How to be a good reader, a lecture at the Baraarug library in Somalia

Opinions on Sunday, December 27, 2020

Columnist: Inusah Mohammed

12/27/2020

One of the wonderful activities that I participated in this incredibly memorable year is a discussion I had with a group of young literati in Somalia who are using literature to light up their world. We are all aware of the ‘tribulations’ that this year went through us. The coronavirus pandemic stunned the world with unforgettable style and fashion. And it was characterized for weeks by various forms of confinement throughout the world.

Schools were closed, businesses were closed, and all the hangouts turned into ghost towns. A platform that allowed many people to have their teleconferences, distance education and social relations is the Zoom platform.

It provided the opportunity to interact through video telephony and online chat services. It was through this platform that I spoke about becoming a good reader of the Baraarug Library, with young Africans who want to produce a new generation of critical thinkers.

I started by introducing myself as the Executive Secretary of the Success Book Club.

It is an organization we formed to give young people a platform to develop and rise up and have a monumental impact on their lives, communities and the world at large. We believe this because we understand that knowledge is the only good and ignorance is the only evil. Then I establish a background so that they can appreciate the importance of seeking knowledge. I recited the poem “knowledge”.

Once upon a time there was a great author of children’s stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire in Strand, London. Her name was Eleanor Farjeon. He wrote a poem and ended with a note that every human being should strive to avoid ignorance; we must embrace and cultivate knowledge in the best of our lives, and our lives will be great, flourishing and impactful. She titled the poem “Knowledge”. She began: “Your mind is a meadow. To plant according to your needs. You are a farmer with knowledge as seeds. ”

Then he listed the need to take care of the mind and also the benefits that one gets when he takes the acquisition of knowledge as his job and ended on a high note.

Don’t be a plant with nothing in the spring. And look what harvest the summer will bring. “

I then proceeded with the reasons why Africans of all people should read voraciously. I exposed my experience as a Zongo boy. And you know we all say that being born in Africa is a difficult task. You can debate it. I love Africa more than you, but the first obligation of a reader is to define reality.

Africa is behind. The land is rich but the people and our disposition are poor. So being born here is a difficult task. I was born in West Africa specifically in Ghana, specifically in Zongo. Herrh! I desperately need hope to survive. I need hope to pursue my great ambition. I need to hope to get up when I stumble. I need hope to help me cope with the turbulence and pestilences of life. I need hope to rekindle my spirit, revitalize and rejuvenate my soul, and most importantly, to regain my energy. Reading assures this hope. I read books by people who shook the world. I read books of legendary lives lived. This is how my hope is sustained. Then I went on to discuss how to be a good reader.

Become a reader

The first point to become a good reader is to be a reader first. It’s captured as such because you can only be good at something when you do that. You can’t be a good soccer player if you don’t play soccer in the first place. The question now is, how does one become a reader?

Develop an interest

Below this, based on some historical facts, is that someone makes fun of you or attracts you with a love of reading or you are forced by someone in authority or your very association with people and the conversations you have to make you develop an interest. . I gave examples from three books.

In her autobiography, I Know Why Caged Birds Sing, Maya Angelou claimed that Mrs. Flowers, a neighbor, attracted her to become a reader. She recounted “for almost a year, I was soaking the house, the store, the school and the church, like an old, dirty and inedible cookie. Then I met, or rather got to know, the lady who threw my first life preserver on me. “Mrs. Flowers piqued his interest when she gave him a copy of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens to read and later told him that “he must be intolerant of ignorance but with understanding of illiteracy. That some people, who could not go to school, had more education and even more than university professors.”

Second, Malcolm X recounted in his autobiography how his association with Bimbi, (his fellow inmate at Charleston State Prison), the man he described as “the first man I met in prison who made a positive impression on him.” .

Third, Ben Carson also talked about how their mother forced them to read two books in the library and report on it. He wrote copiously about how that changed him from the lowest position in the class to the top-tier personality that he is today.

Practice, practice and practice

I exhorted young literati to get used to reading always and at all times. I like Readwide’s motto ‘Get caught reading’. Our parents say that “by trying often, the monkey learns to jump from one tree to another without falling.” I have had the opportunity to introduce many people to reading. People tell me about their reading habits and I start an article or story a day for them. And I’m very picky about what to send them, a story that I read and got soaked up in. So with that, the person goes from one article to two or three a day and then I give the person a book (a small one) to start with and the person begins to go on their own reading journey. So practice is important. He is a very good reader. Kwame Nkrumah stated in his autobiography that “unless the pot is constantly shaken, the contents will go stale.” So keep practicing. Miss a meal, but never miss a read.

Read books that captivate you

I read all kinds of books. This very morning, I was reading a book ‘How contagion works, science, conscience and community in times of crisis’ by Paolo Giordano. However, there are books that make you want to do more in your reading. There are books that keep you flipping through the pages and make you sad when the end is near. There are books that affect in the least, the life of your body, the beat of your heart, the illumination of your soul, the illumination of your consciousness and your vibration with energy and life. I read about great lives like I said before and I feel like my life path has been made easier for me. I have read Chinua Achebe’s books and understand why Africa remains impoverished by centuries of exploitation and domination.

Pick the books that interest you and stick to them. One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to finish all the books or assignments you choose.

Robin Sharma stated in about two of his books ‘The Guide to Greatness’ and ‘Who Will Cry When You Die’ that if you choose a book that doesn’t captivate you, drop it and pick another. So, to be a good reader, stick with the ones that captivate you. Some people don’t like fiction. Others also believe that “the life of the imagination is a vital element of our total nature. If we starve it or contaminate it, the quality of our life becomes depressed or dirty ”, that’s why they bet on fiction.

Take your reading as a mission.

Why you read? I read to be cool. I read to inspire many people in the world with my life. I believe that my life is a message. So like yours. Believe that you can also be cool and read great. I wrote somewhere that I have not yet seen a great man who had nothing to do with reading, knowledge and its acquisition. . It was reported that Jesus Christ cursed a people without knowledge. He stated that “for lack of knowledge, my people will perish.” The Bible again and again reminds us that we have a duty to be smart.

Prophet Muhammad was put on his mission with a divine mandate to read. And his greatest miracle is still the glorious book. For materialists, the richest men on earth tell us that we don’t read much. They are people who consume books. You can follow their book blogs to learn more. All the great political leaders that could be mentioned were voracious readers. Mandela, Obama and the greatest of all, Nkrumah were great because they worked for and with knowledge. Therefore, to be a good reader, you must view your reading as a mission to free humanity from the swamps of ignorance and underdevelopment.

Form a book club

Reading is contagious. It’s contagious. A good reader believes that the world will be a better place if each and everyone embraces the honorable life of reading. Therefore, to be a good reader, one must form a book club. Find some friends or colleagues, bring the community together under the umbrella of reading, to deepen the understanding of what is read, increase the thought process, and most importantly, take advantage of the speaking abilities of others. It is said that it is through the organization that the talents of people are harnessed, why not discover it in an enriching and positive reading environment?