BOOK REVIEW: WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK ?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK… Celebrating our Heriatge,Confronting our Challenges © 2007, MATTHEW ASHIMOLOWO

It's nice doing a first book review this year and I will like to start with a Nigerian Author, WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK is a book I read between December and January based on recommendation by a very good friend and I will like to share it today, although I wouldn’t delve much into the many details treated by the book, I will only provide an Introduction from the author overview..Enjoy!

THE BOOK

WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK is a great book, detailed and backed up with so much anthropological and historical facts, as regards the civilization of man and even the man of colour in particular.

It provides biblical background to what has been and we now have today, as far as the black or entire human race is concerned.

I believe the entire work, apart from being a godly perspective to the issue of race and other human issues, is very rich in research and could suffice for a body of knowledge of a doctoral thesis or even more..

Indeed Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo has done a great work in this piece. The book enjoyed some endorsements from Bishop T.D Jakes, Bishop Kenneth C Ulmer ,Dr. Myles Munroe, among others. An introduction from him gives a background to the work:

In the past years the state of the Black person globally has become paramount on my mind. I have observed that wherever Black people are, whether it is Australia – among the Aborigines, Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, or North America, we seem to belong at the bottom of the pile, or the bottom of the pyramid, economically, socially, physically, mentally, etc. It makes one ask several questions:

• What is responsible for these 2,000 years of “Black backwardness”? • Why do we seem to fail even where we are in the majority?

• Is the Black man victimized; and is he a victim of his own circumstances, pathologies, or of other people’s opinions and decisions?

• Have Blacks always been this way?

• Are we descended from “Kunta Kinteh” or from kings?

• If Blacks are not cursed, what did they do to deserve almost 2,000 years of oppression, lack, etc?

• What is responsible for Africa being the richest continent and yet inhabited by the poorest people?

• If Black means only one sixteenth of skin, why are Blacks un-able to overcome the “victimitis” or pressure that comes with it?

• Is there a conspiracy to keep Blacks at the bottom?

• Why do Black nations constitute the biggest borrower nations?

• If Blacks are not cursed, is their land cursed?

• Africans are religious by nature, and where they have become Christians they have been committed. Why are they still not making progress?

• Why is there such a gap between White dominated and Black dominated nations?

• What are the pathologies responsible for the state of Blacks in different settings?

• Can there be healing to the atrocities committed against Blacks in the past?

• Some African nations have the highest number of educated citizens, yet Africa in modern times has not contributed significantly to discoveries or inventions.

• What is the future of the Black person?

• If there is a future, what is the key to that future?

• When will the Black man’s day of manifestation come?

The answers to all these questions can be found in each chapter of the 348-page book.

The entire Contents is Outlined below:

Introduction

PART 1 His Glorious Past

1. Chapter1

Man- A master of Creation

2. Chapter 2

The black Man’s Dominion

3. Chapter 3

The Great Empire Builders

4. Chapter 4

The Great Black Personalities

5. The Wealthy Continent

PART 3 Conformations and Pathologies

Introduction

6. Idolatry

7. Superstition

8. Witchcraft

9. Slavery

10. Distorted Family Values

11. Black Disunity

12. Black on Black Crime

13. Economically Challenged

14. Racism

15. Mis-governance

16. Leadership Crisis

17. Sexploitation

18. Dependency Syndrome

19. Colonial Heritage

20. Immigration

21. Apartheid

22. Faulted Educational Systems

23. Segregation

24. Self Image problem 25. Marginalization

CONCLUSION: Transforming the Heart

Summary/conclusion: In chapter 20,while talking on Immigration, the book posits that,” It’s estimated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) that 20million African men and women are migrant workers and that by 2015,one in ten Africans will be living outside the country of their original birth” It concluded by noting that:

• There’s nothing wrong with being black.

• God created blacks equal to all others • We have a proud heritage; we can rise to that height again with proper respect for God and each other. You can buy the book at www.amazon.com I hope you enjoyed the review!

Go and achieve greatness!

Cheers!

Emmanuel Ayeni

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THE SEEKER

Toda's piece is a different one...

I am not a 'Poet' in the real sense of the world, but I have my artistic and poetic side,this is about one of my first poems on this blog.

Enjoy!

The Seeker

I am a child of the Universe

The soul of the Universe is one

The Universe is one and I am one with it.

I am the seeker on a Quest

My quest is a search for truth and knowledge

The truth in Nature comes to terms with those who align with It

I am a traveler on life’s spiral road

Many companies along I meet

But the windy road is lonely ahead.

You are the Pilgrim on a pilgrimage

The road lies straight under your feet

The waiting world is yours to discover.

