Saturday, March 17, 2007

not enuff television - i think 2 much

Call me Candide (Voltaire is my favorite writer), but I was kind of anticipating a warm recognition for an anniversary last week. No, not the Biggy ten years after his death aniversary, nor the 25-year anniversary of “the message – Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five athough such is worth in these eyes.” And most definitely I am not speaking of the 25 year anniversary of John Belushi's death. I was just expecting that the 50th aniversary celebrating of Ghana's independence from Britain would have gained some recognition from African Americans over in this camp. I mean we have problems to solve but the first step in solidartity is the regonition ofg respect for mutual self determination. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to break with its colonial power.

Even the U.S., I mean President Bush sent a delegation to honor this momentous ocassion. The Presidential Delegation to Accra, Ghana for the 50th Anniversary of Independence was lead by Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and included Pamela E. Bridgewater, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, John J. Danilovich, CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Ronald A. Tschetter, Director of the Peace Corps, Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State (African Affairs) and R. Timothy Ziemer, Rear Admiral, United States Navy (Retired), Coordinator for the President's Malaria Initiative. Leave it to President Bush to be disrespectful and send second tier dignitaries to this historic Event. As well, I can comprehend the sentiments of former President Jerry Rawlings, who criticized the event.

Sure, every body knows that on 5 March 1957, Britain formally transferred power to independence leader Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah was a great and powerful man and still is relevant today if you asked me. Not to mention, he wrote one of my faviorite books ever by african thinker, AFRICA MUST UNITE, inclusive of The Mind of Africa by Peter Abrahams. Africa must unite was the first bok that explained racism in terms of power (page 15). Kwame Nkrumah guided Ghana to independence on March 6 1957 and was the first black nation to achieve such in Africa. Not to mention that Ghana was once the world's top exporter of cocoa and a leading producer of gold.

I was just optimistic that there were fans of self-determination and history as I am myself. Guess the song we shall overcome will always be enigmatic for us as a collective. Or maybe, just maybe I don’t look at enough television and think too much.

8 comments:

  1. Excellent post! Thanks for sharing that! This is something our children should be learning about in schools, not the same ole same old Black history stuff.

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  2. Yeah Bruh, I agree with Mizrepresent.

    Unfortunately for me, I am not as well read as I would like to be. Spent to much time chasing the all elusive dollar. Now I feel like I'm catching up on my real life, so keep educating, because all of us are not as aware as we should be.

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  3. Thank you for being the blogger's "delegate" to bring our attention to international affairs such as this. I had heard about this, but your in-depth insights were greatly appreciated!

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  4. You don't think too much! You have a beautiful mind.

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