Americans' perceptions of Africa remain rooted in troubling stereotypes of helplessness and perpetual crisis.

been subjected to one of the most brutal campaigns of ethnic cleansing that Africa has ever seen.

Most Americans may not realize that the news they consume is driven in part by the media mantra, 'if it bleeds, it leads.'

Africa is going through its own historical process of state formation just as Europe and America did. It is just happening much later than other continents because of the interruption of Africa's own historical development by the colonization of Africa by Europe.

If you repress rather than unlock the potential of large groups of Americans, what's that going to do to our economy? It's going to contract, not expand.

Africans are on the front lines of humanitarian efforts, distributing life-saving aid in dangerous environments. Africans comprise the vast majority of peacekeepers in civil conflict on that continent. Africans for the most part lead peace negotiations for the wars being fought in Africa.