Author: #SilentNoises ~knm

An open letter to Educators and School Support Staff

Hi wonderful educators and support school staff,
We are back to another school year. A school year that is doggedly marked by two thriving events.

A pandemic that keeps turning in and out amidst twists and turns like a kite on a windy day and the other is what systemic profiling is bringing to the fore: Racism- in this day and age, AD 2020.
It is the issue of racism that I worry about. I worry because racism is not something one is born with but rather it is an acquired habit. It is assimilated during growth and becomes inherent in actions and deeds as one grows. No matter the sphere of life that black people find themselves in, there is always something put in place purposely to identify and segregate and keep the black and other minority suppressed.

Today I plead with you, to look within yourselves. I plead with you to be vulnerable to yourselves. I plead with you to have the patience to listen to that minority; to find out why they are troubled; to find out why they are being disruptive.

Have you ever gone to bed without food? Have you ever slept in the dark when all your neighbors have light? Have you ever been without meds because you cannot afford them? Have you ever worked a low income job simply because you cannot climb up the ladder? Have you ever been denied help only for you to see another being given the same help you were denied? Have you ever experienced your mother being handcuffed in front of you because she tried to put food on the table? Have you ever experienced your father being hand cuffed and taken away from you or your father being shot in front of you?

I am not asking you to babysit anyone but I am asking you to be patient and have a compassionate heart towards the minority.

Think about this. By our very actions we demean and practice racism from an inherent position hence the need to clean our hearts.

Thank you for reading and understanding
Respectfully
#Silentnoises

They will go to church on Sunday
They will be prayed for and forgiven
Where are the so-called clergy now? Do black lives not matter?
Do blacks have another color of blood?
Do blacks breathe different air?
Are blacks’ aliens?

They will set up committees to investigate
Because black lives don’t matter
They will exonerate
Because they are better
Some apples are sweet, some are bitter
One rotten apple does not mean all is lost
Yet one rotten stinking apple
Makes me despise apples
Is that how you want me to feel?
Trauma!?

©knm



Each day and night we walk,
With bated breath, we tread,
Seeking the security of our homes,
Yet praying the Good Lord us keep.
Even then, our lives are taken
Like a whirlwind, they enter
Do we sleep or wake?
I am human!
©knm


Lost

Today is yesterday
Tomorrow is past
Yesterday will be tomorrow
Monday is Friday
Tuesday is Thursday
Wednesday is Saturday

Black is white, white is black
Skin color means nothing, just a condiment
Everything is what is inside
Same heart, lungs, intestines
Two feet, two hands. Lips. Two eyes

Uniforms we wear,
Different colors, different sizes
Some bring love, other show brutality
The uniforms are not who we are.
(c) knm


And the man said to the man “Stop visiting evil unto me. What have I done to you that you take me from my kingdom into your land to be your slave?”
And the man replied man saying “The good lord appointed so.
And man lifted his loincloth and departed.
And man was upset and having the upper hand because it was his land visited atrocities unimaginable upon man.
After 400 years, when brutalities against man continue and he speaks out, man threatens to unleash atrocities on man.
The difference in skin color
Same body parts
Same organs.
Are we really all built in the same image and likeness of our Creator?
… and while we raise our voices against police brutalities, and we are joined by well-meaning folk from the other side, may they remember not to discriminate in the workplaces, for many a good employee has been overlooked simply for the color of their skin.
… and while we talk about the workforce disparity, where the discrimination is sublime, let us talk also about equal opportunities. One set of credit scores will get nowhere but another’s will open huge doors and set them up. Let us talk about this too.

… and finally, I pray and ask that the mindset that holds some inferior and others superior especially by the color of their skin be eradicated to allow society to live normal lives.
That the mindset where there is no respect and a lack of trust because of the color of one’s skin be banished from the halls and basements and every room in the mind.
That one need not be afraid when one sees another whose skin color differs.
That this will not be forgotten in a day or two.
Selah
As you contemplate it all; as you struggle with your emotions, I urge you to be Honest and Vulnerable to yourself. Therein lies your Truth.



