Obama, the African Colonial

American Thinker ^ | June 25, 2009 | L.E. Ikenga

[neverdem]

Had Americans been able to stop obsessing over the color of Barack Obama's skin and instead paid more attention to his cultural identity, maybe he would not be in the White House today. The key to understanding him lies with his identification with his father, and his adoption of a cultural and political mindset rooted in postcolonial Africa.

Like many educated intellectuals in postcolonial Africa, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was enraged at the transformation of his native land by its colonial conqueror. But instead of embracing the traditional values of his own tribal cultural past, he embraced an imported Western ideology, Marxism. I call such frustrated and angry modern Africans who embrace various foreign "isms", instead of looking homeward for repair of societies that are broken, African Colonials. They are Africans who serve foreign ideas.

The tropes of America's racial history as a way of understanding all things black are useless in understanding the man who got his dreams from his father, a Kenyan exemplar of the African Colonial.

Before I continue, I need to say this: I am a first generation born West African-American woman whose parents emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970's from the country now called Nigeria. I travel to Nigeria frequently. I see myself as both a proud American and as a proud Igbo (the tribe that we come from -- also sometimes spelled Ibo). Politically, I have always been conservative (though it took this past election for me to commit to this once and for all!); my conservative values come from my Igbo heritage and my place of birth. Of course, none of this qualifies me to say what I am about to -- but at the same time it does.

My friends, despite what CNN and the rest are telling you, Barack Obama is nothing more than an old school African Colonial who is on his way to turning this country into one of the developing nations that you learn about on the National Geographic Channel. Many conservative (East, West, South, North) African-Americans like myself -- those of us who know our history -- have seen this movie before. Here are two main reasons why many Americans allowed Obama to slip through the cracks despite all of his glaring inconsistencies:

First, Obama has been living on American soil for most of his adult life. Therefore, he has been able to masquerade as one who understands and believes in American democratic ideals. But he does not. Barack Obama is intrinsically undemocratic and as his presidency plays out, this will become more obvious. Second, and most importantly, too many Americans know very little about Africa. The one-size-fits-all understanding that many Americans (both black and white) continue to have of Africa might end up bringing dire consequences for this country.

Contrary to the way it continues to be portrayed in mainstream Western culture, Africa is not a continent that can be solely defined by AIDS, ethnic rivalries, poverty and safaris. Africa, like any other continent, has an immense history defined by much diversity and complexity. Africa's long-standing relationship with Europe speaks especially to some of these complexities -- particularly the relationship that has existed between the two continents over the past two centuries. Europe's complete colonization of Africa during the nineteenth century, also known as the Scramble for Africa, produced many unfortunate consequences, the African colonial being one of them.

The African colonial (AC) is a person who by means of their birth or lineage has a direct connection with Africa. However, unlike Africans like me, their worldviews have been largely shaped not by the indigenous beliefs of a specific African tribe but by the ideals of the European imperialism that overwhelmed and dominated Africa during the colonial period. AC's have no real regard for their specific African traditions or histories.  AC's use aspects of their African culture as one would use pieces of costume jewelry: things of little or no value that can be thoughtlessly discarded when they become a negative distraction, or used on a whim to decorate oneself in order to seem exotic. (Hint: Obama's Muslim heritage).

On the other hand, AC's strive to be the best at the culture that they inherited from Europe. Throughout the West, they are tops in their professions as lawyers, doctors, engineers, Ivy League professors and business moguls; this is all well and good. It's when they decide to engage us as politicians that things become messy and convoluted.

The African colonial politician (ACP) feigns repulsion towards the hegemonic paradigms of Western civilization. But at the same time, he is completely enamored of the trappings of its aristocracy or elite culture. The ACP blames and caricatures whitey to no end for all that has gone wrong in the world. He convinces the masses that various forms of African socialism are the best way for redressing the problems that European colonialism motivated in Africa. However, as opposed to really being a hard-core African Leftist who actually believes in something, the ACP uses socialist themes as a way to disguise his true ambitions: a complete power grab whereby the "will of the people" becomes completely irrelevant.

Barack Obama is all of the above. The only difference is that he is here playing (colonial) African politics as usual.  

