axum:



Well thats cause those countries have Tens of Millions of people, Somalia has about a little more than 10 Million people.

yeah because you all left because it's so bad, we get it.

anyway, let's get back to focusing on African unity..

Rafikizolo:


yeah because you all left because it's so bad, we get it.

anyway, let's get back to focusing on African unity..

Even if Somalia had 20 Million people, its a large country and the people are scattered and some are concentrated in main cities.

No such thing as African unity unless your talking bout Bantus unity.

barwaaqo:


Weird in the same sense as eurocentrics combining different african cultures into made up boundaries?

The problem is no one looks at african nations as a 'nations' except for africans themselves. These nations are treated as little more than a free for all. The power you have is minimum you are not free to seek a destiny of your own you can easily be exterminated and nothing could stop it.

Culture is the manifestation of a society's deposit of knowledge that is how we should determine if a culture can be a very worthwhile one.

Maybe, one that can be worthwhile but needs a little tune up to keep it competitive ?

Egypt brought some much needed civilities to human kind all peoples ascent into civilization are thanks to these very diverse group of africans who put many of the best aspects of different african cultures into one. OF course it didn't come easy you had some africans that wanted to eat fufu all day and night, Menes had to slap some sense into those kind of africans.

Further just think about the usa how do you believe usa left the world behind in its dust after world war two, I will tell you they snatched up every italian, german scientist they could find and made them americans. Those scientist that wanted to keep their special german or italian culture were exterminated. Its too bad that their beloved culture could not save them from that, you see it has less to do with respect and more to do with sociocultural evolution.

It is a simple decision to survive and prosper or to not

You make a good point, but the United States of America's ruling class has always been white anglo-saxons who forged their own identity in North America. If Africa were to become a country tomorrow (conflicts aside) there would be no ruling class. What culture would predominate in this new nation? "Nigerians" would be about 1 out of every 4 people in that new nation. Would that automatically mean that Nigerian/broader West African culture would be adopted by everyone else? I know many people in sub-saharan states would riot, so I would hate to imagine the north.

Rafikizolo:


You make a good point, but the United States of America's ruling class has always been white anglo-saxons who forged their own identity in North America. If Africa were to become a country tomorrow (conflicts aside) there would be no ruling class. What culture would predominate in this new nation? "Nigerians" would be about 1 out of every 4 people in that new nation. Would that automatically mean that Nigerian/broader West African culture would be adopted by everyone else? I know many people in sub-saharan states would riot, so I would hate to imagine the north.

the Caucasian north would probably be the ruling class

axum:



So you admit your not Somali, lmao, Stupid troll.

I see no Somali girls dating Bantus.....All I see is Bantus running after Somali women, Asians, Hispanics and running from Bantu women.

Hispanic is not a race

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS58jwxQPFg

barwaaqo:


Thats interesting as a rich people with so many accomplishments you have to ask why again is the community in shambles?

There is a report it reveals African Americans own 1 percent of total wealth in America but themselves are 14 percent? In 1860, 99% of all African America worked for whites, today, 98% of all Africa Americans work for whites.

There seems to be a big social illusion in that community and no institutions being built to reverse the changes needed. If you guys go to church more that will not help, if you go to the local black college you will end up at McDonalds, if you go to your local Al Sharpton you get another empty promise, if work for whites they will keep all the rights, if you march the street they shoot you and get away with it.

Accomplishments should better the community first what good are they for otherwise?

These issues have not come overnight so when is the moment How long

it's the curse of the black African most nations & or areas with a lot of blacks are junk but still black Americans are "better" then every other black group on the planet which is quit sad, the small Caribbean nations are the only majority black nations in the world that have a "high" development index (except Jamaica which is one big ghetto). i world love to see a black nation as nice as France or U.A.E. but by the time that happens i would be old

ababda:


yeah it is a divide btw North Africa and sub saharan Africa, which is sad in a way. One country could have bridge that divide would had been "Sudan" because it has elements of both regions within her populations, and possibly Mauritania as well. So two countries could had been that bridge of the divide. Oh well.

i don't think their could ever be a "unity" between north and south. they are different racially, culturally, & mentally. and lets not forget the whole racial slavery thing which is still going on in Sudan & Mauritania the slaves should take not from Haiti, Zanzibar and other revolts blacks did

TerryCarr:

Hispanic is not a race

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS58jwxQPFg

I didnt use its a race, simply as a group of people, somali isn't a race either. As a matter of fact there is no such thing as a Race, let alone Bantus labeling whoever they want to claim as Black.

