Reading is among the privileges some humans have over animals. Reading is an aspect of learning that gives birth to many other aspects of learning that are sometimes celebrated more. Reading may not be the highest form of learning, but it remains crucial to the upliftment of humankind; it seems like a bridge with an uphill edge, where many fell from, but those who persist to the mountain-top get to enjoy not just an amazing view, but even the climbing (reading) can be a form of paradise that can be nicer than sex, or at least average sex. Some animals and some humans may beg to differ, because they are yet to reach there, so they do not know the miracles of God around reading.
After brief definition, it takes care to want to invite the willing into the heavenly world of reading. A smart brutal writer said: ‘If you want to hide something from black people, put it in a book’. While the average black person may still under read, there are tens of thousands of black authors with millions of black readers, but the top black selling authors remain to have more readers from other races? Debate the slightly irrelevant issue, but will Africa benefit from a more robust reading culture and how to bring that about? Consistent dedicated space and time for book reviews in African media houses. Reducing the cost of books, even up to subsidies. Forming book clubs and confronting the illusory excuses of non-readers are few to be discussed.
Book reviews raise interest to seek books and a solid culture of book reviews is lacking in African media houses, at least compared to song and album reviews. So the best of journalists must lead other journalists with provocative bragging rights: ‘first media house in the Gambia, Ghana, or xyz to dedicate xyz space or time to book reviews’ should be constant… If others follow suit and do better book reviews, your ‘commission on atom’s weight’ through influence may be something, but will you learn to overtake your children or students?
Even African Journalists may not be reading enough books to have daily reviews as example. The usual excuses include money, but if the journalists who often make more than average African forward financial excuses, then they may never pressure others and may buy questionable excuses. I recommend media house managers go beyond the book club initiative I will discuss later. Ask every journalist to pledge a percentage of salary to books, the media company to make a pledge, and seek funding from bookstores, thriving companies to sponsor a column or book hour, etc. Rather than having one or two journalists to do book reviews, demand everyone to read 4 to xyz books per month and review at least one of them. Like you culled articles from each other, consider culling book reviews, but striving to write reviews that others cull too. Include authors beyond Africa.
Affordability or reducing the cost of books should be seen as investment. It is the journalists who can measurably pressure both the government and the people towards the right direction. Whereas, some countries can consider book subsidies, resource-less countries like the Gambia may struggle on that part. However, the Gambia government and how many other governments are charging how many levels of taxes against books? When you charge taxes on the imported plain paper, the printing company charges Value added Tax (VAT) and others, the retailer may rightly or wrongly charge other VAT; then the government is part of the problem in a crucial sector. So we must work on minimizing taxes on books until Africa reaches a certain level, or how are they on imported books per country? Is it wiser to support outside printers and import your book as an author?
Beside taxes, Africa should seriously consider legalizing hemp for hemp paper manufacturing. The cost of paper in the Gambia and perhaps most of Africa is high, contributing to higher book cost and less reading. Hemp paper is fairly easy to make and will serve way beyond books and wrapping food in healthier ways. Manufacturing ink is another overdue for Africa. Our governments and companies are overpaying for ink, but they simply transfer the cost on us. Our relationship with the west is very questionable. The deception of colonization is unquestionable, but post colonization left us with double robbers: international and national robbers, from governments to companies. It was post colonization when the u.s pressured African governments to outlaw hemp, but even our present leaders seem worse in refusing to learn. Now that u.s legalizes hemp, their labor cost means hemp-paper will still be expensive to Africans. Do we want to forever support their hemp-paper or tree-paper farmers and manufacturers? The cost of many new printers with a cartridge is almost like a bait, because the cost of two new cartridges will likely be more. Well, we can call them deceptive or maybe it is their reward for accepting a reading+ culture before us? Research and development includes reading and thinking.
The forming of book clubs should be two to three folds: workplace book clubs; professional or ex-classmates book clubs; and neighborhood book clubs. So pressure every head of department or company towards forming a book club, and even ask them to submit reviews for possible publishing. Life boils down to value in the worlds of time and money. How much money and time do you spend on naming ceremonies, cigarettes, alcohol, expensive clothes, etc vs books or reading? Shift part of it or keep on giving excuses. Find ten to twenty people, set an amount, and you can buy how many books per year? This will guarantee access with reasonable conscience, because every reasonable author will tolerate such. Yes, free electronic books are on the rise, but supporting authors is a vital part of society. Quality work is also hardly free. If you think reading is time consuming or hard, then you have not tried writing yet. Grateful people give back.
Illusory excuses against reading must be confronted or they will mislead a lot more people. Excuses like ‘I just don’t like reading’ means you are likely a ‘desire worshipper’, like or worse than animals, considering they lack the opportunity… The great things of this world demand efforts, confronting raw desires, then you end up enjoying what low people call hard, be it exercise, reading, and other largely achievement oriented means. Largely, People do not just get up to enjoy reading. It is imposed on you as a child and the worst of children or humans just want fun, fun, and fun; ignoring learning and working are part of the trinity before the questionable religious trinity.
Between teenage and adult years, it is almost impossible to impose reading on you, so you take it up as choice, resort choice, or totally reject it. Then it may affect more than yourself. This is why we must have mandatory education up to age 18 or 20 and strategically pressure each other for higher learning. What differentiate animals from humans is largely our opportunity and ability to learn, but it is also what differentiates us as humans. As such, our kindness is in extending that opportunity to others; our smartness is allowing only grateful people around us; our truthfulness is the balance between efforts, urging, and tolerating only the tolerable. Ask them do they feel terrible when reading what percentage of books, within a minute or thirty minutes into the reading? Desire worshippers is a term in the Quhr-aahn and has many branches the blind cannot see. So maybe it is not that reading is painful to them, but they want joy, joy, and joy. So they talk, talk, talk, like animals, but forbid themselves reading, like racists forbade blacks reading? Why is the Afghan girl forbidden to read or read high to highest?
Africa is unquestionably blessed with beautiful nature, questionable and unquestionable resources, and a diverse people that is hard to classify as best or worst. Since life is ever changing, pace matters, and direction matters even more; then we must choose the best we can get, point frankly, and be ready to enjoy with or without even blood family members. After all, all humans are related. As a writer, your biggest fans may not be close blood ties. You may never know or meet your biggest fans, they may be yet to be born; so do good with those who appreciate you, or at least do not fight you. What good is a family, neigbor, co-worker, or xyz that will suggest or demand contribution to enrich praise singers or xyz but not authors? Culture is a choice that can be inherited or made. I want to help make better cultures, including reading cultures. Then we can discuss in better ways than gossip and low sexual jokes.
Reading demands humility, so the arrogant will not like it. One will say I want to learn more, but how many minutes before you say enough based on what? Some think they know it all, so how can the arrogant enjoy reading? Indeed, authors are not perfect and argue like scientists have differences. You will need both humility and tolerance to read. I have never read a book that I totally agree with everything, including religious books. If I agree with 75 to 99% of the book, then how much I learned, will I learn with time, and possibly rectify the very authors who ‘self’ rectify? Wisdom grows and authors can be vague for good reasons. Yes, I still prefer precision, but generalization is sometimes about accommodating the future. So let me thank You God for allowing me to read, write, think happily rather than with struggle. May God bless us through Showlove Trinity: Let’s learn, let’s work, let’s have fun.
Optional Note:
As a child, we get little pain or little joy through reading; but as an adult, we get big joy or big pain through reading? Happiness, why are you so mysterious, why do you come in good and bad? Some get enormous happiness through bad drugs, then end up in pain or early death. Some get enormous happiness through reading, exercise, and other good things to live long, instead of short lives? Accordingly, I dismiss ‘happiness’ as useless to seek, considering God can turn anything to happiness. So I want God to guide me towards every highest good and give me happiness there. Since Happiness is so huge and my mind is so small, I do not want to be precise when asking God. As human, I cannot imagine many things, so just give me happiness and keep me from pain. Since choice is where I have some control, I want to choose based on probabilities, where God is largely or totally kind? Some will rush, but will they be accepted? Knock patiently and appreciate it as you grow. I may be among the smallest in the gym, but being there and smiling, instead of crying is a huge blessing. As human, I may rage or ask God when will you give me a better home gym and own commercialized ones of much higher quality? Use me as a medium of good or multiple good beyond words.
Do I need to own a mega bookstore, a printing house, or do better than Amazon for Africa? Desires for self can be many, but so are desires for others? Does Africa deserve all the good I wish for them if they largely refuse to push with me? For the sake of the children and gratitude, I am not afraid to ask God to help me and where-ever, not just Africa. Titles are funny, because sometimes it is just to attract attention. When God wants to help humans to read, does it matter which race accepts it first vs last? Or is the individual not even more important than the heavy task of inviting? How many blacks are better than non-reading whites or even white writers? Urge! Without stress. On the friends of Allah, ‘they shall not fear or grieve’. So seed and appreciate as it grows. There is some good in talking, especially short term and good words. Get a good small circle of good friends and enjoy what life offers. Anytime is such a sweet access like a humble wife, twenty four hour gym, a marvellous garden, nice swimming pool, etc. So everything man creates may pass through reading, but comes from thinking? Everyone can claim to be a great thinker, but the great thinkers appreciate reading and readers. The great songs or movies go through writing of some sort, for readers to recite? Even the mighty Quhr-aahn (Recitation) admits it was written by ‘great scribes or Angels’, so writing is a very high bridge. We do not look down on people, but helping people read to eventually write is part of gratitude. May we never regret reading or writing.
