Renaissance Africa

Tiger Woods

2010-01-28T05:59:00.000-08:00

Tiger was one and tall

'ere he won a fame

by a shame and fell

and his wood's lame in pains,

boo and sneer

arise, Tiger see they dine

that you die in tear

unfurl claws and stalk

from grass to grace

from dust to musk

oh Woods the ace!

Valentine Day is here again!

2010-01-28T05:38:00.000-08:00

May this year's Valentines make a difference in the life of someone who have nothing to offer you back. Show that love and help make the world a better place for us. The motherless babies, the sick in the hospital, the beggars and the poor need your love! lil'smile foundation.

Vote Anambra State!

2010-01-28T05:09:00.000-08:00

"One says he would collect all the money offered by any aspirant..."
On an inquiry he boldly said, "..., after all, it's all our money!"

Whose money have you collected and who would you vote eventually?
Do you however believe this man whose identity is not disclosed due
to some logistics?

Cast your vote here and make sure you go home on 6th to vote your
candidate.

Ngige, Soludo & Peter Obi

2009-12-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

"The one who gave a hungry people an apple, the one one gave an apple tree to a hungry people; could another give both an apple and an apple tree to a hungry, angry people. " An allegory

1million Prayer For Yara'Adua

2009-12-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

Pray for our President. Show your shamelessness to the world by being unpatriotic. No one even want you. If you are not proud being a Nigerian, make Nigeria proud of you.

The monkey and gorilla may claim oneness, yet the monkey is a monkey, and gorilla gorilla.

Lil'Smile Foundation.

Oh Holy Night

2009-12-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

African Nativity

2009-11-21T05:42:00.000-08:00

Hi pals, I just drew this. It is an inculturation and aims at situating the Christmas in my own culture for an indepth understanding. Looking at me, you would conclude that's how I shall look like when I get old -laughs. Congratulations Joe, Mmeri na Jeso.

- Ositadimma Amakeze.

Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, pics by Ositadimma Amakeze

2009-09-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Igbo Alphabet

2009-09-23T06:36:00.001-07:00

Beautiful Nsukka!

2009-08-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

Salute to the Ancient of Ages

2009-07-31T04:08:00.000-07:00

The mountains and hills rugged
and gracefully contoured,
with clusters of trees there and there

some wandering in wonders,
in march of the supreme command,
of He who stood the rocks in strategy,

and shrouded them all amidst of midst
in the morn, and sun as shield in the noon,
the armies of His breath set in battle array!

The frozen waters of clouds in his palms,
He clapped and broke the waters with thunders,
the drape of skies tore and waters fell on earth,

the lightning fastened the skies, rainbows shut the rains,
then the waters gathered at the feet of the rocks,
and now falls like dams giving life to null and void

this is an anthem to the Ancient of Ages
the uncreated Creator of all creatures
to Him be all glory for ages unending

A reflection on the mountains and hills and trees and nature as inspired by a trip to Adani in Uzo-Uwani Local Government, Nsukka, Enugu State

The Odyssey of Odenigwugwu vs. Thus Spoke the Furnace

2009-07-14T02:35:00.010-07:00

The Odyssey of Odenigwugwu

E si m Akpo kpara mkpara n’aka puta Mkporogwu, Ogwugwu Idejiogwugwu bichiri uzo si m kpapuru ya ogwu nochiri uzo na arusi enweghi azu ulo adighi egbu egbu.

Ka m putara Ekwulobia, Ekwulobia si m onye obia nnoo, bia biajuru m ukpaka na nkata, si mu ruo Agulu aguu guwa m ka m taa ya.

Ka m putara na Nwa Agu zute Ezu n’uzo, o si m nwa Uzu isi ebee? Mu si ya Ezu ijeko ebee? O fenyaa isi, fenye isi n’ohia, mu kwe n’isi tinye isi na Ogbujiriekwe ka mu si owere were bianye Nimo Owelle!

A puta m na Owa, soro owa nchi puta, chita akwa okwa ato n’ala na akwa okuko ato di n’ime oku. Aja anu ufe adighi mfe; mu jiri chiri aja ani, chiri aja mmiri, miri mma mara omu, were dokwaa aja. Nwa muo emegbula nwa mmadu, ma nwa mmadu emegbukwala nwa muo.

Odenigwugwu, ojee mba enwe ilo, maka n’ire oma ka ejula ji aga n’ogwu. Ojee ala bu isi ije. Ogwu agaghi adugbu mu, nke ata ga-eji magbu nwa Amakeze ata.

Thus Spoke the Furnace

O na-ga oku daa ibube, o dika onyuru anyu. Ma ofe n’elu adighi ada aja kwa daa. Ee, ejide mbara agbajighi ya aka na ukwu, mbara ohia ka o ka bu. Makana onye choro imata oria gburu nwa enwe ga-eje juo Atani furu ya oku n’oria ya. Ee, abu m eko, the Furnace. Nwa nnunu na-agba egwu n’akuku uzo nwere ihe na-akuru ya egwu n’ime ohia. Abu m eko, esi m Uruzu were eje. O bu nwata na-ebugara nna ya oche n’ihu arusi na-amata aha a na-etu ndi mmuo! Ekele m gi Okpuzu, kele osisi ahaba na unyi maka eko m bu. N’ihi na otu osisi adighi eme ohia nke onye di ndu ga-eji ñu ndi nwuru anwu. Abu m oku n’ere ere; enwere m ike ichari mkpirisi igwe, mee nke tara nchara ka o na-amukeri dika atumari igwe. Ee, a choba isi ochu a gaa n’uzu, ma isi uchu sitere na nka na uzu! A bu m eko, ma iyi nile nwere isi iyi. Maka na-egbuo dike n’ogu, ogu alaa. Ya bu ekele m gi ozo Okpuzu n’ihi na nwa danda ka ala o no n’elu ya ogologo. Ma ihekwuru ihe akwudebe ya. Ka m kelekwa unyi kwere nara oku n’agbanyeghi na o odighiri ngiga mma o jiri noro n’akuku oku. Ma onye ana-akpo aha ebe ana-achu ehi ejighi udo, o buru ya ma ka a ga-esi jide ehi. Ihe niile kwu n’awaja na awaja, ya bu ka Okike kere akaraka Okpuzu nara ukpa ekele mmaji puru mmaji iseee! Ka ana-ekele aka tiri igba, na ndi gbara igba, ekele keleruo nwa ngbada kwere ka e jiri akpukpo ya kwee igba. Ekele m onwe m bu eko makana nwa ngwere dara elu lee anya n’aka nri, lee anya n’aka ekpe ma onweghi onye kuuru ya aka, o fee n’isi, tie onwe ya aka n’obi, too onwe ya. O gwukwanu ka o ha m n’onu. Ubochi nta ka anyi chuo n’owere nchi.
Nimo Owelle e kele m unu!

Ositadimma Amakeze

Google now Offered in Igbo!

2009-07-13T01:34:00.000-07:00

I can now lie down and sleep would come at once as google now offers its search engines in my local language Igbo. Umu Igbo kwenu, kwenu, kwezuonuoooooo!

O chi cho Ka mu nma Ngwa asusu
Choo: Owa Ozi ihu akwukwo sitere na Naijiria Google.com.ng e nyere na: English Hausa Yorùbá Gbasara Google - Google.com in English
©2009 Google

Michael Jackson vs. Classificatory Anomaly: A Tribute

2009-07-10T01:07:00.000-07:00

I do not see Michael as a Traitor, I rather see him as a Teacher, a didaché of historical significance. He is the ‘white board’ on which this lesson on the needs of self-awareness, self-acceptance and contentment are written on the globe. Yet I see in him a grand march of the Übermench; an extreme fullness of the drive of men, and depreciation of forcible attainment of desires. I opine he is the first living saint of the world. The world hailed him, worshipped him and drove him to this precipice. Why do you then, oh world turn your back whereof you shot him to the skies and shut out the lights? Hence, I see in him the contrast of a humble life, of being a living cat at home, than a dead lion in the woods. Above all, his voice still makes me "Speechless” on the gospels he has preached. His “We Are the World” and the rest of its synoptic could “Heal the World” and “Make it a better place….” If harkenedto. Thus, in this Classificatory Anomaly, “Black is in” in which Michael is out; I count him in as an obelisk of greatness to the pattern of the world. Then, I learn from him that the glories of earth are no less than lilies in the morning. However, if he did only ‘colour’ his skin in a world of many ‘coloured’ hearts and souls, it might be less a miracle to see him by Angel Michael in heaven at the last day. Shalom Michael!

Lil'Smile Song

2009-06-22T03:47:00.000-07:00

God made me a marvel

From the cradle till I toddle

I talk, I walk, I run and I crackle

For he put on me a couple of dimple

That even the least pure and simple

Like smiling is like an apple

In the eyes of his people

I am Lil’ Smile

Meet Lil'Smile Group at Facebook

Ostar Amak

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

Chineke Nna puru ime ihe nile, Eze di ebube di ngozi, anyi na-ario gi ka I goziere anyi oji nkea. Oji di otu mana o na-agba n’ibe; nkea na-egosi udo na ihunanya. Bia taa n’otu ka anyi taa n’ibe. Akidi miara anyi ya mikwara nwunye di anyi, ka anyi doo ahu wee rie nke anyi.

Biko chekwaba ndi nna anyi, ndi no n’ulo na ndi no n’ama. Mee ka ha di n’otu na-ahurita onwe ha n’anya. Nye ndi nna nile ike ichikota ezi na ulo ha. Ka onye nna obula hu nwunye ya n’anya karia ihe nile, Makwara na nwanyi bu ugo di ya ooo!

Chi omumu, biko ekwekwala ka ihe ha ga-eji azulite umu ha koo ha. Ka nzube ha mezuo n’isi umu ha nile- ndi dokinta, ndi nkuzi, ndi loya; onye na nke ya, onye na nke ya. Ngu onye ji eko, akwanaghi ya. Ma ota aku n’nkume, okpa nkata n’ohia. Onye na-egbukwe ya na-eze maka o gbuo, ogbupughi e gburu ya. Ya mere Olisa bi n’igwe anyi ayo ka igozie, ma chekwa ndi nna anyi site na Chrisi Eze anyioooo Iseeeeeeee!!!

Dube ha oooo, opupu ha na mbata ha oooo. Iseeee! Ha kpata ero, ha kpata eju, nke ga-akpata ha gbaba n’ohia ka ukpaka chuputara anyi nke anyi ga-eri oooo Iseeee!! Ihe aku aku, ihe enwe enwe oooo, ndu onye ukwu ooo, ndu onye nta oooo na aha nwafo Chrisi Christi Eze anyi oooo Amioooo.

In dedication to our Fathers and may the souls of all our departed ones rest in peace Amen.

Ositadimma

Return of The Prodigal Cow

2009-05-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

Musa had three grazing cows
Three cows he had in the herd
But when he turned around him
He saw only two minus one

On the mountains he left the two
To valleys of the strayed he went
And saw Mutu grazing in dejection
He carried him to the mountaintop

For left in loneliness, he’d be wild
Untamed, uncultured in isolation
And when nature calls home to fill
Both Musa and the rest are unsafe

Thus, to his hurt he bore him up
Gave him water, and grass and rest
And they grazed again as one herd
On a green pasture of equity and rest

- Adapted from the Parable of the Lost Sheep Mt. 18: 10-12, Ps. 23.

None of us is safe, so long as the weak are on daily basis geometrically empowered by the dispossession of their possessions. None indeed is safe in so far as the inalienable rights of the other are meddled with.

It must have been due to disorder that another strayed away from the others. Yet, it is out of order to wait for the Return of the Prodigal Cow, when the Shepherd bears his rod and staff!

Whoever is a shepherd, or entrusted with the task of shepherding must garner his flock now; for neither bullion vans nor chariots of security men can settle the venom of the depressed at the Wall-of- no-furtherance.

Ositadimma Amakeze
Lil’Smile

IGWEBUIKE

2009-05-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

The three major Tribes: Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba; then the invasion of the Whiteman with his court marshals.

VISION AND MISSION: to portray that Unity is not far-fetched, and possibly a way forward.

