Michelle Obama heads to Africa, stirs criticism

First Lady Michelle Obama embarks today on a weeklong trip to Africa to spread goodwill. But the trip is already stirring criticism, making it just the latest travel choice by the First Lady to draw some negative press for the White House.
The aim of Obama's tour, which will take her to South Africa and Botswana, is to engage with young people--especially girls and women--who play prominent roles in academic life and civic leadership, while also furthering awareness on health and wellness issues.
But, as Washington Post writer Krissah Thompson notes, the trip is already provoking disappointment from Africa advocates who argue that President Obama, whose father was Kenyan, hasn't devoted enough time to the continent since winning the presidency.
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The ever-delicate question of international etiquette has made trouble for the First Lady on a couple of foreign trips.

1• She was criticized for hugging Queen Elizabeth, causing a major stir in England and elsewhere.

2. In November, Michelle Obama shook the hand of a conservative Muslim minister, a form of social contact between the sexes that violated his religious vows. He blamed the First Lady for the violation.

3. Critics accused the First Lady of organizing a frivolous trip to Mexico in April 2010 with Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden. While that trip, too, was aimed primarily on establishing contact with younger civic leaders, some detractors called out the First Lady for taking time to travel to a country that's long been a flashpoint in U.S. immigration policy. Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, for instance, argued that the trip was little more than an effort to promote "illegal alien shamnesty."

4. The glitzy Spanish getaway: The First Lady raised eyebrows last August when she decided to jaunt off to Spain.. The New York Daily News called her "a modern-day Marie Antoinette."


Enough, I can see the criticism of Spain trip being somewhat valid but the rest c’mon. give me a fucken break……So she hugged that old fart of England who does nothing but sit on the throne & enjoy lavish lifestyle, big fucken deal.

 

I understand the sentiment. There is Africa, then there is Africa. There is the Africa that works, but it is not yet there. There is Africa that does not work at all. I think the latter is the Africa in need of help, serious help. Obama is nowhere to be found with this tragically flawed Africa.

I think there is the tendency for the many successful black entertainers, showbiz moguls, black elites, and most black IVY's to want to associate with the Africa that is almost there.I have feeling is that sense of identity that si similar to wanting to belong to the social group in the suburbs. The need to self-identify with an Africa that seemingly has a sense of order and a bit of that resonating western aesthetic in everyday life.

Unfortunately, most blacks in the US can only trace their ancestry to West Africa where everything seems upside down at the moment. Michelle Obama's relatives in Africa are likely to come from West Africa than South Africa. These countries : Benin; Burkina Faso; Cape Verde;Cote d'Ivoire ; Gambia; Ghana ;Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Liberia; Mali ; Mauritania; Niger ; Nigeria ; Senegal; Sierra Leone ;and Togo hold more mystery to genetic inheritance of most African Americans, yet there is an American policy blindness to this connection.


America is more connected and committed to the challenges in the Middle East than to the ancestral lineage of an important section of their population. There are many partnerships with Europe and certain countries that make up the ancestry of white Americans, yet the same can't be said for blacks. I wonder why.

Nigeria is the country with the largest black population in the world. If there is any need for a good policy towards Africa it should start and take off with a relationship with Nigeria in my opinion. Below is the top 10 sources of oil supplies to the US as at 2009 , although things have slightly changed, it is still worth mentioning :


Top 10 Sources for U.S. Crude Oil in 2009

1. Canada – 1.94 million bpd
2. Mexico – 1.13
3. Saudi Arabia – 1.09
4. Venezuela – 1.01
5. Nigeria – 0.74
6. Angola – 0.48
7. Iraq – 0.47
8. Brazil – 0.30
9. Algeria – 0.28
10. Colombia – 0.25

Source

If the most populous black nation on earth can't have a well developed foreign policy with the America, no nation in Africa deserves it. The historic tragedy of slavery started in West Africa and Nigeria is a huge part of the sub-region and practically dominates it in every sphere. Yet some token African countries continue to dominate the news and continue to highlight the generousity of the white man

 

This is just people with an agenda nitpicking. Unfortunately we the people give them credibility because we're drawn to drama.

America doesn't owe any country outside of America shit. As long as there isn't some form of an agreement between the U.S. and that country, any and everything given to another country should be viewed as a gift.

 

the people who are complaining must be from this camp

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