The Kingdom of Gates and the
Controlversy
Special to USAfricaonline.com
USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
NigeriaCentral.com
The
Black Business Journal
By Prof. CHIMALUM NWANKWO
After
encountering an African Literature Association presentation by
Harvard Henry Louis Gates long ago, I came to the very sad conclusion
that (Gates),the American establishment great professor is bound to
remain tragically ineducable about Africa for ever and ever.
His thinly
veiled hostility and bitterness, his muted vituperations and
inconsolable convictions about the complicity of the African in the
woes of all Blackness, his unreflective equivocations about anything
noble about Africa make him of the ilk of the baffling animadversions
of Richard Wright.
To understand such specially made in America consciousness, you reader, must find time and read Richard Wright's old obscene travelogue called Black Power. Black people, Africans and African-Americans, who think like that are "special" in the American academe and political culture. And my friend, the rewards are immense. El Dorado is a less silly fable. If you read the signifying monkeys of Gates" thoughts more carefully, you will find that ensconced on the throne in the Kingdom of Gates, there is a happy piper-geist monkey there of ghostly eminence and virtuoso eloquence. Emblazoned on that throne of gold is a mysterious word: Controlversy.
Good luck to Black people or indeed whoever chooses to be
disturbed by the "brilliance" of this strange scholar. Why Chinua
Achebe, the Eagle on
the Iroko, is Africa's writer of the century.
By Chido Nwangwu
USAfrica
The Newspaper voted the "Best Community
Newspaper"
in the 4th largest city in the U.S., Houston. It is in
the Best of Houston 2001 special as chosen by the editors
and readers of the Houston
Press,
reflecting their poll and annual rankings. These views were
stated during an interview CNN's anchor Bernard Shaw and
senior analyst Jeff Greenfield had with Mr. Nwangwu on
Saturday November 18, 2000 during a special edition of
'Inside Politics 2000.'
Nwankwo,
acclaimed poet, critic and Professor of English at the North Carolina
State University in Raleigh, is a contributing editor of
USAfricaonline.com and USAfrica The Newspaper. He contributes poems
and commentary on public policy and issues in the news. His new book
of poetry, The Womb in the Heart, has recently been released
in the U.S. Archiving of this essay on another web site is not
authorized; only web links are allowed.
USAfrica FORUM:
IN THE HOUSE OF MANDELA: A SILLY
CRY FOR REPARATIONS
By Prof. Chimalum Nwankwo
Nelson
Mandela, Tribute to the world's
political superstar and Lion of Africa
Jonas Savimbi, UNITA are
"terrorists"
in Africans' eyes
despite Washington's "freedom fighter" toga for him. By
SHANA WILLS
Nelson
Mandela, Tribute to the
world's political superstar and Lion of
Africa
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's
burden
mounts with murder charges, trials
Why Bush should focus on dangers
facing Nigeria's return
to democracy
and Obasanjo's slipperyslide
TRIBUTE
A KING FOR
ALL TIMES:
Why Martin Luther King's
legacy
and vision are relevant into 21st century.
DIPLOMACY
Walter
Carrington:
African-American diplomat who put principles above self for
Nigeria 
(USAfrica's
founder Chido Nwangwu with Ambassador Carrington at the U.S.
embassy, Nigeria)
DEMOCRACY'S
WARRIOR
Out of
Africa.
…The
cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but
his voice is the property of the neighborhood. -- Chinua
Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah. An editor carries on
his crusade against public corruption and press
censorship
in his native Nigeria and other African countries. By
John Suval.
ARINZE: Will he be
the FIRST
BLACK AFRICAN
POPE?
By Chido
Nwangwu
HUMAN
RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
How far, how deep will Nigeria's human rights
commission go?
Rtd. Gen. Babangida trip as
emissary for Nigeria's Obasanjo to Sudan raises curiosity,
questions about what next in power
play?
110 minutes
with Hakeem Olajuwon
Nigerian
stabbed
to death
in his bathroom in Houston.
Cheryl
Mills' first class defense of Clinton and her detractors'
game
It's wrong
to stereotype Nigerians as Drug
Dealers
Private initiative,
free
market forces, and more
democratization
are Keys to prosperity in Africa
Apple announces Titanium,
"killer
apps" and other
ground-breaking products for 2001. iTunes makes a record
500,000 downloads.
Steve Jobs extends digital
magic
Since 1958, Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" set a standard
of artistic excellence,
and more. By Douglas Killam
Lifestyle
Sex,
Women and (Hu)Woman
Rights. By Chika Unigwe
Johnnie Cochran
will soon learn that defending Abacha's
loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's
case.
By Chido
Nwangwu
USAfrica The
Newspaper voted the "Best Community
Newspaper"
in the 4th largest city in the U.S., Houston. It is in
the Best of Houston 2001 special as chosen by the editors
and readers of the Houston
Press,
reflecting their poll and annual rankings.
DEMOCRACY DEBATE
CNN
International debate o
n
Nigeria's democracy livecast on February 19, 2002. It
involved Nigeria's Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana,
Prof. Salih Booker and USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido
Nwangwu. Transcripts
are available on
the CNN International site.
Should Africa debates begin
and end at
The
New York Times and
The
Washington Post?
No
NEWS
INSIGHT
CNN, Obasanjo and Nigeria's struggles with
democracy.
Why Obasanjo's government should respect
CNN
and Freedom of the press
in Nigeria.
Jonas Savimbi, UNITA are
"terrorists"
in Africans' eyes
despite Washington's "freedom fighter" toga for him. By
SHANA WILLS
Africa
suffers the scourge of the virus.
This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a
five-month-old AIDS patient (above) in a hospital in the
Kalafong township near Pretoria, South Africa, on October
26, 1999, brings a certain, frightening reality to the
sweeping and devastating destruction of human beings who
form the core of any definition of a country's future, its
national security, actual and potential economic development
and internal markets.
22 million Africans HIV-infected, ill
with AIDS
while African leaders
ignore disaster-in-waiting
Osama
bin-Laden's goons threaten Nigeria and Africa's
stability
What
has Africa
to do with September 11 terror? By Chido
Nwangwu
Africans
reported
dead
in terrorist
attack at
WTC
September
11
terror and
the ghost of things to
come....
Will
religious conflicts be the time-bomb
for Nigeria's latest transition to civilian rule?
Bola
Ige's murder another danger signal for
Nigeria's nascent democracy.
In a special report a few hours after the
history-making nomination, USAfricaonline.com
Founder and Publisher Chido Nwangwu places Powell within the
trajectory of history and into his unfolding clout and
relevance in an essay titled 'Why Colin
Powell
brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush
presidency.'
APPRECIATION
A young
father writes his One
year old son:
"If only my heart had a voice...."
AFRICA
AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS
Beyond U.S.
electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic
republic hold
lessons
for
African politics.
CONTINENTAL
AGENDA
Bush's position on
Africa
is "ill-advised."
The position
stated by Republican presidential aspirant and Governor of
Texas, George Bush where 
he
said that "Africa will not be an area of priority" in his
presidency has been questioned by
USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido
Nwangwu. He added that Bush's "pre-election position was
neither validated by the economic exchanges nor
geo-strategic interests of our two continents."
Nwangwu,
adviser to the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the
U.S., and immigrant home to thousands of Africans) argued
further that "the issues of the heritage interests of 35
million African-Americans in Africa, the volume and value of
oil business between between the U.S and Nigeria and the
horrendous AIDS crisis in Africa do not lend any basis for
Governor Bush's ill-advised
position which
removes Africa from fair consideration" were he to be
elected president.
By Al Johnson