Within the U.S., the emergence of Donald Trump as president has many people terrified. Since I've been on the receiving end of racist violence multiple times in my life, and as a result, I've developed a pretty clear vision of what that backward society actually is, for me, Trumpism simply represents the scab coming off a wound that has always been there, but for those who consciously or unconsciously hold a vision of hope for fairness and justice in the U.S., I can understand how these times are very stressful for you.
When we are children, when we are faced with trauma and stress, most of the time, the source we seek out for a calming influence is our mother. As it relates to Trumpism, this is no different. The solution is really still our mother - Mother Africa.
I already have every intention of transitioning to live in Africa. I've already started on my road to preparation. I've eliminated debt in my life and have reduced my life to living very simple over the last five years. I'm currently organizing my financial plan, and I'm engaging in discussions with my daughter to encourage her to consider making the move in the few years also. I'm on a five to seven year plan to move to Africa, but as I sit here in the East African country of Tanzania, in a small town named Arusha, I wonder why I would even go back to the U.S. at all? For now, the answer is there are some things I am committed to do on a political level there, but besides that, I have nothing forcing me to stay there any longer than I can organize myself to move.
Now, for some of you, this sounds either outragious, or, if you are a white supremacist, you may be saying "what are you waiting for? Just go!" Since the U.S. is the land of the Indignous peoples of the Western Hemisphere and those lands were stolen violently from them, you white supremacists don't get to ask us Africans, who were kidnapped and brought here, anything. You are the descendents of thieves and murderers and since you have adopted the same values of your ancestors, your opinion about anything is about as valuable as a loud fart. Still, there is some merit in your racist question which will be addressed shortly. First, I want to acknowledge the legitimate fears, concerns, and anxiety that African people in the Western Hemisphere have towards the question of going to Africa. This aversion is the result of 500+ years of negative propaganda agaisnt Africa designed to justify the continued rape and exploitation of our Motherland. Instead of making a strictly hardcore political argument about the reasons we should want to connect with Africa, as I'm sitting here in Africa, I will just simply make some basic practical arguments that hopefully can smash right through that backward propaganda.
Expenses in most U.S. cities have made it virtually impossible for most people, especially Africans, to live in a healthy fashion. People often have to make decisions about keeping lights on or having food. Certainly, bills like student loans, credit debt, and other obligations are immediate casualties and since poverty and/or the inability to pay something, is a crime in the U.S., this creates adverse conditions that are without question cutting our lives in half. By the same token, I see where houses in Tanzania cost a fraction of what they cost in the U.S. and I'm talking about fully equipped houses e.g. cable ready, plumbing, electricity, internet ready, and all the amenities you have (and more) in the U.S. I'm talking about beautiful houses. In fact, it is extremely easy here to have a large house and employees to help you run the house on a budget of the equivalent of about $600.00 USD per month. That includes rent, ulitities, food, everything. The house help seems to be a necessity because if you possess a bourgeois concept that you don't want to exploit anyone by hiring them to clean, etc., you are unaware of the realities of Africa. Due to colonialism and neo-colonialism, there is basicallly no consistent economic infrastructure in Africa. As a result, people have no options to apply for government jobs or any other type of jobs. Those positions exist, but they are few and far in between. So, you employing two, three, people is considered your contribution to the community you live in. To not do that is considered rude and selfish. So, $600.00 per month. That means you could retire and live comfortably on a Social Security check if you needed to.
As for the other concerns people have, there's no ebola and cholera here and although malara does still exist in Africa, there are medications you can buy over the counter here that can wipe it out immediately. You can't even do that with a cold in the U.S. As for the people, they are warm, humble, and extremely welcoming e.g. karibou! (welcome in Kiswahili). Speaking of Kiswahili, its not a difficult language to learn. The vowell structure matches that of English which makes pronouncing the words much easier than say Twi, the West African language I'm teaching myself. In Twi, I know many words, but I often don't know the proper way to pronounce them. With Kiswahili, this is much less of a concern.
Many people have worries about political stability in Africa. This is laughable coming from a country that has Trump as an incoming president. Countries like Tanzania, Ghana, etc., have extremely low crime rates. They have extremely low cases of violent death and since very few people see the need to have guns, even the police seldom carry them, there is no sense of foreboding danger with every encounter that you have.
