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Preview #11, Journal of Pan African Studies, Poetry Issue

Guest Editor, Marvin X

NEWS,VIEWS, REVIEWS

A Pan African Dialogue on Cuba

From Black Bird Press News

Hip Hop Artist Dead Prez on Sanctions

INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed hip hop group Dead Prez recently announced

plans to make a song that would call for the lifting of the US-EU

sanctions against Zimbabwe, as well as the US blockade on Cuba. En route

to Washington DC, one of the group’s lyricists, brother Mutulu Olugbala

whose stage name is M-1 gave The Herald’s  US correspondent, Obi Egbuna

(OE) an exclusive interview and shared the  reasons behind the decision

for a song focusing on both Zimbabwe and  Cuba.

OE: Brother Mutulu, thank you for granting The Herald this interview.

Could we begin by having you share the reason for doing  a song

concerning US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe and the US blockade on  Cuba?

M-1: In the case of Zimbabwe, the US-EU sanctions are  approaching 10

years very rapidly, and the monstrous US blockade on  Cuba, is

approaching 50 years old.

This tactic being used by our  former colonial and slave masters to

politically isolate countries and  stifle their economic growth and

ability to strengthen basic  infrastructure is as destructive as war,

military invasions (and)  natural calamities like hurricanes and

tornadoes. But (it) hasn’t  received the same attention.

We feel the US Government is extremely hypocritical when it labels  both

Zimbabwe and Cuba dictatorships, boldly claiming both countries  deprive

its people basic democratic freedoms.

However, the international community vehemently opposes US-EU sanctions

on Zimbabwe and the US blockade on Cuba and the White House, US Senate

and Congress won’t budge at all.

I sincerely hope this song will not only bring more awareness to the

suffering  these policies have caused in Zimbabwe and Cuba, but also

celebrate the  resilience of the leadership and people on the ground in

these  countries, who overcome daily challenges therefore standing firm

in the  face of adversity.

OE: Brother Mutulu, the timing of the decision to do this song will be

received very well in Zimbabwe and Cuba.

In Zimbabwe Akon, Sizzla Kalonji and Maxi Priest have all performed

there recently, and in Cuba earlier this year Kool and the Gang

performed and received an award. Will Dead Prez do this song alone or

reach out to other artistes to have more impact?

M-1: We will definitely reach out to the artistes you mentioned who

performed in Zimbabwe and the artistes who we know have performed in

Cuba. We also want to involve artistes in both Zimbabwe and Cuba because

  in the final analysis who else can  speak better for their leaders and

people?

I was amazed when I  was told that Zimbabweans affectionately refer to

their country as the  land of musicians, and we know in the case of

Cuba, it would be hard to  find a country that has used art in a

revolutionary framework better  than they have.

I am getting excited just thinking of the potential of this song. It

will cross genres and generations, and complement the genuine efforts

of countless freedom fighters who dedicated their lives to building

bridges between people driven by an unyielding passion for freedom and

justice.

OE: Brother Mutulu, what in your opinion are the broader  implications

of having the first US president of African descent  extending sanctions

on Zimbabwe two years in a row, and approaching  lifting of the US

blockade on Cuba on the Democratic Party’s timetable, instead of the

ties of the world community?

M-1: First and foremost, it is important for  President Obama to look at

Zimbabwe and Cuba as a US Democrat and not  an African; therefore he is

mainly preoccupied with US interests in both  nations, not what is in

the best interest of the masses.

If he  is not challenged he will maintain the course of his

predecessors.  Frederick Douglas taught us, "Power concedes nothing

without demand",  therefore we must intensify the battle to lift US-EU

sanctions on  Zimbabwe and the US blockade on Cuba in the streets of the

United  States.

In our case as artistes, until we match the pressure of the

international community in relationship to US policy on Zimbabwe and

Cuba, the US government will go on with business as usual.

If we  don’t aggressively confront President Obama about lifting US-EU

sanctions on Zimbabwe and the US blockade on Cuba, we give the

impression his failure to do so has our political blessing.

OE: Brother Mutulu, inside the United States we saw the leader of the

National Action Network, Reverend Al Sharpton recently organise a march

in commemoration of the historic March on Washington in 1963 where Dr

Martin Luther King, Jr made the "I have a dream" speech.

Because  Zimbabwe and Cuba were both liberated through armed struggles,

do you  think that's what makes Africans born and raised in the US who

consider  non-violence as a cardinal principle reluctant to embrace

these nations?

