Tuesday, July 12, 2005
crack open the valves and by god let it flow
From G-8 to Live-8 to online blogs it seems the focus is, and maybe has been for a while on Africa. The blogging revolution is unleashing its true potential. Emeka Okafor is just one of the many individuals who is using the world of blogs as an avenue to inspire thought and promote awareness around contemporary issues that the continent faces. Definitely, the same can be said for other parts of the world (Middle East, Asia, South America etc), but I wish to discuss the blogging revolution and and its immediate impact on Africa.
If you google search "Africa blogs" one of the the first things that results is Blog Africa, an open webspace to list African related blogs. The first thing I noticed was the diversity in the type of blogs listed-porn,sports, economics, sustainable alternative development, digital aid, NGOs, random bloggers, music and so much more. Five years ago, am sure none of them existed. With the ushering in of this blogging era (and internet age) you have now a melting pot of really random, eclectic, unsorted bits of information that holds the key to Africa's future. How, you ask?
Well, certainly the the fate of Africa's future lies in the hands of this next generation of dreamers, entrepreneurs and young and upcoming social scientists who quite obviously realize the urgency in rescuing the continent from being completely marginalized in the globalization race. Quoting Wafula Okuma, "these leaders will be dissimilar to the present crop that desperately seeks to feel intellectually superior to the masses, believe that they alone have access to ideas that will make the world a perfect place for the masses if they sheepishly follow their ideas, yearn to be makers of history, and have a tendency to substitute their ambitions for leadership, their wishes for ideas and their ideas for truths which others must live by. " Fluffy ideals and big words yes, but there is truth to be drawn from that statement. The blogsphere (and the internet ofcourse), I like to think, has afforded individuals, organizations, entrepreneurs, mothers, fathers and random nobody's a platform to not just express their ideas and views globally but also exchange and coordinate these "unsorted" bits of information openly, giving each of them a stake in mapping the road to the future.
If you delve deeper you will be staggered by the number of such blogs and websites that are working towards such ideals. Take digital africa for instance, a blogger reporting live from Gleneagles, sharing his perspective not just within his capacity as a reporter, but as a human being for the world to read. And then there are blogs like ink revolution and genesis that throw light on myriad issues and topics pertaining to the continent that have a sublime effect on you, the reader. To drive home my point, books have been written and speaches have been given but never in the history of man has there ever been such large bits of information being exchanged by anybody and everybody daily. Sort these bits together and the revolution will have taken shape. Food for thought.
I am no authority on this subject, rather just another one of them nobody's who gives a damn. In my humble opinion this is an unprecedented phenomenon and should not be underestimated. I guess it remains to be seen what effect this will have. I look to the future with folded arms and a twinkle in my eye. Shanti!
If you google search "Africa blogs" one of the the first things that results is Blog Africa, an open webspace to list African related blogs. The first thing I noticed was the diversity in the type of blogs listed-porn,sports, economics, sustainable alternative development, digital aid, NGOs, random bloggers, music and so much more. Five years ago, am sure none of them existed. With the ushering in of this blogging era (and internet age) you have now a melting pot of really random, eclectic, unsorted bits of information that holds the key to Africa's future. How, you ask?
Well, certainly the the fate of Africa's future lies in the hands of this next generation of dreamers, entrepreneurs and young and upcoming social scientists who quite obviously realize the urgency in rescuing the continent from being completely marginalized in the globalization race. Quoting Wafula Okuma, "these leaders will be dissimilar to the present crop that desperately seeks to feel intellectually superior to the masses, believe that they alone have access to ideas that will make the world a perfect place for the masses if they sheepishly follow their ideas, yearn to be makers of history, and have a tendency to substitute their ambitions for leadership, their wishes for ideas and their ideas for truths which others must live by. " Fluffy ideals and big words yes, but there is truth to be drawn from that statement. The blogsphere (and the internet ofcourse), I like to think, has afforded individuals, organizations, entrepreneurs, mothers, fathers and random nobody's a platform to not just express their ideas and views globally but also exchange and coordinate these "unsorted" bits of information openly, giving each of them a stake in mapping the road to the future.
If you delve deeper you will be staggered by the number of such blogs and websites that are working towards such ideals. Take digital africa for instance, a blogger reporting live from Gleneagles, sharing his perspective not just within his capacity as a reporter, but as a human being for the world to read. And then there are blogs like ink revolution and genesis that throw light on myriad issues and topics pertaining to the continent that have a sublime effect on you, the reader. To drive home my point, books have been written and speaches have been given but never in the history of man has there ever been such large bits of information being exchanged by anybody and everybody daily. Sort these bits together and the revolution will have taken shape. Food for thought.
I am no authority on this subject, rather just another one of them nobody's who gives a damn. In my humble opinion this is an unprecedented phenomenon and should not be underestimated. I guess it remains to be seen what effect this will have. I look to the future with folded arms and a twinkle in my eye. Shanti!
# posted by Surya Swamy : 4:39 AM
