In the midst of my assisting a brand new immigrant to settle in, I happened upon two cool resources that can help anyone who is settling into Australia.

1) Skills Info:

This webpage in short gives you more information on the skills and occupations that are in demand in Australia:

Skills in Demand

2) Things to do first:

Consider this like the official version of How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week.

If you are immigrating to Australia to settle, it gives you the first 7 (best number) things you should do:

Things to do first

Final Matter on the Agenda

If any of you lovely readers know anyone or know anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone who is an immigration consultant or lawyer or is simply an expert on immigration law or the immigration process for Africans in the diaspora, I would love to talk to them.

My agenda is that at some point we create a section of this website dedicated to not just understanding immigration law, but leveraging it for our benefit so please, I am unable to be proactive on this one for the next couple of weeks, if you know anyone please send me an email at masmilele@thedisplacedafrican.com

They don’t even need to be a writer, all I need are their time, ideas, knowledge and expertise. I’ll figure out the rest.

Thank you everybody.

Be blessed and bless others,

Mwangi

It’s really hard, and when it’s all said and done doesn’t appear to be for everyone. But most of us know it’s an incredibly noble, brave and courageous thing to do. So let’s break down four reasons to go back home and three reasons to stay put in the diaspora.

For

1) Money and Entrepreneurship

From a purely selfish standpoint, it’s much easier for a person to leave the West and make their fortunes in Africa than it would be had he not left in the first place. During his or her time away, they have had their creative faculties ignited by exisiting in a different land with different people, institutions and rules.

This may in turn spark ideas for businesses that have long since been taken for granted abroad but are yet to make a hit on the continent of Africa: examples may be outsourcing, an African Itunes or the mobile phone ring tone market outside of South Africa (perhaps?).

So people could easily go home to cut and paste businesses and make killings. I know that a lot of y’all probably have at some point thought about taking some business idea or invention to Africa and how it would make you the black Buffet. There’s one part of the equation.

The other part is the difference in currency. African currencies are much weaker than foreign ones. That means that if you are able to create cashflow sources abroad and/or sell a business(s) the value of your money is much greater as soon as you set foot on the Dark Continent.

For some of you the cashflow might even be operating on auto-pilot meaning that not only does your money’s value increase on the basis of the foreign exchange but also because you have free time with which to design your ideal lifestyle using this money. Trips throughout Africa, contribution to your community and a nice plot for you to grow old in. And all this in the country of your birth……Something to think about.

2) To Follow in Great Footsteps

Lord knows how accurate Wikipedia is but I read this article about how the US together with Britain planned out the decolonization of the world. They intended on educating the next crop of African leaders to take over in their own countries and then leave Westernized minds to proliferate Western ways of life.

That means that the story of a lot of Africa’s great leaders, Nkrumah and Nyerere, just to name a couple, is one of people who left the luxuries of the West to return to a life of servitude in Africa.

For the “more enlightened” Africans these are some absolutely phenomenal shoes to fill and walk in. In addition to that a life of service is “the right thing to do” because a lot of us know that:

People at home can be controlled easily because of poverty and ignorance

Most of us in the diaspora are well educated and have more than enough to survive

We can share this knowledge and resources and help people come out of poverty and suffering

That equation is far from a mystery and for a lot of us it is the driving force behind our being here.

3) To Be With People Like You

The person who created the expression, “There’s no place like home,” must have been an immigrant. You never forget or lose a special connection with the place that gave you your way of life, your language, your culture, your history and most of all, your initial sense of belonging.

A lot of immigrants don’t feel very welcome abroad or don’t feel welcome in the same way as we did in our native habitat. We want that feeling again and we want it every single day. It’s surprising how rarely this is discussed. This alone is responsible for huge numbers making the ocean migrations.

4) Retirement

Nursing homes suck! Retiring as an old person on a plot and being taken care of by your little nieces, nephews and grand children seems much better than your destiny being controlled by a cranky 22 year old African lady in a retirement village after a long life well lived.

We want to retire in style and in dignity and so we return to the place where we can: home.

Against

1) The People are Mean

I don’t think it’s any secret that Africans being on the bottom of the racial totem pole for many generations has left us with not-the-most-pleasant of personalities. We have inferiority complexes, insecurities and faults and very rarely work on them directly (when we do, the results are usually magnificent, just examine African music, philosophy and literature to get a glimpse of that)

Instead we decide to bring each other down to size and viciously attack anyone or anything that even begins to remind us of any feelings of inadequacy. This means that verbal diarrhoea, anger and negativity directed at each other is commonplace. And this isn’t even the main reason we can be so bad.

Lest we forget, most Africans are dirt poor. This is not a pleasant experience. People don’t have the time to be nice to you when they are robbing you to eat for that night (though surprisingly some thieves are very generous and courteous, go figure…..). Until Africa is an egalitarian society where we feel as though we are all whole human beings equal to people from all races and nationalities, we probably won’t stop being so mean.

2) It’s Hard

For those who do decide that they want to do something for the community, life is hard. Remember how most people are mean. Now mix that with a hatred and dislike for “people who have come from abroad to tell us what to do because they think they are so special now that they have spent a few years overseas” which a lot of immigrants get when they return.

