Dear all,
21,200 blog views, and over 100,000 youtube views, I would like to thank all my fellow readers, and writers, for stopping by my blog. If 2 years ago, someone had told me that I will be blogging and having an active blog life, I would have never believed it. I am extremely grateful for the support of all of you my readers, and grateful for your trust. I hope to keep you updated, and keep up with the great work.
Once again THANK YOU!
With the bombing of the presidential residence in Cote d’Ivoire by French forces for over a week, followed by the arrest of president Laurent Gbagbo, with the current intense bombing of Libya by NATO for the past 6 months, I cannot help but try to answer some of the same justifications used by Africans to approve the bombings by foreign troops on their neighbors’s countries, and ultimately on African soil. Any African who claimed and accepted that Cote d’Ivoire should be bombed by the French, shame on you! Any African who thought that the bombing of Libya was correct… shame on you! Any African who uses the same stupid phrase used by the West to abuse us: “… well Gbagbo had his day, he was in power for 10 years!… or Kadhafi was there 42 years!” Well my friend… Shame on you! Should democracy be imposed using bombs? Should democracy be imposed using warplanes, and Apache helicopters? Is it democracy to bomb the people you plan to help? Is it democracy to deliberately bomb civilian targets, hospitals, state televisions, homes, etc… to, like NATO said “protect civilians”? Was there not a peaceful solution? Was it so hard to re-count the votes in Cote d’Ivoire? Was it so hard to organize elections as Kadhafi asked? Why bomb? Why bomb? Why bomb?…
Now tell me, you, African who live in the west, are you in a democracy? When government increases taxes… do they ask you? When airline companies increase the price of air ticket, do they ask you? When school tuition goes up by 15%, have you been asked? Continue reading “Africans and the Trap of Democracy”
The current article can be found in its integrality on Mathaba.net
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From the international liaison office of the Green Committees Movement
Oppressed people around the world, the battle has begun. Do not despair, help is nigh. Do you realize that this is the Night of Power? What is the Night of Power? It is better than thousands of other nights, it is the destiny, when the heavens are open to receive your prayers thousands fold.
Watch what is happening now in America. Did we hit them with our missiles? No, they came and struck us, 64 hits on Bab Al-Aziziya which is now destroyed, and finally I had to leave my home, where they killed many innnocents. But I will never leave Libya and in this fight, it is either victory or death. […]
… true friends of Libya, and you are with me. Do not despair of the rat flag on only one house out of one million. All of you can cut pieces of green cloth, measured exactly two by one in dimension, that is your flag, the flag of people’s power, of hope, of truth, of the future.
All you in the world who support truth, freedom, Jamahiriya, hang it on millions homes, cars. The green flag is yours and belongs to all the masses of the world. With the dawn of people’s authority and the end of governments, we chose the green flag and made its colour and dimension easy for all. Choose any green. Cut it one by two, exactly, and hang it everywhere, carry it with you.
Soon the green flag will fly all over the world, as governments collapse, they failed their people, I alone did more than all of them. They served different masters. They did not intend to serve the people, never. They are owned by others. They do nothing for you. Ignore them and they are gone. Prepare yourselves by forming committees, openly or in secret, set up your local mathabas to meet and share. Chart the way forward. The green flag belongs to you all.
The future is jamahiriya, everywhere. Masses self-governing societies. Basic popular congresses and people’s committees. Green committees to guide, defend, expose, call, show the way forward to people’s power. It’s all there in The Green Book, read it, copy it, share it. Use your own communication systems, don’t rely on the enemy. Make your own communications. Take back your resources to your hands, do not be afraid of power, possess it. It is your power, wealth and arms that the governments, banks and militaries stole from you. Continue reading “A message from the Guide of the Revolution”
Dear all,
With the current events in Libya, I cannot help but try to make my contribution to the freedom of the people of Libya who are currently fighting an unjust war brought to them by the imperialistic powers of the world. The war in Libya, under the false pretense of “protecting civilians” has been a set-up from the beginning. In the name of the protection of ‘civilians’, civilians are being killed! Today NATO bombed Bab Al-Aziziya 64 times! Imagine that… 64 times! What in the world requires 64 bombs all at once in one compound? Goodness Gracious! As hatred unfurls in Libya, as my Libyan brothers and sisters are being attacked by the greed of western bankrupt bankers… As the western media continue their saga of lies with a Saif-Al-Islam captured and extradited to the ICC one day, and him resurrecting and giving a tour of Tripoli to western media the next day … I could not help but show you a different side, the side of the Libyan people, the side of our winning Spirit, the spirit of the Guide! Enjoy!
