HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
July 1, 2007 Dear Ed, This letter is an open one so don't make the mistake of treating it as a personal missive; indeed it is meant for public consumption especially fellow useless knowledge 'addicts' out there. So publish it if you don't mind. Before anything else I wish to state here clearly that I have enjoyed participating in the UK website as a columnist. Ever since I debuted with my work entitled "In Defence of 419" early January this year there has been no going back; it's been fun and full of ideas! Quitting writing for UK is not being considered yet but I do not wish to partake in the current essay contest for obvious reasons, some of which my colleagues has highlighted. It smacks of arrogance and mischief to ask writers to 'censor' or doctor one another and attack each other at will. I fail to understand what purpose the UK editors intend to serve here; may be they meant another thing beyond our immediate comprehension but their obvious mischief-making cannot be lost on discerning minds. Someone, an American friend once wrote me early February warning me about writing for the UK branding the Editors as "intellectual junkies" who has no serious consideration for black authors but I wrote him back asking for time to come to terms with his reasoning. A concerned White writer (names withheld) wrote me recently and this is what he had told me: "The U-K editor treats his writers with contempt. In his latest essay contest he is encouraging writers to ridicule and humiliate each other. The last time a round he made fun of your English. Here is America we call blacks who let whites make fun of them "Uncle Toms". Don't be an Uncle Tom, dont' participate in the contest. In fact, why are you writing for such a wicked website?" I could remember participating in the last essay contest won by Christine Bruness (who richly deserved the symbolic award) and the UK Editors ridiculed my submission holding my roots in contempt. For them English language is not my first or second and even third language. Even though I recognise the fact that English is not my native tongue I speak, write and express myself better in English much more than French or Igbo language. At least my entry was voted for by someone when other contributions never garnered any vote. I had written Ed demanding for a UK teeshirt. 
After weeks of inaction he wrote me back suggesting that the best way to get one was to go online and purchase it. After I wrote him back complaining of the tone of his response he referred me to his superior who in turn concluded that the UK management were not in a position to give out their teeshirts unless won through competition. I felt embarrassed because I had sought the UK teeshirt to show for my belonging to the website. But alas I was disappointed unapologetically! I wondered how and why sending a teeshirt to a columnist that cost more or less ten dollars or so should be a problem to the UK editors. My best wishes to those columnists interested in the new essay competition for July. But they may well keep away from my intellectual property; I'm not in need of a grammarian or a wordsmith who 'corrects' people of their writing 'errors' or 'faults'. If I need lectures on the art of writing I certainly know where to get one. ------------ About the author: Sunny Chris Okenwa is a U-K contributor based in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire. Email: soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
