The Pan African Policy Forum I: The Role of the Diaspora was an excellent forum with plenty of valuable information shared. Yes, it did start 45 minutes late, but why focus on the negative? (smile)
Moderated by award winning actor and outspoken activist Danny Glover, the forum discussed the role of displaced Africans in helping to build Africa.
This is not a difficult concept to understand. A portion of my forthcoming book "The Black Principle: Prepare to Rule" deals with the fact that Blacks in America can do for Africa exactly what Jews in the United States do for Israel. We can act as a social, economic and political support system that strengthens the diplomatic position of Africa on the world stage.
We can establish powerful and effective lobbying groups that look out for the best interests of our people at home and abroad. Every other group interested in self determination does it and we can too! In fact, it is an imperative. We must do it.
During the forum, Ambassador Dudley Thompson defined the term Diaspora as people of African descent who are not living in Africa and said that all Black people—especially in America—should refocus their thinking on their origins. “Think of yourself as a non-residential African who happens to be livings somewhere else,” said the 92-year old pan-African scholar pointing out that Africa's financial situation keeps it powerless and still victimized by neo-colonialism. “If you are broke, you cannot be free whether you are a man or a country and that even applies to large (African) countries under the control of multi-national corporations,” he added.
If you have ever been to a town hall meeting involving Black people, you know that it can turn into an emotional gripe session and once leaving, nothing new has come about. This forum had the potential to devolve into that until Amb. Thompson hit the crowd hard and said "We need to stop agonizing and start organizing."
Dr. Ron Daniels said, "You can have unity without uniformity." This is undeniably true. As long as the same worldview and objective is shared unity can be achieved. This is what is commonly referred to as "operational unity." White people and other ethnic groups practice it regularly. Black people do not. The time is now for this to change.
Taking in information at the forum were the legendary Dr. Conrad Worrill, our great scholar warrior Dr. Leonard Jeffries and his wife Dr. Rosalind Jeffries Elder Willie "Mukasa" Ricks, radio talk show host Mark Thompson (a.k.a. Matsimela Mapfumo)
In addition to Ghana that has offered dual citizenship to Blacks in the Diaspora, a panelist mentioned that if you obtain a DNA test and it shows that your roots are in Sierra Leone, they will grant you a passport and declare you a citizen of that African nation. Want to know more?
6 comments:
Ashahed, thanks for blogging...I was wondering what the heck was going on there. I heard that the turnout wasn't so good.
Is anybody offering real talk? Or is it a bunch of "we need to do this and we need to do that?"
I also find it funny that Danny Glover and Julianne Malveaux show up for the State of the Black World but, they didn't support a Black man running for president. By the way, he won the presidency. I wouldn't give any of them the time of day. Clearly they are out of touch so why are they considered "leaders"? Did either of them comment on Barack Obama?
Concerning PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, HILLARY CLINTON & others he might choose for his cabinet positions... Remember y'all; IT WAS WHITE FOLKS that selected Obama to be nominated on the Democratic ticket... It was mostly them that donated money to his compaign funds.And put in long hours as volunteers. while We/us Black folks, jumped on the bandwagon after his selection and authentication by white folks. Now, its as though we were with him from the very beginning. Like during the struggle for the civil-rights, we now enjoy, in reality only a few stuck their necks out, like taking part in the marching, the water hoses, attack dogs, jails , etc. Yet, when at last the battle was won (to the extent that we now enjoy) the non-warriors were first to come forward with their chests out, wearing their newly purchased dashikis. Oh yes, that included many spiritual leaders. OK, enough of that... Now for my opinions, and this is coming from a Korean war veteran who at age 17, found himself fighting for his life (as a Combat Infantryman for nine [9) bloody months) in a place he had never heard of before: Korea. During which time I developed not only a soldier's mentality but a political consciousness as well. Hearing older men discussing racial discrimination in both civilian and military life as if it was during those times. He began to question the role of his all-black unit in the Korean action. Supposedly we were protecting freedom, justice, and the American way of life, but what was that way of life for blacks in the United States? Where was the freedom? Why were we the Buffalo Soldiers laying their lives on the line for a country in which African-American (Negroes then) were sometimes denied even the right to vote? I repeat, my question today is still "will White people vote for a Black-President?" I've always had my doubts, then again I had the same doubts about our people in South Africa, I was wrong and pray I am wrong this time... One thing for sure, it'll be between Obama and Hillary, both democrats. A win, win, situation in any event. Considering the fact that we, as Americans, are in the predicaments we are today, is because of this republicans administration. So saying, and as I see it, the only ones that'll vote in another republican administration, gained much from the present one. PS: SO YOU SEE, I'D LIKE TO SEE WHOEVER WINS THE NOMINATION, CHOSE THE OTHER AS RUNNING VP MATE. IT'LL GO A LONG WAY IN UNIFYING THE COUNTRY AND BRING ABOUT STABILITY TO THE WORLD ECONOMY. A parting word: FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE. OTHERS FOUGHT, KILLED AND DIED FOR IT.
