Independence means trusting yourself

His opinions are like water in the bottom of a canoe, going from side to side. (Efik)

Dear Zayda,

I imagine that you already have opinions of your own, deciding when you want to eat or when you have had enough to eat. Most of all, you probably have clear ideas on when you want to sleep and when you want to play. Babies are good at knowing what is on their minds. By the time we are grown up, however, many of us stop trusting out opinions. We may then change our mind depending on what the last person told us to do. This is when we go from side to side, confusing ourselves and others around us.

When I was a little girl, I learned this fable that was first told long long ago by Aesop who was an African.

An old farmer and his young son were taking their donkey to the market. The two of them walked along a path with the donkey beside them. They didn’t ride the donkey because they didn’t want the animal to get tired.

On their way, they met some people who laughed at them.

“You and your son are so foolish,” they said. “Why are you both walking when at least one of you could ride the donkey?”

The farmer thought those people were right, and he made his son ride the donkey. They went on a bit further and met a group of older persons.

“You are so foolish,” they said to the farmer. “How could you let your young son ride the donkey while you walk? Tell him to get down and let you ride instead.”

So the son got off the donkey and his father rode the animal. A little further along the path, they came across a group of women going to market.

“You are foolish and hard-hearted,” they said to the father. “How could you ride the donkey and leave your poor son to walk?”

The father then made his son ride behind him on the donkey. They had not traveled far when they met another group of people.

“You are cruel,” a man shouted at them. “How could you treat a dumb animal like that? Do you want to kill the poor donkey with all that weight?”

By this time, the market was close by, and the farmer wanted to get a good sale for the donkey. So he and his son decided to carry the donkey the rest of the way. They tied the donkey’s legs together and slung it from a pole that they hoisted on their shoulders.

When they reached the town, people laughed at the sight of these two men carrying a donkey.

“You are both so foolish,” the people said. “Don’t you know the donkey is supposed to carry you?”

The people laughed so hard that the donkey started to bray and kick. The rope that held him to the pole broke, and the donkey ran away. So the farmer and his son walked back home without the donkey and without the money from the sale of the donkey.

My grandniece, we can’t please all the people all the time. We can’t have opinions that go from side to side like water in the bottom of a canoe. We need to be open to changing our opinions, but not just because other people think differently. And we also need to know which views are not open to change because we hold them so deeply and for reasons that are important to us.

Blessings,

Your shangazi

Finding independence when fingers stop quarreling

If the fingers of one hand quarrel, they can't pick up the food. (East Africa)

Dear Zayda,

The British let go of Jamaica 48 years ago. Mostly we think of 1962 as the year when we got independence, but we still seem to be working out what independence means. So far, we seem unable to “pick up the food” because the fingers of the hand keep quarrelling.

Jamaica copied Britain’s habit of having two main political parties. The ideal is that people can vote for the party they choose, but after that the two parties work with each other for the good of the whole country. What actually happens is that the parties fight with each other and the country keeps losing.

When Jamaica became independent, one Jamaican dollar could buy more than one US dollar. Today, one Jamaican dollar can buy about as much as one US cent. We became independent when we left a federation of Caribbean islands. At that time, we were doing so well that we felt joining up with other islands would slow us down. Today, some of those other islands own pieces of Jamaica. I chose my bank because at the time Jamaicans owned it; today Trinidadians own my bank. Barbadians own at least one major insurance company that used to be fully Jamaican-owned.

Countries like Trinidad and Barbados have their differences, but they seem to unite when the fingers need to “pick up the food.”

Jamaicans seem to find all kinds of reasons to quarrel with each other. The two political parties, one with green shirts and the other with orange shirts, seem most united about splitting up the country between them. If green is in power, then green will eat. The same thing goes for orange. No politician seems to think we could have a system where all can eat: green, orange, or people who don’t care about either.

Both parties hardly ever work together for long, unless in a matter where politicians as a whole win and the people as a whole lose.

The people will unite for a little while. However, that is often about what they don’t want, rather than what they want. For example, in May the people were all angry with the Prime Minister for telling a lie and trying to cover up for a wrongdoer. So the Prime Minister had to apologise and try to correct his behaviour. That was like the fingers rejecting the food they do not want, but not being able to agree on what food they want. The people will come together at election time to vote out the party they do not want, but fail to demand what they want of the other party.

Some groups of people will also unite around other negatives. For example, far too many wish death on gay persons and persons who speak to the police (“informers”). Many are united in wishing extreme punishment (such as death) on those who break the law, or are even suspected of breaking the law.

But Jamaicans can unite around positives as well. We were one nation when our football team played in the 1998 World Cup. We are one nation when our athletes (especially Usain Bolt) do well. We are one nation in our love for the food of our ancestors. Many times Jamaicans return overseas with suitcases packed with roasted breadfruit and fried fish. Christmas is not the same without sorrel and dark fruit cake laced with rum. Easter is not Easter without spicy bun and cheese.

Let us hope, my grandniece, that Jamaica can find ways to bring the fingers together to pick up food by the time we celebrate our half century of the end of British rule. Perhaps we may then be truly able to claim independence.

Blessings,

Your shangazi