The Second Set of Eyes: Learning is Seeing

Few things compare to exposure to knowledge in transforming lives of people with the possibility of making them great and successful.

I want to propose that to know more and have high density of information in one's system is to be equipped to deal more successfully with the complexities of life today. At the very heart of the maturing of a human society is how it expands opportunities for its young people to access knowledge they need to take charge of their lives and their environment. 

Their ability to govern their environs for the benefit of all is what distinguishes human beings from others. African notions of humanness privilege the ability to share one's human values with others. The dictum, you are because we are, commonly called ubuntu, defines the African idea of humanity as being inclusive and communal in essence. 

This is distinct from the pervasive modern concept of "I think therefore I am", which generates the egocentrism from which comes greed, selfishness, excessive individualism, high mindedness and aloofness. 

In this sense, learning to share, to coexist, to cooperate and to co-create is the essence of knowledge in African settings in spite of the impact of modernity. So, acquisition of knowledge is not for the purpose of lording over others, but to become socially useful, to work with others to build a better world, to become better with and through others. 

To the extent that the Christian idea of creation emphasizes that human beings exist to work and govern the garden for the good of all, it reinforces African notions of honour and responsibility where individual human beings earn their place in the community of beings by virtue of their respect of others and their inputs. 

Secondly I also want to propose that exposure to both information and insights from experiences of the world out there has an enduringly positive impact because it gives more than ordinary ways of seeing the world and ourselves in it.  

Acquisition of knowledge is not supposed to be an excessively technical process focused on the transfer of technical skills, but it is supposed to be part of the socialization of society, humanisation of beings. Knowledge is social awareness; it is one condition found in every component of humanity and in all human history from the islands isolated in the Pacific to te Inca of Latin American mountains, the peoples of Europe as well as the peoples of Africa. It is condition that crimes against humanity like racism, apartheid and colonialism sought to destroy.

Gathering information is an important condition for acquiring knowledge. There is no knowledge without collecting data and information about ourselves and  the world around us. It is for this reason that the schooling system exposes young people to loads of information on a whole range of areas of life in the hope that they  imbibe something about each in order to be rounded people. 

Thirdly, by acquiring knowledge as an extra set of eyes I mean that knowledge should enable those who acquire it to see a little more or lot deep into life and the world. It must give them ability to see things from various angles. It must teach them to put on the glasses of many others when they look at issues in front of them. 

The extra set of eyes enables humankind to transcend myopia, prejudice, narrow-mindedness, short-sightedness, amnesia and mediocrity. It helps them see the whole person in their encounters with others, the whole issue in discussion, the whole problem in their communities and the whole world in the manner that they live on earth. 

There is no end to the process of acquiring and training the extra eyes to see clearer, farther and deeper into issues of life. So, there should be no end to hearing and perceiving, training the eyes to see. We should make personal commitments to know better daily and all the time. 

In our next piece, we reflect on hearing in order to see better. 

Nelson Mandela Day: Eish?

Few days cause a display of love for the country and care for each other than theInternational Mandela Day. Since the day was declared an official international day by the United Nations General Assembly for doing good to others for at least 67 minutes, it has been used to galvanize society to take a moment to think about the plight of people on the sidelines of society and to take interest in important structures of society that the most vulnerable need. 

The day is used to emulate the example of Mandela. But given the fact that there is no one meaning of Mandela and Mandela as symbol of subject to abuse, what are implications of the popularization of the day today? 

The answers to this question lie in our understanding of the symbolism of the day and the iconography of the man after whom it is named. The international day was actually inspired by Mandela's 90th birthday celebrations held throughout the world in 2008 that marked out the fact that he had dedicated 67 years of his life to selfless service to humanity. This was a culmination of several celebrations of the previous years, that got the world mood generally united in the recognition of the humanist phenomenon that Mandela was for the world facing huge challenges relating to the erosion of the values and ethics of humanness.

