britain - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T06:15:36Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/britainBritain admits 1950 torture of Kenyanshttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/britain-admits-1950-torture-of-kenyans2012-07-20T01:00:00.000Z2012-07-20T01:00:00.000Zhakimhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/hakim<div><div class="inline-content photo full"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-18/kenyan-torture-victims-outside-downing-street/4137492"><img src="http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/4137470-3x2-700x467.jpg" alt="(LtoR) Ndiku Mutua, Paulo Nzili, Jane Muthoni Mara, Gitu Was Kahengeri, Wambugy Nyingi" title="Kenyan torture victims outside Downing Street" height="467" width="700" /></a><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-18/kenyan-torture-victims-outside-downing-street/4137492"><strong>PHOTO:</strong> The claimants, now in their 70s and 80s, suffered acts of brutality including castration, rape and beatings during a ruthless crackdown by British forces and their Kenyan allies. <span class="source">(AFP: Shaun Curry)</span></a></div><div class="attached-content ready"><div class="inline-content story left"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-19/britain-releases-secret-files-from-end-of-empire/3959272"><strong>RELATED STORY:</strong> Britain releases secret files from end of empire</a></div><div class="inline-content story left"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2003-09-01/kenya-lifts-ban-on-mau-mau-movement/1472408"><strong>RELATED STORY:</strong> Kenya lifts ban on Mau Mau movement</a></div><div class="inline-content map left contracted"><a class="inline-caption" href="http://maps.google.com/?q=1,38(Kenya%20)&z=5"><strong>MAP: </strong>Kenya</a><a class="toggle"></a></div></div><p class="first">The British government has admitted that the colonial administration in Kenya tortured and abused of detainees during the Mau Mau uprising that led to the country's independence.</p><p>The admission in the High Court in London came as three elderly Kenyans, who were tortured in detention under British orders in the 1950s, took to the witness stand in poignant scenes that conjured up the darkest days of the end of empire.</p><p>They are seeking damages from the British government, which has been trying for three years to block their legal action for fear that it could encourage countless other former colonial subjects to come forward with similar claims.</p><p>Tens of thousands of rebels were killed during the British crackdown and about 150,000 Kenyans, many of them unconnected to the Mau Mau, were detained in brutal camps referred to as "Britain's Gulag" by Harvard historian Caroline Elkins.</p><p>The claimants, now in their 70s and 80s, suffered acts of brutality including castration, rape and beatings during a ruthless crackdown by British forces and their Kenyan allies on rebels from the Mau Mau movement fighting for land and freedom.</p><p>Speaking to the group of Mau Mau veterans, the lawyer representing the British government, Guy Mansfield, said, "I do not dispute that terrible things happened to you."</p><p>"[The government] does not dispute that each of the claimants suffered torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of the colonial administration."</p><p>He said that each of the detainees suffered torture and other forms of ill treatment at the hand of the colonial administration.</p><p>Lawyers for the veterans say this is the first time the government has accepted this.</p><p>Tuesday was the second day of a 10-day hearing. The court is not being asked to make a ruling on the substance of the Kenyans' allegations but to decide whether a fair trial can be held so long after the events.</p><p>The British government argues that too much time has passed for a fair trial to be conducted.</p><p>The claimants' lawyers argue that as there is a mass of documentary and other evidence on the period, a fair trial is possible.</p><p>The government has used legal arguments to try and stop their claim, a strategy denounced by South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has accused Britain of hypocrisy for criticising the human rights record of other countries while refusing to face up to its own.</p><h2>'They castrated me'</h2><p>The first claimant to take the stand on Tuesday was Wambugu Wa Nyingi, 84, who was arrested in 1952 and spent almost a decade in detention at various camps run by the British and staffed jointly by British guards and Kenyan "loyalists".</p><p>In his statement, Mr Nyingi described severe beatings as a routine part of life in the camps. Tall and frail, he wore a suit and tie and a flat cap and used a walking stick. He was helped to the witness stand by his interpreter.</p><p>He answered questions from Mr Mansfield, who focused on two topics - the fact that some perpetrators of abuse were Kenyans, and that after independence successive Kenyan leaders were hostile to Mau Mau veterans.</p><p>Mr Nyingi became animated in discussing the issue of how Kenya's first two presidents, Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Arap Moi, had oppressed veterans of the armed struggle for independence.