“This ruling puts canned hunting right back on the agenda, and further entrenches South Africa’s image of a country that puts animal welfare last while profiteering from an abhorrent form of hunting practice,” said Jason Bell-Leask, Director Southern Africa of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org).

An appeal by the South African Predator Breeder’s Association against an earlier ruling that prevented captive bred lions from being hunted before they had spent 24-months in the wild, and also challenging the inclusion of lions as a listed large predator in the Threatened or Protected Species Regulations, was upheld by a sitting of the Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday.

The high court said the minister of environmental affairs at the time did not take a “rational decision” when he determined that captive bred lions should fend for themselves in the wild for 24 months before being hunted and that captive bred lions would temporarily lose their status as a listed large predator.

“How was it possible that a minister (Marthinus van Schalkwyk) could make a decision (to force captive bred lions to be released into a wild environment for 24 months) that was so flawed that a judge was able to over turn it, in its entirety, in one fell swoop. There’s something wrong with this picture. The most rational decision upfront would have been an outright ban of breeding lions in captivity for hunting purposes,” said Bell-Leask.

Bell-Leask also called for the court and Government to explain what is meant by temporarily amending the Threatened and Protected Species Regulations to exclude captive bred lions.

As Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (he is now Minister of Tourism), Marthinus van Schalkwyk was outspoken in his condemnation of canned hunting describing it as a “despicable practice” and that the government would “act to eliminate rogue hunting practices, like canned hunting.”

In South Africa the news that captive lions were back in the cross-hairs of a rifle, was greeted with dismay by the public. In an opinion poll on the News24 website, asking the public to vote on the ruling, 56 per cent of all voters said it would be bad for wildlife while only nine per cent said it would be good for hunting.

“The ruling is a sad day for lions but hopefully the court of public opinion will now come to bear on the canned hunting industry, shaming it for what it is – an immoral and indefensible business without a shred of credibility,” said IFAW’s Bell-Leask.

These high profits attract poachers that ruthlessly kill elephants, and in 2006 alone more than 11 metric tonnes of illegal ivory were seized from ships destined for Taiwan and Japan. Elephants are also being killed for their ears, which are being used for painting canvases.

Current estimates are extremely worrying for African elephants. Based on the annual number of illegal task seizures scientists predict that 38,000 elephants is killed each year because of tasks, and if this trend continues in about 5 years time African elephants will go extinct since today there are only around 600,000 elephants still remaining in Africa.

As long as ivory trade is bringing high profits to poachers they won't stop hunting and killing elephants, and these killings have taken such a proportion that Africa could soon lose all of its elephants. Can you imagine Africa without the elephants? How ruthless and greedy can person be to be able to pull the trigger and kill these magnificent, peace-loving animals?

Current efforts are definitely not enough to stop elephant poaching in Africa, and I strongly believe that animal poaching in Africa will continue as long as African people remain poor and hungry as they are today. The fact that Africa is the poorest continent is the most important factor that contributes to animal poaching because African people look at it as the source of significant income which widely opens the door to international poaching gangs.

Developed countries are entirely to blame for this problem because they do not do anything to stop poverty and hunger and Africa, which indirectly makes poaching in Africa lot easier. Without the help of rich countries African wildlife will be in great jeopardy and many animals will perish from the face of the planet, especially since poaching is these days well-organized business, with international poaching gangs pulling the strings.

Total ivory trade ban that some see as solution is only partial solution that will not stop poaching because it will not solve the problem of hunger and poverty across the black continent. African continent needs better life standard, more money, more food, more jobs, and more educated people to fight these big ecological problems.

And animal poaching is definitely one of the biggest, if not the biggest ecological problem in Africa. The seriousness of current situation is best described if we look at the data from Chad's Zakouma National Park that had 3,885 elephants in 2005 but by 2009 the number has dropped to just 617, with dozens of rangers killed by poachers there over the same period. As you can see elephant poaching is really out of control in Africa, and needs to be stopped immediately.

The Government of South Africa is now proposing new legislation which will permit the use of the mis-named “Soft Traps” to capture animals suspected of attacking livestock. In action and effect, Soft Traps are the same as gin traps. It is a totally misleading name for such a nasty, cruel device.

