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Deposing
Charles Taylor
A Thursday
Postcard
By Tajudeen
Abdul-Raheem
Former President Charles was
forced by a combination of local, regional and international
pressure to resign his office two weeks ago. In a surreal
performance he made his valedictory national broadcast witnessed
by three African Presidents: Mbeki (South Africa), Chissano
(Mozambique and current chair of the AU) and Kufour (Ghana and
current chair of the ECOWAS).
Affecting a patriotism and "love for my people"
that was neither characteristic of his brutal war for the
presidential mansion nor his ransom presidency for six years or
his various regional misadventures he compared himself to Jesus
Christ and felt himself "the sacrificial lamb."
It was distasteful and I am sure very offensive to committed
practising Christians that a scoundrel like "'Charlie Boy"
can misappropriate such potent religious symbolism that is at
the centre of their faith for his ignoble purposes. That said it
does not mean that there is no iota of legitimate concern in it
even if liberally embroidered on a canvass of political
opportunism.
It is like the Man who was accused of being paranoid and he
said: "the fact that I may be paranoid does not mean that
there is nobody conspiring against me." The fact that
Charles Taylor said something does not mean that there may not
be element of truth in it though not for the delusionary and
emotive reasons that Taylor had in mind in forcing the parallel.
He has indeed been sacrificed but unlike Christ his second
coming is neither heralded nor desirable and hopefully he is
gone and gone forever. He has been sacrificed as a symbol of
emerging higher standards expected of African leaders and
growing consensus that African leaders cannot just rule as they
please, how they please, and for as long as they desire.
The Taylor experience has far wider implication in many ways.
One, it is a precedent that sets a higher threshold for other
sitting dictators that they can be dealt with. African leaders
now have to show why they can act on Taylor and not on others.
They will be hard put to justify "softly softly"
diplomacy in confronting similar situations from now on. This
expands the space for public discourse on dealing with these
issues. Some of the positive aspects of the Constitutive Act of
the African Union and worthy aspirations of the African Peer
Review Mechanism in the unpopular NEPAD may be gathering their
own momentum precluding inaction by the leaders.
Two, the hand-me-down, Donor-driven, Aid-addicted limited
democratic dispensations across the continent is being given its
African imprint that demands more than just merely winning
elections in order to legitimise yourself. Here was Charles
Taylor, "elected" in elections judged by the
ubiquitous international community and its allied election
tourists, as "generally free and fair" being forced
out of office before the expiration of his "legitimate"
mandate. It means that elections alone are not the end of the
story. A democratic regime must act democratically in the
country and in relations with its neighbours otherwise the
mandate becomes suspect and can be overrun by wider needs of the
country and the region.
Three, it operationalises notions of collective sovereignty
and security. Your neighbours have as much legitimate stake in
your internal activities as you do in theirs which may give
force to emerging regional citizenship and governance. For
instance, Charles Taylor is not indicted because of what he has
done in Liberia and to fellow Liberians (even though gruesome
evidence abound) but for his support for banditry and predatory
Rebels in a neighbouring country. The Presidents and Commanders
of Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Angola and others militarily
involved in the DRC must worry because maybe not now but in the
future they could be indicted for their actions or inactions in
the tragedy of that country.
There are also a number of problems with the Taylor
experience. Who decides when a government has forfeited its
electoral mandate? Is it the level of armed rebellions and other
military campaigns, regardless of their motivation, support base,
and political programme?
Is it a decision that is subject to the whims and caprices of
the regional hegemonic power that is able to use its good and
not so good offices, to ensure that its will prevails?
If this option triumphs it will only be an African version of
the Bush school of diplomacy whose doctrine is: BE REASONABLE,
DO IT MY WAY! If the region decides what are the institutional
mechanisms that are in place to ensure that these decisions are
made fairly and consistently? President Compaore of Burkina-Faso
is probably as guilty as Charles Taylor in fostering senseless
wars but he appears to be more sophisticated than his former
buddy. If regional concern for security alone will necessitate
action why are they not more robust in dealing with Laurent
Gbagbo of Ivory Coast who is using Xenophobia and genocidal
ideology to retain power?
