I was not planning on writing anything, but then I remembered the blood of Ivorians, and all the big cocoa’s sellers scheme in that country, and their influence in the current bloody atmosphere inCôte d’Ivoire, the world number one producer of cocoa… then I cringed… I had to write. As Hallmark and the media try to make us celebrate a day when Cupidon supposedly hit us with his arrow of love, and we all then run to the store to buy chocolates, and everything lovey-dovey… I remembered that over 3000 miles away some children were dying in some cocoa plantations for people in the developed world to show love to their loved ones.
A box of Valentine's day chocolate
Is it really necessary? do people need all that chocolate to feel loved? do they need the heart-shaped box full of heart-shaped chocolates to feel loved? and why not any other day? could people not renew their love for each other any other day of the year? or fall in love any other day? does it have to happen at the expense of some kid and poor family in another hemisphere? Well…after the event of April 11, 2011in Côte d’Ivoire, I have decided to refrain myself from my love of chocolate… and we all should. We can all refrain from it… there will be less wars!… and less caries!
Zambia’s national team celebrate their win of the African Cup of Nations (Source: Issouf Sanogo/AFP)
Wow, I started watching the finals yesterday rooting for Zambia to win against Côte d’Ivoire… I had watched them throughout the cup, and the last one as well, and knew that they were a young strong team to reckon with. Throughout the game, I prayed that the memory of those Zambian players who died in a plane crash in 1993 in Gabon be honored. At the time when the crash occurred, the Zambian team was on its way to Senegal from Libreville (Gabon) to play a world-cup qualifier. We, Africans, were all stunned, and cried as an entire country had lost their heroes. One of the only survivors was Kalusha Bwalya who would have been on the plane during the crash, but had found his own way to Senegal (he was playing for PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and had to make separate arrangements to meet the team in Dakar). We watched and cried with Kalusha who had lost all his teammates.
Zambia’s national team, the Chipolopolo
Imagine rebuilding an entire mature team who had just crashed? It will take a lot of years to foster the same talent and train them. The country had just lost a generation of extremely talented football players. Kalusha went on to become coach of Zambia (at the 2006 CAN), and is currently the president of the football association of his country. It is extremely symbolic that Zambia won last night in Libreville (Gabon) against Côte d’Ivoire (who played outstandingly well), only a few hundred metres inland from the crash site. The Chipolopolo (the Copper Bullets) dedicated their victory to the ones who lost their lives in the 1993 tragedy.
Well, Paul-Antoine Bohoun Bouabré was a great economist from Côte d’Ivoire. His genius successfully protected his country from bankruptcy during the years when Côte d’Ivoire was under siege by France (i.e. 2000 – 2011). Educated in the great schools of his country and in France, he earned a PhD in economics with a specialty in development in 1985. He then returned to his country where he taught economics at the Universities of Cocody, and Bouaké, and at the Côte d’Ivoire National School of Administration. In 2000, he joined the government ofLaurent Gbagbo, for whom he had great respect, as the minister of Economy and Finances. After the chaotic military transition of the years 2000 (from Gueï’s coup on 24 December 1999 to the elections of 2000)he single-handedly created a ‘secured budget’ to face all the financial problems of the state of Côte d’Ivoire, as the foreign investors and donors were no longer investing in the country. His motto was “live within your means and don’t borrow from the outside.” He did just that: the ‘secured budget’ was founded entirely on internal revenues of the state which increased due to the financial reforms put in place. He managed to keep Côte d’Ivoire afloat. After the rebellion of 2002, which totally destabilized the country by splitting it into two, thus depriving the state of more than half of its revenues and territory, Paul-Antoine created the ‘backup budget’ or the ‘safeguard budget’ or ‘the protection budget’ through which he managed to pay all the salaries, and all the state charges for the entire country! All this was done, under the eyes of the rebellion and its foreign allies who gave Gbagbo and his government no less than 3 months to survive; they survived over 8 years in this state of asphyxiation, thanks in part to his efforts!