Throw in a huge dash of sexism if she’s a woman and tribalism and xenophobia regardless of their ethnic background. Splash in a whole lot of ignorance and illeteracy. Mix that up with some really corrupt politicians who like things just as they are.

Put the Western government-industrial-corporate-military complex which also likes the status-quo on top of all that and you have the road that an African community organizer must take.

It’s considered noble, courageous and given great rewards for a reason, it’s bloody hard!

3) You Like Where You Are

Don’t let the hype fool you: money isn’t the root of all joy.

Don’t let the haters fool you either: the West isn’t all about money.

In this place, whatever your journey to your bliss, you can find it. If you wish to find people who have chosen the strictly spiritual path to self-actualization, you’ll find them here. If you’re after the Wall Street money-hungry folk who only see the cents in dollars, they’re all right here. Searching for people who put family and people above all else they are right here.

Whatever niche and experience and road to nirvana you have chosen, chances are you will find it in the West. To leave all of that and return to Africa which has a long way before it becomes the experience-buffet that the West isn’t a small ask.

So let me ask you, will you ever go home? Why? Why not? Leave a comment and let me know.

Be blessed and bless others,

Mwangi

PS: I just thought I would ask y’all whether or not I should continue with the series in which I explore different people’s viewpoints on living in Melbourne. I just wanted to check if people were finding some use in it now or I should postpone it till later when I’ve established the foundations of the blog a bit better.

]]> http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/05/so-heres-the-thing-about-relocating-to-africa/feed/ 39 http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/05/the-secret-to-working-beyond-the-20-hours-per-week-work-limit/ http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/05/the-secret-to-working-beyond-the-20-hours-per-week-work-limit/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 15:51:26 +0000 Mwangi http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/?p=283

NB: Please refer to the comments section and visit Mwalimu and the Mwalimu Blog for more information on this topic.

After brilliant guest posts from Acolyte and Seinlife that touch on this subject, I felt that this post was in order. After all, it’s something that almost every international student must encounter at some point.

In the USA and in Australia, when you come over as a student, your student visa and work permit only allow you to work 20 hours every week during the school semester. In Australia, once the holidays are in effect, you can work as much as you want. I don’t know what the case is during holiday time in the US (leave a comment if you know), and I don’t know what the situation is in the UK in general – perhaps, sci-culturist, you can help me out with this one.

Now with that being the case, I know that a lot of you will immigrate and proceed to work way more than 20 hours during the school term. In truth there is no complex secret or rocket science should that be your choice. There are basically two things that you should keep in mind, should you choose to do this:

1) It is NOT the Most Important Thing

Whether or not you violate this rule isn’t the most important thing: how you are performing at school IS. From the stories I have heard, people who are caught for “over-working” aren’t usually initially investigated on account of their occupational habits. The investigation usually begins because:

a) The student is falling behind on attending lectures and tutorials.

b) Their grades are slipping.

As they investigate this, if they find out that you have been substituting the books for nursing and handyman gloves, it’s back on the boat with you. I know many people who came here on student visas and violated the 20 hour work limit week after week after week but were never caught because they were also model students.

If you are an A+ (well it’s High Distinction, but you get the point) student who attends all classes, lectures and tutorials, the chances of you being caught out for working a couple extra hours a week goes down dramatically.

That having been said though, don’t forget:

2) You’re Violating the Rules

If you get caught, there will be consequences. You might be detained and deportation is a definite possibility. Therefore, should you chose to constantly violate this rule BE CAREFUL. I know, this second secret fits in the d’uh category, but it needs to be said. BE CAREFUL. What this means is:

a) At the risk of being redundant to the nth power: Let NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING get in the way of your education. It’s the main reason you are here. Not the good life. Not the prayer conferences. Not to work (at least not yet). You came here on a student visa and as far as the nation of Australia knows that’s the only reason you’re here. Don’t give them any reason to bring this into question (refer to tip number one)

b) This one falls under the “I heard it through the grapevine which isn’t always accurate category”: Don’t go blabbing about your student visa situation to all and sundry. Keep it to yourself as much as you can and only share it with people you trust. There is a hotline where immigrants get reported for violating any Australian rules and laws, and apparently there are monetary reward for doing so. So don’t tempt those who may be aware of this and going through a stretch of poverty.

Be aware that should your employer be aware of the situation, they may want to take advantage, so make sure you trust your employer. Also, don’t tell your employer about it and then go and annoy him somehow.

In short, keep your head down and your nose as clean as you can.

And that’s it. I know, no mind-blowing, over the top secrets! But these secrets WILL get you from student visa to permanent residence or back home with an unblemished record. And both are much better than the fate that has befallen those who didn’t heed the above words.

For other secrets to thriving while living in the diaspora make sure you stay in the loop through Real Simple Syndication or regular inbox updates.

Keep your nose clean my friend,
Mwangi

Introduction

NB: I also find it very cool to be getting a guest post from an African living in the UK. The first of hopefully many.

1) Sci-Culturist

Immigration Redefined

I am not crazy about television. However, I am of the viewpoint that with selective watching, the TV can be a mighty educational instrument. Do read on.