Emmanuel Ayeni

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5 BENEFITS OF CLEARING THE CLUTTERS

Recently, I wrote about clearing the clutters i.e. removing the unnecessary out of our lives. Today I will bring that to a close by looking at the benefits of ridding our lives of the clutters.

I identify 5 things clearing the clutters will do for you:

1.

It increases your productivity: I once had to use a Computer at work with old files and different folders scattered all over the desktop, all the times i worked on this desktop, I was only able to get half of the reports and works done in the required time, trying to navigate my way around different Icons. However, when I took time to sort out the unnecessary pile of files, I discovered work became easier and much fun to do. When you decide to clear the clutters in your life, your creativity increases by a jet propulsion, in fact you achieve much more in little time and with less resources all because you prioritized

2.

It energizes your life: I have discovered a number of times that when I have books (and I always do), old newspapers(mostly half-read) and several other things scattered all over my wardrobe or study, It usually saps me of my personal energy, I spent most of the time trying to figure out what exactly I need to do and in what order. This is because things haven’t been arranged and the unnecessary stuffs gotten rid of.So when I rearranged the books and materials, I got rid of old stuffs,that shouldn’t even be in there in the first place.And you know what? The study became more inviting to me, and I want to spend more time in there all because I feel refreshed and energized again.

3.

It keeps you focused on your goals: Removing the clutters in every area of our lives, makes us more focused, we know the people and things that matter and their rankings in order of priority. Do you remember how many times we wanted to do things, and we just couldn’t seem to ‘google’ it up all because everything is just out of place, it could be in the area of relationship, finance, career etc. I discover when I re-evaluate every project with action steps, it makes working on the important things easier and when things go wrong(which it sometimes could) I can have an idea of what could be the cause.

4.

It saves you more money and time: From my earlier example getting the unnecessary stuffs out of our lives, saves us more resources in time and money. The time that is put into planning and removing the clutters, helps a lot in saving much more time that would have been saved in figuring out things or locating the exact position of things at very demanding hours. Think of how proper budgeting can save a few more nairas or dollars spent on unnecessary areas or things.

5.

It simplifies your life: And finally, clearing the unnecessary clutters saves us a lot of stress and simplifies things. I remember how difficult a task it always was searching for a particular tool in our big tool box while growing up, all because we had all sorts of the old, the new tools stored up together. Who doesn’t want things in the simplest possible form? I am sure we all do. And that is what removing the clutters does for us.We can reach and do things faster, better and in the best possible way.

Till next time, go and achieve greatness!

Emmanuel Ayeni

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SUPER EAGLES' VICTORY: 160 MILLION REASONS TO BELIEVE IN NIGERIA !

Warning? This post is mainly on sports *smiles* sorry I had to take a break from our recent thread to bring in this piece.Enjoy!

I am writing and dedicating today’s post to Nigerian Super Eagles’ victory.

I am sure you know by now that this isn’t a blog on sport, and asides that, writing on sports isn’t my strong point (Oops! Did I just spill a secret?)anyways I am not the regular sport analyst or a soccer 'fanatic', yet that doesn't mean I don’t’ enjoy watching a good game, especially when its a great match like when my favorite Manchester United FC slugged it out with Chelsea FC or Arsenal in the European League or most importantly when our country’s national team the Super Eagles of Nigeria mercilessly crushed Burkina Faso at the finals of the, African Cup of Nations,AFCON in South Africa, yesterday!

The AFCON which started a couple of weeks ago finally came to a glorious end yesterday.

The high point of it all is that our own Nigerian Super Eagles won the Burkina Faso in the finals in a 1-0 victory.

The Eagles’ journey in this competition had been a surprising one. Apart from the fact that I ‘watched’ all the matches (except the finals ) online- right from work (smiles),I never knew they could come up strong in the end, After the first match that ended in a draw, everyone’s hope in the team had shrunk totally and personally my expectation of the team wasn’t high after all. In fact I saw many Nigerians over the social media call them ‘super chickens’ amongst other names, all to show a form of disappointment in the team.

What really rekindled this hope was when they won their match against Cote de Ivoire, in a 2-1 victory and got their ticket from the quarter finals to the semi finals, it was just like a twist of fate, and alas! almost everyone’s faith in the Eagles kept rising once again.

And it was a great and momentous victory yesterday when they did just that and lived up to the expectations of Nigerians who believed, Nigeria could still make history again and win the trophy for the third time.

I watched passionately yesterday alongside other viewer’s at the mesh, and with many patriotic Nigerian’s watching from different parts of the world, there was an uproar when the golden man of the match Sunday Mba, shot out like a bolt and made the winning goal in the first half, I tweeted in euphoria and also watched this same player occupy a ‘Worldwide Trend’ on twitter in that same hour!

