In fact, truthfully, I never heard of Ani DeFranco before this story surfaced about her plans to organize a musical retreat at the Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, Louisiana.  I'll go farther and admit I probably wouldn't know her music if you tied me up and threatened me with violence if I couldn't recognize it.  Just looking at pictures of her I would imagine her music, and audience, is very far removed from my inner city upbringing and cultural manifestations. This isn't a problem.  We all come from different experiences and life perspectives.  She doesn't have to speak to my experience and I certainly have no intention of attempting to speak to hers.  I say this because I find a lot of strength in people from different backgrounds speaking in their voice around issues of oppression and forward movement.  This is a logical strategy because it permits us to speak to so many more people about issues of justice.  That's why her decision to hold her concert at a plantation is problematic.  It's a problem not just because she's a White woman.  We Africans have a responsibility to be honest about history.  We have to acknowledge that her effort isn't the first time this type of thing has been proposed.  It was just a few short years ago that African oriented (and formally owned) Essence Magazine was planning a jazz fest at the Cape Coast Slave Castle in Cape Coast, Ghana.  For those that don't know, there are a number of slave castles along the West Coast of Africa.  I've been fortunate enough to set foot in two of them, Cape Coast and Goree Island in Senegal.  These facilities served as distribution centers where Africans were corralled and prepared for shipment to the Western World to be sold as property to be exploited at places like the Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana.  So, Cape Coast was the distribution center and Nottoway was the supermarket, if you will.  Like Ms. DeFranco's fiasco, the Essence Fest - was cancelled after a public uproar.

Right now, I'm noticing a lot of angry Africans and well meaning White Feminists are criticizing Ms. DeFranco.  I've also seen her less then sincere statement regarding her decision to cancel the show due to the outcry that has accompanied it's announcement.  Still, instead of reacting to her, I'd like to frame this in the context of her decision, along with Essence's decision.  You see, the problem isn't that a White woman is insensitive to the legacy of slavery, although that's obviously a part of the problem here.  Beyond that issue, a deeper part of the problem is that people are totally ignorant to how this society came to be and how it exists.  An incredible as it is, it's understandable how this can be.  We have been propagandized to accept lies regarding the history of the Western world for 500+ years.  Columbus discovered America.  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc., are our "forefathers."  Thanksgiving and the 4th of July are shoved down our throats annually to legitimize slavery and the theft of this land from the Indigenous people.  Plus, the capitalist system trains us to view history from the individual perspective and not as the story of the masses of people, which is what history really is.  Nelson Mandela was a great man and we can never reach the level of development that he displayed.  Martin Luther King was a saint and there will never be another one like him.  Those are the lessons our youth are taught everyday.  As a result, people begin to see history as something far removed.  Something that has no direct relationship to our current day reality.  Consequently, people like Ms. DeFranco, who White Feminist activists I speak too seem to hold with some regard as a contributor to the movement, are able to disconnect from the reality of history and what role slavery has on the very existence of this society today.  People cannot even make basic connections like the fact plantation houses like Nottoway reflect White wealth that has been passed down through generations at the expense of African people, which explains why African wealth is negligible compared to White wealth.  Instead, we are told this disparity exists because White people work so much harder.  So the irony that a concert on a slave plantation today is going to financially benefit someone who has gained fortune from the slave labor performed by my ancestors escapes someone as apparently as conscious as this Ms. DeFranco appears to be.  The fact African people were bred and sold like pit bulls for what still amounts to 71% of the time we have spent in the Western Hemisphere (which may explain why so many of us call each other dawgs) is lost on people today.  The fact the very banks that finance this society today were started, along with the insurance and many other industries, on the back of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, is lost on the overwhelming majority of people here who instead believe falsely that those who have wealth worked for it and those who don't - didn't.  The truth is that White people would have to work for the next 300 years to match the work African people have already put out, without being compensated for it, to build this society.  The fact that today everyone everywhere can say something about the kings of the Roundtable in Britain, Greek and Roman mythology, European history over the last 100 years, and European cultural centers like Italy, France, and Germany, while the most anyone can tell you about Africa is there are animals and fighting going on there (as if no unrest exists in Europe).  In fact, people ask me all the time about safety in Africa which is humorous to me.  I've lived in some of the most notorious neighborhoods in the Western U.S. and I've traveled throughout Africa.  I know I'm much safer in Accra, Ghana, than I could ever be in pretty much any U.S. city.  This is simply an example of how the legacy of slavery impacts us today.  Africa is forgotten and misrepresented to justify it's exploitation and the subjugation of it's people.  The Trayvon Martins in every city are discredited for this reason.  The so-called achievement gap with African youth is dismissed for this reason.  The n word can be heard in music played in department stores and no one blinks - especially African people - for this reason.  The fact there are 64,000 African women missing with nothing being said about it when it becomes the main news story when a young White woman turns up missing happens for this reason.  The fact people come into the coffee shop I'm in right now and feel there's nothing wrong with blatantly staring at this African man on his lap top (because I'm not rapping or doing anything else to fulfill their sick stereotypes) happens for this reason.  All of these things and many more I could list happen as a result of the mis-education around slavery.  And the same is true for the history of the Indigenous people because both are the history of this part of the world that the ruling classes desire to never be fully understood by the masses of people who are here (with more coming everyday).  Instead, you are to subconsciously believe that it's all about personal decision making and creating the reality you want without addressing the reality people experience on a daily basis.