Bonjour a tous,
Je voulais partager avec vous ce rare bijou: une interview de la grande écrivain Maryse Condé dans laquelle elle discute de son livre Ségou, le premier roman épique africain.
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Dear All,
I just wanted to show you this rare jewel: an interview of the great writer Maryse Conde where she talks about her book Segu, the first epic African novel. Enjoy!
Cette histoire se passe au temps de la famine la plus terrible qu’ait connue notre pays. Les animaux mouraient par milliers. Ils quittaient les forêts ou ils ne trouvaient plus de nourriture et remontaient vers les rivières, à travers la savane et les montagnes. Les plus faibles d’entre eux finissaient sous la dent et la griffe des plus forts. Voici comment compère lièvre, le héros aux mille tours, est parvenu, malgré sa petite taille, à se tirer d’affaire.
Compère lièvre n’avait pas mangé depuis plusieurs jours. Très affaibli, il s’était caché sous un buisson et réfléchissait. Je n’ai plus assez de forces pour courir très vite et échapper ainsi aux ennemis qui me guettent. Il faut que je trouve une solution. Si cela continue, je vais mourir. Non ! Je ne veux pas! Si seulement j’avais un compagnon ! A Nous deux, nous pourrions peut-être parvenir à survivre. Cependant, si je choisis un compagnon plus fort que moi, il me dévorera sans nul doute lorsqu’il me verra dans cet état mais une idée lui vient enfin! il va trouver son ami Kpedza, le rat palmiste trop petit, lui aussi pour être dangereux.
Compère, écoutez-moi. J’ai besoin de vous, et vous de moi. Ensemble, nous pouvons survivre car j’ai idée d’une ruse qui nous sauvera.
Kpedza répond: Parlez, mon compère. J’accepte volontiers notre association.
Lièvre explique alors: Comme vous étés tout petit, mon ami, vous entrerez facilement dans la gourde que voici. Je la mettrai sur mon dos et irai à travers tous les marchés du sud ou ne sévit pas la famine, affirmant partout que je suis un grand magicien. Comme preuve, je montrerai aux gens que je capable de faire parler une gourde.
En effet, chaque fois que je taperai sur la gourde, vous qui serez à l’intérieur, vous pousserez de grands cris. Tout le monde s’émerveillera et nous offrira à manger !
– Idée merveilleuse! s’écrie Kpedza, mettons-la tout de suite à exécution.
Continue reading “La Gourde qui Parle”
In view of the current debt crisis grabbing the western hemisphere these days, and the floods of austerity measures brought in by the IMF/World Banks/European Central Banks/Federal Reserve, etc…, austerity measures which never solve a thing but make the situation worse than ever… I thought about showing you this great documentary entitled “Globalization: When the IMF manufactures Misery (Mondialisation: Quand le FMI fabrique la Misere).” It reminds me of all these austerity measures implemented on third world countries by the IMF/World Banks in the 1980s and 1990s, which totally crippled their economies, and created even greater poverty. Not a real solution… but a way for the big banks and corporations of the Western hemisphere to fill their pockets, and keep the other people of the world in chains. Watch and enjoy!
Don’t forget to watch part 2, 3, 4, and 5.
I always thought that since the Chinese invented the compass and the gunpowder, they should have been great navigators and explorers. I also always thought that they should have been among the first to navigate around the globe. What an amazing surprise when I learned that the most venerated Chinese maritime admiral Zheng He had reached the horn of Africa before Vasco da Gama, challenging the claim that VdG had been the first on the Eastern side of Africa. Indeed, Zheng He’s great armada rich of more than 300 ships and as many as 30,000 troops entered the coastal town of Malindi in modern day Kenya in 1418. He also visited Mogadishu and Barawa in present-day Somalia, and went as far as the coast Mozambique. It is said that he brought a giraffe from Somalia back to Emperor Yongle (1415).
