Young Black Professional Guide

Quite a bit evidently.

And if you’re into African stocks like I am you may also know that the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation was the first African stock to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

But if you’re more into pop culture like most people I may have just tricked you into learning something about stocks.

Seriously, though, Ashanti Goldfields merged with AngloGold in 2004 to create the world’s second largest gold producer, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.

The name was most likely inspired by the pre-colonial Empire of Ashanti which is now the Ashanti region in Ghana. But I am still willing to entertain the possibility it could have been named after the pop star.

Lately, AngloGoldAshanti Ltd. (AU) has been getting considerable analyst attention due to the weak dollar and the ridiculousness of commodity prices. But I’d rather focus our attention on Ashanti’s largest shareholder, the Ghanaian government.

Along with being the majority shareholder of Ashanti Goldfields, the Ghanaian government also happens to be the proud owner of an oil field that was discovered last year and is reported by some sources to contain up to 3 billion barrels of light crude oil. Ghana’s GDP also happens to be 50% agriculture, so in case you haven’t been keeping up with rice and wheat prices, that’s a good thing for Ghana. With help from other exports such as timber, cocoa, diamonds, manganese, and bauxite (element used to make aluminum) Ghana has twice the per capita output of its neighbors and is growing exponentially (over 6 ½% annually).

Pardon the pun, but Ghana has a golden opportunity here. While I’d love to see the Ghanaian government morph this opportunity into the sickest, most diversified publicly traded hedge fund ever, Ghana has a great responsibility as well.

President John Kufuor of Ghana, literally, interviewed (I kid you not) with BBC and had a glass of oil in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. With all due respect Mr. Kufuor, before we get too exited about the prospects of oil let us examine the track records of some other African oil producing nations, namely Uganda and Nigeria.

Though Ghana has more than twice the GDP of Dubai it is still working in the red. Meaning, it spends more than it makes. Ghana’s inflation is over 11% and simply throwing more money into the system will be like throwing more gas on the fire. Also, oil doesn’t last forever. Dubai’s oil reserves are expected to diminish in less than 20 years. But its economy, which was built on the back of oil exploration, is now diversified to the point that oil accounts for less that 6% of its GDP. Can an African nation do the same?

No matter what, Ghana will need to diversify. But in what? Ghana’s biggest export will be oil but it’s biggest import will be petroleum, so refining capability could be a start. Clean water resources could be another.

But the inevitable question down the road will be, how responsible is or should Ghana be for the well being of its neighbors (or the rest of Africa for that matter)? Do you think it would be a wise PR move for Ghana to build indoor ski lodges like Dubai while over 28 million other Africans are dying of AIDS?

Does Ghana have an obligation to help other African nations or should they reinvest in their own economy to make it self-sufficient before its oil reserves are depleted? I like to hear some YBP thoughts on this.

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I’ve been very thirsty for news and information (and commentary for that matter) that coincides with my thoughts, issues, and beliefs. We all like to be around those that support our views and convictions.

Let’s be real.

Watching corporate mass media is very painful and nauseating most of the time. I sit through it like I sit through a dental cleaning. Uggghh! I watch it because I want to hear a particular story, or may feel brave and want to hear the opposing viewpoints. All this just to go to bed mad.

I recently sought XM Radio 169 “The Power” as my first step. I learned a lot during my drive into work from the Joe Madison “The Black Eagle” Show. One thing that sticks out is the MLK 4/4/67 speech against the Vietnam War. Madison urged his listeners to read the speech before calling into his show and voicing an “educated” opinion on the topic of the hour.

Madison has been a force in the black community for years as an activist and talk radio host. Check him out via stream Monday through Friday from 6am ET- 10am ET. Also check out Warren Ballentine Esq. and Al Sharpton. Yes, I know…ole Rev. Al, but give the Rev respect as he goes toe to toe with the likes of Bill O’Reilly and other bobbleheads.

I miss the 11pm news on BET. It was the absolute best thing they had, but it was canceled in 2005. PBS and C-Span are also good outlets for news that isn’t sold for a dollar.

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My sister-in-law is one of the coolest people I know. When you first meet her, the first thing that pops in your head is ‘Wow, she looks like that girl from Soul Food!’

She would quickly correct you and tell you her name is Nicole Ari Parker then quickly dismiss your quip as irrelevant in the crux of life, all with a disposition projecting that she really didn’t give a crap what you thought anyways.

In that setup, I’ve been impressed and inspired by her fervor in the recent political issues by her engaging conversation and consistent ‘this is whats up’ email blasts, especially when it comes to America’s view of Black men. She hit me up to a Pat Buchanan tirade about how we should be grateful for being brought over on the boat and promptly footnoted the link with ‘this is the America your child will be growing up in’.

With that said, ybp’s should NEVER forget and never be naive to the reality of fear and racism that still entrenches our society. Never has that ever been more true with the story coming out of Philadelphia. When I read the article, I thought ‘oh crap, here we go again with Black men trying to run from the man’. But when you click on the video…these cats were not running from the man. These dudes were running from a mob…and not just any mob, but a mob of police officers.

While the video speaks for itself, the plain-as-day images of an officer taking a running start to drop-kick a Black man while he is down and under restraint of 5 other officers says to me that we, as in Black men, whether educated or of criminal record, are not human.

We, apparently, don’t deserve the police protocol of ‘Get out of the car. Put your hands out of the window. Get on your knees. Put your hands behind your back.’

We, apparently, don’t even deserve the decency of surviving being arrested! On the streets, the gangs of policemen decide, judge, and execute their brand of justice in the heat of the moment. Even the police commissioner was quoted in the ‘WTF’ sentiment in his interview after watching the video.

In that revelation, I agree with my sister-in-law. This is the America my child will be growing up in, and I must do everything I can to protect him as a Black man…mentally, spiritually, economically, and physically.

What say you?

updated: AP is reporting 15 of the officers have been removed from the streets so far.

update 2: included below are the videos

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[courtesy of irs.gov]

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