Manifesto Afrikana

1. First of all, tell yourself that the situation in Africa is reversible, we (Africans) are capable of removing ourselves from the predicament we, and our ancestors, allowed thieving, murdering outsiders to put us in.
2. Secondly, we are all skilled at some profession or the other. We all have talents, let’s put them to use in raising our profiles. Remember, no one culture is above all the rest. We all have something that benefits the continent as a whole, let’s share with the rest. If you can write a play, write it about the good and evils of Africa. Write a novel about a culture you know well. Paint a painting showing life in Africa. Carve or paint traditional art. Embrace performing arts. If you are a doctor, what are you doing to further that profession among your people? If you are in advertising, find an African industry you can lend your expertise to. Find something you can do to better mother Africa. Don’t think the task is meaningless or unattainable. That is a result of years and years of conditioning. A house is built by laying bricks one by one. One by one we can rebuild our house.
3. Respect our women. Women are an integral part of our society. We refer to Africa as mother Africa, not Father Africa. It is in our nature to love our women, to treat them respectfully, and listen to their advice. They are naturally more nurturing and level-minded. We should put this nurturing trait to use while we nurse our mother Africa back to health.
4. Do not be afraid or intimidated. Do not let someone else blow out the candle that is lit within you. Only you can do that, no one else. Be strong. In humans, that candle light can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes. It is the light of your soul. It is your soul. Look in the eyes of some people and you can see it burning brightly. Unfortunately, you can also not see it in the eyes of many people, but these are people that rarely look you in the eye so it’s easy not to notice. Be strong, know that no amount of intimidations, threats, discouragements, or hurts can put out that light that burns within.
5. Today, not tomorrow, is the day to act. Sign up, let us know your story, let us know what you are doing. Wear our flag proudly. Raise it up. It’s red, black, and green with a yellow “A” in the black part. Red is for the blood that has been shed to liberate our motherland. The color that flows within us. Black is for our skin. Though the skin shades differ, we are bound together by this color, we are all black. It’s not a negative color, it’s beautiful. Green is the lush land that is our home. The environment, mother nature herself. The Yellow A is for Africa. Yellow for the richness in our hearts. The richness in our ground. The precious wealth that keeps the world moving, without which it dies. It is out of the black because they go together hand-in-hand. Out of our blackness comes our wealth, the wealth of the world. Only we control this. Wake up.

6. Demand that the law is the law. We can not be changing the constitution every time a new dictator takes over. We need a solid foundation. We need laws that outlive our so-called leaders. We have to have laws that are not “eraser laws”, laws that cannot be changed to fit every despot’s wishes. We have to demand this. It is our right, and we have to have it.
7. We have to respect our elders but in today’s age our elders are controlled by forces whose interests are against ours. We need new blood in our leadership. We need people who are not afraid, whose visions are for the advancement of our Africa. We need new Lumumbas, new Sankaras. We need people who are unafraid to die for what they believe. People who know and fully understand what the word sacrifice truly is.
8. Let us sign a petition to the AU demanding the interests of the people be put in front of diplomacy. If a leadership is failing, it’s the job of the rest of the leaders to help them or ask them to step aside. It’s the job of all of us to care for each and every person, we did not establish the borders on our motherland. Why then do we live by them? If the AU is incapable of caring for the people we need another organization for the people, by the people that can put the welfare of the people, and not just that of the leadership, ahead. I will have the petition up soon.
9. We have to acknowledge the existence of classes but not condone the exclusion of any one class from the political process. True change comes from the bottom up, not the top down. The people at the top do not to give up any privileges unless they are assured that their security is guaranteed. There can be no peace when citizens go hungry while others grow obese in their gluttonous indiscipline. Peace is the stillness of mind from worry about the safety of one’s well-being, be it physical, mental, or spiritual. We have to guarantee that this inclusion extends to region, tribe, race, religion, and any other medium through which we measure our diversity.
10. The African is second to no other race or creed. All men are equal in the eyes of existence and all deserve the opportunity to pursue happiness, so long as it does not encroach on another’s quest.

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.