27 betrayed Nigerian soldiers

"Nigerian soldiers, like most of the country’s workforce, are poorly paid. In contrast, many military officers earn handsome packages..."

27 betrayed soldiers

By Okey Ndibe

On April 27, the Nigerian state committed a grievous act of betrayal of 27 brave soldiers who simply stood up to demand their right.

That day, a military tribunal condemned the soldiers – among them, three women – to spend the rest of their lives in jail. It is nothing short of a scandalous miscarriage of justice that the court found the soldiers guilty of mutiny.

The scandal lies in the details of the case. The soldiers’ so-called crime was to protest the non-payment of allowances that accrued to them from their participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Liberia. Each of the protesting soldiers had earned as much as $25,000. Yet, long after the UN had remitted the funds, some corrupt military officers sat on the funds.

After months of seeking payment, the exasperated soldiers staged a mild protest in Akure, Ondo State. No doubt, they sought to draw attention to their plight – and to shame the military authorities into releasing their overdue entitlements.

Instead of doing the right thing by these long-suffering soldiers, the military brass ordered their arrest and prosecution. Their lawyer, Femi Falana, has said that they were detained for several months under abominable conditions. And then the tribunal compounded this bizarre injustice by herding these innocents off to life imprisonment.

This is one more instance – and a particularly unforgivable one – of a highly criminalized state presuming to be the custodian of law and order.

Let’s be clear: mutiny is a grave matter, with a potential for undermining the security of a state. But the convicted soldiers, properly understood, are not mutineers so much as they are victims of a state that rewards real criminals.

Nobody has denied that some corrupt officers illicitly withheld the soldiers’ stipends. In fact, in January the same tribunal had convicted five officers of stealing $68,000 belonging to the hapless soldiers. And what kind of punishment did the quick-fingered officers receive? Mere demotion. Not one of them lost his job. Not one was slammed with a life sentence.

Yet, the twenty-seven soldiers they disinherited and drove to the edge of desperation are found fit to languish in jail unto death. Falana has described the life sentences as “a charade that cannot stand.” Charade is too mild a word.

Nigerian students, labor groups, academics and other professional organizations ought to rise and protest the cruelty to these poor soldiers who’ve been betrayed by their officers, and are in danger of being made living corpses for asking to be paid what they had more than earned.

Nigerian soldiers, like most of the country’s workforce, are poorly paid. In contrast, many military officers earn handsome packages. Besides, many officers enjoy one form or other of patronage from politicians. There’s neither rhyme nor reason, then, for an officer to steal a soldier’s allowance.

Yet, for years Nigerian soldiers drafted to peacekeeping tasks whispered woeful stories of officers who took huge slices of their payments, or even engaged in wholesale embezzlement.

Despite the appellation of “peacekeeping,” it’s no secret that these operations are highly hazardous. Soldiers whose job is to keep the peace are often shot at. Sometimes, they are sitting ducks, targeted by the armed groups they try to keep from armed engagement. Many Nigerian soldiers have lost their lives in such peacekeeping assignments as Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Congo. Many more have been maimed, condemned to carry for life scars that are grotesque reminders of the sacrifices they made to hold hell at bay for besieged civilian populations in such addresses as Bosnia, Rwanda and Liberia.

The least a nation owes these men and women who risk life and limbs is to ensure that they are paid their due at the completion of their assignments. In the lawless space that’s Nigeria, where greed is boundless, this simple expectation is often too much to ask.

What are soldiers to do when a few of their rogue officers decide to pocket their peacekeeping allowances? Crawl into their barrack cocoons and become mute victims? Fall to their knees, raise hands to heaven, and leave the case in God’s hands? Should they pen petitions to politicians in Abuja who all too often are too busy chasing after lucre to pause and listen to anybody’s entreaties?

This is a portrait of the predicament these soldiers had to deal with. They were aware of past instances when grubby officers made away with soldiers’ peacekeeping allowances. They knew that Nigeria is a space where crime pays, provided the criminal has the preferment of rank or access to the powers-that-be.

They made a decision – absolutely sensible in the circumstances – to dramatize their woes. They deserve apologies from the officers who stole from them. Should these men and women be made to spend even a day in jail, the Nigerian state would have made another investment in its demise.
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Proclamations of Electoral Reform in Nigeria

"A president worthy of the name would have recognized the grave danger of Bankole’s perverse speech. He would have immediately stepped forward, asked for the microphone, and publicly rebuked the speaker for telling the world that the PDP’s idea of an election was to stage a coup d’etat against the wishes of the electorate..."

Ekiti and rumors of electoral reform

by Okey Ndibe


A few weeks ago – April 10, to be exact – I wrote on this page that the then forthcoming electoral debacle in Ekiti State foretold the sham that will take the place of the general elections of 2011. In the opening paragraph of a column titled “Ekiti as a preview of 2011,” I warned: “Those who persist in seeing Umaru Musa Yar'Adua as a democrat at heart had better pay attention to the macabre show the man took to Ekiti State.” Yar’Adua, I continued, “comes across as a man who wants power at all cost and for its own sake.”

I wrote those words in the context of Yar’Adua’s bizarre campaign stump in the hotly contested state. First, the resident of Aso Rock manufactured alleged achievements for Mr. Segun Oni, the party’s governorship candidate and impostor who was justly removed by an appellate court. Then he stood by, a confounded and tragic figure, as Speaker Dimeji Bankole tried to galvanize a smattering of party faithful with a fully treasonous campaign speech.

Dimeji told his audience that the PDP had pocketed Ekiti in the elections of April 2007 with the use of police power. A speaker who habitually misspeaks, Bankole then reminded his listeners that their (ruling) party boasts the “commander-in-chief” of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Not one to settle for a coded message, Bankole was not shy to spell out what he meant. This time around, he assured, the party would deploy the intimidating force of the military to capture Ekiti.

A president worthy of the name would have recognized the grave danger of Bankole’s perverse speech. He would have immediately stepped forward, asked for the microphone, and publicly rebuked the speaker for telling the world that the PDP’s idea of an election was to stage a coup d’etat against the wishes of the electorate. Yar’Adua glumly listened to statements that amounted to a threat to subvert democratic ideals.

If Bankole’s martial rhetoric was disturbing, things got even more ludicrous before the April 25 date of the rerun polls. Next and a few Nigerian websites posted the taped voice of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State doing his treasonous best to rally PDP partisans. Oyinlola, a former military officer, is heard rehearsing an armed strategy to intimidate and suppress opposition sympathizers. He pledges to equip PDP operatives with military uniforms and weapons to enable them to “capture” Ekiti.

In a country where the rule of law is more than a cynical fad, Oyinlola’s taped plan to sabotage democracy would have elicited universal condemnation. The man would have been flushed out of his gubernatorial seat and led away in handcuffs, a disgraced figure.

Not in Yar’Adua’s Nigeria. Oyinlola remains in the office he has tainted by his odoriferous speech, among other unbecoming acts.

It’s painful to gloat that one’s dire prediction about Ekiti and 2011 is being vindicated. Yet, when a character like former President Olusegun Obasanjo takes to mocking the man he imposed as Nigeria’s sleeper-in-chief, Nigerians had better take notice. It’s a sign that things are truly bleak.

Reporters recently asked Obasanjo to weigh in on Umaru Yar’Adua’s avowed reform of Nigeria’s electoral laws. The former president blithely retorted that he wasn’t aware that any polling reforms were in the offing.

In its terseness and wicked indirection, the response was typical Obasanjo. Of course, the former president is smarting from a sharp decline in his fortunes within the ruling party. At a recent gathering in Abuja that it styled a convention, the ruling party pretty much whittled down Obasanjo’s powers.

It was only three years ago that the PDP tagged Obasanjo “father of modern Nigeria.” The same party seems on a mission to deflate the expired emperor’s ego. Its convention stripped Obasanjo of his dream to hold a monopoly on the chairmanship of the party’s board of trustees unto death.

