Meditating on the Cedi.

Wonakobo is out - Treasure. Accra boys get money, Nima too. Shoot, Navrongo and Shiashi. People get money for Accra  bad! For Ghana, boys get money wey women even get more money. Makola women dost roff!! You dey pray give Cedi like e get stomach ache? You for give am milk of magnesia!!!.. 

Why we are baffled by our lack of progress economically I don't know. In the capital, probably the most economically vibrant part of Ghana, you have little relevant taxable commerce. The coco seller, waakye seller, street hawker, shoe-shine boy, kiosk operator, corner store, clothing store in the wall of several residential homes -- tax-free -- all of them -- tax free -- Zero-kpo!!, notin dem dey pay to conduct business in the community, notin!!! Big businesses and established store fronts, they circumvent the law. There is no watchdog for the health of our economy-- dibi namindibi, tsooboey! yey!  Ebe who e fault? You want make Cedi have value? What backs the Cedi?--> Prayers!, if you ask Duncan-Williams -- former cocaine dealer turned preacher is now a spiritual economist. Osofo Pesewa, he know money well 'cos he dey see money constant for offering bowl inside. In his church, all he has to do is command that the meek and willing congregation pay more and his offerings increase exponentially.. Why not command the Cedi in the same vein?, rules of the money market be damned.  All into the boot of his car--> trunk for those unfamiliar with british-gh lingo. At a time in his ministry, that was the practice, nowadays there are ATM's in the church building so even the Church has evolved monetarily but Ghana's economy hasn't? Ewurade kasa!

This is not the time for band-aid solutions. How many of our people even truly understand this BOG issuance? The English dem write saf dey bore but make we try understand am for the layman. Follow.

NOTICE TO BANKS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC

NOTICE NO. BG/GOV/SEC/2014/02
REVISED RULES ON THE OPERATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE ACCOUNTS (FEA) AND FOREIGN CURRENCY ACCOUNTS (FCA) --> Chwen, y3b3 wroo yehu yiee.. We are about to undress proper..

Further to Bank of Ghana Notices Nos. BG/GOV/SEC/2007/3 and BG/GOV/SEC/2007/4, it is announced for the information of all authorized dealer banks and the general public that with effect from February 5, 2014, the rules governing the operations of FEA and FCA have been revised. --> This just means; remove your drosss and apply the vaseline..

These rules are intended to streamline the operations of these accounts and bring about clarity and transparency in their operations as well as ensure compliance with Bank of Ghana Notice No.BG/GOV/SEC/2012/12 dated October 10, 2012 on the pricing, advertising receipts and payments of goods and services in foreign currency in Ghana. ---> 
You have no choice in this matter and we'll penetrate you as many times as we wish, now bend over!!

 The Notice states that all transactions in the country are required to be conducted in Ghana cedis, which is the sole legal tender. --> Since the Cedi has basically been shit, we have decided to now intervene and remind you that we are still in Ghana so using the Cedi is expected, no matter how volatile it may be, after all the value of your goods don't really fluctuate now, do they?

MODE OF OPERATION
The Bank of Ghana has revised the mode of operation for the FEA and FCA as follows:

1. No cheques or cheque books shall be issued on the FEA and FCA. --> This means "wu na" could be dying but if her hospital bills have to be written in check form because you are on a business trip overseas then sorry but Wu-Na!!! She can die knowing your dollars will never leave the bank to become as valueless as the Cedi...  :(
   
   
2. Cash withdrawals over the counter from FEA and FCA shall only be permitted for travel purposes outside Ghana and shall not exceed US$10,000.00 or its equivalent in convertible foreign currency, per person, per travel. --> We know we don't manufacture even matches in this country but the only business transaction you Makola-level and petty-traders can engage in are the cheap and low-end obroni weywu type merchandize.. If you ordered an industrial machine to extract palm oil and it costs you $10,157?-- fuck you, Fa Ma Nyame!! Ashi egu... Oh and big business always pays sizable bribes so they can ignore this ruling, *shrug*
   
   
3. Authorised dealers shall not sell foreign exchange for the credit of FEA or FCA of their customers. --> Wu p3 loan di ay3 ejuma in dollars? Aji ywease ashi.. Wuti abrochrie 'nti dien? Tweeaaa!!
   
   
4. Transfers from one foreign currency denominated account to another are not permitted. --> We allow you to practice polygamy, but you can't fuck two wives at once, you know this!! Not even if they agree to the threesome.. Aden wuy3 macho ntiana saa? 
   
   
5. All transfers outside Ghana from FEA and FCA shall be supported by relevant documentation. --> With the right bribe, we can xerox any documents even if it has to have the IGP's signature. If you are too broke to pay bribe, well fogerrit my broda..
   

Margin Account for Import Bills
f. Foreign exchange purchased for the settlement of import bills shall be credited to a margin account which shall be operated --> Wait a minute, the fuck? I can now conduct business in foreign currency again? I thought you banned that shit in rule  BG/GOV/SEC/2012/122? O well.

and managed by the bank on behalf of the importer for a period not exceeding 30 days.
Foreign Currency Denominated Loans --> Oh, so long as we control the value of your money within the 30days, you can use whatever currency you like, even if you convert it to goat herds...

7. No bank shall grant a foreign currency denominated loan or foreign currency linked facility to a customer who is not a foreign exchange earner. --> Jaack, tutena!, you studied this in Social or Cultural studies; yen t'na faako enji enimguasi3!! You can go be Togolese and then we'll let you use whatever currency you like but so long as you be Ghanaba?, ah, stepchild kwraa enfanuhu!!!
   
   
8. All undrawn foreign currency denominated facilities shall be converted into local currency with the coming into effect of this Notice.--> You got 24hours to live, what would you do?, where would you go?; cue in DMX and Mase for your financial emergencies... Or Obrafour may be the better fit.. Wu p3o, wun p3o, wu b3di Cedi!!
   
    However, existing fully drawn foreign currency denominated facilities and loans to non-foreign exchange earners shall run until expiry.--> Wonsha bodey, if you be man, go withdraw your money as the banks close, you go see your soormi!!.. O wait, by the time they open, the law would be in effect and all your dollars "musu eshwie yrodoo" -- running tummy -- you are royally fucked! Asantehene fucking small girls in Legon fucked, minister building boutique for his friends' daughter fucked, walahi church chorister several times fucked behind the partition fucked!!! Sheeeit, muy3 fokin kwraa, you fokin stupid citizens of Ghana, we the select few, we'll rape you with cactuses until you're bleeding to death.. We'll just let your carcasses marinate on the mattress-less stretchers in any public hospital! Thanks for your inherent God-given docility AND nonchalantness towards our incompetence, WE appreciate your continued belief in the Super Power that will save us and the Cedi. Oh, please don't forget to pray for us this sunday o, we need it roff - foreign currency allowed for that short church service window, no limit on the amount though, give freely!! And let the people say Aaaamen!! Hallelu.. Yah ;).
   

Banks and the general public are hereby advised to note the above and be guided accordingly.
(Sgd.)
CAROLINE OTOO (MRS) THE SECRETARY
4th February, 2014 -- Oh I forgot, my name carries some authority but if you refuse to follow the rules I have imposed, the highest authority of all, Nyame ankasa betua muka!, mu Ghanafuo!! I know you won't ask  me any real relevant questions anyway so I boldly tell you to go fuck yourself. Thanks for reading your new bible. 

When are we going to implement sound economic practices? Enact and enforce rules and regulations that truly bolster our economy and the value of our currency. Or are we just resigned to these fairy dust solutions that will blow up in 13months? Are these well-educated economists and elder citizens just gonna shoosh and let sleeping dogs lie? The ground is sifting from beneath our feet.. We are sinking and we have our hands raised to heaven, praying vehemently and God is busily disgusted by our lack of responsibility. 

We have to sacrifice now for the longterm health of the economy, the only guarantee known to man for a stable valuable currency. Let's invest our resources in our people. Someone hear us, the collective intelligent youth posting everywhere on social media with possible solutions. Our issues are not unique and never-seen before but our attitudes may be unprecedented. What gives? I am partially jovial and sarcastic in this piece but damn this stuff makes my stomach turn in kaleidoscopic sequences. ...

BLIND FAITH

My brother asked a question about some of the contradictions of the Bible and why certain things seem unexplainable. I personally think religion is the most divisive man-made  tool created so I decided to engage the universe with certain thoughts I have.

