all4naija: You cannot comprehend my post yet you are willing to debate an issue as involving sensitive topic as slavery. Mind you, you posted some links to ascertain your views which I pointed out to you for not using you discretion to spot the loopholes in them. That is a big shame on your side.

Oh, yeah. It is now a factoid-like question to ask a meaningful question as regarding the number of slaves involved in the illicit human trade(as in foreign land not the land of origin). What is so trivial in that question you couldn't provide answer to is still a challenge to me. Indeed, I think you are giving excuse to what you don't have answer for.

I never said 90% of the world is enslaved, low-brain! I said slavery around the world originated as forced on the enslaved people. It is not a fallacy. I put that number up to explain the magnitude of forced labor. The definition of the word by itself explains it all and I am not surprised you couldn't figure that out. Smh...

Your understanding of slavery is appalling to say the least. How on earth you defend forcing people against their will and chaining them up while beating them to work in farms, homes and other boring places is beyond me. The way you tried to use a 'working-place' notion to define slavery speaks volume of your poor understanding of the word. You generalization is faulty and I would advise you do some research on black slavery and related subjects on past history. You are no-brainier!

Servitude, whether indentured or forced is not what I am likely pointing out to you. I am pointing at your statement to prove what you mean in your statement by asking you a question. It is not a rhetoric question yet you ignore it and beat about the bush. That is the most discouraging thing about you views.

Most of my statements don't require sources. They are based on reasoning. It's for you to know your onion is and figure it out. While you are trying to affirmed you lack of ability to explain yourself here there hasn't be anything that so much required sources at this point in time. I am going to provide sources when necessary and I didn't do that because I haven't see that need in the argument so far.

I am waiting for you answer still.

Loopholes? There is no loophole to actual facts. AFRICANS sold AFRICANS, whether they had help or not was not my point.

I am waiting on your answer: DID AFRICANS NOT SELL AFRICANS? WITH PROOF: Yes or no, that will suffice. You seem to have this incessant need to hear yourself talk, even when it is by mere key strokes. If you get the last key stroke, would that be a win for you? Because after this, I am done entertaining you. I only debate or banter with Nigerians not white trolls.

Your unsubstantiated claim that 90% of the world had slaves, another non factor to my point: I distinguished the two systems that you tried to conflate. You tried to place slavery under one umbrella. And I rightly distinguished the two systems. Just as WHITE (because, well, you probably are) as can be, you decided that everyone should stop talking about slavery, because...you wanted to emphasize that EVERYONE was enslaved. I pointed out that you cant compare REAL HOLOCAUST SLAVERY to INDENTURED SERVITUDE, which you attempted to umbrella and reference.

THEN...

You tried to debase and DEBUNK my position by asking for numeric values...positioning that Africans couldn't have done it alone, which NO ONE denied. So again, you just like to hear yourself talk. Because had you wanted a real debate you wouldve COUNTERED my assertion that AFRICANS SOLD AFRICANS. No. What do you do? You jump around asking me about how many kings sold Africans, then you said, "oh get over it Africa, we were all slaves". THAT isnt true, 90% of the world did NOT practice the slavery that I am talking about,

And I asked you, even IF I decided to waste my time and provide a list of the AFRICANS that were participants in the HOLOCAUST - that it DID NOT and will NOT debase my premise that:

AFRICANS sold AFRICANS. Your notion that simply because they had WHITE help, which the WORLD knows..does NOTHING to debase my original argument.

1. You dart around with hyperboles
2. You dont seek to counter with a serious counter.


AND THE POINT BOILS DOWN TO: WHY AFRICAN AMERICANS AND CARIBBEANS might feel slighted, I cite slavery. You come in - just like the resident troll that you are to twist around facts that are not twistable.

If this isnt clear, I dont know what is:

In regards to this fallacy that 90% of the world was enslaved..to the degree of the holocaust that was committed against STOLEN and SOLD AFRICANS is strictly and solely about semantics. Slavery was INDENTURED servitude - it would be the equivalent of working AT A JOB in the 90% of the world that you are talking about. Dont conflate social phenomena and social events to discount the tragic role that we played in our own demise.

INDENTURED SERVITUDE was NOT the slavery and holocaust that I am talking about!

Your, "but all people were slaves, dont get mad Africans" sounds very white by the way.

Dont provide hyperboles, generalizations, source your arguments for future engagements with me, you white bigot!

anonymous6:

I do I was born in America whether you like it or not, just being honest.

Yup we know blacks have it harder then whites in America with the police and that's why blacks should take extra care, like not getting into their trap by walking in the middle of the road and giving them a advantage to trap you just bring honest

I appreciate the civil rights struggle of martini Luther king Cause if not for him I wouldn't be a nurse practitioner today.

I was in nigeria a few months ago, thank you

Again keep your opinions to yourself, and learn to agree to disagree. Your not moving me by making me feel wrong for my opinion, which I didn't do to you.

You didnt magically get born in America. Your parents benefited from their struggle. Why arent you transforming Nigeria, living there..if you cant be bothered with the other blacks that are here with us? Why not fix glorious Nigeria?

A better news source would be MSNBC instead of Fox News or CNN.

Maam, Martin Luther Kings movement is still going on with modern leaders. And as a person that donated to bringback my girls, black Americans donated with me.

I am not trying to move you. This is an open forum, I commented like I did elsewhere in this thread. Each time you speak publicly, you risk receiving an opinion that DOESNT agree with your position.

I say: get a better grasp on civil rights. We arent exempt because we are Nigerian from being killed, no matter what we ideally believed. And even more, we should want to join with ALL our people.

