Sotho

…to http://basotho.wordpress.com (Sotho)

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Lawyer, born into a prominent Afrikaans family. He studied law in South Africa and as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He became an active member of the Communist Party, while also reaching the heights of the legal profession. He defended those charged in the prolonged Treason Trial of the 1950s, and led the defence team at the 1964 Rivonia trial. In 1964, he was arrested and charged with membership of the then underground Communist Party, and in 1966 was sentenced to life imprisonment.
www.biography.com

Bram Fischer stood up for what he believed, and what he believed was that the former system in his home country (South Africa) was grossly unfair toward the larger part of the population. He went to prison for that thought. He was born on 23 April 1908. Happy birthday to him.

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If you can, please vote for Poéfrika (Rethabile Masilo) as the 2008 Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere. Thank you. And thanks to Tiel Aisha Ansari, a fine poet, for nominating me.

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On my poetry blog, Poéfrika, I’m trying to collect 52 poems that are in my opinion the most representative of Africa. A few are mine (hey, I’m trying!). They really are the ones I’ve worked on the most. Now, do you have one from anyone that you think I should include? If so, send it to me and I’ll be happy to consider it. In the end I’d like to have 52 awesome Africa-inspired poems linked to on my website. A poem per week. Here is the not-quite-finished list. Click away and enjoy.

• Week 01: The profile on the pillow
• Week 02: Wrath
• Week 03: Sunrise
• Week 04: Confession
• Week 05: Butterfly
• Week 06: All the same
• Week 07: Still I rise
• Week 08: Where have you gone?
• Week 09: Saturn’s Child
• Week 10: Thetsane blues
• Week 11: I, Too, Sing America
• Week 12: A Poem for the innocents
• Week 13: Africa
• Week 14: Preface to a 20-volume suicide note
• Week 15: Feeling fucked up
• Week 16: Facing it
• Week 17: Plea
• Week 18: Song of sunrise
• Week 19: Their behaviour
• Week 20: Easy skanking
• Week 21: Dark August
• Week 22: Song, somewhere near Roma
• Week 23: Stars of stone
• Week 24: I want to write
• Week 25: White canes bend at two places
• Week 26: The bean eaters
• Week 27: Land
• Week 28: Telephone conversation
• Week 29: Moments
• Week 30: Arriving at the night fire
• Week 31: Sunflowers
• Week 32: In the kitchen
• Week 33: Frederick Douglass
• Week 34: Adolescence II
• Week 35: Your presence
• Week 36: There it is
• Week 37: Like a beacon
• Week 39: The grotto of Chehrabad
• Week 40: Notes from my mother’s village…
• Week 41: Love after love
• Week 42: The lost baby poem
• Week 43: I know why the caged bird sings
• Week 44: Bachata
• Week 45: Tourist
• Week 46: Men flow like rivers
• Week 47: Hematidrosis in the olive grove
• Week 48: The sophisticated skinhead
• Week 49: Word speaks
• Week 50: Grace
• Week 51: If you want to know me
• Week 52: Come

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Here is a comment to one of my posts. I decided to turn it into a full-blown post because of its length. So here it is. Khotso to all.

Reply:
‘Dear Tim,

“We” can’t freely move anywhere, to Darfur or elsewhere, if any survival attempt on the African’s part is clouded with taunts and suspicions of incompetence and stupidity. “We” can truly start moving when the African has got the respect (s)he deserves.

History is never over as it always has a bearing on the present. It stands to reason that what happened yesterday influences what happens today and what will happen tomorrow. America is a gun-wielding, trigger-happy nation because the Far-west happened. Many African nations are poor today because their people were stolen, their economic and political structures destroyed, their land occupied, and so on.

Tim, of course people, not peoples, do things. People enslaved the African, colonised the African, Jim-crowed the heck out of the black person. But you must admit that very few, if any, American Indians did these things. Few Canadians, few Peruvians, few Inuits, few Mexicans. Perhaps they did other ills, I don’t know. The question here is not that.

