Neverending Ghosts of Colonialism

The Namibian government and specifically the Herero group want Germany to return over 40 skulls of indigenous Namibians, that they've held for about a century. Between 1904 and 1908 Germany, who was Namibia's colonial ruler at that time, launched a little-known genocide against the Hereros for launching an uprising against their colonial rule. The Germans defeated the Herero by driving them deeper and deeper into the desert and poisoning their water sources. It is estimated that between 24000-65000 Herero died.


Germany was recently forced to apologize for the genocide after a book was released exposing and documenting what had been kept under wraps for over a century. However, though Germany has been forced to face the now public historical accounts of the actually genocide, they are still keeping the skulls of Herero people they captured on display in German Universities. The Nambian government continues to demand there return, but the universities are arguing that they are part of their cultural heritage.

Immediately you wonder why the Germans even have the skulls in their possession in the first place. During the war, a German doctor, Eugen Fischer, requested the skulls of the dead in order to prove that African had a lower intellectual capacity than their European counterparts. So I beg to ask if Germany is keeping these skulls on display as proof of Fischer's claim or to remind themselves of their participation and support of one of the most exploitative historical periods.
For years the Herero have requested reparations for the abuse the ancestors suffered- this has gone on deaf ears. Germany's rejection of returning their ancestors remains is yet another slap in the face to a community that like others not only suffered centuries of colonial abuse, but almost had their whole community exterminated.


Does this not remind us of Saartjie"Sarah" Baartman, the Khoi woman who was paraded around Europe for years while her voluptous "beastly" body was put on display?



At the point of her death, Saartjie had been physically and sexually abused. Her brain, vulva, anus, and skeleton was put on display in a French museum and her remains were not repatriated back to South Africa for almost two hundred years!

Germany, please end the cycle of exploitation and dehumanization of African people and return the remains of the Herero people. Allow their souls to rest in peace.

Prevent Youth from Sacrificing Themselves to the Seas

It's no secret that high unemployment in many African countries has been a major factor in the massive migration of young people to Europe and the United States. Youth seek big jobs in big cities and many of those opportunities aren't available in their home countries. Unfortunately, this mass exodus has often resulted in very dangerous and often fatal trips through treacherous conditions in order to be smuggled across borders. In the last twenty years, more than 80,000 people have died trying to enter Europe by sea. Many migrants are lucky if they survive the journey and arrive at their destination, but there are still many who arrive only to face even harsher living conditions than they escaped in their home country, and still perish in vain.


In an attempt to curb the number of young Africans risking their lives to migrate abroad, the European Union has created an immigration center in Bamako, Mali. Its intention is not to be a recruitment center for Africans seeking employment, but rather a supportive and information center that will encourage migrants to move to Europe legally and educate them of the different types of vocational training that would be most useful in gaining them employment once they are able to migrate.

The establishment of the European immigration center is not the first effort to dissuade people from illegal and dangerous migration abroad. A Senegalese woman whose own son died while traveling by boat to the Canary Islands launched her own grassroots campaign a few years ago to educate those in her community about the dangers of small boat travel. She has seen her small fishing community transformed into a departure point for young West Africans traveling to Europe in small fishing boats.

The map below diagrams the path that travelers take throughout the various hubs and transfer points to make it to the northern and western shores of Africa and eventually Europe- usually by way of Spain or Italy.

One Spanish couple who was traumatized by the site of 37 dead Africans, killed by drowning while attempting to travel to Spain, decided to invest in Hansala, Morocco- the community that many of the dead migrants they found came from. They founded an NGO called Solidaridad Directa, that works to enable its citizens to build the capacity of Hansala and encouraged them to continue to develop their community rather than embarking on the often fatal migration to Spain.

Though the EU has sought an institutionalized solution to remedy this issue and many are launching grassroots campaigns to stop Africans from traversing the dangerous journey, it is impossible to ignore the disparities in this situation. Europe and Africa hold strong colonial ties that are still evident in European countries' (especially France) intervention during times political and economic strife on the continent. Europeans easily travel throughout Africa and often obtain their visas when they are entering the country. However, Africans are continually denied visas to Europe and thus their need to smuggle across borders in order to gain entry. Africans do not take boats because they are unable to pay airfare, many times these treacherous boat rides cost more than $1,000. They choose this method because that is their only hope of gaining entry into the country.

For centuries African nations have been exploited by Europe and continue to be. I believe that Africans need to set the same stipulations on entrance to their countries as Europe (and the US) has put on entering theirs. We can not continue to support such a lopsided relationship. We sadly even close our borders to our fellow Africans, but are quick to open them to foreign Europeans and Americans!

We need to work harder to create economic and social conditions within our countries that will dissuade young people from longing to fulfill their dreams abroad. Zebra Jobs, which I wrote about a few moths ago has launched their virtual job fair and I am impressed. It is now up to us to encourage our young people within the country and those that have migrated to to work in Africa and work towards building it rather than sacrificing their human potential to the seas.

Homophobia in Africa Harms Us in More Ways than We Realize

In an age where globalization often blurs the line between cultures- Africans are steadfast in maintaining their traditions as it relates to family values. In the US and other Western societies public figures routinely "out" themselves and openly engage in same sex relationships.

However, most African communities vehemently oppose and even criminalize any form of homosexuality and openness often results in persecution and sometimes even death. This forces homosexuals to engage in high risk sexual relationships for fear of being exposed within their community. Many African countries are already battling high HIV/AIDS infection rates, this coupled with the increased level of transmission between men who have sex with men only further exacerbates an already strained situation.

The criminalization of homosexuality also poses a health problem for those that are already infected with HIV/AIDS. Many who are aware of their HIV/AIDS status are afraid to seek treatment for fear of being outted. Others are incarcerated for their sexual preference and die due to AIDS related infections due to lack of care while in prison. And some who are brave enough to seek care despite the repercussions are turned away from some health facilities because of the stigma associated with their sexuality.

In Uganda, during a global HIV/AIDS conference, gay rights activists staged a protest against the discrimination of homosexuals. As a result, the activists were arrested, tortured, and humiliated- an incident which has publicized by Human Rights Watch and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). However, the situation has been largely ignored by authorities because the Ugandan government promotes homophobia and homosexuals can be imprisoned for life.

As a result, Western countries that due not institutionally discriminate against homosexuals have found themselves in a precarious situation as it relates to African immigrants. In the UK, a campaign has been launched to prevent a Ugandan asylum seeker from being deported back on the basis of his fear of sexual persecution. And in the US, a Senegalese man was successfully granted asylum on the basis of his sexuality.

I can't help but feel that on both fronts, political resources should be better spent- like the protection of civilians from violent crimes, as opposed to moral ones. I do not believe that individuals should abandon their values, but in a time where the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS is impeding human development, I find it more beneficial for a society to increase their number of health and educational professionals, even if it means they be homosexuals as well. Africa cannot afford to continue to lose young lives, whether it be to death from infection, persecution, or because they simply flee to escape these ills. We do not have to completely lose ourselves within Western culture, but killing ourselves for the sake of tradition doesn't seem to be working either...