Telle était la devise de Thomas Sankara, notre grand Che africain, ce grand maitre de la révolution Burkinabé, le president du Faso. Telle est la devise que nous nous devons de garder dans nos coeurs en ce moment pour la Côte d’Ivoire: savoir que nous nous battons pour notre liberté, pour notre patrie, pour la seule terre que le bon Dieu a bien voulu nous donner! Amandla!… Ngawethu!
Homeland or death, we shall overcome!
La Cote d'Ivoire
Such was the motto of Thomas Sankara, our great African Che, this great master of the Burkinabe revolution, the president of Burkina Faso. This is the motto that we must keep in our hearts for Côte d’Ivoire right now: to know that we are fighting for our freedom, for our country, for the only land God ever gave us! Amandla! …Ngawethu! Power to the People!
Patria o muerte, venceremos!
Tal era el lema de Thomas Sankara, nuestro gran Che de África, este gran maestro de la revolución de Burkina Faso, el presidente de Burkina Faso. Este es el lema que debemos tener en nuestros corazones para Côte d’Ivoire en este momento: saber que estamos luchando por nuestra libertad, para nuestro país, por la tierra sólo Dios nunca nos dio! Amandla!… Ngawethu!
Pátria ou morte, venceremos!
Esse foi o lema de Thomas Sankara, o nosso grande Africano Che, este grande mestre da revolução burkinabe, o presidente do Burkina Faso. Este é o lema que devemos ter em nossos corações para Côte d’Ivoire agora: saber que estamos lutando por nossa liberdade, para o nosso país, para a única terra que Deus já nos deu! Amandla!… Ngawethu!
I saw this great article by Guy Kouame Gustave on the crisis in Ivory Coast. Such Truth!
“Carthago Delenda Est!” Carthage Must be Destroyed!
This terrible statement was made by Caton the Elder, a Roman citizen who, in his last days in 153 B.C., led a diplomatic mission to Carthage. Impressed by the economic revival of Carthage, he adopted a systematic anti-Carthaginian attitude that led him to end all his speeches at the Senate by the phrase “Carthago delenda est!”, “Carthage must be destroyed!”. Caton the Elder advocated that Carthage, the competitive city to Rome during the Punic Wars had to be destroyed. Reading the biography of this multi-facet and hatred-filled individual, I couldn’t help but think of Cote d’Ivoire, our country. In fact, revisiting our history since Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s irruption in the Ivorian political life, one can paraphrase Caton the Elder saying: “Cote d’Ivoire delenda est!”.
The reason is that the successive events that the country has gone through since the election of President Laurent Gbagbo as Head-of-State in October 2000, demonstrate that there is a ferocious relentlessness to destroy the person chosen by the people to lead the country. But more tragically, the country itself, its choices, its soul, and all the institutions and laws on which the nation stands. There is an animalistic conspiracy to make Côte d’Ivoire a failed country.
“Cote d’Ivoire delenda est!”
Declarations such as “I will make this country ungovernable, we are going to gnagami it all!” by ADO, the media, military, political, social, cultural, diplomatic, financial and economic relentlessness (boy! To say the least!), multiple coups and other mistreatments the country is subjected to are all part of the sinister project of the destruction Côte d’Ivoire. Despite multiple sacrifices made by President Gbagbo and the people of Cote d’Ivoire for the sake of peace and democracy, the country continues on suffering since 2002. And the so-called post electoral crisis has just brought to light the sinister plot of destruction and submission against our country.
For recall: December 1999, first coup d’Etat consecutive to the war for power between the heirs of Houphouët Boigny, the first President of Côte d’Ivoire. The coup went well: Bédié is exiled, but Ouattara did not succeed seizing power. General Guéi who led the military transition escaped two assassination attempts. He lost the October 2000 presidential elections and took refuge in his native village. Laurent Gbagbo, the people’s beloved, won the elections and came into office. From that day on a terrible and obnoxious lynching campaign against the country, its founding pillars, and its officials started. The nightmare of the Ivorian people was thus into motion.
Flag of Cote D'Ivoire
“Cote d’Ivoire delenda est!”, “Cote d’Ivoire must be destroyed ! »
The personality, the choices, and the relation and interactions that President Gbagbo has with his people for decades make many uncomfortable. His aspirations to diversify the economic partners of the country and to depart from the ongoing classic infantilizing paternalism from the former colonial power disturb and particularly worry.
ADO, the man of the outside world, has not given up his plans to seize power by all means necessary. He and his allies then decided to make Gbagbo undergo the same fate as Bédié. They set up, prepared, organized, financed, and implemented a coup d’Etat from and with the complicity of some countries of the sub-region and mainly with the help of a part of the international community. In the night of September 19th, 2002, assailants attacked the State. They failed to take over, fled from the economic capital Abidjan, and made up a cyst in Bouaké where they organized a rebellion.
