Today, August 1st is Emancipation Day in much of the Caribbean and many are thinking about our survival of the horrors of slavery and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade up until the 19th century. For many of us Africans in the Diaspora, the thought of going back to a place that has fallen victim to deliberate negative images of conflict, disease and corruption is unthinkable. But for many international corporations, Africa is a never ending font of resources; humans, ideas, oil, columbite-tantalite, rubber, bauxite, timber, diamonds, and an open market that makes millionaires of entrepreneurs with the backing of powerful European, Asian and American currencies.

A fundamental part of our liberation as African people is to once again see value in ourselves and our natural resources that our colonizers (old and new) have exploited for far too long. Check out this brief lecture by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as she invites us to consider trading back to Africa.