Hear You People; in Africa we Speak Knowledge into Being

 I am yet to figure out how to summarise my experience in Kampala city over the holiday. It is a story that takes me to things I don't like enjoying. Race and socialisation is one of them. Just because you are different and do things differently does not make you special or better. I have always said that. And with it ended the debate on racism. At least within myself racism is a closed debate. I will respect and like human beings based on character not colour. Kampala is one of those loud African cities. We love it that way, we enjoy it. Our conception of a restaurant and bar is that these are spaces where people meet, talk, eat, drink, watch TV programmes e.g. football matches, play games such as pool, listen to music, dance etc. Those who can read and/or do other things can as well do them. But we really don't go out to bars and restaurants to read. Does that make us bad? No. Poor? No. Stupid? No. Inferior? No. Backward? No. No no no! It is that our conception of generation of knowledge; receiving and giving it is different from our colleagues in the west. It can't be that because we do not quite believe in and/or practice reading in busses and restaurants and almost every other space therefore we don't learn and/or impart knowledge hence silly and backward. We have our way of transacting knowledge. We often talk knowledge into being. If you see us talking for long leave us alone. Do not conclude we are idle. We aren't. We are as busy as you are with your book. Read it and let us talk. Talking to us is as important as reading is to you. We cannot compete which among the two is better. None is; none should be. If the restaurant in the African setting is not conducive stay in a hotel room. Better still, try Stockholm or any other western city for your vacation not Kampala. If you come to Kampala, be sure to find us and trust me we will be making "noise" in our bars and restaurants. That is what we do. We are loud people. We learn and we educate through talking. We enjoy it and we love it. Well. I have not said anything yet. I know. It was my experience with a white lady getting irritated because my friends and I were "making noise" in a Kampala restaurant, in fact, a bar. To be nice (as I always am), I would say that was a little uncomfortable to me.

When I shared this with friends someone wondered: “who in the world be irritated with warm and fun people!!??. I wonder too. But there are people. Those who already have a sense of entitlement. Those who already feel and believe they are superior and better. They come your own space and tell you to shut up already because you do not know how to live good life. And those to whom good life is to sit down, be still and read. Is that not the standard of good life and superior culture?! These experiences always make me a nice guy, you know. There is reason I love it whenKelechi Okafor claims that: “in 2018 I am going to choose a random white family’s home and move in with them. I am going to claim the master bedroom and ban them from speaking anything other than Yoruba." You see, it is beautiful when you have the privilege such as that of going into other people's homes, occupying even the most private spaces such as their bedrooms and demanding that they adopt your way of life