--Dear one and all:
No one is perfect! And anyone who thinks he/she is perfect is delusional and should be put on depression medication.
No one can know who he has offended. Human relations are the most complicated: the person who smiles at you is not necessarily your friend. The one who frowns at you is not necessarily your enemy. The one with the soft words may not be nice; the one with the harsh words may not be unkind. A set of white teeth is not an indication of a pure heart!
As one Yoruba proverb says, "You cannot speak in a crowd of 40 and not misspeak!" One sentence is all that will set in motion serious trouble. I don't know the sentence that has offended you. As innocent as my preceding proverb is, there will be one person who is already angry: "Why does Falola always use Yoruba proverbs?" I know more than Yoruba proverbs, but this is the one my brain recalls at this instance. Or someone may not be angry but says, "It is not a Yoruba proverb; it is an Igbo proverb." I heard it from among the Yoruba; I don't know its provenance. A baby does not know that cow produces milk in addition to the mother's breasts. [Falola and breasts, another trouble—he is a male chauvinist!] From there, arguments follow: "What is a Yoruba proverb?" "No, Achebe called it an Igbo proverb but he heard it while a student at the University of Ibadan!" Instead of saying from his mother's breasts, why not "from his mother's body?" Why do you use "his" instead of "they" for Falola? Nothing is simple.
This is the nature of humans and humanities. You and I cannot do anything about it. We cannot see the same issue in the same way.
And it is foolish for anyone to assume that he/she is smart and wise. This is hubris, and that person is ridiculous.
Accept as unintended all my mistakes and errors in 2020. I cannot assure you that I will not repeat them in 2021, but please pray for my long life to at least apologize to you in 2022.
I plead and pray that you will accept my regrets for all my shortcomings.
TF, January 1, 2021
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
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Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
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