Seeds of Slavery
Genetically Modified Organisms and the Role of the Black
Revolutionary In the Struggle for Food Security
Introduction:
The notion democracy
in Afrika and indeed throughout the so called Third World is clearly a mixed
bag of optimism, gullibility and dubious policy decisions. The questions I will
to raise here are; who really controls the conversation, the flow of
information, public relations, political will and whether there is any form of
participatory democracy here in Africa and in Southern Afrika in particular?
Further, I will ask whether the ordinary Black Southern Afrikan is
knowledgeable enough to understand the impact of GMO’s and globalization in his
own life and that of his family and land. What kind of politics if any is
required of us in order to achieve self-determination and satisfactory use of
our resources e.g. Water, soil and renewable sources of energy?
Matters of
global chaos (so called Global Warming); land ownership nationalization,
redistribution and progressive politics of Black Consciousness will be touched
upon with a conscious effort to examine the role of radical political activism
in the fight against White Supremacist ideas and actions. We will begin by
determining the role of the ‘State’, civil society and the Afrikan individual
in general.
Part 1: A Stateless mind-state
“We find
ourselves at an intersection that presses us to consider, once again, the
character of the state that we have created. The task for the immediate future
is no longer the reconstruction of the fundamental principles, tools and
institutions of democracy and a free market economy. All that has already been
accomplished. I do not believe that our future goal should be merely the
creation of an efficient capitalist democracy. We need something more: we need
to begin a serious discussion about the character of the democracy that we wish
to cultivate – its roots, spirit, and direction. With equal seriousness, we
should also consider what needs to be done at the different levels of the
reconstructed market economy so that its fruit may be enjoyed by the general
public. We need quite simply, a new vision. One that is mindful of the future
role of citizens, local government, and state.” – Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus
in Rival Visions, in Journal of Democracy ( Vol.7, number 1 – January 1996:
Civil Society After Communism)
Let us get
one thing clear and out of the way as soon as possible. Afrikan governments and
Afrikan leadership has generally failed in its mandate to liberate us and wrest
Black people from the mire of the neo-colonialism. There is very little to
prove that the Afrikan continent consists of truly independent states or
nations. There is still an appalling dependence on Europe, Amerikkka and the
rest of the industrialised world for the most basic goods. The infrastructure
of many if not all Afrikan countries is made in China, India, Scandinavia, USA
and in some places the residue of Portuguese, German and British colonialism.
In a word, we are still slaves who are socially, politically, economically and
somehow – culturally dead. We are not yet men and women; we are still
sophisticated and egotistical beggars.
But what are
we begging for? This is the central theme of this paper. Precisely, what makes
a wealthy person beg from a poor person? Or to put it in Peter Tosh’s melodic
lamentation: “Africa is the richest place yet it still has the poorest race” –
These are questions that are raised daily, in drinking spots all over the
continent and indeed worldwide. The question is raised in thousands upon
thousands of academic journals, books, theses, seminars and convention centres.
The Black person who is even the least bit conscious of her and his condition,
is pursued by this nagging question daily.
But is there
an answer? If so where can it be found; perhaps in a ‘political solution’, a
supernatural dimension – in church, mosque or at the ancestral shrine? Whatever
the case may be, it is abundantly clear that the answer must come sooner than
later, since our problems are piling up, our governments are messing up and the
gods and ancestors also seem clueless. I say this about the gods and ancestors
not because I mean to be disrespectful, for many are the active
traditionalists, spiritual leaders, and ministers of the gospel who have
offered humanity some formulae and suggested that we either return to the
principles which prevailed in pre-colonial, pre-slavery Afrika or that we
should heed the prophets who preach personal righteousness which would then
translate to national favour with the divine. It is clear that we have
generally heeded neither the messiah nor the messengers of the great ancestors.
Our situation seems far from any resolution, therefore the only option is a
complete revolution – the form of which must begin in our minds, hearts and
most specifically in the manner in which we produce, distribute and regulate
what and how we eat. Yes, the Afrikan revolution is primarily in the soil, the
water and the type of seeds we choose to sow today. It is that simple. So the
role of Afrikan politics and business is a nothing more than a series of costly
compromises, hypocrisy and downright delusion.
Our leaders
have successfully put many of us under a spell and the Black Afrikan exists in
a state of wretched duality. Once a modern worker-slave yet also a proud but
land-less, visionless shadow of the white person.
Now let us
look at the role that GMO’s and their multinational propagators have on the
present and future prospects of Black Afrika and indeed the entire planet.
To be Continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment