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Tag: Alabama

  • Red is the colour of blood; it is also the colour of revolution: fresh winds from Alabama

    Red is the colour of blood; it is also the colour of revolution: fresh winds from Alabama

    One of the most astonishing things about the just concluded elections for a single seat in the American Senate from the southern state of Alabama was the fact that the world press, so speak, was present in full force to witness and report the result of the election. I don’t know if any segment of the Nigerian press was represented, but in some bemusement, I heard on television that elements from the presses of countries like Moldavia and Kazakhstan were present. And of course, presses from the “heavyweight” countries of the world from both the global North and South were present: the European countries; Turkey; India; Japan; China; Brazil; Mexico; South Africa. Since Alabama is one of the poorest states in the United States, why was an election in such a state deemed of such significance that the “world press” was present in full force to bear witness and to report whatever “tidings” emerged from the elections? And in the event, what “tidings” have they been reporting since the conclusion of the elections with the victory of the candidate of the Democratic Party, Doug Jones?

    There is both a very simple, unambiguous answer to these questions and a more complicated response to them. Here’s the simple, straightforward answer: Alabama is the “reddest” state in the United States where the colour red stands for the Republican Party (blue for the Democrats); and in the last presidential elections last year, this state gifted Donald Trump with one of the richest hoard of votes among all the states of the country. And moreover, in spite of the serious moral and social baggage that Roy Moore, the Republican Party candidate carried into the elections, Trump campaigned vigorously for him, thereby putting the prestige and authority of his office on the line. In other words, to the presswomen and men of virtually the whole world, the Alabama elections represented the first significant “referendum” on the presidency of Donald Trump. If Roy Moore won, then both Trump’s controversial election last year and his even far more controversial actions, words and behavior since assuming office would be vindicated, whether the rest of the world liked him or not. And based on this line of thought, Trump’s “legitimacy”, if not his moral authority as the most powerful political leader in the world would be confirmed, heaven help us! In effect then, it was Trump and his presidency that brought the whole world to Alabama last Tuesday: apparently the entire planet is deeply interest in, or anxious about Trump’s occupancy of the most powerful and consequential political office on our planet.

    But of course, Trump’s candidate lost; he lost in the reddest state of them all. And from this fact comes the more complicated response to our two questions: Why was an election in a very poor, Southern state like Alabama considered of such significance to the world press? And with the defeat of Trump’s candidate and surrogate, what “tidings” will the world press take to the rest of the world? Obviously, the complication that is involved in any attempt to address these questions rests on the premise that nobody, least of all the doyens of the world press, would complacently think that what happened in Alabama last Tuesday night will happen in every election in America from now on till the end of the first and perhaps only term of Trump in office. All we can attempt is to read the portents carefully: what was the balance of forces during revealed in the elections and what political calculations and ethical logic from the result of the Alabama election can now be expected to shape national and public affairs both at home in America itself and abroad in the world at large. If this is not a complicated matter, then I don’t know the difference between what is simple and unambiguous and what requires of us careful and perhaps inspired reflection. In other words, if it is the case that what happened in Alabama on Tuesday cannot be expected to be simply replicated from now on everywhere in America and the world at large, what are the underlying patterns, the unique but teachable aspects of the defeat of Trump and Moore, his surrogate this past week? This is the enigma that I wish to briefly explore in this piece, especially as it is is implied in our title: Red is the colour of blood; it is also the colour of revolution.

    At the bottom of the world’s fear and anxiety about the immensely baleful and portentous advent of Donald Trump’s presidency is the fact that it is this man who has the code, the key that can unleash the awesome, life-destroying power of the nuclear armaments of the United States of America on any country or region of the world. And nearly everyone in the world, including Trump’s supporters, knows that he is unstable, erratic, megalomaniacal; in less than one year in office, he has both vaguely and explicitly hinted that he can and will, if he feels like it, unleash that awesome nuclear power. If he does that, blood will not literally flow; but that is only because within minutes, human beings in blood flows will be incinerated in their millions, perhaps dozens of millions.

    But even on the literal plane of an actual flow of blood, there is this fact to think about: since Trump came into power, bloody-minded White supremacists and fascists deeply interested in precipitating a race war in America have become emboldened. This is indicated in their many marches and demonstrations, arrogantly shouting their slogan that is drawn from the rise of the German Nazi movement of the early 1930’s, “Blood and Soil!”. And in this connection, it is important to note here that both Trump and Roy Moore, the Senate candidate who lost in the Alabama election, have openly expressed sentiments very sympathetic to the worldview and folklore of White supremacists around the world.

