I remember being 15 years old and thinking, “I don’t really want to be here anymore”, wishing I could instantly snap my fingers and disappear from my life. Luckily, I was too afraid to play the “magician” and attempt a permanent disappearing act. But one night when I laid down to sleep I dreamt that I had died. I experienced the sensation of leaving my body and traveling through a tunnel of penetrating white light. This porous light infused every part of my being and emanating from this light was a love so intense and satisfying that I could’ve spent an eternity in that dream. Continue reading
THE RAINBOW IS ENOUGH, I AM TOO
“WINDOW SEAT” TO A BLACK WOMAN’S SOUL
I woke up two days ago and my partner said, “You won’t believe what’s #2 on yahoo search, Erykah Badu”! “Really, why?”, I said. He explained to me that it was related to the video for her new song, “Window Seat”, in which she sheds all of her clothes. I thought, ok, she must have done that for a reason. In fact, one of the reasons I have grown to love Erykah is that she makes no apologies for being herself and not fitting into a prescribed category – a statement within itself being a Black woman in America.
Posted in Black women
Tagged "Window Seat video", black women, congo, Eastern Congo, Erykah Badu, rape, Window Seat, You Tube
JUSTICE FOR HAITI
” Haiti also endured 60 years of U.S. embargo and almost 20 years of U.S. occupation as well as intervention through backing of military dictatorships and undermining of the democratic process with the ousting of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. In the course of the U.S. developing a future relationship with Haiti, it is essential that we reconcile and address the detrimental policies of the past so that future policies serve the interests of the Haitian masses as opposed to the ruling class and foreign corporate interests.”
Read entire article on the Baltimore Sun commentary page by clicking on Justice for Haiti: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.haiti25,0,6005298.story
Posted in Haiti, U.S. foreign policy
Tagged $1 billion, 7.0 on Richter scale, Africans, Ayiti, black republic, Congressional Black Caucus, debt forgiveness, earthquake, France, grassroots organizations, Haiti, Haitian, Haitian revolution, IMF, immigration, January 12, NGO's, Obama administration, President jean-Bertrand Aristide, Toussaint L'Ouverture, U.S embargo, WEyclef Jean, World Bank, yele
MY HAITI:HEROISM OF A GRANDMOTHER
Below is a message I received from Jean-Jacques Gabriel, a Haitian-American. He gave me permission to share his sentiments with you- it is reflective of the spirit of the Haitian people.
Greetings,
Like many of you, I was crushed to hear news about the earthquake in Haiti. I was born in Haiti, spent the first 5 years of my life there and have sustained a connection to family and homeland. For 4 days, we went without news of my grandmother and other family members. The wealth of thoughts and prayers throughout this time helped buoy spirits during the hard process of waiting for word. When we finally got news of my 80-year old grandmother Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, weapon of war, women
Tagged 1804, aid, charity, development, earthquake, emergency, France, French, Haiti, Haitian revolution, Haitians, humanitarian crisis, imperialism, independence, militarization, NGO's, UN, US policy, World Bank, Wyclef Jean, yele
VOICES FROM THE CONGO
This petition comes directly from the people of the Congo. Show your support and act solidarity with the women, men and children of the Congo!
Posted in Democratic Republic of Congo
I DREAMT LAST NIGHT, I WAS IN CONGO AGAIN
When I’m speaking about Congo I make sure that I provide a political and historical context often not presented in Western media – “What is taking place in the Congo is a resource war, a geo-strategic battle being waged on the backs of the Congolese people and in the wombs of Congolese women. Congo is the home of the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world and since 1996, nearly six million people have died.
As I awoke on this Christmas morning from my dream in which I was in Eastern Congo again, I realized Continue reading
Posted in Democratic Republic of Congo
Tagged 6 million died, bullets, cell phone, cobalt, coltan, conflict, congo, Congolese, Congolese women, context, corporate interests, displaced, displaced people, dream, Eastern Congo, ethnic conflict, fate, foreign troops, foreigner, geo-strategic battle, Goma, humanitarian crisis, mercenaries, refugee camps, resource war, rwanda, strategic, Uganda, women
CALLED BY THE CONGO: THE JOURNEY HAS JUST BEGUN
Dear Family,
Almost a year ago, I was compelled to contact, Friends of the Congo, a DC-based advocacy organization, after viewing the, Nov. 13, 2008 interview, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b07P7T-_Ano on the Democracy Now program. I was attempting to understand why there was a “veil of silence “, around the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo in Western media – a country which the UN reports as the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world since World War II, in which nearly 6 million people have died, and hundreds of thousands of women have been systematically raped Continue reading
TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART, TAKE A LEAP
To follow your heart, take a leap: A father’s commitment to Africa lives on in his daughter’s work for justice
By Makeda Crane ~makeda.crane@yahoo.com
(This article originally appeared in the Baltimore Sun in the Maryland closeup section, Sun, February 22, 2009)
On the weekend after Thanksgiving, I went home to Brooklyn, N.Y., to visit my father – the man whose height and stature always felt like a wall of protection between me and the world. As I sat beside his hospital bed in these last few months of his life, I had watched the body of this once robust, 6-foot-2, 240-pound man slowly transform into a wilted flower.
Now he was down to about 130 pounds. I whispered in his ear, “Daddy, do you remember me telling you that I’m going to the Congo”? He nodded back, but I wasn’t sure if it was a mere nod of recognition or true comprehension.
My personal connection to the Congo had been forged by my father, Ernest Crane. Born and raised in Harlem, he would often say, Continue reading
Posted in Democratic Republic of Congo, rape, weapon of war, women
Tagged 2nd largest rainforest, 6 million died, africa, africa's world war, African-American, cell phone, civil war, coltan, conflict, conflict minerals, congo, Congolese, Democratic Republic of Congo, electronics, ethnic violence, ethnic war, facebook, friends of the congo, fundraising, genocide, Goma, Hutu, kagame, lumumba, mineral deposits, mining, mining companies, natural resources, rainforest, rape, resource war, rwanda, systematic rape, tantalum, the greatest silence, Tutsi, Uganda, vast minerals, women
CALLED BY THE CONGO 