When this widespread feeling was taken up for discussion by states at the United Nations General Assembly the following year, there would be a universal acceptance of the idea of declaring an international day in honour of Mandela for  humanistic values and "his dedication to the service of humanity". World leaders agreed to honour also Mandela's exemplary dedication "to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world". Therefore, the day was invented as a call to action. In particular, it was an invitation for peoples of the world to display their humanity by dedicating 67 minutes of their time oft he 18th July every year to some public good. This was seen as "a small gesture of solidarity with humanity and a step towards a global movement for good." 

To make it easy for people, 67 suggestions of what could be done was provided jointly by the UN and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. These included reading for someone who can't; cleaning filthy facilities; offering donations; helping out at a shelter and other charity-type activities as well as more profound forms of actions like offering chats for terminally ill patients; making a new friends across cultures; getting medically checked and offering someone a job. The list has grown as we record the creativity displayed by humanists throughout the world. 

There has been an explosion of charitable work in South Africa on this day and a mighty outpouring of goodwill and love. There has been a particular prominence given to humane actions done for the most vulnerable of our society: the disabled, orphaned, the very sick, the abused and the infants. People have turned up to pain and fix shelters, to sing and dance with the unfortunate of our society, to bring essential supplies and share a laugh with them in ways no other Day has caused them to. 

The pilgrimage from suburbia and towns to townships, informal settlements and rural areas for the 67 minutes interventions (which are usually up to full day) have become a common sight. This has made the country look capable of caring enough to enable the defeat of poverty, marginalization and brutalization of others. It has assured one that we as a people can take care of others.

These activities can be dismissed as vain glory for bourgeoisie haunted by the shame of their material fetish in the sea of lack and poverty. It can be dismissed as inconsequential short lived display of humanity. It can be reduced into mere charity rather than causing real change in lives of people. It can be said that the day will loose meaning because of its commercialisation as corporations see opportunities offer the crumbs from their fat dinner table. 

But a new ground has been broken and  possibilities have been expanded all the same. It remains to be seen if these actions will change the actors and the targeted people as they should. It is to been if it would cause them to stand up and be counted on a continuous basis.

Even if the work done of the day is of such as nature that it is small consolidation for affluence, the important thing is the symbolism of the day. At the launch of the day at the UN General Assembly in 2008, the Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, said, "Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary compassion after 27 years in prison showed that human rights and equality are stronger than discrimination and hate." 

The reminder about the values and principles Mandela and his generation lived by is an important element of the day. Its effect is to humanize the heart and mind of citizens so that their charity moves from being just about material assistance, but rehumanising society brutalised materialism, callousness and greed. 

The challenge going forward is to offer opportunities for people to reflect on what they do on this day, so that there is a reconciliation between the moral ethic of giver and the giver's personality. It is also to ensure that the Mandela phenomenon is understand as a complex, diverse and educative representational power. 

It should be used to speak out against actions of states and other powerful actors that are inconsistent with the values of humanness. It is thus a symbol by which we redefine our society and ourselves in from the margins to centres. 

more: http://www.southafrica.info/mandela/67minutes.htm#.U9AVwYkazCQ#ixzz38KBmuBlz

The Youth 2014 Needs

Key to success is to understand the times and space in which one finds himself. Time and space when used wisely and to the end desired in line with interests of society, success is guaranteed. 

2014 is a year in a season of great changes. The season is called a period of globalisation. It is times when the world is increasingly interconnected via internet and efficient transport systems. It is interlinked through every growing trade routes. There is hardly an obstacle to contact between one part of the world and another. The power of the telephone was an important of world development a century ago; today, we have mobile technology that have made this interconnection hundred times faster. 

This is a season of great changes in politics. The world can work a lot closer together to deal with the challenges that have become much more transnational today than in the past. No country is able on its own to resolve its challenges without the whole community of nations creating a conducive environment for their success. International organisations have assumed greater significance in our lives, from human rights institutions that protect people from the violation of their dignity by the powerful in society to transnational corporations that can move services from one side of the world to another, guaranteeing similar quality of services to many. 

