Obama, the African Colonial

American Thinker ^ | June 25, 2009 | L.E. Ikenga

[neverdem]

Had Americans been able to stop obsessing over the color of Barack Obama's skin and instead paid more attention to his cultural identity, maybe he would not be in the White House today. The key to understanding him lies with his identification with his father, and his adoption of a cultural and political mindset rooted in postcolonial Africa.

Like many educated intellectuals in postcolonial Africa, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was enraged at the transformation of his native land by its colonial conqueror. But instead of embracing the traditional values of his own tribal cultural past, he embraced an imported Western ideology, Marxism. I call such frustrated and angry modern Africans who embrace various foreign "isms", instead of looking homeward for repair of societies that are broken, African Colonials. They are Africans who serve foreign ideas.

The tropes of America's racial history as a way of understanding all things black are useless in understanding the man who got his dreams from his father, a Kenyan exemplar of the African Colonial.

Before I continue, I need to say this: I am a first generation born West African-American woman whose parents emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970's from the country now called Nigeria. I travel to Nigeria frequently. I see myself as both a proud American and as a proud Igbo (the tribe that we come from -- also sometimes spelled Ibo). Politically, I have always been conservative (though it took this past election for me to commit to this once and for all!); my conservative values come from my Igbo heritage and my place of birth. Of course, none of this qualifies me to say what I am about to -- but at the same time it does.

My friends, despite what CNN and the rest are telling you, Barack Obama is nothing more than an old school African Colonial who is on his way to turning this country into one of the developing nations that you learn about on the National Geographic Channel. Many conservative (East, West, South, North) African-Americans like myself -- those of us who know our history -- have seen this movie before. Here are two main reasons why many Americans allowed Obama to slip through the cracks despite all of his glaring inconsistencies:

First, Obama has been living on American soil for most of his adult life. Therefore, he has been able to masquerade as one who understands and believes in American democratic ideals. But he does not. Barack Obama is intrinsically undemocratic and as his presidency plays out, this will become more obvious. Second, and most importantly, too many Americans know very little about Africa. The one-size-fits-all understanding that many Americans (both black and white) continue to have of Africa might end up bringing dire consequences for this country.

Contrary to the way it continues to be portrayed in mainstream Western culture, Africa is not a continent that can be solely defined by AIDS, ethnic rivalries, poverty and safaris. Africa, like any other continent, has an immense history defined by much diversity and complexity. Africa's long-standing relationship with Europe speaks especially to some of these complexities -- particularly the relationship that has existed between the two continents over the past two centuries. Europe's complete colonization of Africa during the nineteenth century, also known as the Scramble for Africa, produced many unfortunate consequences, the African colonial being one of them.

The African colonial (AC) is a person who by means of their birth or lineage has a direct connection with Africa. However, unlike Africans like me, their worldviews have been largely shaped not by the indigenous beliefs of a specific African tribe but by the ideals of the European imperialism that overwhelmed and dominated Africa during the colonial period. AC's have no real regard for their specific African traditions or histories.  AC's use aspects of their African culture as one would use pieces of costume jewelry: things of little or no value that can be thoughtlessly discarded when they become a negative distraction, or used on a whim to decorate oneself in order to seem exotic. (Hint: Obama's Muslim heritage).

On the other hand, AC's strive to be the best at the culture that they inherited from Europe. Throughout the West, they are tops in their professions as lawyers, doctors, engineers, Ivy League professors and business moguls; this is all well and good. It's when they decide to engage us as politicians that things become messy and convoluted.

The African colonial politician (ACP) feigns repulsion towards the hegemonic paradigms of Western civilization. But at the same time, he is completely enamored of the trappings of its aristocracy or elite culture. The ACP blames and caricatures whitey to no end for all that has gone wrong in the world. He convinces the masses that various forms of African socialism are the best way for redressing the problems that European colonialism motivated in Africa. However, as opposed to really being a hard-core African Leftist who actually believes in something, the ACP uses socialist themes as a way to disguise his true ambitions: a complete power grab whereby the "will of the people" becomes completely irrelevant.

