Wednesday, 24 May 2017

This is our future: Gambling through Education

So, quite recently, my hands had been numb as if they had been injected with a highly intoxicating drug, or they had been paralysed by a North Pole winter biting snow. I could not move even a finger to push a pen. I could not think of anything of interest too. See, I am nursing life brutal blows; and my thoughts are struggling to ascent above my own unique status quo. I could not bring myself to a state of pessimism and bombard my readers with my mere obsession about my tribulations - hence that could cost me dearly, to a point whereby I will find myself losing an inch of my readership.
The reality is that I had been paralysed, and/or faltered, by/or with a writer’s block. It is not that I have nothing to think of, and/or write; for every soul that has faced, and/or is still facing life brutal blows, have a lot to say, to think, to write. I have only been careful not to allow the tone of my writing to sound autonomous. So, I chose to allow myself to falter with the writer’s block – up until the new creative tone finds its way to my soul, and nourish my skill.
They say, sometimes a writer need to walk around and observe when faltering with the writer’s block; and through observation, the inspiration will find its way to the writers skill. Sometimes the inspiration can ambush the writer through life’s vicissitudes and harsh perennial realities. And that can often happen at anytime, anywhere, anyhow. And the inspiration hit me on Monday (the 22nd of May 2017) at All Nations Church in N1 City, just adjacent to N1 City Mall.
I went to All Nations Church earlier in the morning to write a Unisa (University of South Africa) Winter Semester Examination. There were people who were not allowed to write, due to being two (2) minutes late. To me, that was so unfair. Consider the fact that they have invested both time and money on the modules that they were supposed to write. That investment in terms of time and money is most definitely the reason one African guy was so frustrated, citing “this is our future”. He pushed a security guard who stood on his way and forced his entry. They did not provide him with examination documents, and threatened to call police. He had to leave the exam room on some anger tip.
His “this is our future” utterances rang on my mind perennially. And I kept on thinking; we were bombarded with the perception that education is the key to the future from a young age. We grew up with that perception. As a matter of fact, we were indoctrinated with that perception. Even the late first South African black democratic president, Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”. That is debatable when it comes to academic and non-academic learning. And that is the reason that there was a woman who died in a stampede during registrations at the University of Johannesburg in 2012 (http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113110018923). One columnist from City Vision community newspaper denounced that incident as an act of desperation. He went further to allude that even though education is the key to the future, there are lots of unemployed graduates in South Africa.
My stance is in affirmative with that columnist when it comes to desperation. And that desperation stem from the fact that we were indoctrinated since knee high that education is the key to the future. That without education one will amount to nothing. That’s definitely the reason that guy was shrieking “this is our future”. One needs education to secure good employment. But nepotism and racism is rife worldwide. Jobs are not guaranteed even if you are highly qualified.
Education was developed to meet the rise of industrialisation. All tertiary courses are specialised to fill a certain gap in the industry. Now that the world is globalised through technological advances and machinery, there is no need to hire many people in the industry, because one machine can perform tasks that are performed by vast manpower. What does that mean? It definitely means that many graduates will never secure employment in the fields that they have studied.
If jobs are not guaranteed, why am I pursuing a BA degree at Unisa? The answer is: I am gambling. See, life is a gamble. That’s why people get hired and fired, fall in love and break up, marry and divorce, accumulate wealth and lose it. It is all a gamble. I recently had a chat with a UCT (University of Cape Town) graduate from Kwa-Langa, a township near Cape Town City, on a temporary administrative job I had at St Marais TB Hospital in Retreat. She said: “Anele, education is the security over jobs, not a guarantee. When job opportunities avails themselves, you stand a better chance of obtaining them – than someone who is uneducated”.

Monday, 27 February 2017

Real Talk: White Supremacy and Racism

Talk is cheap; talk is like a wailing mad wild jackal. To some ragged unscrupulous rogue charlatan cowards, talk is meant to intimidate. Talk is rubbish; talk is bullshit; talk is pessimistic; talk is optimistic; talk builds; talk destroys; talk remedies; talk taints and paints different pictures.

This is real talk

Due to the hegemonic colonial conquest that bred the global system of white supremacy, most Caucasians are born in the world of privileges on the expense of other races. Most Caucasians who are born within the continent of Africa inherits the heritage of superiority that can be traced directly to the epoch of colonial conquest.

The first human of African descent that they (Caucasians) come across from childhood is either a domestic servant or a caretaker. As they grow up, they see a large proportion of people of African descent - working as servants for other Caucasians - in all spheres of life. And at home, most of them are bombarded with the negative narration by their parents - that they are superior to the servants that they see around – serving them; that is evident from the utterances that were made by Penny Sparrow - with numerous reported racist statements and actions that has been imposed at most – by Caucasians towards Africans. Even those who are naturally gifted in the art of critical thinking - are bound to accept the indoctrination - because they can see a large proportion of Africans in the state of servitude for Caucasians in every discipline.

Now, a Caucasian man or woman who had been indoctrinated and bombarded with a sense of superiority over other races, particularly the African race – numerous times since childhood  - with religion being utilised to validate the indoctrination; and to a degree, the illusion had been optical through the numerous Africans who serve Caucasians in all spheres of life; can he or she have a genuine respect and acceptance towards the people that he or she had seen (on the larger scale) occupying inferior positions in all spheres of life? Maybe YES, or maybe NO! That’s precisely because, besides the indoctrination, they had seen the state of Africans - in comparison to that of Caucasians - numerous times since childhood; or perhaps, some of them had seen otherwise.    


