I recently saw a commercial for the hit show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" where a character stood in front of a world map and X'd out the entire continent of Africa as he was talking about all the places in the world he'd like to see. As I close in on my trip to Malaysia and get into more and more discussions about going overseas, I can't help but notice how little love Africa and respect gets
from people of all races, backgrounds, and ages. I guess I can understand because this (pictured to the right) is the Africa we see on television everyday. I won't lie, as far as setting up internships, it was not on my short list of places I wanted to go either. However, I think it would be a great place to go for a developmental or more service-related experience. And that's the sad part, that's what the image of our great mother continent has become - a charity case, a backwards place that you'd only go to in an effort to help them. For the continent that was the birthplace of humanity, culture and intelligentsia in the civilized worldd, this represents quite a fall from grace. The glorious history ranges from Kerma (the oldest society known to mankind) to the Kingdom of Kush to the Nok Civilization to the Marvelous Kemetics (the Egyptians as the Europeans named them), arguably the most influential empire ever in terms of knowledge that helped shape current society, through the Great Kingdom of Zimbabwe even up to the much more recent Kingdom of Ethiopia under Haile Selassie. People from all over the world used to come to the Kingdom of Mali to learn from the wealth of intellectu
als, spiritual advisers, and skilled tradesmen at Timbuktu. The Kemetics (the Egyptians once again) were doing advanced mathematical calculations, performing complex surgeries, and even creating an alphabet and astronomical system long before the rest of the world had anything near their organized wealth of knowledge. But unfortunately Europeans came violently, raping and enslaving the lands and their people, from which the bulk of the continent has never truly recovered. Ever since it has been a land devoid of the unity and prominence it once had. Brutal civil wars, widespread corruption, sluggish response to epidemic diseases, and a number of other factors have set the continent behind much of the world it helped invent. I try, just as I hope that most of the world will try, not to lose hope for the world's 2nd largest continent. With an injection of commitment and morally-centered leadership, the nation still has the people and resources to harness some of its amazing potential. But just as with many topics, it has to actually happen. I hope it can. I also hope that one day I'm in a position to help it happen. I dream of the day where the Cradle of Civilization is once again the wonderful and Majestic Land that it's capable of being. Real Talk...
from people of all races, backgrounds, and ages. I guess I can understand because this (pictured to the right) is the Africa we see on television everyday. I won't lie, as far as setting up internships, it was not on my short list of places I wanted to go either. However, I think it would be a great place to go for a developmental or more service-related experience. And that's the sad part, that's what the image of our great mother continent has become - a charity case, a backwards place that you'd only go to in an effort to help them. For the continent that was the birthplace of humanity, culture and intelligentsia in the civilized worldd, this represents quite a fall from grace. The glorious history ranges from Kerma (the oldest society known to mankind) to the Kingdom of Kush to the Nok Civilization to the Marvelous Kemetics (the Egyptians as the Europeans named them), arguably the most influential empire ever in terms of knowledge that helped shape current society, through the Great Kingdom of Zimbabwe even up to the much more recent Kingdom of Ethiopia under Haile Selassie. People from all over the world used to come to the Kingdom of Mali to learn from the wealth of intellectu
als, spiritual advisers, and skilled tradesmen at Timbuktu. The Kemetics (the Egyptians once again) were doing advanced mathematical calculations, performing complex surgeries, and even creating an alphabet and astronomical system long before the rest of the world had anything near their organized wealth of knowledge. But unfortunately Europeans came violently, raping and enslaving the lands and their people, from which the bulk of the continent has never truly recovered. Ever since it has been a land devoid of the unity and prominence it once had. Brutal civil wars, widespread corruption, sluggish response to epidemic diseases, and a number of other factors have set the continent behind much of the world it helped invent. I try, just as I hope that most of the world will try, not to lose hope for the world's 2nd largest continent. With an injection of commitment and morally-centered leadership, the nation still has the people and resources to harness some of its amazing potential. But just as with many topics, it has to actually happen. I hope it can. I also hope that one day I'm in a position to help it happen. I dream of the day where the Cradle of Civilization is once again the wonderful and Majestic Land that it's capable of being. Real Talk...
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