Rafikizolo:
Okay, enough. This is the 100th thread that axum has derailed completely. In fact, this discussion has turned into the exact opposite of what this thread is supposed to be about.


We should be discussing how to work towards fostering African unity on this forum. Not in the weird afro-centric sense of combining different African cultures into one identity, but rather to respect each others cultures and nations.


That means, no tribalism, and no xenophobia. It also means realizing that to a large portion of the non-African world, all of our nations are viewed as related (perhaps with he exception of the saharan/sub-saharan divide). Africa as a whole is generally viewed as a continent that has suffered great loss and remains wholly underdeveloped. Thankfully many of our countries are on a steady path of positive development and are constantly appearing as some of the fastest growing economies and the world and the most attractive places for investment.


We need to encourage each other because it doesn't matter how many foreigners are visiting Cape Town and Casablanca right now, our whole continent has an international stigma that we need to encourage each other to overcome. But right now I see a person who comes from the country with the worst international reputation in Africa tearing the rest of us down simply because "Africa means nothing to him. It's just geography. He won't share a continental identity with any land that has black people". Well Axum, even if we bantus are "uncivilized", ugly and trying desperately to emulate the white man, as a whole, we are much, much better off than Somalis both in political reputation, standard of living, and wealth and current global contributions to medicine, science and global arts and culture those are facts. But please keep living in the past if you must, but live in that past somewhere else on the internet. Nairaland is not for you and you are not welcome here. Other, reasonable Somalis are more than welcome, but not you.


We should be doing better than this so here are some positive pictures of cities from the 7 regions of Africa (North,South,East,West,Horn,Central, Islands) to inspire us.

Cairo, Egypt:



Johannesburg, South Africa:

[img]http://static.wixstatic.com/media/13d085_cd078dae920843409d4fc66083a6e708.jpg_srz_940_380_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz[/img]

Nairobi, Kenya:

[img]http://178.62.245.197/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/home-page-slider-02.jpg[/img]

Lagos, Nigeria:



Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:



Port Louis, Mauritius:



Luanda, Angola:

Egypt is a arab country making cairo a arab city

johannesburg is still suffering form post-apartheid and is mainly controlled by whites

Mauritius is still a French Protectorate and the only two people that I met from Mauritius were of a Indian Background.

That being said, I considered Nairobi the best when It came to looks but my experience there wasn't great.

Maakhir:


Egypt is a arab country making cairo a arab city

johannesburg is still suffering form post-apartheid and is mainly controlled by whites

Mauritius is still a French Protectorate and the only two people that I met from Mauritius were of a Indian Background.

That being said, I considered Nairobi the best when It came to looks but my experience there wasn't great.

1. Egypt is Arab in the same way that Equatorial-Guinea is a hispanic country, but they are both African. It just happens that one of them speaks Arabic and has a lot of caucasians of Middle Eastern descent, while the other speaks Spanish and is majority black. This isn't about race, but about representing African cities.

2. Once again, this isn't about who has power anywhere. this is about showing the cities.

3. Yes, the majority of the population of Mauritius is of Indian descent (68%) but this isn't about race. I for one have met several people from Mauritius who were all Indian and I got along well with them and consider them good acquaintances and loved their company. What I also found was that while they considered themselves to be culturally Indian (in the same way, Africans in America consider themselves to be culturally Somali, or Nigerian or Congolese, etc) these friends from Mauritius still considered Africa to be their home. They had lived there their whole lives. This is the same thing I hear from Indians all over Africa, and I've met many from Botswana, South Africa, and Madagascar as well as Mauritius.

4. What is your point about your time spent in Nairobi? You can have a good or bad time anywhere. I've had great times in Johannesburg when I used to live there. I never got robbed inside my house and only got robbed once when my friend was flashing jewelry on the street. Many people I know have been robbed multiple times and sometimes at gunpoint. But I never did and I lived there for 6 years. Let's keep this thread positive. We can turn on the news if we want to see negative views of Africa that badly.

axum:



I didnt use its a race, simply as a group of people, somali isn't a race either. As a matter of fact there is no such thing as a Race, let alone Bantus labeling whoever they want to claim as Black.

there are a lot of Hispanics that are black

Africa is so drifting away from pan africanism.. The more we do.. The more we see ourselves through tribal, religious,and territorial lines

Rafikizolo:


1. Egypt is Arab in the same way that Equatorial-Guinea is a hispanic country, but they are both African. It just happens that one of them speaks Arabic and has a lot of Caucasians of Middle Eastern descent, while the other speaks Spanish and is majority black. This isn't about race, but about representing African cities.