    And then, there is this: it is a well-known fact that Trump and thousands of his most fanatical supporters have links with the White supremacist movements and parties of Europe – much to the trepidation of the liberal-democratic governments and movements of Europe. Indeed, it was only a month ago that Trump angered the British Prime Minister and the entire political establishment of both the Conservative and Labour Parties when he re-tweeted a ranting, Islamophobic internet post of “Britain First”, a far-right, hate-mongering White supremacist group on the extreme fringes of British politics. Red as the colour of blood: against the actions, words and behavior of Trump and his most fanatical supporters, the Republican Party’s establishment is doing all it can to disassociate this connotation of redness with the traditional colour of their party. Good luck!

    But red is the colour of roses of that particular hue, perhaps the most enchanting in the family of roses. And please permit the seeming frivolity in this context: red is the colour of Man United. (I do admit that I am partial to the gamesmanship fortunes of this club, but not as a fanatical supporter). Above all, red is the colour of revolution. Something of a minor revolution happened in Alabama this past week. I have stated that Alabama is one of the poorest states in America. I have also stated that it is, electorally, the “reddest” state in the Union, given the fact that Republicans not only control every statewide political office in Alabama, this state also gave Trump and the Republican Party their largest victories in the federal and presidential elections of 2016 – as it had been doing for decades now. As a matter of fact, with regard to the Republican redness of this state, it is one of the few states in the United States that record margins of electoral victories typically associated with North Korea – 95% and without an opponent from other parties.

    This is the state in which Doug Jones and the Democrats won this past week. And most important of all is the fact that the victory came as a result of the electoral alliance of Black voters and White suburban women, though it must be clearly acknowledged that it was Black women that constituted the most solid and effective bloc in this victorious alliance. The ideological significance of this alliance is as unmistakable as it is indisputable: supremacist racism and misogyny are at the core of the advent of Trump and Trumpism, followed closely by economic warfare against the working and non-working poor. For this reason, the leadership of the peaceful revolution against the misrule of Trump that is silently gathering force all over the country will come mostly, if not primarily, from women and people of colour. Labour and middle-class politics will be a necessary ingredient of this peaceful revolution, but the main flank will be drawn mostly from women and people of colour, especially Black people. That is what the whole world, as represented by the presses of many nations and regions of the planet that converged on Birmingham, the state capital, saw in Alabama this past week. In the closing paragraphs of this piece, permit me to make a short elaboration on this observation.

    With regard to the nexus of poverty, racism, and misogyny that served as the general context for the ideological alliance that I am discussing here, Alabama is not unlike many of the nation-states of our world, especially states in which extreme religious conservatism combines with neo-capitalism to forge a unique form of modernism that draws its self-images from the past. Pakistan, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, parts of our own country and continent, Nigeria and Africa, and growing demographic segments within Europe and the Americas, the stories are the same: on one side, child-marriages; the feminization of poverty; violence against women in forms as diverse as sexual slavery, honor killings of daughters, sisters and nieces by fathers, brothers and uncles, and predatory sexual harassment and rape of women at the workplace and the home; on another side, widespread promotion of hatred and fear of racial, ethnic and religious others. Trump and Moore, the defeated candidate, were/are openly racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic. As recent as the week in which the election was held, Moore expressed admiration for the time when slavery was still legal in the United States stating that the American family was better and happier then than now. And it was in this same week that Trump issued one of his most sexist insults to date to a woman, the junior Senator from his own home state of New York, Kirsten Gillibrand. You see, God intended men to be lords and masters over women, just as he decreed that the darker races, the sons and daughters of Ham, should be slaves to true, Chosen People. No state in the United States was/is in the grip of this ideological and theological claptrap as Alabama. But, as we have shown in this piece, one shade of red replaced another tint of the same colour: blood-red by revolution-red.

    At the very least, there is a hopeful portent, if not a message of final deliverance, in this good tiding from “red” Alabama this past week.

     

    Eni rere lo: For Segun Adelugba (1942-2017)

    Just as I was readying myself to write this piece, news came to me of the death of Mr. Segun Adelugba, a veteran but retired journalist and brother of the late and revered Professor Dapo Adelugba. Segun’s practice of journalism embraced the standard hard, solid facts of life and experience and what, for lack of precise words at this moment of deep sadness, I can only describe as speculative and introspective cultural journalism. He and I discussed this form or mode of journalism endlessly when I was both a postgraduate student and a young lecturer at the University of Ibadan. He had the good-natured mischievousness of the Adelugba brothers, Dapo, Segun himself, Siji, the eternal Teenager, and Gbenga (Reverend), but Segun was essentially a gentle spirit, a man of deep, grounded convictions. I spoke with him last about six months ago by phone, promising that the next time I come to Lagos for more than one day, I would make sure that I get to see him. A great pity that I am now deprived of the chance of making good on that promise! Seventy-five years is not exactly a very long life, but you were here and we that survive you will always cherish your presence here, Segun

     

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

     

  • U.S braces for winter storms, snowfalls

    U.S braces for winter storms, snowfalls

    Panicked U.S. shoppers emptied shelves of bread and milk and governors in Alabama and Georgia declared states of emergencies ahead of a winter storm in U.S. states this weekend.

