Support Traditional African music and the artists who play it !!!

"This is a very credible cause. Please consider."

Dear friends,

One of my siblings just sent me the e-mail below. This is a very credible cause. Please consider.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirit,
G. Djata Bumpus
*******************************************************
Subject: 2009 Guide to Gifts Saving Zimbabwean Musicians' Lives

With 100 children dying EVERY DAY in Zimbabwe, there is not only a humanitarian catastrophe, but also a real danger that, in the struggle to survive, traditional music will not be passed on to the next generation.

Every year at this time, MBIRA suggests gifts that you can order from our non-profit organization, that help to support over 150 Zimbabwean traditional musicians (at the bottom of the economic ladder there), and their large extended families, including the children that hopefully will survive to be the musicians of tomorrow.

If you prefer to make a tax-deductible donation, go to http://www.mbira.org/ and click on the DONATE button, or send a check or money order made out to MBIRA to PO Box 7863,Berkeley, CA 94707-0863, USA.

MBIRA's non-profit sales of traditional music CDs played by over 150 musicians from all over Zimbabwe, and mbiras by 16 Zimbabwean instrument makers, are estimated to help support more than 2000 men, women and children in Zimbabwe...AND are helping to preserve respect for traditional culture and music.

You can make a difference, and enjoy great music, too! When you buy a CD from MBIRA, the musicians on it get a minimum of 12 times more money than if you buy a CD in almost any other physical or online store. Please consider giving great gifts this year, that support Zimbabwean musicians.

Here are our gift suggestions, and thank you for helping us to support Zimbabwean musicians!:

1. "First Mbira Lessons" DVD with video lessons, audio play-along tracks,graphics and text for the new mbira player. Also available with an mbira -http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=dvds

2. Give MBIRA CDs - when we sell even one, it may feed a rural musician'sfamily for 2 weeks. Proceeds go to the musician(s) on the CD.*** A list of CDs on which some or all of the musicians earned less than $100 this year is at the end of this email - ordering these is especially helpful, and they are ALL great recordings, sometimes just have too many people on them for each one to earn much. Try one!

If a CD on the list is one of your favorites already, give a copy to a friend. Consult our gift guide at http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=favorites
Or browse all the CDs and make your own selections after listening to audiosamples at http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=cds To just look at new releases, go to http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=new

3. BOOK/CD "Shona Lessons for Mbira Students" by Patience Chaitezvi athttp://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=books

4. Make a tax-deductible DONATION in someone's name...even a small donation can make a big difference in Zimbabwe. 100% of donations received between now and December 31st will go to the Zimbabwe Musicians Fund (100% of your donation goes to Zimbabwean traditional musicians we have recorded who earned less than $100 this year, including some great musicians we have recorded, but haven't had time to finish making their CDs). Go tohttp://www.mbira.org and click on the DONATE button at the top of the page

5. Mbira player EBONY SCULPTURES by very talented village mbira player andartist, Fradreck Manjengwa. We have both female and male solo mbira players in stock. To order, go to http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=sculpture

6. Copper and brass BANGLES, THUMB PICKS for mbira players, also bubble padded-ziplock BAGS for mbira travel and storage at http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=mbira-accessories (scroll down)

7. Give an MBIRA T-SHIRT - short-sleeved t-shirts, babydoll tees, and hooded SWEATSHIRTs too. Sizes and colors currently available are listed at http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=shirts and ALSO note what color(s) and size(s) you want on your order, please.

8. Give an mbira WORKSHOP (or part payment of one) to a new or continuingmbira student. For example, weekend workshops in various locations, or an 8-day Mbira Camp. For dates and cost of workshops, seehttp://www.mbira.org/events.html In the San Francisco Bay Area, give the gift of mbira lessons, too. Just send a check to MBIRA with details, and wewill send a gift certificate (include name of the recipient and address tosend it to).

9. Mbira INSTRUMENTS - Browse what we have in stock at http://www.mbira.org/catalog.asp?cat=mbiras and we are are expecting MORE mbiras and dezes to arrive about December 1st, so check back if what youwant is out of stock.ORDER ONLINE: Order with a credit card or PayPal account online athttp://www.mbira.org, and we will ship your CDs by first class mail (Priority Mail if order is for 4 or more within the US, and all mbiras go byPriority Mail within the US) the next business day.

ORDER BY PHONE: You may order by phone between 9 am and 7 pm PST (West CoastUS time) by calling 510-548-6053.ORDER BY MAIL: You may also order with a check or money order by mail, and we will ship when we receive it ***please include an order form printed from the website, and include the proper amount for shipping, and tax if you arein California.

ORDER A GIFT: Please send us an additional email if you wish the gift shipped to an address other than your own, as PayPal will not always tell us this when you order online!

BUY IN PERSON: Those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area may also come to Berkeley to make purchases in person at MBIRA house or at the Musicians Fund benefit mbira concert Sat. Dec. 12 at 8 pm , email: erica@mbira.org for directions to either.----------*CDs of Zimbabwean Musicians Who Earned Less Than $50 Each This Year*Solo Nyamaropa Tuning:3406 Alois Mutinhiri (w/hosho)3411 Golden Nhamo 3427 Goliath Rambakudzibwa 3451 Herbert Matema & Kajawu Chingodza (vocals) Duet Nyamaropa Tuning:3409 Vitalis Botsa & Fabian Rujuwa3429 Munwanenzewe & Chasi3452 Kadungure & Mutizwa (2 x dongonda) 3453 Muchapondwa & ChikupoGroup Nyamaropa Tuning: 3404 Muchumi/Hoto/Magaya 3410 Jekanyika Mbira Group 3423 Dzapasi Mbira Group 3424 Mhondoro Mbira Group 3425 Rushanga Mbira Group 3428 Sungano Mbira Group3438 Mhuri yekwaRwizi – The Next Generation3440 Dendera Resango Mbira Group3441 Mhuri yekwaManomano3442 Rwizi Mutoro Mbira Group 3444 Munongedzo Mbira 3449 Mandarendare Mbira Group – Nyamaropa & Dongonda Tunings 3471 Muzanenhamo Mbira GroupGandanga/Mavembe Tuning: 3413 Courage Njenge3420 Murawo Tembedza & Langton Bapiro Dambatsoko Tuning: 3208 Elder Mujuru Mbira Players 1996 3339 Stanley, Norman, Sam and Munyaradzi Mujuru 3439 Dambatsoko Mbira Group 3445 Fradreck & Nyarai ManjengwaOther Tunings & Instruments:3453 Newton Gwara & Chaka Marimba 3265 Rinos Simboti Mukuwurirwa & Tiri Chiongotere – Saungweme TuningCompilations & Intensives: 1100 Vashauri Vol. 1 Great Mbira Singers 3903 Nyama musango – Nyamaropa Tuning3914 Bangidza3911 Shumba yangwasha3928 Nyama musango – Gandanga/Mavembe tuning 3941 Shanje *CDs of Zimbabwean Musicians Who Earned Less Than $100 Each This Year*Solo Nyamaropa Tuning: 3307 Boniface Mutandwa3422 Friday Chamunorwa 3426 Ephraim Musekiwa3432 Daniel Taveshure 3437 Tavengwa Chikupo3442 Albert ZinhumweDuet Nyamaropa Tuning: 3268 Luken Pasipamire & Chris Mhlanga 3455 Gift Mzarabani & Ignatius MutandwaGroup Nyamaropa Tuning: 3015 Mhuri yekwaMuchena 1991Gandanga/Mavembe Tuning: 3062 Ephat Mujuru 19863144 Healing Tape on CD 3433 Madziva & SanyikaDambatsoko Tuning:3454 Nicholas Jemwa & Fungai MujuruOther Tunings & Instruments: 3435 Dzongodza TaonezviNote: at least one musician on each CD earned less than the amount indicated Thanks for your support for Zimbabwean musicians!Happy holidays to all! Erica********************************
Erica Azim MBIRA: the non-profit organization devoted to Shona mbira music of Zimbabwehttp://www.mbira.orgphone (510) 548-6053; fax (510) 548-2454 P.O. Box 7863, Berkeley, CA 94707-0863, USA email: erica@mbira.org
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Dr. Ndibe on Nigeria, in Sickness and in Health

"Leaders who can’t, or won’t, solve problems for other citizens should have no right to run off to better-run countries when their health is ravaged."

Yar’Adua’s luck, Nigeria’s misfortune
By Okey Ndibe

Last week, Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa went out of his way to establish his closeness to Aso Rock resident, Umaru Yar’Adua. With Nigeria gripped by widespread rumors of Mr. Yar’Adua’s death in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, Aondoakaa set out to squelch the whispered falsehood. In a statement, he told Nigerians, in effect, to relax. In Nigerianese, the statement was akin to declaring, “Nothing spoil!”

Aondoakaa wanted Nigerians and – why not – the world as well to know that he’d been on the phone to Yar’Adua, and Umaru was, as one newspaper reported, “hale and hearty”. Well, good for Mr. Yar’Adua, but how about millions of Nigerians who can’t afford to fly abroad for the succor of Saudi or German doctors?

A day after Aondoakaa’s upbeat, “nothing spoil” report, Yar’Adua’s personal physician finally owned up, in a statement released by Segun Adeniyi, that the former Katsina governor has been diagnosed with “acute pericarditis,” described as an inflammation of the covering of the heart.

Nigerian clerics, Christian and Moslem alike, weighed in with prayers for Mr. Yar’Adua’s quick and complete recovery. Moved, no doubt, by Christian and Islamic sense of charity, these ecclesiastical authorities urged adherents of their religions to storm heaven with petitions for Yar’Adua’s physical mending.

I’m not one to argue against praying for any ailing person. In fact, I wish Mr. Yar’Adua nothing less than vibrant, exuberant health. Even so, each time I made to pray for the man, I stumbled. A voice within me kept protesting, “How about the millions of sick Nigerians dying silently, slowly, in excruciating pain in Nigerian hospitals laid waste by the avarice, greed, idiocy of so-called Nigerian leaders?” Since assuming – I’d say usurping – the Nigerian presidency in 2007, has Mr. Yar’Adua taken any significant step to improve the quality of health care in the country?

My answer was there – it was easy – No! There’s no question that many Muslims and Christians heeded their leaders’ entreaties to storm God with petitions for Mr. Yar’Adua’s well being. I hope the Aso Rock resident recovers well enough to answer a simple question: What have you ever done to give ailing Nigerians a praying chance at revamped health?
Mr. Yar’Adua was enthroned on Nigerians on May 29, 2007 – thanks to a combination of Olusegun Obasanjo’s colossal malice, Maurice Iwu’s shameless mischief, and (later) the Supreme Court’s tragic misjudgment. Since his investiture in office, Yar’Adua has made several trips abroad – specifically to Germany and Saudi Arabia – on account of his sickness.

These frequent medical trips have proved costly for Nigerians. Nigeria is in woeful shape, and demands a full-time, energetic and visionary leader to devote himself to the generation and execution of sound policies to rescue the country. Yet, Yar’Adua has been far from focused on Nigeria and its myriad crises. Quite simply, the hardest thing the man does in a typical day, it seems, is to nurse himself to sleep.

In a moment of comical diversion during his “run” for the presidency, Yar’Adua had challenged those doubting his superb physical conditioning to step into an arena and face him in several rounds of squash. That sad attempt at swagger has since earned a spot as one of the theatrical interludes in Obasanjo’s “do-and-die” campaign against a people who had the effrontery to deny him an unconstitutional third term in office. Since his investiture in office in May 2007, Yar’Adua has cut the image less of a swashbuckling squash player than of a man who, on many a day, would be incapable of sitting up to watch one round of squash.

Rumors have swirled in Nigeria that Yar’Adua has cancelled numerous state functions because he was in no shape to sit through them, or to stand up for a few minutes to make a speech. Nigerians wasted billions of naira on an election to choose a leader, and ended up with a man that must rank as one of the costliest liabilities in the history of leadership. Again, Nigerians must be in no hurry to forget that Yar’Adua is a product of vengeance. Even so, Yar’Adua deserves scolding – he’s grown up, after all – for consenting to be a pawn in Obasanjo’s diseased game of vindictiveness. Yar’Adua knew full well that he was a feeble man, that his body could not withstand the sheer physical tax of being a president. For his own sake, for the sake of his family, and in the interest of the Nigerian collectivity, he should have had the courage to tell Obasanjo: “Sorry, but I can’t serve as the instrument with which you whip Nigerians.”

Aondoakaa wants to toast what he alleges to be Yar’Adua’s strong health. It’s fine if Saudi doctors nurse Yar’Adua to health, or even a semblance of it. The trouble is that, in a perverse way, Yar’Adua’s health care translates a health scare for most Nigerians. Let me explain.

The record is that Yar’Adua has been seriously sick for a long time, even spanning the eight years he operated as Katsina governor. Yet, the man didn’t see fit to build and equip one hospital in his state that would cater to other residents facing similar health issues. He was apparently like most Nigerian “leaders,” content to take care of himself – by flying abroad for treatment. It never occurs to these so-called leaders to use their offices to improve the quality of health care in Nigeria and for Nigerians.

Last week, a young man contacted me from Lagos to report his shock at the dismal state of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. “The place is not even fit for pigs to be treated there,” the man said, pleading that I write about the issue.

LUTH is no isolated case. Nigerian hospitals, almost without exception, are a ghastly sight. In the 1970s, Nigeria boasted a number of teaching hospitals that were well equipped and run by some of the best doctors in the world. Today, those teaching hospitals have come to abject ruin, the result of neglect by the country’s cast of misbegotten “leaders.”
Nigerians ought to awaken to the scandal, and resist the rule of men and women who wreck the nation’s health sector and then run abroad for medical care. Has Yar’Adua ever paused to ask himself whether Saudi Arabia has more doctors than Nigeria?

Has it ever occurred to him that Saudi monarchs do not fly to Nigeria when they urgently desire a doctor’s attention? Why then does he – do other “prominent” Nigerians – have a habit of rushing off to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany or elsewhere to worry their doctors? Don’t Nigeria’s rulers realize that a good health care system does not emerge by accident? Instead, that such a system is the product of vision, planning, and seriousness of purpose on the part of genuine political leaders in partnership with medical professionals. What is Yar’Adua’s record, even, in paying doctors or equipping existing federal hospitals? Is that record not – bluntly put – wretched?

That’s the kind of conversation Nigerians ought to be having. Those who wish to pray for Yar’Adua’s restoration to health should, by all means, do so. Here’s my own prayer: That Yar’Adua’s luck in Saudi hospitals should not continue to spell misfortune for millions of Nigerians.
On his return to Abuja, Yar’Adua should (as a priority) outline what he intends to do to lift the quality of Nigerian hospitals to Saudi levels. If he can’t come up with a plan, then Nigerians ought to insist that he should head for a Nigerian hospital when next he needs to see a doctor. That way, he would gain first-hand experience of the grim reality at Nigerian hospitals – and a deserved taste of the desperate fate facing most Nigerians who suffer from common and severe ailments.

Leaders who can’t, or won’t, solve problems for other citizens should have no right to run off to better-run countries when their health is ravaged.
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Jenice Armstrong provides a real review of "Precious"

"...unfortunately, for the most part, both African American actors and directors still make plays, tv series, and movies that allow us to either go laugh at ourselves or make 'white' folks feel sorry for us." - G. Djata Bumpus



Dear friends,

Rarely have I seen a movie review that was very honest. This one is. Moreover, the piece on the link below by the award-winning journalist Jen Armstrong, of the Philadelphia Daily News, proves the well-known fact that, unfortunately, for the most part, both African American actors and directors still make plays, tv series, and movies that allow us to either go laugh at ourselves or make 'white' folks feel sorry for us. What a drag!

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/73292207.html
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Has the US Government, along with Multinational Corporations from the US, pulled a Hit and Run Money Grab on both US and Iraqi Citizens?

"...all of the money made by various banks and corporations like Dick Cheney's Halliburton, along with several other multinational companies, as they looted the coffers of our country with the excuse of 're-building Iraq'."

Dear friends,

After lying by claiming that there were "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq, so they could have an excuse to invade a sovereign nation, the US government and its allies in the business community, unable to hoodwink most of the American public any longer, face a real dilemma. It is: all of the money made by various banks and corporations like Dick Cheney's Halliburton, along with several other multinational companies, looted the coffers of our country with the excuse of "re-building Iraq". Now, according to the article, on the link below, from the New York Times, apparently, the crooks here-to-mentioned are leaving behind hospitals, schools, and other facilities to a people who do not possess the wherewithal to use this conglomeration of new Iraqi institutions. Will the US Government now have to get American as well as workers from other countries to fill the void? Go figure.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/world/middleeast/21reconstruct.html?_r=2&hp
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Sandy Banks - her artistic side may remind other professional women to reflect that way

"When I sat down to write this column, I reached reflexively for a stereotype. A trendy artists' enclave. In Inglewood? How odd."

Dear friends,

This is a splendid and important piece on the link below, by Sandy Banks, a very special columnist for the Los Angeles Times and someone whose work we get to appreciate on this blog occasionally. Please enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks21-2009nov21,0,2335042.column

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Dr. Ndibe on "A parable of four men"

"Last week, four Nigerian men made the headlines for different reasons. The four men, and their various stories and fates, served to underscore the state of the Nigerian nation."




"A parable of four men"

by Okey Ndibe

Last week, four Nigerian men made the headlines for different reasons. The four men, and their various stories and fates, served to underscore the state of the Nigerian nation.

