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Obama in Ghana: The Capacity of Hope

by Nontando Hadebe 07-14-2009 | 1:20pm
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The visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Ghana this past weekend was described as his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa. This means that the visit was not seen as just to Ghana but to this region as a whole. The excitement in Ghana reflected the excitement of many in the region. The choice of Ghana was significant because it was a focus on potential and capacity in Africa.

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Ghana's closely contested elections had the potential for violence, but the decision by the opposition leader to graciously accept defeat pointed to a capacity for new political consciousness that embraces democracy and puts the interests of the people first above party politics and personal power. By tapping into this capacity, President Obama was then able to connect with the people and present his 'tough love' speech to a receptive audience. His call to take responsibility for our own development and destiny was linked to the capacity demonstrated by Ghana and other countries in the region and brought a unique 'yes we can' message for Africa.

Aware of the legacy of colonialism, President Obama acknowledged its role but challenged Africans to work with this legacy without being fixated on it and blaming everything that goes wrong on the past

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by: ando

07-14-2009 @ 1:00pm

The strength of Obama's speech does lie in the tough love approach. He wasn't rationalizing away the problems of Africa by focusing only on colonial exploitation or racism, but looking in a holistic way at how people are being exploited by their own leaders. For example, many of Ethiopia's problems stem from a communist government in the 70s-80s which ravaged the country and caused a lot of professionals to flee to the US and Europe. I've heard it said that there are more Ethiopian-born doctors in D.C. alone than there are in all of Ethiopia.

Obama has both the ability and the qualifications to take this approach, and he should be commended for broadening the causes of poverty beyond just racism, to see what underlying issues are the cause of unemployment, broken families, etc. (not only in Africa, but also in the Western world)

by: trapus

07-28-2009 @ 1:39pm

http://iceswag.com/2009/07/24/obama-on-professo...

by: ando

07-14-2009 @ 1:00pm

The strength of Obama's speech does lie in the tough love approach. He wasn't rationalizing away the problems of Africa by focusing only on colonial exploitation or racism, but looking in a holistic way at how people are being exploited by their own leaders. For example, many of Ethiopia's problems stem from a communist government in the 70s-80s which ravaged the country and caused a lot of professionals to flee to the US and Europe. I've heard it said that there are more Ethiopian-born doctors in D.C. alone than there are in all of Ethiopia.

Obama has both the ability and the qualifications to take this approach, and he should be commended for broadening the causes of poverty beyond just racism, to see what underlying issues are the cause of unemployment, broken families, etc. (not only in Africa, but also in the Western world)

by: trapus

07-28-2009 @ 1:39pm

http://iceswag.com/2009/07/24/obama-on-professo...

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by: ando

07-14-2009 @ 1:00pm

The strength of Obama's speech does lie in the tough love approach. He wasn't rationalizing away the problems of Africa by focusing only on colonial exploitation or racism, but looking in a holistic way at how people are being exploited by their own leaders. For example, many of Ethiopia's problems stem from a communist government in the 70s-80s which ravaged the country and caused a lot of professionals to flee to the US and Europe. I've heard it said that there are more Ethiopian-born doctors in D.C. alone than there are in all of Ethiopia.

Obama has both the ability and the qualifications to take this approach, and he should be commended for broadening the causes of poverty beyond just racism, to see what underlying issues are the cause of unemployment, broken families, etc. (not only in Africa, but also in the Western world)

by: ando

07-14-2009 @ 1:00pm

The strength of Obama's speech does lie in the tough love approach. He wasn't rationalizing away the problems of Africa by focusing only on colonial exploitation or racism, but looking in a holistic way at how people are being exploited by their own leaders. For example, many of Ethiopia's problems stem from a communist government in the 70s-80s which ravaged the country and caused a lot of professionals to flee to the US and Europe. I've heard it said that there are more Ethiopian-born doctors in D.C. alone than there are in all of Ethiopia.

Obama has both the ability and the qualifications to take this approach, and he should be commended for broadening the causes of poverty beyond just racism, to see what underlying issues are the cause of unemployment, broken families, etc. (not only in Africa, but also in the Western world)

by: trapus

07-28-2009 @ 1:39pm

http://iceswag.com/2009/07/24/obama-on-professo...

by: trapus

07-28-2009 @ 1:39pm

http://iceswag.com/2009/07/24/obama-on-professo...