My Final

For my final, I decided to do option #2. I have researched all of the different problems surrounding water and sanitation throughout Africa, and although many of the needs are unique to the different geographical regions, many of them are general solutions that could assist Africa as whole.

For example, north Africa is naturally a water-scarce region yet much of their source of revenue relies on agriculture and farming. A way to fix this problem could be introducing some low-cost technologies like treadles for the crops, or simply cultivating crops that are more "water-efficient" meaning that they require less water and can actually feed more people.

Sub-Saharan Africa also suffers from water-scarcity, and as a result of this women and young children walk up to 3 or 4 hours a day just to get clean water! To put this into perspective, around 40 billion hours are lost annually just from hauling water! A possible solution for this problem unites education and water and sanitation...by placing Playpumps (refer to my last blog) near schools, kids would have a place to play and a source of water thus enabling the schools to have better sanitation and a safer environment.

Overall, the main problem in Africa seems to be that any kind of effort being made to provide clean water is being handled as an isolated issue by the government. Clean water and sanitation are both very local and individually-based issues, so the government trying to handle this issue without any communication with smaller communities isn't the most efficient technique. In addition to this, in case any one hasn't noticed, it seems like the majority of African problems are all related to one another, so trying to tackle this issue as a separate entity doesn't make a lot of sense. Ideas like the Playpump benefit children and also address multiple issues like water sanitation and education.

There are a near-infinite amount of websites that accept donations, and even just being aware of these issues helps to make a difference.

Ideas For My Final...

I have decided to work on option #2 for my final project. There are alot of water sanitation organizations online and, although they are all working towards the same task, they are working in different locations and utlizing different ideas to reach their goal. One really interesting site that I found uses the "playpump system", which is a sustainable water pump powered by playing children! They are installing the playpump near schools so it can provide clean water and a place to play (its like a merry-go-round).
Another site I found is the Samburu Project. The Samburu people are a nomadic tribe in Kenya, and theyre biggest problem comes from geography...they have no clean water. The Samburu Project decided a while ago to create fundraisers and donations so reach their goal of providing 25 wells to Samburu (around $12500 for each well) and they have already provided 22!! Each of these wells can help hydrate up to 2000 people...so needless to say its making a huge impact in the lives of these people!
Water for People is another organization, only they contibute to water sanitation on global level (including Africa), becasue this site is so large they actually have different people all over the world creating online journals of the impact theyre making on behalf on Water for People. They have a person (Sarah) in Uganda and Malawi recounting her experiences everyday, its a really great idea to have them making personal entries about their experiences there. Since its such a large organization, it can be easy to be a little skeptical or even overwhelmed, so the personal aspect of having these poeple reporting helps to make it a little less overwhelming.
This is only the tip of the iceberg as far as my resources are concerned, so obviously there are a lot of different and great ideas regarding this problem! I still have to map out what my own ideas will be in an attempt to make some sort of impact, but with all of these sites and ways to donate and get involved, Im sure I wont have a problem coming up with something!

Africa Aid...Water

After just googling "organizations for Africa" I found a ton of differnt groups, foundations and organizations all dedicated to helping Africa in a multitude of ways. The one I chose is called Africa Aid, they cover a few different issues in contemporary Africa (economy, education and water just to name some of them). Since I just researched the problem of deforestation in Africa and discovered that this problem directly links to the problem of clean water, I decided to research what Africa Aid is doing to help with water sanitation. Africa Aid has created (through fundraising) an Assessment and Action Team in Ghana, dedicated to researching and ultimately creating a clean water source in Buduburam (an area of Ghana). They are working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and have gathered water sample data to take to San Diego (which Im assuming is the headquarters for their research team) and hopefully create a water filtration system for use with existing boreholes in the Buduburam. Its a really user-friendly site and you can make donations to Africa Aid to help with their funding for research and development of their plans. They also have little facts on the sides of all of their pages on the site to help give a sense of the vastness of Africa and the continent's poverty (one that I saw was that the world population is 6 billion...Africa's population is 780,000,000 and 27% of the entire world's population without clean water lives on the continent of Africa!!) Just from the small amount of research I did to create this blog, it opened my eyes to all of the different sites and foundations dedicated to JUST clean water! Theres so much to do and it awesome realize that the internet makes it that much more possible to make a difference in someone's life who is on the other side of the world, I'll probably end up doing more research about this topic and hopefully formulating my final around ways to help this problem.

Child Soldiers

It is believed that there are more than 120,000 children (under 18) participating in military armed conflicts just in Africa today, some of the children as young as 7 years old. I cannot believe such a huge number...i know that there are milions and millions of people in just one country of Africa, but still, considering these kids are equivalent to US 2nd, 3rd or 4th graders 120,000 is an overwhelming amount...in my opinion 1 would be too many. And becasue these children are obviously emotionally/pyschologically immature as well as physically, they are willing to take greater risks...this is probably becasue the kids think that they are part of an elaborate game and dont really realize the harsh consequence of their actions. These children can begin as porters (carrying food or ammunition) or messengers, others as spies. It bad enough that these kids have to be subjected to this lifestyle but to use them as spies really demonstrates the extremity of their exploitation, obviously they are much less likely to be suspected on enemy territory than a grown soldier, so the men use this to their adavntage and utilize every aspect of these children, including the preconcieved notion of their innocence...completely disgusting.

