Slavery: 200 Years Later (NVS Platform Special )

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[Jah Guda]

Thanks No Smoking. You made some valid points. My point is, although the Countries you mentioned have all done well in terms of rebuilding after terrible wars,
they all were assisted by America. Last Month Britain paid back the final instalment,$83m, of the money loaned to her by America, $4bn, for rebuilding after the war, sixty years ago (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine). The loan was paid back in 50 instalments. Japan as we know received help and America has kissed and made up with Vietnam. Go to Vietnam today and see how much Americans have invested in that country. I worked in SE Asia for three years and visited Vietnam; its transformation is incredible. There are predictions that it will be an economic powerhouse soon.
I agree with you that we lack capable leaders but I sometimes ask myself if our leaders are led down this path by the Western Powers. I am not saying they have no minds of their own, I tend to think if they do not do as they are told then someone else will be put in their position. The Britain/Saudi bribe fiasco of recent confirmed my suspicions. Kleptomaniacs have ruled us for decades; no one cares. If Western Europe and America take up my suggestion, with good infrastructure in place we can then work with them to ensure good governance and accountability.
They can help rid us of corruption if they are willing to, trust me they can.
A good model is what they have in Hong Kong. The British work side by side with the Hong Kong Chinese, the HK Chinese are happy with this arrangement because they want the British to introduce British values to their everyday life and in return the British are afforded a very high standard of living. Here the British do not come in, reside behind high fences and iron gates, grab resources then head back home, they actually contribute in a positive way to the fabric of HK society.
Jah Guda.

[No Smoking]

Thanks, Jah Guda. You are a nice man to talk with. Much nicer than your "name"..

You mentioned what's happening in HK. Somehow, the African psyche does not feel at ease with the presence of former colonial masters. Zimbabwe is a glaring recent example of this. The independence constitution there permitted the whites to retain a quota of 20% membership in the Parliament, and continued participation as individuals in the society. Within a few years, Mugabe gobbled up his fellow black freedom fighters, then turned against the whites, pushing them out of the civil service and farmlands. He's had it all to himself for over 20years, and pushed the country far back into the Dark Ages. Of course, there are villagers here clapping for this masquerade of a leader.

[Jah Guda]

Thanks for the compliment No Smoking, I like my “name” though. I was thinking of Naija when I made it up. Mugabe is in a different class, he has not pressed the self-destruct button, he is sitting on it, permanently.
About the African psyche you mentioned, a newspaper columnist here once referred to the “uneasy relationship whites have with blacks”. I suppose Africans feel the same about whites, in a sense justifiable.
Jah Guda

[I Love Nigeria]

Soyinka blames underdevelopment on slavery in Africa
By Dolapo Okunniga - 29.03.2007

THE under-development of both human and material resources in Nigerian, and the absurd practices of politicians holding government offices have been blamed for the long years of slavery in Africa.


Nobel Laureate Professor Oluwole Soyinka disclosed this yesterday in a birthday lecture delivered at the Paul Hendrickse lecture theatre of the UCH, Ibadan, in honour of the first lady Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Folake Solanke at her 75th birthday lecture and presentation of her autobiography.


Professor Soyinka citing various harmful and obsolete traditions in Nigeria, such as the Osu Caste System among the Igbos and child marriages practised in countries like India, said the unfinished business of slavery in Africa was still manifest both in harmful practices in small communities and unfavourable polices and politics of government in the states.


“The unfinished business of human enslavement, no matter in what form is still manifest in enslavement of societal conditioning that even while banned or criminalised, they actually remain active as a powerful under current within the human cycle, sometimes even influencing the public and policies of micro communities and even states.


While eulogising the first lady SAN for her immense contributions to the country in legal profession in Africa and in the international community, Soyinka reflected on what loss it would be if she had been subjected to all forms of human enslavement as experienced by women in Africa.


In his remark, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore while extolling on the virtues of Chief Folake Solanke as a lawyer who steered clear of politics, called for a review or repeal of the procedural rules of court.


“The administration of justice in Nigeria can be better. Our problem has always been the procedure which the British has put in the waste basket.”

[I Love Nigeria]

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/arti...ry_22feb07.jpg

[I Love Nigeria]

March 30, 2007
First Black West Point Graduate Honored
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/A...lack-Grad.html
Filed at 4:46 p.m. ET

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) -- Henry O. Flipper stoically endured hate and harassment to become the first black graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, only to be drummed out of the Army after white officers accused him of embezzlement.

He didn't see his name cleared in his lifetime, but the Army took another step in honoring his legacy Friday with the dedication of a bust of him at the Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth.

Because of rain, the ceremony was moved inside and only photographs of the bust were shown, although family member later went to view the memorial.

Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck, superintendent at West Point, said the academy has bestowed the Henry Flipper Award to graduates who overcome challenges for the past quarter-century.

Born a slave in Thomasville, Ga., in 1856, Flipper was not the first black at West Point, but he was the first to endure four years of hardship and hostility there. He graduated in 1877, just 12 years after the Civil War.

''Besides having a strong academic background, someone of obvious academic talents, he was a very stoic individual,'' historian Steve Grove said. ''He didn't hit back. Flipper would just bear it.''

Grove said Flipper wrote in his autobiography that he ''was above that kind of behavior.'' Despite public ridicule and harassment from white cadets, Flipper was known to tutor whites in private to help them with their studies.

''He was an amazing individual. It was amazing how mature he was,'' Grove said.

Flipper served at various Southwest posts as a scout, an engineer surveyor and construction supervisor, post adjutant, acting assistant and post quartermaster and commissary officer.

At Fort Davis, Texas, in 1881, Flipper's career took a dire turn when his commander accused him of embezzling $3,792 from commissary funds. Flipper initially discovered the funds missing from his custody and concealed their disappearance from superiors, hoping the money would return.

He was court-martialed, acquitted of embezzlement but convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer, and dishonorably discharged.

He would later write in a letter to a congressman that the crime ''of being a Negro was, in my case, more heinous than deceiving a commanding officer.''

Flipper went on to a successful civilian career as an engineer and expert in Spanish and Mexican land law, wrote several books and worked as a special assistant to the U.S. interior secretary. He spent decades trying to clear his name, and his family continued the fight after his death in 1940.

In 1976, an Army board commuted Flipper's dismissal to a good conduct discharge, concluding that his conviction and punishment were ''unduly harsh and unjust.'' In 1999, President Clinton granted him a full pardon.

(Corrects name to `Franklin Hagenbeck.')