Julius Nyerere, born on this day in 1922, was a socialist and anti-colonial Tanzanian politician who promoted a Pan-Africanist ideology known as Ujamaa, which means "extended family" or "brotherhood" in Swahili.
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was born on April 13, 1922 in Butiama, on the eastern shore of lake Victoria in north west Tanganyika. His father was the chief of the small Zanaki tribe. He was 12 before he started school (he had to walk 26 miles to Musoma to do so). Later, he transferred for his secondary education to the Tabora Government Secondary School. His intelligence was quickly recognized by the Roman Catholic fathers who taught him. He went on, with their help, to train as a teacher at Makerere University in Kampala (Uganda). On gaining his Certificate, he taught for three years and then went on a government scholarship to study history and political economy for his Master of Arts at the University of Edinburgh (he was the first Tanzanian to study at a British university and only the second to gain a university degree outside Africa. In Edinburgh, partly through his encounter with Fabian thinking, Nyerere began to develop his particular vision of connecting socialism with African communal living.
On his return to Tanganyika, Nyerere was forced by the colonial authorities to make a choice between his political activities and his teaching. He was reported as saying that he was a schoolmaster by choice and a politician by accident. Working to bring a number of different nationalist factions into one grouping he achieved this in 1954 with the formation of TANU (the Tanganyika African National Union). He became President of the Union (a post he held until 1977), entered the Legislative Council in 1958 and became chief minister in 1960. A year later Tanganyika was granted internal self-government and Nyerere became premier. Full independence came in December 1961.
In 1962, Nyerere was elected the first president of Tanganyika, a predecessor to modern Tanzania and a newly independent republic. His administration emphasized decolonizing society and the state, also unsuccessfully pursuing a Pan-Africanist East African Federation with Uganda and Kenya.
In 1967, Nyerere issued the "Arusha Declaration", forbidding government leaders from owning shares or holding directorates in private companies, receiving more than one salary, or owning any houses that they rented to others. In compliance with this declaration, Nyerere sold his second home and his wife donated her poultry farm to a local co-operative.
Nyerere’s integrity, ability as a political orator and organizer, and readiness to work with different groupings was a significant factor in independence being achieved without bloodshed. In this he was helped by the co-operative attitude of the last British governor — Sir Richard Turnbull. In 1964, following a coup in Zanzibar (and an attempted coup in Tanganyika itself) Nyerere negotiated with the new leaders in Zanzibar and agreed to absorb them into the union government. The result was the creation of the Republic of Tanzania.
Nyerere's government also aided in liberation struggles elsewhere in Africa, training and aiding anti-apartheid South African groups and helping to depose Ugandan ruler Idi Amin. In 1985, Nyerere stepped down as President and was succeeded by Ali Hassan Mwinyi in a notably peaceful and stable transition of power.
"Unity will not make us rich, but it can make it difficult for Africa and the African peoples to be disregarded and humiliated."
Julius Nyerere
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Not to be an AI bro, but how good are LLMs in helping with flow and tone in writing?
I tried to see if I made any dumb flow mistakes in my writing with chatGPT, and it normally likes everything. Maybe I did a fine job, or are there better tools for assistance with writing, or maybe should I just stick to reading it aloud?
Oh btw, as my lower back was recovering from strain I wrote a short story geared more for children (although I just wrote it for me) called At least I’m an elf. Basically, there’s a typical haughty elf that has some elf bros and they’re kind of fashy dicks. The villain protagonist’s name is Forsan and he’s their ringleader, they do have legit fun together sometimes but none of them, particularly Forsan, have anything going for them except for being elves and also being kind of good at magic and therefore also thinking they’re hot shit. Eventually Forsan’s friends start going on some quests and meet more people who aren’t elves and find the “lesser races” don’t hate or envy them at all and they can bring their legitimately cool elven magic to the table, while Forsan doubles down on his elf snobbery and alienates the few people that brought him genuine joy. To make matters worse, his friends are now much better sorcerers because of their adventures and how they have been inspired by wizards and clerics. Forsan realizes then what he’s done and tries to start over and leave his elf supremacy in the past, but has to now make new friends entirely.
Obviously it’s a very short version of the story but you get the gist.
LLMs write like r*ddit lib dorks