Flag of Côte d'Ivoire
It just pains me to see how a bright son of Africa has been depicted and demonized in the foreign press. This great man, and economist kept an entire country afloat through all the foreign pressures. Imagine for a single moment, a country asphyxiated by all (France, E.U., USA,IMF, World Bank, etc…), and beleaguered from all sides, trying to stay afloat, to pay salaries, and keep the state from sinking…. Imagine the livelihood of millions of people depending on these external forces, forces which do not accept the people’s vote, but prefer their own jockey… Imagine providing for millions of men and women, and their children! Truly, this man, and his entire team, deeply loved their country.Any man in their right mind would have quit such a job, or would have accused others for their downfall… but Bohoun Bouabré, like so many, stayed in place, and steered the ship in the right direction.Many may disagree, butBohoun Bouabré did what the Greek minister of finances could not do when faced with a financial crisis, he did what the Irish could not do, or what the Portuguese cannot do while being faced with a crisis.All these European countries benefit from the support of their counterparts (E.U.), the US, the IMF, and the World bank, and yet… they cannot and have not been able to keep their ships afloat. Today, some people want us to believe lies about him, but the truth will always be thatBohoun Bouabré was a great economist, who managed to keep a country like Côte d’Ivoire besieged from all sides, with a population (of 20 millions) bigger than Portugal (10 millions), Greece (10 millions) and Ireland (6 millions) afloat.Yes… this man was a true giant…No offense to the Irish, Portuguese, and Greeks, but their finance ministers should take example on Paul-Antoine Bohoun Bouabré, a proud son of Côte d’Ivoire!
The Africa Cup of Nations/ La Coupe d'Afrique des Nations
The quarter-finals to the African Cup of Nations (Coupe d’Afrique des Nations) tournament took place yesterday. The African Cup of Nations is a highly followed soccer tournament to which all African nations participate. In essence, all African nations play qualifiers which ensures that about 16 nations on the continent will get a chance to play at the African Cup of Nations. Since 1968, the tournament has taken place every two years, and every even year during the month of January and ends around mid-February: one month of intense fun. If you are an avid soccer fan, as I am, you would love watching some of the greatest African teams and stars at their best (sometimes, at their worst too). Recently, the pressure of big money FIFA has forced a change into the schedule of the CAN, forcing the tournament to now take place every odd years, so as ‘not to clash with the soccer world cup‘ (this change was forced by European big clubs/leagues to whom many African players belong).
CAN 2012
The African Cup of Nations (CAN) tournament was first held in 1957 in Sudan, and only three countries participated: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Egypt has won the cup seven times, making it the record holder. In recent years, Egypt won the cup three consecutive times. Cameroon and Ghana follow behind Egypt and have both won the tournament four times. Cameroon and Egypt are not participating at this year’s African Cup of Nations, but Ghana is… and there is a strong chance that they might win the cup this year. This year’s tournament, the 2012 CAN, is held in two countries: Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. I believe that the final this year will be between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: the Black Stars vs the Elephants. Although my heart is with the Elephants of Didier Drogba, I have slight edge towards Ghana of Michael Essien.
My dream is to see an African cup of Nations where all the coaches of African teams would be African… I might have to wait a long time to see this, but in the meantime enjoy! Mali just knocked out Gabon in penalty kicks and will be facing Côte d’Ivoire in semi-finals (this promises to be a good game). The face-off to the other semi-final will be Ghana-Zambia, as Ghana defeated Tunisia 2-1. Let’s wait and see!
A group of escaped slaves in Virginia in 1862 (courtesy of the Library of Congress)
A newly discovered letter from a freed former slave to his onetime master is creating a buzz. Letters of Note explains that in August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee wrote to his former slave Jourdan Anderson, requesting that Jourdan return to work on his farm. In the time since escaping from slavery, Anderson had become emancipated, moved to Ohio where he found paid work and was now supporting his family. The letter turned up in the August 22 edition of the New York Daily Tribune. ENJOY!
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Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee
Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin’s to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.
I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, “Them colored people were slaves” down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.
Tortue et serpent étaient de très grands amis. Ils se rencontraient fréquemment, passaient de longues heures à converser ensemble. Souvent, Tortue invitait son compère à partager son repas, quand ce n’était pas serpent qui invitait sa commère. Bref, tout le monde les appelait les inséparables. Pourtant un jour, ils se sont fâchés et jamais plus on ne les a vus ensemble. Leurs voisins étaient très intrigués par cette brouille et auraient bien voulu savoir ce qui s’était passé. Ils les ont questionnés l’un et l’autre voici ce qu’ils ont fini par apprendre.
Tortue avait prié son ami de venir manger chez elle serpent s’est mis en route, ayant appétit. Quand il arrive au domicile de son amie, une odeur délicieuse l’accueille, mais il n’y a personne pour le recevoir à l’entrée de la maison. Il appelle; pas de réponse! alors, il pousse la porte et entre. Au milieu de la pièce, se trouve une grosse calebasse d’où s’élève un fumet de bonne nourriture. Mais le récipient est recouvert d’un énorme couvercle. C’est tortue qui s’est étendue là pour jouer un vilain tour à son compère. Hé, compère, que fais-tu donc là ? S’écrie serpent, fort surpris de cette attitude. Ne vois-tu pas qu’avec ta grosse carapace, tu couvres tout le plat et que je ne puis me servir ? Est-ce une chose à faire ? ôte-toi de là car j’ai grand appétit.
