A new direction for TransAfrica

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on
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with The Final Call

A new direction for TransAfrica

For over two decades, TransAfrica Forum has challenged policymaking seen as detrimental to the economic and political health of Africa and the Caribbean. With the recent appointment of Bill Fletcher as TransAfrica�s president, replacing founder Randall Robinson, and the appointment of activist/actor Danny Glover as board chairman, the lobby is moving in a new direction. Mr. Fletcher recently sat down with Final Call staffer Eric Ture Muhammad to discuss the direction and TransAfrica�s declared war on "Global Economic Apartheid."

Final Call (FC): Thank you for your time and congratulations on your appointment.

Bill Fletcher (BF): Thank you.

FC: You have referred to TransAfrica as an organization in transition. Would you elaborate on that for us, please?

BF: Sure. We are in the early stages of planning basic directions the organization needs to move in. The emphasis, right now, is on new directions and consolidating our board around them. It�s a different world with new sets of issues to confront and I don�t mean since Sept. 11. Black America demographically, has always been in transition, moreso over the last 20 years. With the West Indian migration to America and now greater migration of Africans from the continent, this has transformed Black America. What the new TransAfrica needs to be about now is movement building. We need to be an educational and organizing center. We need to address more, almost more than anything, the impact that globalization has had on the Black world. Its impact by-and-large has been devastating to the majority of the Black world. There are economic elites and ruling groups in different countries that have benefited from globalization but, looking on its impact on the economies of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, we see the devastating effects of this and the benefits going to the multinational corporations and international finance institutions.

FC: Give us an example.

BF: One aspect has been the prominence of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and others. They have, in many cases, a stranglehold on countries in the global south. Many of those countries, through colonialism, neo-colonialism and the dominance of dictators, were given loans. They rang up tremendous debts and now these budding countries are having to pay these back. These finance organizations have said that unless these countries restructure their economies in a way that benefits international financial institutions, there will be no further grants, loans or relief. If you look at what is happening in Argentina right now, the people are saying, "enough is enough." They are saying that the money should not be going toward servicing a debt that in many cases was obtained by unlawful governments, but that it should be going toward the benefit of the people. That is one way that globalization has had a devastating impact on Africa.

Another aspect is HIV/AIDS. Until recently, signatories to the World Trade Organization (WTO) could not obtain nor create generic pharmaceutical products because it was called a violation of intellectual property rights. In other words, if you had the flu, it was almost as if the institutions were saying, "You have to buy Advil. You cannot get a generic Ibuprofen and if you don�t buy it and try to buy something else, we are going to slap you with economic sanctions." Some of the positions that governments have taken have contributed to the problem as well because it downplays steps that can be taken right now with existing pharmacexuticals to limit the spread of HIV, particularly between women, mothers and unborn children. That is an ideological struggle going on there, but the larger struggle has been how do we get generic drugs to these countries and how do we encourage these countries to develop their own pharmaceutical companies, in the face of the debt demands of the international finance institutions?

FC: Would you define for us Global Economic Apartheid?

BF: Global Economic Apartheid is the vast majority of wealth that has marginalized chunks of the Black world.

FC: What about your education component?

BF: Education is a major component to virtually everything that we do. The TransAfrica we want to build is not going to be an organization based around one personality. It�s not going to be an organization based on one issue. It has to be an organization that has deep ties with masses of people. We have to provide education and also mobilization and organization. If we don�t, the forces of reaction are the ones that will take the initiatives.

FC: How important are Blacks in America in these global pursuits?

BF: One of the big mistakes we make is that we often try to tell other Black people how to wage their struggle.

We have to provide organizing within Black America to not simply focus on domestic issues and build a linkage to what�s happening in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, but at the same time we have to encourage the Black world to respect other cultures, and recognize their experiences with white supremacy are very different from our own.

FC: Any last comments?

BF: The new TransAfrica will be about developing a better understanding about globalization to regular people and what the racial, class and gender implications of globalization mean, particularly to the Black world. That means we have to go to the religious institutions, alternative schools, community-based organizations, trade unions and talk with people. We need to get to where the people are and encourage this form of discussion. So, when there are struggles against globalization, we can make sure that Black people are there, not just as onlookers or simple participants but as leaders.

FC: Thank you.

TransAfrica Forum offices are located at 1744 R St, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. Or for more information visit http://www.transafricaforum.org