Poetry is beyond rhymes and play of words, it is an art that enables poets to express carefully deeper thoughts and meaningful mental constructions which simple conversational words cannot present sufficiently. It is an art because we enjoy its richness especially as it informs both the society about itself and the outside world, and the world about itself and in relation to that particular society, respectively, in an inward and outward dynamic.

With language as the vehicle and safeguard for the treasures in poetry, it follows that when a language is polluted, there will be repercussions in the poetry of that language, and in the understanding of the corpus of poetry that has lived generations before such pollutions. Dynamics of languages are diverse and are often irreversible if appropriate action is not taken.

My African heritage plays a crucial role in my storytelling. My Swahili culture and language largely constitutes my identity as a storyteller. ven though my children are half Czech, and half Tanzanian, they are blended in both cultures in a beautiful way. I believed by them having Swahili language and cultural awareness they will appreciate more the half of who they are, and be happy and free, when they visit Tanzania.

he case of Mbye Otabenga (c. 1883-1916), now popular as “Ota Benga,” a Congolese young man from the Mbuti indigenous forest people, who was put in the zoo in America, is not isolated from the deep-rooted and widespread oppression and suppression of people of different races by the Caucasians of Europe and America, who at the time dominated science, trade, media, and publications.

The degrading oppression of people of African origin who have been referred to by colour ‘black,’ a hugely controversial and widely unacceptable taxonomy, has for centuries been given both reason and justification meaning by manipulating science in favour of the pervading oppressive idea.

A positive ideology behind a language is important for its life and survival. When this positive ideology is communicated, the love, passion and sense of ownership are deepened, especially among young people.

Researchers who studied reverse language shift say positive ideology and positive beliefs associated with speaking the language together with a strong cultural support are the two factors that most influence positive language growth among youth.

Children can be encouraged to learn foreign languages even without being told their mother languages are not good enough. This way they will keep their love towards their mother languages and will not feel shameful to use them.

While traditional visual artists have so much value in the work done, the social media art appreciation is being taken over by the AI artists who invest nothing in their designs, and have no emotional connection with such art works. Traditional visual artists deserve more admiration and support than the AI artists who are not personally involved in the production of the artworks.

This article was published in The Citizen Newspaper, Tanzania on February 11, 2025 Shimbo Pastory It is common today to…

Shimbo Pastory

It is time our education system incorporates some wonderful technological tools that foster student – teacher learning engagement in exciting ways. But this will be really hard to reach if our system remains rigidly tied to heavily demanding curricula and grades as markers of successful teaching and learning. Education is beyond grades! 

Kwa sasa, haina maana yoyote kukaa na kusimuliana historia ya mambo yaliyotokea nyuma, hasa yale yenye kuleta maumivu ya kijamii, bila kuyatazama kwa mtazamo mpana wenye maono ya mbeleni. Hii ni nadharia nzuri kuitumia katika kuizungumzia historia pana iliyopo nyuma ya pazia la historia ya utumwa.
Historia ya utumwa ni kielelezo dhahiri kwamba bila kujisimamia wenyewe kwa umoja wa nia tunakuwa ni vibaraka wa watu wenye tamaa, ukweli ambao upo wazi hata katika maisha ya kila siku.