TRUTHS BEHIND AFRICAN POVERTY

The Misperceptions About African Poverty from 

From FONDAD: Forum of Debt and Development 

FULL ARTICLE 

The era of structural adjustment, which can be dated approximately to the last two decades of the twentieth century, was a failure for African economic development. Africa was the only major developing country region with negative per capita growth during 1980 to 2000; its health conditions are by far the worst on the planet; its soaring population is exacerbating ecological stresses; and despite the policy-based development lending of structural adjustment, it remains mired in poverty and debt. 

What went wrong?

In the extreme interpretation of the Washington Consensus by its proponents, as well as by its critics, its unambiguous promise is that if a developing country were to implement conservative macroeconomic policies while expanding the role of the private market at the expense of the state, then it would achieve sustained high growth rates on its own. By extension, if a developing country is failing to grow, the problem must be either macroeconomic mismanagement or a hindering of the private market expansion in the country, usually attributed to corruption or more broadly “bad governance”.   

A BETTER EXPLANATION

A better explanation of Africa’s poverty trap would move beyond the limitations of the Washington Consensus to recognise that before privatisation and market liberalisation can unleash private sector-led economic growth in Africa, a massive amount of public investment in health, education, and infrastructure is required, which African countries cannot afford. Africa’s poverty trap is the outcome of a complex web of many interactive factors, including structural conditions and socio-political history:

• Very high transport costs and small markets; 
• Low-productivity agriculture;  
• Very high disease burden;  
• A legacy of adverse geopolitics;  
• Very slow diffusion of technology from abroad.

FULL ARTICLE 

CLICK HERE TO BUY BOOKS ABOUT AFRICAN DEBT

Featured Book: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Youtube Video: Apologies of an Economic Hit Man

From: Wikipedia Article: Neocolonialism

The political-science term neo-colonialism became popular usage in reference to the continued European control — economic, cultural, etc. — of African countries that had been decolonized in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–45). Kwame Nkrumah, president of Ghana (1960–66), coined the term neo-colonialism in the book Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism (1965)^[5][6] As a political scientist, Nkrumah theoretically developed and extended, to the post–War 20th century, the socio-economic and political arguments presented by Lenin in the pamphlet Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917), about 19th-century imperialism as the logical extension of geopolitical power to meet the financial investment needs of the political economy of capitalism.^[7]

Kwame Nkrumah
http://therisingcontinent.wordpress.com
/2012/07/05/kilombo-2012-annual-event-at-woezor-hotel-ho-ghana-from-24th-to-26th-august-2012/
dr-kwame-nkrumah-ghanas-first-president/

 In Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism, Kwame Nkrumah said that:In place of colonialism, as the main instrument of imperialism, we have today neo-colonialism . . . [which] like colonialism, is an attempt to export the social conflicts of the capitalist countries. . . . The result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather than for the development of the less developed parts of the world. Investment, under neo-colonialism, increases, rather than decreases, the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world. The struggle against neo-colonialism is not aimed at excluding the capital of the developed world from operating in less developed countries. It is aimed at preventing the financial power of the developed countries being used in such a way as to impoverish the less developed.^[8]

CLICK HERE TO BUY BOOKS ABOUT AFRICAN DEBT

ALLEN TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH (Oakland, California)

Picture from SFGate Blog

From https://www.allen-temple.org/about-atbc/history

Allen Temple Baptist Church was organized in 1919 as a Northern Baptist mission by the Reverend J.L. Allen. The Church was originally located in a store front on the corner of East 14th and Seminary Avenue in East Oakland. 

There were 21 original members and the modest congregation conducted services on borrowed folding chairs for seating. The Church subsequently moved to a house on 85th Avenue and was known as the 85th Avenue Baptist Church. Seven years later after J.D. Wilson and R.H. Thomas served sacrificially as mission pastors under the Northern Baptist Convention, the membership changed the name to the Allen Temple Baptist Church. 

