Untitled

This poem was inspired by Harriet Washington's book "Medical aparthied: The dark history of medical experimentation on black Americans from colonial times to the present". For more information on abusive medical experimentation on minorities currently taking place in NYC's foster care system, visit.
http://www.guineapigkids.com/

guinea pigs
thought they was
someone's
child
brother
sister
muse

guinea pigs
is what the headlines say
didn't know
guinea pigs
equal
exploration
dissection
mutilation
pill popping
placebo jumbos

it's no surprise
it had to be a pig
it's always dear ol' hog

...yea
and dear ol' blackie
brownie
pauper
sickler

today it's
children in foster care
substance invading
symptom swingin'
no protest or else
will take precious
Kisha, Jumal, Jose
_you breakin' the law
_you should be grateful
we gave you this child
in the first place, &*...

it's slavery
history
medicine
HIV
fact
distortion
exploitation

exportation

just another
chapter
in
medical aparthied.

A Celebration of African Heritage and Culture

The African festival hosted by Brooklyn Academy of Music was held on memorial day weekend. I was able to attend the Bazaar which aims to replicate the typical african market place. The event showcased artwork, fashion, literature, music, etc from African, afro-carribean and african american cultures. I had a blast celebrating the beauty of our wonderful culture and heritage and understanding even more its influence in the world. I also have to admit that I enjoyed seeing many sisters and brothers rocking fros and dreadlocks...:)

When Communities Come Together

This video shows the wonderful work that volunteers are doing in Africa to provide medication for malaria and river blindness in thier communities. Africans cannot afford to always depend on outsiders for help. Assisting each other is the only way we can uplift ourselves and our continent on a longlasting/permanent basis.

An Inspiring Darfur rally event

A darfur rally was held in front of the U.S mission to the United Nations on May 23rd 2008. The event was organized by Africa Action, African Services Committee, American Jewish World Service, Armenian National Committee of America, Chadian Association of North America, darfur intervention network and many others. There were also speakers from secular and non-secular backgrounds. For a list of speakers follow the africaaction link below.

The message was the same, that the U.S needs to put more pressure on the Khartoom regime to end the killings and displacements of innocent people that has left about 400,000 dead and millions without homes.

I have to admit that I used to be a cynic of rallies. I thought they were events of all noise with little effect until I learned that when innocent civilians were being slaughtered during Nigeria's civil war from 1967-1970, people were protesting in the United States and Europe, urging thier governments to do something to end the war. Money that was raised by many kind hearted individuals in campuses, churches and organizations all over the world provided hope for the starving children of Biafra ,which the Nigerian government sought to exterminate with the weapon of hunger. As I have already mentioned elsewhere my parents survived the genocide led war, and I have these people to thank. Rallies were also instrumental for the civil rights movement and cessation of aparthied.

I have decided to do for others what others did for my parents and millions of innocents. The rally was my first experience of speaking up with hundreds of like minded individuals for justice in Darfur. It was truly touching to witness young and old, black, white, asian (you name it) come together for such an important and life saving mission. I was inspired by elementary and high school children chanting, "We Want Action, Now!" . There is indeed hope for the future!
For more information on this event and others coming up you can visit: http://www.genocideintervention.org/ and http://www.africaaction.org/. Here are the pictures I took.


The group saw the Sudanese ambassador walk into a building and sought to get his attention. Unfortunately he disapeared before I could aim my camera at him. Instead I focused on the banners instead.

These people mean business when they say bring peace to Darfur.

I wish I could recall this lady's name for she was such an amazing singer. Her lyrics and tone of voice was laced with the pain of what the people of Darfur are experiencing and also filled with hope for a better tomorrow.

As you can tell from the picture it began to rain but that did not deter the group from chanting thier slogans and listening to the speakers.

The rain began to subside. In a short while it was back to sunshine, but either way, rain or shine, they...we....weren't deterred.

The Judgment

They falling! falling! falling!
high and mighty men, they falling
all over the world
by the weight of accumulated karma

The cries of the proletariat have been answered
the sweat of their brows
the bitterness of their sighs
the death of their children from man made diseases and war
these shall be accounted and spoken for!

It's the second coming and messiahs are being born
outnumbering execution stands, swinging swords
and lynchings of all sorts...
truth becomes the weapon
that separates the real from the unreal

The belly crawling third world shall become two legged giants
the whole earth will pay homage to motherland
at the unset of the judgement
heralding the golden age.

Quotes on AIDS

Found these quotes on africaaction.org.

