A Celebration of Life of Madam Philomena Nwankechi Okolo - Essay Example

? At 50, Levittown Contends with Its Legacy of Bias Confessions of Economic Hit Man “A Celebration of Life of Madam Philomena Nwankechi Okolo” by Amechi Okolo Madam Philomena actually presents an example of a successful life in the society which every person wish to attain. By extension being a woman, It is fairly intriguing to learn some of the rare events that marked her life as a parent, wife, social activist and other communal roles all on one head. This Mama proves to be a cut above others in terms of the vivid description of the qualities she possessed in various facets of life in the society. She set a positive social precedence to her children by showing high standard of respect, mutual trust and complement to the husband. This is actually in line with the biblical and even the society’s social definition of a wife material that any man who wish to succeed in life would want1. The attributes of Philomena describes the class of a woman who encourages the husband besides support and this as the biography goes made the whole family prosperous. The mode of balancing her competing roles and the tricky gender in which she belongs put her ahead of the pack and sets her as a role model to the womenfolk. It is worth noting that the writer says that the Mom revered the Dad and gave him peace of mind with virtually zero space for petty disputes and bedroom quarrels if there was any. African culture does not limit the ownership of a woman to the husband but it declares her as a common property to the extended family and the entire community at large. This is a scenario which is well explained by Mama Philomena’s character through her unrestricted social, moral and economic support she gave beyond her on family members. In the definition of an ideal woman, Mama Philomena qualifies under this classification2. In the larger social fabric Mama Philomena earned a name in the community due to her great contribution to the economic stabilization of the area. Here is a case where She begun and sustained Tobacco business that not only attracted the locals but went beyond the borders of Nigeria. She presents a good example that supports the old say among many African communities that “raise a woman and you have raised the entire community, raise a man and you have raised a single person” which simply states that a woman covers the interest of the entire society but actions of men and hidden interests are limited to their wife and children only. The entire community in regard to the message delivered by the writer exposes how Mama Philomena introduced and nurtured many people to the booming business of tobacco without any form of discrimination3. It is quite interesting that she did not just stop at that but also broke the culture of skewed economic empowerment on women by the society. She attained this through staging a historic legal duel against the male chauvinists in the society who wanted her relinquish the tobacco shed in the newly constructed market. It is evident that through her positive and peaceful influence she made a sober approach and won a number of supporters against the male dominated protagonists’ and won the case to the jubilation of the entire community. This marked the beginning of the formal recognition of women rights and the significant economic contribution they can make if given the opportunity. On this account she actually earned a name “Win” and stood tall among fellow women as a dependable, reliable and true women rights’ activist. Even in the contemporary world there has been a raging debate on what men can do and what women cannot do. Mama Philomena proves this belief otherwise by offering a service that is glued in people’s mind that only men can measure up to. Considering the case in which single handedly shouldered the cost of the funeral ceremony of her mother-in-law to the surprise of the predominantly patriarchal community. This was a boost to the potential of any woman which is just sat on by men. That notwithstanding, the woman presented here represents a social justice activist who would not sit back and witness the exploitation of the poor in the society especially the women. She staged a protest against the women group that formulated an outrageous and oppressive legislation and won another title. Mama Philomena portrays and independent critical thinker devoid of any influence from the opinion of the majority in respect of how she got her son admitted to school against the previous decision of the husband and other community members and this came to make the future of the son4. “At 50, Levittown Contends With Its Legacy of Bias” by Bruce Lambert In this article, the author demonstrates segregation tendencies in Levittown. The author begins the essay by a yearlong jubilee celebration of the town. Apparently, the celebrations attracted a multitude of people and had all kinds of glamour that were performed through seminars, exhibits, antique-car show, tours, and candle light shows. Additionally, the celebrations involved honoring Potato Day festivities. However, the Levittown experience did not touch everybody. There were cases of segregation along racial lines5. According to a former World War II veteran, Eugene Burnett, the only reason why he was turned away was because he was black. He also nurse bitter memories from the sentiments of a salesperson who expressed his doubt if the owners of the buildings would decide to sell their houses to Negroes. Nonetheless, this was not true. Levitt’s policy from the onset was to grant admission to the whites only and consequently sideline blacks and other minority groups. According to Delano Stewart, a magazine editor, the Levittown celebrations did not make any sense. It is an expression of a white mark on the Long Island. These two illustrations demonstrated the manner in which the whites expressed their racial nature in Levitt leasing out houses in Levittown. Actually, they did not hide their racial tendencies. In clause 25 of the standard lease found in the initial Levitt houses, there was a bold explanation of who had the merit to occupy or use the houses6. They were the Caucasian race. Even though the Supreme Court of the United States dropped this clause in 1948, Levitt did not stop adhering to the