With all that is happening in Ivory Coast, and the willingness of the international community not to respect a country’s constitution, I have decided to post this video which shows what happened in 2005 in Ivory Coast with the French military. As a brief parenthesis… I have never seen the international community act so vehemently in Africa… when they last did, it was in Rwanda where they choose not to say a word. Why are they still treating Africans like children, like old colonies? Has any of us Africans, ever said a word about elections in France, or in the US (Bush vs. Gore 2000)? Why is it that when we organize elections, they all act like we cannot take care of our own business. They all say “Ouattara won, Gbagbo lost according to the electoral commission”… but according to the constitutional committee of Ivory Coast (founded on Ivory Coast’s constitution), Gbagbo won and Ouattara lost. In that case why trying to force Gbagbo out… why not just say ‘Re-organize the elections’! Why trying/wanting a military action when half of the people of Ivory Coast are with either one of the protagonists? When people care about the safety of others, and peace, and a solution cannot be found: why do they want to force one over the other? Why this obsession in imposing the West’s will? … why not since they are the United Nations, France, etc… ask for a recall? Are they afraid that we are actually going to find out who the real winner is?
Last week was the second turn of elections in Guinea, and it only made sense to talk about Guinea. Well… Guinea is a country in West Africa whose capital is Conakry… it is a country rich in minerals such as bauxite, gold, diamonds, magnesium, etc. It is well-known for his first president Sekou Toure, who was the first to say ‘NO’ to France in 1958. In his own words, he said: “It is better to be poor and free, than to live in opulence and be a slave.” Guinea, thus became the only nation in French Africa to say ‘NO’ to the General de Gaulle and France. It was seen as a treason and an affront… and France never forgave Guinea, destroying files when leaving, withdrawing abruptly, destroying infrastructures, and breaking political and economic ties. I will not say much, but the video below says it all… Sekou Toure and the people of Guinea dared to say ‘NO’, and for that we, from French Africa, are forever thankful!
Sekou Toure
Je lance un appel à tous les Guinéens d’aller sur Wikipedia corriger l’histoire de leur pays. La définition sur Wikipedia est très incomplète! Nul part est-il mentionné le fait que la Guinée était le seul pays en Afrique Francophone à dire ‘NON’ à la France; et à cause de cela, ils ont été persécutés!
Thomas Isidore Sankara, notre héros africain, mort pour ses convictions et son amour de son peuple, et de sa patrie. Ce grand héros a fait l’un des plus beau discours que j’ai jamais entendu sur la dette africaine! Quelle éloquence mon Dieu! Quelle vérité! et quel humour! Je suis d’accord avec lui que la dette africaine ne peut pas être entièrement payée… et que les pays membres qui ne vont pas aux réunions de l’UA ne devraient pas recevoir les mêmes faveurs que ceux qui y assistent assidûment. De plus, il parle de consommer africain: toute sa délégation était habillée par des tisserands Burkinabés. Regardez, écoutez, et célébrez avec moi l’un des plus grands hommes qui ait foulé le sol du continent africain.
Burkina Faso
Thomas Isidore Sankara, our African hero, killed for his convictions, love of his people and his country. This great hero gave one of the greatest speech I have heard about the problem of African debt. Such an eloquence! Such Truth my Lord! Such humour! I do agree with him that the African debt cannot be entirely paid… and that the African nations who do not show up at the UA summit should not have favors extended to them the same as those who attend the meetings. Moreover, he talks about living and breathing African: his delegation and himself were entirely dressed by Burkinabes tailors with cotton from Burkina Faso. Please watch, listen, and celebrate one of the greatest man the African continent has ever seen!
A la veille du deuxième tour des élections en Côte d’Ivoire qui verra soit Laurent Gbagbo ou Alassane Ouattara être élu président de la Côte d’Ivoire, j’ai trouvé qu’il n’y avait rien de tel qu’une petite historique sur le conflit qui sévit en Côte d’Ivoire depuis 2001, et ses principaux acteurs. Le documentaire que vous allez voir a été produit par la chaine Arte, et fait lumière sur la bataille pour le contrôle d’Abidjan. De nombreux acteurs tels le defunt président Houphouët Boigny, le defunt général Robert Guéï, le président actuel du CI Laurent Gbagbo, l’ancient PM Alassane Ouattara, et l’ancien président du CI Konan Bédié (et son ivoirité), la France, le Liberia de Charles Taylor, et le Burkina Faso de Blaise Compaoré y figurent.
Ivory Coast Flag
A few days before the second round of elections in Ivory Coast, which will see either Laurent Gbagbo or Alassane Ouattara become president, I thought that a little turn down memory lane will be more than appropriate. The following documentary is from the channel Arte, and details the battle for the control of Abidjan and its numerous actors among which the first president of Ivory Coast Houphouet Boigny, General Robert Guei, President Laurent Gbagbo, ex-PM Alassane Ouattara, ex-president Konan Bedie, France, Liberia of Charles Taylor, and the Burkina Faso of Compaore. Enjoy!
The Chinese presence and growth in Africa has not stopped amazing me… but this map from RFI tells it all… Africa is like a big field with great resources, great opportunities (for foreigners) for development, but very little progress. Look at this map and feel the Chinese presence in Africa… Welcome big sister from the East. I just wish Africans could learn from the hard-working and solidaritarian spirit of the Chinese people!
I choose the category ‘Great Moments’ because this map reveals the turning page from the European domination in Africa, and the beginning of a new dawn, the Chinese dawn in Africa.
Yes… I know… many people say Blacks don’t like the cold! maybe we don’t like the cold, but we still have our indomitable competitive spirit in the cold. This week, I have decided to talk about the few Blacks who have been representing the indomitable strength of our race at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Shani Davis
What best way than to start with Shani Davis, an olympian from Chicago, IL. Shani Davis is a proud member of the American speed skating team, and competes in both long and short track speed skating. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Davis became the first Black athlete to ever win an individual gold medal at the winter games. This year in Vancouver, Davis became the first man to ever win back-to-back gold medal in the 1000 m speed skating event. He also won the silver medal in the 1500m event. His story is truly exceptional, and tells of hard work in a sport where very few Blacks have ever competed.
Robin Szolkowy & Aliona Savchenko
Vancouver also allowed us to meet Robin Szolkowy of Germany, whose father is from Tanzania and mother from Germany. Szolkowy is a German pair skater, who skated with partner Aliona Savchenko to win the Bronze medal at the Olympics this year.
Two members of the British Bobsleigh team are Henry Nwume and Lascelles Brown. A proud member of the female bobsleigh Canadian team is Shelley-Ann Brown; One of our brothers, Jarome Iginla, is also part of the Canadian ice-hockey team, which will probably take gold this year. Sister Nkeiruka Ezekh is a Russian Federation curling athlete.
Nkrumah-Acheampong
Our hats are raised to Ethiopian cross-country skier Robel Teklemariam, Ghanaian Alpine skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong also known as the “snow leopard”, Jamaican freestyle skier Errol Kerr, Senegalese alpine skier Leyti Seck, and Algerian cross-country skier Meidhi-Selim Khelifi who have proudly represented the continent, and our entire race this year by participating for the first time at the Winter olympics.
To find out more about Black presence at the Winter olympics, feel free to read this really good article published by The Root and entitled Soul on ice. This article shows pictures of brothers and sisters, pioneers at the Winter Olympics, such as Debi Thomas, Surya Bonaly, Vonetta Flowers, Randy Jones, Garrett Hines, and few others.
“Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même!” Il est enfin temps que je parle d’un des pères de la nation camerounaise, d’un unique indépendantiste qui s’est battu pour la libération de son pays, et qui a été lâchement assassiné en Suisse (empoisonné) par les services secrets Français: Felix-Roland Moumié! C’est en 2006, que nous decouvrons pour la première fois, l’histoire ou plutôt un bref sommaire relatant les derniers jours de cet indépendantiste à travers un documentaire intitulé “L’assassinat de Felix Moumié- L’Afrique sous contrôle,” réalisé par Frank Garbely.
Les leaders de l’UPC: Ruben Um Nyobe, Felix Moumie, et Ernest Ouandie
Felix Moumié, médécin de formation (chirurgien d’ailleurs), deviendra le leader de l’Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) après l’assassinat de Ruben Um Nyobé. Il menera bien le parti et sera assassiné à son tour, empoisonné dans un restaurant de Genève en Suisse. Dans le documentaire que vous verrez ci-dessous, faites attention de ne pas etiquetter Moumié. La chose qui me fait vraiment mal quand je vois ce documentaire, c’est sa veuve, Marthe Ekemeyong Moumié qui pleure et réclame que lumière soit faite sur la mort de son mari, et surtout que son corps lui soit remis afin qu’il puisse être enterré dans son pays natal, le Cameroun.
Marthe Ekemeyong Moumie
La chose qui me fait encore plus mal, c’est de savoir que cette dame qui s’est battue pour que la mémoire de son mari soit célébrée fut violée et assassinée au début de l’année (Janvier 2009) à Ebolowa! Pourquoi ce crime ignoble? Qu’est-ce-qu’une pauvre dame inoffensive peut-elle faire à qui que ce soit? Comme quoi il y a encore certaines choses qui méritent d’etre déterrées, et il est important que les Camerounais connaissent leur histoire. Une chose est sûre et certaine, je lève mon chapeau à cette dame qui mérite de faire partie des annales des femmes fortes du continent Africain.
African Heritage 