Love, Family & Anti-Imperialism - A View from West Africa

Rev. Dasse Diarra gave these spontaneous remarks, expressing his appreciation for our work while attending the recent CPI Nautical Banquet on March 28th.

First of all, I would really like to thank CPI for inviting us. CPI, to me, is closer—closer to what we need right now. I think that is what the world needs right now.

There is so much political turmoil—Democrat, Republican, communist, this and that—but people really need to know the truth. All of these are just the cover, but what’s really inside, what’s underneath, is the core—the reality. And that is what really impacts people’s lives.

Persecution of Religious Leader in South Korea

Of course, I am from the Unification Church. That church was founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. They have really spent their entire lives struggling for peace in the world and for family stability, because they believe that the family is truly the core.

As we say, the family is a school of love. It is within the family that we learn all types of love: children’s love, siblings’ love, conjugal love, and parental love. Those four types of love are found in the family.

But right now, we need true love to heal the world. Amen.

What is really missing is that true love. We don’t have true love anymore. Everybody is pulling in their own direction, trying to use and exploit other people. There is no true love in that. True love really serves.

So, of course, these founders have spent their entire lives fighting for that—bringing people’s awareness back to the core, the essence of what we call God in all different religions. This God, His essence is true love, and this true love needs to be on Earth. That is what they have really been teaching.

And of course, those who bring that message of peace, who bring this message of sincerity, are always the targets of darkness.

That is why, for a couple of months now, the co-founder of the Unification Church, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, has been in prison. Personally, I cannot even pinpoint the reason why she has been there, and she is over 83 years old now.

We have, of course, been out with CPI and with Caleb. We have been out a couple of times in Times Square to demand her liberation—her immediate release. That is really what we are doing.

And I believe CPI is really that engine that is opening the door, that is making people wake up to the reality of the world. That is what the world needs.

CPI joined with Manhattan Family Church to call for the freedom of Dr. Hak Ja Han in Times Square.

Teaching People About Union of Sahel States (AES)

In addition to being part of the Unification Church, I am also from Africa. I am from West Africa. I am happy that CPI is one of the organizations that can really show the American people the work of this gentleman, Ibrahim Traoré.

For those who know, or who have learned a little bit about him, Ibrahim Traoré is from Burkina Faso. My country is Mali, and we have a third country, which is Niger.

Everything started with my country. We were under colonialism, and we got our independence in the 1960s. But then came the post-colonial period, which was still imperialism taking control over Africa.

We know that Africa is really the mother continent. It is often called the “dark continent,” but what does that mean? It does not mean something negative—it means something deep and complex, something full of mystery.

Africa is incredibly rich—one of the richest lands on planet Earth. But yet, Africa is known as the poorest continent. Africans are seen as desperate people, associated with civil war, famine, disease, and underdevelopment.

Anyone who wants to do humanitarian work is told, “Go to Africa—you are welcome.”

So here is the contradiction: the wealthiest land, yet the poorest people.

Why? Because since colonialism, there has never been any real plan for the development of Africa. Instead, Africa has been kept underdeveloped by imperialism so that it can continue to be exploited and plundered.

This also determines the type of leadership Africa has had. African leadership is often described as corrupt—but why? Because anyone who tries to do good, to move away from corruption, becomes a target. It is almost as if you have to be corrupt to survive, otherwise you lose your life.

So it has been like that since colonialism.

We went through democracy. They chanted “democracy,” and we became “democrats.” My country went through over 30 years of democracy. I was born into that.

But what is the real purpose of democracy in Africa? It is to put someone in power who can sign contracts so that imperialists can maintain their grip on the continent.

There has never been truly fair elections in Africa. The system is designed so that imperialists choose who will be in power. Even if someone gets zero votes, if they are chosen, they become president.

That is the type of “democracy” Africa has had.

Now, that system has shifted. The approach has been to re-enter Africa through military presence and direct control.

That is why the current leaders in the Sahel—Assimi Goïta in Mali, Ibrahim Traoré in Burkina Faso, and Abdourahamane Tchiani in Niger—are all former special forces soldiers. They spent years on the front lines, studying the nature of the wars in the region.

What appeared as terrorism or jihadism was, in their understanding, actually a new strategy of imperialism.

So they took power, removing so-called “elected” leaders, and began working to rebuild their countries. This movement started in Mali, where contracts that harmed the country were canceled, and foreign military presence—including UN and European forces—was removed.

CPI has worked to educate the American people about Ibrahim Traoré, the revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso who is raising his country up from poverty.

Despite all those foreign forces, terrorism had been increasing and the country was deteriorating.

From Mali, the movement spread to Burkina Faso and then to Niger. These leaders are now working together toward a shared vision—the United States of Africa.

This is the same vision that Muammar Gaddafi had, and one of the reasons he was removed. When he proposed creating an African bank independent of international financial systems, he essentially signed his own death warrant.

Now, these countries are working toward that same independence. They are developing shared passports, national IDs, and focusing on what I call the “3Ds”: diplomacy, development, and defense—along with good governance.

They are building something new.

What CPI is doing is helping awaken the American people to this reality, because the media will never talk about it.

This platform allows us to bring that truth to the people—to show that we do not have enemies among ordinary people around the world. The real enemies are those imperialist forces that seek to keep people down for their own gain.

So once again, I am really glad to be here—not only because this is a great training and learning experience for me, but because this is a place where people can come to understand the world, politics, and geopolitics.

If you want to understand what is really happening in the world, connect with CPI.

Thank you very much. God bless you all.

Monument to African Renaissance in Dakar, Senegal, built by artistic and construction teams from North Korea in 2006-2008.