The God Above or The God Within?

Tags

Creation, God, Humanity, Religion, Science

A man dared to dream, he dared to reach for the sky

To challenge the Gods, he allowed not for his mortality to restrict him

He allowed not for his mortality to weaken his resolve, his mortality inspired him

To be mortal is to be human, to be human is to be complex

Immortality of deity has simplified the existence of the Gods

Mortality of humanity and its ensuing complexity, a reality they cannot relate to or comprehend

The Gods know what tomorrow will bring, the answer is known before the question is asked

For humanity there is discovery in everything, at every moment

Answers brings forth new questions and new questions bring forth potential new answers

 

The story of Gods, the story of man

A story of Master, the story of a slave

The story of deference, a story of domination

A story of worship, a story of jealousy, a story of envy

A story of entitlement, a story of ingratitude

 

Did man create God or did God create man?

Is God a manifestation of humanity’s inadequacy of understanding?

Is science a function of humanity’s growing ability to understand himself, herself and creation?

Is science a function of humanity’s conceit and challenge to the Gods?

Is science a rejection of the guidance of God?

 

There are those who wish to follow the path of God

There are those who wish to follow the path humanity can forge for itself

I will follow the path humanity has can set for itself

I will challenge the Gods; I will be a conceited human

I will reach the sky and tear down the veil

I will reveal its secrets, I will eliminate the myth

 

The Gods have led us astray; humans have led humans astray

Man has committed evil in the name of God; God has committed evil for the sake of man

The only path available is the path every man and woman must set for themselves

The path of righteousness is a path every man and woman must set for themselves

I will not seek guidance from the God above; I will seek guidance from the God within

I will seek guidance from the spirit within; I will seek guidance from instinct

The God above cannot be held accountable if he fails me

The God within can be held accountable if he fails me, if she fails, if I fail myself

 

The power of imagination, the power of creativity, the power of confidence

The power of charisma, the power of belief, the power of self, the power of “I”

I will harness these powers, I will mould these powers, and I will reach the sky

 

God was not there when millions were killed; God was not there when millions were raped

God was not there when millions were enslaved; God was not there when millions were kidnapped

Did they not pray? Did they not beg? Were they not prepared to do anything to be saved?

Did they not perish anyway? Were they not ignored? Have I lied?

 

So, I will be a conceited human; I will follow the voice of the spirit within

The God above has failed yet remains unaccountable

I will follow my path and when I fail I will hold myself accountable

With my own hands I forge and I can fail, I can also succeed

That is power, power I have taken for myself

The God above can look on impotently, I will press on regardless

With my own power I will either fail or succeed

With my own power I will hold myself accountable

With the spirit within as a guide, I will transform dreams into reality

My reality will become a dream, my dreams will merge with reality

Heaven will become my earth

A Man

Tags

Identity, Man, Masculinity

A man must grow. A man must not stand still. A man must push onwards. A man must learn from the past but always look to the future. A man must adapt. A man must have integrity. A man must have beliefs. A man must be ready to stand by those beliefs. A man must be ready to have his beliefs questioned. A man must have satisfactory answers. If a man does not have satisfactory answers then he must be humble enough to either revise his beliefs or discard them entirely. A man must discard beliefs which do not reconcile with material reality. A man must be strong, emotionally strong and physically strong. A man can be emotionally strong but physically weak. A man who is physically strong but emotionally weak is ultimately a weak man. He is half man. A man liable to have his emotions manipulated through the conduit of his fragile emotional state and susceptible ego. A man must have a plan. If a man does not have a plan he must start a plan. A man must be without a plan. A man without a plan is a man who will fail. He will fail himself and those around him. I failed when I had no plan. I succeeded when I had a plan.

A man must respect women. A man must accept women as equals. A man must not see women as enemies. An individual woman can be an enemy however he must not view the populace as such. A man must possess the conviction to say no to a woman. A man must recognise sometimes no is necessary, even to a woman he loves. A man must control his lust. A man must not be consumed by lust. A man can express authentic desire for a woman. A man must refrain from careless, indulgent lustfulness. A man must be aware of his ego. A man must be aware his ego is susceptible to manipulation. A man must conquer and tame his ego. A man must be humble, humility tames the ego. A man must not be arrogant, arrogance inflates the ego. A man with an inflated ego lives in a state of essential fragility. Ego – inflated by arrogance – will eventually destroy a man.

A man must recognise his weaknesses. A man must not lament his weakness. A man must address the root of his weakness and route to eliminating it. A man must recognise where he wins and engage adversaries on this advantageous terrain.

I am a man. I am a black man. I am a Nigerian man. I am a Yoruba man. I am also a British man. I am not an English man; I am a man who speaks English.

