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First blog post

This is the post excerpt.

 AYTPAC

I want to welcome you to AYTPAC. In some social media circles, it could mean ” Are You There”,  Are you there Pac? No, not quite! AYTPAC here stands for Africans of Yesterday and Today Public Affairs Commission.

By Africans of Yesterday, we mean descendants of those who came forcefully on slave merchants ships to The Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean. On the other hand, Africans of Today are those who migrated to America, Europe, and the Caribbean on their own accord.

As an African of Today in America, I acknowledge the sacrifice, which is really an understatement, of those who came before me, Africans of Yesterday,  to the Americas. Because of those sacrifices, I am what I am in America and with the help of God of course.

Having been living in the United States for some time now, there seems to be a disconnect, a big rift, between these sets of people with common heritage. I would like to see  Africans of Yesterday with means and influence be more involved on pertinent issues concerning their mother land or Black Africa.

Often times you hear members of other races speak with boldness of their heritage such been an Irish, Italian, Cuban, Jewish Americans, etc. Not only do they take pride in their heritage, they work within the system for economic, political, cultural well-being or development of their respective maternal or ancestral societies. I get that African of Yesterday’s history is different as slavery obscured ancestral point of origin

First, slavery divided families, then colonization by sort of gerrymandering or by divide and rule scheme fragmented and join entities or groups who had no business together, whose cultures, customs, language, and religion are different. There is therefore even now more instability, more strife, and more wars.

I submit to you that the way Black Africans in Africa are looked upon by the West carries over to their brethren in America, Europe and elsewhere. Until Black Africa emerges from the stereotypical or erroneous perception of being needy, ungovernable, unorganized, and comes into political and economic prominence, Blacks everywhere irrespective of social status would be suspects.

On the other hand Black Africa and Africans of Today in America can assist in educational development of at risk children in America by taping into already and existing activities and programs. By all estimate, majority Africans of Today in America have done very well. I know and I do believe there are things we can do or teach to change the destiny for good of any at risk child.

The question becomes,  what can these two groups of people do to link up with each other? Could there be resentments by Africans of Yesterday on the whole issue of slavery, slave trading, betrayal and the roles of Africans of Today’s forefathers played? Perhaps, and could we ever overcome the resentment if there is one? What are the solutions?

AYTPAC is created to form a bridge of understanding and corporation on mutual issues: business, politics, cultural, and what have you. It is said that the more things change, the more they remain the same. This is negatively true for Black Africa in a quagmire brought about by leaders with shortsightedness who do not understand how things work.

I believe Black Africa in particular  would and could do better if there are more involvements of Africans of Yesterday in the affairs of their motherland. There are economic and business vacuums they ought to be filling but it appears they are not, hence those vacuums are being filled by emerging China.

There are more things that unite than divide us.

So join me in this endeavor,  I want to hear from you and to know your thoughts.

ben-el

 

 

 

American Presidency, Is color barrier broken for good?

Has President Obama’s presidency made it easier or harder for another person’s of color to  become president of the United States?

Obama was a transformation president with hope and change mantra. It would have better had he governed left to center rather than from far left. Some of his policies such as unisex bathrooms left mainstream America scratching their heads, pleasing few at the expense of the majority. It would be hard for another “liberal” black politician like Sen.Cory Booker to ascend to the presidency of the United States for the second time. The issue is going to be predicated more on policies than on race.

What do you think?

Ben-el

 

Shit Hole Countries . . .

“Why are we having all these people from shit-hole countries come here?” said the POTUS according to a report from The Washington Post during the Oval office meeting. These are statements said to have been made by President Trump in one of his immigration reform meetings directed to Haitians and Africans.

The essence of this blog is not to justify, condone, or criticize statement but rather to deal with it from a different perspective. Why do Africans come to America? There many reasons for that which might be different by someone from Norway. Some of those reasons are economic, political, lack of opportunities in home countries, lack of or disregard for humanity by political folks, etc.

Have you not seen late night TV programs showing starving and dying children and women in some corners of Africa. An uninformed average Joe in America or Europe who thinks Africa is a country would think this is Africa. To him perception is reality; it is everything.

In one of my earlier blogs, I wrote, “the way black Africans in Africa are looked upon by the West carries over to their brethren in America, Europe and elsewhere. Until black Africa emerges from the stereotypical or erroneous perception of being needy, ungovernable, unorganized, and comes into political and economic prominence as South Korea or South East Asia, blacks everywhere irrespective of social status are suspects”.

Africans are good-nature people, but the leaderships in many of the countries are suspects and unfortunately their actions or lack thereof give Africa bad names.

What are your thoughts?

Global Floods in 2017

 written in August 2017

What are we to make of flood brought about by hurricane named Harvey in Houston, Beaumont, and Port Arthur in the States of Texas Louisiana? There are people out there with ddifferent ideas, beliefs, and opinions regarding these floods.

Someone even said, that’s what you  get for voting for president Trump. There are global warming folks that ascribe every disaster to depletion of ozone layer and there are end timers who believe things like these are warning signals for future events.  

Harvey appears to have surpassed Katrina in the State of Louisiana in total damage cost and what have you. People did died but it could have been worst if the people of Houston and even outsiders and the governments (local, state, and federal) did not react swiftly. I wish the same can be said in India, Nepal and Bangladesh where scores of people died from flooding. In Sierra Leone as in these South Asian countries, the death tolls and those missing are in hundreds.  

What’s next? United States unlike other countries has huge resources at its disposal to handle disasters such as hurricane Harvey. Please lend your support to reputable organizations such as Red Cross or Salvation Army. You also support relief effort in Sierra Leone through Sub Saharan Turning Point. Login to www. subsaharan.org to get involved 

 

Road and Bridge under water in Houston aftermath of Harvey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers wait at the scene of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, Tuesday, Aug. 15 , 2017. (AP Photo/ Kabba Kargbo)
flooding and mudslides in Sierra Leone