Barack Obama is all of the above. The only difference is that he is here playing (colonial) African politics as usual.  

In his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father -- an eloquent piece of political propaganda -- Obama styles himself as a misunderstood intellectual who is deeply affected by the sufferings of black people, especially in America and Africa. In the book, Obama clearly sees himself as an African, not as a black American. And to prove this, he goes on a quest to understand his Kenyan roots. He is extremely thoughtful of his deceased father's legacy; this provides the main clue for understanding Barack Obama.

Barack Obama Sr. was an African colonial to the core; in his case, the apple did not fall far from the tree. All of the telltale signs of Obama's African colonialist attitudes are on full display in the book -- from his feigned antipathy towards Europeans to his view of African tribal associations as distracting elements that get in the way of "progress".  (On p. 308 of Dreams From My Father, Obama says that African tribes should be viewed as an "ancient loyalties".)

Like imperialists of Old World Europe, the ACP sees their constituents not as free thinking individuals who best know how to go about achieving and creating their own means for success. Instead, the ACP sees his constituents as a flock of ignorant sheep that need to be led -- oftentimes to their own slaughter.

Like the European imperialist who spawned him, the ACP is a destroyer of all forms of democracy.

Here are a few examples of what the British did in order to create (in 1914) what is now called Nigeria and what Obama is doing to you: 

1. Convince the people that "clinging" to any aspect of their cultural (tribal) identity or history is bad and regresses the process of "unity". British Imperialists deeply feared people who were loyal to anything other than the state. "Tribalism" made the imperialists have to work harder to get people to just fall in line. Imperialists pitted tribes against each other in order to create chaos that they then blamed on ethnic rivalry. Today many "educated" Nigerians, having believed that their traditions were irrelevant, remain completely ignorant of their ancestry and the history of their own tribes.
2. Confiscate the wealth and resources of the area that you govern by any means necessary in order to redistribute wealth. The British used this tactic to present themselves as empathetic and benevolent leaders who wanted everyone to have a "fair shake". Imperialists are not interested in equality for all. They are interested in controlling all.  
3. Convince the masses that your upper-crust university education naturally puts you on an intellectual plane from which to understand everything even when you understand nothing. Imperialists were able to convince the people that their elite university educations allowed them to understand what Africa needed. Many of today's Nigerians-having followed that lead-hold all sorts of degrees and certificates-but what good are they if you can't find a job?   
4. Lie to the people and tell them that progress is being made even though things are clearly becoming worse.  One thing that the British forgot to mention to their Nigerian constituents was that one day, the resources that were being used to engineer "progress" (which the British had confiscated from the Africans to begin with!) would eventually run out. After WWII, Western Europe could no longer afford to hold on to their African colonies. So all of the counterfeit countries that the Europeans created were then left high-and-dry to fend for themselves. This was the main reason behind the African independence movements of the1950 and 60's. What will a post-Obama America look like?
5. Use every available media outlet to perpetuate the belief that you and your followers are the enlightened ones-and that those who refuse to support you are just barbaric, uncivilized, ignorant curmudgeons.  This speaks for itself.

America, don't be fooled. The Igbos were once made up of a confederacy of clans that ascribed to various forms of democratic government. They took their eyes off the ball and before they knew it, the British were upon them. Also, understand this: the African colonial who is given too much political power can only become one thing: a despot.

L.E. Ikenga can be reached at leikenga@gmail.com.

[Jedidah]

What would leave a paper trail? 1960 Census, but it’s sealed. Tax rolls, but she’s too young. Same with city directory. Traffic tickets, etc.? Possibility she took a summer course at U of C? Are there back issues of the Chicago Defender available for summer, 1960?

Needle in a haystack.

[rxsid]

Bookmark...research.

[Jedidah]

So Great Uncle Charles started work at the University of Chicago library in 1960, same year Stanley Ann spent the summer in Chicago. How old were Uncle Charlie’s kids? Could she have been babysitting her cousins while the family settled in? Maybe she planned to stay on and go to school there, but got pregnant and had to leave town?

