Africa has so many problems and at times it seems that nothing good ever come out of that continent. And I know that’s not really true, there are a lot of good things happening there. However, the bad stuff can be astoundingly depressing and heart breaking.

Case in point… I read all these stories concerning the various trouble spots around Africa, I keep asking myself, why to Africans hate their own with so much vengeance? I don’t think this question has a simple answer and this post is certainly not the final answer to the question. If anything, this is just the beginning as I intend to look at this question in light of the various happenings around Africa…

But for now, I want to start with this article titled ‘Pygmies beg UN for aid to save them from Congo cannibals‘ states in part…

“Pygmy leaders have called on the UN to set up an international tribunal to put government and rebel fighters from the Democratic Republic of Congo on trial for acts of cannibalism against their people”

The article continues…

Sinafasi Makelo, a representative of Mbuti pygmies, told the UN’s Indigenous People’s Forum that during the four-year civil war his people had been hunted down and eaten.

“In living memory, we have seen cruelty, massacres, and genocide, but we have never seen human beings hunted down as though they were game animals,” he said.

“Pygmies are being pursued in the forests. People have been eaten. This is nothing more, nothing less, than a crime against humanity.”

As you continue to read the article, some of the reasons given for this practice of cannibalism includes old hatred of the Pygmies and superstitious beliefs by the Lendu militia, one of the many rebel groups operating in the area.

To be honest, I think one of the biggest reasons Africa is being held back from moving onto the 21st century are these problems of tribal hatred (as was clearly seen in Rwanda) and certain customs and practices based on indigenous African religions or superstitions that simply make no sense and/or clearly un-biblical. I think about the practice of men being forced to take widows, whose husbands dies of AIDS, as their wives as demanded by their tribal customs. Or the washing of bodies of those who dies of Ebola, a super contagious disease.

But even from a human perspective, cannibalism simply crosses the line. Once you start going down that path, I think you have lost just about any semblance of humanity that you may have once possessed…

I will be updating this post to let you know if the UN actually did anything about this issue…

Normally I could really care less about the Oscars but this year its a little different.

Why? Well I rarely watch blockbuster type movies at all and even though at times I do get excited about certain up coming movies as the marketing folks build the buzz around them when they finally open in the theater, my interest has wained and I’m thinking that I’ll simply wait till they come out on DVD. For example right now I’m waiting to see the new Spiderman (with the Sandman as the villain), Fantastic Four (with Silver Surfer) and Transformers. Each of these movies bring me back to my childhood growing up reading Marvel comics (Spiderman, FF and Hulk were my favorite Marvel superheros) and also Saturday morning with the Transformers. I hope by the time they open later this summer, that I’ll still be interested in actually going out and watching them in the theater… So what has this got to do with me the Oscars?

This year I am really interested in seeing Forest Whitaker take home the Oscar for his performance in The Last King of Scotland. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. First, I think he is simply a great actor and a really nice, articulate chap, not the handsome dashing Denzel type, but a really cool guy
2. But second and most important, is the fact that I remember as a kid in the 70s hearing the stories and seeing on the TV news all the stuff that was going on in Uganda especially under Idi Amin, and being that Uganda is our (Kenya’s) neighbor to the west, the stories were even more real and surreal. I really think it is important that people who remember don’t forget what kind of person this man was and the death and destruction he brought to so many. Every time Forest wins an award for this movie, it is likely more people will go see the movie and spread awareness of this dark history

Now you may ask, have I see the movie? To be honest with you, no I haven’t, but I will eventually go see it.