The news of Michael Jackson’s death brought to mine his USA for Africa effort. The song, the subsequent aid - like many of us, celebrities and regular folk alike, Michael’s heart was in the right place.
Yet that was 1985. And the landscape remains eerily similar in many places on the continent. Hunger, war, disease, education: some of the same challenges remain. That got me thinking about our approach to aid and that perhaps we need to take another look at what that truly means.
Are there times when people are in desperate need and need items like food, water and clothing? Absolutely. Are there times where relocation is necessary? Probably. But a larger issue looms. Have we taught the people how to find clean water in the earth? Have we helped them build water plants? Have we provided tools and technology to help them grow their own food? Have we helped them establish schools and provided sorely needed books and school supplies? Have we invested economically?
For many organizations, I’m sure the answer to these questions is yes - and I applaud them. But I think that as we provide the basics, the necessities to help them live, that we not forget that true aid must not neglect the component that teaches them how to help themselves. To do otherwise would be crippling. And to do so without proper oversight and accountability would be criminal.


During my morning reading, I came across an
I’ve written about it before, but when the topic rears its ugly head again, I feel compelled to whine…again.
(of course, I still read voraciously and write). Through the years, my network of contacts online have guided me through Windows blue screens of death, more hardware/software upgrades and conflicts than I care to remember, and more recently, the adoption of the Linux way of life. Since I can see most of them via their avatars or pics (no, I generally don’t post one), I know they don’t look like me. Yet in this tight knit community, we chat, help each other through our various technical conundrums, seemingly available at all hours of the day and night. These people I’ve never met in person and probably never will.



It pains me that some African Americans still don’t fully embrace our beauty. I know where it comes from, but I think the time is long overdue that we shed the chains of our lingering mental slavery (Bob Marley said it right so many years ago).