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Most Recent Appeal Letter from Africa ActionClick here to download a printable PDF of this letter. Africa Action is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization under the U.S. tax code. Contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. April 2008 Dear Friends, At the Ford Foundation’s Laboratory on New Thinking on Foreign Policy, I had the privilege of witnessing a slide show presentation by Faith Kasavi, Co-Director of the Coalition against Violence against Women in Kenya. Normally a powerful and fiery women’s rights activist, on this occasion she struggled to keep her composure. In fact, we all struggled. She was showing us pictures of men and women thrown carelessly about a morgue in Nakuru, Kenya. Kikuyu, Luo and Kalinjin bodies stacked four or five deep on shelves. There were so many bodies that no one attempted to identify the victims, nor evidently to bury them. Emotions in the room ran higher as one slide showed a stack of bodies topped by a pregnant woman with a huge gash at the top of her abdomen. Emotions peaked when the slide show reach the pictures of the dead children, dozens of them. I was devastated myself. My beloved Kenya, my home for 7 years and a country and people I loved was collapsing in front of my eyes. I knew that 44 ethnic groups had lived side by side without violence for 45 years. I knew Kenya had been stable since independence. Sadly, the anger and fear that boiled over in the aftermath of the stolen election was not surprising. Nor was the exploitation of these emotions by politicians. “Why do people call this tribalism?” Faith said bitterly. “Can’t they see that these are desperately poor people being used as pawns? They all die so others can retain their opulent lifestyle!” The scene could be replayed in Darfur, Chad, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc. Whenever poor people are in conflict in Africa it is traditionally dismissed as “tribalism.” This way, in the court of public opinion, the wealthy elite and their foreign benefactors can avoid addressing the extreme poverty that their policies and practices created. The strategy is to dismiss the violence as “tribalism”, wait until things calm down and then resume business as usual. However, Kenya ranks 148th out of 177 countries on the human development index and the average income is approximately $640 a year. No, this wasn’t “tribalism” -- this was millions of people with nothing left to lose. Africa Action immediately waged a crisis media and education campaign designed to push the Bush Administration to back off its initial support of the Kibaki government ("accept the results. . . calmly" (!)) and to promote & protect the will of the Kenyan voters. We provided a comprehensive analysis of what was really happening in Kenya, informed as always by partners on the ground like the Daughters of Mumbi, the independent Kenya Human Rights Commission, and the Coalition against Violence Against Women in Kenya. We also re-published a piece originally written by Chris Lowe and William Minter ten years ago, “Talking about Tribe” as a way to unpack this intellectually lazy distillation of the Kenya crisis. Our approach is similar in volatile Zimbabwe. In my last letter, I told you about my Uncle Tilden facing Ian Smith’s rifles while on fact-finding mission to then Rhodesia with Africa Action’s predecessor, American Committee on Africa. He was there to counter false claims and deception in the information being passed on by the Smith regime. History proved us right. Africa Action staffer and renowned former Zimbabwean student organizer, Briggs Bomba, has just returned from traveling across Zimbabwe, meeting with voters and civil society groups and giving us the whole unfiltered story on our blog, http://justzimbabwe.wordpress.com. Once again, Africa Action seeks to challenge decision-makers to uphold first and foremost the dignity and human rights of the people of Zimbabwe and support their quest for democracy and economic stability and sovereignty. The Kenya crisis and the mission to Zimbabwe are just two of the many exciting new initiatives we are undertaking, from organizing activists to campaigning for justice in solidarity with our African partners and we encourage you to join us. The campaigns for the U.S. presidency usually fail to generate much enthusiasm amongst student activists. However the 2008 quest for the White House has sparked new political engagement on the part of young people, the likes of which we have not seen in decades. Africa Action is responding to this new energy and global awareness with an aggressive new mobilizing effort to build our Student Network. You can read the latest edition of the Africa Action Student Network Newsletter Just Action on our website. Africa Action has been speaking at universities almost weekly and has been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of students across the country to engage on changing U.S.-Africa policy on all of our campaign issues. Funding permitted, we would like to organize Africa Action Student Chapters at 75 colleges and universities across the country within the next 3 years. We have already conducted organizing meetings at seven new campuses. When we look at the history of building social movements in this country, students are one of the most powerful elements of change. Religious leaders and communities are another one of the prophetic pillars of work for justice. We have invited members of our Religious Action Network to raise Africa in sermons and services on two special Sundays this spring. The first was April 6th, the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the second will be on May 25th, African Liberation Day. On the 6th, religious communities across the country talked about Darfur and on the 25th the discussion will be about economic justice in the U.S. and in Africa. We have already gotten a warm response from religious leaders, and if you belong to a faith community, and would like some resources to assist in developing an Africa service, feel free to contact our office. In addition to working with students and religious leaders, Africa Action recognizes that advocacy groups seeking justice for Africa must work together to effectively build lasting change in U.S. policy. In this spirit, Africa Action has taken the initiative to help rebuild the Advocacy Network for Africa Forum. The goal is to provide an easy mechanism for increasing the flow of dependable and timely action-oriented information shared among the Africa advocacy community here in the U.S., and between U.S.-based groups and African grassroots groups. Africa Action has been making strides to accomplish our three campaign goals, to Stop Genocide in Darfur, End HIV/AIDS in Africa, and Cancel Africa’s illegitimate debt. The genocide in Darfur has taken a turn for the worse in recent months. Now six years into the crisis, violence and insecurity in the region has risen to the levels of the early years. Once again, targeted bombing by the Sudanese government followed by raids by the Janjaweed are destroying towns and villages. Several massacres and the disappearance of hundreds of boys remind us that this is more than a civil war, more than a political or military conflict, this is genocide. As the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan continues to dissolve as timelines and commitments go unmet, and as the Darfur violence escalates, other regions of Sudan are also on the edge of conflict. The U.S. must employ a comprehensive Sudan policy that supports peace agreements in each region, provides its fair share of the cost of peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts and most importantly put aside it’s war on terror agenda and use its leverage to press for the full deployment and support of the United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. frica Action is working to place the Darfur crisis in the context of the whole of Sudan, in response to urging from our Sudanese allies. In addition to new resources including Darfur in Context and The Ties that Bind Bush and Bashir: 'War on terror' intelligence ties undermine U.S. action to protect Darfur, one of the ways that we are helping to re-frame Darfur in its historical and national context is through a major event co-hosted by Howard University on April 11th, Witnessing Genocide: A Forum for Reflection, Collective Learning, Mobilization and Action. At this event we had our exhibit of children’s drawings and two beautiful paintings made by Sandi Carter Brown of Darfurian women and children, along with a series of photographs and testimonies from all across the country of Sudan. Sandi is an artist that contacted us one day over a year ago to offer up her artwork that is inspired by what she has learned about Darfur. These photographs and comments reflect the beautiful diversity of the country and help to re-introduce the people of Sudan, not as victims, but as agents for change in their country. At the end of the event we asked participants to help us to make a banner of handprints that we will deliver to the U.S. Mission of the United Nations. This banner will join with the scores of other banners sent from across the country that call on the U.S. to lead the UN to stop genocide in Darfur. Each banner is “signed” with a red handprint. We have banners from all across the country, and participants in this campaign tell us that it is a profound experience to give witness to the genocide by adding a handprint to this message. You can take part in this project too: all the information is on our website at www.africaaction.org/darfur. The delivery of the banners will happen in May, just before the U.S. takes the helm at the UN Security Council in June. Our ‘08 Presidential Candidate Poster on HIV/AIDS released in Iowa, made several local newspapers and Africa Action activists bird dogged candidates and delegates helping to inspire positive responses and support for increasing the amount of money for AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis for Africa from $30 million to $50 million. The foundation of the bird-dogging campaign nation-wide is the Stop AIDS 08 platform that was originally drafted by Africa Action. On our website at www.africaaction.org/aids, you can read some of the resources Africa Action created that help advocates to understand the nuances of the new U.S. Global AIDS initiative to speak out in defense of women’s right to health. Africa Action has been taking time to re-connect with African allies on our HIV/AIDS campaign, discussing new strategies and working on deepening grassroots solidarity between women in the U.S. and African women leaders to expose and defeat the feminization of HIV/AIDS. Africa Action has been collaborating with the Jubilee USA Network in the effort to pass the Jubilee Act. Among other things, this bill would dramatically expand debt cancellation and seek to end harmful economic conditions attached to debt cancellation. By the time this letter reaches you, the Jubilee Act will likely have passed out of committee and be up for a vote on floor of the full House of Representatives. You can check our homepage in the Take Action box to find out if the vote has happened by the time you get this letter or if there is still time to call your member of Congress to urge them to vote for Africa’s freedom from debt. Jubilee USA Network has encouraged Africa Action to take leadership in the effort to address vulture funds. In response, Africa Action and a few allies have been developing a shame and name campaign to expose these harmful hedge funds and enable individuals, organizations and institutions to divest from poverty predators. Africa Action developed a primer on these companies that shines a spotlight on the Zambia case and has been hosting workshops that present the issue through mock trials where participants act as the jury, deciding the just solution to vulture fund suits. Africa Action has been challenged to balance our campaign work on Darfur, debt and HIV/AIDS with the many other important issues that arise on the continent, including responding to the Kenya crisis, engaging in the Zimbabwean elections and challenging the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). We have statements on each of these hot topics on our website. To help us to speak out on other important issues, we have developed a series of new resources on topics that are important to us and to our allies in Africa. Blood Diamonds are NOT Forever, which was released on Valentine’s Day this year, is the first of the series. Keep watch on our website for new analysis and opportunities for action on the Niger Delta, the Horn of Africa, democracy and governance issues at large, Africa’s resources, migration, refugees and immigration. Don’t forget to check in with us often to engage with us on this new content. I think you would agree that for a small organization, we produce an enormous amount of work! We come to the office every day mindful of the enormous accomplishments of Africa Action and the predecessor organizations - the American Committee on Africa, the Africa Fund and the Africa Policy and Information Center. We push hard because that’s our legacy. But we need your help. We need your investment in Africa Action to enable us to realize these goals. Remember, we have never taken government or corporate money. The organization has been sustained for 55 years by individual donors who have appreciated the sincere and genuine collaboration with African civil society, the courageous stands for justice, the unique framing and analysis, and skillful grassroots organizing. In the end, it was always people like you, who renewed your commitment to the mission and vision of these institutions and provided the support that was so desperately needed. Please consider giving a significant financial contribution at this time of $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford. Your investment will demonstrate to us the value our work has had in the past and your commitment to help us to continue our rejuvenation of this vitally important organization. Send in your donation today and we will continue to mobilize public opinion, moving decision-makers to adopt more effective strategies for addressing African priorities.
Gerald A. LeMelle Africa Action
is a 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent
allowable by law.
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