</p><p>"We were not allowed to meet in public. We were still in prison ... because we were not allowed to talk freely," he said, jabbing his fingers on the stand for emphasis.</p><p>He said he and his fellow veterans had been "set free" by Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki, who took office in 2002 and removed the legal ban on the Mau Mau in 2003.</p><p>His evidence was a stark reminder of how divisive the Mau Mau movement remains in Kenyan society.</p><p>Next to take the stand was Paulo Nzili, 85.</p><p>In his 20-page witness statement, he gave excruciating details of how he was castrated at Embakasi detention camp by a white settler called Mr Dunman, nicknamed "Luvai", which in Mr Nzili's Kikamba language means "Merciless person".</p><p>"They tied both of my legs with chains and ... pinned down both my hands. Then Luvai approached me with a pair of pliers which were more than a foot long and castrated me," he said in the statement, which was based on his oral account.</p><p>Mr Nzili wore a leather jacket and flat cap and used a walking stick. He had difficulty hearing the questions translated by his interpreter.</p><p>He was not asked to revisit his abuse on the stand, but to confirm he had recounted his story to the people who drew up the statement, and to confirm he had signed it, which he did.</p><p>Jane Muthoni Mara, 73, confirmed the thumb print on her witness statement was her own. The document makes horrifying reading, with details of sexual abuse including rape using a bottle full of boiling water.</p><p><strong>BBC/AFP Posted <span class="timestamp">July 18, 2012 07:37:24</span><br /></strong></p><p class="topics"><strong>Topics:</strong> <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/colonialism">colonialism</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/government-and-politics">government-and-politics</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/human">human</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/law-crime-and-justice">law-crime-and-justice</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/kenya">kenya</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/united-kingdom">united-kingdom</a></p></div>Independence Dayhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/independence-day2012-07-06T13:17:58.000Z2012-07-06T13:17:58.000ZRaynard Jacksonhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/RaynardJackson<div><p><b>July 4, 2012</b> </p><p><b>Raynard Jackson</b></p><p>As we celebrate Independence Day here in the US, I wonder when the Black community is going to learn the true meaning of this day when it comes to politics.</p><p>Independence Day, or Fourth of July, is about freedom to think, be, imagine and to live. In the U.S., July 4, 1776 was the day we celebrate our freedom from Great Britain. Even though the adoption of the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 2, 1776, it is celebrated on the 4<sup>th</sup>.</p><p>Our desire to separate from Great Britain wasn’t just about a geographical break; it was about the mental, as well. So, we took the best from the Brits and mixed it with our own ways to come up with what we now call America. </p><p>Sending the Declaration of Independence to King George III was an act of final defiance by America. George and Great Britain finally recognized America with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.</p><p>Former President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, thus freeing Blacks from slavery. In many ways, Blacks were more free then, than we are now. Blacks back then, had a sense of family, owned their own businesses, and fought for full rights in society.</p><p>Blacks back then never fought for “equality” because no one can make you equal; they, instead, fought for equal opportunity! Their attitude was, just remove all the artificial barriers and we can make it on our own.</p><p>Today, we allow Republicans to ignore us and the Democrats to only give us lip service. We have become so obsessed with symbolism that no one feels the need to do anything of any substance for our community.</p><p>We, as Blacks, have achieved equal rights, but not equal opportunity. So, by helping to put a Black in the White House, we thought we would finally get equal opportunity. Wrong!</p><p>We have a President that has more than gone out of his way, as a calculated political strategy, to ignore the very people who gave him the largest share of their vote (96%). He has consciously showered upon illegals and homosexuals the spoils of victory at the expense of Blacks. And what do we do? We say give him four more years. Go figure!</p><p>So, on this Independence Day, please, Black people, try to free your mind from the tyranny that is the Democratic Party and Barack Obama.</p><p>Sometimes, you have to lose in order to win. Sometimes you have to allow your opponents to win to force your party not take you for granted. </p><p>Britain was not happy that America freed itself from the monarchy. As a matter of fact, we fought several wars with Britain over this very matter. But, as a result of this sometimes deadly give and take, our two countries have become very close indeed; so much so that we have what is called a “special relationship.”