I recently watched a documentary series called “Immigration: The Inconvenient Truth”. Inspired by the 40^th anniversary of a then British Member of Parliament Enoch Powell’s infamous Rivers of Blood speech, Rageh Omaar, renowned British journalist of Somali heritage, set out on a country-wide mission. Omaar’s task: investigative journalism leading to a balanced documentary that explores immigration today in jolly good old Great Britain, whilst out rightly examining Powell’s apocalyptic prophesies. In this regard, Omaar traversed the country and interviewed a range of British people in terms of ethnicity (white, black and Asian) and class. An overview by the broadcasters, Channel 4, is given here.

Excerpt of Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech that presumably set out to tap into his fellow politician’s latent fears:

As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see “the River Tiber foaming with much blood.” That tragic and intractable phenomenon which we watch with horror on the other side of the Atlantic but which there is interwoven with the history and existence of the States itself, is coming upon us here by our own volition and our own neglect. Indeed, it has all but come. In numerical terms, it will be of American proportions long before the end of the century. Only resolute and urgent action will avert it even now.

(Full text and mp3 via Channel 4)

An intriguing observation made by Omaar was that despite the intangible nature of immigration in the 21^st century, Eastern Europeans (the most recent additions to the European Union) have been vehemently labelled as the newcomers who have come to take the jobs of the British working class, whereas Western Europeans and Americans who move to the UK (London in particular, due to the floating of the London Stock Exchange) for career motivations or economic prospects remain unnoticed or perhaps more accurately, unquestioned. One can only conclude that the latter group are not perceived to be a threat. This is possibly because (a) they are generally highly skilled, therefore entering an already accepted highly competitive job market, (b) they blend in with more ease into a society with similar cultural values and modes of expression, (c) their patterns of migration are better understood by the British population which makes them appear to be less of a threat on their livelihood or (d) statistically they are largely white. But so are the Eastern Europeans. I don’t know, take your pick or better yet, enlighten me.

The label immigrant never sat well with me. I have always known I am here “for a while”, whatever that means. But exactly that is the crunks of it. For a while is fluid. Likewise, Omaar demonstrated that what was referred to as immigration 40 years ago is certainly not what it is the case today. The permanence in the concept of immigration back then no longer constitutes the definition of immigration today. People now live as global citizens, moving from one country to another, for a multitude of reasons, economic migration being only one of them.

London, a cosmopolitan hub and I daresay as culturally diverse as any city in the world will ever get, is home to just over 2 million immigrants. In a recent report entitled A Profile of Londoners by Country of Birth (pdf), The Mayor of London’s office estimated that in 2006 one-third of Londoners were born outside the UK. Notably, majority of these people were of working age (20 to 34 years). The key message from the TV series that is reiterated in this report is that immigration has changed its face, its characteristics and therefore the societal issues it elicits. Immigration is dynamic. Unlike the times when people came from the colonies of the Empire to settle down, people are now in a state of constant flux. They ebb and flow at the shores of this small island, some settling for months or years and others indefinitely. The question that now takes precedence is if government policy and to a less extent, the population’s attitude are reflective of this. In one example, Omaar interviewed British working class men who acknowledged the need for people to gain more skills if they were to keep up with the incoming flux of skilled manual workers. Preparation for survival of the fittest as it were.

So it’s official, the world’s borders are porous; home really is where the heart is. How does this apply to you, you might ask? Immigration in its new, updated definition is a worldly affair. No longer territory (pun fully intended) for the coloniser and the colonised, but simply for people from all walks of life, seeking better opportunities – economic, education or otherwise. With regards to the African Diaspora, the term and concept of the Afropolitan, coined by Taiye Tuakli-Wosornu readily comes to mind.

I leave you with my mantra:

Home is a state of mind. Having more than one home is not a bad thing at all. After all, home and home-home are two different things entirely.

By Sci-culturist,

From Sci-culturist

To listen and participate in more discussions on immigration, its benefits, its responsibilities and its consequences, make sure you are subscribed to the website for free via RSS or email.

Introduction

5 Mistakes to Avoid as a Foreign Student in the US

1. Working without employment authorization invalidates your status rendering you illegally present in the US. As a student you are eligible to work 20hrs a week during the school year and full time during summer break. Exceptions are made for student who face economic hardships that change their financial situation after enrollment e.g death of sponsor. These students can apply for employment authorization through their schools international student office.

2. Droping out of school has the same effect as no. 1 above. The typical reason for droping out of school is lack of adequated fees. This can be remedied by negotiating with the school on how you will pay for your schooling. Some schools will facilitate a payment plan that will allow you to pay for your fees in installments. Seek out grants and scholarship even if they might only partially pay – better something than nothing! If you have to drop out then make sure you return within 5mths when USCIS is more likely to consider reinstating your student status.

3. Failing to maintain lawful status has huge repercussions that include:
- If you intend to apply for a green card in the future, there will be a possibility it will be denied if you have ever been out of status. There used to be an exception, 245(i), that allowed applicants to pay a fine to have this err overlooked but that was terminated in 2001.
- Jeopardising your approval for the year of practical training you are entitled to after school.
- If you end up having deportation proceedings brought up against you and they succeed, then you will be denied entry into the US for 3yrs or 10 yrs depending on how long you were out of status.

