Category: The African World

The announcement of the unity government between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai brought with it a very cautious sigh of relief. Friends and observers of the Zimbabwe crisis have been uneasy for some years, concerned that the political situation could devolve into a full-fledged civil war. The agreement for a unity cabinet…

It is easy for many people in the global North to write off Libya’s leader, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, as an erratic dreamer. But this ‘dreamer’ is now the chairman of the African Union, a rotating position admittedly, but one with significance. It is in this role that Qaddafi plans on pushing with all deliberate speed…

The other day I went to a community meeting sponsored by my Congressional Representative, Ms. Donna Edwards. Donna Edwards is a very progressive, long-time activist in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The meeting was organized for the purpose of going over, with her constituents, some of the issues and challenges that she is facing on Capitol…

Growing up my father would regularly say to me that while the Great Depression officially ended during World War II, for African Americans it never really ended. While most economists would take issue with my father’s analysis, he was onto something that both mainstream economists and political figures wanted to avoid: structural racist oppression has…

I have found it difficult expressing my emotions in connection with the inauguration of President Obama. In the face of the jubilation, particularly but not exclusively among African Americans; in the face of the hopes and fears; in the face of severe crises across the USA and the planet; it has been difficult for me…

I opened the Washington Post the other day and saw an article detailing that National Public Radio (NPR), hit by the global economic crisis, was preparing to lay off in March 2009 more than 60 staff and eliminating two major programs, one being “News & Notes.” “News & Notes”, a program particularly targeted at people…

The president of the Maryland and DC AFL-CIO, Fred Mason, had an idea. Following the electoral victory of Barack Obama he found himself perplexed by the enthusiastic, yet very unfocused, response of organized labor as to what should happen next. While there was optimism in the air, what was missing was real content. But what…

When I awoke on Friday morning, December 12th, I turned on my computer. The first thing I saw was that the deal being worked on in the Senate to provide the automobile companies with loans had fallen through. The explanation offered on MSN: the United Auto Workers (UAW) refused to take a pay cut. I…

When it comes to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the silence is deafening, at least outside of Palestine. One wonders how many international conventions the Israelis need to break before there is an actual global outcry and action against their repeated human rights abuses against Palestine. The blockade of Gaza is only the latest in a…

It has been interesting to watch and listen to a debate unfold among many progressives regarding how to assess the initial direction of President-elect Obama. I have, however, found a particular tendency a bit unsettling. It is a tendency to make certain assumptions regarding Obama’s actual intent and then to project his decisions, for instance…