WHAT DO CHRISTIANS HAVE TO DO WITH BOKO HARAM?

Former President Bill Clinton has said on a number of occasions that the single greatest failure of his administration- his personal greatest regret- was his failure to intervene in the massacre of three quarters of a million people in Rwanda back in 1994.  He is on record saying that with ten thousand troops, he could have saved three hundred thousand lives!  Imagine the weight of knowing that you could have prevented that many gruesome deaths and you did nothing!!

Fast forward to today.  The entire world has converged on France to support free journalism and freedom of speech in light of the horrific terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine.  Fourteen people were killed in a gross attack on, not just journalism, but the very tenets upon which civilization is built.  Leaders from around the world came to show their support in defiance of the terrorist.  

Representatives from a myriad of governments spoke forcefully against the Islamic terrorist and all that they represent for this heinous attack.  Among such noble champions of freedom, civility and common sense, speaking out against the bad guys was the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.   All of which would have been appropriate had it not been for one little teeny tiny issue.  Boko Haram massacred as many as two thousand Nigerians just days before the Paris attacks and Goodluck Jonathan never even mentioned them!  

It boggles that mind that dignitaries from around the globe can descend upon France in solidarity over seventeen people, while the massacre of two thousand goes virtually unnoticed.  The massacre in Nigeria came in the wake of the very same Boko Haram kidnapping   two hundred school girls last April, most of whom they have presumably sold into slavery.  We know they haven’t all been sold because the big brave men of Boko Haram have been using these little girls as involuntary suicide bombers.  The outrage over the kidnapping of the little girls that so quickly dissipated, never even materialized in the first place over this latest atrocity by these mad men. 

I’m no expert on foreign relations so I can’t say what the impediments are to some sort of international intervention in Nigeria.  But I do know this: the kind of evil represented by Boko Haram cannot go unchallenged.  Nor can we assume that it will somehow be contained on the continent of Africa.  Evil, like Ebola, spreads throughout the entire human community when it is not checked.   

We also know that Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has been less than enthusiastic in his fight against Boko Haram because Jonathan is a Christian and Boko Haram primarily attacks Muslims.  While the west has fallen allover itself to demand that reasonable Muslims condemn the radical knuckleheads, maybe it’s time the Christian community took a bit of its own medicine. 

Why hasn’t the Christian community acted more forcefully to pressure Jonathan to step up to the plate to protect these innocent people from Boko Haram?  If he cannot protect them, why hasn’t he asked for assistance in this fight?  Why has he not condemned and confronted this evil for what it really is?   It seems a bit hypocritical to me that the West can lambast all of Islam for not strongly denouncing terrorists enough, while the Christian community is silent as the Christian leader of Nigeria somehow fails to mention Boko Haram when speaking out against terrorism.

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SOME SOLUTIONS TO SOME BLACK FOLKS PROBLEMS

                                     

I’m not sure why Danny Glover has not been able to make his film about the Haitian Revolution leader, Toussaint L’ouverture.  It could be that the project has been underfunded.  Black folks have been trying to get films made in Hollywood ever since there has been a Hollywood.  Back in the seventies there was talk of making a movie about Toussaint’s compatriot, Henry Christophe in response to the efforts to make such a film with Anthony Quinn in the starring role.  Blair Underwood has been trying transform the work of novelist Tanannarive  Due into a movie.  There has even been talk of making my novel, The Megalight Connection, into a movie by people in Hollywood.  The list goes on.

The need for African Americans to tell our stories in film as well as in books and other media, cannot be overstated.   Oscar Micheaux, who stands as one of my great personal heroes, touched on a plethora of issues, not to mention employing hundreds of black actors and film crews people with his courageous and groundbreaking filmmaking, going all the way back to the silent film era.   His work entertained, enlightened, educated, and stood as a counter balance to the propaganda of D. W. Griffith.

Given the progress that’s been made by Blacks in Hollywood, one would think getting worthwhile projects realized would be doable.  Is there some reason why the top twenty or so money makers in Hollywood can’t pull resources- say anywhere from one to twenty million per- to finance such projects?  Certain egos, I’m sure, would be problematic, particularly among those with the greatest resources.  But structural safeguards could be put in place and worthwhile projects completed.  Just a thought.

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By now it’s obvious to anyone not named Guiliani that some white cops really do want to shoot somebody black as a perk of the job. (This became increasingly clear with the release of the rest of the Cleveland tape that further proved the cops were intent on murdering  Tamir Rice).   It is equally obvious that the law enforcement culture, including prosecutors, is set up to protect such individuals.  Clearly, while greater screening would represent a step in the right direction, there may be other things that can be done to help change the culture. 

Essence magazine, BET television, The NAACP and other organizations host huge award shows that honor entertainers.  Why not include cops as honorees?  Clearly, the criteria would not be how many people the police officer was able to shoot, but rather how does this officer positively impact the community.  The award should come with a substantial monetary reward as added weight in changing the culture.  Would this solve the problem?  Of course not!  But it would represent a tiny step in the right direction of changing the police culture.

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We lost a true giant with the retirement of Bill Moyers from broadcast television.  People often ask me how I get so much information.  I always tell them the Bill Moyers program. 

And finally here's hoping 2015 brings all my readers the fulfillment they desire.

www.william griggs.net