A moment with Alesh

of the DRC

Alain Chirwisa, Alesh, Congolese is a committed rapper and slammer, lives and works in Kisangani in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kinshasa.

 

Posted by Nomadic Wax on October 7, 2012 

Featuring: Alesh (DRC), PPS the Writah (Senegal), and Helio (Mozambique)

 
DP/Editor: Magee

 
Producer: Nomadic Wax

 
Translation: Magee, Nantali Indongo, and Waterflow

 
Shouts to the one beat project for bringing these artists over and organizing the exchange: 1beat.org/

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Call for Entries:

2012 Nigerian Stock Exchange

National Essay Competition

(N200k top prize)

Deadline: 2 November 2012

The Nigerian Stock Exchange is pleased to announce the commencement of the 11th edition of the Annual National Essay Competition for secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The competition’s overall goal is to develop a culture of wealth creation amongst our youth – ‘Catching Them Young’. This landmark initiative continues to be guided by the following key objectives:

• Expose the young ones to the operations of the stock market;

• Develop a culture of medium and long-term investment habit among the youth;

• Expose the students to career choices in the securities market and related professions;

• Fill some gaps between school curriculum and practical approach to investing in the stock market.

ENTRY PROCEDURES AND RULES:

• Only one entry per person is allowed

• All entries must be accompanied with the competitor’s entry form

• The Essay competition is open for two categories; students in senior secondary school and tertiary institutions in Nigeria

• Entries must be typewritten in English and not mor​​e than 2,000 words

• Essays must be original and unpublished

• All entries must be submitted via email

• All entries become the property of The Nigerian Stock Exchange and will not be returned.

• The decision of The Nigerian Stock Exchange panel of judges is final

• All national winners are entitled to a certificate and plaque

• 1st Prize winners’ institutions shall receive a trophy each

• 34 state winners including FCT shall receive consolation prizes

• Names of winners and runners-up will be published in select Newspapers

• Equivalent cash prizes will be given out in form of shares of quoted companies

THE NSE ESSAY COMPETITION TOPICS:

• Secondary Schools: What are the Benefits of Good Corporate Governance?

• Tertiary Institutions: Corporate Governance and Nigerian Capital Market Development. Discuss.

PRIZES TO BE WON:

Secondary Schools (national winners):

• 1st Prize: N200,000.00 (Two hundred thousand naira only)

• 2nd Prize: N150,000.00 (One hundred and fifty thousand naira only)

• 3rd Prize: N75,000.00 (Seventy five thousand naira only)

• Consolation Prizes: N15,000.00 (Fifteen thousand naira) each for 34 Runners-up

Tertiary Institutions (national winners):

• 1st Prize: N300,000.00 (Three hundred thousand naira only)

• 2nd Prize: N200,000.00 (Two hundred thousand naira only)

• 3rd Prize: N100,000.00 (One hundred thousand naira only)

• Consolation Prizes: N20,000.00 (Twenty thousand naira) each for 34 Runners-up

Download: entry forms - for secondary schools, for tertiary institutions

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: essay@nse.com.ng

Website: http://www.nse.com.ng

 

POL Prizes Submission Guidelines

Submissions will be accepted via Submittable through NOVEMBER 1, 2012 at 11:59pm.

Hard copy submissions will be accepted postmarked by NOVEMBER 1, 2012.

Open to poets with or without previous book-length publication.

Two volumes -- the POL Prize winner and the POL Editor’s Prize winner -- will be published by Fordham University Press in 2014, selected by a final judge and the series editor.

 

Both authors will receive $1,000 and a book launch in the POL Reading Series.

2012-2013 Prize Judge: Susan Wheeler
Series Editor: Elisabeth Frost

 

ALL MANUSCRIPTS that do not adhere to the following guidelines will be recycled unread. Reading fees are non-refundable.

1. Manuscripts must be previously unpublished, original and in English (no translations)
2. Manuscripts must be typed on 8 1/2 x 11 letter sized paper; pages must be numbered
3. Manuscript length: 50-80 pages
4. Manuscripts should include a table of contents and list of acknowledgments (if applicable)
5. Submit ONE copy of the manuscript (either online OR by mail – see below)
6. No fax submissions. Manuscripts will not be returned or commented upon; no changes can be made after submission
7. Multiple entries are allowed provided each submission complies with these guidelines (including paying a submission fee for each submission)
8. Notify us if another publisher accepts your manuscript after it is submitted to the POL Prizes by updating your status on our online submissions manager and by e-mailing: pol@fordham.edu
9. Poets Out Loud Prizes are NOT open to: students or employees of Fordham University; current or former students or friends of the Prize Judge or Series Editor
10. Entries will be read anonymously
11. The POL Prizes comply with the CLMP code of ethics (see below)

 

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ONLINE SUBMISSIONS

-Manuscript submitted online must have only ONE title page that includes the title of the manuscript only

-The poet’s name should NOT appear anywhere in manuscripts submitted online; any manuscript that includes the author's information will be disqualified

-Manuscripts must be submitted online by 11:59 pm on November 1, 2012

-You will be charged a non-refundable $28 fee ($25 reading fee + $3 online processing)*

-Click here to submit your manuscript online

 

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MAILED SUBMISSIONS

- Manuscripts submitted by mail must have TWO title pages:
(a) one that includes the title, poet's name, address, phone number, e-mail address
(b) one that includes the title of the manuscript only

- The poet's name should appear ONLY on the first title page in manuscripts submitted by mail.

- Manuscripts should be clipped (no staples, please)

- Manuscripts must be postmarked no later than November 1, 2012

- Send a U.S. check or money order for $25 payable to Poets Out Loud.* This is a non-refundable fee.

- Optional: SASE postcard for confirmation that the manuscript has been received

- Mail Submissions to:
Fordham College at Lincoln Center
Poets Out Loud Prizes
113 West 60th Street
Room 924-I
New York, NY 10023

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*Note on Fees: While the online submission fee is slightly higher, please keep in mind that submitting online can save you time, printing costs, postage costs, and trees.

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JUDGING PROCESS

Manuscripts are read anonymously by a group of qualified poets/critics, all of whom are published, and each of whom is selected with the approval of the final judge and the Series Editor. If a reader recognizes a manuscript or knows its author, that manuscript is forwarded to a different reader or readers. Numbers of initial readers vary from year to year, depending on the process preferred by the final judge. A group of finalist manuscripts is read by the final judge over a period of weeks. In the 2012-2013 prize cycle, Fordham University Press will publish two volumes: the winner, selected by the final judge, and another volume, selected by the Series Editor in consultation with the final judge.

 

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RESULTS

Results will be announced in Spring 2013. Please check www.fordham.edu/pol for notification of winners and finalists.

 

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CLMP CONTEST CODE OF ETHICS

CLMP's community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

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Series Editor: Elisabeth Frost

Questions? E-mail us at: pol@fordham.edu

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Click here to download full guidelines

Win a Trip to UK/ Seychelles:

2013 Living Rainforest

International Schools

Essay Competition 

Deadline: 22 March 2013

The Living Rainforest is pleased to announce that the theme of this year’s competition is: ‘Who is responsible … are we ready to take responsibility for the future of our planet?’ All shortlisted schools will be invited to attended an International Schools Debate and Prize-giving event in either the UK or the Seychelles.

2013 INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS ESSAY COMPETITION AND DEBATE:

At the recent United Nations ‘Rio+20′ Earth Summit, national governments made little headway on addressing the planet’s burgeoning ecological, social and economic problems.

We believe that young people can do better, so we’re inviting children to think carefully about who around the world is responsible for doing what to help turn the situation around.

We want to hear what schoolchildren think different groups in society (such as governments, citizens, educators, businesses, organised religions and the media) should be doing to help solve our growing environmental, social and economic crises. Do people’s rights and responsibilities differ around the world and if so, how?

The competition and debate are aimed at primary students (ages 7-11) and secondary students (ages 11-17) and their teachers, in both formal and home schools.

First, Second and Third Prizes will be awarded in both categories and one overall Grand Prize Winner will receive a free trip to either the UK or the Seychelles to attend the International Schools Debates, together with a parent and Teacher Champion. All shortlisted primary and secondary schools will also be invited to participate in the International Schools Debates in the UK (26-27 June 2013) or the Seychelles (early to mid July 2013).

ESSAY COMPETITION:

Students are invited to write an essay in English, entitled ‘Who is responsible … are we ready to take responsibility for the future of our planet?’. A distinguished panel of judges, drawn from experts and educationalists in the field, will select three winning entries for each age category. The winning students will be awarded trophies at the International Schools Debates and their essays will be published on the competition website. Essays will be judged for innovative and creative thinking and the potential to contribute to a broad-ranging and constructive debate (further details on the judging criteria will follow shortly). The essay length differs by age category as follows:

• Primary students (ages 7-11) – max. 400 words
• Secondary students (ages 11-17) - max. 600 words

For each category, schools will be invited to submit up to 30 essays online. (These must be submitted by the Teacher Champion, using the login details provided at registration. We regret that paper and emailed copies cannot be accepted.)

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS DEBATES AND PRIZE-GIVING: In 2013, there will be two International Schools Debate & Prize-giving events – one in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere - in order to accommodate the growing interest in the competition. Winning schools will choose which event they wish to attend. The Northern Hemisphere debate will take place at the Living Rainforest (UK) on 26-27 June 2013 and the Southern Hemisphere debate will take place in the Seychelles during early to mid July 2013 (dates TBC). Each primary or secondary school will be represented by a team of up to two students, plus one Teacher Champion. Aside from the Grand Prize Winner and accompanying Teacher Champion and parent, each participating school will need to cover its own costs.

KEY DATES:

• 25 September 2012 – School/teacher registration begins
• 22 March 2013 – Closing date for essay submissions
• 3 May 2013 – Winners notified and invited to Debates/Prize-giving
• 26-27 June 2013 - Northern Hemisphere Schools Debate and Prize-giving, United Kingdom
• early to mid July 2013 (dates TBC) - Southern Hemisphere Schools Debate and Prize-giving, Seychelles

RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS: To assist teachers and students in preparing for the competition and debate, key resources will be made available on the competition website in the months leading up to the submission deadline.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries: schools@livingrainforest.org

For submissions: register here

Website: http://www.livingrainforest.org/

 

A Conversation with

Nikyatu Jusu

 

 

<p>Film Made Right: Nikyatu Jusu from Christie Neptune on Vimeo.</p>

Sierra Leonean-American filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu talks about her hybrid identity, American cinema, New Media, and the issues that inform her films.

********************

A growing number of filmmakers are emerging from the New African Diaspora. A Diaspora which reflects the multiple identities, histories and experiences of those born in the United States and other western countries but who also embrace the Africa of their parents. Could you give some reflections on your experiences?

 

I grew up in what, for a very long time, felt like a cultural vacuum in which my sense of normalcy was revived every time I stepped foot in my home.  There was always the smell of African food, my mother often wore African garb and both my parents spoke their native languages sprinkled with English.

 

School was another matter, in which I would often shed any association with Sierra Leone, because at the time I simply wanted to “fit in” and not draw undue attention to myself.  I think the taunts from fellow minority children really confused me for some time and yet I came to the realization that many of these kids were hiding from their own immigrant lineage in their attempt to attain this nebulous “normalcy” our young minds idealized.

 

Now, as an adult, I understand that my dual hybridized identity is one to celebrate and embrace.  As anyone can see, African-ness is permeating much of popular culture: primarily fashion and film, so of course it’s easier now to embrace something that is being lauded.

 

The provocatively titled, African Booty Scratcher (2008), recounts the story of Isatu, a young Sierra Leonean American, at the intersection of two cultures—or perhaps three, her mother’s culture, American culture and US high school culture: the expectations of friends and the desire to fit in.  Are you exploring your own experiences and/or that of your Sierra Leonean American peers? Please talk about the film, and the title.

 

Yes, this film is a semi autobiography of my experiences.  I was racking my brain as to what to write for my 2nd year NYU Graduate Film Exercise and I had a lightbulb moment.  I never ever wanted to be associated with traditional garb during high school and absolutely NOT during middle school!  The repercussions from my evil peers were much too grave (kids are mean to each other: this is nothing new).

 

African Booty Scratcher is a familiar taunt for many kids raised in the 80’s and 90’s.  I later learned that John Singleton even has a character say it in Boyz N The Hood, which was very funny to me. I’m still surprised at how much this short film resonated with so many different people.  I received so much thanks via email, Facebook, and other social outlets.

<p>AFRICAN BOOTY SCRATCHER the short film by Nikyatu Jusu from Nikyatu Jusu on Vimeo.</p>

African Booty Scratcher (2008) by Nikyatu Jusu

 

There is an ongoing debate regarding the experiences of African Americans versus those of Africans in the US, the former encompassing those who have ancestors who experienced U.S. slavery while the latter have largely migrated to the United States post-African independence and constitute a “Neo-Diaspora”. What are your thoughts on this debate especially as it relates to your past, present and future work?

 

It’s funny because I would think we would use the opportunity to share and enlighten one another, and yet we continue to harbor sentiments that force us to create a hierarchy:  "I’m better than you because…"

 

The debate is silly.  The taunts are silly.  The divisiveness is ridiculous.

 

I think what’s important is mutual understanding of just how significant we are to each other’s image, success, development as a “race”.  We should have embraced ourselves as a monolith decades ago so that we could forge a stronger whole.

 

Much of my work deals with displaced women, immigrant women in the context of the United States and so I gravitate to that sort of content.

 

In African Booty Scratcher you touch on the tensions of the two groups. However, I do wonder why you focused on the stereotypes regarding African-American attitudes towards Africans, rather than those who embrace Africa and are very afro-centric in their dress, attitude and behavior.

 

This is a good question and one that I wish I would have had the time to address in my short film.

 

The short format is very limited in scope in regards to filmmaking and so one has to pick and choose what she deems necessary to her theme/story.

 

I did touch on the irony that white people are often quick to embrace Africa: often fetishizing and glamorizing it as is illustrated by the white woman in the restaurant scene.

 

Say Grace Before Drowning, also an eye-catching title, focuses on a woman’s psychologically devastating experiences as a victim of rape in the war-ravaged Sierra Leone, and its effects on her daughter. This film and others relay experiences from the perspective of women of Sierra Leonean descent. Could you talk about these works and your focusing your lens toward Sierra Leone?

 

My family is from Sierra Leone and early in one’s filmmaking career it’s smart to “write what you know”.  Though, in both Say Grace and ABS [African Booty Scratcher] I never specify a country: the assumption is that these people are from some West African country and audiences can project the country of their choice into the story—whatever resonates with them.

 

<p>[SAY GRACE BEFORE DROWNING] short film by Nikyatu Jusu from Nikyatu Jusu on Vimeo.</p>

Say Grace Before Drowning (2010) by Nikyatu Jusu

I notice a common thread in your films, an interest in exploring the internal feelings and conflicts of your black female characters. I am fascinated with this aspect, especially through the lens of a black woman.

 

Yes, I’m glad you see this because this is intentionally my focus.  I don’t think that prevailing media portrays black women as the multifaceted beings we are in reality.  We’ve been done an injustice with the same old tired stereotype: but I hope to present a different and much more titillating picture.

<p>|| BLACK SWAN THEORY || from Nikyatu Jusu on Vimeo.</p>Black Swan Theory by Nikyatu Jusu - Executive produced by Shadow and Act Films

 

Sierra Leone is not known for a film culture, is there an emerging presence? What is your relationship to Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leonean Diaspora?

 

My family is Sierra Leonean and no, the country is not known for a film culture just yet: however actions are being taken gradually to remedy this.  As you know, we were thrust into a devastating decade-long civil war that ended in 2001 so we’re of course still picking up the pieces.

 

I know about a few film schools that are popping up, namely “Nah We Own” TV, which is a nonprofit that empowers Sierra Leoneans to create their own short documentary and narrative pieces.

 

I hope to shoot a narrative short and eventual feature film in Sierra Leone soon.

 

You were born and raised in the United States and studied filmmaking there, what is your relationship with American and/or African American film culture?

 

Honestly, I’ve only recently begun to watch a lot of American films.  I’m a “foreign film whore” and a friend of mine recently pointed out to me that I needed to diversify my palate with more films from the US.

 

Even though I’m just as much American as I am African, I guess the reason I haven’t really taken to Black American Cinema (whatever this term means) is because most of the waves are currently being made.  Of course, I’d be remiss to ignore the pioneers such as Spike Lee, John Singleton, Charles Burnett, etc—I absolutely acknowledge them. What I mean is that, I’m seeing my black filmmaking peers, those slightly older than me, actively creating feature films that redefine Black American Cinema and more importantly expand it!

 

So, I’m very hopeful about what’s to come in the next few years.  But as far as the contemporary jumble of chitlin films masquerading as black cinema goes, I’m not a fan.

 

It appears that your screen identity, your presence on the Internet is an integral part of the promotion of your work and sharing it with others. You have a website/blog, you do Skype interviews, you have Youtube and Vimeo channels, and a presence on Facebook. What role does “New Media” play in your experiences as filmmaker?

 

I’m a young filmmaker and all of these social outlets have been an integral part of how I maneuver the world, digest information, spread information, etc.  I remember when Facebook originated, I was in undergraduate school at Duke and at the time only a handful of colleges had access.  It was all about elitism and exclusivity: if you weren’t attending one of the “top” colleges, you couldn’t create an account.

 

Now Facebook is accessible to everyone and rightfully so. The fact that now I have a concrete reason to play with these very accessible marketing tools will only enhance my usage of them as a filmmaker.

 

“New Media” is the future of filmmaking marketing and distribution, though viral outreach alone won’t get butts in seats: it certainly is an expeditious way to reach a wider and perhaps less-reached demographic.

 

Most of my audience are not avid film festival goers, so what better way to keep them abreast of my work than the Internet?

 

Most importantly, I think that New Media gives an intangible audience the opportunity to interact with the filmmaker: create a dialogue in which they feel like an integral part of the creation process. Audiences are becoming much more savvy.  They know what experiences they want to take away from a movie-going experience and when these expectations are not met, they quickly move onto the next product.

 

The New Media structure gives us filmmakers an ability to tap into what our audiences want.

Interview by Beti Ellerson (March 2011)


Links

Nikyatu Jusu Blog Etc.
Nikyatu Jusu on Vimeo

 

__________________________

Youth Diaspora Voices:

Leaders of Today

(Full Film)

by Nomadic Wax  

Release Date: November 10, 2010

<p>Youth Diaspora Voices: Leaders of Today (Full Film) from Nomadic Wax on Vimeo.</p>

"Youth Diaspora Voices: Leaders of Today" is the film report of the June 2010 Youth Diaspora Conference sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace in coordination with Nomadic Wax and Search for Common ground. The pilot conference focused on the experiences of young diaspora from Haiti, Iraq, Nigeria and Sri Lanka now living in the DC area . The event provided an opportunity to better understand the experience of young diaspora in the United States, integrate their voices into policy dialogues, and encourage young diaspora to creatively engage in peacebuilding.

Read more about the USIP Youth Diaspora Conference here:
usip.org/events/youth-diaspora-conference

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EXEC. PRODUCER: Stephanie Schwartz
PRODUCER: Nomadic Wax & United States Institute of Peace
DIRECTOR: Magee McIlvaine
EDITOR: Magee McIlvaine
COMPOSER: Ben Herson & Dan Cantor

WWW.USIP.ORG
WWW.NOMADICWAX.COM
YOUTHDIASPORA.ORG

Film: "A Bend in the River"

- A London story of Migration,

Multiculturalisme and

the River Thames

 

British writer Caryl Phillips invited photographer Johny Pitts to create the film/geographical slideshow "A Bend in the River". It eventually concluded in Tilbury, the Thames dockside some 30 miles away, where, between 1948 and 1962, ships arrived carrying immigrants from Britain’s former colonial territories, hastening the country’s transformation into a multi-cultural, multi-racial society.

GO HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

Watch the film at The Space .  And check out more or the project at A Bend in the River.

The film is based on Caryl Phillips's essay "A bend in the River", which he wrote for the artistic project "A Room for London".

