Discussion Week

We just finished a week of group discussions that ALA calls seminal readings. Each day, we read something to enrich our minds, we talk about it for two hours, and we leave the classroom inspired, with wisdom beyond our years, and ready to go change the world. On the other hand, no plan is perfect.


Day 1. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: Statement from the dock at the opening of the defence case in the Rivonia Trial, 1964.

Our first discussion was a little misguided; everyone wanted his or her country to be heard about. Also, some of my classmates have the specificity of a fortune cookie. These were some of the most memorable points that were made.

-Nelson Mandela used “we” and “I” at different points in his speech because he sometimes wanted to speak for all Africans.
-The British are to blame for Apartheid. That, I thought was a little harsh, given it was actually the Dutch, so I defended my country with panache.



Day 2. Part 1, Kwame Nkrumah: Speech from the Founding Conference of the Organization for African Unity, 1963

-European countries owe their former colonies a lot. People scowled at me and I felt uncomfortable.
-Pan Africanism is a valuable goal to strive for.
-It actually rains chocolates in Ghana. How awesome is that?! Apparently the President (General Willy Wonka) chucked them down from helicopters to gain popularity with his nougat-deprived citizens. Not such a great use of governmental funds though.
-“How could you not vote for the Governator??” Spectacularly, when Ms. Kraft made that statement, it wasn’t too random. At that point in the conversation my mind wandered off, and I remembered that as an adult American, I could potentially participate in any upcoming California elections by mail. Then I realized that the South African postal system would likely ruin that plan; last year, a teacher here ordered a box of Doritos from the US and received a box of empty Doritos packets. To add insult to injury, the gluttonous and crafty mailroom thief had resealed the box with tape.

Part 2, Wangari Maathai: Getting To the Heart of the Matter, 2004

-African development is a bowl balanced on a stool with three legs: peace, good governance, and well managed resources. Liam should draw that on the board.
-Is Maathai a crazy Kenyan feminist or not? No.
-Rwanda is the ish.
-The South African President, Zuma, has too many wives. Also, he cheated on them. If you ask me, 6 wives is enough. He's setting a greedy example! No wonder mailroom workers are stealing comestibles.


Day 3. Part 1, Candace Allen. The Entrepreneur As Hero, 1997

-Is an entrepreneur a hero?
-Esther whispered to me that I should consider plucking my eyebrows. I felt self-conscious for the rest of the afternoon.


Part 2, Sadi Carnot: Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire, 1824

-My God, these steam engines are confusing, Liam should draw one on the board. For the record, there’s a big gap in schematic difficulty between a steam engine and stool, and I haven’t crossed it yet.
-Seidou kept stealing my pens. I got annoyed.
-Madame G. talked about pigeon racing. Yes, that does actually exist. What’s next? Slug slaloming? Wombat steeple-chase? I think pigeon racing must be up there with castles in fish tanks for pointfulness (just what exactly does a fish appreciate about having it’s own portcullis?). On the subject of pigeons, this school is filled with them. They are disgusting, and I do not like them flying around in the dining hall near my PB&J ingredients.


Day 4. W.E.B. DuBois: The Talented Tenth, 1903

- Finally, my New England prep school instincts kicked in and told me to track the conversation on paper, so I did. This is what I came up with, and it was fairly typical going for the week: W.E.B. DuBois → Is culture defined by the upper echelon of society? → Esther thinks that tradition comes from your elders → Should Francis bring in Ghanaian food for us to eat?
- Nature vs. Nurture. This had the makings of a really sophisticated conversation because people really dug into whether or not talent makes or breaks you. But then Stanley gave a long speech about dress soiling, and things weren’t the same after that.
- Again, Esther informed me that I suffer from “Potential Monobrow”.


It might seem this week has been mostly about pigeons and eyebrows, but that’s not true. All of the readings have been extremely interesting; it’s just that no one wants to hear me analyze them. With the exception of the Sadi Carnot, which was actually about steam engines, I would definitely recommend any of them.

Ms. Kraft is not related to the American cheese company; I asked.