pan-african - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T11:08:32Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/pan-africanThe New Mandela is a Woman: Samia Nkrumahhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/the-new-mandela-is-a-woman2011-07-09T14:53:53.000Z2011-07-09T14:53:53.000Zmoorbeyhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/moorbey<div><p id="yui_3_2_0_5_1310218885361995"><span id="yui_3_2_0_5_1310218885361992" style="font-family:Verdana;"><span id="yui_3_2_0_5_1310218885361989" style="font-size:12px;"><span id="yui_3_2_0_5_1310218885361986" style="color:#ff9900;"><span id="yui_3_2_0_5_1310218885361983" style="font-size:24px;"><span id="yui_3_2_0_5_1310218885361980" style="font-family:'arial black';"><span id="yui_3_2_0_5_1310218885361977" style="background-color:#003300;">The New Mandela is a Woman: Samia Nkrumah</span></span></span></span><br /></span></span></p><h2><em><span style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span style="font-size:16px;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-kiss"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_0">Laura Kiss</span></a></span></span><br /> <span style="color:#3366ff;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">Journalist of La Repubblica Representative of Nobel Peace prize Betty Williams in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_1">Italy</span></span></span></span></em></h2><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';"><img src="http://us.mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1_736427_AI3Ti2IAANFtThg2Yg39eEPAKgA&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1" border="1" alt="download?mid=1%5f736427%5fAI3Ti2IAANFtThg2Yg39eEPAKgA&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1" /><br /> She was only 5 years old when she woke up one morning at the sound of gunshots coming from the garden. It was hard to overcome the fear but she and her brothers did, eventually. It was <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_2">February 24, 1966</span>, the military coup that changed the history of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_3">Ghana</span> for ever. On that day her mother told her to pray and immediately after insisted that "if they fire at you, nothing will happen to you".<br /> <br /> This is just one of the many incredible memories of Samia Nkrumah, the 48 year old daughter of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_4">Republic of Ghana</span>, the man who in 1957 declared his country's independence, founded the Organization of African Unity, the precursor of the African Union of now and today is venerated like a saint by many in Ghana.<br /> <br /> Samia is now back in her country and at the end of last year was elected to Parliament, in Ghana's 5th multi-party elections since 1992. "It took many years and much experience of living and working in Ghana, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_5">Egypt</span>, the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_6">United Kingdom</span> and lastly in Italy, to come full circle and realize that the Pan-African project as articulated by my father, Kwame Nkrumah, offers the best response to our ongoing challenges", says Samia with a deep smile. Nkrumah's vision, as outlined in his books, are guidelines for Ghana and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_7">Africa</span> and they remain as relevant today as they were in the 50s and 60s. "Achieving political and economic liberation, social justice and national and continental unity including the African Diaspora are yet to be realized" continues Samia. "It is our task today to continue from where Nkrumah left, while remaining flexible as we adapt to changing circumstances".<br /> <br /> Till the moment she moved back to Ghana in early 2008, Samia lead a "normal" life. She lived in Italy for the last 10 years with her Italian husband and their 12 years old son Kwame, and she did not think about going back to her country of birth till the moment she met her father's literary executrix (her name is June Milne; she is now 90 years old and living in England). This meeting opened up her heart. "This woman told me the most unbelievable stories about my father and she especially made me understand what an incredible spirit he had. He lived all his life for his cause and his people and while she was telling me these stories I felt that sooner or later, I would have to revisit his lifework". Samia really believes this, as one can note traveling with her through Ghana. People recognize her in the streets when she stops to buy some bananas for the trip. "You will be our President, you are our Mother", say some young people to her. And she always smiles while transmitting an incredible compassion. She has a deep capacity to relate to people. She came back to her country deeply convinced that only by respecting the rules and starting from the poorest part of her country, the Jomoro district -- which is where her grandfather's hometown is located and where she was elected -- could she make a difference.<br /> <br /> In a few months she has become the hope of an entire nation and her popularity is as high as the newly elected President John Atta Mills. She made big news in Ghana's last election by snatching the Jomoro Constituency for the CPP (Convention People's Party, founded by her father) from a strong candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Lee Ocran. This event was extremely important for the Ghanaian political scene and people really started to believe that "Kwame Nkrumah's spirit has come back and is shining on Ghana."<br /> <br /> Today the two major political parties fight to get her votes in Parliament and have both tried to reach an alliance with the CPP. "For now we will stay independent" affirms Samia, "We always keep in mind our principal goal which is meeting the social needs of our people. There is a lot to do in my country, and our objective, as our father's, is to bring about a descent standard of living for our people. In the Jomoro district, many communities have no electricity, no running or portable water, and inadequate school facilities. If we want to improve our country, we must start from these issues. Especially we must start from education, because without a proper education there will be no development. Our father's idea of Pan-africanism was not restricted to a political project but his vision also embraced the economic as well as the cultural aspects of our development.<br /> <br /> It envisioned a large cultural movement concerning all of Africa and Africans everywhere, as well as all who believe that unity, freedom and justice are the basis for real change. "For this reason I have decided to enter active politics in Ghana to promote the enduring vision of my father, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, for Ghana and Africa's socio-economic and cultural emancipation. I have come to understand that being Nkrumah's daughter means being a daughter of Ghana and Africa and having a responsibility to Africans everywhere". Her modesty comes through as she admits: "I was not always so sure of the way forward as I am today. The dangers of political life were brought home to me early on in life. However, Kwame Nkrumah's presence in my life, as it is in that of many other Africans, has been constant, powerful and lasting. In fact, his ideas have resonance with many of us irrespective of our political persuasions and affiliations. So while I am affiliated with a particular political party, I am embracing all Ghanaians in my thoughts".<br /> <br /> She also thinks that being a women makes a difference: "We give our best when we do retain our "feminine" qualities of love, gentleness, patience, joy, humility, dignity, prudence and above all grace. These qualities are indeed as present in men as in women. So here I will refer to the feminine qualities in us all irrespective of our gender. As it happens, these qualities seem to be more obvious in women due to our upbringing and cultural education. So in a sense, when we say we want stronger female participation in politics or in any other sector, we mean we also want to see more of those feminine qualities visible in parliament, in politics, in community work, and at all levels of decision-making. We want politics with another flavour. We want to see the politics of humanity, of dignity, of dialogue, of wisdom, of grace. I have found many of these qualities are exemplified in the vision and political thought of Kwame Nkrumah".<br /> <br /> Samia explains that Nkrumaism has at its centre three main guiding principles: liberation, justice and unity. At the heart of it is the objective of reversing the consequences of colonialism and slavery by realizing dignity, socio-political and economic emancipation. The main instrument in achieving this aim is unity. "We shall be proud of who we are" continues Samia, "of our food and the way we eat, of our languages, of our tradition, of our costume and so on. We shall move towards economic self-reliance by improving our manufacturing sector and investing heavily in human resources. We shall strive to achieve social justice, social equality, social security, and genuine democracy that includes education and equality between men and women, and human rights."</span></span><br /> ----------------------------------<br /> <br /> <span style="color:#ff00ff;"><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="font-family:'arial black';"><span style="background-color:#993300;">Delle Tells Samia: Think Carefully...You're Only 3 Years Old In The CPP</span></span></span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">31-May-2011-- <a target="_blank" href="http://elections.peacefmonline.com/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_8">elections.peacefmonline.com</span></a><br /> <br /> A former National Chairman of the Convention Peoples Party, Prof Edmund Delle is making a passionate appeal to the party's Member of Parliament for Jomoro, Samia Nkrumah to rescind her decision to contest the chairmanship slot of the party and rather concentrate on her seat in parliament.<br /> <br /> Three members of the party, including the current National Chairman, Ladi Nylander have declared their intention to contest the chairmanship position of the CPP in the upcoming National Delegates Congress <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1310222786_9">on June 24</span> and 25 2011.<br /> <br /> Samia Nkrumah is already on the field vigorously campaigning to win the hearts and minds of CPP delegates.<br /> <br /> However, Prof Delle who lost his chairmanship position in 2007 to Mr Nylander said since the Jomoro seat is the only one CPP has in parliament, it would be worth it if Hon Samia Nkrumah rather concentrate her efforts in retaining the seat, saying, "a bird in hand is better than two in the bush".<br /> <br /> According to him, Samia Nkrumah is going to find the 2012 elections "very tough" especially against the governing NDC, saying it is going to be difficult for her to combine the two positions.<br /> <br /> "The NDC are telling her she is going to get a very tough time now at Jomoro, so the best thing for her is to concentrate on her seat. Maybe, she doesn't know what it means to be a national chairman. The duties are so heavy that it would be difficult to combine your position as an MP, and as a national chairman. Even now she has to campaign very hard to get the seat at Jomoro because it's not an easy seat. There is going to be very tough competition there."<br /> <br /> Prof Delle who touted his experiences as a former chairman, said Samia Nkrumah, who he said is only three years old as a CPP member, would have to bid her time, study the terrain and "know that winning in a constituency is different from winning a national delegates congress".<br /> <br /> He however remained resolute saying "I am not afraid at all, since this is an election, I wish her well and we'll see who is going to win; the young against the old, the experienced against the inexperienced".<br /> <br /> But the woman in question, Samia Nkrumah in reaction said she would contest the chairmanship slot since the CPP in her estimation has become so poor some people will need to take up two positions.</span></span></div>A MODEST PROPOSAL FROM MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA TO THE AFRICAN UNIONhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/a-modest-proposal-from-members-12011-03-06T02:15:04.000Z2011-03-06T02:15:04.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">by <strong><a href="http://aol.com" target="_blank">Dr. David L. Horne</a>,<br /> SRDC and PADU</strong></font></font>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">Last week, in Pretoria, South Africa, the current and past administrative capital of the country, there was a meeting sponsored by the South African government based on its 2006 mandate from the African Union to hold several conferences in and about the African Diaspora in order to identify what makes the Diaspora tick. This was all related to the AU's 2003 invitation to the African Diaspora to come and join that organization to assist in unifying the African continent.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">The meeting last week was to help prepare for the January, 2012 African Diaspora Final Summary gathering in South Africa, in the aftermath of five previous Diaspora Consultative Conferences and a postponed 2008 Final Summit. Officially called the Diaspora Technical Workshop, this event was what we also label the prep com Technical Workshop, or the TCEM.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">There were more than 85 members of the African Diaspora asked to come to the gathering, with at least 65 accepting the challenge. Participants came from the USA (Washington State, Washington, D.C., New York, Illinois, and California), Paris, London, Guadeloupe, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and various African countries, including Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), etc.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">The primary aim of the Technical Workshop was to craft the core of the agenda for the 2012 Final Conference, based on the document previously approved in 2007-2008, called the Consolidated Outcomes and the Diaspora Programme of Action. The Consolidated Outcomes document was to be re-analyzed, edited and added to somewhat, then re-approved. Finally, the Diaspora was to be formally asked how the AU should proceed regarding the African Diaspora.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">The following is a truncated version of a letter crafted by the California and Washington State delegation to the Technical Workshop regarding Diaspora participation in this process.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">To our hosts and friends, the government of South Africa and the African Union, the African descendants present at this gathering greet you in solidarity and appreciation for your sponsorship of this Technical workshop. What a great opportunity for international dialogue and for enhancing our mutual understanding and respect for one another !!</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">Each member of the African Diaspora present for these two days either represents a distinctive Diasporan organization or scores of African descendants individually. all of whom are anxious to hear positive news about the current development and status of the AU-Diaspora relationship.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">We collectively want to emphasize to you that the African Diaspora is thankful for Article 3(q) of the AU Constitutive Act, and for all of the various Consultative Conferences, CIAD (Committee of Imminent African Descendants) gatherings and previous Technical Workshops which have all pushed the AU-Diaspora relationship forward, including the AU Task Force meeting recently held in NY in October, 2010.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">In addition, we want to state forthrightly that the African Diaspora does not come to this relationship as beggars, paupers, supplicants or starry-eyed novices. We know we must come, and we fully intend to come, as bearers of economic benefit, as cultural architects of networked media and artistry, as skillful NGO organizers of millions of people, and as willing workers in the long struggle to achieve the United States of Africa.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">We thank the government of South Africa and the African Union for the summary articulation of the Programme of Action and the Consolidated Outcomes which were originally approved in 2007-2008 as statements of commonalities for the African Diaspora and as a proposal to achieve collective work and responsibility. Although most of the short-term and long-term strategies mentioned in those documents have yet to be completed or even begun, the several action commissions established in those documents have motivated more than one Diaspora group in various parts of the world to begin to organize itself around those topic themes. The Netherlands and Germany are cases in point.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">But at this particular gathering of the Technical Workshop on the African Diaspora, many of us are ready to move to a higher level in this relationship, and thus we propose the following items to be included in the Final Consolidated Outcomes and Programme of Action for the African Diaspora.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">We, representing several components of the African Diaspora, including some elected, some appointed, and some just curious, assert the position that:</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(1) There are currently well over 1500 African Diaspora organizations of some sort operating at one level or the other in the Diaspora 6th Region. We, as African descendants, must organize ourselves into no more than 25 or 30 large partnership associations and major coalitions in order to maximize our effectiveness in working with the AU. We will do this on our own and at our own expense---in fact the process has already moved forward with the organization of the Pan African Diaspora Union (PADU) and other large international bodies. We only ask the AU for approval and support in this process of consolidation.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(2) The permanent AU ECOSOCC (Economic, Social and Cultural Commission) has now been operating for two years (2008-2010) without the 20 elected seats designated to the African Diaspora being filled. Gaining credibility and status in ECOSOCC is crucial for African Diaspora participation in the other available components of the AU, including the PAP (Pan African Parliament). The Diaspora has at least one proven and validated method ready to correct this absence in ECOSOCC, and that is the Town Hall-Community Council of Elders model created and advocated by the SRDC (Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus) in the U.S. Central America, the Caribbean, and in Europe. Again, the African Diaspora is willing to put in the tremendous time and work necessary and to bear the expense of conducting the requisite community organizing all over the 6th Region. We simply ask the AU to sit down with the architects and advocates of that method (and any other) and make a judgement to approve and support their efforts.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(3) The African Diaspora currently does hundreds, even thousands, of individual projects in Africa every year. These include building hospitals, drilling water-well bore holes in African villages, bringing ambulances and other medical equipment to the continent, spending quality time as dentists and physicians tending to those who need it, financially supporting orphanages, school fees, computer labs, school renovation and library construction, etc. The main problem is that these efforts are often redundant and they are scattered. There needs to be a major organization and consolidation of such efforts to maximize their impact and to better focus bringing the needed resources and human capital to the areas that most require them. The African Diaspora pledges to do that.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(4) There are current plans to build and operate several Pan African Business and Trade Centers in various parts of the 6th Region so that a well-coordinated, consistent economic effort can be organized for the mutual benefit of Africa and its Diaspora. Such centers will advocate, support and direct more AGOA (U.S, African Growth and Opportunity Act) projects that actually help African growers and producers rather than frustrate and hinder them. Such centers will connect African producers and sellers with Diasporan producers and sellers. Such centers will also coordinate African scientists, architects and engineers so that more training of African youth in skilled positions occurs, and more useful projects that provide essential alternatives actually get built and become sustainable, including more solar, wind, and other green technology.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(5) Essentially, given the current decision by the AU to maximize development activities in the 8 or so African RECs (Regional Economic Communities), the African Diaspora 6th Region pledges to become an REC itself to create more opportunities and creative solutions for African descendants.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/theblacklist"><img src="http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_me-c.png" alt="Follow theblacklist on Twitter" /></a><br /></font></font></p></div>A MODEST PROPOSAL FROM MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA TO THE AFRICAN UNIONhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/a-modest-proposal-from-members2011-03-06T02:14:54.000Z2011-03-06T02:14:54.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">by <strong><a href="http://aol.com" target="_blank">Dr. David L. Horne</a>,<br /> SRDC and PADU</strong></font></font>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">Last week, in Pretoria, South Africa, the current and past administrative capital of the country, there was a meeting sponsored by the South African government based on its 2006 mandate from the African Union to hold several conferences in and about the African Diaspora in order to identify what makes the Diaspora tick. This was all related to the AU's 2003 invitation to the African Diaspora to come and join that organization to assist in unifying the African continent.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">The meeting last week was to help prepare for the January, 2012 African Diaspora Final Summary gathering in South Africa, in the aftermath of five previous Diaspora Consultative Conferences and a postponed 2008 Final Summit. Officially called the Diaspora Technical Workshop, this event was what we also label the prep com Technical Workshop, or the TCEM.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">There were more than 85 members of the African Diaspora asked to come to the gathering, with at least 65 accepting the challenge. Participants came from the USA (Washington State, Washington, D.C., New York, Illinois, and California), Paris, London, Guadeloupe, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and various African countries, including Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), etc.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">The primary aim of the Technical Workshop was to craft the core of the agenda for the 2012 Final Conference, based on the document previously approved in 2007-2008, called the Consolidated Outcomes and the Diaspora Programme of Action. The Consolidated Outcomes document was to be re-analyzed, edited and added to somewhat, then re-approved. Finally, the Diaspora was to be formally asked how the AU should proceed regarding the African Diaspora.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">The following is a truncated version of a letter crafted by the California and Washington State delegation to the Technical Workshop regarding Diaspora participation in this process.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">To our hosts and friends, the government of South Africa and the African Union, the African descendants present at this gathering greet you in solidarity and appreciation for your sponsorship of this Technical workshop. What a great opportunity for international dialogue and for enhancing our mutual understanding and respect for one another !!</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">Each member of the African Diaspora present for these two days either represents a distinctive Diasporan organization or scores of African descendants individually. all of whom are anxious to hear positive news about the current development and status of the AU-Diaspora relationship.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">We collectively want to emphasize to you that the African Diaspora is thankful for Article 3(q) of the AU Constitutive Act, and for all of the various Consultative Conferences, CIAD (Committee of Imminent African Descendants) gatherings and previous Technical Workshops which have all pushed the AU-Diaspora relationship forward, including the AU Task Force meeting recently held in NY in October, 2010.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">In addition, we want to state forthrightly that the African Diaspora does not come to this relationship as beggars, paupers, supplicants or starry-eyed novices. We know we must come, and we fully intend to come, as bearers of economic benefit, as cultural architects of networked media and artistry, as skillful NGO organizers of millions of people, and as willing workers in the long struggle to achieve the United States of Africa.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">We thank the government of South Africa and the African Union for the summary articulation of the Programme of Action and the Consolidated Outcomes which were originally approved in 2007-2008 as statements of commonalities for the African Diaspora and as a proposal to achieve collective work and responsibility. Although most of the short-term and long-term strategies mentioned in those documents have yet to be completed or even begun, the several action commissions established in those documents have motivated more than one Diaspora group in various parts of the world to begin to organize itself around those topic themes. The Netherlands and Germany are cases in point.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">But at this particular gathering of the Technical Workshop on the African Diaspora, many of us are ready to move to a higher level in this relationship, and thus we propose the following items to be included in the Final Consolidated Outcomes and Programme of Action for the African Diaspora.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">We, representing several components of the African Diaspora, including some elected, some appointed, and some just curious, assert the position that:</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(1) There are currently well over 1500 African Diaspora organizations of some sort operating at one level or the other in the Diaspora 6th Region. We, as African descendants, must organize ourselves into no more than 25 or 30 large partnership associations and major coalitions in order to maximize our effectiveness in working with the AU. We will do this on our own and at our own expense---in fact the process has already moved forward with the organization of the Pan African Diaspora Union (PADU) and other large international bodies. We only ask the AU for approval and support in this process of consolidation.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(2) The permanent AU ECOSOCC (Economic, Social and Cultural Commission) has now been operating for two years (2008-2010) without the 20 elected seats designated to the African Diaspora being filled. Gaining credibility and status in ECOSOCC is crucial for African Diaspora participation in the other available components of the AU, including the PAP (Pan African Parliament). The Diaspora has at least one proven and validated method ready to correct this absence in ECOSOCC, and that is the Town Hall-Community Council of Elders model created and advocated by the SRDC (Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus) in the U.S. Central America, the Caribbean, and in Europe. Again, the African Diaspora is willing to put in the tremendous time and work necessary and to bear the expense of conducting the requisite community organizing all over the 6th Region. We simply ask the AU to sit down with the architects and advocates of that method (and any other) and make a judgement to approve and support their efforts.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(3) The African Diaspora currently does hundreds, even thousands, of individual projects in Africa every year. These include building hospitals, drilling water-well bore holes in African villages, bringing ambulances and other medical equipment to the continent, spending quality time as dentists and physicians tending to those who need it, financially supporting orphanages, school fees, computer labs, school renovation and library construction, etc. The main problem is that these efforts are often redundant and they are scattered. There needs to be a major organization and consolidation of such efforts to maximize their impact and to better focus bringing the needed resources and human capital to the areas that most require them. The African Diaspora pledges to do that.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(4) There are current plans to build and operate several Pan African Business and Trade Centers in various parts of the 6th Region so that a well-coordinated, consistent economic effort can be organized for the mutual benefit of Africa and its Diaspora. Such centers will advocate, support and direct more AGOA (U.S, African Growth and Opportunity Act) projects that actually help African growers and producers rather than frustrate and hinder them. Such centers will connect African producers and sellers with Diasporan producers and sellers. Such centers will also coordinate African scientists, architects and engineers so that more training of African youth in skilled positions occurs, and more useful projects that provide essential alternatives actually get built and become sustainable, including more solar, wind, and other green technology.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4">(5) Essentially, given the current decision by the AU to maximize development activities in the 8 or so African RECs (Regional Economic Communities), the African Diaspora 6th Region pledges to become an REC itself to create more opportunities and creative solutions for African descendants.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/theblacklist"><img src="http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_me-c.png" alt="Follow theblacklist on Twitter" /></a><br /></font></font></p></div>THE MISSING ELEMENTS, an upcoming book by Ras Jahazielhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/the-missing-elements-an2011-01-03T14:00:00.000Z2011-01-03T14:00:00.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><p><a href="" target="_blank">RAS JAHAZIEL</a> --</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2"><b>Pan-African consciousness, racial allegiance,</b> <b>and sense of sacred historical obligation</b> are the missing elements in every school, church, and university that Blacks have inherited from their slave masters and their colonizers. And it should not come as a surprise that the slave-master will not teach his slave how to escape. As should be expected he will only teach his slave how to be <b>a better servant.</b> Is it any wonder that the main spiration of the typical educated Black is to get a "big job" working for the white man? Is it any wonder that on attaining such posts his main loyalty is to the white man? It also should not be a wonder that the churches that have been inherited from the slave master always keep the focus of their flocks away from the thinking of pan-African philosophers such as Marcus Garvey, and fill their heads instead with the vain hope of supernatural deliverance..after they are dead.<br /></font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2"><b>Black nationalist consciousness, racial allegiance, and sense of sacred historical obligation</b> would overturn the role of Black servitude in the world today, so it is to be expected that such thinking would not be encouraged by the religion and education that has been received from The White World<br />