It is interesting that you might say, ‘…most of us do not want to know about the slavery, the French in the North, the English in the south,the Boer’s, The Belgians in the Congo or Germans in Southwest Africa, where the phrase ‘final solution’ was first used.‘

Why in Heaven’s name would you want to zap that? In that case, zap Lincoln, and his four-score speech. Zap Franklin and his kite. Zap the Pilgrims and that rock they landed on. The Wright brothers, the American’s struggle of independence against England, and in a few years, zap Vietnam, too, the atom bombs in Japan, zap Iraq, zap Michael Jackson and his best-selling album. Zap the hostage-taking crisis in Iran when Carter was president, Elvis and Martin Luther king Jr (?) and Malcolm X (?) and Monica Lewinsky and Reaganomics and 9/11 and all the history of the blooming world. Let’s zap the big bang, too, while we’re at it. I went to prison in South Africa for pass laws. Let’s zap that. Zap slavery and colonisation and Apartheid, as you suggest.

China. China is another question. It is messing up in Tibet and has messed up in Darfur. Does that give me the right to say, ‘Don’t talk about the fact that I pounded your face into the ground yesterday. Chun-Lee here is pounding it into the ground now.’ Perhaps Chun-Lee is doing it because I got away with it. Learning from history isn’t just a cliché, it’s something we must do. We must all be accountable. You, me, them, everybody. If we’re all equal on this planet, then no one gets away with pounding another’s face into the ground. China is beginning to have the sort of fiduciary influence on Africa that leads straight to dependence, and the notion that the money-lender can do whatever they want. That’s very bad, and Africans should not let it happen. Why they might is beyond the scope of this post.

Still, I think your comment of ‘the ignorant’ concerning the Chinese is not fair. Nowhere in your comment do you say that Caucasian people are ignorant, although they’re the ones that have done a lot of atrocities against the African (and the Australian Aborigine and the American Indian)

I’m not sure I know what you mean by the following, Tim: ‘So … why do I suppose it is that I sit here in front of a shelf full of books on African History yet I remain astounded at the ignorance about it?‘ But let me take a jab at it: What I say and other Africans say isn’t in your history books? Or, you haven’t actually read the history books on your book-shelf? In either case, what happened in the past still happened. Give you the South African example. History books never mentioned the African hero, of the African good deed, or the African innovation, or the African suffering. That was until some African scholars decided to write real history books that told it all, good and bad, and across the spectrum of southern African life.

Get back to me if you’d like, Tim. If you’d rather not post openly (and not anonymously), my e-mail address is retjoun/gmail/com. And if it is your wish, I’ll keep such correspondence private.
Cheers.
Rethabile’

Stephen calls him a silky soul singer, which I think is a darn good description. He was born Marvin Pentz Gay, but stuck an “E” to his surname to avoid misunderstandings. Remember I heard it through the grapevine? He followed that up with a string of successes like You’re all I need to get by in 1968 with Tammy Terrell, What’s going on? in 1971, Let’s get it on in 1973:

“Let’s Get It On” is a 1973 number-one single recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye for the Tamla (Motown) label. The title song of the album release of the same title, “Let’s Get It On” held the number-one position on the Billboard Pop Singles chart for two non-consecutive weeks in September 1973. In its first time at number one, it replaced “Brother Louie” by Stories, and was replaced by “Delta Dawn” by Helen Reddy; it then replaced “Delta Dawn” and was finally replaced by “We’re an American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad. Written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend, and produced by Gaye, it was the most successful single ever released on a Motown label.
[source…]

After several other hits like Got to give it up, a funky dance groove, and Sexual healing, perhaps his most famous hit (partly for being the most recent in memory), Marvin descended into drugs and booze, and fears that someone was out to kill him. In 1983 he did a version of the Star-spangled banner, the American national anthem. He finally moved in with his parents and was shot dead by his preacher father on 1 April 1984, a day before his 45th birthday. He is sorely missed. Most of this information and more can be found on Wikipedia.

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Nice excuses do you have more concocted for the next 100 years or so? I mean its been over 50 years and using the same excuse does not attract pity anymore. I mean take the case of India for example, their population alone is greater than that of the African continent, colonized for more than 300 years,Gained independance [sic] 60 years ago and you can see substantial development. How come this is not the case in many African countries? English is not their mother tongue either.

Comment by Reid — 28 March 2008 @ 10:53 pm

The above comment was in response to my 20 June 2006 post called, “Why is Africa poor?” And I just wanted to react to the comment. I know full well that the commenter, Reid, won’t listen to me because his/her mind’s made up already, but what the heck, I’ll give it a shot. I wish Reid would come out so we could talk things over (my email is at the top of http://sotho.blogsome.com, in case you’re reading this, Reid).