4. Partying too hard is not the reason you are in the US, school is, so simmer down. There is absolutely nothing wrong with partying but just like anything else, you do it too much and it has a domino effect. Too much partying leads to slacking in school, slacking in school means bad grades and potentially being kicked out. Go ahead party but keep it to a minimum and concentrate on what brought you here in the first place. If you can do both equally hard then carry on!

5. Drinking and driving do not go hand-in-hand so cease and desist from ever getting behind the wheel when you have consumed any amount of alcohol. This behavior will most certainly land you in jail and a foreign student with a record is a sure way to shoot yourself in the foot!

Seinlife,

From Seinlife

If you want to know more about the mistakes to avoid when you immigrate abroad make sure you keep in the know by receiving emails or RSS notifications whenever new posts are written.

First of all: I am now the proud owner of displacedafrican.com. This means that if you would like to visit this website you can now find it by typing in either:

a) www.displacedafrican.com OR;

b) www.thedisplacedafrican.com

Hopefully that will make finding this website a lot easier for many of you.

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

Private Transport: Driving

Quick Tips

1) Buying a car here can be pretty cheap. Cars start from as little as $500. I would recommend that you buy yourself a nice, simple second hand car as there is no need to splurge if you will only be in Australia temporarily.

Of course if funds allow you, can pretty much buy what you like. Some great places to buy cars:

a) Used car dealerships: These can be found all over the place. Ask your guide to take you to one or simply look them up in the yellow pages. Be wary of car salesmen though, they can be very shifty characters sometimes…I myself have been taken for a ride.

b) In Melbourne, there is a newspaper called the ‘Melbourne Trading Post’. The paper is basically a classifieds newspaper with great deals. If you are in another state:

i) Look through the classified section of the major newspapers.

ii) Visit the local newsagent and ask whether there are ‘classified newspapers’ similar to the Melbourne Trading Post.

c) EBay Australia has a great online market for cheap cars. Check it out here.

2) The main benefit of owning a car-probably the only one for a lot of people- is convenience: They help you get from place to place at any time. This is especially important if you end up working for an agency that has work for you all over town and/or you’re lifestyle entails a lot of nocturnal journeys (public transport here is not 24 hours a day).

3) As those of you who have owned cars know, it’s the maintenance that is expensive. I drive a very small fuel efficient car but the total amount that has been spent on fuel, servicing, repairs and insurance is easily more than the cost of purchasing the car. In fact it may even double, triple or quadruple that amount.

Quick Tips on Expenses

1) Registration for my small car costs $550 every year. Depending on what you drive, save up between $500 – $2000 (rough estimate) for registration every year. I recommend you do this by saving $30 every week from whatever you earn ($30 * 50 weeks =$1500).

After you have paid of your registration, you can take the excess left over and save it or use it for some enjoyment. But please, don’t wait for the end of the year to begin hustling to pay registration; begin saving as soon as you get the car.

2) Insurance: Talk to your friends and peers and do research online to find the best, and cheapest insurance policy for you. If your work involves driving, make sure you know what type of insurance cover – third party, comprehensive etc – your employer require from you so you can act accordingly.

Personally I am with RACV because I get discounts on their road side assistance service (24 hour service where a mechanic comes over to fix your car when it breaks down in the middle of the road). They are far from the cheapest providers so please do some research.

I have been told that Just car insurance are pretty cheap (and they say their prices are ‘tuned’ to younger drivers so……)

4) Cars are ultimately the most dangerous form of driving with the highest proclivity for accidents and death. They are also harmful to the environment.

If you have any tips of resources on how people can minimize the environmental impact of their driving please email them to me or leave a comment below and let me know about them.

Driving Course

Now, I know you are arriving with a driver’s license and experience driving, right?!As soon as you get here, if your intention is to eventually drive yourself around, then within the first week, either sign up for a driving course or get your guide to give you a few driving lessons. This is because the Australian roads are quite different from African roads and you need someone to hold your hand and guide you as you acclimatize to the new roads.

You want to observe briefly, how people handle the roads here and take the wheel to practice after just a few lessons (four should be enough). As you drive around, make sure someone sitting right beside you guiding you. And don’t mind their screaming, they’re just telling you you’re about to crash into a tree

To show you the consequences of not heeding the above advice a couple of stories:

The Mexicans

Now some of the coolest people you will meet when you travel abroad are Latin Americans. To be honest, I never used to know who lived in South America – except the Brazilian soccer team – until I came to Australia. But now, I feel as though Latin Americans are our cousins; we share so many cultural habits; they are just our cousins by another aunty. But I digress……..

A friend of mine told me about the experience of his Mexican friends the first time they got on Australian roads. I don’t know if people drive on the right side in Mexico or if these Mexicans had passed by the States, either way they still weren’t used to people who drive on the left side of the road.

When they got to an intersection they decided they were going to turn right. They turned right, but rather than catching the left lane on this busy road, they caught the right. They drove down the road for quite a while before they noticed that all the cars were coming towards them………………………………..

They corrected course and escaped harm but it could have been worse.

Ladies Night in Driving School

One African lady had to go for a driving test in order to convert her local driver’s license into an Australian license. After 15 years on African roads, she failed her driving test an amazing 3 times. Among the reasons she failed are:

a) She assumed that STOP signs were decorations on the road, particularly when there is no incoming traffic.

b) Slowing down at Bumps is for dummies.

c) Trying to squeeze into spaces that cars shouldn’t fit into. “It’s every man for himself where I’m from.”