I also though that it was very interesting that girl children are also used as soldiers, which we werent really exposed to in Johnny Mad Dog. In Liberia, about 1% of child soldiers were girls. However, girls play other roles as well: girlfriends or wives of rebel leaders, through researching I found out that they refer to themselves as "wartime women". Many times girls are forced to become girlfriends of rebel soldiers, and if they refuse they are simply killed; however if they do become a part of the group the risk for sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies are enormous.

Johnny Mad Dog

I had mixed emotions about Johnny Mad Dog...although I found the book entertaining I never once stopped thinking that this kind of stuff happens all the time in Africa which made it frustrating and difficult to read at times. I was watching Tropic Thunder not too long ago and in the movie, the characters have a run in with a group of drug smugglers and the leader of them all is a homocidal child...although the movie mocks the idea of "child soldiers" or more specifically drug lords and poverty, I couldn't help but be reminded of the harsh reality of this lifestyle that was more truthfully depicted in Mad Dog. In a way it almost seems comical reflecting back on it now, because the whole idea seems completely absurd, however for the children in Johnny Mad Dog this way of life is very real (and very, very gruesome) and what these children fail to realize is that they are really nothing more than just brain washed little machines that have been programmed to lie, cheat, steal and kill. One aspect of the book that I did appreciate was Laokole's character, she seemed to provide some kind of humanity and relateable quality that made me realize the realness and effect of all of the destruction caused by Mad Dog and the other soldiers in the text. While the young boys glorify and glamorize killing (through strange yet eerie Western pop culture nicknames and clothing) and the power that coincides with it, she seemed to represent the real life consequences of all of this needless death and destruction. One part that really made me realize the stark contrast between Laokole and Mad dog's lives was when the book describes Laokole pushing her father on a wheelbarrow and trying to find her brother...I cannot imagine the immense frustration and hopelessness of her situation, and to make matters worse it seems like all of the child soldiers (the same age as her) have been completely transformed into killing machines. Whats even worse is that these kids justify their actions by mistaking their heartless savagery with the lifestyle of "real soldiers", their minds have been so distorted that they cant even distinguish wrong and right because all of their horrible behavior has been associated with masculinity and adulthood...things that any child naturally aspires for.

The Problem of Deforestation in Africa

As I'm sure many people already now, rain forests do more than just act as a home for exotic birds and cute monkeys...they operate as a sort of "lung" for the environment, recycling nutrients and helping to regulate the quality and flow of water (clean water is another big problem in Africa...kind of a vicious cycle situation).

The deforestation occurring in Africa is adding to a world wide air pollution problem. However the thing that makes this such a complicated issue is that because Africa is largely a suffering continent, many of the developing countries use wood fuel for heating and cooking (which are basic necessities to pretty much everyone).

Just to give an idea of how integral wood fuel is to African lives, I have some statistics... around 90% of the entire population of the continent relies on wood fuel for cooking, that's A LOT of wood! Its no wonder then, that even though forests cover about 22 % of the region, but they are disappearing faster than anywhere else in the developing world. It seems like, as always, Africa is in a complex situation...whereas other countries use the products of deforestation for logging or commercial use, the African people rely on the destruction of their rainforests just to survive.

Waiting for an Angel

Wow! I really liked this book, and usually I'm not a big fan of novels jumping around in time but this one was a lot easier to follow than Ancestor Stones. I actually appreciated the jumping around by the second half of the book because anything that was mentioned I felt like I knew because of the past history that was already provided.
I thought it was nice to see that for once the guard (or any kind of authority figure for that matter) was willing to help Lomba, but once he started his writing he had to do so secretly and half of the time didn't even know the right date...that aspect of prison is oddly what I found to be the most terrifying. Lomba seems to be completely isolated and detached from the rest of the world, which is why its so hard to read about him in prison within the first portion of the book. The further Waiting for An Angel develops the more I keep wishing for a different outcome than the one I already know.
One part that I found to be especially interesting was during the fortune teller scene. It was strange that the fortune teller knew that prison was in his future, but when asked about death the fortune teller only replies with "A wise man is always ready for death. Assume it will come tomorrow, or in the next minute." Parts of the book like this made me feel like Habila provided all around great life lessons and advice through his work, but when looking at the big picture I realize that what made this book feel like such a personal read was because it deals with the social issues of the time by exploring the life of one individual. I like that the novel was trying to accomplish too much, focusing on just a single person's experience made me understand the gravity of the situation a little better.

Oil...

