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

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.

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig ablaze. Oil spill picture. Image: U.S. Coast Guard.  

This is a piece I wrote in May as I watched the OilSpill unfold into the Gulf.  At the time, I thought this issue would have been resolved by now, that Financial Reform would have been signed into law, that the American people might be looking more carefully towards the November elections - more critically at who represents our interests and who represents the interest of those who exploit the "small people."

Show me their papers...

Human nature is ultimately to adapt towards survival, and my nature is to tend to believe in the ultimate goodness of humanity, so I can't help but be hopeful.  But in the meantime, it's worth reminding ourselves of what's at stake.  Since some American politicians are willing to bow down and apologise before mega-corporations like BP, irrespective of the damage they do, I can't help put pay homage to the hubris of the powerful.  Let the people say...Drill Baby Drill.

 

Drill Baby Drill
By: Derrick N. Ashong

I have a dream
That one day every child in America
Will be judged not by the color of their skin
Nor the content of their character
But by the vehicle they drive in
The degree of wealth they run after
And since power must be powered
I say:

Drill Baby Drill

I see a day
When the suns rays won't penetrate
The mighty plumes of soot that levitate
High above fields of factories
Oceans of industry
Waves of transportation
Fueled by exploration so
I say:

Drill Baby Drill

Imagine a world where markets run free
And every banker has a chance to Be all that he can be
Grab all he can see
Liberated from responsibility
To anyone other than himself
For in the pursuit of wealth
We must leave no soul unturned
Thus we must:

Drill Baby Drill

And so what if
A little black gold
Spills out from the depths
Of a gaping hole we dug
In the ocean floor
Trust your faith no more
Rather put that trust in us
For in God we just:

Drill Baby Drill

Drill into your hearts desire
Drill until your hope expires
Drill you full of expectation
Of dreams deferred until salvation
Drill for every fear you've kept
Alive inside your quivering chest
Drill until you're xenophobic
Then drill you with drugs to help you cope with
A world you no longer understand
Then turn to me I'll take your hand
And show you just who is to blame
Plant bogey men inside your brain
An army armed with swarthy faces
An outrageous brown invading nation
And only you can save the races
Stop the alien’s attack
Demand his papers!

And then you'll go home to rest
Knowing you bested the beast at his best
Though he did look more scared than scary
He was no match for our town military

So go home now & polish your gun
Reminisce on from whom the West was won
And be sure to deposit your checks
For from there we will finance our next bet
That America will someday be brown...

But until that day comes to town
We've got to

Drill baby
Drill baby
Drill you for all that you've got

Cuz in the depths of your soul
Is that certified gold
That will always keep me on top

Alright so the interview aired on Monday.  I was going to post some thoughts yesterday, but real life was all up in my grill aallll day!  So now as I sit quietly pon the couch as the ISDN tech hooks up my phat new digital pipe, I'm taking a moment to reflect & give y'all a lil bit of the inside scoop on what all went down.

First off, MUCH thanks for all of those who tuned in on Monday.  I got a gang of great emails, FB msgs, phone calls & txts with mucho love & inspiration!  For those of you who didn't get to catch the full hour interview, you've still got two options to get w/ el programa:

1) Peep the 8minute Excerpt from Oprah.com

2) Tune in this weekend to hear the FULL interview again:

Oprah Radio (Sirius Channel 195 - XM Channel 156):
Saturday Nov. 28
6am ET (3am PT)
2pm ET (11am PT)
7pm ET (4pm PT)
 
Sunday Nov. 29
6am ET (3am PT)

2pm ET (11am PT) 

If you haven't already heard it, in the interview we talk about everything from ancestry, to faith, social entrepreneurship & of course artistry, music & Soulfège.  We also talk about The SHIFT movie and the growing global awareness of our need & power to make change in our world.  We talk about S. Asian Rockstar Salman Ahmad and his Concert for Pakistan, which had hundreds of heads bobbin' at the UN General Assembly.  We talk about how on earth I've gotten to do such insanely cool things as sit on a panel with the former President of Ireland & the Queen of Jordan (turns out Oprah & I have some common roots), and we both concur that I've got cute ears (thanks Mum! You too Pops).

We talked about serious things: the role of spirituality in our lives, and those of members of my generation.  About the place of religion in our world today and the idea that God is bigger than any given doctrinal "box."  We talked about the poetry of Hip Hop and she played "Fight On" and "Do Right".  In a nutshell, I got a chance to kick it with a kindred spirit, and it turns out she's also the most powerful woman in the world. 

If I'd really taken the time to think about the magnitude of having an hour to vibe with Oprah Winfrey, or the serendipity of a little African boy from Accra by way of Brooklyn & The Middle East, having such an audience  at this particular stage in my life, I would have probably been too nervous to be my best. 

And to be honest, I did have a few nights prior to that day when I'd wake up in a cold sweat after a dream along the lines of this:

I'm in a giant palace, where medieval guards usher me briskly down a long hallway adorned with ornate fixtures and flush with light from a chorus of chandeliers.  I nervously chomp on a handful of peanut M&Ms in an effort to calm my harried senses.  I arrive at a grand doorway and as it opens a voice booms from the ether: "Behold...Oprah."  She floats through the doorway ringed in light, surrounded by a phalanx of courtiers and smiling extends her hand to me.  I smile back & eagerly thrust my own hand forward to grasp hers, too late realizing that my sweat filled palms are covered in a muddy residue of melted chocolate, peanuts & synthetic coloring. 

Oprah recoils in shock as she beholds her now sullied palm; four obervers faint in protest, and the booming voice booms again: "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!"  I spin helpless, searching for the nearest escalator.  As the whole room descends on me in anger I leap onto the stunned shoulders of a courtier and bound atop a sea of angry heads in the direction of what I hope to be the exit.  President Obama stands in a corner shaking his head in quiet disdain.

Fortunately this did not actually happen (I know, you were worried for me huh?).  If you want to know what DID happen, listen to the interview this weekend! :)  And tell your friends & fam to join the gang.  I will be eating Thanks-filled leftovers & dreaming of faraway lands.

Beijinhos,

D.N.A

P.S. If you haven't already signed-up for the free Sirius/XM Trial you can do so here:

https://home.sirius.com/sirpromosetupview.do?utm_campaign=SIR30DAYTRIAL&utm_source=HNXM&utm_medium=web

Happy Giving of Thanksing!