It not just about Ms. DeFranco. I personally wouldn't know her if she walked right up to me and slapped me.  It's not just about Essence either.  I realize we use these people because of their fame to illustrate the problem with issues like racism and sexism, but we can't stop there.  We have to take these things as opportunities to make commitments to build stronger bridges around creating a political education movement around justice.  You see, until we increase people's consciousness, we will never create the conditions to eliminate the type of stupidity Ms. DeFranco's absurd concert represents.  And it's critical that Africans, Indigenous, White activists, Feminists, etc., stop seeing the world solely through the lenses of your struggle.  Justice is universal.  So make a pact to support justice, even if you have a hard time seeing the connection to your issue(s).  Reach out to groups beyond your sphere and find out what's happening with them.  Raise difficult issues that aren't easily discussed in your circles and do this in an organized fashion (not as an individual or just on a whim, but in a consistent and ongoing process with other people with an objective).  Sounds hard because it is hard, but if you were offended by the DeFranco story, this is the only way to address it.  Unless all you want to do is just complain about it.  If so, this piece isn't written for you.  

So to my White comrades, don't just use this as an opportunity to show everyone how against racism you are.  Use it as a stepping stone to really start organizing White people.  They need organization badly!   To my African family and other folks of color in the struggle, stand up for justice and understand our suffering isn't the only suffering happening.  We need organization badly also!  And for everyone, support independent organizations struggling to fight against the injustices.  The best way to do this is provide material support and social support in whatever way you can.  Get involved in organizations yourself and support existing ones and/or start one of your own.  Be there when you say you are coming (on time) and come ready to work, every time.  Get whatever help you need to stop being so self centered.  Humble yourself and build yourself into the soldier you will need to be to make a positive ongoing contribution.  Support those who are leading sincere efforts to make change and stop people from tearing them down.  Build positive relationships with people and become well rounded.  Balance serious struggle with rest and enjoyment of what life has to offer.  Learn to laugh - especially at yourself - and look at each day as an opportunity to fight and live again.  What does doing all of that have to do with the concert at Nottoway Plantation?   Everything!!  Because if the enemy has spent 500 years getting us to this confused state it's going to take an intense effort to turn this thing around.  We will need to be politically mature enough to understand the change won['t happen in our lifetime.  Instead of that self serving perspective, we need to realize that our role is to lay a foundation and leave something for those coming after us to work with.  We are going to need everyone so when this latest story dies down and when the next one comes, the question you should be asking yourself is how you are building capacity to stop the cycle?  How do you measure progress in this regard?  Me?  I'm tired of talking about the stupidity of entertainers because I know if we are organized they will have to be accountable to us.  I'm ready to make that happen.  Anyone want to join in?

