Huh? As3mp3! Operational Whaaaaaatttt!?!?!?!?! Did you say ORGASM?
Hell yeah, I did! It grabbed your attention. Come on! It is okay to use the word ORGASM. I promise using the word ORGASM will not cause you to lose your hair, job, or flunk an exam. Usage of the phrase ORGASM is not taboo, and it is not going to hinder your ability to perform as a functioning member of society.
Do you get where I am going with this? Aha! The Dreadlock Saga!
So, As3mp3, why will you just not let this dreadlock issue go? Helllloooo! Did you read my previous blog? Folks, we have an early Christmas gift! The gift to address social abnormalities that have become disappointingly inherent in Ghanaian culture! The running theme/excuses coming from MOTOWN, GES, NAGRAT, and other Ghanaian Educators from various institutions are:
“The children in secondary schools need DISCIPLINE.”
“It is the TRADITION and CULTURE of Motown to have children wear their natural hair short and neat.”
“It has been Motown’s culture and tradition since 1927”.
Jesus! Mary & Joseph! Since 1927? The word EVOLVE springs to mind! Some Ghanaians have accused me of being incapable of critical thinking and critically analyzing human interests and social issues independently. Instead, these Ghanaians tell me that my views and perspectives are all influenced by Western values. Western Values? Folk, the Western world have had their fair share of challenges and have had to claw, fight to effect change. Let us take the United States for an example on the evolution of RACIAL ISSUES from Jim Crow laws of racial segregation to civil rights movements: From the 1857 case of Dred Scott v. Sandford; Plessy v. Ferguson, in 1896, and the most recent Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954 (Kindly look them up if you are not familiar with these landmark cases on RACE relations in the US). I do not need to give you a long list of legal matters demonstrating how far the US has come and how much further we need to go. It is called EVOLUTION! We have to be prepared and accept change. Let us evolve and change with the times!
We tend to take dangerous myopic views and get stuck in a rut looking at just one side of the argument in our judgments and decision-making. The fear of the wrong idea of looking at things and the refusal to see any other sides is that folk get comfortable and complacent on the non-challenging side. My friend and classmate posted this quote in our WhatsApp group, and it got me thinking, “What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” Indeed, what if I fly? Why do I have to fall? I can also fly, or? “Amending this dreadlock hair rule will not make us fall. It could very well make us fly”. Samuel Odartey Tawiah, Vice President of IT and Guest Services at the Baltimore Aquarium, and also my classmate, a true gem! (You have guessed it, part of my fine stone collection) Folk, we have come so far, and yet we appear to be stuck way behind. Why is that? Nothing prevents the Motown headmistress from granting these two intelligent young men reasonable accommodation to allow them entry into the school. After all, Motown grants mixed-race children reasonable accommodation, or?
In her column on Ghana Web, titled “The issue of ‘the other’ when it comes to school admissions: The case of Achimota School and Rastafarian students, “Dr. Mary Appea-Ashun, Principal of Ghana International School, and a Motown Alumna succinctly and eloquently addresses the relevant and core issues raised by the proponents of the Tradition/Discipline/Rules argument in the Dreadlock Saga feud, in a manner in which only someone with her pedigree can. Wow! I know you will be dazzled just like I was when I read Dr. Appea-Ashun’s piece! I read it three times! I loved every part of it, but her point about Operational Management got me so energized and excited, that I had to pause, do a cartwheel, and come back to continue reading! Wait for a second; did I mention Dr. Appea-Ashun was my classmate too? I know what you are thinking. As3mpe, another gem? Heck! Yet another gem added to my collection of fine stones! Do not take my word for it; kindly click on the link below and take your time to read this exceptional well-written article by Dr. Appea-Ashun. You can thank me later!
THANK YOU, DR. MARY APPEA-ASHUN
Ghanaian-Canadian Educationalist! Academic Researcher and Author
Ph.D. in Biochemistry
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew! I just gulped my Hibiscus and Sena tea! I swear the combination of this tea and the thrill from reading Dr. Appea-Ashun’s article has me on the verge of having an OPERATIONAL ORGASM! Bloody hell! Did I use the word ORGASM again? I better run before the we-refuse-to-evolve, and the closed-minded Folk come and pull my locs out! I am out of here! Oh, Wait! Wait! Wait! What is it about the dreadlock hair that has these nay Sayers so frightened? As for the Ghanaians who suffer from the Low Standard Syndrome (LSS) I have something for you to chew on! Next blog!
Where is the orgasm?
Kweenu!
