If I could teach one thing what would I teach?

It always so hard to write when I am given a topic to write about and I find myself struggling to connect with it because it’s not something I organically came up with but I will write as honestly as I can. Since Precious asked me to contribute to his blog, who am I to deprive him of my talent… (Wink)

I recently came across the word ‘Black Consciousness’ and the works of Bantu Stephen Biko, the father of the Black Consciousness Movement. I have seen this work before and know about Steve Biko but it never impacted me like it did this time around. I think it also has to do with my maturity levels and how I view society that made me understand what he was trying to teach.

Black Consciousness is a philosophy that aims to emancipate blacks from mental slavery that still inhabits in their minds. Black people’s inferiority complex might not be as evident in 2012 as it was in the 1900s but it’s still shows in other ways.

If I could teach one thing, what would I teach? Well, in the words of Steve Biko, I would teach black people that ‘Black Is Beautiful’. I think I would go as far as to indoctrinate black people at birth with that belief so that it never escapes their minds and they never think otherwise. With all that said, don’t misunderstand me and think what I’m saying has anything with racism. I am not in any way saying that black people are better than any other people. All I want to do is making my people not think otherwise of themselves.

This black empowerment philosophy has been around for a long time and Steve Biko adopted the teachings of men like W.E.D Du Bois and his evaluation of the double consciousness, who echoed Black Nationalist Martin Delany's insistence that black people take pride in their blackness. Postcolonial thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, Léopold Senghor, and Aimé Césaire also helped shape Biko’s understanding of the importance of ‘Black Consciousness’.

The Black Consciousness Movement is still relevant today and I see that it’s a teaching that needs to be taught to the people so that we can eradicate the sub-humanness that still shadows black people in their everyday lives.

‘Man, you are okay the way you are. Black is beautiful’ said Biko.

Learn to love yourself and your blackness because there is nothing wrong with being black.Embrace and take pride in being black. You can try to lighten yourself and cover your natural crown with unnatural locks, but the fact remains. You are and will always be black.

If I could teach one thing, I would teach Black Consciousness.

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Source: Anita Sikutshwa (www.lovemyavo.com. @lovemyavo)

Conventional is a good fall-back position isn’t it?

According to online dictionary (con•ven•tion•al/kənˈvenCHənl/) it an adjective based on or in accordance with what is generally done or believed (Of a person) Concerned with what is generally held to be acceptable at the expense of individuality and sincerity.

Conventional is a good fallback position when you realize that something you wanted to try out for the first time doesn’t seem to work out the way you had anticipated, you can always conform to the accepted standards which people have come to accept as the norm. So conventional doesn’t always work well for other people, being different can lead to various opportunities and experiences.

I behave in a specific way, and even if I don’t want to acknowledge it but I am conforming to society’s norms all the time. I have been in situations where I wanted to do my own thing, but I get so caught up being conventional. According to (Dani Rall) I hate it when people care so much about what others think of them. Nothing can suffocate a person’s inner being more than this. If you want to dance when there is no music, then do it.

http://stephvanassche.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/conventional_wisdom.jpg
 

My opinion: I think being conventional depends on current situation. I will say that conventional is not always a good fallback position. I think sometimes people need to be pro – active in order to arrive at their desired destination. I perceive conventional fallback as negative not positive.

According to online dictionary (con•ven•tion•al/kənˈvenCHənl/) it an adjective based on or in accordance with what is generally done or believed (Of a person) Concerned with what is generally held to be acceptable at the expense of individuality and sincerity.

Conventional is a good fallback position when you realize that something you wanted to try out for the first time doesn’t seem to work out the way you had anticipated, you can always conform to the accepted standards which people have come to accept as the norm. So conventional doesn’t always work well for other people, being different can lead to various opportunities and experiences.

I behave in a specific way, and even if I don’t want to acknowledge it but I am conforming to society’s norms all the time. I have been in situations where I wanted to do my own thing, but I get so caught up being conventional. According to (Dani Rall) I hate it when people care so much about what others think of them. Nothing can suffocate a person’s inner being more than this. If you want to dance when there is no music, then do it.

My opinion: I think being conventional depends on current situation. I will say that conventional is not always a good fallback position. I think sometimes people need to be pro – active in order to arrive at their desired destination. I perceive conventional fallback as negative not positive.

What did u want to be when you grew up?

My biggest and most influential Dream when I was a child is to go into music and I wanted to travel around the world, and also help children who are suffering and also help in developing my country.  I could not wait to grow old and I kept on telling my parents about it. It got a stage that I told my parents that at the age of 21 I should be driving my own car and at the age of 23 I will have my own house and by the age of 25 I will be engage and at the age of 27 I want to start having kid, well in my phantasies it was so easy and it was possible.

But believe me, as I was growing older I had to realize that there is no easy way to follow such plans and that I can’t save the world. Rationally seen, I got to know I won’t fulfill my dreams anytime soon, but at least I keep on remembering what was in my mind and try to make a way to not let it die completely.

I am 23 years old, and am currently doing my B-tech in Public Relations Management at Cape Peninsula University of Technology. I have a lot of dream, and am a very talented person but I don't know what I want to be when I am grown up. Funny me who on earth doesn’t know what they want to be at the age of 23? Well I guess there is no one but me, what I can say because it’s so hard to choose from things that you are very good at.

Like me, I am good at dancing and I so wanted to go into dancing, am good at entertaining as well, and lots of my friends, and people who are close to me told me that i have all it takes to be a good movie star and I should be acting. I have lots more ideas but these are the top ones, and there are many more thing I want to be and I hope that one day my dream comes true.

I believe dreams we have as a child are quite important, we do not think of a career or how to make a lot of money at that time, all we think of is what is on our mind and in our heart.  Sometimes we should look back and ask ourselves if that dream is still in us…

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You cannot chase two rabbits at the same time.

Consider this quote: "if you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both." It is an old Native American saying that seems to be ignored by today's society. "Stay focused on one thing, trying to get everything will get you nothing."

Hopefully, each person reading this blog has at least one or two or three goals for themselves. Goals (or aims or objectives) are almost like a roadmap that leads us to our destination (the goal). It’s good to chase after and work at achieving your goals, but chances are your success rate will be much higher if you focus on achieving one goal at a time, rather than chasing after many all at once.

It means you should focus on one thing at a time. If you go hunting, you can't hunt two rabbits at the same time. They will run in different directions and distract you from each other. In fact, some animals do this purposely. If you hunt only one rabbit, you have a far greater chance of catching it. Similarly, if you focus on one task at a time, you will complete it faster and better. If you think you can pull off working on three things at once, you're wrong, even if you've done it before. If you focus on one at a time, you'll do better on each job.

I’ve often found myself chasing two (or more) rabbits at the same time. I found this to be very true. For me, life is more about the journey and reaching the end goal is just the bonus.

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Do you think crying is a sign of weakness or strength?

The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secret motor phenomenon characterized by the shedding of tears from the lacrimal apparatus, without any irritation of the ocular structures". A related medical term is lacrimation, which also refers to non-emotional shedding of tears.

My definition of crying would be: It is a reaction to a very emotional (in a negative and positive way) long-term situation or event, and to release the body from its tensions, we share tears. In many cultures it is accepted if children and women cry, but for men to cry is often considered as weakness.



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To me personally and independent of gender, I think crying is a sign of strength, except for those who use tears for their own purposes. First of all, if one is able to cry, the person is brave enough to show his or her real emotions and for that one needs a high self-esteem. If one reaches that point and cry, no matter who is around, one knows who he is and do not mind what people think. The person puts his or her emotions first, then proud and shame second.

Everybody knows that after crying, in secret or in public, we feel released. The worlds looks a little bit different, we get calmer and are able to think fresh. We don’t have to turn our emotions into aggression or take it out on other people. Every tear clears the soul a little bit more and shows us who we are, so why would that be a sign of weakness? Crying is indeed a sign of inner strength… 

“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you only have one idea” (Alain).

According to Alain, “Nothing is more dangerous than having an idea when you only have one idea”. Well, the point that Alain is making is to be open minded by being open minded is to have more ideas than just one idea.

Brainstorming is the key to developing an idea. With only one idea, you will never know how it can be improved. It’s like creating a concept for an advert. If you only use one person’s idea as opposed to bouncing ideas around a team, you will never know if your idea could have been turned into a great idea.

An idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are interpreted as representational images, such as images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts. Many philosophers consider ideas to be a fundamental category of being. The capacity to create and understand the meaning of ideas is considered to be an essential and defining feature of human beings.

Think about it – you might have an idea right now that could change not only your life, but the lives of those around you forever. Allow yourself to imagine the possibility of making that idea a reality.

As I start moving closer and closer to my final days of being a student, it is killing me not knowing where I'm going to end up or what I am going to be doing in life. I have a few ideas as to which categories of public relations I would like to go into at least, but that's about it. There is a saying that says "failure to plan is planning to fail". This is true is some cases, but when it comes to not knowing what the future holds, it's a whole different ball game.

An idea is indeed a very dangerous thing. I wonder what our world would be like if the great inventors of the past (Thomas Edison, Einstein and Steve Jobs for instance), did not act on the ideas that they had for great inventions and theories. One thing would be sure – the world as we know it today would definitely not be the same.

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Have you figured out the second head fake?



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Randolph (Randy) Frederick Pausch was an American professor of computer science and human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In September 2006, Randy learned that he had pancreatic cancer and in August 2007 he was given a terminal diagnosis: "3 to 6 months of good health left".

He gave an upbeat lecture entitled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" on September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon, which became a popular YouTube video. He then co-authored a book called The Last Lecture on the same theme, which became a New York Times best-seller. Randy died of complications from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008. This “last lecture” is what is given by professors as if it was the last one they will ever be able to give. Randy’s last lecture was on the topic: “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”.

The end of the lecture, it turned out, was just the beginning.

 

In his presentations, he spoke of working hard, achieving your own dreams, overcoming obstacles, seizing every moment… and at the end of his speech asked the following:

Did you figure out the head fake? It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself; the dreams will come to you. Did you figure out the second head fake? The talk’s not for you. It’s for my kids.

To understand this better you need to know that the “head fake” he is speaking of means learning something indirectly or an indirect message … as he said in his speech:

“Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly (by head fake)” and “The best way to head fake someone in education, is to have them learn something while they think they are learning something else”.

• You cannot change the cards you are dealt. Just how you play the hand.

• Don't complain. Just work harder.

• Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.

• Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

• "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let them do it."




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

A skill set called leadership



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Some people are born to lead and some have to be taught to lead. Leadership is about having influence so people can follow you. A leader cannot lead if there are no followers and there can't be followers without a leader.

The influence that a leader has can either be positive or negative. As we know there are great leaders that led people to destruction. Looking at leaders like Stalin, Hitler and Mugabe, these leaders had/have great power to influence their followers. Leadership is a great skill to have, however there are people who confuse threatening or bullying people with leadership. Followers willingly abide with instructions given by their leaders and believe what their leader is saying to be correct.

 

People often make the mistake in assuming that all managers are leaders or that in order to lead people you need to be in an authoritative position. This is not true. To me a real leader influences people in such a way that they work toward a common goal that they believe in.

According to Corporate Training Materials.com, it said that leaders are born, not made. While it is true that some people are born leaders, some leaders are born in the midst of adversity. Often, simple people who have never had a leadership role will stand up and take the lead when a situation they care about requires it. A simple example is parenting. When a child arrives, many parents discover leadership abilities they never knew existed in order to guide and protect their offspring.

Once you learn the techniques of true Leadership and Influence, you will be able to build the confidence it takes to take the lead. The more experience you have acting as a genuine leader, the easier it will be for you. It is never easy to take the lead, as you will need to make decisions and face challenges, but it can become natural and rewarding.

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“Rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read.” (Frank Zappa) -Comment



Frank Zappa was an American music god, who sadly passed away in the early 1990s. He was definitely one of the better musicians of years gone by and if he had to be around today, he would probably have more to say about ever present pop music and the over glorification of this kind of music.

Before his death he made the bizarre statement that “Rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read.”

In any case, for those of you who don’t know Frank Vincent Zappa, he was an American self-taught composer, performer and writer of more than 30 years as well as record engineer and producer. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist who gained widespread critical acclaim with a lifetime achievement award in 1997. Zappa’s known for his diverse musical influences that led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. He died in 1993 from prostate cancer and had four kids from his wife Gail who manages the Zappa Family Trust today.

