Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

​There is no end to the bad things the U.S. did, but because I picked my nose yesterday doesn't mean I can't get mad at your doing still worse today -Kenneth Harrow.

Kenneth, if you picked your nose yesterday and today you are still picking your nose, it will be hypocritical of you to get mad at another nose picker because you consider the person's nose picking worse than yours. Until you have stopped your own nose picking, you have neither moral nor legal right to get mad at any person even if the degree of nose picking of the person in question is relatively worse than yours.

The purpose of reading history, either as a hobby or profession, is not to forget its lessons when it is time for its practical application. As Henry Kissinger put it, "One of the most dificult challenges a nation confronts is to interpret correctly the lessons of its past. For the lessons of history, as of all experience, are contigent : they teach the consequences of certain actions, but they leave to each generation the task of determining which situations are comparable (p.16, Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy)." Cuba is a Sovereign State that permitted the then Soviet Union to erect a missile base in her territory, in 1962. When the U.S., through satelite photographs detected the missiles base, she ordered a naval blockade of the Island nation, Cuba, which does not even share land border with the U.S. The crisis was resolved when the Soviet Union agreed to dismantle the missiles base which the U.S. considered a threat to her existence. Now in 2022, the U.S. and her NATO allies intend to recruit Ukraine that shares land border with Russia into NATO and thereafter install missiles base there.

Yet, after the dissolution of Soviet Union, the Communist WASAW millitary alliance which was a counterforce to the Capitalist NATO military alliance was dissolved and the end of the cold war was not only proclaimed but also the beginning of peaceful coexistence amongst all mankind. Naturally, NATO military alliance should also have been dissolved just like WASAW military alliance too. A military alliance must predetermine its enemies and who are the enemies of NATO members? However, NATO military alliance did not only continue to exist but expanded to include former Communist countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovania, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. It is an open fact that NATO missile base is in Poland, 107 kilometres to the Russian border. 

On December 16, the United Nations tabled a resolution that called for "combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary racism." The resolution was carried by 130 votes to 2. The two countries that voted against the resolution were the U.S., and Ukraine. In his address to the Russian people on why he was sending expeditionary forces into Ukraine, Valdamir Putin said, "I am referring to the expansion of the NATO to the East, moving its military infrastructure closer to the Russian borders. It is well-known that for 30 years we have persistently tried to reach agreement with leading NATO countries on the principles of equal and inviolable security in Europe. ......, despite all our protests and concerns, NATO continued steadily to expand. The war machine is moving and, I repeat, it is coming close to our borders. .... Despite of all this, in December 2021, we once again made an attempt to agree with the United States and its allies on the principles of ensuring security in Europe and on the non-expansion of NATO. Everything was in vain." (excerpts culled from Aljazeera translation posted by Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju on this forum) 

In order to know the contents of the agreement Russia tried to reach with the United States and her allies in December 2021, let us refer to the Green Left publication posted on this forum, 24 February 2022, by Cornelius Hamelberg. The requests of Russia are as follows : NATO guarantees that it will not deploy missiles in nations bordering Russia; NATO to stop military and naval exercises in nations and seas bordering Russia; Ukraine will not become a member of NATO; the West and Rusia to sign a binding East-West security pact; the landmark treaty between the U.S. and Russia covering itermediate-range nuclear weapons, which the US abandoned in 2019, to be restored. The U.S. and her NATO allies rejected the Russian requests on the ground that each sovereign state has the right to determine over her security and to enter into military alliance with any chosen country. This is where the lesson of history comes in. Cuba was a sovereign state that decided to allow Soviet Union to build missiles base in her territory, but the U.S. unilaterally ordered naval blockade of Cuba because U.S. considered the missiles in Cuba as a threat to the security of the U.S.A.  Why is the U.S. led NATO countries granting Ukraine the same right they denied Cuba in 1962? Up till now the U.S. is still illegally occupying Guantánamo in Cuba against the wish of its government and the people. If the right of each nation to determine over its security is sacrosant, why is there so much noise about North Korea and Iran acquiring nuclear weapon?