Finding a Driving School

As far as driving schools are concerned I recommend RACV because the instructors will come pick you up from your home, though they are not the cheapest. Otherwise pop open an Australian yellow pages and find a driving school in your suburb and book in a lesson ASAP.

You Must Buy a Melway/ Sydney Street Directory etc

Whichever Australian city you land in, go to the closest Kmart store (sometimes they are sold in gas stations) and get yourself the book that maps out that entire city.

• In Melbourne, it’s called Melway.
• In Sydney it’s called the Sydney Street Directory or Sydway.

If you don’t know its name, ask for the “book where the city is mapped out” and people should be more than willing to help.

Google Maps and Whereis

The online equivalent of the city maps can be found on two websites:

a) Google Maps

b) Whereis

Should anyone know any other websites that assist with mapping and giving directions, please let me know.

Public Transport

I come from Nairobi and in comparison the cities of Melbourne and Sydney are HUGE! This will probably be your experience. For that reason I strongly recommend that in your first few weeks here whenever you have to go somewhere by public transport write down the address in full. Writing down the address in full means writing down:

a) Street name and street number (what number the place is along the street. Remember in most Australian suburbs, odd numbers are on one side of the street and even numbers on the other side)

b) The suburb (also known as the city. When in doubt just ask what “suburb” that place is in)

Get used to remembering those three things- the street name, street number and the suburb -and you should be fine.

Guidance

The best way to get used to public transport is to go out there and use it. When your guide is free ask them to help you take a bus somewhere.

If you are feeling gutsy, write down the address that you live in, go to your nearest bus station (not bus stop), ask the nice people that work there how to get to the city center; take a train or bus to the city and come back.

The bus and train station employees can be especially helpful giving you maps and helping you figure out how to get to where it is you want to go.

Online Guidance

In every Australian city, there is an online system where you can figure out how to get from point A to B using public transport. It’s pretty straight forward so just ask around and you should be able to find the online guide in your city.

• In Melbourne the guide is: Viclink Journey Planner
• In Sydney the guide is: 13 15 00 Transport Info line website
• In Perth the guide is: Transperth
• In Adelaide the guide is: Adelaide Metro

You can also Google the name of your town, e.g. Melbourne and the terms “public transport” or “public transport guide” to find your guide online.

Skype

Hopefully by this point you have learned how to use Skype appropriately. If not, I have written a review of Skype and should be releasing that very shortly.

The only things that I would recommend now are that you set up Paypal so that you can easily top up your Skype credit. For those who don’t know what Paypal is please visit the Paypal account. I think at some point I will write an article on Paypal, its benefits and how to set it up because it’s an absolutely phenomenal resource to have.

In addition to that, if you will be talking to a lot of people who spend a lot of time online then consider getting the 3 Skypephone so that you can speak to anyone who uses Skype for free.

Can you imagine free international calls?? Sighh…….

By this point if you see there any glaring omissions or faults in the guide then please contact me and let me know. Other than that, we are almost there.

Skype someone today,

Mwangi

]]> http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/04/public-and-private-transport-skypehow-to-immigrate-to-australia-within-a-week/feed/ 0 http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/03/wetserners-ignorance-about-africa/ http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/03/wetserners-ignorance-about-africa/#comments Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:56:10 +0000 Mwangi http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/185/wetserners-ignorance-about-africa/

Ladies and gentlemen, here I am yet again with my two cents on an issue that we as Africans run into when we are in foreign countries A LOT. I have realized that my writing style is a very disjointed incomplete one and so forgive me but I will say this often, I know that this article doesn’t capture the whole complexity of the situation, but hopefully it will stir your thought in the right direction.

Have you ever heard or known someone who has heard the following:

Wow! I thought Africa was a country?

Do you guys have buildings/pizza/razors/any modern Western luxury items?

Don’t you guys all live in deserts?

Now I know that if you haven’t heard these things said directly to you, you know someone who has and usually that results in a conversation that goes a little something like this:

(With frown on the face or hands on the hip) “These (insert name of countrymen here) are so ignorant. How can they think that Africa (insert ignorant comment here)? They are so ignorant….(subtext of statements that follow: they are so ignorant, they should understand us, our home and our culture the way we understand them)”

Now that I have written it out, I hope you are begining to see just how ridiculous this conversation is. Now I am not judging anyone, I have been guilty of indulging in the above conversation, one too many times, HOWEVER, in the grand scheme of things conversations such as the above fall into the category of useless conversations that will never really take us anywhere. I say this for a couple of reasons:

1) We Don’t Know Much About Them Either

For all our posturing about how the white man is ignorant and how they should know better, we aren’t exactly Einstein’s when it comes to foreign culture. I live in Australia. Now if you live in Australia, be honest, what did you know about this place except Neighbours, Home and Away and kangaroos before you came here…..hmmm………..

……no, it’s ok, I’ll wait………………….

Now I know that a lot of you (here comes the sarcasm) are probably saying:

Mwangi, my good man, I knew about Crowded House, the Aboriginal land rights issues, relations that Australia has with East Timor, the Australian Federal system, Ned Kelly, the marsupial inhabitants of Australia and all this when I was only five years old. That’s because I am a wordly, educated men and they are not.