Serpent (Cobra)
Tortue ne bouge ni ne répond, si ce n’est par un ricanement moqueur. Serpent attend quelques instants espérant qu’elle voudra bien libérer la calebasse. Puis voyant qu’elle se moque de lui, il s’en va, pas content du tout.
Quelques jours passent. Enfin, un beau matin, serpent envoie un de ses fils inviter son amie tortue à venir partager son repas. Celle-ci fait arrivée, elle découvre serpent soigneusement enroulé sur lui-même et formant un gros couvercle qui bouche entièrement le plat de nourriture avec les anneaux de son corps.
Hé compère, que fais-tu là ? S’écrie-t-elle. En voilà un couvercle pour Une calebasse ! Pousse-toi donc afin que je me serve à manger.
Serpent se garde de bouger. Mais il lui répond d’une voix sifflante de colère :
Chère sœur, as-tu donc oublié le vilain tour que tu m’as joué la dernière fois que j’ai été ton invité ? Si c’est ainsi que tu reçois tes amis, pourquoi veux-tu que je n’aie pas la même attitude ? Mon devoir est de te rendre la pareille. Pour honorer ta générosité, je te rends ainsi le bon repas que tu m’as offert !Peut-on garder des amis si on se moque d’eux ? Si vous agissez mal envers quelqu’un, pourquoi voudriez-vous que, lui, agisse bien envers vous ?
Conte tiré de “Contes des Lagunes et Savanes,” Collection ‘Fleuve et Flamme,’ édition Edicef, 1975
Cheikh Anta Diop was a great Senegalese historian, anthropologist, philosopher, physicist and politician. He should be considered as one of the greatest scientists after Darwin, as he demonstrated that Africa was the cradle of humanity; that everything started in Africa, and that Egypt and modern day Africans descended from the same ancestors, in other words, were the same people. Before Cheikh Anta Diop, the world, and Africans in particular, had been taught that Africa was nothing, and that Egypt and Egyptians were not Africans… that the great Egyptian civilization which gave so much to the world, could not have come from the dark brown Africans. Europeans refused to admit that although in Africa, Egyptians could be Africans i.e. Black, or rather believed that Blacks were so backwards that their ancestors could not have possibly made the great pyramids of Giza or the great sphinx. Well Cheikh Anta Diop proved them all wrong!
Cheikh Anta Diop in the laboratory
As a physicist, I was amazed to learn that Cheikh Anta Diop was a PhD student of Frédéric Joliot-Curie, the 1935 physics nobel laureate, and Marie Curie‘s son-in-law (first woman to receive a Nobel in Physics, and first to have two nobel prizes). So Diop’s pedigree, in physics terms, was quite impressive! Moreover, he had earned two PhDs: one in history and the other in nuclear physics. He was also the only African student of his generation to have received a training in egyptology. He was well-versed in prehistoric archaeology, and linguistics. It took him almost a decade to have his doctorate degree granted: he submitted a thesis in 1951 which was based on the premise that the Egypt of the great pharaohs and pyramids was an African civilization– it was rejected. He then published it in 1955, as Nations Nègres et Culture, and received world-wide acclaim. Two additional attempts at submitting it were rejected, until 1960 when he finally managed to convince a room full of physicists, sociologists, anthropologists, egyptologists, and historians. Having gone through the hurdle of submitting and defending a doctoral dissertation, I truly raise my hat to someone like Diop who had so much stamina and endurance, and could endure a decade of rejection like that; he was truly destined for greatness!
'Nations Negres et Culture' de Cheikh Anta Diop
In 1974, Diop managed to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Egyptians were Black people. He obtained pigment from Egyptian mummies and tested for their melanin content. He was able to determine their melanin content accurately, and later published his technique and methodology for the melanin dosage test in scholarly journals. This technique is used today by Forensic investigators around the world, to determine the “racial identity” of badly burnt accident victims.
'The African Origin of Civilization' by Cheikh Anta Diop
Please watch one of the greatest African thinkers of the 20th century, and above all one of Africa’s greatest sons (… and renowned physicist). I salute this great soul who made us proud of being Africans, who re-define history or rather wrote History the way it should have been, with Africa in its right place, as the origin of civilization. If there was an African Pantheon for great minds, Cheikh Anta Diop’s remains should be in it!
January 20th marks the anniversary of the death of Amilcar Cabral, the father of the independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. As such, I just thought about leaving you with some of his most famous quotes. Enjoy!