In other words, the quality of life is not comparable. The only obstacle is our psychological fear of Africa. That's all. Besides that, we are back to the political question from our virtual white supremacist. As I said, I'm ready to go and I'm making preparations, but let's not forget that the entire U.S. economy has been built and is maintained, on exploiting Africa. I just had the privilege of speaking out at an event on Tanzanian debt in Dar Es Salaam last week where myself and other A-APRP comrades attacked claims by the academic presentors that Africa is poor due to anything else besides imperialism's exploitation of Afirca. So, when I leave the U.S., and when anyone else born in the U.S. decides to leave and return to Africa, that doesn't mean white supremacy wins all access to the U.S. It also doesn't mean that we are running from anything. We should stay equally committed to supporting the Indigenous people in reclaiming their self-determination as well as supporting any of our people, and all just loving people, who stay in the U.S. For me, the only difference after I make my transition from what I do now is that I'll be helping my Native folks in the Americas by continuing to fight for Africa's liberation (in Africa instead of the U.S.) because I know that once we win, the Indignous people's of the Western Hemisphere will taste victory immediately.
The U.S. is nothing except illusions and lies. African people, no matter how hard we try - and we have been trying hard for over 500 years - will never fit in the U.S. And, I'd argue the only reason why we think we want to is because we have been trained for centuries to believe doing so is our only alternative. An amazing story that has yet to be told is that of those Africans from the U.S. have made the decision to leave the U.S. on their own and live in Africa. Here in Arusha, Tanzania, at the beautiful United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) where I'm writing this from, there are dozens of people within this center and in the surrounding community, who have left the U.S. for good. There are Africans here from Georgia. North Carolina. Ohio. California. Some of them have been here for years. Others, months. Many of them have family members planning to join them. They are all ages, interests, and backgrounds. Mama Charlotte and Pete O'Neal run the UAACC. They are former Black Panthers from Kansas City who came here in the 70s because of trumped up charges against Brother Pete that still exist. That's their story. Other folks have are not even politically active. They just got tired of the rat race and the inhumane conditions within the U.S. Most Africans within the U.S. have no idea these communities exist in Africa.
We are creative people. If you can figure out how to live in the U.S. on extremely limited resources, dodging daily obstacles of racism and class oppression, you cannot tell me that you cannot figure out a way to live in a much less stressful environment, in much better conditions, for $600.00 a month. You can figure that out in days once the anti-Africa propaganda is wiped away.
So, think about this seriously. Its almost 2017. Far past time for us to continue trying to beg for acceptance. The U.S. needs us, we don't need it. Hear your mother. She is calling out to us. Begging us to return home.
When we are children, when we are faced with trauma and stress, most of the time, the source we seek out for a calming influence is our mother. As it relates to Trumpism, this is no different. The solution is really still our mother - Mother Africa.
I already have every intention of transitioning to live in Africa. I've already started on my road to preparation. I've eliminated debt in my life and have reduced my life to living very simple over the last five years. I'm currently organizing my financial plan, and I'm engaging in discussions with my daughter to encourage her to consider making the move in the few years also. I'm on a five to seven year plan to move to Africa, but as I sit here in the East African country of Tanzania, in a small town named Arusha, I wonder why I would even go back to the U.S. at all? For now, the answer is there are some things I am committed to do on a political level there, but besides that, I have nothing forcing me to stay there any longer than I can organize myself to move.
Now, for some of you, this sounds either outragious, or, if you are a white supremacist, you may be saying "what are you waiting for? Just go!" Since the U.S. is the land of the Indignous peoples of the Western Hemisphere and those lands were stolen violently from them, you white supremacists don't get to ask us Africans, who were kidnapped and brought here, anything. You are the descendents of thieves and murderers and since you have adopted the same values of your ancestors, your opinion about anything is about as valuable as a loud fart. Still, there is some merit in your racist question which will be addressed shortly. First, I want to acknowledge the legitimate fears, concerns, and anxiety that African people in the Western Hemisphere have towards the question of going to Africa. This aversion is the result of 500+ years of negative propaganda agaisnt Africa designed to justify the continued rape and exploitation of our Motherland. Instead of making a strictly hardcore political argument about the reasons we should want to connect with Africa, as I'm sitting here in Africa, I will just simply make some basic practical arguments that hopefully can smash right through that backward propaganda.
