New Strategy in Fighting for our Mother Africa

With the new year, we have to step forward and do things that will bring about change. On Friday, I will be announcing some of the things we can all do. The beautiful thing is that these actions being called, if acted upon, are capable of changing the way of the world, not just of Africa. See, the world will go the way Africa goes. If it dies, the world dies. We can save the world by saving Africa.
Please check back on Friday, noon Eastern Standard time.

Palin Voted for Obama?

Is it possible? Could it have been? A few days ago I ran into a person that ended up having close ties to Governor Palin and we started talking about different things, among them the presidential election. As we were talking she let me know that Palin has disclosed to a few close friends that she actually voted for Obama instead of McCain. I couldn't believe it at first, I thought she was just pulling my leg. I had told her about how I think the Obama African policy will not change much in actually improving the lives of millions of disadvantaged Africans. She said it probably would have been worse under McCain and that Palin actually voted against McCain because a lot of areas would have been worse should he have been elected. That, she said, was not the only reason why she did so, but it was a big factor.
With the relationships between the two camps during the campaign, it's not unimaginable that she would vote for her opponent, although I seriously doubt it.
But, once again, is Obama really going to curb the imperialistic and oppressive policies of the US in regards to Africa? Will the exploitation of labor and resources end or be drastically reduced during his tenure as president? Would it have been significantly different had McCain been president? I doubt it.

Salvation of the African Continent

Grim news is all that welcomes one who endeavors in the search of information about the goings-on in Africa. Fighting eruptions here and there, famine, exploding populations, pirates, and despots. We have leaders that take power with promises heaped upon promises but only deliver a steady dose of oppression and corruption. Fattening their own pockets, they forget their human-ness, invincibility creeps in and fools them into believing they can hold on to power forever. In their attempt to cling on to their perceived salvation vine they commit atrocities that ensure there can’t be any turning back for them, hence they trudge on, crushing any obstacles in their path, all the while failing to notice that all their energies are now allocated to staying in power and not in advancing their nations. What can we do? Will we listen to any more promises? Will we develop an Obama complex?
Where will the salvation of the African continent come from? Africans? Europeans? Chinese or Indians? Where will salvation for the cradle of mankind come from? In what form will it emerge? Most importantly, where and when will it arrive? Rest assured, however, this salvation is neither man nor woman. What will save us is more than a desire to be more than we are at the moment: beggars. What will save the African continent from the misery of poverty, violence, famine, and such is a shift in perception. Not in the ruling class, not in the affluent, nor in the intellectuals, but a shift in the mentality of the hoi polloi. The masses.
Time after time we see the common masses swayed by selfish politicians and charismatic leaders who care nothing about the people they profess to be looking out for. The masses flock like schools of fish to wherever the leaders’ ignorant and biased currents send them. Sometimes that wherever is an open dolphin or shark mouth. They follow because of hope. A noble reason, indeed. And it would be, as it is something we all aspire to, but misplaced hope is as good as no hope, if not more dangerous.
The masses need to realize that material need is an illusion we cannot allow ourselves to entertain any longer. Our countries produce enough to feed everyone, the problem is that some animals feel that they are more equal than others. Just because one sleeps in the farm house and the other sleeps in the barn does not make one more equal than others. For the sake of the farm, all animals should be equal. Equal in regards to the law. Equal in regards to education. Equal in regards to the value to the state. An equal value.
A shift in perception of the world around us. The world which includes race, tribe, religion, and political affiliations among many others. What endears us to each other is the need to belong and survive while retaining our differences. Why do we hang on to our differences to the point where we are blinded and fail to perceive that which is common in all humankind? We need to realize that those that separate us do not have our interests at heart. They divide so they can conquer. They conquer so they can enrich themselves. They do so because they regard themselves more equal than others. Their happiness, their survival is more important than the rest of the people. We fail to see that. When we shed our perception of differences and work on our similarities to build our communities, we would have accomplished phase one of our journey to freedom.
The next thing we need to demand is that the governments move back to the side of the people. Peaceful revolutions can change governments but only temporarily. So can armed revolutions, but they are temporary too. I’m not saying these are not needed, but we need to do something different after either one of these has taken place. None of them can be applied in all places or times. Either one of them is suited for a particular time and place. That is not our concern, however. Our concern is what to do once a revolution has taken place. How do we make sure that what took so much effort, sweat, sorrow, blood, and tears lasts and does not fall prey to crooks out for their own good?
We have to remove the influence of so-called developed countries. They keep giving aid to keep us out on the street as beggars. Not many people would like to see a beggar on the street rise and, not only move into their house, but also require an equal share of their wealth and say-so. It is better for the beggar to remain on the street where he is no threat and to keep him there they keep giving him a quarter here and a dollar there. As long as the beggar knows there’s a handout coming to him while he is sitting there, he will not risk losing it while pursuing such radical ideas as to sit at a table as his benefactor’s equal. This is how the developed world treats Africa. Threatening to pull economic and/or military aid any time an African country begins to demand its rightful place at the table. There should be no more equal countries than others. All countries, large or small, are equal in so far as their sovereignty, security, and welfare are concerned.
After the revolution, the people need to distance themselves from imperialist nations and band together with countries with similar needs to their own. We need to abandon a financial system we pretty much have no idea about. We have to throw the yoke of incentive-induced demands and the burden of never-ending loans off our shoulders. We need to focus on the people, to encourage people to produce for their land, to be active members of society, driven not by an illusion of monetary wealth that eludes most, but by love of country and family.

Still We Rise...Divided

It's a shame reading about the riots in the Nigerian city of Jos that has left hundreds dead and thousands displaced. Why do we let politicians use our religious difference to divide us and make us kill our fellow brothers and sisters? If religion is being used to those ends, how much do we really understand about religion? Are we in religion because of its earthly or spiritual prizes?
Well, we continue to notice, dwell, and act on our differences while we refuse to see that which binds us together. I may not look like you, talk like you, walk like you, or laugh like you, but I'm still a person nonetheless. I may also not speak your language, hold the same beliefs, come from your region, but that does not make me any more or less than you. Open your eyes and see the deceitfullness and evil of many people we call our leaders. Open your eyes and then and only then will you be able to see the way and decide whether it's the right path for you. It's okay to follow, but follow with open eyes so you can have a second opinion about where you are headed. Lift up your eyes and see the pinnacle of the mountain that is our goal. We can only reach there by holding hands, not chopping off hands. We have gotten this far, stay here this long, and we can only leave here soon enough by our own decisions and actions. And these involved working together despite our differences.
We will never regain the glory we inherently possess if we continue to bathe the earth with our own blood. Don't fool yourself. You are a claypot made from the same clay as all the other pots in the shop. You may look different, have different markings and different paint, etc. but you are still made from the same clay as all the other pots around you. When you destroy them you are destroying more than a part of yourself...you are destroying yourself. You destroy yourself, you destroy your future. No Future.
Wake up, open your eyes and rise to the occassion.
Freedom is coming tomorrow, get ready prepare for your freedom.