adminObi Egbuna Jr Simunye
During the last eight years, so-called African Americans went through a cultural and political makeover that was rather psychologically crippling and illustrated that the decolonisation process is far from incomplete.
While the entire world has watched the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)community intellectually hijack the concept of the rainbow from Reverend Jesse Jackson and the National Rainbow Coalition, it is safe to say that under former US President Barack Obama’s eight year tenure in the White House, the aggressive manner that so-called African Americans waved the US flag put a rather unique spin on the idea commonly referred to as “coming out of the closet”.
Those amongst our ranks who are considered ultra leftists by reactionary elements that are labelled moderate and conservatives, witnessed many of their comrades in arms, whether they have spent a lifetime fighting for a variety of crucial issues and noble causes like freeing all prisoners at war, reparations, mass incarceration, affirmative action, gentrification, homelessness, US-Africa and US Foreign Policy etc, transform into flag waving patriots that would have made our former colonial and slave masters grin from ear to ear.
The victory of the current US President Donald Trump appears to have awakened many so-called African Americans, who under the Obama administration appeared to be in political hibernation.
When raising this point, one is forced to provide a historical and analytical framework that puts US imperialism on trial starting, with our enemies’ uncanny ability to use culture to promote genocide, terrorism and white supremacy on a daily basis. Since children of all ethnic persuasions living inside US borders were innocently playing with firecrackers, cherry bombs and ash cans on July 4, which is when US imperialism celebrates its sham of an independence day, Africans everywhere should reflect on the words of the illustrious freedom fighter and champion of humanity, Frederick Douglass in his epic speech delivered on July 4, 1852.
From the perspective of a child from Mother Africa’s womb, Douglass eloquently stated; “What to the American slave is your 4th of July? I answer a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim.
“To him your celebration is a sham, your boasted liberty and unholy alliance, your national greatness swelling vanity, your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless.
“Your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence, your shouts of liberty and equality are hollow mockery, your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings. With all your religious parade and solemnity mere bombast, fraud and deception, a thin veil to cover up crimes that would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.”
The cultural stranglehold that US imperialism has on so-called African Americans is the main reason this speech by Mr Douglass has been circulated on social media more in the last 48 hours than the eight years President Obama occupied the White House, which propagated the bogus notion that there has been a fundamental change in the way business is conducted in the White House, US Senate and Congress as opposed to the narrative that what we are observing is business as usual. This addresses a culture that is the reason children for the bulk of the 20th century played cowboys and Indians and Tarzan lord of the jungle.
We have been provided with the opportunity to provide our comrades at home and abroad with crucial ammunition for the purpose of winning by a landslide what Commandante Fidel Castro called the war of ideas.
The reason for mentioning this is because a worn out excuse given by so-called African Americans for not defending President Mugabe and zanu-pf has been that when it comes to solidarity, the Zimbabwe Government and ruling party have not used global platforms at their disposal to take US imperialism to task concerning the mistreatment of their extended family residing in Babylon.
This notion is a cop-out for a multitude of reasons, first and foremost those who hide behind this accusation have never made it a top priority to share any particular issues with President Mugabe and zanu-pf that they feel should be raised at high level political gatherings organised by SADC, the AU, NAM or for that matter the United Nations.
The truth of the matter is that so-called African Americans, who give this excuse for not stepping up to the plate to defend President Mugabe and zanu-pf feel that in the final analysis, Zimbabwe is not worth being denied access to the pool of federal grants and isolation from prominent political circles, who they depend on for favours that open doors to pursue a domestic agenda separate from Mother Africa and their kith and kin in other parts of the Diaspora.
That also includes providing President Mugabe and zanu-pf with historical ammunition which can be used as invaluable weapons in the propaganda war, that both the British think tank Chatham House and the US Institute of Peace openly acknowledge that Zimbabwe is winning against US-EU imperialism hands down.
We can begin by sharing with President Mugabe and zanu-pf the names of previous US presidents who owned slaves, who are as follows: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses Grant, which can be used anytime US imperialism feels the urge to accuse President Mugabe and zanu-pf of bad governance.
A pool of historical information about US governmental practices that best define their purpose, culture and historical legacy, is just what the doctor ordered for President Mugabe and zanu-pf, which eventually will trickle down to Zimbabwe’s key universities and secondary and primary schools, who may go an entire lifetime gearing up to come study, live and work in the US without knowing the nefarious intentions of US-EU imperialism past and present.
This ensures that Zimbabwe’s state-of-the-art formal educational system is complimented by utilising the annals of history to politicise their students, that guarantees their patriotism and loyalty is to their people instead of their enemies. We can only crush the Western imperialist popular cultural apparatus by exposing their contradictions that began with their very inception.
We remember the great pan African revolutionary and iconic figure Amilcar Cabral explaining to the Black Panther Party of Self Defence’s Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver, that so-called African Americans can best help the struggle to completely eradicate settler and neocolonialism in Mother Africa by escalating resistance against US imperialism inside North American borders.
When so-called African Americans approach President Mugabe and zanu-pf concerning the fight to lift US-EU sanctions, what must be addressed upfront is their motivation and interest.
They must not function from the understanding that President Mugabe and zanu-pf are so desperate they will pay top dollar to hustlers who are not the least bit concerned about the historical and political impact of the Third Chimurenga.
Those so-called African Americans who thought they could exploit the awkward predicament Zimbabwe has been in for the past 16 years due to US-EU sanctions were just as guilty of underestimating the resolve of the everyday people, as the British and Rhodesians were in the colonial era, until they woke up and found out that Southern Rhodesia was dead and Zimbabwe was born.
This is a true example of independence and fireworks that Mother Africa and her children can celebrate with pride and joy.
Obi Egbuna Jr is the US correspondent to The Herald and the external relations officer of ZICUFA(Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association). His email is [email protected]
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter