L'amour

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. She's given a lot of stick by the press at times but one thing of hers I cannot fault is her music. She has such superb songs and her voice really makes for a great listen on a lazy Saturday afternoon. I've written down the lyrics to one of her songs, 'L'amour'. It's basically about how love is not for her and so on. If I'm bothered enough, I'll put up the translation. But download the song. It's beautiful.

L'amour pas por moi
Tous ces toujours
C'est pas net, ca joue des tours
Ca s'approche sans se montrer
Comme un traitre de velours
Ca me blesse ou me lasse selon les jours

L'amour ca ne vaut rien
Ca m"inqiquiete de tout
Et ca se deguise en doux
Quand ca gronde, quand ca me mord
Alors, oui, c'est pire que tout
Car j'en veux plus encore

Pourquoi faire ce tas de plaisirs, dr frissons, de caresses, de pauvres promesses?
A quoi bon se laisser reprendre
Le cour en chamade
Ne rien y comprendre
C'est une embuscade

L'amour ca ne vas pas
C'est pas du sait laurent
Ce ne tombe pas parfairment
Si je ne trouve pa mon style ce n'est pas fautet d'essayer,
Et l'amore j'laisse tomber

A quoi bon ce tas de plaisirs, de frissons, de caresses, de pauvres promesses?
Pourquoi faire se laisser reprendre,
Le cour en chamade
Ne rien y comprendre
C'est une embuscade

L'amour j'en veux pas
J'prefere de temps de temps
Je prefere le gout du vent
Le gout etrange et doux de la peau de mes amants
Mais l'amour pas vraiment

Who knew this bugger could bring so much happiness in people's lives? I adore the sun!

Let us not forget.
21/03/1960.
Sharpeville Massacre.
Human Rights' Day.
South Africa.

Some call it ignorance while others call it a preference for certain information

Everybody is familiar with the term ignorant. Hell, I'm sure a couple of us have used the term to refer to people who we'd gladly take on in a general knowledge quiz. They are the dumbos, ignoramuses and fools who we encounter on a daily basis. Whatever you'd like to call them, we all love and at times, hate an ignorant imbecile. However, I was forced to question the meaning of ignorance when I had a rather benign conversation with a friend this week. We were happily reminiscing about our childhoods and the ample things in which we participated. It was lovely. I genuinely got a rush reliving some of those picture-perfect moments with my mate until we got to the subject of fairy tales. Now, unlike other children, I was not a massive fan of fairy tales. Yes I read 'Cinderella' and 'Aladdin' and a whole load of others but in my case, my mother wanted to expose my brother and I to other literature forms. Hence the reason why she read us a whole load of Chinese and Japanese folk tales translated into English. I absolutely grew to love 'Little Peachling' as I could not believe that a child could be delivered in a peach and 'The Seven Chinese Brothers' was also a favourite as my brother's marvelled at the powers of all the seven brothers. So much so that we prayed to God that we could have a couple of our own. I read widely as a child and although there are semblances of me enjoying the traditional Western fairy tales, I took more of a liking to Asian folk tales.

Which, brings me to my story. My friend started to mention her favourite fairy tales and noticed that I offered my take on the subject rather hesitantly. She confronted me about this and I simply told her that I could not, for example, name the seven dwarfs from 'Snow White' because I simply did not take a massive liking to the story. She appeared rather flabbergasted and said something along the lines of, 'but everybody liked 'Snow White. I mean the fact that you don't know the names of the seven dwarfs (which I'm apparently supposed to spell in capital letters but I feel as though they'll forgive me) is quite ignorant.' Is it though? Is my not knowing the names of those characters true ignorance? It got me thinking; who are we to tell someone that they're ignorant? Because surely ignorance is not knowing about something of which we know. That, in my opinion, could quite plainly be construed as someone not knowing something you do. In the same way that a 10-year old would not be able to tell you the ins and outs of calculus because they have not been exposed to it, could we then put it down to a lack of exposure? Some would disagree with this assertion and state that there are certain things about which people MUST know. However, I think you could argue relativity here. All knowledge, regardless of how important it may be to YOU, is relative. Someone living in a very remote area with very little exposure to different media forms would not be able to know as much about society as someone who lives in a world where the former is readily available.