M-1: This is a rational explanation but nevertheless is not  acceptable.

The most moderate and conservative elements in our community  all

celebrate the Civil War as the driving force in relationship to

abolishing slavery, but ignore 200 slave revolts in response to forced

free labour, rape and torture.

These same groups amongst our people have also written the Deacons for

Defence out of the history of the civil rights movement.  You have

touched on overcoming the colonial and slave mentality,  therefore

embracing all  genuine forms of resistance, because you celebrate true

progress  regardless of the political manner in which it was brought about.

Zimbabwe defeated the second most powerful European army on the African

continent, and Cuba launched a guerrilla war from the Sierra Maestra

Mountains. This meant both countries overcame almost insurmountable

odds to attain independence. Both stories bring tears to my eyes, and

must be taught to our children without apology or hesitation.

OE: Brother Mutulu, what would you say to this generation of Zimbabweans

and Cubans who might not appreciate Dead Prez wanting to stand with

them, and would like the opportunity to relocate to the US?

M-1: The inability of the formerly enslaved and colonised to fully

contextualise their political significance and succumb to pressure is

part and parcel of the  struggle to defend your sovereignty.

Our artistic mission is to  capture for the African world, the true

plight of the African in the  United States, which defiantly contradicts

the colonialist and  imperialist version of our story.

This will make not only this generation of Zimbabweans and Cubans,  but

all young people not yet in touch with their fighting spirit realise

that the battlefield for oppressed people is truly heaven on earth.

OE: Thanks for your thoughts and time!M-1: Long live the heroic people

and leadership of Zimbabwe and Cuba!

obiegbuna15@yahoo.com

Letter to the Editor:

Dear brother Marvin:

I applaud your decision to initiate a sober, objective and dispassionate discussion regarding the plight of the black majority in Cuba.For decades, as you know, I have dedicated myself to bringing awareness on thisserious issue to black progressives all over the world. Now, at last, a sectionof the Black Left has began to take a much more critical view of events inCuba, and that can only help to consolidate a real pan-african vision thatincludes us all. Again, dear brother, thank you for being an objective voiceappealing to reason rather than passion, facts rather than ideological credo.Warm fraternal regards to you and all of the brothers and sisters who arehelping you in that noble endeavor.

Carlos MOORE

Afro-Cubans push back

by Carlos Moore

Prominent black Americans condemn Cuba on racism

A group of prominent black Americans has for the first time publicly condemnedCuba's rights record, demanding Havana stop its "callous disregard'' forblack Cubans and declaring that "racism in Cuba . . . must beconfronted."

"We know first-hand the experiences and consequences of denying civilfreedoms on the basis of race," the group said in a statement Monday."For that reason, we are even more obligated to voice our opinion on whatis happening to our Cuban brethren."

Among the 60 signers were Princeton professor Cornel West, actress Ruby DeeDavis, film director Melvin Van Peebles, former South Florida congresswomanCarrie Meek and Dr. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of President Barack Obama'schurch in Chicago.

African-Americangroup challenges Cuba on race

Whythe delayed outcry?

"All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.''
Edmund Burke

A group of 60 African-American leaders, influenced by Brazil's Abdias Nascimiento, a self-proclaimedadmirer of Fidel Castro, condemned racism in Cuba. Congratulations.
•
Claimof Cuban racism rejected

Pro-government Cuban writers and artists Friday rejected allegations byAfrican-Americans of racism and repression on the island, calling the charges``delusional'' and part of ``an anti-Cuban campaign.''

The reply came as four Afro-Cuban dissidents thanked the Americans for theirsupport, and four prominent academics from the English-speaking Caribbeancondemned Cuba's``continued racial prejudice.''

The allegations issued Monday by 60 African-Americans touched a raw nervebecause it was the first time that U.S. blacks, historicallysupportive of the Castro government, criticized the island's civil rightsrecord and supported Afro-Cuban dissidents.

carlosmoore2000@gmail.com
In a landmark ``Statement of Conscience by African Americans,'' 60 prominentblack American scholars, artists and professionals have condemned the Cubanregime's apparent crackdown on the country's budding civil-rights movement.

``Racism in Cuba,and anywhere else in the world, is unacceptable and must be confronted,'' saidthe document, which also called for the immediate release of Dr. Darsi Ferrer,a black civil-rights leader imprisoned in July.

