Can history teach us anything?

Reading about Obama's Health care proposal and the fact that it is quickly becoming his archilles heels, is troubling to say the least. At the same time, to read about Kenyan leaders sitting around a table to decide their fates (I believe every single person responsible for the chaos in Kenya, the inter-ethnic wars, the deaths, the displacements, the continued hatred must be tried) is disturbing. But what do these examples have in common? History.

What is the historical explanation for liberal (translated as socialist) leanings of the first black (or is it mixed race) president of America? What dynamics are not projected, are not brought out through the present reports of Obama's apparent 'failure' to meet a promise he made during his presidential campaigns? Is he being 'crucified' by the more conservative news reporters, being held as an example of another naive liberalist whose time has run out? What is the historical context through which Obama's current situation can be explained? Are there issues that one can begin to see emerging from beneath the seeming wholesome blanket of logic and reason contained within the newspaper reports we are reading today?

While this might sound like a defence of Obama, it is in fact one perspective for understanding the large historical meanings of his successes and failures. Yes, it has been said already - he is carrying the burden of the black people on his shoulder, alright. But what is the nature of this burden? Is it not that the success of Obama might just mean a step closer towards closing the racial gap which still boldly rares its ugly head as is the case with the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.? Would Obama's success in office mean the erasure of stereotypes that have accompanied black people through time, repeated over and over, explicitly and implicitly through narratives, media reports and other cultural sources? Perhaps not, but his success sure means that black people can walk the streets and be proud that they too can, and for once not feel like second class citizens. The issue is of course bigger than I am projecting here, but in many ways, this is what his failure or success would mean, at least to me.

Similarly, should we disregard the fact that the seemingly new found friendship between Kibaki and Raila camps is for the good of the nation? Does this seem remotely familiar and repetetive? Has this not happened before? Severally? I have been following the progress of the 'envelope' issue as it has come to be known. Rather than face the harsh unknown international court for their sins, Kenyan leaders have miraculously, almost overnight, found a new friendship. Kibaki and Raila eating from the same plate in a remote village in Nyanza? Unheard of. Unless of course both are running away from a bigger monster? Reminds me of Moi's popular phrase, 'No stone shall be left unturned'. Often, this phrase was followed by a lot of state secrecy and whatever issue was being resolved would actually end up being burried way deeper, leaving the public guessing and rumor-mongering about truth. But Kenya never has a truth, just a lot of fluid lies. Kibaki and Raila friends? Why didn't this happen a year ago, when lives could have been saved?!!!

Ethnicity, race, class and gender (its not by mistake that everyone sitting around Kibaki's table was male-or were there women in that picture? didnt see) have to be read in the context of history, in which power relations are explained through a careful study of structures and norms that have been created to support the systems that dominate society.

I am not interested in answers right now (it being four in the morning and all, or is it 5) but I am more interested in expressing my sadness at the way events are unfolding globally. My global reality is confined to the spaces I know and I am familiar with. So Kenya, and I guess America (vested interests) become my global realities.


I am saddened by the chaos still going on in Kenya. Even though life is relatively normal now, Kenya still suffers the aftermath of last year's violence. From the increasingly difficult economic situation to the impossible political cul de sac, and what about the homeless people who cannot be properly resettled because of land disputes? Who is the voice of these poeple? But can one understand what is going on without empirical studies of historical facts? Does history help us to acquire a different persepctive on what is going on?

I am sad because if Obama fails, black people will have failed, and no matter how objective one wants to be, this is a truth. Race in America is still so sensitive that Obama has to apologize to a racial profiler just to keep the balance of presidency intact. I am saddened because we still live in an extremely lopsided world. Only history can set this straight.

Perhaps quite unrelated, I am saddened by the rising chaos in the streets of South African towns in the name of strikes. How will this end? What do these strikes potend? Will they end in the same kind of violence we saw erupt last year in March? Or worse? What is Zuma's position in all this? But even more important, how are these recent actions being interpreted? Are these interpretations at face value or do they go beyond?

Obama's speech in Ghana on Africa - afterthought...

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/07/11/obamas-speech-in-ghana-on-african-development/

I am not sure how many people have had a chance to read Obama's speech, but I have and wow! I must admit I began reading it thinking, 'what new thing could he possibly say about Africa?' But as is now well-known, Obama has a natural talent when it comes to making beautiful coherent speeches. I cannot say it any other way.

What was most striking about his speech?

1) That he recognized that the future of Africa lay in the hands of Africans, particularly, and this is most important, on its young people. I particularly liked the line,

'Africa does not need strong men. It needs strong institutions'. Think I will adopt it in my emails and things. Mantra, like.

