Talia Whyte

The Notion of Anti-Colonialism

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I had a chance to see the controversial new film 2016:Obama’s America.  I hadn’t paid much attention to it until it became the highest grossing conservative documentary of all time.   After seeing the film, I felt quite bemused by the story line.  The film is based on conservative activist Dinesh D’Souza’s 2010 book titled The Roots of Obama’s Rage.  The book and film claim that the basis for Obama’s political ideology comes from the radical “Founding Fathers” in his life, such as Palestinian scholar Edward Said, Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers, liberation theologian Jeremiah Wright and communist writer Franklin Marshall Davis.  However, Obama was apparently mostly influenced by his biological father Barack Obama Sr. – a man he had only met once as a child.  The elder Obama was a staunch anti-colonial socialist who played a role in Kenya’s independence.

And from this D’Souza theorizes that President Obama has a yearning to carry out his late father’s radical beliefs, as if he were a modern day Robin Hood stealing from the West to give back what was “stolen” from the developing world.

“He is trying to reduce America’s footprint in the world by stepping on America,” said D’Souza before a recent gathering hosted by Americans for Prosperity.

But what is so wrong with anti-colonialism, or the notion of anti-colonialism?

Last time I checked, the United States was a country built upon the ideals of anti-colonialism.  D’Souza must have forgotten about the original “tea party” that fought against British tax policies by throwing tea into the Boston Harbor.  D’Souza was born in India, a country that has its own colonial legacy with Britain.  He also says that he came to the United States to pursue the great “American Dream” by attending Dartmouth College and becoming an advisor for the Reagan administration – a dream he claims he would not have been able to pursue in India.

D’Souza contends that Obama is an  American (that’s right; D’Souza is not a birther) who also had the same opportunity for that American dream, but has instead used his opportunity by manipulating people using his biracial heritage and dynamic speaking ability from college to the White House, all while secretly harboring his Marxist ideas of bringing down the country.

In the movie, D’Souza cites a number of examples of Obama degrading America, such as cutting back financial and military support to Israel, siding with Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands and allegedly backing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.  D’Souza went as far as getting the president’s half brother George Obama to admit that Kenya was better off under British colonial rule.

Coincidentally, this movie’s release came around the same time as the Non Alignment Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran.  NAM was set up in 1961 to create a buffer zone for newly independent countries that wanted to find their own identity instead of siding with the United States or the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

However, in recent years it has been criticized for not being relevant.  But given that 120 countries are represented at the summit and host country Iran has become the center of the world’s attention with its nuclear testing and its growing tension with Israel, NAM is possibly more relevant now than ever.  Iran is taking over as NAM’s chair through 2015, and this could make some big political waves in the near future.  Furthermore, many of the issues that were the foundation of NAM’s birth 50 years ago still exist in the formerly colonized world, such as racism, foreign aggression, hegemony and neo-colonialism.

Considering that D’Souza comes from one of the founding countries of NAM, it comes as a bit of a surprise that he would hold the views that being anti-colonial is being anti-American or even anti-freedom.  Doesn’t the world need less racism, foreign aggression, hegemony and neo-colonialism? If Obama wants to make the world a fairer place or be Robin Hood, is that really a bad thing? Isn’t this part of the American dream too?  It is outrageous to say otherwise.

Sapphire: Life After

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There are many writers who have been scribing for years before they suddenly write that one book that gains international notoriety, and the writer becomes an instant celebrity.  This is what happened to Ramona Lofton, or better known to the world as her pen name Sapphire.  The writer had been established in New York’s poetry scene long before publishing her groundbreaking book, Push, in 1996.  The story is about Claireece “Precious” Jones, an abused 16-year-old black teen living in 1980s Harlem.  The book arose from Sapphire’s own experience working with at-risk youth during that time.

The book was adapted into Lee Daniels’ 2009 Academy Award-winning film Precious.  However, with praise also came criticism about the portrayal of black women in the film version.  I talked to Sapphire at the Harlem Book Fair where she was doing a reading about the film’s backlash, what is great writing and what she is writing about these days.

Many black critics highlighted at the time of the film’s release that it portrayed the black family as dysfunctional, especially the relationship between Precious and her mother.  Sapphire said that she knew ahead of the movie coming out that there would be critics – or “haters” as she calls them – of the storyline.
“I knew people would be negative,” she said, “but I was more surprised by the movie which took a lighter approach than the book.”

The book was actually more graphic in many aspects than the film adaptation, but Sapphire said that this was possibly done to get a lower Motion Picture Association rating.  Furthermore, she said the film adaptation “didn’t need to go there.”

Sapphire was also surprised by the criticism of colorism in the film.  “I hated the comments about Precious being dark-skinned, and Blue Rain [Precious’ teacher] was light-skinned.  I just hated it when people made these comparisons.  They made no sense to me.”
Push has also been frequently included on many banned book lists.

Currently, she is promoting her latest book, The Kid, which is a sequel to Push.  The book follows Precious’ son, Abdul, as he goes through the foster care system, where he is both the victim and victimizer of sexual abuse and finding his calling as a dancer.

“I wanted to develop Abdul’s character in this book,” she said, “and I would like to write another book about Abdul in the future.  But for now I am writing another book on a totally different subject.”

On the subject of good writing, Sapphire said “anyone can learn to be a great writer,” regardless of their personality.  As a matter of fact, she said Emily Dickinson was one of the greatest writers, although she was a recluse who spent most of her life in her bedroom.

Whatever she is writing about, Sapphire said she wants to inspire her readers, no matter what other people might think.

“I became a writer because I really want to do something meaningful for others.”

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