NEO•GRIOT

Between patriachy, pornography and pleasure

Sexuality discourses in Africa

Kavinya Makau and Zawadi Nyong’o

2010-04-01, Issue 476

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/63525

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cc K T‘Mention sex in most places on the African continent and you are likely to be met with questioning glances. Venture into speaking about controversial sexual rights and you are likely to cause a furore.’ But if we are to deal effectively with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, these are issues we need to think about, whether we consider them vile or not, argue Kavinya Makau and Zawadi Nyong’o, in their report on critical issues raised at a recent conference on sexual health and rights.

Mention sex in most places on the African continent and you are likely to be met with questioning glances. Most quietly wonder ‘What is this person up to?’ Venture into speaking about controversial sexual rights and you are likely to cause a furore. The most common reaction will ostensibly focus on their immoral or un-African nature. You will be lucky to leave the conversation unscathed, physically or otherwise.

Yet, our African reality suggests that if we are to deal effectively with the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the African continent, we must consider the tapestry of human sexuality and sexual rights issues, whether we consider them vile or not.

The 4th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights, which took place in Addis Ababa in February 2010, provided an opportunity to debate diverse issues such as gender and masculinities and how they have contributed to undermining efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS in Africa.

As conference participant Julius Kaggwa noted, ‘Sexuality is an integral part of the human experience. Whether we like it or not, sex occurs 125 million times a day! It is therefore at the core of who we are as human beings. This is where human rights come in. Every human being has a right to enjoy their sexual health.’ The article below highlights some of the critical issues under discussion.

UN-AFRICAN AND IMMORAL! REALLY?

Homophobic individuals often argue that homosexuality is a ‘foreign scourge’ imported to Africa by white ne’er do wells intent on corrupting the continent’s young minds and morals. They claim that there is no word for homosexual in African local languages. Evidence to the contrary, however, is widely published and it is well established that these arguments are unfounded. The conference provided a space to discuss controversial public health and rights matters, including those relevant to Africa’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex (LGBTI) community.

While many people supported the discussion of LGBTI issues, an equal number of conservative voices opposed it. Encouragingly Africa’s LGBTI community gave a number of presentations, articulating critical needs and priorities regarding their sexual health and rights. Despite great progress since the last conference, many repeated the default position that homosexuality is ‘un-African’, prompting Sylvia Tamale’s sarcastic response that if we are to criminalise anything that we deem ‘un-African’, then we should criminalise perms, chemically treated hair, or the dying of hair in unnatural colours, such as the purple being worn proudly by one of the conference participants to express her homophobic sentiments.

CRIMINALISING SAME SEX UNIONS: RAMIFICATIONS FOR HIV/AIDS

The debate on the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda represents an alarming trend to criminalise same-sex unions across the African continent; at least 39 African states have already done so. Burundi passed anti-homosexual legislation in 2009 and discussions on similar legislation in Rwanda are at an advanced stage. In Kenya, the issue has been highlighted severally in the ongoing constitution debate and most recently, in a swoop on homosexuals led by state security agents in the coastal town of Mombasa. Panelists on the criminalisation of same-sex unions presented compelling arguments on the implications for sexuality and HIV/AIDS.

Firstly, homosexuality is a part of our society and must be acknowledged. Compulsory heterosexuality is not a cure for homosexuality. The war on HIV/AIDS cannot be waged effectively without taking LGBT rights into consideration. LGBT individuals are already ‘at risk’ populations, as far as HIV/AIDS programming is concerned. Criminalisation pushes the LGBT movement underground, leading people to conceal their HIV status.

As Victor Mukasa of IGLHRC pointed out, ‘this state of affairs threatens to roll back the gains made so far in the fight against HIV/AIDS.’ Meanwhile, David Kuria highlighted that in Kenya ‘at least 60 per cent of men who have sex with men (MSM) are also in heterosexual relationships in Kenya’, with implications for the management and funding of HIV prevention and treatment programmes. But it is basic human rights that are at the heart of the debate, Kuria said, quoting Navi Pillay's 2009 World Human Rights Day speech: ‘To criminalise people on the basis of colour or gender is now unthinkable in most countries. Discrimination feeds mistrust, resentment, violence, crime and insecurity and makes no economic sense, since it reduces productivity. It has no beneficial aspects for society whatsoever.’

TRANS AND INTERSEX ISSUES IN AFRICA:

Transgender and transsexual people in Africa face major challenges as a result of the denial of their existence, stigma, discrimination, and the general fear they face in accessing medical and other public health services.

Skipper Mogapi highlighted the lack of contraceptive methods specifically designed for and targeted at trans people. Gender Dynamix’s Liesl Theron spoke about transphobia and gender based violence, highlighting several examples, such as the case of a trans F to M who feared his female heterosexual partner would be raped by a straight man while he was away at the Out Gay Games, because this man had threatened to show her what it was to be with a ‘real’ man.

Theron also spoke about the politics of naming and trans identity in Africa, where some argue that one can be transsexual without having changed one’s body, because of the infrastructure and service limitations. South Americans, however, believe that one can only claim this identity after having undergone surgery. Africans must therefore continue to develop, reclaim, define and redefine our own language around trans and other sexual identity issues, to contextualise and concretise a strong and sustainable sexual health and rights agenda.

MEN OF QUALITY AREN’T SCARED OF EQUALITY

A panel on ‘Masculinities, sexuality and HIV/AIDS’ provided insights into what African men are saying about masculinity and the role that men play in supporting the sexual health and rights agenda. Aernout Zevenbegen made the case for engaging the patriarchs in the process of dismantling patriarchy. From long distance truck drivers who purchase sex across borders, to men engaged in informal labour, Zevenbegen stressed the need to expand our focus and reach where sexuality education is concerned. For example, at a training held with Jua Kali workers in Nairobi, in 2001, when asked why they did not use condoms, several men responded that it was their task as men to ‘plant [their] seeds in as many pots as [they] can.’ Most interesting, however, was the progressive suggestion that came from a group in Botswana to expand the ABC campaign to include a ‘D’: ‘Abstain, Be faithful, Use a condom, and Do it yourself!’ Were it not for conservative religious fundamentalists, the promotion of masturbation could go a long way in supporting the HIV/AIDS prevention agenda in Africa.

