Thursday, December 22, 2011

Ignorance and Kwanzaa



It's that time of year again when Christmas decor line commercial streets, menorahs light up various homes, and every black person in America is wished "Happy Kwanzaa."

Today, I was one the lucky black folk to receive this holiday greeting from a random white woman. Granted she was trying to be nice, but she started off with happy holidays and then remixed to happy Kwanzaa. This was one of those moments in life it was best to keep it simple. I politely told her: "I don't celebrate Kwanzaa." In fact, I am a part of a large group of black people in America that do not celebrate this "contrived" holiday, as my colleague (who's black) called it, and she's pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Kwanzaa was conceived in the 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor at California State University, Long Beach, as a way to bring African-Americans together as one in the wake of the Watts riots. It's a combination of several different African traditions (the word Kwanzaa is Swahili for "first fruit") from various African cultures.

Despite the holiday having it's African roots, the holiday is NOT African. My mother told me her first experience with this holiday when she arrived in the United States nearly thirty years ago and  she said people would ask her how she celebrated Kwanzaa. She, being a feisty Nigerian, responded: "What nonsense is that?" People were shocked she didn't know and she was puzzled why people expected her to know. She later found out it was an African-American holiday that has various influences from many African cultures, which changed her response to, when she was later asked (and still asked to this day): "Do I sound African-American to you? Nonsense!"

Back to my colleague, who is African-American, told me she had never celebrated the holiday. In fact, it seems like the number of African-Americans that celebrate Kwanzaa is pretty small, even though there are no official stats.

Now, let's recap everything:
  • Kwanzaa is a contrived holiday, meant for African-American unity.
  • Kwanzaa is not an African holiday, even though it's influence comes from various African cultures.
  • A large majority of African-Americans do not celebrate Kwanzaa.
  • Do not ask a feisty Nigerian woman about Kwanzaa, because she'll treat you.
In addition, we know that not all black people in the United States are Christian or Afro-centric. The reason why the greeting "Happy Holidays" is used is to avoid sounding stupid, like the white woman who gave me the Kwanzaa greeting with the biggest smile. Even though she was well intentioned I'm sure, she sounded like an idiot. My mother always says, if you don't know something, it's better to just keep your mouth shut and let people think you're smart. This was, again, one of those moments. Happy holidays, everyone!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Nigeria Teams Up With China to LIFT OFF

China has been pretty involved in re-development and development projects in Africa for a while now, and on a very large scale. Yesterday, Spaceflight Now reported that Nigeria and China joined on another venture - space. No, as far as I know, no Nigerians will be floating thousands of miles above our atmosphere, but Nigeria definitely will be marking itself as Africa's leader in satellite communications and definitely pave the way for China to become the global leader in the space industry.

Reading this, I couldn't help but to reminisce my younger days as a coordinator for a traveling Vacation Bible School team.



The theme for this was hot air balloons, not spacecrafts, but for some reason, this song is going through my head (probably because it is forever ingrained and I still think of a rocket ship when I hear "lift off").

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Tweets From Nigeria's News Desk

In the midst of Nigeria's National Assembly passing a bill that adds strengthens anti-homosexuality laws in Africa's most populous nation, reliable news source Nigeria's Newsdesk tweeted some rather interesting news bites:

"@NigeriaNewsdesk: Anyone who discriminates against HIV/AIDS persons in Cross River State is liable to three months’ imprisonment or option of fine."

Immediately after, they tweeted this:

"@NigeriaNewsdesk: The CNPP yesterday asked President Jonathan to heed the warning by former President Obasanjo against a possible mass revolt in the country."

This brings two things to mind. First, wouldn't this state law conflict with the new federal law? And three months for discriminating against someone with HIV/AIDS (usually assumed to be homosexual in Nigeria) yet a homosexual can receive up to 14 years in prison and is denied certain rights. There's a lot of things that conflict here.