But good day.

anonymous6:

Ferguson had nothing to do with civil rights. Mike brown after stealing from a convenient store(which Wilson didn't stop him for) and later was walking in the middle of the road, and was complained about by other black American witnesses when Wilson got on the scene. Wilson was a trigger happy cop and mike brown feel for the trap by walking in the middle of the road and then resisting arrest which lead to Wilson taking it to another level. Witnesses, who most were black american also said mike brown wasn't entirely innocent even though Wilson wasn't entirely innocent either. This has nothing to do with the civil rights movement that made portal and president Obama today. I was born and raised in America and get racism and discrimination which I experienced from both white Americans and black Americans. So don't preach anything to me about this case, I already said before trayvon Martin rights were not given cause of racial profiling of a trigger happy fool but not with mike brown based on what has been said by the media so far.

When it comes to the other Nigerians being pompous ingrates, that's your opinion and I don't care and me being born and raised in this country I have a right to my opinion without being insulted and forced to your thinking. I have every right to be in America, if you feel so strongly about this then maybe you should join the protesting in ferguson.

I do help in my way, I have given money and goods through Nigerian charities that they send straight to the poor in Nigeria. One of them is black girls ignite Africa, I have seen the evidence I have done. So don't you dare preach to me again on what I should or should not do on a Nigerian forum.

Think you need to preach to the Nigerians that act or tell black Americans they are better, I never said that. So take that topic to someone who cares or someone who actually said that.

So keep your arrogant and rude comments to yourself. I'm only speaking from a Nigerian American who lives in United States of America

I dont think you have a right to be in America, as a Nigerian - you embarrass me - for you are a detached ingrate. I am honest. I am not rude.

Mike Brown was walking down the street and executed, had he been white - he would not have been executed. And your entitlement to a space, etched out by the blood of black Americans is quite disgusting. Civil Rights is not some sterile or static movement, it is not just for history book leaders that you can gloat about i.e. Obama..it is for those, who are imperfect but deserve the same civil rights as their white counterparts.

I dont need to march I donated to their tribute cd and their go fund site.

And as you talk about Nigeria, why arent you there? Why are you here talking about bring back our girls? I will tell you why. You are here, with me, and the other Nigerians on the backs of African Americans...and when called to join or have compassion ..you talk about your love for Nigeria. How pathetic and cowardly. No offense.

all4naija:
You mentioned kings in your previous post, dude! Your convoluted statements are based on your skewed notion of what you were told without reasoning about the loopholes in them. The sheer numbers of slaves that died in the voyages and those who survived were testaments to the fact they were stolen through the barrel of guns and other means.

Indeed, I don't know how you arrived at that conclusion that Africans sold millions of their own into force labor when both the able family members were seen to be among most slave ships. Are you suggesting Africans hate their kids and live them behind? That is not what history about Africa has told us through culture. This is a biased idea based on silliness. You are possibly looking for who to blame for your misfortunes.

I mentioned KINGS so that the person that I was debating can have a reference point. You came in with some factoid question that had absolutely no Relevance to my argument at all. As though a numerical statement NEGATED our role.

And you act like our KINGS didnt have guns. How do you think they got some of their weaponry? They sold Africans. Do you think whites are super heroes, magically knowing about that part of Africa?

What misfortune? I am not African American, so what is your next argument bigot? Please re-read my modified post. Source your sketchy theory.

Please debunk my statement, written documents, so forth...that Africans selling Africans NEVER happened.

all4naija:
Please, answer my question. You are possibly clueless for the simple reason you couldn't provide a substantial evidence to counter what I deliberated in my previous post. Over 90% of slavery around the world has been known to be forced on people and it is no so much different from those of the past. You would agree with me virtually all the past slaves were stolen not sold.

Your desire to take me off my point by asking some factoid-like question proves absolutely not one thing. Answer my question: DID I SAY ANYTHING FALSE, you troll?!

In regards to this fallacy that 90% of the world was enslaved..to the degree of the holocaust that was committed against STOLEN and SOLD AFRICANS is strictly and solely about semantics. Slavery was INDENTURED servitude - it would be the equivalent of working AT A JOB in the 90% of the world that you are talking about. Dont conflate social phenomena and social events to discount the tragic role that we played in our own demise.

INDENTURED SERVITUDE was NOT the slavery and holocaust that I am talking about!

Your, "but all people were slaves, dont get mad Africans" sounds very white by the way.

Dont provide hyperboles, generalizations, source your arguments for future engagements with me, you white bigot!

all4naija:
How many slaves kings were entitled to in Africa? Shut it. The tens to the hundredth of million slaves on the voyages cannot be sold, you i d i o t! Try to make good use of your brain for once.

You spam the board. I cant take you seriously. The only i d i o t is you.

The amount of ENTITLED kings doesnt do anything to counter my argument. In fact it doesnt shake the structure not even its limbs. You are a self entitled bigot. And you usually troll ghana, s. africa and any other black nation. Kindly stfu.

My argument stated that AFRICANS sold AFRICANS - and this foff decides to ask me about the number of kings as though that question negates the primary truth: AFRICANS sold AFRICANS..

But somehow we are bewildered when they dont open their arms to some sort of reunion that we NEVER initiated.

EbolaParasite:

Okay i goofed. Big effing deal. English is not my language so you can excuse yourself. It doesn't change the message though.
The written documents you talk about were written by WHO? Exactly, the same WHITE SLAVE owners and that is what you choose to believe.

My source is from family lineage passed down several decades. We don't rely on the white mans story. We know what happened.

Africans sold Africans for trinkets.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/18/africans-apologise-slave-trade

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/9chapter2.shtml

http://originalpeople.org/king-west-african-country-benin-visits-relatives-alabamas-oldest-black-town/


Benin King apologized.
Research my friend. There were letters written by our kings trying to get the slaves back.

1. The moors were sold, religious reasons.
2. Rival kings and queens were raided. Military reasons
3. To get liquor and more weapons, beads were given...research it.

So, to me - you cant blame those that we sold to NOT have animosity. And you cant blame a people to NOT know about Africa. A people that had the world, we sold them for next to nothing.

And you stated that your familys oral history makes you blameless, which would mean that the whites had stellar compasses and magically knew which group to raid...and which group to keep..it still doesnt discount the role of those MANY of africans that sold them. So when they are bitter or angry with me, I dont blame them. Nor do I believe that they should have fondness for a people at the most did nothing but leech (run to their countries) as opposed to restore or repair. If you think that they should think fondly of ppl that sold you, that is you. I certainly wouldnt. Im seeking to bridge a gap. I dont expect you to.

anonymous6:

I'm benefiting from the struggles of the civil rights movement from Martin Luther king and other civil rights activist; and what they struggled for has been accomplished for not only African americans but for all blacks and other non-blacks and non-whites who are American or immigrants. Ferguson has nothing to do with the civil rights movement struggle, so my response has nothing to do with a ingrate. I never said any culture is remarkably better, and as a american born Nigerian I stay with my opinion. I believe in Economic unity amongst African nations but forcing a ideology or mentality that you, the OP, and a few other Nigerians and other Africans believe with most African americans on Nigerians on a Nigerian forum that don't believe in that is wrong.

It isnt as though they stopped struggling after Martin Luther King, each time they enact change we benefit. Ferguson has every thing to do with the civil rights movement. And you dont have a great understanding of race relations or the law, if you think Ferguson was not about a violation of civil rights. When you are not given the right to surrender that is a violation right there. You are not benefiting from some distant Martin Luther King, you and me are benefiting from their modern day civil rights activists, like the dream defenders and other orgs.

Also, let me make this clear again: I dont care whether you agree with me or not. I think most of us are pompous ingrates. We are lazy. And we dont work hard for our own country. No. We have no problem invading other peoples countries, telling others how to behave according to OUR cultural biases..when we cant even get our OWN territories together. Any struggle that they have will impact us Africans as long as we are in their location.

I still think that you are a detached ingrate. But that has nothing to do with you disagreeing with me, it is your attitude towards the subject matter.

And further, if you think that African nations are a priority why are you here, as a Nigerian, like me? We talk a good game. But we dont even work hard to fix our own country. Then we come here to talk about how different we are than the other blacks. You are arrogant.

I dont wish for you to change your mind. I am merely commenting from a Nigerian perspective who is ALSO in America.

EbolaParasite:

You may be the daft one because you haven't done proper research. What led to the slaves being sold? Do you think they did it willingly? Did you miss the part where the slave takers decided it was easier to deal with the Kings and Chiefs than forcefully capture slaves? Let me educate you. Africans didn't have a choice. It was either sell your people or WE WILL TAKE THEM ANYWAY.

You people never seize to amaze me. See them trying to put the blame on Africans. Last i checked, AFRICANS DID NOT BUILD A SHIP, TRAVEL TO AMERICA AND THEN SAID : HEY MR WHITE MAN, I HAVE SLAVES FOR SALE.

I have done my research. And the word is cease instead of seize. So when you ATTEMPT to try to educate me on the nuances of history, be impeccable in every way, at every turn. Nothing more shameful than a pompous arrogant WANT TO BE scholar that attempts to school someone with no command of perfection.

1. They were sold because we are and have always been tribal AF.
2. Africans DID have a choice, and there were written documents that stated EXPLICITLY that some tribal leaders regretted their actions.

So yup. Be blameless if you choose. However, for those that ask why dont the Caribbeans or the AAs like us, it might just be ..that they REMEMBER that they were sold.

We know our land, they dont.

tonychristopher:

oh i doubt, but been dark doesnt make us brother, w still have dark abos in australian and india so ...what do they want

Whites seem to find brotherhood when it counts.

lafuria1:
Please stop arguing with someone whose IQ is minus infinity. So people should not protest injustice that will reoccur again.

They are insane in this thread.

anonymous6:

As I said this is a american issue and they can handle it by themselves. Many people around the world spoke about the Trayvon issue from Australia to South Africa(some agreed with Zimmerman & some with Trayvon) but didn't involve themselves in it, just because all countries plus Nigeria is speaking about this is irrelevant, after all they were all speaking about "Bring back our girls" but that still doesn't mean it's their problem. Nigeria still has their problems(as a non-western country) and this is not one of them. I'm a American born Nigerian and I feel Nigerians should concentrate on Boko Haram and put their energy on National issue's not Ferguson. The Nigerians I'm around are talking about Boko Haram & The Ebola outbreak not the Ferguson fiasco(at least not more then a few mins). Nobody deserves to get shot but Nigeria is going through their own and not going in African american forums demanding they fight for them.
I don't think it's selfish. Ferguson is not Nigeria's Problem.

You are in America like me - benefiting from their struggles. And when they find a solution to this problem, your sons if you have them will benefit again. I never quite understood how we ..Nigerians that run and hide and flee to other countries can be so dismissive of other blacks..when we cant get our own shit together IN our countries. I am also a Nigerian but your response is of an ingrate. And it is shameful. Our culture isnt remarkably better, look at OUR country.

tpia1:

Carribeans don't like africans either, generally speaking.

Actually caribbeans dont like Africans more.

I think we forget how they got there, it wasnt volunteer.

BWOH2D:

Blows over your head, good day.

He is not a pan african. I say lets just chat with nigerians that are pan african. African Americans were saying bring back daughters, their celebs did fundraisers for Nigeria. Some wont get it.

hotwax: I dont give a blip. WHat have those black americans contributed to our lives here? None. Except they even come home and start forming yeye class.

