Excerpts from a Prolific Thinker

  “The independence was barely two years old when the death knell for the African family” [1] Decottignies (1965). A few years ago, I remember being a young University student in Sociology in Paris, avid to understand my own continent and choosing, as naturally as it seemed to me, the “African family” as the subject of my assignment in my “Sociology of Family” class. Drawing by Linca Nikwigize   Check other arts pieces here  Natural. Or so did I believe. I thought I would be able to find ample and rich content on the “African family”, just like there is a rich body of work and analysis on other regions. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was (and still am) conscious that Africa is far from being a unique sociological entity. I was aware that what some would dare calling a country, Africa, was much more than the monolithic block that they envisioned. I understood that each region, each country and each Province holds a different arrangement of cultural, social, political and ec...

What is sense? What makes sense? How to make sense of something one hardly understands? The term “making” itself should orient the thinker into the process of manufacturing, creation. Sense does not appear, it is made, an intelligible and subjective arrangement of facts, occurrences, observations, knowledge and/or exposure which manage to create the precious and sought-after “sense”. Intelligible, at least, to the one confirming holding it. How do we create an intelligible thread between mere facts, occurrences, happenings and the theoretical framework in which our minds has been conditioned? Do we genuinely try and understand the what, the why and the so what of our daily encounters or do we, effortlessly, or with laziness, park each of them in the closest closet (or so de we assess) which will be given the arduous task of defining it? What happens when we try to make sense of the senseless and random occurrences. As Rolf Dobelli puts it, “the human brain seeks...

Our life on social media takes increasing space and progressively overtakes the reality of our being. That could be the underlying message of Stromae’s famous blue bird video clip. From an entertainment platform or means of communication, social media has progressively earned more and more influence on our lives and further, on our beings. Nowadays, the influence of social media on the formation of one's Identity is an area of research and analysis that many experts venture in. Social (and not only human) beings have come to internalize and accept the fate that they are bound to external forces in the process of building their behaviors, sometimes shutting down the outcry of their inner character, if ever available to them, that they fear would not fit what constitutes Society. A conception that we can witness, practically, through the common use of social media today. Human beings have been social from the very moment they were, but modernity bringing its own f...

Diving. Deep.  As deep as explorers eager to discover what lies within. Within the deep seas, those that impress and scare by their outstanding calmness. Or is it that their movement is so vast that it is unnoticeable to the explorer that ventures in their midst. Diving.  To discover or be uncovered in front of this giant, Self. Uncovered, yet undercover, where the mind becomes a refuge. The magnificence of the black moving yet unmoved reality that lies within. Or is it a foundation. Abysmal lifeform, dwelling as deep as the deepest oceanic trench. Almost 11,000 meters below the surface, the Mariana Trench reminds us that, just like our mind, what one could consider a hostile environment can prove a fertile soil for particular lifeform. Diving.  Acknowledging and naming the assumptions that are yet to be understood, and thus giving them a life. Where fears, doubts, anxieties, become part of a known reality and cease to have their mystical handle on our real...

Communicating in today’s world is as ambivalent as society itself, on the one hand it links people as it should, while on the other hand it operates as a simulacra, enabling individuals to fake connection when they are only creating air waves and not bridges. Communication is the framework in which we ought to exchange meaning, make sense of the surrounding, share a reality that we create together, as one body yet singular individuals. When human beings exchange with their fellow beings, they should share information, perceptions and values altogether and strive to express a common reality. Was it meant to create more cohesive groups and societies or polarize socially created opinions that individuals single out and fight for as their own? Is communication today what is keeping societies together by outlining a commonality of experience and understanding or has it become one that shapes and perpetually restructures our perception of the world, to the benefit of some groups which polari...

Laid foot by the Ocean. After a quite shaky flight to the well-known home of luxurious seaside beach resorts. Beyond the humidity that welcomes the unaware visitor at the exit of the plane, something about the ambient air reminds me of what makes me both hopeful and desperate about Africa. A capital of natural resources that has been, in modern times at least, underserved, and utilized with too little attention to sustainability. Like a  c ow  (the animal of thousands symbols in Africa) which, instead of being nurtured and carefully milked, was slaughtered and sold, because it takes less effort and the expected direc t return puts corn on the dining table. A cow, yes. One that could support the farmer plough its land, tirelessly giving milk to nourish newborn and elderly. A cow. One that was revered as a symbol for prosperity and long-term wealth, but now is milked to blood. When will Africa become more than a cow left to the desires of those than never saw it grow, nor walked...

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”   — Louis L’Amour Why I write? Well. Good question. Probably because it is easier than screaming my thoughts from my backyard and expect people to hear them and engage in discussions as a result. More seriously, I started writing to give my thoughts a wider and more structured space to blossom. I remember the first lines that came out, by the lakeside (not the worst view to get inspiration isn’t it) after a very early morning swim. With music in my earphones, taking advantage of a work break, I opened a blank word document and let my mind coordinate with my typing fingers on how to organize the many words, battling to come out. I wasn’t thinking while writing. As if the thoughts had been rehearsing the moment they would be jotted down on paper (or screen in this case). Few minutes and a couple of pages later, I stopped. As relieved from an unknown pressure. From that day I would look forward to ...