I’m not sure how to feel about our African ultra-evangelical friends– the ones who sound like they are from deep bible-belt Mississippi. Their social media timelines are both entertaining and disturbing in times of political heat even about events unfolding thousands of miles. How American politics affects them emotionally is a thing of wonder. Entertaining…
7 meditations for 2021. “This” will bring you extraordinary experiences and lasting legacies. “That” will give you short-lived thrills and leave you feeling hollow. 1. Chase knowledge, not money. The road to prosperity is not paved with payouts but with smarts and skills. 2. Chase courage, not approval. The road to happiness is not paved…
There were days when a society’s philosophers were a scalpel. They cut open a people’s consciousness, exposed the nakedness of sacred thoughts, and introduced forbidden ideas. Emperors used to kill and banish philosophers. Causing people to think critically is a dangerous thing to those who thrive through maintaining oppressive power. But we have become better…
So the best of Swiss journalism wrote- “This grandmother will become the boss of the WTO” and all hell broke loose. The real problem here is that there’s a culture that considers being a matriarch an insult. As if a grandmother is devoid of the kind of intelligence necessary to understand global economics and international…
We are going to situate this Harry-Meghan tale in history because it’s irresponsible not to do so. Let us remember that Harry is the child of an unrepentant monarchy that has the blood of millions on its hands, from unimaginable evils of slavery through colonization’s plunder, massacres and subjugation. The British monarchy sanctioned it all,…
I was a young–ish, ambitious and as naive as a crisp green guava that doesn’t know the worms will get to it as soon as the wind shakes it to the ground. I had just directed my first play in New York, and I was high on post-show artist’s restlessness and anxiety. One of my…
That feeling again. We’re about to go on a scholarship fundraiser for high school kids struggling through poverty, and I get that same sick feeling I got when I came across Mariana’s story last month. I need to say this before it vanishes in the stream of thought and I can’t find it- Poverty is…
Growing up, I heard ogre stories in school, at home, and on VoK from a show called Land of Majitu (Land of Ogres). The show would start with ogres dancing around a homestead singing– Sisi majitu, sisi majitu / aah sisi majitu… Ogre stories are a common genre in African orature. They have a simple…
The cicadas are come and gone. It’s too quiet. It seems to me we missed something. Some ritual of sorts. We got visited by lifeforms that appear every 17 years. For a month they controlled us with their shrill non-stop chirping that sounded like deep space invasion. All sorts of incredulous stories were told about…