Nice excuses do you have more concocted for the next 100 years or so?
As a matter of fact, yes, I do. Except they aren’t excuses per se but what I believe to be the truth. Much as you have accusations and insults stocked up for the next one hundred years, your side of the story, I have what I believe in stocked up, too, my side of the story. And what I believe is that a series of events have contributed to stunting the economic development of many African countries. And, yes, slavery and colonialism are part of that series.

The same thing happened to the American Indian and the Australian Aborigine. It is no surprise that these peoples, who were subjected to the same conditions Africans endured, have been marginalised and are actually struggling to survive in the land of their birth. Only a very short-sighted brain will fail to see this, and choose to label it something else. And skin colour has no bearing on intelligence or stupidity, Reid. None whatsoever.

Skin colour is the organism’s reaction to the intensity of sun rays. The stronger the rays, the more pigmentation cells in the epidermis, called melanocytes, become active, producing melanin, the dye that gives dark people their tan.

I mean its been over 50 years and using the same excuse does not attract pity anymore.
Today we’re still going on about the facts of Alexander the Great’s life, which did not occur 50 years ago but more than 20 000 years ago! What grounds could you possibly stand on to suggest we should not speak about historical facts of half a decade ago? And what historical facts would those be?

By 1905, African soil was almost completely controlled by European governments, with the only exceptions being Liberia (which had been settled by African-American former slaves) and Ethiopia (which had successfully resisted colonization by Italy). Britain and France had the largest holdings, but Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal also had colonies. As a result of colonialism and imperialism, Africa suffered long term effects, such as the loss of important natural resources like gold and rubber, economic devastation, cultural confusion, geopolitical division, and political subjugation. Europeans often justified this using the concept of the White Man’s Burden, an obligation to “civilize” the peoples of Africa.
[source…]

Colonialism came after slavery, mind you. Slavery devastated the continent, depleting it of its healthiest, most viable, strongest citizens. Then colonialism came in to finish the job. When I bring these facts up, it is neither to attract pity nor to seek revenge. It is to bring them up in order to respond to comments such as the one you left on my blog.

And why in the world would the African seek pity? From whom? As far as I know, the African wants the European and the American off the continent. But there’s just too many raw materials and minerals in Africa, aren’t there? And the Occident ain’t getting out unless it has to, is it?

I mean take the case of India for example, their population alone is greater than that of the African continent, colonized for more than 300 years,Gained independance [sic] 60 years ago and you can see substantial development. How come this is not the case in many African countries? English is not their mother tongue either.
It seems to me you might be making an error made by many, which is taking Africa to be a country. For the sake of clarity, Africa is a continent, a continent with many countries; India is a country, and is equivalent to one among the 53 states on the African continent. Due to this, India could not have undergone the same fate under colonialism as Africa. Let me explain.

In the nineteenth century Europe scrambled for Africa, and proceeded to carve it up like pie to suit its strategic needs. No concern was given to how the pie was carved, nor to what toppings were on each piece. In fact, “some 10,000 African polities were amalgamated into 40 European colonies and protectorates [source…].” Imagine that. 10 000 boiled down to 40!

Traditional foes were placed within the same borders, and villages were divided by new boundaries. Take a look at the map of Africa and see how many straight lines there are. India is one country and did not suffer this fate.

Upon independence, when colonial armies were no longer present to keep foe from foe, wars broke out in many places on the continent. And this has nothing to do with skin colour. Take the former Soviet Union, or Yugoslavia. These places, like Africa, had artificial frontiers held together by an ideology backed by a well-trained army. Take away the army, and the rest is history, among black people as among white ones (actually brown and pink respectively. Sort of). Like I’ve said, if you’d like to talk, you’ve got the comments section, and you’ve got e-mail.

Click this: Bob the breaker

Philips to Build Lesotho Plant

Thursday March 27, 12:43 pm ET
Philips Electronics to Build Energy Saving Lightbulb Plant in Southern Africa AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Philips Electronics NV, the world’s largest maker of light bulbs, said Thursday it planned to cooperate with the government and another partner on building a plant in the southern African nation of Lesotho.

