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FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
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Opinions expressed on editorial pages of this newspaper by Columnists or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin or the Publisher.
The Worst Is Yet To Come
ince the presidential in-
auguration I've tried my best to write about anything other than the madness of Donald Trump's presidency. But it has proven to be an ef- fort in futility because trying to avoid a current topic that doesn't, somehow, loop back to the newly elected 45th pres- ident is like trying to escape darkness after the sun goes down.
Trump's ominous pres- ence seems to be behind everything we hear, taste or touch these days. The coldness of his being wraps around every aspect of our lives like a constricting snake waiting for us to take our last breath. As much as we squirm, we just can't get away from the guy.
Trump has been on the job for less than 30 working days and his antics are already making an impact globally. Unfortunately, though, it has- n't been in a good way.
From continuously crying about voter fraud being the reason why he didn't win the
popular vote during the presi- dential election, labeling every media story that criticizes him as "fake" news, issuing an un- constitutional travel ban on Muslims, engaging in a war of words with several U. S. Allies, provoking countries like Iran into making serious threats of attack against the United States and his near constant inappropriate tweets (the most recent ones directed to- ward the judge who overruled the travel ban), every day Trump has been in office he's engaged in the kind of behav- ior that has proven his critics right when they questioned his temperament to lead.
Whenever I hear Trump speak or watch him sign an ex- ecutive order overturning one of the achievements of Presi- dent Barack Obama I can't help but wonder how we're going to survive his duration in the White House with our sanity still intact? At the pace he's causing havoc it would be a miracle if any of us made it through the next four years
without going completely bald, grey or both. The stress level he creates is just that over- whelming.
To me the really crazy thing about what we're wit- nessing is the fact that, while a majority of the world is deal- ing with the anxiety concern- ing what's to come under Trump's watch, his support- ers continue to act as though everything is peaches and cream. To them, I suppose, it comes off as normal for the leader of the free world to give everyone his a-- to kiss during moments of diplomacy.
As much as I hate to be Mr. Doom and Gloom, with the tensions flaring up across the planet and Trump stomp- ing around carrying a can of gas, it's hard for me to imagine any of this ending in a good way.
I won't go as far as saying that Trump is the harbinger of the apocalypse but, if he isn't, there's no doubt that he's definitely giving, whoever he or she is, a run for their money.
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Trump Verses The Terminator
ith all that’s happened, thus far, it had to happen
sooner or later. More exciting than Batman versus Superman, Alien versus Predator, or Godzilla versus King Kong maybe, is the unbelievable meeting (in words at least) of two media icons, one who has often played the leader of the Free World and the other who is currently acting as the leader of the Free World.
It began, the other day during a National Prayer Breakfast when newly elected President Donald “Don’t Tread On Me” Trump commented (jokingly?) about Arnold “Ah’ll Be Back” Schwarzenegger’s poor ratings as replacement for former Celebrity Apprentice Talk-show host (You-Know-Who) Don- ald Trump by lamenting, “Maybe we should pray for Arnie,” which received a swift response from The Terminator who challenged, “Why don’t we switch jobs. You take over the TV show, and I’ll take over your job so we can finally sleep com- fortably again.”
Supposedly, such sparring left the audience laughing. But we doubt if guffaws would have been the case if Iran had been on the other end of Trump’s prayer . . . or North Korea or even Australia whose premier’s ears were still burning from Trump’s recent reaming.
The sad fact is if America had wanted a caustic comedian for president, we could have elected Andrew Dice Clay. Or had we preferred a superhero, maybe Arnold “What’s his name” might not have been so bad, after all. But as it stands, the leadership of America and the Free World is no stage for stand-up comedy.
Furthermore, we doubt if Superman, Batman, or the Ter- minator could ever have walked in former President Barack Obama’s shoes. We continue to pray for reality.