I have reached my limit. I'm finally really, truly realizing that something SERIOUSLY needs to be done to correct the vicious cycle of death, exploitation and poverty that runs rampant through Africa. hearing about it in lectures and on the news is one thing, but to actually read specifics and understand the injustices occurring everyday is sickening. Reading about the oil in Nigeria is just another prime example of Africa's goods and materials being jerked out of their hands almost immediately. Nigeria has managed to get screwed over simply for being lucky, it seems as though Africa is the little kid who gets bullied by all of the other power hungry countries, and every time yet another resource has been discovered some other country comes in before Africa even figures out what should be done. I saw in the reading that Nigeria's biggest source of gaining income through exports is oil, and today they import more than they export! What I cant get past is that oil always equals money!!! and despite this Nigeria rates below all of the other oil nations and has an annual per capita income of $1400! Although there are some good people in this fight, trying to defend Nigeria, there are still too many power hungry people coming from inside and outside of Nigeria, if the people of Nigeria cant even unite to protect their resources, why should anyone else not want to take advantage of the "fragile state" of this country. Its so tragic to see what material goods can do to people, and this is Africa's blessing and curse. As long as Africa has been being taken advantage of, it has been for good reason: they have tons of natural resources and other countries will take whatever ruthless action they need to to ensure an uneven distribution of wealth and profit.

African Soldiers in WWII

As soon as I saw this topic I knew it was something particularly interesting to me, my grandpa was in WWII and received a Purple Heart amongst other honors and I know how important that is to him. The thought of someone being willing to risk their life yet not be rewarded with the same honors because of skin color is appalling to me.

African-American soldiers played a significant role in World War II with more than half a million serving in Europe. However, even though the numbers were high there was still discrimination. Just because the numbers say that black were a part of WWII it doesnt mean that they were out on the front lines of combat. They were mostly given support duties, and were not allowed in units with white soldiers, I know that this had been a widely known fact but just actually researching and reading about it blows my mind. War seems to be such a primal to me, its always over essentially some product or land and the winner is whoever does more damage; I just dont understand how even in such a do or die situation people were still influenced by racial and social stereotypes. So its okay to blow eachother's heads off but heaven forbid I stand next to a black guy?? COME ON!...
That changed in 1941, when pressure from African-American civil rights leaders convinced the government to set up all-black combat units, as experiments. They were designed to see if African-American soldiers could perform military tasks on the same level as white soldiers.
A man named Woodrow Crockett was a part of that experiment. He was a Tuskegee Airman, and flew 149 missions between 1944 and 1945, protecting harbors in Italy and American bombers from German fighter planes. I can only imagine the pressure these men had weighing on them, not only were they fighting for their lives but they also had to try to prove their abilities to their fellow countrymen--something that Im sure alot of white soldiers took for granted! One of the most amazing things that I read about this group was that in 200 missions they never lost a bomber to enemy fire.

Now of course, even despite all of the accomplishments Ive mentioned (in addition to many more Im sure) no African American soldier was ever awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II. In fact it wasn't even until 1993 that the Army did some research to prepare a study "to determine if there was a racial disparity in the way Medal of Honor recipients were selected." Eventually the research team agreed that there was disparity and recommended the Army consider a group of 10 soldiers for the Medal of Honor. Of those 10, seven were recommended to receive the award. In October of 1996 Congress passed the necessary legislation which allowed President Clinton to award these Medals of Honor since the statutory limit for presentation had expired. The Medals of Honor were presented January 13, 1997 and of all seven, Vernon Baker was the only recipient still living and present to receive his award...sad.

I guess all we can do now is be thankful that we no longer live in world like that, even though these medals and awards are just material possessions what they represent is so much more than that. To risk one's life and get no recognition for it (AND be doubted the whole time), these men really were and are heroes...

Women in Ancestor Stones

The thing that I find to be the most interesting about the women in Ancestor Stones is that despite their genetic obligation with one another, they all seem very different. Although they all suffer some form of injustice because of they're gender, I think its crucial to remember that all of these stories are ranging over a very revolutionary period in African history.

Asana (the eldest) is the daughter of the first wife Namina. Her story begins in 1926 with her father's journey into a forest leading to him to find a new village (Rofathane) and start a coffee plantation. Then, at 10 years old her (favored) twin brother dies. As a result, Asana hopes to win her mother's affections, but instead her mother is convinced that she is possessed by the dead twin becoming obsessed with exorcising his spirit instead! In comparison to some of the other stories this doesn't seem too tragic, yet this kind of familial isolation can be equally traumatizing.
Next, in 1931, is Mariama (Mary later on...thanks to those overwhelmingly generous do-gooders in Idaho), whose mother Sakie is the third wife. I found Sakie to be as fascinating as she was mysterious...she has two preoccupations, selling snuff and partaking in the spiritual practice of reading stones. The bond that is described between Sakie and Mariama seems almost elemental and spiritual, but all this changes when a Muslim preacher comes and imposes a ridiculously strict moral code in which virtually everything that Mariama enjoys is deemed haram. Sakie is eventually forced to give up her religion and falls into depression and then hazily enters and reenters until one day she never returns. After this, Mariama is sent to a convent where she gets baptised and becomes Mary.

Then comes Hawa, her portion begins in 1939. She is the daughter of the the sixth wife, Tenkamu, who is the favorite wife. envied by the other women, when Tenkamu falls sick she gets blamed for anything bad that happens to the village (its already bad enough being sick, but then being blamed for things completely out of her control...? ridiculous). After she dies, Hawa tries to avenge her mother' and goes after her accusers.