</p><p>Just think, where would we be if we were only content to have independence from Britain? We not only wanted our freedom, but we wanted to establish a more fair and equitable trade policy with Britain; we wanted to pursue our own geo-political interests throughout the world; and we wanted to have our own currency—in other words, a total break from Britain.</p><p>Where our interests merged, we worked together; when they differed, we pursued our own course.</p><p>We, as Blacks, need to immulate this model. If the White House wants to address the high unemployment rate in the Black community, we should work with them. When they try to inject 1 million illegals into the work force, they should be opposed. When Obama tell Blacks to “stop complaining,” while catering to homosexuals and illegals, we should oppose him.</p><p>Independence Day is about celebrating the freedom obtained through opposing those who are not furthering our own interests. So, on this Independence Day, I challenge Blacks to stand against Obama’s political strategy that says ignore and marginalize us. Blacks should have the guts enough to protest, like the homosexuals and illegals did. </p><p>Obama rightly calculates that Blacks will only complain and then go out to vote for him without him having to give us anything by way of policy. Slavery is not just physical, but also mental. We have been freed physically and legally, but functionally, we are still enslaved to the Democratic Party.</p><p>Only when we realize that the power of the vote is the true key to independence, will we be willing to vocally confront Obama’s insidious political strategy towards Blacks.</p><p><i>Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. His website is: <a href="http://www.raynardjackson.com">www.raynardjackson.com</a>.</i></p></div>A question of identity, should people of African heritage in Britain be called African, instead of blackhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/a-question-of-identity-should-people-of-african-heritage-in2011-12-15T16:30:00.000Z2011-12-15T16:30:00.000ZSendMeYourNewshttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/SendMeYourNews<div><table class="campaign" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="560"><tbody><tr><td class="campaign" height="10" width="560"></td>
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</tr></tbody></table><table class="table" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="520"><tbody><tr><td class="cell" align="left" valign="top" width="520"><h1>by BBM/BMC on behalf of TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question)</h1>
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</tr></tbody></table><table class="table" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="520"><tbody><tr><td class="cell" align="left" valign="top" width="520"><p><b>Missed Opportunity of UN initiative prompts campaign on African identity</b></p>
<p><b>TAOBQ campaign highlights issues around African identity and postulates that people of African heritage in Britain should be called African, instead of black</b></p>
<br /><p>December 15, 2011</p>
<p>2011 was declared by the United Nations (UN) as the International Year For People Of African Descent. This prompted history consultant and community activist Kwaku to start 'The African Or Black Question', a guerilla documentary which solicits the views of a diverse group of London’s African community on the UN initiative and the preferred descriptor of their racial identity.</p>
<p>The documentary, filmed in the latter part of 2011, shows that the UN initiative seems to have passed by mostly un-noticed, and was a missed opportunity to put the African identity on the table for discussion. In the course of making the documentary, the aim has morphed into the <a href="http://bbm.mailerlite.com/links/view/40869/14706569/277387/z8e4a9v/">TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question)</a> campaign, which postulates that people of African heritage in Britain should be called African, or terms like African British or African Caribbean, where geo-specificity is necessary.</p>
<p>The film will be premiered as part of the You Are African discussion, a free event taking place at Westminster City Hall in London’s Victoria area, on Friday January 20 2012, 6-8.30pm, where attendees and special guests will discuss issues around African identity (booking via <a href="http://bbm.mailerlite.com/links/view/40869/14706569/277389/s3n6g1s/">www.taobq.eventbrite.com</a>).</p>
<p>The TAOBQ campaign provides an opportunity for us to begin to claim our African heritage by proudly describing ourselves as African, and refusing to be described by a colour, which has negative connotations, such as black market, black sheep, blackmail, and black Monday.</p>
<p>Black is a term that does not recognise the African identity or connection with the African continent. It was once a powerful and unifying political term, which embraced “ethnic minorities” such as Africans and Asians. However, the latter have in recent years forged a separate identity, whether or not they were born in Asia, which has led to classifications such as Black And Asian, and Black, Asian And Minority Ethnic.</p>
<p>Who does the ‘Black’ in these cases represent?</p>
