Faithless Lion King:
Why can’t he get no sleep, Mama Africa?!
– #Prompting A Punchy Paradoxical Intention –
Mama Africa / How are you doing Mama / Mama Africa / Long time me no see you Mama / They took me away from you Mama / Long before I was born / They took me away from you Mama / Long before I came on in / There's so many things about you / Wondering where you are / They try their best to hide you Mama / But I search and I find you / In you there's so much beauty / In you there's so much life / In you there's so many kingdoms / To me it's out of sight / You're the maker of gold Mama / You're the maker of diamond / You're the maker of pearls / And the maker of all precious goals / I've been waiting, yearning, looking / Searching to find you / I've been crying, praying hoping / That I may find you Mama / You're my mother Africa / You're my father Africa (Peter Tosh, Mama Africa)
Dear President, Honourable Cyril Ramaphosa – is Putin proving Africa’s Pal or Pimp?! You could’ve shown this guy the Ropes!
Dear President of the United States of America, Untouchable Mr Joe Biden – are you merely witnessing China and Russia incorporating Africa?!
Dear Americans[1], All the People & Politicians in the World – Africa – does she matter to you?!
Dear Black ... sorry ... African[2] Americans – Africa – what does she mean to you?!
In the jungle, the mighty jungle / The lion sleeps tonight / In the jungle the quiet jungle / The lion sleeps tonight (The Tokens, The Lion sleeps Tonight)
Rosa Parks ... Martin Luther King ... Malcolm X ... Jesse Jackson ... ?!
Jesse Owens ... Muhammad Ali ... Hank Aaron ... Wilt Chamberlain ... OJ Simpson ... Michael Jordan ... ?!
Bill Cosby ... Richard Pryor ... Arsenio Hall ... Eddie Murphy ... ?!
Diahann Carroll ... Sidney Poitier ... Greg Morris ... Morgan Freeman ... Whoopy Goldberg ... ?!
Deep in the bosom of the gentle night / Is when I search for the light / Pick up my pen and start to write / I struggle and fight dark forces in the clear moonlight / Without fear / Insomnia / I can't get no sleep / I can't get no sleep (Faithless, Insomnia)
Josephine Baker ... Louis Armstrong ... Miles Davies ... James Brown ... Aretha Franklin ... Isaac Hayes ... Diana Ross ... Tina Turner ... Stevie Wonder ... Michael Jackson ... Bob Geldof ... Herbie Hancock ... Donna Summer ... Chaka Khan ... ?!
LL Cool J ... Coolio ... Snoop Dog ... Jay-Z ... ?!
Wait a minute ... Bob Geldof[3]?!
What do we do now?!
Of course, We are the World![4]
Africa is my hope / Don't you know that home is / Where my heart lies / Across the ocean / Into the African skies / Through the hills and valleys / ver the mountains / Africa, is where my heart lies (Miriam Makeba, Africa is where my heart lies)
Dear Europeans[5] – Africa – is she just worth another Safari Tour or last minute On the Beach Holiday?!
Dear African Democrats[6], Dictators[7], Dystopianists[8], Leper Messiahs[9], Failed Revolutionaries[10], Genocide Survivors [11] & Desert Dune Drifters[12]– Africa – ain’t she Earth’s Cradle of Living Beings?!
Dear former Colonialists[13] – Africa – does that ring a bell?!
I bless the rains down in Africa / Gonna take some time to do the things we never had / Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you / It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you / There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do / I bless the rains down in Africa (Toto, Africa)
Dear Business Profiteers[14], Exploitationists[15] & Poachers[16]– Africa – gotta a clue what’s in the fix for you?!
Dear Fellow Citizens of Developed[17] Countries & Development Workers – Africa – when will she come of age?!
I am dancing barefoot under a red sun / My senses heightened to feel like emotion / Gazel or panther, I hear a lion roar / The voodoo goddess fills me with all her force / Africa (Rose Laurens, Africa)
What do we do now?!
... Brainstorming Africa ...