EQ is about as Hispanic as Senegal is french yeah it's there but unlike Egypt, EG people don't speak Spanish as a native tongue like Egypt does Arabic

Most of the population in (Northern)Sudan are black but have become Arabized. They're still black but are what we call "Afro-Arabs". People use the term "Arab" very loosely as if its a race. Arab is a pan-ethnicity and Arabs do not have a homogeneous origin. Egyptians and Maghrebis are not true Arabs in the sense that they are from the Arabian peninsula. Their just an Arabized people.

axum:



Even if Somalia had 20 Million people, its a large tcountry and the people are scattered and some are concentrated in main cities.

No such thing as African unity unless your talking bout Bantus unity.

Yes its called the EAC or SADC and ECOWAS.I don't expect you to grasp such a concept as unity since Somalia, which is a monoethnic society has failed to unite.

I don't want to become the Osama Bin Laden of this thread, but throughout African history there has never been a pan-African unity just as there has never been an Asian pan unity or European for that matter. The closest thing Africa has ever came to a pan unity was the Songhai Empire which united many different ethnicity's of West and North Africa. But other than that Africa has always been too diverse for one.

In my opinion I think a Pan-Africa can only work business wise and militarily wise in what Nigeria is doing right now with other West African nations. A cultural and spiritual is too complex to happen. A pan unity where Africa is together united into a single government... Yeah you throw that idea right out the window.

The only thing we're getting right now is African countries forming unions with countries in their specific region. Nigeria is hoping to do that with West Africa right now.

KidStranglehold:
[b]Most of the population in (Northern)Sudan are black but have become Arabized. [/b]They're still black but are what we call "Afro-Arabs". People use the term "Arab" very loosely as if its a race. Arab is a pan-ethnicity and Arabs do not have a homogeneous origin. Egyptians and Maghrebis are not true Arabs in the sense that they are from the Arabian peninsula. Their just an Arabized people.

more or less. some areas are blacker then other area, the blacker areas (culturally & racially) are hated by the government.

"The more black and African you are, then, the more stigmatized you become. Essential African features become part of this process of stigmatization – thick lips, broad nose, and fuzzy short hair. Other factors are blackness of colour, having an African language, and, lastly, being a non-Muslim. The most stigmatized are those who combine the three factors of physical features, cultural traits and a non-Islamic religious faith, like the majority of Southerners. The Africans of Nuba Mountains and Ingassana come immediately after the Southerners."
https://www.nairaland.com/1862144/arabization-sudan

https://www.nairaland.com/1791741/nuba-peoples-north-sudan-warning

TerryCarr:

more or less. some areas are blacker then other area, the blacker areas (culturally & racially) are hated by the government.

"The more black and African you are, then, the more stigmatized you become. Essential African features become part of this process of stigmatization – thick lips, broad nose, and fuzzy short hair. Other factors are blackness of colour, having an African language, and, lastly, being a non-Muslim. The most stigmatized are those who combine the three factors of physical features, cultural traits and a non-Islamic religious faith, like the majority of Southerners. The Africans of Nuba Mountains and Ingassana come immediately after the Southerners."
https://www.nairaland.com/1862144/arabization-sudan

https://www.nairaland.com/1791741/nuba-peoples-north-sudan-warning

Its ironic because President Bashir himself has what some call "broad" African features! LMAO!!!!

KidStranglehold:


Its ironic because President Bashir himself has what some call "broad" African features! LMAO!!!!

indeed

KidStranglehold:
I don't want to become the Osama Bin Laden of this thread, but throughout African history there has never been a pan-African unity just as there has never been an Asian pan unity or European for that matter. The closest thing Africa has ever came to a pan unity was the Songhai Empire which united many different ethnicity's of West and North Africa. But other than that Africa has always been too diverse for one.

In my opinion I think a Pan-Africa can only work business wise and militarily wise in what Nigeria is doing right now with other West African nations. A cultural and spiritual is too complex to happen. A pan unity where Africa is together united into a single government... Yeah you throw that idea right out the window.

