HisStory
19Aug
Sam Shivaji shared a memory — 
feeling thoughtful at Fairway Hotel & Spa.
15 January 2018 · Kampala, Uganda
Today, I got inspired, to write yet again. Coincidentally on the same day a year later, while seated on a short flight to Entebbe.
During this flight, I was seated with one fine stranger, a born-Ugandan living in the UK, but visiting relatives in Kampala. Before I venture into the detail of our brief discussion and source of inspiration for my next works through the year, I should at least give a mention to one Donald Trump. Give it up to this guy, for the ability to consistently make the news, regardless of whether the content. One thing that is indisputable is that his news sells, and opinion will always be divided.
So, back to my stranger-friend, and our conversations. The conversation begun with a question from him on what happened to the Ugandan national carrier (an equivalent of Kenya airways, or Ethiopian airlines). I informed him that to the best of my recollection, there has never been a national carrier in Uganda, and that the closest there was to that was Air Uganda, which wasn't a state controlled Enterprise and which therefore didn't have same level of protectionism as a national carrier would have in the business space. Disgruntled, the conversation spiralled to governance in Africa, and how, generally speaking, it is mismanaged. It is noteworthy to mention that at this point of the conversation, we both remaining just two African passengers of unknown nationality. The conversation then took a turn for unraveling some contextual examples of such poor governance in Africa, which I care less to revisit at this point, especially in light of Trump's now famous (and hopefully infamous in future) reported reference of African countries as shitholes.
I do realize that until now I have not defined my point of inspiration, so I will just dig into it now. HisStory.... That was the point. He talked about how while in University, one of his lecturers said in class that Africans historically sold their own to slave merchants. He disputed this assertion, stating that the slave merchants hardly had what would have provided incentive to the African seller to sell fellow Africans as slaves. The conversation quickly spiralled to an analysis of how misplaced the Western narrative has been about Africa, and how African leadership has continually and continuously perpetuated the same narrative through taught and applied approaches in education and political structure.
So, what is the African narrative, in political structure, reflections from practice of the generations, and societal structure and function before the onset of the Western invasion of the so-called civilization. How is this narrative perpetuated over the ages? Is it right to continue to teach our children HisStory?
My inspiration for my next write is to write OurStory. Any contributions?
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