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Archive for Barack Obama

What Obama Should do for Africa

November 19, 2008 at 4:48 pm · Filed under i.mmigration, nation & ethnicity, peace & conflict and tagged: , , , ,

I have been floundering attempting to understand and articulate the Obama doctrine on Africa post-Obama-euphoria. It’s a bit premature for Obama to have the policy drafted and published,…but somehow, I’ve stumbled upon a fantastic article which articulates exactly what I believe Obama’s approach should be toward Africa. Read below an excerpt.

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Military or humanitarian concerns alone will serve neither the US’s, nor Africa’s long-term interests.

A deeper understanding of US interests in Africa would require supporting Africa’s overall desire to lead herself and enhancing African institutions that promote democracy, accountability and human rights. A new US Africa policy should aim to trigger fundamental internal changes in the modes of rule in the continent.…

Africa would benefit from an Obama presidency if more resources were invested in long-term projects in rural and inland infrastructure, agriculture and health, basic and higher education, trade facilitation and enhancement, the elimination of obstacles to private investment, the development of credit facilities, support to African civil society organizations, leadership, institutions and expertise and the sound management of Africa’s natural resources and open its markets to Africa’s exports.

The US will not alone provide the full array of investments that are needed to overcome the continent’s economic problems. But Obama could significantly strengthen and revitalise important public constituencies for Africa in the US and broaden the basis for US engagement in the continent. Read more.

I think it’s so important to lock focus on building self-sufficiency rather than building dependency on aid. Ideology-based diplomacy which beams on African issues through the tinted prisms of ‘war on terror security issues’ ‘anti-abortion/abstinence’ and in the past ‘anti-communism’ is also not a good idea.

An exciting emerging phenomenon is mentioned in passing in the article as a “revitalization of important public constituencies for Africa in the US”; I’ve alluded to it in previous posts. This phenomenon is the increasing number of young educated African Immigrants in the US and their engagement in US politics. 1st-3rd+ generation African Immigrants working within capitol hill…getting involved in campaign organizations like Africans/Ethiopians/Somalis etc.. for Obama. There is a chance these organizations will be a trigger for the involvement of the African diaspora within U.S. politics. As stakeholders who fulfill their obligations, these Americans can harness their rights to make demands. The development of these Africa-affiliated public constituencies (i.e. political/community African Immigrant Organizations) could mean they can push the African agenda…at a time when the U.S.  will continue to have an expanding basis for engagement with the continent. Jewish communities are well known in their ability to unite for their common causes.

There are reasons to believe these organizations played key roles in some of the successes of the Obama victory last week. Concrete data is pending; however, allow me to indulge in some extrapolations:

  • CNN called VA decided by the African American turnout.
  • Precinct 8 is the primary locality for a majority of the Ethiopian Americans in Virginia. The report on precinct 8 is: “Obama’s win in Virginia was buoyed by his margin of victory in Northern Virginia, in particular Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and eastern Fairfax County, inclusive of the 8th and 11th Congressional districts…Out of 3,470,390 total votes cast in Virginia, Obama’s 154,238 statewide advantage, for 51.7 percent of the total, was matched almost exactly by his 154,749 margin in the 8th and 11th districts.” Read more.

What is to come; we shall see. What these Africa-affiliated public entities will amount to; we have no clue. But their engagements early on in the Obama campaign, the dynamism of the young African-born immigrants who have “the highest median earnings/highest education amongst immigrants in the US” and a common ambition to see a better Africa tells me there are some intriguing times up ahead.

There is due cynicism revolving around Obama’s Africa policies. To be expected, especially when taking over from Bush, reportedly one of the more successful leaders in his engagement with Africa… at a time when the U.S has woes that would restrict the plane of vision of any well-meaning, informed president…And here I issue my disclaimer that I agree with some of the skepticism surrounding the issue. But for once the euphoria makes me see that there is more in our hands than we initially perceive. We should help Obama help us. Stay tuned world.

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Obama: 3 Objectives for Africa

November 7, 2008 at 9:03 am · Filed under i.mmigration, peace & conflict and tagged: , ,

29 September 2008

Witney W. Schneidman
Washington, DC

Witney W. Schneidman, an adviser on Africa to the campaign to elect Senator Barack Obama as President of the United States, sets out Obama’s fundamental policy objectives for Africa.

Barack Obama understands Africa, and understands its importance to the United States. Today, in this new century, he understands that to strengthen our common security, we must invest in our common humanity and, in this way, restore American leadership in the world.

