Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obama Picks Kerry As Secretary Of State

Cornelius,

 

You are absolutely right, Obama is not president of the world, America behaves as if they rule the world and there is a practical sense in which there is some truth to that. We tend to also look at engagement with Africa from a deficit perspective, of the rest of the world feeding a needy Africa. The unintended effect is to foster disrespectful relationships. I still cringe when I watch the video clip of Obama's visit to Ghana's legislature, he seemed like this avuncular football coach talking down to his wards. It doesn't have to be that way, Ghana has certainly earned the right to be taken seriously by the world's superpowers.

 

You are absolutely right, we tend to react, chill, react, mumble under our collective breath. Here in this grotto, some of Africa's best and brightest are huddled, twiddling thumbs, this place is a tombo bar sans the palmwine. It would have been nice if you or anyone else similarly exercised had drafted a professional, thoughtful letter to POTUS Obama on ideas for America's engagement with Black Africa. Imagine such a letter signed by as many of us as possible and sent to the White House, tweeted, Facebooked, etc. Even when those letters are drafted very little comes of it when it does not dissolve into bickering and fighting. When "Pastor" Oyedepo slapped a young girl in a church in front of the whole world, I started a petition because I sensed an outrage. Your guess is as good as mine what happened to that petition. The vision was that we would force him to be accountable, hit him where his pocket book is by urging that Western nations deprive him of access to their countries (and his congregation abroad) until he has addressed his malfeasance. There were actually PhDs who were applauding this monster. Even when you engage in activism, you are never sure of the outcome. In retrospect I now regret every day I was with the prodemocracy movement of my country. I am happy for the great friends I made, but I think the whole thing is a sad mistake. It is what it is. 

 

You are absolutely right, Africa has to start thinking for itself, doing for itself and not expecting handouts. The world has to help Africa though, through structurally meaningful engagements that legislate behavior, not relationships.

 

You are absolutely right. I salute you.

 

- Ikhide

 

Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/

Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide

Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide

From: Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com>
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obama Picks Kerry As Secretary Of State

Simple Simon bases all assumptions and expectations on the premise
that Brother Obama is president of the US, he is not president of
Africa, Afrika , the proposed "United States of Africa" or any part of
Africa. And we , especially  those who "fought tooth and nail to
ensure Obama's re-election"  are aware that he cares not only about
those who Mr. Romney identified as 47% of the US population and the
rest, the 53% too.

In addition to that 47% and 53% it looks like certain of the
"Afrikanists" would like Brother Obama or preferably his Oyibo Brother
Romney to extend the US largesse, spread the wealth  and shower all
the blessings that the US is capable of showering on not only Libya
but on all of Africa, and in addition to that, to put out all the
fires in Africa. some, before they even get started.

These are some of their great expectations.

You don't see other people and other nations such as China or India or
Malaysia, expecting the US to go and do everything for them...

When is Africa going to begin to think about being self-reliant

or is the US president
elected to take care of the dark continent ?

Some have been complaining for long about Africom which was started
under the Republican regime as an impediment to China's more rapid
expansion or future take-over of the continent – yet at this very
moment once again  the toothless chimpanzee will turn to the US  or to
great Britain (once called a toothless bulldog) for help with
Gaddafi's brothers taking over two thirds of Mali, because even that
they can't do themselves, since the whole  AU it seems is lacking in
both a concerted concerted  political will and  the capability of
putting together a rapid deployment military force of just 40, 000
men  - and when push comes to shove, it's the US that they would like
to do it and everything for them.

Significantly it's " So Blair you keep your England and I'll keep my
Zimbabwe" who is calling the AU a "toothless bulldog" nowadays

https://www.google.se/search?q=toothless+bulldog&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Don't be shy, Simple Simon looks forward to a continuation of this
discussion by the besserwissers, especially if such discussions are
going to lead to ameliorating the current sorry situation

On behalf of Simple Simon

Sincerely,

http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/






On Dec 16, 5:56 pm, ok <olakassi...@aol.com> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xokigbo <xoki...@yahoo.com>
> To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
>
> Cc: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Sent: Sun, Dec 16, 2012 10:20 am
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obama Picks Kerry As Secretary Of State
>
> Make no mistake about it; John Kerry will continue the incoherent militaristic
> policies of President Barack Hussein Obama. And as in the past, Africa will be
> an afterthought. Many of us fought tooth and nail to ensure Obama's re-election
> but we are no fools. Underneath all that whiz bank techno wizardry, a fat mound
> of orthodoxy sits - and hurts brown nations. Obama has been spectacularly
> successful because in substance, he has not deviated one iota from orthodoxy.
>
>  - Ikhide
>
> On Dec 16, 2012, at 12:20 AM, "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagw...@mail.ccsu.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > That article by Howard French said it all,  was hard to beat and went viral.
> > She had no choice but to throw in the towel.
> > Thanks, Howard.
>
> > Now let us see if Kerry would continue  with
> > the neo- Bush foreign policy of  naked militarization without a human face
> > and the Museveni -Kagame power games.
>
> > Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> >www.africahistory.net<http://www.africahistory.net/>
> >www.vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://www.vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
> > Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
>
> > ________________________________
> > From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
> On Behalf Of Abdul Karim Bangura [th...@earthlink.net]
> > Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2012 7:43 PM
> > To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> > Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obama Picks Kerry As Secretary Of State
>
> > SOURCE: Obama has picked John Kerry as Secretary of State
>
> > Saturday, December 15, 2012
>
> > [http://cdn.patriotupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/obama-kerry-1...]
>
> > President Barack Obama has chosen Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to be the
> next secretary of state, a source has told Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed.
>
> > His replacement as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be Sen.
> Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the Sneed source said.
>
> > This comes on the heels of Thursday's announcement that U.N. Ambassador Susan
> Rice had removed herself from the list of candidates to take over from Hillary
> Clinton.
>
> > Read more:http://patriotupdate.com/2012/12/source-obama-has-picked-john-kerry-a...
>
> > --
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