The U.S. State Department estimates Afro-Cubans make up 62 percent of the Cubanpopulation, with many informed observers saying the figure is closer to 70percent. Traditionally, African Americans have sided with the Castro regime andunilaterally condemned the UnitedStates, which, in the past, explicitlysought to topple the Cuban government. But this public rebuke of Castro'sracial policies may well indicate a tide change and a more-balanced attitude.

Representing a wide spectrum of political opinion, the document was signed byCornel West, Princeton University scholar; Ruby Dee, famed actress; SusanTaylor, former Essence magazine editor and current president of the NationalCARES Mentoring Movement; Julianne Malveaux, Bennett College president; ClaudiaMitchell-Kernan, UCLA vice chancellor; the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastoremeritus of Chicago's Trinity Church; retired U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek; KathleenCleaver, former Black Panther activist; Ron Walters, former presidentialcampaign manager for Jesse Jackson and current director of the African AmericanLeadership Institute; movie director Melvin Van Peebles; and Betty Ferguson,former Miami-Dade County commissioner.

Deepening inequalities

What could have caused that reversal? Changing demographics in America and the election of a black U.S.president seem to have spurred African-American curiosity about the fate ofAfro-Latins south of the border. Through that process, many U.S. blacks have realized that Castro, onceadmired for thumbing his nose at America,is now an 82-year-old dictator struggling to prolong five decades of absolutepower through terror and policies that deepen racial inequalities in Cuba.

Victoria Ruiz, U.S.representative of the islandwide civil-rights group, Citizens Committee forRacial Integration, says Cuba'sblack movement -- vigorously suppressed in the 1960s, at the early stage of therevolution -- was resurrected in the 1990s. She complains that young, blackCubans suffer aggressive racial profiling by police. She claims that about 70percent of Afro-Cubans are believed to be unemployed, a staggering figure byany standard. And 85 percent of Cuba'sjail population is estimated to be black, Ruiz reports.

Representing 25-odd different groups, black dissidents in Cuba argue thatracial disparities on the island are worsened by the Obama administration'srecent decision to allow Cuban Americans to freely send remittances (worth anestimated $1.5 billion yearly) to their relatives. More than 85 percent ofCuban Americans are white, they say, so the beneficiaries in Cuba of the new remittances policywill also be white. ``These remittances could morph into start-up investmentcapital for its recipients, thus creating a de facto new race-class inside of Cuba,'' says Enrique Patterson, U.S.spokesman for the Progressive Circle Party, a major multiracial, black-leddissident group.

Clearly, Cuba'sblack-led, multiracial opposition movement is an open embarrassment to theCastro regime. But it is also a disquieting development for the traditionallyright-wing, anti-Castro organizations around the world that have long claimedto be the heralds of the battle for ``freedom and democracy'' in Cuba.Taken by surprise by this new and apparently growing opposition force in theisland, many white exiles are exhibiting confusion and frustration. When notopenly hostile, the right-wing representatives of the predominantly whiteCuban-American exile community seem unsure how to respond.

Cuba'snew opposition has made no moves to elicit their support either, said Ruiz,whose Citizens Committee for Racial Integration, a multiracial organization, isled by the moderate black intellectual Juan Madrazo Luna. The ProgressiveCircle Party, another large dissident movement led by Afro-Cuban academicManuel Cuesta Morúa, a self-identified Social Democrat, has shown noinclinations it desires such support either.

Patterson believes that it may very well be the absence of right-wing exilesupport for these social-democratic oriented and multiracial movements that nowspurs African Americans to rush to their defense. ``Therefore, the time hascome for Washingtonto directly engage the island's majority about matters that will affectbilateral relations in the future,'' he said.

Carlos Moore, ethnologist and political scientist, is author of Pichón: Race and Revolution in Castro's Cuba.

Human Rights in Cuba: A missed shot on the wrong flank

by Pedro de la Hoz

THE December 1 edition of Miami’s El Nuevo Herald published a fullreport on an "African-American Statement in Support of Civil Rights inCuba," which accuses our country of currently being a racist society,drawing on an alleged increase in civil and human rights abuses of Cubanactivists with the courage to raise their voices against the island’s racistsystem. It stated that "those isolated and courageous defenders of civilrights have been subjected to unprovoked violence, intimidation on the part ofthe authorities and imprisonment."