I support the white joooor.

Beside, this is police brutality, it has nothing to do with racism.

SOme police are trigger happy. But the black masses just decided to address it racily . Just the way an Igbo man will kill an Hausa and Hausa start burning churches. Hausas and black americans are the same.

Calling blacks apes and animals is racist. Why should African Americans come home to a people that sold them? Are you daft?

khiaa:

Do you live in a black community? No you do not, you re.tarded mut. Why don't you concentrate on cleaning up your white community (trailer parks) and get rid of those redneck child molesters, rapists, drug dealers, meth head junkies, burgulars, robbers, perverts, Ku Klux Klans, Neo Nazis, white supremacists, and women beaters/killers then maybe someone will take you seriously. You know nothing about the black community. You even curse like a redneck. All4Naija my foot. Clean up your white hoods and behave like human beings the way that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X wanted you to.

Preach

tonychristopher:

So African American now wants Africans to see them as brothers.that's a new one

Eh wish them luck

I dont see why they would either:

1. We sold them.
2. We never offered to help.
3. When we did come, we lacked respect for them and then use up all the struggles that they fought for.

Why they dont treat us like how the Jamaican views us is beyond me.

Our indifference towards them ..then and now..is apparent. Oh well. I like them. They are my brothers.

Stanleyelege: America give us d zmapp drug . Pple re dying already.
If d blacks there needs coaching on riot, they should either send for lasu students or send down few black Americans to be coached by lasu students.
We would tel them how to lit motor tyres on busy. Roads as if its newyear watchnight, spread mats on busy roads, throw sachet pure waters on whoever comes to address them, wearing back of their shirts.

Thats right we need to stick together. They just gave us a drug to kill us. And we still think we are so different?

bushdoc9919:

Actually.....Immigrant blacks are not necessarily lumped together with African Americans....and the two groups often clash.

Us immigrants dont think that we are Black, even though whites call us monkeys and refuse ebola treatment. Africans come to the US and look down on them. But as an African male we can still get shot, maybe not yet!

Obama is not African American. He is African and white - so he has no vested interest in African American culture, even though he is married to one. He created programs for Africans and a workshop for African Americans. And just like some of us Africans, he has a "I love the colonizer" mind set. He thinks that if the blacks there simply behaved, they wouldnt be killed...even though he gets a bilkion more death threats than any other president...and even though the poor black americans are getting killed in retaliation that he is black. He is no Nkrumah.

gboss4sure:

Sprung by themselves? Bro stop watching CNN. The same way the USA funded the protest in ukraine with 5 billion usd that over-throwed an elected Government and is destroying Ukraine at the moment just because they are targeting Putin's Russia to cripple it into following their world domination agenda.. Next on the line is China

Let me give you another insight, The war in Syria was started by non Syrians and CIA recruits just to get to Assad out, had they succeeded Syria would have just been like Libya or even worst.

read => http://rt.com/news/177756-us-spy-cuba-recruits/ This is how USA works anytime they want to over throw a non friendly Government

Here brother. We arent alone in our skepticism - and outright proof should be called an assessment. Here

While officials and dignitaries gathered Monday for the first day of the White House-hosted U.S.-A­frica Leaders Summit, leaders of nonprofits organizations, academia and other groups from Africa and the United States held an alternative conference a few blocks away at Howard University.

“We wanted to create a space where citizens and activists in human rights, climate justice, corruption, peace and conflict resolution could come to gather and propose alternative policies to official U.S. and Africa policy,” said Anita Plummer, 31, one of the organizers of the Empowered Africa summit, whose participants included Oxfam, the NAACP, the United Steelworkers and the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker peace foundation.

A professor of international affairs at Spelman College in Atlanta, Plummer became interested in African issues after spending time in Rwanda and recognizing that many of the problems there were the same ones she saw growing up in Baltimore as an African American.

With the focus of the official summit centered on economic interests, Plummer said, issues such as good governance, democracy and human rights fell to the side. In April, civil society leaders addressed an open letter to President Obama asking for a spot at the table and a chance to weigh in on issues such as economic and social justice alongside the business deals that are expected to be discussed by heads of state. After the letter, which was signed by a long list of African and U.S. groups, was sent, it was announced that a civil society forum hosted by Secretary of State John F. Kerry would be included on the first day of the conference.

Representatives from the State Department said they had plans to discuss civil society since the beginning.

“It’s a false choice — you cannot discuss economic growth without discussing human rights, corruption, and transparency,” Will Stevens, spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, said in response to suggestions the summit chose economics over rights issues.

By the time they learned about Kerry’s event, Plummer and other Empowered Africa organizers had started to plan their alternative, intergenerational forum.

“I think it’s great they’re hosting an event,” Plummer said of the official civil society meeting. “But is it open? We don’t know who was invited, and there wasn’t transparency in the process. Hopefully it was meaningful and they did critically address the official policies, but we won’t know until they release their findings.”

During his remarks at the official forum, streamed online, Kerry said, “Empowered civil society was the foundation of every successful democracy here in the United States, in Africa and around the world, because in the end, our most enduring relationships, most consequential relationships, are not with one particular government at one moment in time.”

Of the dozens of participants at Howard University on Monday, some of whom flew in from Africa, many said the White House summit should have engaged ordinary citizens at a deeper level.

“We need to make sure the benefit is a two-way thing and not exploitative,” said Brenda Mofya, 39, an Oxfam policy adviser who works in the liaison office with the African Union. “It needs to be a dialogue of peers, and people need to admit they’re not pure and address issues of equality.”

Mofya said she would wait to see the results of the Obama-led talks, noting that African leaders had been summoned to similar conferences in countries such as China and India in the past but that the leaders of the host nations rarely made their way to meetings they’d been invited to in Africa. Mofya came from Addis Ababa, Ethi­o­pia, and spoke on panels throughout the day. Panels addressed subjects such as how to make dialogue between Africa and the United States inclusive, rising inequality and corruption, trade unions’ role in democracy, and climate change’s effects on social justice.

The event’s theme of challenging the official summit’s agenda seemed to resonate with some African immigrants in the city.

Alam Geye, 35, of the District, was at work Monday driving a taxi, but he planned to participate in a protest Wednesday calling on heads of state to put good governance first.

“Most African leaders are corrupt. They care about themselves and their power, not their people,” he said. “The U.S. is hosting the summit, and I’m Ethio­pian American and I don’t support it at all. They’re doing bad things in Africa. Why is [the U.S.] doing business with them?”

Geye, who moved to the United States more than 13 years ago, said that although the official summit might increase awareness of African issues, he wanted to see a more democratic, “people not leaders” approach.

At both the official and alternative conferences were representatives from the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union in Harbel, Liberia, a city whose name is derived from the names of the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. and his wife.

“We’re of the conviction that they’re not aware here of what it is like to be a worker in Africa with so few workers’ rights when it’s so hard to organize,” said Abel Ngigle, 42, one of the union’s founders. Ngigle, who said he and fellow union members wanted to spread their message to those in charge abroad, said he was optimistic about both summits.

Mofya said that a genuine dialogue required the United States to be seen as upholding standards of equality, while recognizing its own difficulties with economic and social inequality.

“What’s compelling is that we’ve seen the challenges that the U.S. is facing, and they’re the same problems we have been experiencing in Africa for some time,” she said. “It’s not always what does the U.S. have to teach Africa — sometimes it’s what they can learn from Africa.”

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/alternative-african-summit-challenges-the-official-one/2014/08/04/bac14f52-1bfe-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html
Author: Karen Chen August 4

SirShymex: Those "investments" are coming with bombs.

More Libyas in Africa soon!

For you and @moneybag100

While officials and dignitaries gathered Monday for the first day of the White House-hosted U.S.-A­frica Leaders Summit, leaders of nonprofits organizations, academia and other groups from Africa and the United States held an alternative conference a few blocks away at Howard University.

“We wanted to create a space where citizens and activists in human rights, climate justice, corruption, peace and conflict resolution could come to gather and propose alternative policies to official U.S. and Africa policy,” said Anita Plummer, 31, one of the organizers of the Empowered Africa summit, whose participants included Oxfam, the NAACP, the United Steelworkers and the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker peace foundation.

A professor of international affairs at Spelman College in Atlanta, Plummer became interested in African issues after spending time in Rwanda and recognizing that many of the problems there were the same ones she saw growing up in Baltimore as an African American.

With the focus of the official summit centered on economic interests, Plummer said, issues such as good governance, democracy and human rights fell to the side. In April, civil society leaders addressed an open letter to President Obama asking for a spot at the table and a chance to weigh in on issues such as economic and social justice alongside the business deals that are expected to be discussed by heads of state. After the letter, which was signed by a long list of African and U.S. groups, was sent, it was announced that a civil society forum hosted by Secretary of State John F. Kerry would be included on the first day of the conference.

Representatives from the State Department said they had plans to discuss civil society since the beginning.

“It’s a false choice — you cannot discuss economic growth without discussing human rights, corruption, and transparency,” Will Stevens, spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, said in response to suggestions the summit chose economics over rights issues.

By the time they learned about Kerry’s event, Plummer and other Empowered Africa organizers had started to plan their alternative, intergenerational forum.

“I think it’s great they’re hosting an event,” Plummer said of the official civil society meeting. “But is it open? We don’t know who was invited, and there wasn’t transparency in the process. Hopefully it was meaningful and they did critically address the official policies, but we won’t know until they release their findings.”

During his remarks at the official forum, streamed online, Kerry said, “Empowered civil society was the foundation of every successful democracy here in the United States, in Africa and around the world, because in the end, our most enduring relationships, most consequential relationships, are not with one particular government at one moment in time.”

Of the dozens of participants at Howard University on Monday, some of whom flew in from Africa, many said the White House summit should have engaged ordinary citizens at a deeper level.

“We need to make sure the benefit is a two-way thing and not exploitative,” said Brenda Mofya, 39, an Oxfam policy adviser who works in the liaison office with the African Union. “It needs to be a dialogue of peers, and people need to admit they’re not pure and address issues of equality.”

Mofya said she would wait to see the results of the Obama-led talks, noting that African leaders had been summoned to similar conferences in countries such as China and India in the past but that the leaders of the host nations rarely made their way to meetings they’d been invited to in Africa. Mofya came from Addis Ababa, Ethi­o­pia, and spoke on panels throughout the day. Panels addressed subjects such as how to make dialogue between Africa and the United States inclusive, rising inequality and corruption, trade unions’ role in democracy, and climate change’s effects on social justice.

The event’s theme of challenging the official summit’s agenda seemed to resonate with some African immigrants in the city.

Alam Geye, 35, of the District, was at work Monday driving a taxi, but he planned to participate in a protest Wednesday calling on heads of state to put good governance first.

“Most African leaders are corrupt. They care about themselves and their power, not their people,” he said. “The U.S. is hosting the summit, and I’m Ethio­pian American and I don’t support it at all. They’re doing bad things in Africa. Why is [the U.S.] doing business with them?”

Geye, who moved to the United States more than 13 years ago, said that although the official summit might increase awareness of African issues, he wanted to see a more democratic, “people not leaders” approach.