"Years from now people will ask about AIDS in Africa — as with the Holocaust or the Rwandan genocide — ‘How could the world have known — and failed to act?’" Africa Action

"I have to say that the ongoing plight of Africa forces me to perpetual rage. It's all so unnecessary, so crazy that hundreds of millions of people should be thus abandoned." Former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, 2005

"The vision which fueled our struggle for freedom… will be needed if we are to bring AIDS under control. This is a war." Former South African President Nelson Mandela, February 2002

"If this would have happened in the Balkans, or in Eastern Europe… with white people, the reaction would have been different." Peter Piot, UNAIDS, July 2000

You can view my take on HIV\AIDS by reading the poem, "Viral Monster" in the poetry section.

Genocide As A Global Issue

Derived the following from genocideintervention.org :
To prevent genocide from continuing to occur in the
twenty-first century, we have a responsibility to
protect civilians who are being victimized by
countries unwilling or unable to halt ongoing
atrocities.
Samantha Power, in 'A Problem from Hell': America and
the Age of Genocide, highlights five examples of
genocide in the past:
·Armenia: More than 1,000,000 deaths (1915–1917)
·The Holocaust: 6,000,000 deaths of Jews; 5,000,000
deaths of Poles, Roma, communists and other
"undesirables" (1938–1945)
·Cambodia: 2,000,000 deaths (1975–1978)
·Bosnia: 200,000 deaths (1992–1995)
·Rwanda: 800,000 deaths (April 6 through mid-July of
1994)
·Darfur: Hundreds and thousands of deaths (2003
through today)

The following link provides details on the causes and duration of each incident. Warning for the sensitive: There are disturbing images displayed as well.
http://www.genocideintervention.net/educate/genocide

Unfortunately I used to think genocide was an African
problem. However, I have come to learn that it is a
world problem. Better yet it is a low consciousness
issue. When the consciousness of humanity is raised to
a certain level, genocide will be considered by all to
be an abomination, and it will have not even a fraction
of space on this planet. However it's left to us to ensure this.

Earth Song

One of my favorite songs and videos from Michael Jackson.

Never Again Becomes Again & Again

Never again. That's what many said after the Holocaust in which 6 million jews were exterminated in WWII. After those horrors ended there was Bosnia, Rwanda and now Darfur. And some time between the jewish holocaust and Bosnia events, a genocide which is considered to be the first to occur in Africa was perpetuated against the Ibos of Nigeria. This led to a civil war that endured from 1967-1970. Rescently I came across Chimamanda Adichie's fictionalized novel set during that time, and the description of the atrocities committed on innocent civilizians left me anguished. My parents were only teenagers at that time. They went through the war. They survived, but each lost family members and friends. The horrific details of the genocide led war; brutal killings, displacements, rape and starvation is similar to what is currently going on in Darfur. People rallied in the U.S, london and other european countries in support of Biafra. Unfortunately not much attention was given to the Rwandan genocide in 1994 which left 800,000 people dead in only a few months. And now there's darfur, and there are rallies, blogs, articles, images, books, celebrity activism-all aiming to raise awareness about a genocide that has left between 200,000-400,000 people dead since 2003. Sometimes the idea of what one can do to end this war seems overwhelming. But I am the type of person who believes individuals and communities can make a difference. There can never be too much awareness about an issue like this. The bigger the awareness the greater the impact.

In november the presidential elections begin. As genocideintervention.net rightly explains, the future of darfur is dependent on the next President's agenda for this region. To watch clips showcasing each candidate's view on the issue, please visit:

http://www.askthecandidates.org/

For more information about Darfur and ideas on what you can do to make a difference please visit:

http://www.genocideintervention.net/ This site also contains information about rallies, lectures and fundraising events taking place in cities across the U.S. Another great site is : http://www.savedarfur.org/

Lets mean it this time when we say never again!

Pollution in Zambezi

The Zambezi river is the fourth largest river in Africa after the Nile, Niger and Congo rivers. The seven major rivers in Africa are: Nile, Niger, Senegal, Congo, Orange, Limpopo and Zambezi. Water is an extremely imperative resource for survival and therefore serious efforts should be made to preserve its purity.

According to the Nature Conservancy more than 42 million people and diverse wildlife depend on the Zambezi river for survival. However deforestation, incompatible agricultural practices, water pollution, unmanaged fire, mine wastes and many others have taken a toll. Another major problem is drought which is a result of warmer temperatures due to global warming. Even though Africa has contributed little to the effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, temperatures have increased in the continent in the last century with the last decade being the warmest. The Zambezi region is affected by a high poverty rate and HIV that is why it is crucial that ecological problems of this nature be solved to sustain the lives of the people. For more details on the geographical properties of the Zambezi river and region and ideas and solutions to the problems it currently faces please visit:

http://www.riversymposium.com/index.php?element=Tumbare+M

Side note: Many groups in the United States are "going green". I participated in a couple of going green events in NYC in commemoration of Earth Day. The enthusiasm and support of hundreds of people was inspiring. There's still a lot that needs to be done however a significant decrease in greenhouse emissions in a country like the U.S has a major impact on global warming in Africa and the rest of the world.