Immensely poignant post. Belgium for me brings up only feelings of astonishment. I don't know if it's true, but the few Belgians I've met in Uganda have no idea what King Leopold did in Congo. It seems a heavy legacy for educated individuals like you to carry. But as you said...it's not all bad as you grow older I think. With acceptance comes a sort of peace. The dictatorship in Uganda used to make me visceral with rage but now I encounter abusive pubic officials or intimidating military and other police with amusement, calm and an inability to be intimidated. If you're going to shoot, shoot. Peace out.
It amazes me how people prefer not to think about what XXX did to YYY in place ZZZ. Joan Didion wrte somewhere that “for whatever reason, she was not given the gene for denial.”
Immensely poignant post. Belgium for me brings up only feelings of astonishment. I don't know if it's true, but the few Belgians I've met in Uganda have no idea what King Leopold did in Congo. It seems a heavy legacy for educated individuals like you to carry. But as you said...it's not all bad as you grow older I think. With acceptance comes a sort of peace. The dictatorship in Uganda used to make me visceral with rage but now I encounter abusive pubic officials or intimidating military and other police with amusement, calm and an inability to be intimidated. If you're going to shoot, shoot. Peace out.
It amazes me how people prefer not to think about what XXX did to YYY in place ZZZ. Joan Didion wrte somewhere that “for whatever reason, she was not given the gene for denial.”
Thank you for introducing Joan Didion to me. Gonna read as many of her works as I can find now.