Maybe 0 was already a few months old on his purported August, 1961, birthdate.

Just keeping all possibilities on the table.

[azishot]

Why Chicago? How did the Kansas-Washington-Hawaii chick wind up there of all places?!

Didn't Stanley Ann have an uncle that taught(?) at the U of C? Did he have kids? Maybe she was an au pair for them?

[LucyT]

Did William Ayer’s parents live in Hyde Park in 1960?

Did they have been elementary age children during that time?

Maybe Ann was the Au Pair to William Ayers... when was he born?

[Jedidah]

Ayers is only 2 years younger than Stanley Ann.

If her uncle was at the U of C library, she may well have had a library card. Would there be a record that had her Chicago address? She could possibly have taken a summer class at the university, in which case school records might yield a mailing address of where she was living (and with whom).

[azishot]

I think he was born in 1944 and has a brother. Don’t know the brother’s DOB.

[Velveeta]

Interesting and a good analysis.

Anyone else find it totally ironic that we’re discussing “Black Orpheus” today - and the setting for the book is........RIO!

[maggief]

(no links)

Thomas G. Ayers , a longtime civic and business leader, had a vision for Chicago’s urban landscape and its minority communities.

In addition to serving as the chairman and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Edison in the 1970s, he was a major force in the development of the area just south of the Loop known as Dearborn Park. He also was an advocate of fair housing and equal opportunity for women and minorities.

His son William Ayers was once the leader of the radical Weather Underground, formed amid the tumult of the Vietnam War and responsible for a series of bombings in the 1970s.

William Ayers , separated from his family during 11 years as a federal fugitive, said his father did not turn his back on him.

“He understood more than most the anger and frustration young people felt about that endless war,” said Ayers . “He really admired and loved all of his kids.”

Mr. Ayers , 92, died of congestive heart failure Friday, June 8, at home in Hyde Park, his family said. He was battling Parkinson’s disease but was talking up until the day before he died. He spent the last three years living with his once-estranged son and died surrounded by family.

“We were unanimous in the desire to have him close to us,” William Ayers said. “It was very special. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Mr. Ayers headed Commonwealth Edison for seven years, ending in 1980. Before assuming the top job, he helped negotiate the first labor contract between the energy giant and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

He served on many boards, including that of G.D. Searle, Chicago Pacific Corp., Zenith Corp., Northwest Industries, First National Bank of Chicago and Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, his family said.

He also worked with many nonprofits, serving as the chair of the Chicago Urban League, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chicago United, Community Renewal Society and the Chicago Community Trust.

Respected by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mayor Richard J. Daley and the business community, he worked with all sides in an effort to curb housing discrimination, his family said.

James O’Connor, former chairman and CEO of Commonwealth Edison and its former parent company, Unicom, said Mr. Ayers had an impact on Chicago unmatched by businessmen of the era.”He had an extraordinary social conscience,” O’Connor said. “He was willing to step into situations where very few people were willing to risk their reputation. He had total courage and never seemed to weigh the consequences of that sort of activity. He never did anything for applause or for any sort of recognition.”

O’Connor said Mr. Ayers was devoted to hiring and promoting women and minorities within Commonwealth Edison. He was often called upon to build consensus on sensitive topics.

“He was able to bring people together, which was why he was so often asked to be the head of different organizations and teams,” O’Connor said.

Mr. Ayers saw potential where few others did. Standing in his office in the early 1970s and looking out onto the railroad yard near the Loop, he believed that the right type of development would draw people to the area.

Critics dismissed the idea, but in the years since then the South Loop has become among the city’s more vibrant neighborhoods.

Although he was born in Detroit and attended the University of Michigan, Mr. Ayers was a staunch supporter of Northwestern University. He was chair of the school’s board of trustees for 10 years, and a university building bears his name.

“He was a guy of great intelligence and integrity, and he was willing to put the time in as well,” former NU president Arnold Weber said. “Those offices are not just honorary or for social distinction.”

