I guess we never saw it coming.  The threat of a government overthrown by protestors in Egypt, a friendly nation to the United States and a documented ally, was the last thing on our minds until last week.  In retrospect, we certainly should have seen it coming.  We have not broken the habit of supporting dictatorships.  In this age of instant information via internet, twitter, Facebook, YouTube, emails, etc. people virtually gather and a collective anger can be taken to the streets immediately.  Any dictatorship should be worried because their time will come.  It has come to Egypt and we are caught off guard.

If not now, then soon President Mubarak will have to step down and relinquish power.  Just who gets that power is unknown and that is the big problem.  It brings memories of the Iran rebellion in 1979.  President Jimmy Carter decided it was time to turn his back on the Shah of Iran, the dictator, and expect the young democratic movement to take over and bring liberty to this “ally”.  He was so wrong.  The democratic movement was pushed to the side by the radical Muslim Imams who took control of the government ever since.  Our “ally” is now one of our worst enemies.

The Egyptian matter is actually a great challenge and opportunity for President Barack Obama.  During the last presidential election he was criticized by rival candidates for his lack of foreign experience.  The biggest criticizer is now his Secretary of State, the Honorable Hillary Clinton.  These two have got to come together with a strategy that will finesse this situation into a democratic and peaceful process.  President Mubarak has to step down and a peaceful, freedom loving entity must take control and bring this nation under democracy and open elections.  If they pull this off, President Obama will have earned some serious notches on his presidential “belt”.

Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations on earth.  For some reason it has yet to evolve to modern democracy.  That alone would get it out of its immense poverty and unemployment (30% officially).  Their first big boss was President Nasser who led the revolt over King Farouk.  Upon Nasser’s death, his confidant Anwar Sadat became president.  Upon his assassination in 1981, President Mubarak became the big boss and has enjoyed that for 30 years replete with rigged elections every eight years.  It is most critical that Egypt does this in a correct manner.  If they don’t there will be unrest in the Middle East like never before.  Israel will be most intimidated and will probably freshen up its nuclear arsenal.  Iran, with its devious goals, will feel even more empowered and start doing wicked things.  Twenty-five percent of the Arab population is Egyptian.  It is imperative that we two nations remain allies and promoters of peace.

Equally important as the destabilization issue is the adverse impact on the economy.  Egypt controls the Suez Canal which is the biggest avenue for oil and gas shipments.  If it is closed or blocked, every nation in the world will be immediately damaged through the lack of world trade.  1.8 million barrels of oil passes through the Suez Canal every day.  It would take an extra six weeks to get products to market.  Just this chaos that is happening today is taking stock markets across the world down and gasoline prices are marching north as you read this article.  Our president is facing a great challenge and we should cheer him on and hope this ends up being progress and not a throw back.

In the interim, President Obama must end his embargo on off shore drilling immediately.  If not we are going to see $6.00 a gallon of gasoline before Easter and it won’t stop there.  This will reflect beyond the gas pump.  Groceries, electricity, clothing, and many other staples are going to rise immediately.  The Marcellus Shale in New York should also be reopened and exploration within the rest of the nation needs to get underway now!  This could be much worse than the Iran takeover or the oil embargo of the ‘70s.  Mr. President you are at a fork in the road and please make the right decision – open the wells.

The whole Middle East is starting to pop.  Tunisia just chased off their dictator and Yemen is on the verge of falling.  Jordan is having trouble and Egypt’s neighbor to the south, Sudan, is experiencing serious violence.  If the U.N. is worth anything it had better get serious about this matter.  The African Union can now show its worth during this crisis.  Most of all, America, the traditional leader of the world, should meet its destiny and lead the world to a return to peace and the advancement of democracy.  Let us pray.

Mr. Alford is the co-founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®.  Website: www.nationalbcc.org. Email: halford@nationalbcc.org http://twitter.com/nationalbcc

By DR. BENJAMIN F. CHAVIS JR.
NNPA Columnist

The cry for change and freedom across Egypt sheds a prophetic light on the future of the entire continent of Africa.  As the media from around the world continues to be focused on the massive street demonstrations that called for a change of the leadership in Egypt, it is incumbent for African Americans to see the broader socioeconomic, political, and cultural implications.  Egypt is one of the oldest nations in the world.  It has a diverse population of more than 80 million people.  While the Western media characterizes Egypt as an Arab nation located in the Middle East, it is actually located in Northern Africa and is an African nation.

African people on the continent and throughout the Diaspora of African people should be interested in the ultimate outcome of the current crisis in Egypt.  In the 21st Century, the majority of people in Egypt and throughout Africa are demanding an end to centuries of poverty.  All governments should be critically aware that the elimination of poverty has to be a top priority.  The failure of political leaders to take effective steps to end poverty will only certainly encourage the cry and demand for political change.

If you looked at what demographic of people that mainly got the movement for change going inside of Egypt, it was overwhelmingly young people.  The youth of Africa are demanding and taking social action for change.  Such was the case in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, the Ivory Coast and in the Sudan.   How are the youth taking social action?  First through the use of the Internet and social media: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other Internet services.  The first peaceful street protests in Egypt were actually organized by the April 6 Youth Movement.