Order.</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">But because of these missing elements of consciousness within our colonially-inherited education systems the average youth is <b>DISCONNECTED FROM ANY SENSE OF HIGHER PURPOSE</b>, alienated from any sense of historical and moral obligation, and removed from any sense of noble destiny. In truth, it can be said that the main reason why the class barriers to education have been relaxed today lies in the fact that today's slave masters needed slaves that can type, use computers, and follow his orders more efficiently.</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">In the present neo-colonial system, education has therefore become a tool for selfish class advancement and not a tool for liberation of the wider disadvantaged society, and by the mere fact of their vulnerable dependency on being hired, the educated become non-responsive to their wider moral and historical obligation to speak and act on behalf of the masses of their people.<br /></font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">The unspoken mantra of the educated thus becomes:</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><b><font size="2">"Deaden your conscience and learn to become less sympathetic to the cry of the poor. Distance yourself as much as possible from them and blame them for their "uncouth and uneducated" behavior, and also blame them for remaining in their wretched condition.<br /></font></b></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><b><font size="2">Try to develop a close relationship with the rich in order to better yourself personally, and if you are going to fight for anything, fight to extend the privileges of the rich to the middle class.</font></b></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><b><font size="2">Deaden your sense of moral obligation and disassociate yourself from the struggle to correct the historical injustice that continues to keep the majority of your people poor.</font></b></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><font><font size="2"><span style="color:#000000;"><b>Be careful not to speak too openly about justice. Do and say nothing that would offend The Owners. Avoid matters of racial concern, and think only about ME, MYSELF, AND MY PERSONAL FAMILY.</b></span> <span style="color:#000000;"> </span></font></font></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><b><font size="2">Model your professional attitude after that of the slave-master and become a successful exploiter."</font></b></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">In a very real way that nobody cares to admit, the slave master has successfully passed on to his slaves a religious belief that <b>exploitation of labor and exploitation of fellow-man</b> is an acceptable and honorable practice. You therefore leave school with the ambition to become a successful exploiter or to assist those that are successful exploiters. Selfish pursuit of the dollar is stamped into your psyche as the main purpose of life, and yet we bemoan the callous attitude that is so much in evidence amongst the youths of this day.</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2"><b>SACRED OBLIGATION</b><br /></font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">History bequeaths to every generation a particular moral and historical obligation. If your fore-parents benefited from slavery your moral and historical obligation is to correct the disadvantages that have been handed down by slavery. If your fore-parents were the victims of slavery it is your moral and historical obligation to take their struggle further in the process of removing every disadvantage that has been handed down to the broad masses of your people by slavery. Under normal circumstances, as a people who have been stripped of name, language, land, culture, history, and <b>racial allegiance</b>, this moral and historical obligation would lead the educated person to a vision of Pan-African nation building. If you are not lead there it is because your schooling and your religion are the vehicles of intellectual neo-colonialism, and neo-colonialism is the abnormal cancer that blinds the educated ones to this sacred trust.<br /></font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">Instead of producing noble character the Oxford and Cambridge education produces replicas of the vampire, inculcated with an individualistic focus, with no sense of loyalty to anything bigger than <b>HOW MUCH PERSONAL PROFIT CAN I MAKE</b>, even if it is at the expense of the rest of the society around me.<br /></font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">The undeniable truth is that if you have inherited your education and your religion from the same Devils that built their kingdom on invasion, robbery, slavery, genocide, and all manner of crimes against humanity, you definitely need to question and examine the settings of your moral compass.<br /></font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">If you have been fed with an education and a religion that basically sanitize the history of crimes against humanity that include robbery, genocide, and slavery, it is logical that despite the semblance of "development" the society will be characterized by crime, violence, disloyalty, and inhuman pursuit of self interest.</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">Some may ask, but how do our religion and education <b>SANITIZE</b> the history of crimes against humanity that include robbery, genocide, and slavery? And the answer is <b>BY THEIR CAREFULLY CULTIVATED SILENCE ON THE EFFECTS</b> of the greatest crime ever committed against any people in the annals of human history. Both school and church have collaborated in hiding and blotting out the connection<br />
between past acts of barbaric inhumanity and <b>their present racial consequences.</b></font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">By their silence they collaborate with the Devil in disconnecting the past from the present. By their reluctance to step up to the forefront in educating the masses about the sacred right of reparations they are collaborating with The Devil in making the unfolding tragedy that engulfs African people globally look like some strange disconnected act of fate, accident, or intrinsic inferiority.</font></font></span></span></p>
<span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">That is the silent and criminal conspiracy that has made it so necessary to go to such great lengths to argue the case for Black reparations. All of the institutions handed down by the slave plantation have criminally endorsed <b>THE RIGHTS OF STOLEN PROPERTY</b>.<br /></font></font></span></span>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2">It is no wonder then that Black Nationhood and Pan-African thinking are complete strangers to the blindfolded masses of disinherited slave-descendants.</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2"><br />by Ras Jahaziel</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><a href="http://www.rastafarivisions.com/"><font><font size="2">www.rastafarivisions.com</font></font></a></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="color:#000000;"><font><font size="2"><br /></font></font></span></span></p></div>PanAfrican Conference: Lumumba, and the sabotage of the independence of African peoplehttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/panafrican-conference-lumumba2010-12-26T19:00:00.000Z2010-12-26T19:00:00.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><br /><p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 january 2011</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>Théatre de Ménilmontant</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>15, rue de Retrait</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>Paris 20, France</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">At a time when some have chosen to celebrate the so called 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of African political independence, it is important to remember that even before the war against Fascism all the means (including criminal) had been used to sabotage the different attempts made for the liberation of African people.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Rather than some phantasmagorical independence, the contemporary political history of African people is characterized by the systematic removal of Pan-African nationalists for the benefit of African accomplices of western imperialism. Generations of elites (intellectuals, politicians, artists, etc ) really concerned about the collective fate of Pan-African nations haven been eliminated and removed and an <b>anti-elite</b> subservient to foreign interests have been installed in Africa as well as in the Diaspora. For their diligent service they have gained political power which today is on the wane.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">The Circle of Marcus Garvey has chosen, to emphasize this general sabatoge of the sovereignty of African people, by focusing particularly on the case of the Congo which culminated in the assasination of Patrice Emery Lumumba by a coalition of imperialist countries.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Indeed, imbibed with this historic knowledge of the crimes carried out to prevent the Pan-African democratic process it is possible to envisage, a panafricanist political Renaissance as the only relevant way for the effective reconquest of the collective destiny of African people.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="BodoniMTBlack"><font style="font-size:20pt;" size="5">PROGRAMME :</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><b>Panafrican conference: Lumumba and the sabatoge of the independence of African people</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>1<sup>st</sup> day (15 January) :</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Cambria-BoldItalic, cursive"><font size="6"><i><b>Congo, amputated hands</b></i></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">9.30 – 10.00 Conference begins: Welcoming the public</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">10.00- 10.10 :Welcome speech</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">10.10 – 11.00 <font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><b>Congo, amputated hands</b></font> by Keynote speaker Rosa Amélia Plumelle-Uribé</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">11.00 – 11.30 : Personal Testimony</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">11.30 – 1.00 : Debate</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>1.00 to 2.00 Lunch</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">2.00 – 2..30 :</font></font> <font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>Human geography of the African Diaspora</b></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">2.30 – 3.00 : Personal Testimony</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">3..00 – 4.00 :</font></font> <font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>Dessalines and the Haitian Révolution</b></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">4.00 – 5.00 : Debate</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">5.00 – 7.00 Film : Katanga Business (or a documentary from ANIBWE on the Congo)</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">7.00 – 7.45 : Debate</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>20.00 Conference Ends</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">2</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><b>Colloque panafricain : Lumumba, ou l’assassinat des indépendances du peuple noir</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>2<sup>nd</sup> day (16 January) :</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Cambria-Bold"><font size="6"><b>Panafricanism, history and perspectives</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">9h30 – 10.00 : Conference begins</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">10.00 – 10.10 : Welcome speech</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">10.10-11.00 :</font></font> <font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>Panafricanism and its pioneers</b></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">11.00-11.45 :</font></font><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>Panafricain Renaissance, an alternative to development</b></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">11.45 – 12.45 :Debate</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>12.45 to 1.45 Lunch</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">1.45-2.30 : 50 years after «</font></font> <font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>The economic and cultural foundation of a federal African state</b></font></font> <font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">» by Cheikh Anta Diop</font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri-Bold"><font size="2"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">2.30-3.15 :</font></font> <font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>Panafrican stratégies for the unity of African people</b></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">3.15-4.15 : Debate</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">4.15-5.30 <font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><b>Workshop: Panafricanist Projects</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">5.30-6.00 General report on conference by Guy Cetoute</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif"><font size="3">6.00-7.30 : Performance of Amputated Hands (Artistic coordinator <font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Carlos Benewende</font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Ouedragogo )</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" align="justify"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><font size="3"><b>8.00 Conference Ends</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>Colloque panafricain :</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:-.3in;margin-right:-.3in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size:28pt;" size="6"><b>Lumumba, ou l’assassinat</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:-.3in;margin-right:-.3in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size:28pt;" size="6"><b>des indépendances du peuple noir</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>Samedi 15 & dimanche 16 janvier 2011</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>Au Théâtre de Ménilmontant</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>15, rue de Retrait à Paris XXè</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Au moment où d’aucuns ont choisi de célébrer ce qu’ils prétendent être le cinquantenaire d’une indépendance politique de l’Afrique, il importe vivement de ne pas laisser obvier l’histoire de la mise en échec par tous les moyens, y compris les plus criminels, des différents processus de libération du peuple noir engagés bien avant la Guerre du Nazisme.</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Plutôt qu’une fantasmatique indépendance, l’histoire politique contemporaine du peuple noir se caractérise par l’éviction systématique des nationalistes panafricains au profit des affidés nègres de l’impérialisme occidental : des générations d’</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><b>élites</b></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif">(intellectuelles, politiques, artistiques, etc.) réellement soucieuses du destin collectif des nations panafricaines ont été combattues ou éliminées, en vue d’installer une</font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><b>anti-élite</b></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif">inféodée aux intérêts étrangers en Afrique comme dans la Diaspora ; au service zélé desquels elle a gagné toute sa fortune politique désormais en voie d’épuisement.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Le Cercle Marcus Garvey a choisi, quant à lui, de mettre un accent particulier sur les circonstances exactes de cette mise en échec généralisée de la souveraineté du peuple noir, notamment à travers le cas séculaire emblématique du Kongo, qui culmine avec l’assassinat de Patrice Emery Lumumba par une coalition de pays impérialistes. En effet, c’est imprégné profondément de cette conscience historique de crimes contre les processus démocratiques panafricains qu’il est possible d’envisager, en toute connaissance de cause, la Renaissance politique panafricaniste comme seule voie pertinente pour la reconquête efficace de notre destin collectif d’Africains.