Bashir Shows No Shame After Indictment

Sudan's president Omar Hassan Al Bashir had the audacity to display himself in a jolly manner in front of a cheering crowd after being indicted by the International court for genocide. What crowd allows this to happen? Are people that fearful, that mentally enslaved to put up with such blatant disregard for human life? What can he possibly be trying to prove now? How can there be peace in Darfur when an event such as this can take place at the very scene of the crime with no consequence whatsoever?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/africa/24sudan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The Wind Of Change

We are waiting for
The healing winds of peace
In places ravaged by war
We are waiting for the impersonal groans
Of mother earth to cease
Her abundant provisions
To no longer be a thing
Worth dying but living for
We are waiting for
True leaders to emerge
In places were minds are held hostage by terror
For leaders to be servants
Upholding a sacred mission
We are awaiting a revolution
Not of guns and steels
But of the mind
Revolutionary ideas that spin
The wheel of time
Making a dark age a thing
Of the past

We are Waiting

We are waiting for our children to
Be warriors of the truth
Pursuers of a higher calling
Not dead materiality
They are the hope
They are the targets of our prayers
They are the wind that blows
Like a ghost, through space
Silently but surely along inanimate and living structures
To reveal how far we've come
-If we did a good job
-If they learned anything
From the horrors and struggles
Due to the selling our souls
Our people_ our traditions

We continue to wait until we realize
Hopefully, in the nick of time
We are they and they are us-
The wind-what type of wind-that changes

Seun Kuti Sings About Malaria

Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat pioneer and human rights activist, Fela Kuti has decided to continue where his father left off. His music, just like his father, is dedicated to Africa's problems. I had the wonderful experience of watching him in concert on July 6th at central park, nyc and it was incredible! Here is a clip of him in Dakar singing one of the hits of his first album. The track is called "Mosquito song"...lyrics may be considered quite humorous but the message is serious especially when you consider that malaria, an easily preventable disease, is one of the leading causes of death in Africa.

Children Of The Sun

We were the children of Ra /living breathing temples
that housed the god-man/the true man
now subjugated/reduced to ashes
we've become the outskirts/barely making it in-land
our accomplishments stolen
robbed of its brown skin prints /given a new name
We were the children of Asis_Chukwu_Sango_
dancing to the tempo of spirit within us and all things
until categorized by the categorizers
with no attempt at understanding certain truths of existence
we became "pagan" which is just another
term for the reveries of nature who happens to be a she
chained and shipped we went from
god-man /to no-man/to his-man
We were the children of the rising sun
the breaking free from the constraints
of white hands on millenia of black traditions
we were the forerunners of the liberty promised us
only to discover /the hands that held the chains were merely switched
we are fists raised in the air/pens swinging
words coming out as slices /pricking at the brainwashed minds
that dare stifle our natural expressions
we've become a chosen exile /who unite and combine our strenghts
when we sing_dance and make love /when we say,"brother"_"sister"
wear afros and dashikis/braid our hair /speak our language
with its sweet intonations /and no it's not vernacular when it comes out ARTICULATED
_when we proudly display the god suffix in our names
read and write books on ancient kings_queens_pyramids
proper civilizations _ancestors_dieties_ the feminine principle
we become everything they don't want us to be
everything they say we aren't and more /in just being who we are

Be who you are solar beam---shine_shine_shine gods and goddesses
you originators_colorful_vibrant_ surviving expression of life itself

Fela comes to broadway!

Human rights activist and musical pioneer, Fela Kuti, will be celebrated on broadway this fall. I'm excited to see descendants of Africa in America celebrating this man that meant so much to Africa and its struggle for justice, equality and basic human rights. I encourage everyone to check it out. I look forward to it myself!

Pan Africa: Mere Rhetoric Or Potential?

The 1960’s saw a wave of hope for the African continent with the insurgence of independent states. One man in particular came to embody Africa’s liberation from its colonial past. His name was Kwame Nkrumeh, and he became the face of the Pan Africa movement. Kwame Nkrumeh was Ghana’s first head of state, securing Ghana’s independence from British rule in 1957. His “victory” over what he considered western imperialism in the Gold Coast (present day Ghana) brought a wave of inspiration and awe in Africa and the rest of the world. His famous speech, “I speak of Freedom” became a synopsis of Africa’s ugly past under colonial rule, its shaky present and promising future from the shackles of its “oppressors.” According to Martin Meredith’s “The Fate of Africa,” in 1958 Nkrumeh gathered a group of student unions, political parties and trade unions from across the continent in an attempt to coordinate the African non-violent revolution. They discussed revolutionary tactics. A few years later, other African countries would follow suite on the road to independence.

In 1963 the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was formed as a means to bring African nation states together and as a force against western control. There was indeed a strong sense of hope for Africa. The fact that many nation states had undergone similar experiences of oppression, economic equality and exploitation under European rule created a sense of unity that on the surfaced seemed unshakable. However, the advent of freedom from the “masters” became a catalyst for many of Africa’s problems to emerge. The growing discrepancy between the have and have-nots, political and ethnic conflicts in places like the Congo, Burundi and ultimately the first civil war to emerge out of Africa, the Nigeria/Biafra war in 1967 were just a few examples. It became apparent that at the end of the nineteenth century when the European powers mapped out Africa, they had no consideration for the differences among ethnic groups. These would lead to various conflicts throughout the region that still persists today. Also the fact that numerous dictators and tyrants began to emerge from Africa creating governments besieged by corruption, greed and oppression stunted the hopes of a liberated Africa for many. Examples of such cases were Abeid Karume’s regime in Zanzibar, Jean-Bedel Bokassa’s regime in Central Africa republic and Idi Amin’s brutal rule in Uganda. Political instability as a result of numerous coups in places such as Nigeria and Ghana created questions in people’s minds about the ability of Africans to rule themselves. Pan-Africa appeared to be mere rhetoric which had no evidence in reality.

Even though there are success stories in some areas in Africa, there are still many cases of ethnic conflicts, poverty, oppressive governments and in some areas full scale wars that have lasted for many years, example the Congo. The issue now is whether Pan Africa can ever become a reality in the face of evidence that shows a clear division among ethnic and economic lines. Obviously the founders of the Pan Africa movement and the OAU held a positive vision for Africa-an Africa united by the cultural and historical aspects that bind us. A united Africa is a necessity if we intend to be viewed by the rest of the world in a positive manner. The reality of Pan Africa will strengthen our resolve to be taken seriously in the world stage. After all, Africa has contributed immensely to civilization and global culture in the areas of music, arts and the birth of the sciences. Ancient civilizations such as Kamit (now referred to as Egypt), Ethiopia, Nubia and Timbuktu set the stage for modern day Mathematics, Philosophy and Medicine. A sample reference is Chancellor William’s “The Destruction of Black Civilization.” There are also many other books on the subject.

Africa’s unity will inspire its descendants all over the world (especially in places like North and South America and the Caribbean were they continue to be exploited and treated like second class citizens) to come together as a force worthy of recognition. The revolutionary ideas of our founding fathers must detach itself from the position of ideology to become a vision, a goal and ultimately a reality. However as they say charity begins at home; with a number of nations needing to clean its own house first.


References:
Meredith, Martin: “The Fate Of Africa.”
http://www.encyclopedia.com/