التوقيعات
Hayat BOUTERFES

Tamazight,
neknin i yessarsen tamatart nneɣ swadday, imeẓḍaɣ n iẓelmeḍ n ifriqya, d imaziɣen n tutlayt d tnekwit d tusna d tɣuni ɣar tmurt/tmazirt n imaṛawen , nessutara zeg wneɣmam n yunisku adas tewc/tefka ass amaḍlan i tmaziɣt minzi/acku d tutlayt n waṭṭas n imeẓḍaɣ u teksi tusna d tuɣrma d tiqburin s waṭṭas
للتوقيع يرجى الاتصال بالعنوان التالي
thudart@hotmail.fr

English,
We, the undersigned, Amazigh, inhabitants of North Africa, linguistically, culturally and through our membership in the land of the ancestors, we appeal UN organization, UNESCO, in order to dedicate international day to Tamazight, a day dedicated to several values carried by this language / identity / AMAZIGH civilization and its role in the preservation of a universal heritage of increasingly depleted. This day will be a real tribute to Tamazight to showcase its extraordinary vitality and dynamism, and will be a great support to promote their development.

Français,
Nous soussignés, habitants d’Afrique du Nord, Amazighs linguistiquement, culturellement et par le biais de notre appartenance à la terre des ancêtres, nous lançons un appel fervent à l’organisation onusienne, UNESCO, afin de dédier à Tamazight une journée internationale, une journée dédiée aux valeurs plusieurs fois millénaire portées par cette langue/identité/civilisation AMAZIGHE et pour son rôle dans la préservation d’un patrimoine universel de plus en plus appauvri. Cette journée sera un réel hommage à Tamazight pour mettre en valeur sa vitalité extraordinaire et son dynamisme et sera d’un grand appui afin de promouvoir son épanouissement.

Les soussignés :
veuillez nous contacter sur email :
thudart@hotmail.fr

Spanish,
Nosotros los residentes del norte de África Amazighs de lengua, cultura, identidad y pertenencia a la tierra ancestral, planteamos esta correspondencia a la UNESCO des las Naciones Unidas para que apruebe un dia internacional dedicado a la lengua tamazight, en uno de sus dias de las celebraciones internacionles, ya que esta lengua conta con una carga útil, civilizacional y cultural de gran anitiguidad en el tiempo y su importante papel en preservar este patrimonio humanitario para que se publique. Ya que es el idioma la mayoria de la población del norte de África (Tamazgha) y sin distinccion la necesitan sus hablantes nativos.

German,
Wir, die Unterzeichnenden, sind Einwohner Nordfrikas mazighische Sprache, Kultur, Identität, und Zugehörigkeit zur Heimat der Vorfahren. Wir fordern von der UN-Organisation UNESCO, die Einführung eines Weltgedenktages für die Tamazight-Sprache innerhalb der jährlich stattfindenden Gedenktage, aufgrund ihres zivilisatorischen und Kulturellen Inhalts, und ihrer Rolle bei der Aufrechterhaltung und Verbreitung dieses Erbe der Menschheit.Tamazight gilt als die Sprache Nordafrikas, der sich die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung bedient.

