May the Best Puppet Win: Cocoa, Diamonds & the Ivory Coast Conflict

A very intelligent international lawyer told me last year that most of Africa's leaders needed to be hung, shot and burned at the stake for their political moves in the name of ill-gotten gain.

She said this in disgust and frustration after just visiting a West Africa country where grandmothers of poor areas took on the role of being human sewage systems by picking up the waste and trash of a community that lacked simple infrastructure that drained shit from the streets.

The underdevelopment of Africa and its subsequent conflicts have been detrimental to those who don't have guns, the civilians; women and girls who are sexually brutalized as they are left to fend for themselves when their husbands, uncles, fathers and sons leave to fight. And those youth who have been snatched from childhood and pulled into a life of drugs, alcohol, killing, and raping the same women and girls from even their own areas.

At the end of the day, those who profit from the war have not a single drop of blood on their well-tailored European suits.

Black folks protesting: "Obama is nothing but White power in Black face."

Last year Black folks represented and came out in record numbers to vote for Barack Obama in the presidential elections. This was a good thing I suppose; even in casting a shadow of blind support in the eyes of many and used as ammunition by the Nay Sayers - you know who I'm talking about, right?

I guess this is why it was big enough news when an exclusively Black organization that looks nothing like the NAACP recently protested the war in Afghanistan by marching in Washington DC. The march was put together by Omali Yeshitela's Black is Black Coalition.

One headline that ran the story read "Black radicals protest Obama":

A coalition of black radicals and their allies gathered in Washington DC to assert the continued need for the Black Nationalist and anti-war agendas in the era of Barack Obama.


After a marathon rally in Malcolm X Park lasting over 5 hours, the Black Is Back Coalition led a march to the White House.


Speaker after speaker lambasted Barack Obama (as well as other members of the black political elite) as nothing more than a new black face on the same old white capitalist imperialism.


“Sure Obama is better than George Bush,” anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan said. “The corn on my big toe is better than George W. Bush. That doesn’t mean we should elect him president.” “The amount of money Obama is giving to the banks is reaching Alice in Wonderland numbers,” journalist Glenn Ford maintained. Pam Africa of the Move Coalition was harshest of all, referring to Obama as a “punk”.


A number of issues were addressed in addition to the Obama administration. The connection between attacks on Muslim immigrants and racism against African Americans was a constant theme, and a poster of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah was in prominent display at the front of the rally. Speakers stressed the continued need for reparations for slavery as well as for solidarity with the Palestinians against the Israeli State. Obama’s refusal to support Durban II was mentioned briefly as well as gentrification, the sub-prime housing crisis and the difficulty of mobilizing anti-war forces in the age of Obama.

Black radicals? Wow, I never knew that 60s meme was still alive. But hey, I guess when a group of people lead by the efforts of a Black organization in a protest against Obama, they must be radical. I mean after all: every single solitary Black person voted for the man because of the color of his skin, right?

I guess this is a fair assumption considering that the perception seems to be that all the protests by teabagers and fringe elements of the right-wing to be racist in nature. Also, I guess speaking out and up about racism is in fact a radical act considering our climate of post-racialness.

BLOG ACTION DAY: GOD GREW TIRED OF US

I consider myself to be passionate about Black people and the Black experience. That being said, I think its understandable that I will always fight for the underdog. Today is BLOG ACTION DAY, a day where thousands of bloggers around the world will focus on poverty. Its important that we never forget the poor among us in our world society. For its the number of poor among us that represents our success at large. Having said that, I wanted to take this day to shine some light on a little discussed subject here in America in the mainstream media: The Genocide In Darfur.

I don't wanna get to deep, and share my thoughts on the current state of affairs. But sometimes, I have to wonder if Blacks in America are better off by being here, given the history of racism on this continent, as it relates to our African American History. I'd be interested to hear your opinions on that in your commentary. I will say this, I'm not pleased with the fact that this civil war in the Sudan has been taking place since 1983, and the U.S. Gov't has done very little in my opinion. I think its really sad that it took the current energy crisis to make our gov't shift focus and create AFRICOM. Under the guise of creating better opportunities for Africans in the Sudan, we'll soon see American troops on African soil. The truth is, our gov't is only concerned with the cheap source of oil that the continent and the region supplies on a world scale. Personally, I wish they would have acted sooner in an humanitarian effort, because lord knows how many lives could have been saved.

If you're unaware of the situation...

Do me a favor and be sure to checkout this video...

If this doesn't touch your heart then I sincerely feel sorry for you....

This is just a short insight into the plight of our brothers and sisters across the ocean. It is my hope that you spread the word to your friends and family, or even direct others to this post because I think this is a very important subject. I urge you to do what ever you can to assist our brothers and sisters by donating what ever you can monetarily. Its not about how much you donate, its about taking a stand and making a difference.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Again, its not about how much money you donate, its about making a difference.