This chapter's exercise is about doing some personal reflection. There are no right or wrong answers here, instead this is an opportunity for you to take some time and think about your ethical values and beliefs.
A letter to the past (10 mins.)
This exercise asks you to explore what it would take to change your mind about something important.
Imagine someone from the past who held views characteristic of that time. Also imagine, for the sake of the exercise, that this person is not too different from you - perhaps you would have been friends. Unfortunately, many people in the past were complicit in horrible things, such as slavery, sexism, racism, and homophobia, which were even more prevalent in the past than they are now. And, sadly, this historical counterpart is also complicit in some moral tragedy common to their time, perhaps not out of malevolence or ill-will, but merely through indifference or ignorance.
This exercise is to write a short letter to this historical friend arguing that they should care about a specific group that your present self values. Imagine that they are complicit in owning slaves, or in the oppression of women, people of other races, or sexual minorities.
For the sake of this exercise, imagine your historical counterpart is not malevolent or selfish, they think they are living a normal moral life, but are unaware of where they are going wrong. What could you say to them to make them realize that they’re doing wrong? What evidence are they overlooking that allows them to hold their discriminatory views? You might want to write a few paragraphs or just bullet points, and spend time reflecting on what you write.
Hello traditional Maasai Elders
I hope you are doing well and that the community is thriving. I am reaching out to you from the future with some information that is crucial to changing the direction of our community. This information is about the patriarchy practised in our community and why things should change.
It has long been held that men are the leaders of the community and that women should be subversive to them. In the current world, this is called sexism - the idea that people of one gender (women in this case) are inferior to the other. There are many reasons that you might have to think this way but they are unfounded.
Think of the things that women are put through in your time. Girls are taken out of school and married off early to older men of your choosing. They are then made to have children from an early age, without taking into account their consent. This is a violation of their rights - why would a person be denied the right to an education, the right to a life of freedom, the right to a choice of their life partner, the right to choose when to have children - just because of their gender?
Another great atrocity that your daughters, sisters, and wives have been put through is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Imagine the pain they go through and the danger it poses to their health. In the modern world, this practice has been outlawed because it is such a massive violation. Please consider the effects and you shall see why this decision was made.
In the modern world, women are treated equally as men. This has led to incredible gains in development and societal growth that your descendants enjoy. Women are just as intelligent and hard-working as men and given the opportunity, they shall help your generation make changes that shall forever reverberate in the community all the way to my present times. Please give equality a chance, for everyone in the community and ensure for each to count for one and none for more and you shall reap the fruits.
Thank you,
Your son from a thriving future in which all genders are equal
This is great to see. Seeing that many men are still clinging to past practices and demonizing attempts to modernism, you are proving that revolutionizing mindsets is indeed possible.