MOVT 1 DAY / EXT LOC: HUT
XTERS: IGBO MAN

IGBO MAN: [at wake clears his throat and awakes the dawn with his ogene mkpi abuo. He brings out oji from ngwugwu, a wrapped dried plantain leaves; and nzu white chalk which he keeps in the okwa nzu. He makes his customary insignia on the floor and prays with the kolanut.] Olisa bi n’Igwe, ekele! Our fore fathers and all the deities and spirits that fetch us good health and long life, we greet you. Keep us safe from bad people na o bukwanu mmadu ka a na-aya. Save us from all bad spirits and the akaliogoli. Eeem, a sikwa m egbe bere, ugo bere ma nke si ibe ya ebela, nku kwaa ya. Eee, at least, ka o hu ka efewe ebeghi ebe si adi! May many edibles come our way, and as of those that would devour us, may Amadioha strike them confusedly into the evil forest. [He nods his head to the resonance of the oja behind the stage, and continues.] A si m o o, na onye si n’ihe oma adighi ya mma, ka nwunye ya muoro ya ejima udele, ka o lelewe! [With a louder voice and an air of satisfaction, he says, gently hitting his ofo severally on the floor] Iseeee! Ka m goro, ka o ga-ere. So be it! [He breaks the oji and throws the lobes ceremoniously into the okwa oji, and stares at them with a breath of indulgence. He throws one or two some yards away soliloquizing as he beckons to some invisible guests to the morning ritual and feast. A colourful Igba-Eze dance rises from the background, and he springs to it. Like the proverbial Ogbigba who refuses food and sleep because of egwu, he dances to every beat of the royal drum.]

THE INVASION

MOVT 2 DAY / EXT LOC: HUT
XTERS: IGBO MAN, WHITEMAN, THREE COURT MARSHALS
THE IGBO MAN IS STILL DANCING, WHEN SUDDENLY A WHITEMAN APPEARS WITH A WHITE HELMET AND ACCOMPANIED BY THREE COURT MARSHALS IN PAIRS OF KHAKI SHORTS AND RIDICULOUSLY TUCKED IN STARCHED SHIRTS

WHITEMAN: [Looking at him strangely as he dances.] What’s he doing for God’s sake? Arrest the monkey!

IGBO MAN: [About to offer oji and nzu in hospitality when it dawns on him that ‘catch am’ means ‘jide ya!’ He snatches his hands off briskly and prowls to the prompt oja ike - flute of the brave hearted behind the stage.] My name is Obiechina Ahamefuna! [Beats his chest with his left hand, while oja rages in a fierce crescendo.] Oso churu nwa nkita ruo n’ama onye nwe ya, omaghi ata aru, o gbowa uja. It is abominable to come to a man’s house and defecate in his obi. I am Obiechina….

WHITEMAN: [Impatiently] What’s the chattering and jabbering? I said, “arrest him!”

THEY RUSH AT HIM, BUT HE STRIKES THE FIRST ONE DOWN WITH HIS OFO BEFORE THE OTHERS TIE HIM UP. THE DRAPE CLOSES IN AS THEY DRAG HIM AWAY.

MOVT 3 EXT / DAY LOC:
XTERS: YORUBA MAN,

THE STAGE OPENS WITH THE YORUBA DANCING VIGOROUSLY TO BABA ADE’S BAND. HIS VISIBLE TRIBAL MARKS GIVE HIM A SORT OF RIDICULOUS LOOK AS HE OPENS AND CLOSES HIS MOUTH IN AN ATTEMPT TO SING THE TRACK. THE WHITEMAN APPEARS. AMONG HIS ENTOURAGE IS THE IGBOMAN, THOROUGHLY BEATEN AND STRIPPED OF HIS REGALIA.

YORUBA MAN: [In feverish reverence] Orolunke! Aaaaahhh! Olodumare go fight ooo, no bi me; but I go…. [Takes off to escape, but they catch him and tie him up. As they lead the captives away, he curses inaudibly as the curtain closes behind their back.

MOVT 4

THE SCENE CAPTURES A SOLEMN MOSLEM’S MORNING CALL AS THE HAUSA MAN OBSERVES HIS ABLUTION AND PRAYERS. HE SITS ON A MAT, HIS HANDS RUNNING ROUTINELY OVER HIS BEADS WHILE HE BOWS INTERMITTENTLY. HERE ENTERS THE BULGING TRAIN OF WHICH IS CAPTAINED BY THE CHAIN-SMOKER WHITEMAN.

HAUSA MAN: [Excitingly] To madula! Na you I see me for telefishion. Me tofi efiry way efiry way. Me I dey go with me Allah…

WHITE MAN: [Perplexed as he nods at the inaudible interpretation of one of his baton-armed men as to the utterance of the Hausa man]

HAUSA MAN: I wait for me, I go [He rushes to wrap his mat and his kettle]

WHITE MAN: Tie him up!

HAUSA MAN: [Naively shrugs off his hands and signals on his neck] Yoo waaaa. Tofi ngida! You, me I no bi nama, but I carry me I go goo gooo gooooo. No froblem baa kwoni.

MOVT 6

A LONG JOHN BRANDED BICYCLE STANDS BACKING THE ENTRANCE WITH HEAPS OF BULGING BAGS DANGLING ASTRIDE IT. VIRTUALLY, THE WHITEMAN’S DEPARTURE IS AROUND THE CORNER. THE HAUSAMAN SQUATS, THE YORUBA PROSTRATING, WHILE THE IGBOMAN KNEELS SWEATING OVER. BEFORE THEM ARE LAID THE VARIOUS CULTURAL REGALIA STRIPPED FROM THEM.

WHITEMAN: [In opium of superiority complex] The Western behest has been obliged, and in her supreme and superior culture you all have been drilled, inducted and has hereby given your life a meaningful definition. You, who were once cultureless, are now cultured….

HAUSA MAN: [Affirmatively] yawaaa nagwode!

WHITEMAN: [Refers to a court marshal on side comment and nods] Ok. Now you’ll stay here since you’ve been a classless evolutionary vestiges of brutes, I call you Naija. I’ll share your belongings for you to avoid your cannibalistic tendencies. Hey! [Calling on his boys] Pick these trashes up!

COURT MARSHAL: Yes Oga sir!

WHITEMAN: [Signaling with his decisive index finger.] Give that man that one and that one to that one. Na na na, give that one that one, and em….give me that one and put that one in my bag. You know, am just helping out. [Turns around and admires the Igboman’s Ofo interestingly and puts it away into his pocket. Directs as the Hausaman is given the muddled up clothes of the Yoruba, the Yoruba’s goes to the Igbo and the Igbo’s to the comfortable admiration of the Hausaman.] Alright! Oh long live Britain for the birth of a new black baby, and in the name of Western Nations, and on their behalf and interest, i bid you farewell but will make sure that you will continue to rely on me in your domestic, political, and socio-economic issues. Stick to this and make no mistakes about it. You shall share these mirrors, singlets and this bottle of whiskey. [Climbs his bicycle as the ‘cotomas’ push him along. Curtain closes.]

MOVT 7

THE BACKGROUND MUSIC IS RIOTOUS! THE IGBA, BEATS ON LIKE HOOVES OF A MILLION GAZELLES RUNNING FROM A RAVENOUS BEAST. THE OJA THRILLS THE AIR LIKE A BIRD STUNG ON THE BEAK BY AGBALA. THE CURTAIN OPENS LETTING THE AUDIENCE CATCH THE TRIO DANCING TO THE STACCATO. THEY STOP ABRUPTLY….

BERTRAND RUSSELL: [Speaking in a deep heavy voice with the music dead.] Throughout the ages of human development, men have been subject to miseries of two kinds: those imposed by external natures and those inflicted upon others by misguided humans.

MUSIC BEGINS LIGHTLY AND SLOWLY AGAIN

HAUSA MAN: [Adjusting the Igboman’s feathered red cap on his head before a mirror] Yoo waa speaking talking! I don dey like Alhaji Igbiefi. This thing is like standing water, I dey show up for back, I dey show me for front. You see, I don take my own [pointing at the other two], no froblem….

IGBO MAN: [Furiously] No problem bu ka gini mee eh? Comonu give me my Okpu Nze na Ozo m. Anumanu! [Tenaciously holding the Yoruba man’s agbada under his armpit.]

YORUBA MAN: [Makes for the mat, wraps and holds it tightly] Ah, Omo Igbo! Oyibo man don go now, make we take am jee jee settle our matter. Una hear wetin Oga Bertrand Russell don say now?

IGBO MAN: [Interrupting.] Bertirandi a bu onye? E si be ya eje be onye? [Clutching tightly once again on his ‘spoils’ and reaching toward the Hausa man] Bia aboki, if you no go give me my property, Amadioha go strike you dead now now now! [Swearing to the sky with his finger as he makes ready some fistful blows.]

YORUBA MAN: [Mediating and caught between stray blows from the duo] Ah ah ah! Make we settle amicably oooo. Ah, kilode?

HAUSA MAN: [Frightened] Ah shook ke? Allah, Imadioha and Oludumare na brother for one mama. Make we no make them go burial for all of us one by one.

AT THIS, THEY LAY THEIR GAUNTLETS AND MIME A GRADUAL SEEMINGLY RECONCILIATION

MOVT 8

THEY ARE SEEN SITTING IN A CIRCLE. THE IGBOMAN ROLLS OVER A LUMP OF NZU TO THE HAUSA MAN. SMILING FACES SALUTE THE CALM BACKGROUND AS IGBA EZE MUSIC OOZES BREEZE OF ONENESS.

HAUSA MAN: [Looks at what the Igboman drew and then draws some lines in between his own outstretched legs, in a most ridiculous manner] Ikaa, Oyie, Ipo, Iikwoo, Isiieeeee!!!

IGBO MAN: [Starts laughing hilariously as the rest join]

YORUBA MAN: [Reaches for the same nzu so anxiously and begins a sort of calculation.] You see, this new share sells at….

IGBO MAN: [Cuts him short] Leave that money matter alone! I maghi n’ego di n’ogwu? In facti, where is that mmanya oku? How ever we share it, no one struggles over the bottle with me ooo.

HAUSA MAN: [Drinks from the bottle] Kai! Wait for me, i get am for gworo. [Reaches into his pockets and brings out some lobes and offers to them while he cuts his teeth across an unbroken one]

YORUBA MAN: [Releases the mat and spreads it on the ground. As they sit, the Hausa man takes the feathered cap off and places it on the Igbo man’s head, who in turn releases the Yoruba man’s Agbada. ]

HAUSA MAN: Walahi, unity dey sweet pass sugar cane. To!

YORUBA MAN: This is unity in diversity. Is it not? Oooo. Tell me if it is not.

IGBO MAN: [Triumphantly] O yes! Ihe a nke a, o dighi gi egwu? O Chukwu. O yes. Though our tongue, tribe, culture echetara m echetaghi m differ, we can still co-exist as one. Let’s share the money, em….I mean let’s share the National Cake together and proportionately. Egbe! Let’s accommodate one another and build an enviable nation. It is high time we blamed the Whiteman. He is gone and we should stop brooding over spoilt milk. Let us together form this one nation synergy and be of one heart. Ndi be anyi, Igwe bukwanu ike oooo. Majority is strength. Asu m bekee!

AT THIS, A GREEN, WHITE, GREEN FLAG RISES GRADUALLY BEHIND THE STAGE. THE NATIONAL ANTHEM, RINGS THROUGH THE HOLES OF OJA AND IN CONCORDANCE WITH THE ROYAL IGBA EZE. NEVER WAS SUCH THOUGHT POSSIBLE, BUT TODAY! AS THE ANTHEM ENDS, THE CURTAIN CLOSES SLOWLY AS THE DRUMMERS EMERGE TO THE STAGE AND LEADS THEM TO A ‘HAPPY EVER AFTER!’

Ositadimma Amakeze
Lil’Smile Foundation

Barack Obama facing criticism for his "dial-a-pastor" advice line

2009-04-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama is under fire after replacing his estranged pastor Jeremiah Wright with a new circle of religious confidantes whose views are dramatically at odds with some of his political goals.

The president is now taking spiritual guidance from no less than five different pastors, whom he phones for advice at moments of stress or when making big decisions.
But a year after the incendiary rantings of Rev Wright threatened to derail Mr Obama's presidential campaign, revelation of the "dial-a-prayer" sessions has prompted critics to declare that he has a new "pastor problem".

***Read the rest of the story here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5028975/Barack-Obama-facing-criticism-for-his-dial-a-pastor-advice-line.html

Michael Jackson vs. Classificatory Anomaly

2009-04-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

I do not see Michael as a Traitor, I rather see him as a Teacher, a didaché of historical significance. He is the ‘white board’ on which this lesson on the needs of self-awareness, self-acceptance and contentment are written on the globe.

