Here is a small selection of African political stories/African diaspora related news from this week of March:
1) This story deeply troubled me when I heard about it: Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader in Zimbabwe was badly beaten in police custody according to his lawyer. Why is this happening? Tsvangirai has been accused of treason more than once and I just have this feeling that they want to suppress his voice. Despite Mugabe’s octogenarian age, power is just too tasteful for his old bones. Anyone looking to crush them will be dealt with. Look what happened to the Zimbabwe cricketers; Henry Olonga is an exile in the United Kingdom now. It ISN’T fair – how can this man just get away with what he is doing? The country is ailing; chronic unemployment and inflation at 1,700% according to BBC. Mugabe supporters might claim that the media is distorting all his work. I don’t business. Opposition is a vital ingredient to the philosophy to democracy -you cannot say you are in a democracy if one man’s voice opposes you and you put him in physical danger.
2) UN report condemns Sudan over Darfur: Why is this taking so much time? 200, 000+ people have died as a cause of Darfur. Rape on a female which is just the ultimate vicious act of brutality against the female sex and the fact that it is happening here and powerful countries such as the UK, US, France etc will not invade in the hope of stopping this yet the US & UK fighting in Iraq gets more airtime. Why won’t stronger countries such as these use their power and help these young people? Africans know that they don’t matter to them. Is that why? Your nationality protects you and an African passport won’t allow that protection afforded by EU nationals. The African Union needs support on this.
3) Miss Scotland called Afro-Irish singer Samantha Mumba a ‘monkey’ on live radio in the UK: This story is particularly interesting because Miss Scotland Nicola McLean doesn’t see that as a racist comment. Well Nicola, you live in the United Kingdom, not a country that doesn’t have an ethnic community. The UK has plenty of famous black faces who are born and bred there and who share a fusion of African, West Indian and British cultures. How could you even think that you saying that wasn’t racist after the continued monkey, gorilla, and sambo pejoratives that black people in UK have had to endure? This comes fresh after the Celebrity Big Brother racism row in the UK where several high profile UK celebrities bullied Shilpa Shetty and made racial comments. Needless to say that their careers are as over as overdone eggs, they were annihilated in the UK press. This girl is lucky that she isn’t a celebrity in the UK after saying that: she would have been sworn at even going to a newsagent seeing that the majority of them are owned by strong Asian communities who literally are helping to keep the UK economy the strongest in the world.
What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear any comments about these newstories.
In some fun and festive diaspora news that I am so excited about: the cricket world cup has started in Jamaica! It kicked off and good luck to our black teams such as Kenya and the West Indies! At least some positive news is going on and I am thrilled that the West Indies are going to host it. The final is in Barbados on April 28th 2007 (beautiful island – check out my pictures if you can).
–A
the truth truth tellers are painted as the liars
the liars are painted as the truth tellers ..
Not one country is going to help the africans , even those feigning support.
Dominate Nations controll the Un. So the Un really has no real power , it’s an illusion .
mugabe’s reign , is being supported by other countries ..
I want to know more about coffee in africa , how the workers are treated ?
I do a lot of work with asia , and i can tell u the way the us paints the picture is not how it is .
Heber – I definitely agree with you about God shaming us. Darfur is all of our mistake – we are all responsible. I read on BBC today that Rwanda might be pulling out of there…
Afrofabulous – Good point! It is a province and that is no doubt a reason.The UN can’t even do anything because their protocol doesn’t allow them to intervene. What are we to do?
I agree, Heber, also I think the fact that it is a province, and not the entire country being ethnically cleansed that complicates – Rwanda took regieme change (for want of a better term) to end..I don’t see anything happening until Sundan runs out of oil and China decides not to waste it’s veto.. I’m disapointed that the UN Responsibility to Protect thing (protecting people from their governments) is so useless.
Zim: not to detract from Mugabe’s horrific, hopeless record as a leader, but taking with some historical distance, it’s looking like a severe case of African-dictator syndrome, and the media coverage is exactly as it is when the an African stops playing ball with the Foreign Office… Mugabe, Amin, I can understand but even Lumumba was cast as a crazed tyrant (with all of three month’s to prove it) as was Nkrumah (displacing British businesses didn’t help).President al-Bashir of Sudan, however, getes feted…
I appreciate your piece on Darfur. The sad reality about the international hesitancy regarding intervention, I fear, revolves around something that Archbishop Desmond Tutu suggested. He implied that it was because the victims were Africans. I also believe that there are other countries (China, Russia) that have strong business ties to the government in Khartoum and will attempt to protect them from international intervention. How does that Bible scripture go again? – the love of money is at the root of all evil? History will shame us and God will judge the human family for this one – no doubt.