The only thing we're getting right now is African countries forming unions with countries in their specific region. Nigeria is hoping to do that with West Africa right now.

Africa has never been united as one entity, and before colonization, the tribes of Nigeria were never united as one identity, but now they all consider themselves Nigerian, regardless of wether they want to tribalism themselves or not. Same thing with every other African country.

I don't support pan-Africanism because I have some misguided belief that unity and harmony was the original state of all the peoples of Africa. I support pan-Africanism because it's a way for us to take control of our own destiny and create a new powerful identity for ourselves that would demand respect from the globe.

Right now Africa feeds the world, but the world eats without Africa. As individual nations we don't have much economic or political power, even Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest economy isn't even in the top 25 world's largest economies. Just imagine what would happen if all of sub-saharn Africa united under one government and then kept all of it's resources strictly for itself. The world would starve. Africa has enough arable land to grow enough food to feed the entire world's population. What if we used it to grow food just for ourselves, and used our oil and other natural resources just for ourselves and built up our own economies?

Imagine a country bigger than any other in the world with masses of people flooding to the big cities in the West and the South and the East, building them up the way immigrants built up American cities in the 20th centuries. Now imagine a University that collects the brightest minds from all over that massive African country. Imagine the possibilities. Now imagine this nation 20 years after it's birth being a massive economic powerhouse and easily the world's most visited tourist destination.

KidStranglehold:
I don't want to become the Osama Bin Laden of this thread, but throughout African history there has never been a pan-African unity just as there has never been an Asian pan unity or European for that matter. The closest thing Africa has ever came to a pan unity was the Songhai Empire which united many different ethnicity's of West and North Africa. But other than that Africa has always been too diverse for one.

Funny you mention the Songhai as it was the largest state, whether empirical or democratic, to ever exist on the African continent with land that stretched south into the Savannah at Gao and north into the Sahara with cities like Agadez and Magrebin Taghaza. The Great Askia Muhammad established standardized trade measures and regulations, initiated the policing of trade routes and also established an organized tax system. This was to promote cultural hegemony and homogenize the land, and created a new identity among the elite- the "Songhai people" which really at the time wasn't an ethnic identity but could denote many people of many different ethnic groups living among the elite in Songhai, though I'm pretty sure that the Soninke people were the single largest contributor to the "Songhai identity", with the great Askia of Songhai being a soninke himself. Many people in the Songhai empire were "Songhaized" so to speak, but I don't think rulers like Askia were militantly Pan-African or Pan-Songhaist imposing their identity on different people, as they were known for being surprisingly tolerant and liberal of different ethnicities and religions for it's time.

Supper:


Funny you mention the Songhai as it was the largest state, whether empirical or democratic, to ever exist on the African continent with land that stretched south into the Savannah at Gao and north into the Sahara with cities like Agadez and Magrebin Taghaza. The Great Askia Muhammad established standardized trade measures and regulations, initiated the policing of trade routes and also established an organized tax system. This was to promote cultural hegemony and homogenize the land, and created a new identity among the elite- the "Songhai people" which really at the time wasn't an ethnic identity but could denote many people of many different ethnic groups living among the elite in Songhai, though I'm pretty sure that the Soninke people were the single largest contributor to the "Songhai identity", with the great Askia of Songhai being a soninke himself. Many people in the Songhai empire were "Songhaized" so to speak, but I don't think rulers like Askia were militantly Pan-African or Pan-Songhaist imposing their identity on different people, as t[b]hey were known for being surprisingly tolerant and liberal of different ethnicities and religions for it's time.[/b]

probably because Islam in that part of Africa is syncretized with African religions

@Rafikizolo

Good post.

@Supper

I heard Askia was religious muslim. Was he tolerant of non-Muslim? I know Sonni Ali Ber was very hard on Muslims some calling him a tyrant, but Askia was different.

Rafikizolo:


You make a good point, but the United States of America's ruling class has always been white anglo-saxons who forged their own identity in North America. If Africa were to become a country tomorrow (conflicts aside) there would be no ruling class. What culture would predominate in this new nation? "Nigerians" would be about 1 out of every 4 people in that new nation. Would that automatically mean that Nigerian/broader West African culture would be adopted by everyone else? I know many people in sub-saharan states would riot, so I would hate to imagine the north.