</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Bodoni MT Black, serif"><font style="font-size:20pt;" size="5"><u><b>PROGRAMME :</b></u></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>1ère journée (15 janvier)</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><font size="6"><i><b>Kongo, les mains coupées</b></i></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">09h30 - 10h : Accueil du public</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">10h - 10h10 : Allocution de bienvenue</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>Modérateur</b></font></font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"> : Klah Popo</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">10h10 - 11h00 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><i><b>Kongo, les mains coupées</b></i></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Intervenante : Rosa Amélia Plumelle-Uribé</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">11h00 - 11h40 : Témoignage sur Lumumba</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">11h40 - 13h00 : Discussion</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><u><b>Déjeuner de 13h à 14h00</b></u></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">14h00 - 15h00 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>La Diaspora africaine dans la Renaissance panafricaine</b></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Intervenant : Ze Belinga Martial</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">15h00 - 16h00 :</font></font> <font color="#FF0000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Témoignage du Dr Tallayrand</font></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">16h00 - 17h00 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>Dessalines et la Révolution Ayitienne</b></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Intervenant :</font></font> <font color="#FF0000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Dr Antoine-Pierre FRITZ</font></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">17h – 18h00 : Discussion</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">18h00 – 19h30 : Spectacle</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><i><b>Kongo, les mains coupées</b></i></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.58in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Coordination artistique de</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.58in;" xml:lang="en-us" align="justify" lang="en-us"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Max Laure & OUEDRAOGO Benewende Carlos</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="en-us" align="justify" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="en-us" align="justify" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="en-us" align="justify" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="en-us" align="justify" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>20h précises : Clôture de la journée</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size:16pt;" size="4"><b>2ème journée (16 janvier)</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><font size="6"><b>Panafricanisme, histoire et perspectives</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">09h30 - 10h : Accueil du public</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">10h - 10h10 : Allocution de bienvenue</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>Modérateur </b></font></font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">: Ze Belinga Martial</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">10h10-11h00 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>Le Panafricanisme et ses précurseurs</b></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Intervenant :</font></font> <font color="#FF0000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">LASCONY</font></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">11h00-11h45 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>La Renaissance panafricaine, une alternative au développement</b></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Intervenant :</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="text-indent:-1.38in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.38in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">11h45 – 12h45 : Discussion</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><u><b>Déjeuner de 12h45 à 13h30</b></u></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="text-indent:-1.08in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.08in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">13h30-14h15 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>L’alternative panafricaniste</b></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>de Cheikh Anta Diop</b></font></font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">, ou « Les fondements économiques et culturels d’un Etat fédéral d’Afrique Noire ».</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.08in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Intervenant :</font></font> <font color="#FF0000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Diogène Senny</font></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">14h15-15h00 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>Stratégies panafricanistes pour l’unité du peuple noir</b></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Intervenant :</font></font> <font color="#FF0000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">KLAH Popo</font></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><span xml:lang="en-us" lang="en-us">15h00-16h00 : Discussion</span></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="en-us" align="justify" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">16h00-17h45 :</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>Networking panafricaniste</b></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.98in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Idées, Projets, Activitiés visant à promouvoir les idéaux économiques et solidaires du panafricanisme. Opportunités de rencontres et contacts entre associations et acteurs panafricanistes.</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">17h45-18h00 : Rapport général du colloque par CETOUTE Guy</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">18h00-19h30 : Spectacle</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.98in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="justify" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><i><b>Kongo, les mains coupées</b></i></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.98in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2">Coordination artistique de</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.98in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:11pt;" size="2"><span xml:lang="en-us" lang="en-us">Max Laure & OUEDRAOGO Benewende Carlos</span></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;" xml:lang="en-us" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.98in;" xml:lang="en-us" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.98in;" xml:lang="en-us" lang="en-us"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.39in;" xml:lang="fr-fr" align="center" lang="fr-fr"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><b>20h précises : Clôture de la manifestation</b></font></font></font></p></div>Report from the African Union/SRDC meeting with the Pan African Communityhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/report-from-the-african2010-11-22T23:43:38.000Z2010-11-22T23:43:38.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><div><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:14pt;"><font face="Calibri">MESSAGE TO THE PAN AFRICAN COMMUNITY</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">On October 21-22, 2010, a very important meeting was held in New York City hosted by The African
Union delegation to the United Nations. That gathering was important for a
number of reasons, one of which is that it was the most recent attempt by the AU
to reach out to elements of the African descendant community in the USA
regarding bringing the African Diaspora into a sustained partnership with the
AU. Below are four summary perspectives from that gathering, including three
from actual participants, and one from a third party source. We thank the
messengers who provided us with those reports.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Notwithstanding that gratitude, in these and other reports to the community intended to inform,
inspire and educate us as we try to organize ourselves into readiness to fully
participate at the international level in making decisions about Africa’s future
and our place in it, we as 21st century Pan Africans must identify some
standards of ethical and responsible conduct by our messengers---a ma’at of
21<sup>st</sup> century Pan Africanism. Towards that end, those who purport to
provide us beneficial information for our head and hearts
should:</font></span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.25in;margin:0in 0in 0pt .5in;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><span><font face="Calibri">(1)</font> </span></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Try to be as accurate and as truthful as possible</font></span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.25in;margin:0in 0in 0pt .5in;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><span><font face="Calibri">(2)</font> </span></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Try not to insult the intelligence of the Pan African community</font></span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.25in;margin:0in 0in 0pt .5in;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><span><font face="Calibri">(3)</font> </span></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Try not to deliberately confuse and/or lie to the community</font></span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.25in;margin:0in 0in 0pt .5in;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><span><font face="Calibri">(4)</font> </span></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Try not to be individually or organizationally chauvinistic in their
reporting</font></span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.25in;margin:0in 0in 10pt .5in;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><span><font face="Calibri">(5)</font> </span></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Try to always provide information that will help the Pan African community build up its
capacity and skill in self-organizing and achieving unity without
uniformity</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">All four reports below do not currently meet those standards. Two of them noticeably add more
confusion than light to the conversation on the AU and the Diaspora. Two of them
actually prevaricate in some instances and are disingenuous in other places.
Neither of them, for instance, is an “official” report of the AU-Diaspora
gathering and should not have purported itself as such, since neither the AU UN
office nor the AU CIDO staff wrote and disseminated the information nor publicly
endorsed it. The AU staff is certainly too bureaucratic for many tastes, but it
is consistent in putting out its own summary reports of the meetings and
gatherings it holds, so to imply something is an official report when it is not
is a situation we cannot ignore.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">May we all work harder to live up to the Pan African legacy we have chosen to carry
forward.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Forward Ever, Backward Never, <span>
</span> <span>
</span>The Pan Afrikan Organizing Committee (PAOC) <span>
</span> <span>
</span> </font><a href="mailto:paoc-usa@yahoogroups.com"><font color="#0000FF" face="Times New Roman">paoc-usa@yahoogroups.com</font></a> <font face="Calibri">
</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:16pt;"><font face="Calibri">REPORT #1</font></span></u></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:16pt;"><font face="Calibri">REPORT FROM THE RECENT AU UN GATHERING OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">By Yao Khepra the Evolutionary aka Yao Khepra Wilson</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">6th Region Diaspora Caucus/SRDC - New York Co-Facilitator</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">For all those African descendants who consider themselves 21st century Pan Africans, the life-blood for our moving forward is
network communications. Representatives of the African Diasporan community who
are elected, designated or self-appointed must accept the responsibility and
obligation to present reports and summary information to the community on
meetings and gatherings they attend that affect Africa and the Diaspora. Such
representatives cannot hoard such information as if it belongs to each of them
individually, nor should they present organizationally chauvinistic reports that
feature only their groups when others were also involved in relevant
proceedings. The African Diaspora must organize itself, and all 21st century Pan
Africans must do whatever we can to promote and advocate that objective. Network
communications and mutually respectful engagements are minimal requirements to
achieve that objective. --------PADU -
SRDC, 2010</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">*This is one attendee's perspective. There have already been two published reports, one from
an attendee and the other from a third party non-participant. You are invited to
compare and to combine all of the perspectives to get a full picture of the
proceedings. I especially invite those organizations that attended to give their
unique perspective of what went on in those two days to hep paint a picture for
those who were not present. You can utilize the forum <span>
</span><a href="http://padu-srdc.ning.com/forum/topics/initial-african-diaspora-task">http://padu-srdc.ning.com/forum/topics/initial-african-diaspora-task</a> at the PADU Coalition website if you choose
to do so, or some other vehicle.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">EVENT</span></u></b><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">: The African Union through its office at the UN (Ambassador Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African
Union to the United Nations), invited several organizations representing the
African Diaspora to a meeting titled, "Building Bridges Across the Atlantic", on
Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2010 at the African Union Hall in
Manhattan, New York.</span></b></font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">The published agenda for that meeting and the list of invited attendees is attached. The
contact information for each attending organization is not listed, since I did
not receive permission from them to do so.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">AU DECISION-MAKERS PRESENT</span></u></b><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">:</span></b></font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Ambassador Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations whose
staff at the African Union Hall served as host for the
meeting.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Ambassador Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union to the United States, Washington,
DC.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi Mr. Brian
Bowler</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Dr. Jinmi Adisa, Diaspora Director of the African Union Commission {Citizens and Diaspora
Direcotrate (CIDO)}</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Mr. Anthony Okara, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bureau of the Deputy
Chairperson</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Dr. Fareed Arthur, Advisor (Strategic Matters, Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson of the
Commision)</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Mr. Wuyi Omitoogun (Expert, Diaspora Relations, CIDO)</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">MS. Nadia Roguiai (Expert, ECOSOC, CIDO)</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">AFRICAN DIASPORAN GROUPS PRESENT</span></u></b><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">:</span></b></font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">From the placards for the organizations invited, there were 36 slots, with approximately 15-20
African Diaspora organizations actually present for the two days, with a total
of 35 individuals representing those organizations, all from the USA. Virtually
all of those organizations present and invited were from groups headquartered
east of Chicago, and mostly from the North East of the U.S.A.
</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">As one of the invited organizations, I was there in an official capacity as an organizational
representative of the SRDC/6th Region Diaspora Caucus, and I was also one of the
unofficial representatives of PADU/Pan African Diaspora Union Coalition of
organizations that was present.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Attached is a copy of the sign in roster of the 36 organizations expected to
attend.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Organizations in attendance as I personally recall were:</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">African Unity of Harlem</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Youth Icons</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">African Cultural Exchange Club</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">December 12 Movement</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">African Sun Times</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Falou Foundation</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">The Drammeh Institute</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">African Poetry Theatre Inc.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Cameroon Organization</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">World African Diaspora Union</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Gulla Geechee Nation</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">The Africa Channel</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Saga Africa</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">6th Region Diaspora Caucus/SRDC</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">IMPORTANT POINTS MADE AT THE GATHERING</span></u></b> <b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">
</span></b></font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">1. Dr. Jinmi Adisa, Diaspora Director of the African Union Commission (Citizens And Diaspora Directorate (CIDO)--- 'More disturbing still is that there is some
competition for power and influence within the Diaspora communities.........
There are some elements of the Diaspora within the US that wish to assume the
natural leadership of the Diaspora agenda and to organize and centralize the
Diaspora effort.'</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">'There is a great need to maximize multimedia to combat the negative portrayal of the Africa
(explicitly the African continent and implicitly the African
Diaspora).</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">' The Town Hall method for organizing the Diaspora has been successful in the U.S.A. but will
the Town Hall method have similar success outside the U.S.A. in other parts of
the Diaspora???'</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Dr. Adisa's presentation in its entirety can be found at</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri"><a href="http://padu-srdc.ning.com/forum/topics/dr-jimini-adisas-the-african">http://padu-srdc.ning.com/forum/topics/dr-jimini-adisas-the-african</a></font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">2. Ambassador Bowler, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi, passionately stressed the immediate need for a skills
database of talents and resources in the African Diaspora. Currently, Africa has no way of knowing who. to reach
out to in the Diaspora who possess the skills and qualifications to be of
assistance.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">3. Ambassador Ali reiterated a point she has made at other such gatherings: the African Diaspora should no longer merely wait
for directions from the AU on organizing itself--the Diaspora should move
aggressively forward in that regard.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">4. There was a 5-6 person African Task Force elected by the attendees to work for 3 months as a pre-Summit Diaspora Group to
meet South African organizers of the upcoming Diaspora Summit Conference which
has been re-scheduled now for 2011 (originally scheduled for November, 2008 but
postponed for internal South African political reasons). The Task Force is
supposed to present reports to Ambassador Ali. It was mentioned that there will
be other such task forces within the Diaspora assigned to other projects, each
with a three-month existence, but the process of determining those was not
determined at this gathering. There was also a big controversy/discussion about
the lack of full participation by the USA African Diaspora at this gathering,
since many of them were not contacted.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">5. Dr. Adisa knowing the importance of African Union ECOSOCC to the Diaspora, called upon an attendee to specifically ask
questions regarding ECOSOCC for all attendees to hear. However, the questions
remained unanswered due to a lack of time. <span>
</span>The questions that were asked and more detailed information as to why
African Union ECOSOCC is an important component in organizing the Diaspora is
open for discussion @
<a href="http://padu-srdc.ning.com/forum/topics/importance-of-au-ecosocc-in">http://padu-srdc.ning.com/forum/topics/importance-of-au-ecosocc-in</a>
</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">REPORT #2</font></span></u></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">First Consultation of the African Diaspora to the African Union</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">October 21st – 22nd 2010 African Union Headquarters New
York</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Greetings to everyone,</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">As you all may be aware of now, the African Union has kept its mission of creating an African
Diaspora 6th region consisting of African people who desire to up build up
Africa. Please view the attachments for details and pictures. It has been a long
road covering almost ten years but finally the door is being opened. Afrikan
Unity of Harlem, Inc. would like to thank you all for continuing on the path
that our collective African Ancestors plotted out for us almost a hundred years
ago.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">We all have a special part to fulfill now and no longer can we cry in protest to what others
or people have done to us. It’s time to take our responsibly by seizing this
moment to secure our children’s futures. Just as our Ancestors did for us, we in
our turn must do the same for the next generation of African Diaspora/ Pan
African / African Black peoples. We are no longer captives!!! We are no longer
colonized!!! We are no longer welfare mothers or imprisoned fathers!!! Nor are
we hungers or beggars in the streets. We are, as we have been from the
foundation of human society, the first civilization to give to the whole world
humanity. In whatever field of expertise you or your organization is in, we
encourage you to continue those positive efforts. In whatever you do, seek
grounds of commonalities with those in like fields. For those who lust to keep
up with the old man and chose not to throw him off their backs must be forgiven
and blessed so you can move forward.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Every African in the world must now rejoice for a righteous society and its leadership is
mounting. A true remnant of people who have not forgotten who they are while
being submerged in an unjust world. Our ancestors know this day would come when
they first sat down in unity. African unity is not easy, it is not fun, and it
is not peaceful. It is the most deep burning awareness of patience, compromise
and understanding of the African brethren. From this we must carry a sincerer
deep love that will override the smallness of tribulations we may face when
working with each other. Over 500 hundred years have created different
backgrounds within us where as before, the diversity of our language and
tradition enhanced how we interacted with each other. Let’s all bring forward
our uniqueness to breathe life back into our dear beloved continent… Mother
Africa.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">AUH, Inc would like to personally thank the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus within the leader and
eldership of David Horne and Sister Iman Uqdah Hameen for inviting us to the
table to have this opportunity to sit in the gathering of the African Diaspora.
And also for seeing our organizational efforts to be a part of the Pan African
Diaspora Union.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Most Respect</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Sister Ivory Ann Black II Woletta Sellassie</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Executive Secretary</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Afrikan Unity of Harlem, Inc</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Office Phone: 212 531-0384 / Fax: 212-531-0382</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Mobile: 347-286-9571 / 414-429-2160</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Website: <a href="http://www.afrikanunityofharlem.com">www.afrikanunityofharlem.com</a></font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Blogesite: <a href="http://www.afrikanunityofharlem.wordpress.com">http://www.afrikanunityofharlem.wordpress.com</a></font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Radio/TV Program: Watch us at afrikanunityofharlem.com <span>
</span></font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Mailing P.O. Box 1121</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">New York, New York 10027</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Afrikan Unity of Harlem, Inc.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Mailing: P.O. Box 1121</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">New York, New York 10027</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Phone: (212) 531-0384</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Fax: (212) 531-0382</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Mobile: 347-286-9571 / 414-429-2160</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Online: <a href="http://www.afrikanunityofharlem.com">www.afrikanunityofharlem.com</a></font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Email: info@afrikanunityofharlem.com</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Support "The Center of Afrikan Unity in Harlem"....</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">No matter what language we speak,</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">No matter where we are born,</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">No matter what religion we practice.....</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">WE ARE ONE AFRIKAN PEOPLE.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:16pt;"><font face="Calibri">REPORT #3</font></span></u></b></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial, 'sans-serif';color:#000000;font-size:10pt;">From: <br />To: Amenelik@aol.com<br />Sent: 11/3/2010 2:03:05 A.M. Eastern Standard
Time<br />Subj: Fwd: African Diaspora Task Team of the African Union - Press
Release</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 12pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family:Arial, 'sans-serif';color:#000000;font-size:12pt;">Here is the final press release.</span></i></b></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 12pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:Arial, 'sans-serif';color:#000000;font-size:12pt;">Dear African Diaspora,<br /><br /></span></b><b><span style="color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Please find attached a press release regarding the recent African
Diaspora Meeting on the 21st and 22nd of October, 2010, initiated by the African
Union Commission from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
and hosted by the offices of the African Union Permanent Observer to the United
Nations, New York and the African Union Embassy to the United States,
Washington, DC. Please kindly circulate to a large number of your group as well
as for publication. We look forward in the immediate future to inviting you, as
the constituency that elected us to the TASK TEAM, so that we can report back to
you about the mandate we were given and how we will depend on you on
accomplishing the tasks given us.<br /><br />We sincerely thank you for your
confidence in selecting us to represent you.</font></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 12pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Chika A. Onyeani<br />Chair, African Diaspora Task Team of the AU</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">African Diaspora Task Team of the African Union</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">c/o The Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United
Nations</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">305 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Tel. : 212-319-5490, Fax: 319-7135 email:
AUDTT2011@gmail.com</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="text-indent:.5in;margin:0in 0in 10pt 2in;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">PRESS RELEASE</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">For Immediate Release</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">November 1, 2010</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">AFRICAN UNION MOVES TO ESTABLISH STRONGER TIES WITH THE AFRICAN
DIASPORA</font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">NEW YORK, New York, Oct. 21-22 - The African Union took a giant step on Thursday and Friday,
October 21 and 22, in its efforts to galvanize Africans in the Diaspora by
convening the African Diaspora Meeting at the offices of the Permanent Observer
Mission of the African Union to the United Nations. The African Diaspora
Meeting, labeled "Building Bridges Across the Atlantic," was organized by the
African Union Commission, the main administrative body of the African Union,
through its offices in the United States, including the Permanent Observer
Mission of the African Union to the United Nations, New York, and the African
Union Embassy to the United States, Washington, DC. Taking charge of the two-day
meeting was a strong delegation from the African Union Commission in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia. The African Union Permanent Observer Mission's Conference Hall
was the venue of the meeting.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">The high powered officials from the African Union headquarters, led by Mr. Anthony Okara, Deputy
Chief of Staff of the Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson, included Dr. Jinmi
Adisa, Diaspora Director of the African Union Commission (Citizens And Diaspora
Directorate (CIDO); Dr. Fareed Arthur, Advisor (Strategic Matters, Bureau of the
Deputy Chairperson of the Commission), Mr. Wuyi Omitoogun (Expert, Diaspora
Relations, CIDO) and Ms. Nadia Roguiai (Expert, ECOSOCC, CIDO). The two African
Union Ambassadors in the United States, who attended, were Ambassador Tete
Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations; and
Ambassador Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union to the United
States, Washington, DC.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">In his second welcoming address within minutes, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of
the Republic of Malawi Mr. Brian Bowler delivered a most explosive and rousing
speech, in which he called on his colleagues in dealing with the Diaspora,
especially when it comes to economic well-being of the group. "For example," he
said, "during the UN General Assembly meeting each September, let's assume that
each of the 53 African countries spend just $500,000, we are talking of $25
million that could go to an African Diaspora company. That's $25 million in less
than one month," he said. Ambassador Bowler, who was speaking as Chairman of the
African Ambassadorial Group in his capacity as a representative of President
Binbu wa Mutharika of Malawi as current Chairman of the African Union,
challenged his colleagues to begin looking for African Diaspora companies to do
business with, as he felt that the relationship with the Diaspora should not be
a one-way street, "especially as a businessman who owns three breweries in three
different African countries."</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">After Ambassador Antonio welcomed the group, Ambassador Amina Ali took over and delivered an
equally forceful presentation of what the African Union office in Washington,
DC, has accomplished since opening in 2007. She informed the group that she has
aggressively moved to deliver the essence of the AU Diaspora Initiative by
traveling all across the United States, Canada as well as the Caribbean and
Central/ and South American countries in bringing a message of the need for the
Diaspora to recognize its important role to Africa and the African Union,
especially as the Sixth Region of the Union. Ambassador Ali stayed throughout
the two-day meeting in helping to guide the deliberations of the
meeting.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Consequently CIDO Director, Dr. Adisa, provided more reasons of why the meeting had been called.
Dr. Adisa began by calling the meeting a "precedent setting event, which we hope
will set the pace for an annual consultation process with the African Diaspora
in US, the Caribbean and Central//South America, Europe and the Middle-East,
amongst others. In organizational terms, this is also an exercise in
inter-collegiality that serves as an inspiration for the Commission and various
organs of the Union to work together as one in the spirit of cooperation and
solidarity that underpins the purpose of the African
Union."</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Dr. Adisa went on to discuss the different sectors of the African Union, including "Objectives of
This Dialogue," "The Initiative Within the Context of the Development of the
African Union," "Rebuilding the Global African Family," "Definition of the
African Diaspora," "Engagement Strategies,""Organizational Processes," and
ending with the "Global African Diaspora Summit."</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Dr. Adisa discussed the processes that led to the recognition of the Diaspora as a Sixth
Region of the African Union. "Soon after the launching of the African Union in
Durban, South Africa in 2002," he said, "the Assembly of Heads of States met in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to establish, among other things, a legal framework that
would create the necessary and sufficient conditions for putting this decision
into effect. Hence, it adopted the Protocol of the Amendment to the Constitutive
Act of the Union which in Article 3 (q) invited the African Diaspora to
participate fully as an important component in the building of the African
Union. In adopting the decision," he continued, "the Protocol symbolically
recognized the Diaspora an important and separate but related constituency
outside the five established regions of Africa - East, West, Central, North and
South. Thus, although there is no specific legal or political text that states
this categorically, it, in effect, created a symbolic sixth region of
Africa."</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Regarding the definition of the African Diaspora, Dr. Adisa said that a meeting of Experts
from Member States had met in 2005 and adopted the following definition, "The
African Diaspora consists of peoples of African origin living outside the
continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing
to contribute to the development of the continent and building of the African
Union." Dr. Adisa informed the group that there had been a lot of debates and
disagreements on the definition. There were those who felt the need for an
"academic" and "intellectual" aspects to the definition and the other that would
be related to the political needs of the Union. Another group, he said,
preferred the need to add "permanently" to "living outside the continent.
"Others," he said, "argued that the phrase "willingness to contribute to the
development of the continent and the building of the African Union" should be
left out." Nothing, they felt, should be demanded or expected from the
Diaspora.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">The African Union preferred its earlier definition, as according to Dr. Adisa, it encompasses the
following:</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">(a) Bloodline and/or heritage: The Diaspora should consist of people living outside the
continent whose ancestral roots or heritage are in
Africa;</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">(b) Migration: The Diaspora should be composed of people of African heritage, who migrated from or
are living outside the continent. In this context, three trends of migration
were identified - pre-slave trade, slave trade, and post-salve trade or modern
migration;</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">(c) The principle of inclusiveness: The definition must embrace both ancient and modern Diaspora;
and</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">(d) The commitment to the African case: The Diaspora should be people who are willing to be paid of
the continent (or the African family).</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Finally, with regards to the importance that the African Union attached to the Diaspora, Dr.