    The fear of storm also saw road workers working 12-hour shifts and there is threat of freezing rain to parts of the Deep South including Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, according to AP.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in New York reports that there were also snowfalls in New York from Thursday night till Friday morning, which is expected to continue till Monday.

    A menacing winter storm approaching the South could bring freezing rain to states as far south as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and up to eight inches of snow in parts of North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said.

    The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for part of Friday and Saturday from eastern Alabama through north Georgia, including Atlanta, and into the Carolina and part of Virginia.

    Schools cancelled classes in several states and Alabama and Georgia issued emergency declarations ahead of the storm.

    School districts in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia either closed or called off classes early as snow began falling there Thursday and more cancellations were planned Friday.

    This includes school systems in central Alabama amid the threat of up to three inches of snow and sleet.

    In Georgia, a mix of rain and sleet was expected Friday afternoon, with two to four inches of snow covering the ground in much of the state by Saturday morning, forecasters said.

    Snow-removal trucks and dozens of road workers from south Georgia were moved to the northern part of the state to help clear roads, the Georgia Department of Transportation said.

    Many of the workers began working 12-hour shifts on Friday.

    Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a state of emergency that would open its emergency operations centre on Friday morning and put 300 Alabama National Guard soldiers at the ready to help if needed.

    In North Carolina, Saturday’s ceremonies formally marking the inauguration of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper have been cancelled.

    Snowfall across North Carolina was expected to range from about one-inch around Lumberton to as much as nine inches around Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh.

    As much as seven inches could fall from Asheville to Charlotte, forecasters said.

     

  • Alabama God damn!

    Donald Trump on August 22 and 23 in Akron Ohio and Austin Texas respectively while campaigning for the presidency of the United States challenged black Americans to vote for him saying they have nothing to lose but their poverty and black on black violence. He also said the Democratic Party blacks always vote for have nothing positive to offer them than moral platitudes and welfare package. He said he will offer them good schools, good jobs and violence free streets. His offer seems tempting but does he mean what he is saying? This is a man supported by Klansmen among his blue-collar conservative and angry working class white men. He has until now ignored black and Hispanic population of the United States. It seems he has suddenly realized that he needs their votes to beat Hillary Clinton and without conviction decided to pitch for Afro -American votes. His appeal has angered large section of black American population who in spite of the Obama presidency are still largely outside the so-called American Dream. Theirs has been a nightmare. This has made me to reminisce about the black experience in the United States

    I have had a recent opportunity this year August to visit Alabama, a state that was in the news in the 1960S and 1970S for the wrong and bad reasons. This will be my second time of visiting the state. I deliberately visited the University of Alabama from Washington DC in 1980 just to see the state that I had heard so much about and which I hated with all the emphasis at my command. I was pleasantly surprised in 1980 to find the university in Birmingham Alabama run like a normal university. I did not tell my hosts then about the apprehension I had before visiting the state and the university.

    Alabama was governed by a Dixiecrat, in the person of Governor George Wallace from 1963 to 1967, 1971 to 1979 and 1983 to 1987 on the platform of a racist ideology that denied even the humanity of black people.  This evil man was in power for 16 years blighting the lives of millions of black people. He was shot by one of his deranged followers Arthur Bremer in 1972 and paralyzed from waist downwards only to be nursed in his old age by a black woman who took care of him. This made him to recount in his dying years and to ask for forgiveness from the black people whom he had seriously hurt and injured. This evil man provided the environment and template for other racists to thrive which eventually led to the assassination of Medgar Evans, a civil rights leader in Jackson Mississippi on June 12, 1963 and Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee.  This was after he had achieved his historic march on Washington DC in on August 1963 in which he had famously asked that man should not be judged by the colour of one’s skin but by one’s character .The violence that engulfed the United States in those years took the lives of even the President of the United States, the unforgettable John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his younger brother and former Attorney -General of the United States, Robert Kennedy.