LIVE ANOTHER DAY
I look at my son
I am tempted to hold him tight.
I look at my daughters
All I want to do is
Keep them indoors
I do not wish
For mistakes to happen,
For their lives to be snatched –
I am scared that they do not care –
They take our lives for granted



Back in Ghana, black is black
It never mattered the shade
Freedom is freedom,
Breathing air so sweet, you
Could melt into it
Then across the great big pond
Where my forebears lie in the cold
You still treat me
And my offspring, my people
As though, we are plagued.


In all you do, you forget
The role we play and choose,
Through your controlled media,
To denigrate, to castigate,
To Oppress, to suppress
And depress even
At the peril of our lives
Slaughtering us in our homes
In daylight, night light,
Moonlight, spotlight.


I look at my son
I urge him to hold his hands true
To speak and be bold
I look at my daughters
I fight for their existence
I look at myself,
I want to see another day
And another night,
And another year
And then some more!

© knm w/ pkm 5142020






#saynotoraciism
#changethemindset
#SIGHlentNoises
#Silentnoises
#reawawakeningattitudinalthinking

Let me start from here. I am at Ridge Hospital. Ridge has undergone numerous phases simply to uplift it not to compliment Korle Bu teaching but to stand on its own. COVID-19 put Ridge  Hospital back in the news. A friend who works there wrote an article that was totally put out of context by others. Please if you lift an article, before you put it out, ask for clarification especially if the author is breathing. 

Now as to why I am writing. 

COVID-19 has been good to families ooo. Husbands are now home. Husbands who used to move from one pub to the other are now home. Husbands who used to spend all their extra time with their pastor and running his errands are now home. Husbands who did not know the names and birthdays of their children can now reel them off as it should be. Husbands who never had any meaningful relationship with their children are now building bonds. Fathers who did not acknowledge their children are now doing so. 

As for me, I am….. 

Husbands and boyfriends are now eating at home. They know what stuff their counterparts cook. They know what is in their pantry. Some have even rediscovered their culinary skills. Some are eating stuff that…. Now some of the females know why their counterparts come home drunk, refuse to eat or come home late and say it is too late to eat. COVID-19 is bringing out the real things. 

Again wives, spouses which ever way you want to call them are home and listening to their male counterparts. Now they know their men hate the wigs and extensions and love short hair. They know they can rekindle their love and sex life in this period of lockdown. They no longer have to chase outsiders for satisfaction but look up to their husbands and boyfriends for enjoyment. Hehehe. At least the men too are home and will no longer go chasing anything in skirt. 

My only fear is the number of babies that will be named Coro, Covina, Covi, Corovi, Ron, Rona, Ronvi in a year thereabouts. 

People are still having one week celebrations. Online version. I wonder how it will go like. 

Don’t do online version of romance. You can be videoed as you dance. Hahaha

Anyway, what new thing are up to as you are home? 

I am your man

#SIGHlentNoises ~knm

I am turning round and round, all in an attempt to understand the workings of the human mind. Why do some perceive themselves as a higher species than the other? What is so different about us?

We each have our different capabilities that set us apart yet serves as part of a whole. It is sad that in the midst of this covert COVID-19 that is ravaging countries and continents, people in the face of uncertainty, still harbor malice and complexities against their fellows.

News making round in social media circles, points to a certain hospital being designated for VIP tested COVID-19 positive use. Really? Are VIPs better than that lady or gentleman who has to sell something daily in order to buy food for his or her table at home? Is the VIP of a higher breed that sets him or her apart from the general population considered inferior?

Again, watching certain videos circulating on social media, if it is what it is, then I am appalled at the behavior of some of these gentlemen of the green cloth and those in blue or black. Why visit such atrocities of incessant beatings on people who do not understand an order that has been given? For how long was the public educated to let them prepare for an imminent lock down?

So yes, I live far away but my state and town of residence is on Lock down. I go out periodically for walks or to buy essentials.

At least, no person has come forward with the sale of oils that can prevent or cure COVID-19. Church buildings are shuttered. But what about the flock? For ages, the congregation has been fleeced. I think it is now time to give them blankets and food. A lot can be done.

While new hospitals are being built and large buildings are being designated as centers, other countries are still keeping hospitals shut because of political drudgery. Why? The flu does not know you in an office. It feeds on you the human.

COVID-19 is real. Stay safe. Keep alert mentally. Call someone. Play with your partner. Practice cooking and cleaning. Love life.

