Blog #21 - Did capitalism destroy Africa?

We just got done studying capitalism and how the drive to compete and win made the British and Germans the top European countries in the late 1800s.  America, during this time period, also strove to be the #1 steel maker and financial capitol center in the world, but unlike Britain, Germany and France, the U.S. didn't have to search too far for resources b/c they were right in our own backyard. 

The Europeans looked to Africa for valuable mineral resources, timber, rubber and other resources in the 1800s which then spurred a huge land grab and a race for colonies which the British and French won by 1914.  Even before this new age of industry, Africa had been stripped of its human resources during the slave trade - potentially 20 million people either killed or enslaved during the kidnapping to the New World. 

"Capitalism fuelled the slave trade, the profits from which were used to fuel the industrial revolution, which halved the population of Africa (leading to between 40-100 million people being killed or enslaved and taken out of Africa), it also fuelled the imperialism and conquest which left millions of dead and left a legacy of poverty, suffering and misery" 1 http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Argument:_Capitalism_has_fostered_imperialism,_exploitation,_and_suffering

Africans grew cash crops like coffee and cotton and mined gold, salt and silver that had no nutritional value for their own families' food needs.  Therefore, African families starved in many different imperialized nations.  Also, there was the "soft power" of imperialism - the non-hard factors of imperialism like culture, religion, and economic influences like movies, TV and music (in today's life). 

Today, Africa is still stripmined for diamonds and coal, Nigeria is drilled for oil, and the Chinese look to seize Africa as the next world market for its cheap place in the world for everything from toys to shoes (Nike) to computers (Sony).  However, Africa has become the dumping and testing ground for almost every single kind of weapon imaginable.  Arms dealers have supplied countless numbers of weapons for many of the civil wars around the continent.  In fact, the Chinese are pumping billions of light arms into Sudan fueling their civil war against the Christians in the Darfur region.  Potentially, 20% of all light weapons in the world are in Africa. 2

Also, Joseph Kony recruits children soldiers from nrothern Uganda and the surrounding region for his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) so that he can try to topple the Ugandan government - a fight only he continues to wage with little to no support from the Ugandan people.  He is currently hiding out in the Congolese National Rain Forest Parks where he is untouched and encourages / forces the local people to burn protected trees for charcoal.  These actions damage the rain forest and encroach upon protected gorilla habitats too.  See http://www.invisiblechildren.com/ for more info on the LRA and Joseph Kony. 

Watch the Frontline World video on Gunrunners from Sierra Leone - http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/sierraleone/ 


Question:
Was it capitalism that made Africa such a mess?  If so, how did it destroy this beautiful place? 
 - If it wasn't capitalism, what was it that has caused all of this turmoil? 

Due Thursday, May 13. 150 words.
Sources:
2. African Union: http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/AUC/Departments/PSC/Small_Arms.htm
3. China makes Africa its business, The New York Times.  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/world/asia/18iht-africa.2528892.html

10,000+ books!

We've reached 10,000 books! Awesome job, guys and gals. You've worked hard and put a ton of time into it - thanks! Invisible Children can add our 10,600 + books to their total of 350,000 books.

Blog #5 - Evaluation of book drive

Due Wednesday, February 4th. 200 words minimum.

Reflection time!

A couple questions to think about as we reach the completion of the book drive. As of Monday night, we have over 6,700 books; we're 2/3 of the way there!

So, here are the questions:
1. How do you think these books and money collected will affect the schools and kids of northern Uganda? Explain.

2. How do you feel that the Groves community has responded so strongly to the book drive? Why?

Thanks.

Invisible Children to air at Seaholm on Thursday, Feb. 5

Partnering with a student organization at Seaholm, Volunteer Africa, we have agreed to offer a public viewing of the 54-minute film, Invisible Children at the school's media center on Thursday night, February 5th, to be followed by a Q and A session.

Currently, the book drive is just tipping the scale at about 6,000, so we could really use your help by bringing new and/or gently used books, DVDs, and CDs to the showing. We will also sell t-shirts to benefit the cause - Just 7 Books - Just 7 Bucks. The money will go to help pay for additional books, DVDs or CDs if we haven't reached 10,000 yet or will be donated in one lump sum to IC.

