Captain Ibrahim Traoré, 37 years old, is the interim leader of Burkina Faso. France, colonizer has been sent packing and he is overseeing a thriving economy. Now, if he can avoid being corrupted by power and continue to care for his people–that would be a change that other leaders could emulate.
Burkina Faso has achieved a groundbreaking milestone with the launch of its first electric car, developed entirely by the Burkinabe car manufacturer ITAOUA. This innovative vehicle, created using local resources and expertise, showcases the nation’s growing industrial and technological capabilities. Picture and excerpt from article–https://www.thehabarinetwork.com/burkina-faso-unveils-its-first-locally-made-electric-car
What don’t you see? Not a white face. We don’t need the white colonizer’s input to achieve. Never did and never will! Did the car have to be painted white?
Ecclesiasticus Chapter 12 (From the Book of Wisdom, a Book of the Apocrypha–writings by ancient Jewish scholars which are not generally accepted as scriptural.)
1If you mean to do a kindness, choose the right person, then your good deeds will not be wasted.
2 Do good to someone devout, and you will be rewarded, if not by that person, then certainly by the Most High.
3 No good will come to one who persists in evil, or who refuses to give alms.
4 Give to the devout, do not go to the help of a sinner.
5 Do good to the humble, give nothing to the godless. Refuse him bread, do not give him any, it might make him stronger than you are; then you would be repaid evil twice over for all the good you had done him.
6 For the Most High himself detests sinners, and will repay the wicked with what they deserve.
7 Give to the good, and do not go to the help of a sinner.
8 In prosperity you cannot always tell a true friend, but in adversity you cannot mistake an enemy.
9 When someone is doing well that person’s enemies are sad, when someone is doing badly, even a friend will keep at a distance.
10 Do not ever trust an enemy; as bronze tarnishes, so does an enemy’s malice.
11 Even if he behaves humbly and comes bowing and scraping, maintain your reserve and be on your guard against him. Behave towards him as if you were polishing a mirror, you will find that his tarnish cannot last.
12 Do not stand him beside you in case he thrusts you out and takes your place. Do not seat him on your right, or he will be after your position, and then you will remember what I have said and sadly admit that I was right.
13 Who feels sorry for a snake-charmer bitten by a snake, or for those who take risks with savage animals?
14 Just so for one who consorts with a sinner, and becomes an accomplice in his sins.
15 He will stay with you for a while, but if you once give way he will press his advantage.
16 An enemy may have sweetness on his lips, and in his heart a scheme to throw you into the ditch. An enemy may have tears in his eyes, but if he gets a chance there can never be too much blood for him.
17 If you meet with misfortune, you will find him there before you, and, pretending to help you, he will rip you up.
18 He will wag his head and clap his hands, he will whisper a lot and his expression will change. (emphasis mine) Excerpt from https://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=28 (Some editions of The King James Bible contain Ecclesiasticus, but it is in Old English and I prefer a more modern translation.)
Ecclesiasticus is about discernment. Discernment–the power to see what is not evident to the average mind; stresses accuracy (as in reading character or motives or appreciating art); the power to distinguish and select what is true or appropriate or excellent. Merriam-Webster Dictionary Somewhere, long the way, many of us have lost this critical insight. We want a sound bite to suffice in making crucial decisions that will affect us and our future. We refuse to see the monster sitting or walking beside us because we want what that monster has and damn the consequences. James Baldwin said something about looking at others with empathy. But, at some point, discernment, the ability to recognize the truth of what you’re dealing with, must kick in. Empathy, when dealing with a raging, irrational beast, will get you killed.
Circa the first century C.E., the patriarchy and its attendant misogyny were entrenched. Have you read the Book of Enoch? It was written circa the First Century C.E. and there are no females in Enoch’s vision of heaven. The angels are all male. That is also true in the Bible–not one named angel is female. I know absence of reference does not mean they did not exist. But it is huge red flag that women were not considered important enough to be mentioned or to be in the front row of the angels surrounding the throne. In Ecclesiasticus, another book written by Jewish scholars, the male is glorified and the woman is noted rarely and, when she is noted, she is treated as a child, a possession, and in a condescending manner.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Excerpt from The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus (The poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.)
Why not change those words of compassion and hope for the lived truth of today? For surely the words below speak truth to the current mind-set of the sad excuses of human beings who are seizing power from the people.
Give me your greedy, your rapists
But only the toxic people we deem “white”
Your child molestors, your proud misogynists
Send these, to spread their evil blight
To serve their bogus king
Five million dollars…fresh hunting/grifting grounds
For the monied vile who kiss the ersatz ring
The door is open for the voracious hounds
Sometimes writing about my feelings of hopelessness makes me feel better. Lately, that has not been the case.
I was sitting in my car when I noticed this red-headed woodpecker(?) diligently going after its meal of larvae or whatever. I think this is a red-bellied woodpecker from looking at the pictures of woodpeckers that are common to the southeastern United States.
One moment can change a day, one day can change a life, and one life can change the world. Buddha
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