Does Rejecting Obama mean supporting Romney?

Brother Adbul: My Pan-Afrikan Mwalimu Kwame Zulu Shabazz, my question has been quite simple. Here it is again: Did Obama tell us that things will be different under his rule? That is all I am asking. I am not interested in speculations about what will happen under Romney when he occupies the White House.

Ghetto replies: No, brother Abdul, this is not speculative--at least not for black radicals. Our analysis has been consistent. We have a systemic problem (Malcolm X sometimes called it the "white power structure"), not a Democrat or Republican problem. 

And most politicians, including American presidential candidates, promise "things will be different." Has Romney indicated that he would do foreign policy differently? Has he spoken out against American global belligerence? Has he made a statement on drones or depleted uranium, or Afghanistan, or the prison industrial complex? 

The track record of both Republicans and Democrats are clear. The Republicans are blatantly anti-black. The Democrats like to make us feel good about our oppression. 


Both parties agree on white power. 


Where Obama has hurt African Americans is that we are now more reluctant to criticize governmental policies at home and abroad. We are silent on war. We are silent on the declining quality of life of many African Americans (it was already bad, even before the the recent slide). So, yes, we should be angry with Obama, but it doesn't follow that we should be silent on the Republican wing of the same racist bird. 

Judo, hijabs, and stupid men

Olympic officials are currently haggling over whether one of Saudi Arabia's first female participants, Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani, can wear a hijab during the judo competition.[1] Let me say this, Sharia laws are backwards, no doubt about that.[2] But I think Olympic officials' stance on hijabs is equally retrograde. And, predictably, the presence of female Saudi athletes has not gone over well with some Muslims who are reportedly calling the women "prostitutes."  These trailblazers are courageous; they need support, not stupid men debating over the nonsensical claim that head scarves are a health risk...


Dear Olympic officials, if you think hijabs are a health risk in martial arts competitions, then please tell that to the young women with the swords. I dare you!

These images (above) and the video (below) are of students at St. Maaz High School in Hyderabad, India. The martial art is Wushu, what most Americans call Kung Fu. Now I can't say for certain, but they all look very healthy to me. 

Notes:
1. The other Saudi female participant is Sarah Attar (800 meters).
2. Western laws/policies are equally backwards. See, for example, Stones, Bombs, and Planes: A Tale of Two Barbarisms


Also dig:
• The NBA, where Negroes are allowed to run and shoot but not enjoy free speech 
• South African track star, Caster Semenya, must prove she is a woman

"Nigger cakes are passé": Makode Linde announces Holocaust cake project

"Nazi cake" found here

Dear Mr. Linde,

Thank you so much for explaining how your "nigger cake," or whatever you call it, was "taken out of context." You are very clever--a marvelous talent. For your next project, please focus on some other marginalized group, say, I dunno, Jewish people. How about you make a "Hymie cake" depicting a naked, grotesquely large-nosed, Holocaust victim. Dupe a few Swedes into eating the "Hymie cake"and let us know how that goes for ya. 

p.s. as for "genital mutilation," please know that some African women find this term offensive (I will use the more neutral term "excision"). They believe that excision is an essential part of womanhood. These (mostly) silent/silenced supporters of the practice merit respect too. GI

Ghana Innovation Goes Global with Artivist Senam Okudzeto

Child of orange_seller_in_Bolga_Market_Bolgatanga (Northern Ghana)

Black artists and the creative process fascinate me. Probably, I suspect, because I'm not all that creative. I stumbled upon this lecture about art, globalization and hybridity by Senam Okudzeto, a Ghanaian artist and activist. Senam is the founder of something called Art in Social Structures. Her talk is titled "Art, ego and effectiveness: constructive challenges for social sculpture in the age of social networking." Once the lecture gets going, Senam shares lots of compelling stories about art, architecture, and innovation in Ghana; some of the challenges that impact Ghana's artistic landscape; and open-ended suggestions as to how this landscape might expand and enrich our notions of globalization. She shares images of what she calls "at risk architecture." These are little-known structures in Ghana that are of important historical value, but in disrepair and in danger of being lost due to lack of funding for maintenance. She also talks about the cultural practice of burying deceased family members in the walls of homes (I was intrigued by this practice, but I was unable to find any mention of it online) and she concludes with a brilliant discussion of a local innovation--a metal stand used by Ghanaian market women to display their oranges (in the local language of Akan, an orange seller is called ankaa wura). Its a smart conversation about an ubiquitous object that, according to Senam, only appeared in Ghana within the last 20 years. Compellingly, she transforms these localized utilitarian objects into globalized objects of artistic consumption. Versions of the orange stands now circulate around the world as a part of her art exhibits.

Police Arrest About 500 Protesters on Brooklyn Bridge - NYTimes.com

Fleeting fad or transformative moment? Can US citizens count on "No Fly" support from NATO against the Evil American Empire's global dictatorship? 