Expenses in most U.S. cities have made it virtually impossible for most people, especially Africans, to live in a healthy fashion. People often have to make decisions about keeping lights on or having food. Certainly, bills like student loans, credit debt, and other obligations are immediate casualties and since poverty and/or the inability to pay something, is a crime in the U.S., this creates adverse conditions that are without question cutting our lives in half. By the same token, I see where houses in Tanzania cost a fraction of what they cost in the U.S. and I'm talking about fully equipped houses e.g. cable ready, plumbing, electricity, internet ready, and all the amenities you have (and more) in the U.S. I'm talking about beautiful houses. In fact, it is extremely easy here to have a large house and employees to help you run the house on a budget of the equivalent of about $600.00 USD per month. That includes rent, ulitities, food, everything. The house help seems to be a necessity because if you possess a bourgeois concept that you don't want to exploit anyone by hiring them to clean, etc., you are unaware of the realities of Africa. Due to colonialism and neo-colonialism, there is basicallly no consistent economic infrastructure in Africa. As a result, people have no options to apply for government jobs or any other type of jobs. Those positions exist, but they are few and far in between. So, you employing two, three, people is considered your contribution to the community you live in. To not do that is considered rude and selfish. So, $600.00 per month. That means you could retire and live comfortably on a Social Security check if you needed to.
As for the other concerns people have, there's no ebola and cholera here and although malara does still exist in Africa, there are medications you can buy over the counter here that can wipe it out immediately. You can't even do that with a cold in the U.S. As for the people, they are warm, humble, and extremely welcoming e.g. karibou! (welcome in Kiswahili). Speaking of Kiswahili, its not a difficult language to learn. The vowell structure matches that of English which makes pronouncing the words much easier than say Twi, the West African language I'm teaching myself. In Twi, I know many words, but I often don't know the proper way to pronounce them. With Kiswahili, this is much less of a concern.
Many people have worries about political stability in Africa. This is laughable coming from a country that has Trump as an incoming president. Countries like Tanzania, Ghana, etc., have extremely low crime rates. They have extremely low cases of violent death and since very few people see the need to have guns, even the police seldom carry them, there is no sense of foreboding danger with every encounter that you have.
In other words, the quality of life is not comparable. The only obstacle is our psychological fear of Africa. That's all. Besides that, we are back to the political question from our virtual white supremacist. As I said, I'm ready to go and I'm making preparations, but let's not forget that the entire U.S. economy has been built and is maintained, on exploiting Africa. I just had the privilege of speaking out at an event on Tanzanian debt in Dar Es Salaam last week where myself and other A-APRP comrades attacked claims by the academic presentors that Africa is poor due to anything else besides imperialism's exploitation of Afirca. So, when I leave the U.S., and when anyone else born in the U.S. decides to leave and return to Africa, that doesn't mean white supremacy wins all access to the U.S. It also doesn't mean that we are running from anything. We should stay equally committed to supporting the Indigenous people in reclaiming their self-determination as well as supporting any of our people, and all just loving people, who stay in the U.S. For me, the only difference after I make my transition from what I do now is that I'll be helping my Native folks in the Americas by continuing to fight for Africa's liberation (in Africa instead of the U.S.) because I know that once we win, the Indignous people's of the Western Hemisphere will taste victory immediately.
The U.S. is nothing except illusions and lies. African people, no matter how hard we try - and we have been trying hard for over 500 years - will never fit in the U.S. And, I'd argue the only reason why we think we want to is because we have been trained for centuries to believe doing so is our only alternative. An amazing story that has yet to be told is that of those Africans from the U.S. have made the decision to leave the U.S. on their own and live in Africa. Here in Arusha, Tanzania, at the beautiful United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) where I'm writing this from, there are dozens of people within this center and in the surrounding community, who have left the U.S. for good. There are Africans here from Georgia. North Carolina. Ohio. California. Some of them have been here for years. Others, months. Many of them have family members planning to join them. They are all ages, interests, and backgrounds. Mama Charlotte and Pete O'Neal run the UAACC. They are former Black Panthers from Kansas City who came here in the 70s because of trumped up charges against Brother Pete that still exist. That's their story. Other folks have are not even politically active. They just got tired of the rat race and the inhumane conditions within the U.S. Most Africans within the U.S. have no idea these communities exist in Africa.
We are creative people. If you can figure out how to live in the U.S. on extremely limited resources, dodging daily obstacles of racism and class oppression, you cannot tell me that you cannot figure out a way to live in a much less stressful environment, in much better conditions, for $600.00 a month. You can figure that out in days once the anti-Africa propaganda is wiped away.
So, think about this seriously. Its almost 2017. Far past time for us to continue trying to beg for acceptance. The U.S. needs us, we don't need it. Hear your mother. She is calling out to us. Begging us to return home.
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