Look, we certainly get it.  South Sudan, Central Africa, North Africa, so-called Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa as a whole.  It's all so overwhelming.  How the hell are you supposed to understand what's happening there?  Well, the answer to that question is the same answer for anything you don't understand.  You use that muscle upstairs to study, analyze, and conclude what's happening based on your analysis of primary sources.  That's what we will do here to give you a basic picture of the conflict in South Sudan.  We'll start with a brief and recent history.  South Sudan is the newest nation in Africa (it's 54th).  It consists of about 250,000 people.  The country seceded from Sudan in 2011 through a referendum - that's a national vote.  The referendum passed with a 98% yes vote.  There are a number of Ethnic groups in South Sudan.  The most numerous are the Dinka people and yes, the majority of people, including the Dinkas, in South Sudan would probably be classified as "Black" while the majority in Sudan would be classified as Arab.  That's a pretty quick picture of South Sudan today.  So what's the reason there is so much conflict there right now?  Shouldn't people be happy?  They just got their country right?  Wrong!  

Wrong, because what you need to know is over 95% of South Sudan's economy is centered around it's oil production.  That region has oil that is such a high quality grade that according to oil analysts "you can basically drill it out of the ground and put it in your car with practically no refining."  So, understand there are two major components to this conflict today; who will control the oil and neo-colonialism.  To clarify further, let's go back to the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Manifesto that was created in 1983.  The manifesto begins by raising the question of the African (Black) and Arab people who inhabited pre-South Sudan - Sudan together.  In that manifesto, the SPLM expressed the desire to establish a South Sudan while also acknowledging the existence of both peoples within the country.  In fact, the manifesto wisely calls for the people of Sudan to discuss this question in the quest to develop a clear identity for the country.  In other words, the question of African/Arab relations isn't being dealt with as a natural antagonism by the SPLM so why is it widely seen that way today?  In comes the oil interests.

These African and Arab folks have inhabited Sudan together for literally thousands of years without the violent conflict that has marked that region over the last 25 years, expressly exhibited by the Darfar tragedy.  The nomadic and agricultural communities in Sudan existed in relative peace for decades, but in the 80s, sophisticated oil interests, in their continued quest to find and exploit new oil reserve sources cheaply, zeroed in on the plentiful and raw opportunities in Sudan.  Outside corporate interests led by old players; the U.S. and British companies like British Petroleum, Shell, Chevron, and Texaco, attempted to position themselves to take advantage of the projected oil boom in Sudan.  So far, the winner in this shuffle seems to be the Chinese based National Petroleum Company which has thousands of exploited Chinese and African, workers, slaving to drill for oil.  This race for profits and power at the expense of the Sudanese people has created havoc in the country.  Accompanied by the backward and racist policies of the al-Bashir regime in Khartoum, in it's quest to gain control for it's own interests, the country was thrown into a chaos that has helped create the conditions for the new state of South Sudan. 

Now, with the country barely old enough to be added to new maps, the first South Sudan government has experienced a major split between the president - Salva Kiir Mayadit, and ousted Vice President Riek Machar, who imperialism is saying is leading a group of loyal rebels in an effort to topple the Mayadit regime.  There's apparently enough mayhem from both sides to go around, and the question looms...What the hell is going on?  We believe the answer is the same answer that can be applied to pretty much every region in Africa today.  The central problem is governments are attempting to establish foundations on top of a legacy of corruption, inequity, inequality, and injustice that is the continued landmark of colonialism and neo-colonialism.  The entire economy of South Sudan is related to oil and the overwhelming majority of the control of that production is being managed by interests from outside of Africa.  Any fool could see that this is obviously a formula for disaster, yet this type of political manipulation will continue in Africa until the people are properly organized to put a stop to it.  That's why the best weapon we have right now is proper political education.  The future of Africa is connected not to further secession that is fueled by the policies of imperialism and colonialism, but the unity of the African continent that is fueled by the desire to empower the masses of African people.  The oil of South Sudan, along with the plentiful teak, zinc, and other minerals, belong to the people of South Sudan and Africa.  So how do our people become empowered? First, the imperialist interests like China and the U.S. must be driven out of Africa and then their minions who simply desire to have a piece of the crumbs they leave must also be driven out, but this will only happen when the strategy outlined by Kwame Nkrumah is implemented throughout the African continent.  The construction of the All African Committee for Political Coordination (A-ACPC), the fusing of the genuine revolutionary Pan-African political formations that are mass, meaning they are made up by the people of Africa to reflect their will and interests.  The A-ACPC once organized, will form the All African People's Revolutionary Party which is the governing political party that will serve as the people's voice and vehicle to utilize the resources of Africa for development of the people for self determination.  Then, if we decide we want to do business with China or whomever, it will be on our terms and it will be to benefit the masses of people in Africa, not a few corrupt power hungry minions.  Yes, we are proposing what Israel and the U.S. did, but the fundamental difference is we aren't proposing stealing anyone's land as they have done.  We are proposing that the African people control Africa...Common sense.  So there it is.  Simple because we are not lying to you.   Basic because history supports our solution.  Difficult because many of us refuse to accept anything that isn't endorsed by imperialism.  If you are ready to think outside that oppressive box, we have work for you.  Are you ready?,nrr
 wkkho bbbb

Identity.  Or, how we define ourselves.  Now there are many people who take a metaphysical approach to answering this question.  Those folks would probably argue that how one defines one's self is determined by each person's subjective interpretation of the the variables that make up own reality, or something close to that.  I'm not a metaphysician, I'm a dialectical and historical materialist which means I believe there are undeniable scientific and historical factors that lay the groundwork for everything that exists today, and those factors cannot be altered.  Even if they are denied, they still exist and they still define what exists.  So, I would argue that there are objective factors that define, not all, but most of the variables that make up our identities.  For example, if you are sitting in a park and a lion appears in front of you, there would be certain factors that would define your response and I would be willing to bet none of those factors would be the thought that maybe the lion was actually a scholar coming over to debate world politics with you.  Your response to the lion would at the very least be deep concern about the lion's interests as it relates to your safety and you would quickly come to that conclusion without knowing the lion's history, how the lion sees itself, or even if the lion has a capacity to define it's own self image.  You would come to your conclusion about safety based on what you know about the history of lions e.g. they are the most efficient and effective predators in the animal kingdom.  Of course, humans, having the capacity to reason (even if we don't use it), create a much more complex argument, but there's no denying that like the lion, there are many historical factors that come to define each and every human being, regardless of how we would like to view ourselves.  For example, we all must breath, eat, and we will all die.  From a psychological standpoint, we are social beings that depending upon our social reality, can become very confident and productive beings, or we can suffer from a debilitating lack of self worth that consistently prohibits us from reaching our full potential.  

Race, color, ethnicity, nationality, whatever method you use to articulate it, is a social construct, but it is a very critical social construct because the basis of social relations on the planet today are defined in large part by it.  In other words, race as a social construct has played and continues to play a very significant role in world economics e.g. who has stability and who doesn't.  For those who doubt that, all you must do is study the history of banking and how it developed in the capitalist world and you would learn that the trans-Atlantic slave trade played a major role in developing the modern banking system (Google every major bank or insurance company e.g. Lloyds of London, Barclays, Wachovia, Merchantile, etc., and slavery and you will see these financial giants have all had to come out and admit in recent years that their industries started by investing in the buying and selling of African slaves).    This is important to understand because who has economic stability determines who has power and who doesn't.  These historical factors surrounding race are the central reasons why Europe, the U.S. occupied Palestine (Israel), etc., are the controllers of the world and the people's of Africa, the Americas, Asia, are not.  Of course, this issue cannot be reduced simply to race, but I use race as a social construct here to make the argument that millions of people's fortunes today are decided based on who they are and much of that is defined by their race, national origin, color, etc. This is the reason why if you look at social relations in the U.S. for example, people who are born to parents of African and European descent are forced to acknowledge their African identity, even if society gives them no incentive to do so.  For example, a white couple can adopt an African child and never talk to that child about race or expose them to anything related to African culture.  Still, due to social relations in this country, there is a 99.9% chance that at some point in that child's development, they will become socially aware of race and that they are not the same as their parents.  If we could create our own identities independent of historical circumstances this could not be the case.  The reason why it is our reality is because that child's social experiences will play a significant role in defining his/her existence and those social experiences are shaped by that history just as your perception of the lion.  So, in other words, you can see yourself as an apple all you want, but at some point, probably sooner than later, you will be confronted behind this and have no option than to respond to it.  This is also true if you are an African.  Not the African that represents "all of humanity as the birthplace of civilization."  Not the African who may have been born in Africa geographically, but have no historical connection to Africa or her reality.  Due to colonialism, there are many people who fall into the latter category.  The actress Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, Azania, South Africa.  The golfer Gary Player was born in Johannesburg, Azania, South Africa as examples.  

