A letter to Matt. GP

I say this because it is true. I say this because you need to hear it. I say this because I need to let it out. I say this to you. I say from the heart.

Ever since I can remember you were by my side. Very few memories did I enjoy without you knowing about it. At my strongest you celebrated with me, and at my weakest you're still by my side. Blood surely is thicker than water but I'm not worthy to call you my brother.

Ever since I can remember you were by my side. Very few memories did I enjoy without you knowing about it. I had dreams. You knew about them. I still have dreams and you know about them. I've made choices, some bad some good but its only the bad ones that we choose to acknowledge.

Few years ago I made a choice, a big decision. I made it because I believed in it. I believed that I had to make it. So I did, I made that choice. I ignore all voices of reason, for at that time, my inner voice was the only voice of reason. I took no advice from anyone else, including you for I knew better at that time, or so I thought. Your support has never change, it has never came short or came doubtfully. For that bro, I thank you.

I from when we were young, I've promise you the world. For that's what I believed we deserve. I still believe that but have very little to show for it. We were not suppose to be at this place in life. I could not lift you up as promised. I could not lift myself up as hoped. I have failed on my promises. I have failed you, but I'm not yet done fighting. Don't bet against me yet, this horse still has a kick or two in it. Hang on bro, this is not the end. This is not my end. This is not our end.

You often described me as strong but quick to anger. I speak of me as I never hurt emotionally. You even go as far as to say you wish you were as strong as me. That's all not true bro, I wish I was as strong as you. Is not that I don't get disappointed, heartbroken or few weak or down. Not, its just that anger is a much easier emotion to display. I envy you man. After all you have been through, you still standing. Smiling and you forgave those who brought you pain. I'm not that strong. You are more of a man than I'll ever be. I thank God I have you in my life.

With this quote I close, "My head is bloody, but unbowed." - Invictus by William Ernest Henley

I AM AN AFRICAN

On 8 May 1996, then deputy president Thabo Mbeki made a speech to the people of Africa and the world. The speech tells of President Mbeki’s belief in the capacity of all people from Africa.

“Friends, on an occasion such as this, we should, perhaps, start from the beginning. So, let me begin.

I am an African!

I owe by being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land. My body has frozen in our frosts and in our latter day snows. It has thawed in the warmth of our sunshine and melted in the heat of the midday sun. The crack and the rumble of the summer thunders, lashed by startling lightening, have been a cause both of trembling and of hope… The dramatic shapes of the [landscape] have… been panels of the set on the natural stage on which we act out the foolish deeds of the theatre of our day.

At times, and in fear, I have wondered whether I should concede equal citizenship of our country to the leopard and the lion, the elephant and the springbok, the hyena, the black mamba and the pestilential mosquito. A human presence among all these, a feature on the face of our native land thus defined, I know that none dare challenge me when I say – I am an African! …

Today, as a country, we keep an audible silence about these ancestors of the generations that live, fearful to admit the horror of a former deed, seeking to obliterate from our memories a cruel occurrence which, in its remembering, should teach us not and never to be inhuman again. I am formed of the migrants who left Europe to find a new home on our native land. Whatever their own actions, they remain still, part of me. In my veins courses the blood of the Malay slaves who came from the East. Their proud dignity informs my bearing, their culture a part of my essence. The stripes they bore on their bodies from the lash of the slave master are a reminder embossed on my consciousness of what should not be done… My mind and my knowledge of myself is formed by the victories that are the jewels in our African crown, the victories we earned from Isandhlwana to Khartoum, as Ethiopians and as the Ashanti of Ghana, as the Berbers of the desert….

I have seen our country torn asunder as … my people, engaged one another in a titanic battle, the one redress a wrong that had been caused by one to another and the other, to defend the indefensible. I have seen what happens when one person has superiority of force over another, when the stronger appropriate to themselves the prerogative even to annul the injunction that God created all men and women in His image.

I know what it signifies when race and colour are used to determine who is human and who, sub-human. I have seen the destruction of all sense of self-esteem, the consequent striving to be what one is not, simply to acquire some of the benefits which those who had improved themselves as masters had ensured that they enjoy. I have experience of the situation in which race and colour is used to enrich some and impoverish the rest.

I have seen the corruption of minds and souls [in] the pursuit of an ignoble effort to perpetrate a veritable crime against humanity. I have seen concrete expression of the denial of the dignity of a human being emanating from the conscious, systemic and systematic oppressive and repressive activities of other human beings. There the victims parade with no mask to hide the brutish reality – the beggars, the prostitutes, the street children, those who seek solace in substance abuse, those who have to steal to assuage hunger, those who have to lose their sanity because to be sane is to invite pain. Perhaps the worst among these, who are my people, are those who have learnt to kill for a wage. To these the extent of death is directly proportional to their personal welfare…

All this I know and know to be true because I am an African!