Increasingly vilified, even ostracized, by many of the men and women he smuggled into power at various levels, Obasanjo’s legendary vindictiveness appears aroused. His revenge? To tell the truth – at least on occasion – about the bunch he hoisted into illegitimate power.

Some tell the truth as a way to set themselves, and others, free. Not Obasanjo. For him, it seems, the motivation for speaking truth is merely to get even. However untoward his motivation, what matters is that we now have Obasanjo’s confession that Yar’Adua’s vaunted electoral reform is a yarn, another jiggery pokery.

Nobody who’s watched the sordid events in Ekiti can retain confidence in Yar’Adua, the PDP or the national electoral commission to husband democratic ideals. Even as the drama in Ekiti fostered fears of a military putsch, the PDP hunkered down, determined to snatch the state by unfair and foul means. Maurice Iwu, a man with neither an ounce of integrity nor sense of shame, worked feverishly behind the scenes to gratify the ruling party’s plot. What was this “independent electoral umpire” doing at a meeting that featured such PDP stalwarts as Yar’Adua, Bankole Dimeji and David Mark, but with not a single participant from the opposing AC?

Ekiti was Yar’Adua’s opportunity to silence skeptics by demonstrating his seriousness about ethical and electoral reforms. Alas, the man (and his party as well as INEC) chose to reveal the fake product they’ve been marketing as electoral reforms.
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Defying Justice in Nigeria

"Many Nigerians already suspect that their judiciary teems with too many men and women with a profound deficit of shame and integrity..."

Andy Uba and an indulgent Supreme Court

by Okey Ndibe

Hand it to Andy Uba, a domestic aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo: the man has a certain viral persistence, a refusal to take no for an answer.

On June 14, 2007, the Supreme Court removed Uba from his ill-gotten perch as governor of Anambra. In a ruling that drew nation-wide cheer, the court roundly rebuked the electoral commission for conducting gubernatorial elections in Anambra when the tenure of incumbent Governor Peter Obi had not ended.

Allergic to being told no, Uba hired a new set of lawyers and approached the same court. He asked a seven-member panel of the nation’s high court to recant its earlier judgment and return him as governor in Awka. In another unanimous verdict, the justices told him, hell no.

Emerging from the court, Uba’s lawyers vowed that the last had not been heard. They soon made good on this improbable boast by asking a court of appeal to find that Uba’s so-called mandate was secured in a legitimate election. In one of the bizarre twists in the country’s recent judicial history, the appellate justices gave a muddled judgment that Uba’s camp then held aloft as proof that their man was “a governor-in-waiting.” In the face of fierce legal criticism, the panel that allegedly gave that verdict beat an untidy retreat.

Even so, Uba was far from done. Late last year, he set out on another adventure to the Supreme Court. His singular wish list is for a court that twice turned him back to contrive some legal contortions to impose him as governor of Anambra.

In entertaining this case at all, the Supreme Court is in danger of leaving its reputation in tatters. Mr. Uba seems to have served notice that he plans to harangue the court until he gets an indulgent panel willing to do his bidding.

Many Nigerians already suspect that their judiciary teems with too many men and women with a profound deficit of shame and integrity. The nation’s highest court cannot afford to leave the impression that its hallowed chambers are permanently open to the fancies of any client with a huge treasury of inexplicable wealth.

It’s doubtful that Mr. Uba’s persistent wheedling has anything to do with respect for the rule of law. He comes across, instead, as a cynical man determined to make relays to the high court until he’s handed a panel of sympathetic justices. It’s an ill-disguised belief in the rule of money.

Mr. Uba’s judicial round-tripping should trouble any Nigerian who wishes to see the enthronement of a fiercely independent judiciary, at once incorruptible and committed to the highest ideals of judicial ethics.

Of course, whenever justice is transparently miscarried, it’s the duty of a court to redress it. But in the case of Uba, it is hard to picture how he’s been ill served by the apex court. Uba’s latest judicial adventure has everything to do with political calculations. One of the closest confidantes of Obasanjo, Uba was eased into place as the PDP’s governorship candidate. He was subsequently declared “winner” of a gubernatorial contest that Human Rights Watch categorized as illustrative of electoral fraud. Here’s how ludicrous Uba’s so-called election was: the electoral commission initially awarded him more votes than there were registered voters in the state.

When the Supreme Court removed Uba on June 14, 2007 – a mere two weeks after he usurped office – their decision elicited widespread celebration. A man rang me from Kaduna to say that it was not just a victory for the people of Anambra but a triumph for all Nigerians.

There was good reason for the celebratory air. Uba epitomizes the worst tendencies in many Nigerians who occupy elective or appointive office. A man who has not been able to authenticate that he earned a first academic degree, Uba’s campaign website misled people with the information that he holds a PhD. When The News, a Nigerian weekly magazine, published a cover on his academic fraud, virtually the publication’s entire print mysteriously disappeared.

Prior to joining Obasanjo’s administration, Uba ran a middling “healthcare” services operation in California. Yet, in 2004 U.S. officials seized cash of $170,000 that Uba had taken into New York City. The cash, concealed from U.S. authorities, was then handed over to a Loretta Mabinton. She used most of it to buy a Mercedes Benz car for Uba, and $45,000 to buy equipment for Obasanjo’s farm in Otta.

Confronted on the smuggled funds, Obasanjo blithely stated that Uba was a wealthy man prior to working for the presidency. It was – let’s be blunt – a blatant lie.

There’s little question that Uba is in possession of a stupendous amount of cash, the source of it a question that Nigerians must raise. It’s a mark of the monumental dysfunction that’s Nigeria that this man is in court asking to be crowned governor rather than in the dock explaining how he accumulated all that wealth.

Uba’s imposition on Anambra would amount to a war on the people’s will – to say nothing of the taint on the name of justice.
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Nigeria's politicians try some PR work

"Every citizen of a country deserves to be called a stakeholder. Yet, when Nigerian politicians speak about the country’s stakeholders, they usually mean the elements who spend their waking hours stealing from the public..."

"A fiesta of delusion"

By Okey Ndibe

Fond of airy rhetoric, Nigerian politicians love to accumulate meaningless words and delusive jingles. The latest fashion is the stark lie called re-branding. Nigeria’s re-branding craze is actually an old, useless idea squeezed into new, expensive clothes.

Mention the name Chukwuemeka Chikelu today and I bet many – perhaps most – Nigerians won’t remember him. Yet, he was the Information Minister in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government who came up with the notion of re-branding Nigeria’s image.

Chikelu’s was a silly gambit with a high price tag. His idea consisted of packaging a few Nigerian achievers to the world in order to counter negative reports about Nigeria. As ideas went, this one was patently hollow in conception and fated for failure. Every single naira spent on that project was a naira misspent. To begin with, the world didn’t need to be reminded that there are extraordinary Nigerians in every field of endeavor. The world already knew, and knows, that Nigeria has produced some of the best writers, top-rank doctors, enterprising scientists and researchers, and excellent teachers. As if to advertise its ineptitude, the government’s line-up of achievers included one or two questionable names, including an academic of minor stature who had used the press to inflate himself as a candidate for the Nobel Prize. A campaign based on reminding the world that Nigeria boasted men and women of high achievement was, then, bereft of purpose.

At any rate, since most of the Nigerian “geniuses” on the government’s propaganda list were based abroad, the world, if it paid attention at all, was apt to ask a few pointed questions. How come this country exports its best and brightest? With this cast of achievers, why is Nigeria in the calloused hands of rustics, “area boys” in agbada, clowns and mediocrities? With its parade of prodigious men and women, why did Chikelu’s Nigeria permit the likes of Lamidi Adedibu, Chris Uba, and Saminu Turaki to own the public space?

Every citizen of a country deserves to be called a stakeholder. Yet, when Nigerian politicians speak about the country’s stakeholders, they usually mean the elements who spend their waking hours stealing from the public, and plotting to embezzle ever more. They hardly ever include such admirable citizens as Gani Fawehinmi, Oyibo Odinamadu, Gamaliel Onosode, Balarabe Musa, Babs Fafunwa, Abubakar Umar, Eskor Toyo, and Bart Nnaji.

