Religion is not the same thing as God. When the British imperialists came here in 1895, All the missionaries of all the churches Held the Bible in the left hand, And the gun in the right hand. The white man wanted us To be drunk with religion While he, In the meantime, Was mapping and grabbing our land And starting factories and businesses On our sweat. [Ngugi: 1982: 56-7]
"Secretary of State Clinton Begins Tour of Seven African Countries, Civil Society Responds"

Contact: Michael Stulman, michael.stulman@africaaction.org; 202-546-7961

 
 
"This letter, endorsed by 18 organizations and 15 independent analyst, urge a new U.S. engagement with Africa. The letter takes much of the rhetoric of President's Obama's Ghana speech and couples it with specific policy prescriptions targeting the U.S. State Department upon the beginning of Secretary Clinton's trip to Africa (August 5-14)..."
August 2009

The Honorable Hillary R. Clinton
Secretary of State
2201 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Clinton,
 

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, write to express our appreciation for your upcoming visit to Africa. As social justice advocates, we are anxious that the broad vision outlined by President Obama in Ghana be translated into concrete and specific policies, and programs.
As first step in facilitating this, we highlight several of the President's Accra pronouncements and register our policy expectations.

"WE MUST SUPPORT STRONG AND SUSTAINABLE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS."
To foster democracy across Africa, we must invest in comprehensive, multilateral solutions, creating a stronger foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship. As President Obama noted, these solutions must be African-led. Success means that we are "partners in building the capacity for transformational change," not "a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by."
In the spirit of mutual respect, the U.S. should: A) contribute its fair share to multilateral agencies; B) recommit to the universally agreed-upon Millennium Development Goals, C) integrate U.S. funded development programs into regional and bilateral cooperation frameworks, and D) ensure that U.S. policy toward Africa is transparent and accessible to civil society and policy analysts around the globe.

"WE MUST SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT THAT PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE PEOPLE." President Obama recognized that progress requires a multilateral approach, and that America can, and should, do more. We urge the administration to reform structures for economic recovery to reflect interdependence and cooperation rather than blind reliance on market forces.

Specifically, the U.S. should accelerate bilateral and international actions to cancel unsustainable debt of African countries. We should also support democratization and transparency of decision-making in international financial institutions, open dialogue on economic policies without ideological preconceptions, and accountability to and input from national and legislative bodies as well as civil society. We should cooperate with UN-specialized agencies and African policy analysts, instead of privileging narrow macroeconomic prescriptions from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

"WHEN A CHILD DIES OF A PREVENTABLE DISEASE IN ACCRA, THAT DIMINISHES US EVERYWHERE."
We urge you to act on the promise to "invest in public health systems that promote wellness and focus on the health of mothers and children." Our long-term security requires ensuring common security, including protection from less conventional threats that endanger us all: epidemics, natural disasters, economic disasters, climate change, and even the unknown consequences of technological changes. To do so, U.S. foreign assistance agencies must engage with other countries and international agencies in confronting global problems from HIV/AIDS and malaria to food security and maternal mortality.

"WE MUST ALSO STOP THE DESTRUCTION THAT COMES NOT FROM ILLNESS, BUT FROM HUMAN BEINGS."As President Obama realizes, "Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at perpetual war." In order to end conflict, we must end the constant flow of arms from the United States. We must also support and strengthen African Union peace-building and peace-keeping capacities. State Department activities should maximize participation of African and U.S. civil society, policy analysts, legislators, and other government sectors as opposed to African militaries.

We must reduce U.S. military spending and investment and defuse security threats through cooperative security measures, arms reduction and multilateral peace initiatives. The U.S. should stop the militarization of policy toward Africa and focus on strengthening the peacemaking and peacekeeping capacity of the African Union, African regional groups and the United Nations.

Specific policy recommendations for the countries/issues on your itinerary include:
 
The Scramble for Africa: Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 to Divide Africa

Meeting at the Berlin residence of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1884, the foreign ministers of fourteen European powers and the United States established ground rules for the future exploitation of the "dark continent." Africans were not invited or made privy to their decisions.

 
Photo from the book The Horizon: History of Africa, American Heritage Publishing Co., New York, 1971, page 452.

 
1884-1885 - Berlin West African Conference carves Africa into spheres of control
 
 
The Berlin Conference was Africa's undoing in more ways than one. The colonial powers superimposed their domains on the African Continent. By the time Africa regained its independence after the late 1950s, the realm had acquired a legacy of political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate satisfactorily. The African politico-geographical map is thus a permanent liability that resulted from the three months of ignorant, greedy acquisitiveness during a period when Europe's search for minerals and markets had become insatiable.
 
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President Obama's "Tough Love" Sermon to Africa

by Dr. Ron Daniels
 
 
"HIs approach lacked context and therefore devalued the inestimable impact of the holocaust of enslavement, colonialism and neo-colonialism on current conditions in Africa." 
 
President Obama has developed a reputation as an avid reader with a wide range of interests, yet he appears to have learned little about the history of Africa's encounters with Europe and America over the past half-millennium. "He might have done well to read How Europe Underdeveloped Africa where Walter Rodney documents this tragic dynamic." The history of super-exploitation is by no means over. "Neo-colonialism has been the order of the day as many African nations have been reduced to 'flag independence' where they ostensibly control the political process but have only nominal control over their economies."

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Cultivating Poverty
 
The Impact of US Cotton Subsidies on Africa
 
 

American cotton subsidies are destroying livelihoods in Africa and other developing regions. By encouraging over-production and export dumping, these subsidies are driving down world prices - now at their lowest levels since the Great Depression. While America's cotton barons get rich on government transfers, African farmers suffer the consequences.
 
 
The dumping-ground: Africa and GM food aid
Patrick Mulvany, 04 -2004
 
Unequal power relationships in the world economic system mean that hungry Africans often have no choice but to eat genetically-modified food. Patrick Mulvany argues that food aid policies can be driven by the commercial policies interests of rich nations rather than the interests of the most vulnerable people.
 
 
 
 
 
About Us

 ... You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. (Isaiah. 58:12)

Kinetics mission is to disseminate information and develop new ideas that work to strengthen social movements within the African-American community; providing them with the tools and skills to pursue justice and better address the needs of those whom they serve. 

 
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Kinetics Faith & Justice Network mission is to provide the faith community with the tools to advocate and mobilize on local, national, and international issues, to build capacity to solve our own problems, and to use dialogue as a catalyst for social change. Members include clergy, scholars, lawyers, social justice advocates, and nonprofit and business professionals.