S. Girma
The fundamental failure of the foreign policy measures pursued by the US government and its European allies regarding Ethiopia (and Africa, and the greater global Black diaspora) is a simple and yet galling lack of foresight plaguing the so-called 1st world. The truth is these governments are dragging their feet kicking and screaming into the 21st century and are desperate to hold the rest of us back with them.
Looking forward to the future is something these formers empires are loathe to do because it does nothing but remind them of all they have lost and may lose– slaves, land, resources, wealth. Worst of all, the future may bring forth a new division of power, power that up until now the West has put concerted effort into protecting for itself and preventing and crushing for others.
The truth is, Africa will be the future. The youngest of humanity are in Africa, the potential for growth is abundant in Africa, the creativity expressed is magical in Africa. We know this, but importantly they know this. What we must remember is they will destroy it using the same tools in their 19th-20th century arsenal unless we develop some 21st century guardrails. They will destroy the future of Africa, if for nothing else than to assuage their egos. If this is too harsh a statement, please name any Black country or people in the entire world that has been given true freedom by the West. None. Exist. And that is by design. They entered by force, stole land, enslaved human beings, pilfered resources, fled with their riches, threw a trifling amount of money at the problems they created, and then act as custodians of the moral high ground. However, they are still not satisfied with keeping Africa poor, no, Africa must be hopeless and forever under their thumb. Understanding this approach only requires looking at the history of treatment towards Africa, the black diaspora, and working people.
The weapons they have used and will continue to use are well known by now: money, media, manipulation, and murder. We know this because this is the same toolkit used against people from any “outgroup” that attempt to do anything, have anything, or create anything outside of their control.
They first attempt to use money. Maybe they will steal your resources1, fund a coup2, place a corporation in charge of your country3, force you to pay them for your freedom4.
They will use the media to call you dangerous, a threat to public safety5, a criminal6. They will lie and tell half-truths, incomplete stories for the benefit of the status quo7. They will manufacture lists of your various inferiorities8, 9 with the arrogance of a mind incapable of self-awareness10
They will use manipulation to convince you your friends are your enemies because they divide and conquer11. They will infiltrate your organizations, movements, protests, and rallies12. They will attempt to manipulate you with false promises13.
Finally, they will choose murder14. They will kill your leaders15, 16, 17, 18, 19 in their sleep20 or standing in a driveway21. They will flatten your cities22, 23and will justify all of it.
This is their end game because it has always been their end game. Every chance the West has had to be true allies to Africa and the global Black diaspora, they have rejected it. They depend on superficial displays of acquiescence rather that deep shifts in approach, respect, and treatment. This is unsustainable for the future, however once again, the West is stuck in the past.
The West’s inability to see itself as an equal member of a greater global world, is its greatest weakness. Instead, the West still behaves much like the robber barons and political elites at the height of western imperialism; self-satisfied, bloated, out-of-touch, destructive, and eventually, irrelevant. Included on the endless list of victims of this zero-sum mindset are the working people of America and Europe as well. The working people of world would be better served by leaders who are focused on positive progressive ideals rather than world domination.
The West will most likely fall back into the predictable paThe Future is Africa
S. Girma
The fundamental failure of the foreign policy measures pursued by the US government and its European allies regarding Ethiopia (and Africa, and the greater global Black diaspora) is a simple and yet galling lack of foresight plaguing the so-called 1st world. The truth is these governments are dragging their feet kicking and screaming into the 21st century and are desperate to hold the rest of us back with them.
Looking forward to the future is something these formers empires are loathe to do because it does nothing but remind them of all they have lost and may lose– slaves, land, resources, wealth. Worst of all, the future may bring forth a new division of power, power that up until now the West has put concerted effort into protecting for itself and preventing and crushing for others.
The truth is, Africa will be the future. The youngest of humanity are in Africa, the potential for growth is abundant in Africa, the creativity expressed is magical in Africa. We know this, but importantly they know this. What we must remember is they will destroy it using the same tools in their 19th-20th century arsenal unless we develop some 21st century guardrails. They will destroy the future of Africa, if for nothing else than to assuage their egos. If this is too harsh a statement, please name any Black country or people in the entire world that has been given true freedom by the West. None. Exist. And that is by design. They entered by force, stole land, enslaved human beings, pilfered resources, fled with their riches, threw a trifling amount of money at the problems they created, and then act as custodians of the moral high ground. However, they are still not satisfied with keeping Africa poor, no, Africa must be hopeless and forever under their thumb. Understanding this approach only requires looking at the history of treatment towards Africa, the black diaspora, and working people.
