Malcolm X was truly an inspiration, Obama is not

After the publication of my article on Obama in The New Vision newspaper, among the feedback I got was that I was "stuck in the Malcolm X era". This was in reference to my contrasting of Barack Obama with Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah etc.

I have not yet read his (X's) biography [or is it autobiography] but I have watched the Spike Lee film and read different articles over time. But today I was sent an e-mail that had a link to this website that carries a summary of his life.

My conclusion after reading this was that Barack Hussein Obama is no Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King Jr. He is just a politician who gave his best shot at the Democratic Party (DP) nomination, won it and he may just become US President. The others were inspirational because they were driven by conviction to fight social injustices and recognition of black people as equals and not second-class citizens.

For those who may want to read it but not visit www.africanaonline.com, it is below:

Malcolm X was a powerful and influential speaker. This excerpt, from a speech in April 1964, clearly and directly expresses his views about the status of black people in American society.

Malcolm X (Malcolm X Little; later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)(1925-1965), a leading figure in the 20th-century movement for black liberation in the United States, and arguably its most enduring symbol.Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist (see Pan-Africanism), father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist (see Socialism), and a menace to society. The meaning of his public life—his politics and ideology—is contested in part because his entire body of work consists of a few dozen speeches and a collaborative autobiography whose veracity is often challenged. Gunned down three months before his 40th birthday, Malcolm X's life was cut short just when his thinking had reached a critical juncture.

Malcolm X's life is a Horatio Alger story with a twist. Malcom X is not a "rags to riches" tale, but a powerful narrative of self-transformation from petty hustler to internationally known political leader. Malcom X - Born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Louise and Earl Little, who was a Baptist preacher active in Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association, Malcolm X, along with his siblings, experienced dramatic confrontations with racism from childhood. Hooded Klansmen burned their home in Lansing, Michigan; Earl Little was killed under mysterious circumstances; welfare agencies split up the children and eventually committed Louise Little to a state mental institution; and Malcolm X was forced to live in a detention home run by a racist white couple. By the eighth grade he left school, moved to Boston, Massachussetts, to live with his half-sister Ella, and discovered the underground world of African American hipsters.

Malcolm X's entry into the masculine culture of the zoot suit, the "conked" (straightened) hair, and the lindy hop coincided with the outbreak of World War II, rising black militancy (symbolized in part by A. Philip Randolph's threatened March on Washington for racial and economic justice), and outbreaks of race riots in Detroit, Michigan, and other cities (see Detroit Riot of 1943). Malcolm X and his partners did not seem very "political" at the time, but they dodged the draft so as not to lose their lives over a "white man's war," and they avoided wage work whenever possible. His search for leisure and pleasure took him to Harlem, New York, where his primary source of income derived from petty hustling, drug dealing, pimping, gambling, and viciously exploiting women. In 1946 his luck ran out; he was arrested for burglary and sentenced to ten years in prison

Malcolm X's downward descent took a U-turn in prison when he began studying the teachings of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam (NOI), the black Muslim group founded by Wallace D. Fard and led by Elijah Muhammad (Elijah Poole). Submitting to the discipline and guidance of the NOI, he became a voracious reader of the Qu'ran (Koran) and the Bible. He also immersed himself in works of literature and history at the prison library. Behind prison walls he quickly emerged as a powerful orator and brilliant rhetorician. He led the famous prison debating team that beat the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, arguing against capital punishment by pointing out that English pickpockets often did their best work at public hangings!

Upon his release in 1952 he renamed himself Malcolm X, symbolically repudiating the "white man's name."As a devoted follower of Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X rose quickly within the NOI ranks, serving as minister of Harlem's Temple No. 7 in 1954, and later ministering to temples in Detroit and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through national speaking engagements, television appearances, and by establishing Muhammad Speaks—the NOI's first nationally distributed newspaper—Malcolm X put the Nation of Islam on the map. His sharp criticisms of civil rights leaders for advocating integration into white society instead of building black institutions and defending themselves from racist violence generated opposition from both conservatives and liberals. His opponents called him "violent," "fascist," and "racist." To those who claimed that the NOI undermined their efforts toward integration by preaching racial separatism, Malcolm X responded, "It is not integration that Negroes in America want, it is human dignity."