racial bar. However, soon or later, the minority residents would trickle in during the 1950s. Nonetheless, the figures were so insignificant because by 1990, a whopping 97.37 per cent of the Levittown’s residents were overwhelmingly whites. The blacks who intended to move in Levittown houses encountered hurdles all the way. Their choices became fewer when since they were only given the open housing alternative7. “The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” by Perkins Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins reveals of his occupation as an economist for a leading consulting firm. Apparently, he narrates that he was essentially an ‘Economic Hit Man’ because his main occupation was to persuade countries that are strategically vital to America to accept huge loans intended for infrastructure development, and make sure that U.S corporations oversaw the lucrative projects. Apparently, John defines Economic hit men as high salaried individuals who defraud countries globally to accept funding for significant projects. Moreover, Perkins occupation was to develop economic development projections that would form the basis for numerous projects. However, if America chose to lend money to a country, Perkins had the responsibility of comparing economic benefits of diverse projects such as telecommunication systems. Furthermore, he would generate reports that revealed the economic development the country would have after fruition of the projects. However, ‘The Gross national product’ was constantly a significant factor in the economic projections because they only chose the project that had the capacity to increase GNP8. Furthermore, the American contractors expected to generate huge profits from the projects. Similarly, some wealthy families and leading leaders in the receiving nations would become rich because of the lent loans. The only problem accrued to the receiving nations is that they did not have the capacity to handle the huge debt from the loans. As a result, they deprived the citizens some benefits such as education, health and other social amenities for several decades because they struggled economically to surmount the huge debts. Since these countries were not in a position to settle these debts, America would now obtain economic and military favors any time they desired. Apparently, his first assignment was in Indonesia. It was rich in oil and densely populated. Perkin’s occupation was to generate optimistic forecasts that revealed that by developing innovative power plants and delivery lines, the economy would boom greatly. Furthermore, these projections would enable the foreign banks to validate huge loans for the nation and in turn pay the American corporations so that they can initiate the projects9. America viewed Indonesia as a perfect destination after it withdrew from Vietnam in its pursuit for communism. If America had the capacity to control Indonesia because of the huge debts they would incur from the loans aimed at funding the projects, they presumed that American dominance would be prevalent in Southeast Asia. During the three months spent in Indonesia conducting interviews and studying economic potential for the nation, he saw the extreme discrepancy amid the rich and poor. Even if there were notable signs of a thriving economy characterized by huge mansions and first class restaurants, he still saw that a large part of the population lived in abject poverty. Furthermore, he interacted greatly with some of the citizens and learned of their bitterness of American greed and wastefulness. The encounters with the citizens made Perkins struggle with conscience. He wondered how American capitalism was the solution to the Indonesian citizens. Moreover, he still wondered how the whole population would benefit from the infrastructures America intended to develop in Indonesia or instead benefit a few influential leaders and ultimately living a majority of citizens living in abject poverty. His superiors encouraged him to establish high forecasts for economic development because they informed him that Indonesia would experience a 17 percent growth rate yearly. Another forecaster working with Perkins called Parker told him that he should not develop improbable projections because the expected growth rate from the electrification project was a mere 7 percent as opposed to 17 percent. Increased conversations with Parker resulted to more conscience struggles for Perkins. Finally, he believed that his superiors were the ultimate decision makers and would definitely choose his high economic forecast instead of Parker’s squat forecast. During presentation of the ultimate projections, Perkin’s figures delighted his superiors and Parker immediately lost his job10. Consequently, Parker became the chief economist within the consulting firm and received a hefty pay rise. In 1972, the firm sent Perkins to panama to finalize a deal on a development plan aimed at investing on agricultural and transport sectors within the nation. The multi billion deal was a mechanism of making sure that Panama remained indebted and return to its original puppet status. However, he experienced the same enormous disparities amid the rich and poor. In panama, these disparities were extreme particularly around the Canal Zone. The Americans resided in beautiful residences and enjoyed superior shopping. Outside the Zone, Panamanians resided in wooden houses and these harsh environments created a lot of animosity amid the Americans and Panama natives11. The president of Panama had a great desire of investing in massive advancement projects and still knew that he would become a wealthy individual by cooperating with American companies. Ultimately, he finalized a deal to initiate the projects though he knew that they would not benefit the individuals living in abject poverty. After years of battling with conscience, Perkins became guilty of his role in defrauding countries and ultimately quit his job in 1980. Bibliography Amechi, Okolo. 2007. A Celebration of Life of Madam Philomena Nwankechi Okolo. Social Justice Center (SJC), Jan., 15, 2007. Lambert, Bruce. 1995. At 50, Levittown Contends With Its Legacy of Bias. Magazine, New York: The New York Times, Dec. 28, 1997. Perkins, John. 2007. Confessions of an economic Hit Man. New York, NY: Dutton. Read More