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US Businessman Launches "1Against Ebola” to rally African American Support in Ebola Fight

October 08, 2014

Jerome Almon believes the bonds between African Americans must grow stronger Jerome Almon believes the bonds between African Americans must grow stronger[/caption] About a year after he floated the Power of One Trillion to market the potentials of economic ties between African Americans and Africa, US businessman Jerome Almon has launched “1Against Ebola", to galvanize support in the fight against Ebola and the need for medical infrastructures.  The campaign by Mr. Almon calls on African Americans to donate just a dollar each to help cover the cost for basic sanitation materials and to help the afflicted countries in upgrading health care facilities. In an interview with Pan African Visions which also covered the progress of the initiative he launched last year and the barriers against greater engagement between Africa and African Americans, Jerome Almon said in the face of the Ebola threat, Africa needs support from its diaspora. Lessons from relations between the China and India and their diaspora could serve as a reference on the kind of relations that should exist between African and African Americans Almon said. Almon who says he has done broad consultations believes that with $1, the “1Against Ebola” campaign can represent a very effective and lasting contribution of the African diaspora in the fight against Ebola. Jerome Almon, about a year ago there was this interview in which you painted a rosy picture of the potential that African Americans could bring to Africa and your estimate was there could invest over $230 billion by 2017, as of now what has changed, where are we when it goes to fulfilling that potential? What could stop Bill Gates from giving away or investing 10% of his $81 billion net worth to anyone or anything he wanted? Only Bill Gates could. Equally the same is true for us giving and investing and donating to Africa and African American entrepreneurial and infrastructure projects. The only thing that can stop us is our mentality, no one else can. We are actually ahead of schedule in terms of the tremendous response that we have gotten from hundreds of thousands of African Americans and members of the African diaspora around the world. With the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa, and the civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri in the USA, the majority of African Americans now see that we were right all along.  We warned that the lack of medical infrastructure in Africa would lead to a disaster like Ebola in discussions with Sylvia Blyden, special assistant to the President of Sierra Leone, President Ernest   Bai Koroma. The world is  just catching up to us and the media, which helped to broke the story of our project. I am confident that we will go beyond the original goal. The entire African diaspora now realizes that we have tried everything else, and frankly it has not worked.  Through direct, unfiltered information we are able to see no one is coming to our rescue but us-the cavalry is not coming over the hill as we say in America. We are the cavalry, and African Americans have to do our part and follow the lead of the rest of the African diaspora and get on board the effort to revitalize Africa in a huge way. The website is now updated which shows that the only thing that can stop us is us.  Just examine what Africa is doing in the film and movie industry, Nigeria is now the second largest producer of movies-producing more movies than Hollywood And African Americans are spending over $1.1 billion on movies just in the USA in an industry that only makes a little over $2 billion in profit.  Why don't we OWN our own production, distribution, and retail movie outlets ?  There is no economic reason we don't. Africans and African Americans have to understand and accept, it is highly unusual NOT to put the money into helping ourselves-yourself, your family. It is economic suicide not to. If it is such a great policy to give away a trillion dollars to anyone anywhere rather than build up your community, make the life of you and your family better, why don't the Europeans, Chinese, Indians, and Americans do it? May we know what you have done personally in leading the charge towards the realization of this goal with your initiative the power of one trillion? I have been busy collecting and categorizing the hundreds of thousands of emails we have received from African Americans and Africans all over the world offering their help.  I have also developed a more detailed blueprint that is understandable, and executable for any and all Africans from the smallest project.  We have opened the eyes of African Americans like never before.  Due to the original story and our original press release we are in the position to get billions to Africa immediately. At what level are there issues affecting investment relations between Africans and African Americans, is it the African countries not doing outreach or is it African Americans not showing sufficient interest? The biggest issue is a taking action on the basics.  There are more than enough African Americans that are willing to donate money; African Americans donate $11 billion a year to charity, of which almost none goes to African Americans or Africa .It is not that African Americans don't care about the issue and don't have the money; it is that believe it or not we are having an unusually difficult time in giving it to Africa. It is not that Africans aren't ready to build infrastructure, build medical facilities, and open new businesses with this revenue, it is that African Americans don't specifically know who and were to give it. We have solved that issue by having a 1 stop clearing house to match revenue with needs, and bypassing the impasses. The major impasse is ineffective leadership in America and on the Continent.  