As a member of the senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has engaged on many African issues. He has worked to end genocide in Darfur, to pass legislation to promote stability and the holding of elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to bring a war criminal to justice in Liberia and to develop a coherent strategy for stabilizing Somalia.

In 2006, Senator Obama visited Kenya where he spoke truth to power to the leadership about the corrosive impact of corruption, in South Africa he demanded honesty from the government about HIV/Aids, and he met with American military commanders in Djibouti at the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa to discuss the threat of terrorism to U.S. interests and to the interests of our partners in the region.

Obama also visited refugee camps in Chad, where he heard first-hand about the experiences of Sudanese women who had been forced from their homes and had their families torn apart, and worse, by Khartoum’s genocidal policies.

Over the last 18 months, Barack Obama has worked with the Kenyan leadership to help resolve the post-election crisis in that country, and he has called for an increase on pressure on Robert Mugabe for stealing elections and sponsoring violence against his own people.

Barack Obama continues to speak out against Khartoum’s ongoing war of genocide in Darfur, and has called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to walk back from the brink of war.

The Diaspora

There is another very important quality about Barack Obama that informs his perspective on Africa, and that is the fact that he is a product of the African diaspora, the son of a Kenyan father, whose grandmother still lives in Kenya.

In fact, this campaign is making a strong effort to reach out to African Americans across the United States country and to those first, second and third generation Africans who have become American citizens to encourage them to be part of the effort that will elect Barack Obama president of the United States.

It is a powerful reality that more Africans have come to the United States since 1970 than came during the middle passage. The more than two million African immigrants in the U.S. can be an important source of support in strengthening relations with Africa.

Through a more active dialogue with the various African diaspora communities and organizations, the U.S. will find itself in a better position to develop its agenda and accomplish its objectives on Africa.

For those who may ask why, there are several reasons for this interest in the African diaspora community.

The Obama campaign is witnessing an unprecedented surge of support and excitement from African Americans as well as diaspora communities, and this support will be critical to Barack Obama’s success in November.

Most immediately, the diaspora community has started to organize itself into groups such as Ethiopians for Obama, Eritreans for Obama, the African Immigrant Movement for Obama and the African Diaspora for Obama. In fact, one thing that Ethiopians and Eritreans clearly agree on is that they want Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.

Most immediately, we want those 10,000 Ethiopian-Americans in Virginia to help turn that state blue on November 4th, we want all Nigerian-Americans living in Cleveland, Akron and elsewhere in Ohio to turn out the vote in their communities, we want the Somali-American community in Minneapolis to help win Minnesota, and we want African diaspora communities all across the country to come forward and exercise their rights as Americans. Even if individuals are not eligible to vote, they can still hand out leaflets, make phone calls and canvass their neighborhoods.

In the short-term, all those of African descent have the potential to be a key game changer in this election.

Moreover, the experience of Barack Obama underscores the values that many Africans and Americans share and the ties that bind us together.

The experience of Barack Obama has also raised extraordinary expectations in Africa. We need to be realistic about these expectations, especially given the financial pressures in the U.S., and remember that whatever the U.S. might try to do in Africa will be in support of the actions taken by our partners in Africa and the goals that they set for themselves and goals that we set together.

Obama’s Africa Agenda

Barack Obama will pursue three fundamental objectives on the continent.

  • One is to accelerate Africa’s integration into the global economy.
  • A second is to enhance the peace and security of African states.
  • And a third is to strengthen relationships with those governments, institutions and civil society organizations committed to deepening democracy, accountability and reducing poverty in Africa.

Read More

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Ethiopians Celebrating with the World -Ust DC

November 6, 2008 at 1:31 pm · Filed under 3781 and tagged: , , ,

Thank you Nyalasmokes for this historic footage! :)

Ust NW and 13th St NW Washington DC, USA in front of Dukem Restaurant

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International Development with Obama

November 5, 2008 at 7:36 pm · Filed under nation & ethnicity, peace & conflict and tagged: ,

The world has been swept with feelings of joy and there are huge and mounting expectations for Obama. Some of the greatest moments of our lifetime and we’re all looking to see what this incredible individual can bring. Here’s some of what we can look forward to in terms of International Development.

“The security and well-being of each and every American is tied to the security and well-being of those who live beyond our borders, according to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The theme of global interdependence is the bedrock of Obama’s new strategy for America’s engagement in the world, in which global development matters, a lot.