thudart@hotmail.fr

1- Association: Syphax Nedherland
2- Association: Tawiza canaria
3- Association: Ithricanarias canaria
4- Association: Afra pour la culture et développement - Nador - Maroc
5- Association Thwiza pour la culture et le développement- Selouane-Nador / Maroc
6- Association Hedon pour le développement économique, culturel, social et écologique / Ayt chiker, Nador / Maroc
7- Association Amoud pour le patrimoine et le développement / BOUYZKRAN - AKLMIM /Maroc
8- Association Tamazight (Liège) Belgique
9 - Association Amezrouy pour les Etudes Historiographiques et Patrimoine Culturel / Maroc
10- Stichting Anoual Nederland Nehderland
11- Centre NOUKOUR pour la culture , liberté et démocratie :Houceima -Maroc
12- ORGANISATION SCOUT AMAZIGH COMANDAR GENERAL /Maroc
13- Association BUYA Bentyeb-Nador / Maroc
14- Association de Ayt said pour la culture et le
développement Nador /Maroc
15- Forum Noumidia pour la famille et le développement azghenghan / Maroc
16- Association Assif pour le théâtre Benteyyeb / Maroc
17- Club UNESCO Pour la protection du patrimoine au Rif (Cupp.Rif) Maroc
18- Association d 'initiation pour le développement , culture et sport /Inzeggan Maroc
19- Forum Afrati pour le développement et le dialogue entre les cultures et les religions Maroc
20- Association Ifran Anti-atlas pour le développement et le tourisme Maroc
21- TAWADA pour la culture et le développement, SEFRU Maroc
22- Association Tifawin pour la culture et le développement
Midar-Ayt tuzin Maroc
23- Fondation Tawiza Nedherland
24- Association de l'amitié pour le patrimoine et l développement /Guelmim -Maroc
25- Association des marocains pour les droits de l'homme /Hollande
26- Association Anaruz pour la culture et le développement /Nador
27- Union des associations de Salouane/ Nador -Maroc
28- Club Nador Today pour la presse électronique Nador - Maroc
29-association thawmat pour la culture et le développement
azlaf - ayt tuzin - rif Maroc
30- Association Afulay pour la culture et le développement Arekmane - Nador / Maroc
31- Association tamazikht - Tunes
32- Association Futur sport et développement Nador /Maroc
33 - Association tahaddi teakwondo Selouane /Nador
34 - Association Nador sport pour tous / Nador -
35- Centre marocain des droits d´Homme section Tanger-Asilah
36-Association Tamazight des bonnes affaires Rabat / Maroc
37- Association Timatarin culturelle et sociale Chtouka Ayt baha Agadir Maroc
38- Institution Noumidia pour la culture et le dialogue _ Holande
39 - Association Liqaeat pour l 'Education et la culture Rabat /Maroc
40- Association Hanibal fulcontact Nador /Maroc
41- Association Islan pour la culture et le développement Nador Maroc
42 - Coordination de Rif pour le développement commun Derouich Nador Maroc
43- Association Ihudriyyen Ayt nsar Nador Maroc
44- ORGANISATION TAMAYNUT SECTION Bouizakarne Maroc
45- Confédération Tamunt n Iffus Maroc
46- Association des Populations des Montagnes du Monde-section Maroc APMM-Maroc
47- Associatin Tamatart pour le développement intégré et l'éducation ATANAN-Agadir
48-Association Badail Jorf pour le Développement et la Coopération Agadir Maroc
49- Association Tiwizi59 Berbères du Maroc à Lille
50- Association "imnayns " pour les droits et développement
51- Association " Initiatives des jeunes de Nador" -Maroc
52- Association al inmaa pour le développement Maroc
53- Association Yugurten / Tripoli - Libye
54- Association marocaine des droits humains section Paris France
55- Association Tamazgha pour la culture et le développement - Nador/Maroc
56- Associaton Yuba II Belgique
57-Association Timekchad pour le développement Zagoura Maroc

____________________________________________
1- جمعية سيفاكس اوتريخت هولندا
2 ـجمعية اثري كناريا جزر كناريا ـ
3 جمعية ثاويزا جزر كناريا ـ
4 جمعية افرا للثقافة والتنمية ميضار المغرب ـ
5 جمعية تاويزا للثقافة والتنمية ـ سلوان الناظور المغرب ـ
6جمعية هيدون للتتمية الاقتصادية والثقافية والاجتماعية والايكولوجية ايث شيكار المغرب ـ
7 جمعية أمود للتراث والتنمية - بويزكارن أكلميم المغرب ـ
8 جمعية تامازيغت لييج بلجيكا ـ
9 جمعية أمزروي للدراسات التاريخية و الموروث الثقافي المغرب ـ
10 مؤسسة انوال هولندا ـ
11 مركز النكور للثقافة والحرية والديموقراطية المغرب ـ
12 ا منظمة الكشاف الأمازيغي ـ القيادة العامة ـ وباسم كافة الفروع والمندوبية بتامزغا ـ
13 جمعية بويا للتنمية والثقافة بن طيب الناظور المغرب ـ
14 جمعية ايت سعيد للثقافة والتنمية المغرب ـ
15 منتدى نوميديا للاسرة والتنمية ازغنعان المغرب ـ
16 جمعية أسيف للمسرح ابن طيب الناظور المغرب ـ
17 نادي اليونسكو لحماية التراث بالريف المغرب ـ
18 جمعية المبادرة للثتنمية و الثقافة و الرياضة - مدينة انزكان المغرب ـ
19 منتدى افراتي للتنمية و حوار الثقافات و الاديان المغرب ـ
20 جمعية افران الاطلس الصغير للثنمية السياحية المغرب ـ
21 جمعية تاوادا للثقافة والتنمية صفرو المغرب ـ
22 جمعية ثيفاوين للثقافة و التنمية ميضار المغرب ـ
23 مؤسسة ثاويزا هولندا ـ
24- جمعية الصداقة للتراث والتنمية كلميم المغرب
25 - جمعية المغاربة لحقوق الانسان بهولندا
26 - اإتحاد الجعميات بسلوان الناظور المغرب-
27 نادي ناظور اليوم للإعلام الإلكتروني الناظور ـ المغرب ـ
28 جمعية أناروز للثقافة والتنمية الناظور المغرب ـ
29- جمعية ثاومات للثقافة و التنمية أزلاف - أيث توزين- الريف المغرب
30- جمعية أفولا ي للثقافة والتنمية أركمان المركز الناظور ـ المغرب
31 - جمعيــــــة تمازيخت بتونـــــــــــــــــــــس
32 - جمعية المستقبل للرياضة والتنمية الناظـــــــور المغــــرب
33 ـجمعية التحدي التيكواندو سلوان الناظور المغـرب ـ
34 ـ جمعية الرياضــــــة للجميـــــــــــــــــع الناظور المغــــــرب
35- المركز المغربــــــــي لحقوق الانسان جهة طنجـــــــــــــــــة أصيلا
36- جمعيــــــــــة تمازيخت لللاعمـــــــــــال الجيــــــــــدة الرباط المغرب
37 - جمعية تيماتارين الثقافية والاجتماعية شتوكا ايت بها اكادي
38-مؤ سسة نوميديا للثقافة و الحوار بهولندا
39 ـ جمعية لقــاءات للتربية والفنـــــــــون الربـــــاط المغــــــــرب
40- جمعية فولكونتاكت الناظــــــــــور المغرب
41- الجمعية اســــــلان للثقافة والتنمية الناظور المغرب
42 ـ تنسيقية الريف للتنمية المشتركـــــــة ادريوش الناطوور المغرب
43- جمعية احوذريان ايــــت نصار الناظور المغرب
44- جمعية تماينوت فرع بيزكارن المغرب
45- كنفدرالية ثامونت ن افوس المغرب
46- جمعية شعوب جبال العالم فرع المغرب
47- جمعية تمتارت للتنمية المدمجة والتربية انتنان اكادير المغرب
48- جمعية بدائــــــــــــــــــل الجرف للتنمية والتعاون اكادير المغرب
49 - ـ جمعية تيويزي 59 لللامازيغ ا المغاربة بليل فرنسا
50- جمعية امناينز للحقوق والتنمية
51- جمعيـــــــة مبادارات الشباب الناظـــوري ـ الناظــور المغرب
52- جمعية الانمـــــــاء للتنمية المغرب
53 - جمعية يوجرتن تريبولي ليبيا
54- الجمعية المغربية لحقوق الانسان فرع باريس فرنسا
55- جمعيـة ثامزغا للثقافة والتنميـــــــــــــــة الناظور المغرب
56- جمعيــة يوبـــــــــــــا الثاني بلجيكا
57- جمعيــــــــــة ثيمكشاض للتنمية زاكــــــــــــــــــــورة المغرب

I strongly believe that unless we recognize this as an emergency and take action now, we will witness the extinction of wild lions these iconic predators that once ruled from the southern tip of Africa all the way to northwestern India by 2020.

Extinction by 2020. What would that mean? Besides the loss of the magic and romance of these majestic animals, and our spiritual connection with them, there would be a cascade of ecological impacts. The first of these would be an increase in some of the lion's prey, such as wildebeest and buffalo, which would also become less alert and less active in the absence of a fearsome predator. These larger, more stagnant populations of herbivores could overgraze their habitat, leading to soil erosion that in turn causes poor water quality downstream and aids the invasion of weeds and exotic plant species. Finally the bloated populations of prey could collapse as the degraded habitat can no longer support them.

There would be economic and social costs to people, too. In Ghana, for example, when fish stocks declined and men turned to meat poaching to feed their families, they wiped out the competition for game lions and started chipping away at wildlife populations. As a result of the disappearance of predators, baboons got bolder and their numbers exploded. In turn, these bolder and more numerous baboons started raiding crop farms and attacking farmers.

Worldwide, the ecotourism industry generates about $200 billion a year an estimated $80 billion of which ends up in Africa. Most African tourism is safari tourism. Research indicates that if big cats were no longer featured on that dream safari, far fewer people would come to Africa. Without the $80 billion annual revenue stream communities (and some governments) would start failing and poverty would increase.

In addition to the problem of those that don't appreciate lions enough, there is the challenge of those who appreciate this big cat too much. One example of the latter is trophy hunting. I am not anti-hunting. With just 20,000 lions left, however, targeting one of the last 4,500 male lions on Earth with a high-powered rifle merely to serve the pleasure of ego, sport and power, seems inappropriate right now.

