The 2010 Gathering of the Diaspora

PRESS RELEASE
A Gathering of the Diaspora
JULY 23-25 , 2010
Charleston, South Carolina
The South Carolina Council of Elders and the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus Secretariat (SRDC) invite you to the annual conference of the Diaspora being held this year in Charleston, South Carolina. This SRDC gathering is held in various regions of the country and this year, for the first time, we will be in South Carolina. As most of you know, the African Diaspora was the mostly involuntary and scattered movement of Africans and their descendants, predominantly to the Americas, and is one of the largest displacements of a population in pre-modern times. It began in the middle of the 15th century, and as many as twenty million African people were transported to the Western Hemisphere and forcibly enslaved by white Europeans.
This 2010 Gathering of the Diaspora begins Friday, July 23rd, at 9 am with a guided tour of Charleston and Gullah areas, including former slave ports. Charleston and its surroundings brought in the largest contingent of captured Africans throughout most of America’s ante-bellum period, and Charleston figured prominently in Tecumseh Sherman’s Field Order 15 which provided abandoned and confiscated land to former slaves. At 1:30 pm, the official conference will begin at the International Longshoremen Association Hall in downtown Charleston (899 Morrison Drive). There will be a community gathering Friday night, and an extraordinarily important breakfast meeting on Saturday morning, plus a public plenary, with special guest speakers from the African Union, from 11 am through 5:30 pm on Saturday at the Hall. There will be youth and economic workshops, a community forum on re-connecting South Carolina’s African American population to its African roots, the issue of African dual citizenship, discussions regarding South Carolina heroes and sheroes like Smalls, Delany, Tubman and many others who have made major contributions to American life. There will be guests from Canada, Central America, the Caribbean, Germany and the Netherlands, among others. Essentially, “We (the Diaspora) have received an invitation to be a part of the African Union, a central body that represents all except one of the 53 nations of Africa. The vision is to form what will become the United States of Africa, or Union of African States, and include those of us who live outside the African continent. The Diaspora is to participate in decision-making on determining how that new African future will look. This vision of unity is what the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus gathering is about. We want members of our community to understand and participate in this great change that is happening.”
So, we are inviting members of the Black Church, members of the Gullah community, members of the South Carolina business and professional community, youth, academics, and more to come and join us. Let’s discuss, debate and participate. We know where we are right now; are there other options for our future? Do we want to have dual citizenship in Africa? Can we establish direct trade and commercial links with African countries that will benefit South Carolinians? What does 21st Century Pan Africanism have to say to youth about inspiring them to greatness? What is THE DECADE OF THE DIASPORA and how does it affect South Carolina and beyond? Can the Diaspora in fact organize itself in order to accept the AU’s invitation to join?
Come join us !! Let’s break bread and talk seriously in mutually respectful tones about moving forward !!
For further information, contact Brother Kumasi Palmer (843) 452-4880 SRDC horojoe@aol.com or Brother Fred Lincoln (843)697-1699 flincoln@bellsouth.net or write us at organizingSRDC@aol.com

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