When Chinua Achebe dared to reject a tainted national “honor” offered by Obasanjo, Femi Fani-Kayode, speaking in his master’s name, vilified the novelist in the most caustic language. Yet, the same Obasanjo championed “Andy” Uba, a domestic aide who smudged Nigeria’s image by ferrying cash of $170,000 on a presidential jet bound for New York City – and had to pay a steep fine to the U.S. for breaking their currency declaration laws. The self-same Fani-Kayode once had occasion to dismiss Wole Soyinka as godless. He even went further, asking Nigerians to henceforth ignore the Nobel laureate on account of Soyinka’s alleged atheism. The dramatist’s real sin, we knew, was a refusal to shriek “Amen!” to Obasanjo’s divine delusions. In one breath, Soyinka was insulted; in another, Obasanjo feted Adedibu, a self-confessed thug and liar, describing the man as his leader and mentor. At best, then, Chikelu’s re-branding project had zero impact. At worst, it reminded the world about Nigeria’s habit of trumpeting its worst and ostracizing its best. Chikelu’s public relations campaign was fundamentally misconceived. It fizzled quickly, even before its author’s rustication from the cabinet.

This being Nigeria – a space where bad ideas are routinely granted new leases – current Information and Communications Minister Dora Akunyili has decided that re-branding (as re-tooled by her) is, again, what Nigeria needs. Akunyili is beloved by many Nigerians. Many of these admirers hope that, by some magic or miracle, she would succeed. But no magic or miracle would suffice. Her re-branding effort is as ill conceived as Chikelu’s version. One hates to rain on Mrs. Akunyili’s party, but the truth is that her re-branding project came stillborn.

There’s no international conspiracy to give Nigeria a bad name. Nor are Nigerians sourpusses who invent untenable grouses against their government. Nigeria is a potentially soaring story that’s become a tragedy-in-progress.

Part of Akunyili’s predicament is to serve a government produced by electoral fraud. How does she re-brand that? The same government, from the look of things, is gearing to rig the elections of 2011. How does she re-brand that?

Before our very eyes, and those of the world, the Obasanjo government squandered billions of dollars in an apparent scam that used power projects as an excuse. Yet Umaru Yar’Adua, the man Obasanjo handpicked, and other political “forces” in Abuja have effectively squelched a legislative report on the power scam. I’ll wake up and applaud when Akunyili persuades Yar’Adua to prosecute the “stakeholders” implicated in Halliburtongate, Siemensgate, Wilbrosgate, and a plethora of other scams. It’s not enough to wrap feces and present it as moi moi, to spray perfume on cow dung, and to apply deodorant on unwashed stinky armpit.
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Has Nigeria Become Underdeveloped?

"He should clarify the disturbing discrepancy between his sermon and his conduct, or he should simply exit the pulpit."

“Jonathan’s questionable gospel”

By Okey Ndibe

Two weeks ago, a newspaper carried a News Agency of Nigeria report under the caption, “We are a vain nation”. The quoted claim was not as important as the man who voiced it. In case you missed it, the statement was credited to Goodluck Jonathan, sidekick to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the slumbering disaster who presumes to govern Nigeria. Jonathan, a lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt before he made a foray into politics, reportedly “identified the pursuit of mundane things that are worthless to the country's development by both leaders and followers, as the cause of the nation's under-development.” Jonathan made this curious assertion during an Easter Sunday service at Aso Rock Chapel. In what NAN described as “an emotive address,” Yar’Adua’s deputy waxed diagnostic about Nigeria’s crisis. In his words, “What makes us remain the way we are, what makes us to be backward, is that we value those things that matter less to a society.”

At this point, those who’ve followed Jonathan’s political career would want to exclaim Wow! But wait, the man isn’t done yet. The news agency quoted the man as confessing that, “Having worked in the government for almost 10 years now, I know that most of the problems we have, are because of the vain and trivial things that charm us most.” Jonathan then recalled that Nigeria once shared the same developmental bracket as India, Brazil, Indonesia and Singapore, “but regretted that those countries had left us behind.” What accounted for Nigeria’s catastrophic slip? An answer was offered in the gospel according to Jonathan. As NAN reported, Jonathan “blamed past leaders for looting the treasury and stashing funds meant for the country's development in banks outside the country.” Again, in his words: “Nigeria has so much money stashed outside this country, most of the money stolen from the public treasury. If 50 per cent of these funds were brought back and kept in Nigerian banks they would have enough funds to give as loans. Our banks would not need to send girls to go out and hustle for deposits.”

Nor was this the end of Jonathan’s strange confessions. He stated that the embezzlers “do not even need 10 per cent of [their loot]” and that “some of them hide the money and their children will not even see it.” Having diagnosed the Nigerian disorder, Jonathan proclaimed the antidote. He implored Nigerians, wrote NAN, “to use the Easter period to purge themselves of mundane things and pursue things that would be beneficial to the uplifting of the nation.” Speaking with the earnestness of a prelate, he made a prediction: “if we sacrifice most of these artificial and mundane things that are not critical to us…this country will be a better place.”

Odds are that some speechwriter handed Mr. Jonathan this speech and – without pausing to rehearse it – he rushed off to the chapel to read it. Why did he not deem fit to reflect on this self-indicting speech before he mounted the podium with it? For that matter, why did he not see the wisdom of clearing the speech with his wife, Patience Jonathan, before reading it? Until former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s abracadabra installed Jonathan as “vice president,” Patience Jonathan was a target of investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In late 2006, agents of the anti-corruption agency seized close to $15 million dollars from Mrs. Jonathan, whose husband was then governor of Bayelsa. Two months earlier, the EFCC had frozen N104 million it also accused Mrs. Jonathan of attempting to stow away through one Mrs. Nancy Ebere Nwosu.

Given his family’s history, Mr. Jonathan’s sermon on the malaise of graft and greed is nothing less than fascinating. Could this Easter message be heartfelt – or was it just another hypocritical speech by a man who, like most Nigerian politicians, is beyond shame? If the man’s sentiments are genuine, then what has he done to censure his wife? Why hasn’t he invited the EFCC to go through with its investigation of his wife, and to haul her before the law if she’s found to have engaged in gluttonous embezzlement?

Beyond his wife’s questionable financial activities, Mr. Jonathan may also have a few personal questions to answer. A year and a half ago, this former lecturer responded to public pressure by making his asset declaration public. He declared that he was worth N295 million. How did he generate that stupendous level of income? As the Guardian columnist Sonala Olumhense noted, “this means he had been growing richer at the rate of close to N17 million per month” during the 17 months he was governor.

If Mr. Jonathan meant what he said in his Easter message, he owes it to himself to explain how he accumulated his fortune. And he should also explain how his wife came by the sums of $13.5 million and N104 million. He should clarify the disturbing discrepancy between his sermon and his conduct, or he should simply exit the pulpit.

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Sandy Banks features some women who are in the know

"The women seated around the table at the Thursday morning knitting club were senior citizens all right -- from 63-year-old Agavanoush Shakhverdian to Ida Capriole, three weeks shy of 92. But they were hardly quiet..."






Dear friends,

On the link below you'll find a piece that proves that women need only act and think for themselves, as opposed to the moronic suggestion that they should "act like a lady, but think like a man", and they will have long, happy, and productive lives. The author, Los Angeles Times veteran columnist Sandy Banks has been featured on this blog in the past.

One Love!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks21-2009mar21,0,5550888.column
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Al Martinez ponders Unemployment

" I’m not sure that unemployment heightens the senses. I don’t know that being apart from the crowd allows any special perspective. But involvement takes time and attention while isolation demands no such effort..."