Agriculturally, bad harvests, water scarcity ... Economically, poverty, development aid, child labour, trafficking ... Environmentally, steppe, savanna, woodlands, craters, mountains, snow, rivers; "The Big Five", wild animals; faunal, mammal, marine richness; other plentifulness of living beings ... .
Ethnically, dark-toned people, rites ... Financially, financial aid, (odious) debt ... Geoinformatically, plentifulness of raw materials, precious metals, fossil fuels, gas ... Globally, globalisation, exploitation ... Historically, slavery, colonisation ... Infrastructurally, villages, unpaved runways ... .
Joseph's face was black as night / The pale yellow moon shone in his eyes / His path was marked / By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere / And he walked his days / Under African skies (Paul Simon, Under African skies)
Lingually, Swahili, negroes, dark skin ... Meteorologically, drought, deluge ... Musically[18], drumming, stomping, screaming, sweating, hallucinating ... Politically, corruption, oppression, dictators, civil wars, genocide ... Professionally, hunters, farmers, barterers, poachers ... Touristically, safari, wild animals, beaches, scuba diving, exotic people and shows ... .
Trivially, zoos, wild animals ... .
What do we do now?!
... Breakin’ down some Breaking News ...
Since especially Africa[19] had been suffering from the global effects of Putin's war against the Ukraine, Russia's Presidential Aggressor has recently settled Grain Deals[20] with 40 African States, ensuring their supply chain on Grain and other Commodities for the future.
Along the lines of Buy one, get one free! – a common way of sales promotion – Putin guarantees them Military Support[21] in lockstep. Apparently half of the African Population let their Governments buy a pig in the poke just like that.
When we stand together as one, yeah, yeah, yeah / We are the world / We are the children / We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving / There's a choice we're making / We're saving our own lives / It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me (U.S.A. For Africa, We are the World)
What a Rotten Deal[22], particularly in reminiscence of Assad's[23] on-going war against his Syrian fellow citizens, a war, he couldn't've upheld without the Russian Master of Desaster's Arms Support[24] incl. C-Weapons[25].
Chain, chain, chain / Chain, chain, chain / Chain of fools / For five long years / I thought you were my man / But I found out / I'm just a link in your chain / Oh, you got me where you want me / I ain't nothin' but your fool / You treated me mean / Oh, you treated me cruel (Aretha Franklin, Chain of Fools)
Firewater & Rifles on sale?!
Rescue me / Take me in your arms / Rescue me / I want your tender charm / 'Cause I'm lonely / And I'm blue / I need you / And your love too / Come on and rescue me / Come on, baby, and rescue me / Come on, baby, and rescue me / 'Cause I need you by my side / Can't you see that I'm lonely (Fontella Bass, Rescue me)
China's Belt & Road[26], Russia's neat C & A[27] Stranglehold, Asante sana Worldbank, what a queer Ménage à Trois, dear African Democrats, Odd Balls n Dictators. ... Waiter! ... Yes please! ... ...! Okay, one MDRI[28] on the Rocks comin' up!
What do we do now?!