Deep inside, most Caucasians believe that they are superior to other races, particularly to people of African ancestry; that goes even to some of those who may sympathise with African people. That explains the depth of racism in academia, art, sport, business and all spheres of life. This is not a mental speculation. This is real talk. Whether you reject my utterances with enormous contempt, or you accept them as genuine truth; you know the truth.



Picture source: 

Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Stay true to yourself

This is month end – the end of the first month of the year. The year will end in no time – ‘cause time flies in this age of the millennium. How far are you with your plans? This is time to attack; to put plans into practice; to practice perennially and not get weary. They say: practice makes perfect. And that the more one practice – the more one gets lucky.

I recently met an Afrikaner man who told me that if one puts a hook in the sea; one might not catch a fish, but there is always a probability for a catch. If one does not put a hook in the sea, then one will never catch a fish at all. Stay focused and never gets weary. Life is full of disappointments but there is always a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Be true to yourself and try to be honest wherever you go. The human of integrity never fails. Hold on to your values and good manners. Never allow the vicissitudes of the modern day world to thwart you on your long term goals and taint your true image. Never rebel on your true sense of self. Be patient. Everything will fall into place in time.

You are unique; you are talented; you are gifted; you are blessed; you are skilful, plentifully. There is no one who can take that away from you. You are destined for something; you have a role to play; you were meant to contribute meaningfully in changing our world for the betterment of everyone and everything in it.

The Amalahle Ashushu blog is still committed to its commitments. As I alluded in previous blogs, everyone is welcomed to contribute. The blog operates independently. You can contact me on the following contact details:

Mobile number: +27 (00) 72 164 9706
Email address: amalahla@gmail.com
Twitter: @amalahla

I am signing off with the lyrics of the song ‘Naninina’ by Vusi Nova. I choose to sign off with these lyrics with the purpose of inspiring you - the Amalahle Ashushu blog reader to stay true to yourself.

Naninina
By: Vusi Nova

Ndikhumbula amaxesh' akudala
Usekhona emhlabeni wena
Ndikhumbul' iimfundiso zakho
Ndicel' ukubonga mama
Kalok' utata wasishiya kudala
Ibiyintando yakho bawo
Umama wazama ngakho konke emandleni
Lade lafik' elakh' ixesha
Bawo, ndyakucela ndingadanis' abazali bam
Nanini na, Bawo
Ndiyakucela nkosi yam, ndingadanis' abazali bam
Nanini na Bawo
[Chorus]
Ndiyakucela nkosi yam
Ndingadanis' abazali bam
Nanini na Bawo
Bawo ndiyacela kuwe
Oh Qamata, ndicel' undiph' amndla
Ndibe ngumntu wabantu nkosi yam
Njengoba ndafundisw' ekhaya
Ndyabulela bazali bam
Konk' endikwenzayo
Imizamo yam yokubonis' abantu iintliziyo zenu
Hayi andisakwazi ukuzibamba iinyembezi
Uthi mandenze njani, Bawo
[Chorus]
Ndiyakucela nkosi yam
Ndingadanis' abazali bam
Nanini na Bawo
Mama nawe tata, ndicela ningaxhali ngam
Kalok yen' uMaRhadebe uyenzil' indima yakhe
Lalani ngoxolo, ugqatso nilufezile
Umsebenzi wenu niwugqibile apha emhlbeni
Bawo, ndyakucela ndingadanis' abazali bam
Nanini na, Bawo
Ndiyakucela nkosi yam, ndingadanis' abazali bam
Nanini na Bawo
Nanini na Bawo




Tuesday, 3 January 2017

Help Branding Amalahle Ashushu

Complements of the season – avid blog readers! 2017 has just begun. This year should be declared the year of opportunities. Every opportunity should be grabbed with both hands – for the sake of prohibiting and minimising regrets, anxiety and depression. Everything happens at its own time, at its own pace, and for a reason.

Firstly, there is a writer in everyone. My advice in the habit and/or culture of pushing a pen on the paper would be: in pushing a pen on the paper, a scribe should never allow any derogatory or pessimistic remark from anyone with the power to employ - to generate doubt on one’s own writing abilities. There are people who feel that they are omniscient just because they hold a little bit of power, or privilege, to build or destroy.

Some of the people who knows how the system of white supremacy was designed, particularly those who came from the cold prior accumulating prestige and making an advance in life – have a tendency to abuse their power, to such an extent that they exploit and ditch the deprived and vulnerable beings - through the plough back masquerading phrases and/or theory; a high level of hypocrisy. There are people who will do anything to amass large quantities of wealth; it does not matter what kind of damage they generate in the process; it is all about wealth and power, than making a difference in society. That should never be encouraged.

However, there are a vast number of good Samaritans worldwide who have embarked on numerous good deeds thus far - with no ill intentions and/or ulterior motives. That should be acknowledged. And with that acknowledgement in mind, I have alluded in the previous post that Amalahle Ashushu blog will have a logo this year; the logo will be followed with patent registration and merchandising. The blog also intends to work with anyone or any group that shares common vision with it, as I alluded in the previous post.

To meet all these commitments rapidly, there is a dire need of funding. The Amalahle Ashushu blog appeals to all the readers to contribute financially through donations. It does not matter how much you can contribute; it shall be highly appreciated – hence you will be helping the blog to meet all its commitments rapidly. As the saying goes: “the hand that gives is much more blessed - than the one that receives.

Kindly deposit your contributions to the following banking details:

Bank Name: Capitec
Account Number: 1182348880
Account Type: Savings
Branch Name: Stellenbosch
Branch Code: 470010


If you have any queries, please direct them to the following contact details: amalahla@gmail.com or +27 72 164 9706. I thank you in advance.