The company did not say how large the investment would be, but said the plant will produce 15 million compact fluorescent lamps annually once it is fully operational.

Another factory, more jobs. I suppose we can boil it down to that. We need jobs in Lesotho, and they’re not coming from anywhere within the country but local-based foreign companies. So be it. Welcome to Lesotho, Philips. We hope you’re not gonna be a sweat-shop.

Tsidii Le Loka, originally from Lesotho, South Africa, but now living and working in theatre and TV in New York City, is to work with Highland Council’s Mairi Mhor Gaelic Song Fellow, Fiona Mackenzie.
[source…]

That’s like saying, “Whitney Houston, originally from The United States, Canada, but now…” C’mon people, check your facts!

Facebook | Message: Satire Poems - Prompt Writing

SPEED WRITING Call for Satire: deadline March 15th! Let your talent speak for many. We urge you to write a satirical poem—poke fun at the leader of your choice to flaunt your freedom of speech and your own government’s respect for that human right! This isn’t about politics. It is about supporting the rights of all to write what they want - despite politics. On February 4th the satirist Hédi Ouled Baballah was arrested—behind bars, Baballah can’t continue to speak his mind. Please use your talent and add your voice to protest this infringement on the human right of free speech. More information can be found at www. protestpoems. org (don’t feel sorry for colleagues abroad. do something) All poems will be considered for inclusion in Babel Fruit.

Ed: The deadline has been moved back to the 18th of March. Please participate.
(Rethabile)

Miriam Zenzi Makeba was born in Johannesburg in 1932. Her mother was a Swazi sangoma and her father, who died when she was six, was a Xhosa. Her professional career began in the 1950s with the Manhattan Brothers, before she formed her own group, The Skylarks, singing a blend of jazz and traditional melodies of South Africa.

In 1959, she performed in the musical King Kong alongside Hugh Masekela, her future husband. Though she was a successful recording artist, she was only receiving a few dollars for each recording session and no provisional royalties, and was keen to go to the US. Her break came when she starred in the anti-Apartheid documentary Come Back, Africa in 1959. When the Italian government invited her to the premier of the film at the Venice Film Festival, she decided not to return home. Her South African passport was revoked shortly afterwards.

Makeba then travelled to London where she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including Pata Pata, The Click Song (Qongqothwane in Xhosa), and Malaika. In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under Apartheid
[more…].

What I personally remember of Miriam is the voice, and the way she was beloved. My folks listened to her at the same time as they listened to Jim Reeves (go figure), and the two form the basis of my pre-teen musical heritage, together with my mother singing around her chores, around her cooking, singing Sesotho traditional songs or Miriam’s Xhosa songs: The Click Song, or Khawuleza. Beautiful woman. Happy birthday to her.

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Ishmael Scott Reed (February 22, 1938) is an American poet, essayist and novelist. Reed is one of the best-known African-American writers of his generation, and along with Amiri Baraka is one of the most controversial (and politically left-wing). His work consistently satirizes the American right-wing (and often the left as well), highlighting domestic political and cultural oppression.

While some have found Reed’s work a vivid, comic depiction of America, others have criticized it as incoherent or muddled. Another group of public intellectuals has argued that some of Reed’s work is misogynistic because of his criticism of the movie version of “The Color Purple,” which the novel’s author, Alice Walker, also criticized.

While he is among a number of black male authors who are criticized as “misogynist” by mostly white feminists, Reed can point to a number of black feminists who defend him, including many whose work he has published.
[source…]

Reed edits Konch Magazine which features poetry, fiction, essays and photography. In the Winter 2008 issue editorial, he says, “Konch began as a print magazine in 1990 and went online in 1998.Konch continues to publish those voices that are ignored by the American media, which abandoned their goal of diversifying their ranks by the year 2000- a goal set by the late Robert Maynard. Unlike the mainstream writers who spend two hour lunches hobnobbing with those whom they cover, the contributors to Konch are volunteers. [source…]”

Happy birthday Mr. Reed!