Each year an average of about 500 lion trophies or skins enter the United States from trophy hunting in Africa. If you do the math, you quickly see that this is not sustainable. Because male lions operate in coalitions of two or three, each male lion that is shot leaves the remaining male outmatched in the next territorial fight, and he is expelled. There is no future for expelled lions, so one license effectively kills two males. At the same time his eight females (on average) and their 24 cubs are left without defenders. The new alpha males are genetically wired to kill all cubs and start the breeding process again with their genes. So one license is really cleaning out between 20 and 30 lions each time and if Americans are responsible for 500 of those licenses, they are effectively killing lions at an enormous rate.

If I had to choose I' would say the biggest threat to lions is the burgeoning human population. I tracked the curve of lion populations during the past 50 years and then compared it to the human population curve. The result: Every time we add a billion people to our roster we cut their populations in half. We are in essence squeezing big cats out of existence.

With the human population explosion there is an associated cattle explosion.

In Africa, cattle culture communities especially in areas suffering from climate-change-induced drought are grazing domestic stock farther and farther into wildlife reserves than ever. Cattle are different than indigenous grazing animals especially in the numbers now being raised by herders. They rip out the grass and chop up sensitive ground in a way that wildebeest and zebras do not. The cattle stay in certain areas and do more damage every day while wildebeest charge through millions of acres of habitat on their well-refined migratory circuits. But once again, it is humans that do more damage. Cattle cultures up and down Africa are in daily conflict with predators, for understandable reasons; lions eat their livelihood.

Those who wish to do harm to lions have at their disposal a granular poison known as carbofuran, the most popular of which goes under the trade name of Furadan. This substance, developed by an American company as a crop pesticide, is so toxic that it is banned in the United States and the European Union but it is widely available in East Africa. A quarter teaspoon kills a lion (and a human) in minutes. A handful sprinkled on an animal carcass wipes out a whole pride that feeds on the carcass, the hyenas that come in afterwards, the vultures and jackals and any insects that settle there. It is a dirty bomb against wildlife and the natural world and rapidly becoming the poachers weapon of choice.

When we and other conservationists engaged with the manufacturers, they started buying it back in Kenya. The buyback program is too slow, however, and this potent chemical is still being used, and spreading west and south like an epidemic. Tragically, a young Kenyan boy ate some late last year and dropped dead. In another recent incident, workers at a lodge in Maasai Mara National Park sprinkled some on their vegetable gardens, killing a hippo that night, and lions and vultures that came to feed on the hippo the next day.

Another sinister activity that threatens lions (and other big cats) is the trade in their body parts for traditional medicines. There is a burgeoning bone market in Asia for medicines in the ground-up form, or as tea, soup and wine. Drinking tiger or lion bone wine is thought to enhance sexual prowess. It is largely tiger bones that satisfy this need now, but there is no perceivable difference between tiger and lion bone, so lions are being poached for Eastern medicine now as well.

In South Africa recently, the authorities in one province issued permits for a farmer who was previously in the canned lions hunting business (a practice where lions are bred and raised in small enclosures and then shot in a safari hunt to now kill 44 of his lions and turn them into bones. These bones will be legally sanctioned and exported to the East. Now, thanks to this action, anyone with illegal tiger bones can claim they are legal lion bones from South Africa.

The goal of the Big Cats Initiative is to halt the decline in lion numbers by 2015 and gradually restore populations to sustainable levels at least double present levels. A major component of this effort is educating local communities about how to protect themselves against lion attacks. We have produced films in Ma and Swahili to help. We are finding ways to help communities see economic benefits from lions and other big cats through ecotourism, for example. And we are helping people avoid economic losses by paying compensation to cattle owners if their livestock is killed by one of our lions. We offer compensation for their lost cattle at fair market value but only if there are no lions killed by Maasai warriors and hunters during that quarter.

Stay informed

Female lions do most of the hunting, working in teams to stalk and ambush their prey.

Find more facts on our lion fact sheet http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/lion.php

We are also getting behind saving one lion at a time, realizing that we need to be careful we do not abandon genetically isolated populations. Recently we looked at a small lion population in Wasa National Park in Cameroon. Wasa park may have only a handful of lions, but new genetic evidence shows that many of these populations are unique. As always, it is a lot cheaper to protect species than reintroduce them later when they are locally extinct.