Police Arrest About 500 Protesters on Brooklyn Bridge - NYTimes.com

Also dig:

• What Obama would have us ignore
• John Brown: An American Hero and Honorary Black Man
• Where are the Black revolutionaries?  
• What is AFRICOM? Al Jazeera investigates

Remembering Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai | Here & Now

I had the great honor of seeing this courageous woman, Wangari Maathia, in person about five years ago. I can't recall the details of what she said that day but I definitely remember being impressed by her gracefulness, her humbleness, and the sense that she somehow seemed bigger than the room that housed her. The official cause of her death was cancer but I have to wonder if the beatings and death threats somehow contributed to her illness. Dr. Wangari was a fierce envoy of Mother Earth, she defied the brutal fists of patriarchy, and she was a consistent critic of corruption (on this last point I think she was too dismissive of neo-colonialism and how the west undermines African self-reliance). We wish Wangari Maathai a peaceful Homegoing to the Ancestral Realm. Axé!

You can listen to her discussing her memoir Unbowed on the show Here & Now. 

Image source: daylife

Also dig:

• Is Africa poor?
• Genetically modified Ghana
• Yaw Nyarko on “Portfolios of the Poor”

‪Tottenham rebellion for dummies

Black London Residents Make it Plain

1. peaceful protest a police station regarding a shooting.
2. cops brazenly rough up a 16 year oldish woman who approaches some them.
3. crowd retaliates.

I don't call it rioting I call it an insurrection of the people!

Also dig:

• The 1943 Detroit Race Riots (Dap@ KAG)
• Missouri corrects record on 1923 college-town lynching
• False! "More black people jailed in England and Wales proportionally than in US" 

No, Mr. President, compromise is not fundamentally American, belligerence is fundamentally American

Today, during his speech on the budget controversy, President Obama invoked Lincoln to say America is a nation of compromise. Really? Not sure were he got that from but the indigenous people and my African Ancestors tell a very different story.   

Obama's revisionism sounds something like this:

Slave master: We are taking you to America and enslaving you.

African: Lets compromise.

Slave master: OK.

The reality is that Native Americans and Africans experienced unbending denigration and oppression--both of which they fiercely resisted. This nation was built on principles like Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine. "Compromises" like the Tilden-Hayes Compromise and the 3/5ths Compromise perpetuated white supremacy and black subordination.

Also dig:

• Obama Invokes Lincoln To Urge Compromise On Debt Deal (blogs.abcnews.com)
• Is Obama making you feel good about your oppression?
• "When Will We Get Paid?": The Anti-Obama Song
• One Black Man's Critical Notes on Post Inauguration and Black America
• What Obama would have us ignore.  
• Lincoln's Negro Policy by Earnest Sevier Cox (Free Download)

Image Source: Brand Book Tees

Looming catastrophe in Somalia or "scarcity scare"?

Update #3 (7/26/2011) ‪What can be done to make the Horn of Africa self- sufficient?

Update #2 (7/26/2011) The NGO CARE urgently seeking donations.

Update #1 (7/24/2011)- Just discovered a piece linking US foreign policy malfeasance to Somalia famine (dap @ Prof. James Small) --> Somalia: the Real Causes of Famine by Michel Chossudovsky

There is now a steady stream of media reports warning that the Horn of Africa is, yet again, in the midst of a catastrophic famine. According to these reports, millions of Africans in Somalia and neighboring nations are in desperate need of food rations. The BBC laments that despite these dire predictions little is being done to mobilize a comprehensive response; they have put the number of those who need urgent assistance at 14.5 million.[1] 

Image via Wikipedia

SOLDIER OF ETHIOPIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE FORCE, 2006

UNICEF reports that 2 million children in the Horn are at risk and that 500,000 of those children need immediate attention or they will face certain death.[2] According to these accounts, harsh weather, "Islamic militants," and a weak national government are some of the factors that have converged to produce a bleak situation in Somalia. Others complain that violent militias make aid delivery a risky activity [3]. Predictably these accounts are often supported with stereotypical images helpless adults and bone-thin African children with swollen bellies.

TransAfrica recognizes that the current crisis in Somalia is compounded by the lingering effects of the Cold War. During that time, the U.S. supported—both militarily and economically—the autocratic rule of General Siad Barre. The entrenchment of the Barre regime created violent conflict throughout the country and a civil war which led to the eventual overthrow of the government in 1991.[4]

Of course, none of these reports make mention of the proxy war in Somalia--instigated by George W. Bush [5] and now sponsored by Barack Obama--being fought with Drones, illegal detention camps,[6] and Ethiopian troops backed by the United States. And no African should forget the ongoing aggressions against so-called Somali "pirates."[7][8] 

