May/Jun ACTION ALERT: Support Ujamma Youth Farming Project

[Nia Maishani]

Very true indeed, WombanAuset, and good strategy, which I have used myself.

Each month, I do leafleting on the Action Alert, which is why I have emphasized doing a flyer on this one, and stated in another area that I think we should have a flyer for each Alert. Not everyone is going to take the time to read a whole page or more, but flyers are extremely effective, and are a tool that has been ussed throughout history in perhaps all campaigns in the struggle.

Whenever I can catch a certain local weekly radio broadcast, I also put the word out through that venue (though I haven't done so YET for this alert). For this month's alert, I sent a modest $10 donation, and will be sending some copies of a very good book on farming as well, in the near future (have to get them ordered). I think that's Blacktastic that a $50 donation was also sent on behalf of the collective!

Great work on this, comrades!

[cdemafa]

Africa without African Americans



By Ezrah Aharone

There’s an upsurge of high-level Asian activities in Africa that Africans in America should note. Most recently President Hu Jintao of China visited Nigeria in late April to sign a $4 billion deal to develop oilfields and infrastructure. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi brought an astonishing 121-member delegation of political and business leaders to Ghana on a 3-day visit in early May. A South Korean delegation then arrived in Ghana shortly afterwards to solidify a multimillion dollar infrastructure contract.



Why is this relevant? Well, as so-called “African Americans,” why aren’t we heavily involved in African affairs? What do Asian leaders know about Africa that Black leaders don’t know? These questions resonate being that Africa is nowhere incorporated within the Covenant with Black America blueprint. Yes, being besieged with poverty and destabilization, on the surface Africa certainly seems more like a calamity than a remedy. But such thinking overlooks Africa’s strategic importance to Western expansion and the fact that we are native to the resource-richest continent on earth, of which all industrialized nations are partially dependant.



There is no other historical instance of a formerly enslaved people who valued integration with their former captors to the point where they completely abandon the superior wealth of their own homeland. If Euro-Americans were native to Africa instead of Europe, you can bet that Africa would be “fully developed” today. And there’s no way they’d neglect Africa and all its richness just to integrate with us. It’s therefore altogether backwards to prioritize our attachment to Euro-Americans above rapprochement with Africa. The disconnect of Black America’s human and economic resources from Africa’s human and natural resources, contributes to the poverty and powerlessness of us both.



Meanwhile, Europeans (and now Asians) entrench themselves deeper and cling to Africa for dear life because their economic and military might cannot otherwise be sustained without Africa’s strategic resources. Instead of being spectators as foreign governments and multinationals heist daily tons of resources from our homeland, we should be integral to the production, management, processing, and international distribution of African resources.



This is easier said than done since Western “brands of democracy” operate in concert to forestall such arrangements … Colonialism was the graduated continuation of slavery. Colonialism thrived by virtue of slavery’s success. Together they comprised a singular force to fuel the dual process of European development and African demise. The interrelation and long-term impact of these “bookend institutions” explain why Europeans reign spaciously atop the present world order, while Africans are scrunched down at the bottom fighting for survival.



It’s urgent and imperative therefore that all leaders of African descent understand the “geo-strategic economics” of how the world was fashioned into this current state. Otherwise they are, by default, perpetuating a world system rooted in unresolvable inequities.



To maintain the current “balance of power,” the U.S. government has historically sought to minimize Black America’s interactions and impact in Africa. To make sense of this, you must understand that the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements ran concurrent with African Independence Movements. Since resistance to Western injustices was the common denominator to these movements, the U.S. government regarded Black activism in America and the revolutions in Africa as fractional particles of the same struggle – differing only in location and _expression. America guarded against the fractions from operating in parallel, so that no rubbed-off African influences would possibly (God forbid) augment the “Civil Rights Movement” into a “Sovereign Rights Movement.”



America did experience uncertain moments in 1957 when both Dr. King and Malcolm X attended Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s inauguration in Ghana. It was a frightening omen to see two of the most visionary Black men in America interfacing ideals with the president of the first African nation to seize independence. This unprecedented meeting-of-the-minds between the “formerly enslaved” and “formerly colonized” should have opened a new advent in “world history.” But here we are nearly 50 years later, still (psychologically and economically) detached from Africa and still preoccupied with notions of equality, while Asians now prosper from our homeland’s wealth.



With or without the Covenant, we must fast awaken to the “geo-strategic economics” of this world, or we risk self-induced political extinction. Regardless of how many non-Africans invest in Africa or how far Black America assimilates into Americanization, we’ll still face joint-related issues with Africa that require joint-related solutions. The Government of Ghana realizes this fact, and as part of its 50th independence anniversary in 2007, Ghana is subsequently launching the “Joseph Project” (recognizing the Biblical Joseph who triumphed after being enslaved and reunited with his brothers). Among other things, this historic and multifaceted initiative aims to reconcile Diaspora relations and generate wealth for ourselves.



Although the unknown and uncharted course of African relations is not a cure-all, the known and well charted course of Americanization is not a cure-all either. Certainly our collective long-term interests as African people would be advanced if we mended both history and relations. Based on the singularity and common origin of our struggles, our interdependency for parallel movements will not vanish with time. Undoubtedly, a nucleus of us will reestablish a significant presence in Africa and ensure that unlike 20th century-Africa, 21st century-Africa will not be an “Africa without so-called African Americans.”

~~~~~~~~~~



Copyright © 2006 Ezrah Aharone

Ezrah Aharone is a Scholar of Sovereign Studies and the author of “Pawned Sovereignty: Sharpened Black Perspectives on Americanization, Africa, War and Reparations” http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/18126. He can be reached at EzrahAharone@juno.com .

[Mahmoud Siddiqi]

Originally Posted by WombanAuset

Every month I get on the radio..i call in and let them know the action alert..i will soon be printing them in the local black newspaper..alot of people are hungry for knowledge..just have a hard time finding the food!

This is very good work! Have you gone on the radio yet for this Action Alert? Do they report back to you with the amount of inquiries about the Action Alert that they received?

[ShakaZulu]

Bismillaah ir Rahmaan ir Rahiim. Salaam; Everyone. Considering the fact that Ghana, is opening its doors to the Afro-American community, is the U.S., running interference or is there a serious problem concerning Afro-American welcome by the people, in Ghana. Scroll down the page to the Safety And Security, section:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1124.html

We, of course must be alert in any country. Would someone who has traveled to the country, give his/her, opinion. Ghana, is offering a great opportunity for beginning a new, life in a new world. Obviously, some people would not like to see this opportunity bear wholesome, fruit.

Salaam. ShakaZulu

[Nia Maishani]

Originally Posted by cdemafa

Africa without African Americans


By Ezrah Aharone

There’s an upsurge of high-level Asian activities in Africa that Africans in America should note. Most recently President Hu Jintao of China visited Nigeria in late April to sign a $4 billion deal to develop oilfields and infrastructure. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi brought an astonishing 121-member delegation of political and business leaders to Ghana on a 3-day visit in early May. A South Korean delegation then arrived in Ghana shortly afterwards to solidify a multimillion dollar infrastructure contract.

Why is this relevant? Well, as so-called “African Americans,” why aren’t we heavily involved in African affairs? What do Asian leaders know about Africa that Black leaders don’t know? These questions resonate being that Africa is nowhere incorporated within the Covenant with Black America blueprint. Yes, being besieged with poverty and destabilization, on the surface Africa certainly seems more like a calamity than a remedy. But such thinking overlooks Africa’s strategic importance to Western expansion and the fact that we are native to the resource-richest continent on earth, of which all industrialized nations are partially dependant.

There is no other historical instance of a formerly enslaved people who valued integration with their former captors to the point where they completely abandon the superior wealth of their own homeland. If Euro-Americans were native to Africa instead of Europe, you can bet that Africa would be “fully developed” today. And there’s no way they’d neglect Africa and all its richness just to integrate with us. It’s therefore altogether backwards to prioritize our attachment to Euro-Americans above rapprochement with Africa. The disconnect of Black America’s human and economic resources from Africa’s human and natural resources, contributes to the poverty and powerlessness of us both.

Meanwhile, Europeans (and now Asians) entrench themselves deeper and cling to Africa for dear life because their economic and military might cannot otherwise be sustained without Africa’s strategic resources. Instead of being spectators as foreign governments and multinationals heist daily tons of resources from our homeland, we should be integral to the production, management, processing, and international distribution of African resources.

This is easier said than done since Western “brands of democracy” operate in concert to forestall such arrangements … Colonialism was the graduated continuation of slavery. Colonialism thrived by virtue of slavery’s success. Together they comprised a singular force to fuel the dual process of European development and African demise. The interrelation and long-term impact of these “bookend institutions” explain why Europeans reign spaciously atop the present world order, while Africans are scrunched down at the bottom fighting for survival.

It’s urgent and imperative therefore that all leaders of African descent understand the “geo-strategic economics” of how the world was fashioned into this current state. Otherwise they are, by default, perpetuating a world system rooted in unresolvable inequities.

To maintain the current “balance of power,” the U.S. government has historically sought to minimize Black America’s interactions and impact in Africa. To make sense of this, you must understand that the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements ran concurrent with African Independence Movements. Since resistance to Western injustices was the common denominator to these movements, the U.S. government regarded Black activism in America and the revolutions in Africa as fractional particles of the same struggle – differing only in location and _expression. America guarded against the fractions from operating in parallel, so that no rubbed-off African influences would possibly (God forbid) augment the “Civil Rights Movement” into a “Sovereign Rights Movement.”

America did experience uncertain moments in 1957 when both Dr. King and Malcolm X attended Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s inauguration in Ghana. It was a frightening omen to see two of the most visionary Black men in America interfacing ideals with the president of the first African nation to seize independence. This unprecedented meeting-of-the-minds between the “formerly enslaved” and “formerly colonized” should have opened a new advent in “world history.” But here we are nearly 50 years later, still (psychologically and economically) detached from Africa and still preoccupied with notions of equality, while Asians now prosper from our homeland’s wealth.

With or without the Covenant, we must fast awaken to the “geo-strategic economics” of this world, or we risk self-induced political extinction. Regardless of how many non-Africans invest in Africa or how far Black America assimilates into Americanization, we’ll still face joint-related issues with Africa that require joint-related solutions. The Government of Ghana realizes this fact, and as part of its 50th independence anniversary in 2007, Ghana is subsequently launching the “Joseph Project” (recognizing the Biblical Joseph who triumphed after being enslaved and reunited with his brothers). Among other things, this historic and multifaceted initiative aims to reconcile Diaspora relations and generate wealth for ourselves.

Although the unknown and uncharted course of African relations is not a cure-all, the known and well charted course of Americanization is not a cure-all either. Certainly our collective long-term interests as African people would be advanced if we mended both history and relations. Based on the singularity and common origin of our struggles, our interdependency for parallel movements will not vanish with time. Undoubtedly, a nucleus of us will reestablish a significant presence in Africa and ensure that unlike 20th century-Africa, 21st century-Africa will not be an “Africa without so-called African Americans.”

~~~~~~~~~~



Copyright © 2006 Ezrah Aharone

Ezrah Aharone is a Scholar of Sovereign Studies and the author of “Pawned Sovereignty: Sharpened Black Perspectives on Americanization, Africa, War and Reparations” http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/18126. He can be reached at EzrahAharone@juno.com .

Specblacular article, Commandante Mafa. Asante sana for sharing it.

[cdemafa]

On behalf of Ujamma Youth Farming Project I would like to thank all the comrades who have donated to us.We were able to raise US$580.Our target is to raise US$6 000 for the irrigation construction.We do not have water at the farm,we are relying on rainfall,that is why there is only activity during the rain season.We had made an appeal for equipment unfortunately we got none,only pledges.I kindly urge all those who have donated to keep on supporting us until we reach self sufficient.If you have any ideas on how to fundraise please get in touch with us.You can get all contact details on our site www.ujammafarming.org .Bro Netfa Freeman in Washington DC our USA liason is coming to Zimbabwe on 2nd of August 2006,if there is anyone close to him who wants to send donations please send them to him and he will bring them straight to us here in Zimbabwe.I also urge those who have supported to encourage others to do the same.Thank you for your contnued support brothers and sisters.May the ancestors guide and protect you along the way.

[cdemafa]

Brother Netfa Freeman visit to Ujamma Youth Farming Project in Zimbabwe

Greetings African Family,

I have just returned from Zimbabwe. It was a very educational and gratifying trip to say the least. With the impeccable hospitality of our brother Kwanisai Mafa, we were able to travel from what's basically the Northern East end of the country (Harare) into the center provinces
of Gweru, further south to Bulawayo, then back up to the Northern west part to the great Mosi-Oa-Tunya Falls (what the Europeans renamed Victoria Falls), AND backward through all of those to Harare again. We took the people's transportation, cambi buses/vans. No tourist rides for us.

Politically Zimbabwe is an intriguing situation that is grossly misrepresented by the Western World and even by many so-called progressives (Africans alike). Complexity and context are too often neglected from the analysis/information readily available about Zimbabwe. The repression and volatility claimed by Britain, the EU and US are pure lies. The police don't even carry guns (as they do in the police state of the United Snakes of AmeriKKKa). How can one be a dictator or repressive government when their police don't even carry
guns? Furthermore, the police and the state news media (at least TV news) are overwhelmingly young people, below the ages of 30-35, and many women. We all know that youth and women in general are too zealous and courageous to predominate such positions for the maintenance of a repressive state.

However, the effects of the illegal and immoral sanctions are evident.It is a blatant lie that the sanctions are confined to the travel and financial assets of government officials. In fact I should not say it is a lie because those imposing the sanctions publish public information
that would easily dispel such misrepresentations.

The fuss over Operation Murambatzvina is another propaganda ploy. What is always neglected there is Operation Garikai which I have seen with my own eyes. This noble operation is rebuilding brand new homes for all those displaces by Operation Murambatzvina that are of course far better than how they lived before. Why does no one talk about that? I have taken video footage of them. Is it ignorance or intentional omission?
We can not let the enemies of Africa AND the whole of humanity dictate how we see the world or Africa. They are very sophisticated in how they advance their misinformation so we must be that much more sophisticated in how we get ours.

What evidence is there that President Mugabe is corrupt or is clinging to power? We must do our homework. Zimbabwe is a parliamentary government with opposition parties in it that are able to operate freely and openly. President Mugabe nor ZANU PF can not be held responsible
for all the decisions made in the parliament. Also you do not have to visit Zimbabwe to know that the country holds elections (5 since independence in 1980) that have been hailed by the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, and others as the most free and fair in Africa. The last election was even endorsed by the Catholic Churches in Zimbabwe which are among the staunches critics of President Mugabe. The opposition parties have always lost to ZANU PF and President Mugabe in the elections. HOMEWORK!

I was there to survey the Ujamma Youth Farming Project which is a valiant initiative that needs more Pan-African support. I hope to produce some media mediums that will help dispel the lies about what is easily today the most revolutionary nation on the African continent.
This is not to say it does not have it's share of contradictions and challenges but as Africa goes, it maybe our most liberated zone. And as Kwame Nkrumah taught us we must protect our Liberated Zones at all costs.

Forward Ever! Backward Never!
Long Live President Mugabe!
-netfa freeman

[cdemafa]

Greetings:

I appreciate all the enriching and constructive commentary generated from the first edition of the Ujamma Farming Report. It is this kind of energy that keeps the UYFP members encouraged and striving to bring more hard-accessed information about Zimbabwe's people, its governance and critical perspectives on international policies that undermine the government's legitimacy and its misrepresentation in mainstream media venues. In the last edition of the UFR I mentioned that the this edition would be published at the end of April. Due to unforseen challenges, I must delay the publication for week and a half. I apologize for this delay, but rest assured you will be pleased with the content of the next edition.
Wishing you much productivity and steadfastness in your revolutionary work.

Moving Forward,
Sister Adwoa Masozi
Ujamma Farming Report Editor
UYFP Organization Website: www.ujammafarming.org
Make A Donation: http://www.ujammafarming.org/donate.htm

[DJ RBG]

Comrade we are humbled by the continued expressions of Revolutionary PanAfricanism!!

[cdemafa]

" One who does not contribute to his community and the coming generation remains to be a burden to his society and an object of ridicule to outside observers" Haile Selassie I

[Revolutionary_Student]

I have managed to donate about $20 in the past few weeks from the DVD's I've sold. I haven't sold many but it helps. It seems as if people are ignoring my thread or they simply are not interested in purchasing any DVD's--- which comes as a shock to me because I think they're reasonably priced and it's very good information. I thought the people would eat this stuff up! There are over 40 items to chose from and there's more to come. See my post here: Conscious DVD's/CD's Sale-Support The Ujamma Youth Farming Project

Here's a taste of what's available

[cdemafa]

Well for Farm Irrigation in Zimbabwe

Country: Zimbabwe

Location: Southern Africa

Partner Organization: Ujamma Youth Farming Project Established in June 2005, UYFP is an African youth-led farming cooperative that has secured a 100-acre plot of farmland in the city of Gweru under the Zimbabwe government's land redistribution program. UYFP's mission is to empower African youth through gainful farming initiatives so that they are able to demonstrate the essential skills necessary to function as life long productive citizens of Zimbabwe's agrarian reforms.

Project Start Date: November 2007 (Phase 1: Resource Development & Project Design)

Project Summary: AAPDEP has taken on a project to construct a 50m deep borehole (pressurized well) for irrigation of a 25-acre section of farmland owned by the Ujamma Youth Farming Project in Gweru, Zimbabwe.

Analysis: For more than ten years now, the people of Zimbabwe have been forced to endure severe hardship due to the hypocritical economic sanctions that have been imposed on the country from the US, EU, World Bank, IMF and others in response to the Zimbabwean government's land redistribution program. This program was implemented in order to resettle landless Africans on land illegally occupied by white settlers whose ancestors stole it by the force of the gun during the colonial era. Currently, Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of around 80%, suffers with the highest rate of inflation in the world, and has been hard hit by drought and lack of funds for farming initiatives. AAPDEP's participation in this borehole project will help to support the efforts of UYFP to provide valuable training, employment, and of course produce to the people of Zimbabwe.


Skills Needed: Engineering and Well Building

Volunteer!

[cdemafa]

Please forward and circulatec this link