Pulling Back the Veil on "Who Will Rise?"

This is the sixth in a series of blog posts concerning reader-favorite poems from my most recent book, A Poet Speaks of Empire. This post will pull back the veil on "Who Will Rise?" This particular poem concerns the new scramble for Africa and asks a question at the heart of the book, mainly, which world power will emerge victorious in this new era? Does foreign investment in Africa from emerging market nations like Brazil, Russia, India and China represent a new age of imperialism? Or, does it, in fact, represent a new partnership where sub-Saharan Africa shares in the gains of investment? Here's the poem:

WHO WILL RISE?

A vivid past forces our African

imaginations —

now faded memories of Sundiata

and colonial revolutionaries like

Sarraounia  and Nehanda:

beacons, forerunners, trailblazers

in a lost time, whose past battles

parallel our renewed struggle.

What have we learned from our past?

Do we have an answer to imperialism?

Questions that demand answers –

questions we cannot fathom.

What new strength has been added?

Is this a time to conquer or to be

re-conquered?

New masters and old mingle in

our African imaginations begging

the question, “Who will rise?”

In this poem, I ask the question, "Is this a time to conquer or to be/re-conquered?" Is what we're seeing today merely a second scramble for sub-Saharan Africa's mineral resource wealth or is foreign investment more meaningful? Is this a time to reflect on ancient revolutionaries like Sundiata, Sarraounia and Nehanda, who were "beacons, forerunners, [and] trailblazers" who aided in throwing off the chains of imperialism in times past? Finally, "new [colonial] masters," like Brazil, like Russia, like China "mingle" with "old," like Great Britain, France and Portugal, "begging the question 'Who will rise?'"--who will emerge, who will reign? This is a piviotal moment in history--an appropriate time for a poet to speak of empire. 

My continued reading on Africa's rise seems to point to a happy ending for the continent. According to a recent issue of The Network Journal, Brazil's public and private sectors have pledged to re-invest and transfer technologies to the continent in order to repay a "solidarity debt" for the many Africans taken as slaves across the middle of the last millennium. According to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: Brazil, which is the world's sixth-largest economy, "owes its current strength to the more than 300 years of slavery during which we exploited the sweat and blood of millions of Africans.”

Brazil's government and multinational corporations plan to make strategic investments in everything from physical infrastructure to agriculture to technology to the auto sector in order to propel growth and expand Africa's growing middle class. Brazil invested $28 billion  in projects on the continent in 2011, up dramatically from $4 billion in 2000. China and Brazil will continue to compete for the demands of the burgeoning middle class. Africa continues to be an increasingly lucrative place to do business. If Brazil and China are any example, the future looks bright for Africa.

Book Signing at Barnes & Noble in Partnership with The Hord Foundation

Last weekend, I was fortunate to have a two-day book event at Barnes & Noble in Danbury, CT in partnership with The Hord Foundation. Last Saturday, I joined The Hord Foundation's founder, Board members and volunteers in an effort to raise funding for The Foundation's college scholarships to African American high school seniors in western Connecticut. (Click here to read more about The Hord Foundation's work.) I signed my books and handed out Hord brochures for nearly three hours.

While south of Connecticut the east coast was pounded with cold and snow, New England was spared the bad weather, at least for a few days. Fortunately, there was a lot of traffic in the store on Saturday and Sunday. We raised awareness about Hord, while raising money and selling my books. A portion of all sales to Barnes customers with a Hord Foundation card benefited Hord's scholarship fund.

It was great to chat with customers and to steer their sales toward books of mine that were appropriate for them or family and friends. Many were shopping for gifts. Nothing beats face to face contact with potential readers. I love doing events like these. They foment wonderful conversation and learning.

On Saturday, A Poet Speaks of Empire was the impetus for a number of conversations. One woman agreed with the book's premise that, in visiting Timbuktu, Mali not long ago, change was in the air. She noted that this seems to be a new era particularly for business in West Africa. Following that conversation, I spoke to a gentlemen whose daughter spent three months working in Botswana as a part of her graduate program. His daughter relished riding the local bus to and from work and no one knowing that she was different, an American, until she opened her mouth to speak. This experience of being part of a majority was new and refreshing for her.

On Sunday, I gave a presentation outlining three of my four published books and even introduced a poem from my forthcoming book of poetry, Love Emphatically. The focus again fell on A Poet Speaks of Empire. A South African gentleman, approached me after my book talk wondering why I chose to write poetry. What followed was a discussion about politics and economics in South Africa today. He said that the focus on materialism and opulence was poisonous. After speaking to him, I got the sense that South Africa seems to be losing its way. The African National Congress seems to be rather dominant, with splintering interests represented in far too many other (possibly weaker) political parties.

He was mildly skeptical about the Chinese's interests in South Africa. While the Chinese are investing in new roads and other infrastructure, their interests remain in removing natural resources. Moreover, the expertise and employment that the Chinese bring to South Africa leaves with them. They don't seem invested in training or hiring locals/indigenous South Africans for business purposes.

Although his overall outlook was perhaps a little bit skeptical, I greatly appreciated his sobering perspective. I look forward to and welcome future conversations of this nature.

Examining Reader-Favorite Poems: "An Homage to the Black Stars"

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts concerning reader-favorite poems from my latest book, A Poet Speaks of Empire. This week I'll examine "An Homage to the Black Stars." I'll interpret the poem and tell the story behind it. Here's the poem:  

AN HOMAGE TO THE BLACK STARS

They took to the streets like

so many birds to the sky:

flocked like children to the

red clay, cheering for those

long-revered.

Long prayed for rain arriving

in rhythm like their praise.

They carried flags and touted shirts

for the Black Stars.

The crowd’s arrival was an

explosion of joy – pounding streets,

confusing traffic, reaching skyward.

The overwhelming volume consuming

the blackbird’s cry. Audible from the

crowd, all but silence.

The "Black Stars" is the name given to Ghana's beloved national soccer team. They're named as such because of the famous black star at the center of Ghana's national flag (see left). This black star comes from Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line, whose ships' destination was West Africa.

The poem above concerns my experience on the streets of Kumasi, Ghana after a wonderful soccer game from the 2006 World Cup played in Germany. I was fortunate to be in Ghana when the Black Stars beat the United States to advance to the second round.

I happened to be returning by car from watching the game with a co-worker's family when the city erupted. Black Stars fans "took to the streets like/so many birds to the sky". Despite the rain, the streets were filled with young men and women "pounding streets,/confusing traffic, reaching skyward" in "long prayed for rain". It was a mesmerizing spectacle. There were so many people on the street that in the car we could only move at the pace of the crowd.

It was a long ride home but a memorable one. The city was on fire in a way that I had never seen and I was there to witness it.

More to come..