“An autobiography is not merely a catalog of events and experience in which a person has been involved but it also serves as a blueprint on which others may well model their own lives.”--- Nelson Mandela
It’s a great tragedy that a few young people (Africans and Africans of the Diaspora) read books these days. We have to find imaginative ways to deal with this sad reality or we’d be left with future generations who have no idea the rich history their ancestors have. I personally draw inspiration from autobiographical works. An example of this was the Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. I read that book as a teenager and it had a profound effect that has lasting effects to this day. It illuminated my young mind’s understanding of racism, society and the power of enlightenment.
There is a critical need for schools to create serious reading drives; not semi quasi ones. I have discovered through my interactions with children both in public and private schools-; here and abroad, our children have limited imaginations. What they are fed by the internet and the movies which they love dearly are their only diet. This is a seriously restricted diet.
As a teenager in Nigeria, I wrote my first novel at the age of 12 (I lost the manuscript and hope that I am able to find it someday.) I wrote about issues of peer pressure, drug abuse, rape, homelessness, teenage pregnancy and survival. I had and still have no experience of these issues but I was able to write a compelling story because of the books I had read. My main character was believable and everyone who read the story identified with her struggles. I discovered that there was a world which I did not know, whose doors opened to me as I read and the influences of these authors must be reckoned with.
It is always a special pleasure to talk to children about my favorite pastime: reading. I always inject stories that I have read or refer to books in my talks with them. I always encapsulate a lot about culture and creativity because like truth, they are enduring.
If we use the simple precepts of humanity gleaned from great literature, we can go far in creating a better society for all of us. The way forward in achieving this is to ensure that we don’t relegate literate to a backwards position and accord it the respect it rightly deserves. All of it’s depictions of the striving of the human spirit are worth taking seriously. pursuits.
Love, Strive, Believe and Hope[img][/img]

©Tola Salau
www.carisma4u.com