PLATO ON OBAMA DRAMA
“Dr. M is Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland.”
--Ishmael Reed, novelist, essayist, poet
As we head toward the Feb 5 primary election, prepare yourselves for more Obama drama! Was Iowa a fluke, was his win in South Carolina an indication of America’s racial divide, after all, he won only 25% of the white vote but 80% of the North American African vote. And as per race, prior to their vote, the Africans tried to convince the media their vote would be about issues, not color. Of course this was more Southern poppycock or fooling the master that North American Africans have become adroit at as a survival technique. Tell the master what he wants to hear, tell him anything to survive until another day. Or did the Africans have a sudden change of heart when they entered the voting booth, deciding it wasn’t about issues but supporting their African brother, as in racial pride that was openly revealed by the 104 year old African woman who cast her vote for Obama, saying she had been waiting for this day a long time long time. The fact that blacks would tell the media it was about anything other than race is an index of their schizoid mentality, for have we not all been waiting, mostly in vain, for the savior who will deliver us from our misery, from centuries of slavery and de facto slavery, down to the present wage slavery, especially in the South?
It is not strange that he captured the under thirty white vote, for this generation of whites openly call themselves nigguhs, having been socialized by rappers and hip hop culture which has given them a more liberal racial consciousness than their ignorant elders steeped in segregation mythology and the illusion they won the Civil War or the hope to return blacks to slavery one day. Of course the prison industrial complex has given them hope that slavery under the constitution or involuntary servitude will indeed save the day and allow them to realize their deepest desires for the resurrection of the South, which essentially means putting the niggers back in their place.
But the young whites, even though they have benefited from white privilege, are determined to transcend the sins of their fathers and mothers. They have been sensitized to African culture and love it—in actuality their elders love it as well, but put on the persona of denial, allowing their love to masquerade as hate. For how can you not love your loyal slave, the producer of your wealth, the surplus capital you have accumulated through the centuries, worth trillions of dollars, allowing an inheritance for your children but only poverty and ignorance for the African free slaves.
Now the white women voted for their sister, Hillary, and have done so consistently after her tear jerking drama when she lost Iowa. White women must unite around their sister, for they cannot allow the nigguh to come before Miss Ann. He must wait his turn, so perhaps after Hillery is Prez, then Obama can have his day. In the white woman’s mind the black man is fine but he is not to come before their white sister. There is racial and gender loyalty here and we must be astute enough to recognize it, going into Fat Tuesday!
And what about the blacks for Clinton? They are a motley crew of democratic sycophants
who truly believe Clinton is the first black president, thus in loyalty to him, Hillary must be the second black president, not Obama. Obama is not black anyway—he might be African but he’s from another tribe, not the tribe of North American Africans, thus he is outside and can be dismissed by the black democratic loyalists, such as Ron Dellums, Jesse Jackson, Charlie Rangel and others.
But isn’t it strange how Obama is sounding more and more like Malcolm X with each passing day, even using Malcolm’s rhetoric about how we are hoodwinked and bamboozled by the opposition? And he does have an Islamic background , having attended the Madrassa or religious school as a child. And his middle name is Hussein. So we pray he doesn’t suffer Malcolm’s fate. Amiri Baraka was asked by students at UC Berkeley what was his greatest accomplishment? He replied, “Staying alive.” Our brother Obama faces the same task. We wish him well.
--Dr. M
1/28/08
Part Two: Obama Drama
Now that Super Tuesday has passed and the Democratic candidates, Hillary and Obama, are yet neck and neck, where do we go from here? Perhaps our so-called leaders who are backing Hillary Clinton, that motley crew of democratic sycophants, need to ask themselves this question: should they not jump the ship of Hilbillery, the ship of fools, and join the North American African masses who are 90% for Obama, or shall they go down in history as leaders who need to be led. Let black history be their guide: the old guard civil rights leaders were caught napping when the cry of Black Power electrified the masses and redirected the freedom movement of the 50s and 60s.
Our present political leaders are perhaps deaf, dumb and blind to the level of dissatisfaction and the need for radical change that Obama symbolizes. Yes, he may be transformative but the old guard doubt he will be able to make the transactions they customarily obtain from the Democratic Party power brokers.
The political leaders have been the gatekeepers who are a failure at delivering bacon to their people. They gave them no political education or economic education to protect them from the sub prime tragedy. They have no real solution to stop 50% of our children from dropping out of school. They have no solution to stop the violence coast to coast, with a major portion of the 16,000 annual murders in America being our sons and daughters. They have been impotent to address the high gas prices, apparently they are too proud to ask president Chavez of Venezuela to aid North American Africans, although we know he is willing to help our community out of our dependency complex and fatal attraction with Ustatos Unidos del Norte America.
Other than making transactions to benefit themselves, what bacon do they deliver, what relief from our misery? Yet they insist we blindly follow their direction into outer space. Hilbillery took women off welfare into prostitution and other crimes, increasing the prison population among women and men when he made crack addicts and petty dealers serve long prison terms for what is a mental health problem and economic justice issue. Yet he/she is our savior?
For sure, the identity starved, self esteem depleted and economically exploited North American Africans have cast their vote with Obama.
He is clearly the man of the hour, the new kid on the block, thus our black leadership would do well to look at the man in the mirror and decide to change their course.
Dissatisfaction brings about change. Obama will be a change whether he wins or not. Call it a dress rehearsal for the future—just in case he doesn’t make it this time. Look into the future, imagine how far he might go with solid backing from his North American people. We might be able to convince our Latino brothers and sisters to join forces with us rather than the old guard, which would permit us to forge a powerful movement of the disinherited, a real movement for change in this nation that has not been seen since the 60s when Blacks united with Latinos, whites, Native Americas, Asians and others to take a great leap forward from segregation and wage slavery.
Latinos can act white if they want, along with our leaders they shall see the day when our unity will be needed and sought, but perhaps to no avail. Yes, we may need to discard our leaders and traditional allies and ultimately go the path of Nationalism. Of course this is beyond the Obama paradigm which can only envision us in an American configuration. Thinking outside the box of American politics is wishful if not delusional, our traditional leaders would say, including Obama, although his roots clearly transcend these United States.
But if Obama can help resurrect our spirits with hope and the possibility of change in the status quo, why not back him with our full support. You might say, do not put your eggs in one basket, so then political leaders, continue in your inordinacy placating pharaoh, but your people are moving on. Our allies must either shit or get off the pot as well. Either you are with us or against us, or shall we say you are either part of the solution or part of the problem. You decide and be prepared to pay the consequences in this political game of life.
We know politics has no permanent friends, only permanent interests. We must clearly state our agenda, define our interests, our priorities, which we should present to Obama as well. We know what change is, but thank him for reminding us.
Obama must do some hard thinking to offer us a way out of this morass, this conundrum that is forever eluding our grasp. He has nine months to deal with Hilbillery, enough time to birth a child. Call this child Freedom.
Obama heralds the era of the Post Black Negro in America. Obama, biracial product--after 400 years of amalgamation, what would one expect? What about a pure Gullah Geeche Negro? Khalid Muhammad!
Let us be sophisticated. We know the treachery of Mulattoes, and we know the treachery of pure Africans in Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Congo. We know the treachery of North American Africans, down to the present moment, they are making deals with the devil. But we see them from whence they see us not. And we are not of the unjust people. We are of the suffering righteous.
What we need are righteous men and women to come to the front of the line, to stand up and represent Divinity, the divine man and woman of spiritual consciousness who can rule without taking a bribe, without telling lies. Find me the righteous man and I shall save the town!
Of the mulatto class, the class preferred by the power structure in dealing with blacks--there is danger here. Chancellor Williams told us it was Mulattoes who ushered in the destruction of African Civilization 6,000 years ago in Egypt. And Haiti had Desselines deal with Mulattoes in their revolution here in the Americas. Toussaint had to tell Desselines after his slaughter, “I told you to prune the tree, not to uproot it!”
But let us be clear: Mulattoes, Pure Blacks, Biracial, does not matter. It is the condition of the heart, the condition of the spirit. Are you a devil or do you represent the Divine?
Answer this, then we shall proceed.
--Dr. M
2/7/08
Part Three Obama Drama
Marvin X
And so it is the man from Illinois who shall be the Democratic party nominee for president. Elijah Muhammad told us the white woman would be the last weapon used to check the rise of the black nation. And so it is, Mrs. Clinton persisted until the bitter end to fight for her gender rights, but apparently in the eyes of the people, the descendant of slavery and colonialism takes priority over Miz Ann, after all, no matter what, she enjoyed the fruits of slavery and thus there is blood on her hands as well. In the good days of his pimping, my brother told me he pimped the white woman because he disdained her as he did her brother and father. But let us go beyond the white woman--she put up a valiant fight, although it obviously wasn't her time. It was time for Jack (Barak) to jump out of the box. We saw the same thing in Oakland's mayoral race. Dellums was an unknown factor until late in the race when his supporters gathered enough signatures to encourage him to enter the race--it was the Latino Ignacio Fuentes who was expected to become Oakland's first Latino mayor. But Jack jumped and Dellums is Oakland's third black mayor. We won't discuss whether he has brought about any change--certainly not in bringing down the homicide rate.
Likewise, it is doubtful how much change Obama can bring about as our first black president, for we must be clear Wall Street rules America, not politicians, who are merely puppets on a string of the international bankers who finance friend and foe alike. The question North American Africans must ask themselves is what items we want on Obama's agenda: National Health Care, Reparations, a general amnesty for prisoners of America's domestic war against our community, a radical national educational curriculum that includes consciousness and do for self economics to prepare our community for the diminishing job market in light of globalism, a priority for African reconstruction to erase the vestiges of colonialism and neo-colonialism.
We learned from the 60s black power revolution that a black face will not save us, so we must have no illusions Obama is our savior. He will carry out the will of American imperialism to the best of his ability. But as he is pressed from the right, we must pressure him from the left to keep him from being totally useless. No matter what, he will need us as much as we will need him. Just remember politics in not about friends but interests. Let us be clear what we want and fight to secure it.
6.5.08
Marvin X is the author of How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy. The next meeting of the Pan African Mental Health Peer Group to recover from white supremacy is Saturday, June 7, 4pm, at 1425 Oregon Street (off Sacramento), Berkeley. Call 510-355.6339 for more information. Visit his blog: www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
MUHAMMIDA EL MUHAJIR ON THE MOVE
New Upscale Frank White Cafe/Lounge Takes Chance On ‘Gritty’ Part of Atlantic
by Linda Collins (linda@brooklyneagle.net), published online 10-24-2007
Co-owner Muhammida El Muhajir hopes that Frank White, a new upscale cafe/lounge, will single-handedly transform an industrial “gritty” stretch of Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill into “a social destination for progressive and global Brooklynites.”
Council Member Letitia James and State Senator Kevin Parker joined El Muhajir in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 5, celebrating the venue’s official opening at 936 Atlantic Ave. at St. James Place.
“I had a vision for this venture and the courage to try it in area that’s not yet hip and trendy,” said El Muhajir, who is described as a pioneer for choosing a site on the commercial/industrial strip that is home to auto shops and warehouses.
Serving gourmet coffee and a menu featuring vegetarian, organic and fair trade selections, fresh juices, smoothies and teas, Frank White serves up “a healthy alternative for this Clinton Hill neighborhood.”
It will also double as a news/reading/screening room plus gallery space, exhibiting works of local, national and international emerging and established artists.
The indoor space is designed to resemble an old world formal dining room, with Damask print wallpaper, dark hardwood floors, crystal chandeliers and antique and brocade furniture. The outdoor space is a 1,200-square-foot garden/patio with a wood deck for outdoor entertaining.
For those in the know, says El Muhajir, Frank White was a character in the cult film “The King of New York,” played by Christopher Walken, as well as an alias of the late rapper Notorious BIG, who grew up a block away from the cafe. In fact, photographer Barron Claiborne’s famed image of a crowned Notorious BIG will be on permanent exhibition at Frank White’s.
— Linda Collins
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle
New Upscale Frank White Cafe/Lounge Takes Chance On ‘Gritty’ Part of Atlantic
by Linda Collins (linda@brooklyneagle.net), published online 10-24-2007
Co-owner Muhammida El Muhajir hopes that Frank White, a new upscale cafe/lounge, will single-handedly transform an industrial “gritty” stretch of Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill into “a social destination for progressive and global Brooklynites.”
Council Member Letitia James and State Senator Kevin Parker joined El Muhajir in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 5, celebrating the venue’s official opening at 936 Atlantic Ave. at St. James Place.
“I had a vision for this venture and the courage to try it in area that’s not yet hip and trendy,” said El Muhajir, who is described as a pioneer for choosing a site on the commercial/industrial strip that is home to auto shops and warehouses.
Serving gourmet coffee and a menu featuring vegetarian, organic and fair trade selections, fresh juices, smoothies and teas, Frank White serves up “a healthy alternative for this Clinton Hill neighborhood.”
It will also double as a news/reading/screening room plus gallery space, exhibiting works of local, national and international emerging and established artists.
The indoor space is designed to resemble an old world formal dining room, with Damask print wallpaper, dark hardwood floors, crystal chandeliers and antique and brocade furniture. The outdoor space is a 1,200-square-foot garden/patio with a wood deck for outdoor entertaining.
For those in the know, says El Muhajir, Frank White was a character in the cult film “The King of New York,” played by Christopher Walken, as well as an alias of the late rapper Notorious BIG, who grew up a block away from the cafe. In fact, photographer Barron Claiborne’s famed image of a crowned Notorious BIG will be on permanent exhibition at Frank White’s.
