“Who is next after Mubarak?” by Nkwazi Mhango

Looking at the way a new dawn is unfolding in Maghreb, one can comfortable assert that this is but the beginning of a new dawn for Africa and the Middle East.

It kicked off from Tunisia where a 23 years dictator was impelled to flee. This guy, Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali was a master of manipulation and intimidation. Tunisia was the most docile country in Maghreb. When some riots erupted, Ben Ali used to dispatch his army to quash them. Not once or twice, he succeeded. This made him goof believing he would rule ’til God called him.

Who could risk thinking that a jobless man would become a weapon and figure by which Ben Ali was brought to ground over night? Thanks to a fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, Ben Ali is a fugitive now. How many Bouazizis does African have currently? Many many more of course.

After a successful show of people’s power in Tunisia, Egyptian tyrant Hosni Mubarak became another casualty whose days are but numbered. Anything, anytime can happen in Egypt, where demonstrators have defied all odds to see to it that this tyrant is dragooned for once and for all.

Practically, Mubarak just like other pro-American stooges, was but a face of the US in the Middle East. But as the days go by, the US is no longer interested in her what-used-to-be- good boy Mubarak. This can be seen in the tone and manner in which the US Secretary of State replied, when she was asked to comment on the on-going situation.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quoted as thus: “We want to see an orderly transition so that no one fills a void, that there not be a void, that there be a well thought out plan that will bring about a democratic participatory government.”

Clinton’s words say it all. The US wants to see Mubarak out as orderly transition comes in and do business with. When demonstrators took to the streets in Tunis, US voice was openly for demonstrators as opposed to Ben Ali’s regime.

This can be taken as a stalk warning for all tyrants that have been in power for decades, that the US is changing her tacks. So should you want to retire honorably, think of relinquishing power you have held dear and hit the road as other competents take over. What you failed to realize in decades you have been in power, you can nary realized even if you are given a hundred years more to rule.

More on Mubarak. The issue is not if he is going to crumble but when. Next door another long time tyrant is gasping for air. This is none other than Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh. This illiterate ruler has been in power for over three decades just like Mubarak.

Just as it was in Tunisia and currently in Egypt, the core of all this is nothing but unemployment, corruption and impunity, nepotism, brutality, lack of vision, long stay in power, manipulation and poverty to mention but a few.

If one looks at how affluent Tunisia and Egypt are compared to South Saharan States, one wonders how our rulers are going to remain in power without tackling the aforementioned anomalies. This being the truth, methinks. Our currently rulers in the region should take a note and change things, before being changed like it is going on in Egypt.

I can bet Sudanese strongman Omar Bashir will be the curtain raiser for SSA. My shew stone tells me that after he lost South Sudan, life is likely to be tough so as to awaken the North Sudanese. Bashir was able to cling unto power thanks for petrodollars he used to get from China and other buyers, who do not bother with human rights. Now that oil-rich South Sudan is gone, where will Bashir get the money to cool down the people? I am told that since referendum, subsidies on oil and sugar is no more. This caused anger to students who took to the streets, but were quashed by the police. Is this the beginning of the end? Time will tell. Though things are still normal on the streets of Khartoum, the heat has already been felt and it is just the matter of time before Sudanese pent-up anger  erupts.

When it comes to East Africa, I understand that the region has a high population of youths. So too, it has high unemployment rates. Given that current young people can nary be easily cowered, it is just the matter of time for them to take to the street demanding for their God-given right, namely a better life.

And nobody should goof to think that this so-called Jasmine Revolution is for Arabs only. The way our youths look at life is almost the same the world over. Who doubts this should remember that it is the youths who brought change in America by voting for an African for the first time. To them taboos, “colourbarism” or loyalties are but nonsense. Theirs is good life. Good enough for them and bad enough for our rulers is the fact that most of them are educated. They know how many resources their countries have. So it is not easy for anybody to cheat them.

Who is next is the matter of how Mubarak will be dragooned out.

Nkwazi Mhango is a Tanzanian living in Canada. He writes regularly for “The African Executive” and also has a blog entitled “Free Thinking Unabii”. He is a regular contributor to AfroSpear.

“DC a Sign of Our Nation’s Times” by Lisa Fritsch

Op-ed submission by Project 21 

Our nation’s capital exemplifies what America can become, but not in a good way.

Results from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey finds abysmally high percentages of single-parent households in underprivileged neighborhoods.

As the District of Columbia is a special federal enclave under congressional control, it presents a perfect opportunity for the newly-elected conservative majority in the U.S. House of Representatives to provide leadership.

According to the government data, 74 percent of households east of the Anacostia River — among the poorest in Washington — have only one parent. Only nine percent of those are headed by men. In similar neighborhoods in the rest of southeast and in northeast D.C., single-parent households are in the majority.

Some might read this, shrug their shoulders and skip to the next headline. Besides, it’s largely seen as a Hispanic and African-American problem. But these children, in danger of repeating the cycle of illegitimacy, affect everyone’s quality of life.

Out-of-wedlock childbirths in the black community may approach 72 percent, but it’s not just a black problem. According to a 2009 report from the Centers for Disease Control, the birth rate for unwed mothers rose 80 percent overall since 1980. The rate among white unwed mothers rose 14 percent between 2002 and 2006, while only nine percent among blacks. Hispanics topped the charts at 106 unwed births per 1,000 unwed women in 2006. Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution notes the traditional family values commonly attributed to Hispanics deteriorate among American-born generations.

Is America headed to a place where the two-parent family is an abnormality? Will the “family” itself become a relic like westerns and black-and-white television?

There’s already a dubious definition of what it means to be a mother, father, grandmother or grandfather that considers many as only “caretakers” and “guardians”. A mother, however, is not just a noun. Fatherhood has carried with it reverence and esteem. But fatherhood is now fading into oblivion along with the household role of the male.

Frighteningly, and with frivolous abandon, the term “baby daddy” and “baby momma” are no longer a childish vernacular reserved for the likes of “Saturday Night Live.” They are becoming a colloquial description of a child’s inception and ancestry.

Single-parent households can also cause gender and role confusion. Already, distinguishing the differences and uniqueness of being a man and being a woman is fading. Diluted gender qualities have manifested into an apathetic culture concerning the need for family.

When men feel less need to be a patriarch and women are more ambivalent about marriage and commitment, children grow up with a corrupted identity of themselves.

Worse than growing up in poverty, hard times or struggle is to awaken to an unknown self in which one is uncertain of his or her responsibilities and removed from the notion of family. Many children born into single-parent communities are already at this point.

The new chairman of the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and District of Columbia inherits enormous crisis and potential. The profound power Congress wields over D.C. affairs provides an opportunity to address the disintegrating American family through the introduction of programs that promote active roles for fathers and assistance programs that nurture togetherness rather than reward dissolution and disparity.

Let D.C. transform from the epitome of the problem to the example of how to fix the American family.

To take a line from the political left, children are a choice. They are not a requirement of a relationship. The choice to have a child carries important implications not just for the child but for the parents and society at-large.

Each time a child is born, it is an opportunity to shape morality, values and tell a story about who we love and who we are. In giving life, we are extending ourselves into future existence and leaving behind an example of the meaning and the beauty of life.

Building a family is a gift from two people towards life and humanity. In deciding that only half or less of that equation is needed to shape one, we are unequivocally phasing out the true meaning of love and life, man and woman.

Lisa Fritsch is a member of the national advisory council for the Project 21 black leadership network and a writer and radio talk show host in Austin, Texas.

Samuel Yette and The Choice: Black Survival in the United States

From Black Agenda Report (BAR):

Samuel Yette and The Choice: Black Survival in the United States.

“Samuel Yette died last week and the choice he wrote of, a choice long ago reached by this country, is a choice we’ve still not caught up to. It is a choice of this nation to more or less discard an increasingly unnecessary Black population and a choice poised to that Black population as to how to respond. Our range of acceptable responses seems to have dwindled since Yette wrote the book and much of the bases upon which he developed his concerns seem to have only worsened. Having suffered heavy losses in the fight against the national will to discard its Black population, we have accepted the choices often imposed on the defeated, the colonized.”

Samuel Yette wrote, “The Choice: The Issue of Black Survival in America.”

RIP

 

Jazzuloo: inner rhythms of the jazz melodies in my mind

It’s time to return to blogging from a more personal perspective on a consistent basis, so I have a new blog home: Jazzuloo. It won’t be AfroSpear-lite, so there will be little cross-posting.

Click on the image below and come visit from time to time.

“Things fall apart in Tanzania” by Nkwazi Mhango

What transpired in Tanzania on 5th January tells it all. The “Peace-and-tranquillity” mantra that rulers have always sold is no more. It was reported that three people were killed by police when they were quashing a peaceful demonstration orchestrated by Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) in the northern city of Arusha. Many other people were injured and some property set ablaze in this chaos. Unconfirmed reports have it that one policeman was killed and other three seriously injured.

CHADEMA wanted to demonstrate to force the government of Tanzania to stop paying Tshs 185,000,000,000 to an all-dubious company known as Dowans that is linked to the bigwigs in the regime. Apart from pressurizing the government it sees as nasty and corrupt, CHADEMA too wanted the authorities to divulge the owners of the said company.

The government in Dar es Salaam was not happy with this. Things took a deep plunge into anarchy after CHADEMA secretary General, who too was a presidential candidate, openly alleged that president Jakaya Kikwete and his cabal were behind this scam. This peppered the situation. Prior to staging peaceful demonstration, authorities had given green light to it. But after this formal statement implicating the head of state was out, abruptly, the IGP cancelled the demonstration citing that it would breach peace.