The weapons they have used and will continue to use are well known by now: money, media, manipulation, and murder. We know this because this is the same toolkit used against people from any “outgroup” that attempt to do anything, have anything, or create anything outside of their control.
They first attempt to use money. Maybe they will steal your resources1, fund a coup2, place a corporation in charge of your country3, force you to pay them for your freedom4.
They will use the media to call you dangerous, a threat to public safety5, a criminal6. They will lie and tell half-truths, incomplete stories for the benefit of the status quo7. They will manufacture lists of your various inferiorities8, 9 with the arrogance of a mind incapable of self-awareness10
They will use manipulation to convince you your friends are your enemies because they divide and conquer11. They will infiltrate your organizations, movements, protests, and rallies12. They will attempt to manipulate you with false promises13.
Finally, they will choose murder14. They will kill your leaders15, 16, 17, 18, 19 in their sleep20 or standing in a driveway21. They will flatten your cities22, 23and will justify all of it.
This is their end game because it has always been their end game. Every chance the West has had to be true allies to Africa and the global Black diaspora, they have rejected it. They depend on superficial displays of acquiescence rather that deep shifts in approach, respect, and treatment. This is unsustainable for the future, however once again, the West is stuck in the past.
The West’s inability to see itself as an equal member of a greater global world, is its greatest weakness. Instead, the West still behaves much like the robber barons and political elites at the height of western imperialism; self-satisfied, bloated, out-of-touch, destructive, and eventually, irrelevant. Included on the endless list of victims of this tterns of direct and indirect violence that have dictated their interactions with Africa throughout history and will make every effort to sabotage any Ethiopian attempt towards the creation of its own future. The only option Ethiopia and Africa have is to move forward into the 21st century through the power and freedom of a deeply united Africa (and global Black diaspora) based on mutual respect and self-determination–independent of the mewling and hypocritical demands of saboteurs.
This will take resiliency, honesty, and empathy. But it is time for this land and this people, all of us, to take our position in the world. It is no longer up to others to decide what is possible for Africa. Her children will decide.
Citations
World is plundering Africa’s wealth of ‘billions of dollars a year’
BP and Iran: The Forgotten History
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bp-and-iran-the-forgotten-history/
United Fruit Company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company
‘The Greatest Heist In History’: How Haiti Was Forced To Pay Reparations For Freedom
Rosalsky
Superpredator: The Media Myth That Demonized a Generation of Black Youth
Bogert and Hancock
US government considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist until 2008
One year ago, Minneapolis police published this misleading report on the death of George Floyd
Al-Arshani
Myths about Africa, Africans, and African History
https://reedhistory.net/myths-about-africa-africans-and-african-history/
Building the myth of Black inferiority
https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human/Building-the-myth-of-Black-inferiority
A History of Craniology in Race Science and Physical Anthropology
https://www.penn.museum/sites/morton/craniology.php
Morrock, R. (1973). Heritage of Strife: The Effects of Colonialist “Divide and Rule” Strategy upon the Colonized Peoples. Science & Society, 37(2), 129–151.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40401707
COINTELPRO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO
China’s Influence Looms Over Blinken’s Africa Visit
Crowley
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/world/asia/blinken-africa-china-invest.html
King Leopold II: The Man Who Murdered 10 Million People
Hdogar
Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th century | Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja
Thomas Sankara Tried to Liberate His Country from the West. Then He Was Murdered
Neufeld
Allende and Chile: ‘Bring Him Down’
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/chile/2020-11-06/allende-inauguration-50th-anniversary
‘Black Moses’ Lives On: How Marcus Garvey’s Vision Still Resonates
Abdelfatah
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/08/965503687/marcus-garvey-pan-africanist
The Death of Steve Biko, Revisited – JSTOR Daily
Mohammed Elnaiem
https://daily.jstor.org/the-death-of-steve-biko-revisited
The 1969 Raid That Killed Black Panther Leader Fred Hampton
Roos
https://www.history.com/news/black-panther-fred-hampton-killing
Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is assassinated
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/medgar-evers-assassinated
Tulsa Race Massacre
History.com Editors
https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/tulsa-race-massacre
Rosewood Massacre
History.com Editors
https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/rosewood-massacre
Dear S. Girma,
I admire the quality of your research. Excellent and thanks.