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AFRIKAN QUEST |
| Welcome to the home page of Afrikan Quest audio-visual production team. NUBIART EDITORIAL “NUBIART - A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THE AFRIKAN WORLD” NUBIART EDITORIAL Nubiart Editorials from 2005-9 are available as annual reviews in MS Word. To receive them free e-mail us stating which year you would like to receive. EDITORIAL Nubiart has been asked to highlight the following initiative. While we have historical reservations about the effectiveness of UN structures we feel that the issues the project addresses are still highly relevant. - INTERNATIONAL NGO CONGRESS INC. INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE This release relates to the project which was launched in Barbados and Spain on 28th February, 2010. You are asked to help make it public worldwide. PROPOSAL FOR CREATING ZONES OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION The end of the United Nations’ Decade for Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) approaches. To this end, the ‘International NGO Congress Inc.’ are asking your support for a global initiative on Justice and Reconciliation starting 7th to 13th October 2010. The history of Haiti and events following that catastrophe of 12th January is yet more evident that justice is needed in our world. We make this appeal to all people of goodwill in general and people in Civil Society Organisations working in the field of Social Justice, World Peace and Reconciliation in particular. We are proposing and recommending for your support a ‘One World Week (OWW) Project’ which would enable people of goodwill from different regions of the world to work together simultaneously for peace based on Social Justice. This project is the culmination of discussions held over three decades (from 1977) with a variety of people in a number of countries, coordinated by Buddy Aaron Larrier an Afrikan Caribbean Community activist in the field of Social Justice and Reconciliation. These discussions included an approach to the Governments of the Caribbean and to over 170 other World Leaders and international organisations, for 12th October to be designated as an International Day of Hope for Truth, Justice and Peace. During this time, the World Council of Churches (WCC) through its Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Committee, also made a covenant to convene a ‘World Day of Prayer’ on Racism. Subsequent to these two initiatives in 1999, Mr. Jeremy Gilley an Englishman was inspired to make a proposal for the realisation of a ‘World Cease Fire Day’. He founded an organisation ‘Peace One Day’ and submitted his proposal to the British Government. Two years later on 7th September, 2001, the British Government with the support from the Government of Costa Rico presented Mr. Gilley’s proposal to the U.N. General Assembly. The proposal was unanimously adopted. The 21st September was designated a ‘Global Cease Fire Day’. This date has since become known as ‘International Day for Peace (IDFP)’. Also in 1999, Mr. Graham Power a South Afrikan Businessman was motivated to establish a Global Day of Prayer (GDOP). The mission of the GDOP is a call on Christians globally to acknowledge a specific day for Prayer. May 23rd is the specific day that has been accepted by many Christians around the world as the GDOP. Even though there are two days for International Peace and Prayer now, in the years following 1990s, discussions to find a more appropriate day or process for healing and reconciliation for the world between interested persons and organisations representing a diversity of religious faiths and cultures in the Caribbean, in Africa, the United Kingdom, North, South and Central America, South Korea, Dimona, Israel and more recently, Europe have been on-going. Specifically because we believe that neither the 21st of September nor the 23rd of May are appropriate dates to be considered as they do not address the matters of Truth, Justice, Peace or Reconciliation. We believe that October 12th is a more appropriate date since, historically, October 12th as a date affected the entire World. On that day in 1492, Christopher Columbus’ European expedition opened up a ‘New World’ and trade routes for Europeans and effectively divided the entire world into zones of conflict. From this followed encounters with indigenous peoples of different regions. Those encounters resulted in depopulation of those regions and helped to popularise a philosophy of white supremacy leading to the Transatlantic Trade in Afrikans, Chattel Enslavement and Colonialism which has since affected all regions and peoples of the known world. Columbus’ adventure changed, forever, the relationship that previously existed between Europeans and non-Europeans. Subsequently, any day which seeks to address Truth, Justice, Peace or Reconciliation globally, must in itself have equal global significance. The only day that can carry this significance is October 12th. In January 2010, an alliance of NGOs and Civil Society Institutions (CSI) with common objectives – advancing conditions towards the world encompassing ‘ZONES of PEACE’ was formed. From this, a meeting of seven groups representatives was held in London for the purpose of establishing an ‘International Coalition for Truth, Justice, Peace’. Subsequent meetings were held and the consensus is – A seven day project consisting of activities aimed at facilitating global healing and reconciliation which would take place simultaneously in the Caribbean and Europe starting on 7th to 13th October 2010, with Barbados being the host venue for the Caribbean and Madrid, Spain the host venue for Europe. The rationale for starting with the Caribbean and Europe as the areas to launch the PEACE project is Christopher Columbus’ European Expedition. The Caribbean/Americas and Afrika are among the most severely effected areas as the legacy of Columbus’ expedition is still prevalent. If we follow order and precepts, we must go back to the origins of the world divide – Europe and the Caribbean. Notwithstanding, over the years, there have been attempts to repair some of the damage caused. Today, in 2010 some 518 years later, we are at an advantageous point in history e.g. the exposure of faults security of Capitalism, the worldwide recession and the election of an Afrikan man as President of the United States of America (USA), have given us a promising opportunity for healing by way of a programme of ZONES of PEACE. This programme will aim to remove the scars of mental slavery and morbid dislike for other humankind through Atonement, Reparations and Reconciliation. It is designed to advance the healing process which must take place, if as human beings; we desire to live in the various regions of the world in peace and harmony. The prevailing view of the coalition is that Peace and Reconciliation are now both practical and appropriate provided that Truth and Justice underpin the purpose and action for Healing. The following specific actions will be carried out: ¨ Remembrance and Thanksgiving Services for multi-faiths non-denominational and denominational ¨ Conferences on conflict resolution ¨ Conferences on the place of Spirituality in human dignity, rights and respect ¨ Honouring ordinary unsung Heroes / Herons and special interest groups who sacrificed above and beyond, in their quest for justice and peace ¨ Messages of HOPE and P.E.A.C.E through music concerts ¨ Removing the scars of mental slavery; inferiority & superiority complexes ¨ Day of Hope for Truth, Justice – Global Day of Reconciliation ¨ Sports for P.E.A.C.E and more…. Following the 2001 United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerances, the 9/11 world twin towers attack and the Iraq war more serious calls for atonement and reconciliation have been coming from diverse quarters, including Heads of Government, Private Sector Leaders, the Church and other Civil Society Leaders globally. The Coalition shall therefore seek endorsement, collaboration and support from the United Nations, the Afrikan Union, from Afrikans on the Continent and in the Diaspora, from Heads of Government, Private Sector Institutions, Civil Society Organisations, Non-governmental Organisations and Individuals. Our endeavour to execute this project which seeks to make the world a peaceful place is unwavering. We are confident that if this year’s project is successful it would contribute significantly to the current worldwide peace debates and to our events planned for October 2011 with Europe, South America and Afrika being the focal points and in 2012 with Europe, North America, Asia and Afrika the focal areas all happening simultaneously. This ‘One World Week’ (OWW) of activities endorsed at the London meetings shall complement other peace initiatives which take place during October including the established International ‘OWW’ programme and the World Council of Churches week of prayer for the healing of the world. The project has been endorsed by the ‘Commission for Pan-African Affairs’ an agency of the Government of Barbados. We shall now seek the endorsement of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Government of Spain. The project can only succeed with adequate support. For further information and offers of support contact: Barbados: Rev Buddy A Larrier, Tel: (246) 428-8273 / 265-8849. E-mail: intngo.congress@caribsurf.com Spain: Mr Abuy Nfubea - Tel: +3469674330. E-mail: panafricanos@gmail.com |
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| FORTHCOMING NUBIART PROFILES NUBIART: Focus on arts, business, education, health, political developments and the media. - Due to illness within our production team we have suspended until further notice our weekly radio shows on www.Ban2radio.com We will continue to produce a fortnightly Nubiart Diary e-newsletter. MAR PROMOS ~ ‘WORLD TRAVEL: AFRICA’ – Adzido [ARC Music – Out Now] Another quality travel through the songs and dances from across Africa delivered by one of Britain’s foremost pan-Afrikan dance ensembles. NUBIART LIBRARY – MAR MEDIA ~ ‘We Who Are Black: The Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity’ – Tommie Shelby [Belknap Harvard. ISBN; 0-674-01936-9] “One is vulnerable, at almost any time, to an antiblack attitude, action, social practice, or institutional policy.” [p245] This book is an overview of the core philosophical principles that have underpinned activism among Afrikans in America over the past 150 years. Shelby explores in-depth the writings and activities of Martin Delaney, W E B Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Booker T Washington, Malcolm X (NoI), Kwame Ture and Charles Hamilton, Paul Gilroy and Kwame Anthony Appiah. The focus is not so much a who said and did what to and with whom but how their interventions affected race consciousness. Given the book’s Americo-centric focus there is also an analysis of the roles of Marxism, Liberalism, and the Democrat and Republican parties. The book attempts to look at most of the controversies that have arisen in the movement in America. At the core of the book though is who are these Afrikans in America? Are they a separate nation within a nation with all the dysfunctions of any ‘Third World’ colony? Do they want a separate nation or are they too devoted to the American Dream? When do you have racially exclusive organisations and when do you engage in broad front politics? What role is demanded of the educational and financial elite in helping to uplift other Afrikan-Americans, especially those struggling to make it out of the projects? What effect do racial and class segregations have on political mobilisation and effectiveness? Given the individualist nature of western societies can you force an Afrikan-American to express racial solidarity if they see national, class, occupation or other non-racial signifiers as their major identity? Or as Shelby puts it not all people identified as racially Afrikan will self-identify as culturally Afrikan. Thus cultural nationalists find themselves in conflict with those who advocate freedom of association. Shelby outlines the Eight Tenets of Afrikan Cultural Nationalism: a distinct Afrikan culture; a need to rediscover and collectively reclaim their culture; Afrikan culture is seen as an invaluable collective good that should be reproduced and creatively develop; Afrikan culture provides a stable and rich basis for feelings of community and for the construction of positive and healthy individual identities; Afrikan culture is an essential tool of liberation with the role of Afrikan artists and cultural critics to produce works that represent and affirm the authentic Afrikan experience; the state should refrain from actions that prevent the reproduction of Afrikan culture; Afrikans must become the primary producers , and beneficiaries (financial or otherwise) of their culture; and Afrikans are and should be regarded as the foremost interpreters of the meanings of their cultural ways. You know you are in for a challenging read when within the first dozen pages Shelby has outlined the feminist critique of the patriarchy prevalent within many Afrikan movements. However, his conclusion rejecting the cultural nationalist position and a belief that an effective solidarity can be forged based only around Afrikan-Americans as ‘victims of antiblack racial oppression’ seems to rest more on wishful thinking than a solution to overturn entrenched white supremacy and the hubris that makes them promote their most random opinions as a worldview and solution to the current challenges facing the Afrikan world. ~ ‘Philosophy of Engagement: An Ideological Basis for the Liberation of African People’ – Jacques Sotero Agboton [JSA Publishing. ISBN: 0-9632616-4-9] Originally written as a presentation for the World Congress of Pan Africans held in Dakar in Dec 2007 this wide-ranging pamphlet addresses many of the same issues as ‘We Who Are Black’ but comes at it from what Tommie Shelby would call the cultural nationalist perspective. Agboton highlights the seven prerequisites and core needs: food self-sufficiency, housing, health, education, clothing, employment and communication. However he points out that no Afrikan or Caribbean country has been able to solve their problems despite all the supposedly expert advice from the IMF, UN, World Bank, etc. Instead countries were forced to switch from agricultural sustainability to mono-culture and export dependent production that leaves them at the vagaries of the prices of the externally controlled commodities market. “The salvation of our people lies on the control and management of our resources with creative energies tapped from within.” [p48] |