Holo Machonda spoke about the Young Men and Equal Partners (YMEP) programme, which works with men in Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya to mobilise their communities to respond to sexual and reproductive health challenges in partnership with women. Because of misguided masculinity and male polarised power, men are at the centre of most sexual and reproductive health problems, Machonda argues. So YMEP is promoting the ideology that ‘Men of quality are not afraid of equality.’

A presentation on ‘Deconstructing and harnessing the ‘trophy hunting mentality’ amongst male university students in the fight against HIV/AIDS’ highlighted the need to conduct similar research in academic institutions in other parts of the continent. Nelson Muparamoto showed how ‘trophy hunting’[1], ‘one day internationals’ or ‘ODI’s’[2], ‘test matches’[3] and ‘territorial marking’[4] all play a role in constructing the kind of misguided masculinity that makes it difficult to promote a sustainable sexual health and rights agenda in academic institutions.

Sunday Akoh, coordinator of the Female Condom Project coordinator of Society for Family Health (SFH), looked at the role that men play, and should be encouraged to play, in promoting the use of the female condom in Africa. Akoh spoke about lessons learned promoting this project in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State, where there is the common belief that ‘All die na die’, which in pidgin English means ‘All men must die one way or another.’ This makes HIV/AIDS prevention programming quite difficult. Promoting the use of the female condom is one way to ensure that women have more control over their sexual health. But by calling it the ‘female’ condom, says Akoh, it has been made a women’s affair, making it more difficult to engage men in its promotion. Nevertheless, the project has enjoyed successes in Nigeria; as more men engage in the ‘female condom’ promotion campaign, more and more women are beginning to use it. Cost and accessibility have been a huge impediment in other countries, but a pack of two female condoms costs about US$0.25 in Nigeria, compared with US$2 for just one female condom in Kenya.

DISABILITIES & SEXUALITY

Efforts to mainstream previously neglected issues, such as sexuality as it relates to people with disabilities, are underway. Speakers Toyin Aderemi and Nancy Nteere shed light on the long journey to ensuring that people with disabilities in Africa can enjoy their sexuality and have access to adequate and relevant sexual and reproductive health information and services. The misconception that people with disabilities are asexual is one of the greatest barriers preventing us from addressing their SRH needs. About 10 per cent of Kenya’s population of 36 million are people living with disabilities; the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) estimates that 10 per cent of them are also living with HIV/AIDS. This means that close to half a million people with disabilities have little or no access to the SRH information and services they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives. As Aderemi quoted, ‘If you don’t hear the cry of your brother or sister, aren’t you the one with the disability?’

SAFE ABORTION: KENYA & ETHIOPIA

Kenya has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Africa and the world, says Dr Nehemiah Kimathi, IPPF’s Safe Motherhood technical advisor, who moderated a session on ‘Legal abortion and politics of choice: Impact on HIV/AIDS’. The language being proposed in the draft constitution is even more retrogressive. A clause stating that ‘life begins at conception’ criminalises any form of abortion, including in situations of rape, or where the pregnancy might put the mother’s life in danger. Kimathi says this means the country is ‘making safe abortion illegal, and unsafe abortion legal.’

Research by the Centre for Reproductive Rights suggests that over 300,000 abortions are performed each year, and more than 21,000 women are admitted to hospitals annually for complications from unsafe abortions. The actual numbers are thought to be much higher; these are difficult to document because of the clandestine nature of many of these procedures outside of medical facilities. There are only 5,000 doctors in Kenya properly trained to provide abortions; just 300 are trained in providing second trimester abortions. With 30-40 per cent of maternal deaths in Kenya caused by complications from unsafe abortions, it’s time we face reality and provide the necessary services. It is in the government’s interests to ensure that women have access to safe abortion – the cost of unsafe abortion is much higher. Furthermore, unsafe abortions remain a problem of the poor; safe abortions are available in Kenya for anyone that can afford them.

Ethiopia has made some progress on abortion law, but legal reform needs to be complemented with sensitisation and awareness raising efforts and the provision of proper training for mid and high-level health care providers. Jemilla Abdi’s research suggests that despite cultural and religious beliefs, those who had received training understood the need for, and were more likely to provide safe abortions without stigmatising or discriminating against their patients.

Dr Kimathi encouraged partners to advocate for the provision of safe abortion across the continent, recognising that it took Nepal 30 years to go from strict abortion law, to abortion on demand. He noted that, ‘there is nowhere in the world where restrictive laws have reduced the number of abortions.’ As an Ethiopian gynaecologist who attended the session asked, ‘Why should Africans adhere to the archaic laws we inherited from our colonisers when they are now providing legal and safe abortions to their own women?’

EVEN IN THE SPIRIT WORLD PATRIARCHY RULES

The spirit spouse phenomenon continues to intrigue various segments of society in Africa and beyond. Despite the significant role that spirituality often plays in the lives of many people, little has been done to unpack its intersectionality with other issues such as sexuality. The conference was pioneering in including Eno Blankson Ikpe’s session on the ‘Spirit spouse in the belief system of Nigerian peoples: Implications for sexual health and sexual rights’. The phenomenon ‘constitutes a binding marriage between a spirit woman or man to a human woman or man…’ Research indicates that more women than men claimed to have been party to the phenomenon. The jury is still out on whether the occurrence is a reality, or merely the product of sexual fantasy.

