FACT: Africa is the birthplace of humanity.

YET, today the word “black” is associated with all that is bad and evil – black magic, the devil, darkness, evil, death and much more.

The word “white” on the other hand is associated with all that is pure and clean, angels, innocence, and goodness – even white lies are good lies. Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States of America coined the famous phrase that “All men are created equal” – a phrase written into the US Declaration of Independence.What he actually meant was that “All white men are created equal”.He did not believe that white women were equal to white men, nor did he believe that black men were created equal to white men.He published a book – “Notes on Virginia” – where he explained that white men were intellectually superior to black men and that it would be impossible for a black person to understand the mathematical formulae explained in Euclid’s book “The Elements”.How is it that white people have “greater mathematical aptitudes” than Africans when it’s a known fact that civilisation began in Africa? And just to prove that Thomas Jefferson was an idiot, it turns out that the very Euclid he praised as the greatest mathematician of all times, never travelled outside of Africa, that he was born, raised and educated in Africa – even though the “White Encyclopaedias” depict him as a “white man”.I strongly believe that the great Euclid was a black man, an African man.We should be proud.We should also be proud of the many unmentioned black inventors that remained unmentioned due to the corrupt system against our kind.We should familiarise ourselves with the works of the great Cheikh Anta Diop, the pharaoh of African knowledge who dedicated his life to re-identifying African identity.With the slave trade and colonialism, Africa was taken out of history and its people reduced to commodities.Africans were no longer people or the Great Nation, but were assigned several labels just like commodities on supermarket shelves.Labels such as Namibian, South African, Angolan, Nigerian, Zambian, Jamaican, African-American, and even sub-labels – Ovambos, Hereros, Dama/Nama, Shona, Ndebele, Zulu, and even further like Ngonga, Kwanyama, and so on.The more segregated we are, the less powerful we are.It was all a plan.All Africans, irrespective of their location on this planet, are of a common ancestry, and as such, belong to the same family – the African Family.Who is a true African? I think it should be any person with a drop of “black” blood in his or her veins.Such people should not be denied their African heritage unless they choose not to be called African.This goes for our “Coloured” brothers and sisters who insist on labelling themselves to avoid being looked at or referred to as “Blacks” or “Africans”.It’s a shame.Even after the independence of our African countries, this did not mean decolonisation since the colonial structures still remained intact.African leaders are themselves mentally enslaved as they are too blind to take appropriate action to unite Africans for auto-centric development.Instead of thinking of themselves as Africans who can collectively benefit from the human and material resources of Africa, they continue to label themselves as Namibians, South Africans, Angolans Zimbabweans and Zambians.Meanwhile the Europeans continue to benefit from the riches of Africa while claiming to be providing aid.Do we really need their aid? Are we not developed enough to aid ourselves? We should get rid of the thinking that “…it’s a Zimbabwean problem or Liberian problem”.Why don’t we make it an African problem and have all leaders chipping in.Capitalists do not set out to create other capitalists to compete with them.The logic of the capitalist is to maximize profit for him or herself.The time has come that Africans start to think of themselves as capitalists.Dr. Chika Onyeani, author of the popular “Capitalist Nigger – The Road to Success” (a MUST-READ for all Africans) proudly declared himself a “Capitalist Nigger”.Dr. Onyeani is sick and tired of black people being sick and tired.We have all been complaining long enough, the time has come for action.Chapter after chapter of his book, he looks at black people and finds them wanting this and wanting that.It’s all about handouts and aid.He says, “As we enter the 21st century, Africans don’t have the capacity to discover oil; they don’t have the capacity to drill for the oil; they don’t have the capability to refine the oil; they don’t have the capacity to transport the oil to the destination where it would be refined; they don’t have the vessel to transport the oil back to us for consumption.At a time when Indians and Pakistanis have both detonated the atom bomb, when China is providing the technology for quick acceleration of launching satellites into orbit, Africans still don’t have the capacity even to refine oil for themselves”.And he is right, like our President, His Excellency Dr. Sam Nujoma said pointing his finger, both Bush and Blair can keep their aid, Africa will take care of Africa.Dr. Onyeani has another important point worth mentioning and that is his “Spider Web Doctrine”.This is a notion that when money enters the community’s economic web, it should not leave.A perfect example are the Jews, East Indians and their Pakistani brothers.These groups don’t buy anything at all from groups other than their own.When money comes into their communities it does not leave.It is caught in the web of a community interacting