Can an Ethiopian Change His Skin ...?

An insult that is not understood is a pointless insult.

Would you believe there is such as thing as a random insult generator? Played with the generator at The Insult Project and decided to copy this one below for my blog post.  Checked this site Jan 19, 2018, and it no longer exists.

“People don't dislike you because you're revolting. I mean you are astonishingly revolting, that's just not why people dislike you.”

* * *


Was watching a Denzel Washington movie and there was a brief intense exchange of words between Mr. Washington's character and another character who was playing a support role. Possibly not the exact quote but the character scoffs and says: “You better watch out or I just might call you an Ethiopian!” Mr. Washington's character's defensive reaction and response was: “You know you're probably stupid enough to think that's an insult!”


Huh? What?? (???) Didn't get it! My limited exposure to Ethiopia and experience with Ethiopians left a void in my mind. Could not comprehend the meaning of the dialogue at all. (O.o) Dismissed it and finished watching the movie, The Siege.


Was doing research about one of the Jewish prophets in the Old Testament and came across this scripture:

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”

(Jeremiah 13: 23)

Let's place this quote in context.

• Which Ethiopia are we talking about??
  

There is a modern day Ethiopia and there is an Ethiopia which is a land that existed during ancient times. Since it's a scriptural reference, we're going to go with the latter.


Modern Ethiopia is located in the horn of East Africa. Ancient Ethiopia, also known as Cush, was located to the south of Egypt. Cush is the Hebrew name. Ethiopia is the Greek name. (FYI. The Egypt in the Bible and the nation that exists today are both the same.)


Ethiopia translated into English mean “burnt face”. The Ethiopian people we see today are known for their smooth beautiful practically flawless chocolate brown skin. There's no reason why a talented photographer couldn't make a small fortune traversing the country taking pictures of the “humans of Ethiopia”. Evidently, the people who lived in the land called Ethiopia, the in the Bible, also had really nice skin!


So!! Uuuhhh … back to square one! My brain is still registering blanks!


Imagine you get into a heated argument with someone.

The person snarls at you angrily and warns:

“You better get out of my face! You … you … you Ethiopian!!” 

You puff up with righteous indignation and shout back:

“Yeah! That's right! I got nice skin!! HATER!!”

(??) Where would this argument go?? (??)

There is a famous world-class chef from Ethiopia. There was a young woman, born in Ethiopia, who was crowned Miss Israel in a beauty pageant. Madonna adopted a baby or babies from Ethiopia. (That's what I heard.)


Opening this topic up for discussion hoping someone can shed some light on it.

WHY would it be an insult

 to call someone an Ethiopian?

The Black Girl in Search of God and Some Lesser Tales (Guest Post)

Book Review: The Black Girl in Search of God and Some Lesser Tales by Bernard Shaw

By: Philip Spires

The title piece in this anthology is a parable on the nature of religious belief. When first published in 1932 it caused quite a stir and I wondered whether the intervening 75 years might have rendered it something less of a shocker. I found that, apart from one violation of current political correctness and a few inevitable stylistic issues, the message had lost none of its poignancy and perhaps little of its ability to shock.

"The Black Girl in Search of God" is not a novel or a novella. It is not really a short story either. I choose to describe it as a parable because others have, but equally, it could be classed alongside Plato's symposium as a vehicle for examining a philosophical idea. It's not a discourse, but it could be a meditation, albeit a rather energetic one. The idea in question, of course, is the nature of religious belief.

The Black Girl of the title is only cast as such, I think, to provide Bernard Shaw, the author, with a literary vehicle to convey his otherwise naïve questions about Christianity. To this end, The Black Girl is presented as a "noble savage", and thus a tabula rasa. It is here - and only here - that Shaw violates current correctness. The character could have been cast as a child, but then she could not have threatened to wield her knobkerrie, her weapon, and nor could she have been portrayed as bringing no tradition of her own. We must accept, therefore, that there remains a functionality about the role of this character. She does not represent anything, except her ability to ask the questions she is required to ask.

The Black Girl has been converted to Christianity by a young British woman who has taken delight in amorously jilting a series of vicars. She then becomes a missionary, despite her clearly thin grasp of the subject matter. She is, perhaps, an allegory of colonial expansion. She goes abroad to teach others despite not having achieved fulfillment or knowledge in her own life. It might be important that the teacher and the taught are both women.

When her convert starts asking questions, fundamental questions that the missionary herself has never heard asked, never mind answered, she reverts to invention, not scholarship. Shaw's intention is clear. She invents myth to mystify myth. And this cloak satisfies the curiosity of the average Christian, but not The Black Girl, who thus goes off in search of God.

And, guided by snakes, she finds Him. And not just once, because there is more than one God in the Bible she carries. There is the God of Wrath, who demands the sacrifice of her child. When she cannot comply, He demands she find her father so he can sacrifice her. A good part of the Bible thus disappears from her new-found faith.

She meets an apparent God of Love, but he laughs at Job for being so naively and blindly devout. More of her book blows away.

She meets prophets who, one by one, deliver their different messages, most of which conflict and communicate individual political positions or bigotry rather than personal revelation.

On the way, she belittles Imperial power and male domination. She learns that most "civilized" countries have given up on God and hears a plea that people like her should not be taught things that the mother country no longer believes.

Scientists offer her equally conflicting opinions. They are careful only to describe, never to conclude or interpret. In a way, they are just modern prophets, each with their own interested positions.

There is an amazing episode where a mathematician implores her to consider complex numbers, the square root of minus x, which The Black Girl hears as Myna sex or perhaps its homophone minor sex, and is clearly a reference to feminism. Along with economic power and male dominance, The Black Girl sees guns as the highest achievement of white society. This anticipates the description of colonialism's trinity in Ngugi's Petals of Blood.

