In Christ, however, there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, according to the Apostle Paul. It’s no stretch to say no black or white either. And certainly there is no curse or condemnation for those in the Messiah. What counts is faith acting in love.
Oh, how I wish we could sit and talk about this. I have so many scattered thoughts, I feel you could help hone them down to make sense. I'm thinking of how many Africans who are descendants of those who were scattered to the western world has so much different DNA in their genes, but are still scattered. But even those who are only of African native descent are still scattered from each other. Maybe I've been doing too much genealogy lately. But still you and I and those Christians around the world who would seem scattered, are really the same remnant that will remain. This is a lot to think about.
Jun 14, 2023·edited Jun 14, 2023Liked by Juliette Ochieng
Juliette, I’ve read your work and comments on several blogs and have always admired your wise, thoughtful responses. Although I am not as close to African American culture as I would like to be (I live in Idaho!), I lived and worked in Africa for most of my adult life. My kids were born in Africa (one was born in the same country where Madonna buys her children), which kind of makes my kids African Americans, which by virtue of me being their dad, makes me kind of an African American of the plain vanilla variety . As I write this, tongue resting in my cheek only somewhat, I am sure I will be pilloried for blasphemy. There is no way that I, a white colonialist oppressor, should have any part in this conversation. But I think I do.
I wonder if what you are closing in on is something about culture. Oh sure, blame culture, it’s everybody’s go-to when the conversation gets tough. Because I’m not as close to African American culture here as I am to, say, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, or South Sudan ways of thinking about things, I’ll stick with what I know, and I know a fair amount.
First, I know that in Africa, no sacrifice is too great to obtain an education. I worked at a small university in Zimbabwe and spent a lot of time with students from all over Africa. They shared with us in our home, we traveled to game parks together, we visited their homes, we talked long and deeply about things that matter to all of us, and we celebrated with them as they completed their studies. (My wife, who shares my bland pigmentation, completed her B.A. at that school, the first of her complexion to do so since the school opened in 1890.) Because of our long tenure in the region, we watched as our young friends grew into their careers and took on the burdens of leadership in industry, government, and the NGO world. Does that happen here? I don’t know, because I’m told it’s not my question to ask.
I have a close friend and former colleague who completed an undergraduate degree in Ghana. He then worked for several years to save enough money to complete his Master’s program in Nigeria. For several more years, he worked and saved his earnings at a job in Norway to pay his tuition and return airfare for a doctoral program in Michigan. He said that when he flew into South Bend, Indiana, he had $20 left, and he spent $15 for a taxi ride to the university. To pay for his living expenses and save for airfares for his wife and two children to join him, he picked cherries, he emptied bed pans during night shifts at nursing homes, he drove an old wreck of a car, and his wife and kids were with him when he graduated with his PhD. Is that a common thing here? I don’t know, because I am not allowed to ask.
I hired him, after he graduated, to be part of our international program management team at a large humanitarian aid agency. I quickly learned that I could count on his support to help resolve any problem, big or bigger, that came our way. We often traveled together to do our jobs in places that seem to have a lock on all the trouble in the world. After awhile, he found his special niche in our trade: how and what do we measure to know if our programmes did more good than harm. He became very skilled, both as a trainer and as a systems developer, in the field of monitoring and evaluation. He eventually accepted a position overseeing M&E at a large US government aid agency, and later went solo back in Africa providing his services all over the continent. Is that a common type of career trajectory here in the US for African Americans? I don’t know, but I hope so.
My experience tells me there is a can-do attitude in Africa that is every bit as potent as the one we used to brag that America had. My friend is no outlier, because other friends from Africa have enjoyed similar successes. Does it exist here in the African American community? Because there is no reason it shouldn’t.
I guess I wonder how we free our people from a reparations mentality to a can-do mentality? I’ve heard my friends from African ask how it is that so many people are left behind in a country so full of opportunities that the whole world wants to have a piece of it? They would tell me it is a software problem, and not a hardware problem. Is racism to blame for the problems we have? Yes, for sure, but did it hold back my friends? No it did not, because they weren’t soaked in the mentality that their problems in life were caused by someone else. I also see it as entire nations in Africa rise up to take their places in the world. I’m looking at you, Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda, and elsewhere across the continent.
So there it is. When and where do I show up for my turn in front of the firing squad?
Finally, and in case anyone thinks I missed the point of your essay, the people I referred to above are deeply spiritual individuals compelled by the love of Jesus to help heal a broken world and we don’t just call one another brother and sister; we are brothers and sisters, and children of God. It makes all the difference in the world.
In the Book of Jasher Chapter 7, the Jewish tradition teaches that Ham’s sin was stealing from Noah the skins God had clothed Adam and Eve with, and giving them to Cush, who gave them to Nimrod. https://www.psalm11918.org/References/Apocrypha/The-Book-of-Jasher/The-Book-of-Jasher-Chapter-07.html Apparently, the skins carried enough power to make him a mighty man—a tyrant—on the earth.