Continue reading and you will find it! Hahahahahahaaaaa
Evolution, the key to a better world.
THANK YOU KWAKU! It is about time some of our people came out of the caves, moved away from the vestiges of colonialism and EVOLVED!
I got to confess, that was an inviting lead ?.
The problem with the “tradition” argument as you pointed out Dede is that it tries to swerve the question as to “is the thing good or bad”!? Every culture can evolve. Do we want to? Hmmm.
Hahahahaaaa NDM, it was designed to grab your attention; to lure you in.
The majority do not want to evolve, unfortunately.
Mary’s piece is excellent. Like you I’ve read it a few times. It makes me soooooo proud. But I can’t say it gave me an orgasm though. ?♀️I have deliberately not gone one way or another on the substantive issue about the rights or wrongs of Achimota’s decision which has been backed now by GES, NAGRAT and others much cleverer than myself. I get the school’s stance but I would also like to think that allowances can be made for nuances when and where they are found. I’ve said elsewhere my fat derrier is on the fence and I ain’t shifting it. My worry is for one of the young men at the centre of this saga. He’s an intelligent lad. But and here’s the big But…..He’s been exposed and in my view exploited by the Press for their own ends. Wherever, he ends up being educated, I believe this “exposure” puts a target on his back. NAGRAT’s stance alone, proves my point. Whether you agree or not is not the point here. This boy is a child. He needs to be left alone to a quiet enjoyment of his childhood and education. His father who has the parental responsibility for him is more than capable of speaking for him. By the way, I’m tickled pink by the way Ghanaians pick and choose which “human rights issues” are “important”
Ara, Sis, I beg to differ, but based on the actions and comments coming from GES, NAGRAT, they are not cleverer than you. Actually, those two institutions need a total make-over! It is very concerning that, we have Educational Institutions being run by clueless individuals who need to be re-educated. I see a title for my next blog coming up, who is educating the educators? The boy is a child who needs to be granted access to education based on his intellect. As for NAGRAT and Co, God help the educational system in Ghana. What if the boy grows up to become an astronaut? chief of Nasa… the scientist/doctor to discover a cure for ALL viral diseases… what if? The boy needs to be given the opportunity to speak. He is a 14-year-old boy with the ability to think and speak on issues concerning his education. Why should the father be the one speaking for him? Let us encourage our children to grow, and not push them into voiceless timid kids. They will not be able to compete in this ever changing world, against their peers.
Why am I not surprised the piece did not give you an ORGASM… Kindly allow your senses to be tickled small! Haba! Hahahahahaa
EVOLUTION is a very brilliant thing every open minded individual or society certainly should/must embrace but do we embrace evolution without limits or limitations? If there should exist total evolution then in my penny scheme of pounds then, that would be a recipe for disaster. If one should agree there should exist some form of limitations to evolution then where should it begin and end?
Motown as I believe has its own rules and regulations pertaining to appearance and hair which has served it well to which many a student and parent has followed and has come out very successful or not hence its academic appeal to many parents and students alike. Assuming there didn’t exist these rules, regulations and values would the school be where it is today to conjure the academic appeal it enjoys? and would this student’s and parents even consider it as a school of choice? I doubt that.
Secondly, assuming Motown relaxes it rules and regulations pertaining to hair, wouldn’t every parent who have followed these requirement or regulation be right to consider legal action against the school because they feel hard done or short changed by following this rule and also their constitutional right on education also coming into play?
Then there is also the issue of health and safety, is the student’s parents not right to take legal action should anything happen to their ward if for example his dreadlocks get caught, ripped and injured due to the long nature of some dreadlocks? (Legal advice here would be appreciated)
Finally, I do believe this student’s and his parents would have read and probably understood the school’s prospectus and it would have stated clearly the rules and regulations where appearance is concern, now what was the agenda if any, one knowing it is against their religious or otherwise beliefs to apply to gain admission into an institution ones beliefs isn’t at parallel with its rules? Individuality is a beautiful thing but also an individual chose so if one finds themselves not at parallel with others or the majority one should move on to where they are most likely to be accepted.
Francis,
The RULES argument is not washing with me. Many years ago, it was legal for people to own slaves: Married women were not allowed to own property… actually that is going too far, married women could not fart without permission from their husbands, it was illegal for blacks to vote; the rules were blacks could not sit and eat in the same dining areas as whites. We all know what happened to those rules, right?
Values? What values are we teaching our children? We are teaching children that it is alright to include some and exclude others? We are teaching children value of accepting and adopting archaic non-functional rules we took from our former slave-masters without questioning them?