What do you mean ruling class the ruling class are us africans who else will rule

It doesn't matter if Nigeria are 1 out 4 or 3 out of 4 the fact is the that entity known as Nigeria has not through its people culture ideas been able to propel africa into a global power.

It was not even designed for that purpose.

No african 'nation' can claim to be so great today, so you see then why would any one be in a rush to adopt any other culture. No culture on the continent has exhibited so much superiority today, it would be a fools game for any single culture to be largely adopted solely based from numbers alone.

Pan africans take the best ingredients and make dishes from them. These new dishes become the preferred dish of those who taste them, their appetite for the old dish with subpar ingredients becomes distasteful. It is amalgamation rather than domination that makes the dish so tasteful.

As for the north I assume they will want to keep eating the same dish but when the bigger kitchen comes to town the dishes will change. At that point they will have to decide if they want to eat the dish or find some safer kitchen back east.

KidStranglehold:
I don't want to become the Osama Bin Laden of this thread, but throughout African history there has never been a pan-African unity just as there has never been an Asian pan unity or European for that matter. The closest thing Africa has ever came to a pan unity was the Songhai Empire which united many different ethnicity's of West and North Africa. But other than that Africa has always been too diverse for one.

In my opinion I think a Pan-Africa can only work business wise and militarily wise in what Nigeria is doing right now with other West African nations. A cultural and spiritual is too complex to happen. A pan unity where Africa is together united into a single government... Yeah you throw that idea right out the window.

The only thing we're getting right now is African countries forming unions with countries in their specific region. Nigeria is hoping to do that with West Africa right now.

If you have not been aware Osama bin laden was killed and thrown to sharks why would you want to be him? There is one old somali proverb 'if the first thing you say from the tongue is false then how can we expect to believe the rest'

How can I expect that a man wants to be killed and thrown to the sharks, unless he is pulling my leg with a lie?

Old egypt was the first civilization a pan african civilization its children stretch from senegal to south africa. The room for debate I am afraid has passed on many years back.

The last time I checked an asian is an asian and an european is an european. Why why why are we concerned with another peoples unity? Did these people build the pyramids? Why must one people concern themselves with a different people when addressing solutions for themselves? This is a mad men philosophy. The european has robbed kidnapped and murdered his way to the top the european has even made his very own continent, again bad bad bad we shouldnt do it.

If old egypt had thought like this then no one would ever attempted to build the pyramids, there would be no bibles or qurans because old egypt would have never attempted to make the paper.

We can't throw anything out the window just yet we have to weigh the pros and cons of such idea. Before menes rode into town the peoples didn't think it was possible to be having the sense slapped into them.

As the story goes we know how that turned out.

barwaaqo:






If you have not been aware Osama bin laden was killed and thrown to sharks why would you want to be him? There is one old somali proverb 'if the first thing you say from the tongue is false then how can we expect to believe the rest'

How can I expect that a man wants to be killed and thrown to the sharks, unless he is pulling my leg with a lie?

Old egypt was the first civilization a pan african civilization its children stretch from senegal to south africa. The room for debate I am afraid has passed on many years back.

The last time I checked an asian is an asian and an european is an european. Why why why are we concerned with another peoples unity? Did these people build the pyramids? Why must one people concern themselves with a different people when addressing solutions for themselves? This is a mad men philosophy. The european has robbed kidnapped and murdered his way to the top the european has even made his very own continent, again bad bad bad we shouldnt do it.

If old egypt had thought like this then no one would ever attempted to build the pyramids, there would be no bibles or qurans because old egypt would have never attempted to make the paper.

We can't throw anything out the window just yet we have to weigh the pros and cons of such idea. Before menes rode into town the peoples didn't think it was possible to be having the sense slapped into them.

As the story goes we know how that turned out.

Um... That was a FIGURE OF SPEECH...

Rafikizolo:


1. Egypt is Arab in the same way that Equatorial-Guinea is a hispanic country, but they are both African. It just happens that one of them speaks Arabic and has a lot of caucasians of Middle Eastern descent, while the other speaks Spanish and is majority black. This isn't about race, but about representing African cities.