How are western military objectives, western NGOs and foreign aid schemes contributing to instability and food shortages in the region? None of the mainstream media reports about this latest cycle of famines raises these important questions. Libertarian, Bob Adelmann, calls the reports of a looming famine "scarcity scare"--a conspiratorial tactic used to justify a one-world government (Note: Adelmann also believes that global warming is part of the conspiracy. I don't share this view. GI).[9] TransAfrica, an NGO that advocates for equitable US-Africa relations, has not been the same since the departure its founder, Randall Robinson,[10] but at least they attempt to link famine in the Horn of Africa with the "lingering effects of the Cold War." Not a very strong statement but at least its a starting point for a more comprehensive understanding of the politics of famine. You can read their  statement, which includes a list of NGOs that are actively aiding Somalia @ United Nations States Must Step Up and Fully Fund the Somali Relief Fund | TransAfrica

Notes: 

[1] BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali catastrophe 'largely unnoticed'

[2] allAfrica.com: Resources » Hunger Crisis Hits Horn of Africa

[3] Somali militants vow to block aid groups | Deseret News

[4] TransAfrica

[5] Saline Lone, writing in 2006, predicted correctly that US policy in Somalia would only serve to embolden radical Islam in that region: "An insurgency by Somalis, millions of whom live in Kenya and Ethiopia, will surely ensue, and attract thousands of new anti-U.S. militants and terrorists." Read his essay @  In Somalia, a reckless U.S. proxy war - Opinion - International Herald Tribune - The New York Times

[6] The CIA's Secret Sites in Somalia | The Nation

[7] BBC NEWS | Africa | US captain rescued from pirates

[8] Watch this clip, Pirates of Somalia, for some insights into how western policies help create "piracy" -->  ‪PIRATES of SOMALIA Trailer‬‏ - YouTube

[9] Using the Food Crisis

[10] Quitting America

Also dig:

• How America Underdevelops Africa: Death, Plunder, Resistance
• Stones, Bombs, and Planes: A Tale of Two Barbarisms
• You: Somali children's famine has been ignored (nation.com.pk)
• Why are Somalia's militants clamping down on famine aid? (csmonitor.com)
• Antiterror laws could impede US aid for Somalia famine victims (csmonitor.com)

Rethinking Malcolm: What was Marable thinking? by Abdul Alkamilat

Abdul Alkamilat has written a strong critique of Manning Marable's post-humously published book Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.[1] There are many insightful points in the essay. Take, for example, Alkamilat's critique of the Marable's self-professed claim of "humanizing" Malcolm X:

Of course we have been here before with books trying to redefine major historical figures under the pretext of making them more human. This is usually done with innuendo, hearsay and gossip supported by state surveillance reports, all amounting to nothing that can be supported with responsibly sourced data or withstand academic peer review.

The main trend uniting these books is their focus on redirecting the force of revolutionary nationalism towards social democracy reform of a kind that finds its home in the capitalist Democratic Party or towards the figure’s personal or sexual identity, being as influential as political identity. Such work has been written about, among others, Nat Turner (Styron 1976), Paul Robeson (Duberman 1989), Martin Luther King (Garrow 1987, Dyson 2000) and Malcolm X (Perry 1991, Lee 1992). As a generational deviation, this trend is exposed in the 2008 book, “Betrayal,” by Houston Baker. Marable’s book somewhat differs from this trend but nevertheless fits the genre.

Right and exact.

The real aim of "humanizing" Malcolm is distorting him just enough to make him tolerable for white readers. The glowing reviews from the mainstream press seems to affirm this strategy.

I agree with many of Alkamilat's points.  However, I disagree with the theoretical frame--"revolutionary nationalism." Malcolm certainly made lots of references to revolution, socialism, and nationalism but he was not a Marxist.

...our Ancestors did not wait around for Marx to exploit contradictions inherent in the system of white domination, rather we creatively exploited them to our own revolutionary ends...GI

I think that limitation of Abdul's critique reflects a general tendency of the black left to concede too much of our theoretical labor to dead white men. So, for example, in Abdul's article we are forced to keep a formal Marxist definition of "dialectical materialism" in our heads to fully grasp his analysis. To that I say that our Ancestors did not wait around for Marx to exploit contradictions inherent in the system of white domination, rather we creatively exploited them to our own revolutionary ends. All that to say I think we need to revisit the history and practice of black/Afrikan struggle with the aim of working out African-centered theories (i.e. theories based on our concrete practices) about revolutionary change.  GI



You can read Abdul Alkamilat's entire essay @ Rethinking Malcolm: What was Marable thinking? | San Francisco Bay View

Notes:

[1] Alkamilat has compiled a list of reviews of Marable's book over @ his Malcolm X website ----> Brothermalcolm.net

[2] What is Afrocentrism? by Kwame Zulu Shabazz

Related articles

• Battle of the Malcolm X biographies: "A life of reinvention" or a book of distortions? 
• In Defense of Malcolm X 
• Democracy Now!: A Fiery Debate on New Malcolm X Biography: Amira Baraka v. Michael Eric Dyson (Video)