Murder in Kinshasa

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What is Immoral?

MLK: Made in China

A few years ago when I learned about the Martin Luther King Jr. monument that was to be constructed in our nation’s capital, I got excited.

When I learned that the artist assigned to produce the sculpture of perhaps the most notable Negro in American history was a Negro himself, I got even more excited.

Not too long after hearing this news, I learned that the project leaders decided to go with another designer for the MLK monument. Not really a big deal because things often change on large initiatives, right?

The project leaders flipped the script and decided to bring on Chinese stoneworker, Lei Yixin. Making the changes even more controversial was decision to use Chinese granite for the memorial.

– Why not an American sculptor?
– Why not with American materials?
– Just why?

Yes, I was one of those people opposed to the statue after those changes. I wasn’t angry but I was very turned off.

Fast-forward to this summer when the MLK monument opened… I decided that I would not visit.

Fast-forward to this past weekend when I actually visited the monument… I broke down in a moment of DC tourist weakness.

The monument is HUGE. On grand scale. Attractive. And obviously missing the “Made in China” markings.

Even after being impressed by the size & style, I’m like meh… Then you add the fact that the monument is directly across from the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson was not only a slave owner but a rapist of his female slaves. OK, let me calm down. I’m starting to get a racial tension headache up in here.

I wonder what MLK would think of his monument being constructed by people living under a communist regime that oppresses, jails and tortures citizens while restricting internet access… Wait, some of that happens in the US also.

Your thoughts?
Am I tripping?

BTW, the photo above was taken with my iPhone 4, which was “assembled in China.” I’m just saying.

“Why don’t Dictators learn?” by Nkwazi Mhango‏

It did not require osteric or astrological mighty to tell that Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddaffi, would shamefully and rapidly fall from gracce. It’s just the matter of reading signs of time when imperialistic NATO offered to take on Gadaffi. For those who either were there or remember the brutal death of Samuel Kanyon Doe, former Liberian tyrant on 9 September 1990, will agree with us that dictators are insane and myopic people. To know what I mean, who would expect a masculine guy like Gaddafi to wear a wig? Maybe, these creatures live in their own imaginative interstellar, even lagoon nebulae world, but not in this practical world we know. That’s why they see things in a deceptional and different ways. When Doe was brutally mutilated, tortured and ultimately killed before the cameras, many thought this would be a lesson to other dictators. But it did not become.

For reminder, Doe brutally killed former Liberian long time benevolent dictator, William Tolbert and his thirteen member of cabinet were publicly executed a few days after the coup. He dumped their bodies in quarries. Soon after grabbing power, Doe brutally killed Thomas Quiwonkpa, the then Commanding General of the Armed Force of Liberia, who was mutilated by Krahn soldiers under orders from Doe himself. Thenceforth, Doe became a butcherer of Liberians till the day he was made to pay dearly.

The sad story of Doe was revived by the recent capturing and later summarily execution of another longtime Libyan tyrant Gaddafi, on 20th October 2011 after committing countless atrocities. What is important is the similarity and lessons of the two killings of dictators. They’re all brutal that ended shamefully and brutally, and were felled by the people they used to rule ruthlessly. Once again, the office of president was degraded by a mere common man. He who lives by sword dies of sword.

The irony though is a tyrant like Gadaffi liked to be referred to as a beloved brotherly leader of Libya. Just like any other dictator, in dream and deception, Gadaffi was a beloved and brotherly leader. In reality though, it was opposite as his killing shows. This is the lunatic and megalomaniac who shamelessly told the world that Libyans loved him and were ready to die for him, little knowing they were ready to butcher him as it happened. This is after the nudity of his macabre rule was exposed.

Gaddafi went a mile ahead calling protesters drugged rats and roaches he were to massively kill without knowing his day were numbered. Though dicators deceive themselves that they are powerful compared to a common man and woman in the
street, the truth is vice versa surely, especially when the pent-up anger and vengeance of hoi polloi swell and explode. Who thought that a tyrant of Gadaffi caliber would be butchered by a group of young people the age of his children and grand children? What sane person can think about doing this to icons like Nelson Mandela or Sam Nujoma?