In Christ, however, there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, according to the Apostle Paul. It’s no stretch to say no black or white either. And certainly there is no curse or condemnation for those in the Messiah. What counts is faith acting in love.
Oh, how I wish we could sit and talk about this. I have so many scattered thoughts, I feel you could help hone them down to make sense. I'm thinking of how many Africans who are descendants of those who were scattered to the western world has so much different DNA in their genes, but are still scattered. But even those who are only of African native descent are still scattered from each other. Maybe I've been doing too much genealogy lately. But still you and I and those Christians around the world who would seem scattered, are really the same remnant that will remain. This is a lot to think about.
Compelling and well done! ❤️
Excellent and intriguing essay, Miss Juliette. Well done 👏
Juliette, I’ve read your work and comments on several blogs and have always admired your wise, thoughtful responses. Although I am not as close to African American culture as I would like to be (I live in Idaho!), I lived and worked in Africa for most of my adult life. My kids were born in Africa (one was born in the same country where Madonna buys her children), which kind of makes my kids African Americans, which by virtue of me being their dad, makes me kind of an African American of the plain vanilla variety . As I write this, tongue resting in my cheek only somewhat, I am sure I will be pilloried for blasphemy. There is no way that I, a white colonialist oppressor, should have any part in this conversation. But I think I do.
I wonder if what you are closing in on is something about culture. Oh sure, blame culture, it’s everybody’s go-to when the conversation gets tough. Because I’m not as close to African American culture here as I am to, say, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, or South Sudan ways of thinking about things, I’ll stick with what I know, and I know a fair amount.
First, I know that in Africa, no sacrifice is too great to obtain an education. I worked at a small university in Zimbabwe and spent a lot of time with students from all over Africa. They shared with us in our home, we traveled to game parks together, we visited their homes, we talked long and deeply about things that matter to all of us, and we celebrated with them as they completed their studies. (My wife, who shares my bland pigmentation, completed her B.A. at that school, the first of her complexion to do so since the school opened in 1890.) Because of our long tenure in the region, we watched as our young friends grew into their careers and took on the burdens of leadership in industry, government, and the NGO world. Does that happen here? I don’t know, because I’m told it’s not my question to ask.
I have a close friend and former colleague who completed an undergraduate degree in Ghana. He then worked for several years to save enough money to complete his Master’s program in Nigeria. For several more years, he worked and saved his earnings at a job in Norway to pay his tuition and return airfare for a doctoral program in Michigan. He said that when he flew into South Bend, Indiana, he had $20 left, and he spent $15 for a taxi ride to the university. To pay for his living expenses and save for airfares for his wife and two children to join him, he picked cherries, he emptied bed pans during night shifts at nursing homes, he drove an old wreck of a car, and his wife and kids were with him when he graduated with his PhD. Is that a common thing here? I don’t know, because I am not allowed to ask.
I hired him, after he graduated, to be part of our international program management team at a large humanitarian aid agency. I quickly learned that I could count on his support to help resolve any problem, big or bigger, that came our way. We often traveled together to do our jobs in places that seem to have a lock on all the trouble in the world. After awhile, he found his special niche in our trade: how and what do we measure to know if our programmes did more good than harm. He became very skilled, both as a trainer and as a systems developer, in the field of monitoring and evaluation. He eventually accepted a position overseeing M&E at a large US government aid agency, and later went solo back in Africa providing his services all over the continent. Is that a common type of career trajectory here in the US for African Americans? I don’t know, but I hope so.
My experience tells me there is a can-do attitude in Africa that is every bit as potent as the one we used to brag that America had. My friend is no outlier, because other friends from Africa have enjoyed similar successes. Does it exist here in the African American community? Because there is no reason it shouldn’t.
I guess I wonder how we free our people from a reparations mentality to a can-do mentality? I’ve heard my friends from African ask how it is that so many people are left behind in a country so full of opportunities that the whole world wants to have a piece of it? They would tell me it is a software problem, and not a hardware problem. Is racism to blame for the problems we have? Yes, for sure, but did it hold back my friends? No it did not, because they weren’t soaked in the mentality that their problems in life were caused by someone else. I also see it as entire nations in Africa rise up to take their places in the world. I’m looking at you, Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda, and elsewhere across the continent.
So there it is. When and where do I show up for my turn in front of the firing squad?
Finally, and in case anyone thinks I missed the point of your essay, the people I referred to above are deeply spiritual individuals compelled by the love of Jesus to help heal a broken world and we don’t just call one another brother and sister; we are brothers and sisters, and children of God. It makes all the difference in the world.
Thought you'd like this: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsVQNKlsaGD/