World News & Views

Some of us remember the first elected prime minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, as he brought to the world the vision of a prosperous Congo where this beautiful land will benefit the Congolese people and not world corporations. A modern day holocaust is occurring in this picturesque land of abundance.

All of us in the Free Gaza Movement, whether passengers on the boats or part of the support teams, are outraged that 1.5 million Palestinians are being collectively punished by the apartheid policies of the Israeli state.

The war in Congo is a U.S. proxy war; the U.S. uses Kagame, the Rwandan army and terrorist Gen. Laurent Nkunda as their African proxy force in Congo, but this is war. It has been the deadliest, though barely reported, war on the planet for years.

Today I was slated to speak in Damascus, Syria, at a conference to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 60th year that the Palestinian people have been denied their Right of Return enshrined in that declaration. But I was not allowed to exit the country.

By now, I am sure that you are aware of the fallout over the Nov. 4 election results that passed Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution to make marriage legal only between one man and one woman. No doubt many of you reading this op-ed were a part of the 69 percent of Blacks who supported the measure.

I know no honest, informed Congo watchers who doubt that Gen. Laurent Nkunda and his ruthless militia are tools of the U.S. and its African proxy, Rwanda, in the imperial resource war now raging in Eastern Congo.

"No one cares about the children, living or dead," one furious father of children in the collapsed school outside of Port au Prince, Haiti, swore Sunday. "Government officials and people from all the NGOs, they all come, take pictures, make speeches and they leave us with nothing. We need action!"

What makes this conflict particularly sickening is the role of U.S. and European corporations, together with Rwanda and Uganda, in the plunder of DRC's resources. This is a war about self-interest and greed.

In perhaps the most candid direct message to Black people since his Democratic nomination, then Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, on election eve Monday, credited Black voters for his historic political rise, promising to make a difference in their lives if elected.

On Thursday, May 31, 2007, my first-born daughter, Jasmine, had the amazing opportunity of having lunch with Barack Obama. The next morning, it was Johnathan's turn. And this week, the door of the SUV my son Michael and his friends were chasing on their skate boards swung open, and Obama yelled, "Come on, dudes, get in!"

Following "Break the Silence" Congo Week, Kambale Musavuli urges the global community, and African-Americans in particular, to revitalize international attention on the Congo as a means of shedding light on the ongoing conflict and harnessing the potential for strong advocacy relationships.

I grew up with the picture on the left. That's the America that lynched Black soldiers in their uniforms after World War II. It's the America I was taught. It's the America unfortunately I've lived through. It's the America that killed the Dreamer. But on Nov. 4, 2008, I was most happy to actually meet the America that chose to make the picture on the right its new dawn. I don't know this America. I didn't think it was possible.

Read Barack Obama's victory speech, which begins: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." Watch the speech by clicking on Videos under Topics to your left.

"We are looking forward to a great day to celebrate," said Malik Obama, the candidate's step-brother, dismissing any suggestion that his relative might not become the first Black U.S. president. "We are not considering that possibility. I am not," he said.

Ms. Zeituni Onyango is a 56-year-old woman from Kenya who is seeking political asylum in the U.S. She is also the aunt of Sen. Barack Obama. "Auntie Zeituni," as Obama has referred to her in one of his books, was ordered to leave the U.S. four years ago and she is living in the U.S. illegally.

A dangerous little DVD inserted into newspapers in 70 cities last month titled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" is a deliberately frightening view of "radical Islam." Imagine those who received it going to a Palin rally and hearing Barack Obama's middle name spat out. These cannot be coincidences.

Haiti is now forced by the World Bank and its bloodsucking siblings like the IMF to pay more than $1 million a week to satisfy debts incurred by the Duvaliers and the post-Duvalier tyrannies. Haiti must repay this debt to prove its fitness for "help" from the Multilateral Financial Institutions (MFI).

I want a leader who can love us. And, truthfully, by our collective behavior, we have made it hard to demand this. We are as we are, imperfect to the max, racist and sexist and greedy above all; still, I feel we deserve leaders who love us. We will not survive more of what we have had: leaders who love nothing, not even themselves.

Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believe that the 2008 elections have already been stolen. What's an American to do given these circumstances? They suggest: "Steal it back!"

Rappers, producers, spoken word performers and graf artists, age 18-30, who want to express why they're voting this election and what issues matter most to them can submit music, a video or graphic arts piece to VoteHipHop.org.