Out of Africa

Now that he’s in office, what will Obama’s Africa Policy really be like? Here’s a prediction.

On Tuesday, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America.  It was a day when hope seeped back into the United States, a day when hoped swept through the rest of the world. 

While there is some argument over whether is speech (watch below) was lofty enough for the occasion, and whether or not it’ll be memorable, I don’t think anyone can argue that it set the tone for what his presidency will be like. I personally believe it was what was needed for the moment. As the first black president of the United States, there are so many expectations being laid on this man — not just by Americans, but by the world.

In an interview with The Gaurdian, former Nigerian ambassador to the U.S. and Israel, Prof. George Obiozor seemed to say it best:

“With this, America has proved again that it can be a nation of hope and promise; the U.S. has reconfirmed its heritage as a country of hope and promise.”

Africans especially seem to have high expectations. There is hope for a greater partnership between the U.S. and African countries — and not just in aid, but in TRUE development.  It means hope that African countries will also begin to put their best people forward and let democracy take its course and change our continent.  As written in an article on worldpress.org:

Barack Obama’s election and assumption of office has raised extraordinary expectations. No where are these expectations more stratospheric than in Africa, the continent of birth of the 44th President’s Father. Africans of all political persuasions, ethnicity and religion expect President Obama to keep faith with his deep African roots and make a difference in the continent.

Also sharing his thoughts with The Guardian, the former Minister of National Planning Sanusi Daggash said having Obama as the U.S. president holds a different kind of hope than any other American leaders.

“It represents a tremendous opportunity for Africans and Nigerians to seize the golden opportunity to reflect on issues on our Nigerianess, how we function as a people and international politics, our responsibilities to the world now that America has turned a new page with President Obama.”

But even with all these expecations, there are some realities Africans must face with this new administration. True, Obama knows Africa “from the ground up,” or at least more intimately than passed presidents. And yes, he understand poverty and instability from his childhood in Indonesia. Obama and his wife have also been actively involved in grassroot efforts throughout their lives, and grassroot efforts are essential to the developement of Africa. But when it comes down to it … we must remember that Obama belongs and serves the U.S. first, not Africa. 

The worldpress.org piece, written by Chinua Akukwe, that was one of the first realities he points out. Obama first needs to turn around the declining U.S. economy before he can truly reach out and help the rest of the world. There are also the two wars the U.S. is currently involved with in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Middle East definitely is a major concern on President Obama’s list of things to do. And as he’s stated in other interviews, building relationships with Latin America (a closer neighbor than Africa) is also a high priority.  He also needs to work on weaning the U.S. off its dependency on oil.  And let’s not even begin to talk about the health sector of the United States.  … President Obama has a lot on his plate. 

But even though Africans shouldn’t put TOO much hope in Obama and expect his first term to bring rapid change and perks for them, we need not fear that he will ignore our beloved continent. We are a growing source of oil, scarce natural minerals, trade and potential support in international institutions — America needs us, just as much as we might need them. And during his campaign, he did list three goals for Africa:

(1) Accelerate the integration of Africa into the global economy

(2) Enhance peace and security

(3) Strengthen institutions and civil society organizations 

All of this is achievable, but we must remember that Obama’s first and foremost priority is the United States. Meaning that it is Africa that has to step-up to make whatever help Obama can bring to our continent as president is not wasted.  Until we step up on our own, we will simply be an object of America’s foreign policy rather than a partner in it.  

Obama will not be the one to change Africa. The only thing Obama truly offers Africa is inspiration. 

His campaign is probably the best documented example of how to force your way over the barriers of discrimination and into the seat of power.  Its strategy was publicly and exhaustively debated.  Even its fundraising machine, the engine of the juggernaut, is no secret.  The pieces and processes are there if reformers wish to emulate Barack Obama’s attempt at a peaceful overturning of the status quo.  And though they may have the tacit support of the President, the success of such efforts is ultimately in the hands of people in Africa.  Barack Obama is a symbol of hope, but he cannot change the world alone.  – Michael Madill,  adjunct professor of government, Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, Illinois.

Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech: 

Credit: RICHARD LEWIS/AP

Today Nelson Mandela turns 90.

Not only does this man represent a sense of pride, progress and change for South Africans, he represents it for Africans as a whole.

He represents the moral integrity Africans need from the leaders to move forward into a better tomorrow.

Even in the Diaspora, he represents an image that is large than life.

He’s won a Nobel Peace Prize. He’s been TIME’s Man of the Year. He was South Africa’s first black president. He’s a man who changed history.

BBC has a collection of his most famous quotes. My favorite:

“The value of our shared reward will and must be measured by the joyful peace which will triumph, because the common humanity that bonds both black and white into one human race, will have said to each one of us that we shall all live like the children of paradise…

“But there are still some within our country who wrongly believe they can make a contribution to the cause of justice and peace by clinging to the shibboleths [dogmas] that have been proved to spell nothing but disaster.

“It remains our hope that these, too, will be blessed with sufficient reason to realise that history will not be denied and that the new society cannot be created by reproducing the repugnant past, however refined or enticingly repackaged.”