In other words for all our judgment we are defying rule number one of morality: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We don’t know much about them or bother to learn much about them, let’s extend them at least the same courtesy.

2) How on Earth Would You Expect them to Know or Even Care About Your Country?

There are, at best guess, 195 countries in the world. We are 6 billion people in the world. You are getting annoyed because someone who lives half way around the world doesn’t know much about your little country. If you didn’t live in your country would you know about your country? Would you have any reason whatsoever to care about your country?Do the relations and what’s going on in your country have any bearing upon the lives of this country half way across the world?

I am sorry to be speaking with such a harsh tone, but I am simply doing so because whenever we condemn people for their ignorance we do so with such an unnecessarily bitter tone.

The Reason I Think We Get Angry

In my humble opinion, the reason we get angry is because we are hurt. We are hurt that our lives, our country, our people and our culture don’t matter enough that other people would want to know about them or understand them. It hurts us because it reminds us that we are away from a place where we matter and we are now in a place where we are just one of thousands of cultures.

I think this is so, because logically, I think we all know, on some level, that it is unreasonable for us to expect them to know much about us when they don’t really care that much – though the whole Africa being a country thing, Wow! Who woulda thought?

Educate People

No denying that a lot of Westerners perceive themselves to be better than us and there’s no denying the complexity and imbalance that exists when it comes to immigrants relating to members of their host nation. Ultimately though, I don’t think that huddling up to criticize people for not knowing the facts about our country will take us anywhere. Instead, let’s take it upon ourself to either educate the ignorant and bring a little light to their lives or work on building our country up so that it’s unavoidable on the map.

For the Ignorant: 4 Really Quick Facts About Africa

This section is for all the ignorant people who don’t know the facts about Africa. Four really quick ones:

1) Africa is NOT a country. It is a continent with 53 countries, 6 of which are islands just of the mainland of Africa. South Africa is a country, not a province of the country, Africa.

2) Africa has more than 900,000,000 people in it. We have well over 1000 languages within the continent and we had many cultures and empires long before colonialism.

3) Not every country in Africa is a starving poor country. Botswana, Namibia and a few other countries are doing a pretty good job of taking care of their populations.

4) We have Western conveniences. In Africa the disparities in wealth are disgustingly huge and the cultures among the classes are extraordinarily different. Poor people struggle just to survive. For the most part the wealthy live Westernized, pampered lives with stuff like ipods,computers,satellite televisions, Mercedes Benzes and all that other stuff. The level of materialism in a lot of African countries scares me at times.

There is a lot more that can be said about this topic but I think I will leave it at that. I dunno if this article will annoy you, turn you off, get you thinking, so leave me a little message or response and let me know what you think. Till then

Don’t be scared of your inadequacy but instead of your infinite potential,

Mwangi

Hello hello hello!

Racism in Australia

I work with the disabled about once or twice a week. A couple of days ago I was helping a disabled man with his morning routine. Over the course of the past couple of weeks we have become pretty good buds. By this I mean, we speak to each other on a very personal ‘man to man’ basis as opposed to a professional or superficial level of conversation.

It was at this level of familiarity and kinship that I got an insight into the Australian Caucasian that I never would have got otherwise.

Mandingo Fantasy

First of all, he began by telling me the reaction of all his other carers (they are all white Australian women who are above 40) when they heard that his newest carer was a young African male.

“It’s amazing! As soon as they heard that my carer was a black man, all four of them asked me the same thing. Is it true that they are h**g like donkeys?”

More on this in my post on Jungle Fever and below.

I Didn’t Even Know they Used the Word Nigger in Australia

The second insight took my breath away. He told me that apparently there is a very common Australian expression:

“That man is as dark as a nigger’s a**hole!”

Apparently, white Australians use that expression all the time, not only to describe black people but anything that is pitch dark or pitch black. As I left his home, thoroughly enlightened, I thought to myself:

“I must write a post where I try to break down what I have observed in Australia as far as racism is concerned!”

Whereas, the society is obviously way more complex than what I will put down on this post, I hope this post will help you navigate the murky waters of Australian society a little better.

1) Racism Isn’t that Big a Deal!

The first point is that compared to what you see and hear from American television and even in comparison to American and English society, race is not that big a problem here in Australia.

I spent six months in a country town on my own and never heard racist slogans screamed at me. I have lived in Melbourne and in Sydney and have never been lynched or threatened by a gang of white supremacists. In the city of Melbourne however I have had a few racist taunts screamed at me here and there but on average you will get it less than ten times in a whole year, and even that is really inflating the figures. In my opinion this occurs because:

1) We are Getting so Many Now and they are Getting More and More Used to Us

2) They Don’t Want to Be Classified as Racist Even When They Are

3) We Don’t Affect their World That Much, After All We Are One of the Smallest Minorities in Terms of Numbers

4) We Don’t Threaten Australians Economically – Jobs, fighting for land rights as Aboriginals are-in any major tangible way.

2) Be Careful of the Type of People You Hang Around

Your perception of racism in a place like this will be heavily clouded by the people you hang around. There are some people out here who constantly see themselves as ,” victims of racism,” and after a while their thinking starts to rub off on you.

