The book: “Black or White: Mindset Reframing for the Dark Skinned Race (published in 2023 by Fortune-World Consulting),” seeks to debunk the thought that the black man is innately inferior to the white man and that the black race is condemned to the base of humanity. It is a productivity and motivational work written by David Olayiwola. Of course, David is a life coach, personal and business improvement strategist, human resource consultant, business analyst and developer, therefore, it is not out of place if he writes a motivational and inspirational book.
It is a 10-chapter work in which the author, in conversational language, attempts to give force to his thought that rather than skin colour, mindset is the clog in the wheels of greatness. So the author introduces his thematic focus to us. He argues that it is a heresy that dark skinned people are inferior to the whites. He queries the narrative that believes that the white race is synonymous to the Jacob generation while the black race is traceable to the Esau generation or the cursed generation. Thus he emphatically avers: “There is no scientific proof that justifies the claim that the intellectual capacity of the black man is lower to that of the white-man. It is obvious that this assertion is from a racist faction.” (xvi)
The question to ask therefore is this: what is wrong with being black? But pushing his thesis further in this book, David Olayiwola insists that there is a goldmine of massive potential in everyone – black or white. All human beings are naturally gifted with something to shoot them to the top, to stardom, to inventions, to creativity, to innovative economic solutions, and the likes. In the light of this, the author, in the first chapter of the book, writes out a list of fifty persons of colour whom he refers to as The Living Black Legends. He draws out for us the high points of their lives for our encouragement and inspiration to trigger our mindset towards greatness. In this list of fifty black legends are those who have passed and those who are still alive, and they include Martin Luther King Jnr., Ben Carson, Nelson Mandela, Wole Soyinka, King Sunny Ade, Usain Bolt, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Obafemi Awolowo, etc.
The author submits that reading the exploits and biographies of these legends will fire you up and convince you that you too can take the world by storm and write your own name on the global map, just like the black legends did (and are doing).
In the second chapter, the author discusses human composition. He gives a graphic presentation of the human brain, and argues that black and white humans were born with the same brain capacity to conceive and create. “The difference in our intelligence is a function of how we exercise our brain and what we expose ourselves to,” he opines. (P27). He argues that since all humans have similar brain and body composition, “your brain and body structure does not make you less privileged in any way as a black man, neither does your colour”. (P29)
The author dives into the Jacob versus Esau debate in the third chapter of the book. He states that there is no biblical clarification to the effect that Jacob was white in colour or that Esau was black or dark skinned. He clarifies also that while Jacob was wired to excel from the womb, Esau himself became a strong and wealthy man in the long run. For the author, it is all a question of identity. “It doesn’t matter where you come from or whichever lineage you descended from, the most important thing is identifying who you are here on earth.” (P35)
So accepting that you are a descendant of Esau, according to the author, is defeatist. All you need is a mindset reset: to undo negative thoughts and behavioural patterns, and deliberately embrace positive ones. But in order to set out on the journey towards success, you will need passion, inner strength, disciplined diligence, native intelligence and knowledge, among others set out in the book.
In this 117-page book, David Olayiwola examines the environment and prevailing indoctrination that surround the black race. He draws from real life stories of people and across cultures to show how much the physical and geographical environments, as well as indoctrination and values can impact on one’s well being and goodwill. He also states in the work that one needs to find the innovative and creative spark to excel. It is the creative spark, aided by innovation, which produces invention, creates value and contributes to the producers’ pool, irrespective of skin colour.
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The sixth chapter of this 10-chapter book discusses the need to understand that nothing good comes cheap. It is essentially about negotiating the future daily by putting in the work, maintaining discipline and staying the course. A key element in this matter is to have a strong-enough discipline to be futuristic and delay instant gratification. The author writes: ‘If you cannot delay gratification to go through the process, you will put yourself under unnecessary pressure to “make it big”. This mindset propels the spirit of desperation in you… desperation makes you look for shortcuts and tempts you to try treading crooked paths to the top…Instant gratification is a killer of future benefits.’ (P81)
In the seventh chapter, David discusses the role of impact, influence and income in determining our ratings and recognition in life. He submits that the three work separately and collectively to make one a legend. Once you increase your impact and influence on humanity, then your income will increase. He insists that the key connector of these three elements is how much value we bring to the table: “Your level of impact and influence is measured by the level of value you add to people or a system. This invariably determines the income you attract.” (P85)
In the book, Black or White, the author declares that our thought pattern needs a paradigm shift. And he exposes the way to achieve the shift in mindset, and essentially challenges the reader to see time as a currency (chapter nine) with which to carve the way out of the cave. Basically, the author tries here to jolt the reader out of the ‘African time syndrome’ which is a product of a complacent mindset, poor appreciation of measurement and poor leadership.
In the book’s closing chapter, David charges black skinned people to stop blaming the white race for their predicament, but accept who they are. Once this is done, then it is time to embrace creativity, and explore it to the fullest.
In the final analysis, the author engages the reader in deep philosophical reflections on how to shake off the mindset that holds us down.
He does so with so much panache that he is able to draw his reader into seeing colour in a different light. This is a book for all, the young and the old.
. Olatunbosun is a broadcast journalist, fact-checker and book reviewer at Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan. He can be reached via 08023517565 (SMS and WhatsApp only), and [email protected].
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