What kind of man would you like to be?

Black Woman

Tags

Black Culture, Black Feminism, Black Men, Black Women, Female Oppression, Patriarchy

 

“Why are black women always screwing bruv?” Well, there’s an interesting story about that.

When you’re the target of the most potent forms of sexism and racism. Cross and intraracial. Cross and intergender.

When you’re constantly judged, scrutinised, unappreciated, erased, forgotten – an afterthought.

“Her skin is too dark.” “Why can’t she wear her hair natural?” “Why is she wearing her hair “natural”? Ugh, it looks so unkempt.”

When the people you expect support from urge you to accept your fate quietly. The “retribution” you suffer when you refuse to go away quietly. When you choose to LIVE.

When frustrated, powerless men unleash their feelings of inadequacy upon you with vicious relish. Physical, sexual and psychological violence – their preferred methods of abuse.

When you’re constantly told you’re lesser than. You are “unworthy”. Your place is as a placeholder for “worthier” women.
When your womanhood is compared to others and prescribed as *lacking*. Deficient. Sub-optimal. Not as “valuable”.

When you are seen as someone to “upgrade” from. You are not “the one”. You are a consolation; a begrudgingly accepted one at that.

When the men of your community struggle to empathise with your experiences and dismiss your longing for understanding.

When the women of your community see you as competition instead of as a potential ally.

Over time this hatred is internalised. It can grip the soul, darken outlook, cynicism seeps in, the world becomes – an enemy. So you protect yourself. If I reject them first they can’t reject me – they only want to hurt me anyway.

But you don’t want to be pedestalised. You don’t want false praise or be patronised.

You want understanding and empathy. You want to be appreciated as a fully complex human being with flaws, too, but also with dreams to become better.

So, despite it all, you persevered. Despite it all, you survived. Your spirit was not broken. You retained your humanity. You remained human.

How did you do it? Who knows. You did it anyway. Now, despite persistent adversity you thrive.

You break new grounds. You scale new heights. You’re doing it your own way.

You learned from your experiences and forged a new path. A path true to your values.

Your vision is inclusive. You couldn’t comprise even if you wanted to. You are providing an alternative reality of what we really could be. Your promise is that of true righteousness.

I seek not to pedestalize or fantasise; I seek to appraise your real worth and confer due praise.

Perhaps, we should have looked to you all along. Perhaps? Perhaps.
 

Bhattousai

The Irresponsibility of Black Male Leadership and Its Lack of Intersectional Consciousness

Tags

Black Culture, Black Men, Black Women, Cultural Appropriation, Leadership

A few weeks ago I was reading an exchange on twitter between two black feminists. The topic of their discussion was essentially a lamentation of how black male hip hop artists were facilitating the erasure of blackness in hip hop and its accompanying appropriation by whiteness. T.I’s shameless, opportunistic and ultimately selfish and self serving promotion and endorsement of Iggy Azalea was used as a primary example. I agreed with their sentiment wholeheartedly.

Since that exchange the wider implications of their discussion and conclusion has been an intermittent source of thought in my quiet moments of reflection. It has led me to a preliminary conclusion; black male leadership without a balancing effect of black female intersectionally conscious leadership cannot be trusted as a custodian of black culture. Why is the centring of blackness in black culture (hip hop in this instance) important? Because it’s one of the few avenues in a world governed by global white supremacy and global white capital in which people of African descent can express themselves and their struggles unapologetically without censure or regulation. The only avenues for authentic black expression are platforms created by black people. There exists no other platform accessible to black people without the pre-conditions of saturation, dilution or erasure.

It is with this in mind that I have characterised T.I’s actions and Timbaland, additionally, as examples of irresponsible and anti intersectional black male “leadership”. The idea that whiteness can be invited into a black space without the conditions under which this invitation is taking place is methodically delineated and it’s potentially corrosive effect mitigated by self preservative mechanisms is laughable. The asymmetric nature of white structural power in relation to blackness demands this response.

For individual white artists, the desire to appropriate and dominate black culture might be absent, their involvement might genuinely be from a source of authentic inspiration, however, for whiteness and its superstructure of white supremacy as a foundational ideology, there is no room to share. There is no room for mutual appreciation, especially when blackness is concerned. The goal has always being and remains the same; complete erasure and complete domination. Now, the tools and mechanisms utilised to achieve this end has evolved over time to adapt to the changing racial terrain engendered by black radical thought and resistance but as the terrain changes so does white supremacy. It adapts, regains and then consolidates its “supreme” position.