The youngest is Serah (1950), her mother Saffie is ranked at number 10 and has basically little to no status. She is (falsely) accused of adultery leading to her eventual departure from the village. Serah initially appears to be the most modern character...she gets married and studies in Britain, but when she returns home she is faced with the dilemma of an unfaithful husband who abuses the cultural polygamy.

It seems like all of these women experience loss at the expense of a power hungry male. None of these stories would be complete without the narrator's mothers, and the reason behind this is that these women have all witnessed their mother's "fall from grace"; whether it be from a failed marriage, envy, or sickness they are all subject to the male dominated hierarchies of society.

Ancestor Stones

Ancestor Stones explains the brutalities of life as an African during the age of gaining independence, Aminatta Forna utilizes several different narrators (all female) to convey the many different emotions and experiences felt by all of those affected.

Ancestor Stones begins when Abie (a young African woman) leaves England and to assume control of her family's coffee plantation in Sierra Leone. When Abie reaches her destination, she is met with a small village (much different than her life in England) and her aunts; Asana, Mary, Hawa and Serah. Throughout the novel she learns stories of the past that explain why and how her aunts and their country have chnaged over the years. Oh yeah, did I mention that each aunt was born to a different wife of Abie’s wealthy grandfather? (I can't help but think of these women as Hadji's children from Xala...)

This trip home ultimately proves to be a very enlightening experience for Abie, she is given authentic stories from the past that shed new light on her aunts and Sierra Leone as a whole. The different sections of the book are composed of tales of rivalrous co-wives, life in a patriarchal society, and old religions challenged by Islamic and Christian religions. However, for as many "old stories" they tell and reflect upon, the women also provide modern stories that contain a lot of relevance and explanation of life in the "new africa". The aunts discuss European-owned mining companies, the oppressive (and culturally repressive) nature of mission schools, corrupt elections, and the new genearation of postcolonial Africans. Even though I loved all of these stories and did find relevance within all of their experiences, I did find the text to be a little disjointed at times...it seems like each of the stories could stand alone as I wasnt really picking up on the connection or commonality between them on a familial level.

One scene that stood out to me as truely posessing the essence of the work was during the refugee camp portion. It takes place in a camp where refugees have been waiting a long time for a shipment of food to arrive, but when the crates are opened, it becomes apparent that there has been a mix-up and the box is full of lipsticks. Sections like this are what made me really appreciate Ancestor Stones, and really just the unwaivering strength of Africans over the years, even during the extreme desperation of war these women still attempt to hold onto moments of joy, even if its through the smallest things.

Xala...a new Africa?

Well although this is a late post I almost feel its better that I waited. After reaching my own conclusions about the book as well as exploring the characters during our class discussion, I am finally realizing that Xala isn't really representing the "new Africa" that I had envisioned. I realize now that what I had previously thought was impossible...how could Africa ever go back to the way it was pre-colonialism? These people have been forever changed, their culture, traditions and religion have all been stolen and replaced with some kind of indignant amalgamation of European ideals and forced abandonment of a previous way of life. Africa has been marred with the corruption and greed of Europeans and this is displayed throughout Xala, as the characters all experience the internal and external conflictions of tradition and a changing society.

One huge example of this is through Rama, she personifies the new generation of young adults who have grown up during the process of African independence. Although she holds to her heritage and people, she has a surprisingly modern take on day to day life, she has sex before marriage, she has a "boyfriend" (which in itself is a very modern idea), and rebels against any authority that she interprets as oppressive to her culture. So even though she values the past, she applies her own philosophy and logic (over tradition) to the present.

Rama's father, we'll just call him Hadji, also provides a modernized view of Africa in the sense that he becomes a part of the thing that robbed him of his old way of life. He has been transformed into a sort of figurehead for the joining of African and European business, although judging by the resentment of many of the characters its clear that this is by no means a reconciliation but rather a greed driven partnership. Hadji seems kind of like a sell out even though he still values tradition (polygamy, wedding rituals), while Rama seems to be the opposite. Its clear that Hadji practices these traditions out of some kind of moral obligation, but doesn't really view them as sacred or important which pretty much discredits entire point of partaking in them.

Xala was very entertaining, and even though it wasn't quite what I expected I learned a lot. I'm beginning to see and understand why Africa is the way it is today through reading about these characters as they try to delineate between old and new ways while forming their own beliefs somewhere along the way.

Walter Rodney...part deux

So obviously we all know at least a little something about Walter Rodney from the essay last week, but that was just hitting the tip of the iceberg. Walter Rodney was a prominent figure in numerous parts of the world and stood for unity among Africans regardless of where they lived.

Born in Guyana in 1942, Rodney attended Queen's College in Guyana and continued by attending university on a scholarship at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, graduating in 1963. By 1966 Rodney had earned his PhD at the School of Oriental Studies in London, England. His dissertation was published in 1970, entitled "A History of the Upper Guinea Coast" focused on the slave trade throughout Guinea, and characteristic of Rodney the essay operated as a way of informing about a part of history that even the locals weren't aware of.