For once, we are not in this together. We are in it individually. Stay inside.

#SIGHlentNoises ~knm

R is for Reality

I am sitting at the kitchen table. I am gazing outside but I am actually far-away. I am listening to the song “Hello God” by Dolly Parton playing in the background. I realize I have been away from the land of my birth for so long. The things we take for granted. The little things of life.
I miss my brother. I miss sitting with him and chatting about nothing and everything. What would we have said about the CV.
Then I miss my other brother.
Then I miss my sister.
Then it dawned on me that though I live here with my wife and children, the daily tribulations of life had caused a rift so minor that we never saw the shift.
I paused my writing so I could fry eggs (sunny side up) for my youngest. We had fun doing this. I am about to step out for a walk with my children. No pressure.
Then again, I would give anything now to have all the family sit and chat. Tumble over each other and thank God for the gift of life.
Real time.
I miss my childhood friends and though we have not spoken, I pray they are all safe.
Majority of friends and family are celebrating birthdays and it is all solemn for once. No large gatherings. It is more about solitude and reflections. Meditation may follow.
I have moved away from the kitchen window. I am now at the bedroom window with my back to the world.
I am not in quarantine. I am at home. I am with my family. For now, we are safe.
Next will be my “Letter to God”

#SIGHlentNoises ~knm

“If we wont budge, nature or the elements would nudge us” – knm

We are now quarantined to our homes. We have all the time on our hands to think, to reflect, to pause, to re-evaluate ourselves.

Most of us are too busy and have taken it in stride to be so. It is not so. If you have children, this is a good time to get to know them. Most of us do not know our children. Knowing your child is having them not just talk to you but confide in you. They should be able to express their intimate fears and joys to you. It is not enough knowing what they wish to become in future.

Now us. This is the time to know that person running around. That person has been so busy they have not had the time to reintroduce themselves to you since they got so much responsibility. What are you eating? What are you doing for self-care? When was the last time you took a vacation just to rest? When was the last time you simply took a re-evaluation exercise on yourself?

As we stay safe practising preventive measures and being ready if it comes to our doorstep, let use this opportunity to be mindful. Let us think about our thoughts, our words and our actions in the past, in the present and in the future. Let us think about the impact they will have on generations to come.


Stay safe

#SIGHlentNoises ~knm

In a chat with a friend, a Ghanaian American, an accomplished pilot, he mentioned sadly that Ghana’s educational system is based fundamentally on the ideology of (me) as against a growth mindset of (us).

There is no (I) in the word Team.

Ghana’s fundamental educational framework is structured on grading students as per the number in a class. So if a class has fifty students, the grading system will identify the topmost student and the student who has not pulled his weight. This becomes he/she is first and that person is last. Do we have any idea how denigrating that is? We ask children not to call anyone a loser but it is okay for the blueprint to direct so from day one. That means from the very onset, educators encourage competitiveness which does not augur well for national growth. When people grow and refuse to share knowledge about how they made it or broke through the glass ceiling, we tend to call them all sorts of names. A careful examination of us and school practices will reveal this practice as true. There is the need to expunge such grading systems from our educational blueprint.
Old habits die hard. Old habits can hardly be changed but yes something can be done.

A careful yet radical overhaul of Ghana’s educational policies and systems should do it. This is not about amendments or political parties. This is not about stroking egos. This is not about the pomposity of schools attended. This is about the know-how and efficient use of brains in drawing up a new blueprint that would effectively change the current trajectory of mindsets to a more collective platform where teamwork is a must and a given.
The so called developed countries thrive on teamwork and encourage bringing each other up.

Of what use is a national cathedral when children still study under trees and use stones as makeshift computer mice? Of what use is a national cathedral if we cannot use our God given medulla oblongata to structure our systems for progress? While other nations are going beyond the moon and Mars, we are thinking of building National Shrine to augment a yet to be built National Cathedral whose site is costing millions in demolishing and re-locating of existing structures. Why? Our very education system has crafted us to always think of being the first that we have lost sight of the fact that collectively we can do more than individually. Our educational system encourages us never to research but rather hang on tooth and nail to whatever we are spoon fed with the lecturer. We study by rote and whoever has a good memory comes out top of the class. There is no room for questions. We are encouraged to never question authority and let just things stay as it is. Yes it is deemed a taboo to question our elders and for that matter our teachers. We even have proverbs to that effect, especially that of the broom.
So yes, it is laid out. Now who will bell the cat? Or shall we continue to wallow in wanton shallow pride?