The documents had been hastily circulated a few hours before to procure signatures that would give visibilityto something cooked up by Carlos Moore, an individual of Cuban origin who, foryears now, has presented himself as a "specialist on racial issues"and has made a living in the United Statesand Brazilat the cost of manipulating Cuban realities. Prior to its publication, Moorehad managed to con a respectable activist from the African-Brazilian movement,making him believe that legal action taken by the Cuban authorities against oneof the beneficiaries of funds from the anti-Cuba policies of various U.S.administrations, was because the subject is black. He kidded other people whoreceived the statement into believing the same story. Someone of the prestigeof the African-American poet and playwright Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)commented on the communiqué as follows: "Moore has been promoting this type of viciousprovocations since the 60s… Apparently certain African Americans who signed hispetition are unaware of Moore’shistorical pull."

James Early, another outstanding figure who has traveled to Cuba on manyoccasions and who works in the Smithsonian Institute, stated that he did nottrust Moore’s motives for involving himself in the issue of race in Cuba andstressed that "the letter is not in line with what I and otherAfrican-American activists found in our recent visit from September 14 to 22,during which we had frank and open conversations with Cuban citizens andgovernment officials." Early also noted that "Cuban citizens andtheir political representatives are discussing how to improve their socialistrevolution." So eloquent is the letter in the method it uses to distortracial issues, that one of its signatories addressed the media on Monday,December 7. Makani Themba-Nixon, director of the Praxis Project, asked for hisname to be withdrawn from the documents, on the grounds that the accusatoryletter against Cuba"is being manipulated to help to detract legitimacy from the importantsocial project that is underway in that nation." A group of Cubanintellectuals, solely directed by our consciences and in a personal capacity,came together to share our point of view on the issue with African-Americancolleagues. Because this is about airing, in all seriousness and witharguments, human rights in our country, and about making it known that thestatement issued in the UnitedStates is a missed shot on the wrong flank.

Translated by Granma International


North American African Activists,Intellectuals and Artists Speak

To U.S.Citizens: WE STAND WITH CUBA

RE: CONTINUED SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

http://www.petitiononline.com/withcuba/petition.html

For endorsement and inquiries just e-mail: blackeducator@africamail.com

We, the undersigned, express our continuing solidarity with the Cuban Revolution.Cuban expatriate Carlos Moore and the other signers of theDecember 1, 2009ACTING ON OUR CONSCIENCE: DECLARATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANSUPPORT FOR THECIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE IN CUBA do not speak for or represent the vastmajority of Black radicals/progressives, nor the sentiment of the massesofAfrican Americans in the United States.

This December 1st Declaration ironically makes no mention of the 50 year USblockade against Cuba, and how it seeks to derail the progress made by Cubathus far toward eradicating the racism created by its former colonizers - Spainand the United States.We are disappointed that the signers of the Declaration,many whom have made important contributions to the African American struggles againstracism and for democracy, connected their charge of racism to the claims of Dr.Darsi Ferrer Ramirez and Carlos Moore, two known opponents of Cuba'srevolutionary system.

Apparently, like many opportunists both Carlos Moore and Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramirez, who resides in Cuba,saw the opportunity to solicit support for their position from this selectgroup of high profile and "credible" sectors of the African Americancommunity. This action is divisive and misguided. We, the undersigned, believethat the Carlos Moore originated petition is designed to create a wedge in theAfrican American support base for Cuba.

Moore's petition is also an attempt to dismiss Cubaas a modern example of how socialism is a practical system that ensures anequitable distribution of its resources for ALL Cubans.For more than fortyyears, Carlos Moore has opportunistically roamed the globe spreading lies andslander about Cuba.Like Moore, Dr. Darsi Ferrer, who ran into trouble when he attempted to set upa medical clinic outside the state run medical system, has also sought to userace to undermine the gains, institutions and anti-racist direction broughtabout by the Cuban Revolution.

In 2006, Dr. Ferrer went to the USinterest-section and was given a US-monitored email account (i.e. access to aCIA manipulated portal). Dr. Ferrer's reactionary blog along with links toreactionary websites such as Capital Hill Cubans, Blog for Cuba and kill castro.com can befound at http://blogacionpordarsiferrer.blogspot.com/. Moore, and the signers of the Declaration, ignore the decades-long strugglewaged by the Cuban government against all forms of racism. This includesignoring/denying Cuba'sinternationalist support of African, Caribbeanand African American liberation struggles. Moreover, Moore and his followersignore the historical and present-day fact that Afro Cubans have not been amere passive force, but have been and are central in the struggles to make andadvance the Cuban Revolution.

This attack on Cuba is an attack on a country that stood fast to its democratic, socialist,anti-racist and internationalist principles despite the great pressures from USand world imperialism, which has forced other countries to abandon thesepositions. It is clearly no coincidence that this attack on Cuba, comes at atime when so many throughout the US and internationally are being victimized bythe policies and crises of capitalism and are seeing responses in Cuba andother countries throughout Latin America that seek to address the needs of the massesof people and not the banks and ruling classes as is being done in the US. Thisattack on Cuba is an attackon efforts to forge Black and Brown working class unity as the cornerstone ofthe democratic and socialist revolutions developing throughout Latin America.

It also furthers the US efforts to divide African Americans and Latinos as the major growing challenge to oppressive US domestic and foreign policies. Forfive hundred years prior to the Cuban Revolution, racism was the norm in Cubansociety. To expect that it would completely disappear even in fifty years is apipe dream. Indeed, as Fidel Castro, noted in 2003 in a dialogue in Havana with Cuban and foreign teachers:" Even insocieties like Cuba,that arose from a radical social revolution where the people had reached fulland total legal equality and a level of revolutionary education that threw downthe subjective component of discrimination, it still exists in another form. "Fidel,as noted in the December 2, 2009 "Message From Cuba To Afro-American Intellectualsand Artists," described this as objective discrimination, a phenomenonassociated with poverty and a historical monopoly on knowledge.

The criticisms about the presence of racism in Cubaare being addressed within the framework of the Cuban Government and civilsociety. There is and has been fierce debates and policy changes INSIDE thesestructures when it comes to eradicating 500 years of racism in Cuba. Cuba'spolicies against any form of discrimination and in favor of equality aregrounded in the Cuban Constitution. According to Afro Cubans:" As neverbefore in the history of our nation, black and mestizo Cubans have foundopportunities for social and personal development in transformative processesthat have been ongoing for the past half a century. These opportunities areconveyed through policies and programs that made possible the initiation ofwhat Cuban Anthropologist Don Fernando Ortiz, called the non- deferrableintegration phase of Cuban society." (Message from Cuba to AfricanAmerican Intellectuals and Artists, 12/2/09)

The people of Cuba, in electing their representatives to the National Assembly, have chosen a very diverse group,including dozens of Black Cubans prominently working in many key roles. Indeed,the National Assembly of Cuba is so racially diverse that if Cubawas "suffering" from racism, how did these brothers and sisters getelected? Unlike when the Congressional Black Caucus was formed in 1970, thiseffort came out of the necessity here in the United States to continuallydefend the hard won Civil liberties and there rights to equal opportunitieswaged for centuries by African Americans. Unlike the signers of the December 1,2009 Declaration, we have not forgotten that in the struggles againstcolonialism and apartheid, when Africa called, Cuba answered.

Unlike other friends of Africa, Cuba provided assistance tothe people of Southern Africa, withoutbrokering one deal for access to resources or anything else. Cuba‘s solidaritywith the people of Southern Africa in the 1987/88 Battle of Cuito Cuanavale inAngola was the decisive turning point in the defeat of apartheid. We rememberand applaud Cuba's provisionof teachers, technicians, doctors and other medical personnel along with freemedical training to the young people of Latin America, the Caribbean, Africaand Asia. During the past forty years, morethan 35,000 African youth have been trained free of charge while studying inCuban medical and technical schools as well as universities.
We the undersigned believe that the true callous disregard for the rights ofcitizens is taking place here in the United States, with HurricaneKatrina being the most glaring proof. In contrast Cubawas among the first countries to offer human and material aid during thiscrisis in 2005, aid that was in turn rejected by the U.S. government. The U.S.Government continues to spend billions of dollars on war abroad whileneglecting African Americans and the poor who are generally subjected tosubstandard health care and education, the lack of decent and affordablehousing, urban street violence and police brutality, crippling unemployment andjobs that people need to live decently.

Cuba is the ONLY country in the world to provide free medical training to United Statesstudents wishing to become doctors; providing full scholarships that includetuition, room, board and ALL incidentals. Many of these students are AfricanAmericans whose dreams of becoming doctors in order to serve their communitieswould never have been realized. We the undersigned call on African Americans tostand up in support of the Cuban Revolution and call on the U.S. Government toend its blockade on the Cuban people. We also call for African Americans tobuild a united front in the United Statesthat addresses the ongoing historical callous disregard for the rights ofAfrican Americans and all people who are subjected to gross negligence in America.We call on the signers of Carlos Moore's Declaration to withdraw their names asan act of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution and recognition of the valiantand consistent efforts by Cubato eradicate racism. In closing we reaffirm our respect for the Cuban people'sright to self-determination and sovereignty.