Jacket Notes

Being a colored poet
Is like going over
Niagara Falls in a
Barrel

An 8 year old can do what
You do unaided
The barrel maker doesn’t
Think you can cut it

The gawkers on the bridge
Hope you fall on your
Face

The tourist bus full of
Paying customers broke-down
Just out of Buffalo

Some would rather dig
The postcards than
Catch your act

A mile from the drink
It begins to storm

But what really hurts is
You’re bigger than the
Barrel
© Ishmael Reed

Tags:
Malcolm X
Malcolm Little
Shabbazz
Black History Month

Obama caricature: The presidential candidate is shown painting the White House black. Now, isn’t that just plain stupid! The text is in Hebrew so I haven’t the faintest idea of what is being said, but the cartoon is unambiguous enough.

Press Release: Statement by IMF Executive Directors at the Conclusion of their Visit to the Kingdom of Lesotho:

Statement by IMF Executive Directors at the Conclusion of their Visit to the Kingdom of Lesotho Press Release No. 08/27 February 20, 2008

A mission of Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comprising Messrs. Age Bakker, Peter Gakunu, Huayong Ge, Aleksei V. Mozhin, and Ms. Miranda Xafa issued the following statement today in Maseru at the conclusion of a visit to Lesotho:

“We are grateful for the opportunity to visit Lesotho and we thank His Majesty the King Letsie III, The Right Honorable Prime Minister Mosisili, Deputy Prime Minister Lesao Lehohla, Minister Thahane, Governor Senaoana and other honorable members of the Government and Senior officials of the Kingdom of Lesotho for their very warm hospitality. Our visit has provided us with a rare opportunity to learn more about Lesotho from our interactions with the authorities, the public and private sectors, and Lesotho’s development partners. We discussed economic developments and the challenges Lesotho faces in its efforts to achieve high and sustainable growth necessary for a meaningful reduction in poverty. This will contribute significantly to our understanding in the IMF Executive Board, in assessing and discussing the development challenges of the country and the IMF’s policy advice.

“In our meetings with His Majesty the King and the Right Honorable Prime Minister we congratulated them for their commitment to economic development and poverty reduction. We had productive discussions on Lesotho’s economic prospects and development challenges.

“We commend Lesotho’s authorities for their prudent macroeconomic management which has contributed to ensuring economic stability has translated into robust growth, strong fiscal and external positions, single digit inflation, and substantial reduction in debt level. We praise their efforts to promote economic growth through favorable improvements in the investment climate. We agreed with the authorities that achieving the sustainable, broad based economic growth necessary for the improvement of the living conditions of the majority of the Basotho people, remains a challenge. Private sector development is key for achieving growth and reducing poverty.

“We acknowledge that numerous challenges remain on the long road toward effective poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth. The overdependence on Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenues (over 60 percent) and a global reduction in tariffs as a result of trade liberalization entail risks of revenue slowdown over time. Since the fall of the multifiber agreement, difficulties have piled up, prompting the need to refocus the textile sector and more generally diversify the sources of growth and exports. The need for further financial sector development was discussed, with a view to provide sound outlets for domestic savings and greater funds for domestic investment. The provision of well-supervised financial services and the raising of financial literacy was seen as essential to maintaining financial stability. We agreed with the authorities that productivity-enhancing infrastructure, job creation, fighting HIV/AIDS, and poverty reduction remain top priorities. We believe that with the continuation of prudent policies and the support of development partners, these challenges are not insurmountable.

“We reaffirm the IMF’s commitment to continuing the excellent relationship with the Lesotho authorities.”

The LaunchPad: Where Is Lesotho?

Lesotho is a small nation that is surrounded by the country of South Africa. The King and Queen of Lesotho have invited Johannes Amritzer and Mission SOS to do a Festival for their people. The first Festival was held there in October of 07 and 17 new churches were planted.

This coming week, a second series of meetings will be held there. Here’s a video report of the October meetings and a reminder to pray for Johannes, Peter, and the Mission SOS team this week.

Did the King and Queen really invite these folks to Lesotho for a festival? They said it… what… on TV? They sent an email to invite them? Published the invitation in the paper? Picked up the phone and called them? “We want you to do a festival for our people!”

The clip shows Basotho being healed miraculously. The clip shows the visitors, the healers, through the grace of God, giving sick Basotho their sight back, their legs, their hearing. And it shows the healers insisting that the healees have now been forgiven and saved.