— Linda Collins
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Muhammida El Muhajir
How many would have the guts to travel alone to the other side of the world, not speak a word of the language, to make a movie without a camera or a budget?! How many would do it again and again and again? Not many with the exception of 27 year-old filmmaker, Muhammida El Muhajir who did just that when she set off to Japan to begin filming the groundbreaking documentary, Hip Hop: The New World Order. After spending two months in Tokyo, El Muhajir has since made solo, self-financed journeys to Havana, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Johannesburg to capture the global fascination with Hip Hop culture. El Muhajir was inspired to produce the film in an effort to “fully explore how Hip Hop has impacted global pop culture.” “I found that Hip Hop is being used as a vehicle for self-expression by young people around the world and has broken down all walls of race, class and religion,” says the first time filmmaker who also runs Sun in Leo Entertainment, a production/creative consulting firm. Hip Hop: The New World Order is a groundbreaking piece that was incorporated into the curriculum at Harvard University this past spring as a required viewing for the course Gender and Globalization. A mini-version of the film is also included on two DVD compilations released by Warner Brothers Home Video, Afrocentricity and International Shorts. A 10-city US tour went on the road this summer while the full length film, companion book and soundtrack will hit later this year- worldwide of course!
How many would have the guts to travel alone to the other side of the world, not speak a word of the language, to make a movie without a camera or a budget?! How many would do it again and again and again? Not many with the exception of 27 year-old filmmaker, Muhammida El Muhajir who did just that when she set off to Japan to begin filming the groundbreaking documentary, Hip Hop: The New World Order. After spending two months in Tokyo, El Muhajir has since made solo, self-financed journeys to Havana, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Johannesburg to capture the global fascination with Hip Hop culture. El Muhajir was inspired to produce the film in an effort to “fully explore how Hip Hop has impacted global pop culture.” “I found that Hip Hop is being used as a vehicle for self-expression by young people around the world and has broken down all walls of race, class and religion,” says the first time filmmaker who also runs Sun in Leo Entertainment, a production/creative consulting firm. Hip Hop: The New World Order is a groundbreaking piece that was incorporated into the curriculum at Harvard University this past spring as a required viewing for the course Gender and Globalization. A mini-version of the film is also included on two DVD compilations released by Warner Brothers Home Video, Afrocentricity and International Shorts. A 10-city US tour went on the road this summer while the full length film, companion book and soundtrack will hit later this year- worldwide of course!
Obama Drama
Marvin X
And so it is the man from Illinois who shall be the Democratic party nominee for president. Elijah Muhammad told us the white woman would be the last weapon used to check the rise of the black nation. And so it is, Mrs. Clinton persisted until the bitter end to fight for her gender rights, but apparently in the eyes of the people, the descendant of slavery and colonialism, takes priority over Miz Ann, after all, no matter what, she enjoyed the fruits of slavery and thus there is blood on her hands as well. In the good days of his pimping, my brother told me he pimped the white woman because he disdained her as he did her brother and father. But let us go beyond the white woman--she put up a valiant fight, although it obviously wasn't her time. It was time for Jack (Barak) to jump out of the box. We saw the same thing in Oakland's mayoral race. Dellums was an unknown factor until late in the race when he supporters gathered enough signatures to encourage him to enter the race--it was the Latino Ignacio Fuentes who was expected to become Oakland's first Latino mayor. But Jack jumped and Dellums is Oakland's third black mayor. We won't discuss whether he has brought about any change--certainly not in bringing down the homicide rate.
Likewise, it is doubtful how much change Obama can bring about as our first black president, for we must be clear Wall Street rules America, not politicians, who are merely puppets on a string of the international bankers who finance friend and foe alike. The question North American Africans must ask themselves is what items we want on Obama's agenda: National Health Care, Reparations, a general amnesty for prisoners of America's domestic war against our community, a radical national educational curriculum that includes consciousness and do for self economics to prepare our community for the diminishing job market in light of globalism, a priority for African reconstruction to erase the vestiges of colonialism and neo-colonialism.
We learned from the 60s black power revolution that a black face will not save us, so we must have no illusions Obama is our savior. He will carry out the will of American imperialism to the best of his ability. But as he is pressed from the right, we must pressure him from the left to keep him from being totally useless. No matter what, he will need us as much as we will need him. Just remember politics in not about friends but interests. Let us be clear what we want and fight to secure it.
6.5.08
Marvin X is the author of How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy. The next meeting of the Pan African Mental Health Peer Group to recover from white supremacy is Saturday, June 7, 4pm, at 1425 Oregon Street (off Sacramento), Berkeley. Call 510-355.6339 for more information. Visit his blog: www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com.
Marvin X
And so it is the man from Illinois who shall be the Democratic party nominee for president. Elijah Muhammad told us the white woman would be the last weapon used to check the rise of the black nation. And so it is, Mrs. Clinton persisted until the bitter end to fight for her gender rights, but apparently in the eyes of the people, the descendant of slavery and colonialism, takes priority over Miz Ann, after all, no matter what, she enjoyed the fruits of slavery and thus there is blood on her hands as well. In the good days of his pimping, my brother told me he pimped the white woman because he disdained her as he did her brother and father. But let us go beyond the white woman--she put up a valiant fight, although it obviously wasn't her time. It was time for Jack (Barak) to jump out of the box. We saw the same thing in Oakland's mayoral race. Dellums was an unknown factor until late in the race when he supporters gathered enough signatures to encourage him to enter the race--it was the Latino Ignacio Fuentes who was expected to become Oakland's first Latino mayor. But Jack jumped and Dellums is Oakland's third black mayor. We won't discuss whether he has brought about any change--certainly not in bringing down the homicide rate.
Likewise, it is doubtful how much change Obama can bring about as our first black president, for we must be clear Wall Street rules America, not politicians, who are merely puppets on a string of the international bankers who finance friend and foe alike. The question North American Africans must ask themselves is what items we want on Obama's agenda: National Health Care, Reparations, a general amnesty for prisoners of America's domestic war against our community, a radical national educational curriculum that includes consciousness and do for self economics to prepare our community for the diminishing job market in light of globalism, a priority for African reconstruction to erase the vestiges of colonialism and neo-colonialism.
We learned from the 60s black power revolution that a black face will not save us, so we must have no illusions Obama is our savior. He will carry out the will of American imperialism to the best of his ability. But as he is pressed from the right, we must pressure him from the left to keep him from being totally useless. No matter what, he will need us as much as we will need him. Just remember politics in not about friends but interests. Let us be clear what we want and fight to secure it.
6.5.08
Marvin X is the author of How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy. The next meeting of the Pan African Mental Health Peer Group to recover from white supremacy is Saturday, June 7, 4pm, at 1425 Oregon Street (off Sacramento), Berkeley. Call 510-355.6339 for more information. Visit his blog: www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Africa: Kenyan PM Attacks Continent's Leaders
http://allafrica.com/stories/200806041000.htmlallAfrica.com
4 June 2008
Posted to the web 4 June 2008
Cape Town
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched a slashing attack on Africa's leaders at the World Economic Forum for Africa on Wednesday.
The circumstances which generated Kenya's recent post-election crisis – in which 1,500 people died and 350,000 were displaced – were not unique to Kenya, he told the opening plenary session of the forum.
"It is a continental problem and it is a problem of bad governance that Africa has witnessed since independence," he said. To applause, he added: "The mediocrity with which Africa has been ruled is what is responsible for African underdevelopment."