Then, in a strange section, an Arab discusses belief with a conjuror. These appear to be a pair of major prophets in thin disguise. But their discussions merely confuse the girl and their words skirt her questions.

And so she meets an Irishman, marries and settles down. She devotes herself to him, their coffee-colored children and the fruits of their garden. Note that she does not devote herself to herself. She projects out, does not analyze within. And in this utterly humanist universe she finds not only personal happiness, but also fulfillment and, with that, answers to her own metaphysical questions that religion per se could not even address.

And so, as the parable closes, we ponder whether the Irishman she marries is Shaw, and whether The Black Girl is the questioning, non-racist, non-sexist, socialist and humanist vision of the future he has personally espoused.

And as for the Lesser Tales, they are generally lesser. Don Giovanni explaining himself was fun and the Death of an Old Revolutionary Hero was prescient of the role of the Socialist Workers' Party adopted in maintaining Margaret Thatcher in power in the 1980s. A great, historical and fundamentally contemporary read.

* * *

Author Bio
Philip Spires
Author of "Mission", an African novel set in Kenya
www.philipspires.co.uk
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

The Black Girl in Search of God and Some Lesser Tales https://t.co/uhFVYJDhw7 via @amazon #books #BooksWorthReading #reading #readinglist
This book caused #controversy when it 1st appeared in 1932. It provoked a public outcry. #GeorgeBernardShaw was decried as a blasphemer. pic.twitter.com/biFhSiwgx9

— My Shopping Channel (@goshoppingbees) May 10, 2024

Mother Africa : Trees of Africa : Baobab Tree

“Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.  (African Proverbs and Sayings)

The baobab tree (adansonia) is the national tree of Madagascar and has been called the tree of life (although I personally believe that any tree on the planet can be called a tree of life**).

What Do You Know About the Baobab Tree? ~ Medium.com

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Trees Deserve Respect

Ailanthus altissima is an ornamental tree grown mainly for shade and also for its leaves which the silkworm feeds on. Sounds prettier when it is called by its unscientific name: "tree of heaven". The acacia thrives in the wilderness of Paran (the location of several historic events in the Bible).

Healthcare History and Advice Regarding Contagious Disease: Listen to Peter Geekie

Something to consider given the reports concerning the ebola outbreak. in 2014 and now the deadly coronavirus in 2020 that is scaring the bejeezus out of everyone.

"For those of you who doubt the power of essential oils to treat serious disease, let me tell you two little stories."

"The photo above shows a leather mask worn by doctors, where the beak is stuffed with herbs soaked in essential oils to protect them from the disease. It must have frightened the life out of the patient."

READ MORE.  You know you want to.

The medical measures may seem like common sense to most of us.  But as we know ... common sense isn't all that common.

Insurance Mart and Insurance Smart shares general health info.
For general information purposes. Not to be substituted for medical advice. 

The Welcoming Culture of the Bedouin Peoples

Bedouin tribes have a central welcoming culture that is very open to visitors. They use this welcoming of guests to show their respect to God and welcome people into their homes through the uses of tea and coffee.
 

The Welcoming Culture of the Bedouin Peoples  By Brian J Thomas
» Read on »

Coffee Time - 

 Traditional Bedouin melodies. 

***

Related articles (???) (I think.)

(I think these are “related”.  It’s an outsider’s perspective.  Me, being the one on the outside.  It’s a matter I pray about, but don’t have a clue on how to rectify or reconcile it, other than through conversion to Christianity.)

• Modern Day Arabs and Their Father Abraham (wizzley.com)

• Bedouin Village Demolished For 63rd Time
• Israeli government kills plan to uproot Bedouin

From Africa to Alabama? That's Quite a Trip! | DYNAMIC AFRICA (Reblog)

English: Great Seal of The State of Alabama
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Totally cool and interesting. Worth a reblog or share. 250 million years ago? You don't say!!

#EarthDay: Geoscientists have identified a chunk of Africa stuck onto the southeastern United States.

A long mysterious zone of unusual magnetism that stretches from Alabama through Georgia and offshore to the North Carolina coast appears to be the suture between ancient rocks that formed when parts of Africa and North America were pressed together 250 million years ago. ...

Read on. #EarthDay: Geoscientists have identified a chunk... | DYNAMIC AFRICA

http://dynamicafrica.tumblr.com/post/83522160168/earthday-geoscientists-have-identified-a-chunk

♦ ♦ ♦

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Real Estate Investing in the Rainbow Nation, South Africa

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Thinking of international real estate investing? South Africa, Bahamas, Panama and Costa Rica invite and encourage foreign investors. Here is a quick overview of their programs.

Angie10's Spotlight On The African Buffalo

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The next YouTube could be a site where people watch other people play video games | Quartz (qz.com)

"It sounds like the worst nightmare of a 21st-century parent. Not only are the kids addicted to video games, they aren’t even playing the games themselves. Instead, they’re sitting in front of the computer watching other people play. Where, oh where, did we go wrong?  ... "  

Future events marker for video games (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One could argue that it's just a form of entertainment like watching television.  But that's not even close to what this article is saying.  Because this article is not addressing adverse effects on the psyche of a child or young adult, or social responsibility implications.  It's just business.

Read more at original link.

• The next YouTube could be a site where people watch other people play video games - Quartz

Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief here, tailored for morning delivery in Asia, Europe & Africa, and the Americas.

Español: Logo Vectorial de YouTube (Photo credit: Wikipedia)