Dear friends,

I am always honored to present work by my good friend, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Al Martinez. After many decades of doing so, he is no longer working at the Los Angeles Times. Instead, he only works for himself now, and he is plenty busy. We all have powers within us that allow us to do many things, after all.

To be sure, loneliness is a condition that no human can escape, because, ultimately, we have to think for ourselves, speak for ourselves, eat for ourselves and go to the bathroom for ourselves. It is just that we live in such an "advanced" society that allows us to have so much "free" time, instead of having to spend all day foraging and hunting for food - as our ancestors did, that we can easily forget that our relationship to others is the basis for our prosperity. In other words, as a species, from the school janitor to the teacher to the police officer, bus driver, auto meechanic, grocer and carpenter, we all play a role in our cooperative effort to co-exust.

The sad part is: Historically, kids coming out of college have rarely had enough experiences in life to provide any kind of useful analyses for readers. At least to me, the whole process of becoming a journalist needs to be re-done. It has to be more than just a job. It must be a passion.

Finally, everyone wants to know something. However, far too often journalists censor themselves, because the point of so much of North American journalism has more to do with getting the reader riled up, as opposed to “informing in order to inspire”. Additionally, the editors have greater concern for their jobs as their occupations are determined by their bosses and advertisers (secondly). Moreover, at least to me, journalists must become more entrepreneurial ad band to gether to form their own news outlets. Part of the problem is the laziness that people get from taking a pavcheck, instead of earning their money based on a variety of skills they’ve developed over the years.

At any rate, on the link below is a very humorous but equally serious (i.e., thought-provoking) piece. Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://almartinez.org/wordpress/?p=30 Read full post

More on Nigerian Politics

Ojo Maduekwe's crashing stock‏

by Okey Ndibe

Ojo Maduekwe’s crashing stockBy Okey NdibeForeign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe should be ashamed of himself. Any man who lies against children is contemptible, and that’s exactly what Mr. Maduekwe did. Early in March, Mr. Maduekwe had traveled to Geneva as head of the Nigerian delegation to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review on human rights. The event is used to survey the state of human rights across the globe.

Last November, Britain’s Channel 4 TV had broadcast a documentary on Nigeria’s “witch children.” It was a harrowing look at the horrors visited on thousands of children in Akwa Ibom and elsewhere. These children are first stigmatized as witches and wizards and then subjected to excruciating torture.

In short, the program unmasked the human capacity for evil. Channel 4 took viewers on a graphic tour of some deranged churches and their so-called pastors and prophets who rake in huge profits from declaring children as witches. One of the featured “men of God” is a man named “Bishop” Sunday Ulup-Aya. A self-styled “poison destroyer,” he openly boasts that he had physically liquidated 110 witches and wizards. Ulup-Aya’s eyes appear glazed and his slurry speech suggests drunkenness. He’s shown ordering a child to drink a concoction meant to “destroy the poison” of witchcraft. Then the reporter informs us that the concoction is made of strong alcohol, a substance called “African mercury,” and the “bishop’s” own blood.

Hard as it is to imagine, the child who’s shown drinking the strange concoction is one of the lucky ones. The program revealed that some of the children are simply killed. Some are driven out, forced to live in the open like wild animals. Some are tied to trees and starved for several weeks. Some are disfigured with acid, scalded with boiling water, or scarred with fire. The camera showed a young girl in whose skull some superstitious fool had driven a six-inch nail.

This chronicle of gruesome torture is still available online. To see this unflinching portrait of cruelty, just go to www.youtube.com and type in “Africa's witch children”. But be cautioned: It’s a stark, wrenching expose. The images are hard to watch and impossible to rub out of one’s mind. When I first saw it four months ago, I sat before the computer and cried for a while. I shuddered with the shame of being a member of a society that, out of deep and festering ignorance, would unleash such violence on children.

What does it say about us when we stand pat and permit nefarious elements among us to brutalize children, including toddlers? Were the police ignorant about the bloody goings-on? Are we not all implicated, to one degree or another, by the dehumanization of vulnerable children?

A teeming league of fake pastors and ignorant seers prey on children, I believe, because the child-victims are largely voiceless, with few or no options to stand up in their own defense.

It was natural that the question of Akwa Ibom’s tortured children should come up at an international forum on human rights abuses. But when the question was put to Mr. Maduekwe, he reportedly replied that the “children were paid to say they were tortured.”

That’s a callous, despicable response. It’s either the minister never bothered to watch the Channel 4 report – in which case, his fitness for a ministerial post should be called to question – or he somehow felt it was okay to discredit victims of heinous human rights abuses. In that event, we should wonder whether Mr. Maduekwe has a heart at all.

The larger crime here is that, after Channel 4’s exposure of the shameful abuse of children, the Nigerian government pretended nothing was amiss. Mr. Maduekwe might have helped to mobilize a national effort to rescue the besieged children of Akwa Ibom. He might also have persuaded Mr. Umaru Yar’Adua to send a tough bill to the National Assembly stipulating stiff punishment for those who harm children in the alleged name of combating witchcraft.

Since Mr. Maduekwe failed to do this, he had no leg to stand on when he was asked what Nigeria was doing to save children from mindless abuse. Caught in a bind, a good diplomat might have bought time by stating that his government was weighing a number of corrective measures. Instead, Mr. Maduekwe compounded his government’s betrayal of these beleaguered children by painting them as rented scam artists.

This foreign minister took a low, cowardly road precisely because he knows that the children are in no position to counter his lie, much less drag him to court for defamation. Yet, in the court of public opinion – and especially in Nigeria’s humane sector where conscionable men and women care about the fortunes of children – Mr. Maduekwe’s stock has crashed to the bottom.

(okndibe@yahoo.com)
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April is National Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)

Archie Shepp










April is National Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)

Saturday Apr 25 3P NMathis Volunteers @ International Women In Jazz
Women’s Festival Fri – Sat 24 – 26 Apr @ St Peter’s Church NYC
212.935-2200/718.468-7376


Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.

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Brilliant analysis - with genuine humor

Sponsored by Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery County, it has 37 co-sponsors and asks everyone to turn out all lights for an hour to address global warming. It also urges Gov. Rendell to order "all lights in all Commonwealth buildings" switched off, too. Could make for a fun Saturday night at Graterford (a prison in Pennsylvania), eh?


Dear friends,

On the link below, Philadelphoa Daily News columnist John Baer delivers an incredibly brilliant, yet humorous, analysis of Pennsylvania state politics that could be applied to any of our fifty states. Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090323_John_Baer__Who_says_Legislature_does_nothing__Go_ask_any_box_turtle.html
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Why do we use the term "African American"? (originally posted July, 2008)

"African Americans are a people who grew out of the mixing of various groups of African peoples (that is, individuals who belonged to many cultural backgrounds throughout, mostly, West Africa). We were forced to unite because of our shared oppression and exploitation..."

Dear friends,

Booker T. Washington wrote, "During the period of servitude in the New World, the Negro race did not wholly forget the traditions and habits of thought that it brought from Africa. But it added to its ancestral stock certain new ideas."

I am an African American (I do not use a hyphen, because I refuse to consider myself an abbreviated American.) Yet, many of my fellow countryfolks feel confused about how they should address African Americans, generally, because it seems as though our terms of self-description change from time to time...

However, the term itself (African American) is not new; rather, it points to the natural direction being taken by a people who grew out of a distinct cultural experience, having survived the ravages of time, in a nation that is founded upon both greed and white supremacy. Therefore, by calling ourselves African Americans, we are merely returning to our true identity as human beings.

NOTE: When people hear the term "white supremacy", they usually either think of those who parade around in white bedsheets - like the Old South's KKK (Ku Klux Klan) or others, in blue uniforms, such as the FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) in places like Philadelphia and New York City. In other words, many citizens in this country do not see themselves as "white supremacists", per se. However, I use the term “white supremacy”, because a person can come from any European, Asian, or Latin country tomorrow, completely disregard his or her true familial past and declare himself or herself “white” - thus becoming part of an artificial "majority" group. Additionally, by calling himself or herself "white", that same person just mentioned, automatically, inherits a history that includes the likes of the original Pilgrim group, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln (none of whom, as far as I know, are of either Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, German, Asian, "Hispanic", Jewish, or French descent), along with enjoying privileges and advantages over me and people who look like me.