The point here is to emphasize, once again, the importance of youth consciousness and youth activism.   Whether it is in Africa, Europe, Asia, or in the Americas, the youth of the world are justified in their demands and actions to end poverty, corruption, war and injustice.  The youth of Egypt should be saluted for their sense of moral and political outrage matched with their ability to use technology in a sustained, disciplined manner.

The end result of what will happen in Egypt is in the hands of the Egyptian people.  The emerging leadership of new youthful leaders is encouraging.  When the government of Egypt led by President Hosni Mubarak made a decision early in the crisis to cut off the Internet access to millions of Egyptians, it only showed the Egyptians and others throughout the world how useful the Internet can be as a tool to bring about social change.

Of course, we all remember how useful and game-changing it was in 2008 for the election of President Barack Obama to use the Internet and social media to mobilize millions of new young voters.  But, the Tea Party and others in opposition to President Obama will be using that same technology to benefit their politics.  It would be well if millions of African American, Latino and other youth who are witnessing what is now taking place in Egypt to remember that 2012 is next year and their voices and votes need to be counted in the next national elections in the United States.

The truth is more must be done also here as well to end poverty and injustice.  While what is now happening in Egypt and in other parts of Africa or in other nations may seem like a far away place, we live in a closer global village.  We should learn from the situation in Egypt.  We should be more than a distant witness.  We offer our prayers and support to the people of Egypt.  We hope that the final transition of leadership and outcome will serve the interests and aspirations of the Egyptian people.

The future of Africa will be determined by African people.  Poverty should be eliminated everywhere.  We all have to work harder to ensure more social and economic progress.  The cry for human freedom and a better way of life is a universal cry.  Because of our history, as an African people, we cannot and should not ever turn a deaf ear to others who yearn and struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.  We stand in solidarity with our Egyptian brothers and sisters.

By EDIE RASELL
UCC Minister for Economic Justice

The stock market has rebounded to near its pre-recession peak. Corporate profits are at record highs. But for millions of American workers who have lost jobs, health insurance, homes, and financial security, the crisis continues. Congress must make job creation its highest priority.

Many families are caught in a quagmire of financial and emotional pain. Three years into the “Great Recession,” the unemployment rate is 9.0%. But this measure includes only people who are actively searching for work, some 13.9 million. It omits those who have given up looking, decided to be stay-at-home moms since they have no other options, or claim to be “retired” to conceal their fears of never working again. A broader measure that counts everyone who wants a job plus people who want full-time work when they can find only a part-time job is over twice as large: 30 million people or nearly one in five potential workers. There are roughly four job seekers for every job opening and nearly half the unemployed have been without a job for over six months. Among people of color, young adults, and teenagers, the jobless rate is much higher. Workers and their families are in crisis.

To keep pace with growth in the labor force, the number of jobs must rise by 114 thousand each month. But over the past year the U.S. averaged just 82 thousand a month. This is too few to keep joblessness from rising (no matter what the official counts tell us) and does not begin to shrink the backlog of unemployment. Going forward, even if job creation were double the rate of last year, it would take 19 years for unemployment to fall to its pre-recession level. We cannot wait for corporate decision makers and “the market” to solve this crisis.

Congress and the Obama Administration must intervene to create jobs. Options include a tax credit to encourage firms to boost hiring, funds for state and local governments to ease their budget woes and reduce the need for layoffs, grants to send workers back to school, and a public jobs program where the government directly hires workers. There is much work that needs to be done, from cleaning up brown fields in our cities to weatherizing homes and making repairs in our national parks. Let’s put people to work doing the things that need to be done.

Creating jobs costs money and critics argue we cannot afford this when the federal deficit is already high. But we cannot afford not to. Most of the deficit is caused by the economic downturn. Unemployed people earn little money and pay few taxes, reducing government revenues. At the same time, government expenses rise as millions of people are forced to rely on safety net programs. Once people are working again, much of the deficit will disappear. (In the longer term, the deficit will return and will need to be addressed.) The time to reduce the deficit is when the emergency is over, when the economy on Main Street, as well as the economy on Wall Street, is sound. Right now, Congress and the Obama Administration must create jobs and put people back to work.

With the sudden and unexpected resignation of Dr. Eugene Sanders as head of the Cleveland Municipal School District, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson made a wise and prudent choice in tapping former National City Bank CEO Peter Raskind as interim superintendent in the wake of Sanders’ departure.

Raskind, a seasoned and proven executive, will bring to the table his years of experience in the corporate world to a school district facing financial struggles in addition to less than stellar academic performances by students.

We have no doubt that during his tenure with the district changes for good will be made. He did it when appointed as interim head of the Port Authority when that organization was in a quagmire.

But don’t expect miracles from Raskind. After all, he’s just one man.

The sole purpose of a school district is to educate its students and to prepare them to compete in a global economy, through sound academic preparation and critical thinking skills.

And while Raskind can put in place “best practices” to enable the district to provide educational services, he can’t make students learn or absorb.

Likewise, the district’s teachers can’t be expected to shoulder completely the learning process.

At the end, it will boil down to the students themselves and their parents to be active participants in obtaining the education necessary to go forward in a new world and global economy.

At some point, Mayor Jackson will have to appoint a new CEO to run the Cleveland Municipal School District and Raskind will leave.

We hope that while Raskind is at the helm that he will be supported for his contribution to help make Cleveland a better place -- a better place for all of us.

We wish him well in his endeavor.