Secondly, I don't think a mass revolt would occur from the formation of this law, since a sizable lot of Nigerians are in support of this bill and a minority is actively against it. However, this brings me back to some of the things I said in my last post about the priorities of Nigeria's government. This issue was put ahead of issues that have been chronic issues in the country for the past decade: a spotty electrical grid (shameful for one of the world's largest oil producers), poverty, health care and education. These are issues that the most attention should be focused on. Businesses and homes need a reliable supply of energy so they don't have to resort to using polluting generators, a unnecessary expense when there should be more than enough electricity for everyone. Nigeria has a vast shortage of doctors and nurses and a health care system that is still being reorganized. The educational system, especially in rural areas, is in shambles. Poverty levels have barely decreased since the beginning of the last decade. Strengthening homosexuality laws is not going to solve any of these problems. Maybe focusing on these important issues can actually avoid any kind of mass revolt.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Nigeria Anti-Gay (Marriage) Bill

I've been thinking about some of the issues I have with the fight for gay rights in most of sub-Saharan Africa, mainly it's approach from the West (or should I say the former colonizers).

There's a condescending nature of the West when they tell African nations: "We'll pull aid from countries that pass anti-gay legislation." The United Kingdom's Prime Minister David Cameron said something of a similar vein not to long ago.



Before I go into it, I do believe every minority group in every country should be treated and respected as a human, regardless if you are a racial, ethnic or sexual minority. More so, whoever you sleep with is only your business, as long as you're not having sex with them in public.

The part that bothers me most about this is not even the recent legislation being passed in Nigeria or some that may be passed in other countries, but the passive aggression coming from the West. "They're all on a journey and we want to help them get there," said David Cameron. But did you ASK these nations what is their journey and WHERE they would like to be? You assume that these nations want to be like the West? Many of them want to be African. If you listen to some of the homophobic rhetoric of these leader, despite their bases for the argument, they want to make sure their country has a strong African identity. Do I believe anti-homosexuality laws define an African identity? Hell no. But I also do not believe that African nations should be told aspire to be "Westernized."When you begin to realize African cultures are not backward and they need to be TAUGHT how to think, then maybe change can happen. African countries, based on all the resources they have are more than capable of making their countries work for them. Plus, many of their economies are doing better than many Western nations at the moment. Didn't Angola just offer it's former colonizer Portugal aid?

Now that we are in a post colonial and increasingly global society, the approach of these Western nations to anti-gay policies in Africa should not be "we won't give you money" but instead understanding how to approach the issue that would be effective in an African nation and not basing it on how things are done in West.

To be quite honest, African cultures are very active cultures, especially when it comes to politics. When Africans are angry, we are angry. That's why protesting almost always turns into bloodshed and militant groups form. Do I support this violence? No, not at all because in the end the statement is made at the cost of innocent lives. However, I understand where it is coming from - the mind.

In the United States, when laws are created to protect the rights of minority groups, it doesn't change the minds of people by any means, but because the culture is passive, little is done to challenge the laws which in turn changes HOW people discriminate against minority groups (for example, "white flight" from Northern US cities from the mid 1960s onward).

In South Africa, considered the most liberal African country, who have had laws to protect the LGBT community for around a decade now, corrective rape toward lesbians is still rampant, if not worse than before, DESPITE the laws to protect women from rape combined with the laws created to protect lesbians. In many African countries, people don't passively obey a law simply because it's in place. Instead, the laws will be completely ignored unless the mindset is changed.

If the greater society of an African nations believes homosexuality is sinful, they are not going to support any legislation that protects gay rights. However, if there is dialogue between groups, a compromise can be reached and a change in the mind can begin. It will be a slow process, but in the end, Africans from both sides of the aisle can live peacefully. After that, there's a much higher possibility of this kind of legislation being supported by the majority. This does not mean the West needs to interfere, but instead support dialogue when asked.

Long story short, when the need is there, they'll ask. The West needs to stop assuming Africa needs them. What Africa needs right now are more leaders who are more interested in their populations than their bank accounts.