Nevertheless, it was clear that it presents critical ramifications for sexuality, sexual health and rights; the human spouse has no control or say as to when or how the sexual relations take place. This affects the psychological well-being of the non-consenting partner and has implications on how they relate to their human partners. The occurrence also leads to risky sexual behaviour ,as the spirit spouse can control the human partner and make them have multiple sexual partners. This heightens exposure to sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS and is a matter that warrants further research. There is also an intersection between religion, spirituality and sexuality. Unfortunately, this belief system is being used by men, who claim that they are seduced by spirits who manifest as sexy women, raising the question whether patriarchy rules even in the spirit world!

The session raised several questions for further investigation: Do all spirits spouses have a gender identity? Are there any queer people who say they have spirit spouses? To what extent is this belief system being used as a coping mechanism in the age of HIV/AIDS?

REDEFINING FEMINISM: NO IFS, NO ANDS & BUTS

Discussions on redefining feminism brought to the fore questions that continue to beleaguer the feminist movement. Essentially, feminism is about politics and hence power – understanding power, which means questioning the structures that keep women subjugated, then redefining and claiming them. Naming yourself feminist is a political statement that is defined by various factors including but not limited to gender. There are different schools of thought on feminism but this doesn’t take away from the essence of what feminism is or what a feminist should be.

The Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminists provides insights on what it means when we say ‘no ifs, no ands and buts’: That ‘challenging patriarchy effectively as women or in the name of women means one has to understand the totality of oppressive and exploitative relations that not only affect African women but also that relate to other forms of oppression and exploitation. This is because they mutually support each other.’

A powerful way of making/exploring these connections comes from the sharing of various experiences. Participants were stunned by the sentiments expressed by a woman member of the Pan African parliament who said ‘we are not here to hear your stories.’ Yet her views echoed those severally expressed by women members of parliament in the course of the conference, especially on the rights of sexual minorities: ‘If we support some of these issues you are talking about we will lose our jobs.’

This brings to the fore a critical point that the women's and feminist movement must confront regarding women's representation in key decision-making spaces on the continent. Numbers are important but substance counts more if any inroads are to be made in realising gender equality, equity and women's empowerment.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

For a conference that sought to interrogate diverse issues – such as vulnerabilities, gender, masculinity, positive sexuality and sexual pleasure – as fundamental to resolving the disease burden of HIV/AIDS on Africans, much work still needs to be done to ensure that it is inclusive and representative of a diverse range of constituencies.

For example, participation by non-Anglophone Africans needs to be better accommodated and integrated, since the HIV/AIDS struggle is one that knows no borders. To rephrase a quote by Eugene McCarthy, the ‘linguistic and/or cultural differences in Africa should not separate us from each other, but rather linguistic and/or cultural diversity should be a platform to bring about collective strength as Africa charts a new path on sexuality, sexual health and rights matters on the continent.

While there was greater diversity among participants in terms of constituencies represented, the same considerations need to be made when selecting panelists, as the majority of presenters were men. To address the patriarchy at this conference, more women’s rights activists and African feminists need to claim this space and be encouraged to respond when the next call for papers is launched.

The conference significantly profiled MSM sexual health and rights issues but the same was not true for women who have sex with women (WSWs). Given that many WSW in Africa are also, or have been, in heterosexual relationships, whether by choice or circumstance, the misconception that queer women are not as vulnerable to STIs, HIV/AIDS, and unwanted pregnancies, needs to be dispelled if we are to address the SRH needs of all people. The provision of safe sex information and services for queer women in Africa needs to be prioritised as we move forward. The same is true for intersex issues, which continued to be left at the margins of many of the discussions held at this conference.

Although we acknowledge the importance of grounding activism and policy development in evidence-based research, much of the work presented at this conference further emphasised the fact that the majority of scientific research being done on people and communities is still too quantitative, inaccessible, and often does not go beyond high-level conferences where the majority of research participants would never even have the opportunity to attend.

Ethical research practices must therefore be promoted to ensure that scientists and other researchers are held accountable to the people they claim to be performing research for. Otherwise, these and other conferences will continue to be nothing but high level ‘talk shops’ where individuals and institutions get to show off their research findings, show off fancy power point presentations, and deliberate on the next piece of research that needs to be done to fill the knowledge gap.

The next conference will be held in Egypt in 2012 with its overarching theme being on ‘Culture and Sexuality’. Given that this contentious subject has far reaching implications for sexuality, sexual health and rights, it is critical for the conference and organisers to reflect on of the outcomes of this conference and what we need to build on to affirm that sexuality is an integral part of all persons, with freedom to express that in any form without coercion, fear, harm or violations, with people able to make informed decisions about their sexuality, including their sexual relations that is responsible, and whether to connect sexual activity with reproduction or not.’

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Zawadi Nyong’o is the author of 'When I Dare to Be Powerful', published by Akina Mama wa Afrika.
* Kavinya Makau is acting progam officer, HIV/AIDS with Urgent Action Fund-Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] Having sex with as many women as possible in order to ‘display’ them as hunting trophies.
[2] Similar to friendly cricket matches, this term is used by Zimbabwean university students to describe casual sexual relationships.
[3] Like cricket tournaments this term is used to describe relationships that require a little more emotional involvement than ODI’s.
[4] This is when a man intentionally impregnates a woman in order to mark his territory.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Kola Speaks: “Dishonesty about Race—an American Social Reflex”

 

Egyptian-Sudanese-American novelist and poet Kola Boof has been an agent for Sudan’s SPLA and was the National Chairwoman of the U.S. Branch of the Sudanese Sensitization Peace Project.  She has written for television and her many books include, “Flesh and the Devil,” “Long Train to the Redeeming Sin,” “Nile River Woman” and “Virgins In the Beehive.”  She blogs at Kola Boof. com

 From my earliest childhood memories in Sudan to the ones of being adopted and growing up in the Anacostia Park ghettoes of Washington D.C., I’ve always had an innate curiosity, affection and spiritual appreciation for all human beings of every different type—so imagine my continuing frustrations about being labelled a “racist” whenever I find myself in a discussion with American-born Americans on the issue of race, whether those Americans be black or white.