#SIGHlentNoises~knm

I love what I do. I am very passionate about what I do. My work is centered around parenting services with a focus on father’s and male role models.

I guess you are wondering why the title of this article. It is the most gut wrenching feeling to attend a mother’s funeral. I did not attend mine. I would not be writing this article.

Mothers are super wonderful because I have experienced it and still experience same from borrowed mothers. I say super wonderful because of the sweet things everyone says about their mothers. I say super wonderful because they are such. But then they die. They leave this earth. They officially become angels.

In my line of work, I must say I see men strive to be the best at what they do; the sacrifices they make. They are all commendable.

Men are born of women; every human is birthed by a woman.

For nine months, plus or slightly less, women house and feed us as we form into humans. They house us in them. We become a part of them. We even have a lifeline that attaches us. So I celebrate these super women. All mothers.

The pain of losing a mother is simply mind boggling. You go into an emptiness that no one can feel or describe. It is only those that have lost a mother that can attest to this. It can not be equal to losing a father.

Anytime a friend loses a mother due to sickness, I feel a pinch. If the mother is young, I relate and get drawn into that schism again. Circumstances leading to the death and any links that remind me of my own mother’s passing lead down that narrow path that many trod yet it is still bushy. I celebrate my mother and wish she were alive to be one of my best friends.

I write this to encourage any reader. I write this to eulogize all mothers.
If your mother is still alive, no matter the differences, be her friend. Please appreciate her. Do not let little things put you apart. Love her and tell her you love her. Create a relationship; a healthy relationship if you don’t have one. Again appreciate her. Do not wait till she lies in that thing called a casket before you wail and gnash your teeth wishing ….

For you my dear lady whom I never met, as you prepare to go home, may all the dearly departed mothers welcome you with open arms for you have done very well.

To all mothers and women, I say ” You are PHENOMENAL!”

#SIGHlentNoises ~knm

SILENCE

I have been silent.
Having taken a seat
Up high on the fence
Juggling with feet and hand my pence
In all my purview
As I do my review
One thing stands out
Humans no longer are
Vulnerable

©kwasintemmensah

WEEP NOT

I put it out that I had stopped writing. Some congratulated whilst others admonished. Some asked that I carefully rethink my decision.

Occasionally I will drop my thoughts as having reflected. I will be at great variance with folk but then I understand, for society and our norms and practices have set us yardsticks.

We need to break out of the mold and fly free as a butterfly, till we fly into our sunset.

With that being said, I thought and thought. I reflected. In flashbacks awake and even in a half asleep mode, I looked on the lives of relations and friends that have passed on and I asked myself “why do I weep?”

Just as we are cautioned not to judge, so can we never speak ill of the departed. It is only right that we see the good and celebrate lives. For one way or the other they have lived their lives and had an impact (surely some positive) on the lives of the living.

…and so I pray, when it is my time, shed not bucketfuls of tears, neither clothe yourselves in dark colors (I am already a black man) rather, clad yourselves in white and because I believe in GOD, sing and dance to glorify HIM, for if for nothing at all HE gave me the chance to be that SILENTLY NOISY one.

Think about this! Reflect.

#SILENTNOISES

For the ancestors; for their sacrifice.

Singing a Joy unto our Blackness

Black History Month

After all the hustle
You choose to recognize me in a month
After building you up
With my blood as my water
My nudity laid bare for the world to stare
You choose to applaud me in a month
After suckling on your children
And rivers of blood running all over me
Raping my mother for her children to stare
You choose to acknowledge me in a month
The impudence and arrogance
Forget not the hand that fed you
Bible held high in your left
Blunt knife held low in your right
So when I looked to Him
You stabbed me in deep in my belly
You only wounded me for a second
Yet do I still ask
You talk about me in a month?
What you never took and can never have
My soul; my Identity; my story
All the seas and sands
All the synthetic and organic
Will never wash away your iniquities
I will be celebrated all year round
All year round my story will be told
All year round!

©kwasintemmensah 2019