Throughout his life he travelled worldwide and became increasingly popular, teaching in both Tanzania and Jamaica (which eventually led to him being banned from the country for being overly critical of the middle class and its role in post independence). By 1968, Rodney has something else to add to his record, a riot bearing his name. The "Rodney Riots" broke out as a result of his radical advocacy for the working poor that ended in his banishment. On a bigger scale, these riots forced the rest of the world to look and pay attention to the Caribbean, Rodney became transformed into an important face of the Black Power movement as well as an activist for Rasta, and an integral part of the development of a new centre for African discussion and learning.

On a side note I also found it interesting to note that out of all of Rodney's publications, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is his most well known work, it took him to a new iconic level of activism and controversy. In 1974 Rodney returned to Guyana from Tanzania as he was supposed to take a position as a professor at the University of Guyana but the government prevented his appointment. As he became increasingly active in politics, forming the Working People's Alliance, against the PNC government he was arrested and charged with arson after two government offices were burned in 1979.

Of course, there is an end to all things, and in the words of Wayne "you know what they say, when you great, its not murder its assassinate"; which is precisely what happened to Walter Rodney in 1980. Rodney was killed in a bomb explosion while running for office in Guyanese elections. The bomb was disguised as a two way radio transmitter and was planted by a CIA agent. The perpetrator fled and was never prosecuted. By the end of his life he had established a family of his own; a wife, Pat, and three children who were now forced to grow up without a father. Clearly Rodney was a huge part in achieving equality and awareness, and I don't think I need to bother redundantly fawning over his life and achievements...the impact he has indelibly left on society speaks for itself.

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Africans were deliberately robbed of everything they had, and even the things they didnt know they had. After doing a little research once I finished reading Rodney's essay, I saw that there is some criticsm regarding his oversimplification of the relationship between Africa and Europe...although I do agree with this in portions of the essay the thing that really captured my attention was the "European scholar's" chart displaying the complete stagnation of the African population! In addition to this, Rodney makes the valid point that obviously Africa was dessimated by Europe...how did they expect NOT to be?? They were getting robbed blind and there wasnt much they could do since Europe had been treated them like cattle from the very beginning.

A crucial reason that Africa had completely ruined its economy and population was becasue, as Rodney says, exploiting resources and labour inside the country where the goods and workers is one thing, but to take the goods and people somewhere else to work not only decreases the population but it also just doesnt logically make any sense!! Even though, (OBVIOUSLY) slavery is one the most inhumane cruelties, its even worse that essentially the entire continent of Africa become enslaved as nothing more than a breeding ground for goods and workers that are being exported the second they are ready.

From the unreal salary (it takes 25 African assistants to equal the pay of 1 European) to the whopping 52 hospitals that Africa was gifted by Europe to house their 40 million population to the lack of food and money...all these things were no accident, they couldnt have been, and together they worked together (just as the Europeans knew they woud) in the complete and utter devestation of Africa.

Achebe's Interpretation

Okay, so I admit that despite my adamant defense of Conrad in my last blog, Achebe has managed to thrust my naivete into plain view. Throughout my reading of Heart of Darkness I genuinely believed that Conrad had created a subtle yet strikingly sarcastic work that actually operated as a commentary against the colonization of Africa...so its just slightly devastating that I may have been terribly mistaken.

During my reading of Achebe's criticism several portions stood out to me as shockingly enlightening and definitely something that I overlooked during my idealistic reading of the text...
"If there is something in these utterances more than youthful inexperience, more than a lack of factual knowledge, what is it? Quite simply it is the desire -- one might indeed say the need -- in Western psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest. "
It is this very concept that provides Achebe with his argument, but it also implicitly clarifies the very complexity surrounding the debate of possible racism, is it really just "youthful inexperience" or European ignorance as a whole or greed that drew Europe to Africa? While no one will ever really know, its important to remember the time in which Conrad was living and the preconceived notions regarding race (and gender...but I digress) of the time. To say that Conrad was completely and utterly racist cannot be true, he obviously cared enough to create the book on the first place and the fact that he mocks the inability and overall lack of qualification amongst the white colonists, speaks for itself. If Conrad mocks European society, how can he simultaneously criticize Europe and be racist? Perhaps Conrad's lack of knowledge comes across as racist, but as Achebe says regardless, there is undoubtedly more than meets the eye with Conrad's perception of Africans.

However, although this consistent ambiguity may come lack of knowledge or the innate beliefs of society at the time, there really is no excuse for the following passage,
"And between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler. He was there below me and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs. A few months of training had done for that really fine chap. He squinted at the steam-gauge and at the water-gauge with an evident effort of intrepidity -- and he had filed his teeth too, the poor devil, and the wool of his pate shaved into queer patterns, and three ornamental scars on each of his cheeks. He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank, instead of which he was hard at work, a thrall to strange witchcraft, full of improving knowledge. "
Now as Achebe says, "for Conrad things being in their place is of the utmost importance" , so perhaps that is why this description seems so dehumanizing because this particular native wasn't in his natural form, he was trying to be something he was not, just as Conrad criticizes all of the Europeans coming to Africa (a place they clearly do not belong).
Ugh, I don't know, I myself am left with mixed emotions and an unclear idea of what Conrad meant, and as much as I could battle both sides of this argument I am choosing not to simply because I can acknowledge the fact that there are so many things that happened and justifications of both sides of the spectrum that I don't know about, and since Conrad obviously was lacking clear information regarding the Africans and he sways back and forth with his opinion of the Europeans, maybe he should have been more clear or not said anything at all!

*I apologize for the lack of visual stimulation, but seeing as this is my 3rd attempt in posting my blog Im not sure I have the capacity to handle recreating it in its entirety it yet again...

Heart of Darkness...unconventionally impactful

Although I have read excerpts of Heart of Darkness in the past, reading it in its' entirety provides a completely different effect. It seems that rather than explicitly exploiting the corrupt nature of European colonialism at the time, Conrad utilizes Marlow as a tool to reveal not only the cruelty but also the ignorance of European explorers of the time.

I found this approach to be surprisingly effective, its interesting to view the Europeans as the ignorant savages rather than the Africans. I especially liked when Marlow makes a point to remind his fellow crewman that England hasn't always been the center of the civilized world, and at one point, it too was considered an undiscovered, savage place. In addition to this subtle jab at European ethnocentrism, multiple times throughout the book, I was reminded of the utter ignorance of European figures in society. One example is the doctor in Part 1...he does and says a number of idiotic things that prove his complete lack of qualification as well as the futility of Marlow's checkup. Other characters that contribute to the overall feeling of fraudulence are the brick maker, general manager, and chief accountant just to name a few. None of these men are remarkable in their talents or, for that matter, even capable of fulfilling the expectations of their jobs. It seems that Kurtz is the only real formidable antagonist and all of the others simply get by because they're never questioned by anyone.

It seems to me that Conrad is trying to illustrate the flaws and ignorance among European society as a whole...the women are naive idealists (which bothered me at times because everything else in the text appears to contain a progressive message), the professionals solely rely on the facade of their image and status in society, the colonists are completely incapable of learning anything and are too busy trying to transform Africa into their own fantasy getaway complete with all white outfits to see any of the cruelty occurring, and the others all work for Kurtz, a barbaric leader reminiscent of the European rulers of the time.

Besides the misogyny, I enjoyed Heart of Darkness and its ability to comment on society and colonialism through story telling and a complex point of view present throughout the play that ultimately serves as an objective narrator that is simply telling the things he has heard and allows the reader to interpret it however they choose.

Finished King Leopold's Ghost...

So, Ive just finished King Leopold's Ghost and I can honestly say that this book and not only life-changing content on nearly every page, but the manner in which it was written is truly exquisite. Hochschild's ability to write historical non-fiction in the style of a novel is remarkable...although I do enjoy history I would never, ever voluntarily read a "history book" so naturally I had some doubt about King Leopold's Ghost in the beginning but literally by the first 5 or 10 pages I was hooked!

Obviously the content of Hochschild's work is devastating, but I really think that because he manages to tell this story with such fluid ease, that even though the things I was reading were perhaps some of the most grotesque things I have ever read before; I still appreciated the style of Hochschild's writing as well as his respect for the African culture while he paints his all to vivid depiction of life during the colonial age.

Some aspects of King Leopold's Ghost that I loved were the pictures, and Hochschild's ability to introduce different figures in history as though they all worked together to tell this story of the past; the small details included about each character make the reader feel as though they are really getting acquainted with the life happenings of each character as well as simultaneously getting to know them on a personal level. I also really enjoyed the photos inserted about 120 pages in (right when I was starting to get tired from reading...), and they instantly reminded me just how real this colonization was. Its easy while reading Hochschild's novel to get lost in the descriptions and little anecdotes and forget how very real and horrific all of this really was as well was the impact still evident today. The photographs were a big deal to me; that's when I really started to grasp the morbid intensity of this occurrence and just how helpless the Africans were (despite any of their other skills or knowledge, it was impossible to defeat the Europeans since they had been manipulating the Africans essentially since their first encounter and on).

I really enjoyed the novel itself as well as the class discussion in Tuesday, its a really interesting experience to read this novel in a group since the content is so disturbing and basically no one knows about this event in history...I like getting to listen to everyone's thoughts and interpretations as I try to sort through my own complex feeling regarding King Leopold's Ghost.

First 100 pages of King Leopold's Ghost...

I have to admit that prior to picking up a copy of King Leopold's Ghost I had some apprehension regarding whether or not it would interest me...and contrary to what I had thought, King Leopold's Ghost has to be one of the most poetic telling of history that I have ever read.

This book is continuing to shock me with every page that I read...HOW could something like this have happened without hardly anyone noticing?? Obviously Leopold was a typical manipulating and strategizing genius and leader, but he abused his power and exploited an entire culture to the point of dessimation. After reading Things Fall Apart and Affonso's attempts of trying to maintain some kind of boundary with these European outsiders, im finally beginning to understand the shock and disbelief of the people of the Kongo. Obviously a strong leader has to be someone willing to learn yet self confident enough to know when an outside force has gone too far, however for Affonso, having these important characterisitics wasnt enough. Leopold managed to twist and distort every situation and request from Affonso to his own benefit, and even though this happened 100 years ago, the world can STILL see the devestating effects the slave trade and colonization had on Africa and its inhabitants.