Distinguishing Malcolm X's early political and intellectual views from the teachings of Elijah Muhammad is not a simple matter. His role as minister was to preach the gospel of Islam according to Muhammad. He remained a staunch devotee of the Nation's strict moral codes and gender conventions. Although his own narrative suggests that he never entirely discarded his hustler's distrust of women, he married Betty Sanders (later Betty Shabazz) in 1958 and lived by NOI rules: men must lead, women must follow; the man's domain is the world, the woman's is the home.

On other issues, however, Malcolm X showed signs of independence from the NOI line. During the mid-1950s, for example, he privately scoffed at Muhammad's interpretation of the genesis of the "white race" and seemed uncomfortable with the idea that all white people were literally devils. He was always careful to preface his remarks with "The honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches. . . ." More significantly, Malcolm X clearly disagreed with the NOI's policy of not participating in politics. He not only believed that political mobilization was indispensable but occasionally defied the rule by supporting boycotts and other forms of protest. In 1962, before he split with the NOI, Malcolm X shared the podium with black, white, and Puerto Rican labor organizers in the left-wing, multiracial hospital workers' union in New York.

He also began developing an independent Pan-Africanist and, in some respects, "Third World" political perspective during the 1950s, when anticolonial wars and decolonization (see Decolonization in Africa: An Interpretation) were pressing public issues. As early as 1954 Malcolm X gave a speech comparing the situation in Vietnam (see Vietnam War) with that of the Mau Mau Rebellion in colonial Kenya, framing both of these movements as uprisings of the "darker races" creating a "tidal wave" against U.S. and European imperialism. Indeed, Africa remained his primary political interest outside of black America. He toured Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana in 1959, well before his famous trip to Africa and the Middle East in 1964.

Although Malcolm X tried to conceal his differences with Elijah Muhammad, tensions between them erupted. The tensions were exacerbated by the threat Malcolm X's popularity posed to Muhammad's leadership and by Malcolm X's disillusionment with Elijah upon learning that the NOI's moral and spiritual leader had fathered children by former secretaries. The tensions became publicly visible when Muhammad silenced Malcolm X for remarking after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that it was a case of the "chickens coming home to roost." (Malcolm X's point was that the federal government's inaction toward racist violence in the South had come back to strike the president.) When Malcolm X learned that Muhammad had planned to have him assassinated, he decided to leave the NOI.

On March 8, 1964, he announced his resignation and formed the Muslim Mosque, Inc., an Islamic movement devoted to working in the political sphere and cooperating with civil rights leaders. That same year he made his first pilgrimage to Mecca and took a second tour of several African and Arab nations. The trip was apparently transformative. Upon his return he renamed himself El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, adopted from Sunni Islam, and announced that he had found the "true brotherhood" of man. He publicly acknowledged that whites were no longer devils, though he still remained a Black Nationalist (see Black Nationalism in the United States) and staunch believer in black self-determination and self-organization.

During the summer of 1964 he formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Inspired by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) made up of independent African states, the OAAU's program combined advocacy for independent black institutions (e.g., schools and cultural centers) with support for black participation in mainstream politics, including electoral campaigns. Following the example of Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Du Bois, Malcolm X planned in 1965 to submit to the United Nations a petition that documented human rights violations and acts of genocide against African Americans. His assassination at the Audubon Ballroom in New York—carried out by gunmen affiliated with the NOI—intervened, and the OAAU died soon after Malcolm X was laid to rest.

Although Malcolm X left no real institutional legacy, he did exert a notable impact on the Civil Rights Movement in the last year of his life. Black activists in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who had heard him speak to organizers in Selma, Alabama, in February 1965, began to support some of his ideas, especially on armed self-defense, racial pride, and the creation of black-run institutions. He also gained a small following of radical Marxists, mostly Trotskyists in the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Malcolm X convinced some SWP members of the revolutionary potential of ordinary black ghetto dwellers, and he began to speak more critically of capitalism.

Was Malcolm X about to become a civil rights leader? Could he have launched a successful Pan-Africanist movement? Was he turning toward Marxism? Scholars and activist have debated these issues, but no firm answers are yet possible.Supporters administer first aid to Malcolm X as he lies on the floor of the Audubon Ballroom in New York City, where he was shot as he began a speech in February 1965.

