Do Africans Have What It Takes?

(WHEN WILL WE ANSWER THE CALL TO ARMS?)

Many of us in the African community are currently frustrated at the disparity between the progress we are making as a people back home, and the progress the rest of the world is making. While the rest of the world is sprinting forward, we are doing the one-step-forward-two-steps-backward dance. We are all unanimous in our belief that something needs to be done, and immediately, but after talking about it for what looks like centuries, it is about time to spring into action.

We might still be struggling to make ends meet here in America, but we are still better off than our brothers and sisters back home in terms of comfort. Sure, we do send some money back home to relatives periodically; sure we go home to visit; sure we are putting up real estate and other properties back home; but the foundations of our respective countries are threatening to come undone, and they will take our properties, and our loved ones, down with them if we do not try to influence structural changes.

The questions most asked are: Will they listen to us? Is it worth the trouble? Can we really make a difference? Is Africa 'fixable'? Are there easy answers? The answer to all but the last question is 'yes'. But our inaction translates to giving up, and if we have given up, who will undertake the task? We have to realize that the only option we have as Africans is optimism.

Regardless of what others may perceive, or what we have to show for in terms of accomplishments from our continent, Africans can match any group of people on this earth in cognitive ability. If we can make some time and put our heads together, there is no limit to what changes we are capable of effecting on our continent? But we have to act.

If you have not lived abroad, chances are, you have not seen any better. And the prosperity that abounds everywhere in the western world that we are currently contributing to, and enjoying, began from the scratch. It is certainly not a perfect world, here, but it is head and shoulders above ours.

Many have insisted on African solutions to African problems. It has been close to four decades now since independence from the colonialists. Have "African Solutions" worked? If the former First Lady Hillary Rhodam Clinton can borrow an African adage, "it takes a village to raise a child," to form the basis of her call to arms on raising children in America, what is the shame in fully embracing the concept of democracy as the acceptable form of governance in Africa?

But we here have to first practice what we preach; we have to believe in, and live the concept before we can successfully sell it to our brothers and sisters back home. When we become citizens of this country, we are the first in line to vote during elections. But we will not show up at all or on time for our community meetings. When we do show up, we still deem the person raising an opposing view as an adversary, rather than the one who is challenging us to think more deeply. Yet we criticize our peers back home, who may not have been exposed to other concepts, for doing the same things.

When we visit home, we walk tall. We are accorded certain privileges by virtue of us having traveled abroad. Rarely do we stop to think that any one of our peers could very well do what we have done. Anyone having similar opportunities and resources could come here, go to school, get a job and be in our position. What makes the fiber of your being special is your ability to make a significant difference, whether it is financially benefiting to you personally or not.

When Ghana's first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah died, people were shocked to discover that he owned only one modest building in the Western Region of Ghana where he hails from. Uniting Africa was more important to him, so he helped to form the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Rather than siphon national funds into his personal account somewhere in Switzerland as is 'customary' for public officials these days, he used such funds to help other nations in their fights for political independence from Europeans, a practice which formed the basis for a Ghanaian rebellion that drove him out of office in 1966. Now we know he was decades ahead of his time.

Former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa made a difference, even when he was not part of the ruling body. He gave up his freedom for 25 years, but he did not give up his quest, even though his was a near mission impossible. If Mandela, a Black African can do it with a mountain of cards stack against him, why can't the rest of us do it?

Even though these two men led their respective countries, it is not the only way to make a difference. Alexander Hamilton made enough difference in this country to be historically mentioned with the same respect and frequency as the Lincolns, the Washingtons, the Jeffersons, and the Roosevelts. Yet he was never president. Bill Gates is famous not because he is the richest man in America, but because of his computer prowess that has changes our lives for the better. Making a difference may not always bring financial rewards, but the historical recognition should begin to tickle our fancy as a people.

Professor Wole Soyinka of Nigeria, and Bishop Desmond Tutu are Africans who have won Nobel Prizes. Today, they would be given a seat to sit down where the likes of Mobutu Sese Sekou of Zaire would be left to stand on his old, corrupt legs. Yet we know which of these three individuals led a country, and is richer in money, although stolen.

Recently at an OAU meeting, former President John Jerry Rawlings of Ghana received a standing ovation from the rest of the African leaders for having created reform-enhancing environment in his country. Even though some will argue that the jury on his nearly two decades of leadership, half of which was in dictatorial capacity, is still out, at least some semblance of a strong political foundation has been laid. Unless we Africans begin to place as much value on such standing ovations as we do on material gains, we are not headed for very far.

Let us form an organization-a serious one. The Organization of Africans in the United States of America (OAUSA). Well pursued, the possibilities are endless. Influence American policies towards Africa; persuade, and if possible pressure television networks to desist from broadcasting degrading images of Africa; officially recognize, or condemn African leaders based on their actions or performance; and yes, sponsor candidates who pass a democratic litmus test in given countries.

If you think these cannot be achieved, stop for a moment to think what a joke that the idea of a ship must have sounded like during the stone ages when a rock weighing an ounce sank immediately on impact with water. Imagine Carl Lewis at one year old, and Carl Lewis as the once fastest man in the world.

Progress in Africa is volatile. The clock is too easily set backward in many countries. We have to find a way to make, at least, the little progress we make stick. Being a part of a group of people who changed Africa for the better should be as attractive a prospect to any progressive African as the prospect of financial abundance. It is not an easy sacrifice to make considering our society, but we certainly cannot go on like this forever.