Just within the first 100 pages I already feel like Im learning so much and actually empathizing and identifying with Affonso...this is a tragic yet fascinating part of the past that has been covered up by "those who write history" and Im excited to continue to dive even deeper into King Leopold's Ghost and continue learning and questioning with every page that I read.

Anti Slavery Movement in England and U.S.

The term Abolitionism pertains to the political movement of the 18th and 19th century which eventually led to slavery becoming illegal. This actually started all the way back during the Enlightenment in Europe and the United States and the anti slavery movement gained a tremendous following and became an issue that many people felt strongly towards.

Since the beginning of the 17th century enforced servitude had been done away with in Britain, however with the birth of new trading ideas and far off cultural discoveries, by the 18th century slaves were being imported from Africa and East Asia. Howver, in the beginning slaves werent bought or sold, and their legal status was unclear until 1772 ( the case of runaway slave, James Somersett forced a legal decision). Ultimately this was the first case of several that led to Lord Mansfield's (Cheif Justice of Court of the King's Bench) declaration that "Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of England; and therefore the black must be discharged." Thereby stating that the condition of slavery actually didnt even exist under English law (...i dont know how they didnt come to this conclusion a little earlier...? but I digress...). Mansfield elaborated further by stating that slavery contracted in other areas (the American colonies anyone?) could not be enforced in England.
The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage (catchy, isnt it?) was the first American abolition society, formed in 1775 in Philadelphia primarily composed of Quakers who had strong religious objections to slavery. However, because of the Revolution it ceased operation until 1784 with Benjamin Franklin as its first President. The Abolitionist Movement set in motion actions in every state to abolish slavery, succeeding in passing legislation to eventually emancipate the slaves in every northern state by 1804, however there were still some "permanent apprenctices" for some years after...but eventually slavery became completley banned by January 1st 1808.
Both Britain and the US have complex histories regarding the anti slavery mvmt, so for a more detailed timeline click on the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline
I also wanted to share that during my researching endeavors I discovered that slavery is still very much a problem in modern society with over 27 million people enslaved world wide today. To learn more about this movement and what each of us can do click on the link below:
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/Default.aspx

My First Visit to the Village

Upon visiting the site for the first time I began to explore the different areas offered by the site when I came across this photograph of a masqueraded group of villages resting before a dance. Not only did this remind me of the strong influence of music as well as the drums and dancers in Things Fall Apart, but also (as we discussed in class) that the customs and ideals of the Ibo people are actually very similar to European customs and beliefs.

Looking at this photo made me want to research about the other customs practiced by the Ibo people and hopefully find some more similarities between the Ibo and the Europeans of the time...and, just as I thought, these two groups of people are very alike...

The Ibo people have these celebrations and dances during ceremonial times, besides just music there are also masks, sacrifices and other practices customary of the people. This is actually much like the great parties of Europe at the time...the only real differences are the costumes and setting of these parties. In addition to this similarity, the heads of families form a council of elders, which then shares its power with numerous secret societies; however, they may be open to any man who is rich enough to buy his way in. These societies carry great political and social influence over the rest of the tribe. They are highly hierarchical, their members passing from one level to the next, each stage marked by a specific attribute, much like the social hierarchy of the Europeans, who were similarly concerned (and/or potentially consumed) by the importance of image and maintaining a respectable social standing amongst other members of society.

Besides these social groups and secret associations of people, the importance of music is also something that both the Ibo and Europeans value. The Ibo had several different varieties of drums (the Pot drum, Talking drum and Slit drum) all used for different ceremonies, and the Europeans of the time were perfecting the Sonata form, and had such great composers as Beethoven and Chopin during the course of the 19th century.

Just from the similarities that I have discussed I think its easy to see that regardless of location or appearance, ultimately all people are really pretty similar. Such customs of music, dancing, clubs and groups are universal because of their appeal to humans on a very broad and almost instinctual level. These customs have been practiced for hundreds of years and people worldwide (whether it be tribal Africans or cosmopolitan Europeans) connect over them and still utilize festivals and music as a way of bonding and celebration today.

Things Fall Apart

Wow! Things Fall Apart completely obliterated any preconceived notions I had about the book and its subject matter...it was such a unique experience to take on the perspective of a native African versus the typical colonist narrative.

First of all, I need to discuss the social structure of the Ibo tribe, although Okonkwo's father had established a bad reputation among the other tribesmen Okonkwo was still allowed to rise in the Ibo social structure which I thought to be a surprisingly modern concept; in addition to his rise in status, Onkonkwo had it all pulled out from under him as a result of ignoring the oracle to satisfy his need for status and recognition among the other villagers. So despite his best attempts to dissociate from his father he still managed to be exiled from his village and stripped of his status. Okonkwo strives to make his way in a world that seems to value manliness, and in doing so, he rejects everything for which he believes his father stood. This proves that although Okonkwo did gain temporary success, he was never himself, but rather the manifestation of everything his father was not. As a result of Okonkwo's brutish and stubborn ways, he find himself unable to adapt to changing times as the white man comes to live among his people.
Although each of the characters contribute to the complexity of this work as a whole, Okonkwo seems to personify "the tragic hero" role the best...the reader grows with Okonkwo, first seeing his status and characteristics as an example of a strong man until a variable is added and I realized that all it took was something unknown to Okonkwo to bring about the ultimate downfall of his character. His personification of manliness with rashness, anger, and violence (all things his father did not represent)—brings about his own destruction. Although at times Okonkwo is gruff, and usually unable to express his feelings; his emotions are actually quite complex, as his “manly” values conflict with his “unmanly” ones.

