ABSTRACT
Th roughout Africa, the Americas, and many other parts of the world, peoples of African descent continue to suff er the devastating eff ects of colonization, capitalism, racism, and poverty. As Tandom and Solarin so aptly express:
All over Africa, poverty has increased rather than decreased. If confl icts stem from poverty and the struggle for scarce resources, then the re-colonization of Africa that is taking place right in front of our eyes is the principal cause of poverty in Africa. Th ere can be no peace in the continent as long as the bulk of its population is poor, and there can be no growth or development as long as the invisible market forces continue to enable foreign owners of capital and technology to plunder Africa’s rich resources at a fraction of their value, and as long as the debt overhang continues to enslave Africa to the mercy of its creditors. (Tandom, 2000, p. 181)
Th ese (African American) communities are the descendants of the Africans that were transported to these countries the long era of the African Holocaust and Dispersal (slavery and colonialism) of the 15th-19th century. What is truly sad and sobering is that their plight is not that much diff erent from that of the majority of their kinfolk in the African content from where they were displaced. And we are talking of 500 years. (Solarin, 2004, p. 67)
Th is chapter examines these intersecting, sobering realities while speaking to the tools and eff ects of exploitation, as well as paths to their elimination.