To see which items are acceptable, please visit http://www.invisiblechildren.com/bookdrive before bringing your donations.

Spread the word!

Invisible Children on YouTube

Hey guys and gals, if you want to show your friends and family the video, Invisible Children, I have found it here on You Tube. It's broken up into 5 segments. If the embedded videos don't work, just follow the links beneath each video and watch it there.

Please be forewarned that in each of the vidoes, PG-13 subject matter is covered ranging from violence and civil war, discussion of contraception, images of dead soldiers, and other scary stuff. In the first two clips, the three guys who make the video Jason, Bobby, and Laren, get sick and vomit. Also, their host, Jolly, shows them how to behead a chicken. The images are brief, but still graphic.

PLEASE VIEW FOR YOURSELF BEFORE SHOWING TO ANY YOUNG TEENAGER.



Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qds5MQCqWnk



Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viEMFvP4kPM



Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ped11Culq0



Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnqAdV40QTE



Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJnYcHWx6H4

Trailer for the feature film of Invisible Children!

Whoa! Guys and gals, I may have told you that Jason, Bobby, and Laren of Invisible Children are working on a full length version of their film. I just found the "teaser" trailer, and as you can see below, it goes beyond what we've already seen in our version.




Intense stuff!

If the video above doesn't work, click this link:

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/media/videos/detail.php?id=217720924

You'll be glad to know that the staff was very receptive to the film today (Monday, Jan. 19). They are getting behind the book drive even more, and some classes will begin a 1st hour competition to see who can bring in the most books, DVDs and CDs. Also, released library books are fine, so let's go out and find them!

T-shirts will be here Thursday. Make sure you bring your money by Wednesday. Also, Mrs. Brice has contacted the Baldwin Library to see if they have any extras they'd like to donate.

Also, in order to collect as many books as possible, we may have to consider extending the book drive one more week to include other schools in the district so that they can have their own "micro" drives. This would mean that we'd miss out on the contest, but since we had such a late start on it to begin with, I don't know how much of a chance we had. One question to think about is: why are we doing this? Are we doing this for a contest? Or are we doing this so that we can help out those who are in desperate need of a better life?

We'll talk on Tuesday in class.

Ideas for the book drive

There were a ton of great ideas on blog #3 - here are just some of them:

1. Go to church and ask the congregation for books.

2. Go door to door in my neighboorhood asking for books.

3. Make a pamphlet that can be used to explain the book drve and/or Invisible Children.

4. Make a big sign to hang by the football field or near the entrance of the school as a reminder of the book drive.

5. Bring boxes.

6. Have a showing of the movie at Groves.

7. Contact the local newspaper about the book drive.

8. Hold a bake sale to raise money for the book drive and/or IC.

9. Connect the book drive with sports - pass out fliers at games.

10. Find books around the house and bring them to school.

11. Sell the bracelets / t-shirts to raise money and awareness.

12. Talk to teammates or other members of your club/group.

13. Email / call family and friends about the book drive and collect the books from them.

14. Spread the word about the book drive and IC around Groves to friends and teachers.

15. Create a Facebook (www.facebook.com) group and invite everyone you know to it.

16. Go to Baldwin library and see if they have books to donate.

17. Put up the posters everywhere we can.

18. Get the FANN announcements going.

19. Have a donation box set up at lunch.

20. Get the parents involved.

21. Go to Borders and talk to the management and see if they have books to do donate.

Great job, guys.

Blog #3 - Think of new ways to promote the book drive!

Hey,

I know we brainstormed a couple of ways of promoting the book drive. What I would like you to do here is come up with three ways that you can:

1. personally push/promote the book drive and

2. what kinds of action can you do to make those things happen?

For instance, you could say "I'm gonna call my uncle, Steve, b/c I know he's got a lot of books and see if he has any extras. Then I'll have my mom drive me over to his house this weekend, pick them up, and bring them to school on Monday, January 12."

This may seem like an easy blog (10 pts). But the hard part will be to keep your end of the deal by following through with your three suggestions (5 pts. extra credit per suggestion with my approval).

Due Friday, January 9.

Remember, just 7 books!