Since Things Fall Apart is essentially a story about a culture on the verge of change, a substantial part of this transformation is composed of this change affects the various characters present in the work. The conflict regarding whether change should take priority over tradition seems to involve questions of personal status. Okonkwo tries to resist these new political and religious orders because he feels that theyre not manly and that he will not be manly if he agrees to join or even tolerate them... and in addition to this, Okonkwo's resistance of cultural change is also due to his fear of losing societal status. His sense of self-worth is dependent upon the traditional standards by which society judges him (and since his recognition of his father as a failure, Okonkwo has never tried to model himself after anything except the exact opposite of his father).

All in all, I loved this book and I feel as though I could endlessly continue to discuss all of the intricacies and cultural complexities found in it. It not only gave me insight into a culture that I didnt know of, but it also allowed me to learn new things in a literary aspect as well. Things Fall Apart tells of the inner workings of African tribal culture while also exploring the feelings and inner conflicts of man as a result of these social expectations.

Swahili...The Language and People

When I first chose to research "Swahili" I knew that somewhere along the way I had heard this word but didn't know if it was just a language, a group of people or some far off place that I had yet to discover but after the first few minutes of research I realized that Swahili is all of these things and more, even having its own way of telling time. "Swahili time" runs from dawn to dusk, instead of midnight to midday. So for example, 7am and 7pm are both one o'clock while midnight and midday are six o'clock.

The Swahili language is derived from a multitude of backgrounds, ranging from Arabic, Persian, German, Portuguese, Indian and English. This diverse culmination stems from centuries of trading with far off nations from all over the world, although the Arabic language has the most direct influence over the Swahili vocabulary (around 35% of the words are derived from Arabic).

Only around 5-10 million people speak Swahili as a first language, while 80 million speak it as a second language and it is the only language utilized in the African Union that is actually of African descent.

Even though this culture is so multifaceted and its language alone is conceived from several other places, no one is truely certain of the exact time and place that Swahili first emerged as a culture. It is assumed that the Swahili speaking people have occupied areas near the Indian Ocean (their present territories) since before AD 1000! In addition to this geographical history it is thought that the Swahili people actually got their name from their location near the sea, those who speak the language of Swahili call it 'Kiswahili', which comes from the plural of the Arabic word sāhil meaning "boundary" or "coast" (used as an adjective to mean "coastal dwellers") and because Arab and Persian traders are known to have had extensive contact with the coastal peoples from at least the 6th Century of the Christian Era, it is not far fetched to think that the Swahili culture was greatly influenced by these middle eastern traders.

It is slightly difficult to trace the birth of the Swahili culture, but its believed that it actually began thousands of years ago on the eastern coast of Africa (which was seen as highly valuable commercial land). Beacuse of this, many Muslims and Bantu speaking people settled along the African coast and this combination of peoples came to create a unique language and culture known as the Swahili civilization.Since the Swahili culture is diverse due to its many origins, in Swahili cuisine you will find influences from Indian, Arabic, and European cultures. There are also alterations to certain dishes due to religious reasons. For instance pork is seldom used in food because most of the Swahili are Muslim. Some food that is common in the everyday lives of the Swahili is fish, tropical fruits, and exotic spices.

About Me

My full name is Annamarie Chantel Sysling...but since I despise my middle name and Annamarie is a mouthful of a name to say on a regular basis I prefer "Anna". I've just started my second year at Western and as of right now I'm majoring in Journalism but thinking of changing my major.
I'm originally from Grosse Pointe, a suburb of Detroit, and even though a large amount of people from my high school attend Western, it's still nice to get away from the monotony of the Grosse Pointe community and chaos of my family (...there's five kids in my house and three of them are under the age of 5...).
Ideally I hope to live in New York as a Fashion Journalist, but if my current ambivalence leads me to another career path, then I'd also enjoy living along the West Coast at some point. I love being active and being outdoors, some of my favorite activities include running, yoga and rock climbing, but I'll try pretty much anything that seems appealing to me. When I'm not exercising I like to read, write, draw and listen to music...I'm kind of obsessive with books and music in the sense that I'm always looking for something new in both genres which leads to my interest in African Literature...last year I took American Lit and despite my apathy regarding most of the Puritan writers we studied I really enjoyed learning about the African writers during the Slavery/Slavetrade portion that was covered in the class, so when I saw that Western had an entire class about literature from Africa I knew I had to take it!
After I graduate I plan to join the Peace Corps and go to either India or Africa, so besides being excited to learn about the literary aspect of Africa I'm also looking forward to learning about African contemporary culture and the lifestyle that accompanies it.