Adisa informed the group that 60% of the Recruitment Committee of the African
Union consisted of individuals from the African Diaspora, and how he himself
attained his present position after interviewing with two recruitment committees
chaired by African Diaspora.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">After the addresses, the group spent a lot of time making comments, asking questions and
expressing their concerns about one issue or another. After the deliberation,
the group was informed that it was necessary for the group to establish a Task
Team, which should consist of five members, but later changed to six members due
to numerous organizations represented at the meeting. Earlier, five elements had
been identified as a guide to what the Task Team should consist of, including
Afro-Latinos, Community, Gender, Media, and Youth. After the group was separated
into its different elements to choose their representative, the following
individuals emerged as members of the Task Team, including Dr. Georgina Falu for
Afro-Latinos, Mr. Sidique Wai and Mr. Omowale Clay, for Community, Ms. Kathy
Jenkins Ewa for Gender, Dr. Chika A. Onyeani for Media, and Engr. Daniel Ochweri
for Youth. The Task Team was later given their terms of mandate within which to
work, report and conclude their assignment within three
months.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Later on Thursday evening the 21st October, there was an Award Dinner Gala organized by Nation to
Nation Networking (NNN), whose CEO is Ms. Abaynesh Asarat, in collaboration with
the African Union at 3 West 51st Street at Club 51st Street, attended by the
African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, His Excellency Ambassador
Ramtane Lamamra. Those who received awards included Ms. Elinor Tatum of the
Amsterdam News; Dr. Kwame Akonor, Director of the African Development Institute;
Dr. Muriel Petioni, M.D., known as "Mother of Medicine in Harlem"; Mr. Dabney N.
Montgomery, Member of Community Board 10; and Mr. Seri Remy Gnoleba, Chairman of
the African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">A special thanks must go to His Excellency Ambassador Tete Antonio, and his hardworking staff at
the African Union office in New York, as well as Her Excellency Ambassador Amina
Salum Ali of the African Union Embassy in Washington, DC, for assisting the
African Union Commission in putting together such a successful African Diaspora
meeting.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Chika A. Onyeani</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">Chair, African Diaspora Task Team of the AU</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">ps: Kindly send replies to Dr. Georgina Falu, Secretary to the ADTT Board at email:</font> <a href="mailto:falug@aol.com"><font color="#0000FF" face="Times New Roman">falug@aol.com</font></a></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><b><u><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;">REPORT # 4</span></u></b></font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri"> <b>IMMEDIATE RELEASE</b></font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">October 30, 2010 By: Minister P.D.Menelik Harris
</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">African Union representatives urged Diaspora</font></span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri">"The African Diaspora must be organized" to advance Africa in the 21st century, stressed Dr.
Jinmi Adisa to leaders of the African Diaspora during the African Union/Diaspora
forum in New York from October 21-22, 2010. The forum was led by Dr. Adisa, the
head of the African Union (AU) African Citizens Directorate (CIDO), Ambassador
Tete Antonio, AU Representative to the United Nations (UN); Ambassador Madame
Salum Ali of the AU Office in Washington, D.C. Also a key speaker was His
Excellency Brian Bowler of Malawi, representing both the U.N. and the current
Chairman of the African Union, Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika, </font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:16px;line-height:18px;">Some Diaspora delegates to the AU meeting were Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Baba John Watusi Branch,
Nana Farika Berhane, Omowale Clay, Queen Mother Blakely, Randy Weston, Dr. Chika
Onyeani and Queen Quet. Some of the key issues raised at the forum were Diaspora
African citizenship, economic partnership, women and youth empowerment, African
Latino involvement in AU initiatives, and the establishment of an African
Diaspora Task Team to work with the AU.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:16px;line-height:18px;">The two-day AU affair coincided with the annual WADU Diaspora commemoration of the famed 1945
5th Pan African Congress (PAC) that led to the freedom and independence of
African people worldwide. The current OAU/AU is a continuation of the Pan
African Movement that was formally launched at the 1900 Pan African Congress
with the influence of African nationalism in the late 19th century, at the
height of European invasion of Africa.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:16px;line-height:18px;">In the WADU 5th PAC Forum in NY, WADU Vice President Dr. Leonard Jeffries and AU delegate in his
opening address greeted the participants on behalf of His Excellency Dudley
Thompson, President of WADU, stating that this historic moment is “to finally
pull African people together to rebuild after centuries of isolation and
destruction.” Also in NY, Baba Watusi Branch, another AU delegate and WADU Chief
Secretariat, declared that with this new opportunity “we must act decisively to
promote Pan African economics by increasing Diaspora investments and trade with
Africa.”</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:16px;line-height:18px;">In Atlanta, Ga. Dr. Joyce King, WADU Commissioner of Education, who also holds the Benjamin E.
Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching, Learning & Leadership at GA State
University, urged the African Union to join in partnership with Diaspora Black
universities for the building of a Pan African university system "that recovers
our language, lost memories, and reconnect us to our historical consciousness as
a global African family.”</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:16px;line-height:18px;">Also in Atlanta, WADU Chair, Reverend Dr. Ndugu T’Ofori-Atta called for peace and justice action
in partnership with the AU in conflict ravaged areas of the African world such
as Haiti, Columbia, the Congo, and the Sudan. He recommended that significant
personalities of the African Diaspora such as Danny Glover, Rita Marley and Pele
be tapped as Diaspora ambassadors for peace and development. </span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:16px;line-height:18px;">In Washington, D.C., WADU Executive Council leader, Nana Farika Berhane called for an immediate
follow-up to the recent AU proposals stating "Diaspora leaders must act now and
in unity." Farika was also a participant of the recent AU meeting in NY, the
official Diaspora representative at the OAU 6th PAC in 1974 and an organizer for
the 7th PAC under Dr. John Henrik Clarke in the
1990’s.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:16px;line-height:18px;">WADU was initiated in Atlanta, Georgia by James Small, current head of the Organization of
Afro-American Unity (OAAU), as a charge from the 2004 Africa/African Diaspora
Intellectual Conference in Senegal, led by Dr. Molefi K. Asante. WADU was
formalized in 2007 by His Excellency Dudley Thompson, Elombe Brath, Dr. Leonard
Jeffries and Nana Yaa Farika Berhane in Jamaica. Since then WADU has established
itself as a formidable organization across the Diaspora to unite the African
Diaspora with Africa. This recent meeting with AU occurred after WADU led a
delegation to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for its annual summit to pressure the AU on
the significance of working with the African Diaspora, for the rebuilding of
Africa. <span>
</span> </span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
</div></div>Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus/Pan African Diaspora Union Statement on Haiti (Ayiti)https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/sixth-region-diaspora2010-02-17T17:16:06.000Z2010-02-17T17:16:06.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><i>SRDC/PADU Statement on Haiti from Prof. David Horne via Sis. Iman Hameen. Asante.<br />
(Prof. Horne is the International Facilitator of Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus and Pan African Diaspora Union.)<br /></i>
<br /><br /><b>
SRDC/PADU ON HAITI (Ayiti)</b><br /><br />
In January, 2010, a devastating series of earthquakes hit the nation of Haiti and left a stunning aftermath of death, infrastructural collapse, broken families and other harsh consequences.<br /><br />
We have watched and listened to much of the world's rescue and relief efforts, and individually contributed food, clothing, money and prayer. However, two lessons are clear for us in this particular tragedy, notwithstanding the historical precedents that led to Haiti's vulnerability in the first place and the arguments about possible Haarp involvement:<br />
(1) We in the Diaspora were once again surprised with a calamity involving Black folk that we were ill-prepared to respond to in a substantial way, and<br />
(2) Our most significant assistance to Haiti at this point would be in implementing a tangible building or environmental sustainability project, rather than to exhaust ourselves trying to untangle the complex web of which organizations to trust to get real aid into the hands of the Haitians who most need it.<br /><br />
Wanting to help our Diasporan brethren is one thing, and doing something about being ready to help is another. Certainly, organizations like Ron Daniel's IBW, Wyclef Jean's Yele, and several others have worked hard to provide assistance through the Haitian networks they had prior to the earthquakes.<br /><br />
There have been many other individual efforts and smaller organizational forays through the Dominican Republic and directly into the Haitian countryside, avoiding the mess at the Port-au-Prince airport completely.<br /><br />
Those efforts must be applauded. But overall, our Diasporan response has been spotty, sporadic, piece-meal and token. The lasting images are again of Anglos saving Haitians and Black folks on the sidelines crying and watching in futility and anguish.<br /><br />
The way to substantially change this picture is for Diasporan organizations to partner with each other based on a broad agreement of principles and mutual respect.<br /><br />
That way, we bring a wealth of expertise, resources, networks and abilities together that can be focused on a dilemma like Haiti's earthquakes without competing against each other, without unnecessarily reinventing and duplicating capacities that are already there, and we can maximize our ability to actually get help and assistance to the people who need it when they must have it.<br /><br />
The SRDC/PADU, which already includes partnerships with the UNIA-ACL, CABO and other Pan African organizations (75 and counting), hereby declares that it will work tirelessly to bring about this kind of operational unity so that we can more clearly demonstrate to the world that Black folk can help take care of Black folk with, or without, the help of others.<br /><br />
During the Decade of the Diaspora we must demonstrate much more Pan African agency and initiative to determine our own destinies. We are not mere victims or participants in history, we are innovators, thinkers and decision-makers in our own story.<br /><br />
In conjunction with Pan African folk already on the ground in Haiti through effective networks, the SRDC/PADU will make a fact-finding visit to Haiti between May-July to assess where we can focus our efforts to make the most significant difference in helping to re-build Haiti.<br /><br />
We hereby declare our intention to get involved beyond the relief and rescue phase, and we invite other serious Pan Africans to join with us.<br /><br />
We cannot and will not abandon Haiti, and we can and must provide sustained assistance to that Black nation.<br /><br />
For further information and discussion, write to <a href="organizingsrdc@aol.com">organizingsrdc@aol.com</a><br /><br />
Forward Ever, Backwards Never<br />
The SRDC/PADU Secretariat</div>PAN AFRICAN UNIFICATION DURING OUR LIFETIMES !https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/pan-african-unification-during2010-01-04T05:56:58.000Z2010-01-04T05:56:58.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div>THE SIXTH REGION DIASPORA CAUCUS (SRDC) ANNOUNCES:
THE DECADE OF THE DIASPORA HAS BEGUN !!!!!
JANUARY 1, 2010---DECEMBER 31, 2020
DURING THIS HEIGHTENED PERIOD OF FOCUSED ACTIVITY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT REGARDING THE DIASPORA'S MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFRICAN UNIFICATION ----THE UNITED STATES OF AFRICA, OR THE UNION OF AFRICAN STATES---THE DIASPORA WILL HELP TO RESTORE, REGAIN AND RE-ESTABLISH AFRICA'S DIGNITY IN THE WORLD, AFRICA'S EARNED RESPECT IN THE WORLD, AFRICA'S LEVERAGE AND POWER IN THE WORLD, AND THEREBY HELP TAKE CONTINENTAL AFRICANS AND AFRICAN DESCENDANTS TO HIGHER GROUND WHEREVER THEY RESIDE. DURING THIS FERTILE PERIOD, THE DIASPORAN GIANT WILL INDEED AWAKEN AND MOVE US ALL FORWARD. THERE ARE MANY, MANY SHOULDERS UPON WHICH THE DIASPORA WILL STAND AND DELIVER AND WE VENERATE THEM ALL..........
