Photo: AFPWe came.  We played.  We conquered.

Strange words for me to utter in the wake of Ghana's stunning defeat by penalty kick in their World Cup quarter-final match against Uruguay.  I would be lying if I said the taste of this loss was not still bitter on my tongue; my senses dulled by the doused hopes and quelled elation of a match lost a heartbeat from history.  I came home directly after the game to find my cell, SMS & Twitter exploding.  I couldn't answer any of them.  I laid down & slept a fitful sleep of disbelief.

And then I awoke.  My heart is still heavy but I can't escape another tide of emotion rising within me.  My ears still ring with the thunderous shouts, cheers & vuvuzela blasts of the crowd that joined me at a local pub here in LA to watch the match.  Of the seething mass of people in the room I could only see one other person who was clearly Ghanaian, and yet the room erupted with explosions of sonic support every time the Black Stars appeared poised to make history.

As I rose this evening post-pout (almost), it occurred to me that in fact they have.  I have never been in a room full of Americans of every stripe, shouting so loud and so proud for anything African in my life.  The closest I can imagine is at the closing of shows I've played, or at the end of Broadway's brilliant production of "Fela! The Musical."  But this was different.  It was not only the love of African artistry or culture that permeated that room.  It was an altogether new feeling.  A hope, a heaving spirit hewing for the success of Africa herself.  There was not a hint of charity in that room, nor a modicum of pity.  But flowing freely & fiercely was a palpable, pulsating and perhaps unprecedented sense of PRIDE.

If you're from Africa, if you've been to the continent, you know that when we speak of African pride, the measure of what we speak far outweighs the constant dismal portrayals of the continent.  A few years ago I created this video in homage to that sense of African Pride - an ode to we who would never give up on our Sweet Mother:

We who know Africa hold her dear to our hearts, in dogged defiance at her constant dismissal as a lost cause by those who would rather judge than acknowledge the ongoing progress that is happening on the continent.  Indeed in this day, even the mainstream engines of media & opinion are beginning to declare the new day that is dawning there.

Years ago I decided that I would use my artistry in service of the world and that I would seek to tell the other sides of the African story, so that others could feel the sense of wonder, love and commitment I feel to the people of Africa.  Today I felt that love come crashing back over me in waves.  I've said for a long time, that there is profound hope for the future of our Sweet Mother Afrika.  Today, through the courageous play of the Ghanaian national team - the literal embodiment of the Pride of Africa in World Cup 2010 - I felt that hope in the hearts of my fellow Americans.  And for that Black Stars, I thank you.

You came.  You played.  And indeed...you conquered.

Black Stars Forever

So everybody & their mommy is asking me who I'm rooting for in today's US v Ghana match.  There is no right answer to that question! lol  My dad called me yesterday w/ the argument that he needs a visa to go to Accra, but he doesn't need one to go to Manhattan.  So that wise old man born & bred in Ghana is rooting for...yup you guessed it USA!!

Once my pops made this declaration my Auntie & I spent about 3mins hurling partisan invective at him.  It reminded me of the intra-familial divide during the Obama v Clinton primary.  My sister & I were early on the Hope train, while our foks were convinced that Hillary was "The One."

Well we know how that turned out.

I'm broadcasting in an hour & will be watching the first half of the match online before racing to get to the local pub where fans of all stripes will be raising pure heck!  And I will be there, loud & proud rooting for GHANA!!!

No it's not because I'm not patriotic, and it's not because I don't love the stars n stripes.  But when I took my citizenship they said I had to renounce all foreign princes & potentates.  They didn't say anything about soccer teams...

I ain't never showed love to another potentate. I'm Obama all the way! lol  But it's times like this when you get to meet the REAL Africans.  I'm talking about the ones that eat fufu & palmnut soup son.  Hawaii is sunny and all, but it ain't the same - don't let the birthers fool you.  Everybody knows real Africans live in the Bronx (though I still rep BK all the way)!

The greatest irony is that Ghanaians LOVE the USA!  And most Americans who know anything about it LOVE Ghana!  The flag above is one that was designed for Obama's first visit to Africa as President, and where did he go?  GHANA.  And he loved it.

So here we are, brothers & sisters in a house divided.  I usually give Team USA full dap in all sports.  But until the US gets rid of these laws that prevent people like me from being President, I'm a' keep a special place on the football field for the African skies under which I was born.

Today Ghana represents Africa's last World Cup hope for the next four years.  In the first World Cup on African soil, we are the only African team to advance past the opening round.  So as always let me say God Bless the USA.  But may God make the Black Stars shine BRIGHTER today! :)

GO GHANA!!

D.N.A

It's World Cup time and for all my tweeps you know I've been tweeting like a madman for the love of the world's most popular sport.  The video above exemplifies the intersection of both the love of sport & the love of life and raises another issue I've been thinking a lot about lately.  For the past few months I've had the honor to join an amazing group of social media envoys who have committed to leveraging their networks to help end the scourge of malaria in Africa and across the globe.  Thus far the group has managed to raise worldwide attention and helped to inspire significant support towards it's mission, including the April announcement from the World Bank that it would commit $200 million to purchase 25 million of the remaining 50 million bed nets being sought by UN Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers.

