Women all over the world tend to own more pairs of shoes than their men counterparts. The missionary turned academic C. M. Doke proposed to the conference participants the establishing of An Academy of African Arts; a proposal that was to be re-discovered anew in the 1940s by Jordan Ngubane and Anton Lembede (1914-1947) in Inkundla ya Bantu (Bantu Forum) newspaper, the intellectual forum of the African nationalism of the ANC Youth League. This innovative idea of the Academy was in all probability related to the extraordinary linguistic work Clement Martyn Doke had undertaken in the study of African languages in Southern Africa which he anticipated could inspire African literature(s) in the African languages into creating a renaissance or renascences. Even so, in the midst of multicultural reading it can be a difficult task to find those universal characteristics for some readers. This is a major problem for multiculturalism. Sometimes differing cultures express the same universal concept but in irreconcilable forms. Furthermore, some readers have a difficult time putting aside everyday assumptions and breaking away from their familiar acceptance of the world (Buckingham et al., 2011). Thus, multicultural literature, which exclusively, yet not implicitly highlights differences between cultures, must instigate further misunderstandings. What else could possibly result from exclusively focusing on the differences between cultures other than building more barriers and separations? If readers cannot find the common connections in multicultural literature, then the sources of commonality or universality must be lost. This leads to stereotypes, otherness, and labels. From Blake Lively to Zendaya, these stars know exactly how to put on a fashion show from the sidewalk. Keep scrolling for celebrity street style moments too good to miss. We cannot hope and wish that we should be accepted by our enemies as just human beings without our identity of being African always the first thing the enemy sees. We cannot wish for acceptance into a culture of consuming, of going to their churches, of imbibing their culture by merely stating that we do not see color, nor acknowledge color. A lot of manufacturers are also reproducing the vintage vest designs, focusing on designs and materials from the early 1800’s up to the 1970’s. Classic vest designs are the inspiration for many of the modern ones, and the old styles still look great, a timeless article of clothing for sure. “Mass media send messages to us and about us that are beyond our control. Schools have nothing to engage our students in African Cultural Traditions or in support of African Communities. Our Communities rarely acknowledges our Traditions and they fail to create adequate structures to guarantee “Intergenerational Cultural Transmission”. We are culturally lazy and our ancestors are not pleased. History will not be kind to this of us who forget. Shame, disintegration and dependency on others, or worse, will be the outcome.
Such a design is impossible of realization, even though former colonies continue to honor the tongue of the mother country as the prime foreign language in high school curricula. We are not at all talking of a radical cultural severance. Because of the huge difficulties to be overcome in mastering the African linguistic mosaic, some observers in Europe are convinced that we will not be up to the challenge, that we will be unable to undertake a change requiring so much human energy, so much intellectual lucidity, so much creative thinking. It is worth noting why attention grabbing companies use celebrities to advertise their products. All age groups are attracted to television, films and radio personalities and like to be identified with them. The truth is when it comes to skin care and age spot removal neither the advertising companies and their celebrities are remotely concerned about you or your skin condition. Can you seriously believe that any of those reputedly famous personalities are themselves convinced that the product they are promoting is good? Frankly, it beggars belief when you know that the only interest the celebrity has is one of financial gain and age spots removal and skin care in general is just a nominal consideration. MW: For me, yes. Three or four years ago I used to use a rinse-off facial cleanser, but I was advised by a facialist not to use tap water on my face because it really dries the skin out. This is an unconventional style with bright and bold colors and exaggerated prints. The clothes and accessories will have unusual silhouettes in strange shapes. Mostly handcrafted accessories and handmade fabrics. My African people educated me, my grandma was my primary informant and life teacher(Schooling, too). When I write our history as an African person, I utilize history and many disciplines to cohere and present a serious read on African history of Africans in South Africa. I am not blaming anyone here, I am stating historical facts and truths. These are aids in assisting the African readers to make the necessary connection in order to adjust their present reality for a better and informed future. Men’s style has continued to evolve. However, one thing is certain: Trends come and go. Many of them develop into newer trends that take parts of the past to propel the future. However, they are all temporary. What rarely changes is the classic style. From the 1930s until today, the cut of the suit has been modified a hundred ways, but we’ve still consistently worn suits. The trick to being an international man of style is to stick with the standard principles at the core and forget the new and modern trends.
As with any minority peoples, there is also the creolization of the native tongues upon the merging of different cultures. Rushdie describes how he and his siblings were able to cleverly amalgamate their native tongue and the language and meanings of the dominant culture to describe the adults they encountered. As a result, they came up with cute names to fit the characters of these persons. The other male tenants in his father’s building he conveniently referred to as Maharaja P and Maharaja B. In Hindi, Maharaja means prince.†Because Rushdie referred to them as princes, one would immediately assume that these were unmarried men of means. Just so happens, Maharaja P was a sporting man†of some royal lineage and Maharaja B was a businessman of questionable character. He nicknamed his nanny Certainly-Mary†because of her limited knowledge of English. Apparently, the only English she was able to speak fluently and with continuity were the words certainly†and certainly not.†Because of her inability to pronounce the letter Pâ€, she referred to her new suitor as courter†instead of what he was, a porter.†Ironically, Mecir, her suitor, ended up being more of a courter to Mary than a porter, his occupation. Mary named and defined him without even being aware of what she had done. English was hard for Certainly-Mary, and this was a part of drew damaged old Mixed-Up towards her. The letter P was a particular problem, often turning into an F or a C; when she proceeded through the lobby with a wheeled wicker shopping basket, she would say ‘Going shocking,’ and when, on her return, he offered to help lift the basket up the front Ghats, she would answer, ‘Yes, fleas.’ As the elevator lifted away, she called through the grille: ‘Oé, courter! Thank you, courter. , yes, certainly.’ (In Hindi and Konkani, however, her P’s knew their place. So: thanks to her unexpected, somehow stomach-churning magic, he was no longer porter, but courter. ‘Courter,’ he repeated to the mirror when she had gone. His breath made a little dwindling picture of the word on the glass. ‘Courter courter caught.’ Okay. People called him many things, he did not mind. But this name, this courter, this he would try to be. (Rushdie 176-177)†Mecir, himself an immigrant from Eastern Europe, was able to establish communication with Mary early on by using the term ghat,†a Hindi word that translates to English meaning step.†According to Rushdie, Mecir may have obtained his limited knowledge from a schoolbook or some formal education at one time in his life. Mecir also mixes up the term ghats†when he comically refers to them as mountains.†This brings to mind the term steppe,†land which could emerge from a mountain range into a valley in relation to the Hindu steps that lead to the Ganges. (Upon further research, I learned that the term ghats†has multiple meanings and can be used as a noun or a verb.) Rushdie also shortens Mecir’s name to Mixed-Up†as a play on the Eastern European pronunciation of his name.
