'No Longer Dinner': African Activists Speak On Cancun

The reason I posted this admittedly very long article on a subject that may not appear to have obvious relevance to this website is best stated toward the end by Moussa Faye, the Senegalese Programme Coordinator for ActionAid:

\"MOUSSA: Africans need to strengthen themselves by connecting more to grassroots. Negotiators from northern countries negotiate under pressure from lobby groups. We need to link up more with northern civil society and work more on subsidies reduction.\"

This sets a larger context for the whole forum and links with the discussion around Kellogg\'s \"After Left Nationalism.\" It is Kellogg, who says in his reply to Hurtig, Laxer, and Mathews, that \"We will need ... a working class challenge to capital, whatever form that capital takes — be it American, Canadian, British or French, and bonds of solidarity across borders among working classes internationally.\"

Africans are quick to realize that they lack the clout to stand up to corporate imperialism alone; they are used to working together; and that they do have allies in the north.

These particular Africans are activists, working for NGOs and grassroots organizations. They seem to have--with the exception of Uganda--the ear of some of their elected representatives (odd that that should be odd in countries with elected governments, but it is). They also have some good ideas about how to get ready for the next step.

It is strange, even a little daunting, as they admit themselves, but at the moment, they are also winning. This is a very different position from that of the left in Canada and the US.

I think the article was very relevant and important to what we\'re trying to do here and I was glad to post it. I would have posted it all except I try to be careful about copyrights so I only post full articles if there is permission to reprint or if they\'re original to the site.

But stuff like this is very worthwhile.