Although around 130 years or a little more than five generations ago, author and formidable scholar George W. Williams asserted that, at the time, many African peoples worldwide preferred to be called "Negro" (see his History of the Negro Race in America), it appears that the expressions "Negro" and "colored" actually gained their popularity after the North American Civil War. Available literature only shows that prior conflict, the word "Africa" almost always prefixed the names of our organizations.

For example, beginning during the last quarter of the 18th Century, with Richard Allen and his friends' Free African Society, in Philadelphia, to the founding of the A.M.E. (African Methodist Epsicopal) church, which spread across the nation soon afterwards, all the way to the Afric-American Female Intelligence Society of Boston - a highly-respected activist group that existed for more than 40 years or almost two generations before and during the North American Civil War, we never forgot our African origins.

As well, because of the proliferation of the abolitionist movement that grew correspondingly with the manumission of each captive worker (so-called slave), Black self-help groups, whose purposes were for the economic and social progress of the aforementioned manumitted captive workers, began to flourish. One such group was the Peace and Benevolent Society of Afric-Americans of Connecticut - which thrived around the same time as the previously-mentioned women's group (see Black Abolitionists, by noted historian and scholar Benjamin Quarles. Also, there is other literature concerning African American organizations corresponding with that period in works like Lerone Bennett's classic, Before The Mayflower.)

But is "Black" also a legitimate identity reference? I think that it is. In fact, if we take guidance from Professor Lloyd Hogan's classic "The Principles of Black Political Economy", we see that he has identified five criteria that distinguish African American or Black people as a group that has proliferated. for centuries, within its own environment. They are: 1) Common origins on the continent of Africa; 2) Common history of exploitation as a homogeneous slave working class for more than 250 years; 3) Common exploitation as a more or less homogeneous class of landless peasants for approximately 100 years in the southern United States; 4) Common experience of exploitation as a homogenous wage laboring class since the last generation or so of their history; and 5) Conscious individual acceptance of being Black.

Perhaps, the most crucial aspect of Professor Hogan's abovementioned criteria is the "conscious individual acceptance of being Black." After all, regardless of one's historical experience, at least in the United States, the term "Black" is usually pretty specific. For example, if people are talking about either Rudy from Saint Croix or Ludwig from Antigua, they call him a Caribbean or West Indian. If they are talking about either Okey or Sahalu from Nigeria, they call him an African. However, if folks are talking about Paul from Boston or Barry from Amherst, then they say, "He's a Black man."

Note: This should be spelled with an upper case "B", even though the standard has been set by "white" newspaper editors and educators who, usually, spell it with a lower case one (b). As usual, others outside of our group are defining us by their own measure, as opposed to us doing it for ourselves. Nevertheless, when referring to African Americans, "Black" is a proper noun - not a common one, because it points to a specific group. On the other hand, the lower case "w" should be used for "white", since those who embrace or "cling to" that moniker do not represent a specific culture. Therefore, it is a common noun.

There are, of course, many women of European descent who have had, at least, one child by a man of African descent. Our future president is such a person. Moreover, it is usually necessary for these kids to identify themselves as "Black", for two reasons. They are: 1) Such offspring often have non-pale skin complexions and, as a result, are automatically considered "non-white" anyway - and treated as such. 2) Their mothers typically call themselves "white", thus confusing said youths' about their all-important identities. Moreover, it places children in the position of having to choose sides, as it were. Yet, at least to me, it seems that no one should ever ask a child to choose sides, when it comes to loving his or her parents. Instead, we should only encourage each child to LOVE his or her parent(s). Period.

So, obviously, African Americans are not a monolithic group per se, due to our varied familial backgrounds, income levels and social statuses (as folks like the wealthy entertainer Bill Cosby remind us, when he labels so many of us the "lower echelon"). Nevertheless, because we can be found in all areas of society (except for the ruling class), our ideas and aspirations are quite diverse.

Additionally, a number of us have physical characteristics that make us indistinguishable from many other cultural groups (for example, European American, EarlyAmerican Native, Asian American, Latino, and so forth.) As a result, unwittingly, many non-African American citizens currently associate with African American people who may not even identify themselves as such. On top of all that has been mentioned thus far, as well, the fact must be appreciated that African Americans are a people who grew out of the mixing of various groups of African peoples (that is, individuals who belonged to many cultural backgrounds). We were forced to unite because of Our shared oppression and exploitation.

Prior to the North American Civil War, African Americans tended to form coalitions with EarlyAmerican Natives and, at times, European Americans too (particularly, Irish Americans). Note: I use the term "EarlyAmerican Natives" (with neither a space nor a hyphen between Early and American), as opposed to "Native Americans", because I find the latter term divisive - and offensive to many. After all, most citizens of this country feel "native" to this land. Consequently, at least to me, the feeling of both separateness and aloneness that already lingers, quite naturally, in each individual, in any civilization or culture, worsens. Therefore, I feel that we do not need to "add insult to injury", as it were, by using words that may cause some of the resentment and hostility that can be engendered when people feel that they are being excluded. Hence, in order to distinguish that particular body of people from all other groups in our society, I use the aforementioned term Early American Natives.

At any rate, the identity that we now use, African American, represents the evolution of a people who have, through no choice of their own, struggled together for equality, dignity, and justice, for centuries. This, obviously, has been the same dilemma for all other groups who have come here, outside of the early ruling class. In fact, after the North American Civil War, African captive workers (so-called slaves), according to international law, should have been offered the opportunity to return to Africa. Instead, these now former captives were hoodwinked into accepting partial citizenship and thrown into the plantation economy of sharecropping. As a result, our forebears began identifying themselves according to descriptions that were made by those who did not even acknowledge, much less respect, our aforementioned forebears' ability to know what was best for themselves and those future generations of African Americans that would follow.

Today, we are an African people, and the largest group of those in this country who call themselves "Americans" who have been here since the 17th Century. Period. Moreover, for centuries, there were always folks coming/being brought here from Africa, both legally and illegally; they reminded our ancestors of their former homes - and cultural experiences. Therefore, our forebears never lost all of that which was African in them. Rather, they passed it on to future generations. Therefore, as far as contemporary African Americans go, we have learned to express what is left of our "Africanisms", as it were, within a different context.

Finally, three generations ago, the great Marcus Garvey pointed out: "This propaganda of dis-associating Western Negroes from Africa is not a new one. For many years white propagandists have been printing tons of literature to impress scattered Ethiopia, especially that portion within their civilization, with the idea that Africa is a despised place, inhabited by savages, and cannibals, where no civilized human being should go, especially black civilized human beings." - Marcus Garvey (Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey, edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey)

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Brief note to the New York Times about the "Economy"

"...the intention for infinite growth in a finite market of consumers must necessarily go bust, at some point."

To the Editor:

The article called “Geithner Calls for Major Overhaul of Financial Rules” By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and LOUISE STORY, Published: March 26, 2009, proves that neither Obama nor anyone in his administration knows anything about the financial system, much less how to improve it. The problem is not hedge funds or “greed” on Wall Street. Rather, it is the proliferation of finance capital which allows businesses to survive even when they are no longer creating customers. Moreover, the intention for infinite growth in a finite market of consumers must necessarily go bust, at some point.

G. Djata Bumpus
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In light of the Obama victory, Ronnie Polaneczky invites us to care (originally posted 11/14/08)

Nevermind black, white, yellow, red, or brown . How about African American, European American, Asian American, Early American Native, and Latin American, for example.

Dear friends,

I waited a week to post the piece on the link below, because I wanted the hoopla and celebration over President-elect Obama to have sudsided. To be sure, we need to change our language. After all, "language is thought". Have you ever said to yourself, "I can't think of a word for it."?