--UP YOU MIGHTY RACE,
ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU WILL
SELECTED EXAMPLES OF EXPECTED PROJECTS:
1. PAN AFRICAN PARENTS WILL TEACH THEIR CHILDREN TO HONOR AND RESPECT THEIR PARENTS, THEIR AFRICAN ANCESTORS AND ELDERS, AND THEMSELVES. THE CHILDREN WILL BE MADE TO UNDERSTAND THAT IGNORANCE OF THEMSELVES, THEIR HISTORY AND THEIR WORTH IN THIS WORLD IS THEIR ENEMY, NOT THEIR ALLY.
2. THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL REPARATIONS MOVEMENT WILL BE EITHER VICTORIOUS OR ABANDONED BASED ON WHETHER THERE IS THE PRODUCTION AND AGREEMENT ON A VIABLE PLAN TO WIN, CONCOMITANT STRATEGIES AND TACTICS WHICH FLOW FROM THAT PLAN, AND RELENTLESS IMPLEMENTATION WITH A PURPOSE. EXPERIENCE HAS ALREADY TAUGHT THAT WITHOUT A COGENT PLAN, VICTORY IS AND WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE.
3. PAN AFRICAN REPATRIATION WILL BE ACHIEVED--DUAL CITIZENSHIP THROUGHTOUT AFRICA WILL BE AN ACTUAL, NOT FANTASIZED, OPTION---FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE DIASPORA.
4. BSUs AND ASUs WILL BE RETIRED TO LEGACY STATUS AND REPLACED BY PAN AFRICAN CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS FOCUSED ON AFRICAN REDEMPTIVE ACTIVITIES.
5. PAN AFRICAN CULTURE, WITH ITS MANY ARTISTS, INNOVATORS AND CRAFTS EXPERTS, WILL PROVE TO BE THE SOLID BRIDGE NECESSARY TO HELP CONSTRUCT AND MAINTAIN PAN AFRICAN UNITY.
6. THE SCATTERED GROUPS OF PAN AFRICAN ACTIVISTS WILL RECOGNIZE WHAT OPERATIONAL UNITY--UNITY WITHOUT UNIFORMITY--ACTUALLY MEANS AND OVERCOME THEIR OWN EGOS AND GRANDSTANDING LONG ENOUGH TO CONSOLIDATE INTO PAN AFRICAN PARTNERSHIPS THAT PRODUCE REAL LEVERAGE AND INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE.
7. PAN AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND BUSINESS CENTERS (BUILT, OWNED AND RUN BY DIASPORANS) WILL PROLIFERATE THROUGHOUT THE DIASPORA AND INTERCONNECT ALL LEVELS OF COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY BETWEEN THE CONTINENT AND THE DIASPORA FOR THE BENEFIT OF BOTH.
8. PAN AFRICANS WILL RE-TAKE CONTROL OF THE EDUCATION OF AFRICAN FOLK AND PUBLICIZE TO THE WORLD THAT DIASPORANS, WHEREVER THEY ARE, ARE WORTHY OF SUCCESS, DIGNITY AND RESPECT.
9. MUTUAL RESPECT WILL INFILTRATE THE LIVES OF DIASPORANS AND HELP MAKE US WHOLE.
10. THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT WILL BECOME A VIABLE PART OF THE PAN AFRICAN MOVEMENT---SAVING THE PLANET IS ABOUT SAVING OURSELVES.
AND MUCH MORE.......
<a href="http://AOL.COM" target="_blank">ORGANIZINGSRDC@AOL.COM</a></div>LET’S HAVE A PAN-AFRICAN COMMONWEALTHhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/lets-have-a-panafrican2009-12-17T17:00:00.000Z2009-12-17T17:00:00.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><b>DAVID A COMISSIONG:</b>
LET’S HAVE A ‘PAN-AFRICAN COMMONWEALTH’
A call for the establishment of a ‘Pan-African Commonwealth or League of Nations’ comprised of all of the countries of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean that have been impacted by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was one of the main outcomes of an historic Seminar on African, Caribbean and Latin American unity that was held in St Vincent on the 5th and 6th of December under the auspices of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
This novel proposal was advanced by a Barbadian delegation consisting of Bobby Clarke and David Comissiong of the Peoples Empowerment Party, Trevor Prescod of the Israel Lovell Foundation and John Howell of African Reparations Inc., and was inspired by the intellectual work of the legendary Nigerian Pan-Africanist scholar who goes by the single name of Chinweizu.
In outlining the concept of an association of African, Latin American and Caribbean states that could be variously conceptualized as a ‘Pan African Commonwealth’, a ‘South Atlantic League of Nations’ or a ‘Pan-African Bloc of Countries’, Mr David Comissiong explained that the vast majority of the nations of the three regions are bound together by historical, racial, cultural, geographical and political factors.
In making the case for this new multi-national association of states, Mr Comissiong sketched the common history of European orchestrated slavery, forced migration of large numbers of African people, colonialism and neo-colonialism that has impacted virtually all of the societies of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, and referred to the common interest that the people and governments of the three regions possess in pursuing ‘Reparations’ for the damage inflicted on them and the establishment of a ‘New International Economic Order’.
This proposal was unanimously endorsed by the participants in the St Vincent Seminar, and the next steps in the process of making it a reality are to place it before the governing bodies of the ‘African Union’ (AU), the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the ‘Bolivarian Alternative For Latin America’ (ALBA).
However, the ‘Pan-African Commonwealth’ was not the only idea that garnered the approval of the several Vincentian, St Lucian, Venezuelan, Surinamese and Barbadian delegates at the Seminar!
Indeed, in a declaration signed by some 20 leaders and activists of the Caribbean, the Seminar acknowledged the massive flaws inherent in the neo-liberal international capitalist system, and insisted that there is an urgent need for the nations of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean to come together in solidarity and unity if they are to avoid the worst ravages of the diseased capitalist system.
The participants were very clear however that such efforts at unity have to go way beyond "the formal structures of government and state bureaucracies, into the realm of deep people-to-people contacts and relationships". And in this regard, they insisted that a much greater effort has to be made to implement comprehensive programmes of popular education and information dissemination that are designed to sharpen the intellect, critical consciousness and ideological orientation of our people.
The ‘Declaration’ also included a reiteration of "the longstanding clarion call of the progressive world community of nations and peoples for an immediate end to the criminal, illegal and immoral United States blockade against the Caribbean nation of Cuba". In addition, the participants unanimously confirmed their support of the recent declaration made by the ‘Union of South American Nations’ (UNASUR) for the South American region to be a zone of peace, and called on all of the nations of the world to respect the UNASUR declaration.
9 December 2009
<b>DAVID A COMISSIONG</b>
President
<a href="http://gmail.com" target="_blank">clementpaynechambers@gmail.com</a>
<b><i>Distributed by:
GAC_Canada@yahoogroups.com [mailto:<a href="http://yahoogroups.com" target="_blank">GAC_Canada@yahoogroups.com</a>] On Behalf Of Cikiah Thomas</i></b>
RESPONSE
by Chinweizu Chinweizu
<a href="http://gmail.com" target="_blank">sundoor777@gmail.com</a>
17dec09
Hi David Commissiong:
I recall we met in Kampala in 1994 at the 7th PAC.
I have just seen your press release about setting up a Pan-African Commonwealth. Congratulations for taking the initiative again, like you did with the GAC. And since the press release mentions me as an inspiration for the project, I feel obliged to clarify what I have been calling for, and to ask some probing questions, lest you guys sink your efforts into bringing into being something inadequate to our needs in the 21st century. Surely, we don't need another jamboree outfit for Black heads of state, or another outfit that is structurally incapable of achieving the paramount goal of Pan-Africanism, namely the total liberation of Global Black Africa from all hegemonic and imperialist powers.
Before we can assess the desirability of this Commonwealth, we need to have a prospectus that clearly sets out its constituency, goals, and the various problems of its constituency that it shall undertake to solve, a prospectus that we all can study and help mature.
<b>Here are some initial issues that come to mind:</b>
If this is to be a Pan-African outfit, it cannot afford to repeat the parochialism of the 1960s when the OAU was formed without including the Black Diaspora in its constituency and its agenda. And without even including the interests of the Afro-Mauritanians and South Sudanese in liberation from Arab colonialism and enslavement. Today, we have a variety of situations and threats to different parts of Global Black Africa. Any new “Pan-African” organization, if it is to be adequate, has to be designed to help each part of the Global Black African constituency solve its peculiar problems using help from the other parts of the constituency.
After all, isn’t that what Pan-African solidarity is about?
However, judging from the press release, this Pan-African Commonwealth is going to be concerned with securing reparations only for the western diaspora. If so, what is Pan-African about it?
What of the interests of the eastern diaspora? Or of the continental Black Africans?
What, in particular, of the interests of the Darfurians, the South Sudanese and the Black Mauritanians in their long struggle for liberation from Arab colonialism and enslavement?
What of the indigenous Fijians in their struggle to prevent political domination by the immigrant Indians?
What of the interests of the West Papuans in their struggle against Indonesian annexation?
What of the interests of the Black Australians?
What, if I may ask, is Pan-African about this proposed Commonwealth if it ignores such parts of Global Black Africa and their interests?
Or has Pan-Africanism ceased to be about the total liberation of the peoples of Global Black Africa?
<b>Here also are some initial questions that need wise answers:</b>
Who are we—the Global Black Africans? And what are our plans and ambitions for ourselves for this century?
Where is our own exclusive interstate organization? For us only?
Before seeking alliances, shouldn’t we create our own home organization, for us alone? Our home base as it were?
What is a black African state? A country with a black majority in the population? A country in which the state apparatus is in the hands of its black population?
Which states are they?
Would the USA qualify just because it has a sizeable captive black African population, or because a blackface now resides in the white house?
What are the plans and ambitions of the ALBA states with whom, from the Press Release, we may be making alliances?
As the Chinese sage Sun Tzu pointed out some 25 centuries ago: “one ignorant of the plans of neighboring states cannot make alliances with them.”
We must bear in mind that one of the fundamental errors of Nkrumah’s generation when they formed the OAU in the 1960s was that they did not find out about the plans and ambitions of the Arab states with whom they went into alliance in the OAU. And even now, many Pan-Africanists don’t know, and don’t want to know, these Arab ambitions in Africa! We cannot afford to be naïve yet again.
How will this new outfit tackle Global Black Africa’s naiveté, weakness and lack of geopolitical purpose? After all, we must articulate a geopolitical purpose other than unity. Unity is not enough. We must insist on an answer to the question: unity for what? We must always bear in mind that we can achieve unity-in-captivity, and that’s hardly what Pan-Africanism is aiming for. So, lets spell out what our liberated condition would look like and how this new outfit proposes to bring it about.
Will the agenda of this Commonwealth, unlike the OAU/AU, include, in particular, the liberation of Black Africans from Arab colonialism and enslavement?
Needless to say, for it to merit the Pan-African name, it has to openly concern itself with the interests and struggles of all the subsections of the Global Black African constituency.
Honest and correct answers to such questions would, I think, help to improve the proposal.
I have no doubt that other readers of the press release will raise additional issues and questions for consideration.
All in all, I would suggest that, instead of implementing new interstate initiatives without first thoroughly debating them, we take the next few years to rigorously think through and debate what we have done or failed to do in the last 50 years. After all, Pan Africanism since 1958, with its ill-conceived OAU and AU has failed us. It has not liberated us from the neo-colonialism and imperialism of the Europeans, let alone from Arab colonialism and enslavement. Why don't we first learn from its failures before setting off in some new direction whose constituency and goals we have not thoroughly studied? We can't afford to get it wrong again. The world is moving on and getting more dangerous for Global Black Africans.