1. First, we have to accept that religion is man-made.. Since no one has witnessed and has physical proof of a face to face encounter with God, we are all searching for truth.The meaning of our existence. God is real(IMHO), the existence of "a creator" is more logical and rational than not. If you found yourself on an empty factory floor with no trace of life and your two guesses were to speculate that a. the dirt from the ground evolved into the buildings and machinery etc or b. that someone actually built these things, what will your wild guess be? :)

2. Your fear of the falsehood of your religion/faith is what makes you say that blind-faith is illogical. "You just believe"--the recital embedded in your head since childhood.. This is a silly way to think if you actually believe that the universe has a creator. Why does any logical person accept and believe in something illogical? We complicate God when He is actually very clear as day in my opinion.

3. Religion is like any other field of study or endeavor. Like piloting, engineering, sex and what have yous. It is all through trial and error until theories became facts(in the case of religion, mostly unproven). For the longest time, religious leaders and sects have discouraged questioning any of the theories they preach. Why?, they have no logical explanation for the hard bits so better tell you not to think about it so you don't question them. Such thoughts become sins that tie people in guilt for their whole lives instead of experiencing God's creation.

4. So now that we've established that God is a truer possibility than not, the question about faith is; are we blindly accepting dated perspectives of our ancestors due to our fear of the thoughts these questions provoke or are we going to be the thinking humans we've been created to be and seek a better understanding of the God body?

5. Understanding God, in my humble opinion is not an illogical adventure which has to be clouded in mystery and secrecy, fear and rituals, routines and meaningless rules of conduct. The question; is having blind faith illogical? I say no because I interpret faith in God as faith in yourself. If you believe in your existence then your faith is intact. Believing that God has formed you with a set of abilities and virtues. It is now your duty as a person to live a conscionable life.

6. A life which in summation, is either good or bad. Good is also relative just as is bad. Circumstances dictate which side of that divide your actions fall in. Example; premarital sex is not "a sin" if you are acting responsibly on your free-will. It is bad when it becomes an obsession that prevents you from living a full life like you were created to live.

7. Religion and its many rituals and practices were setup in order to monetize people's faith. They created the illusion of fear so you don't question the thievery. It is a bit confusing because, the Bible actually has specific instructions for the purpose of "offerings" as do most other religions. The people have been dulled by their fear so much that most of us now blindly tow whatever line our religion prescribes.

8. Religions decided that certain routines will help avoid bad and create more good. This is where they fail -- the issue of morality. The abysmal failure of religion in this regard is because they did not thoroughly consider the variable that is "circumstance".

9. I think it is utterly stupid and sinful to think God to be that basic. He'll send you to hell for wearing a mini skirt? Not covering your face with a piece of cloth? Enjoying sex because you don't believe in being married? That you got angry at a situation? Really?

10. The simple fact that most if not all religions ascribe to an idea of a "chosen people" is what I find more divisive and self-absorbing. God created us all but then decided that a certain group of people get special treatment. God is divisive? Or are the creators of religions petty and self-absorbed in their belief that their one group is sooo special? Which in turn gives them the right to kill off the 'non-chosen' before God Himself can mete out justice? These poor unchosen folks get double punishment? On earth and then again on the so-called judgment day? He created these people so He could kill them for sport? Please think.

11. This is my observation: We do things in our own selfish desires and try to compensate for our shortcomings with some silly ritual. It is free-will and we'll answer for our actions based on our specific circumstances here on earth. The after-life will demand its own answers from us, what we did with our lives and the circumstances we lived in. There isn't going to be a judgment day, where will we all stand in awaiting judgment? An auditorium? A park, stadium or space? There are 6billion people living at the moment and we couldn't conduct a mock judgment-day for each one of us even if we stopped all earthly activities to try and accomplish this in 24hours. Now include all the people dead and gone and yet to be born... Yeah, you get the picture.

12. I think God put us here for the experience of enjoying His creation and also to live with one another. We have divided ourselves up for selfish reasons and destroy each other in the name of "some false holiness". The most important thing is to live a conscionable life, one that you can outweigh your bad choices with your good ones. We will answer for it if the after-life is as we are imagining.

13. I tell you these things freely because the truth of God is not attached to any financial cost but keep buying the expensive holy water and sprinkle away. I don't claim to have all the answers but I damn sure as God exercise the brain He gave me and I know your Pastor is lying for survival!!!! Either that or he is refusing to exercise his brain like he was created to do. Fear-mongering is the only way to keep you in-line and dumping them $$ into the bottomless offering bowl. If God in all His might( I believe he is almighty) created this universe, why will He command you to give Him your paper money that is manufactured from the very trees he created? What for?

In summary: live, love and seek God in truth and honest inquiry. We all have to discover this individually, not in some bandwagon room filled with screamers and fainters.. The body odors alone will keep God at a distance-- take a long bath instead and meditate silently. Hear Him in your thoughts. Keep faith that all this will make sense some way some day some how. Peace.

LEGACY

I love Ghana. I love it so much, I can't wait for these old heads to die off. They stifle growth. I know many young people who love it just as much if not more. There is a silently brewing undercurrent of young vibrant and ambitious kids who grew up under this heavy cloud of mediocrity fighting for their moment in the sun. The stars are aligning and the time is fast approaching when we are in charge of our own destinies, using the talents bestowed on us through grace. I know there is a force out there that is controlling our steps and almighty as He is, we will see this through.

Forgive the melodrama of my first paragraph, I have a knack for being excessively philosophical when "I woke up like this, flawless!" There is a permanence to a certain phenomena in Ghana. The rich man. The same names have remained in the conversation of "cha this guy get money o" for so long that their names are synonymous with the perception of success to the majority of our youth. I'm feeling abrasive enough to name these figureheads but that will be almost uncouth. However, we can still have this conversation in a broader context without doing any direct name-calling. The topic of legacy is what is on my mind primarily. For the sake of full disclosure, I am a third generation descendant of one such rich man who amassed colossal wealth and spread it across his hometown like paint on a wall so this is by no means a hypocritical assessment of what I argue in this conversation. 

I find it intriguing that most of these rich men die with their wealth. Let me rephrase that; when they die, their wealth ends. Their legacies? A fractured family at each others throats for a piece of the pie. The dry and tasteless pie of metal and cement -- Cars and Houses. Some paid off, others being held as collateral by a bank for a loan taken in the latter stages of their lives to sustain a dying business or lifestyle etc. This is pathetic, I say this with the deepest sincerity I can muster. These old heads are killing our future with their lack of vision. How is a sprawling mansion at Kwahu, the one they visit once a year for the festivities and leave empty for the remaining 350days in the year considered a good thing? Or the numerous cars patrolling the potholed city they permanently reside in? Their solution to bad roads; buy SUV's. How is this a legacy? HOW?

Build a hospital in partnership with one of your wealthy friends. Build a library in your hometown and be its patron. Build a school in the village you've adopted because it churns out a portion of the wealth you've acquired.Adopt a faculty in one of the Universities that specializes in your industry so there is a continued supply of young talent who are burning with desire to join your company after graduation. Use the clout of your wealth to demand better roads for the progress of commerce, go to the extent of funding it if need be, negotiate some subsidies or tax incentives from your ingenuous contribution to the progress of the country. Pay your employees a much higher wage than the market dictates so they can also turn around and be meaningful contributors to the economy and society as a whole. Make it your challenge to revolutionarize the national favorite pastime; the GPL to be competitive when stacked against the best leagues in the world. Just a millionth of the possibilities are named in this paragraph but you get the picture I'm painting, I hope.

Competition is a great virtue. It is essential to growth. Most people who are great at what they do yearn for that competitiveness in their various fields. There is no real improvement if competition is nonexistent. I am a capitalist at heart and I believe in the invisible hand preached by Adam Smith in the bible of progress; The Wealth of Nations. That book changed my life and I read it when I was 17(make of it what you will but I consider it essential reading for all humans). You can not expect real progress if all these wealthy people invest in meaningless acquisitions. Our generation has to shun these wasteful habits passed down by our short-sighted predecessors or we are bound to do worse than they have. Look, I love luxury more than the next man, it is part of my DNA but the true test of our mettle is not going to be who drives the flashiest cars or has the biggest empty homes. It will be those who sacrifice their talents for the betterment of the country, our people. There will come a time when our toys will be a means of competitive sport amongst friends but let us aspire for higher. I want to compete against my best friend(brilliant guy by the way -- if you need a thorough business plan, holla @ Roni Laryea) or partner with him to say we have the best paid workers in our chosen field of business. I want to compete with my other friend about who has the best record label with the most successful artists on the continent. I want to own a soccer team that produces world class talent and generates a billion dollars a quarter from fans who can actually afford tickets to attend regular scheduled games. I say I but mean you.