One of the main ways to accomplish that, at least to me, will be for people to start describing themselves according to their cultural pasts, instead of their skin complexions. Nevermind black, white, yellow, red, or brown . How about African American, European American, Asian American, Early American Native, and Latin American, for example? That way, we will be able tp recognize each other's humanity.

In any case, Ronnie Polaneczky of the Philadelphia Daily News, a longtime friemd of mine, presents a very powerful invitation for all of us here. Please both onsider and enjoy the caring and warmth that she shares.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20081106_Ronnie_Polaneczky__My_wishes_for_a_new_American_vocabulary.html?adString=pdn.news/local;!category=local;&randomOrd=110608034620
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The passing of a True Legend Ioriginally posted 12/25/08)

Eartha Kitt's courageous pioneering and consistent display of confidence, whether in performance or in life, helped define artistic and social expression in this country and around the world. And it did so for both females and males, while inspiring so many women generally, for two and one-half generations.


Dear friends,

We all "come in - going out". We forget that while we are here caught up in the throes of life. Nevertheless, for me, the timing of her passing is quite interesting, because I was supposed to catch her performance with the Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra on my/our oldest daughter's upcoming birthday (Feb. 7, 2009). Tickets went on sale back in June, so I guess that this is a surprise to everyone.

Eartha Kitt's courageous pioneering and consistent display of confidence, whether in performance or in life, helped define artistic and social expression in this country and around the world. And it did so for both females and males, while inspiring so many women generally, for two and one-half generations. Yet, oddly enough, many, if not most, women in America, today, are unaware of her role as a liberator, as so many other women have now followed her.

At any rate, the link below gives a short biography of her.

One Love!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eartha_Kitt
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an upcoming tribute to Dr Barbara Ann Teer - a pioneering artist/activist

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!!!

Please join AVERY BROOKS and ALICIA KEYS and other guests as they celebrate the launch of the 41st year andre-institution of theCommunication Arts Program Symposiums This Friday March 27, 2009 at 6:30PM Suggested donation $20 Students $10 It's about a thought provoking soul stirring evening...



Love lives forever." - Steveland Morris

Dear friends,

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer (June 18, 1937 - July 21, 2008) was featured on this blog during August of last uear, shortly after her passing. The info below is about an important upcoming event in New York City later this month. The work of this great woman continues.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus




SAVE THE DATE!!! March 27, 2009
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's Institute of Action Arts will launch it's 41st Year with the re-institution of its Communication Arts Program Symposiums

Please join us:
Friday, March 27, 2009 at 6:30PM

for a thought-provoking and soul-stirring evening with
Avery Brooks, Alicia Keys, and other guests

Suggested Donation: $20 - Students: $10

http://www.nationalblacktheatre.org/

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President Obama's "joke" about the Special Olympics

"I accept his apology. It was sincere. It was meaningful. And it was nice of him to say that. Every athlete out there is just being the best they can...I bowl just for fun. The last time I bowled, I think I scored a 245. I actually could kick the president’s butt at bowling. But I wouldn’t make fun of him if I did.” - a Special Olympic athlete

Dear friends,

While I find it silly and petty for the mainstream media to make such a big deal out of President Obama's joke with Jay Leno Show on the Tonight Show, on the link below, the short piece from the Boston Herald makes it apparent that Obama’s quip was not planned, because, actually, it made no sense.

Therefore, it should have been left alone. President Obama was wrong, but what kind of integrity do government- and corporate-controlled media have, if they feel that that was "news"? Moreover, why are so many print journalists, for example, whining about possibly losing their jobs, because newspapers are not selling, when these type of tattle-tale stories about the president are all that they have to share?


One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1160032&srvc=news&position=0
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A response to my comments on President Obama's "State of the Nation" address

He doesn't at all sound like a former community organizer when he talks economics.

Dear friends,

The brief comments below were sent to me, via e-mail, in response to comments that I posted here on this blog on February 24(2009). They are in regards to President Obama's "State of the Nation" address last month (February). The author of the comments is someone who is very special to me, but who does not want to go on record in public, at this time, with criticisms of President Obama. Nevertheless, while he will remain anonymous, he has given me permission to print the missive. It is just too powerful for me not to share it.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
*****************************************
Interesting. I didn't listen to his speech, but it seems like there is no intention of any real discussion of real change. In that respect I think he's most guilty of trying to appease those in power.

He doesn't at all sound like a former community organizer when he talks economics. I'm hoping at least there is some sincerity in his education policy. I knew he was going to be weak against the military when he started talking about Afghanistan. One thing that no one is even going to consider addressing is why has this country so thoroughly entrenched itself in dependence on war. This is the real problem with the way this economy is organized. They have never been without a war and don't appear to be capable of existing without it as the major outlet and control for the economy.

The last couple of Bush years brought this to stark reality. Was it complete stupidity or just incredible incompetence that the US embarked on a war in which we ended up with a trillion dollar deficit while those we were fighting against came out of it with billions in surplus? Is not economics a major military front? Don't they use sanctions and embargoes and other economic weapons as part of a complete military strategy in the modern world? Then how did this come about? I choose to believe that the Bush family are and have for many generations been war profiteers. They certainly didn't lose money. Why couldn't they see to it that this country's people didn't lose and suffer? The whole charade is disgusting.
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AIG giving back money...what's that all about?

"At least to me, from "gay marriage" to "global warming" to the latest red herring issue "AIG bonuses", our federal government has yet to provide any relief to everyday citizens, in a variety of areas..."

Dear friends, At least to me, from "gay marriage" to "global warming" to the latest red herring issue "AIG bonuses", our federal government has yet to provide any relief to everyday citizens, in a variety of areas. Only the big banks and equally large businesses from here to Europe seem to be receiving benefits. Meanwhile, the consistently useless politicians of the US Congress are cashing in on our illusory "tax dollars", by holding "committees" and other such nonsense about making sure "the people's money" is being spent properly. Right.

What a laugh. The same Congress that enabled the impropriety now has imposed punitive taxes on the same people that the former were claiming to be helping by authorizing the "Bailout" in the first place. Worse yet, at least some of these people who received bonuses are not even in this country. Moreover, what will "giving back the money", which is 165 million dollars out of a “Bailout" package of almost 800 billion dollars, do for the current economic shortfalls of Americans?

The fact of the matter is: none of the "Bailout" money has any genuine "value" anyway. That is, through unconscionable maneuvering that makes Bernie Madoff look like a petty thief, the president. Congress, and the Federal Reserve Bank, like gangsters in a cellar, are simply printing up more and more money and giving facilitating more and more credit to big banks and companies.

And so, , for example, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said about one aspect of the "Bailout", called the Supplier Support Program, "...will help stabilize a critical component of the American auto industry during the difficult period of restructuring the lies ahead...The program will provide supply companies with much-needed access to liquidity to assist them in meeting payrolls and covering their expenses, while giving the domestic auto companies reliable access to the parts they need."

In other words, the "Bailout" money is simply more finance capital (please peruse my post called "The Federal Bailout - a panoply of illusions", re-posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009). Allowing banks to control the flow of capital of businesses will, inevitably, lead us right back to the present situation. Businesses must perform. Otherwise, let them go out of business! That is the way that it works for ordinary (i.e., smaller) businesses, after all.

Still, it is no accident that former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who was Bush's guy and Geithner both have intimate connections with Goldman Sachs, a recipient of "Bailout" dollars. So why is Goldman Sachs not being asked to return their "Bailout" money, in what is so obviously a conflict of interests? Meanwhile, the other day, Bloomberg.com reported, "March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the largest U.S. securities firm to convert to a bank, closed above $100 in New York trading for the first time since Oct. 24 as investors gained confidence the company will become profitable. "

Finally, we are being told that American taxpayers own 80% of AIG? They also told us about Santa Claus. It is only military might that matters. Everything else is hogwash. That answers the question from my dear friend in the previous post.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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More from Black Doctor Website

10 Best Fitness Tips For The Summer


Dear friends,

On the link below are some tips for the upcoming summer season, from a great
newsletter.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirt,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.blackdoctor.org/articles.aspx?counter=26133
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Elmer Smith on Madoff versus Ali Baba and the rest (originally posted 1/28/09)

"It's hard to gauge another man's needs. But after the first $30 billion or $40 billion, you'd think he could push back from the table..."

