Wake up world, stand up: A discussion

Yesterday my daughter posted this piece by Nneka - Africans. Initially I thought that it was just another go round on white bashing but as I listened to the lyrics I realized something it was something else:

You keep pushing the blame on our colonial fathers
You say they came and they took all we had possessed
They have to take the abuse that they have caused
Our present state with their intruding history
Use our goodness and nourishment in the name of missionary

As I reported in an earlier post, poverty has a profound affect on IQ. In one study IQ diminished by 14 points within one year as sugar cane farmers when from surplus when they sold their product to poverty as their money ran out during the year.

White bashing is a convenient way that people in poverty can justify their their hardship, because it is very easy to demonize someone who is in a different time period, in a different country, or even in a different social milieu. It is similar to using god to justify something. I perceive Nneka is attempting to push beyond this.

Those who have ears let them hear
Brothers who are not brainwashed take ruins and rest
Pick them up and stick them back together
This is the only way we can change this African weather

While it is attractive to rally large groups of people to do something, I think that the first step is to rally just the people around you. In the community that she is walking through at the very start whether it is due to the heat or just the ennui that poverty engenders she is walking through streets littered with garbage. There is a saying garbage attracts garbage. I know this to be true as I look at my desk. It is littered with papers that have been accumulating for months.
Maybe in that community one person needs to look at their environment and get people to commit to a single day of clean up, painting and repair. Then the next day commit to raising $1 dollar extra... and so on.

Building or rebuilding a life doesn't need something world changing. It just requires taking the first step.