I don’t write much about my homeland, the US, but it’s always there in the background, shaping how I have entered and how I see the world. Instead, I tend to write about where I sit and what I see around me. I spent much of last year writing about Congo’s drawn out and tumultuous elections process, hoping to draw to eyes to what was one of the most dramatic political events in Africa in the last decade.
The US elections certainly don’t need any more publicity. And I’m not going to plug any candidates here, because the truth is that I’m an undecided voter. But I do believe strongly in personal responsibility to take part in the political process.
Which is why it has been so frustrating to me that I have found myself a disenfranchised voter in the last 3...
I still remember the first man to give me a rose.
I was 14 and standing in a back entrance to the subway at Penn Station on 34th Street. A homeless man who had been selling roses stopped and gave one each to myself and my two friends. God bless you.
It was my first trip out with the Midnight Run, an organization dedicated to bringing the gap between the homeless and those with homes in New York. Several times a week since 1984, community groups of all sorts have gathered food, clothing and blankets to distribute to New York’s homeless population. The Midnight Run is headed by a man who himself spent several years living on the street and once told me the story of how his shoes were stolen off his feet while he was sleeping in the park.
On a given Saturday night, we loaded up the...
In a funny twist of fate, this week marks both the fourth anniversary of the first time I came to Congo as well as my departure from Congo.For the time being, I'm headed back to the land of sushi, bagels and friends who've known me since before I could go down the block by myself forget about leave the continent all together. I'll be back on this side of the world again before too long, though not in Kinshasa. No doubt I'll find myself back in Congo again at some point.So I'll sign off for now with tutaonana (Swahili for see you...