<p>Whilst TAOBQ has no issues with ‘black’ in relation to an all-inclusive term for political solidarity among British ‘ethnic minorities’ or ‘black music’ describing a music genre, the campaign is advocating that people of African heritage be identified as African, instead of the meaningless ‘black’.</p>
<p>TAOBQ recognises that as a consequence of displacement within the Diaspora, or the nature of formal British school education, some of us may have no knowledge of our African history and do not identify with Africa.</p>
<p>However, it’s worth pointing out what African American historian Dr Carter Woodson, who championed the Black History Month initiative, once said: "Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history”*.</p>
<p>Hence it is incumbent upon us to study some African history outside of formal education and African/Black “History” Month. There are libraries (those that still exist) and reputable websites, with free resources to improve our knowledge of African history. BTWSC and many other community organisations provide accessible African history programmes and courses.</p>
<p>Although we have an association with the production of an African British role model project**, we recognise that biographies need not be just of notable Africans in order to resonate with Africans. However, there is immeasurable worth, particularly to young Africans, when the subject is of African heritage.</p>
<p>If the subject has an African name, then their identity is obvious. However, if the name is European and there is no related image, then one would not necessarily know that subject is African. For example, few Africans take pride and inspiration from the achievements of 19th century Chartist and workers’ rights activist William Kofi, because with his name spelt William Cuffay (Cuffy, Cuffey etc), instead of Kofi, they do not realise he was African.</p>
<p>For these reasons TAOBQ suggests the following recommendations:</p>
<p>1. People of African heritage be described as African, instead of black.<br /> 2. The opportunity for study of African history be made more accessible.<br /> 3. People of African heritage consider adopting African names in order to assert their African identity***.</p>
<p>You are welcome to get involved and help bring about a change in how African people are described. For more information, please go to: <a href="http://bbm.mailerlite.com/links/view/40869/14706569/277387/z8e4a9v/">www.taobq.blogspot.com</a>.</p>
<p>For more information, contact:<br /> Kwaku<br /><a href="mailto:jointheAOBQ@gmail.com">jointheAOBQ@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://bbm.mailerlite.com/links/view/40869/14706569/277387/z8e4a9v/">www.taobq.blogspot.com</a><br /><a href="http://bbm.mailerlite.com/links/view/40869/14706569/277389/s3n6g1s/">www.taobq.eventbrite.com</a><br /> Search <b>TAOBQ</b> on the social networks</p>
<p>Ends</p>
<br /><p>1. The You Are African event is open to Africans and non-Africans, as awareness of the TAOBQ campaign issues must be raised both within the African and host communities, particularly within the media, statutory, community and educational organisations.</p>
<p>2. TAOBQ is meant to be a year-long campaign, ending December 2012, by which time it is hoped that the recommendations would have started a consciousness and debate in and outside the African communities in Britain.</p>
<p>3. During the campaign period, TAOBQ will continue to engage using on and offline opportunities to highlight the core issues. Updates will be posted on <a href="http://www.taobq.blogspot.com">www.taobq.blogspot.com</a>, and social networks such as FaceBook, Twitter, and YouTube – follow us by searching on TAOBQ.</p>
<p>4. A number of debates on African identity have been arranged on community radio stations for December 2011, and the first offline event is set for January 20 2012 – we expect to do more in 2012, and potential partners and media outlets are welcome to get in touch.</p>
<p>5. We also want to use the medium of theatre to discuss the issues – so if you are a drama or theatre company, we are looking for a partner to produce a play based on a completed script.</p>
<p>6. Whilst we reject the ‘black’ terminology, we fully support the global African sentiments expressed in former Wailer Peter Tosh’s African' song: "As long as you're a black man, you're an African..."</p>
<p>7. *‘African Voices: Quotations By People Of African Descent’ (Ms Serwah & Kwaku, 2010 BTWSC)</p>
<p>8. ** ‘NARM (Naming And Role Model) Highlighting African British Male Role Models 1907-2007’ (Kwaku, 2010 BTWSC)</p>
<p>9. *** If we are unable to go the whole hog, like actor/playwright Kwame Kwei Armah (formerly Ian Roberts), having just one African name can make the same point. Despite the opportunities offered by DNA in tracing one’s genealogy, one does not necessarily need to go through the expense of tracing lineage to a particular area in Africa in order to find a name. If one accepts that one is African, then with the help of books or online searches, one can choose an African name one likes. An easy start may be to investigate the day names given based on day of birth in Ghana.</p>
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<p>OBO TAOBQ<br /> editor@britishblackmusic.com<br /><a href="http://BritishBlackMusic.com" target="_blank">BritishBlackMusic.com</a> | P O Box 14092, London NW10 1WL</p>
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