During this period, the congregation and their pastors began to forge an identity in the area of social justice through active involvement in the NAACP and the Marcus Garvey Movement. Under the leadership of Pastor G.W. Wildy, the church broke ground on a small chapel on October 29, 1939. During the Wildy administration, great pastoral work was done to foster Christian fellowship across racial lines.Allen Temple continued to mature under the polished and disciplined leadership of Pastor A.L. Carpenter. During the tenure of his successor, the Reverend C.C. Bailey, on July 17, 1960, the church broke ground on a 550 seat sanctuary and educational facility. Pastor Bailey was a distinguished young pastor who broadened the congregation’s witness in the larger community as he led the effort to bring an Opportunities Industrial Center (OIC) to Oakland which provided vocational training for the unemployed. He also partnered with the Oakland Public Schools to provide an Adult Education Neighborhood Center at Allen Temple. 

CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BLACK CHURCHES 

Through the dynamic, visionary leadership of Reverend Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., Allen Temple grew to a membership of 5,500 and developed a large array of holistic community ministries focused on redeeming and transforming the whole person and whole community. To administer this ever-growing ministry, Pastor Smith, Sr. assembled a strong pastoral staff, which included as Co-Pastor the Reverend J. Alfred Smith, Jr.. During this administration, the congregation constructed a 1,200 seat sanctuary to accommodate two Sunday morning worship services. Also, the Church secured all of the property on the square block it occupies and dedicated a 64,000 square foot Family Life Center in April 1999. 

In February, 2009, Reverend Dr. Smith, Sr. retired after 40 years as Senior Pastor of Allen Temple. It was the pleasure of a united Church to name Dr. Smith, Sr. as Allen Temple’s Pastor Emeritus and to call a son of Allen Temple, the Reverend Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Jr., to serve as Senior Pastor. 

The Church continues to grow and excel under the leadership of Pastor Smith, Jr.. Under the Smith Jr. Administration in March 2010, the Church installed a daughter of Allen Temple, the Reverend Jacqueline A. Thompson, as the first woman Assistant Pastor in our history. The Church has also seen the birth and use of technology as a ministry tool and witness, including a retooled website and the launch of our cyber-church. 

As our Church mission states, Allen Temple and her 70 ministries continues to evangelize, educate and enlist all who would come into our community.  

CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BLACK CHURCHES 

THE TRUTH ABOUT MALI: YESTERDAY AND TODAY

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MALI from CIA Factbook Full Article

"The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a military coup that ushered in a period of democratic rule. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first two democratic presidential elections in 1992 and 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE, who was elected to a second term in 2007 elections that were widely judged to be free and fair. Malian returnees from Libya in 2011 exacerbated tensions in northern Mali and Tuareg ethnic militias started a rebellion in January 2012. Low-mid level soldiers, frustrated with the poor handling of the rebellion overthrew TOURE on 22 March. Coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya SANOGO and his junta under the mediation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) returned power to a civilian administration in April with the appointment of interim President Dioncounda TRAORE. Interim Prime Minister Chieck Modibo DIARRA immediately appointed a unity cabinet. The post-coup chaos led to rebels expelling the Malian military from the three northern regions of the country, which remain under the control of a Tuareg militia, Ansar al-Din, and its terrorist group allies. Hundreds of thousands of northern Malians fled the violence to southern Mali and neighboring countries, exacerbating regional food insecurity in host communities. TRAORE was attacked by an angry mob in May and spent two months recovering in Paris, he returned in July.  CLICK GET BOOKS ABOUT MALI TRAORE and DIARRA announced a second unity government in August and in September called upon the international community to assist them in reclaiming land lost to rebels.  SANOGO forced DIARRA to resign in December 2012; Django CISSOKO immediately replaced him and announced a third unity cabinet. The interim government is working with ECOWAS to organize negotiations with Tuareg rebels and the international community to plan a military intervention to retake the three northern regions."  Mali war retaliation: 'World police protecting corporate interests in Africa' A Radical View-video MALI NOW from "TIME WORLD"  "The latest French foray into Mali — aimed at unseating al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militias encamped in the country’s vast north — has already summoned the specter of Afghanistan over the Sahel. The French may be able to scatter their foe with a sustained air and ground offensive, but stabilizing Mali is a far greater challenge: the government in Bamako, hobbled by a March coup, is seen as weak and dysfunctional; the enemy militants may well be able to reorganize and intensify what’s fast turning into a regional conflagration. How this ends is a question both French and Malian citizens desperately want answered. And looking to history offers mixed results: in the 19th century, the French were oft ruthless and devastating in their conquest of large tracts of Africa, but were at times made to suffer for their hubris." Read more: HERE CLICK HERE TO GET BOOKS ABOUT MALI