To sit and listen to a lion roar in the African bush is to sit on the edge of paradise, a wilderness that is both rare and essential. Without lions and other big cats, the world will increasingly become a place filled with clutter and noise. And the noble statues of lions that grace our cities will stand silently as reminders of the fork in the road we could have taken.

This situation creates a de facto quarantine of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia against the recommendations of the World health Organizations (WHO) and many humanitarian groups (including the International Federation of Red Cross & Medecins Sans Frontieres) at the frontline of the battle to defeat the EVD.

In many instances, the WHO has repeated not recommending travel or trade restrictions for the affected countries and has called for lifting the embargo. But it is not being heard.

1. The mine wants to take water from existing water users;
2. If the mine takes our water, the historically dispossessed Wallmansthal community won’t be able to farm the land it fought to reclaim;
3. The Wallmansthal wetlands will be destroyed;
4. The community will suffer because of radiation from mine waste;
5. Dust problems will damage local businesses that give jobs to the community;
6. Using contract miners means there will be no decent jobs for local people;
7. The mine will attract more informal settlements & more crime;
8. Degradation of natural environment;
9. Decrease in property value.

Did you know that:

* 315 million people – one in two of people in Sub Saharan Africa survive on less than one dollar per day;

* 184 million people – 33% of the African population – suffer from malnutrition;

* During the 1990s the average income per capita decreased in 20 African countries;

* Less than 50% of Africa’s population has access to hospitals or doctors;

* In 2000, 300 million Africans did not have access to safe water;

* The average life expectancy in Africa is 41 years;

* Only 57% of African children are enrolled in primary education, and only one of three children complete school;

* One in six children die before the age of 5. This number is 25 times higher in sub-Saharan Africa than in the OECD countries;

* Children account for half of all civilian casualties in wars in Africa;

* The African continent lost more than 5,3 million hectares of forest during the decade of the 1990s;

* Less than one person out of five has electricity.

Out of 1.000 inhabitants 15 have a telephone line, and 7,8 out of 1.000 people surf on Internet.

(Thank you FOOD4AFRICA for those statistics.)

It's unfair and unjust for all this to go on and us, in class 1 countries to do nothing about it.

This petition was born of a realization that came to us after reading an article alerting us that the temperature of the greatest lake in Africa, Lake Tanganyinka which is the second largest lake in the world by his volume, was evolving in an abnormal manner which endangers the survival of lake and species that live there. This demonstrates the adverse effects of climate change on our ecosystem. This petition aims to save this great heritage of Africa, to put ecology at the heart of development policies of our States, to urge industrialised country to translate their promises to curb greenhouse gas effects and protection of vulnerable areas of the planet.

Invisible Children have always avoided linking the suffering of these children to the political context that explain the motives of rebels who appear directly responsible of the misery caused. But to willingly ignore the root cause of the issue and go as far as perpetuating the racist card of Africa being helpless and hopeless is a treatment that Africans should stand up against more firmly.

Kony 2012 campaign by Invisible children should become a wake up call for Africans. There are other Kony's in Sub-Saharan Africa that the US is allies with like Museveni [Uganda] and Kagame [Rwanda], who are more despicable than the one being fingered out. The question rises of asking why do the producers of the sensational video to capture Kony play double standard when the devil they pursue is the least dangerous.

It’s frightening how Kony 2012 film conveys Africans as being helpless. The tactic rests well with so many White westerners. It is a number one way to get them to open their "hearts" and purses. If it were to criticize corporate imperialism of resources and proxy wars and US alliances with Museveni and the western support of various dictators then it would be hitting on something radical and concrete.

The board of directors on the Invisible Children organization are all primarily white Americans which is concerning, considering the amount of blood shed and havoc people of European descent have and continue to wreak upon on Africa, from their own ignorance and white supremacist attitudes.

The history of the European and USA extraction of resources from Africa demonstrate there has been an ongoing colonization occurring of the continent with trillions $ worth of coal, copper, gold, diamonds, oil, coltan (which goes into all electronic supplies) etc, that continue to be plundered and profited from, by many of the people who claim to be working in the area of "development," at the expense of the people that live on the continent.

1. Africa has had enough of being negatively portrayed, seeing its image unscrupulously tarnished by greedy and egocentric Westerners with their African accomplices

2. Africa is tired of being the theater of US and other foreign countries’ policies aimed at serving their own interests at the expense of its populations.

3. Africa cannot continue anymore bearing consequences of racist views from organizations pretending to support its development.

4. Africa must stop being a subject of entertainment and emotional appeal to Westerners.