In his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father -- an eloquent piece of political propaganda -- Obama styles himself as a misunderstood intellectual who is deeply affected by the sufferings of black people, especially in America and Africa. In the book, Obama clearly sees himself as an African, not as a black American. And to prove this, he goes on a quest to understand his Kenyan roots. He is extremely thoughtful of his deceased father's legacy; this provides the main clue for understanding Barack Obama.

Barack Obama Sr. was an African colonial to the core; in his case, the apple did not fall far from the tree. All of the telltale signs of Obama's African colonialist attitudes are on full display in the book -- from his feigned antipathy towards Europeans to his view of African tribal associations as distracting elements that get in the way of "progress".  (On p. 308 of Dreams From My Father, Obama says that African tribes should be viewed as an "ancient loyalties".)

Like imperialists of Old World Europe, the ACP sees their constituents not as free thinking individuals who best know how to go about achieving and creating their own means for success. Instead, the ACP sees his constituents as a flock of ignorant sheep that need to be led -- oftentimes to their own slaughter.

Like the European imperialist who spawned him, the ACP is a destroyer of all forms of democracy.

Here are a few examples of what the British did in order to create (in 1914) what is now called Nigeria and what Obama is doing to you: 

1. Convince the people that "clinging" to any aspect of their cultural (tribal) identity or history is bad and regresses the process of "unity". British Imperialists deeply feared people who were loyal to anything other than the state. "Tribalism" made the imperialists have to work harder to get people to just fall in line. Imperialists pitted tribes against each other in order to create chaos that they then blamed on ethnic rivalry. Today many "educated" Nigerians, having believed that their traditions were irrelevant, remain completely ignorant of their ancestry and the history of their own tribes.
2. Confiscate the wealth and resources of the area that you govern by any means necessary in order to redistribute wealth. The British used this tactic to present themselves as empathetic and benevolent leaders who wanted everyone to have a "fair shake". Imperialists are not interested in equality for all. They are interested in controlling all.  
3. Convince the masses that your upper-crust university education naturally puts you on an intellectual plane from which to understand everything even when you understand nothing. Imperialists were able to convince the people that their elite university educations allowed them to understand what Africa needed. Many of today's Nigerians-having followed that lead-hold all sorts of degrees and certificates-but what good are they if you can't find a job?   
4. Lie to the people and tell them that progress is being made even though things are clearly becoming worse.  One thing that the British forgot to mention to their Nigerian constituents was that one day, the resources that were being used to engineer "progress" (which the British had confiscated from the Africans to begin with!) would eventually run out. After WWII, Western Europe could no longer afford to hold on to their African colonies. So all of the counterfeit countries that the Europeans created were then left high-and-dry to fend for themselves. This was the main reason behind the African independence movements of the1950 and 60's. What will a post-Obama America look like?
5. Use every available media outlet to perpetuate the belief that you and your followers are the enlightened ones-and that those who refuse to support you are just barbaric, uncivilized, ignorant curmudgeons.  This speaks for itself.

America, don't be fooled. The Igbos were once made up of a confederacy of clans that ascribed to various forms of democratic government. They took their eyes off the ball and before they knew it, the British were upon them. Also, understand this: the African colonial who is given too much political power can only become one thing: a despot.

L.E. Ikenga can be reached at leikenga@gmail.com.

[caww]

All this research about Obamas ties to Islam and the Muslim community is certainly a black mark on his Presidency. But my concern is no matter how much we learn or are informed of ...’there is no action being taken’... which will change ‘the equation’ that he remains in the White-house...continues to appoint those in the Muslim community with strong ties to radical Islam and this to positions of power and decision making in our Gov.

Of course we do hear of those who have gone thru and are currently in the courts..but that is where they will remain until his term is completed. Time is not on our nations side before the damage this administration can do, and will be doing is done.

These are all the consequences of our nations people being willfully ignorant of who they vote for....and elitists within the pipeline who promote these losers...and I don't see that changing any time in the near future.

The 2012 election now gearing up does not present the favorable light, thus far, I have hoped to see. Even this election to rid those from office, though highly congratulatory, has not produced the end results hoped for , as they remain “stuck” as to how to use the power and authority they were charged with....or in fact reneged on what they've promised to do. Not enough of them united to push with the “brass in their pants” needed....to many remain stuck in the self-serving mode and advancement of their political careers.

Of course this does not mean we by any means give up...but thus far the tide remains to be seen which will move these people off the course they are taking..and allot can still be destroyed as they make their own rules and discard the Constitution of our country to accomplish their agenda.

Praying greatly our country will not be completely destroyed but the hand writing on the wall looks much like it's headed there....at most we can slow it down....for now.

[Fred Nerks]

thanks, I thought it might be a good idea to keep results of research in one place...feel free to add anything you think might be useful, and scroll through from #1 when you have the time.

[bgill]

The 2012 election now gearing up does not present the favorable light, thus far, I have hoped to see.

The Obama '12 campaign is nothing but bunk. He wasn't talking about running (despite being in constant campaign mode 24/7) until people began to push the proof of eligibility more recently. He can't afford to not show some indication of having a second run or these remaining two years will be a big fat lame duck. It's all talk. Sure, he may get on the ticket and make all the primaries but somewhere, some time along the way he's going to step down. Now, whether he steps down quietly or he's hauled out in cuffs is anyone's guess.

[ladyjane]

I suspect Obama has known since last fall that the game is over. He told Michelle and she threw a fit. That’s when he took off his wedding ring and she took off with 40 of her closest friends to spend millions of taxpayers dollars on a vacation in Spain. Why else would she celebrate her husband’s birthday without him - she was angry that she’d only going to get 4 years in the White House.

[MestaMachine]

Just because I don’t always post doesn’t mean I don’t always read. I read almost every thread Lucy pings me to. Sometimes, anything I might add just seems redundant, so I don’t say much. But I DO pay attention and honestly, whenever the subject comes up and I want to know something, I just automatically search for your posts and I am never disappointed. From wayback.
This time, I thought maybe you should know that I am not the only one who feels this way. You are a jewel. The research you have done is nothing short of magnificent. And I am not trying to flatter you. I mean every word and so does everyone else who posts on these threads. REALLY!

[Fred Nerks]

blushing...but many thanks, I appreciate the encouragement.

[patlin]

Lucy, Those official opinions are cited well into the 20th century by the US Govt & the courts in the 1950’s just prior to Obama’s supposed birth (1952-1959). Therefore, Obama is not a citizen per the 14th because at his birth, he was a British subject & not exclusively “subject to the jurisdiction” of the US as required by the Constitution to be POTUS. There are references after 1961, however they are not needed because we are only dealing with citizenship at birth.

THANK YOU HARVARD LAW ARCHIVES!

[caww]

Bo didn’t step up to the plate without expecting a second term right from the get go...and why he is always in the campagin mode. He has to be otherwise he’ll continue to loose credability with his supporters. Will he run...absolutely...for he will change the equation we see playing out now as his hope and change thingy is all about his adapting his stance and excusing his actions in such a way as to smell like a rose...and his followers will believe him...despite the facts.

[Fred Nerks]

Malcolm X, Sukarno’s Indonesia, and the Politics of Bandung

Sukarno, Indonesia's first president, and Malcolm X shared the platform at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in 1956, introduced there by mutual friend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. The relationship launched there endured until Malcolm X’s untimely death in 1965, two weeks before he was slated to speak at the Asian-African Islamic Conference in Jakarta.

He had also planned to attend the tenth anniversary celebration of the 1955 Bandung Conference, the first large-scale Asian-African conference. Iandola explores this little-known relationship to illuminate their ideological affinities as well as the Cold War politics of the Third World.

SOURCE

[caww]

Just getting caught up again on this thread..so great seeing the activity and articles of great significance posted. I suspect this will continue mesta...and needs be at this time as the ME continues it’s push.

[Fred Nerks]

1955 Malcolm X attends the first Conference of the Non-aligned Nations in Bandung, Indonesia.

TIMELINE-SOURCE

COPYRIGHT IMAGE LINK, CHARLES MALIK, LEBANON, ATTENDEE

COPYRIGHT IMAGE LINK - SAUDI ARABIA DELEGATION.

COPYRIGHT IMAGE LINK, MUFTI OF JERUSALEM, BANDUNG CONFERENCE 1955 ATTENDEE.

