On the night of November 5, the new North American president was not only a man talking. He was the reborn voice of suppressed hope rising, free, within us. My heart had voted, even without permission: used to expecting little, I celebrated a victory without dimensions. Going out on the street, I found that my city had moved to Chicago, blacks and whites breathing and sharing the same happy surprise. Because the victory of Obama was not one race over another: without the mass participation of Americans of all races (including the white majority) the United States of America would not have given us reason to celebrate.

In the following days, I was taking in the euphoric reaction from the nost diverse corners of our continent. Anonymous people, ordinary people wanted to witness to their happiness. At the same time I was taking notes, with some reservations, of the messages of solidarity from African leaders. Almost all called Obama “our brother”. And I thought: are all these leaders being sincere? Is Barack Obama actually related to so many people so politically different? I have doubts. In the rush to see only the prejudices of others, we are not able to see our own racism and xenophobia. In haste to condemn the West, we forget to accept lessons arriving for us from the other side of the world.

It was then that I saw a text by a Cameroonian writer, Patrice Nganang, entitled: “And if Obama were Cameroonian?”. The issues that my colleague of Cameroon raised prompted several questions, all tied to the following hypothesis: and if Obama were African and running for the presidency in an African country? These are the questions I would like to explore in this text.

And if Obama were an African and an candidate for the presidency of an African country?

1. If Obama were African, his opponent (any of Africa’s George Bushes) would find a way to change the constitution to prolong his mandate beyond the expected term. And our Obama would have to wait a couple more years to run again. The wait could be long, if we take into account the permanence of a single president in power in Africa. Some 41 years in Gabon, 39 in Libya, 28 in Zimbabwe, 28 in Equatorial Guinea, 28 in Angola, 27 in Egypt, 26 in Cameroon. And so on, running through as many as 15 presidents on the continent in office for more than 20 consecutive years. Mugabe will celebrate his 90th birthday when the latest mandate which he imposed in defiance of the popular verdict runs out.
2. If Obama were African, it is probable that, being a candidate of the opposition party, he would have the opportunity to campaign. They would threat him, for example, as in Zimbabwe or in Cameroon: he would be physically attacked, arrested again and again, have his passport withdrawn. The Bushs of Africa do not tolerate opponents, do not tolerate democracy.
3. If Obama were African, he wouldn’t even be eligible in many countries because the elites in power invented restrictive laws that close the doors of the presidency to children of foreigners and descendants of immigrants. The Zambian nationalist Kenneth Kaunda is being questioned, in his own country, as a son of Malawians. They conveniently “discovered” that the man who led Zambia to independence and ruled for more than 25 years was, after all, a Malawian, and therefore had governed “illegally” for all this time. Arrested for alleged coup intentions, our Kenneth Kaunda (who gave his name to one of the most prominent avenues of Maputo) was banned from engaging in politics, thus freeing the regime of an opponent.
4. Let us be clear: Obama is black in the United States. In Africa he is mulatto. If Obama were African, he would see his race used against him. Not that skin color is really important for people who want to see leaders that are competent and and work seriously. But the predatory elites would campaign against someone who they would designate as “not an authentic African.”. The same black brother who is hailed today as the new American president would be humiliated at home as being representative of “the others”, those of another race, another flag (or perhaps no flag at all)..
5. If he were African, our “brother” would have to give an account to moralists when he thought of including thanks in his speech for support from gays. A mortal sin for advocates of the so-called “pure African.” For these moralists - so often in power, or with the powerful - homosexuality is an unacceptable defect that is external to Africa and to Africans.
6. If he should win an election, Obama would probably have to sit at the negotiation table and share power with the loser, in a degrading negotiating process that in some African countries allows the loser to renegotiate that which seems sacred - the will of the people expressed in the votes. At this point, Barack Obama would be sitting at a table with a Bush in endless rounds negotiating with African mediators who would tell us to be content with crumbs from those electoral processes that do not satisfy the dictators.

Inconclusive findings

Make no mistake: there are exceptions to this general picture. We all know the exceptions we are talking about, and we Mozambicans ourselves, we were able to make one from such conditions.

And equally make no mistake: all these obstacles to an African Obama would not be imposed by the people, but by the power holders, by elites that unscrupulously make governing a source of enrichment.

The truth is that Obama is not African. The truth is that Africans - ordinary people and anonymous workers - celebrated with all their heart the American victory of Obama. But I do not believe that dictators and corrupt African leaders have the right to be invited to this party.

Because the joy that millions of Africans felt on November 5 came because they invested in Obama exactly the opposite of what the know from their experience with their own leaders. As much as it hurts us to admit it, only a minority of African states know or knew leaders preoccupied with the public good.

On the same day that Obama was confirmed the winner, the international media was filled with terrible news about Africa. On the same day the victory of most Americans, Africa was still being defeated by war, mismanagement, the excessive ambition of greedy politicians. After they killed democracy, these politicians are killing politics itself. What is left is war in some cases. Iun others, withdrawal and cynicism.

There is only one real way of celebrating Obama in African countries: it is to struggle so that more flags of hope may rise here in our continent. It is to struggle so that the African Obamas can also overcome. And for us, Africans of all races and ethnicities, to claim victory with these Obamas and celebrate in our own house that which we now celebrate for a house across the ocean.

(africafocus)

At current market valuations (GM is worth less than Mattel) the Chinese government can afford to buy GM with petty cash. Even a hundred billion $ would barely dent China’s more than $2t in currency reserves. For nobody in the world would buying GM and (while they are at it) Chrysler make more sense than for the Chinese. Overlap? What overlap? They would gain instant access to the world’s markets with accepted brands, and proven technology.

All the Shock Doctrine fanatics cheering to drive the the Big 3 into bankruptcy “restructuring” (like Mitt Romney, who can kiss future hopes of electoral victory in Michigan goodbye) might want to think about the implications of this.

Of course the same legislators clamouring for bankruptcy could block the sale. (This assumes they have the fortitude to stare down the Chinese, who currently hold a whopping portion of US debt, and deny them something they really want). But in doing so, and at the same time refusing a bridge loan to the automakers, they are basically legislating the destruction of the Big 3. They will be forcing them to stiff all their creditors and stockholders and tear up their union contracts by refusing to let the “free market” they love to bang on about step in and assume the company’s legitimate debts. Or were all those insufferable lectures about “personal responsibility” when the bankruptcy bill was going through just so much claptrap?

Because selling the company would be far preferable to the Big 3 and those who are dependent on them than Chapter 7. But long-term it would not be without peril for the US. As one FDL commener noted:

With no big three making cars what to stop Toyota and Honda from moving the plants to Mexico where costs are really low. Its only the threat of being shut out of the American market that keeps the Japanese building cars here. If we no longer have cars made in America by American companies we will have no choice but to buy their cars no matter where they are made.

I know long-term thinking isn’t his forte. But as Richard Shelby is salivating at the prospect of yet another BMW SUV plant in his right-to-work state, it might be something for him to consider.
(huffingtonpost)

MTN has sent a team of engineers to China to assess cellphone handsets that can retail for about $10, which it believes is crucial if cellular services are to spread throughout Africa.

Cellphone penetration was highly dependent on cheaper equipment as well as cheaper call fees, and the reliability of the Chinese handsets was no different from the more expensive brand name models, MTN regional vice-president Tim Lowry told the AfricaCom conference in Cape Town this week.

“In markets such as Uganda and Zambia we are able to sell five to six thousand of these phones per week,” he said.

Lowry also wants to source flashier multimedia handsets for about $40 each, and said the first manufacturer to achieve that target would be the winner in Africa.

Telecoms research house Informa predicts that 485-million Africans will be cellphone subscribers by 2013, yet that will still be a penetration rate of only about 38%. Today, many countries have a penetration rate of only about 18%.

Informa’s prediction may prove too modest if operators can slash the cost of their services, the speakers at AfricaCom believe.

Technology developer Qualcomm is using its office in Johannesburg to serve an increasing number of countries in Africa and agrees that low prices are essential for spreading communications across the continent. Qualcomm’s wireless technologies transmit high-speed data and video traffic, and demand for those services is finally beginning to grow, despite about 70% of Africans still not having access to basic voice calls.

Vice-president Jing Wang said there were tremendous growth opportunities in Africa because of the dearth of fixed-line telephony, and because wireless systems were far cheaper to deploy. “We are treating Africa as a high priority.”

Qualcomm licenses its technologies for network infrastructure and handset chip sets to equipment manufacturers such as Ericsson and Alcatel, which sell to operators including MTN, Vodacom and Neotel.

James Munn, vice-president of business development for southern Africa, is now targeting Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania and also plans to tackle Ethiopia, where only 9-million of its 90-million population have access to cellular services.

Wang said: “We are going to become a more active player in this continent and add resources in the region to work more with the regulators and operators to enable them to provide consumers with better services that are better quality and more affordable.”

He said it was not unrealistic to want to take high-speed data services to rural areas not yet enjoying voice coverage, since the two went hand in hand if the right technologies were used.

“Wireless broadband connectivity is very important for Africa and it’s the most economical and quickest way to bridge the gap,” Wang said.