Dear friends,

There has been much fanfare, deservedly so, about Bernie Madoff, a person who is accused of bilking investors out of some $50 billion. On the link below, the incomparable Elmer Smith of the Philadelphia Daily News articulates this whole affair, as only he does. Enjoy!!!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090116_Elmer_Smith__Madoff_deserves_respect_-_from_other_inmates_serving_life_terms.html
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MWS Journal -- Godfathers of Gangster Rap by Melvin Smith

"The argument is that titles like Get Rich or Die Trying will sell, but uplifting songs won’t. If that is so, why aren’t Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson broke?" - Rev. Barbara Reynolds

Dear friends,

The short, but brilliant, letter below was "copied" to me via e-mail by a comrade-in-the-struggle, as it were. His name is Melvin Smith. He is a serious brother with a long history in our centuries-old movement for equality, dignity, and justice. He has given me permission to share the letter with you.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
************************************
MWS Journal
22-Feb-2009

This is the comment that I tried, unsuccessfully, to post [inserted below] at the Seattle Medium (a part of Black Press USA network). Follow this link to the article in question: “Black Leaders Silent As Black Rappers Create Environ Of Death And Abuse”by Rev. Barbara Reynolds, NNPA Columnist, originally posted 2/19/2009

My comment:

This commentary by Barbara Reynolds, as usual, is a model of integrity and courage. I am inspired by her continued presence and unrelenting struggle in the increasingly compromised currents of American journalism.

Some apologists for the American status quo and some presumed defenders of African American dignity will probably claim her remarks here to be old hat and merely a rehashing of Bill Cosby's widely noted complaints about lifestyles of the Black poor, but the substance of Reynolds' charge is far deeper and greater. She reveals the core of the problem and blames "white" power appropriately, whereas Cosby (in his earliest tirades, at least) denied and ignored that aspect of our problem.

While the destructive effects of a sordid but "successful" rap music scene are evident nationwide, the toll is increasing internationally as well. Ms. Reynolds correctly identifies the underside of cultural imperialism in a nation founded and guided by "white" supremacy/privilege. Our attitude and active response to this particular form of attack should be to resist and repell it now. The bottom line is Black people's survival and redevelopment on this planet.


--MWS (aka Melmanjaro)
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"Auto" Bailouts ignore the inner powers of working people (originally posted 12/17/08)

Instead of camping out on the Hill, maybe Messrs. Chrysler, Ford and GM should seek advice from some of the women at Home Care Associates, who have found a way to bail themselves out while also investing in themselves. ..

Dear friends,

The story on the link below is an absolutely beautiful one - in all ways. It was penned by Annette John-Hall of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her work has graced this blog on several occasions. Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/annette_john-hall/20081207_Annette_John-Hall__While_helping_others__investing_in_themselves.html?adString=inq.news/annette_john-hall;!category=annette_john-hall;&randomOrd=121208084221
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Should "Global warming"and "Gay marriage"be real concerns?

"More than 70 kids and their parents filed a class-action lawsuit today against two Luzerne County judges who detained thousands of teens in juvenile detention centers from which they received more than $2 million in payments. "

Dear friends,

Please look at the two links below. President Obama and his colleagues may be missing the point. That is, at least to me, it seems that there are larger concerns about what is going on in this nation other than getting money to (i.e., subsidizing) big banks and corporations under what is euphemistically called the "Federal Stimulus Plan".

G. Djata Bumpus

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/40353522.html


http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090310_Former_Bucks_prosecutor_sentenced_for_corrupting_teens.html
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About Chris Brown and Domestic Violence, from a boxer's perspective

“If someone loves you, then the only response that s/he has when angry with you is to simply cut off communication. In other words, s/he does not speak either to or with you. The thought of violence from either side, is never an issue... if someone initiates violence towards you, regardless of their relationship to you, whatever you thought your relationship was, you were wrong – and you better make that person be the one who screams for the cops.”

Dear friends,

Back in the Fall of 1997, I attended a conference at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, that was focused on the effects of the, at the time, newly-legislated welfare reform on domestic violence. In other words, the main concern was: Would women stay in an abusive relationship, since they would no longer be able to get help (welfare) for their children. In order to contribute to the dialogue, I delivered a short paper there that was based upon my experience as a boxer.

The main point of my thesis was, and still is: Batterers are weak men who delude themselves into thinking that they are champion boxers, for a moment, when dealing with females. For instance, when a boxer confronts an opponent, that fighter does not just say to himself or herself, "I'm gonna knock this person out." Rather, s/he is thinking, "All right, I'm gonna move side-to-side, then jab to the belly, and come up and jab to the head." Or, “I’m gonna weave under the jab (of the opponent), then come up and hit him/her with a left hook on the chin.

Boxing is about "controlled fear". Both fighters are aware of their possible defeat, so they come out with their hands up, in order to protect themselves. They never come out with their hands by their sides (i.e., down). It's all about control.

Moreover, as the rounds go on, each fighter is trying to gain control of the space (i.e., the ring), so that the opponent can be more easily controlled. If the fighter is more of a “runner” like, say, Muhammad Ali or his daughter Laila, then, in order to control the space, one must be a slugger or “banger”, like Joe Frazier or his daughter Jackie and “cut off the ring” (i.e., get the person against the ropes), if success is the intention. So, in boxing we say, “You fight a boxer and box a fighter.”.

Otherwise, if not “cut off”, the runner will dance around and dart in and out, landing punches. Either way, each boxer must be patient, in the face of danger, and use a variety of techniques in the attempt to attain control.

Likewise, the man who normally seems like such a nice guy, and who, in fact, seems like the most unlikely person to be a batterer, suddenly, sees himself as a boxer. In other words, in a dispute with a female, he finds himself in a situation where he feels that he can "control" the situation with violence, if nothing else is working. After all, usually, women are not socialized to "hit" much less hit back.

So this normally “nice” guy, suddenly, in his own mind, turns into Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, or Mike Tyson for that matter. Just as the boxer thinks about the next move by saying, “I’m gonna hit the chin with a right cross and come back with a left hook.”, the batterer, either standing, or in the case of Chris Brown sitting with whatever kind of look on the face, says to himself, “If she says that again, I’m gonna knock her upside her head.” In other words, he feels that he is in "control", like a boxer is against an opponent. To be sure, that same guy (batterer) would never think of doing that with another male (unless the guy was half his size and had a docile personality). But at this moment, he is “in control”.

So Chris Brown is a loathsome coward. Can he change? We should hope so. However, he should do that with someone other than Rihanna, the young girl who comes from the land of my grandparents. The fact that he has so quickly resorted to another form of control to “win” her back is both pathetic and sad on Rihanna’s part, but that pitiful fact is also true of all of her male relatives and so-called “friends” who have allowed Brown to be able to walk around without crutches still.

In any case, he should, at least, be tried for “obstruction of justice”, since it is unlikely that she will testify against him now, since he has, deliberately, conned her into keeping him out of the slammer, by getting her to “reconcile”.

Finally, as I teach and have taught each of my students (some 2600 - with over 500 of them female) and have been doing so for a living, since 1988, “If someone loves you, then the only response that s/he has when angry with you is to simply cut off communication. In other words, s/he does not speak either to or with you. The thought of violence from either side, is never an issue. However, if someone initiates violence towards you, regardless of their relationship to you, whatever you thought your relationship was, you were wrong – and you better make that person be the one who screams for the cops.” Dig? That is what I taught my son and both daughters (the youngest has sparred with Jackie Frazier), starting all three - now adults - on each of their second birthdays.

