Confessions of an American African

I returned to the fast-paced, "pay no attention to anyone else in the world" madness of the US two days ago after spending two weeks in Cameroon - a place that I had to countlessly remind people was a country in West Africa and not a Caribbean island or city in North Carolina. The culture shock was not nearly as bad this time, being that I had already taken two trips to Sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda, specifically) within the past three years, but it was enough to remind me that after talking about starting a blog over and over again, that this time I would actually do so.

I've realized that starting a blog is a lot like trying to ask someone who you've just met out on a date. It's hard not only because of the effort and stress involved, but also because of the shyness that seeps into your mind when making yourself vulnerable to a complete stranger. But you do what needs to be done by talking yourself into it, rather than the usual talking yourself out of it routine. And that's where I stand now. I finally have gotten the gall to follow-through and the reason being that after two weeks in Cameroon with some of the most talented and inspiring youth of Cameroon and the US, I decided that I owed it to them, myself, and the world to tell the stories that need to be told and to fight the fights that need to be fought. And one of the most effective means of doing so is through words that can reach anyone in the world with a computer and internet connection in a matter of seconds.

The purpose of this blog is for me to create a forum for knowledge, discussion, and suggestion in the field of social change. I begin with this entry entitled, "Confessions of an American African," because at this present moment, Africa is fresh in my mind and also happens to be one of the major issues facing the world today that I feel needs to be discussed in great detail and consistency. Rather than being a fad of activism, it is a topic that needs to be addressed at every level of education, public discourse, and media on a regular basis that transcends the miniscule type at the bottom of a CNN news ticker or the token, one-paragraph story tucked away in the back pages of newspapers.

I am proud to say that I am an American African. I am an African first, and an American second. What this means is that I am first a brother to those who have sacrificed, given, and had stolen so much of what has created the US and the world today before I am one to a country built on the backs, brains, and blood of others. Africa is where life began and continues to be where life thrives. And while our African peers are dying of civil wars, hunger, HIV/AIDs, malaria, etc. at a decimating rate, the real rivers of life in the world flow from the overflowing wells of the African human spirit. For there is no where else is in the world as resilient and full of life as Africa. And while the US is full of material wealth and financial kingdoms, Africa is much richer in culture, family, and love. If you want to measure the world in such important life qualities, than we are all Africans first.

I will end my first posting by noting this: This month (July 2007), the popular US magazine, "Vanity Fair," published its first ever "Africa" issue - a major step towards socially responsible media coverage in mainstream magazine publication. However, littered between the intriguing articles and inspirational stories are advertisements for the same diamond and other industries that are coincidentally destroying Africa. While we may think of ourselves as being benevolent and well-read by purchasing such magazines, for such a magazine to truly be helpful, they need to publish it without the many advertisements paid for by the blood of Africans. It is only when we start to view ourselves as Americans Africans rather than simply Americans will we be able to see the daily injustices which we blindly and sometimes intentionally create so that Americans can succeed on the downfalls of Africa.