<a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828513343,original{{/staticFileLink}}">Black World League of Nations I & II .doc</a>Please find attached my original proposal for a Black World League, in two parts: the 1994 proposal that I handed out as a flyer in Kampala; and the earlier 1985 argument for it, that is reproduced in my 1987 book, Decolonising the African Mind. Of course, the basic proposal is still valid and the Black World League is even more urgently needed. But if I were making the case for it today, I would take into consideration the lessons that we should have learned since 1994. I will update the case if required.
But let me urge you to set up a forum where a re-examination of Pan-Africanism for the 21st century can be conducted in detail, with particular attention to its constituency and its goals in the world of today. Maybe your outfit in Barbados can organize a journal or website, perhaps along the lines of Pambazuka, for conducting this re-examination of our situation and possible ways forward.
In the service of global Black Africa,
Chinweizu
ALSO SEE:
Towards a Black World League of Nations, Communities and States
by Chinweizu
<a href="http://theblacklistpub.ning.com/group/whoamiforafricaandafricans/forum/topics/towards-a-black-world-league">http://theblacklistpub.ning.com/group/whoamiforafricaandafricans/forum/topics/towards-a-black-world-league</a>
=</div>THE AFRO-ARAB CIVILISATION DIALOGUEhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/the-afroarab-civilisation-12009-03-16T17:00:00.000Z2009-03-16T17:00:00.000ZBF Bankiehttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/BFBankie<div><b>BF BANKIE:</b>Due to its denigration of African culture Arabia, since it’s incursion into Africa, has seen the continent as a civilization vacuum waiting to be filled by Arab culture and Islam.The painful fact is that it was only with the initiation of the current peace process between Khartoum, in central Sudan and Juba in south Sudan and the international focus on the genocide in Darfur, that it became apparent to the public at large, that from Mauritania on the Atlantic coast, moving eastwards to Sudan on the Red Sea, despite careful concealment, that a system of apartheid was in operation in the Afro-Arab Borderlands, where Africa meets Arabia, in places such as Mali and Niger, which border on southern Algeria and southern Libya.The potential for fighting arising from such a situation has manifested itself already in parts of Sudan, in Niger and in the on-going conflicts in the Sahel, involving groups such as the Touaregs in Mali and Niger. Concerned persons such as Prof Helmi Sharawy of theArab Research Centre for Arab-African Studies and Documentation (ARAASD ) in Cairo, Egypt and Prof Kwesi Prah of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) in Cape Town, as well as Prof Dani Nabudere of the Marcus Garvey Pan-African Institute (MPAI ) in Mbale in Uganda, have been working towards the creation of a security mechanism to prevent conflict, by way of dialogue. Meetings have taken place between progressive Arabs and progressive Africans to find common ground and to implement restorative justice, by way of dispute resolution strategies, in a situation of historical opposition and mistrust. The former Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Prof Alfa Konare convened such a meeting of scholars in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia towards the formulation of ‘A Strategic Geopolitical Vision of Afro-Arab Relations’ from 11-12th May 2004 at the headquarters of the AU, in order to determine the various views and to look at potential solutions, by way of a civilization dialogue. It is all too apparent that some would wish to intensify the divisions and exploit them. Such forces have had the upper hand in the past. Only protracted, laboured, internal solutions, within the area, will help in the long term.As the deep rooted historical problems of the Borderlands receive better understanding, well meaning people of peace will be obliged to find ways and means to handle an area of Pan-African affairs, where black Africans, due to their geopolitical weaknesses, have been in denial since self government came about in Africa in the mid-1950s. Indeed these skewered relations date back a millennia, from the initial interaction between the two peoples. It was only with the Darfur issue emerging as a genocide, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, that the organization for Pan-African unity, formerly called the Organization for African Unity (OAU), now known as the African Union (AU), concerned itself with developments in the Borderlands. Formerly these were off-limits. During the long years of war in south Sudan starting in 1955, the fighting there was not a matter of concern for the Pan-African body. The south Sudan conflict was said to be an Arab issue, for decision by the Arab League only. Such a view was supported by Libya.Paradoxically, as it may appear, it was the Republican Administration of George Bush in the USA, which championed the cause of the Darfuri against the genocide and pushed the international community to conclude the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between Khartoum and Juba. History will draw its own conclusions as to why it was Bush and not the previous Clinton Democrat Administration which opted for peace in South Sudan. The Democrats did nothing to stop the war in South Sudan or to decisively intervene in the Sudan issue. They are remembered for bombing a civilian target in Khartoum, which was a pharmaceutical factory. They failed to concern themselves with the lives of the marginalized millions living in the Borderlands and were part of the cover-up. The last Democrat Administration in the USA saw central Africa, the Great Lakes and particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in flames. The Democrats were part of the problem, not part of the solution. This might have been the most murderous period in the self-government era in this area of Africa. The policies in this area of the incoming Obama Administration have yet to receive clarity.On the 22nd February 2003 the Drammeh Institute in New York and CASAS convened the Conference on Arab-led Slavery of Africans in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was attended by scholars from around the world, especially from Sudan and Mauritania. Conference stated that after centuries of silence and non-expression, it was time to speak out on the inequities visited against Africans in their relations with Arabs. It recognized the need to overcome collective amnesia and the need for research on African interaction with Arabs, the Ottomans and the Turks, all of whom played a key role in making north Africa what it is today. Conference promoted closer relations with the eastern Diaspora in Arabia, the Gulf states and points eastwards. It censored the implementation of genocide in Sudan and charged Arab societies with the ethnocide of African people through forced cultural Arabization processes over a millennia. Finally the conference called for the institution of a civilization dialogue between the Arab and African people.Such a dialogue needs to take place between those living in the Borderlands, such as in Mauritania and in Sudan, with those in that area who profess to be Arabs. Some might assume that, for example, Afro-Brazilians, could conduct such a dialogue with the Arabs of the area. This would not be helpful. Neither would it assist if, for example, South Africans dialogued with Arabs. Africans in general, as has been said, have been in denial on these issues, and some still are. It is those who have felt the effects of the expansionist hegemony over a millennia, not the African Union, who can best begin a process of possible reconciliation, as seen in southern Africa.Such a dialogue will, as and when initiated in an organized fashion, be fraught with difficulties and take centuries to have effect. The current Government of National Unity(GONU) in Khartoum, Sudan, illustrates that the attempt at cohabitation of the National Islamic Front (NIF)/National Congress Party (NCP) of Omar el Bashir in Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Juba, South Sudan, has been anything but harmonious. The relationship has been characterized by deceit, lies and betrayal by Khartoum from day one.Finally, the civilization dialogue between the African and the Arab must be conducted on a basis of strict equality and mutual respect. Such a dialogue, once its existence is formerly established, will take place in both formal and informal settings, where people meet formally and informally. It will need to be worked towards deliberately and continuously. At the moment Arab superiority to the African is a given, both in the Arab world and internationally. This explains China’s position on the Sudan issue, where due to economic interests, China is the principal defender of the Khartoum government and its main supplier of weapons. Another surprisingly vocal supporter of Bashir and Khartoum has been Tabor Mbeki.The current international positioning for and against Khartoum, in the issue by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of the Writ against President Bashir of Sudan, needs to be carefully scrutinized and followed. These manoeuvres do not just reflect support for a despot, but relate to initial positioning on the broad issue of Afro-Arab future relations and their global implication. What happens in Sudan today has application, for example, in Mauritania and the rest of the Afro-Arab Borderlands tomorrow. The domination of Arabs in this area was in the past a ‘given ‘ in the geo-political discourse. The facts of the area were difficult to locate ( the ratio of Arab to African in Sudan is concealed by the government of Sudan – the same applies in the rest of the Borderlands, right across to Mauritania ) and the area was not subject to analysis in the international media, being ‘off-limits ‘ for discussion in the west and east, in so-called ‘traditional diplomacy’. The well being of the area was determined by the neo-colonial arrangements left by the departing external actors, who monopolized developments in the area according to their own interests. The first generation of post-colonial leaders, such as Sekou Toure and Modibo Keita abided by these rules and did not seek to interfere with the colonial dispensation in the Borderlands.What broke the mould was the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) of South Sudan, lead by Dr John Garang de Mabior, fighting on behalf of all the marginalized people of Sudan, including the Darfuri, the Beja of the east, the Nubians in the north of the country and others. The SPLA together with the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) forcedKhartoum to sign the CPA. This changed the course of history and the strategic balance in the Borderlands, from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, creating the opportunity to open the Borderlands to public scrutiny - an area which had been shut off from view. This led to the Darfur ‘rebellion’ and the further ramifications which are underway. The significance of the CPA, which cost three millon+ lives and long years of war, should be compared with the implications of the battle of Cuito Cunavale in Angola for Southern Africa. In the instance of the CPA the military struggles took longer due to international marginalization and indifference to the loss of African lives and was undertaken by Africans. In the international relations of the period 1950s-2005 the events in South Sudan did not feature in the media. The implications of this are that the resolution of issues such as Darfur and the Borderlands in general will have to be done by African actors, not by external players. Until Africans are strong enough the area, including Somalia, will remain war prone. Indeed this lesson should have been long learnt in the Congo basin. All these mean that the Pan-African body, the AU alone, has to be up to the historical responsibilities it faces. Gone are the days of external solutions. There is no other option to peaceful co-existence, combined with a preparedness to met force with force.<a href="BFBANKIE@YAHOO.COM">B.F.Bankie</a>, former Researcher, Kush Institution, Juba, South Sudan</div>Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan, Updatehttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/dr-yosef-benjochannan-update2009-02-12T13:00:00.000Z2009-02-12T13:00:00.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div>Greetings Family,
How are you? I am a little tired but I am okay. It is a busy time for me. African-American Heritage Month or Black History Month or whatever you choose to call this time of year is very demanding, and the scholars tend to really push themselves during this time. Last weekend I lectured in Detroit and Chicago and right now I am in the middle of an Ohio lecture series. I am trying to get at least a few hours of sleep every night. My diet could be a lot better but I am drinking a lot of water and trying to walk at least a little bit everyday. Which brings me to the point of this morning's email. This is an update on some of our greatest scholars, several of which have health challenges lately.
Dr. Richard King, psychiatrist, author and researcher on melanin, is back in the Intensive Care Unit. Brother Richard has had some health challenges of late but seems to be doing a little better. We will update you as time goes along.
Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, a great scholar and mentor of mine, and the world's leading authority on the African presence in early America, remains largely in seclusion. Periodically I exchange messages with Jaki Van Sertima and she keeps me updated on Ivan's health status.
Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan, Egyptologist, remains in a Bronx nursing home. <b>He surely does not want to be there and, indeed, nobody is happy about it.</b> But, based on a personal visit and long talks with his daughter and primary care giver Ruth ben-Jochannan, he is doing okay. He has bunches of visitors and people are trying hard to put him in a better place. He also now has a private room. Many people have asked me about sending money to him. <b>If you want to send something just let me know and I will give you his daughter's mailing address. It is her home address and I won't just post it all over the Internet. So, if you are serious, let me know and I will tell you where to forward your contribution.</b>
Another senior scholar that I've had a bit of a relationship with and would like to have more is Dr. Edward Robinson in Philadelphia. Happy to say that Dr. Robinson seems to be doing fine.
I also met last night here in Kent, Ohio Dr. Edward Crosby -- one of the founders of the Pan-African studies department at Kent State University. While getting up in years he remains committed to the struggle. It was a real pleasure to meet him.
Well, I will leave it at that for now. I promise to keep you posted.
African love,
<b>Runoko Rashidi Okello
<a href="runoko@yahoo.com">runoko@yahoo.com</a></b>
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