Here’s an interview he gave to CNN, looking back on his life. There’s also a series of news coverage on his life and how this landmark birthday is being celebrated. His life already is, and forever will be, memorialized.

Happy 90th Birthday, Mr. Mandela!

Update: If you’re in the Chicago area, on Monday, July 21, the Jazz Philharmonic is hosting a free concert in honor of Mandela’s 90th birthday.

Right now I’m really interested in the history and culture of Liberia, since I’ve worked on some articles and am hoping to do some other work about Rainbow Town and the Shine Foundation in the future. While doing some random reading/research, I fell across this piece published in the New York Times Magazine. It’s an excerpt from journalist Helene Cooper’s book “The House at Sugar Hill,” which comes out in September.

The piece is compelling, and I’m eager to read the book in its entirety when it comes out. While it’s a memoir, it offers historical information about Liberians – both natives and descendants from former American slaves. I learned so much from the little printed in the NYT magazine.

 It also tells a personal story of choosing to return home after being absent for so long. Regardless of where she lived, Africa remained a part of Helene Cooper and “The House at Sugar Hill” recounts how she found it again.  

by Leila Noelliste

From the outside, parking garage attendant Kobina Azhir looks like an American-born Black man. But Azhir, a Ghanaian seaman who came to the city 22 years ago, is one of 23,000 African immigrants living in metropolitan Chicago.

On May 31, the United African Organization, a partnership of 20 African immigrant communities, held a summit at the DuSable Museum of African American History, to shed light on immigrants like Azhir. Alie Kabba, executive director of UAO, said that “public eduction” is necessary since African immigrants are often overlooked, or misunderstood.

“We realized a few years ago that the challenge for (African immigrants) is to end our invisibility and help to educate people about contemporary African issues in order to better understand the experience of African immigrants and refugees in Illinois,” said Kabba, who came to Chicago from Sierra Leone in 1991.

The second Chicago Summit on African Immigrants and Refugees attracted more than 200 African, Arab and Latino immigrants, as well as African American supporters. Issues that Africans face within their own countries, as well as in Illinois, were discussed in plenary sessions. Though the number of participants is higher than last year’s 160, the modest turn out is a reflection of Africans’ struggle to catch broad attention and support.

“Within the larger immigrant community, we tend to be overshadowed by the Latino community because they have the numbers. So when people think about immigrants, they think about Latinos, and not Africans,” Kabba said. According to 2000 U.S. Census data, there are approximately 582,000 Mexican immigrants living in metropolitan Chicago, compared to just 23,000 African immigrants.

Nigerians make up the majority of that count. European and Asian immigrants account for 366,000 and 321,000 respectively. Like most immigrants, Africans come to America to flee political instability, pursue education, or establish a better life.

They are the most educated immigrant group in metropolitan Chicago and nationally, Kabba said. According to 2000 U.S. Census data, 95.4 percent of African immigrants who had entered metropolitan Chicago in the past 10 years had a high school degree or more, compared to 39.1 percent of Latin American immigrants, 73.8 percent of European immigrants and 85.3 percent of Asian immigrants.

But when it comes to accessing language, housing, employment and medical services African immigrants still suffer “institutional neglect,” Kabba said. He added that this is particularly damaging since African immigrants face the dual challenge of being Black and foreign. “Resources are directed to the community with the largest numbers, which is Latin Americans… The francophone (those from French-speaking African countries) have a language barrier.

“When I hear about bilingual resources, I think, ‘The definition of bilingual has got to go beyond Spanish. It’s got to include those in other communities’,” Kabba said. Carol Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, spoke at the summit and said that the state would take an “extra step to be inclusive” of African immigrants.

“When we talk about doing things for African American women, we are also including women who come from Africa,” Adams said. And the relationship between Africans and African Americans is critical, though plagued by miscommunication. The selection of DuSable for the summit was to represent the link between African Americans and African immigrants, who Kabba described as the “new African Americans.”

“Culture is a dynamic process,” said Kabba, and it’s a fact he has himself experienced. He had plans to move back to Sierra Leone after getting a degree in public policy from the University of Illinois, but a lengthy civil war in his homeland kept him here, where he is raising his 7-, 9-, and 12-yearold children.

“Being an African here is such a temporary identity. It’s a bridge to connect us to a more permanent space, and that permanent space is, naturally, within the African American community,” Kabba said. “When my kids grow up, they’re not going to think Sierra Leone. They’re going to think South Side, West Side, Chicago.”

(Source: The Chicago Defender)

I had meant to do this a while ago, but kept on putting it off. But as our class is coming to an end, I wanted to take the time to mention the blogs of some of my classmates who have featured Africa in one form or the other in their blogs.