The big question of all is what can the region do if it is
the regional power itself that is in breach of the emerging
consensus around collective security and sovereignty? If Nigeria
can save the region who will save Nigerians and Nigeria? That
one can raise these questions today is in itself a measure of
the relative space open for Africans to engage and build
consensus on resolving these issues. In the past these debates
were stifled by dubious claims of 'internal affairs',
'sovereignty', or 'territorial integrity'.
There is great scope for African governments, regional and
continental institutions, parliamentarians, civil Society
groups, NGOs and all stake holders to engage on these issues in
order to give concrete expression to our desire for 'African
solutions to African problems'.
"Forward ever
, backward never".....Kwame Nkrumah (1909 - 1972)
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Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem has been General Secretary of the global Pan African
Movement since 1994 and is resident in Uganda and London.
Tajudeen is Nigerian by origin. He was a Rhodes Scholar at
Oxford where he gained his D.Phil in political science. He was a
founder member of the Africa Resource and Information Bureau,
London, and has been at the centre of numerous initiatives to
promote peace and democracy in Africa. Tajudeen writes and
lectures on Africa for several journals and universities. He is
Chairperson of the Centre for Democratic Development and the Pan
African Development Education and Advocacy Programme.
Tajudeen28@yahoo.com or Tajudeen@Padeap.net.
Thursday Postcard appears in Uganda's THE NEW VISION |
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posted 22 August 2003
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
(video)*
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Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards
By Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem (Author)
Salim Ahmed
Salim (Preface), Horace Campbell (Foreword)
Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's
untimely death on African Liberation Day 2009 stunned the
Pan-African world. This selection of his Pan-African
postcards, written between 2003 and 2009, demonstrates the
brilliant wordsmith he was, his steadfast commitment to Pan-Africanism,
and his determination to speak truth to power. He was a
discerning analyst of developments in the global and
Pan-African world and a vociferous believer in the potential
of Africa and African people; he wrote his weekly postcards
for over a decade. This book demonstrates Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's
ability to express complex ideas in an engaging manner. The
Pan-African philosophy on diverse but intersecting themes
presented in this book offers a legacy of his political,
social, and cultural thought. |
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Represented here are his fundamental respect for the
capabilities, potential and contribution of women in
transforming Africa; penetrating truths directed at
African politicians and their conduct; and
deliberations on the institutional progress towards
African union. He reflects on culture and emphasises
the commonalities of African people.
Also represented are his denunciations of
international financial institutions, the G8 and
NGOs in Africa, with incisive analysis of
imperialism's manifestations and impact on the lives
of African people, and his passion for eliminating
poverty in Africa. His personality bounces off the
page—one can almost hear the passion of his voice,
'Don't Agonise! Organise!'
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem
(1961-2009) was a Rhodes scholar and obtained his D. Phil in Politics
from Oxford University. In 1990 he became Coordinator of the Africa
Research and Information Bureau and the founding editor of
Africa World Review. He co-founded and led Justice Africa's
work, becoming its Executive Director in 2004, and combined this with
his role as General Secretary of the Pan-African Movement. He was chair
of the Centre for Democracy and Development and of the Pan-African
Development Education and Advocacy Programme in Uganda and became the UN
Millennium Development Campaign's Deputy Director in 2006.
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Ancient African Nations
Contemporary African Immigrants to The United States /
African immigration to the United States
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The Slave Ship
By Marcus Rediker
In this
groundbreaking work, historian and scholar
Rediker considers the relationships between
the slave ship captain and his crew, between
the sailors and the slaves, and among the
captives themselves as they endured the
violent, terror-filled and often deadly
journey between the coasts of Africa and
America. While he makes fresh use of those
who left their mark in written records (Olaudah
Equiano, James Field Stanfield, John
Newton), Rediker is remarkably attentive to
the experiences of the enslaved women, from
whom we have no written accounts, and of the
common seaman, who he says was a victim of
the slave trade . . . and a victimizer.
