Understanding ourselves and the world we live in.
Billy Osogo Last week, I wrote on the plight of South Africa. South Africa is still in my scope of focus. For good reason. Just three days ago, the world marked Mandela Day. A day named in honor of the South African-born, larger-than-life, global peace icon, Nelson Madiba Mandela. He is many things to many... Continue Reading →
For most non-Africans, South Africa is Africa and Africa is South Africa. Make no doubt about it, that's as ignorant as it gets. Nonetheless, the ubiquity of this thought speaks to the prominece of Africa's most industrialized nation. Home of Nelson Mandela. Yet, if the events of recent days are anything to go by, Mandela... Continue Reading →
Billy Osogo In my post last week I quoted Mario Vargas Llosa and made a clarion call to all writers. This week, I am maintaining Llosa as my source of inspiration and calling on all readers. In his amazing book Letters to a Young Novelist Llosa writes: "Read constantly, because it is impossible to acquire... Continue Reading →
I find writing to be an immensely rewarding investment of time. Whether it's writing poems like my friend Ellen or plays like my friend Jack Canfora. Whether it's journaling, writing short stories or full length novels. I came across an excerpt that struck a chord. It's by Nobel Prize Winner Mario Vargas Llosa. In his... Continue Reading →
Billy Osogo Last Sunday was Father's Day. A day when we stop to celebrate and appreciate the father figures in our lives. Whether biological, a guardian or someone who simply performs that function. You get the picture. I spent sometime reflecting about my Dad. Due to the nature of his profession, he wasn't around much... Continue Reading →
Proposed by SnapDragon X. Softly Singing, 2021. Original Photo by SnapDragon X. All rights reserved. How do you treat other people? This one might be rhetorical. Or not. You choose. . . . Spread love, yo. . . . SnapDragon is a writer, artist, and homemaker. Follow Snippets of SnapDragon for a little bit of... Continue Reading →
Accidental Beauty, 2021. Original Photo by SnapDragon X. All rights reserved, yo. Take this moment. Just for you. Your body. Your mind. Your purpose. Breathe it in. Then let it out. You are beautiful. . . . SnapDragon is a writer, artist, and donut enthusiast. Follow Snippets of SnapDragon for all kinds of goodness, yo.
Billy Osogo : Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles delivered one of the most beautiful pieces of art when they wrote Ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese word that put simply translates to: "The happiness of always being busy." The authors write on a broad spectrum of Japanese life. One of the things that's stuck with me... Continue Reading →
Billy Osogo Njia panda is the Swahili word for crossroad. Every now and then we find ourselves at a njia panda. Two opportunities arise. Too good to lose. Yet a choice must be made. Sleepless nights kick in. Pulling out of hair begins. Mental paralysis makes itself at home. The simple truth is that there’s... Continue Reading →
A Slice of Heaven, 2021. North Carolina, USA. Original Photo by SnapDragon X. All rights reserved, yo. Inside this chest pounds a heart so steady. Inside this head lives a brain so alive. And somewhere in between rests a spirit so gentle, even the tiniest of scratches leaves a scar. . . . How would... Continue Reading →
Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso was a man ahead of his milieu. He spoke bluntly and decisively. Even though a bullet cut his life short, his words, like his legacy, have outlived even his detractors. In an interview with a Swiss Journalist, Sankara said: "You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of... Continue Reading →
Billy Osogo I conscientiously followed the trial of the ex-officer responsible for George Floyd’s death. For 9 minutes and 29 seconds he pocketed as his knee snuffed the life out of a helpless, unarmed, handcuffed George Floyd. 331 days later his actions caught up with him. He was found guilty of all charges. Speaking after... Continue Reading →
A Messy Reflection from Yours Truly. . . . Greetings from my warm, bird-chirping corner of the globe, Dear Reader. I’m in my bare feet, I have a tall iced coffee within reach, and approximately half an hour or so of solitude. Here I am. And, simply put, I’m a mess. Top-knot hairdo. Disheveled clothes.... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
-Previously posted on Snippets of SnapDragon- Always There, 2021. Digital Art by SnapDragon X. All rights reserved, yo. So I sat down with amateur blogger SnapDragon X., to ask her a thing or two about life. She wore an over-sized teal dress/shirt thing, which she said seems to have become her unofficial uniform as of... Continue Reading →
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 →
Tired Beauty, 2021. St. Andrews State Park, Florida. Original Photo by SnapDragon X. All rights reserved, yo. Greetings, Dear Reader! The SnapDragon Family is currently on the road, seeing some sights during this all-too-depressing season of lockdown during winter in Pennsylvania. (starts shivering, and hides head beneath a blanket) We’re cozied up in our Berkshire... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
