1st Blog EVER

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. That is why I created this blog, to spread the love. Whether it be the agape love Peirce theorizes on or the violent love of brotherhood "that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work" that Oscar Romero evangelized before an assassin's bullet took his life. I want to explore, expose and expound all types of love through this median which I hope will never be tainted by hate.

With that little invocation done with I want to say that I will be using this blog more often then not to report and comment on things and events that I see as particularly pertinent. The issues discussed may range from political economy and bioethics to the impact of bands like The Clash. In that way I hope this blog will be eclectic, reflective, thoughtful rather then a journal about me.

Though this is site is small beans in the greater blogosphere I think it is important that every media outlet be honest about itself, and to have a soul, so I will say that this blog will undoubtedly reflect my interests, which is why I give this preemptive mea culpa: I am a biased media source and not that great of a journalist. My goal is not to editorialize every blog entry, sometimes I might report a news story about something that happened in St. John's or Santa Cruz California or Venezuela or Kenya. I will strive to not let my personal biases taint any of those stories, but when I say I that everything on this page will "reflect my interests" I mean to say that this is stuff that I want to report or comment on, which is probably a good mechanism for quality control. You will never get an entry titled "BRITNEY SPEARS SHAVES HER HEAD" and have it be treated as pertinent news and not gossip. My idea of what news should be more closely resembles the The New York Times or The Financial Times then USA Today. My idea of thoughtful commentary is more closely aligned with what you would find in Adbusters or in a good book, not Us Magazine or your favorite supermarket tabloid.

Now for the explanation of the name Jeff the Mzungu. I started this blog after looking at some of the day's events in Africa on bbc.com. I love African politics because it is by far the most interesting, and with the growing access to and popularity of the Internet in Africa you get many Africans broadcasting their opinions on important subjects in Africa in chat rooms, forums, YouTube etc. This is a great thing because with free speech and democracy, according to my one of my heroes Amartya Sen, is a powerful tool against poverty. I love hearing about African politics because during a trip to Kenya last year I realized that Kenyans are remarkably well informed and involved in their politics. The democratic spirit is there in a way that people can't even imagine here in the United States. Many Americans have some gross misconceptions about African politics and Africa in general, I have heard my fair share of college kids talk about people being constantly chased by lions or coming up with some racist comment that makes me sick. After studying African politics for some time I think this is the case in many countries across sub-Saharan Africa from Zimbabwe, to Nigeria, to Tanzania people are extremely politically savvy and conditions believe in the power of democracy. They know their governments and they have an opinion, they are not like uninformed, easily sidetracked and apathetic Americans. It is tragic that political and economic conditions are such that Africa is not thriving, but, at least in Kenya, there is a well informed and politically active citizenry. While I was over there I acquired a bit of a nickname, one not all that uncommon for people of my racial background. Over and over again, running down the road being chased by smiling schoolchildren or walking down the street or talking to people over tea I would be referred to as mzungu which means the white guy. For many of the people I met their exposure to the "typical American" was limited to old sitcoms and soap operas, cartoons, the news, televangelists and professional wrestling, so people were constantly asking me different questions about Americans, and our thoughts on everything from farming, to God, whether professional wrestling was real or not. In return I got a healthy dose of what it is to be Kenyan, a hard life punctuated by catastrophes, and personal loss, but enriched by friends to talk and drink tea with and hope for the more elusive effects of democracy.

I want to try to be a little bit more like I was in Kenya, which is to say a little bit more Kenyan. I'd like to be politically involved, I want to take part in fostering public debate and discourse. I want to be politically conscious, and approach the world like I did over in Kenya: as something new and exciting that I am open to, want to learn about, and have a stake in. I have a lot of love for that country and the people I met and still talk to, isn't the goal to spread the love?

En Pace,

Jeff the Mzungu