The seed of knowledge in our struggle for excellence

There is a Biblical principle which talks of a tithe, a tenth of one’s earnings, which if given to God will guarantee exponential returns on the initial investment. The tithe does not only guarantee multiplication of the remaining nine tenths, but also grants divine protection on the giver’s land, home, and even his or her life.

This principle of the tenth may be used as a metaphor for the excellent lot, the exceptional ones living amongst us, who if co-opted into the cause of our advancement, would result in an equally miraculous rendering of the whole; becoming the little leaven that leavens the entire loaf.

It is widely understood that this exceptional tenth of humanity can be found in every population, sitting like a bejeweled capstone atop the pyramid of society. Taken further, this unique part which influences the whole is displayed elsewhere in nature. A diligent farmer walking through his forest would discover a fractal pattern around him, between the trees in his forest and the size of limbs on any reasonably sized tree.

By this I mean; if our good farmer were to cut a limb from that tree chosen for comparison, and thereafter seek among his other trees in earnest, he would soon find a tree of corresponding height and girth, as that severed limb. This is a universal law among all things created.

What is the significance of this order all around? And what lessons may we learn from the arrangement of trees within a forest, waves upon earth’s largest oceans, the patterns of stripes on a tiger, or even the random distribution of stars and galaxies? The significance is that the whole is beholding to the part, and should complement it through a relationship of order and function.

And the principle even goes deeper, for intrinsic within these dominions lies an essence beyond form, in such a way that, if needs be, one could recreate the forest from a single acorn; a flock of birds, from one egg; and underperforming students, may be transformed by one visionary teacher, demonstrating the influence which the ideal part may have upon the whole.

In the early part of the twentieth century, W.E.B Dubois, the first African American to graduate from Harvard University, touted the doctrine of the “talented tenth”. He spoke of the need to harness the will, commitment, and exceptional qualities of our gifted tenth, for the purpose of improving our lives. Despite such noble intention, some branded the concept elitist. Politics aside, we can understand Dubois’ intention given the state of the black masses at that time. Yet even in light of critics such as Garvey, Dubois gained traction.

In contrast to Dubois, Garvey swept together the masses into a tour de force, creating Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), while Dubois went on to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) consisting of his talented elite. The disagreement resulted in a schism in the movement.

Dubois controlled the apex of our “forest”, leaving the trunks and roots to UNIA. Leadership became severed from its base, and Garvey’s movement failed, for want of those people Dubois attracted. Yet the truth of the principle is evident in the outcome; for a movement deprived of its visionaries will perish; and generals fighting without an army will lose the war.

Allowing for controversy, harnessing our best and brightest minds, and infusing them with the spirit of patriotism and service, and giving them the task of creating the base upon which the society could stand in order to get a better view of the horizon, is worthwhile. These best and brightest are in every country, and Tanzania has its share of the lot; people endowed with genius.

They come from every region, every district, every religion, and every tribe. They are girls, and boys, albinos, and pigmented people kissed by the sun. Some may never get a chance to awake their latent gift, and others may die too soon, and still others may doubt that such glorious capacity could reside within one as humble as they; or in Africa herself. Wrongly taught, or strangely imagining, we may assume that such divinity may visit others but not us. Yet, this is not so; for God sleeps within our homes, and looks over a million geniuses awaiting arousal. Such a lot may change the world if given a chance to do so. Blessed by God, they carry within their minds the keys to those shackles which bind us to poverty, doubt, and outright disbelief.

The sun shines upon us as it does upon all men. Yet the matter remains, how do we awaken our genius? The answer lies within the lifelong duty of cultivating our minds. It is a planting of the seed of knowledge, early, and watering it through the unrelenting reading of books. It fulfills itself in the daily struggle for excellence. This is worth saying aloud: “There is no substitute for exercising the mind with books.”

Reading is essential to having a worthwhile existence. It does not merely educate us, but also opens the windows of our souls to let in wisdom and truth. A million trees grow from Bukoba to the palm groves of Kigoma, and just a tenth is needed to build a ladder to heaven.

Mr Patrick Creary ,CEO of grand Africa Literary Initiative Limited