I so badly hope all these male egos are listening, instead of turning our countries into political hell-holes. I especially hope the message is sliding down to Kibaki, Odinga and all those 'strong' men who think we need them, and who caused the troubles we found ourselves in, in 2007 in Kenya. Especially now that everyone is trying to swindle their way out of prosecution by the International court at the Hague. I still cannot believe they can be so self-centered.

But back to the important speech. As I read, I felt hailed by Obama. He recognized that some of us were struggling against all odds, to contribute towards the building of firm structures that would see Africa soar one day, even though we no longer believed in our politicians and their two-pence politics. He acknowledged that some of us were still willing citizens of collapsed states. I believe that was a bid deal. In his words, freedom is my inheritance. I thought of all the damage already done by the big word tribalism in Kenya, for instance, as I read the speech. I thought of the suspicion that grew out of this word, and how I no longer felt free in my own skin. I also thought of how people killed and burnt in the name of tribe. where is our sense of dignity?


2) Another important issue that Obama raises is the idea of an African partnership. I mean, how cool is that, conceptually? A world where we will no longer be thought of as the unwanted distant poor relation, but as equals. Mmmm. what a beautiful world that would be.

Of course I have a bit of a problem figuring out how this second point would play itself out, especially in our very capitalist world. First, isn't the logic of capitalism built on the idea of hierarchy between the rich and the poor? If Africa joined the ranks of other superpowers one day, who would be the poor relation?

3) The point about the climate change was also especially important. Would have been awesome if he had mentioned Wangari Maadhai though, for everything she has fought for all these years. I mean, I remember planting a tree because of her when I was younger...but let's not digress. Sometimes I wonder how much of our current problems we would be able to solve if we took better care of our environment. All this madness about paving way for civilization has caused such havoc in Africa, once beautiful and green.

4) Obama also spoke of the health situation in Africa, prompting me to think about the state of Africa and its diseases. Statistically, we are lagging behind. Imagine a world where the structures worked so well, that all those malaria deaths would just be a thing of the past. yeah, if only leaders did not feel it was compulsory to slice 20% of moneys earned from the taxpayer etc.

5) Aid- I saw he also mentioned something crucial about our continued dependency taking us back to the point of a partnership with the west as an alternative. I thought about it some more. I think Africa has become comfortable in its status of beggerliness. I mean, leaders shamelessly beg for aid, so they can slice off 20%, and send their children off to some Western countries to 'get the best' of that world. That way, even if their countries are being called shameless, their own futures have been taken care of. Puts a bit of a question mark on what we call the African Middle class or is it 'upper' class, if such a thing even exists? Me thinks this is a roundabout form of money-laundering, this investment of people's (taxpayers' money) on one's children. Of course I am speaking of politicians and in many ways government officials.

Let me stop shooting my mouth like this. I might actually say things I really do not want to say just yet.

I hail Obama, and thank him for his wonderful speech. As always, I think it touches any right-thinking African. Now, if only we could implement his ideas.....

and please, oh please, stop fighting each other, and just damn grow up!

Special Time Magazine edition on Michael J. Jackson

Time Magazine has released a fascinating piece on MJ. Amid beautiful pictures from before I was born, there are interesting and disturbing pieces about the life and times of MJ (reminds me of JM Coetzee's Life and Times of Michael K). In the article by Richard Corliss, Tommy Mottola says, 'There's nobody before Michael Jackson, and there will never be anybody after Michael Jackson, that can do for video what he did. It put MTV culture into the forefront...he totally defined the video age' (TM 33). There is no other way to capture the kind of influence that MJ had on the cultural scene.

The Time Magazine articles are clearly marked, beginning with the article by John Cloud 'With a dramatic pause, the world mourned the death of a brilliant but troubling idol'. He goes on to capture the death of MJ using theatrical metaphors: the three acts. The shock, the confusion (of death) which he compares quite rightly with Elvis Prestley's death, the Celebrity Tragedy, and lastly the stage when we let the investigators do their job.

This article is however, quite ambivalent, capturing what MJ's death meant to a horde of us fans, but also quite regularly inserting the dissapointing years of MJ's life into the mix, thus making this a more dominant aspect of what the man was.

David Von Drehle's article 'A Little Boy with Outsize Gifts takes charge of His family's band, then leaves it far behind', is the article some of us die-hard fans want to see and read. It is a pithy recount of MJ's early life as a musician, his ambition, as well as his loneliness. It is no woner later in life, he'd find himself fraternizing with little boys, in the hope that he would be able to get what he had lost as a little child. Unfortunately, the social structures do not allow for adults to 'go back'. Once you have crossed over, that's it. MJ was caught between audlthood and childhood.