A great example of the potential, opportunity, and willingness to give is Canadian African billionaire Michael Lee Chin who recently gave $10 million to build a hospital in Ontario, Canada .Mr. Chin is a self-made billionaire from Jamaica who has a great history of supporting African causes in the West.  Why hasn't he supported more projects in Africa and with the diaspora? No one has asked. He would have no problem in donating to stop the Ebola epidemic for instance. That is the issue.  Leaders like President Jacob Zuma of South Africa have professed their desire to have the African American diaspora help Africa, yet has done nothing to see that occur in the real world. It is bizarre to me, due to my having Chinese, European, and Indian friends and business associates, and trust me everything in their countries stop when there is the opportunity to get such revenue from their respective diasporas. A matter of fact, as we show on our website, it is the main reason China, India are in the powerful and economically growing position they are in-the diaspora's contribution of revenue and technology from the West, particularly the America and Canada. Prominent African Americans such as the entertainer Bill Cosby all want to step up and help; we need a partner in the effort from Africa. That partner has to be African entrepreneurs, independent leaders, and the independent media. We spend far too much money and give away far too much to charity not to have Africa and the wellbeing of the African diaspora as our main priority.  So at the end of the day, it is not the lack of desire or money, it is getting in a room and 3) Defining our priorities 2) Designing and executable plan 1) Executing that plan. We have all 3 steps ready to go right now. The news is dominated by the Ebola virus affecting parts of West Africa, how do you think African Americans could be of help to the struggle to help affected African countries cope with the scourge of Ebola? First of all we have to remember the first doctor was an African. The first doctor of prominence was not Hippocrates the Greek, but the African Imhotep. Hippocrates was known by his own people as the Asclepiad of Kos. Asclepiad is the name the Greeks called Imhotep, and Kos is the island where Hippocrates was born. The Greeks called Imhotep the Father of Medicine.  Imhotep looked like Anwar Sadat, Nelson Mandela, you and me. We have no excuse to not have the proper funding for medical facilities and for vaccines to fight Ebola. We invented medicine. We have launched the "1Against Ebola" campaign which calls on African Americans to donate $1 dollar for each African in America. This represents less than 1/2 of 1% of what we donate to charity each year (.4% of $11 billion).  We have also called on African billionaires and millionaires around the world to donate another $1 million each for the effort.  It is sad to say, but as the great African American activist and entertainer Harry Belafonte has stated, people like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie give more money to African causes than we African Americans. If we cannot donate $1 for each African American, then we are truly an embarrassment to every African everywhere considering our wealth in the West and considering that the African diaspora gives twice as much to Africa annually as all of the foreign aid combined. The money will be used to buy vaccines, and build medical infrastructure, such as state of the art hospitals. The Western "experts" are now saying what we said over a year ago and what Dr. Ali Mazrui said in “The Africans” over 25 years ago, Africans must be totally self-reliant, and there is no excuse not to be. Additionally we are educating African Americans on our long history with Sierra Leone and Liberia. The countries are populated with liberated African American who were enslaved in America and returned to these countries. The movie produced by African American entertainer Debbie Allen and directed by Steven Spielberg-"Amistad" is about such a story. The city where one of the most promising vaccines has been developed is Ames, Iowa-home to Iowa State University which educated one of the most prominent African Americans in history, the scientist George Washington Carver. But as we warned, what happens in Africa will not stay in Africa-now the Centers for Disease Control in the USA is accepting this and stating that the only way to stop the Ebola epidemic from spreading worldwide and killing tens of millions is to stop it in Africa with modern medical facilities. We are also educating African Americans and the world on why the epidemic is so virulent, normally Ebola last a matter of weeks and then it dies out. But due to global warming and the selling of massive of amounts of African land to foreign corporations and governments, it has led to this current disaster. Global warming is fueling the potency of the virus and the deforestation is causing the fruit bats that carry Ebola to go to more populated areas-spreading the disease to more people. This all goes back to our original project and warning. We warned that Africa must have access to the same revenue and technology as China, Europe, and America or else the world would pay-that prognostication has come true. Failure to act in a timely fashion has severe negative consequences and global ramifications.  This could all have been prevented if our warnings were heeded. In short the world and African Americans again bet on the wrong people with the wrong plans.  Bottom line, we were right and they were dead wrong. It will cost billions more to deal with the issue now, than it would have been to prevent it. Saying we can't have the correct and right amount of medical facilities is like saying we can't have cars-there are cars everywhere all over the world.  