2. Once again, this isn't about who has power anywhere. this is about showing the cities.

3. Yes, the majority of the population of Mauritius is of Indian descent (68%) but this isn't about race. I for one have met several people from Mauritius who were all Indian and I got along well with them and consider them good acquaintances and loved their company. What I also found was that while they considered themselves to be culturally Indian (in the same way, Africans in America consider themselves to be culturally Somali, or Nigerian or Congolese, etc) these friends from Mauritius still considered Africa to be their home. They had lived there their whole lives. This is the same thing I hear from Indians all over Africa, and I've met many from Botswana, South Africa, and Madagascar as well as Mauritius.

4. What is your point about your time spent in Nairobi? You can have a good or bad time anywhere. I've had great times in Johannesburg when I used to live there. I never got robbed inside my house and only got robbed once when my friend was flashing jewelry on the street. Many people I know have been robbed multiple times and sometimes at gunpoint. But I never did and I lived there for 6 years. Let's keep this thread positive. We can turn on the news if we want to see negative views of Africa that badly.

Agreed

KidStranglehold:
@Rafikizolo

Good post.

@Supper

I heard Askia was religious muslim. Was he tolerant of non-Muslim? I know Sonni Ali Ber was very hard on Muslims some calling him a tyrant, but Askia was different.

His wiki article paints him as pretty tolerant of faiths.

KidStranglehold:
Most of the population in (Northern)Sudan are black but have become Arabized. They're still black but are what we call "Afro-Arabs". People use the term "Arab" very loosely as if its a race. Arab is a pan-ethnicity and Arabs do not have a homogeneous origin. Egyptians and Maghrebis are not true Arabs in the sense that they are from the Arabian peninsula. Their just an Arabized people.

Not to rain on your parade, what i find ironic sometimes is Afrocentrist. At one moment we are black, and other times we are mixed breed arabs, especially when a large part of the population look similar to these people.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBveQ84hC6A



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x16SYu-uHBo



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkE1kYXohY


It should not be about appearances, i noticed in some sudanese videos, the same tire as racially remarks come from you area of the world. In defining who and what is Nubian. Which is pretty ironic, if you ask me, especially coming from alien who do not have a clue of the culture.

It gets annoying and old after a while, and very predictable. Although i think the Somali poster is wrong with his post, and some respects i can understand where he is coming from about certain issues.

TerryCarr:

i don't think their could ever be a "unity" between north and south. they are different racially, culturally, & mentally. and lets not forget the whole racial slavery thing which is still going on in Sudan & Mauritania the slaves should take not from Haiti, Zanzibar and other revolts blacks did

Actually, i am here now, and i did not see thus far any evidence of a active slave market. The situation in Sudan is very different from the Mauritanian reality. Like anywhere in the world, you have a underground, so Sudan is no differences from other parts of the world.

For example this in the western world

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/19/modern-day-slavery-america-must-fight-epidemic-human-trafficking-here-at-home/

It is not only a third world issues, it is happening in supposedly developed nations to.

ababda:


Not to rain on your parade, what i find ironic sometimes is Afrocentrist. At one moment we are black, and other times we are mixed breed arabs, especially when a large part of the population look similar to these people.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBveQ84hC6A



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x16SYu-uHBo



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkE1kYXohY


It should not be about appearances, i noticed in some sudanese videos, the same tire as racially remarks come from you area of the world. In defining who and what is Nubian. Which is pretty ironic, if you ask me, especially coming from alien who do not have a clue of the culture.

It gets annoying and old after a while, and very predictable. Although i think the Somali poster is wrong with his post, and some respects i can understand where he is coming from about certain issues.

I hope you're not indicating that I'm an "Afrocentric". Because its was Northern Sudanese themselves online who told me that most Sudanese people are black. Most the people in your post besides the first pic would be labeled "black" by Western standards, just saying. I'm not saying Sudanese people SHOULD go by Western standards. Also "Afrocentric" is a general term, I have met "Afrocentrics" who have tried to say Sudanese people are mixed breeds or "Arabs", and those are just people who have been mislead by the Western media to think its Arabs vs Blacks, when its much more complicated than that, when the President of Sudan says this:

DETROIT (FinalCall.com) - The United States and the United Kingdom are themselves causing, and then exaggerating, a “crisis” in the African “Motherland’s” largest and possibly wealthiest country—the Sudan—as it’s now called “Darfur,” the country’s president said directly in a live-interactive satellite video conference Feb. 23 with members of the Nation of Islam and reporters attending the Saviours’ Day 2007 conference at Cobo Conference Center.
The U.S. and British news media have consistently exaggerated the death toll in Darfur, just as the U.S. has consistently changed its definition of what Sudan must do, in order to gain Western approval of its peace efforts, according to Pres. Omar al-Bashir.