“It’s because the Americans are dishonest and idealistic about race,” my friends from Nigeria, Israel, Harlem, Norway, Mexico and Argentina insist.  And I’ve come to agree with them.

For instance, if I decide to make love with a white male Producer from NBC NEWS (as I did two years ago); a man I had dated quite regularly, cooked for and shared a mutual love for silent films circa 1912-1922 with—I am “racist” for telling him that on the matter of seeking marriage, my true preference is for very dark skinned black men and that part of my attraction to him is because he is “white” and I would like to experience his “white” flavour.

It doesn’t matter how much I adore him, respect him and have extended friendship to him.  His American colleagues both white and black will insist that I am a racist because I told him the truth rather than uphold the blanket American policy of pretending that there is no physical or cultural difference between any of us. 

To tell blatantly honest truth, as I have always done in my published writings and speeches in America, is to risk the reprisal of American insecurity and ignorance, and though I greatly understand that most White Americans are “overly sensitized” when entering discussions on race due to constantly being accused of “racism”—I also find myself weary of the suffering I endure in not being allowed to honestly discuss my reality and my experiences with those Americans that I love and share friendships with as a fellow human being.

Quite a lot, you will hear African-American scholars such as Cornel West and John Edgar Wideman, and African people in general, preaching that there is no such thing as race.  That race is a social construct.  But when I remind them that the “blind spot” of such pronouncements is the fact that black skin, hair texture and facial features are not a social construct—that “color” itself, unlike race, isn’t a social construct—and that the role of “gender” is just as much a social construct as race is, they become perturbed and turn a deaf ear.

I offer this commentary to say to you my fellow Americans—we are making racial issues much worse in this country by pretending that “difference” doesn’t exist and that the past never happened.

When Americans try to pretend that a woman who looks like fully African black and a woman with one drop of African blood and can pass for White are in fact the same woman, sharing the exact same experiences and being treated the same—I say that you are a liar. Mixed are treated better than Black.

When I am chatting at the Post Office with a White woman friend who has given birth to a biracial child, I am tired of being told by the whole California society that it’s abnormal for me, a chocolate-skinned beauty with African hair to prefer that my own children have black skin and beautiful, luxurious nappy hair like mine—because I am their mother and want to see my own image carried on.  This is not racism on my part.  In my mind, the California brigade, and America in general, is extolling a reverse racism. 

The idea that Black people should stop existing and be replaced by mixed raced people as some symbol of a “faux mass unity”…as if the erasure of black children will miraculously bring about the end of racism…is plain old fashioned White supremacy to me, wrapped in the cloak of “progressiveness”.

And Black people’s post-slavery, post-colonial self-hate.

I have love in my heart for every kind of human being on this earth.  But I am also a person wise enough to know that the biggest part of truly loving someone is to tell them the truth about what you think, feel and know—it doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong; one must tell his or her truth—and this, despite my detractors, has always been my way.

God intended for animals and insects to be colorblind—not humans.  For us, because of our intelligence, she intended that we be able to appreciate; affirm and continuously cultivate the diversity of beauty and extraction that has sprung up from her contradictions.

I am Black, I ordered that my sons are black and I will die Black.  That is not an affront or rejection of anybody else’s reality, but it is a personal and spiritual celebration of my self and the God in me.

Including the Caucasians, I suspect that few of us are as racist as America’s dishonest “everybody’s the same; one face fits all” multi-cultural delusion makes us out to be.

Pedro Pérez-Sarduy
poet, author, journalist

Pedro Pérez-Sarduy  is a poet, writer, journalist and broadcaster living in London. He is the author of Surrealidad (Havana 1967), Cumbite and Other Poems (Havana 1987 and New York 1990), and a new novel, Las Criadas de La Habana (2003), The Maids of Havana.

Set in Cuba and Miami, from the 1940s to the present, two Afro-Cuban women narrate their life stories. One leaves a small town in the central part of the island to work as a maid in Havana in prerevolutionary Cuba. The other, her friend's daughter, educated in revolutionary Cuba, leaves Havana in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, to find work as a maid in Miami… A history full circle?

The English version of The Maids of Havana has gone live online, selling for £9.99 at

http://www.authorhouse.co. uk/Bookstore/ItemDetail.as px?bookid=66117

 

Pedro Pérez-Sarduy is also co-editor with Jean Stubbs of Afro-Cuba: An Anthology of Cuban Writing on Race, Politics and Culture (1993) and co-author of the Introduction for the anthology No Longer Invisible/Afro-Latin Americans Today (1995). 

His Journal in Babylon is a series of chronicles on Britain. His first novel, Las Criadas de la Habana (The Maids of Havana), is based on his mother's life stories about pre-and post-revolutionary Havana.  This is the first novel by a contemporary AfroCuban writer on family life in Cuba. He has written numerous articles, some of which we present on this site.

Together with Jean Stubbs, he wrote Afro-Cuban Voices on Race and Identity in Contemporary Cuba, a book based on interviews with Afro-Cubans (living in the Island), which has been published by the University Press of Florida. This book is important because it is the first treatment of racial issues in contemporary Cuba that gives AfroCubans a voice. 

He has been the recipient of a number of awards, including:

Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship Resident in Humanities, Caribbean 2000 Program. College of Humanites, Universidad of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras,   August-December 1997

Rockefeller Scholar in Afro-American Identity and Cultural Diversity,  Center for African Studies and Center for Latin American Studies,  University of Florida, Gainesville, August-December 1993.