with itself.And, by so doing, it is multiplied and the community grows.Let us support our black-owned businesses, let us identify them, market them as “oyetu” (ours) and ultimately export their products to the world.Another great African writer, Ayi Kwei Armah, author of “Two thousand Seasons”, summed up the African experience for the past two thousand seasons, reducing it to “a thousand seasons wasted wandering amazed along alien roads, another thousand seasons spent finding paths to the living way”.Armah warns us: “Woe the race, too generous in the giving of itself, that finds a highway not of regeneration but a highway to its own extinction”.It is time that we Africans adopt the same “spider web doctrine”.We should stop criticising and demeaning products made by fellow Africans – the Ghanaian and Zambian movies that used to play on NBC TV, the Zimbabwean women on the streets selling their products and not to forget the numerous Namibian-made products available at the Soweto Market.We should keep in mind that Hollywood wasn’t started yesterday, it was through our constant financial support from the purchase of their movies that they improved and transformed to the Hollywood we know today.Look at the way the East Indians have transformed their film industry (Bollywood) through the same spider web doctrine.We, as Africans, should also come to the realisation that culture is what makes us African.Trying to merge European cultures with African cultures regardless of the ideology that Europe is more developed will NEVER work.It’s either one or the other.We can only learn from them and adapt their knowledge to our African culture.With the elections around the corner, did you know that older African cultures did not encourage individuals to boast or praise themselves? The cultures used to teach that it was through your actions that the people would praise you and not you praising yourself.The political platform of liberal democracy in which candidates boast and praise themselves is a European democratic process – where even crooks with sharp tongues can convince the electorate to vote for them – is completely alien to African culture.African democracy was based on consensus, compromise, and co-operation in which everyone shares the cake; candidates were selected by merit based on how members of their community viewed them right from childhood.There was no room for crooks and over-night leaders.The great leaders Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. Dubois, George Padmore, Marcus Garvey, Edward Blyden and Patrice Lumumba had the appropriate vision for uniting the continent into one great nation – One Africa.Our only
problem today is that our leaders continue to rely on breadcrumbs that fall from the great tables of the IMF and the World Bank.The hope is for the present and hopefully the future.Let us decolonise our minds.Florence Auala, MBAThomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States of America coined the famous phrase that “All men are created equal” – a phrase written into the US Declaration of Independence. What he actually meant was that “All white men are created equal”. He did not believe that white women were equal to white men, nor did he believe that black men were created equal to white men. He published a book – “Notes on Virginia” – where he explained that white men were intellectually superior to black men and that it would be impossible for a black person to understand the mathematical formulae explained in Euclid’s book “The Elements”. How is it that white people have “greater mathematical aptitudes” than Africans when it’s a known fact that civilisation began in Africa? And just to prove that Thomas Jefferson was an idiot, it turns out that the very Euclid he praised as the greatest mathematician of all times, never travelled outside of Africa, that he was born, raised and educated in Africa – even though the “White Encyclopaedias” depict him as a “white man”. I strongly believe that the great Euclid was a black man, an African man. We should be proud. We should also be proud of the many unmentioned black inventors that remained unmentioned due to the corrupt system against our kind. We should familiarise ourselves with the works of the great Cheikh Anta Diop, the pharaoh of African knowledge who dedicated his life to re-identifying African identity. With the slave trade and colonialism, Africa was taken out of history and its people reduced to commodities. Africans were no longer people or the Great Nation, but were assigned several labels just like commodities on supermarket shelves. Labels such as Namibian, South African, Angolan, Nigerian, Zambian, Jamaican, African-American, and even sub-labels – Ovambos, Hereros, Dama/Nama, Shona, Ndebele, Zulu, and even further like Ngonga, Kwanyama, and so on. The more segregated we are, the less powerful we are. It was all a plan. All Africans, irrespective of their location on this planet, are of a common ancestry, and as such, belong to the same family – the African Family. Who is a true African? I think it should be any person with a drop of “black” blood in his or her veins. Such people should not be denied their African heritage unless they choose not to be called African. This goes for our “Coloured” brothers and sisters who insist on labelling themselves to avoid being looked at or referred to as “Blacks” or “Africans”. It’s a shame. Even after the independence of our African countries, this did not mean decolonisation since the colonial structures