“There is a problem, and the main cause of that problem is the rebellion,” said Pres. Bashir during the un-rehearsed, and un-censored conversation, which was also broadcast live on Sudanese state-run television. “We’ve done everything possible to try to convince those who bore arms against the state and the people, but all efforts and mediation failed,” he said.

Western, so-called “experts” say an estimated 200,000 to even 400,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in Darfur since 2003. The true number is closer to 9,000, stated Pres. Bashir.

Pres. Bashir acknowledged that his country is facing a “problem” in Darfur, but he blamed rebel groups that did not sign on to a peace agreement concluded in Abuja, Nigeria in May 2006. Those groups became the focus of media attention, as well as the recipients of aid and arms from outside of the country, he said.

First, there were what the brown-skinned president who would be considered “Black” in the U.S., called “false” charges that his “White, Arab” government enslaved some of its “Black,” African countrymen, and even engaged in rape and genocidal “ethnic cleansing” in order to rob and dominate the country’s Black population in the southern regions of the country. Those charges were proven to be hoaxes by investigative reports.

“Talk of Arabs killing Blacks is a lie,” said Pres. Bashir in what may have been the first inter-active video conference between an African head of state with a Black group in this country. “The government of Sudan is a government of Blacks, with all different ethnic backgrounds,” he continued. “We’re all Africans. We’re all Black.”

The Black “slavery” charges were made to politically bolster the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Liberation Army—the SPLA—in the final months before the conclusion of a 19-year civil war.

With the help of former U.S. Senator John Danforth, a Republican from Missouri, the Islamic government negotiated a peace agreement with the rebels, led by John Garang. The U.S. promised that it would lift economic sanctions against Sudan once the peace treaty was put in force. After concluding a peace agreement in neighboring Nairobi, Kenya, the Sudan is now governed by a “national unity” government, including a Vice President, and several cabinet members from the South.

But then, the Darfur crisis erupted when tribal and cultural differences between nomadic herdsmen and farmers spilled into bloodshed. The U.S. again promised to lift sanctions and a peace agreement was reached last year in Abuja, Nigeria, which included the use of a peace-keeping force of nearly 10,000 troops from the African Union. But the U.S. and British paid more attention to the rebel groups which did not join the Abuja Accord, than it did to those who signed it, said Pres. Bashir.

“There is a problem, and the main cause of that problem is the rebellion,” he said. “We’ve done everything possible to try to convince those who bore arms against the state and the people, but all efforts and mediation failed,” he said.

In response to questions from reporters, Pres. Bashir reiterated his rejection of calls for the deployment of some 22,500 U.N. peacekeepers and police to take over the African Union mission in Darfur, saying it would effectively place Sudan under U.N. control, and he compared the attempt to the U.S. intervention in Iraq.

Nation of Islam Chief of Staff Leonard Farrakhan Muhammad, who extended the invitation to Pres. Bashir, said after the speech it was an important message for the Nation and for others to hear.

[b]“Whatever happens in Africa is the business of Black people,” [/b]he declared. “Don’t you dare suggest this is beyond the business of the Nation of Islam.”

There is no “conspiracy” between the Nation of Islam and the Islamic government in Khartoum, the Sudanese Ambassador to the U.S. told the crowd at Detroit’s Cobo Hall. Any U.S. group can prove the openness and accessibility of the Sudanese government by issuing an invitation to the Sudanese leaders, just as the Nation of Islam had done.

http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/World_News_3/Sudanese_president_answers_questions_on_Darfur_3474.shtml


As we the situation is much more complex than Arab vs Black, those "Afrocentrics" you speak of are just mislead by the Western media.

Supper:


His wiki article paints him as pretty tolerant of faiths.

Now that I think about it, I think I remember reading that, but thanks anyway.

ababda:


Actually, i am here now, and i did not see thus far any evidence of a active slave market. The situation in Sudan is very different from the Mauritanian reality. Like anywhere in the world, you have a underground, so Sudan is no differences from other parts of the world.

For example this in the western world

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/19/modern-day-slavery-america-must-fight-epidemic-human-trafficking-here-at-home/

It is not only a third world issues, it is happening in supposedly developed nations to.

Mauritania is not even hiding it though