What Kenneth Harrow failed to recognise in this Ukraine war is that from our experience the freedom and democratic rights proclaimed by the leading  carnivores in the jungle have always ended in their prey on the vegetarian mammals on which carnivores feed. All appeals by the vegetarian mammals to the carnivores to stop killing and eating fellow animals have always been rebuffed as communism, socialism and autocracy by the carnivores. If the U.S. and her NATO military allies had agreed not to admit Ukraine as a member and not to place missiles in that country or if the leadership in Ukraine had signed an agreement with Russia never to become a member of NATO and never to allow NATO military alliance to place missiles in Ukraine, war would have been averted. If NATO military alliance does not consider Russia as an enemy why do they need to place nuclear missiles in a neighbouring country, directed at her?

S. Kadiri

---

From: 'Emeagwali, Gloria (History)' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: 25 February 2022 00:12
To: Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu>; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

 

"if i were to look for a parallel,

 it would be germany marching 

into czechoslovakia and poland, 

with the rhetoric of saving 

germans. the same fascist ruler who 

used "power past power," 

as saro-wiwa saw it."

This is a better approach. Give your 

examples. Don't speak for others. 

Most of us on this list are 

experienced researchers.

Let scholars collect a thousand 

insights from various perspectives

 on the subject.Those who feel it 

know it, too. We would like

to hear from commentators 

on South America and Southeast 

Asia, too.

It is arrogant and presumptuous to

assume that any reference to another

historical incident of invasion  has to

fit into your mode of thinking. It is

insensitive of you to dismiss the

pain of all regions, but your chosen 

areas of focus. To  conclude that 

reference to this or that historical

incident is automatically intended

to relativize,  is an unproven,

unfounded assumption.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

---

From: Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2022 4:52 PM
To: Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@ccsu.edu>; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

gloria, i shouldn't speak unless i welcome being criticized. a "paternalist" is a funny term to use for me, but if you know me well enough, you can use it. i think you need to talk to my grandkids first, however.

this issue of raising comparisons now interests me doubly. first, the invasion of ukraine by its powerful neighbor is an abomination. for me the parallels are more colonial and imperial. did other countries, or the u.s., not act this way in one or another point in history? of course. raising that point is a diversion from the question of ukraine, and it is being done today over and over on the web. i am sorry to see that. if i were to look for a parallel, it would be germany marching into czechoslovakia and poland, with the rhetoric of saving germans. the same fascist ruler who used "power past power," as saro-wiwa saw it.

let the ills of other countries be enumerated whenever you want, but not to "relativize" and thus diminish the critique of russia, which in the end diminishes the critique of colonial expansionism anywhere and anytime.

ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

harrow@msu.edu

---

From: Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@ccsu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2022 4:31 PM
To: Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu>; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

 

There you go again, Ken, trying 

to muzzle voices and suppress

historical information. Assensoh's

reference to Grenada was quite

in order,  and I thank him for that.

I also reflected on the Hawaiian 

Kingdom, having just come

across a few well documented 

discussions on the subject. 

In fact I am embarrassed to

realize how long this case was

unknown by me, and just

learnt a few new facts about

the human rights violation

of its last queen. You are

a  real  authentic  non- partisan

 specialist and advocate of 

human rights, aren't you?

We can even add Libya, Iraq and

dozens more, to Grenada 

and Hawaii- each relevant to

some aspect of super power

 conflict and conflict resolution.

I am actually wrapping my head

around the interconnections

with Serbia, 1914, as well.

I teach  World History in addition 

to African History, so my

thinking is multidimensional

over time and space, and 

comparative, in methodology.

As a historian I take pride in 

creating awareness and 

criticizing all sides, at my own 

pace. Grenada was wrong and so

too Hawaii and  Ukraine,

Iraq, Libya etc.They each have

unique circumstances, and 

can be categorized according

to a long list of variables.