To more applause, he also attacked Zimbabwe's government: "Still today, it is unfortunate that in an African country elections can be held and no results are announced for more than one month, and African leaders are silent about it. It would not happen in Europe."
Odinga appeared on the panel with Presidents John Kufuor of Ghana, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi.
"Africa, the richest continent in the world in terms of resources, is unfortunately also the poorest," Odinga told the forum. "We keep on blaming colonialism all the time. But Africa was not the only continent that was colonized. So was Asia."
At independence, the economies of Kenya and Ghana were equivalent to that of South Korea when measured by indicators such as gross domestic product and per capita income. Now Korea's economy is many times bigger.
Odinga told the forum that the post-election crisis and ensuing violence in Kenya had shown "the soft underbelly of our society… For over 40 years of our independence we lived the lie that we were a united country. But deep down there were ethnic tensions running very deep, and society was very fragile and fragmented."
Mutharika took up Odinga's theme, identifying power-sharing as one of Africa's challenges.
"Africans have not learned to share power," he said. "When you get it, it's yours. I suppose this stems from the principle 'winner takes all.'
"In a democratic process there will be winners and losers but the end result is how do you share the proceeds of that power? I'm not only talking about political power [but about] economic power, social power, religious power, information power … When you get it, do you simply keep it in your pocket as yours, or do you share?"
Mbeki, however, warned against making generalized statements about a huge continent. Progress was being made in many fields, he said. "This animal called Africa… is in different bits and pieces… We can't treat it as an aggregated whole."
Kufuor used the forum to make a strong pitch for private sector investment. Adopting Odinga's comparison, he said South Korea's economy was "light years ahead" of Ghana. "Why? Because somehow our leadership allowed itself to be tricked into ideologies that we didn't understand. We wouldn't allow the private sector to grow."
=//=
Goto TheBlackList - http://www.theblacklist.net
For the Future Now.
--
http://allafrica.com/stories/200806041000.htmlallAfrica.com
4 June 2008
Posted to the web 4 June 2008
Cape Town
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched a slashing attack on Africa's leaders at the World Economic Forum for Africa on Wednesday.
The circumstances which generated Kenya's recent post-election crisis – in which 1,500 people died and 350,000 were displaced – were not unique to Kenya, he told the opening plenary session of the forum.
"It is a continental problem and it is a problem of bad governance that Africa has witnessed since independence," he said. To applause, he added: "The mediocrity with which Africa has been ruled is what is responsible for African underdevelopment."
To more applause, he also attacked Zimbabwe's government: "Still today, it is unfortunate that in an African country elections can be held and no results are announced for more than one month, and African leaders are silent about it. It would not happen in Europe."
Odinga appeared on the panel with Presidents John Kufuor of Ghana, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi.
"Africa, the richest continent in the world in terms of resources, is unfortunately also the poorest," Odinga told the forum. "We keep on blaming colonialism all the time. But Africa was not the only continent that was colonized. So was Asia."
At independence, the economies of Kenya and Ghana were equivalent to that of South Korea when measured by indicators such as gross domestic product and per capita income. Now Korea's economy is many times bigger.
Odinga told the forum that the post-election crisis and ensuing violence in Kenya had shown "the soft underbelly of our society… For over 40 years of our independence we lived the lie that we were a united country. But deep down there were ethnic tensions running very deep, and society was very fragile and fragmented."
Mutharika took up Odinga's theme, identifying power-sharing as one of Africa's challenges.
"Africans have not learned to share power," he said. "When you get it, it's yours. I suppose this stems from the principle 'winner takes all.'
"In a democratic process there will be winners and losers but the end result is how do you share the proceeds of that power? I'm not only talking about political power [but about] economic power, social power, religious power, information power … When you get it, do you simply keep it in your pocket as yours, or do you share?"
Mbeki, however, warned against making generalized statements about a huge continent. Progress was being made in many fields, he said. "This animal called Africa… is in different bits and pieces… We can't treat it as an aggregated whole."
Kufuor used the forum to make a strong pitch for private sector investment. Adopting Odinga's comparison, he said South Korea's economy was "light years ahead" of Ghana. "Why? Because somehow our leadership allowed itself to be tricked into ideologies that we didn't understand. We wouldn't allow the private sector to grow."
=//=
Goto TheBlackList - http://www.theblacklist.net
For the Future Now.
--
Plato Falls Into the Black Hole, Waiting for Ali
Marvin X
Spinning, spinning, spinning for Shams,
Spinning for love of Shams….—Rumi
Waiting, waiting, waiting for Ali
Waiting for love of Ali—M
After a lifetime he was coming, my brother Ali, coming to the Bay, coming home to stay, home to Cali after 13 years in Wala, Wala, State prison, Washington, after California Youth Authority, Soledad, San Quentin, Folsom, and numerous jails, my long-lost brother was coming to be the brother I always wanted but was never there, for support, love and to lean upon. Now I would be able to tell him how much I love him, no matter the absent years. And he would be able to tell me how much he loved and appreciated me as his younger brother—even though he is only one year older, now 65, and in days I would turn 64, yes, after all the years and tears, brothers at last.
I last saw him in 2002, when my national book tour came to Seattle. Since he knew I was a follower of Elijah Muhammad, he was totally shocked when radical whites showed up at the book party in my hotel suite. Before the book party, I had not seen him since 1979 in Reno, Nevada, when he, our father and I were together for the last time. As I recall, he was shocked when my white students visited me socially while I taught at the University of Nevada, Reno.
So soon he was leaving Seattle for Monterey, supposedly so he could sit by ocean. If there was ever a person who needed the tranquility of the water it was Ali. Violence had consumed his life, but now he wanted to spend his last years in peace, having paid his dues to society. After arriving in Monterey, he was not able to find the housing he wanted, so he decided to return to the Bay area where we grew up. Actually, he would join other Jackmon siblings, including myself, Judy, Debbie, Tommy,
Suzzette and Gayle. The only ones not here were Donna and Ann. We are all looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner at Debbie's. But today I was at the Greyhound bus station waiting for Ali to arrive from the coast. At 3pm I arrived and parked outside in the taxi stand space. Once inside, I grabbed a Snickers from the candy machine. When I turned around our faces met, although we both agreed we didn't recognize each other since we've both gained weight. I was also suffering a case of Virtigo(dizzyness), and I discovered he was suffering from a multitude of ails, including heart problems caused by smoking.
Spinning for Shams.
Waiting for Ali
Spinning for love of Shams
Waiting for love of Ali
We embraced and I helped him with his bags to the car. His plan was to check into a hotel until he could find a house or apartment, but I had other plans. I told him of my plans for him to stay with me until he found a permanent place. He resisted but finally submitted. He let me know he was not used to accepting help from anyone. Survival had taught him to rely on no one but himself. He had absolutely no belief in God and despised religion. And although he considered me a religious person, I was determined he would soon discover I believed in spirituality, not religion. If I could only convince him of my belief in spirituality, I figured it would simply add to his basic humanity, because I knew him to be a kind, caring and giving person, despite his anti-religious, individualistic ranting, rooted in criminal and prison culture. I just wanted to show him love and allow him to show his love for me. In the days ahead, he would admit to me it would be a daunting task to heal himself of individualism and the inability to accept love and blessings from those who cared about him. Somehow, in the travels of his mind, he concluded no one cared, and even if they did, he would not know how to respond in kind.