The comment made by Frank Zappa about rock journalism is one of great substance. Musician Zappa, according to quoteinvestigator.com, made this comment in 1977 during an interview for the Toronto Star newspaper. Lets break it down a bit further to fully wrap our heads around what is being said. Zappa is alleging that:

- A rock journalist is someone who cannot write;

- The interview recipients of rock journalists cannot talk; and

- Those that enjoy rock journalism cannot read

The bottom line of what is being said in this statement is that rock journalism is for the simple-minded, and is dull, lifeless and insignificant.



http://stephvanassche.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/blue-rock-roll-design.jpg?w=384&h=269

Although my knowledge and interest in rock is a bit limited, I do not agree with the statement made. Granted, I do not know much about the rock genre of music, or rock journalism for that matter, but being a journalist, I know, is no easy feat. We live in a world where the problem is not the lack of information, but the abundance of it. Journalists have the task of gaining people’s attention around relevant information.




Picture Reference

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List your top 200 achievements.

I guess we all have more than 200 achievements to talk about, but I have no clue on how to count all my 200 achievements, however, For each day I live since I was born is an achievement.
However, being human makes me take life for granted. In our daily lives we plan and set objectives, though, we plan and set goals without knowing if tomorrow will come.

I don’t have to mention what I have achieved because it will sound as though I want to prove a point. Well, there is no statement to make because my whole life is a success. Every day that comes I learn something new and I build on it, the following day the same happens and so does life goes on. I believe in learning and developing on what I have learnt and therefore, take each process an achievement.

I do say the most important thing is that i am blessed beyond measure in life. Thank God for that...

Who do you love and what are you doing about it?

I guess the first thing that comes to most people’s mind, is to say “my parents”. That is exactly what came to my mind! Why? First of all they gave me life. But most important they know me better than anyone on this earth, they love me for who I am no matter what kind of weaknesses I consist of, their love is the only unconditional love I know and I know it will last as long as we will be together on this earth.


They give me peace of mind, support and show me respect. Through the pain, they stick to my side and accept every decision I am making. Deep down inside I know that their deepest wish is to see their children happy. What is left for me to do than do my possible best, and also to give them back as much as I am able to.

To show them love, support, respect and try to make them happy. They made me who I am! As long as I live, even though I am an adult and have my own kids our parents-child relation will last forever...

What motivates me?

It's a fair question, and one that ought to be asked, what motivates me most in this life is my faith in God. This year is going to be big! But then I think each year has been like that for me. I like to learn, to be better and to achieve.


 

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As a kid this never came easy. School wasn’t hard but it certainly wasn’t easy either. I would spend a lot of time on tasks that other people seemed to be able to do far more effortlessly than I could. Hmmm… is this still the case? Not sure, but I know I still work hard at things. I believe in Karma and that if you do good, stay respectful, tolerant, and open-minded, focused and accept difficulties and try to make the best out of it there is a way which is already planned for me. We have the blessing to live on a beautiful place called earth.

We must appreciate everything that God gave us, our surrounding, beautiful landscapes and animals. There is so much to discover and it is my motivation to get to know more beauty, especially the beauty of diversity that is what too many people don’t understand. It is my motivation to fight against prejudges and against pictures people have in mind when it comes to “the others”, no matter if its nationality, religion or whatever people use to separate themselves from each other.



I won’t get tired of working on that, to me it makes the world a better place.



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I am?

I am whatever you say I am and if I don’t, why will I say I am? 

I am a child of God. I know that he put me on this earth for a reason. 

I am Precious Wagbafor. I am originally from Nigeria and I am a student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town campus. I am currently enrolled for a postgraduate diploma in Public Relations Management. I am a very responsible individual, humble, creative, a person who’s able to adapt to different situations and integrate well with others. 

As a Public Relations Management student I am equipped and have knowledge about issues like: the Functions of Communication, Community Relations, Customer Relations, Employee Relations, Media Relations, Mediation, Publicity and Speech-Writing. Then, my philosophy in life is that, a person without a vision in like is planning to fail. 

Honestly, i don't have time to hate people who hate me, cause I'm too busy loving people who love me. 

So I am whatever you say I am and if I don’t, why will I say I am…