Similarly, the failures of society in one part of the world threaten lives in other parts in a matter of short time. The collapse of states in Africa and the Arab world can produced militant and disillusioned young people who are willing to blow themselves up and bomb others to register their frustrations. We call this terrorism. The assistance one part of the world in the form of development aid gives to another can produce dependency, over-reliance on outside help and poverty. International organisations can export wars, conflict and harmful materialist cultures that spread lifestyle diseases. International arts can encourage sub-cultures that engender violence and moral decay. 

The interconnected world offers great opportunities for young people of today because it can enable them to connect with opportunities in right time when they have a good sense of what they can be in a positive sense. The world population has become younger overall on account of youth bulge in the developing world. This means Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America can become the third world in the sense that we had the first world that was built on imperialism and slavery and then the second world built in industrial revolution. The third world would be built on what the developing countries are able to do, taking advantage of their abundant resources, youthful population and time. 

Young people in Africa and South Africa stand at the crossroad with the route to success wide-open ahead of them. They will need at least three things to succeed. 

The first is an understanding of the times, as times of great opportunities in technology, capital circulation, international attention and positive attitude to Africa all over the world. 

Secondly, young people need to grasp their personal vision, the purpose of their existence. Purpose is everything needed for personal and societal success. I have always said without purpose there is no direction in life. Inspiration is produced by passion. God designed that human beings must take dominion and rule over the earth. 

Thirdly, young people need to determine in their heart to take their first step in the direction of their vision. 

At least, the first step is to decide on a plan with regard to acquiring the right educational credentials for the purpose. Young people have to commit themselves to study and there should be no end to acquisition of knowledge. Plan to make connections with as many people as it is possible as networks are essential for success, no one can succeeds properly living and working alone in a corner of life. 

Fourthly, young people need to trust in God, the king of kings. For them to be kings, they need the source of kingship. In order to take charge of their future, they need one who knows the end from the beginning. God is the foundation of all sustainable success. 

I trust that you will use the youth month of June to pursue greatness and lay the basis for a prosperous future. Your time is now; use it. 

I wish all the best of luck as you step into your greatness and become that which you were born to be.  

Sista, scum bags not worth your sacrifices

In some cases, after much suppression, threatened with violence and cowed by denial of privileges that men can offer, some sisters have come to internalize their subjecthood, willingly allowing themselves to be bullied and pushed into position lower than they ought to be. 

As we move from one encounter with male men at work, in the corporate sector, in church, in NGOs and at homes, some women have come to think that this is what ought to be after all, thus giving away their duty to pursue their own purpose too. 

Men have allowed other men's demands to change their own destinies. 

The men who do this are mostly driven by fear of loosing material power to use to assert their domineering roles. They relate their power to what they own materially relative to women owned. 

They see accumulation of material things and positions by women as a threat their power and thus react by other suppressing women, denying them what us due to them and by sulking into some little corners in society, feeling debased. 

Dr Myles' Understanding the Power and Purpose of Men, tells a story that best illustrate this point. A while ago, after speaking at a leadership meeting in Pittsburg, says Dr Myles, a young unmarried lady in her late twenties told me that she was a vice-president of a bank and was earning very well.

She said she had always dreamt of owning a Jaguar and though she could now afford, she decided not to buy it because it would intimidate men. It would send a wrong signal, she said. 

So, she bought a car of lower status to avoid frightening men at the time when she was ready for a steady relationship and marriage. 

I have picked up that the Pittsburg lady can be found in Soweto in South Africa, Harare in Zimbabwe or Kinshasa in the DRC. I am certain you also know of women sacrificing their increase to avoid putting prospective husbands off. I have. 

Desperation is what happens when a person does not understand that they are complete for their purpose and that they can achieve what they desire. It is to allow others' opinion to cloud their inner voice of essence. It when they see thselves through the mirror of eyes of doubting others. 

Yep, desperate women can make a mistake of diminishing their potential just to hook to an intimidated men. Marriages and relationships built on intimidation and self-depreciation are bound run into difficulties every now and then. 

As I said to that lady, women should not marry men who are intimidated by the size of the car you own or think of owning. Such men are insecure. Such men equate position with things they own.  

