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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 EDITORIALS Nubiart Editorials from 2005-11 are available as annual reviews in MS Word. OBITUARIES AMBASSADOR DUDLEY JOSEPH THOMPSON, President, World Africa Diaspora Union. (19 Jan 1917-20 Jan 2012). Ambassador Thompson passed away one day after his 95th birthday. He was born in Panama to Daniel and Ruby Thompson and received his early education at the Mico Teacher Training College. Thompson served as a Flight Lieutenant during World War 2 and on his return to Jamaica became a founding member of the Royal Air Force Association, Jamaica Branch. He was called to the bar at Gray’s Inn and also practised law in Jamaica, East Afrika, Dominica, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. He served as President of the Jamaican Bar Association where he introduced the Office of the Ombudsman to Jamaica. In the early 1950s, Thompson defended the late Jomo Kenyatta during his Mau Mau rebellion trial in Kenya and became well-known across Africa. As well as Jomo Kenyatta Thompson was a close friend and colleague of Julius Nyerere, George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah, C L R James and M K O Abiola. Dudley Thompson was a life member of the People’s National Party, and was elected Chairman of the PNP in 1979. He was a PNP Senator from 1962-1978, and was leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives in 1978. He served as an MP for St. Andrew Western from 1978-1983; Minister of National Security in 1978; Minister of Mining and Natural Resources from 1977-1978 and Minister of State with the responsibility for Foreign Affairs from 1972-1975. He served as Jamaica’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Namibia. Thompson played an effective role in the independence movement of both Belize and The Bahamas. He was also Jamaica’s chief representative in the conference on the Law of the Sea and played a leading role in securing Jamaica as the permanent headquarters for the International Seabed Authority. Thompson was conferred with the Order of Jamaica in 1989 having given outstanding service in the fields of international law, governance and foreign affairs. His dream was to see a united Africa and he was president of the World African Diaspora Union. In October, Thompson made history when the African Union made him the first person to become a citizen of the continent and gave him a passport valid for the entire continent. Dozens of African heads of state attended the ceremony. Thompson dismissively claimed that ‘no angels died at Green Bay’, when five men, including the reggae artist Glenroy Richards, were shot dead after being deliberately lured to the military firing range at Green Bay by the Jamaican army on the promise of work. The song and album ‘Green Bay Killing’, produced by Glen Brown, reflects the garrison politics that has socially and economically destroyed Jamaica and the lives of many Jamaicans over the past four decades. Thompson’s funeral will be held on Fri 10 Feb at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kingston and his body will be interred in the Briggs Park Military Cemetery, Up Park Camp. Condolence books have been opened at Mico University, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and the People’s National Party office on Old Hope Road. He is survived by his widow Cecile, children, grandchildren, and a great grandchild. - DON (DONALD CORTEZ) CORNELIUS, Producer and Creator, ‘Soul Train’ (27 Sep 1936 – 1 Feb 2012) The creator and initial presenter of the ‘Soul Train’ music programme and franchise has passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Los Angeles. According to another of the show’s former hosts, Shemar Moore, Cornelius may have been suffering from the early onset of dementia or Alzheimer's. Cornelius was born in Chicago's South Side and raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood. In 1954 he joined the US Marine Corps and served 18 months in Korea. On his return he worked selling tires, automobiles and insurance, and as an officer with the Chicago Police Department. After a broadcasting course he worked as an announcer, news reporter and DJ on Chicago radio station WVON. Cornelius recognised that there were no TV slots in the US for soul music and so began ‘Soul Train’ as a local show on WCIU-TV in Chicago in the mid 1960s. As writer, producer, and host of ‘Soul Train’, Cornelius was instrumental in offering wider exposure to musicians and singers such as James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Barry