At both the official and alternative conferences were representatives from the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union in Harbel, Liberia, a city whose name is derived from the names of the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. and his wife.

“We’re of the conviction that they’re not aware here of what it is like to be a worker in Africa with so few workers’ rights when it’s so hard to organize,” said Abel Ngigle, 42, one of the union’s founders. Ngigle, who said he and fellow union members wanted to spread their message to those in charge abroad, said he was optimistic about both summits.

Mofya said that a genuine dialogue required the United States to be seen as upholding standards of equality, while recognizing its own difficulties with economic and social inequality.

“What’s compelling is that we’ve seen the challenges that the U.S. is facing, and they’re the same problems we have been experiencing in Africa for some time,” she said. “It’s not always what does the U.S. have to teach Africa — sometimes it’s what they can learn from Africa.”

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/alternative-african-summit-challenges-the-official-one/2014/08/04/bac14f52-1bfe-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html
Author: Karen Chen August 4

While officials and dignitaries gathered Monday for the first day of the White House-hosted U.S.-A­frica Leaders Summit, leaders of nonprofits organizations, academia and other groups from Africa and the United States held an alternative conference a few blocks away at Howard University.

“We wanted to create a space where citizens and activists in human rights, climate justice, corruption, peace and conflict resolution could come to gather and propose alternative policies to official U.S. and Africa policy,” said Anita Plummer, 31, one of the organizers of the Empowered Africa summit, whose participants included Oxfam, the NAACP, the United Steelworkers and the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker peace foundation.

A professor of international affairs at Spelman College in Atlanta, Plummer became interested in African issues after spending time in Rwanda and recognizing that many of the problems there were the same ones she saw growing up in Baltimore as an African American.

With the focus of the official summit centered on economic interests, Plummer said, issues such as good governance, democracy and human rights fell to the side. In April, civil society leaders addressed an open letter to President Obama asking for a spot at the table and a chance to weigh in on issues such as economic and social justice alongside the business deals that are expected to be discussed by heads of state. After the letter, which was signed by a long list of African and U.S. groups, was sent, it was announced that a civil society forum hosted by Secretary of State John F. Kerry would be included on the first day of the conference.

Representatives from the State Department said they had plans to discuss civil society since the beginning.

“It’s a false choice — you cannot discuss economic growth without discussing human rights, corruption, and transparency,” Will Stevens, spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, said in response to suggestions the summit chose economics over rights issues.

By the time they learned about Kerry’s event, Plummer and other Empowered Africa organizers had started to plan their alternative, intergenerational forum.

“I think it’s great they’re hosting an event,” Plummer said of the official civil society meeting. “But is it open? We don’t know who was invited, and there wasn’t transparency in the process. Hopefully it was meaningful and they did critically address the official policies, but we won’t know until they release their findings.”

During his remarks at the official forum, streamed online, Kerry said, “Empowered civil society was the foundation of every successful democracy here in the United States, in Africa and around the world, because in the end, our most enduring relationships, most consequential relationships, are not with one particular government at one moment in time.”

Of the dozens of participants at Howard University on Monday, some of whom flew in from Africa, many said the White House summit should have engaged ordinary citizens at a deeper level.

“We need to make sure the benefit is a two-way thing and not exploitative,” said Brenda Mofya, 39, an Oxfam policy adviser who works in the liaison office with the African Union. “It needs to be a dialogue of peers, and people need to admit they’re not pure and address issues of equality.”

Mofya said she would wait to see the results of the Obama-led talks, noting that African leaders had been summoned to similar conferences in countries such as China and India in the past but that the leaders of the host nations rarely made their way to meetings they’d been invited to in Africa. Mofya came from Addis Ababa, Ethi­o­pia, and spoke on panels throughout the day. Panels addressed subjects such as how to make dialogue between Africa and the United States inclusive, rising inequality and corruption, trade unions’ role in democracy, and climate change’s effects on social justice.

The event’s theme of challenging the official summit’s agenda seemed to resonate with some African immigrants in the city.

Alam Geye, 35, of the District, was at work Monday driving a taxi, but he planned to participate in a protest Wednesday calling on heads of state to put good governance first.

“Most African leaders are corrupt. They care about themselves and their power, not their people,” he said. “The U.S. is hosting the summit, and I’m Ethio­pian American and I don’t support it at all. They’re doing bad things in Africa. Why is [the U.S.] doing business with them?”

Geye, who moved to the United States more than 13 years ago, said that although the official summit might increase awareness of African issues, he wanted to see a more democratic, “people not leaders” approach.

At both the official and alternative conferences were representatives from the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union in Harbel, Liberia, a city whose name is derived from the names of the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. and his wife.

“We’re of the conviction that they’re not aware here of what it is like to be a worker in Africa with so few workers’ rights when it’s so hard to organize,” said Abel Ngigle, 42, one of the union’s founders. Ngigle, who said he and fellow union members wanted to spread their message to those in charge abroad, said he was optimistic about both summits.

Mofya said that a genuine dialogue required the United States to be seen as upholding standards of equality, while recognizing its own difficulties with economic and social inequality.

“What’s compelling is that we’ve seen the challenges that the U.S. is facing, and they’re the same problems we have been experiencing in Africa for some time,” she said. “It’s not always what does the U.S. have to teach Africa — sometimes it’s what they can learn from Africa.”

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/alternative-african-summit-challenges-the-official-one/2014/08/04/bac14f52-1bfe-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html
Author: Karen Chen August 4

gboss4sure:

I was a STRONG Obama fan till he invaded Libya, It was then I gave up on him and the American Government. Old Sweet Libya Is now A terrorist DEN. Most Libyans are now crying for the Gaddafi days but is gone forever, the US and their ally's are busy supplying arms to the different factions in Libya and while the are busy fighting themselves they US is taking what they came for..