...At the time of the first Bandung Conference, the North American left, in general, and the African American liberation movement, in particular, were under attack. Senator Joseph McCarthy was looking for a "red under every bed.” Robeson, "the Tallest Tree in Our Forest," wanted to attend the Conference but couldn't because the U.S. government had taken his passport. Ditto for DuBois. However, several African American politicians and journalists found themselves in Indonesia from April 18-25, 1955. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Carl T. Rowan, Dr. Marguerite Cartwright, journalist Payne and Richard Wright all were there.

Quite a lineup. PLEASE NOTE: RICHARD WRIGHT. THE CHICAGO ASSOCIATE OF NONE OTHER THAN FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS.

[Fred Nerks]

The Afro-Asian Conference, known generally as the Bandung Conference, was to that date the largest gathering of Asian and African nations. On April 18 to 24, 1955, twenty-nine representatives of nations from Africa and Asia came together in Bandung, Indonesia, to promote African and Asian economic coalitions and decolonization. The Conference expressly declared its opposition to both colonialism and neocolonialism not only by the European powers then in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but also by the United States and the Soviet Union.

http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/Bandung_Conference_Map.jpg

[Fred Nerks]

"You must realize that what I am trying to do is very dangerous, because it is a direct threat to the entire international system of racist exploitation. It is a threat to discrimination in all its international forms. Therefore, if I die or am killed before making it back to the States, you can rest assured that what I've already set in motion will never be stopped." -- Letter from Cairo, August 29, 1964

[thecodont]

Apropos of nothing, but the name "Barak" reminds me of Barak the Dyer, a character in Richard Strauss's 1919 opera, Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow).

[thouworm]

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable

The book is based on exhaustive research, including thousands of pages of FBI files [over 6000] and records from the Central Intelligence Agency and State Department. Marable also conducted interviews with the slain civil rights leader's confidants and security team, as well as witnesses to his assassination. Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Marable concluded that only one of the three men convicted of killing Malcolm X was involved in the assassination.... The real assassination squad, he writes, had four other members, with connections to the rival Nation of Islam’s Newark mosque — two of whom are still alive and have never been charged."

"Malcolm X himself contributed to many of the fictions, Mr. Marable argues, by exaggerating, glossing over or omitting important incidents in his life. These episodes include

a criminal career far more modest than he claimed [At a time when Malcolm X claimed in the autobiography to have “devoted himself to increasingly violent crime” in New York, he was actually in Lansing, Mich., his hometown.],

an early homosexual relationship with a white businessman,

his mother’s confinement in a mental hospital for nearly 25 years and

secret meetings with leaders of groups as divergent as the Ku Klux Klan and the Palestine Liberation Organization. "

Source

[thouworm]

Linking relevant thread (and informative posts) here:

Malcolm X scholar Manning Marable dies at 60

[LucyT]

Historian claims Newark, N.J. activist Al-Mustafa Shabazz killed Malcom X Tuesday,
05 April 2011 13:28
BY ALICIA CRUZ
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A familiar name has re-surfaced in connection with the 1965 assassination of civil rights leader, Malcolm X, re-igniting a 51 year-old dispute that one of Malcolm X’s killers — the man who fired the first, fatal shot, is alive, free and remains unpunished.

According to the Star-Ledger, in his latest and last publication, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, noted historian and author, Manning Marable claims the man responsible for firing the fatal shotgun blasts that killed the revered activist is William Bradley, now known as, Al-Mustafa Shabazz, of Newark.

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/nation/historian-claims-newark-nj-activist-al-mustafa-shabazz-killed-malcom-x

[thouworm]

Al-Mustafa Shabazz, above in this 2004 file photo, is named as the chief assassin of Malcolm X in the book "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention" by Columbia University professor Manning Marable.

Courtesy of Abdur-Rahman Muhammad
East Orange police mug shot of William Bradley, a.k.a. Al-Mustafa Shabazz

"Al-Mustafa Shabazz is a 72-year-old, white-haired Muslim who briefly appeared in a 2010 re-election video ad for Mayor Cory Booker and is married to a community leader who owns a boxing gym in Newark.

"As God, Allah, is my witness, there’s no way my husband could have had a negative thought in his head about Malcolm X," said Carolyn Shabazz. "My husband is no more guilty about what happened with Malcolm than you or I."

Al-Mustafa Shabazz and his wife live in a brick house on quiet Vassar Avenue in Newark’s South Ward. The elderly man was not at home Saturday. But when his wife was asked if his name was formerly William Bradley, she said, "Legally, his name is Al-Mustafa Shabazz."

West Ward Councilman Ron Rice:

"There has been a long belief in the underbrush, argued by some, disputed by others, that a number of Malcolm X’s alleged murderers came out of Number 25 — the Newark mosque," Rice said. "But I’ve never heard the rumor of Carolyn’s husband being associated."

Rice said the group had once fostered a reputation for militancy and had called for the death of Malcolm X. "The Newark mosque was seen as a radical mosque or extremist mosque. That’s always been alleged," he said. "
SOURCE

[LucyT]

“Since Abdur-Rahman Muhammad accused Bradley last year of being “the man who fired the first and deadliest shot” at Malcolm X, not only Marable, - but others, including investigative journalist Karl Evanzz and documentary filmmaker Omar Shabazz, have named Bradley.

“There’s never been a question that William Bradley pulled the trigger. This information is well-established.

“According to state Department of Correction records, “William Bradley, aka Al-Mustafa Shabazz,” served time in prison for charges including threatening to kill three people. He was released in February 1998.”

[Fred Nerks]

MANNING MARABLE - KEYWIKI LINK

Support for Barack Obama

Manning Marable claims that Barack Obama has read some of his books and "understands what socialism is."

Manning Marable, writing in the December 2008 issue of British Trotskyist journal Socialist Review[26], also claimed that Obama works with socialists with backgrounds in the Communist Party.

Obama represents a generation of what might be called post-racial black politicians-by which I mean they espouse a politics that minimises matters of race. They do not like to talk about race and subsume it under the rubric of poverty and class. So they are generally left of centre, or liberal, on social and economic policy. Obama is a progressive liberal.

What makes Obama different is that he has also been a community organiser. He has read left literature, including my works, and he understands what socialism is. A lot of the people working with him are, indeed, socialists with backgrounds in the Communist Party or as independent Marxists. There are a lot of people like that in Chicago who have worked with him for years...

When Dr Marable voted for Barack Obama, he voted for him not as a Democrat, but on the New York Working Families Party (WFP) line. Manning Marable is a member of the WFP which is a direct descendant of the now defunct New Party.

Why vote for Obama on a Working Families ticket? You are counted independently of the Democrats and it shows there is a left constituency in the state of New York. It gives us some leverage on decision-making and policy and we run our own candidates at local level.

Marable, as a Marxist tactician, went on to explain that to win elections and promote his policies Obama has to be subtle. He must bring his opponents on board and be careful not to scare centrist voters.

Obama regularly sends text messages to millions of people. He just sent a message saying, "Don't go away, now I need you to help govern." There is a debate right now within the Obama campaign about whether to move fast or go more slowly. The argument is that there have been 10 elections for president between 1968 and 2004 and Republicans have won seven of them. Obama is looking at the history and so are progressives who worked with him or critically endorsed him, like myself.

Dr Marable then defined the role of the left under an Obama administration-to push Obama in a "progressive" direction, just as the communists and socialists like A. Philip Randolph pressured Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s.

My argument is simple. The left must force him to carry out the agenda he promised, and that includes a national healthcare system...That is the number-three priority. The main priority is ending the war in Iraq. The second is the economic crisis. We need a robust Keynesian approach to employment and investment in infrastructure - a lot of the bridges built by the works projects administration of Franklin D Roosevelt 75 years ago need to be rebuilt and the roads are crumbling. Most of us on the left have taken a position of critical support toward Obama. We have to press him to carry out his own agenda.

The analogy of FDR is appropriate. But someone has to play the role of A Philip Randolph, the black socialist leader who attacked FDR from the left and in 1941 forced him to sign an executive order outlawing racial discrimination in factories producing for the war effort that refused to hire black people. Randolph threatened to bring 100,000 black workers to surround the White House. Roosevelt capitulated and signed an order that was the foundation of affirmative action. We need a network that can do it. That is the challenge for socialists in the US...