I had a chance to interview Mr. Chambers for my show on Oprah Radio back in May and we discussed the malaria campaign, as well as the roots of his broader commitment to philanthropy.  I'm always struck by how the circumstances of peoples lives can have such a profound impact on what we place value on.  Many of you who know me, know that I've had significant personal experience with malaria.  It's inspiring to see so many people taking a stand to address this issue.  By eradicating the socially & economically debilitating effects of malaria, we help people in developing nations to better help themselves.  As an African I want to see people on the continent empowered to solve our own problems, to leverage the massive human & material resources of our homelands, and to break the cycles of poverty and misperception that continue to challenge us.

The video above is another example of how each of us can have a positive impact on our world, if only by deciding that something matters enough to speak out about.  In the midst of this global celebration of sport, here's to all the people doing their part to make a difference for millions of others irrespective of the flag they fly.  The hosting of the World Cup in S. Africa is just the tip of a profound and powerful continental iceberg.  Africa's best days are yet ahead of us, and I'm proud to be a part of ushering them in. I have a feeling the world will be stunned at just how much we will be bringing to the table in the coming years.

Click here to help support the cause. Vive l'Afrique!

Episode 1.1 - BFA with Jon and Nkechi from A Breath of Fresh Air with J&N on Vimeo.

This is a video from the first Episode of "A Breath of Fresh Air with Jon & Nkechi".  Jon & Nkechi are a young power couple living here in LA who have managed to build a life at the intersection of Artistry, Education & Finance.  I met Nkechi shortly after graduating from college when she invited me to do what was then my first-ever "out-of-state" speech.  I went down to the University of Pennyslvania where she was then an undergraduate, to spit game to their student group about the same stuff I talk about all the time - namely How to Change The World MWAHAHAHA!!!

Ok, changing the world doesn't really warrant evil laughter, but I thought I'd throw in a lil' spice for all my super-villains out there.  Anyway, I went down to Penn and for the first time was able to invite my parents and a few other family members to hear me speak.  The purpose of inviting them was not so much to hear the speech, but moreso to show them that I had actually accumulated some knowledge as a bi-product of the gazillions of dollars they had poured into my overpriced education, and to begin the process of convincing them to give me a 20yr grace period before paying them back said gazillion bucks.

The speech went great, Nkechi was awesome and so were her peeps @ Penn.  Fast forward a decade or so and we run into each other out here in LA where it turns out, she is now married to one of those college peeps - my boy Jon who combines a quick wit with an open heart and a commitment to education and societal development.  Meanwhile, like a true Ivy League overachiever Nkechi has translated her skills in high-finance to both acting in & producing films.

The two of them have now taken their relationship "public" in the form of this new web-series, which explores social issues through the lens of this supremely talented married couple, and features interviews with the likes of Academy Award Winner Diane Keaton.  The clip above is from Episode 1 of the series & in the second half you will hear me dropping science about culture & society.  Enjoy & spread the word!

Jane Hahn for The New York Times 

"The Niger Delta, where the wealth underground is out of all proportion with the poverty on the surface, has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years by some estimates...As many as 546 million gallons of oil spilled into the Niger Delta over the last five decades, or nearly 11 million gallons a year" - NY Times 

I read the above in the NY Times yesterday and my stomache turned.  I've known for years about the struggles of the people of the Niger Delta in pursuit of social, economic & environmental justice from Shell, but I had no idea just how much oil had and was continuing to despoil their environment.  This is what Nigerian environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa fought & died for.

It's amazing to think that the worst environmental disaster in American history is dwarfed by the scope of 50 years of ongoing destruction in Nigeria.  And American politicians like Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) want to claim that BP is the victim of a "government shakedown" because they are being required to commit $20 billion to cleaning up the mess they've made.

I wonder who's getting the shakedown in Nigeria...

I've said it time & again, those who rail incessantly against the scourge of Big Govt suffer from a conceit of privilege. Anyone who has ever lived in a nation where the government cannot (or will not) act in defense of it's citizenry in the face of oppression, will tell you that it is a necessity to have checks & balances between public and private interests, between elites and the working class, between the rights of the individual and the interests of society.  Government plays a critical role in establishing and defending these checks and balances - for proof we need only look so far as the difference between the position that BP finds itself in today, with a $20 billion bill sitting on the chairman's desk, and the position of Shell which continues to plunder the Niger Delta unabated after 50 years of indifference.

According to MSNBC Congressman Barton is the House's biggest recipient of $$'s from the Oil & Gas Industries, which may explain better than anything where his allegiances lie.  It may be that the sympathies of the Nigerian government have also been long since bought out by Big Oil.  The American people should decide at what price we're willing to sell ourselves short.  A shakedown is a terrible thing to take...if you're on the wrong end of the shake.