IMAGE: CIFEJ.com I spend considerable amounts of time around my nieces and nephew. Partly because they are home with my folks. Partly because COVID-19 has restricted my movements. Partly because they are the most adorable beings I have come across. They are nine (eldest niece) and twenty months (twins) respectively. Bar sickness, once they are... Continue Reading →
WISDOM FROM THE MOTHERLAND
IMAGE: DREAMSTIME. COM I love literature! I am deliberate about being diverse in my reading. I try to read as much literature from as wide a geographical pool as I can. One of the things I have discovered is that literature from different parts of the world have certain distinguishing features. For African literature, the... Continue Reading →
ON WRITING
Billy Osogo The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly changed life as we knew it heretofore. With severe restrictions on movement imposed by most governments, there's only so much one can do. Part of what I have had more time to do during this pandemic is to read widely. There's something exclusively inimitable about the written word.... Continue Reading →
OH SNAP!
By Billy Osogo "Educate, Empathize and Empower all!" That was the comment by my friend SnapDragon X on my previous piece. A brilliant choice of words, if I do so say myself! As I mentioned heretofore, the subject of racism is one that we must continue to have genuine conversations on. Educating yourself, allows you... Continue Reading →
ON BIG NOSES
IMAGE: OXYGEN.IE (*Sniff*Sniff*) Do you smell that? Imagine living in a world where the size of your nose determined the quality of your life. A large nose would guarantee you access to good schools, quality healthcare, higher wages and everything in between. Conversely having a small nose would automatically disenfranchise you from everything that people... Continue Reading →
BRICK WALLS
Death is a subject we seldom discuss yet we know it is inevitable. A few years ago I attended a requiem mass for a relative at the Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi. It was a teary and somber service. A sniff would start in one corner, a pain-laden sigh in another and soon, the entire building... Continue Reading →
TWO FOR THE ROAD
IMAGE: PINCLIPART. COM Paulo Coelho in his best-selling book, The Alchemist, writes of children; “A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” COVID-19 hit Nairobi sometime in March. That's... Continue Reading →
ON THE TRUTHS WE HOLD, THE POWER OF WORDS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN
Happy New Year! I recently watched in shock the chaotic scenes at the US Capitol building. The brazzen attempt to subvert democracy seemed almost impossible for the world's most advanced democracy. Another reminder that democracy, like a baby, needs round-the-clock tending to. Even more reason to look forward to January 20th. One hopes that Joe... Continue Reading →