What's the purpose of airing them?

For the same reason that we study

history and politics, Ken - to 

promote knowledge production

and knowledge sharing,

understanding and historical 

awareness, in a local, regional 

and global context.

I suppose that as a diehard 

paternalist, you have the urge 

to speak on behalf of your

mentees, juniors and subordinates.

I am not one of them, and

never will be.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

---

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2022 12:09 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

these are weak or false equivalencies. what's the purpose of airing them? there is no end to the bad things the u.s. did, but because i picked my nose yesterday doesn't mean i can't get mad at your doing still worse today.

what is the logic of this for a progressive? we need to feel free, as intellectuals, to criticize the bad things we see, to lend our voices to cry out against them. if my country's past, or even present, were bad, if it acted in the wrong, what does that have to do with us crying out? failing to do so legitimizes historical evils, over and over, anywhere

ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

harrow@msu.edu

---

From: 'Emeagwali, Gloria (History)' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2022 8:58 AM
To: Victor Okafor <vokafor@emich.edu>; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>; Serges Alain Djoyou Kamga <sergesalaindk@gmail.com>; Damien Ejigiri <dejigiri@yahoo.com>; Onyumbe Lukongo <onyumbe_lukongo@subr.edu>; kesedo@yahoo.com <kesedo@yahoo.com>; afaugustine@yahoo.com <afaugustine@yahoo.com>; Ucheoma Nwagbara <unwagbara@yahoo.com>; Teaway Collins <teaway2001@yahoo.com>; doyinck@gmail.com <doyinck@gmail.com>; noahkankam@gmail.com <noahkankam@gmail.com>; Thomas Ford <tmfordme@yahoo.com>; Godwin Ohiwerei <drohiwerei@gmail.com>; rigodan@yahoo.com <rigodan@yahoo.com>; Afoaku, Osita <osafoaku@indiana.edu>; Nana AB <abenad43@gmail.com>; dsmith@dillard.edu <dsmith@dillard.edu>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

 

Grenada is a great reference.I 

remember, too, what the US did 

to the Kingdom of Hawaii,  start 

of the 20th century.

https://www.ksbe.edu/article/

the-truth-behind-the-illegal-overthrow-

of-the-hawaiian-kingdom/

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

---

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Victor Okafor <vokafor@emich.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 4:50 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>; Serges Alain Djoyou Kamga <sergesalaindk@gmail.com>; Damien Ejigiri <dejigiri@yahoo.com>; Onyumbe Lukongo <onyumbe_lukongo@subr.edu>; kesedo@yahoo.com <kesedo@yahoo.com>; afaugustine@yahoo.com <afaugustine@yahoo.com>; Ucheoma Nwagbara <unwagbara@yahoo.com>; Teaway Collins <teaway2001@yahoo.com>; doyinck@gmail.com <doyinck@gmail.com>; noahkankam@gmail.com <noahkankam@gmail.com>; Thomas Ford <tmfordme@yahoo.com>; Godwin Ohiwerei <drohiwerei@gmail.com>; rigodan@yahoo.com <rigodan@yahoo.com>; Afoaku, Osita <osafoaku@indiana.edu>; Nana AB <abenad43@gmail.com>; dsmith@dillard.edu <dsmith@dillard.edu>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

Brother Assensoh:

What specifically ignited my response was TF's clarion call: "Develop your theories—don't let others impose their theories upon you."

On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 2:59 PM Assensoh, Akwasi B. <aassenso@indiana.edu> wrote:

Brother Victor:

You are correct that when the Igbo abuse the Yoruba, and vice versa, it is all in the family. Therefore, the scenario falls under "Afrocentric articulation"!

SIR Toyin wrote that his coffee almost fell when "one person said the US intervention was for good." Well, my cup of tea fell when I opened a parcel yesterday, which contained another tome,  Decolonizing African Studies: Knowledge Production, Agency, And Voice by Toyin Falola: published by Rochester University Press, at i-xii; 6678 pages! I remembered his recent Cambridge University tome on Nigeria, which had a cover showing a poor Nigerian (a  "Hausa man"?) carrying the heavy map of Nigeria on his shoulder, all by himself!!

Well, what is happening to Ukraine, like a soccer ball being kicked from left and right, is sad! I remember what Mr. Ronald Reagan's armed forces did in 1983 to Grenada; and what happened to the lawful Prime Minister Maurice Bishop (1944-1983)? Is that a replay in Ukraine? When i think of it, my cup of tea will fall again, again, and  again!!! 

A.B. Assensoh.  

 ------

Rev.  A.B. Assensoh, LL.M., PH.D.,

Co-Book Review Editor, African & Asian Studies Journal,
Professor Emeritus (Indiana University), 
Courtesy Professor Emeritus (University of Oregon), 
Department of History, 
McKenzie Hall (2nd Floor), University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR 97403,   U.S.A.

Telephone: (541) 953-7710
Fax: (541) 346-6576

---

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Victor Okafor <vokafor@emich.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 7:02 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Serges Alain Djoyou Kamga <sergesalaindk@gmail.com>
Subject: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - African scholars!

 

This message was sent from a non-IU address. Please exercise caution when clicking links or opening attachments from external sources.

TF:

That's an Afrocentric articulation. Nice job!

On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 8:18 AM Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

The most disturbing to me in the Ukraine matter is not the US media and their scholars who are embedded in the empire project. They are all in one room, one brain, CNN, the professors, and the White House.

The most disturbing to me are African commentators on Ukraine.

 

So your continent was conquered, but they don't understand how imperialism works.

 

You are ethnically divided, but you only understand Biafra and don't see Biafra in other places. You clap for Biya when he destroys Western Cameroon, and praises the West when he undermines the projects of minorities.

 

You suffered from the Cold War but you don't understand it when it unfolds in other places. You don't see Ukraine as a proxy project.

 

You were pawns by superpowers but you don't understand it when you see it in others.

 

You complain about ethnicity but you don't apply it to other places.

 

You insult Lagos, but you don't see dirty Peckham in London and slums in North of Paris

 

When Israel acts, you see them as the "Chosen People" but when Ethiopia acts, they are devils.

 

You see secessionist movements in your continent but you cannot relate it to other places.

 

You understand the Fulani herdsmen, but you cannot convert it to a global theory.

 

The French occupied your continent, but today you can clap for Macron in Ukraine over Putin. You don't see that Putin and Macron are the same!

 

Illicit flow of wealth from Africa is now $85 billion a year, but you cannot relate it to your conditions and destructions.

 

US and Belgium destroyed Lumumba and Congo, but you cannot apply this to other issues.

 

They abused Muslims as the greatest terrorists in the world but you don't see Europeans as terrorists, etc.

 

One person told me yesterday that US intervention is for good. My cup of coffee almost fell. US does not allow regional solutions to crises, including in the current one. You cannot go to El-Paso on the Mexican border and locate your missiles there directed at the US. Nuclear submarine near China you see it as the protection of global capitalism.

 

They are asking you not to teach critical theory but every day in private, the Igbo abuse the Yoruba, the Yoruba abuse the Igbo, and they all abuse the Fulani. You see racism in the US, but you don't see it in Morocco.

 

Develop your theories—don't let others impose their theories upon you.

TF

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Sincerely,

Victor O. Okafor, Ph.D.

Professor and Head

Department of Africology and African American Studies

Eastern Michigan University

Email: vokafor@emich.edu

https://www.emich.edu/aaas/

https://www.facebook.com/DAAASEMU/

Tel: 734.487.9594 

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Sincerely,

Victor O. Okafor, Ph.D.

Professor and Head

Department of Africology and African American Studies

Eastern Michigan University

Email: vokafor@emich.edu

https://www.emich.edu/aaas/

https://www.facebook.com/DAAASEMU/

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