As a born and breed African kid, many people are surprised when they meet me. They are surprised by my articulation, and my command of the English language ,bewildered that i know more than the words "give us free" and that i don't talk like the characters from "The God's must be crazy". They are marveled at my exposure ,knowledge of their history and understanding of culture, when they don't have an inkling on mine. Luckily for me, i have not had the experience that many of my friends have had.When some ignoramuses come up to them and ask if they had pet lions, or lived in trees and wore clothes when they were in Africa, and how they able to learn English.
Africans perhaps more than any other race have suffered stereotypes from Hollywood. For many years movies about Africa have been one dimensional, and portray Africans as limited thinking, quarter illiterate "yes masstah" characters. Heavy caricature ,often imbeciles with no thoughts of their own. When that is not the case they are swinging from trees, or running around half naked in loin cloth, movie like "King Solomon's Mines" Stereotypes and profiling is one of the reasons that society is still where it is today. The blanketing and general statement in a recent article, that black people do not read is one from which i beg to differ.
There was a recent article on how black people don't read, now that is as crazy a statement as all Chinese men know Kung Fu. It's an ignorant , unfounded and unfair generalization . I am in my twenties and for as long as i can remember ,books have been a huge part of my life. I would have to plea guilty as charged if accused of being a book worm. As a child i read book by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl,Judy Blume and Alan Ahlberg,in my teenage years i moved on to Jeffery Archer and John Grisham as an adult i read both fiction and non fiction ranging from David Balddachi , to Dr Myles Munroe ,Jack Canfield and currently , The Road Less traveled by M Scott Peck.
I am more than just literate, i can intelligently hold my own in virtually any conversation , i may not be an expert , or be broad on the topic , but at least i can make some form of contribution, and i have many friends with that same capability.
- We chew over if Japan would be the economic force it is today if Hiroshima has never happened.
- Postulate on the application on Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" in modern day business.
- Discuss on Greek and Roman mythology .
- Deliberate on the possibilities of time travel based on the "Theory of relativity".
- Analyze business lessons from Vito and Michael Corleone.
- Debate on if economic growth and prosperity in the USA during the Clinton administration, could really be attributed to him or the dot com revolution that happened during his tenure.
- Deliberate over the pros and cons of Nigeria switching over to a parliamentary system of government.
- The possibility of Nigeria becoming amongst the top ten economies within the next 10 years once we can solve the issue of NEPA.
- Wonder if the USA would have become involved in World War 2 if not for Pearl Harbour, and what would the world be like if Hitler had succeeded in his campaign.
Was the Cold War really about communism, or truly a fight between the USSR and USA on who was the Alpha male.....(Hey! Who mentioned ROCKY over there.)
to relax we can switch over to mundane issues
We can equally discuss over Cristiano Ronaldo ,and if has erased the legendary name from his Brazilian predecessor .
If Muhammad Ali , and Michael Jordan still hold on to the legendary status we hold them up to in their respective sports.
If Bruce Lee would beat Jet Li in a street fight ?
Why Batman though the only human(without powers) in the Justice League is the most feared and respected?
If Robin Hood and King Arthur truly existed ,and if not, how did they become so big and so legendary that we think they actually did exist?
The lessons of tenacity, perseverance and never give up mentality that we learn from Top Cat,Wile E Coyote and Yogi Bear?
Ask our selves based on the evidence if a lazy animal like the Lion is truly the King of the Jungle and not the Tiger.
Why people claim abstinence doesn't work , because they won't admit that they like sex too much to give it up.
If He Man would be able to kick Lion O's ass in hand to hand combat.
Would Naruto be as cool, if they spoke in English?
