Contributed by CZA on 3/18/08

I thought about it for a while last week, you know, what I would do for this episode of the Polly, and I wanted to make it special. No particular reason; I just felt like stylin’ on your favorite bloggers with something interesting but also relevant so you get the best of both worlds, na’mean?

A couple months ago I was in talks with a certain presidential candidate about doing an interview, and back then, his people wanted to hook up with a brother because they had seen my work before and knew what I was about, and even more so knew that their candidate might receive more young voters because of the article. So we’re a go all the way up until today (Sunday) when I get a call from the candidate’s publicist saying that the interview was off. I asked when we could reschedule and she straight up said we couldn’t. He didn’t feel that I was high enough priority to chop it up for 15 minutes on subjects that were important to his campaign. “Cool,” I thought as I hung up. I see how the game is now and even though he threw me under a bus, I still might just vote for him. Why? Because it’s bigger than me. I’m man enough to separate my personal feelings from what is necessary to be done for our country. Even if he does look corny as hell most of the time.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with the internationally known Femi Agbayewa for this week’s Polly and he really broke down the similarities and differences of the African people vs. that of the African Americans. Damn good read, I should say. So read it.

If I Ruled the World (Imagine That!)

CZA: What up fam? Thanks for taking the time out of your promotions run to talk with me. First thing that comes to my mind is this: What’s the current state of affairs in Africa?
Femi: Optimism. There’s been tons of growth and development and it looks to be that a better time is coming upon us. Making sure that the masses get the most benefit of that growth is essential; all of the resources and money in the hands of the few simply won’t cut it. I think that people are getting tired of the way that things are being run politically and are being pushed to their limits. Right now people are trying to hold their government accountable so that the idea of having a better life isn’t such a stretch anymore. Change is right around the corner.

CZA: Change is necessary for any society that finds the majority undervalued I think. What is it in your opinion that gives people hope for the fruition of that change?
Femi: That Africa is being so focused upon right now is what drives us to demand better. The eyes of the world are upon us for our many resources, our deep cultural heritage and our intelligence as a nation. When you’re looking at all of that, it’s impossible for the people to no want to better themselves and their nation. There’s no reason why Africa can’t be on the same level as America. None whatsoever. The understanding that citizens should have rights at all times hasn’t ever escaped us; now it’s just becoming more fortified in everything we do. The corruption isn’t being tolerated anymore.

CZA: How does that translate to the citizens in the United States?
Femi: People want change in the states; look at Barrack Obama. People here are tired of having to sift through policy after policy that’s putting a strain on them and then they’re expected to bounce back. A human being can only take so much and I feel we too as American citizens are at the breaking point.

CZA: I agree. I’ve seen how much influence our policies here in the states affect others. I was looking at some of the debates recently and saw how staunch Barack was on backing democracy and as Susan Rice put it “Putting all our eggs in one basket”. What’s the African view on America?
Femi: I can tell you right now that when it comes to views, there are a lot of misconceptions and I can say from my own personal experience that there is a definite connection between the people of the two continents, When we’re happy, they’re happy and when we’re sad, they’re sad. I would that you could sum it up well with this analogy: You can’t get the entire story of a family unless you talk with everyone giving their input. We’re different people, but it’s one story. We’re spread out all over the world but it’s still one story that needs to be told. They definitely feel that blacks in America have a power to affect change all around the world and so they take interest in what we do here. Every time I go back they always ask me what’s going on over here. I think that hip hop is an almost a language in itself because it speaks to people in other languages without them having to understand the words. That’s the magic of it.

CZA: So you’re saying that there’s very little difference between the African brothers and sisters and the African Americans?
Femi: Exactly. We’re working from a knowledge base and going out with our misconceptions in hand. What we need to do is ask realistically, “What do we have?” We need to go from there and rebuild the connection between us.

CZA: That’ll be hard though! There are so many factors trying to keep us segregated and uninformed…I’m not with optimism but a lot of the older heads won’t want to start up for something like this. If we knew how close we are as a gigantic family, cats would be on some “let’s get guap” tip for real, but from an early age we’re taught that Africa doesn’t have anything to do with us and we should look at them as a third world country that simply couldn’t relate.
Femi: True, but obviously that’s not the case. When you’re not in control of your images, all anyone ever sees is a snapshot taken by someone else. People often take what they see out of context, so you’re left with it being just like that. Like you said, a common misconception is that America only cares about itself when that’s not true. Another misconception is that Africa is underdeveloped and always looking for a handout. That’s not us at all. I’m excited about this new generation who has walked step by step beside their American counterparts and really want to see change. It’s evident and it’s necessary.

Read Part Two, HERE!

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