Dr Myles says he left her with these words, which I think applies to many women too: "when insecurity marries insecurity, there will be problems throughout that marriage."

Men must be reminded that their self-image should not be linked to what someone else has. If you are a CEO of a company, you are the CEO even if your HR Manager owns a Porsche. 

There is not even a guarantee that that the woman with modest asset today will not accelerate up the corporate ladder to own more than you have. 

Women have to understand thatdesperate  sacrifices don't even guarantee the desired outcome. Letting go of opportunities and life had already just to draw in a scum bag looking like a man is foolish. 

Do I advocate arrogance on the part of single women hoping for marriage? No! Do I want to see large numbers of spinsters who fail to connect with potential soul mates? No! 

Am I discounting the possibility that scum bags have the potential to evolve into hunks? No! 

All I am saying that intimidated and low self-esteemed men deserve support, but sacrifice of advantages women have. Women do not have to lose essentials in order to gain a soul mate. 

What do you think? 

Intimidated men, cowed women

As I like saying, purpose is most important thing that a man, especially the male men, should have. For it is by purpose that man find meaning in their life, whether at the top of the corporate ladder or at the fringes of society. 

Purpose gives direction from man is today to where they ought to be in future. It is born out vision, the dreamt end.  

You may ask as to what does this which I have said have to do with intimidated men. You may wonder what do I mean by "intimidated" men and how does clarity of purpose assist in dealing with the intimidated nature of many men? 

We are living in a society that is experiencing major changes in all fields of life, from politics to the economy or business, from security to social conditions of living, from the schools to churches and from culture to culture. 

As our world become globally integrated, as means of communication expanding putting us into touch many different cultures or ways of living, as consumerism and indebtedness spread though the world, the world familiar to men is also turning upside down. 

This is because by creation man, especially male man, wants to feel that they are in control of circumstances around them. It is in the inner part of his being to have means and ways to putting everything around under his rulership. 

Whether or not they are conscious of this, men are always responding to the promise of creation that mankind will rule over earth. The question men have to keep in mind is whether they respond correctly to this promise. 

But because we as men often do not have a clear understanding of the meaning of the promise rulership, we think it is only men who must rule and that we should prevent women from taking charge too. We think it is about ruling over rather than with them. 

As Dr Myles Munroe says in his book, Understanding the Power and Purpose of  Men, wrong interpretation of man and male man's role in as fathers, husbands and brothers to women to mean that they must dominate, suppress, abuse and harass women. 

This has led men to see women as objects for the gratification of their egos. On this basis, we men forceourselves   on women demanding submission, respect, honour and pleasure. 

We, men, have got to be confident without being arrogant. We've got to understand powerful women and confident men makesuccesful families and societies. We must understand that we were born to lead , not to dominate others. 

Leadership is to motivate abd inspire others by the strength of a vision (personal and organisational) and the fire of the passion for the mission. It is not to control, intimidate or suppress the other. We derive no drop of essence by demeaning others.

Men should, therefore, not be intimidated, neither should women sacrifice themselves to adjust themselves to intimidated men.   

What do you think? 

The male crisis in a changing world

The public perception of men continues to worsen as news and discussions about what many men do and think continue to project us men as power-drunk, interested only in asserting our domination of others. 

Increasingly, men are seen as types of human beings that have this desire to express their identity (manhood) by meting out violence on others in order to dominate them. The image of men as boys who rob and harass others is becoming all too common. The males that form majority among violent protesters, violent strikers, violent criminals and therefore dominate numbers in the prison population project an unfortunate kind of manhood. 

Contrary to signals coming from the modern and materialized world, the maturity of males as men is not a matter of age and material possession alone, but our growing into our responsibility and identity. It is this that distinguishes men from boys, no matter their age. It is this that enables us men to play our full role in the development of society, the building of a prosperous African society where women and children also prosper. 

Males without a keen sense of responsibility and identity are not only under-performers in the struggle for a prosperous society, but are actually a major drain on the collective energy by which such a struggle is won. 