Because of that, I am also able to state this fundamental truth that I am born of a people who are heroes and heroines. I am born of a people who would not tolerate oppression. I am of a nation that would not allow that fear of death, torture, imprisonment, exile or persecution should result in the perpetuation of injustice. The great masses who are our mother and father will not permit that the behaviour of the few results in the description of our country and people as barbaric. Patient because history is on their side, these masses do not despair because today the weather is bad. Nor do they turn triumphalist when, tomorrow, the sun shines.

Whatever the circumstances they have lived through and because of that experience, they are determined to define for themselves who they are and who they should be… As an African, this is an achievement of which I am proud, proud without reservation and proud without any feeling of conceit…
But it seems to have happened that we looked at ourselves and said the time had come that we make a super-human effort to be other than human, to respond to the call to create for ourselves a glorious future, to remind ourselves of the Latin saying: Gloria est consequenda – Glory must be sought after!
Today it feels good to be an African…

I am born of the peoples of the continent of Africa. The pain of the violent conflict that the peoples of Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan, Burundi and Algeria is a pain I also bear. The dismal shame of poverty, suffering and human degradation of my continent is a blight that we share. The blight on our happiness that derives from this and from our drift to the periphery of the ordering of human affairs leaves us in a persistent shadow of despair. This is a savage road to which nobody should be condemned. This thing that we have done today, in this small corner of a great continent that has contributed so decisively to the evolution of humanity says that Africa reaffirms that she is continuing her rise from the ashes…
Whatever the difficulties, Africa shall be at peace!

However improbable it may sound to the sceptics, Africa will prosper!

Whoever we may be, whatever our immediate interest, however much we carry baggage from our past, however much we have been caught by the fashion of cynicism and loss of faith in the capacity of the people, let us err today and say – nothing can stop us now! “

Posted in South African/International Politics Tagged: great african speeches, great speeches, greatest african speech, I am an african, nelson mandela, south africa, south african president, thabo mbeki, unity

Once upon a time in...

Once upon a time, life was good. The beauty of the world surrounded us. The possibilities were endless. People envied us. We were the perfect example to the world. Once upon a time in 1994 a leader stood up with his fist in the air we cheered for him. He was a symbol of hope and of courage, a leader from the dust just like me and you. For the first time in our history we had arrived. We had arrived in the land that we called our own. We no longer walked with our heads down but we walked like kings and queen. The youth became princes and princesses. The future became so damn possible you could almost touch it reach it if you reached your hand. It was a better tomorrow that so many had died for.
Time passed, leaders came and went. Time attempted to heal the wounds that we left by the past but time failed, because once upon a time we had a leader. Our leader was a symbol and the world revered him but he left our wounds untended. Did we become who we are because of our wounds? A nation once filled with possibilities and now a restless one. A land once filled with proud kings and queens. Our leader held our fair share of the cake but never shared it with us.
Once upon a time we were denied our human right. The right to be and reclaim our land. To once again stand glorious with the ululations and songs of our people. To have dignity, where a man could now be sure that his children would be well of. But instead we were given unfulfilled promises, a hope of a better tomorrow and nearly 20 years later we still have nothing. Along the way came prophets speaking of black consciousness, speaking of how we were meant to rule. We believed in them but still devoted our loyalty to a man that was said to be the messiah of his people. Again and again we put X to mediocrity and corruptions of the dogs that hide behind the colourful shirts of our leader. We stood there and watched. We watched as more and more kids ended up in the streets. Stood and watched as widows were left without a roof over their heads. Is this the freedom that we fought for? To be left jobless with nothing to do but spread HIV/AIDS in our societies. To be thugs and mongrels that inflicts pain amongst ourselves. Then they politely state our situation as a STAT that fluctuated year in and year out.
As they sit and sip their expensive bottles of Irish poison they look down upon us with pity. We put them up there and they step on us with their toiler made Italian shoes. As the world watches we still say that once upon a time we had a leader. Today he lays down celebrated, a man’s man they call him. He devoted himself to his people they say but kids, women and men still don’t have a home to go to. You tell me did we really have a leader or is he who the oppressor decided for us?