I do not see contemporary black male leadership as truly revolutionary or transformative in service of the emancipation of the global black community. An emancipation of the totality of blackness in all its orientations and gender. What I see is assimilation, acceptance and promotion of white supremacist heterocapitalistic values. The only time the general black male populace wakes up from this hypnotic intoxicant is when it finds itself in the cross hairs of the more brutal, practical applications of this value system. I also see a proclivity towards the accommodation of co-option by a system which has being responsible for national, transnational and intercontinental degradation and dehumanization of black humanity for the past 500 years. To express this in more accessible colloquial parlance; I aint down and I aint gon be part of this bullshit. I see black male “leadership” cutting deals and making financial and socioeconomic decisions that might be personally beneficial but detrimental to the community as whole.

If black male leadership cannot be trusted to be an adequate custodian of black culture then either it makes concerted efforts to share that responsibility with black women or it completely hands over responsibility for said custodianship. I predict neither is forthcoming and if and when it does happen it won’t be by choice. Power lacks empathy and introspection.

A contrasting analysis between black male and black female leadership in regards to the custodianship of black culture can be seen in the Natural Hair Movement and black women’s staunch (so far and justified as far as I’m concerned) refusal to include white women in it. Whereas black male leadership sees opportunity for personal profiteering – having consumed and internalised capitalistic individualism wholesale – at the expense of the collective, black female leadership remains cognizant of the potential and historical example of erasure and refrains from such ultimately self defeating actions.

My aim here is not to claim that black female leadership is completely incapable of selfish profiteering, my aim is to state that it has a better overall track record and has displayed a higher level of integrity with respect to the protection and centring of black people in black culture. With the active black male participation and promotion of corporate Hip Hop, the Trojan horse by which white hegemony has co-opted Hip Hop and then not only used it as a hollow, soulless and debased profit making machine; it has doubled it up as a fratricidal counterrevolutionary vehicle against it’s more authentic and grassroots based counterpart.

Corporate Hip Hop and its practitioners expound a version of Hip Hop that has not only fully internalised the values of the white supremacist and white heterocapitalistic system, it actively promotes and celebrates it. This of course can be seen in the exposition of extreme materialism, consumerism, colourism, capitalistic individualism and the sexual exploitation of black women. Black male Hip Hop leadership with the actions of Timbaland, T.I, Pharrell and many others have aptly demonstrated that it is more than willing to barter the soul of hip hop and the ensuing white appropriation in pursuit of narrow, personal gratification.

Ultimately these actions are rooted in the fact that many black males in positions of leadership, in this instance Hip Hop, do not see themselves as guardians of the culture. They don’t examine and plan their actions in accordance with the societal context and the intersection within which black culture, black expression and the need for black centring in these spaces and its paramount importance in accordance with the tradition of black resistance to white domination. Their pursuit and ambition is limited to personal power and self-aggrandisement, if the culture suffers as a whole in the pursuit of such selfish, myopic aims, the implicit riposte through the irresponsibility of their actions is then “so be it, I get mine”.

We live in a system/society whereby as a black person in order to be successful financially and socially you are forced to compromise and saturate your blackness. Unfortunately this is a choice barring a few exceptions now and again many have been willing to make. The aggregate, detrimental costs of such actions are plain to see. Eventually a fork in the road has to be reached in which we say “no more”. Black male leadership has proven itself largely incapable of turning against this tide due to its misplaced priorities and compromised consciousness. The era of compromised integrity for personal, financial again at the expense of the collective must come to and end. If black male leadership won’t, can’t bring about this change then perhaps its time it handed over the reigns to black female leadership. The wait is over.

What Is Nigeria?

Tags

Nigeria

What Is Nigeria?

Nigeria is dishonesty. Nigeria is regionalism. Nigeria is corruption. Nigeria is sectarianism. Nigeria is ethnocentrism. Nigeria is intolerance. Nigeria is injustice. Nigeria is exploitation. Nigeria is the devaluation of human life. Nigeria is the dismissal of the sanctity of human life. Nigeria is violence, extraordinary inhuman violence. Interpersonal violence. Scattered, sporadic violence. Organised violence. Communal violence. State ordered violence. Religious violence. Political violence.  Nigeria is oligarchy. Nigeria is the failure of imagination. Nigeria is a dream. Nigeria is a nightmare. Nigeria is a dream and a nightmare. Nigeria is where dreams and nightmares coexist in the same street, in the same space, in the same vortex to create a mutated reality. Nigeria is hope. Nigeria is ambition.