There are tribes in Kenya which have clear Chinese ancestry… they descent probably from some of Zheng He’s crew members. In 1999, a journalist for the New York Times, Nicholas D. Kristof, reported a surprising encounter with the Shanga people on Pate island, just off the coast of Kenya. There, in a village of stone huts set amongst dense mangrove trees, Kristof met a number of elderly men who told him that they were descendants of Chinese sailors, shipwrecked on Pate many centuries ago. Their ancestors had traded with the local Africans, who had given them giraffes to take back to China; then their boat was driven onto the nearby reef. Kristof noted many clues that seemed to confirm the islanders’ tale, including their vaguely Asian appearance and the presence of antique porcelain heirlooms in their homes. You can read his account entitled: 1492: The Prequel on the New York Times website.
It is also reported that 7 centuries before the great admiral Zheng He, another Chinese, Du Huan, an officer of the Tang dynasty (618-907) visited the kingdoms of Nubia and Abyssinia (modern Sudan and Ethiopia respectively). He called these countries Molin-guo and Laobosa respectively. A full account of his trip can be found on Chroniques Yemenites. Check out the blog Curiosity killed the Eccentric Yoruba where the author did an outstanding job relating the Chinese presence in Africa, as well as African presence in China. Trade flourished between East Africa and China. As such, many African products could be found in Chinese courts such as ivory, giraffes, myrrh, zebras, camels, powdered rhinocerous horn (used as prized aphrodisiac), tortoise shell (used to treat consumption) and frankincense and ambergris (used as a tonic to stimulate circulation). Similarly, as said earlier, Chinese artefacts such as porcelain have been found in coastal villages along East Africa. Chinese coins from the Song and Tang dynasties have been found in Zanzibar, and a huge amount were found in the town of Kajengwa in Zanzibar, illustrating trade between China and early East African kingdoms (some from the Song period have also been found in Mogadishu as well as in Kenya). Chinese archaeologists arrived in July of 2010 to the beaches of Lamu and Malindi in Kenya, in search for a shipwreck from admiral Zheng He’s flotilla. Please watch this great video on the BBC website about the discovery of Chinese ancient coins in Kenya.
The video below tells of Admiral Zheng He’s travel and the size of his armada.
J’ai trouvé le discours du Président Gbagbo à l’occasion de la fête d’independance Ivoirienne très très pertinent, surtout face aux problemes actuels de l’Afrique (Côte d’Ivoire, Libye, Zimbabwe, …) dans le nouvel ordre mondial du gangsterisme! J’invite tout africain à le lire. L’intégralité du discours se trouve sur Revue de Presse CI ——
Ivoiriens, Ivoiriennes, peuples de CÔTE D’IVOIRE, très chers compatriotes, très chers habitants de la CÔTE D’IVOIRE.
Je voudrais, en ce jour solennel qui marque le 51ème anniversaire de l’Indépendance de notre pays, me joindre à chacun de vous pour rendre d’abord gloire à Dieu, notre Maître qui continue de manifester sa fidélité à notre pays, malgré les tribulations de ces derniers moments. […]
Cette réflexion est un exercice de prospection de nous-mêmes qui s’impose à chaque citoyen de ce pays, mais surtout aux dirigeants, et aux responsables politiques et administratifs qui ont la charge de conduire le destin de notre nation, surtout dans le contexte actuel de grands traumatismes causés à notre peuple, qui n’aspire qu’à vivre sa souveraineté en tant qu’acteur et sujet de l’humanité, et non pas comme simple objet ou simple spectateur de la construction de sa propre histoire.
L’Indépendance est une notion forte, qui renvoie à un mouvement de rupture. La rupture ici ne s’entend point d’un isolement ou d’un repli sur soi, position idéale des faibles, mais elle correspond plutôt à une métamorphose de la conscience, qui fait passer celui qui s’en prévaut, de la servitude à sa pleine responsabilisation dans le processus de construction de l’humanité. […]
Je mesure mieux de ma position, les grandes souffrances, mais en même temps le grand mérite de tous ces hommes qui, à travers l’Histoire, ont combattu pour la Liberté et l’Indépendance de leur peuple. Je pense notamment à Martin LUTHER KING, dont l’engagement politique jusqu’à la mort a permis, plus de quarante ans après, l’élection de Barack OBAMA comme Président des ETATS-UNIS d’Amérique; à GHANDI, dont l’ œuvre continue de nourrir l’âme de la grande INDE; au Général de GAULLE qui a refusé la fatalité de la défaite pour restaurer la grandeur perdue de la France; à Mao TSE TOUNG, qui a rompu les liens de la servitude au prix d’énormes sacrifices pour donner à la CHINE sa gloire d’aujourd’hui.