Yet I see in him a grand march of the Übermench; an extreme fullness of the drive of men, and depreciation of forcible attainment of desires. I opine he is the first living saint of the world. The world hailed him, worshipped him and drove him to this precipice. Why do you then, oh world turn your back whereof you shot him to the skies and shut out the lights? Hence, I see in him the contrast of a humble life, of being a living cat at home, than a dead lion in the woods.

Above all, his voice still makes me "Speechless” on the gospels he has preached. His “We Are the World” and the rest of its synoptic could “Heal the World” and “Make it a better place….” If harkened to.

Thus, in this Classificatory Anomaly, “Black is in” in which Michael is out; I count him in as an obelisk of greatness to the pattern of the world. Then, I learn from him that the glories of earth are no less than lilies in the morning.

However, if he did only ‘colour’ his skin in a world of many ‘coloured’ hearts and souls, it might be less a miracle to see him by Angel Michael in heaven at the last day.

Shalom Michael!

Send Easter Cards by Ostar

2009-04-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

Igba Ndu in Igboland

2009-04-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

GUARDIAN
Igba Ndu In Igboland
By Allysius Duru
Saturday, March 28, 2009

MAN naturally is a social animal that interacts as well as try to adapt to his environment. However because man's nature is influenced by his desires for survival, dominance and control over his environment, this leads to issues of conflict among them. Such conflicts could attain the dangerous dimension of taking of lives, physical and spiritual injuries or material destruction. This can be at individual or group levels or even to communal proportion. The need therefore for conflict resolution of these prevalent issues, to avoid destructions and mistrust among peoples, and which can be of a permanent basis, to ensure peace and security of lives and properties, gave rise to the concept of Igba ndu in Igboland.

What is Igba Ndu

The concept Igba ndu literarily means to bond life, Igba stands for bond or tie while ndu means life in Igbo language. However the concept of Igba ndu is better understood as a covenant between individuals or groups. The Igbos are predominantly associated with the Igba ndu, however other groups outside their boarders also have their own concept for covenant or oath taking. The Igbos are found in the south eastern and parts of the south-south geopolitical delineation of present day Nigeria and they are a very industrious, energetic, and enterprising people that speak the Igbo language. They are basically skilled in merchandising, and indulge in agriculture and other economic activities. By the nature of their activities and interactions, there is a high level of socio-economic interaction among them and even beyond their boarders, hence such interactions can and most times give room for mutual and peaceful co-existence as well as mistrust and conflict. Hence the need to institute an idea which can help sustain peaceful co-existence of a lasting time led to Igba ndu. This practice emanated not only out of fear of the unknown, especially with the knowledge that man is inherently wicked, hence to check on the wiles of men, covenants or Igba ndu is entered into to help safeguard the life and confidence of the parties that have entered into the agreement. Another reason for the Igba ndu is as a result of man's desire to maintain peace, orderliness and harmonious living among themselves, hence where such is existing there is the need to consolidate such harmony among peoples.

The concept of Igba ndu is tied to the knowledge of the existence of a supreme being or deities who are very powerful as to intervene in the affairs of men when they are invited and thus dispense justice to defaulters who break the covenant entered. For any Igba ndu to be potent, in most cases it is tied to a deity or god. In Igboland, there are many deities that are involved, depending on the people concerned. Prominent deities such as, Igwe ka ala, Amadioha, Ibinokpabi, Ahiajioku etc, are some of the deities called upon to witness such covenants. The parties to the covenant while swearing will pronounce punishments which the gods are to excise on the defaulters.

Types of Igba Ndu

There are different types of Igba Ndu just as we have different types of agreements among peoples. The types of Igba ndu can be known in terms of the number of people involved or the type of agreement entered into. For influence, there is Igba ndu that can exists between two individuals, within a family or between two different neighboring communities. Igba ndu can also exist between an individual and a deity. In Igba ndu issues involved range from love, disputes between individuals or communities, trading or business concerns to agreements with the gods for protection or favour by individuals or groups etc. in undertaking Igba ndu certain people are involved; apart from the people concerned, the gods or deities are invoked, the departed ancestors are also involved, elders especially titled men, native doctors or Oha dibias, as well as chief priest of the community, is dependent on the people type of Igba ndu to be entered.

For instance where there is between lovers, only the two lovers and some times dibia are physically involved but the gods and ancestors are called upon as witnesses. Where the Igba ndu involves family or community a larger group of people mentioned are involved and the gods and the ancestors' role is to witness and dispense justice to defaulters or uphold the one that conforms to the covenant.

The dibias are to prepare the relevant concoction as well as make the necessary pronouncements/ incantations that make the covenant potent. The chief priests invoke the gods and ancestors as well as participate in the preparation of necessary materials for the covenant ceremony. In some cases, the parties concerned are to come with their witness. These witnesses will attest to the facts of the covenant if anything should happen afterwards.

Objects needed for Igba Ndu

In understanding the Igba ndu, some items are required; these items are dependent on the type of Igba ndu. Such items as kola nut, palm wine, hot drink, ofo staff, blood, plantain stalk, cockrel, kaolin (nzu), fresh palm frond, snail, yam etc other none material objects and the incantation made by the priest or dibias, which can not be interpreted, it is privy to the dibias only. In the case of two lovers who want to undertake the Igba ndu, both partners can use a kolanut and dip it into their blood and then make a declaration as to their intention as well as what will befall anyone of them that breaks the covenant, they can call on a deity they believed in as witness, including their ancestors and Ala (the goddess of the earth). After which they eat the kolanut. In the event of a land dispute between either individuals or community the Igba ndu is more elaborate as the group concerned will invite witnesses, elders, the chief priest and dibias. In most cases, the covenant is administered in the shrine after the necessary items have been prepared and incantation made to invoke the ancestors and gods to witness it. In this type, the people concerned are to swear not to harm each other in any way either physically or spiritually any one who goes against the covenant the gods and ancestors will dispense justice. In other instance, a hole is dug and plantain stalk used to cross the hole, the people concerned will be made to cross the makeshift bridge, with a declaration that whosoever breaks the covenant will fall into the pit which signifies endless problems.
Essence ofIgba Ndu in Igboland

The role Igba ndu plays in Igbo society can be best appreciated from the axiom of social control. It is important as it tries to eliminate deep seated hatred and calm frayed nerves especially on issues concerning land disputes, and other communal or individual squabbles. The process of Igba ndu ensures that the parties to a dispute settle such disputes amicably without physical or spiritual attacks on each other.

Igba ndu is also very important as it strengthens the unity that exists between the individuals, groups or communities.

It also plays the role of adjudication as it is the final processes of arbitration in which parties concerned, witnesses, ancestors and the gods are involved in the process of ensuring peaceful coexistence, hence when administered it becomes the final process of peaceful resolution as partied concerned have involved the spiritual world to adjudicate on their behalf.

Thus any default is punished by the gods.

Igba ndu checks the incidence of witch craft or spiritual or physical attacks, then puts a check to the activities of the wicked against the just in the society.

Penalties for default and the process of appeasement Igba ndu is a serious covenant that carries a very severe punishment on the defaulter. This punishment if not quickly addressed or appeased will result in a family or generational curse or stigma. A defaulter is known when mysterious occurrence begins to affect his life, such as death, infertility, sickness etc. the penalties for a defaulter is an outcome of the covenant entered into as well as the reaction of the deity in which the covenant is administered. In addition to this is the curse, which is also placed on the defaulter. The penalties also defer in terms of the type of Igba ndu entered into. For instance, in the case of two lovers, the penalty for defaulter, where one breaks the covenant and abandons the relationship could be either madness, barrenness, inability to hold down any relationship or even death. Igba ndu where a deity like the Amadioha is involved has a very disastrous penalty for the defaulter. This can either be stricken down by thunder, mysterious illness that defies medical solution etc. the process of appeasement by the defaulter is tedious, this is so as people will not want to associate with such a person for fear of reprisal attack on them from the gods. It is only when a clearance is gotten from the gods through divination on how to appease the deity and also on how to re integrate the person into the society before he or she is allowed access to people. The gods will determine the items for appeasement, which most times are enormous. It is the chief priest of the deity and the dibias that handle such appeasement rites. Also the person will do rites that will allow him access to people (oriko). In some societies, items of appeasement include, cockerel, palmwine, local bull, ram, tortoise, cowry, yam, palm oil etc.

Igba Ndu in contemporary times

The influence of religions has had its impact on the appreciation and promotion of our rich cultural attributes including Igba Ndu.

However, there are some few who still believe in the efficacy and powers of our deities. These few have tenaciously held on to the cultural practice such as the Igba Ndu and other aspects of our cultures that recognize our deities in societal control. Though they are few but yet they have been able to ensure that these practices do not fizzle away into oblivious.

Duru discussed this topic with the National Museum Study Group, Port Harcourt recently

Mmiri mara Okwe

2009-03-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

A gbarusia nwa ngene
A ma kuru nwa ngene nuo
Aka kpukwara oke ogene
Ya nara ato, turukwa ugo

Ngu oma onye ji akwa
Ya akwanaghikwana ya
O koro, ya koro na nga
O ga-ada, ya daa n’ogwe

Onye Chi chiri, echizugo
Ma onye ihe oma masiri
Ka Okike mazukwa ya nzu
Chie ya nze, chie ya ozo

Nke onye chiri, ya zere
Onye fekwaa eze, eze eluo ya
Maka obughi ubochi agbara enyi
Ka enyi ji ada!

Ma mgbe bu na mgbe
Mmiri mara okwe ga-ako
Mee ka agwa o turu na-amuke
Dika kpakpando n’atumali igwe

Beyond the Myth of Death

2009-02-25T03:39:00.000-08:00

I reached the end of my strength
And I fell into darkest of depth
Breathing the last of my breath
As fetters clenched me to death
The wages of my vices and sloth
But from skies struck thunders forth
Shattering the shackles from ‘neath
Then I gained life beyond the myth

Why I had to Die

2009-02-25T03:34:00.000-08:00

I would have died another day
If they had not stoned me today
My blood streaked to mother earth
As I breathed dust of darkest death
And my eyelids closed to the night
For it was their irrevocable verdict
That since I sinned, I deserve to die
Yet in their guts lies iniquity like dye

I am Ash

2009-02-25T03:20:00.000-08:00

Ashamed of the flaws of my being
The many a thing I’ve not done well
And the numberless wrongs I’ve wrought
I am ash: ashamed, sinfully humiliated!
Thusly, dust to dust ‘am consigned!
For fetid is the stench of my vice
Cleanse me blowing Spirit of mercy!
And drive me to the threshold of life

Fruitful Eve

2009-02-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

Oh barren fig of ridicules

Fiddled to benighted streams of tears

Like a moonless lonely dark hours

Drifting hopelessly in woes of sorrows

Of that 'days' had met its end

In a fishless pond of thy womb

Comfort ye fruitful Eve!

For nigher's grief o'er and begone

'Tho knees're scourged burnt and blunt

And thy throat patched like thirsty earth

Despair not on thy oars like the slain

For He that formeth hither and yonder

HAs heard thy tears and fears

With a touch of His impregnable grace

...'tis with a touch of grace that

Hetouched the second Eve

Thus was it a marvel in the world's eyes

In thy tears, I find sorrows, that in this joy

Of yours so nigh, I may find peace.

Your name shall be called Fruitful in Jesus Name

Amen.

Disintegrare

2009-02-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

The world flakes each
Each moment you’re gone
And I turn to my ashes
Slipping off your fingers

In my mind, I thought
You’d think of me again
As here I lay waste waiting
Wishing you were here

Out of ditches, I dirge
As we disintegrate away
Plundering the bridges of life
To an estranged island of self

Turn away then and be back
For we can’t stand without us
That we hold the fold to unfold
Like roses on their stalks

Nay, may this strife be stifled
As boilt waters thus purified
That we hold on to avert
This avalanche of disintegration

…if humanity loses the hold of familyhood, then life becomes useless
and hopeless; for even the beasts congregate to form a formidable
synergy of Oneness.

