Sikiliza

Magufuli’s stupid statements  hit a raw nerve when he chest thumped his authority in a public rally on 22 June in Bagamoyo saying, “In my administration, as long as I am president … no pregnant student will be allowed to return to school. We cannot allow this immoral behaviour to permeate our primary and secondary schools … never,” he said. That was a slap on my face and my visceral reaction of utter disgust was swift. You see the ease within which many of us fall into shaming teenage mothers is appalling as it is widespread. For me, his words and those who cheered him is very much a personal affront. I was after all a teenage mother and that indifferent declaration took me to a very ominous period of my life. My first inkling of teen mother shaming and the impact it had on girls was in my first year and term of high school.  I found myself in a boarding school that was not easy; finding kindness was a rare thing. Thankfully my parents were perceptive en...

Marble Work - Red Fort, Agra - 2017 Thankfully I do not always encounter meanness in life. I have quite fortunately been the recipient of a bountiful of warmth, love, kindness and devotion from some pockets of humanity. The spurts of unkindness while few and far between however, made a huge impression on me.  I admit some of these experiences have left me scarred, likely to fester wounds long enough to last my current lifetime. But all said and done, in a somewhat dispassionate and hindsight-y way I tried to reflect.  When the hurt and pain dissipates to a dull ache I have drawn a lesson or ten from all those tough moments: No matter how much one loves someone one cannot teach them kindness. Having a generous spirit regardless of circumstance is a choice. Despising and cutting words to others speaks volumes about the speaker than the object of their scorn. A silent bystander is culpable and complicit when watching and shrugging away as others a...

***I wrote this inspired by four phenomenal African activists working against all odds and spread across this wonderful continent. I honor you and your brave work. You are the revolutionaries keep us alive, thank you eternally.*** In a context in which Africa today stands, With a rich tall history Yet to be free from colonial and neo colonial excesses, Where visitors are welcome; expats and tourists While our visits outside met with antagonism Where sweat of our brow over thousands of years of generations Built the foundation of the wealth that is the west Some of the best of our minds and skills were and still are The anchors of innovative ideas but we still we remain immigrants. Where history books valorise Caeser as a military genius (with a small caption of dictator) And we know little of our own African heroes for posterity’s sake. Where we have complicated relations with vast resources that is ‘Africa’ And yet deep poverty synonymous with ‘Af...