Regarding these vessels as a strange and
potent combination of war machine, mobile
prison, and factory, Rediker expands the
scholarship on how the ships not only
delivered millions of people to slavery,
[but] prepared them for it. He engages
readers in maritime detail (how ships were
made, how crews were fed) and renders the
archival (letters, logs and legal hearings)
accessible. Painful as this powerful book
often is, Rediker does not lose sight of the
humanity of even the most egregious
participants, from African traders to
English merchants.—
Publishers
Weekly |
Marcus Rediker
is professor of maritime history at the University of
Pittsburgh and the author of
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (1987),
The Many-Headed Hydra (2000), and
Villains of All Nations (2005), books that
explore seafaring, piracy, and the origins of
globalization. In The Slave Ship, Rediker
combines exhaustive research with an astute and highly
readable synthesis of the material, balancing
documentary snapshots with an ear for gripping
narrative. Critics compare the impact of Rediker’s
history, unique for its ship-deck perspective, to
similarly compelling fictional accounts of slavery in
Toni Morrison’s
Beloved and Charles Johnson’s
Middle Passage. Even scholars who have written
on the subject defer to Rediker’s vast knowledge of the
subject. Bottom line:
The Slave Ship is sure to become a
classic of its subject.—Bookmarks
Magazine
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The State of African Education
(April 200)
Attack On Africans Writing Their Own
History Part 1 of 7
Dr Asa Hilliard III speaks on the assault of academia on
Africans writing and accounting for their own history.
Dr Hilliard is A
teacher, psychologist, and historian.
Part 2 of 7
/
Part
3 of 7 /
Part 4 of 7
/
Part 5 of 7 /
Part 6 of 7 /
Part 7 of 7
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Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf (video)* * * *
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Pray the Devil Back to Hell
A film directed by Gini Reticker
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
is a captivating new film by director Gini Reticker. It
exposes a different story angle for the largely forgotten
recent events of the women of Liberia uniting to bring the
end to their nation's civil war. This film is amazing in the
way it captivates your attention from the earliest frames.
It doesn't shy away from showing footage of the violent
events that took place during the Liberian civil war. But
the main story of the film is that of
Leymah
Gbowee
and the other women uniting, despite their religious
differences, to force action on the stalled peace talks in
their country. Using entirely nonviolent methods, not only
are the peace talks successful, but Charles Taylor, the
president of Liberia, is forced into exile leading to the
first election of a female head of state in Africa. The
women of this film are truly an inspiration and no one can
fail to be moved by the message of hope that comes through
clearly in this film. These are heroes that deserve to be
remembered and with Pray the Devil we are able to do that,
gaining both a knowledge of the history we are ignorant of
through archival footage and an understanding of the leaders
of this movement through close-up interviews with the many
women who lead it. The film also offers a great soundtrack &
inspirational song- "Djoyigbe" by Angelique Kidjo & Blake
Leyh.—Amazon
Reviewer |
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Mighty Be Our Powers
How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War
By Leymah Gbowee
As a young woman, Leymah Gbowee was broken by the Liberian civil war, a brutal conflict that tore apart her life and claimed the lives of countless relatives and friends. Years of fighting destroyed her country—and shattered Gbowee’s girlhood hopes and dreams. As a young mother trapped in a nightmare of domestic abuse, she found the courage to turn her bitterness into action, propelled by her realization that it is women who suffer most during conflicts—and that the power of women working together can create an unstoppable force. In 2003, the passionate and charismatic Gbowee helped organize and then led the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, a coalition of Christian and Muslim women who sat in public protest, confronting Liberia’s ruthless president and rebel warlords, and even held a sex strike. With an army of women, Gbowee helped lead her nation to peace—in the process emerging as an international leader who changed history. Mighty Be Our Powers is the gripping chronicle of a journey from hopelessness to empowerment that will touch all who dream of a better world.—Beast Books / Pray the Devil Back to Hell |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 4 October 2008
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