So when you look at Theron, Player, and people defined as Black who are born in Africa or in other parts of the world like Europe, the Caribbean, the U.S., etc., the question is whether identity is simply the question of where you are born and/or is it defined by whatever factors you want it to be?  Although I have no interest in taking anything away from anyone or stealing your creativity to define yourself as you see fit, I am arguing that there are some historical facts that cannot be ignored.  Kwame Nkrumah addressed this in his landmark book "Class Struggle in Africa" when he said "Common territory, language and culture may in fact be present in a nation, but the existence of a nation does not necessarily imply the presence of all three. Common territory and language alone may form the basis of a nation. Similarly, common territory plus common culture may be the basis. In some cases, only one of the three applies. A state may exist on a multi-national basis. The community of economic life is the major feature within a nation, and it is the economy which holds together the people living in a territory. It is on this basis that the new Africans recognise themselves as potentially one nation, whose domination is the entire African continent."  Nkrumah's statement reminds me of years ago when I visited Havana, Cuba.  I was quickly able to integrate with the local people, despite very limited Spanish language skills.  The Whites who accompanied me on the delegation who spoke fluent Spanish didn't have the same ability to integrate.  When the issue came up at the end of our trip, I explained to them that the Africans, or Afro-Cubans as they are popularly known, who I befriended, and I, have the common history of being stolen from Africa and experiencing 500 years of slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism.  We have the common  experience of having our culture raped and our African identity denied us.  As a result, our strong tie to Africa and each other and our burning desire to undue the injustices inflicted upon us are much stronger than simply the ability to speak the same colonial language.  Of course, those people were unwilling to understand my point, but that didn't matter.  We Africans understood it in spite of the language issues.  We understood that we shared common cultural communication styles and practices.  We shared common humor and perspectives.  Due to the violent and shocking nature of slavery, we may have even shared blood lines and we understood that too despite the inability to speak verbally to it.  So, the point here isn't to diminish Ms. Theron.  I think she's an outstanding actress and I admire some of her anti-AIDs work in Southern Africa, but since identity is really more than where we are born it raises a lot of interesting questions.  If Nkrumah states, identity is common history, culture, and experiences, regardless of where you are born, and the significance of those experiences to African people is that they connect us in ways that speak to the work we must do to undue the suffering we are experiencing, then maybe we should be looking at identity with an even more radical twist.  Maybe being of African descent is really ill relevant.  Maybe the question isn't where we came from, but where we are going.  Maybe we should be saying we are of African Accent.  Think about it.  Here's an example.   I was arguing with a brother from Ethiopia who lives here in the states.  I entered his store and I was dressed in an African shirt.  He asked me where I was born and I told him San Francisco.  His response was "you are an African American."  I retorted that no, I wasn't the African-American, he was.  He looked at me with dismay.  "I'm from Ethiopia!"  I smiled at him and said "you may be from there, but everything you are doing now is about assimilating into this society. Your interests are in America now so you are actually an African-American.  My interests are in the liberation and forward movement of the African continent so in spite of the fact I was born here, in spite of the fact I currently live here, my interests are connected to the African continent so unlike you, I'm an African living in America."   He and I debated the issue, but he could say nothing to refute my logic.  So, hopefully this all makes sense to you.  Stop calling me African-American because that isn't my identity.  America has spent the last 500 years trying to destroy me, my homeland, history, culture, and spirit.  So I could never be an American.  In fact, as rapper KRS-1 once stated ingeniously "African people calling themselves African-Americans is like Jewish people calling themselves Jewish-Hitlers."  I'm an African in the U.S. fighting against U.S. imperialism.  Charlize Theron became a U.S. citizen in 2009.  If you are looking for an African-American, she, and people like her and the Ethiopian store owner - people unwittingly contributing to U.S. imperialism - they are the people who earn and qualify for that title.  