There was the death in London of Samuel Ejikeme Okoye, a renaissance man and extraordinary scientist whose credentials, broad research interests and excellent record as a professor on three continents justly earned him a description as one of Africa’s top scientists. Professor Okoye died in London on Wednesday, November 18 – after many years of battling renal disease.

Born on July 26, 1939, Okoye earned a B.Sc (First Class) in Physics in 1962 from the University of Ibadan, then an affiliate of the University of London. He then won a worldwide competition for a Carnegie Foundation fellowship that enabled him to undertake doctoral studies in Astrophysics at Cambridge University, England. He became the first black African to obtain a PhD in the field of Radio Astronomy.
I learned of Okoye’s death on Thursday, November 19, a day after his transition. The sad news colored the rest of my week. Even so, my deep sorrow at the passage of this remarkable man was also mixed with a sense of buoyant pride in having known him personally.

Over the last ten years that I have written a column for one Nigerian newspaper or another, Okoye was one of my most dependable encouragers. He would often call me after reading one of my essays to offer commendation, as well as the occasional criticism, in that soft, but morally powerful, voice of his. Other times, he’d send an email to urge me to pursue my forthright denunciation of depraved behavior by men and women who misname themselves leaders.

Part of my great pride in the late scholar arose from stories I had heard – years before ever meeting him – about his rare intellectual gifts and accomplishments. Born in Amawbia, my hometown, Okoye became my most intimate portrait of an intellectual legend. I recall occasions when my parents, or some uncle or other elder, would refer to Okoye as “a first class brain.” In my child’s imagination, I always wondered what the inside of such a brain might look like.

Years later, talking regularly with Okoye, I came to grasp his special qualities. I realized that those who spoke grandly of him were not mistaken in the least. In numerous conversations with him, I was struck by his soft-spoken mien. He projected the quiet confidence of a man of intellectual depth and sound moral convictions. His brand of self-possessed restraint is absent in our empty men and women easily drawn to vulgar self-dramatization and ignoble obsession with materialism.

During a visit to London in August, I made a point of visiting Okoye at home. Here was a man who was a giant in his field, a man who had excelled as a professor in Nigeria, the U.S., and the Netherlands, but he was the portrait of contentment in a modest flat, a home shorn of frippery or gaudy décor. His long battle with kidney disease had left a toll on his physique, but his mind remained agile and encyclopedic. For two hours or so, we sipped tea and discussed Nigeria and other issues. Whilst science was his primary constituency, he exuded a deep passion for life and an undying hope that Nigeria would – sooner, he prayed, than later – arise from its moribund state and realize its true promise.

He was convinced that a proper grounding in science is indispensable to the task of national recuperation. This conviction led him, five years ago, to approach the editors of The Guardian with a proposal to write a science column for the paper. On numerous visits to Nigeria, I heard from readers and journalists who benefited immensely from Okoye’s science journalism.

There were, I think, two reasons the huge number of readers who followed his science essays. First, he had this rare ability to choose science issues that were bound to excite broad interest and curiosity. Second, for readers who, like me, who dread the arcane and abstract jargon of science, Okoye proved the perfect guide. Years ago, Professor Chinua Achebe reminded some lecturers at the University of Lagos that the best experts in any field are not necessarily those versed in professional jargon. For Achebe, the true greats are those whose mastery of their subjects enables them to convey complex ideas in accessible language. Achebe cited the example of Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician and elegant essayist, to buttress his point. Professor Okoye had something of that genius, a flair for transmitting baffling scientific ideas in a language digestible by many lay readers. A distinguished scientist, he also wrote crystalline prose.

Here’s one anecdote that serves as a gauge of Okoye’s stature. As a graduate student at Cambridge doing research work in radio astronomy, he played a key role in research work that earned his supervisor, Dr. Tony Hewish, the 1974 Nobel Prize in physics. In his Nobel acceptance speech, Professor Hewish acknowledged Okoye’s collaboration in the research that led to the discovery of the neutron star. Said Hewish: “The first really unusual source to be uncovered by this method turned up in 1965 when, with my student Okoye, I was studying radio emission from the Crab Nebula. We found a prominent scintillating component within the nebula which was far too small to be explained by conventional synchrotron radiation, and we suggested that this might be the remains of the original star which had exploded and which still showed activity in the form of flare-type radio emission. This source later turned out to be none other than the famous Crab Nebula pulsar.”

Before one goes – painfully – from Okoye to a mention of the other three men, I must apologize in advance for mentioning a truly great man in the same breath as three knaves, villains and mediocrities.

Last week, a Swiss court found Abba Abacha, youngest son of the late dictator, Sani Abacha, guilty of laundering $350 million. The court stripped the thief of this cash, stolen from Nigeria in the days his puny father held the nation hostage. The late Abacha, and now his son, illustrate deep moral sickness. It is sad to encounter two men, father and son, whose lives were ruled by greed on a deranged scale. Today, the name Abacha has become a despised franchise for corruption and misrule.

Then there were stories that one university, in Anambra State, was conferring an honorary doctorate on Mr. Andy Uba, and another, in Edo State, had invited former Governor James Ibori to give a “Founders Day” lecture on Monday, November 23. The question is: what kind of blight has seized the administrators and trustees of both universities?

A university is supposed to be a place for learning, inquiry, and the formation of men and women of sound moral insight. Seen in this light, the two universities – Nnamdi Azikiwe and the University of Benin – have betrayed their mission and besmirched their reputation. They belittled themselves by opting to hop into bed with morally emaciated men.

Uba, an aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is understandably desperate for an honorary doctorate. Even though he doesn’t have an earned bachelor’s degree, he long passed himself off as a PhD holder. A man who must answer, sooner or later, for the legendary wealth he accumulated during the Obasanjo years, Uba can’t wait to suit up in the borrowed (and ill-fitting) toga of “doctor.” Did the university find Uba worthy of an honorary degree because the man did such an excellent job of lying about his credentials? Is it because Uba (reportedly) donated a building to the university? Why were the administrators blind to the fact that Uba can hardly explain the source of his wealth? At any rate, no university worth its mettle would exchange an honorary degree for a gift. It’s simply deplorable.

How about Ibori, a man twice convicted in London in the early 1990s, before he found his way back to Nigeria to soil the office of governor in Delta. As I write, he’s facing prosecution for allegedly pilfering billions of naira during his eight-year run as governor (even though there were speculations that his friends acquittal had been arranged).

Professor Okoye knew who he was, and his numerous students and admirers will long treasure his legacy and the values he stood for. Unlike the Abachas, Professor Okoye could account for what he owned. Unlike Uba – who can’t tell anybody how he struck it rich, or where he went to school, or the names of some of his professors and fellow students – Professor Okoye’s academic record is open to public verification. Unlike Ibori, Professor Okoye could boast that he never trembled when a London Metropolitan police officer walked past.

It’s a symptom of our national collapse that university administrators would hold up Uba and Ibori as role models. Those who bestow laurels on unworthy men should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Thank God for the likes of Professor Okoye who prove that greatness, especially true moral greatness, is its own reward.
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Response to "El Presidente and Afghanistan" piece from a friend

"Obama should disengage from Afghanistan. Why are we there? Where is Osama?..."


Greg Wright

Dear friends,

It's a little self-serving :-), but below you'll find an e-mail that was sent to me by a buddy, regarding the post called "El presidente and Afghanistan".

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
*************************************
Djata,

That was a very thoughtful blog post sir. I liked that very much. Bush got us into so much of a mess there -- he should have concentrated on Afghanistan-Pakistani border where Osama likely was but noooo he had to add Iraq to the mix.

I was a reporter and covered several funerals at Arlington. Every funeral you cover affects you deeply, especially when the soldier is fresh out of high school. A lot are just babies. Obama should disengage from Afghanistan. Why are we there? Where is Osama? Bush could have sent in smaller tactical forces to hunt him down. Instead he waged a war. Isn't that like using a jackhammer to do surgery instead of a scalpel.

Greg Wright

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National Black Theatre event on Saturday - November 21st - "Sound" A Communciations Workshop

"Do you have orginal music, lyrics, spoken word and you want guidance/feedback & exposure?? "










SAVE THESE DATES!!!!!!!!!!!! Exciting learning opportunities available, NOW!

* Saturday - November 21st "Sound" A Communciations Workshop

* Friday - December 4th Symposium

WEBSITE LINK
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black

2010 - COMING ATTRACTION
TEER: The Technology of Soul
(TTS) 2010

Created by
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer TTS is designed to give you the opportunity to create mastery in your ability to communicate effortlessly, fearlessly, spontaneously and powerfully. TTS is an innovative and unique methodology that was developed from the concept of God conscious art. It is an indigenous approach to the performing arts. It pushes the boundaries of traditional western theater concepts and fills the lives of both artist and audience with a healing experience that celebrates the joy and oneness of being human. It has the creative potential of transforming western theater into a celebration of life.