The above Blog was posted months ago on Black Planet.Com, by agogoman. And still hold true.
Leila - actually, the turnout has not been very good, however, as it is with many of these conferences, there are actually many good networking and informtion sharing opportunities that take place outside of the formal workshops, and there are very sharp committed organizers and activists who are doing more than just complaining. Most of them are members of the younger generation.
There is a new generation of leadership that has been formed.
There are some though who complain without offering solutions.They usually get dissed.
I cannot speak for Danny Glover and Julianne Malveaux about their political alignment or lack there of, Dr. Malveaux did speak about President-elect Obama at the town hall meeting in positive terms, but also made the point that he should be as responsive to the Black agenda as he is to every other ethnic group. Mr. Glover was speaking completely in the Haiti and Pan-Africanist realm. He did not mention Obama during his public comments, and I did not ask him.
Most of the conference attendees were strongly pro-Obama. No doubt about it.
"Every other group interested in self determination does it and we can too!"
"Yes, we can", BUT not without first returning to our CREATOR, GOD ALMIGHTY, ALLAH and do the WILL of ALLAH.
1. How can a people support others who are abroad when they cannot even support those that are with them (at home)?
2. How can Africans succeed as "Rulers" with such a LANGUAGE and TRIBAL BARRIER that only GOD ALMIGHTY can remove?
I was born in Sierra Leone of parents who were decendants of "FREED SLAVES" and was raised as a "Christian"; so I can speak from experience. It will take a complete CHANGE Of NATURE. We must first put on The DIVINE NATURE again, then we will be enabled to do that which seems so impossible.
P-E-A-C-E be unto all those who want to do the WILL of GOD ALMIGHTY, ALLAH.
emma (in MARYland)
Htp All:
I didn't make it to the State of the Black World Conference, though at least two members of my organization, the Sixth Region Diasporan Caucus (whose goal it is to organize Afrikan people in the US and the Diaspora to take advantage of the opportunity we are being presented to become officially involved with the African Union--more on that later) did attend. At least one very strong grassroots activist I know who lives in New Orleans had already practically dismissed the conference as a "feel-good talk" event put on for the benefit of opportunists. While his critique may be too strident for some, I have to state that he was, and has been, one of the strongest activists on the ground in New Orleans since before Hurricane Katrina hit. He educated me about the 1811 Slave Revolt, the greatest slave revolt in US history, which has been covered up by the leaders of the Gulf Coast political machine which is descended from the original slaveowners. He weathered Hurricane Katrina, stayed to help communities begin to re-organize themselves, and was forcibly removed by the Arkansas National Guard. He has traveled around the country to enlighten people on what really happened there and to help organize Survivors Councils among the Internally Displaced People of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He was instrumental in organizing the Hurricane Katrina Tribunal last year. He has seen friends of his sucumb to physical and mental breakdowns and came close to suffering a physical breakdown himself as many of the attendees at this conference (not all, though) were nowhere to be found. Even so, I do wish the attendance at this conference had been better, as I wish for all such assemblies of Afrikan people seeking solutions to our situation. And I'm sure he would applaud any constructive, practical solutions that come from this conference and would be among the first to assist in implementing them.