I remember vividly it wasn't up to 24hrs that Gaddafi was killed that Britain announced Libya is going to pay for the cost of the warfare with their oil. That's what the came for in the first place.. The US Government is not a Friend to Africa but a wolf in sheep's clothing, the early African Leaders distance themselves from the US the better for us all

Me too. I had a lot of hope, a LOT! That was a serious grievance to me, then I blamed Hillary and Bush. However, I researched and simply tried to justify it as him not having real power. But his speech today - his pure intentions revealed: "we want africans to buy more of our products", quite plainly in fact. I then dug up the old articles on his policies and realized the black community has been duped!

HE IS THE WOLF.

We really need to partner with countries like south america, asian communities, and so forth. A black man from the us said to me: they would never allow someone with slave ancestry to win the white house - they are too fearful that wed revolt.

Also good call on the blackteeth character in this thread

Blackteeth:
The militants sprung up themselves. Did the west install them to cause havoc?

You can attempt to derail this thread all you want. The very ACCURATE points remain in that article and they cannot be countered with an alternative truth - because the evidence is there.

Further, anyone that BLINDLY gives Africa over on a platter for all to feast - without any critical analysis regarding the policies of America and other countries is nothing more than a reincarnated colonial custodian - what were you in your last life? The one that helped saw our arms off or the colonial records keeper?

You couldnt possibly be African (quite) - and thats fine. But you wont distract those who knew something wasnt quite right with this summit.

Please prove that the article was wrong point by point, or Im going to have to go along with brother gboss...for it wasnt even an HOUR posted and youre the first one in here, front and center!

ALL OTHER BLACK AFRICANS: I encourage you to research President Obamas policies on Africa. I encourage you to seek out if he helped the AAs in his own country, nothing substantial and no real policy changes.

His platform has been on LBGT - gay rights and assisting a Hispanic population so that the next democratic candidate can get his vote. He had a TUMULTUOUS relationship with the long standing Black Caucus - not wanting to meet with Maxine Waters et al. AAs have let him slide because he looks like them, we dont have to.

Dont believe me? Look him up. We should be weary of not just HIM but the EU as well!

gboss4sure:

CIA paid troll defending their paid master since 1947.. Since your masters intervened in Libya whats up with that country? How is it faring?

Thank you! I held an objective view on Mr. Obama until I listened to the summit today. Something is wrong

Bump

moneybag100:

But now China have made him known how important Africans are.

So true.

moneybag100: US President Barack Obama said US companies have pledged $14bn (£8.3bn) of investment in Africa in areas such as energy and infrastructure.

The announcement came at the first US-Africa Leaders Summit, attended by over 40 African heads of state.

The summit is an effort to strengthen US ties with Africa as China increases its African investments.

Mr Obama will also host a dinner for African leaders at the White House in Washington this evening.

The deals announced on Tuesday included a $5bn partnership between private-equity firm Blackstone and Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest businessman, for energy infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as more investments in Mr Obama's Power Africa initiative.

According to the White House, Power Africa received an additional $12bn in pledges towards its effort to develop energy supplies on Africa through a mix of investment and state involvement.

The World Bank announced a $5bn investment in Power Africa and General Electric said it had committed $2bn to help boost infrastructure and access to energy.

"We gave it to the Europeans first and to the Chinese later, but today it's wide open for us," said General Electric chief executive Jeff Immelt.

Mr Obama also said that the US would offer an additional $7bn of financing through the Doing Business in Africa (DBIA) Campaign, bringing the total new US commitments to investment in Africa announced on Tuesday to $33bn.

The three-day summit ends on Wednesday.
Source: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28668533

Obama has sold out. His platform has been to help latinos and lbgt. He distances himself unless he can be predatory. He is a puppet.

Why Africa is giving their land to NON Africans (indigenous or diasporic) is beyond me! See this thread https://www.nairaland.com/1844526/africa-beware-president-obama-unfortunately

Neocolonialism

The Right Man to Pacify ‘Crying Race’ while Terrorizing & Colonizing Africa

Only three years under the Obama presidency and we have had several covert and overt wars in Africa with the sole purpose of the re-colonization of Africa and its rich oil-mineral resources, while posing under the guise of ‘humanitarian intervention.’ The overt war in Libya, a not so secret war in Somalia, establishing a base in Uganda, sending troops to chase the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group in the Congo, quietly setting up a number of new bases in Ethiopia and the Seychelles … and the list goes on. Not to mention the number of bodies piling up on top of each other as the West sinks its teeth into the long-sought-after continent and its resources.

Many have been writing about and analyzing Obama’s Africa Fever. You must admit the man has been acting very feverish. In fact, I’d say he’s been the most feverish president we’ve had when it comes to slicing, dicing, and re-colonizing Africa. Granted, he is not the only one with the fever. The French, Brits, and a couple of other Old Europe players have been feverish as well; they’ve been salivating at the idea of reviving their old glory days of empire and colonies. Yet, the most feverish, I’m talking mouth-foaming delirious fever, appears to be our president-Barack Obama. And oddly enough, there doesn’t seem to be much “crying race” and colonialism from the black communities here in the U.S.

I say here in the US because the majority of blacks in Africa seem to recognize, resent and speak out on this Black Super Power President’s colonization crusade in their land:

You can still see Obama’s likeness around town these days, especially in the tourist areas. But for many Ghanaians, the honeymoon with Obama is over. And it started to go sour when the first warplanes strafed Benghazi and Tripoli, in a NATO effort to protect civilians from strongman Muammar Qaddafi.That was the Libya-intervention’s official purpose, anyway. But Ghanaians aren’t buying it. To many observers here, it looks like a grab for Libya’s oil riches; to others, it’s a nefarious Western plot to re-colonize Africa.