Nigeria is where “big men” loot the country dry and are welcomed with open arms in the church and at the mosque. Nigeria is where the hungry, the desperate steal a packet of sweets and are burned alive, the people witness the spectacle with unrestrained glee, like demons in hell celebrating the impending arrival of a freshly despatched sinner. Nigeria is a giant, a gigantic thoughtless idiot. Nigeria is perseverance. Nigeria is patience. Nigeria is contradiction. Nigeria does not work. Nigeria works. Nigeria is an abused child of colonialism. Nigeria is the result of unresolved pathologies. Nigeria is the result of unresolved primordial ethnic rivalries. Nigeria is the failure of diversity. Nigeria is misplaced arrogance. Nigeria is chauvinism.

Nigeria is an appeal to morality. Nigeria is the appropriation and co-option of morality by immorality. Nigeria is where ethics is crushed. Nigeria is survival. Nigeria is the bastardisation of democracy. Nigeria is where *everything* is for sale. Nigeria is the disbelief in the sacred. Nigeria is a social time bomb. Nigeria is a demographic time bomb. Nigeria is an economic time bomb. Nigeria is the inculcation of narrow interests.

Nigeria is beauty. Nigeria is pilgrimage. Nigeria is home. Nigeria is yearning for fulfilled potential. Nigeria is confidence. Nigeria is bombast. Nigeria is envy. Nigeria is culture. Nigeria is the future. Nigeria is the past. Nigeria is hope. Nigeria could be redemption.

What is Nigeria?

On Ched Evans, The Purpose of Criminal Justice and Gender Polarisation

Tags

Ched Evans, Criminal Justice, Football, Gender Issues

 

Before beginning it’s important for me to list a number of qualifiers here and what the purpose of this essay is. First of all I don’t care about Ched Evans, I never knew who or what he was until he was released from prison after being convicted of rape and the prospect of him returning to football brought national attention (outrage). Secondly, my purpose here is not to defend him, what I’m seeking to do is highlight a numbers of wider issues that his case underscores, the nature and purpose of criminal justice and how gender polarisation poisons constructive discussion on what is admittedly an emotionally charged issue where partisan lines are quickly taken and any room for impartial discussion is effectively squeezed out. Thirdly, I’ve never been raped, to my current knowledge I don’t know anyone who has been raped and as a heterosexual man my subjective fear and the objective danger of me being raped are statistically speaking much lower than that of a woman. I am in no doubt that this matrix, intersectional and multiple layer of privilege allows me to discuss this issue somewhat dispassionately; a privilege an individual with a much closer emotional and experienced proximity to the issue can’t afford.

The Case

On 20^th April 2012 several news outlets released reports detailing Ched Evans conviction on a rape charge. A co-defendant Clayton McDonald was found not guilty. The rape is said to have occurred after McDonald, a childhood friend of Evans, picked up a woman in the early hours of 30^th May 2011. He is reported to have taken her back to his hotel where he later had intercourse with her. Evans is reported to have joined them later at the hotel and proceeded to have intercourse with the same woman.

When the woman woke up alone in the hotel room she found her clothes scattered across the room and is said to have reported to the police she had no recollection of the prior events. She eventually reported the incident to the police after suspecting her drink had been spiked. Evans and McDonald were later arrested. McDonald was acquitted and Evans given a 5 year prison sentence. Evans served 2 ½ years of his prison sentence before been released on license on the 17^th October 2014.

Where do we start? The outrage and intense emotional feeling surrounding this case at the moment is the prospect of Ched Evans been able to resume his football career after his rape conviction. The rational of one side of the argument is this – Ched Evans is a convicted rapist, a heinous and deplorable crime, therefore he is completely unfit to continue to prosecute such a privileged occupation in which he is nationally visible and a possible role model to millions of young children.

The other side of the argument goes like this – Ched Evans has served his time (technically he hasn’t, he is out on license and still has two years of his sentence left) and paid the debt to society for the crime he committed and therefore should be allowed to carry on with his life and resume his previous occupation as a footballer. Evans’s critics are not buying the latter argument. Public backlash has meant three different clubs, including his former club Sheffield United, have had to withdraw offers for his services due to public pressure, the latest been Oldham Athletic.

The Nature and Purpose of Criminal Justice

With consultation from the criminal justice’s official website under its aims and objectives section:

‘The purpose of the Criminal Justice System… is to deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent.’

Conviction, punishment, curtailing of recidivism and protection of the innocent. Let’s analyse each criteria carefully and see how it applies to this case. Ched Evans was convicted of rape and is now a registered sex offender (this incidentally prevents him from working abroad). Check. Punishment? He served half his sentence and is out on license and is eligible for employment. This prospect has sparked intense feelings and emotionally charged recriminations. Inconclusive. Stop reoffending? As of this very moment Evans is yet to commit any further crimes but it’s still early days. Inconclusive. Protection of the innocent? The victim of the rape had her name revealed on twitter after and during the trial. Although the individuals who released her name were arrested the damage was already done. She has been the victim of relentless, vitriolic abuse ever since, has had to change her name and moved houses 5 times according to her father. The innocent has clearly not being protected here. Out of 4 criterias we have 1 passed criteria (conviction), 2 inconclusives (Punishment & Recidivism) and 1 failure (Protection of the Innocent). It would seem that based on its own criteria the Criminal Justice System has not sufficiently prosecuted this case. Not only from the victim’s side but potentially from the convicted, as well, as I will later discuss.

