Kudos to those who are taking this giant step.

While reading one of the reasonings between a self-identified African-American, Washington, DC school teacher and a self-identified Igbo African posting to this forum:
It became clear to me that diasporan Africans have become so alienated from our continental homeland that we are unable to recognize and thus utilize its abundant and valuable resources. Whereas, the schoolteacher viewed the Igbo as an adversary I saw him as a valuable asset in what should be an ongoing war, between teachers of African descent and western academia, to combat the lies told in text books, with which they are forced to educate young African minds.

The Igbo appeared to be well versed in both his mother tongue and that of his former colonial occupier, the English. If I were that teacher, regardless of my field of study, you can bet that my students and I would become familiar with more than a few Igbo words, terms and phrases.

I have been a fan of Miriam Makeba, since a child. In fact I'm named for her. One of the first things I tried to translate using "Babel Fish" was "Jikele Maweni" imagine my surprise when I could not, in fact Systran has no dictionary for any African language. What does that say to you my brothers and sisters? Have we been successfully erased?

Growing up in the Caribbean, I was fortunate enough to be exposed to many languages, they have always fascinated me. English remains my first language, however, I can make myself be understood in Spanish, which is a valuable asset, if you live in the US and I even know a fair share of Hindi, however, I live with a constant shame that I am unable to identify even a few African words.