We the undersigned STAND WITH CUBA! Long Live The Cuban Revolution!

Abayomi Azikiwe, Detroit Editor, Pan-African News Wire
S. E. Anderson- Brooklyn, NY Activist/Educator/ Black Left Unity Network*
Kazembe Balagun, New York, NY Writer/activist/ Outreach Coordinator -BrechtForum
blackmanwithalibrary.com
Amina & Amiri Baraka, Newark, NJ Activists/Writers/ Educators
The Rev. Luis Barrios, PhD, New York, NY
Afro-Boricua- Human Rights Activist, Priest & Professor
Department of Latin American Studies
John Jay College of Criminal Justice- City University of New York
Judy Bourne, JD, US Virgin Islands Activist Attorney
Jean Damu, San Francisco, CA
Journalist Lena Delgado de Torres, Binghamton, NY Doctoral Candidate, SociologyDepartment Binghamton University
James Early, Washington, DC Board Member of Trans Africa, Institute for PolicyStudies and US-Cuba Cultural Exchange and Director of Cultural Heritage Policyat the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution
Herman and Iyaluua Ferguson- North Carolina/New York Activists/Educators/Malcolm X Commemoration Committee
Franklin Flores, New York, NY Artist/Activist, Casa De Las Americas NYC
Joan P. Gibbs, Esq.- Brooklyn, NY National Conference of Black Lawyers
Gerald Horne, JD, PhD- Austin, TX, Activist/Historian/ Author
Basir Mchawi, Bronx, NY Chair of the International African Arts Festival
Rosemari Mealy, JD, PhD- Brooklyn, NY Educator/Activist/ Author of Fidel andMalcolm X: Memories of a Meeting
Saladin Muhammad- Rocky Mount, NC Black Workers For Justice
Tony Menelik Van Der Meer- Boston, MA, Activist/Educator • Africana StudiesDepartment University of Massachusetts Boston
Norman Richmond, Toronto, Canada Activist/Radio Journalist
Prof. Harold Rogers, Chicago, Il Chair, Emeritus, African American Studies Dept
City Colleges of Chicago
Aishah D. Sales, Adjunct Professor, Peekskill, NY Dept. of MathematicsWestchester Community College (SUNY)
William W. Sales, Jr., PhD.- Peekskill, NY Associate Professor Africana StudiesDepartment Seton Hall University
Brenda Stokely, Brooklyn, NY Million Worker March Movement, Labor/Community andAnti-war Activists
Tim Thomas, Oakland, CA Community Building Program Manager Habitat for HumanityEast Bay
Willie Thompson, San Francisco, CA Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, CityCollege of San Francisco
Askia Toure, Boston, MA Activist/Poet

Tontongi, Boston, MA
Editor of the Review Tanbou, Boston, Massachusetts
Roy Walker- Chicago, IL Advocate of Philosophical Consciencism
Michael Tarif Warren, Brooklyn, New York
Activist Attorney
Hank Williams- New York City Freedom Road Socialist Org/OSCL and CUNY GraduateCenter
Marvin X, editor/publisher Black Bird Press

Chinua Achebe Wins Prize

Chinua Achebe, author of “Things Fall Apart,” has been selected to receive the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for his“unprecedented impact in literature.”

Achebe, professor of Africana studies at Brown University,has written more than 20 books, often using his writing to forge a betterunderstanding of modern-day Africa,said Brown on Friday.

The 80-year-old author has founded a number of magazines for African art, fiction and poetry.As editor of Heinemann Publishing’s “African Writers Series,” Achebe has
worked to bring post-colonial African works to a larger audience.

“When I was a boy growing up in Nigeria, becoming a novelist was a far-away dream,” said Achebe. “Now it is a realityfor many African writers, not just myself.”

The Gish prize will award Achebe approximately $300,000 and a silver medallion for his “outstanding contributionto the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding oflife.” Other Gish prize winners include
Pete Seeger, Robert Redford and Bob Dylan.

Achebe will be honored on Oct. 27 at the Hudson Theater in New York City.

SOURCE: African Sun Times