• James Edwards – The Violence Project: With an entire blog about violence in Chicago, it’s kind of hard to feature news pertaining to Africa. But James did it in this post about Francis Oduro, a Ghanaian international student who was shot to death. Along with the Violence Project, my prayers go out to the Oduro family.
• Holly Fox – Familienpolitik: A new family law in Mali that would give illegitimate children inheritance rights is the subject of this post. Islamic groups are against this change and Holly provides an interesting comparison to the meaning of marriage and a marriage certificate in Mali versus the United States.
• Christa Hillstrom – Human Goods: In an earlier post I had linked to Christa’s blog about slavery in Mauritania. A more recent post looks at a former slave in Niger who is suing the government for not enforcing anti-slavery laws. In a country were human rights groups estimate about 43,000 people are still living in slavery, this is just the kind of accountability African countries need to be held to.
• Erin Halasz – Wikileads: Erin’s blog follows the online conversation about Wikileaks and the myriad ways in which its uncensorable, untraceable documents appear in public discourse. If you don’t know what Wikileaks is, basically it’s a site that leaks a whole lot of info, but is primarily user-generated like Wikipedia and stuff (Erin, or anyone else who knows, correct me if I’m wrong!). Some of the confidential documents received anonymously includes corruption in Kenya and other “shoddy standards of human rights” in sub-Saharan Africa. One of Erin’s particular posts highlights a recent posting on Wikileads of an invoice for Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Defense, charging the country for a shipment of Chinese rockets, bombs and rounds of mortar.

I hope you take the time to check out their blogs, and while these are the only posts about Africa, each is very interesting and sophisticated. To see more blogs from my class, check out our class Web site.

Ever wondered what the difference between an H1 visa and F1 visa was? Or who qualifies for a green card versus non-immigrant status?

Well, Business Week offers a pretty concise Immigration Glossary to put everything in perspective.

Most of my friends are (or were) on the F-1 Visa, which is given to all international students. However, there is also the J-1 Visa, which is also given to students — but generally for a short educational or cultural exchange (e.g. researchers, exchange students, dancers, and performers).

There’s the highly coveted H-1B Visa (which has me wondering what a H-1A Visa is), which a non-U.S. citizen who will be temporarily employed in a specialty occupation. From this type of visa, many immigrants move on to obtain a Green Card, which makes you into a permanent resident. Before that?  You may be given Adjustment of Status (AoS)  or  Advance Parole (AP), which are part of the last steps to becoming a permanent resident. 

Then there are visas B-1, B-2, E-1, E-2, H-4, L-1 … oh the list goes on. While all this is fascinating, all I can say is I’m glad I’m a U.S. citizen.

Here’s to understanding immigration’s alphabet soup!

This story is the first part of a two-part series on NPR about polygamy.

In many African countries, polygamy is a way of life. And not only if you’re Muslim (as the NPR piece seems to say). Polygamy is a sign of wealth and of status. Many African chiefs (an honor given out somewhat freely nowadays; I’d liken them to the American socialite or something) take on two or three extra wives as his wealth increases or as he moves up in honor.

Even if this story focuses on polygamy in African Muslims, it points out many of the issues polygamy has for the many wives of the men who practice it. And what happens when these men move to America, or other parts of the world where polygamy is illegal?

Listen in and find out.

One of the first stories I wrote for the Medill News Service was about the Darfur crisis in northern Sudan. The crisis is a continuation of two civil wars Sudan has already gone through. It’s almost been like non-stop violence and fighting has gone on in this country. And although the perpetrators and aggressors have changed faces, more or less over time, the victims remain the same – millions of children displaced, families split up and separated, the general collateral damage of war.

During the second civil war in Sudan, the collateral damage bared the face of thousands of boys who became known as The Lost Boys of Sudan. Unlike the whimsical Lost Boys in the pages of ‘Peter Pan,’ very little about their lives is envious or wonderfully exciting. (this New York Times story is amazing, really compelling).

Here’s a recording of Mabouc Mabouc, a Lost Boy who resides in Chicago and acts as a social worker for the Pan African Association and a spokesperson for the Darfur crisis. He tells an abbreviated version of his story – from being seperated from his family, walking across multiple countries, living in refugee camps and eventually making it to the United States.

His story is sad, but as Mabouc points out: He is one of the lucky ones.

Audio

So this blog isn’t newsworthy in the sense that it’s something immediate and super important.

BUT … this blog is about an amazing family that has a great foundation that helps people in Liberia. Some of their projects include:

1. Rainbow Town – sustaining and maintaining this orphanage for 86 war orphans in Gbargna, Liberia.

2. EKIA – Enhancing Knowledge of Illiterate Adults is an adult literacy program, which will teach 500 Liberians how to read and write.

3. Britt Academy – They recently finished construction of this school and continue to support the operation of the school which includes the provision of teacher salaries and school materials.

4. Medical Missions – They organize short-term medical teams from the U.S. will travel to rural areas of Liberia to provide free medical care.

I did two stories about this family when I worked for The Norman Transcript, primarily about their son Adam and an award he won ($10,000!!!). Right now the Selmon Mom, Kathryn, is as finalist for Tyson’s Gold Medal Mom (please vote for her! She really deserved a gold medal!).

Anyway, I decided to write a blog to sort of showcase their organization, Shine Foundation. Africa needs more organizations like this.

Special Guest: Shannon Selmon from Grace Fellowship on Vimeo.