If that is the case then, why is it that Americans know very little about everything that is not American? They are, after all and whether the world likes it or not, the number one super power and will be for some time. Why is it that so many of their citizens, for example, think that Africa is a country and presume that London is a state right next to France? It brings me back to my initial argument and the title of this post: some call it ignorance while others call it a preference for certain information. Americans prefer to know about what they think is important: themselves. In the very same way that South Africans, as some Africans would aver, prefer to know solely about South Africa and perhaps southern Africa while the rest of the continent is completely ignored.

If my argument holds true then this is a bit of a bummer because I love the term ignorant and I enjoy calling people ignoramuses so it wouldn't be too grand not to use both terms. But it could, if you think about it, be ignorant to call someone else ignorant because you're essentially being ignorant about what they know and should know. Now how's that for a double pun or irony-within-irony? Might be a stretch but you have to applaud me for attempting to provoke some thought in the world.

Au revoir :)

Mr Robinson

A young Smokey Robinson. I absolutely love this photograph. He looks horribly handsome.

La littérature - told you this blog was pretentious :P

Aimé Césaire.

In high school, our French teacher gave us an article to read about Aimé Césaire called "Nègre je suis, nègre je resterai". It was such an enlightening article and I subsequently went on to read number of his poems and journals (at snail's pace obviously because my French has deteriorated since school!). He, like Steve Biko, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, was an advocate of black consciousness or what is known in French as 'Négritude'. I've posted a link to a journal below which translates one of his discourses on colonialism. It's a very interesting read and even if you might be frightened of the idea of black consciousness, just read what he had to say. He is incredibly intelligent and expresses himself so clearly. Something I so badly want to be able to do. Anyway, happy reading folks :)

http://www.rlwclarke.net/Theory/SourcesPrimary/CesaireDiscourseonColonialism.pdf

Chronic dissatisfaction

I had a really informative chat with my two mates last night. Yes, they were both very drunk but I preferred it that way because they were able to be completely and utterly honest in our conversation - I normally don't find it that difficult to be honest because I feel that it is indeed the best policy; only second to affirmative action of course! But on a serious note, the conversation was incredibly profound. For so long I had assumed that I was one of the few people that suffered from what I like to call chronic dissatisfaction. A condition - in my case - that has been brought about by a desire to achieve and topple any achievements I've had, no matter how prestigious they might be. Although it's a superb quality to have, in the sense that I'm ambitious and will always want the best for myself, it has resulted in me being completely unappreciative of what I currently have.

Last semester was the height of my chronic dissatisfaction. I know that I'm not and will never be the happiest chappie in the spaza shop but I've always remained relatively positive about my life, because I believe that a positive mind is a powerful one. However, that all changed last semester. I found that I could not appreciate anything in my life. The friends that I had, the environment in which I found myself, the opportunities I was receiving and surprisingly enough, the food I was eating. I constantly thought, 'I could do better'; 'if I worked harder, I would be better'; 'if I said this to that person, then they would like me better'. It was awful. I found myself becoming very emotional and weak which is something we all feel from time to time; but I was feeling like that every minute of the day. And my friends felt it too. The general consensus was, 'is this what my life has become?' Wake up, go to lectures, come back, watch some TV on my laptop, eat, work and sleep (go out occasionally). It sounds like bourgeoisie problems, yes, but they are the sort that can render someone rather depressed. The town in which I live is very small and hence, there is very little to do. I sometimes wonder whether this is the reason behind the sadness I'm finding, is generally felt by most students here. It seems that one has to get, either, completely sozzled in order to have a good time and shockingly enough for some people, function; or one could stay in one's room and sink into an even deeper sadness by checking out people's Facebook pictures and cry in envy over the decisions one has made in one's life.

And that's another issue. Facebook. Trailing narrowly behind Judas Iscariot for producing the greatest deceit humanity has ever witnessed. It is so easy to create a life that is so different from your reality on Facebook. You post pictures of yourself appearing to be having the best time ever; so much so that you compromised your enjoyment to take over 250-and-something photos of yourself, 'seizing the moment' apparently. And no, I don't discriminate against such people at all. In fact, I think the original idea behind Facebook was to document the things you were doing with your life and share them with your friends - especially those with whom you had lost contact. Nonetheless, it's almost become competitive, I find, because it seems as though people are so consumed with producing pretty photos as opposed to having a blast. Moreover, the fact that there's photo-shopping does not help either because you can make rather banal photos appear quite brilliant through the use of colouring techniques and so on. Harrowing stuff, I'll say. But has anyone ever wondered how true these images are? Personally, if you take a squizz at my photos, you wouldn't think I was quite down last semester. I'm smiling in all of them and not because I wanted to show the world that I was really enjoying university, but because no one is going to post pictures of themselves looking emo and all. It's natural to smile in photos.

My mates and I did not know what to do about it. We're fine now because we've all concluded that instead of having a pathetic pity party about our current situation, rather we try to enjoy our lives. And we genuinely are. If we get sad, then we'll feel it but not dwell on it. There will always be a part of us that wonders 'what if' we'd done things differently, but that does not help. I don't think there's a cure for chronic dissatisfaction. It's a matter of accepting your current circumstances and doing everything in your power to make the most of them. Affirmations help too. Basically, just dealing with it all. Oh and I wouldn't encourage the deletion of Facebook but I would say that photos are deceiving. As those cheesy-as-cheddar quotes always, well quote, behind every smile lies a secret. Or something along those crappy lines.

If there is a place in which I could go back in time and spend a day, it's Sophiatown which was situated just on the outskirts of central Johannesburg, South Africa. Although it was notorious for gangsterism, crime and poverty, it became the hub for free-thinkers, artists, musicians, journalists, performers and playwrights. It seemed like such a vibrant and exciting time. I wish I could have danced the 'pata pata' or 'kwêla' to the sounds of Hugh Masekela, The Skylarks or the Manhattan Brothers in a dark and dingy shebeen, and then proceeded to discuss politics over a drink of 'skokiaan' with the likes of Bloke Modisane or Can Themba. What an exciting time it must have been :)

Is making a difference as simple as typing a couple of letters on your keyboard and clicking 'publish' (oh the irony)?

I haven't been quite diligent with this little blog of mine but I'm now back in the building and more fired up than ever (and of course after this blogging sesh, I shall be more behind with my readings than ever!). I want to take some time to discuss the KONY 2012 phenomenon that has taken the world of social networking by storm. If you haven't seen or heard (it's pretty much everywhere, even in public toilets), KONY 2012 has been on the lips of every person with access to some form of social media for the past week or so. He is the big, bad, black guy who has terrorised the inhabitants of villages in northern Uganda and taken the lives of many in order to further the ranks of his army, the Lord's Resistance Movement/Army (LRM/A). What is most horrifying about Kony and the LRM/A is their disregard for human life as they've been accused of gross human rights violations which include the recruitment of child soldiers, mutilation of men and women, cannibalism and child-sex slavery. The movement which preceded The LRM/A was the Holy Spirit Movement, established by Alice Lakwena in 1988, who stated that she was a prophet who received messages from God through the Holy Spirit. Although Lakwena sought to distance herself from Kony as she was weary of his murderous ways, Kony stated that they were cousins and the same mystical powers which she possessed, were bestowed upon him too. This, however, was a ploy to lure more followers to his army.

Now I do not want to bore you with historical facts, but they are incredibly important in understanding the context in which the LRM/A was created and so on. From as early as the 4th century BC (I believe in Christ; hence I use BC), Uganda has been divided along ethnic lines. To cut a long story short, the Baganda (Bantu-speaking) people of the south and east of Uganda have constantly been in competition, so to speak with the Acholi of the north in terms of economic and social structures. The Baganda worked very closely with the British during the time of colonialism while the Acholi supplied most of the manual labour and contributed heavily towards the military. Thus, the south and east of Uganda - with its rich and fertile soil - became the centre of all agricultural activities in Uganda and a rather prosperous area in which to life; the north on the other hand, became quite poor and the divide between the two blocs became increasingly evident as Uganda received independence from Britain in 1962. Hence, the Holy Spirit Movement's desire to promote the people of the north and also to protect them, justifiably, from the ethnic cleansing that were taking place at the time. Both Kony and Lakwena believed that the Lord wanted the Acholi to defeat the then president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni and that they would stay protected from bullets by smearing shea nut oil on themselves. Lakwena's methods remained rather peaceful as she stated that the use of Acholi witchcraft and spirtualism would defeat the leader of Uganda. Kony's, however, were brutal and he continued his reign of terror not only on Ugandans but ALSO on the people of South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic of Congo. He is now believed to be residing in the Central African Republic.

In 2005, The International Criminal Court issued the arrest of Kony along with his deputy Vincent Otti and fellow commanders Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen. The UN's Ban Ki-moon has condemned the LRM/A's actions "strongest possible terms" but the organisation, typically, has done very little to do something actionable about Kony's deplorable acts. Surprisingly, the USA have been the most determined in terms of stopping Kony and his cronies. In 2010, Obama passed the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act and has been very vocal about raising funds to disarm Kony. In 2011, he announced that he ordered the deployment of 100 US military-advisers to help combat the LRM/A. I must admit, for America, this is quite outstanding. But something about deploying advisers to help stop Kony is very reminiscent of Vietnam and how towards the end of the war, America slowly withdrew her troops and sent advisers to train the south Vietnamese insofar that they would eventually secede and take over the north. Moreover, I find it quite arrogant of the Obama administration to think that sending 100 advisers would help bring down a army that is estimated to have over 3 000 soldiers - 1 500 of whom are children and women. I do not want to make this a 'slate America' post because they have been the most pro-active in terms of the Kony predicament, but I find it quite condescending and rather disappointing that they think it would be easy to get rid of the LRM/A. It just feels as thought America is making the same pitfalls as she did in Vietnam; namely, underestimating the power of guerrillas.

Anyway, after that lecture on Ugandan history, here is my problem with KONY 2012. There is no doubt that this man is a monster. More than a monster even; he cannot be called a human being for his callous and cruel actions. However, just because someone is being depicted as a bad guy, does not mean we are to ignore the intentions of the people who are giving us this depiction. I know that the Invisible Children have been getting a lot of flack lately and I quite honestly can understand why. But I do not want to slate them because their credentials speak for themselves and it won't help in any way, if I criticise a bunch of ignoramuses. I do however, criticise the manner in which people have handled the KONY 2012 project. As opposed to creating forums in which the crisis in northern Uganda can be discussed, people have simply put 'KONY 2012' as their status on Facebook and deluded themselves into thinking that they've made some sort of a difference or raised some sort of awareness. This is rather idealistic; laughable even. You may have informed the next person that there is a man out there who is committing atrocities, which is great but to feel that you have accomplished something for having done so is unacceptable. Additionally, it is an insult to those Ugandans who are risking their lives to escape Kony or taking to the streets to declare his arrest. These are the real heroes. The people who are making a real difference. I, by no stretch of the imagination, can and have the courage to do what they are doing but I'm trying to make my difference - the non-lazy way. I've written to my government, demanding that they encourage the UN and the USA to initiate immediate military intervention to find Kony. I've taken to Twitter to encourage those I know to create forums in which people can discuss ways in which they can appeal to their governments to contribute to Uganda - even if it means medical aid or food contributions.

I really discourage people to simply jump on this bandwagon and feel as though they've changed the world for the better. Because you haven't. The KONY 2012 phenomenon is an apt example of just how lazy, we as a society have become. We like to think we give a damn but if you scratch the supposedly saintly surface of the KONY 2012 advocators, you will find a group of people who are ignorant to the complexities of the situations in Uganda and who could not even point out Uganda to you on a map. Let's get serious about raising awareness. It's not as simple as typing a couple of letters on your keyboard and clicking, well, 'post'.