What transpired recently in Sirte, the birthplace for Gaddafi, speaks volumes when it comes to flushing dictators out. In a nutshell, Gaddafi was beaten to death like a chicken thief when he was captured and later felled. But how many have taken a note of it? How many dictators are still out there hallucinating that what befell Gaddafi cannot occur to them? So many, of course one may say.

Africa is currently full of dictators waiting to be toppled. Where are they? Logically, any country that has a ruler who has been in power for more than ten years it must understand it is under dictatorship. This is a simple criterion.

Robert Guei, former Ivorien dictator also died in a very mysterious way. He died along with his wife and other member of family in September 19, 2002. Guei’s punishment, apart from dying in mysterious circumstances, was his body to remain in the morgue for years. For, he was buried in August 18, 2006 almost four years after his death. What a curse!

What makes dictators think that they cannot be toppled and end up being killed brutally, as in the cases of Doe and Gadaffi, is another face of the ending of other former dictators who escaped the wrath of hoi polloi. This group includes Mobutu Seseseko of former Zaire currently DRC, Idd Amin (Uganda), Zine Abdel Din of Tunisia and Charles Taylor who is in custody in The Hague waiting to be tried for atrocities he committed against his people.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa, former Central African Republic self made king, died in the custody after being toppled. Like Gadaffi, Bokassa died a shameful death, although it did not result from being brutally killed. He died a pauper after squandering all the monies he had stashed abroad during the stint he spent in France before handing himself over after bankruptcy struck him badly.

Mohamad Siad Barre, former Somali strongman also died in exile in January 2, 1995 after being overthrown. His legacy is the failed state of Somalia.

Apart from sitting dictators, other bloodsuckers who faced the same fate of shameful death are Foday Saybana Sankoh the butherer of Siera Leone. Under his ragtag organization, Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Sankor killed over 50,000 as over 500,000 were displaced, not to mention thousands who were maimed, amputated and disfigured. After committing sacrilegious brutality to his nation, he died of stroke in July 29, 2003 in custody waiting for trial.

The open secret and a lesson from the crumbling of dictators aforementioned are that they live in an artificial and invisible warp that is not seen till they are brought down in whatever manner, be it noble or ignoble. When a moth self-commits to death by fire, there is another one preparing itself to suffer the same fate.Who will follow between Bashar and Bashir? May he be Saleh in Yemen or Bouteflika? Time will surely tell.

How many are bracing to become tomorrow’s dictators as they sire others? This is the world full of wonders.

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.

Public meeting on black deaths in police custody in the UK

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Black Mental Health Organization, London School of Economic Student Union

A public meeting on the issue of black deaths in custody will be held at the London School of Economics Students Union (LSE SU), from 6.30-9.00pm on Wednesday 26 October 2011.

Organised by Black Mental Health UK in association with the LSE SU, this event comes in the wake of a spate of incidents where young black men have lost their lives at the hands of the police.

This public meeting, which is free to attend but requires delegates to register online, marks the first steps to establish what action the community can take to ensure that this issue becomes a matter of priority for the present Government.

Government figures show that a disproportionate number of deaths following contact with the police are of black people.[1] Almost half the deaths of people in police custody are mental health service users,[2] and deaths of those detained under the Mental Health Act account for 62% of all deaths in state custody.[3]

The shooting of Mark Duggan by police marks men in August, triggered the most serious scenes of civil unrest that have been across the country in a generation. Within weeks of Duggan’s death three other men also lost their lives in police custody in situations which could have been avoided.

With the deaths of Reggae icon Smiley Culture, Kingsley Burrell-Brown and Demetre Fraser are still at the forefront of the community’s consciousness, and the issue of deaths in custody is now increasingly being viewed as an issue of national concern.

Matilda MacAttram, director of Black Mental Health UK said: ‘All the data shows that black men and people who use mental health services are the most likely to lose their lives while in custody. The recent spate of tragedies we have seen makes it clear that this problem will not go away by itself. This public meeting aims to put this issue back on the political agenda in order to ensure that other vulnerable people do not continue to lose their lives in circumstances, which could easily be avoided.’