The promises of the course are:
* Confidence in your ability to perform in any environment
* Boldness and a charismatic presentation
* Inner peace and an increased level of productivity
* Freedom to express and produce your total creativity

Look out for our email announcing the TTS workshop exact dates.

LOCATION:

2031 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10035
BETWEEN 125TH AND 126TH STREETS

UPCOMING COMMUNICATIONS ARTS PROGRAM (CAP) EVENTS

Artist Showcase

Friday - November 13, 2009 8pm-11pm

Suggested Donation: $10.00

On this special evening, opportunities are available for musicians, singers, dancers and spoken word artists to present original material.

• A core group of musicians consisting of a keyboard player, guitarist, bassist and drummer are available to play your original music.

• The evening is limited to 10 artists presenting for 10 minutes.

• To be considered email a copy of the material that you are interested in presenting in an mp3.

• This is a chance for you to present your work to the world and get feedback. Be a part of this unique experience of discovering new untapped talent as an audience member.

Please submit your material to BERTTHEPRODUCER@GMAIL.COM


"SOUND"

A Communication Workshop

Saturday November 21, 2009 4:00pm

Fee: $40.00

The workshop will be facilitated by producer, songwriter, musician and sound engineer, Bert Price and critically acclaimed recording artist Bemshi.

Mr. Price has worked over the years with Imajin, Ryan Toby, Donald Faison, Alicia Keys, Debra Cox, Toshi Kubota, Hikaru Utada, Antonique Smith, Kid Creole, J. Phoenix, Tony Royster Jr., Gordon Chambers, Namie Amoura, Rumiko, B2K, Morgan Heritage, 4-Kast, Sean Stockman, Nate Morris, Allyson Williams, Mark Middleton, Denroy Morgan, Bernard Wright, Bemshi, Amount Boyz, Hi Five, Jade, Intro, Roberta Flack, The Barrio Boyz, Devante Swing, Skyy, Teddy Riley, Johnny Kemp, Blue Magic, Force MDs, Eric Gable, Ray Goodman and Brown, The Manhattans and Friends of Distinction.

Bemshi, grew up around music masters like Dizzy Gillespie before appearing all over the world performing her music and working with many of our greats... from Abbey Lincoln, to LL Cool J, to Sting, to Salif Keita. As an experienced sound practitioner, Bemshi will show how sound and music balances your Chakras and can clear obstacles and fears blocking your path to your true voice... and your successful life! This workshop will explore questions such as "what is sound?" You will learn about resonance frequency and the healing properties of music and voice intonations.

SYMPOSIUM

Friday December 4, 2009

7:00pm

Fee: $10.00

The Communications Arts Program (CAP) along with the Theatre Arts Program (TAP) and the Entrepreneurial Arts Program (EAP) form the cornerstone programs of Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre's Institute of Action Arts. CAP presents a series of lectures, workshops and conversations that provide an opportunity for artists and community members to address concerns of dignity, cultural identity, leadership and trust. The CAP SYMPOSIUM is designed to integrate the arts and cultural activism. Intended for diverse multigenerational participation it engages audience members in thought-provoking and soul-stirring discussions. The symposiums are an opportunity for the community to have intimate dialogue with "movers and shakers" in the area of entertainment, politics, social, financial and cultural concerns. Past guests have included Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Alicia Keys and Avery Brooks.

Acknowledgements
This program is funded in part by Council Member Inez E. Dickens, 9th C.D., Speaker Christine Quinn and the New York City Council, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and your individual contributions.


National Black Theatre 2031 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK NY 10035

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Philly's Black firefighters file lawsuit

"In 'post-racial' America, apparently, Black firefighters in Philly are not feeling the new inclusiveness..."

Dear friends,

In "post-racial" America, apparently, Black firefighters in Philly are not feeling the new inclusiveness. Please click on the link below.

One Love,

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20091113_Black_firefighters_sue_their_union.html
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The US Government loves Corrupt officials, if they have "Oil"

"Several times a year, Teodoro Nguema Obiang arrives at the doorstep of the United States from his home in Equatorial Guinea, on his way to his $35 million estate in Malibu, Calif., his fleet of luxury cars, his speedboats and private jet. And he is always let into the country..."

Dear friends,

From the brother of Afghan President Karzai to certain African politicians and businesspeople, laws become inconsequential, if there is business to be had between the former and the US government. On the link below, from the New York Times, such a situation is revealed.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17visa.html?_r=1&hp
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A Judicial Victory for the People of Anambra - and Nigeria

"Last Friday’s verdict against Uba no doubt dismayed those who profit from corruption and iniquity, the shameless men and women who thrive in the culture of impunity. But the verdict, above all, buoyed the vast majority of Nigerians who dream, and work, to achieve a Nigeria where sanity reigns..."

"Hope and (some) fear in Anambra"

By Okey Ndibe

Friday, November 13, will be remembered as a day of hope for the people of Anambra State, nay Nigerians. That day, the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal dismissed a misconceived lawsuit by Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba – widely known as Andy Uba – seeking to be foisted, via judicial fiat, as the governor of Anambra. The court’s five justices unanimously refused to grant what Justice Sylvester Nwani Ngwuta aptly described as “judicial blunder.”

Had Uba succeeded – God forbid! – he and his coterie would certainly have assaulted logic and sought to give God a bad name by categorizing their triumph as ordained by divinity. They would have staged a fiesta of carefully orchestrated celebration to leave the impression that Mr. Uba’s ascendancy had popular appeal.

Instead, the justices did not just decide to rain on the parade; they chose to send Mr. Uba’s paid puppeteers and hired jesters home. Ngwuta struck a powerful note when he declared that the effect of obliging Uba’s petition would be “too disastrous to contemplate.” The reason, said the judge, is that the April 14, 2007 election that purportedly elected Uba “was not conducted in accordance with the supreme law of the land.” Therefore, to grant Uba’s prayer to be established in Government House, Awka effective March 17, 2010 (when the tenure of incumbent Governor Peter Obi will run out) would be, in Ngwuta’s pertinent metaphor, to “bury the rights of Anambra State people.”

Beyond the death knell to Uba’s dreams to sneak into power by any means, last Friday’s verdict also held out other judicial, moral and political lessons. The universal spree of celebration that attended the judgment demonstrated Nigerians’ desire to achieve nobility. All too often, I encounter Nigerians who believe that there’s no hope for their country. They insist, for example, that every Nigerian, given the opportunity, would steal or cheat.

This brand of despair is fertilized, one realizes, when too many public officials leave office with wealth they cannot account for – and nobody makes an attempt to investigate, much less prosecute, them. Negative attitudes about Nigeria and Nigerians fester when the electoral commission proclaims clear losers in an election as the winners. Nigerians cannot help thinking the worst of themselves and their fellows when craven or corrupt judges, sitting on electoral tribunals, shamelessly validate beneficiaries of stolen political offices.

There’s nothing worse than a judiciary that is perceived as open to accepting cash inducement in exchange for bizarre or patently illogical verdicts. But last week, we saw a panel of judges who spoke clearly, boldly, and fearlessly. Even better, their pronouncement was in consonance with what the Nigerian public, including lawyers, recognized as the right – if not inevitable – conclusion.

That verdict had an electrifying effect. In Anambra, Enugu and elsewhere in Nigeria, millions of people heaved a sigh of relief. There was widespread boisterous celebration. I got calls from friends, relatives and even total strangers from different parts of the world – Sweden, England, Nigeria. Each caller bore witness to a sense of hope, an expectation of greater things to come.

Let’s be clear: Nigeria has spent close to fifty years slipping into a crisis that is, properly speaking, a profound morass. Nigerians who are under thirty years of age may not know that there was a time when embezzlement or kickback on contract was at the level of five percent. Today’s going rate of embezzlement hovers around eighty percent. Many young Nigerians would not know that there was a time when students were a veritable force for positive change in society, instead of the situation today when student cult groups seek distinction in savagery and self-indulgent debauchery. There was a time when student unionists sought to give a headache to Nigeria’s dictators and traitors, in uniform or agbada. Today, many student unionists merely seek a seat at the dinner tables of “thieftains.”

My point is this: it will take a while to rescue the country from the mire of social and political dysfunction and economic stagnation. The Nigerian judiciary exists within the same disordered space in which moral and ethical considerations are besieged, even often erased. The same system that enabled Andy Uba to accumulate inexplicable wealth after eight years in a fairly low-level political post has given birth to magistrates and judges who sell their bench.

Even so, Nigeria cannot – should not – be reduced to its lowliest elements. It is, we must remember, a nation of intelligent, sagacious and morally exemplary heroes, living and dead. Far from being only the country of crude, venal and grasping parasites, Nigeria also boasts many proud and productive people in all fields – from the mechanic to the medical scientist – who do the right thing daily and expect the best from themselves and their fellows.