    In the meantime and for most of the presidency of Richard Nixon 1968 to1974, another man driven by hate for the black people, Blacks in the state of Alabama under George Wallace were herded to ghettos where they dared not venture out. They were denied decent jobs, housing, good schools, and transportation and when they died they were buried separately from their white over lords. Discrimination was a directive policy of the state government. Yet Alabama was in the so-called Bible Belt with its hundreds of Baptist churches. Even churches belonging to black people were serially fire-bombed. In one of those occasions, the future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was lucky to have escaped being roasted alive when her church in Birmingham was attacked by white supremacists. When a successful black man bought a house in any decent part of the town, members of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) would assemble in the night covering themselves with hooded white dress to burn the cross in front of the house of the Blackman while shooting sporadically in to the house. It was so distressing and depressing for all black people who had to go through the ordeal. Those of us who were not involved and far away in Africa but who watched helplessly felt so unhappy about these inexplicable things that were done by men to others just because of the difference in colour of the skin. Unfortunately this kind of scenario was found all over the southern states of the USA but the situation in places like Alabama was more odious and vicious than in other places. The situation in the northern AMERICAN states was just marginally better. It was this sad situation that made the government of Nigeria declare in 1960 after independence that our country’s foreign policy would protect and uphold the dignity of the black man no matter where he was. This was a lofty aim but it was important to our founding fathers to make this pledge. It helped in adding our voice to those of the blacks in the USA who were agitating for change using either Martin Luther King’s non-violent protest or those who engaged in violent protest as was the case with young students like Stockley Carmichael, Rap Brown, Angela Davis, Hugh Newton, Eldridge Cleaver and the black Muslims like Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. I remember our government offering James Meredith, a black American student who had to be escorted on the orders of President JF Kennedy before he could be allowed to attend the University of Mississippi to come and study at the University of Ibadan in 1963. He came for a year before he returned to the USA. In a way, the destiny of all black peoples in the world was inextricably linked. The experience of humiliation was the same and it did not matter whether in South Africa, Namibia, the USA or Nigeria. For some reasons, we remained unconcerned about the plight of the black man in Latin America generally. This was due to the fact of the propaganda that the Latin Americans did not pay attention to the racial differences in people. Of course we were wrong. Racism was as bad in Latin America as it was in the northern hemisphere. But as a country, we were for decades seized with finding an end to colonialism and apartheid in Southern Africa at considerable cost to our exchequer. But it was worth it. Very few Nigerians are aware that at a time their fellow countrymen could not live in Ikoyi or any of the so-called reservations in Ibadan, Kaduna and Enugu and their provincial counterparts which were designated as white areas. Even the nationalist leader, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and others had to picket Broad Street Hotel in Lagos because they were refused service there in the 1950s. I remember as late as the early 1970s that one could not be easily served in Hill Station Hotel Jos even by compatriots who worked there for fear of being reprimanded by their white bosses for serving Nigerians.

    My hope is that we the victims of racism and colonialism can forgive our oppressors. Going through Alabama made me feel sorry for the present people of the state who should not be held responsible for the sins of their parents. Even though there is residual racism all over the United States, changes are also noticeable. I could also see many business places shut down as signs of economic decline affecting blacks and whites. I also had a Ghoulish and unusual feeling as if the thousands of murdered people were asking for justice.

    No country is perfect but there ought to be some kind of restitution by the government of the United States for the families of those who were murdered during the civil rights protests. This will include whites and blacks because some white people fought side by side with blacks. Until restitution is paid, the blood of black peoples that was shed and that still continue to be shed by rampant killing by the white police would demand  and cry for justice. There can be no closure of the inhumanity of man to man until there is collective recognition of past injury and sin committed by one people against the other. Chief MK Abiola before he was killed committed a portion of his wealth to ask for reparation for the blacks comparable to what Germany has paid to the Jews. He was supported in this endeavour by my teacher, the late Professor JF Ade Ajayi and Ali Mazrui. We should always leave this door open and we should not allow the world to forget.

  • Echoes of Oloye in Alabama

    Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, should read reports from Alabama State in the United States. They will find a kindred spirit in a man called Mike Hubbard, the speaker of the House of Assembly. He had no immunity and no fellow lawmaker asked for him to be shielded from court action.

    About two weeks ago, he was convicted on 12 felony charges in an ethics case, and he could face 20 years in jail on each count. Sentencing is pending.

    The man is not like Saraki’s deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who not long ago sent an SOS to the world. For the record, it will be the first time that a senior lawmaker will cry to the tribunal of the world opinion. But this is not to say Hubbard acted with grace or dignity. Like Saraki, Hubbard lashes out at his political opponents and calls the case an act of “political witch-hunt.”

    Saraki has been saying APC political leaders and the presidency accounted for his woes. He does not want to own up to his iniquities. Observers of Alabama politics call it a “black eye” on the image of the state.  It did not stop the fellow lawmakers from washing their hands of the misbehaviour of their colleague and leader.

    Here though, we have a herd Senate under Saraki where corruption stares them in the face and they followed their leader to court in a stinking spectacle of solidarity.

    Unlike Hubbard, Saraki and his men are not accused of making $2.3 million from peddling their influence. But Saraki has to answer forgery charges, which are no less serious than Hubbard’s offence. So, the same western world to which the epistolary deputy Senate president sent an SOS are not willing to spare their own. They are not asking for adjournments of interminable lengths of time.

    Since last year, Saraki has been under the gun for forging house rules to enable him become president. The substantive matter has not been heard. Rather, his lawyers and the judges are in a dance of sophomoric rigmarole. There are postponements. The matter got to the Supreme Court and danced back to the lower courts.

    Meanwhile, the Oloye is still holding court. The matter has been adjourned to September in a comical drama in which Saraki’s lawyer suggested that the judge was tired. The judge agreed. Even the EFCC lawyer raised no objection, except a tongue-in-cheek remark.

    There is a twist in this matter, though. In Hubbard’s case, he had led the legislature to enact an ethics law that forbade unnecessary use of influence, which is how Achebe defines corruption in his political novel, A Man of The People. He is now about to go to jail for violating it. For Saraki, he is accused of forgery in changing a rule.

    Both cases point to contempt for the rule of law and trying to profit by it. “This is a good day for the rule of law,” commented Attorney-General Luther Strange of Alabama State. “This should send a clear message that in Alabama, we hold public officials accountable for their actions.”

    Another representative, Victor Gaston, who welcomed the return of dignity to Alabama legislature, made a great point that those poodles of Saraki and Ekweremadu should learn from.

    Hear him: “The Alabama House is not defined by the actions of any one member, it is defined by the motto that appears on the wall of our Chamber, “Vox Populi” which means “Voice of the People.”

    Can the same be said about the house of Oloye?

  • Elizade, Alabama varsities partner

    Elizade, Alabama varsities partner

    Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State is set to partner Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, United States on course development and content infusion, amomg others.

    Speaking during a presentation to prepare the ground for the partnership, Stephen Babalola, a research Professor in College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Alabama A&M University, said the collaboration will also include joint proposal development workshops and training for professionals and career development for students.

    Babalola, who is also the Manager, Centre of Irradiation of Materials, described Elizade University as a good representative of the American University given the quality of its facilities.

    He said the students would gain the technical know-how of the operation of radiation detection for national security application which enables a compliant country to prevent terror attacks by detecting unauthorised weapons.

    He added that his university would also provide mentorship for the students.

    Responding, the Vice-Chancellor of Elizade University, Prof. Valentine Aletor, expressed delight at the collaboration, saying the university was ready to partner top-rated institutions that would help achieve its vision of producing globally competitive graduates.

    He said the university’s entrepreneurial and start-up centre was designed to make its graduates employers of labour and not job seekers.

    He promised the visitors that Elizade University will keep to its own side of the partnership and work harder to attract more beneficial collaborations.

     

  • Boy rescued as U.S kidnapper dies

    A kidnapper in the United States city of Alabama has died after police raided his bunker, saving a five-year-old boy held captive inside for six days.

    FBI agent Steve Richardson said agents had gone in after negotiations with Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, deteriorated.

    Dykes had been keeping the boy, Ethan, in a storm shelter since last Tuesday after abducting him from a school bus and shooting dead the driver, BBC reports.

    The 66-year-old bus driver’s funeral was held on Sunday.

    Daryle Hendry, who lives about a quarter of a mile (0.4km) from the bunker, told the Associated Press he heard a boom followed by a gunshot on Monday afternoon.

    Mr. Richardson said negotiations between officials and Dykes had deteriorated over the past 24 hours, and that the abductor had been seen holding a gun.

    “We were certainly concerned for the safety of the child,” he said.

    Fearing the child, Ethan, was in imminent danger, officials raided the bunker at 15:12 local time (21:12 GMT), he said.

    A local law enforcement official told Reuters a stun or flash grenade was detonated as part of the operation to free him, but did not release other details.

    It was unclear how Dykes had died. The child was said to have been unharmed and taken to hospital where he was reunited with his family.

    “I have visited with Ethan. He is doing fine: he’s laughing, joking, playing, eating – the things that you would expect a normal 5-to-6-year-old to do,” the FBI agent told reporters.