By: Matt GP

THE UNTITLED THOUGHTS

These are the crucial moments of our lives. We imagine ourselves as a type of people that the society has a different opinion towards. We classify ourselves according to classes that suit our career status and social background. We limit society from dreaming big and imagining a better tomorrow as corruption and greed have infested our land and leadership. We abort the ambitions and short term goals that can uplift our society with availing grants and creating rights with no responsibilities. It is as if no one cares, since no one has been tasked with looking after another person’s life.
Our lives are clustered with busy schedules, one never has a minute to stop and breath. This is the fast rolling fiasco that the 21st century has turned into. We then say we are a people that bask in the precious abundance of possibilities? The shameful deeds are masked with good PRO as man compares himself to the infinite God. While society stands and watches as technology fast tracks time into seconds. The responsibilities of the family unit are being passed on to care givers of a generation that finds their ideologies in the ready-made instant solutions from TV. Still we proclaim, we announce redemption and liberation to the people as we renounce and make mockery of their faith and hope in the little things that time after time have proven supreme.
Man dares to call themselves saviours and offers salvation to all those who offers their souls to an abomination of deceit and chaos. These are the critical moments in our lifetime. We harshly protest against rules and gladly accept immorality and disgraceful rituals and trends. For cannibalism has spread throughout our land, siblings feeding on each other’s failures. What type of people have we become? The little things that matter to bring us pride and joy have been locked away in closets of poor and needy. It’s a world of the rules of the jungle, the speed of light and the wrath of the violent waves of the sea. After all tears, the sacrifice and the lives given, this is all that we have chosen to be. A land still filled with hatred and a great devastation of separation.
I am for the world, I am for the generation that stands for change. I am for the generation that stands out and work for the lives of others. I am for the generation that stands for what is right and takes responsibility for their actions. I am for the nation that does good behind closed doors, which needs no media coverage for society to honour them and have favour upon them. I am for the kindness that is eternal, mercy that sees no colour and goodness that is forever. I am for a generation that lives with ambitions and dreams that will feed the empty stomachs of our children and elderly, a generation that will teaches boys and girls how to fish so they may go back and teach the young ones that come after them.
I refuse the immorality that renounces God in society. My ego comes last as my humanitarian pride is the abundance of joy that lives within me, that sees hope and holds faith for a better tomorrow. Take a decision to live for others, make the right choices and change the world. One step at a time we can make the world a better place.

By: Matt GP

Act of Random Kindness

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
― Edmund Burke

Evil: morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked (according to the dictionary). "Evil" cannot always be defined as an act, but sometimes as lack of action. Doing nothing can be as harmful/injurious as doing something.

I lived my life without bothering anyone. If something doesn't concern me, I don't interfere. If you do no harm to me, I do no harm to you. If you are nice to me I'm also nice to you. Maybe some of you may relate to this. This is how most of us were raised; to mind our own business.

Well, I'm grown now and these principles have been instilled in me from a very young age. They kept me out of trouble and led me to a comfortable place that I'm at today. Maybe that's the problem. You see, just like most people I'm comfortable!!! Comfortable with my life that I neglect those I can potentially help. Those that I can extent my hand to, those that are less fortunate than me. Those that are in need and most importantly, those that can't help themselves.

Living my life with ignorance that not all of us are privileged, saved me from the trouble of seeing the truth about the world we live in. The truth is, if one takes his/her time to look at the friend, neighbour or the stranger that you once met in need of help, well let's just say that comfort zone that you live in will not be that anymore. Helping those in need should not be a privilege but a human obligation for us all. After all, we do say "you are who you are because of others..."

One should develop an anger, a fire that will drive us from our comfort zones into action. We should be in arms fighting for the liberation of those who can not liberate themselves. Surely, this has to be the purpose of humankind, to use our brains and resources to uplift and empower those less fortunate. For I say to myself, and I say to you that, doing nothing is just as evil as doing harm.

All it takes is an "Act of Random Kindness"; by simply doing unto others as you would want them to do to you. This is not religion but the mere purpose of being human. I dare you, I dare myself to touch one life a day, even if it's just by greeting them. A "Hello" may sound simple to you and , but to someone else it's an acknowledgement of their very existence. Let me end by saying "Hello" my friend and thanks for reading.

Buttercup View

Its amazing how much a situation, a circumstance completely chances the minute you look at it from the other side. How you view a situation influences what you see. A different view point is the reason why so many of us look at one situation and end up with different interpretations.

What influences what we see? Does the object itself tell us what it is, or is it our mental interpretation that tell us what an object real is? One wise man once said "change the way you think and the whole world around you changes". I agree with this man's view. Imagine what a new set of view points can do to your world. We could understand our lives a little bit better, understand our surrounding, even the people around us.

Imagine the ability to view a situation from all possible angles, to see an object for what it really is not just for what we what it to be. Sounds exciting, maybe not because sometimes our view point protects us from the truth, something we do not wanna accept. "Buttercup View" looks at situations from a whole new point of view, a vantage point and that's what this blog promises.