Clearly, South Africa is a violent society. This is in large part a result of a history of institutionalised violence since colonial conquest three centuries ago, a process that involved an orgy of bloodletting and other forms of violence including the installation of low self-esteem especially among black people. The maintenance and growth of the system of colonialism and apartheid was a largely violent affair. Again, both the physical violence of gun-totting security forces that raided communities, houses and human bodies in the quest to suppress black resistance to domination, and the psychological and cultural violence in the form of racism and installation of a feeling of inferiority continued. 

The defeat of political apartheid in 1994 created conditions for freedom from fear of physical harm or psychological harassment over political views. But we now know that the end of formal apartheid did not uproot the culture and architecture of violence that the system had built into the very fabric of the South African society, neither was it followed by serious efforts to heal the bruised and traumatized society, communities and families. 

Clearly, men especially carry this inheritance of violence in their hearts and mind. It has become men's burden. The anger that has been written about as being widespread and palpable in our society is largely expressed in violent behaviour. It is the anger that manifests in intense relations between races and communities. The ease with which people turn to violence to resolve even minor challenges, from being overtaken by another car on the road to accidental shoulder bumps in crowded town streets is indicative of this deep-seated problem of anger and a culture of violence. 

But this culture expresses itself in the form of male violence not because males are inherently predisposed to violence rather because males need to understand their position, power, responsibility and identity in a changing society. This we need, as men, in order to forego the temptation towards violence every time we face challenges.In this sense, the male in Africa, especially the black male, suffers from difficulties in understanding their role and position in society. The negative energy that males release into society, both in relationships with other men and with women and children is a result of males battling to cope with a fast-changing society saddled with a culture of violence anyway. 

In Understanding the Power and Purpose of Men, Dr Myles Munroe persuasively demonstrates that there is a crisis of manhood that is generally about the evolution of modern society, that this has transformed traditional roles and functions of genders, leaving the male confused and disillusioned about their roles and purpose. "They are lost in a maze of new paradigms", he suggests, "and the uncharted waters of social and cultural convergence."  (Page 8). 

This maze of paradigms include the progressive ideas of women empowerment, genderless economic development, gender-blind professional development, the ascension of women to positions of power in politics and business traditionally held by males, the new family structure, the new child rights, extended social justice and so forth. The idea that everyone can rise to the top of the social ladder on the basis of their abilities and ingenuity rather than their gender is challenging old masculine ideals of society. The male is in a state of confusion in many ways. 

The new culture has undone the default elevation of us males in society, demanding rather that we earn our respect and advantage on the basis of effort in an equal society. It is a culture where norms of individual excellence combine with great vigilance against structural inequality to make the old male function a bit dated. It is culture of equality and equity, a culture of excellence and performance, a culture of dexterity and versatility. 

We males have to find themselves a new meaning, role and self-definition in this. We have to find our feet quickly in the midst of societal change. We have to find stability in this fluidity of systems. We have to firm up our stance in the midst of shifting sands under our feet. We have to avoid seeking to defend or return to the old ways where males had automatic power over others and important position to run things their ways. Instead of learning to adjust, we men use our fists and the blows of our feet to get women to stop talking truth to them. 

We use violence to access women's bodies when women insist on deciding about how their bodies are accessed. We use physical force to push others behind us in a life game where being in front or ahead is somewhat important. We use violence to steal clothes that help us look gentle and elegant. We shout and scream at others when we feel drowned out by a cacophony of voices in horizontal conversations of daily life. We kick and insult when we fail job interviews or music competitions. We have not learned to take blows, recollect and outcompete others. We have not learned to take a 'no' for an answer and work out more innovative ways to win a yes. We have not understood how to give due praise and love in order to trigger respect from others. 

The sooner we learn responsibility, the quicker we will know that we are still accountable for how we respond to the pressures of life. We will know that no violence and other forms of irresponsible behaviour on our part towards others are excusable. We cannot blame others or society for what we allow our feelings to lead us to. 

We can learn to self-control and discipline in the midst of pressures. We can regain our confidence, power and position in society society alongside others without harming them. We can be ingenious co-creators of a prosperous African nation. We can, yes we can.