I do not disbelieve in miraculous healing. I have been touched by it. But I disbelieve healers, and this disbelief stems from my conviction that if there is a God, then God is not biased, and will not reveal Him/Herself to a bunch of people at the expense of another bunch of people. This goes to the root of what for me being is all about, and that is if I am and you are, then by God we are. As a result, you can’t have Knowledge and Power if I don’t, and vice-versa, because we are.

If there’s any healing that must go on, it’s not going to be through a bunch of rich visitors to a poor nation. If anything, if Christianity and religion have any meaning, then it must be the opposite, the materially poor must be able to heal the materially rich. Why would God bypass my local preacher and instil in someone I don’t know who comes from a place I don’t know the power to heal me? It’s senseless, albeit dangerous.

N.B: I wasn’t there so I can’t say if collection plates were passed around — but I’d love to know from those who were there.

I wonder if the royal couple did invite these people to Lesotho. If so, then they shouldn’t have. I doubt Basotho need more hoodwinkers at this stage, having enough on a political level as it is. What Basotho do need is the subject of another discussion, but I can stuff it into a nutshell as Work, Political Stability, Economic Vigour and Health and Hygienic Awareness. Plus a little luck from the skies in the form of regular rain.

Did the healees know that their healers have a profitable business behind their action? Who are “the unreached peoples?” And are their melanocytes rather active? (1) Is this about race? Have people with less active melanocytes been reached? (2) It doesn’t seem to be about race, as there has been at least one festival in a European country, Bulgaria. So is this about money? Why are these folks doing this? Do festivals occur in richer, “white” countries? France, England, Italy, America, Spain? If not, why not? Questions and more questions.

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The 25 Most Important Films on Race:

Look around, and you’ll see how African Americans have emerged as the big screen’s most reliable stars. Will Smith is the one demonstrable megastar. Morgan Freeman’s quiet dignity gets him designated as the face of God and the soul of humanity.

And the achievements of blacks are regularly honored by Hollywood. In the past seven years, blacks have won Academy Awards in every acting category. Halle Berry took Best Actress for Monster’s Ball, Freeman Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby, Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls.

In Best Actor, three of the last six Oscars have gone to African Americans: Denzel Washington for Training Day, Jamie Foxx for Ray and Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. In these glamorous categories, blacks have achieved a kind of parity. Hmmm, that didn’t take long — only 100 years.
[read about the 25 films…]

The Atlanticist : Africa needs tough love, not more aid poured down a rat hole:

There is not a single state on the African continent that would not today be better off administered under a colonial regime, as Hong Kong was by Britain. If the West genuinely cared about Africa and wanted to make a difference rather than more charity, it would send soldiers to overthrow corrupt and despotic regimes, and constitutional law experts and administrators to architect and operate governing legal and economic systems there patterned after our own.

Like it did in Iraq? I kind of followed this line of thought, clipping my mouth shut with clothes pegs at places, so I wouldn’t yell out obscenities in front of my children. And I went through without a single f-word. I think the writer does identify the problem most of the time:

The African continent is a patchwork quilt of artificially drawn and imposed borders, established, for the most part, by European colonial powers.

Apart from the wars being fought now in Africa, the ones that the colonial west interrupted (while the west itself was free to fight its own murderous wars and get them over with — effectively establishing its borders without African or other outside interference) — but I was saying, apart from these wars, frontiers on the African continent were established entirely by the colonial master and mistress. It is inaccurate therefore to say for the most part. Nevertheless, the writer identifies there a seed for conflict.

Monetary aid is poison. It does not encourage more responsible government. […] A deluge of aid will not fix what ails Africa.

Of course it doesn’t, and it won’t. Whoever said it did or will? But, again, the writer has identified part of the problem. Here’s the thing, as an African, I want the west out, not in, for several reasons. The writer mentions the first one. The second one is unfair trade practices from which Africa is getting thinner and its western trade partners fatter. The third one is that the west messed Africa up once, it’s time it stopped. Got on the bus home. Knowing that “legal and economic systems […] patterned after our own,” as the writer so shamelessly puts it, seem to the west to be the best because ours were uprooted and incapacitated by the same west.

Lack of access to Western markets for products in which African producers enjoy comparative advantage such as sugar, cotton and textiles is a huge problem. Western import restrictions and tariffs stymie wealth creation in Africa.

There again, the writer concurs with me. It is of course a huge problem. And the solution?  “American and European markets should be unilaterally opened to Africa goods, with protective regimes for Western producers being discarded.” Why not stop there, and also provide logical solutions for the other problems so nicely identified? Why talk of colonial regimes administered by America and Britain? We’re quite tired, as a people, of fighting the west off. We want to be left alone.

That’s all we’ve ever wanted, really, even as the west scrambled for chunks of our land. But guess what… instead of getting out, the west is getting in deeper: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7026197.stm I think somebody took your advice. The shame of it is that it’s a waste of money, and we’ll just have to fight and kick the west out again, albeit with an even more messed up continent.

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Thrive Africa:

“It’s amazing to see what God is doing in the lives of these people.”

I wish missionaries or aid volunteers would quit saying this. It gets on my nerves. Every one of them says it, and my big question is, “What?” Drying the country? Inflicting AIDS? Mismanaging the country? Now, is it really God, or is a little politics involved? Why would God distribute riches and geographical phenomena unequally?

I think people who willingly get on the boat to go and “help” should do just that, go and help. It stands to reason. They shouldn’t do it to go and feel good about themselves, or to please God. They should do it to help if they can and if it’s necessary, and God will be pleased.

“Robert ‘Bob’ Nesta Marley OM (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist. He is the most widely known performer of reggae music. Marley is regarded by many as a prophet of the Rastafari movement.

Marley is best known for his reggae songs, which include the hits ‘I Shot the Sheriff’, ‘No Woman, No Cry’, ‘Three Little Birds’, ‘Exodus’, ‘Could You Be Loved’, ‘Jammin'’, ‘Redemption Song’, and ‘One Love’. His posthumous compilation album ‘Legend’ (1984) is the best-selling reggae album ever, with sales of more than 12 million copies.
[more…]”

You will have heard of Bob, who has had a good influence on many Basotho of my generation. We jammed to his music and struggled with his philosophy in mind. He is one of my favourite musicians of all time. Happy birthday to him. Geoffrey Philp says a lot more about Mr. Marley and his message.

“It did take a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush and I think it might take another one to clean up after the second Bush. [source]”
~~Hillary Rodham Clinton

Poéfrika:

Someone apparently thinks Dr. Maya Angelou is a “ho” because she supports Mrs Clinton and not Mr. Obama. Hmmm. I know this will generate hits for them, but who knows, maybe you can scold them, or tell someone else to scold them, your congressman, for example, could turn into an effective scolder, or blog shutter. Whatever comes to mind. For indeed, truly, this is stupid.

Sowetan:

A few years ago we had a young kwaito sensation aptly named Lekgoa [sic] because he was white and lekgoa [sic] is Sesotho for white person.

But never have I read anywhere that this young musician was the first white artist to choose kwaito. Neither were many eyebrows raised when Johnny Clegg and PJ Powers branched out.

Are we wittingly going back to the days when we read about “Two men and three blacks killed in a car accident”?

Themba Molefe here touches on a subject I’ve harped on for a long while, as have other people. He talks about black people always being labelled “the first African to…” or “the first black female to…” and so on. While white people who do firsts are not (Themba mentions Johnny Clegg, PJ Powers and a “young kwaito sensation.”).

My interpretation is that people don’t expect blacks to do something, which, when they do, comes as a surprise that warrants “the first black man to…”. But they expect whites to do any and everything, hence no surprise and no firsts there.

Themba also mentions the Senegalese singer Ismael Lo, whose music I admire. Apparently when asked if he was the Bob Dylan of Africa, he replied that perhaps Bob Dylan was the Ismael Lo of America. My sentiments exactly about my country, Lesotho, being named The Switzerland of Africa, but Switzerland not being named the Lesotho of Europe.

I have been told before, whenever I’ve brought this up, that of course Switzerland is famous and well-known, so it’s normal to compare Lesotho to it. But that’s just due to whose standards are being used, and therefore doesn’t work for me.

Question: is a colourless society impossible? I think it is. Here you are, walking down the street, and this white guy is in front of you. You can’t not see that the person is white. And if you’re black, they can’t not see that you are. We can’t achieve a colourless society.

What we can achieve is enough maturity to understand why our outsides are different. Understand that there is occurence of albinism and