As I stated at the top, I wasn't able to go. I simply didn't have the time or the finances to attend this event, especially since I'm already scheduled to attend the Central American Black Organization (CABO/ONECA) assembly in New York in a week and a half. I have been to New Orleans before, for the Hurricane Katrina Tribunal (I got about 15 hours of testimony about the abuses of government at that important event) as well as for a planning meeting among community activists 18 months earlier to plan it. The point here is that we often find ourselves in a position where a relatively small number of people are burdened with trying to attend every conference, every planning session, every major event, and many of us have neither the means, nor the time, nor the strength. When I get to the point where I can either practice independent journalism or just stir up trouble for a living, I'll have a much freer hand. But for now, this work exhausts my (and our) resources, whic limits our effectiveness.
As for whether or not Danny Glover and Julianne Malveaux deserve to think of themselves as Black Leaders simply because they didn't support Barack Obama, let me say this: I'm not sure who Ms. Malveaux supportedm, but I do know Mr. Glover was backing Cynthia McKinney, who had the only REAL Peace Agenda of the entire campaign and was the only presidential candidate to show up at 2007's Hurricane Katrina Tribunal. She has been repeatedly outspoken about the Bush Administration's conduct, and possible complicity in, 9-11, its war profiteering and its spying on Americans. She has publicly called for an end to the Cuban embargo, the encirclement of the Palestinians, the operation of Guantanamo, Bagram and Abu Ghraib and the undermining of Chavez in Venezuela and Morales in Bolivia. And she did all these at great political expense to herself. It's that kind of political courage that must be honored, not dismissed. And if Danny Glover felt that her political platform was the most moral one, it would be the consistent thing to do to promote her candidacy. This doesn't mean that he wanted to see Obama lose to McCain, but how long will we wait to support a truly deserving third party candidate who really does represent a break from the Clinton-Bush legacy? (And Obama does have a number of Clintonites in his inner circle. Tell me you're comfortable with Zbiginiew Brzezinski having so much influence on the Obama foreign policy!) The point here is that it's too simplistic to diss an activist for believing McKinney's platform to be superior to Obama's. That is no reason to choose to ignore the many years of positive service that individual has rendered for the cause of Truth and Justice, and for Afrikan Liberation.
For the record, it was easy for me, in a strongly-Blue State (Maryland), to vote for the McKinney platform and root for an Obama victory. Had I been in a "battleground" state where my vote could have truly tipped the balance, I would most likely have voted for Obama, based on the same politically-defensive reasoning we often use: vote for the Democrat (and in this case the Afrikan one), despite my issues with the Democratic platform (refusal to impeach, failure to end the war, approval of FISA), because the Republican was so much worse. But if you look at the essentials of the platforms, McKinney's Green Party was the closest thing to a Peace Party there was. That having been said, we must now support Obama, as well as make sure he doesn't go back on his most positive promises and, most importantly, protect him from those who would assassinate his character or his person.
Anyway, I've run off at the keyboard long enough. I hope to read, and hear, more about SOBW, about your impressions and analysis, and about plans for moving forward.
Peace and Power,
Bro. Cliff
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Brother Cliff:
By the Grace of GOD ALMIGHTY, Sister McKinney will come "Out of the Shadows and into the Light" and take her rightful place among The People of GOD ALGHTY, ALLAH as a "GOD's Leading Lady" at the appointed TIME of ALLAH.
People, including President-Elect Barack Obama, have been playing their roles (characters) in this GREAT SPIRITUAL DRAMA very well. If in order for Obama to obtain this Presidential POWER he had to:
1. "Denounce" and "REJECT" my Brother, Minister Farrakhan;
2. Disown the man he said brought him to the knowledge of CHRIST, my Brother, Jeremiah Wright;
3. Avoid anything that would make it seem as if he CARES About JUSTICE FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND THE POOR;
What then makes people think that he will not have to do (and will do) the same thing in order to retain and maintain this power?
OBAMA CANNOT BE COMMITTED TO TRUTH AND REMAIN IN AMERICA'S WHITE HOUSE. It is just as simple as that.
But GOD ALMIGHTY, ALLAH, WHO is able, has allowed all this for a wise purpose. I believe it will all work out for GOOD to those who LOVE GOD, THE MOST HIGH, and want to do the WILL OF ALLAH.
As-Salaam Alaikum.
emma (in MARYland)
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