Last Friday’s verdict against Uba no doubt dismayed those who profit from corruption and iniquity, the shameless men and women who thrive in the culture of impunity. But the verdict, above all, buoyed the vast majority of Nigerians who dream, and work, to achieve a Nigeria where sanity reigns, where all citizens are deemed and treated as equal, where no occupant of a political post may help himself to the public treasury and then get away with it.

Uba’s defeat translates into the legal and political burial of part of Obasanjo’s reprehensible legacy. I predict that, in time, Nigerians will demand that Mr. Obasanjo be compelled to answer for the manifold crimes committed during the eight years he occupied (and tainted) the office of President of Nigeria.

Many of those crimes were committed against the interests and people of Anambra State. The most egregious was the November 2004 destruction of public property by hoodlums who stormed the state in many trucks. As these hired wreckers went from one government-owned installation to another, setting things on fire, they were escorted – cheered on – by police officers. The bonfire, which was broadcast on Nigerian television, saddled Anambra with a price tag estimated at N30 billion.

Obasanjo was not bothered a bit – as if Anambra were not part of the space he swore on the constitution to govern. He never saw fit to issue a query to the then Anambra Commissioner of Police. This nonchalance led many to suspect that the mayhem had the tacit blessing of a president who desperately wanted an occasion to declare a state of emergency in order to remove then Governor Chris Ngige. The ruling party had imposed Ngige as governor. But when the man balked at orders to hand over the state’s treasury to the president’s closest friends, his erstwhile sponsors came up with depraved plots to remove him. But the battle against Ngige soon became a war on the assets of Anambra. The campaign essayed to remake Anambra into a state of anarchy.

Anambra has paid a steep price as the theatre of political perfidy. The challenge – now that the Uba specter has been decisively expunged – is to ensure that the state achieves a different, salutary distinction. It would be fitting, then, if the state’s forthcoming governorship election (scheduled for February 6, 2010) sets a standard for transparency and credibility. That would send a clear message that Nigerians want to reclaim their nation and their lives from the hands of mindless, self-serving politicians.

My fear is that, everything considered, this might prove a difficult dream. One good reason for anxiety is that the electoral commission under Maurice Iwu has seemed all-too willing to act less as an impartial umpire than an arm of the PDP. Truth is that, with Iwu running the election, many voters are apt to write it off as another ruined opportunity. There’s little or no prospect of persuading Iwu to step aside. Having survived Obasanjo and Uba, the people of Anambra ought to cultivate the art of political vigilance. They should be on guard against any and all predators and parasites, and use every means to protect their sovereignty.

Okey Ndibe (okeyndibe@gmail.com)
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Sandy Banks on Gang Rape and Violence

"The rape -- and the troubling indifference by student witnesses -- are the product of long-simmering immorality, indulgence and insensitivity."








Dear friends,

The issue of violence against women continues with no mention of the pandemic level of both physical and mental health ills, in both our society and the world at large, that allow this form of violence, the world's most serious problem, to proliferate.

Meanwhile, with all of the talk about violence, it is not uncommon to hear a young girl say, "I like my man with a little thug in him." Is that mentality not a violent one? Of course, that type of nonsense comes from the so-called "hip-hop" music genre (which should not be confused with "rap").

About what is all of this really? For example, one person was quoted as saying, ""We live in a world where too many people try to do whatever they can get away with". But there's something much more pernicious going on here. It is: Because the "market" controls what and how people get whatever it is that they either need or want, then all economic/social relations are based upon power and greed, especially sexual. Greed, of course, is "short-sighted", in as much as greedy people are only concerned with "now" - not the future.

Moreover, there is no sense of "community" anywhere in this country. And so, "economic" violence can be seen when we have a government that spends most of its assets on "bailouts" for big banks and big companies, while millions of citizens go without opportinoties for work, housing, or health care.

In any case, on the link below, one of North America's premier journalists, Sandy Banks of the Los Angeles Times, helps us keep things in perspective, regarding how we analyze horrific incidents like gang rape.

Cheers!.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks7-2009nov07,0,427613.column
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Dr. Ndibe on Anamdra and Andy Uba

"If Uba believes in anything, he’s demonstrated that it’s in the rule of cash. As I have written elsewhere, the man simply doesn’t accept that a man with his stash of cash should take no for an answer."




"The Andy Uba threat"
By Okey Ndibe

All enlightened Nigerians, not just those from Anambra State, ought to be disturbed by Andy Uba’s effort to reduce the Nigerian judiciary to a laughing stock.

In a mere three days, the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal will give its ruling on Uba’s application to be declared Anambra’s “governor-in-waiting.” There’s no question that most Nigerians wish that the court would do the right thing: send Uba away with his absurd fantasies.

Mr. Uba’s hired hands and political apologists argue that the man’s serial expeditions to law courts in pursuit of his illicit governorship dreams prove that he is a staunch believer in the rule of law. Nothing is further from the truth. If Uba believes in anything, he’s demonstrated that it’s in the rule of cash. As I have written elsewhere, the man simply doesn’t accept that a man with his stash of cash should take no for an answer.

A man who respects the rule of law would have recognized that the Supreme Court has the last say as far as legal disputes go in Nigeria. It was the nation’s highest court that dethroned Uba from the Anambra gubernatorial stool. Uba had usurped the office in May 2007, after an election that international observers singled out to illustrate the widespread fraud and perfidy that a shameless electoral commission passed off as an election.

In a report focusing on Uba’s campaign of terror, Human Rights Watch provided gruesome details of the young casualties of Uba’s desperate, do-and-die quest for the governorship.

In ordering Uba’s immediate removal from Government House, the Supreme Court justly chastised Maurice Iwu’s electoral commission for going ahead with an ostensible election in Anambra when the commission knew that incumbent Governor Peter Obi had not served out his tenure.

As judicial verdicts go, the one that banished Uba from office was handed down in plain, clear language. Yet, Uba was either too impervious to get it – or allowed his arrogant disdain for principled people to blind him to the finality of the judgment.

Who’s to blame him? Uba is, after all, one of the most adept graduates of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s brand of statecraft, marked by duplicity, hypocrisy and unseemly wheeling and dealing. So he told himself, poor fellow with more questionable cash than sense, that the justices must be amenable to changing their minds. Twice, he made the trip back to the Supreme Court to persuade its justices to rethink their decision. Twice, they sent him away empty handed.

For any sensible person, the first ruling would have been enough. For most people, a second rejection would have sufficed as a loud and clear message. Even for most of Nigeria’s money-miss-roaders, a third no would have been more than enough.

Not, alas, for Mr. Uba! After the Supreme Court’s last drubbing – complete with a sharp rebuke directed at his lawyers – Uba issued a statement to the effect that he wasn’t prepared to let the apex court have the last say in the matter. Many people laughed off his statement as the hollow boasts of a defeated man.

Lo and behold, this man was not joking after all. His next stop was at the Court of Appeal, armed with a bizarre petition to be declared a governor in hibernation.

Nigerians watched, amazed, as the court agreed to entertain a case they should have tossed away. Last week, as speculations spread that the court was on the verge of obliging Uba, I called several Nigerian lawyers. I asked whether they knew of any sound legal doctrine that could sustain a case to put Uba into an office he knows he didn’t win in 2007, and can’t win in any credible election? Not one of the five lawyers I asked could come up with anything. One of them assured me that Uba’s was a mission impossible, “unless the justices of the Court of Appeal have chosen to play magicians.”

What would it take for Uba to convince the justices to become conjurers of legal magic? What would it take to goad five justices into a ruling that, in the words of another lawyer, would amount to “declaring war on the Supreme Court”?

Governor-in-waiting? The term itself sounds absurd. What manner of legal somersaulting would it take to stretch the Nigerian constitution in order to accommodate an idea so facile, pathetic and comical?

It’s bad enough that Uba is seeking to put the Court of Appeal on a collision course with the Supreme Court. Far more dangerous is the fact that his game – financed with the incredible wealth he reportedly amassed while serving Obasanjo’s domestic needs – is an attempt to trick the judiciary into pursuing a war against Nigerians.

Think about it for a moment. Nigerians – not just the people of Anambra – erupted in a spontaneous spree of celebration when the Supreme Court sacked Uba on June 14, 2007. I recall a telephone call from a man in Kaduna who told me that Uba’s dethronement was a victory for all Nigerians. Why was that event seen in that light? For one, because Uba epitomizes the worst excesses of Obasanjo’s morally decrepit administration.

Uba’s profile is a study in fraud. Though without a first degree, Uba has been parading himself in Nigeria as the holder of a doctorate. He was a struggling businessman in California before Obasanjo invited him to join his administration on a lowly capacity. Yet, after eight years with Obasanjo, Uba is now widely believed to be one of the wealthiest Nigerians. How did he make all that money?

That’s one question Nigerians, including judges, ought to be asking. The failure to probe the source of Uba’s legendary wealth remains a huge question mark in Nuhu Ribadu’s record as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. If there’s any Nigerian who still doesn’t understand why the culture of mindless corrupt enrichment threatens the body politic, that person should take a hard look at Uba’s career.