Sherelle Davids, anti-racism officer at LSE Student Union said: ‘We are holding this meeting the address the continuous deaths of black citizens in police custody. It is an issue that it is easy to shy away from, but after this summer’s events we can no longer ignore this injustice. People should attend this event to hear first hand from the families who have been affected, so that we can build unity around raising the prolife of this issue.’

Marcia Rigg from the Sean Rigg Justice and Change campaign said: ‘I am speaking at this event because sadly my brother was part of that ratio of using mental health services and also being a black man. I live and breathe it and feel that the issue of black deaths in custody needs to be highlighted.

There is over whelming evidence of the higher numbers of black deaths and yet the families are stifled from gaining justice. We have been struggling for decades, it not just black people in the 70’s who have had to deal with this. We are now seeing our children being killed; it is too much for the community to bear and it be left unsaid. We have to unite together to put a stop to this by telling our story and highlighting this issue.’

Speakers include:
Matilda MacAttram, director of Black Mental Health UK
Helen Shaw, director, Inquest
Samantha Rigg –David, Sean Rigg Justice and Change Campaign
Marica Rigg – Sean Rigg Justice and Change Campaign
Steve Pope – editor to The Voice Newspaper
Lee Jasper – Race Equality Campaigner
Ken Ferro – co-director of the film Injustice
Frederick Clarke – director Mighty Men of Valour
Olu Alake – president of 100 Black Men of London

This event is free to attend but requires registration by clicking here. Please register online with Black Mental Health UK and then book for this event.

This public meeting on black deaths in custody is from 6.30 – 9.00pm on Wednesday 26th October 2011 at London School of Economics Students Union, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

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[1] See Office for National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/
nugget.asp?id=273

[2] Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) 2010 Deaths in or following police custody: An examination of the cases 1998/99 – 2008/09. IPCC

[3] Independent Advisory Panel ( IAP) on Deaths in Custody. Mid Term Progress Report on the work of the IAP and Future Priorities for the Work of the Panel. February 2011. IAP

[4] Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) 2010 Deaths in or following police custody: An examination of the cases 1998/99 – 2008/09. IPCC

[5] Independent Advisory Panel ( IAP) on Deaths in Custody. Mid Term Progress Report on the work of the IAP and Future Priorities for the Work of the Panel. February 2011. IAP

[6] See Office for National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/

Slavery: A 21st Century Evil

I haven’t been paying too much attention to the Occupy Wall Street fiasco. Like the Tea Party Movement, it’s become a media fueled circus (panem et circenses), a reality tv inspired showcase of privileged White americans who are pissed at being forced to downsize their decadent lifestyle, as well as their unrealistic expectations. Americans, both White and Black, are finally waking up and coming to the realization that they are not the world, much less the centre of the universe. Sure, the so-called (white) left wing pundits attempt to give the OWS some legitimacy as a part of a worldwide phenomenon, by aligning it to the protests in Europe (Greece in particular) and the Jasmine Revolutions in Africa (read here), but don’t believe the hype! The truth is, it’s nothing more than a passing fad for most… like the protests of the 60’s.

Continuing unabated however is the issue of slavery. In fact it is much more entrenched worldwide and flourishes with little or no opposition in western (european and amerian) societies. Ironically, it is hidden right out in the open. However there is no type of “Freedom Movement”…. like the Occupy Wall Street or Tea Party Movement… among the socially or culturally conscious to end it’s practice. These social and cultural elites, just like their cousins, the political and financial (capitalist) elites, are concerned more about attaining and/or keeping the material trappings of privilege, which are created on or stolen from the backs of modern day slaves. Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun.

There is an eight-part series on Aljazeera by journalist Rageh Omaar on the 21st century slave trade. It sure brings life and recent events into perspective, for those who are not “too blind to see”, or distracted by latest circus, X-Factor-like spectacular.

You will be able to watch all the episodes here and read more about it in detail here.

Byts and Bytes

1. Hollywood’s New Sodom & Gomorrah Persona
2. Herman Cain and Barack Obama; Separated at Birth?
3. An open letter and warning from a former tea party movement adherent to the Occupy Wall Street movement
4. Falling BLACK in Love…
5. On Literature and Awareness

I love this photo