The biggest bone of contention and the scene of the most intense levels of discussion however seems to revolve around criteria 2 from the previous paragraph, punishment. Supporters of Evans believe his conviction was sufficient enough punishment whilst his detractors believe that punishment should extend into denying him a reinstated career in football. They also accuse him of lacking true remorse and contrition due to his refusal to apologise for his actions and continued protestations of his innocence.

Rehabilitation & Reintegration

Part of the successful rehabilitation of a criminal back into society is one part the acceptance of responsibility for his actions by the convicted and how it impacted the victim and also giving the person a second chance so that they can turn their life around. This rehabilitation is complicated by two factors. Firstly, Evans still protests that he’s innocent and has to gone to the Court of Appeal twice to get his sentenced rescinded. His appeal was rejected twice and his conviction is now been reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to see if he can appeal for a third time. Detractors of Evans want him to apologise for his actions and show remorse but if he believes he is innocent and is still involved in a legal proceeding to get his conviction reviewed surely it is against his legal interest to apologise for a crime and conviction he is still contesting?

Secondly, anti rape campaigner groups and many members of the general public believe Evans should be denied re-entry into football occupation. They believe due to Evans’s conviction and the privileged position the occupation enjoys in society he in unfit to hold the position. They also state that for many victims of rape to see their assailant “carry on their lives as normal” severely damages their mental recovery. The argument presented is therefore that if Evans is to be reintegrated back into society it should be with the assistance of another line of profession and not a high profile one like football.

Due to his registration as a sex offender Evans is now bared from a whole range of professions and from jobs known as “regulated activity”; this includes teaching, social work, and posts which involve working with children or vulnerable adults. With the head of both the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) and Football League both publicly stating their approval of Evans returning to football and without any legal hurdles barring him, football is ironically one of the few professions Evans can work in without any restrictions but unfortunately for him due to its high profile nature one of the most susceptible to public pressure.

Gender Polarisation

One of the most startling aspects of this case has been the gender divide in the interpretations and therefore conclusions taken. Although the divide is by no means 50/50 the most divergent and antagonistic views have been between men and women. The issue of rape goes at the heart of relations between men and women with women often being the victims and men being the perpetrators. The issue is viewed through gender lenses and partisan lines are quickly taken. I believe empathy and mutual understanding should be at forefront of discussions like this in order to mitigate against a gender polarisation where the facts of the case is superseded by gender bias and personal ego investments.

For women this is a straightforward case of rape. Two men took advantage of a drunk, vulnerable woman, took her back to their hotel and raped her. She was incapacitated from alcohol, unable to give consent and yet the two men carried out their deplorable actions. Guilty as charged. Well, Evans at least. His friend Clayton McDonald was acquitted.

For many men who defend Evans, Clayton’s McDonald’s acquittal is very revealing. The question is why was McDonald acquitted and Evans convicted? It was McDonald who picked up the woman and took her back to the hotel where Evans then joined them later. The argument goes both of them are either both guilty or both innocent. If anyone should have been convicted then it should have been McDonald. This is an argument no doubt Evans legal team will present if given a third chance to go to the Court of Appeal.

Consent

The familiar refrain from anti rape campaigners is that no means no and that the absence of no does not equal yes. Of course. This is entirely sensible. The problem is consent in many cases isn’t as clear cut. There are instances where subjective judgment is required and the signs are not always easy to read. The sensible thing to do will be to err on the side of caution. So as soon as you hear “no” you stop, right? Well it gets tricky here because I can speak from personal experience where my lack of persistence has been derided as lacking aggressiveness or accused in other instances of lacking attraction and passion. And in some cases you add alcohol and other stimulants and the potential for the wrong judgement to be made expands exponentially.

Having said all that of course, no means no, absence of no does not mean yes and women’s wishes should always be respected. The only refrain here is out in the real world consent isn’t always as clear cut and there is often too much room for subjectivity and unfortunately in some cases the wrong decision is made. What we can do to alleviate these instances is to provide more education on the issue of sexual consent so individuals are better aware of their rights and areas they can potentially fall foul of the law.

Conclusion

If you made it this far, you have my sincerest gratitude. This is a long, comprehensive read. All I can hope is the quality of the content and overview provided justifies the word count. The debate around Ched Evans and the issue of the form in which his reintegration back into society should take will continue to rage on, an entrenchment of views on both sides seems to be the only consensus between opposing detractors/critics and “supporters” of Evans. My only hope here and if a possible benefit can be unearthed from this affair is that it sparks a broader discussion that I think society at large requires greater edification and clarity on which is better education on the nature of sexual consent, criminal rehabilitation and reintegration, faster execution and more efficient prosecution of criminal justice and better victim protection.

Thanks for reading.

Related Links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30697264

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17781842  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-17677969  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30727729

http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/purpose-criminal-justice-system

http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/purpose-criminal-justice-system

http://www.cjsonline.gov.uk

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-cut-crime-and-deliver-justice-a-strategic-plan-for-criminal-justice-2008-to-2011

http://www.itv.com/news/2014-12-28/ched-evans-rape-victim-forced-to-move-house-five-times/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2888732/Ched-Evans-s-rape-victim-forced-FIFTH-time-flee-trolls-Attorney-General-comes-fire-father.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29679563

 

Masculine Feminism, an Introduction

Tags

Female Oppression, Feminism, Male Domination, Masculine Feminism, Patriarchy

The success of feminism over the past 50 cannot be overstated or denied by even its most ardent detractors. From the economic to the political to the educational and aided by the technological women have gained a level of freedom (in the west at a minimum) unparalleled in history. However, there remains a last bastion of resistance against the seemingly unstoppable march of the feminist crusade, the average everyday man.

My basic premise is this: if we accept the idea that men can truly be feminists (there is still some dispute if they truly can), then the next question is then, can men practice feminism the same way as women? For me the answer to that question is no. For a number of reasons. Feminism is a movement for the integrated and comprehensive political, economic, cultural and educational emancipation of women from male patriarchal domination. If patriarchy is then dominated and maintained by men, benefits every man at the disadvantage of women and imbues them with an undeserved privilege at the expense of women, how then can an individual male who is part of this oppressive superstructure and who benefits from it whether he chooses to or not, can such an individual really practice feminism the same way as a woman who is the target and oppressed by such a structure? My personal view is he can’t.

Living in a patriarchal society with its daily indoctrination and incessant propaganda to the effect of women’s inferiority; most men are simply not mentally equipped to take on the fight of feminism in the way it is currently presented. I believe part of the hostility and outright rejection that forms the overwhelming response by most men to feminism is the fact that it is presented in shock therapy form and low and behold the patriarchal patients aren’t responding well to the shock therapy.

If you ask most men whether they believe in the equality of the sexes the majority would answer in the affirmative. Now if you go further and ask them to take a more concrete position such as affirming themselves as a feminist their reaction becomes more defensive and in many cases drifts into antipathy. I will take a slight digression here and state my personal views on feminism.

I am not a feminist. I am an advocate of gender equality between the sexes but I do not personally view myself as a feminist due to my individual conception of what feminism is. I believe feminism goes beyond just labels and definitions. It’s a way of interpreting the world, understanding the world, your place in it and how you fit in it as a woman. Feminism can also be applicable to men but at its core feminism is female empowerment. It gives women – primarily – the intellectual, philosophical, spiritual and literary arsenal to take on a world which because of their physiological and biological differences to men deemed them inferior.  Simply put feminism, I believe, is more useful in the hands of women.

Digging deeper, if feminism is capable of all these wonderful things how come I’m not indentifying as one? Because my recognition of equality between men and women is instinctive and logical and this instinctive and logical acknowledgement was arrived at without the aid of feminist praxis or activism. Hence feminism has and I don’t believe will ever form the basis of my belief system although it is/can be a valuable addition.

So if I am not a feminist what is my purpose with the presentation of or the expansion of the idea of Masculine Feminism? Because I believe feminism needs to be modified for a male audience whilst still aggressively centring women. When feminism is introduced to a male audience the latter is maintained while the former suffers. The result is a hostile and defensive audience intoxicated by patriarchal male privilege resistant to the sober message of female centred feminist gender equality.

Could a multidimensional, multidisciplinary framework modified to the needs of men be constructed that takes a man at the height of his patriarchal conditioning, leads him step by step through a feminist detoxification process and places him at a final destination of patriarchal emancipation? If it can be imagined it can be achieved. I believe imaginations are premonitions of future realities yet to be realised. I’m aware the idea of making feminism more appealing to men has been explored across numerous avenues but what I’m proposing here is a reimagining and then standardisation of that process which I’m labeling as Masculine Feminism.