“A people who free themselves from foreign domination will be free culturally only if, without complexes and without underestimating the importance of positive accretions from the oppressor and other cultures, they return to the upward paths of their own culture, which is nourished by the living reality of its environment, and which negates both harmful influences and any kind of subjection to foreign culture. Thus, it may be seen that if imperialist domination has the vital need to practice cultural oppression, national liberation is necessarily an act of culture.” Amilcar Cabral, “National Liberation and Culture” Lecture delivered on February 20 at Syracuse University as part of the Eduardo Mondlane Memorial Lecture Series. Eduardo Mondlane was the first President of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) who was assassinated by Portuguese agents on Feb. 3, 1960. historyisaweapon.com
Map of Guinea Bissau
“We must practice revolutionary democracy in every aspect of our Party life. Every responsible member must have the courage of his responsibilities, exacting from others a proper respect for his work and properly respecting the work of others. Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories…” Amilcar Cabral: tell no lies, claim no easy victories
“Educate ourselves; educate other people, the population in general, to fight fear and ignorance, to eliminate little by little the subjection to nature and natural forces which our economy has not yet mastered. Convince little by little, in particular the militants of the Party, that we shall end by conquering the fear of nature, and that man is the strongest force in nature.” Amilcar Cabral: Tell no lies, claim no easy victories
I just thought about what happened to our fathers, mothers, grandmothers, and grandfathers during colonial times: to go to school African children were forced by European missionaries to adopt a christian name such as John, Peter (Jean, Pierre), etc… as opposed to their good old African name Nomzimo, Makeba, Ndoumbe, Keïta, etc. Thus many Africans who would have just worn the name ‘Ndoumbe Mpondo‘ or ‘Binlin Dadié‘ or ‘Um Nyobé‘ had to adopt a European name such as John + their own name, such that they became: John Ndoumbe Mpondo or Bernard Binlin Dadié or Ruben Um Nyobé. To this day, the tradition has remained… most Africans would have three or four names: their family name, and their given name, plus the European first name and in some cases a European middle name as well. The poem below entitled ‘My name‘ by the South African poet Magoleng wa Selepe captures this very well.
My Name
Nomgqibelo Ncamisile Mnqhibisa
Look what they have done to my name……..
the wonderful name of my great-great-grandmother
Nomgqibelo Ncamisile Mnqhibisa
The burly bureaucrat was surprised
What he heard was music to his ears
‘Wat is daai, se nou weer?’
‘I am from Chief Daluxo Velayigodle of emalu podweni
Last week, on January 8th 2012, the African National Congress (ANC) celebrated 100 years of existence. I think a trip down history lane is in order.
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After the defeat of Zulu, Xhosa, and other African kingdoms in the late 1800s-1900s in the hands of British colonizers, South Africans had to find a new way to fight off the oppressors. Thus, in 1911, Pixley ka Isaka Seme called on Africans to forget the differences of the past and unite together in one national organisation. He said: “We are one people. these divisions, these jealousies, are the cause of all our woes today.“ That national organization saw light on January 8th 1912, when chiefs, representatives of people’s and church organisations, and other prominent individuals gathered in Bloemfontein and formed the African National Congress. The ANC declared its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms. Its first elected president was John Dube.
South African miners
The 1920s-1930s were marked by actions such as the 1919 campaign against passes by the Transvaal ANC; the militant strike by African mineworkers in 1920; and the social organization of Black workers… The ANC went through several stages, first, as a church-based lobbying force, a non-violent nationalist movement, and then, as part of an alliance with Indians, Coloureds, and progressive Whites, including Afrikaners and Communists.
The Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960 where a group of 5000-7000 marched to protest against passes and were shot on by police forces showed the international community how ruthless the apartheid system was. Karen Allen of BBC news recalled the massacre with this chilling description: “Thousands of protesters had gathered in Sharpeville, just south of Johannesburg, to protest at the use of the infamous passbooks, or “dompas”, that every black South African was expected to carry and produce on demand. It governed a person’s movement, was a tool of harassment and was one of the most hated symbols of the apartheid state. Sixty-nine men, women and children were gunned down on that day, killed when police officers opened fire on the crowd. The police station – where they had gathered – is now a memorial to the dead.”
Nelson Mandela ca 1955
In 1961, the ANC took up arms against the South African White government. It morphed into a violent struggle of resistance and armed combat with Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) or Spear of the Nation, when the doors to non-violent change were brutally shut by white nationalists who built on British colonial racism to impose apartheid, a practice of physically relocating communities, regulating labour with passes and violent repression. During those years, not only did MK tried to make the country ungovernable to no avail (as they were no match to the repressive white supremacist government of South Africa), but many of its leaders were arrested like Nelson Mandela,Govan Mbeki, and Walter Sisulu, while others like Oliver Tambo and Joe Slovo went into exile.
African Heritage 