still remained intact. African leaders are themselves mentally enslaved as they are too blind to take appropriate action to unite Africans for auto-centric development. Instead of thinking of themselves as Africans who can collectively benefit from the human and material resources of Africa, they continue to label themselves as Namibians, South Africans, Angolans Zimbabweans and Zambians. Meanwhile the Europeans continue to benefit from the riches of Africa while claiming to be providing aid. Do we really need their aid? Are we not developed enough to aid ourselves? We should get rid of the thinking that “…it’s a Zimbabwean problem or Liberian problem”. Why don’t we make it an African problem and have all leaders chipping in. Capitalists do not set out to create other capitalists to compete with them. The logic of the capitalist is to maximize profit for him or herself. The time has come that Africans start to think of themselves as capitalists. Dr. Chika Onyeani, author of the popular “Capitalist Nigger – The Road to Success” (a MUST-READ for all Africans) proudly declared himself a “Capitalist Nigger”. Dr. Onyeani is sick and tired of black people being sick and tired. We have all been complaining long enough, the time has come for action. Chapter after chapter of his book, he looks at black people and finds them wanting this and wanting that. It’s all about handouts and aid. He says, “As we enter the 21st century, Africans don’t have the capacity to discover oil; they don’t have the capacity to drill for the oil; they don’t have the capability to refine the oil; they don’t have the capacity to transport the oil to the destination where it would be refined; they don’t have the vessel to transport the oil back to us for consumption. At a time when Indians and Pakistanis have both detonated the atom bomb, when China is providing the technology for quick acceleration of launching satellites into orbit, Africans still don’t have the capacity even to refine oil for themselves”. And he is right, like our President, His Excellency Dr. Sam Nujoma said pointing his finger, both Bush and Blair can keep their aid, Africa will take care of Africa. Dr. Onyeani has another important point worth mentioning and that is his “Spider Web Doctrine”. This is a notion that when money enters the community’s economic web, it should not leave. A perfect example are the Jews, East Indians and their Pakistani brothers. These groups don’t buy anything at all from groups other than their own. When money comes into their communities it does not leave. It is caught in the web of a community interacting with itself. And, by so doing, it is multiplied and the community grows. Let us support our black-owned businesses, let us identify them, market them as “oyetu” (ours) and ultimately export their products to the world. Another great African writer, Ayi Kwei Armah, author of “Two thousand Seasons”, summed up the African experience for the past two thousand seasons, reducing it to “a thousand seasons wasted wandering amazed along alien roads, another thousand seasons spent finding paths to the living way”. Armah warns us: “Woe the race, too generous in the giving of itself, that finds a highway not of regeneration but a highway to its own extinction”. It is time that we Africans adopt the same “spider web doctrine”. We should stop criticising and demeaning products made by fellow Africans – the Ghanaian and Zambian movies that used to play on NBC TV, the Zimbabwean women on the streets selling their products and not to forget the numerous Namibian-made products available at the Soweto Market. We should keep in mind that Hollywood wasn’t started yesterday, it was through our constant financial support from the purchase of their movies that they improved and transformed to the Hollywood we know today. Look at the way the East Indians have transformed their film industry (Bollywood) through the same spider web doctrine. We, as Africans, should also come to the realisation that culture is what makes us African. Trying to merge European cultures with African cultures regardless of the ideology that Europe is more developed will NEVER work. It’s either one or the other. We can only learn from them and adapt their knowledge to our African culture. With the elections around the corner, did you know that older African cultures did not encourage individuals to boast or praise themselves? The cultures used to teach that it was through your actions that the people would praise you and not you praising yourself. The political platform of liberal democracy in which candidates boast and praise themselves is a European democratic process – where even crooks with sharp tongues can convince the electorate to vote for them – is completely alien to African culture. African democracy was based on consensus, compromise, and co-operation in which everyone shares the cake; candidates were selected by merit based on how members of their community viewed them right from childhood. There was no room for crooks and over-night leaders. The great leaders Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. Dubois, George Padmore, Marcus Garvey, Edward Blyden and Patrice Lumumba had the appropriate vision for uniting the continent into one great nation – One Africa. Our only problem today is that our leaders contin
ue to rely on breadcrumbs that fall from the great tables of the IMF and the World Bank. The hope is for the present and hopefully the future. Let us decolonise our minds. Florence Auala, MBA