They know one when they see one. They recognize colonizers when they see colonizers and their actions. Then why don’t we hear a major outcry from the black communities in the United States? I can assure you that we’d have heard the outcry if a white president had supported, armed and directed militias and rebels who did the following

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The chairman of the African Union says Libyan rebels may be indiscriminately killing black people in Libya because they have confused innocent migrant workers with mercenaries.Chairman Jean Ping told reporters Monday that this is one of the reasons the AU is refusing to recognize Libya’s rebel Transitional National Council as the country’s interim government.
Please watch this (Obama’s Men, the rebels):

I repeat: Obama backed and directed rebels:
Reuters is reporting that President Obama has already signed off on a presidential “finding”–i.e. an order–authorizing covert U.S. support for Libyan rebels. The order, which Reuters says was given “within the last two to three weeks” is described by the news service as the “principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency” and is typically “crafted to provide broad authorization for a range of potential U.S. government actions to support a particular covert objective.”

And here are Obama-backed practices in Somalia:
As part of its expanding counterterrorism program in Somalia, the CIA also uses a secret prison buried in the basement of Somalia’s National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters, where prisoners suspected of being Shabab members or of having links to the group are held. Some of the prisoners have been snatched off the streets of Kenya and rendered by plane to Mogadishu. While the underground prison is officially run by the Somali NSA, US intelligence personnel pay the salaries of intelligence agents and also directly interrogate prisoners. The existence of both facilities and the CIA role was uncovered by The Nation during an extensive on-the-ground investigation in Mogadishu.
…
According to former detainees, the underground prison, which is staffed by Somali guards, consists of a long corridor lined with filthy small cells infested with bedbugs and mosquitoes. One said that when he arrived in February, he saw two white men wearing military boots, combat trousers, gray tucked-in shirts and black sunglasses. The former prisoners described the cells as windowless and the air thick, moist and disgusting. Prisoners, they said, are not allowed outside. Many have developed rashes and scratch themselves incessantly. Some have been detained for a year or more. According to one former prisoner, inmates who had been there for long periods would pace around constantly, while others leaned against walls rocking.
…
And there are other Obama regime orchestrated games in Africa – like this one in Uganda. Or this one in Nigeria. Here are a few excerpts from a recent article by Dr. Motsoko Pheko on the role of now strongly Obama-backed and directed Africom in the re-colonization of Africa :
Africans have a painful history of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, racism and colonialism by nations that claim to be ‘civilised’ but have behaviour that is contrary to civilisation. They dehumanised Africa’s people and saw nothing wrong with that. They have never shown any remorse for their inhuman deeds to Africans or offered any reparations for the colossal damage they inflicted on Africans. America’s persistence to impose Africom on Africa proves this beyond reasonable doubt.
…
Vice Admiral Moeller was the man President George W Bush entrusted with the mission of Africom. Moeller knew that mission in and out. At the United States’ Africa Command Conference held at Fort McNair on 18 February 2008, this American head of ‘Africom’ declared that, ‘Protecting the free flow of natural resources from Africa to the global market is one of Africom’s guiding principles.’
Admiral Moeller specifically cited ‘oil disruption’, ‘terrorism’ and the growing influence of China as a major challenge to United States’ interests in Africa. Africom is organised by the office of the Under-Secretary of Defence for Forces Transformation Resources and National Security Policy at the National Defence University Fort McNair, Washington D.C.

Africom serves the interests of the United States of America. Africa does not need ‘Africom. Africom is a jackal in sheep’s clothing. A jackal cannot be entrusted with the security and lives of sheep.
…
You would think our black communities in the US would be up in arms in reaction to a black president taking the lead in the partition and re-colonization of Africa, while amassing piles of bodies daily. Isn’t this a betrayal of African Americans by a black man?
Don’t take me wrong. I don’t view Obama as black. I don’t view him as white. I didn’t view George Bush in any color either. Because when it comes to these establishment puppets there are no colors. These sold-out puppets are all translucent to me. I see right through them all.
On the other hand, I can’t help but wonder if this President’s appearance of racial color played a role in his selection by the puppet-running establishment. We know of their hunger for global dominance. We know of their salivating mouths over resource-rich Africa. We know their long-held desire to re-rule the African continent as colonies. Wouldn’t an American president who appears black outwardly make their job easier? The establishment can sit back and enjoy their puppet’s performance while holding the strings. How about the audience? Well, the recipients in Africa can see right through the puppet’s strings. They don’t have to see the puppeteers to know their presence and lead. After all, they’ve been there. They’ve been through it for centuries. And the puppet’s black appearance doesn’t mean a thing.

The white men frequently use black men to take over other black men:

Europeans lacked the local knowledge to be able to negotiate the perils of the African interior, so they used middlemen for this task, according to Olaudah Equiano, who had himself been captured in this way. European slaving ships waited at coastal ports to pick up their cargoes of slaves. Middlemen would attack Africans working in the fields and march them to the coast. Children acting as lookouts for their parents might also be captured.
…
They recognize Barack Obama as the white power’s middle man. He is the puppet. He is translucent but appears black. He is Uncle Tom. And that may have been one of the criteria for his selection by the puppeteers in 2008: Let the black-appearing man take the lead in slicing, dicing, partitioning, burning …re-colonizing our African prize, and helping pacify the audience who would be ‘crying race’ otherwise.
- See more at: http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2012/03/17/barack-obama-the-world-establishments-uncle-tom-card-in-the-re-colonization-of-africa/#sthash.C81JAo08.dpuf