Anyone, anyone ... Voodoo Economics – ?!!![29]
Frame of Reference
[1] Opposites: Does Africa Matter to the United States? - Foreign Policy Research Institute (fpri.org) ––– America, You Better Believe That Africa Matters | American Diplomacy Est 1996 (unc.edu) ––– America Ignores Africa at Its Own Peril - War on the Rocks ––– Commander Says Africa Is Too Important for Americans to Ignore > U.S. Department of Defense > Defense Department News ––– 5 charts on America’s (very positive) image in Africa | Pew Research Center ––– John Oliver Says U.S. Students Learn Virtually Nothing About Africa : Goats and Soda : NPR ––– Africa Matters to U.S. Cities (csis.org) ––– Between Africa and America | Perspectives on History | AHA (historians.org) ––– How American descendants of slavery are connecting with an ancestry shrouded by history - The Washington Post ––– The “Social Distance” between Africa and African-Americans - JSTOR Daily ––– Black Americans' family history, slavery and knowledge of Black history | Pew Research Center ––– Afro-Pessimism Is Dividing Africans And Black Americans (noemamag.com) ––– How much do Americans know about Africa? - YouTube ––– Shocking! What Americans Know and Think about Africa - YouTube ––– What Africans think about African Americans - YouTube ––– related: Slavery in the United States (Wikiped) ––– 400 years since slavery: a timeline of American history | Race | The Guardian ––– U.S. Slavery: Timeline, Figures & Abolition | HISTORY ––– Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Wikiped) ––– related: Buffalo Soldier (Wikiped) ––– related: Western colonialism - Slave Trade, Imperialism, Abolition | Britannica ––– Western colonialism - Slave Trade, Imperialism, Abolition | Britannica ––– related: Slavery and colonialism - ERIH ––– related: How the end of Atlantic slavery paved a path to colonialism | Aeon Essays ––– related: Slavery and Colonialism - African History in Credo - LibGuides at Credo Reference
[2] 31 Black Americans Heroes of History - Famous African Americans (oprahdaily.com) ––– 50 most important African American music artists of all time - cleveland.com ––– List of African-American actors (Wikiped)
[4] We Are the World (Wikiped) ––– U.S.A. For Africa - We Are the World - YouTube
[5] The history of the transatlantic slave trade | Royal Museums Greenwich (rmg.co.uk) ––– Europe | National Museums Liverpool (liverpoolmuseums.org.uk) ––– Slavery in Europe during the Atlantic Slave Trade | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History ––– Slavery in European colonies | EHNE
[6] Opposites:Democracy in Africa (Wikiped) ––– How African Democracies Can Rise and Thrive Amid Instability, Militarization, and Interference | Freedom House ––– How African Democracies Can Rise and Thrive Amid Instability, Militarization, and Interference | Freedom House ––– The state of democracy in Africa and the Middle East (economist.com) ––– Top 10 African nations leading in democracy index rankings | Business Insider Africa ––– What’s Happening to Democracy in Africa? | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org) ––– Most Democratic Countries in Africa - Delusional Bubble ––– The State of Democracy in Africa and the Middle East 2021: Resilient Democratic Aspirations and Opportunities for Consolidation (idea.int) ––– The challenges of democracy and democratisation in Africa and Middle East (core.ac.uk) ––– Sub-Saharan Africa, Pitched Contests for Democratization through 2022 (dni.gov) ––– State of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa (europa.eu) ––– Political inclusion and democracy in Africa - some empirical evidence (mpra.ub) ––– Developmental Democracy in Africa - A Review (core.ac.uk) ––– Democracy in decline in Africa | MaxPlanckResearch 4/2018 - Digital Society (mpg.de) ––– Democracy in African Governance- Seeing and Doing it Differently (eba.se) ––– Democracy in Africa (cap-press.com) ––– Democracy in Africa - A very short history (dash.harvard.edu)
[7] The African Dictators | Africa Facts (africa-facts.org) ––– Top 16 Famous African Dictators Designated as the Worst in their Time (answersafrica.com) ––– Hosni Mubarak (Wikiped) ––– Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Wikiped) ––– Haile Selassie (Wikiped) ––– Idi Amin (Wikiped) ––– Jean-Bédel Bokassa (Wikiped) ––– C. Odumegwu Ojukwu (Wikiped) ––– related: Nigerian Civil War (Wikiped) | Remembering Nigeria's Biafra war that many prefer to forget - BBC News | Biafra war: Survivors relive account 50 years after Nigerian civil war ends | CNN | Picturing the War ‘No One Cares About’ | The National Endowment for the Humanities (neh.gov)
