Africause

I ready two articles today. Both concerning populations suffering conflict in Africa. Yet these two articles were very different. 

1. CNN: Slavery's Last Stronghold

2. TIME Magazine: Kony2012

The first article is quite lengthy. Even if you don't have the time to get through the whole thing I recommend you read what you can. It will truly open your eyes to the atrocities of slavery which are occurring every day without punishment or consequence in the country of Mauritania. In this North Western country in Africa, a strict caste system exists determined by lineage and the color of your skin. Slavery is so engrained in this culture, many who have actually been freed from slavery are unable to comprehend the meaning of this freedom and often continue work for their "masters" accepting a salary which they are unable to count. 

Although slavery in Mauritania was abolished in 1981 and made illegal in 2007, there has only been one successful prosecution of slavery and it is still both accepted and supported by the government today. There is one organization fighting to counteract this horrific state of society: SOS Slaves. This organization was born from the alliance of two unlikely friends from opposite ends of the caste system. Together they are fighting to eliminate slavery in the country and open their eyes to the concept of freedom. However, this is easier sad than done. Freedom is not just a societal status, but engrained in their way of living and thinking:

"Boubacar, the other SOS founder, later would tell us that when masters grant freedom to their slaves, in a perverse way they are actually serving to further enslave them. 'Freedom is not granted,' he said. 'When freedom is granted by the master you remain dependent, grateful.' 

Freedom is something that must be claimed."

The second article discusses Kony 2012, Jason Russell (of Invisible Children) and the LRA in Uganda. The difference is, the primary focus of this article is all the buzz surrounding Invisible Children, Jason Russell's current mental and emotional state and their celebrity-backed campaign. There is no question that the current Kony campaign has brought a great amount of attention to the issue, however the quality of attention is my concern. What are the primary issues actually being discussed as a result of this campaign? Although this article mentions the LRA, Kony and the political conflict surrounding the campaign, the spirit of the article is a commentary on the media frenzy surrounding the campaign rather than the cause itself.

I tend to suffer a lot of inner-turmoil over the way groups choose to represent their causes. On the one hand, any philanthropic effort which yields a positive change, effect or outcome should be counted a success. However, I tend to consider myself somewhat of a purist when it comes to that presentation. Time and time again I hear leaders of the nonprofit world say remember your cause, remember your origin; in one sentence, what are you fighting for? If you and your constituents can't answer this simply and easily, you've somehow lost your way.

I would like to quickly digress here and mention that I believe that this applies to all things in life. In work, in love, in family, in all things; the greatest power comes from knowing what you want and being able to state it concisely and effectively. Find your passion and find your power.

I do commend Invisible Children for employing many of the most current marketing and social media tools to create a campaign that is both accessible and popular among the target generation. However, ultimately the question is whether the ends can justify means and how far this campaign is actually capable of going.

I hope you will take the time to read both of these articles and form and share your own opinions.

The Educated Citizen

I'm back! I'll admit, I have no excuses to why I haven't posted in three months. With a little restructuring of my priorities, I believe I will be able to commit to one solid post per week. I mean, after all, The Bachelor is almost over and that will certainly free up two more hours for me each week...

During my junior year at USC I decided I would like to attend grad school, most likely in my late 20's. After talking with several friends who are currently enrolled in law school, (who don't really know why they are in law school) I am glad I decided to hit the work force first to figure out what grad degree would suit me best.

One graduate degree I am interested in pursuing is a Masters in Public Administration (MPA), as it is catered to those looking to continue working in the government, non-profit and social entrepreneurship fields. The MPA program I will be gunning for is the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Like many of Harvard's graduate programs, the Kennedy School is considered to be the top MPA program in the country. Recently, when I was reading more about the Kennedy School, I stumbled upon President Kennedy's convocation address at Vanderbilt University in which he details the obligations of the educated citizen. I encourage you to listen to this speech and see if it speaks to you as much as it does to me:

"You have responsibilities, in short, to use your talents for the benefit of society which helped develop those talents." -- JFK

These are, in President Kennedy's mind, the three obligations of the educated citizen:

1. Your obligation to the pursuit of learning

2. Your obligation to serve the public

3. Your obligation to uphold the law

Take a listen here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkvanderbiltconvocation.htm

In my next post I will update you all with what is new in my life in 2012.

Steinbeck

I recently stumbled upon several Steinbeck quotes I fell in love with and thought you might enjoy reading as well. I like to keep a collection of thoughts, quotes, letters and photos that have impacted me throughout the chronology of my life and some of these made the cut..



“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.” -- East of Eden


“Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.”


“I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one. . . . Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil. . . . There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?”  -- East of Eden


“To be alive at all is to have scars.”  -- The Winter of our Discontent

Multi-Giving

It's easy to let the day get away from you.. One task leads to another and all of a sudden you've skipped from your morning coffee to the end of the day and you're just too wiped out to do that extra something you've been saying you'd do all week. This is my extra something. So I've decided to start multi-giving (derived from the more commonly used multitasking).

As a nonprofit professional and self-proclaimed philanthropist I like I believe I live in a constant state, or spirit, of giving. But I would like to refocus my energy, improve my productivity and recommit myself to this blog and my greater goal of (hopefully) inspiring a little giving in the world around me.

Fortunately, I am blessed with a pretty wonderful sea of givers around me who constantly inspire and share with me. So I would like to dedicate these next few posts to all of you who uplift and remind me that compassion, humility, entrepreneurship and philanthropy are not merely ideas from yesteryear but rather the ideals that make up the great minds of tomorrow.

And with that, a little inspiration via a fellow friend and giver...

"We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness... Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost." -- The Great Dictator