Structuring the U.S. Government to Meet 21st Century Challenges
“To succeed, we must improve our civilian capacity. The finest military in the world is adapting to the challenges of the 21st century. But it cannot counter insurgent and terrorist threats without civilian counterparts who can carry out economic and political reconstruction missions – sometimes in dangerous places. As president, I will strengthen these civilian capacities, recruiting our best and brightest to take on this challenge. I will increase both the numbers and capabilities of our diplomats, development experts, and other civilians who can work alongside our military. We can’t just say there is no military solution to these problems. We need to integrate all aspects of American might.” — Barack Obama, Washington, August 1, 2007

In confronting unprecedented global challenges, a new commitment of resources will not be sufficient. As we have seen from the failure of the Bush administration’s reconstruction efforts in Iraq, assistance is not just money to be thrown at a problem – it is a tool we must use wisely to invest in a more secure and prosperous future.

Barack Obama has called for the creation of a civilian assistance corps, and he will reform the infrastructure that manages U.S. foreign assistance. Today, what we call “foreign aid” is spread across 25 government agencies, programs, and initiatives, with too little of our taxpayers’ resources getting to the problem and no single person within our government responsible for directing and managing what should be one of our most powerful foreign policy tools. Successive administrations have talked the talk of reform, while proliferating
agencies and programs such that American tax dollars are now spent in an uncoordinated and rigid manner at a time when accountable, flexible, and transparent processes are most needed.

Elevate, Streamline and Empower a 21st Century US Development Agency. Barack Obama will lead an effort to modernize our foreign assistance policies, tools, and operations. Obama will coordinate and consolidate PEPFAR, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Middle East Partnership Initiative and many foreign assistance programs currently housed in more than 20 executive agencies into a restructured, empowered and streamlined USAID. He will ensure that this agency has the highest caliber leadership and plays a central role in the formulation and implementation of critical development and related foreign policy strategies. An empowered and elevated agency should be more nimble in the face of change and use tax dollars more responsibly. It is also essential to ensuring that development is established and endures as a key pillar of U.S. foreign policy. Obama will mobilize our civilian agencies to address a new set of global challenges and boost the stature of the government’s long-term development mission to attract the most talented professionals.”

Summary:

~Invest in global health infrastructure, including creating health care systems that train and retain health care workers; and (last but not least)

~Coordinate and consolidate the twenty-some U.S. agencies currently involved in U.S. foreign assistance (including the Millennium Challenge Account and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) in a restructured and empowered U.S. Agency for International Development.

~Expand prosperity through investments in agriculture, infrastructure and economic growth so the benefits and burdens of globalization are shared equally and economic policy is seen as central to security policy;

~Create an Add Value to Agriculture Initiative to promote a Green Revolution in Africa in addition to other measures to increase poor farmers’ access to agricultural markets;
~Establish a $2 billion Global Education Fund for primary education to help eliminate the “global education deficit”;
~Launch a Global Energy and Environment Initiative, create an Emerging Market Energy Fund, and spur the creation of an open-source, real-time mapping system to forecast the impacts of climate change country-by-county to address climate change and other global environmental challenges;
~Lead efforts to reform the International Monetary Fund and World Bank;
~Develop a rapid response fund for societies in transition;

Read more in the strategy paper released by Obama for America.

Read More: African Policy of an Obama administration – by McCain Advisor

African Policy for an Obama Administration – by Obama Advisor

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the world feels like a different place

November 5, 2008 at 2:35 pm · Filed under nation & ethnicity, peace & conflict and tagged: , , ,

History has been Made

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I cannot begin to express how this feels! I cannot begin to put thoughts into words! This is awesome; phenomenally, fantasmicaly ahhhhhhhhhhh!– between crying, bouncing about like a monkey and hugging everyone around — I’m at complete loss for reactions. Today at work, I am over-processing information; binging on all the political news and analysis I can find! Just pure erratic, ecstatic ingestion of all info being spewed out about this beautiful beautiful VICTORY!! A victory where the PEOPLE were the change agents. I was looking at my coworkers thinking; wow. They are as excited about the results…him and her too? wow…There was even an impromptu ice cream party and calls for champagne at lunch.

HISTORY WAS MADE through a grassroots victory. The man chosen is a true leader exuding immense maturity, intellect, good measured judgment and an acute and fixed attention on the interdependence of our existences. An individual of awe-inspiring wisdom. A man who sees listening as the true cornerstone for peace! An individual with an incredible grasp for the extremely intricate complications of the world’s systems and yet seems to have a locked focus on the simpleness of humanity’s interconnectedness. A man of Compromise.

When I think of Obama’s perspective on issues this MLK quote comes to mind: “Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

At last. The president of the leading nation in the world has been elected due to the quality of his character and not the color of his skin.

