Gloria D. Gonsalves – author, poet, illustrator, philanthropist, former UN staff, former tourism and travel professional – is a multipotentialite who writes books for children and adults. She is also the founder of WoChiPoDa.com, an initiative to instil the love of poetry in children.
Her writing has appeared in various literary magazines, platforms, and journals in Africa, Europe, and the USA, including being featured five times by the USA-based National/Global Poetry Writing Month (Na/GloPoWriMo). Occasionally, she writes opinion pieces for newspapers, where she wrote for Tanzania’s Daily News (Woman Magazine inset) and Tanzania Business Times (Woman Unlimited column).
Gloria is also fascinated by travel and art journaling. When taking a break from writing, she practices sketching and painting.
“Sometimes it is not about the colour of your skin but the character you portray. Strive to be unique in your doings and only then you might have the right to blame it on racism. Consequently how you choose to react towards a racist experience should do yourself and your race a proud favour.”
“Sometimes one day at a time is too much. Try one moment at a time.”
“Praise your God in a silent and humbly manner instead of rubbing his back with loud praises while silently committing horrendous acts.”
“Nobody is qualified enough to give advise on intimate relationships other than those sleeping with it.”
“No mirror can highlight the beauty within you than your own eyes. No eyes can fairly judge your appearance than your own pride. ”
“Never let ideas of love make you forget to stand on your own feet.”
“My culture may be different from yours, but that should not be a reason for you to sneer at it. If a bunch of us appreciate it, then there must be something special to be learned by everyone, even you a stranger.”
“My accent is of African ancestry and so is my origin and I have no intention to change any of it. Therefore nobody should expect me to fraudulently behave as if I was anything else.”
“Maturity and wisdom become us, when we appreciate people from our past.”
“Mahaba ya kudai na kung’ang’aniza hayafai! (Love should neither be demanded nor forced upon).”
“Love is sentimental and not carnal pleasures.”
“Let people come to their own conclusions, even if it means watching them make mistakes. That way they may grow and you won’t be imposing. ”
“Ladies, dare to be a rainbow beneath your clothes. Do not wait for a special day to wear fancy underwears. Do not wait until you are old to wear orange. Everyday is special.”
“Judge your life using your own blessings and not others.”
“It is unwise to offer a cake if offered a muffin.”
“In my book, everything considered immoral, foolish and unhealthy is fine in moderate measurements.”
“If I was a cake, I would be incomplete unless I was a yellow sponge from Asia; frosted with brown chocolate from Americas; classy and elegant decorated with fresh white cream from Europe, and satin black fondant from Africa. I would be edible only if cooled in the Antarctica and served at a beach in Australia. No race in this world is superior to another but rather deficient without the other. Tolerance is not love but a chance to abolish any opportunity for hatred. Let’s keep baking in a joyful and tolerant manner.”
“If you are looking for a perfect woman, she does not reside here, you will find only me.”
“If an opportunity does not knock why not build a door?”
“I see no difference between a genius and a loony, they both speak a language that I find strange.”
“I had rather be a mind provocateur than a celebrity because thoughts dwell longer in a person than a designer dress borrowed for one night.”
“Gentlemen, like a bee do not give up to work that nectar in the soul of your queen until she has enough sweetness to be shared by both of you.”
“Fear confines us to lesser choices that we can’t grow. Hope liberates us to greater heights that we can grow.”
“Being poor is neither history nor permanent but a status. Writers who begin with this sentence “X is a poorest country in the world,” to describe any African country are lacking intelligence. How would they feel if we turned the tables and used sentences that portray historical offenses committed to other countries? I bet nobody would like to read, “X is a country that killed millions of Y during Z’s regime.”
“Behold your nakedness as a precious stone, which not every miner is able to dig it out.”
“Be a flower that bursts through the crack of cement.”
“Anyone capable of training the heart is a walking zombie.”