“We need to work with the vendors to reduce the costs of the infrastructure and handsets so consumers in developing markets can afford these devices and services.”

Michael Joseph, CEO of Kenya’s Safaricom, said: “African operators have to be more innovative and look at data as a way to pump up their revenues.
“We also need to decrease costs, and sharing our infrastructure is one way we will probably all go in the end.”
(allafrica)

My seven year-old son is very tall for his age. He’s been in the 90th percentile for height his whole life. He’s also African-American. It seems like in our country, Black + Tall + Male = having to constantly hear, “You better put him in basketball! He could be the next Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan.”

Yes, if you’re a tall, African-American boy, you are destined to be a basketball player.

Never mind that he’d rather spend his time at a science center, and never mind that if you ask him what sport he really wants to play, he’ll tell you football because his grandpa works at Notre Dame.

Even though he could have begun playing in our local sports leagues when he was five, I was reluctant to register him because I didn’t want to feed into the stereotype that the only thing of value in an African-American boy is athletic ability. But, when he turned six he begged to play soccer. I felt a little like I was putting my own baggage about sports and black males onto him, so I signed him up.

No one assumed that he knew how to play at all, and the coaches emphasized that the goal was exposure to the sport. However, I noticed that the performance expectations seemed to be much higher for the Latino boys on his team than it was for him. One Latina mother explained to me that it was because soccer is so much more popular in Latin America. She claimed that Latino fathers give their children soccer balls before they can walk. Clearly, this seemed like questionable stereotyping to me, but I found the sentiment echoed quite frequently by other parents.

When the soccer season came to a close, it only seemed natural to move my son on to the next sport, basketball. He was assigned to a team and it quickly became clear that he was the tallest kid on it. He was also the only black child in the entire division. I can’t begin to tell you how excited his coach was. “Come on over here! You’re going to be our rock star.”

I was immediately irritated. I found myself sitting in the bleachers, watching the first practice and thinking, “That coach only said my son’s a rock star because he thinks that since my boy’s black, he knows how to play.” The truth of the matter was that up till then, my son had only played basketball a couple of times. My husband never played competitive sports so it doesn’t come natural to him to toss a basketball or football around every day. I was a cheerleader, not a basketball player, and quite frankly, his learning to read above grade level has been our top priority, not sports.

The very first game of the season, my son scored three baskets and led his team to victory. Afterwards, the coach gushed about my son, saying, “He’s really got some natural talent there.”

I wanted to ask, “What do you mean ‘natural talent’?” but before I knew it, the coach was talking to another parent.

Even though it feels like black folks are always treated like they’re naturals at sports, dancing, singing, joke-telling and hip-hop, I again asked myself if I was reading too much into such a comment. Was this coach just being complimentary or did he assume that blackness = basketball like everybody else?

As the weeks passed, it became clear that my son was not the best shooter on the team. Making three baskets in the first game was a bit of beginner’s luck. But, one of his Latino teammates managed to hit 80% of his baskets. Instead, because of his height, my son became the king of rebounds. Needless to say, they won every game and my son genuinely enjoyed playing on the team.

This year we were out of town and so we missed soccer registration, but back at the beginning of August, the guy working in the recreation center office made sure to mention that basketball registration would be happening in November.

Again, I found myself wondering, am I only being told this because the guy behind the desk figures a black kid will like basketball more, or does he genuinely not want my son to miss out?

It made me realize that this is one of the most insidious things about racism: It takes a psychological toll on you since you constantly have to turn this stuff over in your head. The vigilance it requires to be sure my son is not being treated in a prejudicial manner gets exhausting. I don’t like having to wonder whether something I’m told or the way my boy is treated is a symptom of either conscious or subconscious racism.

Come to think of it, one of the reasons I like my son’s pediatrician so much is that after checking my son’s vision, the doctor said to him that he has such perfect eyesight that he could be an airline pilot. The doctor never says, “Wow, you’re tall! You should be a ball player!” I wish no one else did either.

Liz Dwyer lives in Los Angeles with her husband of eight years, Elarryo Bolden and her two sons, ages six and three. Her great sense of adventure and desire to learn about diverse cultures took her to Guangzhou, China where she taught English to third and fourth graders, picked up some Mandarin, and managed to get into seven bike accidents. Liz taught in Compton, CA for three years and later worked for national education non-profit Teach For America. Liz has written and reflected on the world around her for the past three years at Los Angelista’s Guide to the Pursuit of Happiness. She’s currently freelance writing and working on her first novel.

Image courtesy of Balakov on Flickr
(antiracistparent)

An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. The first one orders a beer. The second orders half a beer. The third, a quarter of a beer. The bartender says “You’re all idiots”, and pours two beers.