At last. This world has a political leader who brings people together, a leader for us to look up to and say – I want to be like him/i want my kids to be like him when they grow up.

Finally. Finally. Finally.

Congratulations all my beautiful People rejoicing all across the world, from Addis to Lima to Moyale to Jedda. The opportunity to make change is truly and surly in the handsof the PEOPLE of the leading nation in the world.

The People

More than anything — America has sung out to the world that indeed a democracy of the people, for the people, by the people is possible! That is HUGE! Anything is Possible. We will have to wait and see how the Obama Administration plans to engage the owners of the Obama campaign, but everyone testifies to the grassroot nature of the Obama Movement.

The people own the campaign, the people should own the presidency! This is the real call to real ACTION. To speak up, to end the revolting taste of apathy and take the issues further work for a better order! It’s striking that during his victory speech Obama sounded so sober and calm. Indeed the road ahead is steep and hard. And there’s plenty reason to be overjoyed — everyone is invited to the round table. It’s the People’s Ball and all need to come out and partaaaay – start dancing on that round table!

Sobering Reality

For the world; the sobering realization is that America is a nation with its individual national interests; and that shall not change. We have seen a Clinton America sitting around sipping coffee over the definitions of the word ‘genocide’ as hundreds of thousands have died; we have seen a neutral America standing by as war is waged in the dry barren corners of the world where American interest is not adorned with neon lights. We have seen the failures in Moqadisho and the back-seat position cool gaze of the US in place of a prodding finger to abusive, nondemocratic governments across the world- that prod did not happen to the ‘right’ direction if the right direction was not for US interest…

The sobering reality is that a man of African decent in the white house – an East African American none-the-less is not going to herald emancipation from many of the chains in daily life within East Africa. BUT — this moment is huge because this IS going to be a different Washington. This will be a Washington without lobbyists at the forefront but a clear invitation for individuals to become activists and for organizations like Africans/Ethiopians/Eritreans/Somalians for Obama to to actively involve their communities in issues they care about through organizing. This is a Washington with ears for the humanitarian pleas of its people who are clearly gaining more and more interest in a better world order (refer to the numbers of study abroaders, international volunteerism and development initiatives by the American people). This would be a government which listens and has the potential to be less of a selfish chess player aiming for a win in foreign affairs less but rather — with a beacon of light guiding its Foreign Affairs agenda: Defense, Diplomacy, Development. There are rumors about a possible proposal in the Obama Administration to establish a separate Department of International Development, expanding the small agency USAgency for International Development currently under a department. This would elevate international development as an issue of national importance on equal level as Condi’s Department of State issues.

A Moment for Africans in the Diaspora

This is not the same Washington that the developing country governments sent lobbyists to, for ruling party interests. This is a Washington glancing away from lobbyists to give an opportunity for people to scream out what they want and be heard; for diaspora communities to have a voice. It is your moment Ethiopians in the Diaspora! Horn of African Americans.

Being Black in America

We are at the pinnacle of an incredibly historic event which has people dancing in the streets across the world! This pinnacle would arguably be the very end of the Civil War (awesome article by Friedman). We can believe again — ALL things are Possible even the realization of an old joke in Kisumu that a Luo-Kenyan will become president of the United States before becoming president of Kenya.

And lastly and most passionately, there was the Jessie Jackson minutes of tears. — that said beyond words the meaning of Obama’s status as the first African American President of the United States only 40 years after the murder of MLK. Years of struggle and pain for a people has reached the pinnacle of a dream being realized.

Anything is possible! YES WE CAN and WE DID!

Reactions from Around the World:

In Tunisia, the Arabic daily Al Chourouk said: “Today America elects “The President of the World.”

Many in the international media are saying stuff along the lines of “THE END of 8 years in hell. Wooo hooooo” :D

Obama’s family in Kenya were partying and getting ready to start packing for the white house “Who needs a passport? We’re going to the White House!” they sang.

“This has restored my faith in democracy,” said Duncan Adel, a computer technician who had been part of the election protests in Kenya last year.

“The World Enters America” was the headline of the Hindustan Times lead editorial Wednesday morning, reminding the 44th president of the United States to be mindful of an interconnected world roiled by a financial crisis and two wars. “For America to chart these choppy waters, it will have to have a helmsman who understands and engages with the world on the world’s terms,” it urged. – New Delhi, India

“The biggest economy in the world has a leader that the world can talk to,” said Alejandro Saks, an Argentine television scriptwriter. “There is the feeling that for the first time since Kennedy, America has a different type of leader.” – Buenes Aires, Argentina

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