Visiting Fellow, CUNY- Caribbean Exchange Program, Hunter College,  City University of New York, March-June 1990.

Writer-in-residence, Center for American Culture Studies, Columbia University, New York, October-December 1989.

Foto ©  2008 Pedro Pérez-Sarduy

In 1999, he did a tour of the US in April and presented at TransAfrica Forum in Washington, DC and at "Race and the 21st Century at Michigan State University" in Lansing.

He has been a radio journalist since 1965, beginning with Cuban national radio as a current affairs journalist and with Cuban television on the first African and Caribbean music show. He was then with the BBC Latin American Service from 1981 to 1994.

Pedro Pérez-Sarduy and Jean Stubbs also co-edited "No Longer Invisible: Afro-Latin Americans Today," covering Central and South America, with each chapter written by a country specialist.

His latest book of poetry Malecón Sigloveinte (2005), was published in Cuba.

 

 

 

Pedro's CV gives more details. Here's what we have of Pedro's writings on AfroCubaWeb:

An Open letter to Carlos Moore: Pedro's response to Moore's Castro, Blacks & Africa - as valid today as it was in 1990 when it was published.7	Pedro Pérez Sarduy nos da su punto de vista sobre el festival Cuba-Presente! en Londre en junio '99 asi que sobre dos actividades, de Orquesta Aragón y de Pablo Milanes.
What do Blacks have in Cuba? - the precursor article to Voices of Afro-Cubans.	Where did the Blacks go? - on the Pope's visit.
Pedro's poems	Journal in Babylon
Bacardí: La Guerra Occulta, Jiribilla, 10/02	In Living Memory - Pedro remembers his great- grandmother Sabue born in Africa, 3/00
Interviews
« La crise a accentué le racisme à Cuba », Entretien avec Pedro Pérez Sarduy  Africultures, 4/99, in French,  requires registration.	Social change in Cuba is complex as black and white, Interview in the Seattle Times, 11/24/02
Interview in Jiribilla, 6/02
Published Writings
Afro-Cuba: An Anthology of  Cuban Writing on Race, Politics and Culture	No Longer Invisible/Afro-Latin Americans Today
The Maids of Havana	Afro-Cuban Voices on Race and Identity in Contemporary Cuba

 

Foto ©  2004 Maria Fernandez Vallecas

 

 

Black History Walks, Talks and Films

Nubian Spirit (Film,Q & A,) Sun. 11.4.10

 

(above Sudanese pyramids. There are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt)

Nubian Spirit (Film, Q and A) plus animated short film

Sunday 11th April 3.00pm-6.00pm

Flash Musical Theatre Youth Theatre, Methuan Road

Edgware, Middlesex HA8 6EZ

Adm: Free if reserved in advance info@colourfulevents.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 07838102024 

www.colourfulevents.co.uk  

Arrive 15 min early for refreshments and seating

This is a wonderful educational tool for both children( age 9 plus) and adults alike who have a genuine thirst for knowledge about the amazing continent of Africa and the world's earliest civilizations that emerged from it.   The film will be followed by a discussion with Louis Buckley, (director, producer, editor and narrator of this amazing film) and Brother Tony of Black History Walks

 

   There are limited free creche spaces for 4 - 8 Year olds which need to be prebooked and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.  

A wide range of books (adult and kids) will also be on sale that day

 

"Nubian Spirit" is a beautifully shot documentary which unravels the fascinating of legacy of Ancient Sudan. It shines light onto the Ancient African culture, history and spiritual mythology of the people from the Nile Valley. The film digs deep into Ancient Africa's numerous contributions to modern civilization.  It  features dynamic interviews with leading scholars, Robin Walker, K.N Chimbiri, and Anthony Browder, to name just  a few. 

It has been well recorded that the first humans on the planet emerged from the beautiful continent of Africa. However most people today know little about how these African cultures have influenced modern society. The makers of this film understand the importance of sharing authentic African history in a balanced way and how under represented it is in the western world view. They have signifcantly  contributed to setting the balance straight by accurately representing the facts and the information that has been discovered.

To purchase Nubian Spirit www.blackninefilms.com

 

 

Easter Holidays Special: Black Heroes of World War 2, 15.4.10

 

Easter Holidays Special: Black S/Heroes of World War 2; Talk and Films

Thursday 15th April 11.00am-2.00pm

Venue: On confirmation of registration

Area: SE1, ten minutes from tube 

Adm: By prior registration. 70 seats available, £2.00 donation per person

Proceeds to Girl Child Concern, Kaduna State, Nigeria

www.girlchildconcerns.org  

 

This event has been specially designed for those looking for someting culturally positive to do with their children during half term. It is aimed squarely at, conscientious adults who take their child's education seriously, and curious children looking for inspiring influences.World War 2 is on the curriculum at both primary and secondary level but  there is hardly a mention of any African/Caribbean involvement. Africa, the Caribbean and its people were crucial to winning the war and this interactive presentation shows Trinidadian Spitfire and Barbadian bomber pilots, Nigerian troops fighting in Burma. Somali ships and sailors, black and asian women secret agents, German submarines in the Caribbean and the importance of Africa and India’s raw materials all feature.  All the information you never got at school plus resources to find out more www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk

Youth groups and Saturday schools welcome. To register or for more info contact info@blackhistorywalks.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

 

 

 

 

 

   

Easter Holidays Special: Black Heroes of World War 2, Thurs, 15.4.10

 

Easter Holidays Special: Black S/Heroes of World War 2; Talk and Films

Thursday 15th April 11.00am-2.00pm

Venue: On confirmation of registration

Area: SE1, ten minutes from tube 

Adm: By prior registration. 70 seats available, £2.00 donation per person

Proceeds to Girl Child Concern, Kaduna State, Nigeria

www.girlchildconcerns.org  

 

This event has been specially designed for those looking for someting culturally positive to do with their children during half term. It is aimed squarely at, conscientious adults who take their child's education seriously, and curious children looking for inspiring influences.World War 2 is on the curriculum at both primary and secondary level but  there is hardly a mention of any African/Caribbean involvement. Africa, the Caribbean and its people were crucial to winning the war and this interactive presentation shows Trinidadian Spitfire and Barbadian bomber pilots, Nigerian troops fighting in Burma. Somali ships and sailors, black and asian women secret agents, German submarines in the Caribbean and the importance of Africa and India’s raw materials all feature.  All the information you never got at school plus resources to find out more www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk

Youth groups and Saturday schools welcome. To register or for more info contact info@blackhistorywalks.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

 

 

 

 

 

   

Come Back Africa +The End of the Dialogue Sat 24.4.10

 

Come Back Africa + The End of the Dialogue plus Q & A

Saturday  24 April 2pm -5.00pm

BFI SouthBank

Belvedere Road SE1

Tube: Waterloo.

Tickets £5.00 0207 928 3232

www.bfi.org.uk www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk

 

End of the Dialogue

Filmed secretly in South Africa by members of the Pan Africanist Congress and edited in London, End of the Dialogue was the first anti-apartheid documentary produced by a dissident political faction. Accentuating the brutal realities of apartheid, the effect of this uncompromising exposé is made all the more biting by the use of quotes from government publications and State reports

Come Back Africa

The second feature written, produced, and directed by American independent pioneer Lionel Rogosin had a profound effect on African cinema, and remains of great historical and cultural importance as a document preserving the unique heritage of the townships in South Africa in the 1950s.With Vinah Bendile,Miriam Makeba,Zachariah Mbagi 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Ghosts of Rwanda Sat.25.4.10

   

 

 

Ghosts of Rwanda

Saturday  25 April  

1.30pm to 5pm

Conference Room 1st Floor Imperial War Museum

Lambeth Road SE1 Tube: Lambeth North

Free entry: First come, first served

Bring pen and pad and be on time

www.iwm.org.uk  

A multi award winning history of the international response to the 1994 Rwandan genocide which has yet to be screened on BBC even though it was part funded by them
Whether you've seen or missed Hotel Rwanda this film is a must to get a comprehensive understanding of the Rwandan genocide and the links between Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan and racism at the United Nations. The film also highlights African heroes such as the Senegalese peacekeeper Captain Mbaye Diagne who saved countless lives by repeatedly driving into enemy lines to rescue people.
 

REVIEWS

"Ghosts of Rwanda has the scope and the dramatic immediacy of an epic miniseries such as Herman Wouk's War & Remembrance. What makes it bearable to watch, despite scenes that recall Nazi death camps, and bearable to contemplate, despite widespread evidence of moral dereliction, are the acts of humanitarianism and heroism documented. ... Ghosts of Rwanda is almost as humbling as it is horrifying."
- Newsday

AWARDS

• Winner, DuPont Columbia Award (Television equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize)
• Winner, Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award
• The Sidney Hillman Foundation Journalism Award
• Banff World Television Festival Award- Best Social & Political Documentary  

 

===================================

Walks, Talks and Films on the African History of Britain

Black History Walks offers guided walking tours of the African history of London. Walks take place in St Pauls/Bank, Docklands, Trafalgar Square, Elephant & Castle and Notting Hill area from March to November and last  2-2.5 hours. Next walks,  2,4,8,9 April 11am

 We also offer films, talks and workshops on a variety of related topics all year long. The talks are interactive multi-media presentations designed to suit, schools, colleges, universities, staff associations, community groups and public events such  product launches or seminars. We  arrange public filmshows and on history and current afairs in  venues all over the country. We provide teacher and parent training, inset days and run long and short term interventions in primary/secondary schools, with classes or individual pupils. We work with 'at-risk' youth and  run workshops in YOI's, Secure Units and with probationers 

For more  details on   Walks, Talks, Films see above menu. Add yourself to our mail list http://www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/contact-us.html  for advance notice of events

" Is there really any African/Caribbean History in London ? The Windrush only got here in 1948 ! "

One of the most interesting things about the African influence in Britain is that it is all around us in the very streets, institutions and architecture. What is even more interesting is that most of us have been so mis-educated formally and informally, that we are blind to it even when the physical evidence stares us in the face.

Our most popular walk is  in the 'Square Mile' or the City of London. This is the oldest part of London and has a distinct political identity as it has its own Lord Mayor. It is also the centre of wealth creation for Britain but much of that wealth has been, and still is, created by Africa. 

Above  : The West Yorkshire PBCA came all the way from Huddersfield by to do the St Pauls Walk. Photo courtesy Milton Brown.

 The unique St Pauls/Bank walk takes in  side streets and back alleys that one would never see from the main road. As we meander along the quiet footpaths bit by bit, we uncover the hidden connections between Africa, the Diaspora and the infrastructure of ancient and modern London. We show how certain fraternal societies benefited from African wealth and invested that wealth in academic institutions and charities. We reveal how  African names came to be given to streets and areas.

We look at the visual imagery of London and point out the obvious African influences, which are so often ignored despite being quite blatant.  There is even African architecture on display in certain areas although it is not recognised as such due to  the euro-centric bias of the education system.

The walk illustrates the presence of Africans from Roman times and the British reaction to immigration as far back as 1596 when the Queen stated there were too many black people in Britain and they should be sent home! Banks and buildings, which were built directly and indirectly with African labour, are pointed out. We discuss the black British soldiers… of 1776 and 1794 and  make comparisons to the black Spitfire and Bomber pilots of  World War 2.

