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RAMBLE in the JUNGLE

Culture?

By Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons

Tags: culture, systems, biology-metaphor

OK, science students (especially biology students) define culture, or culturing, as "growing microorganisms, tissues, etc. in or on a controlled or defined medium". I think you will understand this comparison better than the rest of us. The controlled or defined medium in question here is the Cameroons.

So here is the question: what kind of microorganisms is the "system in place" growing? You tell me.

If you did not understand the question, here is an alternative. Every community of humans in the world has a "culture". Question: what culture is being developed and promoted in the Cameroons? A CPDM/RDPC culture? You tell me.

Actually, you should think about it deeply, and figure out whether the so-called "successful" people you see are the kind you would want to be like. If so, you are right on track. If not, you will have to do something else. Have you ever done something else? Maybe this is the time. It is up to you. After all, it is your life.

Meanwhile, here is a definition of culture:

"The sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. Culture is transmitted, through language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art, from one generation to the next."

TribalMonk


If humans paused for a second and thought about why their noses do not face the sky, they would understand that if they did, every time it rained, walking in it would risk drowning.

That said, my grandma never called so-called "white" people "white". She could not see "white", only "red". So in the language of my people, what the rest of the world calls "white people", we call "red people" (with all due respect for meaning and intent). The only time a human is called "white" in the community is when it concerns a ghost.

TribalMonk

— Wanaku Verdzekov

Reading & grammar

Reading level: Gr 9–11

Understand

  1. How does the author use the biology meaning of "culture"?
  2. What question does the author ask about "successful" people?
  3. Why did the author's grandmother call Europeans "red", not "white"?

Grammar focus: two meanings of one word. Culture means both "growing microorganisms" and "a people's way of life". The author plays on the double meaning (a pun) to make the reader think.

Try it: Find another word with two meanings (e.g. root, bank) and write a sentence that plays on both.

Discuss: What kind of "culture" does your school grow? Describe it and argue whether it should change.