If feminism is to make gains beyond its traditional constituency of women and make inroads into the male electorate it will have to meet them where they currently are and then plot a deliberate circuit to its destination. It must of course remain female centring whilst also incorporating the needs of masculinity. The proposed conduit for this is Masculine Feminism.

If I Was President of Nigeria

Tags

Boko Haram, Goodluck Jonathan, Kano, Nigeria, Terrorism

In the wake of the devastating Kano bombing in Northern Nigeria’s economic epicentre I thought to myself what would I say and what would I do if I was president of Nigeria. In a country divided along religious, ethnic and regional lines Boko Haram’s terrorist onslaught should be a rallying point to which the whole country should unite against, lead by the Commander-in-Chief. Instead the opposite has happened, conspiracy theories has enveloped the conceptual understanding of the crisis and thrown facts out of the window. Tribalism and a history of inter ethnic squabbling has meant that many Nigerians view Boko Haram’s terrorism not through a national lens but a tribalist lens. “Boko Haram is a Northern/Hausa problem and not our problem” so the sentiment goes among many south of the country. In the North too many believe Boko Haram is a machination of the South to bring the North to its knees. However it’s the inept, apathetic, incompetent leadership of Nigeria starting with the President that has played a crucial role in the calamitous response to Boko Haram’s murderous rampage.

I believe however that although many innocent lives have been lost the lives of those lost will not have been in vain if the ongoing tragedy is used to unite and bring the country together. Nigeria is still a young country, just over 50 years past its independence from the British Empire and still struggling to find a national identity that can unite its religiously and ethnically diverse citizenry. Many young nations have used an existential crisis whether brought upon by an internal or external foe to unite its people and forge a new identity; United States of America, France, Russia, Iran are a few examples that spring to mind.

With this in mind after the Kano bombings and with Boko Haram growing ever bolder due to their many successes capturing towns in the North East of the country, if I was the president I would have gone to the scene of the bombing addressed the gathered crowd and made the following speech:

First of all I want to express my deepest condolences to the latest victims of Boko Haram’s ongoing acts of atrocity against the great state of Nigeria here in Kano today. I want to assure the citizens of Kano and elsewhere that the federal government is leaving no stone unturned in its pursuit of the terrorists who carried out this act. Irreplaceable loved ones have had their lives extinguished by an enemy who knows not what mercy is, who knows not what restraint is, who is utterly devoid of a moral compass except the sociopathic and psychotic pursuit of its unattainable goals through the bloodshed of innocent citizens.

I condemn today’s act in the strongest terms possible. Boko Haram through their fanatical zeal and demonic slaughter of our citizens has taken us to a crossroad. Make no mistake the future and unity of our country is at stake. Yes, the potential consequences of the peril in which we find ourselves in is that grave. Distrust and mutual suspicion is rife. We have citizens instead of uniting against a threat which ultimately threatens us all hurl accusations and conspiracy against one another. We have reached a crossroads but we also have a choice. There are two paths. The path in which we give in to our most distrustful emotionally indulgent urges, a path where we allow Boko Haram to turn us against each other, where we attack each other because it’s the only thing we know. It’s the only thing we know how to do well. It’s the only thing we’ve been doing for the past 54 years after freeing ourselves from the imperial claws of the contemptible British colonialists. This path I can assure you will lead to our collective ruin. The bloodshed and loss of life that will ensue will make even the inhuman Boko Haram hordes wince.

The other path available to us is the one in which we come together to properly appraise the Boko Haram threat, seize the moment, engage the enemy together in Holy and Just warfare and defeat it together. This is the path of unity. Quite frankly this is the only path available to us but due to our history the most difficult path to take. However it is the only path that will ensure total victory and salvation for all of us. You are here today, you can witness the carnage and destruction for yourself, this is the result of playing games with human life when you unleash forces of nature you cannot ultimately control.

With the cultivation of religious fundamentalism, fanaticism and ethnocentrism we took a peek into hell with a foolish curiosity draped across our unthinking faces and it dragged us inside. Now we must escape from hell. I don’t know what you can call this but to me this is hell. Men, women, children, young, old, father, mother, son, daughter have been slaughtered as if their lives meant nothing. The blood and charred remains of precious human lives lay strewn across streets and pavements. This is hell. We must escape. We must escape now before it drags us deeper inside. We can escape. We can defeat Boko Haram but only if we do it together.

Defeating Boko Haram however will not be easy. As well as the external enemy we also have the internal enemy. The 5^th columns, those who wish to sabotage the war effort from within. Those who wish to thwart the bravery of patriots in the armed forces and amongst the citizenry. They will not succeed. Their selfish determination to pursue their narrow and myopic ends will be overmatched by our determination to bring justice and peace to this country. I call on all Nigerians; all patriots from all walks of life, all ethnicities, all religions and all regions who are actively invested in the future prosperity of this country to take a stand today and demand no more! No more mindless bloodshed! No more conspiracy, blame games, infighting and squabbling! Let’s go forth into battle, engage the enemy and defeat it together!