Adanggaman And West African Atonement
e often read and hear
about politicians and other people who apologize for the omission or commission of acts that have caused harm or pain to others. Thus, we share with our readers information about apologies made to African Americans by West African countries during the early 2000s upon the release of a revealing film, Adangga-
man.
The 2000 award winning film, produced by a multina- tional partnership and led by Ivory Coast Director, Roger Gnoan M’bala was an histor- ical drama about a West African 17th century king, Adanggaman, who led wars against his neighboring Africans, ordered his soldiers to burn enemy villages, kill the elderly, and capture the healthy to sell to European slave traders. The main char- acter, Ossei, was one of the few survivors of the massacre of his captured village and his entire family.
Ossei’s mother was cap- tured and kidnapped, leading
to the saga of his journey and chase across West Africa in his search for her and his efforts to free her with the help of an- other warrior, Naka. For the first time in history, the film Adanggaman depicts African involvement in the slave trade.
During the time of the film’s release, delegates from several European countries and the United States at- tended an observance where the president of Benin Ghana, Mathieu Kerekous, issued an apology for his country’s role in selling fellow Africans by the millions to white slave traders.
Several other Ghanaian of- ficials followed suit. Luc Marie Gnacadja, a Beninese politician, architect, and Exec- utive Secretary of the United Nations Committee stated, “We cry for forgiveness and reconciliation. Africans played a key role in supplying the At- lantic slave trade.
Ghanaian Diplomat, Kofi Awoonor wrote, “I believe there is a great psychic shadow
over Africa, and it has much to do with our guilt and denial of our role in the slave trade... in what was essentially one of the most heinous crimes in his- tory.
Another Ghanaian politi- cian and educator, Samuel Sulemana Fuseini, admit- ted that his Asante ancestors accumulated their great wealth by capturing, and kid- napping Africans and selling them as slaves.
Benin’s ambassador to the United States acknowledged, sharing in the responsibility for “this terrible human tragedy.”
Nigerians openly teach about their role in the slave trade, and admit that Nigeri- ans captured other Nigerians to sell to slave traders, and came to depend solely on the slave trade, neglecting their businesses and other occupa- tions.
When England abolished the slave trade in 1807, Nige- rians protested because the loss of the slave trade nega- tively impacted their economy.
Senegalese president, Ab- doulaye Wade, descendant of generations of slave-owning and slave-trading African kings, urged Europeans, Americans, and Africans to ac- knowledge publicly and teach openly about their shared re- sponsibility for the Atlantic Slave Trade.” All African tribal leaders in 2009 were urged to apologize for the slave trade.
Advice To Protestors
he recent passion, unity, and diversity of American pro-
testors and their leadership caused many of us Baby Boomers to reflect on some of the protest strategies of the 1960s and 70s and to wonder how such groups could better capitalize on all of that energy. Doing so, we share with this new generation of protest groups some of the suggestions re- called by some of our readers regarding ideas from the “tried-and-true.”
The first bit of advice to protestors is for them to focus on the 2018 elections when all 435 seats in the U. S. House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 U. S. Senate seats will be up for grabs. They should monitor the voting record of every member of Congress and oppose those members who sup- port legislation that fails to advance the cause of women, mi- norities, immigrants, Native Americans, the environment, and world peace. State, county, and city elected officials who enact policies detrimental to such group-ideals should also be continuously monitored and debated.
Secondly, launching a two-year national voter registration campaign that targets new voters and voters who didn’t vote in 2016 could impact the makeup of the 2019 Congress in 2018. Such a campaign could be tied to an effort to change from voting by the Electoral College to the popular vote for presidential elections.
Finally, protestors should research the business ties of
Trump supporters and his cabinet appointees in order to conduct a selective buying cam- paign. A search of the internet will quickly let protestors know what gas stations and conven- ience stores to avoid, what beers not to drink, where not to stay in Las Vegas, what diet to choose, what magazines to avoid, what home improvement stores not to frequent, what stocks not to buy and which investment firms and banks not to keep your money in. In the 1960s and 70s we learned MONEY TALKS!
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