Ironically, Malcolm X made a bigger impact on black politics and culture dead than alive. The Watts Rebellion occurred and the Black Power Movement emerged just months after his death, and his ideas about community control, African liberation, and self-pride became widespread and influential. His autobiography, written with Alex Haley, became a movement standard. Malcolm X's life story proved to the Black Panther Party, founded in 1966, that ex-criminals and hustlers could be turned into revolutionaries.

And arguments in favor of armed self-defense—certainly not a new idea in African American communities—were renewed by Malcolm X's narrative and the publication of his speeches. Even after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., when the civil rights leader was celebrated as an American hero by many blacks and whites, Malcolm X's image loomed much larger in inner-city communities, especially among young males.Despite the collapse or destruction of Black Nationalist organizations during the mid-1970s, Malcolm X continued to live through the folklore of submerged black urban youth cultures, making a huge comeback thanks to rap music, black-oriented bookstores, and Afrocentric street vendors.

The 1980s were a ripe time for a hero like Malcolm X, as racism on college campuses increased, inner cities deteriorated, police brutality cases seemed to rise again, and young black men came to be seen as an "endangered species." Malcolm X's uncompromising statements about racism, self-hatred, community empowerment, and his background as a "ghetto youth," made him the undisputed icon of the young.

The recirculation of Malcolm X as icon during the late 1980s and 1990s got its biggest boost from the commercial marketplace, as retailers, publishers, and Hollywood cashed in on the popularity of hip-hop music and culture. And as Afrocentrism achieved respectability among black urban (and suburban) professionals, Malcolm X's face and name became a central staple among the "Afro-Chic" products that made up their casual attire (see Afrocentricity).

The rush to purchase "X" paraphernalia affected not only African Americans but also suburban whites, Latinos, and Asian Americans fascinated with black youth cultures. Dubbed the "X" generation, ad agencies boldly marketed "X" products without even mentioning Malcolm X. "Malcolm Xania" reached its high point with the release of Spike Lee's cinematic rendering of Malcolm X's autobiography in 1992. Following Lee's lead, retailers sold millions of dollars worth of "X" caps, T-shirts, medallions, and posters emblazoned with Malcolm X's name, body, or words.

Not surprisingly, the selling of Malcolm X in the 1990s generated pointed debate among African Americans. Some argued that marketing Malcolm X undermined his message, while others insisted that the circulation of his image has prompted young people to search out his ideas. Some utilized his emphasis on black community development to support a new African American entrepreneurialism, while others insisted on seeing him as a radical democrat devoted to social justice. His anti-imperialism has dropped out of public memory, whereas his misogyny has been ignored by his supporters and spotlighted by his detractors.However these disputes evolve, it appears that Malcolm X's place in U.S. history, and in the collective memory of African Americans, is secure. Ironically, some of his centrality can be attributed to the mutability of his own viewpoint. Because his ideas were constantly being renewed and rethought during his short career, Malcolm X has become a sort of tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which people of different positions can write their own interpretation of his politics and legacy. Chuck D of the rap group Public Enemy and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas can both declare Malcolm X their hero.

Is Obama really an inspiration?

So much has been said and written about Barack Hussein Obama, who is campaigning for the Presidency of the United States and may win the elections scheduled for next month. Among other accolades, he has been hailed as an inspiration, especially, to Africans and African-Americans; how he symbolises their hopes and dreams of breaking through a system that has tended to exclude them.

What is partly contributing to this euphoria is the fact he is a mix of Kenyan father and white American mother; that makes him as African and as American as either side wants him to be or represent. And also, the fact that no black man or woman has ever come this close to the Oval Office, that has been occupied by white old men in over 200 years.

But is Obama really an inspiration? Will his victory spur the millions of Africans and African-Americans to go against the grain and rise above the hurdles, they are confronted with every day, to realise their dreams and achieve their ambitions?

In other words, is Barack Obama in the calibre of people like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Nelson Mandela or Kwame Nkrumah?

Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) advanced a Pan-African philosophy that, among others, inspired liberation movements and leaders who fought against colonialism in Africa and others parts of the world. He was described by Martin Luther King as “the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny”. Malcolm X (1925-1965) is viewed as one of the most influential African-Americans of the 20th century and is credited with raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage. Nelson Mandela was one of the leaders in the fight against social injustice in South Africa and helped to unite the country after apartheid. He has since become a symbol of freedom and equality.
So, is Obama’s campaign for change borne out of the kind of conviction that these icons had or is it driven by an ambition to break barriers by giving it his best shot?

It should be noted that Obama is not the first African-American to attempt the race for President. Shirley Chisholm, who was the first African-American Congresswoman, sought nomination in 1972 and won 152 delegates. Rev. Jesse Jackson campaigned for the Democratic Party nomination in 1984 and 1988. Twenty years later, Obama is further up this less travelled road.

Since 1870, there have been only four African-Americans in the US Senate before Obama, who is the only one among 100 members. Currently, there are only 42 African-Americans in the 440-member House of Representatives.

In the corporate world, blacks are also a rarity. There only four black Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Fortune 500 companies, the 500 most powerful and high grossing companies in America. This can be contrasted with a study by the University of Georgia, which shows that by 2011, annual black spending power will reach $ 1.1 trillion “representing almost 9 cents of every dollar spent in the US”. George Curry, former Editor-in-Chief of Emerge magazine, said “If African-Americans were represented at the top of the corporate ladder in the same proportion as their percentage of the population, there would be 63 black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies”.

If Obama should win in November, he would be President in country where about one million black males are in prison, more than those who are in college, and where African-Americans are still victims of racial profiling and negative stereotypes.

In addition, despite his popularity in Africa, in his campaigns he has barely mentioned Africa and its position in his foreign policy. While President Bush committed billions of dollars to malaria and AIDS, what will be Obama’s priority for the continent?It remains to be seen if Obama’s participation in the 2008 presidential race will encourage more African-Americans to take a more active role in the politics and economy of the US. It is only then that we can safely say he is an inspiration and not a token that falsely represents blacks as having equal opportunities even in “restricted realms”!

An edited version of this was published by The New Vision on 20th October 2008, see it at http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/655234

My Second Review for Africa Reading Challenge: Apollo Milton Obote: What Others Say

This is a collection of various articles, letters and commentaries, mostly published in newspapers, on Dr. Apollo Milton Obote, who led Uganda to independence in 1962 as Prime Minister, and was President twice, 1966-1971 and 1980-1985. Dr. Obote is a figure in Uganda’s history that draws a variety of emotions from various people depending on how they experienced his regimes, interpreted his achievements and failures or Uganda’s history, interactions with him at the personal and professional levels, their political aspirations and their perceptions.

The authors include former Ministers and former civil servants in his two governments, his wife, parliamentarians, journalists, academicians and members of the public, among others.

As such, the editor has organised these articles and commentaries into four parts: Obote the Hero, Obote the Villain, Obote the Victim, Obote the Mixed Bag. While the latter is the longest part, the second one [Obote the Villain] is the shortest, perhaps showing the man, who is the subject of this book, was to a significant extent influenced by external factors much as he was a victim of the circumstances for the events by which he was labelled a villain. A case in point is the attack on the seat of Buganda Kingdom that eventually led to establishment of Uganda as a unitary Republic. From this, the reader is left to form his or her own view of Dr. Obote basing on how he is presented in this book from several perspectives.

The book opens with two statements from the Uganda People’s Congress, a political party that he headed for several decades until his death in 2005. These highlight his vision for the country and the achievements that were made by his governments. The final article is written by the editor, who bases his argument on his legal grounding to assess whether Dr. Obote can be prosecuted for the “crimes” he has been accused especially by President Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM). Also noteworthy is the coverage of the NRM government’s efforts in facilitating the return of Dr. Obote’s body from South Africa, where he died, through Zambia, where he spent 20 years in exile, to Akokoro village, where he wished to be interred. President Museveni’s seemingly conciliatory speech is ironic considering that he had never said anything positive apart from demonising the ex-President.

In light of the fact that there is no autobiography or memoirs by Dr. Obote, Omongole Anguria has contributed significantly to how the founding father should be judged by posterity instead of the skewed way that has been perpetuated for so long by the NRM and the Baganda or Buganda.

This review was published by The Ivory Post at http://www.theivorypost.com/entertainment/08/oct/ent011008.html

Dishonourable Discharge for Hip Hop

As a fan of hip hop, I thought this story on www.hiphopdx.com was quite interesting. I don't know what I would do if someone destroyed my music collection? At least, Mr. Jackson was able to get new roles from that discharge...for me, you will be dearly departed [just joking....]

US Soldier Dishonorably Discharged For Hip Hop

September 11th, 2008 Author: Anthony Springer Jr

Former US soldier Martin Jackson takes his Hip Hop seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he was dismissed from military duty because of it.One of Malone’s sergeants burned his nine year collection of Hip Hop magazines after a heated argument. Malone’s reaction earned him a discharge for dishonorable conduct. At the time, Malone had served three years which included a stint in Korea and service after the attacks of September 11.

Not taking the discharge lying down, Malone—who goes by the alias Muggsy Malone—hit the studio with Conrad Dimanche [click to read] of Bad Boy Records/Making the Band. The resulting effort is an album titled Probable Cause, which he is dedicating to the military. Malone has remained active since his military days and is a volunteer for the Barack Obama campaign in addition to his duties as an emcee, signed to Warpath Records.

In addition to Probable Cause, which is slated for release in March 2009, Malone is also prepping a reality show scheduled to air on Myspace, titled The Making of the Next Big Thing.

Another Inspiration Between The Lines

I cannot remember the last time, my alma mater had a positive, feel good story on the front pages of a major newspaper--like The Daily Monitor has done this morning. The story below is the kind that I always wished for [worked towards] during the time I managed the PR Office of Makerere University. But it makes me prouder as an alumnus that my university and the students are doing great things at the international level.

Makerere students build car

by Walter Wafula
Kampala

The first model of Vision 200, a four-passenger vehicle, which has partly been designed by a team of 11 Makerere University engineering students, is set for public viewing in Europe. The model of the hybrid power vehicle, which is expected to be ready for commercial production in 2010, will be showcased in the World Design Capital, Torino in Italy, according Mr Steven Jeremy Ntambi, the Makerere team leader.

Mr Ntambi told Daily Monitor last week that the prototype of the car, which has been in production since October 2007, will be moved from its workshop in the same location, to the Torino Museum on September 5, as part of this year’s Dream Exposition designs.

“The Vehicle Design Summit’s Vision 200 concept car will be showcased alongside vehicles like Ferrari, Fiat and other big global names,” said Mr Ntambi, a final year Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering student at Makerere University. The car will be the only student-designed product at the show. Vision 200 final version, is aimed at creating a global solution to the energy and pollution challenges as well as lowering the cost of eco-friendly cars.

It is being designed by a consortium composed of students from at least 27 leading technology research universities and colleges including Harvard, Princeton, Germany’s FH Bochum University of Applied Sciences, Imperial College of London in the UK and Dehli College in India, with support from several private companies and institutions. Once completed, the car is expected to reduce gas emissions and increase the efficiency of fuel consumption.

Mr Ntambi said the student’s research observed that a normal car uses about 5-10 per cent of the fuel put in for movement but Vision 200 is expected to reverse this, and make use of about 95 per cent of the fuel used and yet offer extra power options, from its three sources.

The car is expected to achieve up to 50 kilometres per litre of fuel, compared to the 10 kilometres most saloon cars achieve on average.
The Makerere University team, which has been tasked with building the main system of the car, was charged with the duty of developing the low power electronics and the data networking system for the vehicle.
The project is part of the students’ requirements to complete their studies in Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Information technology degrees.

“The general point of the research is what we are doing- the Power Train, which is the heart of the car. We are in charge of the battery, the motor and power train which move the car,” he said. A video of the making of the car also shows that Makerere students emerged as the best hands on team, providing the best welder (Douglas Bibita) who saved the team $800 per day and the best micro-programmer (Emmanuel Ssebaggala).

Because of his outstanding welding skills, Mr Bibita was asked to remain with the team that will finalise the first prototype, as his friends returned home last week. Prof. Tickodri Togboa, the associate professor, Department of Engineering, at the Faculty of Technology at Makerere said the participation of Makerere students on the project,means that Uganda is building the necessary human capacity to provide local solutions to our problems.

He said given resources, Uganda can borrow a leaf form China to become a global power in production of technologies because the human resource is under training.

“Some decades ago, you couldn’t hear about China, today, every product you buy the label is ‘Made in China’ no matter which market you go to. We would like the same thing to happen here,” Prof. Togboa who is one of the mentors of the Vehicle Design Summit’s Vision 200 (VDS) students said, in an interview at the university, on Thursday. VDS is the research on which the car is based.

In Torino, the car will be showcased to the public and the world’s leading car firm’s which could show interest in the model for a future partnership of a deal.

Mr Ntambi said, although the team may not surpass vehicles’ from Italy’s Ferrari or Bughatti, who have been around for several decades, exhibiting at the expo is a major achievement itself. “Being part of the exposition shows that we are part of the solution to make more environmental friendly cars,” he said.

Inspiration Between The Lines

It is one of those stories that show how blacks can indeed be prosperous and have the drive to create wealth. This is from the Forbes website, my purpose for posting here is what I find noteworthy in this story: look for the key words, work ethic and focus.

This should serve as an inspiration to only musicians in Africa [or in UG in particular] but to all the youth on this continent [who are 50's fans] that they can indeed go out and 'buy the mall'. Work hard and keep the target in focus.

The 50 Cent Machine
by Zack O'Malley

When it comes to records, 50 Cent knows what it takes to go platinum. But in a mine shaft thousands of feet below the surface of South Africa, he's got metal, not vinyl, on his mind.

Last May, 50 paid a visit to billionaire mining baron Patrice Motsepe in South Africa. Flanked by select members of their respective entourages, the unlikely duo descended into a subterranean trove of platinum, palladium and iridium, growing like moss on the earth's warm innards. A spectacular backdrop for a bling-drenched music video, to be sure.

But 50 was there for other business: to forge a joint venture with Motsepe that could soon bring him an equity stake in the mine--and 50 Cent-branded platinum to the world.

"Things that people wouldn't actually expect me to be involved in," 50 muses a few weeks later, reminiscing on his trip. "I've got a diverse portfolio."
In Pictures: Inside The 50 Cent Machine

Here, in the comfort of a midtown Manhattan office, just miles from the Queens, N.Y., streets where 50 once dealt cocaine, the glowering rapper whose lyrics are often punctuated with gunshots is nowhere to be found. In his place is Curtis Jackson, businessman. Less gangster, more Gordon Gekko, he ticks through the contents of his portfolio: stocks, bonds, real estate, investment pools, all carefully monitored by brokers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Over the past 12 months, 50 has added $150 million to his substantial coffers. He hawks clothing, sneakers, videogames, movies, ringtones and flavored water. His earnings were nearly twice as much as last year's hip-hop cash king, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, and over four times the sum garnered by Sean "Diddy" Combs, who ranked third for the second year in a row. After topping Forbes' inaugural Cash Kings list, the trio released a modified version of 50's "I Get Money" called "The Forbes 1-2-3 Remix."

Diversification is crucial for rappers. Record sales are declining, new media are playing havoc with the music industry, and it seems unlikely that hip-hop acts will ever lure stadiums of deep-pocketed baby boomers with the ease exhibited by geriatric rockers such as the Rolling Stones and the Police.

Perhaps as a hedge, Jay-Z signed a 10-year, $150 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation in April. Kanye West headlined the traditionally rock-focused music festival Lollapalooza in Chicago earlier this month. 50 is looking to secure his own long-term relevance with deals like the one currently in the works with Motsepe.

"The financials of the music business have changed to the point that we have to find ways to make money in other places," says Barry Williams, 50's circumspect brand manager. "I didn't think six years ago when we started trying to sell music that we'd be selling VitaminWater and shoes and clothes. Now we're moving into other directions, and four or five years from now, it's exciting to think about us looking at natural resources and raw materials and other businesses."

50's first mega-deal was completed a year ago. He snagged $100 million when Coca-Cola bought Glacéau, VitaminWater's parent company, for $4.1 billion. The rapper had received a stake in Glacéau as compensation for peddling the "Formula 50" VitaminWater flavor. He'd continued to add to his holdings as the years went on. Although observers praised 50's financial foresight as soon as the deal was announced, he was far from satisfied.

"People were talking about how much money I made, but I was focused on the fact that $4.1 billion was made," says 50. "I think I can do a bigger deal in the future."

Looking one step ahead of the business has always one of 50's trademark traits. He grew up rough in Jamaica, Queens, in the midst of the 1980s crack epidemic. His mother, a drug dealer, was murdered when he was 8; soon after, he began running cocaine for his uncles. He realized he could make more money by charging a markup in the neighborhood of 25%. This precocious business sense earned him plenty of dollars--and three arrests--by age 19. He avoided jail time by agreeing to attend a six-month, military-style boot camp in upstate New York.

Returning to Queens, the fledgling rapper scored a $65,000 deal with Columbia Records. But in 2000 his past caught up with him. Days before his first album, Power of the Dollar, was set to hit stores, 50 was shot nine times and left for dead in front of his grandmother's house. Columbia dropped him, and the record was never released, though it has since been heavily bootlegged. Undeterred, he returned to the studio as soon as he recovered from his wounds. He started churning out "mix tapes," which are informally circulated at parties, and soon he had become an underground rap sensation.

The tapes earned him a following--and a big break. In 2002 star rapper Marshall "Eminem" Mathers heard his driver playing one of 50's songs. Eminem was so impressed with the music that he invited 50 to Los Angeles to meet with him and producer Andre "Dr. Dre" Young. Within days, they signed 50 to a million-dollar deal for five albums.

But from the start, 50's career was more about business than music. He spent his first $300,000 registering the "50 Cent" and "G-Unit" trademarks; in 2003 he brought on veteran talent manager Chris Lighty to head up his business entourage. Today, Lighty is part of an informal board of directors for brand 50 Cent. The team helps 50 sort through endorsement offers, brainstorm new ideas and operate his businesses.

At the top of that pyramid is 50 himself. Ask any of his associates what sets him apart, and they'll all tell you it's his fiendish work ethic. In a recent 24-hour span, he started by filming scenes for Streets of Blood from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. (He will star in the flick, due out next year, alongside Val Kilmer and Sharon Stone.) He then went straight to the mobile recording studio he keeps on set and worked on his new album for four to five hours. After snagging a few hours of sleep, he went right back to the studio.

"I don't think he'll ever stop working," says Laurie Dobbins, chief operating officer of Lighty's company, Violator Management. "He's got the work ethic of a robot. I think he works 24 hours a day."

50 will always be a performer. While he spent the daytime hours of his Africa tour kibitzing with the likes of Motsepe and Nelson Mandela, nights brought concerts--and crowds upwards of 100,000. He watched as his music broke the language barriers between scores of local dialects. He says the rush he gets from performing is the reason he doesn't need drugs. But don't be confused about where his priorities lie.

"Closing a deal," he says, "is a bigger deal."

Why Hate on Us?

There is something about racism or xenophobia that really makes me very angry. Two articles in The New Vision newspaper [one a letter to the Editor and the other an article from a reader]. They are both about how Ugandan students [and I guess other African or black students] are treated or mistreated or sometimes killed in Ukraine. They go there for university education which is relatively cheaper but end up with more than they bargained for.

And every year, in Uganda, there is presentations about Ukrainian universities and the favourable conditions there...blah blah with representatives from these places and from our own country. Below are the said articles to reflect on. Does being black mean we have to undergo all kinds of mistreatment and be subjected to dehumanising acts? Is because of the skin colour that they hate on us? I have not heard of any incident where a Ukrainian was stabbed in Uganda and even his body not traced in more than a decade!!!!

Listen to Ugandan students in Ukraine

Benjamin Egesa says he was mistreated

EDITOR — I was disappointed by the response of Eng Davis Matovu in The New Vision of August 20 to a special report, which was published in the Saturday Vision of August 15, 2008. In the report, a Ugandan student, Benjamin Egesa, claimed harassment and racist treatment.

But it was quite disheartening for Matovu to justify Ukrainian police harassment of Egesa. In a press release, Matovu wrote: “So, as Benjamin claims the police harassed him, we, as an association, say it is better because the police had to keep checking on him since he was a suspect.”

What Matovu forgets is that ill treatment does not only entail physical beating. Harassment leads to depression and poor health. Many people commit suicide and murders as a result of severe depression. Does Matovu want us to believe this is good?

To justify harassing Egesa because he was a suspect is wrong. Even in Uganda, the Police and other security agencies are under a lot of criticism for some of the officers who harass suspects. While it is true Ukraine enjoys cordial relations with Uganda at various levels, it is wrong for Matovu to sit in Kampala and simply defend acts of individual Ukrainians. In any society, there are criminal elements, who may not reflect the official policy. What is pertinent is how the matter is handled.

The Universities in Ukraine often advertise seminars where they market themselves to students in Kampala. But who really cross checks what they claim to own? My friend in Namungoona was duped into the same scenario by claims of lower tuition by Ukrainian professors. But when she got there, the fees were more than triple what she was told in Kampala during the presentations.

The poor girl could not complete her course or pay the hostel fee and her passport was withheld by the university till she coughed the money. This was a shortcoming on the Ukrainian side because the girl’s budget and money for upkeep were endorsed by the university’s office in Kampala. We had to raise the money and, after a year of agony, my friend is now in Makerere University.

Mr. Matovu, you should encourage Ugandans who have problems with Ukrainian Universities to report them. Let the Kampala office raise it with the Ukrainians and find a sensible solution.

Kikonyogo Kivumbi
kikonyogo.k@gmail.com

This article can be found on-line at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/645643


Yes, it is not safe to study in Ukraine

By Patrick Oyulu

I wish to respond to Benjamin Egesa’s article in Saturday Vision of August 16 titled, “Racial violence: How safe is it to study in Ukraine?” in which he gives an account of the alarming rise in the number of racially-motivated attacks in Ukraine.

My family became a victim in 1996 when my brother, Alex Onencan Oyulu, was murdered in the Kiev, Ukraine, by goons. To make matters worse, we failed to bring his body that was allegedly cremated due to bureaucracies in the Ministry of Education.

Alex went to Ukraine in 1984 on government sponsorship. He completed his Bachelors degree and commenced a Masters programme. In 1996, and having just joined my first job posting, I received a call from the Ministry of Education informing me that Alex was stabbed in Kiev, a traumatising experience up to today.

We immediately sought the help of the ministry in transporting the body to Uganda. In light of the transport costs we could not afford then, we opted for cremation and transportation of his ashes to Uganda. A contact was provided to help us in this venture. This was Alex’s fellow student who claimed to know where his body was but refused to reveal the exact location of the hospital.

So we kept wiring money to this man who turned out to be a conman because he kept asking for more money for this and that. The climax was when he asked for money for ‘refrigeration’ for an already cremated body (according to him) without providing the much sought after pictures of my brother in whatever mortuary he was in. Refrigeration for ash? We smelt a rat.

This gentleman, who today owns one of the numerous ‘Study in Kiev’ agencies, went further and requested me to contact another family who had lost their own, saying he would help. Was he dealing in other people's misfortunes? We ignored him and became resigned to the fact that we would not bring Alex’s body home, God bless his soul. Three years ago, we received another message from another fellow, who said he knew the late Alex, claiming that his body was still lying in some mortuary in Kiev.

Asked to reveal the hospital, he was evasive. It appears there are many people dealing in people’s misfortunes to earn a living in the Ukraine. Why go there in the first place? Egessa did, and learned the hard way; at least he completed his mission.

My brother earned a scholarship, and ended up stabbed and murdered. As a family, we live with the guilt that we failed to bring Alex back for a decent burial in Uganda. To the Ugandan who got all our money saying he was helping in his cremation and never sent us pictures of his body, God bless his soul.

Egessa’s story has again brought sadness to our lives. Even Amnesty International, in a report, recognised the alarming rise of racism. The Ukraine government fails to recognise the gravity of the problem, the report states. The government of Ukraine only frequently registers the attacks as acts of hooliganism.

The Ministry of Education did not help us to return Alex’s body home. They only relayed the messages that my brother was stabbed. I always pray that the story of Alex’s death is a hoax. But going by the trend in Ukraine, it might be true. Those folks are dangerous. Alex, may your soul rest in eternal peace.

The writer is the Production Manager of QG Saatchi & Saatchi

This article can be found on-line at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/645644