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.