EVERY WOMAN { Men only!}

2009-02-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

Is only known to her heart
Other than any she gives it to
For from secret places of secrecy
Her prowess knows to the crevices

She that rocks the cradle
Reigns this throne thereafter
With soft words and tender touches
And hard indelible guiding traces

Every woman is Her Majesty
In her treasuries are life and death
She wields over love and hatred
And happy is one who finds her heart

Woman is bejeweled in all splendour
With beauty she captivate men in captivity
And consign them to blazing abyss
Men that take them cheap and weak

Every woman is a fairy goddess
With iron scepter and a firm soul
Though as tender as lilies of the field
She is the beauty of our world

I Resolve Never To Resolve

2009-01-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

I resolve never to resolve
As in my resolutions of the past
To soar in height and wave
Beyond myself and best

I resolve in this new morn
To stand strong at sunrise
In spirit of my little best born
And never to fish in the skies

I resolve neither to pick flowers
In the dead of the winter
Nor to seek for success
While the candle sleeps by my slumber

I resolve ever to know
Not to please and be displeased
That love is both in yes and no
In all candour of deed

I resolve above all to be
Of the best I can contrive
Like of the esteem of the bee
In virtuous contentment of her hive

The Mad People

2009-01-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

It is not that we are not mad
But that the number of the madder
Is increasingly out of order
Wherefore we should be sad
But who is sad of this malady
As we who are not, are maddest
For our order is out of modest
In this world of mad people irony

The Painter's Pant

2009-01-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

In this crucible of dominance
I see in the emergence
The spices of its variety
And a course in casualty
For each patch of paint
Adorns the painter’s pant
And annihilates in subtle succession
The territory of its administration

Kpakpandu Ekeresimesi

2008-12-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

O di ka mmumuonwa
Na-egbu kerikeri
N’obosara eluigwe
N’etiti abali ahu di juu

Oke ihe mee
Oke ekwe ana-ada
Kpakpandu na-amuke
N’ihi na-amuru ndu!

O nuru akwa nwa eee….
Ndi eze ato were kulie
Site n’owuwa anyanwu
Ga leta nwa ka nwa

Mmeri and Josef na-egoli
Imma nwa dina na ahihia
N’etiti umu anumanu
Na obodo Betuluhemu

Uzana n’elu kasi elu
Udo, udo, udo diri uwa
Kpakpandu Ekeresimesi n’amuke
Ka Chineke nye gi ndu na ihunanya

Isee

Merry Christmas &
A Prosperous New Year!

Every Girl's a Woman

2008-12-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

It’s not that every boy is not a man, but it’s about the women’s talk. Ella is a sexy girl, horny and beautiful from what she kept pinging in a Catholic chat room, “Any real guy here? I love being watched while I strip naked….” while every dude was busy discussing the recent religious mutiny in India.

Men believe me, every girl deserves respect. So I buzzed Ella and told her to back off and maybe check in to a romance cell, but she kept stripping off! In speaking out loud, it was doing the wrong thing in the wrong place. I wonder what trend this is!

Well, ‘am of the opinion that women should not do this if they are really beautiful. Like a student of mine that was dropping out when I was doing my perfecting. She had all tit and boo left bare and provocatively seductive! I errr held my nerves at my desk and made sure nothing attempted a prison-break. “Lezzy, you’re quite sexy, but it’s only vultures of men that would go after these wanton curvatures” I finally said. Of course you know what I mean. That’s the veiled truth. Men, isn’t bad of us, that we love ‘em do it this way; but when we need a soul mate we go for angels?

So she left books to the brooks and on this account I vowed to keep the ladies on their desks. Reading MAKETH a woman too, but a couple of them saw as a foe than a friend. I was an authority so I made them read, write essays, summarize novels, visit the library and surf the internet. Few genuinely difficult ones really snipped, but I had to contend on unequal terms because every girl deserves education.

Thus in the struggle women should stand out in outstanding difference- an empowering difference that defiles any form of subjugation or complex. Accordingly, in a symposium I organized, Mrs. Chy, a young lecturer in her early twenties spoke on, “I MADE IT, YOU TOO CAN.” She mesmerized us by her powers, men believe me, I bowed ooo!

Hence, you see that the difference is inducible and when it does, its affects and effects are indubitable. Just as I ran into a young lady who meant little or nothing to me -‘just an ordinary woman’ till she gave me her card, “Maj. C. Mark” suffice it to say I drooped and for a awhile forgot I was a man!!!. ‘Am sorry man, but I meant it. So in all reckoning, she’s far many rungs above me in the societal ladder.

Well, back to Ella who was seeking futile recognition, and thereby objectifying herself. I put it that the faction of womenfolk she represents can NEVER be heard. In this struggle, they remain in slavery and neo-slavery. Ella should use the weaponry of education, decent wears and don’t show what makes her a woman to the world; Ella you shouldn’t dance naked on the screen unlike the well clothed male artistes you do it for. Ella do believe that whatever a man can do, a woman can do it better, but don’t deny it’s only for men to be men and women, women! Moreover, let this creed be concretized in action and not words.

Finally, Ella’s mum please tighten up your belt and teach her that freedom unstaked, is freedom at stake. Do this because she’s a mother of my tomorrow and most importantly because Every Girl’s a Woman!

She who rocks the cradle, rules the world

The title is WOMEN EMPOWERMENT.

http://naijawriters.blogspot. com

The Unblinding

2008-12-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

Let the eyes of the blind unbind
At the break of dew of life
That they shall dream yet of dreams
Their eyes ‘tho hast dreamt in dark
Dregs of darkness drain away
With tears of deprived dark nights
Unfold blind eyes, unfold!
Unfold like buds of beauty
Unblind crowded images of caves
Unblank at the infusion of light
Unfold at the end of your angst
To the dreams of naked natures
Then shackles of spirit’re shattered
To tell of the speeches of sand
Of the whispers of winds on trees
And the colours of the skies
Let the eyes of the blind unbind
To see the seas and the ocean vast
Unsung awesome song of nature
That our eyes may be unveiled
Unbind sweet soul’s eyes, unbind
Unblind to the wonders of scenic features
And to the lyric of heartfelt song
To a whole world of beauties

Spider's Web

2008-12-02T06:31:00.000-08:00

Interconnectivity of creativity

In an ambience of aesthetics

Symmetrically proportioned

Yet suspended in suspension

With invisibly visible yarn

Then the spidery ensconced poise

Though repulsive ‘neath roofs

Is aesthetics personified elsewhere

The phrase, “Curb webs,” shouldn’t have been, would the spiders take a rightful place else way to pitch their tent other than ‘neath shelter. In all rounds, this is the danger of wrong location, being where one should not be at a time. Verily, the spider’s web is an epitome of artistry, aesthetics, a symbol of perseverance and determination. Yet, these are best appreciated should the spiders lean to spin on trees… and not in the offices, rooms etc.The spider’s web is the internet, and network of aesthetics!

THE 25TH VERSE

2008-12-02T03:37:00.000-08:00

‘appy Birthday babie Jesus

Would you tell how warmth and homely the cradle

Unto which Mary laid you in the pen was

And how tenderly she made it not to prick nor pinch

‘tis your birthday, so could you tell of your age

That we may cut the cakes and eat the puddings

And give gifts to our dearest and best friends

Lo, what did your lil’ fingers catch in the air

When the horses whined and the cows mowed

The tenderly lambs bleating o’er and around you

In joy of the shepherd boy’s humble birth

Could you tell babie Jesus of your presents?

Apart the king’s myrrh, frankincense, and gold

Tell, did any tiny boy or girl come to see you

With a doll, or a doggie poodle by the side

And smiling in dimples give you a cherry blossom

Or a wild rose, or a white turtledove

While you mildly cuddled by Mary’s bosom sweet

Who would give ‘em some cheese and chocolate

And bid each kid be a model and holy child

‘appy birthday lil’ Jesus of earth’s fullest joy

Crawling from the cradle to toddle before Mr. Joseph

Foster father and guardian of the Holy Family

May you Oh rising radiant star of Bethlehem

Lead all searching souls to peace and love

As I lay my own present of a twenty-fifth -verse song

Ostar Amakeze

Lil’Smile Foundation

***Merry Christmas***

Tiny, long-lost primate rediscovered in Indonesia

2008-11-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On a misty mountaintop on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, scientists for the first time in more than eight decades have observed a living pygmy tarsier, one of the planet's smallest and rarest primates.
Over a two-month period, the scientists used nets to trap three furry, mouse-sized pygmy tarsiers -- two males and one female -- on Mt. Rore Katimbo in Lore Lindu National Park in central Sulawesi, the researchers said on Tuesday.

They spotted a fourth one that got away.
The tarsiers, which some scientists believed were extinct, may not have been overly thrilled to be found. One of them chomped Sharon Gursky-Doyen, a Texas A&M University professor of anthropology who took part in the expedition.

"I'm the only person in the world to ever be bitten by a pygmy tarsier," Gursky-Doyen said in a telephone interview. "My assistant was trying to hold him still while I was attaching a radio collar around its neck. It's very hard to hold them because they can turn their heads around 180 degrees. As I'm trying to close the radio collar, he turned his head and nipped my finger. And I yanked it and I was bleeding."

The collars were being attached so the tarsiers' movements could be tracked.
Tarsiers are unusual primates -- the mammalian group that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes and people. The handful of tarsier species live on various Asian islands.
As their name indicates, pygmy tarsiers are small -- weighing about 2 ounces (50 grammes). They have large eyes and large ears, and they have been described as looking a bit like one of the creatures in the 1984 Hollywood movie "Gremlins."
They are nocturnal insectivores and are unusual among primates in that they have claws rather than finger nails. They had not been seen alive by scientists since 1921. In 2000, Indonesian scientists who were trapping rats in the Sulawesi highlands accidentally trapped and killed a pygmy tarsier.

"Until that time, everyone really didn't believe that they existed because people had been going out looking for them for decades and nobody had seen them or heard them," Gursky-Doyen said. Her group observed the first live pygmy tarsier in August at an elevation of about 6,900 feet.

"Everything was covered in moss and the clouds are right at the top of that mountain. It's always very, very foggy, very, very dense. It's cold up there. When you're one degree from the equator, you expect to be hot. You don't expect to be shivering most of the time. That's what we were doing," she said.

The Confessions of a Poet!

2008-11-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

Feather and Ink

May i though make this plea

To you dear feather and ink

As i dry like a pound of tea

Yet blissfully to grave i shrink

Desert me not as i lose weight

Even like ink my body spills

Imprint my mind in scroll's heart

As my soul marches in with saints

The Confession of a Poet 10

Scrolls and Scribing

For ‘tis in you I fo’nd

The sweet seduction of my soul

Yet many a thing might bait

But not my caressing eclectic fingers
Nor my love drunk warmth heart

From the shimmering and ripples of ink

Upon thy virgin flesh

Oh scrolls, my love!

The Confession of a Poet11

My Vice

I built my flesh’s whim
To the might of my mind
That even in strife besieging
It strays not too far off
‘Tho I’ve lived and loved beyond it
As my sweats flow still
Yet they judge me much a god
To tears of my mortality

The Confession of a Poet12

My Love

Were it that we were stars

We’d be ‘neath the cloud

Through its azurest skies

To its splendid moonhood

We’ll shine o’er its hills

Down its valleys deep

Side walking our heart’s paths

Till eyelids close in sleep

Fall like dews, O bosom

From the womb of dawn

And let flower-spirit bloom

To the shining smiling sun

The Confession of a Poet 13

Beloved Candratha
Would it that wit

Intimates you of love

Such that disrupts my heart

On these forms of yours

And soul be laid bare

Stripping off all flesh

Oh my love, Candratha!

Therein behold your likeness

For ‘am love stricken

Your firm virgin breasts!

Nippled with choicest honey

Is like a Grecian fount

And I revere thy thighs, Candra

Whereof my mind caresses forth

As from these fortressed portal

Like of to the citadel of wisdom

Thus this blissful fusion oh my

Beloved dearest Candratha

Set every fiber of my being

Twanging to the will divine

Love is the mother of all virtues and the murder of all vices.

It transcends the physical through a sort of metaphysical smoldering.

Thus I conceive this as the explanation of the inexplicability of its bewitchment.

The Confession of a Poet 14

The Last Virgin

They were there

Having it off before me

I bulge, and often wet

Then I say no!

Sometimes subtly yes

And often neither

Mopping as if muddled

Then I say not me

For ‘am yet a virgin

But before me

Are me and she

Who tho’ I know not

Frequents my mind

In idleness of thought

Human acts are the things that make us pure humans,

but as of the acts of man, we take responsibility of what we do.

The Confession of a Poet 15

Why i had to Run

2008-11-14T12:37:00.001-08:00

...not that he's a mad man

But was at that moment mad

And my madness was yet unprovoked

He, was it that matched my toes

To wail woes, I saw his fists

Flying forth like birds of prey

Time was scarce to escape the first

For it flew at an unpredictable swift

Onlookers said he was wrong

And that I was right;

BUt at his right hand was a hatchet

And refuge was not that far

'Twas then apt I test my long legs

That was why I had to run

Is true all men are on the scales of madness; but the weight invariably is not the same. Some are indeed 'madder' than others.Thus, in a case like this, it's more honourable to consider taking to ones legs.Valiance is afterall is often shown by ones ability to turn from the face of danger and run away. This is why we've got to make way often to those who wouldn't make ways for us least they're considered fools.

Beyond the Skies!

2008-11-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

When I look into your eyes little man
I see visions of greater days to come
And my eye lashes stand out in ovation
For I see neither imitation nor limitation
As in our days when the sky was the end
But in you o’er these colours of rainbow
Are set your feet as upon springing board
Beyond the skies of glories of your being

You are copyright of what is in you. Call your name and say STAND up and Out! There are beautiful things in you even amidst of all struggles. At most, make them into songs, stories, poetry, painting, pottery…. and let your spirit levitate.
No one here is without a trouble, but we are troubled when we don’t struggle! Our uniqueness lies in our differences and here is the variety which spices our existence. I can’t sing like Celine Dion, but I can dance. I bet you I beat her there. Just hang in and some day somebody might look up to you.

Let the sky be not your limit, but the springing board. If you don’t believe in anything, believe in yourself and profess you Can!

Lil’Smile Foundation
http://renaissanceafrica-ostar.blogspot.com

Big Boy?

2008-11-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

Big Boy

I was a big boy, yet I starved till I hung up,
no, till i hung down my tie and went down on my fingers.
I got some cardboard papers, glue, flower and glitter
glue and made a card.

My colleagues saw it and said they loved it. I was even
Wondering why they admired it so. Soon there was a demand
for cards. I did one, and another, then and another. They said
I made pretty cards; but i never knew it was in me.

So, not so soon, i became rather a bigger boy, and I could walk
into the canteen and pick a bottle of chilled coke to settle a sunny
thirsty day; and also got a ‘lil’ change to drop on the plate of a
beggar at the entrance to give him a lil’smile.

Now, i can put on my ties, draw my trouser to the waist and walk
with breath and shoulder high.

Go start something. It’s in you to be great, just start from something.
It takes a spark to burn a field and a step to cover a mile!.

Black is Gorgeous!

2008-11-10T06:50:00.000-08:00

B-beautiful
L-lovable
A-adorable
C-charming
K-kingly

Who you are determines what you do and what you don’t. I am B.L.A.C.K,
so ‘am beautiful and lovable, ‘am adorable, charming, and above all ‘am kingly!

Say ‘Yo!’ with me all children of Africa if you’re proudly B.L.A.C.K and if you’ve
got esteem, say ‘No!’ to cheat, fraud, drugs and all that can make you not feel
proudly African!

The beginning of tomorrow starts today.

Forward your exhortation on Africa to
ostarshinning@yahoo.com

and get heard in the Renaissance.

Every Child Needs a Hero

2008-11-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

When i run and look ahead
And there before me are out
Stretched hands where i can
Run into- love

And now there’s is a warmth
embrace a beard cheek on
mine and a refreshing
breath-protection

Then, a lift ahead to see the world
And stand upon my dreams, i say
thank you for being there- motivation

Every child needs love, every child needs protection,
Every child needs motivation.

Dedicated to my hero and friend Jude Maduka

Together lets build a new world by caring for every child!

The Acronym A.F.R.I.C.A & Meaning

2008-11-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Arise oh Africa!
Fallowed land of riches
Rouse up your spirit
Indefatigueable seed of hope
Come the sun is come
Africa my mother

*Short but rich in meaning!
*First two lines makes Africa gleam with confidence
*Lines 3 & 4 is a call to leap into the future to harvest
The friuts of time.
*The rising Sun is an everlasting reality that gives Mother
Africa endless hope to blossom.
Critique by:
Precious Mikky

Full Text of Senator Barack Obama's Announcement for President

2008-11-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

Full Text of Senator Barack Obama's Announcement for President

Springfield, IL February 10, 2007

Let me begin by saying thanks to all you who've traveled, from far and wide, to brave the cold today.

We all made this journey for a reason. It's humbling, but in my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.That's the journey we're on today. But let me tell you how I came to be here. As most of you know, I am not a native of this great state. I moved to Illinois over two decades ago. I was a young man then, just a year out of college; I knew no one in Chicago, was without money or family connections. But a group of churches had offered me a job as a community organizer for $13,000 a year. And I accepted the job, sight unseen, motivated then by a single, simple, powerful idea - that I might play a small part in building a better America.My work took me to some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. I joined with pastors and lay-people to deal with communities that had been ravaged by plant closings. I saw that the problems people faced weren't simply local in nature - that the decision to close a steel mill was made by distant executives; that the lack of textbooks and computers in schools could be traced to the skewed priorities of politicians a thousand miles away; and that when a child turns to violence, there's a hole in his heart no government alone can fill.It was in these neighborhoods that I received the best education I ever had, and where I learned the true meaning of my Christian faith.After three years of this work, I went to law school, because I wanted to understand how the law should work for those in need. I became a civil rights lawyer, and taught constitutional law, and after a time, I came to understand that our cherished rights of liberty and equality depend on the active participation of an awakened electorate. It was with these ideas in mind that I arrived in this capital city as a state Senator.It was here, in Springfield, where I saw all that is America converge - farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all of them with a story to tell, all of them seeking a seat at the table, all of them clamoring to be heard. I made lasting friendships here - friends that I see in the audience today.It was here we learned to disagree without being disagreeable - that it's possible to compromise so long as you know those principles that can never be compromised; and that so long as we're willing to listen to each other, we can assume the best in people instead of the worst.That's why we were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken. That's why we were able to give health insurance to children in need. That's why we made the tax system more fair and just for working families, and that's why we passed ethics reforms that the cynics said could never, ever be passed.It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people - where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness - a certain audacity - to this announcement. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more - and it is time for our generation to answer that call.For that is our unyielding faith - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and South, slave and free. It is because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people - as Americans.All of us know what those challenges are today - a war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren't learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. We've heard them. We've talked about them for years.What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics - the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems.For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't matter, we've been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we've been told that climate change is a hoax, and that tough talk and an ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, we've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We're distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It's time to turn the page.We've made some progress already. I was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate.But Washington has a long way to go. And it won't be easy. That's why we'll have to set priorities. We'll have to make hard choices. And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more money and programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility - for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation.Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.And as our economy changes, let's be the generation that ensures our nation's workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let's protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let's make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. And let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle-class again.Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids have a safe place to go when they work. Let's do this.Let's be the generation that finally tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president's first term.Let's be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world. Let's be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here.Most of all, let's be the generation that never forgets what happened on that September day and confront the terrorists with everything we've got. Politics doesn't have to divide us on this anymore - we can work together to keep our country safe. I've worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law that will secure and destroy some of the world's deadliest, unguarded weapons. We can work together to track terrorists down with a stronger military, we can tighten the net around their finances, and we can improve our intelligence capabilities. But let us also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions around the globe.But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this war in Iraq. Most of you know I opposed this war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it's time to start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace.Finally, there is one other thing that is not too late to get right about this war - and that is the homecoming of the men and women - our veterans - who have sacrificed the most. Let us honor their valor by providing the care they need and rebuilding the military they love. Let us be the generation that begins this work.I know there are those who don't believe we can do all these things. I understand the skepticism. After all, every four years, candidates from both parties make similar promises, and I expect this year will be no different. All of us running for president will travel around the country offering ten-point plans and making grand speeches; all of us will trumpet those qualities we believe make us uniquely qualified to lead the country. But too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and the special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own.That is why this campaign can't only be about me. It must be about us - it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice - to push us forward when we're doing right, and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.He tells us that there is power in words.He tells us that there is power in conviction.That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.He tells us that there is power in hope.As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through."That is our purpose here today.That's why I'm in this race.Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.I want to win that next battle - for justice and opportunity.I want to win that next battle - for better schools, and better jobs, and health care for all.I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America.And if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe past and future generations, then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with you. Together, starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth.

God believes in you

2008-11-05T05:38:00.001-08:00

God believes in you

When the early cock crows at dawn
And you wake in the miracle of rising
Because you believe in life everlasting
Raise your hands up and praise the lord

For God does believe more in you
He hopes in the fruits of your life
So he gives you a brand new day
To glorify and testify his goodness

But if nightfall begins to fall at noon
Be strong and take courage sister, brother
For he who created time and tide
Shall cause the moon shine if you believe

So take up your spiritual farming tool
And sow a seed of faith in your heart
Don’t worry a thing, but just do believe
For Jesus the good farmer will tend it

He will guard you against all preys and pests
By night to brighter days in heavenly bliss
At the harvest of matured faithful souls
Who believed and in whom God believes in!

http://ostarshinning.blogspot.com

The Birth of a New Nation

2008-11-04T23:36:00.000-08:00

The Birth of a New Nation

April 7, 1957. Sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

I want to preach this morning from the subject: "The Birth of a New Nation." And I would like to use as a basis for our thinking together a story that has long since been stenciled on the mental sheets of succeeding generations. It is the story of the Exodus, the story of the flight of the Hebrew people from the bondage of Egypt, through the wilderness, and finally, to the promised land. It’s a beautiful story. I had the privilege the other night of seeing the story in movie terms in New York City, entitled the "Ten Commandments," and I came to see it in all of its beauty—the struggle of Moses, the struggle of his devoted followers as they sought to get out of Egypt. And they finally moved on to the wilderness and toward the promised land. This is something of the story of every people struggling for freedom. It is the first story of man’s explicit quest for freedom. And it demonstrates the stages that seem to inevitably follow the quest for freedom.
Prior to March the sixth, 1957, there existed a country known as the Gold Coast. This country was a colony of the British Empire. And this country was situated in that vast continent known as Africa. I’m sure you know a great deal about Africa, that continent with some two hundred million people. And it extends and covers a great deal of territory. There are many familiar names associated with Africa that you would probably remember, and there are some countries in Africa that many people never realize. For instance, Egypt is in Africa. And there is that vast area of North Africa with Egypt and Ethiopia, with Tunisia and Algeria and Morocco and Libya. Then you might move to South Africa and you think of that extensive territory known as the Union of South Africa. There is that capital city Johannesburg that you read so much about these days. Then there is central Africa with places like Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo. And then there is East Africa with places like Kenya and Tanganyika, and places like Uganda and other very powerful countries right there. And then you move over to West Africa where you find the French West Africa and Nigeria, and Liberia and Sierra Leone and places like that. And it is in this spot, in this section of Africa, that we find the Gold Coast, there in West Africa.
You also know that for years and for centuries, Africa has been one of the most exploited continents in the history of the world. It’s been the "Dark Continent." It’s been the continent that has suffered all of the pain and the affliction that could be mustered up by other nations. And it is that continent which has experienced slavery, which has experienced all of the lowest standards that we can think about that have been brought into being by the exploitation inflicted upon it by other nations.
And this country, the Gold Coast, was a part of this extensive continent known as Africa. It’s a little country there in West Africa about ninety-one thousand miles in area, with a population of about five million people, a little more than four and a half million. And it stands there with its capital city Accra. For years the Gold Coast was exploited and dominated and trampled over. The first European settlers came in there about 1444, the Portuguese, and they started legitimate trade with the people in the Gold Coast; they started dealing with them with their gold, and in turn they gave them guns and ammunition and gunpowder and that type of thing. Well, pretty soon America was discovered a few years later in the fourteen hundreds, and then the British West Indies. And all of these growing discoveries brought about the slave trade. You remember it started in America in 1619.
And there was a big scramble for power in Africa. With the growth of the slave trade there came into Africa, into the Gold Coast in particular, not only the Portuguese but also the Swedes and the Danes and the Dutch and the British. And all of these nations competed with each other to win the power of the Gold Coast so that they could exploit these people for commercial reasons and sell them into slavery.
Finally, in 1850, Britain won out and she gained possession of the total territorial expansion of the Gold Coast. From 1850 to 1957, March sixth, the Gold Coast was a colony of the British Empire. And as a colony she suffered all of the injustices, all of the exploitation, all of the humiliation that comes as a result of colonialism.
But like all slavery, like all domination, like all exploitation, it came to the point that the people got tired of it. And that seems to be the long story of history. There seems to be a throbbing desire, there seems to be an internal desire for freedom within the soul of every man. And it’s there—it might not break forth in the beginning, but eventually it breaks out, for men realize that freedom is something basic. To rob a man of his freedom is to take from him the essential basis of his manhood. To take from him his freedom is to rob him of something of God’s image. To paraphrase the words of Shakespeare’s Othello:
Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘t is something, nothing;
‘T was mine, ‘t is his, has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my freedom
Robs me of that which not enriches him
But makes me poor indeed.
There is something in the soul that cries out for freedom. There is something deep down within the very soul of man that reaches out for Canaan. Men cannot be satisfied with Egypt. They try to adjust to it for awhile. Many men have vested interests in Egypt, and they are slow to leave. Egypt makes it profitable to them; some people profit by Egypt. The vast majority, the masses of people, never profit by Egypt, and they are never content with it. And eventually they rise up and begin to cry out for Canaan’s land.
And so these people got tired. It had a long history—as far back as 1844, the chiefs themselves of the Gold Coast rose up and came together and revolted against the British Empire and the other powers that were in existence at that time dominating the Gold Coast. They revolted, saying that they wanted to govern themselves. But these powers clamped down on them, and the British said that we will not let you go.
About 1909, a young man was born on the twelfth of September. History didn’t know at that time what that young man had in his mind. His mother and father, illiterate, not a part of the powerful tribal life of Africa, not chiefs at all, but humble people. And that boy grew up. He went to school at Atchimoto for a while in Africa, and then he finished there with honors and decided to work his way to America. And he landed to America one day with about fifty dollars in his pocket in terms of pounds, getting ready to get an education. And he went down to Pennsylvania, to Lincoln University. He started studying there, and he started reading the great insights of the philosophers, he started reading the great insights of the ages. And he finished there and took his theological degree there and preached awhile around Philadelphia and other areas as he was in the country. And went over to the University of Pennsylvania and took up a masters there in philosophy and sociology. All the years that he stood in America, he was poor, he had to work hard. He says in his autobiography how he worked as a bellhop in hotels, as a dishwasher, and during the summer how he worked as a waiter trying to struggle through school. (recording interrupted)
"I want to go back home. I want to go back to West Africa, the land of my people, my native land, for there is some work to be done there." He got a ship and went to London and stopped for a while by London School of Economy and picked up another degree there. Then while in London, he came, he started thinking about Pan-Africanism and the problem of how to free his people from colonialism, for as he said, he always realized that colonialism was made for domination and for exploitation. It was made to keep a certain group down and exploit that group economically for the advantage of another. And he studied and thought about all of this and one day he decided to go back to Africa.
He got to Africa and he was immediately elected the executive secretary of the United Party of the Gold Coast. And he worked hard and he started getting a following. And the people in this party, the old, the people who had had their hands on the plow for a long time, thought he was pushing a little too fast and they got a little jealous of his influence. So finally he had to break from the United Party of the Gold Coast, and in 1949 he organized the Convention People’s Party. It was this party that started out working for the independence of the Gold Coast. He started out in a humble way urging his people to unite for freedom and urging the officials of the British Empire to give them freedom. They were slow to respond, but the masses of people were with him, and they had united to become the most powerful and influential party that had ever been organized in that section of Africa.
He started writing, and his companions with him and many of them started writing so much that the officials got afraid and they put them in jail. And Nkrumah himself was finally placed in jail for several years because he was a seditious man, he was an agitator. He was imprisoned on the basis of sedition. And he was placed there to stay in prison for many years, but he had inspired some people outside of prison. They got together just a few months after he’d been in prison and elected him the prime minister while he was in prison. For awhile the British officials tried to keep him there, and Gbedemah says, one of his close associates, the minister of finance, Mr. Gbedemah, said that that night the people were getting ready to go down to the jail and get him out. But Gbedemah said, "This isn’t the way, we can’t do it like this; violence will break out and we will defeat our purpose." But the British Empire saw that they had better let him out, and in a few hours Kwame Nkrumah was out of jail, the Prime Minister of the Gold Coast. He was placed there for fifteen years but he only served eight or nine months, and now he comes out the Prime Minister of the Gold Coast.
This was the struggling that had been going on for years. It was now coming to the point that this little nation was moving toward its independence. Then came the continual agitation, the continual resistance, so that the British Empire saw that it could no longer rule the Gold Coast. And they agreed that on the sixth of March, 1957, they would release this nation. This nation would no longer be a colony of the British Empire, but this nation would be a sovereign nation within the British Commonwealth. All of this was because of the persistent protest, the continual agitation, on the part of Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah and the other leaders who worked along with him and the masses of people who were willing to follow.
So that day finally came. It was a great day. The week ahead was a great week. They had been preparing for this day for many years and now it was here. People coming in from all over the world. They had started getting in by the second of March. Seventy nations represented had come to say to this new nation, "We greet you and we give you our moral support. We hope for you God’s guidance as you move now into the realm of independence." From America itself more than a hundred persons. And the press, the diplomatic guests, and the prime minister’s guests. And oh, it was a beautiful experience to see some of the leading persons on the scene of civil rights in America on hand to say, "Greetings to you," as this new nation was born. Look over, to my right is Adam Powell, to my left is Charles Diggs, to my right again is Ralph Bunche. To the other side is Her Majesty’s First Minister of Jamaica, Manning, Ambassador Jones of Liberia. All of these people from America, Mordecai Johnson, Horace Mann Bond, all of these people just going over to say, "We want to greet you and we want you to know that you have our moral support as you grow." Then you look out and see the vice-president of the United States; you see A. Philip Randolph; you see all of the people who have stood in the forefront of the struggle for civil rights over the years coming over to Africa to say we bid you godspeed. This was a great day not only for Nkrumah but for the whole of the Gold Coast.
Then came Tuesday, December the fifth, many events leading up to it. That night we walked into the closing of Parliament—the closing of the old Parliament, the old Parliament which was which presided over by the British Empire, the old Parliament which designated colonialism and imperialism. Now that Parliament is closing. That was a great sight and a great picture and a great scene. We sat there that night, just about five hundred able to get in there. People, thousands and thousands of people waiting outside, just about five hundred in there, and we were fortunate enough to be sitting there at that moment as guests of the Prime Minister. And at that hour we noticed Prime Minister Nkrumah walking in with all of his ministers, with his justices of the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast, and with all of the people of the Convention People’s Party, the leaders of that party. Nkrumah came up to make his closing speech to the old Gold Coast. There was something old now passing away.
The thing that impressed me more than anything else that night was the fact that when Nkrumah walked in and his other ministers who had been in prison with him, they didn’t come in with the crowns and all of the garments of kings, but they walked in with prison caps and the coats that they had lived with for all of the months that they had been in prison. Nkrumah stood up and made his closing speech to Parliament with the little cap that he wore in prison for several months and the coat that he wore in prison for several months, and all of his ministers round about him. That was a great hour. An old Parliament passing away.
And then at twelve o’clock that night we walked out. As we walked out we noticed all over the polo grounds almost a half-a-million people. They had waited for this hour and this moment for years. As we walked out of the door and looked at that beautiful building, we looked up to the top of it and there was a little flag that had been flowing around the sky for many years. It was the Union Jack flag of the Gold Coast, the British flag, you see. But at twelve o’clock that night we saw a little flag coming down, and another flag went up. The old Union Jack flag came down, and the new flag of Ghana went up. This was a new nation now, a new nation being born.
And when Prime Minister Nkrumah stood up before his people out in the polo ground and said, "We are no longer a British colony. We are a free, sovereign people," all over that vast throng of people we could see tears. And I stood there thinking about so many things. Before I knew it I started weeping; I was crying for joy. And I knew about all of the struggles, and all of the pain, and all of the agony that these people had gone through for this moment.
And after Nkrumah had made that final speech, it was about twelve-thirty now and we walked away. And we could hear little children six years old and old people eighty and ninety years old walking the streets of Accra crying, "Freedom! Freedom!" They couldn’t say it in the sense that we say it—many of them don’t speak English too well—but they had their accents and it could ring out, "Free-doom!" They were crying it in a sense that they had never heard it before, and I could hear that old Negro spiritual once more crying out:
Free at last! Free at last!
Great God Almighty, I’m free at last!
They were experiencing that in their very souls. And everywhere we turned, we could hear it ringing out from the housetops; we could hear it from every corner, every nook and crook of the community: "Freedom! Freedom!" This was the birth of a new nation. This was the breaking aloose from Egypt.
Wednesday morning the official opening of Parliament was held. There again we were able to get on the inside. There Nkrumah made his new speech. And now the Prime Minister of the Gold Coast with no superior, with all of the power that MacMillan of England has, with all of the power that Nehru of India has—now a free nation, now the prime minister of a sovereign nation. The Duchess of Kent walked in; the Duchess of Kent, who represented the Queen of England, no longer had authority now. She was just a passing visitor now. The night before she was the official leader and spokesman for the Queen, thereby the power behind the throne of the Gold Coast. But now it’s Ghana—it’s a new nation now, and she’s just an official visitor like M. L. King and Ralph Bunche and Coretta King and everybody else, because this is a new nation. A new Ghana has come into being.
And now Nkrumah stands the leader of that great nation. And when he drives out, the people standing around the streets of the city after Parliament is open cry out, "All hail, Nkrumah!" The name of Nkrumah crowning around the whole city, everybody crying this name, because they knew he had suffered for them, he had sacrificed for them, he’d gone to jail for them. This was the birth of a new nation.
This nation was now out of Egypt and has crossed the Red Sea. Now it will confront its wilderness. Like any breaking aloose from Egypt, there is a wilderness ahead. There is a problem of adjustment. Nkrumah realizes that. There is always this wilderness standing before you. For instance, it’s a one-crop country, cocoa mainly; sixty percent of the cocoa of the world comes from the Gold Coast, or from Ghana. In order to make the economic system more stable it will be necessary to industrialize. Cocoa is too fluctuating to base a whole economy on that, so there is the necessity of industrializing. Nkrumah said to me that one of the first things that he will do is to work toward industrialization. And also he plans to work toward the whole problem of increasing the cultural standards of the community. Still ninety percent of the people are illiterate, and it is necessary to lift the whole cultural standard of the community in order to make it possible to stand up in the free world.