White and Michael Jackson, as well as creating opportunities for talented dancers. ‘Soul Train’ eventually grew into a franchise that included the Soul Train Music Awards, the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards and the Soul Train Christmas Starfest. Cornelius had a small number of film roles, most notably as record producer Moe Fuzz in 1988's ‘Tapeheads’. He stepped down as host of ‘Soul Train’ in 1993. He was awarded a place in the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 1995 and has a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. He sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008. The awards show was moved in 2009 to Viacom's Centric cable channel (formerly BET J), which now airs ‘Soul Train’ in reruns. In Oct 2008 Cornelius was arrested at his Los Angeles home and was charged with spousal abuse and dissuading a witness from filing a police report and was placed on 36 months probation. Aretha Franklin said Cornelius had helped boost unity and brotherhood with the creation of ‘Soul Train’. Amir ?uestlove of The Roots said Cornelius was the most crucial musical figure to emerge from the civil rights era next to Motown founder Berry Gordy. The Rev Al Sharpton, who has known Cornelius since he was 19, said, ‘He brought soul music and dance to the world in a way that it had never been shown and he was a cultural game changer on a global level.’ THE AFRICAN UNION AFTER A DECADE THE AFRICAN UNION AFTER A DECADE: PUTTING AFRICAN UNITY FIRST MEANS PUTTING HUMANITY FIRST THE DEMAND TO DECLARE AND COMMIT THE MONTH OF MAY FOR AFRICAN UNITY It is nearly 50 years since the African Liberation Day was launched on May 25, 1963 at the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The unity of Africa has remained a big challenge. Disunity prevails. Unity for full liberation is yet to be made. On May 27, May 2011 in South Africa, the Tshawne Declaration for African Unity and Liberation was adopted by the participants of the First African Liberation Day conference. The Tshawne Declaration strongly recommended that the Africa Liberation Day should continue to be celebrated with both intellectual and popular education and other exhibitions in order to concentrate resources, energy and spirit to make Africans learn to engage with one another, network and build trust and spread African unity for full liberation. (see http://www.nesglobal.org/symp125/node/5) We demand as a cause for all of us to unite: just as May 25 every year has been recognised as Africa liberation day, the whole month of May must be dedicated by all the African states as Africa Unity for full Liberation Month, turning the whole month for spreading pan-African education to find various ways of making Africans engage with other Africans a number one priority. The cause for all of us is to demand that Ten years after the Africa Union, and over 50 years that most African governments came into being: We demand that Governments and the AU dedicate, declare and enforce the whole of May across the African world to be a month for the education of African unity for liberation and comprehensive and deep integration. - Next year of May 2013 will be 50 years of OAU - The liberation month must reach the African street - Openly engage, involve from the bottom and up - Sign, comment, unite and persevere! - Continue to celebrate African unity to overcome the prevailing disunity now! - It is getting late, if not unity now, then when? INTRODUCTION The Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) in collaboration with the Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT) Institute of Economic Research on Innovation (IERI) and the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI), DST, NRF, DITSONG and will host an international conference from 25- 27 May 2012 in Pretoria at the TUT Pretoria Campus. There will be an exhibition during the day on 25 May 2012 at the DITSONG followed by the annual Thabo Mbeki Africa Day Lecture at UNISA in the evening at UNISA Campus. The next two days will be devoted entirely in presenting scientific works to explore in depth the African Union and the way it succeeded or failed to carry out the functions it mandated itself to do. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONFERENCE The launch of the African Union (AU) in Durban, South Africa in July, 2002 heralded significant advances in the struggle against colonialism and apartheid. The AU symbolized the opening of the construction phase of African political, economic, social, science, engineering and technological unity. Whilst the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was established mainly for ending colonialism and apartheid, the AU explicitly sought the building of full African integration. AU affirmed the logo, the spirit, hope, and the imagination that Pan- African integration is possible, desirable and necessary after the formal ending of the phase of colonialism and apartheid. The AU represents Africa's freedom and happiness to take independent action in pursuit of the opportunities emergent in completing Africa's integrated economy. It affirms the willingness of African States to join a unity project identity first to be able to know how, together united rather than fragmented, they can deal with and respond to the challenges Africa faced from the relics of the colonial legacy and the current processes of globalization. This conference is a follow up initiative from the 25–27 May 2010 international Symposium. The conference will be held annually and sustainably to continue the production of refined high scholarship, broad, deep and continuous Africa-wide education and the promotion of grassroots and bottom up citizen expressing and citizen organizing activism. The focus in 2011 is on the AU, which was created by Africans to reverse the damage created by the Scramble for Africa and actualize the full integration of Africa. Why does the African Union fail to take united action in the face of an attempt to ‘re-colonize Africa’? Africa is able to make declarations and adopt good and relevant policies, but implementation of such policies in a united manner remains a goal to be realised. The recent vivid case is the failure to act with unity with the recent NATO interventions in Libya. It is thus relevant to ask the question: Ten years after its establishment, has the AU lived up to its expectations and aspirations of Africans? Has Africa managed to solve Africa’s problems free from the manipulation of others that often do not have Africa’s interests or values at heart? Has the AU delivered in the peer review, peace keeping, security, development, infrastructure, economic areas related to promoting Africa’s overall standing in the world? Or was the expectation on AU too much and hence misplaced? THE PILLARS AND SUB THEMES OF THE CONFERENCE The overall theme of the conference is ‘the African Union after a Decade: Putting African Unity First Means Putting Humanity First! The pillars and sub-themes of the conference are as follows: Pillar 1: From the OAU to the African Union: State nation, Society and the Good Governance in Africa 1.1 AU proclamations on Africa’s democracy 1.2 The architecture of peace and security in Africa 1.3 Regional Economic Groupings and the AU 1.4 Clash of values and interests in the AU 1.5 Role of pivotal States in the AU 1.6 State Pan Africanism vs African Nation Pan Africanism, the African nation and renaissance 1.7 Does the Sahara divide or Unite Africa? 1.8 The role of African Diaspora to ensure the renaissance of the continent Pillar 2: Peace and Security Architecture and its impact on Africa 2.1 The role of AU Peace and Security Council 2.2 UN Security Council – Capacity development to AU 2.3 The World Court of Justice 2.4 The International Criminal Court (ICC) 2.4 UN Human Rights Commission 2.5 The ‘Arab Spring’ and its wider impact in Africa 2.4 The challenges of Arab – African Unity 2.5 Interventions of African Union in Peace and Security on the continent 2.6 Governance and management of national resources in conflict resolution Pillar 3: Africa in the World Economy/Africa in the World Trading System 3.1 Multilateral governance of world trade and its effects on Africa/Africa in the WTO: pros and cons for Africa. 3.2 The impact of the international financial institutions in the economies of Africa during the post-colonial era and first decade of the AU. 3.3 Managing abundant African mineral resources for the advancement of the continent. 3.4 Trade integration in Africa for Africa’s advancement. 