[8] Fictions of African Dictatorship: Cultural Representations of Postcolonial Power (stir.ac.uk) ––– African Personal Dictatorships | The Journal of Modern African Studies | Cambridge Core ––– Africa’s Growth Tragedy Revisited Weak States, Strong Rulers (warwick.ac.uk) ––– related: Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (untag-smd.ac.id)
[9] Joseph Kony (Wikiped) ––– Joseph Kony | Biography, Facts, Child Soldiers, Crimes, & Video | Britannica ––– Joseph Kony and Mutiny in the Lord’s Resistance Army | The New Yorker ––– Joseph Kony - child kidnapper, warlord, 'prophet' - BBC News ––– The Warlord | Invisible Children ––– related: Lord's Resistance Army (Wikiped) ––– Metallica - Leper Messiah (Studio Version) - YouTube
[10] List of conflicts in Africa (Wikiped) ––– Arab Spring (Wikiped) ––– Egyptian revolution (Wikiped) ––– related: Hosni Mubarak (Wikiped) ––– First Libyan Civil War (Wikiped) ––– related:Muammar Gaddafi (Wikiped) ––– Tunisian Revolution (Wikiped) ––– related:Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Wikiped)
[11] Rwandan Civil War (Wikiped) ––– Rwandan genocide (Wikiped) ––– related: Paul Kagame (Wikiped) ––– related: Juvénal Habyarimana (Wikiped)
[12] Desert Dune Drifters! - Cal Caleido’s Substack
[13] Colonisation of Africa (Wikiped)
[14] Natural resources of Africa (Wikiped) ––– Top 15 African countries richest in natural resources - AfrikaTech ––– Africa: Resources (nationalgeographic.org) ––– Mapping Africa’s natural resources | Maps News | Al Jazeera ––– Critical Raw Materials in Africa (arcgis.com)
[15] World Social Science Report 2016, Inequality and natural resources in Africa (en.unesco.org) ––– The Exploitation of Africa and Africans by The Western World since 1500 (ekon.sun.ac.za) ––– Fossil fuels in Africa in the context of a carbon constrained future (uneca.org) ––– related: The Renewable Energy Transition in Africa - Powering Access, Resilience and Prosperity (giz.de)
[16] List of Wild Animals and Endangered Species of Africa (awf.org)
[17] Opposites: The Historical Origins of Poverty in Developing Countries (university of munich) ––– Industrialization in Developing Countries, Enquiry into Relation to Poverty Reduction (Erumban-and-Vries) ––– Industrial development and economic growth, implications for poverty reduction and income inequality (un.org) ––– Economic growth: the impact on poverty reduction, inequality, human development and jobs (oecd.org)
[18] Music of Africa (Wikiped) ––– Blues (Wikiped) ––– Rhythm and blues (Wikiped) ––– Jazz (Wikiped) ––– Bebop (Wikiped) ––– Reggae (Wikiped) ––– Ska (Wikiped) ––– Hip hop music (Wikiped)
[19] One Year Later: The impact of the Russian conflict with Ukraine on Africa | Africa Renewal (un.org) ––– Africa Faces New Shock as War Raises Food and Fuel Costs (imf.org)
[20] Russia sets grain deal conditions, Putin suggests free grain for Africa | Reuters
[21] Russia signs military deals with 40 African states, Putin says | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News — Nigeria — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News
[22] By reverse analogy: Timeline: 54 Years of hunger as a weapon of war | Concern Worldwide
[23] Syrian civil war (Wikiped) ––– Death toll in Syria falls in 2018 - Syrian Arab Republic | ReliefWeb ––– The Real Reason Putin Supports Assad | Brookings ––– related: Siege of Aleppo (1980) (Wikiped) ––– related: 1982 Hama massacre (Wikiped)
[24] Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war (Wikiped)
[25] Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war (Wikiped) ––– Ghouta chemical attack (Wikiped) ––– Timeline of Syrian Chemical Weapons Activity, 2012-2022 | Arms Control Association ––– Putin’s poisons: 2017 attack in Syria - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Italy (usembassy.gov) ––– related: Sarin (Wikiped)
[26] Belt and Road Initiative (Wikiped)
[27] Commodities & Arms
[28] Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (Wikiped) ––– Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative - Questions and Answers (imf.org)
[29] "Anyone, anyone" teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off - YouTube