diamonds; 80 percent of the
cob t; 60 percent of the gold;
7S percent of the sisal hemp; 70
percent of the palm oil; 30 per­
cent of the chrome and man­
ganese; 15 percent of the coffee;
and an increasing part of the
uranium and radium and large
amounts of tin, iron and spices."
That in 196L 0 doub
Africa's share of most of these
categories of minerals, raw
materials and cash crops has
dramatically increased since
that time. And Africa has gain a
new found prominence as an oil
producing continent. .
It was not by accident that
Europeans sat dowrl at the Con­
gress of Berlin in 1884 to sys- .
tematize their mad scramble to
carve up and colonize Africa.
From Britain to Belgium, from
Germany to Portugal, Italy and
Spain, Europeans knew that
L I
In his m famous speech,
M ge to the Gr oots",
Malcolm X explained that
"revolutions are fought for
land.
Malco pressed- the point
that " ... land is the b . of in­
dependence." The struggle in
the orld today Malcolm X was
driving home the point that
African people in America and
the world need to liberate,
maintain and develop land For
the old blues rendition goes,
"mam may have, popp may
have, but God bless the child
thats go his own." Africa should
be the principal land base for
African people in Africa and
the orld.
In 1961 W.E.B. Dubois
wrote: "Today out of Africa
come 9S percent of the dd's
Ron
Dani
VANTAGE
POINT
Africa is the richest continent
on earth.
. THE GREAT tragedy is that
since the great holocaust of the
trans-atlantic slave trade, the
enormous human and material
wealth of Africa has been used
to develop and enrich Europe
and America at the expense of
the development of the in­
digenus people of Africa and
her sons and daughters in the
diaspora.
The great challenge con­
fronting the Black orld as we
face the 21st century is the ur­
gent need to break the
psychological, cultural and
political-economic chains of
slavery, colonialism and neo­
colonialism in order to reclaim
the resources of Africa for the
development of Africa and the
Black world.
To confront this challenge is
not to succumb to a kind of nar­
row, self-centered 'global ethno­
centrism. It is simply to
recognize that "Charity begins
at home and spreads abroad".
That we as African people
must learn to love our neighbors
a we LOVE OURSELVES.
Indeed the humanistic charac­
ter of our traditio al African
values suggest that Ethiopia will
stretch forth its hand to lead the
orld.
. As we face the dawning of a
new century, the cold facts are
that western Europe is slated to
consolidate an economic and
political union in 1992. .
EAST AND WEST Germany
are on the verge of
reunificaiton. eastern Europe
is posed for a possible economic
common market of its own. Last
but not least, the United States
and the Soviet Unibn are em­
barking on an unprecedented
era of cooperation and col­
laboration. The obvious ques­
tion is, where will this escalating .
economic and political unity of
Europe and America leave
Africa and the Third World?
, The answer i also obvious.
Africa and the Third World will
be left out, permanently locked
in a condition of poverty, under­
develop ent and u �ence.
This:� the unpleasant reality we
..... ' ..... 4-10;1990 MICHIGAN CI11ZEN 5
face unless there is a growing
commitment to economic and
political co-operation between
African nations on the con­
tinent and a solid like beteween
the nations of African and
Africans in America, the Car­
ribean . and the rest of the
diaspora.
These pan-Afric n
economic and political relation­
ships can then become a basis
for increased Third World
political solidarity and
economic cooperation. .
GIVEN THE tremendous
changes that are unfolding
before our eyes almost daily,
African people the world over
had better be prepared to make
a serious commitment to the
afro-centric development of
Pan Africanism: Key glo 'al
I
progrfJss for the :S/aqk world
I
a ch
By
LE ING S L
CO IDE C
After reading s veral stories
to a four-year- d boy the
other day, I as d him to tell a
story to me. In ismay, he
turned to me d sadly said,
"Ican't tell you story. I'm just
little boy and can't read." I
replied "Well, 'J u may not
read words, bu can't you re d
pictures? Can't ou tell me the
story in your 0 wotds?" He
looked at me . e I was truly
crflZY and whin "I can't", but
then dutifully 0 ned the boo
and turned to e first page.
Sure enough, h was perfectly
capable of 100 at the pic-
tures, turning pages a
appropriate ti , and telling
the story in his ords.
However, he med to be
startled at his 0 ability, and
genuinely surpr ed that
anyone ould t to hear his
interpretation 0 anything.
After I'd prais him and
gi n him a big ug he jumped
up and down an yelled, "I
t't read wor yet, but I
read pictur !
ust admit it took more
to listen to t ctnld's
ion of the st ry than it
d have to r d that same
k word for rd, but this
dent made remember
our childre need to ac­
e confiden as well as
. . I w; re . ded of how
y we forge that children
to be listen d to, helped
to thire im tion, and
encouraged to . for them-
Africa as a economic and politi­
cal power base for African
aspirations the world over.
In the context of this
scenario, African Americans
must undergo a serious change
of attitude towards' africa, our
role as African people in
America and our vision and
mission on the world scene.
We will either transform our­
selves, or we are destined to
enter the 21st century just as we
entered the 20th cen� ...
peons in America and on planet
earth.
. Ron Daniels serves as
President of the Institute for
Community Organization and
Development in Youngstown,
Ohio.
selves.
The sad truth is that because
adults are busy trying to com­
plet tasks in the mos effi­
cient fashion we sometimes
unknowingly stifle young
minds. We often feel that we
cannot afford the tim_e it takes
to let children try to ac­
complish b ic tasks on their
own. It becomes easier to tell
them how to do things than to
wrutfurthemtofi�eoutthe
next step in process for them­
selves.
Although it is often difficult,
adults must fmd the time to
help-childre develop con­
fidence and learn to make
d cisions. We must help them
to learn to put together puz­
zles and not just turn on the
TV; to sing and play instru­
ments instead of just listening
to the radio; to draw instead
_of simply fi1ling in pictures in a
coloring boo We have to �
remember that while en­
couraging a child's interest in
oddly-shaped rocks or colorful
insects may delay a walk
through the eighborhood, it
may also spar an interes in
geology or zoology. .
Of course, it is also faster to
feed or dress toddlers than to
wait as they struggle to feed or
dress themselves - but we
know they have to master
these basic tas if they are
ever to care for themselves.
We "must also remember to
provide them with time to gain
a real sense of accomplish­
ment, and to develop con­
fidence in their ability to
explore the world.