-----to be continued--
Plato Falls Into the Black Hole, Waiting for Ali
Marvin X
Spinning, spinning, spinning for Shams,
Spinning for love of Shams….—Rumi
Waiting, waiting, waiting for Ali
Waiting for love of Ali—M
After a lifetime he was coming, my brother Ali, coming to the Bay, coming home to stay, home to Cali after 13 years in Wala, Wala, State prison, Washington, after California Youth Authority, Soledad, San Quentin, Folsom, and numerous jails, my long-lost brother was coming to be the brother I always wanted but was never there, for support, love and to lean upon. Now I would be able to tell him how much I love him, no matter the absent years. And he would be able to tell me how much he loved and appreciated me as his younger brother—even though he is only one year older, now 65, and in days I would turn 64, yes, after all the years and tears, brothers at last.
I last saw him in 2002, when my national book tour came to Seattle. Since he knew I was a follower of Elijah Muhammad, he was totally shocked when radical whites showed up at the book party in my hotel suite. Before the book party, I had not seen him since 1979 in Reno, Nevada, when he, our father and I were together for the last time. As I recall, he was shocked when my white students visited me socially while I taught at the University of Nevada, Reno.
So soon he was leaving Seattle for Monterey, supposedly so he could sit by ocean. If there was ever a person who needed the tranquility of the water it was Ali. Violence had consumed his life, but now he wanted to spend his last years in peace, having paid his dues to society. After arriving in Monterey, he was not able to find the housing he wanted, so he decided to return to the Bay area where we grew up. Actually, he would join other Jackmon siblings, including myself, Judy, Debbie, Tommy,Suzzette and Gayle. The only ones not here were Donna and Ann. We are all looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner at Debbie's. But today I was at the Greyhound bus station waiting for Ali to arrive from the coast. At 3pm I arrived and parked outside in the taxi stand space. Once inside, I grabbed a Snickers from the candy machine. When I turned around our faces met, although we both agreed we didn't recognize each other since we've both gained weight. I was also suffering a case of Vertigo(dizziness), and I discovered he was suffering from a multitude of ails, including heart problems caused by smoking.
Spinning for Shams.
Waiting for Ali
Spinning for love of Shams
Waiting for love of Ali
We embraced and I helped him with his bags to the car. His plan was to check into a hotel until he could find a house or apartment, but I had other plans. I told him of my plans for him to stay with me until he found a permanent place. He resisted but finally submitted. He let me know he was not used to accepting help from anyone. Survival had taught him to rely on no one but himself. He had absolutely no belief in God and despised religion. And although he considered me a religious person, I was determined he would soon discover I believed in spirituality, not religion. If I could only convince him of my belief in spirituality, I figured it would simply add to his basic humanity, because I knew him to be a kind, caring and giving person, despite his anti-religious, individualistic ranting, rooted in criminal and prison culture. I just wanted to show him love and allow him to show his love for me. In the days ahead, he would admit to me it would be a daunting task to heal himself of individualism and the inability to accept love and blessings from those who cared about him. Somehow, in the travels of his mind, he concluded no one cared, and even if they did, he would not know how to respond in kind.
-----to be continued--
Marvin X
Spinning, spinning, spinning for Shams,
Spinning for love of Shams….—Rumi
Waiting, waiting, waiting for Ali
Waiting for love of Ali—M
After a lifetime he was coming, my brother Ali, coming to the Bay, coming home to stay, home to Cali after 13 years in Wala, Wala, State prison, Washington, after California Youth Authority, Soledad, San Quentin, Folsom, and numerous jails, my long-lost brother was coming to be the brother I always wanted but was never there, for support, love and to lean upon. Now I would be able to tell him how much I love him, no matter the absent years. And he would be able to tell me how much he loved and appreciated me as his younger brother—even though he is only one year older, now 65, and in days I would turn 64, yes, after all the years and tears, brothers at last.
I last saw him in 2002, when my national book tour came to Seattle. Since he knew I was a follower of Elijah Muhammad, he was totally shocked when radical whites showed up at the book party in my hotel suite. Before the book party, I had not seen him since 1979 in Reno, Nevada, when he, our father and I were together for the last time. As I recall, he was shocked when my white students visited me socially while I taught at the University of Nevada, Reno.
So soon he was leaving Seattle for Monterey, supposedly so he could sit by ocean. If there was ever a person who needed the tranquility of the water it was Ali. Violence had consumed his life, but now he wanted to spend his last years in peace, having paid his dues to society. After arriving in Monterey, he was not able to find the housing he wanted, so he decided to return to the Bay area where we grew up. Actually, he would join other Jackmon siblings, including myself, Judy, Debbie, Tommy,
Suzzette and Gayle. The only ones not here were Donna and Ann. We are all looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner at Debbie's. But today I was at the Greyhound bus station waiting for Ali to arrive from the coast. At 3pm I arrived and parked outside in the taxi stand space. Once inside, I grabbed a Snickers from the candy machine. When I turned around our faces met, although we both agreed we didn't recognize each other since we've both gained weight. I was also suffering a case of Virtigo(dizzyness), and I discovered he was suffering from a multitude of ails, including heart problems caused by smoking.
Spinning for Shams.
Waiting for Ali
Spinning for love of Shams
Waiting for love of Ali
We embraced and I helped him with his bags to the car. His plan was to check into a hotel until he could find a house or apartment, but I had other plans. I told him of my plans for him to stay with me until he found a permanent place. He resisted but finally submitted. He let me know he was not used to accepting help from anyone. Survival had taught him to rely on no one but himself. He had absolutely no belief in God and despised religion. And although he considered me a religious person, I was determined he would soon discover I believed in spirituality, not religion. If I could only convince him of my belief in spirituality, I figured it would simply add to his basic humanity, because I knew him to be a kind, caring and giving person, despite his anti-religious, individualistic ranting, rooted in criminal and prison culture. I just wanted to show him love and allow him to show his love for me. In the days ahead, he would admit to me it would be a daunting task to heal himself of individualism and the inability to accept love and blessings from those who cared about him. Somehow, in the travels of his mind, he concluded no one cared, and even if they did, he would not know how to respond in kind.
-----to be continued--
Plato Falls Into the Black Hole, Waiting for Ali
Marvin X
Spinning, spinning, spinning for Shams,
Spinning for love of Shams….—Rumi
Waiting, waiting, waiting for Ali
Waiting for love of Ali—M
After a lifetime he was coming, my brother Ali, coming to the Bay, coming home to stay, home to Cali after 13 years in Wala, Wala, State prison, Washington, after California Youth Authority, Soledad, San Quentin, Folsom, and numerous jails, my long-lost brother was coming to be the brother I always wanted but was never there, for support, love and to lean upon. Now I would be able to tell him how much I love him, no matter the absent years. And he would be able to tell me how much he loved and appreciated me as his younger brother—even though he is only one year older, now 65, and in days I would turn 64, yes, after all the years and tears, brothers at last.
I last saw him in 2002, when my national book tour came to Seattle. Since he knew I was a follower of Elijah Muhammad, he was totally shocked when radical whites showed up at the book party in my hotel suite. Before the book party, I had not seen him since 1979 in Reno, Nevada, when he, our father and I were together for the last time. As I recall, he was shocked when my white students visited me socially while I taught at the University of Nevada, Reno.
So soon he was leaving Seattle for Monterey, supposedly so he could sit by ocean. If there was ever a person who needed the tranquility of the water it was Ali. Violence had consumed his life, but now he wanted to spend his last years in peace, having paid his dues to society. After arriving in Monterey, he was not able to find the housing he wanted, so he decided to return to the Bay area where we grew up. Actually, he would join other Jackmon siblings, including myself, Judy, Debbie, Tommy,Suzzette and Gayle. The only ones not here were Donna and Ann. We are all looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner at Debbie's. But today I was at the Greyhound bus station waiting for Ali to arrive from the coast. At 3pm I arrived and parked outside in the taxi stand space. Once inside, I grabbed a Snickers from the candy machine. When I turned around our faces met, although we both agreed we didn't recognize each other since we've both gained weight. I was also suffering a case of Vertigo(dizziness), and I discovered he was suffering from a multitude of ails, including heart problems caused by smoking.
Spinning for Shams.
Waiting for Ali
Spinning for love of Shams
Waiting for love of Ali
We embraced and I helped him with his bags to the car. His plan was to check into a hotel until he could find a house or apartment, but I had other plans. I told him of my plans for him to stay with me until he found a permanent place. He resisted but finally submitted. He let me know he was not used to accepting help from anyone. Survival had taught him to rely on no one but himself. He had absolutely no belief in God and despised religion. And although he considered me a religious person, I was determined he would soon discover I believed in spirituality, not religion. If I could only convince him of my belief in spirituality, I figured it would simply add to his basic humanity, because I knew him to be a kind, caring and giving person, despite his anti-religious, individualistic ranting, rooted in criminal and prison culture. I just wanted to show him love and allow him to show his love for me. In the days ahead, he would admit to me it would be a daunting task to heal himself of individualism and the inability to accept love and blessings from those who cared about him. Somehow, in the travels of his mind, he concluded no one cared, and even if they did, he would not know how to respond in kind.
-----to be continued--
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Fidel Castro's response to Obama: The Empire's Hypocritical Politics
REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL
THE EMPIRE’S HYPOCRITICAL POLITICS
May 25, 2008
ORIGINAL SPANISH:
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/esp/f250508e.html
ORIGINAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/ing/f250508i.html
It would be dishonest of me to remain silent after hearing the speech Obama delivered on the afternoon of May 23 at the Cuban American National Foundation created by Ronald Reagan. I listened to his speech, as I did McCain’s and Bush’s. I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity. Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries an enormous favor. I have therefore no reservations about criticizing him and about expressing my points of view on his words frankly.
What were Obama’s statements?
“Throughout my entire life, there has been injustice and repression in Cuba . Never, in my lifetime, have the people of Cuba known freedom. Never, in the lives of two generations of Cubans, have the people of Cuba known democracy. (…) This is the terrible and tragic status quo that we have known for half a century – of elections that are anything but free or fair (…) I won't stand for this injustice, you won't stand for this injustice, and together we will stand up for freedom in Cuba,” he told annexationists, adding: “It's time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime. (…) I will maintain the embargo.”
The content of these declarations by this strong candidate to the U.S. presidency spares me the work of having to explain the reason for this reflection.
José Hernandez, one of the Cuban American National Foundation directives who Obama praises in his speech, was none other than the owner of the 50-calibre automatic rifle, equipped with telescopic and infrared sights, which was confiscated, by chance, along with other deadly weapons while being transported by sea to Venezuela, where the Foundation had planned to assassinate the writer of these lines at an international meeting held in Margarita, in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta.
Pepe Hernández’ group wanted to renegotiate a former pact with Clinton , betrayed by Mas Canosa’s clan, who secured Bush’s electoral victory in 2000 through fraud, because the latter had promised to assassinate Castro, something they all happily embraced. These are the kinds of political tricks inherent to the United States ’ decadent and contradictory system.
Presidential candidate Obama’s speech may be formulated as follows: hunger for the nation, remittances as charitable hand-outs and visits to Cuba as propaganda for consumerism and the unsustainable way of life behind it.
How does he plan to address the extremely serious problem of the food crisis? The world’s grains must be distributed among human beings, pets and fish, which become smaller every year and more scarce in the seas that have been over-exploited by the large trawlers which no international organization could get in the way of. Producing meat from gas and oil is no easy feat. Even Obama overestimates technology’s potential in the fight against climate change, though he is more conscious of the risks and the limited margin of time than Bush. He could seek the advice of Gore, who is also a democrat and is no longer a candidate, as he is aware of the accelerated pace at which global warming is advancing. His close political rival Bill Clinton, who is not running for the presidency, an expert on extra-territorial laws like the Helms-Burton and Torricelli Acts, can advice him on an issue like the blockade, which he promised to lift and never did.
What did he say in his speech in Miami , this man who is doubtless, from the social and human points of view, the most progressive candidate to the U.S. presidency? “For two hundred years,” he said, “the United States has made it clear that we won't stand for foreign intervention in our hemisphere. But every day, all across the Americas , there is a different kind of struggle --not against foreign armies, but against the deadly threat of hunger and thirst, disease and despair. That is not a future that we have to accept --not for the child in Port au Prince or the family in the highlands of Peru . We can do better. We must do better. (…) We cannot ignore suffering to our south, nor stand for the globalization of the empty stomach.” A magnificent description of imperialist globalization: the globalization of empty stomachs! We ought to thank him for it. But, 200 years ago, Bolivar fought for Latin American unity and, more than 100 years ago, Martí gave his life in the struggle against the annexation of Cuba by the United States . What is the difference between what Monroe proclaimed and what Obama proclaims and resuscitates in his speech two centuries later?
“I will reinstate a Special Envoy for the Americas in my White House who will work with my full support. But we'll also expand the Foreign Service, and open more consulates in the neglected regions of the Americas . We'll expand the Peace Corps, and ask more young Americans to go abroad to deepen the trust and the ties among our people,” he said near the end, adding: “Together, we can choose the future over the past.” A beautiful phrase, for it attests to the idea, or at least the fear, that history makes figures what they are and not all the way around.
Today, the United States have nothing of the spirit behind the Philadelphia declaration of principles formulated by the 13 colonies that rebelled against English colonialism. Today, they are a gigantic empire undreamed of by the country’s founders at the time. Nothing, however, was to change for the natives and the slaves. The former were exterminated as the nation expanded; the latter continued to be auctioned at the marketplace —men, women and children—for nearly a century, despite the fact that “all men are born free and equal”, as the Declaration of Independence affirms. The world’s objective conditions favored the development of that system.
In his speech, Obama portrays the Cuban revolution as anti-democratic and lacking in respect for freedom and human rights. It is the exact same argument which, almost without exception, U.S. administrations have used again and again to justify their crimes against our country. The blockade, in and of itself, is an act of genocide. I don’t want to see U.S. children inculcated with those shameful values.
An armed revolution in our country might not have been needed without the military interventions, Platt Amendment and economic colonialism visited upon Cuba .
The revolution was the result of imperial domination. We cannot be accused of having imposed it upon the country. The true changes could have and ought to have been brought about in the United States . Its own workers, more than a century ago, voiced the demand for an eight-hour work shift, which stemmed from the development of productive forces.
The first thing the leaders of the Cuban revolution learned from Martí was to believe in and act on behalf of an organization founded for the purposes of bringing about a revolution. We were always bound by previous forms of power and, following the institutionalization of this organization, we were elected by more than 90 percent of voters, as has become customary in Cuba, a process which does not in the least resemble the ridiculous levels of electoral participation which, many a time, as in the case of the United States, stay short of 50 percent of the voters. No small and blockaded country like ours would have been able to hold its ground for so long on the basis of ambition, vanity, deceit or the abuse of power, the kind of power its neighbor has. To state otherwise is an insult to the intelligence of our heroic people.
I am not questioning Obama’s great intelligence, his debate skills or his work ethic. He is a talented orator and is ahead of his rivals in the electoral race. I feel sympathy for his wife and little girls, who accompany him and give him encouragement every Tuesday. It is indeed a touching human spectacle. Nevertheless, I am obliged to raise a number of delicate questions. I do not expect answers; I wish only to raise them for the record.
1. Is it right for the president of the United States to order the assassination of any one person in the world, whatever the pretext may be?
2. Is it ethical for the president of the United States to order the torture of other human beings?
3. Should state terrorism be used by a country as powerful as the United States as an instrument to bring about peace on the planet?
4. Is an Adjustment Act, applied as punishment on only one country, Cuba , in order to destabilize it, good and honorable, even when it costs innocent children and mothers their lives? If it is good, why is this right not automatically granted to Haitians, Dominicans, and other peoples of the Caribbean, and why isn’t the same Act applied to Mexicans and people from Central and South America, who die like flies against the Mexican border wall or in the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific?
5. Can the United States do without immigrants, who grow vegetables, fruits, almonds and other delicacies for U.S. citizens? Who would sweep their streets, work as servants in their homes or do the worst and lowest-paid jobs?
6. Are crackdowns on illegal residents fair, even as they affect children born in the United States ?
7. Are the brain-drain and the continuous theft of the best scientific and intellectual minds in poor countries moral and justifiable?
8. You state, as I pointed out at the beginning of this reflection, that your country had long ago warned European powers that it would not tolerate any intervention in the hemisphere, reiterating that this right be respected while demanding the right to intervene anywhere in the world with the aid of hundreds of military bases and naval, aerial and spatial forces distributed across the planet. I ask: is that the way in which the United States expresses its respect for freedom, democracy and human rights?
9. Is it fair to stage pre-emptive attacks on sixty or more dark corners of the world, as Bush calls them, whatever the pretext may be?
10. Is it honorable and sound to invest millions and millions of dollars in the military industrial complex, to produce weapons that can destroy life on earth several times over?
Before judging our country, you should know that Cuba, with its education, health, sports, culture and sciences programs, implemented not only in its own territory but also in other poor countries around the world, and the blood that has been shed in acts of solidarity towards other peoples, in spite of the economic and financial blockade and the aggression of your powerful country, is proof that much can be done with very little. Not even our closest ally, the Soviet Union , was able to achieve what we have.
The only form of cooperation the United States can offer other nations consist in the sending of military professionals to those countries. It cannot offer anything else, for it lacks a sufficient number of people willing to sacrifice themselves for others and offer substantial aid to a country in need (though Cuba has known and relied on the cooperation of excellent U.S. doctors). They are not to blame for this, for society does not inculcate such values in them on a massive scale.
We have never subordinated cooperation with other countries to ideological requirements. We offered the United States our help when hurricane Katrina lashed the city of New Orleans . Our internationalist medical brigade bears the glorious name of Henry Reeve, a young man, born in the United States , who fought and died for Cuba ’s sovereignty in our first war of independence.
Our revolution can mobilize tens of thousands of doctors and health technicians. It can mobilize an equally vast number of teachers and citizens, who are willing to travel to any corner of the world to fulfill any noble purpose, not to usurp people’s rights or take possession of raw materials.
The good will and determination of people constitute limitless resources that cannot be kept and would not fit in a bank’s vault. They cannot spring from the hypocritical politics of an empire.
Fidel Castro Ruz
May 25, 2008
10:35 p.m.
ORIGINAL SPANISH:
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/esp/f250508e.html
ORIGINAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/ing/f250508i.html
REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL
THE EMPIRE’S HYPOCRITICAL POLITICS
May 25, 2008
ORIGINAL SPANISH:
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/esp/f250508e.html
ORIGINAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/ing/f250508i.html
It would be dishonest of me to remain silent after hearing the speech Obama delivered on the afternoon of May 23 at the Cuban American National Foundation created by Ronald Reagan. I listened to his speech, as I did McCain’s and Bush’s. I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity. Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries an enormous favor. I have therefore no reservations about criticizing him and about expressing my points of view on his words frankly.
What were Obama’s statements?
“Throughout my entire life, there has been injustice and repression in Cuba . Never, in my lifetime, have the people of Cuba known freedom. Never, in the lives of two generations of Cubans, have the people of Cuba known democracy. (…) This is the terrible and tragic status quo that we have known for half a century – of elections that are anything but free or fair (…) I won't stand for this injustice, you won't stand for this injustice, and together we will stand up for freedom in Cuba,” he told annexationists, adding: “It's time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime. (…) I will maintain the embargo.”
The content of these declarations by this strong candidate to the U.S. presidency spares me the work of having to explain the reason for this reflection.
José Hernandez, one of the Cuban American National Foundation directives who Obama praises in his speech, was none other than the owner of the 50-calibre automatic rifle, equipped with telescopic and infrared sights, which was confiscated, by chance, along with other deadly weapons while being transported by sea to Venezuela, where the Foundation had planned to assassinate the writer of these lines at an international meeting held in Margarita, in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta.
Pepe Hernández’ group wanted to renegotiate a former pact with Clinton , betrayed by Mas Canosa’s clan, who secured Bush’s electoral victory in 2000 through fraud, because the latter had promised to assassinate Castro, something they all happily embraced. These are the kinds of political tricks inherent to the United States ’ decadent and contradictory system.
Presidential candidate Obama’s speech may be formulated as follows: hunger for the nation, remittances as charitable hand-outs and visits to Cuba as propaganda for consumerism and the unsustainable way of life behind it.
How does he plan to address the extremely serious problem of the food crisis? The world’s grains must be distributed among human beings, pets and fish, which become smaller every year and more scarce in the seas that have been over-exploited by the large trawlers which no international organization could get in the way of. Producing meat from gas and oil is no easy feat. Even Obama overestimates technology’s potential in the fight against climate change, though he is more conscious of the risks and the limited margin of time than Bush. He could seek the advice of Gore, who is also a democrat and is no longer a candidate, as he is aware of the accelerated pace at which global warming is advancing. His close political rival Bill Clinton, who is not running for the presidency, an expert on extra-territorial laws like the Helms-Burton and Torricelli Acts, can advice him on an issue like the blockade, which he promised to lift and never did.
What did he say in his speech in Miami , this man who is doubtless, from the social and human points of view, the most progressive candidate to the U.S. presidency? “For two hundred years,” he said, “the United States has made it clear that we won't stand for foreign intervention in our hemisphere. But every day, all across the Americas , there is a different kind of struggle --not against foreign armies, but against the deadly threat of hunger and thirst, disease and despair. That is not a future that we have to accept --not for the child in Port au Prince or the family in the highlands of Peru . We can do better. We must do better. (…) We cannot ignore suffering to our south, nor stand for the globalization of the empty stomach.” A magnificent description of imperialist globalization: the globalization of empty stomachs! We ought to thank him for it. But, 200 years ago, Bolivar fought for Latin American unity and, more than 100 years ago, Martí gave his life in the struggle against the annexation of Cuba by the United States . What is the difference between what Monroe proclaimed and what Obama proclaims and resuscitates in his speech two centuries later?
“I will reinstate a Special Envoy for the Americas in my White House who will work with my full support. But we'll also expand the Foreign Service, and open more consulates in the neglected regions of the Americas . We'll expand the Peace Corps, and ask more young Americans to go abroad to deepen the trust and the ties among our people,” he said near the end, adding: “Together, we can choose the future over the past.” A beautiful phrase, for it attests to the idea, or at least the fear, that history makes figures what they are and not all the way around.
Today, the United States have nothing of the spirit behind the Philadelphia declaration of principles formulated by the 13 colonies that rebelled against English colonialism. Today, they are a gigantic empire undreamed of by the country’s founders at the time. Nothing, however, was to change for the natives and the slaves. The former were exterminated as the nation expanded; the latter continued to be auctioned at the marketplace —men, women and children—for nearly a century, despite the fact that “all men are born free and equal”, as the Declaration of Independence affirms. The world’s objective conditions favored the development of that system.
In his speech, Obama portrays the Cuban revolution as anti-democratic and lacking in respect for freedom and human rights. It is the exact same argument which, almost without exception, U.S. administrations have used again and again to justify their crimes against our country. The blockade, in and of itself, is an act of genocide. I don’t want to see U.S. children inculcated with those shameful values.
An armed revolution in our country might not have been needed without the military interventions, Platt Amendment and economic colonialism visited upon Cuba .
The revolution was the result of imperial domination. We cannot be accused of having imposed it upon the country. The true changes could have and ought to have been brought about in the United States . Its own workers, more than a century ago, voiced the demand for an eight-hour work shift, which stemmed from the development of productive forces.
The first thing the leaders of the Cuban revolution learned from Martí was to believe in and act on behalf of an organization founded for the purposes of bringing about a revolution. We were always bound by previous forms of power and, following the institutionalization of this organization, we were elected by more than 90 percent of voters, as has become customary in Cuba, a process which does not in the least resemble the ridiculous levels of electoral participation which, many a time, as in the case of the United States, stay short of 50 percent of the voters. No small and blockaded country like ours would have been able to hold its ground for so long on the basis of ambition, vanity, deceit or the abuse of power, the kind of power its neighbor has. To state otherwise is an insult to the intelligence of our heroic people.
I am not questioning Obama’s great intelligence, his debate skills or his work ethic. He is a talented orator and is ahead of his rivals in the electoral race. I feel sympathy for his wife and little girls, who accompany him and give him encouragement every Tuesday. It is indeed a touching human spectacle. Nevertheless, I am obliged to raise a number of delicate questions. I do not expect answers; I wish only to raise them for the record.
1. Is it right for the president of the United States to order the assassination of any one person in the world, whatever the pretext may be?
2. Is it ethical for the president of the United States to order the torture of other human beings?
3. Should state terrorism be used by a country as powerful as the United States as an instrument to bring about peace on the planet?
4. Is an Adjustment Act, applied as punishment on only one country, Cuba , in order to destabilize it, good and honorable, even when it costs innocent children and mothers their lives? If it is good, why is this right not automatically granted to Haitians, Dominicans, and other peoples of the Caribbean, and why isn’t the same Act applied to Mexicans and people from Central and South America, who die like flies against the Mexican border wall or in the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific?
5. Can the United States do without immigrants, who grow vegetables, fruits, almonds and other delicacies for U.S. citizens? Who would sweep their streets, work as servants in their homes or do the worst and lowest-paid jobs?
6. Are crackdowns on illegal residents fair, even as they affect children born in the United States ?
7. Are the brain-drain and the continuous theft of the best scientific and intellectual minds in poor countries moral and justifiable?
8. You state, as I pointed out at the beginning of this reflection, that your country had long ago warned European powers that it would not tolerate any intervention in the hemisphere, reiterating that this right be respected while demanding the right to intervene anywhere in the world with the aid of hundreds of military bases and naval, aerial and spatial forces distributed across the planet. I ask: is that the way in which the United States expresses its respect for freedom, democracy and human rights?
9. Is it fair to stage pre-emptive attacks on sixty or more dark corners of the world, as Bush calls them, whatever the pretext may be?
10. Is it honorable and sound to invest millions and millions of dollars in the military industrial complex, to produce weapons that can destroy life on earth several times over?
Before judging our country, you should know that Cuba, with its education, health, sports, culture and sciences programs, implemented not only in its own territory but also in other poor countries around the world, and the blood that has been shed in acts of solidarity towards other peoples, in spite of the economic and financial blockade and the aggression of your powerful country, is proof that much can be done with very little. Not even our closest ally, the Soviet Union , was able to achieve what we have.
The only form of cooperation the United States can offer other nations consist in the sending of military professionals to those countries. It cannot offer anything else, for it lacks a sufficient number of people willing to sacrifice themselves for others and offer substantial aid to a country in need (though Cuba has known and relied on the cooperation of excellent U.S. doctors). They are not to blame for this, for society does not inculcate such values in them on a massive scale.
We have never subordinated cooperation with other countries to ideological requirements. We offered the United States our help when hurricane Katrina lashed the city of New Orleans . Our internationalist medical brigade bears the glorious name of Henry Reeve, a young man, born in the United States , who fought and died for Cuba ’s sovereignty in our first war of independence.
Our revolution can mobilize tens of thousands of doctors and health technicians. It can mobilize an equally vast number of teachers and citizens, who are willing to travel to any corner of the world to fulfill any noble purpose, not to usurp people’s rights or take possession of raw materials.
The good will and determination of people constitute limitless resources that cannot be kept and would not fit in a bank’s vault. They cannot spring from the hypocritical politics of an empire.
Fidel Castro Ruz
May 25, 2008
10:35 p.m.
ORIGINAL SPANISH:
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/esp/f250508e.html
ORIGINAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/ing/f250508i.html
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