The Eagles played so hard and well the game was filled with great tension –remember, I am not a sport analyst here, and of course, I will not forget the great save by Vincent Enyeama when the Burkina did try their best so hard. Stephen Keshi-The Big Boss did a great Job! And I will not forget to recount how much he dazzled me with his nice command of de langue de Francais during the interview/briefing after the match.

Different Fireworks from the ecstatic live crowd of Nigerians at the Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa and the gyrating crowd viewing the game from Teslim Balogun stadium in Lagos state all painted a joyful scene and the euphoria shared by all yesterday night, and like someone said ‘One good reason for Nigerians to be happy together’ i could also hear some ‘patriotic’ ones also demanding or expecting a public holiday.

To all the great players of the Nigerian Super Eagles, our own legendary Stephen Keshi ( you see one more reason ,why I still will always stick with homemade or home cooked recipes!*smiles*) and off course to about 160 million Nigerians, I say a hearty congratulations! And I hope I get a ticket to attend the banquet at the Presidential villa on Tuesday! *winks*

Till tomorrow!

Emmanuel Ayeni

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ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE: CLEARING THE CLUTTERS:

What does it mean to clear the clutter?

The year is rolling bye just as good as January is gone.I will continue to shed more lights on action steps to making the best of the New Year; you can read the 7 tips for a great new year here.

The important tip for today is clearing the clutters.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defined the word ‘clutter’ simply as ”a crowded or confused mass or collection”, in other words, it is anything that puts your life out of order or creates confusion or makes it crowded or lack organization. To clear the clutters therefore means ‘moving out the junks’ clearing out every thing that is unnecessary or that has no place in your life. Among other things, clearing the clutters means that you:

• Prioritize your life

• Organize your life(you might want to read my article on this here)

• Simplify your life

Clearing the clutters is a very important thing you should do not only in the New month or Year, but on a regular basis. I have identified some major areas in which you need to do this: Areas in which you need to clear the clutter

1. Clear the clutters in your thought life: Everything that goes on in you life starts at the level of your thought life, the quality of your life solely depends on the vibrancy of your thought life, hence the need to start by taking charge of this key area and weeding out any thought that is negative, pessimistic or that saps you of your energy and creativity. Thoughts to watch out for are that of fear, anxiety, rejection, depression filthiness or masturbation, one major not to allow negative thought to linger on in your mind. Spending time in prayer, meditating on God’s Word, reading motivational books, listening to good music and inspirational talks can be very helpful in this regard.

2. Clear the Clutters in your relationship: Life is all about relationships; Friendships, Fellowships, Partnerships, Courtships and more. When it comes to relationships most often than not you are always in charge of who enters and leaves the ‘ship’. On a regular basis, you will need to evaluate the various relationships in your life, define the expectations and responsibilities of the parties in it and also get rid of every negative alliance that kills your dreams or doesn’t help in making you a better person. Burn the bridges on unhealthy relationships that move you farther from God’s plan and purpose for your life.

You might also want to look into investing more time in family or spending more of your time with people who you care about and are important to you.

3. Clear the clutter in your finances: This is another vital part of your life, someone once said ‘money makes the world go round’. Allowing disorderliness in your life affects the level of freedom and peace you enjoy per time. Putting your life in a financial mess reduces your dignity and as a result your confidence and performance level. In fact financial problem is one of the major reasons for divorce and relationship break-ups today. Clearing the clutters as far as your finance is concerned means taking time to keep track of your finances through effective budgeting, offsetting debts and having a proper earning, savings and investment plan worked out.

It might be necessary to increase your financial intelligence by reading books on personal finance like Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Richest Man in Babylon by George Clanson and other books, you might also need to employ the help of a financial adviser.

4.Clear the clutter in work and career: Here you might need to look inwards into eliminating poor work ethics or habits. You might want to pay attention to your work place or work environment or even clearing out unnecessary Mails or books and lots more. Evaluating projects to see the necessary and unnecessary ones might also help in this regard.

5. Clear the clutter in your health: once again health is wealth: This is where you need to make decisions that will improve your health by a great leap. You might want to set a regular time for visits to the Doctor, or to the gym, rather you might want top take up an health insurance policy or give up any unhealthy habit like smoking or poor eating habits. Whatever decision you make, be certain it makes you a healthier person.

There are many benefits of clearing the clutters in your life and that is what I am talking about in my next article…

I wish you all a happy new month and God’s great blessings!

Cheers!

Emmanuel Ayeni

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