THE ZANDJ REBELLION-AFRICAN SLAVES REVOLT AGAINST MUSLIM ELITES

http://bknebel.blogspot.com/2007/10/zanj-revolt-arabic-took-place-in.html

Full Wikipedia Article
From Wikipedia:

"The Zanj Rebellion was the culmination of series of small revolts. It took place near the city of Basra, located in present-day southern Iraq, over a period of fifteen years (869−883 AD). The insurrection is believed to have involved enslaved Black Africans (Zanj) that had originally been captured from the African Great Lakes region and areas further south in East Africa. It grew to involve over 500,000 slaves who were imported from across the Muslim empire and claimed over "tens of thousands of lives in lower Iraq".^[1] The precise composition of the rebels is debated among historians, both as regards their identity and as to the proportion of slaves and free among them – available historical sources being open to various interpretations.The revolt was said to have been led by Ali bin Muhammad, who claimed to be a descendent of Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib. Several historians, such as Al-Tabari and Al-Masudi, consider this revolt one of the "most vicious and brutal uprisings" of the many disturbances that plagued the Abbasid central government.^[1]The Zanj Revolt helped Ahmad ibn Tulun to create an independent state in Egypt. It is only after defeating the Zanj Revolt that the Abbasids were able to turn their attention to Egypt and end the Tulunid dynasty with great destruction."

Featured book
Purchase UNESCO's General History of Africa III Here

"The Zandj revolt, [between 869 and 883 CE] an authentic social rising, had far-reaching consequences in many fields--political, social, economic. The uprising shattered the unity of the Muslim empire as great provinces broke away from the Caliphate, and it paved the way for the downfall of the old Abbasid regime. The political crisis ushered in by the Zandj revolt had depended the cleavage between the social classes, and the well-to-do classes, being afraid for their privileges, began to put their confidence in the professional armies of Turkish and other mercenaries as the only force capable of keeping order; this heralded the new history of the Muslim Middle East. The revolt also taught a lesson to the Muslim ruling classes; never again do we find in the Muslim East any large scale enterprise based on concentration  of slave labor and it seems the the exploitation of slaves in agriculture and irrigation was abandoned. This in turn led to the next century to the rise of feudalism as the prevailing mode of production in eastern Muslim countries, the slave exploitation giving way to the feudal one.... Another consequence of the Zandj revolt seems to have been the hardening of racial feelings in those times; the black Africans came to be held with contempt, in spite of the teachings of Islam, and there emerged in Muslim literature many previously unknown themes expressing a negative attitude towards blacks." 

BACKGROUND

Dr. John Henrik Clarke: The Rise of Islam & The Fall of Africa (Full Lecture)

The Rise of Islam & The Fall of Africa (Lecture) 

Arab Slave Trade
Wikipedia full article "Arab slave trade

"The Arab slave trade was the practice of slavery in the Arab world, mainly in Western Asia, North Africa, East Africa, and certain parts ofEurope (such as Iberia and southern Italy) during their period of domination by Arab leaders. The trade was focused on the slave markets of theMiddle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. People traded were not limited to a certain race, ethnicity, or religion, and included Arabs andBerbers, especially during the trade's early days. 

During the 8th and 9th centuries of the Fatimid Caliphate, most of the slaves were Slavic Eastern Europeans (called Saqaliba). However, slaves were drawn from a wide variety of regions and included Mediterranean peoples, Persians, Turkic peoples, peoples from the Caucasus mountain regions (such as Georgia, Armenia and Circassia) and parts of Central Asia and Scandinavia, English, Dutch and Irish, Berbers from North Africa, and various other peoples of varied origins as well as those of African origins. Toward the 18th and 19th centuries, the flow of slaves from East Africa increased with the rise of the Oman sultanate which was based in Zanzibar. They came into direct trade conflict and competition with Portuguese and other Europeans along the Swahili coast."

Nineteenth Street Baptist Church (Washington, D.C.)

http://wdc-confidential.blogspot.com/2008/06/19th-street-baptist-church.html

A church is where children are raised. It is a place where the collective wisdom of years is collected, stored, and passed to coming generations. The good folks at 19th Street Baptist helped raise me, and for that I will be forever grateful. 

Books about Black Churches here

Featured Book Here

From http://everyblessing.org/

"About Us & Church History

 The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church has figured prominently in the spiritual and cultural life of the City and has attracted national and international attention. In its rich history, preachers have been ordained; churches have been planted; and schools have been founded as a result of its devoted and enthusiastic membership. Through acclaimed concerts by its choirs and soloists, dramatic performances, scholarships and tutorial classes, the members of Nineteenth Street Baptist have used their gifts and talents to glorify God and bless the surrounding community.

Today, under the leadership of Pastor Harkins, Nineteenth Street is continuing its commitment to furthering the work of the Church by spreading the Gospel and equipping believers to live victoriously.A Historical House Of Worship A group of dedicated Baptist ministers and laypersons came together on August 29, 1839 to organize the First Colored Church of Washington. This group, which included Rev. Jeremiah Moore, Rev. Lewis Richards, Rev. Adam Freeman, Rev. William Parkinson, Charles P. Polk, Cephas Fox, Charles Rogers, John Buchan, Joseph Borrows and Sarah Borrows, undoubtedly envisioned a place where Christians would serve the Lord with gladness, grow spiritually and be able to fellowship with one another. A committee was authorized to buy Lot 11 in Square 118 on the southwest corner of Nineteenth and I Streets, N.W. There, a house of worship was erected that was to be incorporated as The Baptist Church of Christ in Washington. The church was later incorporated on November 16, 1870, as the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church.The church remained on the corner of 19th and I Streets, N.W. for 135 years until it moved, January 26, 1975, to its present location at 4606 Sixteenth Street, N.W. During its spiritual and physical growth, the church has had dedicated and dynamic leadership beginning with the first Pastor who served two separate times, the Rev. Sampson White, 1839-1841 and 1854-1856.

Our inspired leaders are listed below chronologically.Rev. Sampson White – 1839-1841 Rev. William Willliams Rev. Gustavus Brown – 1853 Rev. Sampson White – 1853-1856 Rev. Chauncey Leonard – 1859 – 1862 Rev. Samuel Madden 1862 Rev. Duke W. Anderson – 1868 – 1871 Rev. King – 1871 – 1873 Rev. Waring Rev. Anthony Binga Rev. Jesse Boulden Rev. Dr. Walter H. Brooks – 1882 – 1945 Rev. Dr. Jerry A. Moore Jr. – 1946 – 1997 Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins – 1997 – Present"

Books about Black Churches here

Featured Book Here

THE ROLE OF ISLAM IN AFRICA FROM THE 7TH TO 11TH CENTURY

Map of Expansion of Islam in Africa

The importance of the influence of Islam in Africa is hard to overstate. Its influence spread from the North Africa down to the Zambezi River. Eventually many American slaves who practiced Islam were brought over from Africa. Many were literate. 

Islam in Africa Book Store

From GENERAL HISTORY OF AFRICA III

Featured Book

"(1) The Mediterranean facade of the continent, from the Isthmus of Suez to the Straight of Gibraltar, and adjacent Atlantic coast had been incorporated as an integral part of the Islamic world. It ceased forever to be part of the Christian world and even served as a starting point for further Muslim expansion in Spain and Sicily on the one hand and in the Sahara and the Sudanic zone of West Africa on the other
(2) In north-eastern Africa it had brought about the weakening of the Christian states of Nubia and Ethiopia, though neither of them was conquered. Whereas Nubia had come more and more under the economic and political control of Muslim Egypt and nomadic Arabs began to penetrate it so it eventually lost its Christian character, Ethiopia had survived as an independent political and cultural unit although it had to accommodate its external relations to the growing Muslim influences surrounding it.
(3) The Sahara and large parts of the Sudan had now to be linked through the trade network to an Islamic economic sphere in which their main exports--gold and slaves--played an increasingly important role. The religion and culture of Islam had penetrated along the trade routes, becoming gradually incorporated into the African ways of life
(4) In East Africa the role of international trade was controlled by the Muslims was similar with the important exception  that the Muslim merchants  had restricted their activities  to coastal settlements and Islamic influence did not penetrate into the interior. But the growing, in Muslim countries and India, for Zimbabwe gold and even seems to have led to some changes in the Zambezi region. Some parts of Madagascar and the Comoro Islands were also made a part of the great Indian Ocean commercial network"

Islam in Africa Book Store

Other Sources
Islam and Africa webpage
Islam in Africa (Wikipedia) 

From Wikipedia, "Islam in the United States" 

Muslim Slaves in America

"Many of the slaves brought to colonial America from Africa were Muslims.^[4][5] By 1800, some 500,000 Africans arrived in what became the United States. Historians estimate that between 15 to 30 percent of all enslaved African men, and less than 15 percent of the enslaved African women, were Muslims. These enslaved Muslims stood out from their compatriots because of their "resistance, determination and education".^[6] 

It is estimated that over 50% of the slaves imported to North America came from areas where Islam was followed by at least a minority population. Thus, no less than 200,000 came from regions influenced by Islam. Substantial numbers originated from Senegambia, a region with an established community of Muslim inhabitants extending to the 11th century.^[48] 

Michael A. Gomez speculated that Muslim slaves may have accounted for "thousands, if not tens of thousands," but does not offer a precise estimate. He also suggests many non-Muslim slaves were acquainted with some tenets of Islam, due to Muslim trading and proselytizing activities.^[49] Historical records indicate many enslaved Muslims conversed in the Arabic language. Some even composed literature (such as autobiographies) and commentaries on the Quran.^[50]

Some newly arrived Muslim slaves assembled for communal Salah (prayers). Some were provided a private praying area by their owner. The two best documented Muslim slaves were Ayuba Suleiman Diallo and Omar Ibn Said. Suleiman was brought to America in 1731 and returned to Africa in 1734.^[48] Like many Muslim slaves, he often encountered impediments when attempting to perform religious rituals and was eventually allotted a private location for prayer by his master.^[50]"

Portrait of Diallo by William Hoare (1733) wearing his traditional clothing

Omar Ibn Said (ca. 1770–1864) is among the best documented examples of a practicing-Muslim slave. He lived on a colonial North Carolina plantation and wrote many Arabic texts while enslaved. Born in the kingdom of Futa Tooro (modern Senegal), he arrived in America in 1807, one month before the U.S. abolished importation of slaves. Some of his works include the Lords Prayer, the Bismillah, this is How You Pray, Quranic phases, the 23rd Psalm, and an autobiography. In 1857, he produced his last known writing on Surah 110 of the Quran. In 1819, Omar received an Arabic translation of the Christian Bible from his master, James Owen. Omar converted to Christianity in 1820, an episode widely used throughout the South to "prove" the benevolence of slavery. However, some scholars believe he continued to be a practicing Muslim, based on dedications to Muhammad written in his Bible.^[51][52]" 

Islam in Africa Book Store

NEW YORK'S ABYSSINIAN BAPTIST CHURCH FOUNDED IN 1809

From: The Church's website

History

In 1808, a group of Africans in America and Ethiopian sea merchants, armed with their faith in God and strengthened by mercies already seen, left First Baptist Church in lower Manhattan and withdrew forever their membership. They had refused to accept racially segregated seating in God’s house and were determined to start their own church. Inspired by the ancient name of the nation from which the Ethiopian merchants had come, Abyssinia, the group formally organized themselves as The Abyssinian Baptist Church in the City of New York. Reverend Thomas Paul, a minister from Boston, aided the new congregation in becoming organized as the first African-American Baptist Church in the state of New York.  Abyssinian called as its first pastor the Rev. Vanvelser.

In its infancy, Abyssinian bought property on Worth Street.  After several years, a new building was needed and the members sold the property for $3,000.  Thereafter, they held services at the Broadway Tabernacle and in buildings on Thompson and Spring Streets before seeking another permanent place of worship.

Rev. Vanvelser was succeeded by The Reverends Sigel, Benjamin Paul, James Hayborn, Lomis Samson White, John T. Raymond, and Thomas Henderson.  In 1856, Abyssinian Baptist Church called the Rev. William Spellman to serve as its pastor.  During his administration from 1856 to 1885, the membership increased to 1,600 and the $3,000 realized from the sale of the Worth Street property was applied to the purchase of a church building on Waverly Place.  Following Spellman’s retirement, the Reverend Robert D. Wynn of Norwich, Connecticut was called to the pastorate of the church.  For sixteen years he led a congregation that continued to increase in numbers and together they freed the Waverly Place property from indebtedness.