MJ is quoted as having said, 'There was a park across the street from the Motown studio, and I can remember looking at those kids playing games...i'd just stare at them in wonder-i couldn't imagine such freedom, such a carefree life-and i wish more than anything I had that kind of freedom, that i could just walk away and be just like them'. To have been a child star, stringing out songs such as 'ABC' and not have been affected by it... And to think of how hard their father drove them, is unimaginable. How those boys did it, is something to wonder and marvel at.

But just a side thought: if anyone watched 'Dream Girls', they would know just how manipulative the music industry is. The fact that Jermaine for instance, was dropped out of the band, and later that he performed duets with Whitney, is interesting. Just like the character of Jeniffer Hudson is thrown off the wargon to accommodate the non-talent of the Beyonce character, seems to me in parallel with the Jackson 5 story. Only, in this case, everyone of those boys was talented. I mean, I listen to MJ, true, he is electirfying (i will always admit this), but so were the other boys. I hate that they fell off, just because of some greedy producer's....

Anyway, I was trying to review the Time Magazine special Edition....



I think Richard Lacayo's Piece, 'Deformed by surgery. Warped by Fame. The Sad end of an American Icon.' captures the real effects of what Michael had been and what he died as. It highlights the massive debt he incured throughout his trials, his determination to be a 'neutral' colour (neither black or white: a brother from another planet), and his woes as a possible child molester. Those were the sad years of Mj's life, consisting of betrayals, broken dreams and possible feelings of failure. It's a pity he died feeling the hatred emanating from those who did not believe in his innocence.

There are those of us who believe in second chances, and who know that the world is not always a good place. I still believe quite strongly, that MJ's was a tragic case, because the world did not understand him, and had no place for his eccentricities. It cost him his life.

And so, while he might be in a better place, he is definitely wondering what went wrong. I am too.

TRIBUTE TO A LEGEND: KING OF POP

Who is it...

Death is a difficult thing to deal with. A dear dear person told me that if you are the one that dies, its easy. It only takes a few minutes and you are gone. Its harder on the ones who are left behind. We don't want to die because we don't want those left behind to struggle with loss. They miss us, they want us to come back.

MJ's death has had an impact on those of us who grew up listening to his music, and even if sometimes we pretended he did not exist, even if we looked away during his difficult times, we do acknowledge his death.

His death means something to us. It means that something significant has been taken away from us, and we are no longer able to say sorry, neither can we make up for lost time. His death forces us to re-analyze our positions, question our own high moral standards and say, what went wrong, why did he become someone no one recognized? What happened?

Who was he?

Will you be there....

A few years ago, when I was still a naive high school girl, a classmate, quite musical, convinced the whole class to sing to MJ's 'Will you be there'. We hummed and she sang in her clear voice. I remember, our physics teacher walked in mid-song, but we all went on singing, rebellious, as if he wasn't there. I suppose he must have figured that we were just a bunch of hyper-active girls, because he let us be, and we never punished for this transgression. Thinking back, I think this was a moment in time, when I realised that if you really wanted to, you could transcend anything that stood in your way. But I digress. What was MJ's message?

A few days ago, a friend and I wondered about the arm band MJ wore on his hand all the time. A few internet searches led us to an answer: he wore an armband everyday to send a message, each band represented every child who died of hunger. MJ was an activist.

Black or White

How many people do you know who advocate for a non-racial world? We are all either for white, black or up for co-existence. But we all embrace our differences as if failure to do so would be to lose our very lives/identities. I watched the 'Black or White' video the other day. Granted, I immediately went on the defensive, why must Africans always be Masaais or whatever brand of Africans normally used to represent the continent?

But I also thought, wow, he really was making an effort. In his own way, he was trying to use his celebrity status to make a difference! While I might be over-stating it, one cannot escape the fact that when he started writing his own songs, he became so much more conscious of what was going on in the world.

We are the world...

There is a time, when we should hear a certain call, cause it seems its written in these lines. Cause its a chance we are taking, in leading our own lives, It seems we need nothing at all, I used to feel....

We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones to make a brighter day, so let's start giving...

I am Bad

However bad you are, I think we all should always know we can have a second chance. I did not know MJ personally. Never would have. But I think he made a change in my life. He was someone who tried, in his own stange way, to make a difference. I suppose sometimes that's all we need in life. Biblically, we cannot afford to throw stones, because inside, we all all bad.

I remember once, Oprah publicly denounced MJ for comparing himself with Nelson Mandela. I remember at the time thinking how the world made us who we are. The moral lense through which we are judged in this world, especially under the glare of this world, makes its near impossible to make a meaningful contribution in this world.

For the next few days, I will listen (some more) to his music and try and figure out what made him so great. He was a genius, and its a shame he passed on.