Specifically, Nigerians who understand that a principled and fearless judiciary is essential to the germination of a democratic culture ought to worry that one man’s inordinate ambition threatens to put wrinkles on the image of the judiciary. For as far as Uba and his coterie are concerned, his wish (to become Anambra governor) must be the command of the judiciary.

Andy Uba knows – he’s no fool, really – that he’s widely unpopular in Anambra, which explains why he’s scared as hell to present himself as a candidate in a credible election. It’s easier to wheel and deal and have himself smuggled into office.

Uba’s hirelings went on a blitz when former Biafran leader, Mr. Emeka Ojukwu, warned that Uba’s imposition on Anambra could precipitate war. The political prostitutes who censured Ojukwu are so contemptible they deserve no direct response. Whether Ojukwu will lead a war or not is hardly the issue.

On Friday, the justices of the Court of Appeal have a simple choice to make. One hopes that they decide to be faithful to the Nigerian constitution and people, and rebuff any temptation to invite ridicule on the institution they represent.

Those who hover around Uba like vultures ought to advise him that, if he wants to become a governor, he should peel off his mask, explain his pedigree (including the source of his certificates as well as wealth), and stand in an election that counts.


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Fatimah Ali on Cooking for "Cedric the Entertainer"

"He loves great food but these days has to watch what he eats. 'As I mature, broiled foods are better for me,' he told me..."




Dear friends,

On the link below, you will find a healthy - and appetizing - treat from Philadelphia Daily News columnist Fatimah Ali. While we have had the great fortune of consuming her ideas about everything from automakers to Rush Limbaugh on this blog, here she reveals her eclectic skills in a different light. Enjoy!!!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://healthysoutherncomforts.com/2009/10/28/cooking-for-cedric-the-entertainer/
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Dr. Ndibe on Anambra - Part 3

"Uba and Soludo: different symptoms of the same disease?"

By Okey Ndibe

Anambra State is once again on the verge of a tragic political explosion. The state’s political temperature is boiling – dangerously boiling over – all because different factions of the Peoples Democratic Party are determined to seize the state, decidedly by crook, and turn its hijacked resources and assets into playthings for the depraved pleasure of a tiny coterie.

Anambra is primed to become the latest theatre for the ruling party’s wacky notion that elections are a do-or-die affair. That idea was put on display only a few months ago in Ekiti where a re-run governorship contest was turned into a bloody battle royale. The PDP’s cast in Ekiti starred Umaru Yar’Adua, a man who slumbers while Nigeria totters, but who always finds time, somehow, to lead off his party’s political campaigns, often a prelude and cover for mindless rigging. The party’s who’s who contingent in Ekiti also featured Speaker Dimeji Bankole who put apprehensive party faithful at ease by reminding them of their party’s ability to commandeer the military to the purpose of victory. Then, from his gubernatorial perch in Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola telegraphed a message – caught on tape, no less – that he had the wherewithal to supply arms, ammunition and military uniform to enable the party to bludgeon the opposition into submission.

With officials of a credibility-deficient “Independent” National Electoral Commission umpiring the farce of an election, the PDP re-conquered Ekiti. The party’s triumphant officials cynically challenged the shocked and awed opposition to “go back to court.” The Ekiti people were put through the crucibles of the doctrine of do-or-die.

Anambra appears fated for a worse experiment. Here, a party that seems determined to smother the nation’s fledging promise of democracy, has refined its hideous battle-cry into a cruder, bloodier variant best described as do-and-die. The PDP is in the throes of an all-consuming internal war that is a sneak preview of what awaits the people of Anambra who – in keeping with the party’s policy – must be cowed and savaged, their will crushed by all means.

As proof and foretaste of this fierce fight, witness the recent abduction of the eighty-year old father of Charles Chukwuma Soludo, immediate past governor of the Central Bank. Soludo, a PhD in economics and a former professor, betrayed fundamental democratic principles when he offered himself to be smuggled through the backdoor as the party’s governorship candidate.

Anambra is caught in the middle of (at least) a four-pronged assault. There is Soludo, a candidate who opted to cut corners rather than test out his popularity within his own party. There is Chris Uba, a thoroughly uneducated political operative whose mode of operation suggests a younger version of Lamidi Adedibu, the late rustic exponent of amala politics. There is Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba (most often called Andy Uba), Chris’s equally ill-educated elder brother whose political history objectifies the tragedy of Nigerian politics. Then there are the scores of governorship aspirants who shelled out more than N5 million for a shot at the gambling table – to decide who will have the most direct access to the Anambra treasury.

Let’s begin from the last group. That forty-seven men and women paid N5 million merely for the opportunity to seek the party’s governorship ticket says a lot about the parasitic designs of the would-be candidates. In a country where more than seventy percent of the populace lives on little more than a dollar a day, no sane person who made his money legitimately would spend so much on buying what was, in effect, an entry fee into a gambling session. Perhaps, then, a good number of these candidates, if not most, had their eyes set on the price: the billions to be stolen once in office. What stood out, above all, was the preponderance of mediocrities, even outright failures, on the roll of candidates – as if the governance of a state were an all-comer’s affair.

How about Andy Uba, who has fashioned a comical show out of running from one court to another, desperate to secure judicial validation of his fancy that he is a “governor-in-waiting”? Quite simply, any court that humors Uba’s ambition would be complicit in the enthronement of a culture of falsehood, even fraud.

Much of the Nigerian press still addresses Andy Uba with the prefix of Dr, a sad commentary on the loose standards in journalistic practice. Thanks to the investigative enterprise of saharareporters.com, it is now beyond question that Mr. Andy Uba does not hold an earned bachelor’s degree, much less a doctorate. It’s also doubtful that he has an honorary doctorate from an accredited university.

Uba appears to be legendarily wealthy, another curiosity. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whom Uba served for eight years as a domestic aide, once suggested that Uba acquired his wealth as a businessman in the US. That’s a lie. In 2004, Uba got into trouble with US authorities for bringing in $170,000 in cash on a presidential jet while traveling with Obasanjo. Asked to account for the source of the cash, which he had failed to declare to US Customs, Uba said it had come from family sources. Had he been a millionaire before leaving the US in 1999, Uba would easily have recalled that fact to US investigators. In the end, he paid a fine in excess of $26,000 to settle the case.

The prospect of a man like Uba becoming a governor may well be music to Maurice Iwu’s ears, but that’s Mr. Iwu’s kind of fantasy and he’s entitled to it. For the people of Anambra – indeed, for Nigerians as a whole – the contemplation of an Andy Uba governorship is a moral affront. It would amount to telling young people that it’s sound policy to bestow a doctorate on oneself, and to make a spectacle of wealth accumulated through means that are less than transparent.

The most charitable thing to say about Chris Uba is that he and the PDP are a perfect match. For only a party that revels in mischief would elevate Chris Uba to a seat among its board of trustees (but, alas, that body is a collection of people cast in the same mold), or hand him its instruments in Anambra. It’s no wonder that a man who relishes the title of political godfather would wish, yet again, to impose his choice as governorship candidate – and selected governor.

It would be easy to ascribe Chris Uba’s deportment to his lack of education. It would be easy to view Andy Uba as afflicted with the same malady as his younger brother, one he essays to mask by wearing the self-arrogated toga of “Doctor.” But how does one account for the terrible political instincts so far exhibited by Soludo, a verifiably educated man? At this rather inauspicious time, with his tenure at the Central Bank under unflattering review, why did Soludo choose to make a swaggering entry into the political ring? And why has he failed to recognize that his chief sponsor, Tony Anenih, is – politically speaking – toxic?

Soludo’s willingness to receive a ticket that was snatched from other contenders – rather than transparently won – raises disturbing questions. In the end, even though the difference between Soludo and Andy Uba is, in some sense, one between an earned doctorate and a counterfeit one, the former number one banker has hardly exhibited greater enlightenment in politics.
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Angola - Rich country, poor people (originally posted 9/6/08)

"..the nation of Angola has not deteriorated, as of yet, within the same context as its neighbor on the southeastern part of the continent, Zimbabwe..."

Dear friends,

As the United States government and their allies in Europe continue their centuries-old policies against free African peoples and societies, it is refreshing to know that there are still liberated territories that are trying to progress. Albeit issues of corruption remain there, the nation of Angola has not deteriorated, as of yet, within the same context as its neighbor on the southeastern part of the continent, Zimbabwe.

However, there must be industries started, in order for that society to continue moving forward. Selling oil to "foreigners" just will not do. Additionally, tourism and other luxuries for outsiders does nothing to enhance the livelihoods of most Africans, even in places like Kenya that alleges to have a "tourism industry", for example.

In any case, below, is the link to a story about upcoming elections in the former "frontline state" of Angola. The violence that we have seen in other places around the world is not happening there, during election time.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/africa/la-fg-angola5-2008sep05,0,3716188.story
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Important Information about Heart Attacks!!!