The bone of all these killings and subjugation is stinking corruption surrounding Dowans, the company that sued the Tanzania National Electrical Supply Company (TANESCO) to the International arbitration court, that ordered the government to pay this huge amount thanks to breaching the contract. This company is said to have been formed by influential politicians to act as the conduit by which to siphon money from the public coffers. And mind you, this is not the first mega scandal in the country.

In 2005 shortly before the elections, over Tsh 155,000,000,000 was stolen from the Central Bank under the External Payment Arrears (EPA) account. Thanks to the opposition’s eagle eye, it unearthed the scandal and came out with findings that stunned the nation. The opposition still maintain that the loot was used to finance Kikwete’s campaigns. Neither Kikwete, his government nor his party has ever gainsaid these damning allegations. This for general public was taken as sign of admission of the alleged crime.

Going back to Dowans, this company landed a deal of providing emergency power after another bogus company known as Richmond was booted out. This company brought a lot of problems to the government. For it was unveiled that it was bogus and on top of this, it was favoured by top officials including Kikwete. When CHADEMA brought this scandal to light, the parliament formed a select committee that vindicated the opposition. In its findings, the select committee, thanks to be formed by the parliament controlled by ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi, came out with its verdict. If it were not for technical know who and other manipulation, its was to show the whole government the door. To avoid this, former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa, who also is an ally to Kikwete was sacrificed to save the government of his friend.

Many Tanzanians goofed. They wrongly thought that this would be a lesson to Kikwete and his consgliore. But nay. He needed more money. This, they say, forced him to bring Dowans to take over from such proved-to-be-an-illegal-and-bogus company. Thus, Dowans is Richmond, if not a prolongation of this conspiracy.

The rumour mill in Dar has it that the said amount that the government easily agreed to pay to Dowans goes to top government officials or reimburses those that rendered financial supports to Kikwete during his comeback heated campaigns. Among much trumpeted to be behind all this apart from Kikwete are Rostam Aziz, Edward Lowassa, Peter Noni and Andrew Chenge (former AG). This is the same gang of politicos that is alleged to be behind all mega billions scandal in the country.

Tanzanians used to be cowered whenever they raised their tails. Peace and tranquillity were two wands CCM has always used to fool them. Now that they recently took to the street so as to send the message, what will rulers do?

To add salt to injuries, the same CHADEMA is agitating for the “true new constitution”, even after Kikwete promised the same. They are saying clearly that they don’t want a president or hoity toity made constitution but hoi polloi made one. This is the crossroad Tanzania is currently at as it hangs off the cliff. Will it triumph or go down just like others who tries corruption as means of ruling?

Time will tell.

Nkwazi Mhango is a Tanzanian living in Canada. He writes regularly for “The African Executive” and also has a blog entitled “Free Thinking Unabii”. He is a regular contributor to AfroSpear.

Drapetomania…Catch it if you Can!

“Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race,” by Dr. Cartwright

DRAPETOMANIA, OR THE DISEASE CAUSING NEGROES TO RUN AWAY.
It is unknown to our medical authorities, although its diagnostic symptom, the absconding from service, is well known to our planters and overseers…
In noticing a disease not heretofore classed among the long list of maladies that man is subject to, it was necessary to have a new term to express it. The cause in the most of cases, that induces the negro to run away from service, is as much a disease of the mind as any other species of mental alienation, and much more curable, as a general rule. With the advantages of proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many negroes have of running away, can be almost entirely prevented, although the slaves be located on the borders of a free state, within a stone’s throw of the abolitionists…

…If the white man attempts to oppose the Deity’s will, by trying to make the negro anything else than “the submissive knee-bender,” (which the Almighty declared he should be,) by trying to raise him to a level with himself, or by putting himself on an equality with the negro; or if he abuses the power which God has given him over his fellow-man, by being cruel to him, or punishing him in anger, or by neglecting to protect him from the wanton abuses of his fellow-servants and all others, or by denying him the usual comforts and necessaries of life, the negro will run away; but if he keeps him in the position that we learn from the Scriptures he was intended to occupy, that is, the position of submission; and if his master or overseer be kind and gracious in his hearing towards him, without condescension, and at the sane time ministers to his physical wants, and protects him from abuses, the negro is spell-bound, and cannot run away…“

“The negro is spell-bound, and cannot run away.”

This disease is REAL!

Independent Woman? Really?

I was at brother Spencer’s blog, The Warrior Poet, reading his Spencerism’s dated January 19, 2011.  He’s a Christian man who blogs about his opinion on a number of interesting subjects.  His post on Women and Independence was quite interesting to me and I wanted to share what he had to say about it.

His take on Women and our claims of being “Independent”.  What Do You Think?

http://kelspencer.com/2011/01/19/spencerism-independent-women-what/

Hair

Via Bits and Pieces of my World: