Gaddafi: Africa should unite or die

[sephari]

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

...One seeming minor example alerted me, when one delegate at a AU mtg delivered his words in Swahili, not one other delegate understood what was being said. They have as official languages, English, German & French!...

i thought that was sad the first time i heard that story. but what's even sadder is that many of them over there have become just like us over here: monolingual anglophones, francophones, and lusaphones (especially the lusaphones).

[MadameX]

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

ColdSoul - the man's name is spelled with a "Q" not "G." To misspell an Arab name, or any word, changes the entire meaning...sometimes even an incorrect letter will do that. Afrikan and Arab languages are like that.

I'm glad you brought up this point Kwame. Some brothers and sisters aren't cognizant of this fact. And we don't want any disrespect or misunderstanding.

[Meroe]

The possible creation of the 'United States of Africa' under a single government, military and currency is an excellent idea that is long overdue. This vision was originally the work of former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah. Unfortunately strategic planning and implementation might take years. However it's better to take time than to hastily rush a major project such as this. There's no better plan on the table right now to offset the West's economic polarization on Africa. Pertinent questions still need to be addressed regarding Arab domination or Arabization of indigenous African people and economics. This is a major concern. However I'm going to watch this process closely.

[Istlota]

Originally Posted by Meroe

The possible creation of the 'United States of Africa' under a single government, military and currency is an excellent idea that is long overdue. This vision was originally the work of former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah. Unfortunately strategic planning and implementation might take years. However it's better to take time than to hastily rush a major project such as this. There's no better plan on the table right now to offset the West's economic polarization on Africa. Pertinent questions still need to be addressed regarding Arab domination or Arabization of indigenous African people and economics. This is a major concern. However I'm going to watch this process closely.

Yes, watch closely. There is always the possibility that world events might change dramatically, in a way that completely altered Africa's potential for a unified congress.

One possibility, becoming more likely every day, is that Pakistani Prez Perverse, I mean, Pervez Musharaf could end up assassinated or otherwise out of the picture. That would completely change the focus of US devilment, I mean, foreign policy because Pakistan has nukes.

What would Africa do if the US was not in the equation? If, let us say, between waging wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and a undercover war in Iran, and working overtime to install nuclear missile sites all around the boundaries of the Russian bear, the US had no more resources left over to bribe, bully, or otherwise manipulate African events?

[ColdSoul]

Everyone is in support of a unity, I am to an extent.
But I was thinking recently is it really for the best, economically, culturally and democratically??
States under one body has worked for Europeans and the Americans, but in essences we differ greatly from them. They are more or less the same culture/religion/ethnic and share a similar solidarity and mentality. Especially Europe and America is just its child. The Enlightenment philosophy is at the heart of its structure. Our philosophy is still wearing its nappies.
Africa is unique, just think language and religion wise, we might be all majority black but we can not limit ourselves to ‘colour’. Each state is difference and runs different.
There are too many disagreements and differences than agreement and similarity.
For some reason I think the idea is suicidal, ‘unity’ sounds like conformity under uniformity. We can not play the ‘copy cat’ card, the West is different!
African democracy should be different, tribal/religious/cultural/ethnic norms and social rules need to be taken in consideration.

Just a personal note I don’t believe in secularism and individualism philosophy, I would never support anything that suggests and depends on the above two facts. African unity is almost impossible without them.

Each state should develop its our government and economy in its own borders, a set of principles and laws binding the countries relationship should be form but not in the expense of authoritarianism and control. They should not breach the individual states government and laws.

Ahmed, yeah I’ve read around his self ‘hero’ claiming remarks before, I’ve always been suspicious, but he is one of the Arab leaders I have some sort of respect for. He still seems to have visions and any man that hasn’t consented to the world affairs now and sees a change needs to be encouraged.

African crime against African is more than we can comprehend, we and the world are shocked at issues taking place in the Middle East and we often seem to be blind to what is happening in our lands. Just think of the wall that Israel has created in Palestine, did you know there is one in Sahara dividing its people, most African countries are celebrating their 50 years of independence of colonization, you’d think that was a great progress well not really because Morocco is still oppressing and colonizing S Sahara. Not to mention the whole land/border issues created by the British colonials after they left Or the economic crimes.

Btw concerning the Arabic letter thing, you are right ‘q’ should be in ‘g’’s place, but I just copied and pasted from Al-J.
It also very common varying in country to country, depending on the dialect.