"Note: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack..."

Dear friends,

The info below was sent to me by a dear friend the other day via e-mail. Please consider copying then pasting the info to friends and other loved ones.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
********************************

This may prove useful.

Subject: Heart Attack

Bayer is making crystal aspirin to dissolve under the tongue. They work much faster than the tablets.

Why keep aspirin by your bedside?

About Heart Attacks:

There are other symptoms of an heart attack besides the pain on the left arm. One must also be aware of an intense pain on the chin, as well as nausea and lots of sweating, however these symptoms may also occur less frequently.

Note: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack. The majority of people (about 60%) who had a heart attack during their sleep, did not wake up. However, if it occurs, the chest pain may wake you up from your deep sleep.

If that happens, immediately dissolve two aspirins in your mouth and swallow them with a bit of water.

Afterwards: - phone a neighbor or a family member who lives very close by - say "heart attack!" - say that you have taken 2 aspirins.. - take a seat on a chair or sofa near the front door, and wait for their arrival and... ~ Do NOT lie down ~

=======
A Cardiologist has stated that, if each person, after receiving this e-mail, sends it to 10 people, probably one life can be saved!

I have already shared the information- - What about you?

Do forward this message: it may save a friend's life!
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Gil Scott-Heron at BB King's in New York City - Wednesday, Nov. 4th

"THIS WAS SHORT NOTICE FOR ME TOO. HOWEVER, IT"S IMPORTANT!"


November 4, 2009 - BB King Blues Club, NYC
GIL SCOTT-HERON
Produced by Jill Newman Productions
File Under: R&B, Classic R&B, Spoken Word
Doors at 6:00pm, Show at 8:00pmNB: General Admission - First come, first seated$30 adv, $35 at doorVIP Booths available for four to six people; must buy whole boothTix/Booth for four: $200 / Tix/Booth for six: $300

Poet, musician, activist, author, bluesologist. These are all terms that have been used to describe the great Gil Scott-Heron, who more humbly refers to himself simply as a "piano player from Tennessee". Most famous for his era-defining 1970's poem, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Gil Scott-Heron's politically charged material made him a stalwart figure in the 1970's civil rights movement. His lyrical content covered topics like the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be Black revolutionaries and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. Not only a pioneer of blues, jazz and funk, his honesty, matter-of-fact delivery and fearlessness to address important social issues in the face of media criticism made him one of the foremost progenitors of contemporary hip-hop and spoken word.. Expect an incredible new CD in early 2010.

B.B. King Blues Club and Grill is located at 237 West 42nd Street, between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue.

Tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster, online at ticketmaster.com or 212-307-7171.
Tickets can be purchased in person at our box office from 10:30 am to midnight every night.

We are a full-scale restaurant and bar; serving food and drink throughout most of our shows. A $10 food and/or beverage minimum is standard for table seating during all shows. To read our menu, please click here.

Unless otherwise noted, all shows are suitable for all ages and offer general admission seating. Seating for all shows is first come, first seated; we do not take advance table reservation, except where noted as a condition of a VIP ticket. We cannot seat incomplete parties. Standing room for all shows is available at our bar.

For further show information, directions to the venue and for the latest updates visit us at http://www.bbkingblues.com/ or call 212-997-4144 Read full post

Annette John-Hall on a 90 years-old Dance master

"A photo album of past triumphs and glories portrays Sydney King in various dance roles from her long performing career."


Dear friends,

On the link below, annette John-Hall of the Philadelphia Inquirer shares a very informative piece about some of the cultural history of our country.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/annette_john-hall/20091009_Annette_John-Hall__At_90__dance_master_still_en_pointe.html
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A Dream Foreclosed - a short video

"I thought that part of the reason big banks received "bailout" money was to allow them to stop the flood of foreclosures that continue to drown entire communities in America..."

Dear friends,

I thought that part of the reason big banks received "bailout" money was to allow them to stop the flood of foreclosures that continue to drown entire communities in America. On the link below is a short video, from the New York Times online edition, about a tragic story that involves a mother who refuses to lay down and die, in spite of the treacherous odds she is up against.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/10/19/business/economy/20091019_FORECLOSURE_AUDIOSLIDESHOW/index.html?ex=1271822400&en=3356fe32dbb617be&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=BU-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M120-ROS-1009-PH&WT.mc_ev=click#
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Dr. Horace Clarence Boyer - Artist and Educator Extraordinaire (1935 - 2009)

"A truly religious person shares consistently and constantly."



G. Djata Bumpus with Dr. Horace Clarence Boyer at an art exhibit in Amherst, Mass., during September of 2006. The photo was taken by retired UMass professor and former local NAACP chief Reynolds Winslow.

Dear friends,

Just last week, a memorial service was held for Horace Boyer. He was an exceptional man of Religiosity. When I last saw Clarence (he liked to be called by his middle name), we had run into each other at an art show in Amherst (MA). There was an exhibit of a collection of photos and paintings from a group of artists from Mississippi.

When we initially greeted each other, he pressed his finger against his lower neck in order to speak, I knew that that meant he had had a tracheotomy. Cancer had developed in his body. Still, Clarence (he preferred to be called by his middle name) was grateful for life. However, he was frustrated and disappointed that he could no longer sing. Unfortunately, I never saw him again, after that day.

Nevertheless, anyone who even faintly knew Dr. Boyer knew of his dedication to performing and teaching about gospel music. Moreover, he was an accomplished musician through both singing and the piano. He was also a longtime choirmaster and college professor.

Finally, he is not "gone"; rather, he has taken on a different form of existence for all of those he taught, all of those he loved. Moreover, as Clarence proved time after time: A truly religious person shares consistently and constantly.

A biography of him appears on the link below.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirit,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Clarence_Boyer

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Dr. Ndibe on Anambra - Part 1

Anambra State for sale

By Okey Ndibe


Anambra State is about to relive its reputation as a theater of political perfidy. All over the state, there’s an air of great political excitement (on the part of the vultures also known as politicians) and of foreboding and anxiety (on the part of the indigenes whose lives are being turned topsy-turvy.

Quite simply, Anambra State is being put up for sale to the highest bidder. It’s a cruel, tragic sight.

A few weeks ago, the Peoples Democratic Party set the tone for the auctioning off of the state. The PDP, which boasts the largest collection of depraved men and women in the history of party politics in Africa, set the opening bid at N5 million. That’s just the cost of picking up a registration form to vie for the governorship of the state. Why would any man or woman dole out so much cash for the opportunity to seek an opportunity to become governor?

Well, because it’s not, strictly speaking, about governorship. The N5 million entry fee is to participate in a macabre ritual – the selling of a people’s collective resources to a single man or man, or to the lucky winner and his or her coterie of sponsors.

If PDP members were not daylight robbers, they would have rebuked their party for instituting such a scandalous price for the gubernatorial ticket. Indeed, one of the party’s leaders told me over the phone that the point of the high entry fee was “to discourage any Tom, Dick and Harry from aspiring to contest.”

Well, the party misjudged its membership and the lure of a governorship. Instead of deterring aspirants, the high fee served as magnet. The party had, by the exorbitance of the asking price, reminded every Okeke, Okoye and Okafor that there was a lot of lucre to be looted by the person who occupies the Number One position in the state. A lot of party members heard that message, loud and clear. As if to demonstrate their unwholesome goals, more than forty men and women paid the requisite cash to pick up forms.

Where did these bidders come from? What’s the source of their wealth? Does anybody believe that any of these forty-seven men and women earned the cash they paid in a legitimate way? Or, if some godfather picked up the tab, does anybody think any sponsor would advance a loan of N5 million to a candidate for altruistic, public-spirited reasons?

At any rate, is there anybody so naïve as to think that these million naira-candidates are driven by a passion for selfless, visionary service?

Sadly, the PDP is not the lone colony of loonies. If the other political parties were possessed of superior political wisdom, they might have mounted a withering assault on the PDP’s cash-and-carry approach to political office. Instead, the competition chose the role of imitators. Absurdity being infectious in Nigeria, the other political parties quickly priced their own governorship forms at the PDP level – or even higher. Which all means that, whoever is finally selected by Maurice Iwu’s electoral commission, the people of Anambra can count on one outcome: they will be squeezed and screwed.

As I write, there are reports that the PDP’s statewide congresses to elect the party’s candidate degenerated into an exercise in violence and fraud. Thisday reported that the process “was marred by widespread violence, thuggery, rigging and snatching of ballot boxes and election materials in most of the 21 local government areas of the state where the exercise took place.” It added: “Sporadic guns shots were heard in some areas during the exercise.” And then this sobering bit: “the election took place in only about 10 per cent of the 326 electoral wards.”

Make no mistake: the reign of violence and electoral heist within the PDP is a harbinger of what’s to come in the governorship (so-called) election on February 6, 2010. Anambra has been luckless since the dawn of this nascent – more truly, nasty – democracy. From the look of things, the streak of vapid leadership appears assured.