3. Racist Folk Do Exist So Be Mindful But It Pales In Comparison to Years Past

To elaborate a bit on point number one, yes racists do exist in this society. There are events such as the Cronulla riots and articles and people such as these that remind us of that (The Abandon Skip guy isn’t half bad, he is actually a pretty reasonable guy. We don’t agree at all on certain things, but he is reasonable and respectful:I gotta respect that). However this society has definitely calmed down a lot in terms of racial hate. I remember talks I had with a Sri Lankan man who came here as a child in the 70s. He suffered the humiliation of being chased home from school everyday by white kids who’d beat him to a pulp for being different. Until the middle of the 20^th Century, Australia BY LAW was a White’s only society. They started to allow Greeks and Italians in the mid 20th century to work as manual laborers. In spite of being European they still had a helluva rough time.So though this may be one the most multicultural places on Earth, it only has less than a century of experience dealing with other cultures. I must say, considering that, this society has done pretty well. I don’t exist in fear of racist discrimination as I would were I in the States.

4. The Police Here Are Not Racist….But they Sure Do Meet Some Groups of People A lot

Yet again backing up to point number 2, police here rarely discriminate from what I have observed merely on the basis of skin colour, but there are certain groups of people who they keep meeting time and time again. There are certain groups of youth who just love them some criminal activity: Maoris, Turkish, Somalis, Sudanese, Lebanese etc etc. These groups from what I have seen are definitely targeted by the police. I remember talking to someone who used to hang around Somalis all the time when he went clubbing. One night outside of the club he was actually man-handled to the ground and cuffed by the police like a really bad episode of Cops. I have been clubbing left, right and centre in Melbourne and though I have some bad experiences involving bouncers, nothing as bad as my brother there. Apparently while he was sprawled on the floor, the line of questioning and conversation kept coming back to his Somali pals. All the groups I have mentioned above are really beautiful people, I have hung out with them all, if you hang around them, expect to have a different quality of relationship with the police.

5. The Mandingo Fantasy Thing

In an article I wrote in the past, I made fun of the Mandingo fantasy issue – where white women look at African men as nothing but well hung pieces of meat there to fulfill their sexual desire. Whereas I see a lot that’s funny about the whole thing, as the expression goes, behind every great comedy there is a tragedy.

The tragedy is that a lot of the interracial relationships you form here, for a variety of reasons, will be nothing but superficial, on the surface relationships where either you will be thrown away or you will throw other people away as soon as they stop fulfilling your desires.

Sidenote: For some reason, no African men have complained about the Jungle Fever article.All the complaints have come from White women. It’s like the promiscuity article where a lot of the flack came from males:People endlessly surprise and fascinate me. I love it!

6. The N Word

Fortunately, here I am speaking to a very small minority. My personal opinion: Please don’t use this word. I know all about the taking-back-our-power-by-redefining-what-was-once-a-negative-term but I don’t think we will make this world a better place by engaging in debates such as:

Is it really a word that should be used in the first place?

Why can black people say it and not white people?

Instead, let’s do away with the word all together. After all, it isn’t even our word. It was a word that was used by white opressors that then transferred over to the African American community, not our community. In addition to that, winning the N word debate won’t matter all that much when you are on your death bed. I don’t think you will be sitting on your death bed telling your son:

Because of me, African people all over the world could call each other nigga but white people couldn’t say the word nigger. But you have to say nigga not nigger, you understand boy.

There are far too many ways we can speak to each other in a respectful manner without having to open up the Pandora’s Box that is the N word.

Instead let’s focus our attention on building an egalitarian society where it won’t matter whether or not someone wants to call the other nigger, because we are equals in every way and it’s nothing but an empty word.

If you are older than 30 and still using this word, aren’t you supposed to be over this by now?

7. Aim Higher When You Get Here

I don’t know whether its as a result of racism, lack of ambition or both. However, almost the entire ruling class of Australia consists of White Anglo-Saxons with a so-small-you-almost-miss-it sprinkling of foreigners. I am surprised to no end by the fact that there aren’t more Indians and Asian people (I know Indians are Asian people but…you know what I mean, aah the ignorance of my language) in the ruling class, considering their HUGE numbers. I also think it would be a helluva-lot-of-cool if we had more African people who decide to make Australia home that take control of key institutions of power in Australia. After all, we are probably the best educated, if not definitely one of them, minority on Earth. We have work ethic. If you can read this blog, you have better English than 99% of people who try to speak English. Ascend to higher heights and be a hero for all to see.

Some random meandering thoughts on the State of race in Australia. I will probably end up expounding on this issue a lot more in future. For the time being, pleae feel free to give me a yell, or leave a response and let me know what you think of the article. Till then:

Be blessed and go out and bless people from other races, cultures and ethnicities,

Mwangi

Hello,

Today I came across this article that looks like it was written by an Australian man and I just thought I would share it with y’all to look at and make your own conclusions on below that I have attached my comment that I left on his post:

Rudd Wants More African Immigration

My Comments

Mwangi said…

Oh Mr. Evans, Mr. Evans, Mr. Evans. You know what as a fellow human being to the other let me say hello and wish you well.The article whereas very well quoted and cited – at a level that sadly I believe my blog can never get to – the argument unfortunately began by not making a very key distinction:Refugees vs Immigrants
Whereas I love all my African brothers and sisters , there is no denying there is a huge disparity between African immigrants and African refugees for among other reasons the different classes of the groups and the trauma that refugees have to go through.Secondly, there are 50+ countries in Africa each with their own tribes, languages and immigrants and refugees that they have sent here.If we are to have honest, fair discourse, please change your article to reflect at the very least these two factors and also just what will happen to these Somali kids who have no home and no culture to return to once they are deported.A place is never judged by how it treats its best citizens but its weakest and most disenfranchised.