And they have existed since 1769, and have been in mass production since 1908-time to catch up. A state of the art hospital in the USA cost $1 billion that includes a complete teaching facility, the average price for an American hospital without the teaching aspect is $300 million.  In Africa due to the lower cost of labor and materials that price is well under $100 million, again a pittance of what we spend daily and annually-less than the contract of most top American athletes. We understand you have been in touch with some Africans and African Americans to rally support to help affected countries, may we know more about your initiatives? From the President of Sierra Leone, to the Liberian Embassy and President, we have worked tirelessly to address the Ebola situation now. We have contacted African Americans throughout the country, and had them contact us asking how they can help. We are launching that effort full force as of October 6, 2014.  Our whole philosophy in such areas is to head off the disaster. It takes time to build hospitals, created millions of doses of vaccine, and to develop a strategy to stop the spread of a disease like Ebola once it has went excuse the phrase-viral. This is not building the Pyramids all over again, building hospitals is not a complicated endeavor, it happens every day all day.  I am beyond sick and tired of hearing people attempt to complicate the simple and common.  We as a people cannot stand for this ineptitude regarding such a basic and easily managed need, nor can we stand by and watch our brothers and sisters-children die of bleeding to death.  I can empathize with Ebola victims to a degree, due to a parachute accident from 1250 feet (300 meters); I almost bled to death twice over the past year. It is not a pleasant experience believe you me. You feel the life slipping out of you as you watch the blood flow from your body.  I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. How will this initiative that you are working on fit in with what the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the US Government and other partners are already doing? I would not depend on any of those organizations.  Did they forecast this disaster or did we correctly forecast this disaster?  Even Americans and Westerners don't believe in these organizations, and quite frankly look at how they have bungled the Ebola crisis.  These groups are responsible for much of this disaster due to their exploitation of Africa and its resources.   Does China or India allow these entities to give them orders?  No, they do not- that is why these countries are economically advancing and we are not although China and India were in the same position that we were in in the 1970's-look at where they are now through a plan of self-reliance and their diasporas.  We need to set big goals and meet them on time.  African not having proper medical facilities is like Bill Gates not having health insurance considering all the money African Americans have and all the natural resources Africa has.  For example, South Africa is proposing that 49% of all mines be owned by the people of South Africa. At minimum it should be 51% in order to have controlling interest, and even better 100%.  African Americans can offer a far better deal with far better extra benefits such infrastructure, and cash grants instead of vulture like loans. Africans would retain controlling interest and we would buy minority interest. For example, a mine in South Africa was recently sold for $3.1 billion dollars; African Americans spend over $3 billion dollars a day. It is better for both of us to do business with each other than to give up such wealth to others and make them rich . [caption id="attachment_12710" align="alignright" width="276"]Liberian President Sirleef Johnson, her country has historic bonds with the US Liberian President Sirleef Johnson, her country has historic bonds with the US[/caption] Africa has more of the world's precious and strategic minerals than any other place on Earth, and everyone benefits from it but us. The uranium used in the first American atomic bombs came from The Congo. So countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Angola, Namibia, etc. can maintain total power and control and get the hard currency from African Americans to build and prosper-if it were Europe, China, America, India-this is what would happen no question about it period. This is what did and does happen period. In closing, a simple question, the World Bank, IMF, and the US have been running their programs for a century, is Africa better off or worse off? Are the countries in which they are based better off or worse off?  The countries in which these entities are based are far better off, and we are far worse off as Africans. In concrete terms at what level is the initiative now and can you situate a timeline for us on when you anticipate as a start date and when the affected countries could expect tangible field results from you? We can raise the Ebola funding to an end in 2 weeks easily, and have vaccine ordered and money where it needs to be.  The biggest issue is that the vaccine can't be made over night, so best to start sooner than later with the manufacturing process, and as far as the overall project, again we already give away the money-just not to Africa or Africans where it belongs and would do the most good.  We can have visible results in 30 days period.  That is why we are holding a conference to close this out, and stop talking, and simply start doing.  By this time next year we can have a minimum of $100 billion flowing into African and African American projects, but I predict $200 billion.  