We point out the statues of people like William Beckford (twice Lord Mayor of the City of London) and Sir Frobisher who are both regarded as British heroes but were both involved in kidnapping, forced labour and torture.

 

Left St Maurice of Heidelberg the African patron saint of Germany portrayed in  the year 1523. Right Lecture on Hitlers Black Victims Imperial War Museum February 2009

We discover the connections between big business and the church by way of the banks and the “old boy network”.  Another location points out the role that minority groups  have played in regenerating inner London areas only to be priced out of them.

There are also walks in the Trafalgar Square, Notting Hill, Elephant & Castle and Docklands, details under Walks menu

To book send e-mail  with date, time and number of people to info@blackhistorywalks.co.uk

 

  

Janelle Monáe and Big Boi Party at an Insane Asylum in Their ‘Tightrope’ Music Video

• Comment 1Comment 1Comments

So, hot-stepping keeps the dementors at bay. Got it. (The song, which is great, is off Monáe's upcoming album, The ArchAndroid, out May 16.)

[MTV]

The Philosopher Kings [trailer]

Reminiscent of "What Is A Janitor?" from Liberator #1.

From the filmmakers:

///In search of wisdom found in unlikely places, The Philosopher Kings takes us on a journey through the halls of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn from the staff members who see it all and have been through it all: the custodians. This thought-provoking, feature-length documentary interweaves the untold stories of triumph and tragedy from the members of society who are often disregarded and ignored, and seeks out the kind of wisdom that gets you through the day and the lessons one learns from surviving hard times, lost loves, and shattered dreams.

From the producers of the multiple-award winning Flight from Death, The Philosopher Kings gives us the opportunity to learn from eight incredible individuals whom we would never have otherwise taken a moment out of our day to acknowledge.

"A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study."
~ Chinese Proverb"///

Related posts

Submission Guidelines

Submissions to the Last Man Anthology will be accepted until filled. The anthology will be released August 30, 2010, in celebration of Mary Shelley's birthday. 

All manuscripts should follow industry standards, including proper margins, 12-point font, Times New Roman, and numbered pages with authors last name. Fiction should avoid the following phrases: "it just," or "it seems," or "It just seems," or "it seemed like," or "I just." Only two exclamation points are allowed per 8,000 words.  

Word count: 1500-8888 words. 

All fiction will be critiqued, and an explanation of acceptance or rejection will be provided. It is suggested that all writers submitting work have some formal writing experience. 

All fiction and poetry should focus on the theme of catastrophic literature, and present interesting and innovative ideas that lend to the conception of being the last. Show us the last man, woman, robot, alien, planet, universe. The last person to do what. The last planet to do what. Show us the end of the world. What world is for you to decide. The characters or world must show the last of something. Stories should be science fiction in nature, although genre bending is acceptable. (No religious stories where humankind is doomed for its sins.)

Email submissions to: LastManAnthology [@] aol.com. Attachments in doc. or docx. Subject header should read: Last Man Anth/Title/Word count. Please include a bio, any creative writing or college classes you've taken, if any. State the theme of the story: (example: This story is about the last cell phone on Mars.) In a few sentences tell us what your favorite book is and why. Lastly, in a few sentences, explain why science fiction is important to you.

All chosen works will receive a published credit. Short story payment is fifteen U.S. dollars, or a contributor's copy, valued at fifteen dollars. Three winning selections will be awarded an honorary prize, and receive a new copy of Mary Shelley's novel, The Last Man, valued at fourteen dollars. Poetry accepted is a flat rate of five U.S. dollars.

Think this is an exciting project, but need help with an idea? Have you always wanted to write science fiction, but don't know where to start? Visit our W.O.A. page for more information. /woa.html

Special issue on music of South Africa and the United States

full name / name of organization: 

Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Studies

contact email: 

jaji@english.upenn.edu

cfp categories: 

african-american

american

cultural_studies_and_historical_approaches

ethnicity_and_national_identity

interdisciplinary

journals_and_collections_of_essays

popular_culture

theory

twentieth_century_and_beyond

from an international, transnational, and/or comparative perspective and seeks to understand each country in relation to the other. For a special issue on music, we are seeking essays that look at the way songs, performers, performance styles, fans, and other aspects of musical culture add to our understanding of the United States and South Africa and to cultural flows between two dating from collaborations (jam session) between American merchant shipmen and urban South Africans in the nineteenth century. We will also consider submissions concerned with Southern Africa and parts of the Americas relevant to the special issue.

Topics might include (but are not limited to):
collaboration: for example thinking about Paul Simon's Graceland alongside Hugh Masekela's performances at SNCC fundraisers organized by Harry Belafonte bring us to a new understanding of transnational collaboration in the face of urgent human rights crises

borrowing and adaptation: how have cinematic and other recording mediums shaped practices of adaptation and citation? How might South African films from the early 1950s featuring all-black revues quoting American swing tunes be thought of in a continuum with Julie Taymor's and the Disney film's versions of The Lion King.

globalization: What might account for the popularity of, say, American country and Western music in South Africa? Or the American television commercials featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing the praises of such American commodities as Lifesavers. Might we borrow Appadurai's formulations of globalization to think about "musico-scapes" and how would we characterize these?

race: is music racially coded in similar ways in the United States and in South Africa? Has this shifted in the post apartheid era? One interesting angle might be a comparison of kwaito and forms of rap.

gender: how has gender functioned in the circulations of music marked as originating in these nations, and how do some of the masculinist tropes of nationalism determine and/or flounder on the political uses music has been put to. How do such 'starlet' figures as Dolly Rathebe and later Brenda Fassie construct identity along American models of feminitity and are American feminist rejections of such models equally available to South Africans in the contemporary moment? What can we learn from the similar erasure of female instrumentalists from imagery and historical narratives of popular music in South Africa and in the United States.