G. Djata Bumpus
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Is the GOP's Michael Steele really a Devil?

Tall and handsome, Steele had a full head of hair back then. He also had a nice singing voice and was light on his feet, as he sang with an evil sneer, "the hopes that were dashed, when the stock market crashed, ha, ha, ha, ha, those were the good old days."






Dear friends,

I am not sure of what I was thinking,. when the Republican Party chose an African American male named Michael Steele to be their point man. I thought that he would be a formidable opponent to the Democratic Party. Yet, at least to me, it seems that, unless he makes a complete turnaround, he is going to be an embarrassment to everyone. After all, upon his recent criticism of Rush Limbaugh, a premier hypocrite, Steele backed down from Loudmouth Limbaugh, after having originally lambasted the fraud.

At any rate, on the link below, a dear friend of mine, Jenice Armstrong of the Philadelphia Daily News, whose work has appeared on this blog, a number of times, has a more personal appreciation for Steele.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20090305_Jenice_Armstrong__New_play_for_GOP_s_Steele.html
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Black Doctor Website

"BlackDoctor.org) -- When the oil in your car is low, the oil light comes one. When there is something wrong with your engine, the engine light comes on. When there is something wrong with your body, a light doesn’t pop on, but your body usually sends out a flare when something has gone amuck..."


Dear friends,

On the link below you wil find an extraoirdinary Website that delivers a free newsletter about health - at least once per week. All adults can benefit from occasionally perusing it.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.blackdoctor.org/articles.aspx?counter=33989
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The GOP has an uphill battle courting African Americans

"Although Lincoln gets credit for freeing the slaves, he was more interested in saving the Union than in making sure African Americans were treated fairly..."


Dear friends,

The recent appointment of Michael Steele, an African American, as chairman of the Republican Party represents the acknowledgement of the fact that the African American vote cannot be taken for granted as it has been by the GOP since the Sixties.

On the link below, in his usual brilliant fashion, veteran columnist George Curry who is now with the Philadelphia Inquirer takes us on an historical tour of the relationship between Blacks and the GOP, from Lincoln until today.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/george_curry/20090219_Beyond_the_Spin__How_the_GOP_lost_blacks.html
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Humor - What if President Obama's familial roots were Nigerian instead of Kenyan?

"We have much reason to be thankful that President Obama is not of Nigerian origin..."





Dear friends,

As my longtime dear friend and brother, Nigerian educator, scholar and author Okey Ndibe has insisted, “Africa has been portrayed as a continent of losers. Who wants to be associated with losers?”.

Consequently, one of the most symbolic victories for those of us who have spent so much of our energies contributing to the struggle, over the past several centuries, to win the minds of African people here in the Diaspora - as well as those on the Mother continent - has been the election of a person to the presidency of the United States of America who has an African name. Many more African Americans will now not be so ashamed of being associated with Africa.

After all, as has been pointed out on this blog in the past, the great Marcus Garvey reminded us that, “"This propaganda of dis-associating Western Negroes from Africa is not a new one. For many years white propagandists have been printing tons of literature to impress scattered Ethiopia, especially that portion within their civilization, with the idea that Africa is a despised place, inhabited by savages, and cannibals, where no civilized human being should go, especially black civilized human beings." (Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey, edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey)

And so the other half of what we call racism - that is, the systematic oppression and exploitation of, particularly African American people in this country – in its historical context, has been what I call programmatic self-hatred. Moreover, this “other half” of racism, that is, self-hatred, unfortunately, is displayed by African Americans in a wide range of situations. For example, it is evident when some of our folks will not acknowledge their African American fellows on the streets (by either looking downwards or turning their heads) - to drive-by shootings in ghettos. As well, through our government- and corporate-controlled media, Black self-hatred is showcased daily through popular “comedy” television shows and movies, along with the equal buffoonery of “Black” plays in theatre houses all across America, all of which provide themes that allow us to either laugh at ourselves, or, in the case of many Black “dramas”, have European American (i.e., white) folks feeling sorry for us.

But racist self-hatred runs through the blood of all non-European peoples these days. That makes sense, since just as in other forms of oppression like sexism, for instance, the oppressed must necessarily internalize their oppression, in order for the injustice to proliferate. Otherwise, the oppressors would have to constantly spend their time killing and engaging in other abuses, in an attempt to get the latter to conform. To be sure, in that kind of scenario, the rulers would be unable to get their victims to do much work, much less make profits for them.

Finally, on the link below is a beautiful and humorous piece from a new online news service called the "Nigerian Village Square". With all of the corruption and internecine warfare that seems to be so endemic to most of the domains of the continent (i.e., Africa), let us hope that those of us in the Diaspora, someday soon, emotionally, spiritually, and practically re-unite with our people on the continent, and embrace Africa’s return to the prosperity She once knew. As well, let us hope that one day the continent will be called the United States of Africa.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirit,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/sheyi-oriade/thank-god-obama-is-not-of-nigerian-o.html

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Swimming in a sea of leaves

"Instead of forcing him from his pedestal, Phelps' recreational use of marijuana will no doubt push the pendulum further along the road to liberalization of pot laws..."

Dear friend,

In light of the decision by law enforcement authorities in South Carolina not to press charges against mega-champion Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, it seems appropriate for me to share the thoughtful piece on the link below that was written by a longtime friend of mine who writes for the Philadelphia Daily News, Jill Porter. Her work has appeared on this blog in the past.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/jill_porter/20090204_Jill_Porter__Phelps_a_toke-ing_of_pot_legalizers__affection.html
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Patty Jackson says, "Go! This is a 'must see' exhibit!" )originally posted 1/15/09)

"Would America have been America without her Negro People?" - Dr. W.E.B. DuBois (1903)


Dear friends,

For the past two weeks, just as she did for ten months prior to the election of President Barack Obama, the legendary WDAS FM radio personality Patty Jackson of Philadelphia has been vigorously inviting folks to learn, understand, and, consequently, appreciate the historical experiences of African American people and how those experiences are enmeshed in the total social fabric of what makes American culture. Through the Tavis Smiley-sponsored touring museum called America I Am, we all can do just that. The exhibit will be housed in Philly through much of the Spring. Therefore, anyone who plans on travelling that way (Philly), over the next five months, can check it out. Please click on the link below to find out more.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://americaiam.org/

PS Please catch Patty on weekdays, from 10am to 3pm, at http://www.wdasfm.com/ Cheers!

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What's up with Etta James calling President Obama's ears big?

"...if Etta James is so caught up on Obama having big ears, then why did she marry a “white" man? To be sure, Bob James has big ears..."

Dear friends,

I normally do not bother with the stupidity of folks in the entertainment industry. However, recently Etta James, a popular singer of old, made a comment about President Obama that should be challenged. She made a disparaging remark about Obama's "big ears".

Actually, Etta James has a nerve, since she married a "white" man named Bob James - a great musician (James is his surname- not hers). The fact of the matter is: Obama's mother was "white". Europeans have larger ears than Africans. That's a physiological fact! The next time you have a chance, look at ANY European American's ears. They are bigger than those of African Americans. Period. It was a natural part of coming from a cold climate that they have large ears (to help deal with the cold). Black folks have small ears compared to "whites".

Moreover, due to the historical “mixing” between Africans and Europeans, there are some African Americans with larger ears than their European American counterparts. Therefore, if Etta James is so caught up on Obama having big ears, then why did she marry a “white" man? To be sure, Bob James has big ears, just as Africans have kinky hair. The kinky hair kept us from getting caught up in the large amounts of vegetation of warm climates.

At any rate, at least to me, Etta James chumped herself off, by saying something so stupid. She hates her Blackness. Beyonce merely represents a mirrored image of Etta's own self-hatred of being Black. That's her problem. Still, I'm proud of Beyonce. It's just unfortunate that neither she, Jay Z, or her parents know much about human physiology or their people.

One Love.,
G. Djata Bumpus
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