What is a legacy? Leaving behind a bitter wife, disoriented kids who despise their siblings you created from years of infidelity is no legacy. Leaving behind a slew of houses that cannot be maintained after your death is no legacy. A fleet of cars to fill half a soccer field is not a legacy. Unless you prescribe to the direct definition of the word, the material acquisitions of your lifetime gets you the "that guy was rich o" memorial. That school, hospital, stadium, library, road, highway, company etc with your name on it; Legacy. The people will remember your name and that of your family in the history books. The people you touch positively, lives you improved, opportunities you gave, cause you fought for; Legacy. I love a Ghana that is owned and run by Ghanaians. I love a Ghana where anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or upbringing can find their way to a world-class education, decent paying job, a decent home, basic amenities like water and electricity and even toilets are not considered niceties. I have loved my experience in the US because my destiny is not tied to who I know. My Resume/CV is my only needed meal ticket. I can change my income by just improving my skill set, no ass-kissing needed. I can't move back home just yet because of this phobia, if I don't know somebody in a position of power or influence, I will be reduced to a petty conman looking for his next paycheck in the dark doldrums of corruption. This is a vision I share with many young and capable Ghanaians who are ready to take over. I write these things so it is on record that we are aware of what preceded us and we should never repeat those mistakes. I often hear certain idioms or proverbs that are inherently detrimental to our progress. One of them being; "okoto enwu anomaa" --- Crabs do not birth birds. Well, in our unique circumstances in Ghana, let us be the lions that were birthed by crabs, the birds that were birthed by worms or the giraffes that came from the wombs of vultures. That will be our legacy.

AFRICAN ACCEPTICISM

In the wake of the tragic loss of the beloved Ghanaian journalist Komla Dumor, the emotions of the people that loved him are not unwarranted. It is well deserved and earned. It is a duty to honor his memory, so that those that aspire for personal accomplishment can find inspiration in his achievements. He did Ghana proud as a representative of our professional abilities and potential to excel in the modern world of Corporate competition. He showed that, given the right opportunities, Ghanaians and by extension Africans have an untapped potential to compete on the world stage. He did a very good job of representing himself and speaking on matters that dealt with the surface issues that also plague the African people. Kudos Komla, your example is worthy of all admiration. Rest In Perfect Peace. May the battles of your work to shed light on the African condition through journalism live on.

It is hard to quantify the true conditions and plight of the African continent and its people in one article. Not enough books have documented the overwhelming mass of what is wrong with the continent. The deeper issues of our stagnation when categorized on the National level, is still a subject that has not been fully deciphered in order to bring real tangible solutions to the forefront. Of course, it is not a complete dismissal of all that is positive and great about the continent. However, the continued application of failed policies and practices on the continent leaves very little room for any objective mind to consider hopeful. The facade of progress being entwined into our daily lives breeds a false sense of hope for the African continent. I dare say, it is more dangerous to our future than Slavery ever was. The falsehood of our independence is clear as day. I am conveniently living away from it, therefore, the criticism leveled here will rub the majority of those who are optimistic about our progress the wrong way. I believe that we have stagnated in our quest for true independence because we have the wrong motivations. The African will never be truly independent and dictate a future that aligns with the essence of the idea itself unless we re-calibrate our motivations. "The Why" of Independence from the Western world that many lives were sacrificed to gain.

I found it a bit of an overreach and exaggeration,  how we quickly anointed Komla as belonging in the same sentence and pedigree as the Nkrumahs and Mandelas of African decent. Granted, it is a lack of decorum to be brutally honest about a person's worth in the short wake of their untimely passing. However, I am burdened to say these things because I feel responsible. This is by no means an attempt to discredit or disparage Komla's memory or achievements, just my perspective on how things have gotten out of hand in our desperate need of a true leader, not only in our country Ghana but Africa at large. The youth are desperate, desolate even tormented for a lack of any real direction for our future. We claw and clinch on to any string of hope, one that reassures us that all is not lost. We have to. Here is some perspective. Most of Komla's work can be classified as personal achievement. There is nothing wrong or bad about it but let us not water down the meaning of great in our desperation for leadership. Kwame Nkrumah was great, Nelson Mandela was great, Chinua Achebe was great. Komla was good at his job. I say all this to keep punching at the air and the walls that hinder us. We can not just proclaim a person great based on sentiments and emotions -- it breeds mediocrity. There has to be a tangible and measurable set of standards to declare one of our own "great"! The work we do in our private lives even if it is in the public eye does not merit our greatness beyond the confines of "how well we performed on the job". Greatness in the context of the African echelon, should have much higher standards. To be assessed as "great" there is a need for more veritable proof, a quantifiable impact and real physical presence on the majority of the suffering masses in a nation even before the context of continent.

As a matter of opinion, most of our foreign-educated people, those of us living overseas in our many varying positions and accomplishments are saddled with this struggle to measure up. To prove to those that it matters the least to that, we are capable of rubbing shoulders with them. We are professionals, we speak eloquently, we all did not grow up trying to escape the wandering lion in the neighborhood, we had and have niceties and we were exposed to the finer things  that most Westerners assume we did not have. We fight that ghost all our lives and begrudgingly fight our way for this recognition; -- that we are just as human and deserving as the Westerners. That is what I mostly recover from any of the persons that currently occupy the space of "face of Africa". In my opinion, this is our biggest deficit in seeking the same things for our people as we so cherish about the developed Western world. Don't roll your eyes or get offended, this observation is mine, my perspective and it is my truth. A truth that I share with many young and ambitious Ghanaians trying to come up and be successful. We lack the temerity required to change things for the better -- for the good of our people. I have often said that Africans in general are the least charitable people. The wealth in the hands of Africans-- not to be racial-- but by Africans, I mean indigenous Africans, is in excess of what is needed to set the continent right and alleviate the majority of our societal issues. We have to be offended by our the idea that we are the world's charity case. That "African Pride" which we proudly tout should translate into real-time action of making life better for our own. The lack of clean drinking water is still a problem throughout the continent. The lack of good healthcare. I won't bore you with a list but in 2014, the most basic of human rights remain very elusive to the common African. So save your story of glory, the benevolence of making the West aware of your personal triumphs and accomplishments when you get the stage and constantly remember that, the majority of our people suffer and struggle with basic things like; water and electricity, schools and hospitals, roads and jobs, clothes and proper shelter. The list goes on. Rather, I encourage us to use this evidently large hole in our souls that yearns for a proper direction for our various African countries as fuel to march for real change. Forget about that appearance on TED.com, go to the far North and teach those deserving kids in Navrongo some life lessons, how to market their cattle and herd better. Reach to the deep South in Elmina and lift your own people from sickness and airborne diseases. Travel West and teach the locals in Elubo how to make the most of their natural resources i.e. the oil that has been discovered should improve their lives the most. Trot to the East and inspire a kid or a classroom in Koforidua with your eloquence. Gravitate to the center of the region and demand that the Gold mined from Obuasi should be used for the benefit of the locals if nothing at all. Stand up to your corrupt elders and government as harshly as has never been done before. Demand change daily for your own people. Elevate them, with your Harvard education, fight for their rights with your lawyering skills. Scream atop your lungs with your music and art, let the status quo know that we demand change. We can not allow our collective futures to be destroyed by the greedy few.

Komla is gone and if the typical Ghanaian faux sentiments prevail after his funeral, he will become a footnote in our collective memories. If you believe him great, then fight to make it so. That his memory will not be nuanced by the "oh that guy was a funny guy o, he had so much potential"-- to naught, typical of what happens to most of our people who pass on early. Rather, his memory will live in what he inspired in all of us young and ambitious Ghanaians and Africans at large. We want to achieve great things but if we achieve them for our person primarily, we will never be considered great. Let us achieve for our people, the helpless ones. Those that cannot fight the powers that be intellectually and resourcefully. Let us not lose our future to the foreigners that have descended on our lands as the next big thing, Africa, the next frontier of the global economy. You and I should ensure that, Ghanaians and Africans are the number one beneficiaries of all our resources and people. We can achieve this if the mindset and motivation behind our desires change and align for the sake of the betterment of our people. Let history tell the tale of those who were great but in our current time, let us fight for the sake of our people. This is the highest duty we have to ourselves, greatness be damned! As the Akan proverb goes in translation; "do what is necessary before doing what is decorative". Peace.

Time to reflect. I'm standing opposite my image in the bathroom, gently massaging this insta-hair-dye into the sparsely placed grays in my beard. The only inheritance bestowed on me -- grays in my youth, no matter how much I've resisted it; I am my father's son. The one person close to me was the first person to call at exactly 12am.. Boohoo, okay so it is routine, people do this for their loved ones ALL the time so why am I making any noise about it? In context, I am the eternal cucumber, not in a good way either and my level of projected nonchalant-ness is astonishing. I find it sudden and calming to have appreciated a moment like that, especially after a very turbulent squabble over a freaking TV show, we almost inked a deal to end our friendship.. Sheeit, I dey go colleeect my presents, take play.. :).

Aging is not yet a comfortable conversation and concept for me. I imagined my life to be a certain way at certain ages and for the past 7 years, I've felt off-track. Personal aspirations and goals are slowing and winding and stagnating and dragging and screeching and dissipating and fleeting...  I try to brave through it with laughs and silly justifications of "everything happens for a reason", "God's time is the best" yadiyada but  they are all lame excuses. Scared people reason out their shortcomings. They fight the reality that their current position and condition is self-inflicted. It is hard to accept that you ain't shit because of your own doing. More pointedly, it is hard to isolate yourself from your vision of what/who/where you expected to be from the reality of what/who/where you are and accept full responsibility for it.


I am generally a happy person with too many theories on how to do things that I've never fully done, I just have a stubborn addiction and belief in my ideas and abilities. I gotta imagine wanting to wake up and kissing her on the ass before I fully commit to a woman. Yeah, awkward psyche there but don't judge me, it is how I'm wired. I don't really care for your happy birthdays and hbd's, thankfully, my twitter friends were all "Happy Birthdays", no hbd's there.. I am a self-centered prick who wants to be so successful, only then will I throw a party and have a flamboyant speech so you guys can all clap for me and say how eloquent I am and shit.. In the absence of that dream, all your wishes are just a gruesome reminder of how far behind I'm lagging in my dreams. I still believe I am the reincarnation of something pretty great but that could be as "the greatest nobody that ever lived"..

At the tail end of our unwarranted argument, she said something along the lines of: wishing me a great day and believing in my ability to be anything I want to be... whether it was raising the premier fashion house in the world out of Africa or pursuing a law degree blah blah... It was sweet, thoughtful and awkward because we were in an ongoing dispute/fight. It was scary to read her presentation of  what happens to be my exact expectations of myself and how I felt helpless in the presence of it. So I wrote this account of my thoughts out loud to hopefully chase away these demons--(Robert Plant's Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down is vigorously thumping in my head this very second), exercise my writing skills and say a thank you to everyone who wishes me well and has these high expectations of me. Time will tell how this freestyle plays out in my story but really, for all those that have been a part of my life this past year, I hope I keep extracting some form of action/reaction from you -- because fictional or real, it reminds me that I am not as insulated from want, desire, fear, insecurity and struggle as much as I like to tell myself. Thanks and drink your alcohol of choice on my account, cash it against my future success. :). Bless up.

The son dances in the moon's wind

Mild nights, streams of awe

Grace galore, man of flare

Sequined flaws, I am daylight

I reel it all, my mind's pictorial

Pours showers of quarantined ore

Gold, brass digging for dreams ashore

I walked a journey of a thousand lives

My path awashed by quicksand

Blood vessel and gland, circulating passion

A time warp, caught in a tangent of what should

Or could have been before I turned twenty-four

In a foreign space, peasant to paupers

Swam up shits' creek and came out clean

Stained scents, aroma of King Tut

Build me a coliseum, a treasury for my woes

Then comes conquest, with hard breath

Calloused limbs, I beseech the throne

A prayer oft-expressed in my cradle years

Bring me success or portion me death

On my sarcophagus, wreath me a withered prune

The unfermented here thee lay

The fishing pole that seldom bends it's shape

Acquaints poverty, even herrings wouldn't play

A facet of an argument defunct of logic

The faucet that renders clean

A race I ran, a fractured spleen

Weak belly, malady of a glutton for shillings

A pasture in the wild, shepherd's slay

So in my time, I shed carapace

Not to hide my past but renew my zeal

As vellum, a tablet for the paradigm that is life

Recurring; hills, valleys and flat lands that nigh.

Pivotal in my stance, funneling the monsoonic tidings..

THE NEW SLAVE MELANOMA

Whether by design or an unintended by-product of racism, the caging of black progress remains in perpetuity as we concentrate on our ‘victimhood’ as opposed to our way out, our triumph and our true independence (being unshackled by anything and everything that enslaves us).

I love the music, the marketing, the presentation and even the valor in Mr. West’s SONG, “New Slaves" but as an individual who wants the same equality and non-discriminative world that Ye is supposedly fighting for, I disagree with this approach. I’ll put it this way; Sergio Garcia did not have to apologize for suggesting that he’ll serve fried chicken to Tiger Woods at dinner. A lot of people looove fried-chicken, including Blacks so why apologize for offering food? If my buddy Mark (Italian) was coming over for lunch, I’ll probably have some pasta and ish on the menu… No one truly cares or hates Kanye for sleeping with white women and even if they do, it does not prevent it so what is the issue? He won’t be beaten or jailed for it, of this I am sure…

If Kanye wishes to better the race, he should be encouraging young blacks to stay away from negativity/slackness. There is injustice in our society and there will always be more injustice towards the less powerful (least powerful in the case of Black America). Until we put ourselves in a better position to negotiate and affect our circumstances, a thousand projected screens belling out the ills of racism is only an exercise of our sight and hearing senses.

If the ‘Chief Keef’ was frowned upon and the ‘Justus Williams’ was promoted, I find it very impossible that the CCA and DEA will be marching into our communities or HBCU’s for that matter and arresting young black men pursuing their education and dreams in order to fulfill their quota for the US prison industrial complex.

As an artist, Mr. West is unparalleled in expressive passion. I read an article that sought to justify Ye’s ‘activism’. It was a very well written piece and had enough references (mostly from Ye’s previous work) to satiate the zealous fan or one-up any doubter in Ye’s mission.  I do not doubt his mission. I just happen to have a different mindset. Obviously, I do not have the reach of Yeezus but I hope that the 10 people that read this, maybe one person can pick some positivity from my concepts.  My grandpa once told me that, if I indeed have a bighead and someone made fun of it, I should just grow a pair and keep it moving. It is provocative and it is jaw-dropping – New Slaves - but what will it truly accomplish? Some argue that we need awareness and we need to have a conversation. I say we need to let it go. Not in the sense of forgetting but in the sense of appreciating our past and using it as a motivator for the better.

I wanted to write a separate blog-post for the recent censorship hoopla surrounding certain rappers lyrics, especially that of Rick Ross and Weezy but for lack of motivation I’m making all this one big post about misplaced energies. While the overzealous women’s activist group Ultraviolet paraded the streets protesting Rick, there is a law on the books in California that essentially acquitted an actual rapist because his victim was an unwed woman. I don’t have the energy to link it but just google it. This is what I speak of – misplaced anger/energy in a direction that will yield no effective change on the injustice that caused said angst. There isn’t one solution to the plight of ‘black people’ but I think the continuous outlook of ‘us vs them’ won’t win true equality and/or independence. The world is a thinking man’s (all humans ie) game. If our real strategy for equality is to cry and vent our way with any real platform we get, we’ll always be stuck in a position of victimhood. The moment we evolve to a diverse group of people not defined by our color, even as proud of it as we remain and become fully entrenched in every aspect of society, not just sports and entertainment, we will begin to command true respect which leads to true equality. Think of it this way, the laws and policies that affect us negatively are not going to be overturned by ‘affirmative action’. When we build hospitals, schools, roads, businesses, factories, industries etc and control them, our economic power will change the way we are treated by our fellow humans. 

You may not like the Jews or have some dislike of their position in society but the fact is, they control the financial industry and from that, they influence societies bottom line, hence, public policy, enough that institutionalized racism can’t be implemented against them – they are too important – to the world economy . The concept of friends in higher places or political positions - they themselves also occupy powerful/important positions. Independence does not mean depending on your former oppressor to give you handouts or reparations or whatever you feel is owed to your people. It is about picking up from whatever they left you with and building something so valuable from it that you can trade it back to them and everyone else as a commodity – on your own terms and conditions. This is about pride and we need to redirect our pride from our prouder past (great ancestry) and use it as a platform for asserting our importance to the larger world community. 'Gimme gimme' ain't got we nowhere so let’s try a new approach. Not victimization but responsibility. This is obviously not a blanket judgment of all black people but simply an opinion or rebuttal to the school of thought that dwells on the plight of black people and constantly casts us as victims. I’m sick of being viewed as underprivileged by default due to my pigmentation and you should be too. We are more than color and it is about damn time we show it.