high vs. low culture(s): are there specific pedagogies and forms of transmission that attach to "high" bs. "low" culture? How do forms such as opera signify differently in South Africa (with, say South African College of Music performances of Mozart in Cape Town or U-Karmen eKhayalitsha on film along side Metropolitan Opera productions of Carmen starring black divas such as Denyse Graves or the 1954 film adaptation Carmen Jones)

folk music(s): are the legacies of the Smithsonian Folkways recordings and similar projects related to the work of Hugh Tracey and the International Library of African Music? What is the status of folk music archives in relation to ongoing reinvention and practices of the "folk"? What is specific about the meaning/valence of folk music in these locations?

consumption and commodification: how do adjunctive commodities -- concert t-shirts, album covers, posters etc.-- articulate the meanings and specifics of music as commodity, in global and local contexts?

cybercultures: how have the increasingly rapid circulations of music across geographic space changed the relations between South African and American musics? Given that some South Africans have access to high speed connections and multiple electronic resources, are collaborations increasing? What is the role of electronic publications like www.chimurenga.com or www.jazztimes.com in facilitating music making practices and exchanges?

live performance vs. recordings: are similar questions of recording rights and royalties at play in music-making on both sides of the Atlantic? How have the uses to which recordings have been put on radio distinguished the role of music in the public sphere? For example how might we compare the impact Elvis's white-coded rock and roll and/or Motown's race records on American radio listeners and record purchasers in tandem with the language-specific Bantu Radio stations of the apartheid era. What are the ironies of Bantu Radio in the post-apartheid era being used to circulate popular youth music enacting the values of youth under the "new dispensation". What do we learn about transnational dynamics from the reception of live performances such as Jay-Z's 2006 appearance in South Africa

protest music(s): how do memories of protest music and memorializations of civil and human rights struggles shape the way protest musics are recorded and circulated in our contemporary moment? The film Amandla: A revolution in Four Part Harmony bears in common many remarkable elements with documentaries about the late Odessa, Pete Seegers' collaborator Dorothy Cotton, and others. Historical documentaries are also, however, almost invariably accompanied by sound-tracks that create a specific and bounded sonic backdrop for the periods they cover. What are the implications of sampling only certain types of music, and certain types of protest music in imagining post-apartheid, post-Civil-Rights, and (dubiously) post-racial eras?

Contributions should generally be 7,500 to 10,000 words, including footnotes, references, tables and figures, although slightly longer articles may be considered. Send submissions addressed to Barbara Ching and Tsitsi Jaji to jaji@sas.upenn.edu by November 1, 2010.

The Bloc is having a paying contest. The winner gets mucho dinero.

I like money very much.

We thought forever that money was an apocryphal substance, but have recently discovered that it actually exists, and that you can hold it in your hand. We would like to put some money in your hand, so you can verify its existence, too. Please read this entire page carefully before you submit. (Seriously, we’re serious.)

 

The Gist

Send us a story of 11–5,000 words that focuses on this theme: making a sacrifice. You can be tragic, you can be hilarious, you can be ironic, you can write this hanging upside down from a bar—it doesn’t matter how you approach the topic. It can be true, or it can be not true, or it can be partly true and partly not true, or it can pretend to be true without actually being true, or it can pretend to be fiction to hide the dubious actions of its author. We’re looking forward to the way you bend words around this topic.

 

The Prize

The author of the entry that we feel best tackles the above topic will get their palms greased with at least $250. We’re counting on 25 entries to make that happen, but for every entry over 25, we’re boosting the prize by $5. Obviously the winning story will also be published and we will brag about it everywhere. If we don’t get 25 entries, the contest will be cancelled and everyone will get their money back, and we will sit in a corner and cry.

 

Entry Fee

$10 will buy you a season pass to this contest. If your story is rejected (see “Response Time”), you can send another one, ad infinitum. Scroll down and click the PayPal button—we will not consider your submission until we receive the entry fee. If we don’t get 25 submissions, everyone gets all their money back.

 

Deadline

The contest is open until July 4, 2010, at 6:19 p.m. At 6:20 p.m. on this day it will close. We gave this thing a four-month gap so we can generate lots of dough, to give to you, of course.

 

Response Time

Our ingenious response plan is borrowed graciously from Nate over at Bartleby Snopes. Hell, most of this contest jargon came from there, too. Thanks, Nate! Anyway, we’re operating on a rolling rejection process. We will always keep our top four submissions in consideration, and will email you as soon as possible if we have to turn your submission down. (Remember, though, you can submit infinity submissions.) We’ll announce the winner with a trumpet flourish by July 31, 2010. Within a week of that announcement, we will send the winner at least $250. That’s 1/4000th of a million dollars!

Please do not report these responses to Duotrope. The Swift List keeps us alive, and this is not our regular 1–2 day rejection process. Reporting contest rejections to Duotrope could potentially kill Writers’ Bloc, which is too young to die.

 

I’m ready to submit!

Step 1: Have you read ALL the instructions carefully?
Step 2: Click the button to pay your $10 entry fee. We will send you a personal confirmation to let you know that we are indeed watching over your $10 bill.
Step 3: Send your submission to  . It’s quite important that your subject line contains the word “CONTEST,” or something to that effect, so we don’t think it’s a normal submission. Some brief guidelines: 1. DOC or RTF only—no DOCX, and don’t paste the story into your email. 2. No previous publications or simultaneous submissions. 3. Rights: You have the copyright to your own work. The Bloc claims First North American Serial and electronic rights, and the right to archive your work to infinity and beyond. If your work is reprinted, please cite Writers’ Bloc as the initial publisher.

 

But I just wanted to send you guys a regular submission, you know, for the regular issue.

Mosey on over here instead.