UNITY DOES NOT MEAN HOMOGENEITY

UNITY DOES NOT MEAN HOMOGENEITY

DE JOE QUARCOO

Sometimes I ask myself how I got into all this… leadership and this sense of duty I possess to serve and help others?

One Sunday in January 2021, a lady visited my church. She’d been invited by my Bishop’s wife. She looked familiar but I could not remember who she was. After service, fortunately I was in conversation with my Bishops wife when the lady came over to say bye to her. She was introduced to me. She immediately retorted that she knew me, and she made me out when she saw me upstage ministering. Your guess is right, I was curious to know how and where we met. She recounted a childhood incident that took place over twenty-five years ago when I was in grade seven and she was in grade five. She hurt herself badly in school one day and all the students present at the time were laughing at her, it was an embarrassing situation. I was the only one who walked up to her, lifted her up and supported her to get to the school infirmary for treatment. I vividly remembered the incident when she narrated it, but I was also very surprised. She never forgot even after all these years.

There is something good in you. It requires courage and boldness to step out and express your heart or gift. I call this showing up. What I did then may have made me unpopular with others, but I had a good feeling about it because I made a positive impact on another person’s life driven by my love for God. I believe this has been my driving force ever since. To make a positive impact in others’ lives – that’s my definition of success.

The challenges we face as Africans are real. For some it may be racial segregation, for you it may be socioeconomic deprivations, for another cultural or even gender biases and other forms of discrimination. These challenges are common denominators for most if not all Africans. I never saw myself as a leader. It never crossed my mind that I would be this person with great networks across Africa and the world fighting for social justice through youth empowerment and awareness creation.

But here I am today, wearing many hats:

* Psychologist and Urban Research Practitioner

* Civic Leader and Reverend Minister

* Husband and Father

We all have something to give regardless of how much we feel we lack.

In Israel, I learned that the best way to be empowered is to believe in ourselves and our innovations even if they are primary. And most importantly to unite and stay together appreciating our diversity and varying perspectives. Unity does not mean homogeneity but working towards a common vision. My skills were further sharpened in the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and the Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS) Leadership programme. The African Civic Education Academy (ACEA) and my training in civil resistance or non-confrontational activism from the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) all helped. I am sharing these experiences to encourage you to pursue opportunities for development. Volunteer your time, enrol in leadership development programmes, and join organisations like Voice1Africa to expand your network and exposure.

Education in itself does not do us any good but rather what we make of the training and knowledge we have received is what produces impact. Also, we must learn to query the knowledge and information we read or receive. To progress as a people, Africa must be united. To unite, we must first break the colonial Ideologies and mindsets that we have known, and which persist in our educational system. One of this is nationalism. I hold that we must deconstruct nationalism and embrace Pan-Africanism. You must see yourself first as an African before a South African or Togolese or Senegalese. We must challenge taken-for granted perspectives about being youth, black or coloured, a woman or a man, even about our city planning, etc.

Our ultimate vision as a movement i.e., Voice1Africa, is to create unlimited opportunities for African youth through networking and exposure to the cultural diversity within our beautiful continent. The more opportunities we have to encounter each other, the better we understand ourselves through shared interests and similarities. At Voice1Africa, we keep exploring ways of making these networking opportunities also financially meaningful for our members and for the African youth in general. Geographical and socio-economic locations must not stop us therefore we are exploring grassroots organising as well.

Succinctly, my life's aim is to help people. I am doing this through various avenues such as pastoral ministry, menstrual and mental health campaigns, music and urban activism, and a passion for an empowered and united Africa through my work with Voice1Africa.

What do you live for?

P.S. This essay is an excerpt from Echo Our African Dreams, our inaugural anthology. If your story or insights align with our vision, we encourage you to explore our [Submissions] page.