3.5 International trade and investment during the first decade of the AU 3.6 The implications of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) for Africa 3.7 Can Africa meet the MDGs as it is or through an integrated African national economy? Pillar 4: Afropolitianism, Afro-centricity, Pan-Africanism and Negritude 4.1 Putting Africa first for building cosmopolitan humanity 4.2 From Lusophone, Anglophone and Afrophone to Africaphone 4.3 African science, technology, engineering, knowledge and innovation for Africa’s advancement 4.4 Drought, famine and food security 4.5 Elite corruption and the impact on African economic growth and human wellbeing 4.6 South Africa’s relations with the rest of Africa 4.7 Role of Africa in international relations 4.8. Combining tradition and modernity for African Transformation 4.9. African Humanism: Ubuntu 4.10: Building an African Centred Language systems for African education. The Steering Committee for the conference local organising: 1. Dr. Matlotleng Matlou, CEO at AISA 2. Ms Siphokazi Ndudane ,Director at SIGLA 3. Dr. Maureen Tong acting Head of TMALI 4. Prof. Mammo Muchie, SARChI-IERI at TUT ORGANISERS: AISA, SIGLA at Stellenbosch, SARChI-IERI- TUT, NRF, DST, DISONG, DTI and TMALI. And other partners who wish to join are welcome especially African embassies, RECs, women, civil society, youth, and so on IMPORTANT DATES International Symposium 25 -27 May, 2012 Thabo Mbeki Annual Lecture May 25, 2012 Date for full paper submission: March 1, 2012 One of the Keynote Speakers: Nahas Angula, Prime Minister of Namibia. Abstract and full papers should be emailed to: AkporBO@tut.ac.za & nbohler-muller@ai.org.za |
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| FORTHCOMING NUBIART PROFILES NUBIART: Focus on arts, business, education, health, political developments and the media. FEB PROMO ~ ‘DEBADEMBA’ - Debademba [Chapa Blues - Out Now] In the Bambara language of West Afrika, Debademba means big family and this album reflects the musical family that spans across the Sahel and into the diaspora in Europe. In 2008 Burkinabé guitarist Abdoulaye Traoré started playing with Mohamed Diaby, the son of Ivoirian griot Koumba Kouyaté, and the result is a blend of griot styles, Afro-Rock, jazz-funk and desert blues. ‘Agnakamina’ is a song against the civil war that had been wracking Ivory Coast for the last decade and was only resolved with the swearing in of Alassane Ouattara as President and the transfer of Laurent Gbagbo to the ICC at The Hague. Fatoumata Diawara, highly-acclaimed for her records and gigs last year, appears on ‘Tribu Sissoko’ and the Wassoulou-style ’Miridjougou’. Another powerful collaboration is with the gravel-voiced Awa, who sounds as old as time itself on ‘Africa Blues’ which is dedicated to musical greats such as Ali Farka Toure, Fode Kouyate and Bembeya Jazz’s Aboubakar Demba. ‘Ma’ is an homage to Abdoulaye’s mother and then there is the desert blues of ‘Loundotemena’. The Ethiopian-tinged ‘Takama (aventure) Pts 1&2’ is about the joys of meeting people. The flute-led instrumental ‘Ma Cherie’ invokes the love of a man for a woman, their people and humanity. ‘Kiefali (Guerrier)’, is in praise of warriors for justice and those who take the migrant’s journey across and out of Afrika, many never to return. The album ends with ‘Thomas Sankara’, a poignant tribute to the former President of Burkina Faso who was executed in a coup which brought the current leader Blaise Compaore to power. It features a rousing pan-Afrikan speech that makes you realise just how much we have lost in our thinkers and activists over the past three decades. NUBIART LIBRARY – FEB MEDIA We will only review books we have read and DVDs we have seen and that are available at reasonable prices online or in shops or libraries. However, given the nature and current state of Afrikan publishing and production there may be books and films on this list that are worth the extra effort to track down. ~ ‘THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE’. Dir: Göran Olsson [SODA Pictures] Produced by actor-director Danny Glover from powerful documentary footage recorded between 1967 and 1975 ‘The Black Power Mixtape’, chronicles the story of the Afrikan-American community with a slightly different eye by Swedish journalists as oppose to the usual American slant. It features rare interviews and archive footage only recently discovered, with activists such as Angela Davis, Bobby Seale and kicks off with Stokely Carmichael revealingly interviewing his own mother about their racist experiences in America after she and her husband came from Trinidad. There is an up-to-date interview with Angela Davis. Music comes from The Roots, Michael Jackson and Erykah Badu. The extra, ‘This Film Is Meant To Be About Stokely Carmichael’, tells of the search by the London-based daughter of Stokely Carmichael’s cousin to find her Afrikan identity as she has been acting more-European than many Europeans. We found it cringe-worthy in places but it does truly reflect some of the issues facing the increasing number of Afrikans across Europe who identify themselves with the majority population or as ‘urban’. |