Obama Is Not African Messiah by Talal Banambi (Brooklyn) followed by critical analysis by M'lilwana Osanku

"Show me whose bread you eat, and I’ll tell you whose songs you'll sing" . . . Hubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927)

"The politician has to tell lies. He has to say different things to different people. I could never defend politicians. They speak with a forked tongue." .... Rory Westmaas


Obama Is Not African Messiah by Talal Banambi (Brooklyn) followed by critical analysis by M'lilwana Osanku
Hello African Abroad,
I don't understand why my article on Libya which makes lot sense, was not published, everything I wrote was true and important for the people to read but it was shunned, anyway, the reason why I am writing this one is because I don't understand why people treat and think of Barack Obama as if he is a messiah for Africans!!? Just because his father is, an African doesn't mean he is an African hero! Barrack Obama right from the start was not interested in Africa in the first place, he only used his father and Kenya to rally support for his Presidency! Obama, has never lived in Africa for more than a month all his life in America, he called himself an African -American, most of his friends are African Americans and white American.
Obama, is a confused black man who doesn't understand Africa and its problems, and doesn't care! So all you Africans, who think Obama cares about you and is here to fix Africans problems are all dreaming, just like Martin Luther king, your dreams will never come true, Obama doesn't care about you and your African problem!!! Obama only care about African American, whom he views as his brothers and sisters and main ally. To me Obama is a traitor, an uncle torn, a house Negro and a puppet for white America!! Who was selected and elected by his democratic white superiors to run white affairs and to fix white problems?!! So African people wake up and smell the coffee ! Obama is not here to fix Africa, he is only here to fix white America, so get it straight or keep on dreaming like Martin Luther King!.
Source: Banambi, Talal (2011) Obama Is Not African Messiah - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR -African Abroad-USA, June 15 - June 29, 2011: Page 22
"But when the reek of the poison gas propaganda has cleared away and the smoke of the barrage has lifted it will be found that "White Men's Niggers" is a phase that need not be restricted to old-line politicians and editors. Criticism pungent and insistent is due to every man in public life and to every movement which bids for public support. "... Hubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927)
I really do not have much to complaint about respecting the facts stated by Talal Banambi. The only really profound expression given is the apparent failure of the numerous attempts in propagating the theology of cultural black unity amongst the global black Diaspora. The tone of the text exposes facts that even in this the age of information divisionism amongst our people still poses a real, clear and present threats to those of us who advocate total black unity across all forms of man-made boundaries. Programs of social and cultural reformation are obviously absolutely necessary in this epoch.
Also I cannot fathom where the author was going with respect to his expression of Kenyan support for the Obama Candidacy. I cannot imagine what the significance of the allegation Obama Campaign courted Kenyan support to the success of Obama becoming the forty-fourth president of the USA. Such an expression is similar to attempting to turn a mote hill into a mountain. It is a total stretch. It is at best, superficial.
Walter Raleigh in his text Dialogue between a Councillor and a Justice of the Peace. States that evil councillors should be delivered to the people. Raleigh also stated ambitious politicians subverted the monarchical state. He also proposed parliamentary appropriation of taxation and ministerial accountability.
It is my understanding. There are several meanings for the word, messiah in English Language. The word, Messiah is said to be identified with the following;
1.The promised liberator of a nation,
2.One who has been prophesied,
3.A leader,
4.A savior
5.An anointed one.

Does Obama measure up fully to any of those criterions respecting Black America and the Global Black Experience? I cannot comprehend the reasoning behind the advocacy of Obama as a Black messiah. I understand such thinking. I perceive such rhetoric as an affront to black American messiahs such a Sojourner Truth, Harriet Ross Tubman, Dr. Charles Drew, William Still and numerous unsung heroes along the underground railway, the abolitionist, Malcolm X, and the African teachers, Dr. Ben and Dr. John Clarke, Arthur Schomburg, and Marcus Garvey others who struggled for the emancipation of Blacks in the Americas.
It is very unlikely Obama's African ancestors were ever enslaved in the Americas . . . Obama is not in the true sense of the phrasing, an African -American. I am willing to wager the remainder of my life, whatever it is worth, that African ancestors of Obama are not known to be buried in the Americas. They are not known to have been attached to any plantation in the Americas. It is very likely the only cotton and sugar cane any member of Obama's paternal ancestry ever picked and/or cut in the Americas were picked up off shelves of grocery stores in the USA . . .
During the Obama election campaigns I got the impression that the so-called African-Americans, African-Caribbeans, Latino-Americans, Africans, and African-Europeans, the global black experience, and even Asiatic have lifted Obama well clear of all of our champions of the past. I have accessed numerous texts making outrageous claims. I heard numerous African-Americans’ residents dwelling in the Zip Code 11216, and at institutions of higher learning, stating their impressions of the meaning of Obama to them. Well, would you know it the poor people and the immigrant communities are very disappointed in what they have received for their vote and support.
I think and accept, in the first place, poor people and non-European-Americans were not being realistic. No president of the United States of America has ever exercised absolute power. The US President does not dictate change of policy in the USA. The US President does not have the authority similar to that of either dictator or ruler of a dynastic monarchy. Pharaohs of Kemet (ancient Egypt) claimed to be God on earth, and whatever they wished were commanded and executed in the "land of the Gods.”
Henry Tudor (Henry the eight) of England (June 28, 1491 - January 28, 1547) wielded more freedom of action than Obama and all of the 44 US Presidents combined. Henry the eight ruled for about thirty-eight years. He was king of England from April 22, 1509 to January 28, 1547. Henry the eight acted as his heart desired. He chopped off the heads of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Sir Thomas More, and others. After he severed the necks of people’s he once loved, He acted as if he were suffering from either withdrawal syndrome or remorse. Henry Tudor the eight, did not refrain from severing the necks of those who opposed his desires. Yet, Henry the eight has remained very popular amongst his subjects. He is admired, even to this day. The people occupying the seats as decision makers were all self serving. They were also preoccupied with keeping their heads.
Even Chaka the Zulu Warrior King enjoyed more autonomy than Obama. Chaka had more authority over the Zulu nation any US President ever will over the American people. There are institutions of Government which are in place to prevent any man achieving absolute power in the USA. Every piece of legislature has to survive numerous institutions before that item become as American as apple pie. Obama cannot even make his aunt an American citizen. His aunt is labeled an illegal immigrant. She is a resident in the city of Boston, in the state of Massachusetts. Then, how upon this earth, can anyone justify their grievances against Obama is beyond my simple mind-set? He can only do what he was selected, and instructed to do. That's the bottom line. That is the exact nature of the matter at hand. It is the reality of the situation.
Obama is a symbolic figure. He is a politician. He is not a messiah. He is certainly not a messiah of Black people. I believe and accept Malcolm X was the last Messiah of Black people in the USA. I am not at all sure messiahs are generational phenomenons. I am not convinced a Messiah of Black people has appeared during the last forty-six years in the USA. Al Sharpton is the closest.
The simple and realistic conclusion is clear Obama is a politician. He does not advocate the issues facing Black America. It must be accepted politicians are adept at telling lies. Politicians have a history of saying different things to different people, in the interest of attaining their vote and/or support. I do not know why people, and most especially poor people defend politicians. I cannot understand why people kill others to advance the aims and ambitions of politicians. The politicians for whom you kill others become iconic figures, principally national heroes. Their foot soldiers remain for the most part poor and unknown. The politicians speak with forked tongues. I think that really means personal gain special interests and others hand over to politicians. Often political careers begin with the politicians being very poor and when their careers are over most have accumulated wealth beyond their wildest dreams. This is obviously most evident in the developing nations but is also commonplace in the USA and the developed nations of the western world.
I think Oprah Winfrey provides a great analogy for Obama. Oprah is obviously black. However, her enterprise is not constructed upon a black audience. If it were, she would not be a billionaire. Certainly, her show would not have survived and/or be as successful as it is for so long. Have you witnessed underprivileged working class people featured on Oprah Winfrey's Show regularly? I am positive. It is a very simplistic task to account for all of the Black people featured on the Oprah Winfrey show. They are all are well known. Most are in the entertainment industry, politicians, authors, and academics. Oprah does not advocate the issues which have and are handcuffing African-Americans, and/or the Global Black Experience. She may have occasionally give lip service to passing events. That’s about the size of it.
I think Oprah Winfrey is a person most Americans would support and elect as president of the USA. Did you get it?