[DEBATE] : The Africa that pushes back

[Mukoma Editor-Pambazuka]

The Africa that pushes back
Mukoma Wa Ngugi
Jan 8th, 2009
http://www.blackcommentator.com/306/306_africa_that_pushes_back_wa_ngugi_guest.html

I have been asked many times a variation of the same question: "Why do
Africans wait until it is too late?" For most Westerners, Africa is
hunger, war, despotism, AIDS and poverty - full of Africans who are
either helpless victims, or who choose to sit on their hands, only
lifting them up to accept Western handouts.

But there's another side of Africa, the one that pushes back. This
side is comprised of political and social organizations and activists,
school teacher organizations, journalists, and health professionals,
as well as women, worker and youth organizations that patiently chip
away at Africa's problems, usually with no funding, media coverage, or
national and international recognition to speak of.

These Africans work against great odds to prevent famine, war, human
rights abuse, the spread of AIDS, and a host of other urgent issues.
When tragedy strikes, they work hard to ameliorate the effect. But
even when they aren't facing political persecution, they are
under-funded and without the protection that comes with media
coverage. They are the unseen, under-supported and unrecognized
pillars of African societies.

When I was in South Africa last summer, attending a conference, the
Center for Civil Studies at Kwazulu Natal University organized a
Durban Reality Tour to counter the "be happy, don't worry" tourist
tours of beaches, cultural dances, and national wildlife parks. We
went to one village where we found little children with discolored
feet because of playing barefoot in contaminated fields – chemicals
having seeped into their playfields from nearby factories owned by the
new black elite. The reality tour took us to visit with shack dwellers
living in fields after being forcefully evicted from their homes by
the South African government.

Meet Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African shack dwellers' movement
that has been at the forefront of organizing the residents against
evictions. The work of Abahlali baseMjondolo is all the more complex
because the poor from neighboring Zimbabwe and Mozambique also trickle
into the poor settlements to compete for already scarce resources.
When South Africans attacked other Africans in poor townships and
settlements in May 2008, killing over 50 immigrants, Abahlali
baseMjondolo rose to the defense of the African immigrants. They
declared, "A human being cannot be illegal."

While the rest of the world this past July was celebrating Mandela's
birthday, giving millions of dollars to pet causes and celebrating the
fall of apartheid, Abahlali baseMjondolo trudged on fighting evictions
and xenophobia, under-funded and unrecognized.

Then there is the AFRICA 15% NOW! Campaign that is pushing African
governments to commit at least 15% of their annual budget to health
issues. In a continent where thousands of Africans die daily from
preventable and treatable diseases, this is an urgent and worthy
campaign. If they are successful in making African governments take
responsibility for the health of their citizens, instead of leaving it
to international NGOs, millions of lives over generations will be
saved. Yet in the West, the AFRICA 15% NOW! Campaign is absent from
any discussions on the short- or long-term solutions to the health
crisis.

Meanwhile in Kenya, women from Kibera, the slum worst hit by the
political violence following the flawed elections earlier this year,
formed an organization to deal with police and ethnic violence. The
organization, Kibera Women for Peace and Fairness, has over the last
few months, evolved to deal with issues of AIDS, violence against
women, and other social justice issues.

Then there are several U.S. based organizations such as TransAfrica
and Africa Action that work shoulder to shoulder with these courageous
African NGOs. These organizations have been involved in practically
every issue affecting the continent, from AIDS drugs patents that
benefit pharmaceutical companies at the expense of the dying to the
crises in Zimbabwe, Darfur, and the Congo.

With an Obama presidency on the horizon, activists in the United
States and Africa have formed, Resist-AFRICOM. The U.S. African
Command Center seeks to coordinate U.S. military operations in Africa
but the activists see this as a further militarization of U.S.-Africa
relations. Better equal trade than more guns and bombs.

So the question isn't whether Africans sit on their hands waiting for
Western handouts. Rather, the question is why it is much easier for us
to listen to philanthropists talk about what is wrong with Africa
rather than the serious and dedicated political activists on the
ground. Why are we not helping those who are helping themselves?

We love glossy packages that promise big bangs and super solutions.
Take the Bill Gates Initiative, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in
Africa that promises super seeds for super plants to end famine in
Africa. A simpler and more long-lasting solution lies in organic
African farming, growing more food crops over cash crops, the
diversification of African agriculture, and the depoliticization of
food and other basic human necessities.

The point is that every little bit of support counts and it can come
in many forms – moral solidarity, awareness-raising, or financial
support. But this help should not be afraid of the Africa that pushes
back - or come at the expense of long-term solutions. One helping hand
should not kill dreams with the other.


*BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, is a writer
and political analyst, the author of Hurling Words Consciousness (AWP,
poems 2006), a Foreign Policy in Focus contributor, where this
commentary first appeared, and a political columnist for the BBC Focus
on Africa Magazine.