At a point in my day, I purpose to check in on how I'm feeling and stress levels and for some reason, this week has been very calm. Through and through, I am well. I feel settled, stable and at ease. And it is an absolutely beautiful place to be.
I've been enjoying three great content sources and those will make up the content of this post.
3. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I've been listening to this read on my walks to and from work or as I work around the house and it still is so good.
“Understanding America for the Non-American Black: American Tribalism In America, tribalism is alive and well. There are four kinds—class, ideology, region, and race. First, class. Pretty easy. Rich folk and poor folk. Second, ideology. Liberals and conservatives. They don’t merely disagree on political issues, each side believes the other is evil. Intermarriage is discouraged and on the rare occasion that it happens, is considered remarkable. Third, region. The North and the South. The two sides fought a civil war and tough stains from that war remain. The North looks down on the South while the South resents the North. Finally, race. There’s a ladder of racial hierarchy in America. White is always on top, specifically White”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah
2. Masterclass - (best investment of my year)
This masterclass on Black History, Black Freedom and Black Love has been really insightful, left my mouth wide open severally and has been incredibly insightful on the history of black Americans, their experiences and it has been very helpful in forming new knowledge that I may not have been privy to otherwise.
Key Highlight - No one has the monopoly of truth - The fact that even within different activism and lobby groups there was varied thought leadership. Eg. Between WEB Du Bois and Booker T Washington, amongst several others. It has been interesting to see, with the course instructors too how different each one's thoughts and expertise is. Cornel West said something to the effect of
'like a jazz orchestra, everyone has their own voice.'
1. The book, ' Living in the Corporate Zoo'
Most of the reviews of this book say it's a quick, relaxed read, but I've found it to be more than that. I've found it heavy especially following some of my reservations, sentiments and realizations on Minding the Gap.
The phrase, 'Recession in the United States quickly reverberates around the rest of the world. As part of the process of global convergence, the growing dominance of (mainly US based multinational corporations plays a key role in shaping our own personal economic circumstances. Corporate 'downsizing' decisions taken in San Francisco, Chicago or New York can instantly generate large scale unemployment in towns and villages as far ranging a s Mexico, Scotland, Sweden and Thailand. These same corporate decisions have further ramifications for the survival of other small businesses through the subsequent downturn in local consumer spending.
I have been lucky. Very lucky in several ways and I keep saying to myself, I got lucky. So I elect to love this moment. This place of peace, ease and stillness. Me I love it here.
There's a document doing rounds in legal circles on legal trainees undertaking pupillage and those who did in the past sharing their experiences. They share the income rates and personal experiences of work environments. While I have personal opinions and strong reservations about some of the comments, I did take note of this fact,
It is possible for two people in similar situations to have very different and diverse experiences.
Same environment but different opinion formations for several reasons including subjective past experiences, current needs, values, aspirations and world views.
Happy New Week!
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