The main reason is we don't have any other choice, and now we know it. The failure to act in the real world of today, leads to uncontrollable disasters like Ebola and Ferguson, Missouri. Again, the Chinese, Indians, Europeans, and Americans are all extremely successful by following this exact plan, so if we do opposite, we will get opposite results-which is what we have been doing and getting. If we do the same and adjust it to our needs, we will be successful, powerful, and in control of our own destiny. You are not free or in power if you do not control your own economy.  The wealth of a people and a nation must serve the people and the citizens of that country first, foremost, and always. When we followed this mantra we were on top of the world, when we don't we end up on the bottom. Makes perfect sense. For those who do not know could you also help situate the historic links between Liberia and Freetown in Sierra Leone which are the most affected with Ebola so far? The capital of Liberia is named after President James Monroe of the USA, hence the name Monrovia. It was settled by repatriated Africans from America in the early 1800's.  Freetown was founded in the early 1790's by an abolitionist from the UK and repatriated Africans, and later came repatriated Jamaicans and African Americans. So, as you can see Africa, the African diaspora, and African Americans destiny is one and the same. We have to understand, accept, and take advantage of this-the advantage is huge. There are large African populations outside of Africa in America, the Caribbean, Brazil, Central America, Canada, and Europe-each with a lot to contribute to the revitalization of Africa. But we have to begin the process with getting our economics together. Everything cost money-media outlets, hospitals, education, housing-the good thing is that we have more than enough money and resources to buy and build whatever we want and need.  A matter of fact everyone gets wealthier by properly utilizing our huge amount of money.  African Americans would be the 18th wealthiest nation on Earth according to the CIA just due to our spending.  Our gross puts us in the top 10 on earth, and our GDP would be larger than France and Russia. So why don't we build and behave like France and Russia?  It is all about leadership, we have to be the Google and Apple of African development. And remember Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Yahoo were all started by just 2 people. Together we can be more powerful than all 4 of those companies put together-and look at the effect they have had on the world.  Automatically we would create thousands of new millionaires and dozens of new billionaires along with millions of new businesses. You either move forward or you get left behind in today’s world-left far behind. The focus now seems to be on Ebola, but the fact remains the huge lapses in infrastructure and health care are being exposed, have you explored prospects of partnerships with African governments to invest for the long haul in health care and infrastructure? We have talked to African governments; however it is no different than talking to the American government-too slow and ineffective. We have to do what the heads of Apple, Google, Yahoo, EBay, Microsoft, and now Alibaba have done and do-go directly to the people and partners.  Private enterprise is the way to begin; the governments will be moved by inertia. In other words because Apple, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are so large and innovative-you MUST use them, you don't have a choice.  That is what the African diaspora has to do, move ahead and let the politicians catch up.  I see politicians have a lot of meetings, and have a lot of talk, but what gets done?  Usually nothing.  Just look at Ebola, how long have modern hospitals existed on Earth?  How many state of the art hospitals are in America, Canada, China, India-Australia?  Just like the USA, what we need will NOT come from politicians.  And honestly, South Africa should be doing much more for Africa with all the modern aspects to the country-instead they are squandering a great opportunity for all of us.  South Africa could have doubled its GDP by now, and could have tripled it by 2017.  While the people go without adequate housing and jobs, the politicians talk and don't do. We can no longer tolerate this.  We have to do what the successful countries do around the world, lead-not follow from the streets. We have to turn the Pyramid upside down with the African people on top. For those who are interested in supporting your initiatives, what can there do, where can there get more information? The website www.the powerof1trillion.com has new and updated information and is being updated daily on what we all need to do. The important thing to remember is, not to wait on others, think if Bill Gates, China, or Steve Jobs waited for people to get it. Think about what the world would have lost in terms of innovation, efficiency, wealth, and opportunity.  Prior to the technology revolution, it took 10% of the people of any given country or group to advance the whole. Now it is less than 1% due to innovation. Think about it this way, the global African population is equal to the population of China at 1.3 billion plus-1% is 13 million. If 13 million Africans link worldwide, it is impossible to stop us from achieving all of our goals, a lot more than 1 % Africans are eagerly willing to help Africa and the African diaspora in America alone. Thanks for granting the interview. Thank you for having me, and I must say that a vibrant African media is as important as a vibrant African economy. Truly, the pen is mightier than the sword. Please, keep up the great work in educating our people all over the world. We must understand we will never hear what we need to hear or the truth from outside media, only from independent African media.    ]]>

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