THE EDITOR, Sir:
YOUR JULY 17 publication featured two very interesting, yet controversial articles that require some response. First, contributor Moeletsi Mbeki identified Africa's political elites as the chief reason for that continent's economic woes. Second, Lee Truck in a letter questioned the wisdom of granting independence to Jamaica and some other West Indian nations.
Following the recent G8 conference, Africa has been much in the news, forcing us to ponder the affairs of that Black fatherland. Mbeki's points about Africa were well taken, but two other points must be made. It must first be said that Africa's economic and political woes can largely be blamed on its underdevelopment and exploitation by European nations and on the cold war super powers, the former USSR and the USA.
Improving the lives of Africans will take much more than the increased financial aid announced by the G8 members. These Western nations that raped the African continent and instituted slavery against members of the African Diaspora must make substantial restitutions, pay slavery reparations and end current tariffs and other unfair barriers against the economic development of African countries. (Africa's AIDS problem, I believe, is also the fault of its historical Caucasian exploiters.)
BINDING AND EFFECTIVE ALLIANCES
Second, African nations must either unite into the United States of Africa or form some other binding and effective alliances that make economic, political and social development the main goals. Bob Marley sang: 'How good and how pleasant it would be before God and man to see the unification of all Africans.' That is the key to restoring the former greatness of that continent which was the cradle of humanity and the inventor of science, education and civilisation. The latter half of the 20th century saw small stirrings in Africa to suggest that the continent was ready to rise again. These included the Nelson Mandela triumph over apartheid in South Africa and the granting of independence to African nations like Zimbabwe, where Bob Marley performed a song of freedom.
This leads us to Mr. Truck's letter. There is some truth in the suggestion that a Jamaica that was still a British colony might not be experiencing its current murder madness. Nevertheless, reader Truck should note that independent Jamaica under Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley and even up to the Hugh Shearer administration was practically murder-free with a dollar currency in 1969 that was more valuable than the U.S. dollar. It was not independence that caused Jamaica's criminal and economic woes. Here again, Jamaica was a victim of European/British exploitation and American destabilisation. Most U.S. destabilisation occurred during the political rivalries between Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, the latter clearly facilitating U.S interference in Jamaica's internal affairs.
These are just some of the many factors that have caused the woes in Africa, our fatherland, and in Jamaica, our homeland.
GLOBAL VILLAGE EXPERIENCES
Things will get better for Jamaicans, Africans, and all members of the black race worldwide when this global village experiences what Bob Marley called Blackman Redemption. As Bob sang: 'Blackman Redemption, can you stop it' Oh No! Africa and members of the African Diaspora in Jamaica and elsewhere shall rise again, with or without help from the G8 and others who historically terrorised Africans based on greed and racism. Every African and Jamaican at home and abroad has a part to play in this Blackman Redemption, no matter how small. Let's get it on!
I am, etc.,
Rev. MERVIN STODDART
INMerv@hotmail.com
P. O. Box 150953
Altamonte Springs, FL
Via Go-Jamaica