Comparing AU to the UN: that comparison is invalid, I despise the UN and its in contradiction to ‘peace’, in fact the two words are an oxymoron.
I am still in support of the AU, it shouldn’t be judged so harshly in its first years. They are likely to make mistakes in the conditions and resources they have to work with, and one should take in to account its training and the politics.

[MadameX]

Originally Posted by Meroe

Pertinent questions still need to be addressed regarding Arab domination or Arabization of indigenous African people and economics.

Absolutely. This is a central issue which among many that needs to address prior to the unification process.

[Baba Ahmed]

Originally Posted by ColdSoul

Everyone is in support of a unity, I am to an extent.

This is evidently untrue. Unless a watered down definition of unity is acceptable, as expressed solely by words...and not actions. Or there's no clear example of "unity for what?" We can say we're for unity, but again, to what end. A unity of voices does not equal unity in actions. Clearly so.

Comparing AU to the UN: that comparison is invalid, I despise the UN and its in contradiction to ‘peace’, in fact the two words are an oxymoron.
I am still in support of the AU, it shouldn’t be judged so harshly in its first years. They are likely to make mistakes in the conditions and resources they have to work with, and one should take in to account its training and the politics.

This the year, in a Gregorian Calendar, of 2007 and in an Afrikan Calendar, we're in the years of over 6,000 years. Fact is we should be pointedly critical of organizations hastely put together, without input from everyday Afrikan peoples of a few nations who put this AU together. Talk about democracy? Apparently such as Ghana's present day leaders and others have either forgotten or see as outdated models of democracy from their/our own traditions. The Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs, Queen Mothers etc - made to be symbolic rather than effectively used in governing their people by the British in particular, are now show pieces of a grandeur without a voice. Loudly through pomp their voices are seen; but quietly are they heard via no effects in the lives of people's well being. A sorta BS walks and what's truly Afrikan stylee democracy tips silently while euroCentric stylee governing bodies issue policies patterned after their former (remaining) colonizers.

There's no excuse for our AFrikan bruthas and sistas, except that they, many of them, are living examples of the effective religious and educational policies of Britain, America, Spain, France, Holland, and even Italy to a minor extent. Its as if they and we are not descendants of the people who initiated and formulated the first powerful and cultured peoples.

What good are books, so called teachers/educators and electronic forms of housing the world's knowledges if they're not used to free our minds and strengthen our steps to be a self determined peoples?

Copies of the very people helped us slide down from the pyramids to the projects, so to speak, of power!

Yes; we must bust'em out wherever they be and we must have models, heros and sheroes to offer as alternatives to what's being sold today, generally. Fortunately there are more 'n more educated Continental Afrikans who see what's happening and struggling to stand as we should on the shoulders of those who came before us; e.g., ck the site: FAF Main and a link about Zimbabwe.

[darkwing69]

I am all for Africa uniting but i feel that it will not happen until the different political figures from the different regions in africa come together and unite on the cause. If the leadership bonds and unites then its people will follow suit

[Baba Ahmed]

My brutha do u think it'll help if and when we here in Amerikkka become unified? While stop talking that mess about, "we're not a monolith?" Otherwise we'll remain as is: disorganized and disunified! For monolithic folk are contrary to being unified.

Check us out: some say we can agree to disagree, seemingly unaware that we apparently are so stuck in disagreements re who we are, that we dig deeper holes into "I's." Staunchly individualized. A sign of being a true American. "Free?"

[Great Ursus]

I love the idea of an African Union, yet I cannot envision it under present circumstances. The problem there (Africa) is the same as here; How do you unify an angry, exploited amd mistrusting people. Obviously the across-the-board oppression of the west hasn't been enough to make us (Africans and Afro-Americans) look at the sensibility of unification however much the intense need for something at least akin to it. Doubly disconcerting is the long history of the African contenent's ages-old indiginous tribal conflicts and Arabic domination(s). While its agreed there are deeply negative western influences, my actual concerns come in the difficulty of uniting feuding factions that have done so since before contact with western culture and curbing/eliminating racist Arabic behaviors.
We blacks in the US have a distinct advantage in education and even economics over the average native African. To that end if we in the United States begin to bring light to the need of enlightened thought, coupled with unified action, combined with socioeconomic independence, fueled by cultural oneness, one day we may all be on the same page and better envision a United Africa and more importantly the need for it.