March 9, 2008 5:26 AM

Mwangi said…

Apologies, I called you Mr. Evans. I am wiping the haze of sleep of my eyes now.

African

Africans and Victimhood
I found this article on Global Voices Online, find it in the Displaced African resources or by going to Global Voices Online . It’s about an idea that I will definitely expound on myself later on. However, she discussed it perfectly so check it out. Below I have pasted a conversation I am having on Global Voices Online about the article. Feel free to join in.

Barikiwa,

Mwangi

1. Dr Elma Ross:

   1It would have been much better if no white man ever set foot in sub-saharan africa. of course, the africans by themselves would have, in the past 350 years, promoted themselves from stone-age living to silicon valley. they would have had their own alphabets, libraries, roads, sky-scrapers, and and would still have been the first to form operations like heart transplants. sorry the white man interfered!

   March 7th, 2008 at 5:27 am

   Mwangi – the Displaced African:

   2Dr. Ross, you completely misunderstand the victim mentality. In fact you are coming at it from an entirely different frame of reference.

   There is no doubt that there have been quite a few perks to living in the post colonial time -like infrastructure and all of that – but there’s also no doubt that that isn’t why the colonialists set foot in Africa. They came in to conquer, rape and plunder and they did.

   Lest we forget we already had our own empires – Ashanti kingdom for one-and cultures all rich with their own knowledge and wisdom.

   Hope I have enlightened you a little bit.

   March 8th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

   Dr Elma Ross:

   3Ms Englightened, true they did have their own knowledge systems. It included – and still does – harvesting penisses and brains from victims live, as the screams of these unlucky ones would enhance the quality of the muti for which it is harvested. You cannot blame that the colonisers also took over these mutilations.

   why is it that the African nations run to “White” nations for help? Also, while blaming a certain country for shipping off the best people during the slave trade, some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa has policies in place that contribute towards the brain drain, i.e. drives the well-qualified away. I can see it coming: in due time, the nations to which they went to work / emigrated, would be blamed for “taking away human resources”.

   My grandparents were in concentration camps during the Anglo Boer War; Irish Catholics suffered under England … the list really, is endless. To be sure, most peoples were oppressed some time during history. Yet, they do not make a career out of being a victim.

   March 8th, 2008 at 20:54 pm

   Mwangi – the Displaced African:

   4Have you actually ever spoken to Africans, as in really spoken, or are you basing these ideas on just some superficial perusal of Western news and literature?
   After WW2, Europe also went to other Western powers to bank roll their redevelopment just like Africa did. As you know, Europe got a bit of a fairer deal on that one, so I don’t think this whole victim thing is a one way street, also read this article which explains just how profitable the NGO industry is:
   http://www.thinkersroom.com/blog/2006/02/get-real-poverty
   To be fair, a lot of what you have said is true. But it’s not complete in that it doesn’t capture the whole gamut of personality types that run across Africa including the saints among women who managed to feed a whole constituency of previously starving people starting with only one goat and a bag of cashew nut seeds or the Bikos and Wangari Maathai’s who put themselves on the line with nothing but love in their hearts.

   But ultimately the biggest problem with your statements is that, they don’t offer a solution. Ultimately, your statements label us as victims and self destructive people and leaves us there. I think there may be a lot of things that Africans need but to continue to accept, wallow in and live a lives of self-destruction and victim hood aren’t one of them.

   This response has been a little meandering, hope it makes sense

   March 9th, 2008 at 3:48 am

   Dr Elma Ross:

   5I lived in Sub-Saharan Africa for more than forty years. In various countries. I visited victims of muti murders in hospitals, and went to morturies as a researcher.

   I have also witnessed schools being burnt down, when they were better than in many many other 3rd world countries.

   I know the struggles of the white people to get anything going in Sub-Saharan Africa. Considering that there was no architecture.

Barikiwa,

Mwangi

Hey,

How cool is this picture, I wish I had the Australian equivalent

As I pass the half way mark of my first ever series on the Displaced African, I thought I would give you heads up on what the next series would be about.

This blog is pretty much about being as useful and relevant as it possibly can be.Therefore, this is especially for Africans in Australia though everyone is welcome, I am asking for anyone who may have any questions that pertain to immigration and immigration law (including PR, student visas, drivers licenses, rights and responsibilities etc) to either leave a comment below or contact me at masmilele@thedisplacedafrican.com

The number of people who get deported or end up detained or in trouble in this country is too many. I know a lot of the problems that a lot of Africans have when they reach the diaspora would be solved with just a little knowledge and education as to how the rules and the laws work.

I am looking forward to seeing what type of questions come in and look forward to the series in a couple of weeks. Subscribe to the feed so that you’re in the know as to when the series begins or instead just regularly check in.

Be blessed + Bless others = Mwangi