Very Black Without What’s Really Black
by Richard Martin Oxman et al.

The sorrow and grief, these black evenings,
Eyes full of tears and times full of sadness,
These burnt hearts, the killing of youths,
These unfulfilled expectations and unmet hopes of brides,
With a hatred for war, I call time and again,
I wait for peace for the grief-stricken Pashtuns

–Zarlasht Hafeez

I keep trying to get the message across from different angles. To ferret out what remains of citizens with humane feelings.

For starters then, let’s forget about the plight of African-Americans. Just for the moment. Let’s focus first on AFRICOM, that U.S. abomination that too few citizens are even aware of in depth.

Here’s what Demba Moussa Dembele has to say about AFRICOM:

“I have been following this project since almost it was announced by President Bush. In reality, it has nothing to do with ‘Africa’s security’. On the contrary, its aim is to protect US vital interests in Africa. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, the US is trying to get military bases in key countries or sub-regions of the continent. The fundamental mission of AFRICOM is to protect US supplies of oil by African countries, from the Gulf of Guinea (Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Chad, among others). Various sources have projected that by 2015, the US may depend for up to 25% of its needs on African oil. Therefore, it needs to secure sources and keep safe supply lines. This is why it is so desperate to find a good location for AFRICOM. But many key countries, such as Nigeria in West Africa, South Africa, Algeria, have made it clear that they will oppose any attempt by the US to move AFRICOM to Africa. So far, only Liberia has officially expressed interest in hosting it. But the US knows that Liberia is a very fragile State and an unstable country. Moreover, it is a bit far from the Gulf of Guinea. We suspect that the US is courting Ghana as a possible host, which may explain Obama’s visit to that country. To summarize, the mood is of general hostility to having AFRICOM on African soil.”

You can glance at Michael McGeehee’s http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22757 to see who Demba Moussa Dembele is, but… you don’t need to rely on just his word to know that the U.S. is not at all interested in the welfare of the people of Africa, the masses there who are suffering at present, in great part, as a result of our decades of unconscionable exploitation. Details upon request.

And — without any additional reading whatsoever, sans any further distracting talk — you can conclude that Obama’s soul is not concerned with blacks. That said, I have TONS of definitive documentation which damns Obama by any standard, from numerous angles. Details upon request.

I submit that the only thing you have to do is to ask yourself what you’re going to do about it. For it’s not just blacks whose lives are in the balance here. It is the lives of the vast majority of U.S. citizens who are getting poorer (in every sense of the word) daily, the vast majority of all humanity, the lives of untold non-human creatures and Mother Earth herself which is at stake here. Details upon request.

“Here” meaning this juncture at which you can choose to act or remain neutral… which is not being neutral at all.

There is an option to Obama. There is an alternative to inaction. You do not have to continue with the delusion that you and your loved ones can prosper regardless of what we do to the rest of the world. Details upon request.

I am not attached to what’s presented at http://oxtogrind.org/364, but — at least — it offers an unprecedented, worthwhile proposal for transforming our horrid momentum.

For what happens in Africa doesn’t stay in Africa. Ditto for elsewhere.

Please see http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22740 if you’re one of those people who are still clinging to the myth that Obama just needs us to push him to do the right thing.

It’s all very black without being nearly black enough.