Equally important to Mr. Ayers was the educational and financial advancement of African-Americans.

“He felt the black community’s success was key to Chicago’s success,” son John Ayers said. “He pushed business people to be more open in the 1960s.”

John Ayers described his father as a “wonderful and generous man.”

“In the ‘60s and ‘70s, we went through some rough patches in our family,” he said. “He was very sweet and supportive of us all. He used to say, ‘It takes all kinds’ to get the world moving forward.”

When William Ayers resurfaced in the 1980s, it was as though no time had passed between him and his father.

“It was as if we were in the middle of a conversation and nothing much had changed,” William Ayers said.

In addition to sons William and John, Mr. Ayers is survived by a daughter, Catherine Allen; two other sons, Thomas G. Ayers Jr. and Richard; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

His wife, Mary, died in 2000.

(snip)

//

Mary A. Ayers- was force behind hospital auxiliary
Chicago Sun-Times - Wednesday, January 19, 2000
Author: SCOTT FORNEK
Mary Andrew Ayers , 84,;; whose volunteer work helped build a major hospital in the western suburbs and support universities and museums in Chicago , died Sunday; of Alzheimer’s disease at Wynscape Healthcare Center in Wheaton.

A resident of Glen Ellyn for half a century, Mrs. Ayers was the wife of Thomas G. Ayers , former chairman of Commonwealth Edison. She helped found the women’s auxiliary of Central DuPage Hospital in 1958 as her husband helped raise money to build the hospital.

The auxiliary ran the gift shop at the hospital when it opened in Winfield in 1961 and a resale shop in Glen Ellyn and later Wheaton. Both raise money for the hospital.

“They give hundreds of thousands of dollars to the hospital every year,” her husband said.

In the late 1970s, Mrs. Ayers helped found the women’s board at Northwestern University and served as its first president. She was on the advisory boards of the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry.

About 10 years ago, Mrs. Ayers was president of Know Your Chicago , a women’s education and policy group sponsored by the University of Chicago .

Her husband said his wife fit in whether they were socializing with his management colleagues or attending a union function.

“She could deal with the corporate presidents or the politicians_whom she didn’t like as well as others_or the working people,” he said.

Mrs. Ayers was an avid gardener and amateur ornithologist, able to name most Midwestern birds by sight and song.

“She really knew birds,” said her youngest son, John. “We had the books and later the tapes. She was great at that. Her favorite bird was the chickadee.”

She was born in Houghton, Mich., in 1915 and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1937 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She was a social worker in Detroit before marrying Thomas Ayers in 1938. She and her husband moved to Maywood in 1939 and Glen Ellyn in 1941.

Other survivors include a daughter, Catherine Allen; three other sons, Thomas Jr., William and Richard; 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

(snip)

//

Wiki:

Thomas G. Ayers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Thomas G. Ayers (February 16, 1915, Detroit, Michigan – June 8, 2007, Chicago, Illinois) was president (1964–1980), CEO and chairman (1973–1980) of Commonwealth Edison.[1]

Ayers served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University, the Erikson Institute, the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, the Chicago Symphony, the Chicago Community Trust, the Chicago Urban League, the Community Renewal Society, the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, Chicago United, the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, and Dearborn Park Corp.,[1] and served as vice president of the Chicago Board of Education.[2]

Ayers also served on the board of directors of Sears, G.D. Searle, Chicago Pacific Corp., Zenith Corp., Northwest Industries, General Dynamics Corp. of St. Louis, First National Bank of Chicago, the Chicago Cubs, and the Tribune Co.[1]

His son William Ayers, once the leader of the radical Weather Underground, has been a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 1987.[3] His son John Ayers, once on the staff (1983–1986) of former U.S. Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL), is a national leader in charter school development.[4]

[Velveeta]

Seems everybody and their uncle (heh) lived in Hyde Park at the time.