Clement Chinwoke Mbadinuju combined a knack for biblical declamations with a facility for disastrous statecraft. Chris Ngige established a populist tone by divorcing his grubby sponsors, renouncing former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s iniquitous designs, and making a significant push in road construction; even so, he was a usurper. Peter Obi, who won the 2003 election and worked admirably to reclaim his mandate from Ngige, has squandered his good will through hypocrisy and personal aggrandizement. Some powerful interests in the PDP are reportedly paving the way for Charles Chukwuma Soludo, former Governor of the Central Bank, to emerge as the party’s candidate. But Mr. Soludo, by many accounts a brilliant economist, has yet to explain his silence and inaction while insatiable and irresponsible debtors made a run on Nigerian banks. There’s also the disturbing fact that Mr. Soludo keeps the company of Mr. Tony Anenih, a man who exemplifies some of the basest political attributes.
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Dr. Ndibe on Anambra - Part 2

Soludo, the PDP, and impunity

By Okey Ndibe

If the Peoples Democratic Party is Africa’s largest political party, then it is also – by the evidence of its conduct – the largest concentration of anti-democrats on the continent. At each opportunity, the party displays a fundamental hostility to the most basic tenets of democracy.

The latest such demonstration came in the sneaky way the party handpicked Charles Chukwuma Soludo as its candidate in next February’s governorship election in Anambra.

In the beginning, the party invited aspirants to purchase governorship forms for the scandalous sum of N5 million each. It was the party’s clear statement that, should its candidate “capture” Anambra, the victor and his cohorts could proceed to treat the state as a personal fiefdom.

Far from dissuading aspirants, the high entry fee yielded a bazaar of forty-seven bidders. Each candidate knew what was at stake, the size of the loot to be carted away by the eventual winner. Nigeria is, after all, a place where governors can pocket hundreds of millions of naira of public funds each month in the name of “security vote.” Sometime ago, an American student asked me at a lecture to explain the meaning of security vote. I answered that it’s a peculiarly Nigerian invention that empowers public officials to – the oxymoron is apt – “steal legally.”

A party committed to the ideals of democracy would have seen the large field of competitors as offering an excellent opportunity to choose the most acceptable candidate through an open, transparent process. That’s not the PDP’s mode of operation. No sooner did the party’s would-be governors file their forms – accompanied by huge fees – than party chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, began to sell them the idea of adopting one of their number as the “consensus” candidate. Consensus, a staple of the PDP, is an asinine and narrow concept that enables a tiny few of the party’s ample supply of “thieftains” to impose their choice.

It was no surprise that the vast majority of the candidates disdained Mr. Ogbulafor’s prescription. How do you justify collecting N5 million from seekers of an office, and then talking them into relinquishing their dream in the name of a nebulous idea called consensus?

Once it became clear that “consensus” was doomed, top officials of the PDP made the obligatory (seemingly earnest) pledges that the ward congresses to determine their governorship flag bearer would be a model of democratic credibility. The party even composed high-powered committees led by, among others, Speaker Bankole Dimeji and Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan and Gabriel Suswam, to oversee the process. These custodians in turn promised to be unimpeachable shepherds of the party’s internal process for determining a governorship candidate.

All of that high-minded talk was soon silenced by the staccato bursts of gunshots and the dreadful chants of war songs by heavily armed gangs retained by different camps. The people of Anambra had front row seats from which to gaze in bewilderment as the PDP once again remade democracy into a do-or-die affair, a fists-knuckles-and-guns monstrosity.

The signs were there from the outset. Not one of the party’s candidates –not even the supposedly cerebral Soludo – ever bothered to articulate a vision of governance, or to define a program of action to uplift the state if elected. Instead, the candidates went from dropping off their forms straight to recruiting gangsters to establish themselves as “serious stakeholders.”

That this depraved process should ultimately throw up Mr. Soludo as the party’s “default” candidate raises several deeply disturbing questions.

With the PDP so inflexibly resistant to democracy within its own ranks, what then would inspire hope in Anambra that the party would come ready to play by the rules in the governorship election on February 6, 2010? Or is Anambra fated for the Ekiti treatment, the treasonous misuse of military and police personnel and arsenal to ensure victory for the PDP’s candidate?

Governors Uduaghan and Suswam as well as Speaker Dimeji flunked the simple task of conducting successful ward elections in Anambra. How then are Nigerians to be confident that these incompetents can ever remedy the nation’s infrastructural and myriad crises?

Mr. Soludo’s tenure as governor of the Central Bank is undergoing an unofficial review, and his grade is not looking particularly stellar. Still, some say he’s a fine economist. One wonders, though, if he has a sense of history. For he ought to remember that many Nigerians lost their lives in the struggle to achieve democratic governance.

By all accounts, Mr. Soludo was catapulted by a cabal, including Tony Anenih, whose tenure as Minister of Works was a disaster for Nigerians (even if good for Mr. Anenih), and Dahiru Mangal, a rather shadowy friend of Umaru Yar’Adua’s. Mr. Soludo risks becoming one of the poster boys for the anti-democratic bastion that will be swept away sooner or (rather than?) later when Nigerians awake to reassert their democratic will.
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John Baer on Politics 101 conflated with Biology 50

"WE OUGHT to start sending sheep to the Legislature. I know you think we already do, but I mean for real. Hear me out..."

Dear friends,

It is amazing, at least to me, that Americans keep putting inept and uncaring politicians in office, term after term.

On the link below, John Baer of the Philadelphia Daily News makes light of the subject (pun intended).

Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090923_John_Baer__Send_in_the_sheep__put_the_lawmakers_out_to_pasture.html
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Black Church Puts All of Its Assets in Black-owned Bank

"Johnson said that this move represented a desire to contribute to the economic development of the African-American community. He also spoke of the warmth of doing business with a black-owned business.,,"

Dear friends,

On the link below is a beautiful piece by one of the Philadelphia Daily News' standout columnists, Julie Shaw. The story points to one of the ways that African American communities can truly develop ourselves by, through, and for ourselves. ENJOY!!!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20091015_Bright_Hope_Church_puts_all_its_money_in_black-owned_bank.html
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NFL Players Squash Limbaugh

"I am oh so proud of the African American football players who have crushed Limbaugh's attempt to further enrich his evil life through them..."

Dear friends,

Rush Limbaugh get so much air play, because he serves a clear purpose for those who run this country. It is: he is a complete hypocrite and moron who keeps those North Americans who listen to him in a constant state of idiocy. Moreover, I am oh so proud of the African American football players who have crushed Limbaugh's attempt to further enrich his evil life through them, by the former making sure that he did not become an NFL team owner. BTW, please feel free to leave a comment about this issue.

Ove Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Smith on Jails and Lotteries

"of cooperation ...we're starting to see among the states.
We reported yesterday that a half-dozen states have expressed a willingness to ease Pennsylvania's prison overcrowding by housing some of our excess inmates.
Right on the heels of that, we got the announcement that the people who run the Mega Millions game and the ones who put Pennsylvania in the Powerball lottery have agreed to get together so that every state that has lotteries can offer both multistate games..."

Dear friends,

With the "prosperity" of America's Crime Industry comes the successful Gambling Industry. This all, of course, feeds the Pain nad Misery Industry. Therefore, it should be no surprise then that our government has both The Patriot Act and Homeland Security in place. After all, at some point, all of the hostility that the aforementioned industries bring may backfire on those who are in power.

Nevertheless, on the link below, with his usual brilliant insight and analysis, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Elmer Smith helps us to consider the consequences just mentioned.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20091016_Elmer_Smith__Jails_and_lotteries__Sure_thing_for_states.html
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Fatimah Ali, A Good Friend, Shares Some Info About Her Two New Blogs

"Peace and blessings good Brother....‏"




Fatimah Ali




Dear friends,

I received the e-mail below today (10/14/09). It's from a friend who writes for the Philadelphia Daily News, among many other things that she does. In addition her work has appeared on this blog (Djatajabs.com), a number of times.

At any rate, please check out the two blogs that she mentions, as I already have. It's all real exciting! BTW, you may have to copy the link and paste it to your browser, if the link doesn't bring you to the site that's here.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
***************************************
Peace and blessings good Brother....‏
From: Fatimah Ali (fameworksmedia@yahoo.com)
Sent: Wed 10/14/09 11:55 AM
To: Djata Bumpus (djatabumpus@hotmail.com)

it's been a minute since we've communicated. You keep on keeping on. Your blog site is good and you keep many fresh new ideas out here.

I want to tell you about an exciting new blog site, Weareblackwomen.com and my blog there at ‏Healthysoutherncomforts.com, all about food. I wrote about it in one of my DN columns here http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/62519792.html. Would you please you check us out and add us to your blog roll ?

Thanks,
Fatimah Ali
Healthy Southern Comforts

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