Optional note 2:
People do not write for the same reason, so do not expect all writers to get the same exact payment. People do not read for the same reason either, but the how, when, and others will play out. One thing is certain, people who read to the level of enjoying reading tend to do better even on health and character. So it is safe to say that reading is a blessing from the kind Lord and far from the devils and her children. Wealth is a mysterious unquestionable blessing, but it does not measure to health and character to the seeing. But even on wealth there seems to be a certain level of character needed, including reading or getting the read, otherwise it may evaporate in our age. Among the signs of the people of hell is ‘they do not want to read’. Some will argue that one is referring to the final book, but God is also the Lord of earth with vivid signs. How do we people varyingly react to reading assignments? ‘Why am I given this lengthy book, exam results, or article to read’, but is it up to even two hours of reading? Sometimes the recommendations are low out of ignorance, or it for a start, or the minimum? Only questionable doctors will tell you thirty minutes walk as exercise, which may be for what aged woman? Two hours or more of sex I prefer; two hours of gym is the norm in my poor neighborhood; two hours of movie I heard than witness; two hours or more of clubbing or yoga is good; two hours of soccer make it number one game; so even where I struggle, two hours is my aim, including reading. Yes, little is better than nothing, but enough is a crucial word in life. Enough sleep, enough food or water, enough exercise, enough reading or learning must exist. If your child scores 40%, do you count the questions s/he got right with ‘at least s/he got so and so right’? At least mindset is a dangerous mindset, including how we assess politicians. ‘We passed the worse/worst is another dangerous mindset’, because you could be bad and not striving for the best. ‘Do not lay upon others [or the children] lot more than you can bear’.
Weaning from good is the curse we must avoid. The world is under Showlove Trinity: learn, work, and fun… We love children because they humbly learn, until they wean or rush. Look at the children who wean from learning too early, they arrogantly rush to work or fun, fun, and fun towards pain? When young Gambians+ say ‘I am determined to work hard to help my parents, to go to Europe in the risky illegal way’; I often hear it very differently. I hear it as determination start at working instead of learning. I hear it as I failed on learning, when they can try different forms of learning in repentance. I hear it as ‘I must go to the people with culture of reading, higher standard of learning and working? I hear it as we cannot improve the cultures in Africa, nor raise the standards even with culture of cameras? I hear it as the government and journalists are not listening and rectifying with educative ads? ‘I/we have a resource called beauty, I/we do not need to learn or work’ was said by which woman, loudly or in the mind? ‘We have resources in Africa, so we do not need to learn and work enough’ should be a regular ad? Then show them how resource rich Russia and Canada still learn and work to process resources. Is there a people who think they are above learning and working? ‘I have a God who will give me animals, black people or AI powered robots to work for me’ is still a low blessing with risks? In this human form, try to be directly empowered and avoid even the marijuana or xyz strains that make you feel good but lazy.
A human being always think s/he is intelligent, this is why I compete on winning the most truthful and kind person. It does not mean I do not ask God for intelligence, but I am admitting I knew or still know very little, compare to God or even my desire. The evidence is I learn everyday and unable to defeat all devils yet. There are African resources that can be stolen, but when God weans you from enjoying the sweet African Sun, then be slightly or largely scared. Every African child once enjoyed the sun, sometimes more than learning. The devil will tell you that is because they are children, but when God brings a fraction of other races of all ages and they enjoy the African sun more than you, then what is the excuse? No! It is not because they come from the cold, because there are millions of people from the cold and cannot enjoy African sun or hotter sun. When you are expelled from Africa or ran away for different reasons, you will experience the higher heat of the Middle East, the humidity of western summer, or the frigid cold, all demanding better character in learning and working to even exist or survive. So I rather respect learning and working while in Africa, and even pressure the children+ towards reading+. If I am coming back to earth, I want to be much better than human and in Africa.
Since the choice may be more than me, I want to build Africa and the world as I may return here. I do not want to be in the west, middle east , or xyz to rob or send Africa only money. A Good God or good parent/child gives money and more than money. So where is the God who will forgive me and give me a solid glass house and still enjoy the African sun in every age. May the Lord of good means and achievements be always with me. I have reason to thank God beyond words, so asking should also be beyond words. I refuse to accept Africans who think their religious folks, praise singers, etc are more valuable than me as an author. So we will war towards one winning… I am one person who believes there is something better than being a martyr. So I strive to kill millions of devils and/or devilish ways in every region, and with mere words. Still prefer not to be ever killed, but if I then die or be killed, am I not the winner? Until then, I prefer giving life to billions, but through words, because even animals know sex is nice and multiply through sex. If the soul and body are different, then why do you believe you can re-incarnate as human, animal, or plant, but not higher than every visible thing or creature? Conscience I believe to be the savior and reading can raise conscience. So may God curse every censor monger and bless every conscientious writer and reader.
Jarga Kebba Gigo
An Activist and Transformer
Author of Juts Quhr-aahn