Frank Marshall Davis, Elijah Mohammed, Ayres family, Bowmans (Valerie Jarrett’s maiden name), Vernon Jarrett family....and on and on.

[BP2]

Toots’ brother, Charles Payne, Assistant Director of the U of C Library.

Did he have a daughter or niece by the name of Bernice that might have been in Seattle to assist and/or watch over Ann and baby Obama?

Seattle Reverse Directory, 1961-1962

[Fred Nerks]

When Stanley Ann Dunham discovered she was pregnant, did she board a Black Star Line Ship that sailed through the St. Lawrence Seaway, then crossed the Atlantic? Did she stay with the expat community in Ghana?

Remember her friend said Ann sent her a postcard from a ship... and then quickly changed her tune.

Was baby Barry born in Ghana?

Or Cairo where Maya Angelou and David Du Bois were enjoying elite government positions? Both of them later moved to Ghana...

Who will answer your questions? Who has followed the story on this thread? Who is aware that Ghana established a shipping line (with the help of Israel) of 14 cargo ships - some of which advertised and took passengers?

Who understands that the BLACK STAR LINE was the mode of travel enjoyed by african-americans heading for the newly independant african countries, one of the first being Ghana?

Who understands the meaning of 'African Colonial'? Who understands that the african-american expats tried to take over the governments of their host country? How Nkrumah, after he ruined the economy of Ghana, accused the expats of being tools of the US government, out to destroy his country?

Who? Who would dream that the expats were hated by the indigenous peoples? Because they acted 'so high and mighty' and were considered by the indigenous to be more white than the colonials?

Who understands, that when Nkrumah was deposed, people danced in the street, they burnt Nkrumah in efigy! They shouted, NOW WE ARE FREE!

Who knows that Maya Angelou, on her return to the US, where she planned to help Malcolm X set up his new organisation before he was killed, actually spent six months in Hawaii, singing in nightclubs.

In the very same year that Stanley Ann Dunham filed for divorce?

Whoooo knows! Whoooo

[Fred Nerks]

P.E. Toutonghi

He was born in 1899 in Iskenderun Turkey.

Taking directly from his obituary;
Fluent in: French, Arabic, Italian, Latin,
Greek and English.

He taught French and Latin at
Seattle Prep, Seattle University, and Gonzaga University,
where he retired at age 66.

SON JOSPEH TOUTONGHI:
TEACHER
http://lbloom.net/zse02.html

DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
MARY TOUTONGHI
http://redoubtreporter.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-baby-sitter-awaits-new-era.html

Toutonghi used to baby-sit President Obama when she was neighbors with his mother.

Toutonghi was living in Seattle at the time, in the early 1960s. Her husband was going to school at Seattle University, and she was a stay-at-home mom with their 18-month-old daughter.

They lived in a three-story house that had been converted into three inexpensive apartments. Toutonghi and her family lived in the basement apartment, and Ann Dunham — Obama’s mother — lived in the apartment directly upstairs.

282 posted on Sunday, September 13, 2009 1:01:38 PM by Fred Nerks

---

HOW VERY CONVENIENT. MARY TOUTONGHI MANAGED THE APARTMENTS, HER FATHER IN LAW TAUGHT AT THE UNIVERSITY AND HER HUSBAND WAS A STUDENT THERE.

THAT SEATTLE ADDRESS WAS NOTHING BUT A POST-BOX IMO.

[Freedom56v2]

bump for later reading

[Velveeta]

Some of us know, thanks to you.

[El Gato]

I still think that Barak Jr is too light of skin to be the son of Barak Sr.

I don't think so. Remember his mother was pale as a ghost, his "milk chocolate" complexion would seem about right.

[uncitizen]

thanks for posting this excellent article.

[Candor7]

I disagree. I think he should be darker.His alleged dad was really a black man, not brown.Obama has very few black genes , I ‘d say less than 1/3 IMHO.

[hoosiermama]

FYI

[hoosiermama]

Would Stanley Sr IRS records help us determine when he moved to HI? THey may have been seperated or SADO may have stayed with friends of family to graduate.