M-two: Did you know that I donāt wear underwear?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The rest, they say, is a story. One mind-blowing story; one that we are here not to discuss.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A couple of cigarettes and a Guinness Kubwa later, the meeting officially called to a start. The topic, I was surprised to find, being about a debate to be held on 17<sup>th</sup> August. Logistics were discussed in great detail, including how to best raise cash amongst ourselves towards footing the Venue cost. Who would handle the camera-work, who was to get there early on the day to do the space planningā¦ basically, division of labour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me state, at this point, that I am yet to become a full member of FIKA. I am, however, nearly there. As such, when I was suggested as moderator of the debate, my instant reaction was, āErm, mimi ni mgeni wazeiya.ā I preferred the less audible task of Social [multi]Media Marketing, one I can do in my sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was so agreed, and Yule left. Leaving Dagitari caught between a Double S and a hard Eric. Lorde have Mercyā¦<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The week creeps, the week crawls. On 12<sup>th</sup> August, Yule writes a piece, shares a piece. Storymoja Publishers gracefully put the piece up on their Hay Festival conversation column. The piece is shared on Twitter, shared on Google+, shared on Facebookā¦ Friends are made, friends are blocked, friends blockā¦<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Soon, itās Friday all over again, and time to meet the gang at Chester House once more. The debate is tomorrow. The kinks are ironed out, Yule sees his old friend Waga back in the fray; he is to be part of the panellists the following day. Yule fears for him; he looks so dishevelled, and Yule wonders if he will be anywhere near ready for the debate. He should not have had to worry, he later realized.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">D-Day. Yule wakes up at 7 am. He is to be 40 kilos of metres away by 8am. Yeah. Right. A quickie shower, some dog-like cloth-sniffing, cologne-whiffing, 2 Kilometre walk to the bus station and a bumpy ride later, Yule is in town. One of the panellists, the ever ebullient Nuru Bahati Shukrani, calls him as he awaits a damsel in distress to get <i>unlost</i> in Nairobiās human traffic. ETA, 30 minutes, Nuru says.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nD-45dayLC3jYtu2XIdWIMNE8pG42vm8P1svwyy6_hei-0rxoFpQm95fby2ndAqactSz6dbINV92OlAtChijjzMLnEmTRNq6TVVDPbX4KJGntb_9zvuJarx3KuzrplNx1IQrvZsgHLM_/s1600/Irony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nD-45dayLC3jYtu2XIdWIMNE8pG42vm8P1svwyy6_hei-0rxoFpQm95fby2ndAqactSz6dbINV92OlAtChijjzMLnEmTRNq6TVVDPbX4KJGntb_9zvuJarx3KuzrplNx1IQrvZsgHLM_/s320/Irony.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">Oh the irony, tweeted Ssemakula, one of the atheist panellists, and Chairman of FIKA.</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yule M-two: Si nikupatie namba ya mrembo mkuje naye?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check. And so it would be that Yule got to the venue at 9:30am. One Chowder-keg accosts him at the entrance. Things are moving at a fast pace... Camera setup, seat arrangements, mic checks, pre-debate interviews... Kenyans trickling in at 11 am, more Kenyans trickling in at 11:30 am...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By midday, the guests are getting restless.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mugendi: I paid to wait 2 hours for the event to begin? Good thing I came an hour late, otherwise Iād be so mad!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aziz: Good thing I did not have to pay... You should know people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The panellists eventually got settled down, and the debate began. <b>The topic of the day?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicdYVslUL7CfN2GPI2QEBskNSqA5_3m97RI_Em8iH9LO7DlcPUOeI_qa0ofG4rXFHJ1Kh_Wp_1JWJXV7-HmJlBmDptlvRiKRSIRQPEvE39tuWqk2CbyxJrfXp3Y1NjAVN9tm2Ug6x_JJOZ/s1600/FIKA+Debate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicdYVslUL7CfN2GPI2QEBskNSqA5_3m97RI_Em8iH9LO7DlcPUOeI_qa0ofG4rXFHJ1Kh_Wp_1JWJXV7-HmJlBmDptlvRiKRSIRQPEvE39tuWqk2CbyxJrfXp3Y1NjAVN9tm2Ug6x_JJOZ/s320/FIKA+Debate.jpg" width="225" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the Morally Absolute side, there was Nuru Bahati Shukrani, and 2 pastors... We shall call Pastor 1 - Desmond, and Pastor 2 ā Daniel, because those were their actual first names. On the Morally Relative side were Waga, Ssemakula, and Kamau. What happened next can be seen in greater detail <a href="http://storify.com/French_freddy/are-we-good-without-god">here</a>. Since we have videos awaiting upload on YouTube, and followup podcasts, anyone eager to see what went down, will. It will not be pretty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In conclusion, itās been a rather interesting week, and as it ends, the irony in this event ā as well as the Arterial Network #CreativezCatchup ā sticks a sore tongue out. In a post later this week, I will get into the details of the same, in a piece to be dubbed Once a-mugging, Always a-mugging.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For now, let me answer a question I raised last week Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Am I an atheist? Well, here goes nothing:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I do not believe in god any more.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is no god called God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is, I have thought to know, God, a god.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Many still do, think they know, God, The One.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I donāt think they do, however, think. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not freely, at least.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is good for them, to believe.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I respect their Choice, and Free Will.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They will usually not, respect mine.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is better for me, to think.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All is well.</span></span></div>
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Yulemboismndialalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15234872585772287015noreply@blogger.com0