Genocide in Congo Not a Big Issue for African Americans

Black Americans have failed to use their political power to relieve the suffering of people in the Congo and elsewhere in Africa, said two spokespersons for Friends of the Congo. "Today, we have Black leaders who are in high positions, who could do something to stop the suffering of Blacks in Africa," said Kambali Musavuli, student coordinator for Friends of the Congo.

U.S. policy has contributed to the deaths of six million people in Congo -- the worst genocide since World War Two -- since Uganda and Rwanda first invaded the mineral-rich country, in 1996. "These leaders have the blood of millions of Africans are their hands," said Friends of the Congo co-founder and executive director Maurice Carney. "U.S. policy is presenting these war criminals, who have committed crimes against humanity, to the world as renaissance leaders of Africa."

Uganda and Rwanda, close allies of the United States, control much of the mining regions of eastern Congo, the source of strategic metals such as coltan, which is vital to the electronics industry.

"In order for us to have our cell phones, our laptops, our DVD players, six million Congolese have to die," said Musavuli. Half the dead are children under the age of five. "So we have three million children that had to die so that our phones can vibrate, so that we can watch TV, so that we can use our game consoles, because we are benefiting from the suffering of the Congolese."

Late last year, a host of African American politicians and organizations voiced unqualified support for UN Ambassador Rice when she was a contender for the Secretary of State job, despite her role in the Congolese genocide. Asked what this said about the actual state of Black American relations with Africa, Musavuli replied: "I believe we've lost what Dr. King and others fought for, that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. The lives of Black people around the world are devalued."

Obama's Race to the Top Hurts Black Students, Teachers, Communities

"Barack Obama is set to go down in history as the president who's already done more to dismantle, destroy and privatize public education than any president before him," said Black Agenda Report managing editor Bruce Dixon.

Black teachers have borne the brunt of school firings. "Tens of thousands of experienced teachers have been run out of the classrooms," said Dixon.