Yes, there is a wilderness ahead, though it is my hope that even people from America will go to Africa as immigrants, right there to the Gold Coast, and lend their technical assistance, for there is great need and there are rich opportunities there. Right now is the time that American Negroes can lend their technical assistance to a growing new nation. I was very happy to see already people who have moved in and making good. The son of the late president of Bennett College, Dr. Jones, is there, who started an insurance company and making good, going to the top. A doctor from Brooklyn, New York had just come in that week and his wife is also a dentist, and they are living there now, going in there and working and the people love them. There will be hundreds and thousands of people, I’m sure, going over to make for the growth of this new nation. And Nkrumah made it very clear to me that he would welcome any persons coming there as immigrants to live there. Now don’t think that because they have five million people the nation can’t grow, that that’s a small nation to be overlooked. Never forget the fact that when America was born in 1776, when it received its independence from the British Empire, there were fewer, less than four million people in America, and today it’s more than a hundred and sixty million. So never underestimate a people because it’s small now. America was smaller than Ghana when it was born.
There is a great day ahead. The future is on its side. It’s going now through the wilderness. But the Promised Land is ahead.
Now I want to take just a few more minutes as I close to say three or four things that this reminds us of and things that it says to us—things that we must never forget as we ourselves find ourselves breaking aloose from an evil Egypt, trying to move through the wilderness toward the Promised Land of cultural integration. Ghana has something to say to us. It says to us first that the oppressor never voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed. You have to work for it. And if Nkrumah and the people of the Gold Coast had not stood up persistently, revolting against the system, it would still be a colony of the British Empire. Freedom is never given to anybody, for the oppressor has you in domination because he plans to keep you there, and he never voluntarily gives it up. And that is where the strong resistance comes—privileged classes never give up their privileges without strong resistance.
So don’t go out this morning with any illusions. Don’t go back into your homes and around Montgomery thinking that the Montgomery City Commission and that all of the forces in the leadership of the South will eventually work out this thing for Negroes. It’s going to work out; it’s going to roll in on the wheels of inevitability. If we wait for it to work itself out, it will never be worked out. Freedom only comes through persistent revolt, through persistent agitation, through persistently rising up against the system of evil. The bus protest is just the beginning. Buses are integrated in Montgomery, but that is just the beginning. And don’t sit down and do nothing now because the buses are integrated, because if you stop now we will be in the dungeons of segregation and discrimination for another hundred years, and our children and our children’s children will suffer all of the bondage that we have lived under for years. It never comes voluntarily. We’ve got to keep on keeping on in order to gain freedom. It never comes like that. It would be fortunate if the people in power had sense enough to go on and give up, but they don’t do it like that. It is not done voluntarily, but it is done through the pressure that comes about from people who are oppressed.
If there had not been a Gandhi in India with all of his noble followers, India would have never been free. If there had not been an Nkrumah and his followers in Ghana, Ghana would still be a British colony. If there had not been abolitionists in America, both Negro and white, we might still stand today in the dungeons of slavery. And then because there have been, in every period, there are always those people in every period of human history who don’t mind getting their necks cut off, who don’t mind being persecuted and discriminated and kicked about, because they know that freedom is never given out, but it comes through the persistent and the continual agitation and revolt on the part of those who are caught in the system. Ghana teaches us that.
It says to us another thing. It reminds us of the fact that a nation or a people can break aloose from oppression without violence. Nkrumah says in the first two pages of his autobiography, which was published on the sixth of March—a great book which you ought to read—he said that he had studied the social systems of social philosophers and he started studying the life of Gandhi and his techniques. And he said that in the beginning he could not see how they could ever get aloose from colonialism without armed revolt, without armies and ammunition, rising up. Then he says after he continued to study Gandhi and continued to study this technique, he came to see that the only way was through nonviolent positive action. And he called his program "positive action." And it’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? That here is a nation that is now free and it is free without rising up with arms and with ammunition; it is free through nonviolent means. Because of that the British Empire will not have the bitterness for Ghana that she has for China, so to speak. Because of that, when the British Empire leaves Ghana, she leaves with a different attitude then she would have left with if she had been driven out by armies. We’ve got to revolt in such a way that after revolt is over we can live with people as their brothers and their sisters. Our aim must never be to defeat them or humiliate them.
On the night of the State Ball, standing up talking with some people, Mordecai Johnson called my attention to the fact that Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah was there dancing with the Duchess of Kent. And I said, "Isn’t this something?" Here it is the once-serf, the once-slave, now dancing with the lord on an equal plane." And that is done because there is no bitterness. These two nations will be able to live together and work together because the breaking aloose was through nonviolence and not through violence.
The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community. The aftermath of nonviolence is redemption. The aftermath of nonviolence is reconciliation. The aftermaths of violence are emptiness and bitterness. This is the thing I’m concerned about. Let us fight passionately and unrelentingly for the goals of justice and peace, but let’s be sure that our hands are clean in this struggle. Let us never fight with falsehood and violence and hate and malice, but always fight with love, so that when the day comes that the walls of segregation have completely crumbled in Montgomery that we will be able to live with people as their brothers and sisters.
Oh, my friends, our aim must be not to defeat Mr. Engelhardt, not to defeat Mr. Sellers and Mr. Gayle and Mr. Parks. Our aim must be to defeat the evil that’s in them. And our aim must be to win the friendship of Mr. Gayle and Mr. Sellers and Mr. Engelhardt. We must come to the point of seeing that our ultimate aim is to live with all men as brothers and sisters under God and not be their enemies or anything that goes with that type of relationship. And this is one thing that Ghana teaches us: that you can break aloose from evil through nonviolence, through a lack of bitterness. Nkrumah says in his book: "When I came out of prison, I was not bitter toward Britain. I came out merely with the determination to free my people from the colonialism and imperialism that had been inflicted upon them by the British. But I came out with no bitterness." And because of that this world will be a better place in which to live.
There’s another thing that Ghana reminds us. I’m coming to the conclusion now. Ghana reminds us that freedom never comes on a silver platter. It’s never easy. Ghana reminds us that whenever you break out of Egypt you better get ready for stiff backs. You better get ready for some homes to be bombed. You better get ready for some churches to be bombed. You better get ready for a lot of nasty things to be said about you, because you getting out of Egypt, and whenever you break aloose from Egypt the initial response of the Egyptian is bitterness. It never comes with ease. It comes only through the hardness and persistence of life. Ghana reminds us of that. You better get ready to go to prison. When I looked out and saw the Prime Minister there with his prison cap on that night that reminded me of that fact, that freedom never comes easy. It comes through hard labor and it comes through toil; it comes through hours of despair and disappointment.
And that’s the way it goes. There is no crown without a cross. I wish we could get to Easter without going to Good Friday, but history tells us that we got to go by Good Friday before we can get to Easter. That’s the long story of freedom, isn’t it? Before you get to Canaan you’ve got a Red Sea to confront; you have a hardened heart of a pharaoh to confront; you have the prodigious hilltops of evil in the wilderness to confront. And even when you get up to the Promised Land you have giants in the land. The beautiful thing about it is that there are a few people who’ve been over in the land. They have spied enough to say, "Even though the giants are there we can possess the land, because we got the internal fiber to stand up amid anything that we have to face."
The road to freedom is a difficult, hard road. It always makes for temporary setbacks. And those people who tell you today that there is more tension in Montgomery than there has ever been are telling you right. Whenever you get out of Egypt, you always confront a little tension, you always confront a little temporary setback. If you didn’t confront that you’d never get out. You must remember that the tensionless period that we like to think of was the period when the Negro was complacently adjusted to segregation, discrimination, insult, and exploitation. And the period of tension is the period when the Negro has decided to rise up and break aloose from that. And this is the peace that we are seeking: not an old negative obnoxious peace which is merely the absence of tension, but a positive, lasting peace which is the presence of brotherhood and justice. And it is never brought about without this temporary period of tension. The road to freedom is difficult.
But finally, Ghana tells us that the forces of the universe are on the side of justice. That’s what it tells us, now. You can interpret Ghana any kind a way you want to, but Ghana tells me that the forces of the universe are on the side of justice. That night when I saw that old flag coming down and the new flag coming up, I saw something else. That wasn’t just an ephemeral, evanescent event appearing on the stage of history, but it was an event with eternal meaning, for it symbolizes something. That thing symbolized to me that an old order is passing away and a new order is coming into being. An old order of colonialism, of segregation, of discrimination is passing away now, and a new order of justice and freedom and goodwill is being born. That’s what it said. Somehow the forces of justice stand on the side of the universe, so that you can’t ultimately trample over God’s children and profit by it.
I want to come back to Montgomery now, but I must stop by London for a moment, for London reminds me of something. I never will forget the day we went into London. The next day we started moving around this great city, the only city in the world that is almost as large as New York City. Over eight million people in London, about eight million, three hundred thousand; New York about eight million, five hundred thousand. London larger in area than New York, though. Standing in London is an amazing picture. And I never will forget the experience I had, the thoughts that came to my mind as we went to Buckingham Palace. And I looked there at all of Britain, at all of the pomp and circumstance of royalty. And I thought about all of the queens and kings that had passed through here. Look at the beauty of the changing of the guards and all of the guards with their beautiful horses. It’s a beautiful sight. Move on from there and go over to Parliament. Move into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. There with all of its beauty standing up before the world is one of the most beautiful sights in the world.
Then I remember, we went on over to Westminster Abbey. And I thought about several things when we went into this great church, this great cathedral, the center of the Church of England. We walked around and went to the tombs of the kings and queens buried there. Most of the kings and queens of England are buried right there in the Westminster Abbey. And I walked around. On the one hand I enjoyed and appreciated the great gothic architecture of that massive cathedral. I stood there in awe thinking about the greatness of God and man’s feeble attempt to reach up for God. And I thought something else—I thought about the Church of England.
My mind went back to Buckingham Palace and I said that this is the symbol of a dying system. There was a day that the queens and kings of England could boast that the sun never sets on the British Empire, a day when she occupied the greater portion of Australia, the greater portion of Canada. There was a day when she ruled most of China, most of Africa, and all of India. I started thinking about this empire. I started thinking about the fact that she ruled over India one day. Mahatma Gandhi stood there at every hand trying to get the freedom of his people, and they never bowed to it. They never, they decided that they were going to stand up and hold India in humiliation and in colonialism many, many years. And I remember we passed by Ten Downing Street. That’s the place where the Prime Minister of England lives. And I remember that a few years ago a man lived there by the name of Winston Churchill. One day he stood up before the world and said, "I did not become his Majesty’s First Minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire."
And I thought about the fact that a few weeks ago a man by the name of Anthony Eden lived there. And out of all of his knowledge of the Middle East he decided to rise up and march his armies with the forces of Israel and France into Egypt, and there they confronted their doom, because they were revolting against world opinion. Egypt, a little country; Egypt, a country with no military power. They could have easily defeated Egypt, but they did not realize that they were fighting more than Egypt. They were attacking world opinion; they were fighting the whole Asian-African bloc, which is the bloc that now thinks and moves and determines the course of the history of the world.
I thought of many things. I thought of the fact that the British Empire exploited India. Think about it! A nation with four hundred million people and the British exploited them so much that out of a population of four hundred million, three hundred and fifty million made an annual income of less than fifty dollars a year. Twenty-five of that had to be used for taxes and the other things of life. I thought about dark Africa. And how the people there, if they can make a hundred dollars a year they are living very well they think. Two shillings a day—one shilling is fourteen cents, two shillings twenty-eight cents—that’s a good wage. That’s because of the domination of the British Empire.
All of these things came to my mind when I stood there in Westminster Abbey with all of its beauty, and I thought about all of the beautiful hymns and anthems that the people would go in there to sing. And yet the Church of England never took a stand against this system; the Church of England sanctioned it; the Church of England gave it moral stature. All of the exploitation perpetuated by the British Empire was sanctioned by the Church of England.
But something else came to my mind: God comes in the picture even when the Church won’t take a stand. God has injected a principle in this universe. God has said that all men must respect the dignity and worth of all human personality, and if you don’t do that, I will take charge. It seems this morning that I can hear God speaking. I can hear him speaking throughout the universe, saying, "Be still and know that I am God. And if you don’t stop, if you don’t straighten up, if you don’t stop exploiting people, I’m going to rise up and break the backbone of your power. And your power will be no more!"
And the power of Great Britain is no more. I looked at France. I looked at Britain. And I thought about the Britain that could boast, "The sun never sets on our great Empire." And I said now she had gone to the level that the sun hardly rises on the British Empire—because it was based on exploitation, because the God of the universe eventually takes a stand.
And I say to you this morning, my friends, rise up and know that as you struggle for justice you do not struggle alone, but God struggles with you. And he is working every day. Somehow I can look out, I can look out across the seas and across the universe, and cry out, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."
Then I think about it because his truth is marching on, and I can sing another chorus: "Hallelujah, glory hallelujah! His truth is marching on."
Then I can hear Isaiah again, because it has profound meaning to me, that somehow "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
That’s the beauty of this thing: all flesh shall see it together. Not some from the heights of Park Street and others from the dungeons of slum areas. Not some from the pinnacles of the British Empire and some from the dark deserts of Africa. Not some from inordinate, superfluous wealth and others from abject, deadening poverty. Not some white and not some black, not some yellow and not some brown, but all flesh shall see it together. They shall see it from Montgomery. They shall see it from New York. They shall see it from Ghana. They shall see it from China.
For I can look out and see a great number, as John saw, marching into the great eternity, because God is working in this world, and at this hour, and at this moment. And God grant that we will get on board and start marching with God because we got orders now to break down the bondage and the walls of colonialism, exploitation, and imperialism, to break them down to the point that no man will trample over another man, but that all men will respect the dignity and worth of all human personality. And then we will be in Canaan’s freedom land.
Moses might not get to see Canaan, but his children will see it. He even got to the mountain top enough to see it and that assured him that it was coming. But the beauty of the thing is that there’s always a Joshua to take up his work and take the children on in. And it’s there waiting with its milk and honey, and with all of the bountiful beauty that God has in store for His children. Oh, what exceedingly marvelous things God has in store for us. Grant that we will follow Him enough to gain

Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

2008-11-04T23:17:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

I Have a Dream - Address at March on WashingtonAugust 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

Stream Song- a poetic radicalism and nostalgia!

2008-11-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

Stream Song

Abu bo… abu-bo… aabu bo[1]
Abu bo… abu-bo… aabu bo
Abu bo… abu-bo… aabu bo
Abu bo… abu-bo… aabu bo

Were the call and the rejoinder
And the song as we ran and walked
Toward the far off Mpkukpa[2] stream
To fetch of the pure sweet water
Flowing from mouths of stones

Our ancestors drank of it
And our fathers too and lived long
Udenkwo, my father’s mother…
Mma dere uli[3], wouldn’t spill Mpkukpa
From the earthenware where she kept it

And a whip man with leave branches
Would dictate the pace as he pursues
Singing Abu bo abu-bo in a suspenseful rhythm
While we ran all eyes, marking the pathway herbs
Finger ready to grasp one if he sings…
Say, ‘abuba akpu’[4] as his preference
Lest he whips one as he still hunts for it

Such was the game of the stream path
And with gallons tied with wrung aju[5] behind
Or a bump of used clothes, ran we the song
Yet, neither the hot dry igwugwu[6] sand could impede
Nor the mowing of the sacred Ehi[7] Mpkukpa
Which sometimes charge down the stream!
Either to scare or rather to quench its thirst

Thus far, in the neighbourhood of breathless twinkle
The long pathway subtly dwindles behind us
Narrowing down towards our different homes
And the song gives way to dauntless stones ahead
As we chatter down o’er pebbles of symbolic textures
With caution, we would deploy our customary steps
Down and down the rocky, steeply stream

Over our heads stand trees in gangly clusters
Here and there squirrels’ squeaks shrieking
And many other unidentified chirps and sounds
The small white plate or nkata[8] by the three crossroads
Raising ones hairs and pulling off some wits
Further, you can hear the water’s voices
Tinkering and echoing in the womb of Mkpukpa
So calmly, and cool even before the hottest sun

Little wonder the belief that spirits also visit Mkpukpa
Thus at lonely early hours, especially at mgbachi[9]
They trip to the friendly stream to bath, fetch and drink
That no one ever dares walk down without iku ene[10]
By way of shouting down half away into its heart
“Let spirit’s children be gone, for man’s children is come!”
And it’s believed with ears stretched sharply
One could hear stalks and leaves ruffle as they disperse

Moreover, we would wallow into Ofia[11]
MkpukpaWhile awaiting turns if the toll is lengthy
Looking for some edible bush-fruits and leaves
One might pluck aku-ofia or the surgery utommirikpo[12]
Or the rare ukasi used in cooking delicious egusi or oha[13]
Priceless to grateful proud mothers at home

Yet, coming up would be like a cow climbing hills
Clenching on trees and stones to hold up and on
Although, I once fell off a crest into a foliage decked ditch!
Such was the day a lad went home bruised without water
But grandma would patch my gallon with her mma ekwu[14]
And a chunk of smoked okpo[15] fish on my palm
She squeezed onugbu[16] leaf to heal my pains

Meanwhile we would stop over at some shades
To ease off our stiffened necks and heavy legs
At times to stifle a little quarrel or play kpokpo[17]
Whereof cashew seeds are piled up by a few boys
And whoever shoots out any number from the circle
Taking turns from a marked distanceWould take all till all are spent!

We might as well rest again at the Mbara[18] Mkpukpa
Or not, if we had beaten a bet of the unweakened!
Here we would climb black pod icheku[19] or udaranwenwe[20]
To pick and eat their fruits while we rest
Here too wandered the beautiful mad Ugoada[21]
With dirty dreadlock and dangling breasts
Often soliloquizing, and friendless in her solitude

Then we would walk home slowly and fast
For though the eulogy at home spurred on and on
Yet the Abu bo abu-bo calls more to stream duty
Than the Nna m de eme, dalu oru[22] of pleased parents
Such that even the sick would wish they were not unwell
To run the run in the tune of the song of the stream

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[1] Abubo means leaves or herds in Igbo language[2] The deity Mkpukpa is a spring water at Nimo, Anambra State- Nigeria[3] Mma dere Uli lit. A beautified beauty! for she was so that the village folk called her Ugegbe{Mirrow}[4] Cassava leave[5] A piece of cloth used in padding off the weight of loads. E.g. The gallons [6] Sandy sand[7] Sacred cow[8] A little local basket made of the bark of palm fronds, used in offering sacrifices to gods, spirits, etc.[9] Around 12 at noon[10] To create attention[11] Bush[12] A hard edible nut and a yellowish-red berry[13] Ukasi and oha {soup} are edible leaves, and egusi {soup} is melon[14] A locally made kitchen knife[15] A species of the catfish[16] Edible and herbal bitter leave {Onugbu soup} is Nimo’s favourite[17] Cashew nut[18] Spacious playground where Mkpukpa’s feast is celebrated[19] Icheku is a light pod covered fruit with beady hard nuts. Its leaf is often eaten for its sour-sweet taste[20] A Capsule- like edible fruit. Green in colour, but yellowish when ripened. Lit. means Applemonkey[21] Ugoada lit. means Eagle’s daughter- her beauty hid behind her not too old age[22] Lit. My father good job, well done!

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I Guta Oku- Revel with the Muse!

2008-11-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

O buru na-eji nku kara aka dika ukpaka were sie nri abali, e nwere ike inwete uyi di oku n’ututu ma ekpochawa ntu. Mama oburu na-eji igbogiri, ogbeke, maobu irighiri nku, tupu onwa a lakpuo o daa ibube; tupu oke okuko akwaa, o nwuo pii.

A ga-eri ona, ma o ga-abu echi. Mana tupu akpaa mmanu n-ire, a ga-afunye oku were sikwa nri boro ora. N’ezie, oru ezi na ulo bu, “bunu bunu, ibu anyi danda!” ka ufodu na-azacha na-ekpocha, a ga-enwe onye ga-afuke ma obu ga-aguta oku n’ututu. O buru na mkaoku adighi, otu nwata ga-agbapu ga guta oku na be otu n’ime ndi agbata obi ha.

Dika otu o siri di, agbata obi onye bu onye ma o bu ndi na-agbatakari ya n’obi mgbe o no n’uju ma mgbe o no na mkpa. Ma dika o siri gbasa onodu obibi, agbata obi onye biketere ya nso.

Ma anyi mara n’anaghi agba aka afu nwata eze. Ya mere na nwata ga-aga guta oku ga-eji urimmu ma obu mpe mpe eju. O ga-aga ososo tupu umu okpo e tete n’ura! Ma nwata ahu nwekwara ike ihuchara otu ma o bu mkpuru akwu ole ma ole tupu o gutacha oku. Ma nke kacha nke bu na nwanyi no n’ekwu nwere ike idesa nwata ofe n’aka ma o bu tunye ya anu ma o bu azu mkpo.

N’agbanyeghi ihe ndia, igukorita oku bu amaihe, nke na-egosiputa mmemadu, ihunanya, na-idi n’otu. O na-abawanye, na-amunyekwa oku nchekwube n’ebe mmadu n’ibe ya no. Otu onye adighi emebe ohia, nke mmadu na-ata ibe ya ata.

O bu eziokwu na e nwere nwa ole ma ole ogige mgbe ahu, ma n’ezie ndimmadu agbabeghi ogige n’obi ha: ogige eze afo juru, onye na nke ya, ogige i nokwa be gi?, ogige iso agbata obi onye nso, ogige uka, ogige ochichi, wdg. O buru mgbe ezi di n’ukwu ukwa, mgbe elu bu ala osa….

Chekwere, anaghikwa m ekpe ka okoro yiri ibante puta ezi, kama o buru na nwa ngbada agaghi agbasi ike, ya puoro nwa mbekwu n’uzo ka o gafere. Onye jikwara uto ukwa rifee okuku ume, o daghi ibi, o too afo!

Na nchikota okwu, anyi agaghikwa aza Rufoosu bia biri n’ulo akirika, mana anyi kwesikwara i ma n’otutu oge, n’uru na-aka na nwamgbeke! Anyi agaghi e ji urimmu ma o bu mpe mpe eju gaa iguta oku na be agbata obi anyi, kama ka anyi jiri ezi mmuo na otu obi guru oku ihunanya site n’ulo anyi bakwuru ndiagbataobi anyi n’otu n’otu.

Umu Igbo ekele m unu!

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Ukwe mpete, ukwe anyi

2008-11-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Ukwe mpete, ukwe anyi
{Our way of life}

I burukwa oke kwaa akwa
I burukwa nnekwu yie akwa
Kwosa mmiri
Dee uli
Yiri ogodo
Dikwa ogo

Nne gi gwa gi ihe
Nuru ihe
Nna gi gwa gi ihe
Nuru ihe

Were ututu gbasie ike
Were ehihe kee ike
Were anyasi zuru ike
Ofogori enweghi ezum ike

Ka onye ruru, ka o riri
Ka ji, ka ede
Ka onye ruru ka o riri
Ka ji ka ede

Mma onye tu n'ukwu
Ka o ji ana aka
Mma onye tu n'ukwu
Ka o ji ana aka
Ukwe mpete bu egwu
Oyorima!

A ruo n'anwu
E rie na ndo
Ejula kpuru
O kpuru nkiliko

I fechaa ka egbe
Bekwaa ka egbe
Anya furu ugo
Ya lelee ugo

Anu gafee mmiri
O fechaa odu
Aka riri oji
Ya kpara nku

Oti igba ekele m gi
Ogba igba ekele m gi
Nwa ngbada ekele m gi
Ukwe mpete, egwu anyi

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Aha m

2008-11-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

Aha m

Ihe niile nwere aha
Aha bu nkowa onye
Nkowa ihe, na e jiri mara

Ihe m amaghi aha ya
Bu ihe a, onye mu
Amaghi aha ya
Bu onye a

Aha Igbo di omimi
Dika nke m
Aha m bu Ositadimma
Nkporu ya bu: 'o diri gawa'

Igbo anaghi aza aha
Na nkiti
Dika agburu ufodi
Aha anyi na-enwe ntonala
Site n'omumu nwata
N'ihe gbara ya
Okirikiri

Aha Igbo
Na-abukari ahiriokwu
N'agbanyeghi nkpobi ya
Dika Osita maobu Osii

Aha anyi na-abukwa
Ekele, ekpere nye Olisa
Maobu nzube nke mmadu
Ya mere aha onye
Ji achoje onye

Onyeobula zaa aha nna ya
N'ihi na o naghi ahia ahu
Ihe mmadu aghoro nke
Onye ozo

O kwa ahu nwa, e chete nna
Ee, aha nna m bu
Amakeze ata o ma duo
Aha m ji buru
Ositadimma Nzudinobieze
Amakeze

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KWENU! Our culture, our future

Egwu a gwara ogwa

2008-10-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Egwu a gwara ogwa

Ihe emere mma mara mma
N’ihi na ihe di mma n’anya

Gbara akwukwo na gboo gboo
Ihe oma di ka echi makana echi
Adighi agwu agwu

Nnyaa nnyaa adakwurula
nnanwuruede
O kwa egwu onye agbaghi
N’ukwu o kwee n’isi
N’igbo anaa nukilia!

Igbo na-asu n’olu n’olu
Kotuma si "Isi o raiti"
Isi o raiti o'u kwa ‘subri’
N’olu n’olu na subri subri
O'u kwanu okwu ntabi ire?
Ma okpoko nri dabara n’ofe
Adaghi ada mberede

Etiriogwu na Iwantiro di n’ebiri
Maka na nwanne enwe bu edi
E jizi ngwaegwu bekee eti ekpiri
Were mbem na nya na-asu subri
Onyeocha na-agbazi ogene
Na-atakwazi aki anyi na-eti

Mgbirimgba a dighi atu egwu
Egwu a dighi atu afo o buru uzo
Igbo kwenu abughi aha otutu
Maka na ikpo n'aha ka okwa ya
Akaraaka adighi ehiche ehiche
Anyi na-ada uda di ekelesu
Bia jiri asusu anyi na-ekwu uche anyi

Dedicated to all artistes who spice sound with Igbo:
Psquare, Nigga Raw, Big Lo and 2Shotz, J.Martins, Slow Dogg, Desperate Chics, D Banj, Midnite Crew….

(c) Ositadimma Amakeze, 2008

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Arise Africa

2008-10-28T14:32:00.001-07:00

Arise Africa

DEDICATION: THE AFRICAN CHILD

Though we toddle in crumble
We still can scrabble to walk
For we’re not bound to shamble
Nor to lurk till dawn in the murk

Arise, Oh Africa like the sun
And sweat to the straw
Nay, it might hurt and burn
But shall not be made to crawl

May we now think to brick
To make our home and wall
With our mother’s earth and rock
For `tis high time we fell

In here can we still stand
Ne’er again in swirling wing
And in least to expect a hand
Where we can sing a song

For he that prides in curbing webs
Thus to it lives like ever
Unless we stoop now in toils
We shall ever not conquer

Let’s so beat these arms to plough
Till we till our young virgin land
Then shall our baskets, filled with dough
Shall we ne’er wobble while we stand