By now, everyone has seen and heard about Barack Obama's spoken words at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Soweto, Azania, South Africa.  As usual, the imperialist media is focusing on U.S. participation as if it's the most important element of the memorial service.  The only mention of Cuba and it's revolution in capitalist coverage is the repeated (and tired) references of Obama shaking Cuban Secretary General Raul Castro's hand.  The media isn't talking about why out of 100 head's of state who are present at this historic event, only a handful had been asked to speak regarding Mandela's life and legacy.  That African National Congress (ANC) officials chose Obama, South African President Zuma, Indian Prime Minister Mukhejee, and diplomats from Namibia, China, Brazil, and the African Union,  should be of no surprise.  It's standard protocol for state funerals to feature leaders from every geographical region of the world.  Those leaders typically reflect critical political and economic relationships for the country in question. Also, keep in mind that the death of a Nelson Mandela brings with it concerns and fears of instability so it makes sense that the ANC would invite strategic leaders to the country to address the memorial as a way of affirming those relationships and assuaging those concerns.  The fact Raul Castro was included in that group is different.  It's interesting because compared to the other countries presenting speakers, Cuba boasts very limited strategic, political, economic, or geographical interests in Azania, South Africa.  

So why would the ANC risk offending and alienating important "partners" like the U.S. by inviting the Cuban delegation to the service and putting Obama in the position to have the shake the hand of the man his government has spent the last 50 years trying to obliterate?  The answer is something Mandela has understood since the early 1960s and the ANC leadership clearly understands today.  The Azanian (South African) masses love Cuba and the Cuban revolution because while the U.S. was labeling the ANC and the Azanian people as terrorists as recently as the mid 1980s, the Cuban revolution, despite very limited resources, has provided principled and abundant material and moral aide to the people of Southern Africa since the 1960s.  

In order to properly understand this history, you have to go back to the cold war days of the mid 60s.  The U.S. had just successfully sabotaged the Congolese independence process by murdering democratically elected Patrice Lumumba in 1961 (the CIA - you call them the Central Intelligence Agency, we call them Criminals in Action - has recently acknowledged it's role in Lumumba's illegal assassination).  Lumumba's murder, and subsequent CIA-backed sabotage, destroyed the hopes and aspirations of the Congolese people and sent that country into a tailspin of dysfunction and instability that the country still hasn't recovered from.  In fact, in 2007, the Congo had it's first national election since Lumumba's election in 1960.  So, from 1961 up to current times, the Congo has been engaged in on and off war and instability.  In the early stages of that turmoil, Cuba dispatched Ernesto "Che" Guevara and about 100 African Cubans to the Congo to help train and assist the National Congolese Movement soldiers in fighting off the CIA backed terrorists and mercenaries.  Although unsuccessful in restoring democracy to the Congo, the Che-led Cuban forces built important relationships with rebel movements operating all throughout Africa.  These relationships included the leaders and founders of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA in the person of Agostino Neto), Southwest African African People's Organization (SWAPO in Namibia in the person of Sam Njomo), the Zimbabwe African National Union (in the person of Robert Mugabe), and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau (in the person of Amilcar Cabral).  These relationships, along with cemented relationships with the established revolutionary leadership in Africa in the person of Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Sekou Ture in Guinea, and others, led to firm connections which transpired with continued and expanded Cuban military support for rebel forces all over the African continent.

In the 1970s, the MPLA ratcheted it's war for independence against Portugal in Angola while the ZANU did the same against the British colonists who struggled to maintain their grip on that country.  By the late 70s, the ANC, the Pan-African Congress of Azania, South Africa, the Black Consciousness Movement, the Azanian People's Organization, and others continued armed resistance against settler colonialism in Azania, South Africa.  The U.S. CIA could only see these genuine struggles for self-determination within the context of the cold war and the fight against "communism."  Since the MPLA was advancing a socialist agenda and the ANC and other organizations in Azania were influenced by socialist ideals, this presented justification on the part of the imperialists to attempt to stop these liberation movements by whatever means they could.  So, although many everyday people today credit Princess Di from Britain for her alleged work against land mines in Angola and the rest of Southern Africa, most of those well intended people don't know that the CIA is responsible for 99% of those mines that crippled and killed thousands of youth.  Criminals in Action are also responsible for the thousands of bombs posing as toys that blew up in the hands of children who picked them up throughout Southern Africa.  This is not to mention the poisoned water supplies, and training and supplies for CIA created and supported groups in Southern Africa such as the scores of white nationalist groups in Azania and the so-called National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA).  The situation was dire during those days for the liberation fighters in Southern Africa.  The CIA, British M5, Israeli Mossad, and South African intelligence had organized thousands of white nationalist mercenaries (many from the U.S. and others from Nazi Germany) to roam around under the leadership of barbaric criminals like Mike Moare who was known for his brutality and ruthlessness. These bands of criminals wrecked havoc and terror on populations that never generated the outcry that white liberals have posed for the so-called KONY 2012 threat.  No help came from the USSR, China, and certainly not from the U.S. for the people of Azania, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.  The only help came from the small Caribbean island known as Cuba.  With extensively limited resources, the Cubans committed to provide Cuban troops to support the Azanian liberation movements as well as the rebels in Angola.  

By the mid 80s, the coalition of white supremacists which included the upholders of South African apartheid, and settler colonialism in Africa, had used the mercenaries and other criminal forces to threaten to take over all of Southern Africa.  Had they succeeded, the entire Southern portion of the African continent would have been thrown into apartheid and racist hegemony.  Think about that for a moment.  There would be no continued independence in Zimbabwe and the name of that country would probably have been turned back to the colonial name of Rhodesia - honoring the British racist Cecil Rhodes.  There would be no 1994 elections in Azania, South Africa, or independence in Mozambique and Namibia, and Mandela more than likely would have died in prison.  

Besides the courageous efforts of the liberation movements inside of Azania along with the MPLA, ZANU, and others, the reason why institutional racism didn't overtake all of Southern Africa was because of the 40,000 Cuban troops who fought courageously against the white supremacists.  Thousands of Cuban lives were lost in Southern Africa and thousands of Africans were saved and served by scores of Cuban medical personnel.  And, unlike the U.S., which requires political and economic favor for providing any aid, Cuba has never asked the people of Azania for anything for their sacrifices.

Today, the people of Azania, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, and Zambia, continue to forge forward in building their countries (and moving forward towards Pan-Africanism - the true solution to Africa's suffering).  None of this could be possible without the contributions of the Cuban revolution towards Africa's self-determination.  And by the way, one of Cuba's conditions for withdrawing from Southern Africa in the late 80s, was the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. 

So, now that this history has been presented, if you didn't already, you now know why the minute he tasted freedom, Mandela was expressing his thanks for the Cuban revolution.  You also know why the ANC, despite it's strong turn towards neo-colonialism since 1994, is still required to respect and acknowledge the principled contributions of the Cubans towards its development today.  Neo-colonialism may be dominant in Azania, South Africa today, but the imprint of that selfless woman and man, that socialist women and man, that Che talked about, and the Cuban people demonstrated in Southern Africa, is imprinted on the people of that region forever.