[The End]

The speech is designed to seize the moment, articulate the feelings of the people and the present conditions, unite the people around a common goal, offer a solution, a condition that must be met to in order to carry out the solution, drive the people collectively towards that solution, warn the people of potential pitfalls and hurdles and then a final march towards a collective victory whilst simultaneously building a unifying national identity born through struggle together that will serve the country well into the future.

I am well aware that it will take much more than a speech to unite the country’s primordial and contemporary political asymmetries but it is a starting point. A signal to the people that the Commander-in-Chief has an accurate appraisal of the seriousness of the situation at hand and is willing to fight and protect he’s people. Right now the perception is that of apathy and uncaring callousness on behalf of the leadership of Nigeria, a perception I might add that reflects a concrete reality. A speech such as the above will inspire the people, give them confidence, hope that although they are currently suffering, better days are ahead if only they hold on and fight together. Utopian and idealistic I can hear naysayers squeal but eminently achievable if collective mind is put to task. Hope is all we have.

 

Bhattousai.

An Appeal To Blackness

A Travel Through Time

“Whiteness” and the idea of the “white race” was constructed in Anglo-America as a uniform identity for European descendants and immigrants. It was created as a socioeconomic control mechanism to counteract and sabotage labour class “interracial” solidarity. This identity was then consciously adopted in European societies & settler European colonies with differing variations and nuances. Since whiteness in its origin in America was constructed as anti “negro”/African-American, African-Americans constructed “Blackness” and a “black identity” as a response.

However unlike white identity which has been uniformly adopted globally by Europeans, “blackness” has not been by people of African descent. Many Africans and descendants of Africans in the Diaspora do not accept or want to identify as “black”. They prefer to primarily identity with either their tribal or cultural “heritage”. Even if that cultural “heritage” is that of the colonising and enslaving European power. Dominican Republic is an extreme example of this. Culturally and psychologically Dominicans do not view themselves as descendants of African but as “Spanish”. The brutal treatment of their darker skinned neighbours in Haiti is well documented. Although Dominican Republic represents an extreme example the general failure of people of African descent to unite under the banner of blackness at the global level has wider disadvantages vis-a-vis combating white supremacy.

Tying It Together

Although they engaged in imperialist capitalist competition European imperial powers were united ideologically in view of their superiority towards non white groups. In wake of the devastating effects of WW1 & WW2 European powers learnt ethnic tolerance and how to compartmentalise their differences with regards to each other. Through the final evolutionary form of the civilisational pan-Western European construct of “The West”, Europeans politically formalised their ideological uniformity. Bretton Woods, NATO, World Bank, World Trade Organisation, G7, IMF, OECD. Don’t be fooled by the “International” or “World” to make them seem inclusive. These organisations are ideologically European focused, white supremacist and neoliberal capitalistic. They represent European political, military, economic and ideological consolidation. Now with that slight detour and background setting; how does this tie into Africans and people of African descent’s failure to collectively unite under the banner of “blackness” and its consequences?

Declaration and Appeal

I believe that as black people whether you’re in the Carribbean, Americas South/North, Europe or Africa itself our fates and conditions are interconnected. Everywhere in the world you go even in Africa or “black countries”, the black masses occupy the very bottom of the socioeconomic grid. Do you think this is a coincidence? No. Our collective condition is not an accident. It is by design. In a world governed by global white supremacy in which our collective degradation sets its foundation a responsive consolidation of blackness as an all encompassing identity is the only sensible and pragmatic response available.

We see each other’s tribal/ethnic/religious/national/regional differences but white supremacy does not. We are dehumanised monolithically. One man cannot win a battle against a team of individuals. So why do individual black groups think that they can go up against white supremacy on their own? Why do Africans think they are exempt from the struggles of black Americans and vice versa? When we face the same common enemy and common oppression? Pockets of resistance will be crushed unless they connect with the wider global struggle. Our selfishness and tribalism only serves to optimise our continued oppression.

When you choose to opt out of blackness and choose tribalism you’re choosing to opt out of the conduit of your eventual freedom. The struggle and battle to defeat global white supremacy will not be won alone. It will take collective global solidarity. There will be no lone heroes. The “hero” will not be American, Jamaican, Brazilian, South African, Nigerian etc. The “hero” will be blackness. We were/are oppressed together so why do you want to win your freedom alone? We will win but only together and under the banner of blackness.

Peace.