Je loue le courage de MANDELA, de Kwame NKRUMAH, de Patrice LUMUMBA et de tous les autres dignes combattants de l’Afrique, qui sont des exemples de don de soi pour la liberté et la fierté du peuple africain. Je salue plus particulièrement la mémoire de nos illustres pères qui ont combattu pour dessiner les contours de ce que nous appelons Indépendance. Leur mérite est tout à fait grand dans le contexte qui était le leur.
Mais nous devons avoir à l’esprit que leur combat serait vain si nous nous arrêtions à admirer seulement leurs acquis. Les symboles de l’Etat et les armoiries de la République nous rappellent chaque jour notre devoir et notre responsabilité devant notre propre destin. Chacun est appelé à leur donner un sens réel. C’est le combat permanent qui doit mobiliser toutes les énergies des filles et fils de notre pays. […] Continue reading “Le Président Gbagbo s’adresse aux Ivoiriens à L’occasion de la fête nationale”
Agostinho Neto was the first president of Angola, and served from 1975 to his death in 1979. He was born in a Methodist family (his father was a Methodist pastor), attended high school in Luanda, and studied medicine in Lisbon (specializing in gynecology). In Lisbon, he befriended future political leaders such as Amilcar Cabral (Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde) and Marcelino dos Santos (Mozambique). He combined his academic life with covert political activities.
In 1948 he published his first volume of poetry and was arrested for the first time. There followed a series of arrests and detention, which interrupted his studies. He joined the Movimento Popular da Libertação de Angola (MPLA, People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) when it formed in 1956. He was released from detention and allowed to complete his studies in 1958, retuning shortly afterwards to Angola (1959), where he set up a private medical practice.
On 6 June 1960, Agostinho Neto was arrested at his practice as a result of his campaigning against the Portuguese colonial administration of Angola. When patients, friends, and supporters marched in demonstration for his release, the police opened fire and 30 were killed, 200 more injured. This became known as the Massacre de Icolo e Bengo (his birthplace). Neto was exiled to and held in captivity initially in Cape Verde and then in Portugal, where he wrote his second volume of poetry. After international pressures, the Portuguese government put him under house arrest, where he escaped to Morocco and later to Zaire (Congo).
He became president of the MPLA in 1962, and looked for support in the American government against Portugal, but was turned down. He received the support of Cuba and the Soviet Union for the fight for the freedom of the people of Angola from Portuguese imperialism.
After the Revolução dos Cravos (Carnation Revolution) in 1974 in Portugal, which took down the government by a military coup, Portugal’s foreign policy changed in its African colonies. On 11 November 1975, Angola became independent, and Neto was proclaimed president on that day. The country was effectively held under the rule of three independence movements, with the MPLA holding the central section and the capital.
Neto’s rule was marked by armed conflict with Holden Roberto’s FNLA (supported by Mobutu of Zaire, and the US) and Jonas Savimbi‘s UNITA which had military support from South Africa. While Neto enjoyed the help and support of the Soviet Union and Cuba, he still encouraged Western investment in the country – especially in oil production. He died of cancer on September 10th, 1979 in Moscow. After his death, the civil war in Angola lasted for over a quarter of a century opposing Jose Eduardo dos Santos (his successor) and Jonas Savimbi.
Agostinho Neto was not only Angola’s first president, he was also a medical doctor, and a poet; he is actually one of Angola’s most acclaimed writer and poet. Please check out the website of the Fundação António Agostinho Neto, which has done a brilliant work in presenting Neto’s writings, debates, and comments by other leaders on Neto. Now I leave you with his great saying: “A luta Continua … A Vitória é certa!”
African Heritage 