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FREEEDOM'S JOURNAL
THE AFRCAN UNION - TOWARDS A FUTURE COMMONWEALTH
The African Union---hereinafter "AU"---is an organization of governments. Only elected officials and their assigns or appointees may participate directly in AU proceedings. For this reason, AU---not unlike its predecessor, the OAU---functions primarily as a Club of Presidents and their advisors. This shortcoming in the progress and spread of democracy in Africa is a thorny issue inherited from the OAU and from colonialism before that.
A VISION OF PROGRESS In its reformation and metamorphosis, the AU seeks to democratize its proceedings by reaching downward and outward to its grassroot constituencies. By fiat, that baseline has been defined as any qualified civil society organization in Africa; and any such organization within the African Diaspora. To these ends, AU has amended its Constitutive Act [Constitution?] to recognize the Diaspora as an integral part of Africa, itself. And, by this amendment, all persons of African descent, operating through properly established channels, may participate in select committees of the AU Commission [Secretariat?], especially ECOSOCC [the Economic, Social and Cultural Committee of the African Union]. There is a UN ECOSOCC which serves a similar purpose. THE CONCEPT OF MISSION There is a well-known and widely read book entitled "How Europe underdeveloped Africa." Taking the thesis of that work as a starting point, the mission of ECOSOCC is to countermand those negative influences of colonialism and the infamous Berlin Treaty, which authorized the Partition, on the first part; and to propose and develop programs and projects which can liberate Africa from neo-colonialism, on the other. The World Bank has set as its baseline concern the "Reduction of Poverty" in Africa and the world. How shall this be done? By what protocols and to whose benefit? In the prevailing concept of world order as a two class system of nations, the overclass and the underclass, the developed and the undeveloped, it is imperative for Africa and Africans to be clear about any and all social contracts and economic deals respecting Africa and its future. The Reduction of Poverty is a good phrase; but an incomplete thought. Reduction does not mean elimination. There is a worldwide outcry calling for the forgiveness of African debts. And a fraction of that indebtedness has been forgiven or refinanced with a lower debt service fee. Thereby, some African countries have been improved from "grinding" poverty to "crippling" poverty. UNDERDEVELOPMENT What is wrong with that picture? In that arrangement, the balance of payments between the "Developed" world and the "Underdeveloped" world remains lop-sided, to the disadvantage of Africa. As a measure of this distortion, the average per capita income in Africa is about $2000 American dollars. In a normal statistical distribution of things, the average should mean that half is above the bar and half below it. In Africa, this is not the case. The actuality is that 44 of the 54 states are below the mark. That is 80% below the mean rather than 50%. That is the measure of underdevelopment now prevailing in Africa. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE What can the Diaspora do? The World Bank, as part of the international study to trace cash flow to terror groups, discovered that Africa-born immigrants remit to Africa yearly more money that the Bank, itself; and maybe more than the combined contributions of the G8 Club as well. In the light of this data, Au and its initiative to organize the Diaspora is on the mark. Self-help is more meaningful than Charity. If the Diaspora would organize itself on the same scale as the Israeli lobby, say; or like the Chinese and Indian folks who send their remittances to Asia, then Africa could be liberated and brought into full solvency. That is the mission and the dream. Are they both impossibilities? A PLATFORM OF POSSIBILITIES AU has built its half of the bridge. Will the Diaspora respond? The AU-ECOSOCC is that bridge and it is now under construction. Willing hands are welcome to join. Those who have an ear, let them listen. We in Diaspora have been tasked to follow the protocols of the AU and to organize the scattered civil society stand alone groups into a cohesive system of cooperation and communication. A century ago, Mr. Garvey showed that it can be done; even Blacks can form such a system. It is now the duty of the grand children to take up the mantle and the task and to carry on, even unto the fourth and fifth generation. This is a call to duty. The International Committtee of the UNIA-ACL is open for inquiries. This is something we can do and what a fine legacy for us to give the future. JWJ FREEDOM'S JOURNAL Vol.2  
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