GO HERE TO VIEW MAKING OF "FROM A BEND IN THE RIVER" VIDEO

For the project he stayed for four days in a one-bedroom installation, in the form of boat, on top of the Queen Elizabeth hall at the Southbank Centre in London.

Some snippets of Phillips's essay

"But preconceptions are powerful, and we often hold on to them long after reality has intervened. Between 1948 and 1962, over 250,000 West Indians arrived in Britain. British citizens clinging to suitcases, gaudy hats, and with their passports of belonging tucked neatly into their jacket pockets. They were coming to the motherland and their minds were full of images of the empire’s most important city. Marble Arch. Buckingham Palace. Hyde Park Corner. The images were iconic, and knowledge of them suggested participation. A shared history. Possessing these images – being able to recognize these places and, most importantly, talk about them with the authority of an insider - would surely produce a happy encounter with Britain. These early West Indian migrants arrived in Britain holding on to their preconceptions as tightly as they held on to their luggage.

 

Over fifty years later, many of these original pioneer migrants are still living in London. We know what these migrants expected because their testimony is preserved in audio archives and in documentary films. We also know what they expected because of the literature of the period, and perhaps the most evocative, and brilliant, example of this literature is Samuel Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners, first published in 1956. Selvon’s main character, Moses Aloetta, finds himself, at the end of the novel, standing by the same river that I’m now perched high above. Despite the evidence of discrimination, poverty, and heartbreak that Moses is forced to endure throughout the book, at the end of the novel our Lonely Londoner is unable to jettison his images of expectation. He stands gloriously still on the banks of the Thames knowing that he can’t help but love this city that has effectively rejected him and his kind, and somewhat ironically he comforts himself by lovingly recollecting London’s iconic images and locales."
...
"Britain, like most European nations, is not particularly open to hyphenation. We don’t talk easily of Jewish-Britons, or Afro-Britons, or Swedish-Britons, thus making it relatively easy to couple ones cultural traditions to national identity. Being British remains a largely concrete identity, quite well gated, and not particularly flexible. " Read the full essay at A Room for London.

 

__________________________

 April 2012

Caryl Phillips

Resident from 21 - 24 April 2012.

"I had anticipated endless lines of people shuffling across bridges to the left and to the right with, as Eliot suggests, each man fixing his eyes before his feet and silently going about his business."

Photograph by Johny Pitts

Download as mp3 | Subscribe on iTunes | Hearts of Darkness version

A Bend in the River

Of course, it was T.S. Eliot who famously declared, ‘April is the cruelest month’ and how right he was. Four days ago, soon after I ascended in the slow, slow, lift to the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, it became clear that the weather would soon be taking a cruel turn. High winds and lashing rain one minute; the next a hint of blue sky, a slither of sunshine, and then back again to high winds and lashing rain. One was tempted to call it ‘squally’ weather. Another word which sprang to mind was ‘marooned’ – high above London, high above the Thames, looking down on Europe’s largest city.

The first night was strangely eerie. It was a night punctuated by unfamiliar sounds. Screeching seagulls, wires stretching and singing, wood creaking and popping and snapping, the swishing backwash of water, and the occasional dull bass of a tugboat. And then the noises of the land; Big Ben counting off the hours, the dull hum of traffic on Waterloo Bridge, and garbage carts being noisily trundled across pavements below. And then I was rewarded with the drama of light crashing through the flimsy blinds and the dramatic announcement of a new day. I crawled out of bed and took in an extraordinary vista. A 180 degree view of London as she curves around the graceful bend in the river at the heart of the city.

It seems appropriate that I should have had T.S. Eliot in mind at the inception of my residency for in many ways it is Eliot’s vision of the Thames and the City of London that had been resonating most powerfully in my head when thinking of this short sojourn in the sky. In The Waste Land, Eliot - an American migrant to London - wrote memorably of the ‘Unreal City’ of London.

Unreal City,

Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,

A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,

I had not thought death had undone so many.

Hardly cheery words, but that foggy poetic image of London was, strangely enough, what I expected to be gazing down upon. I had anticipated endless lines of people shuffling across bridges to the left and to the right with, as Eliot suggests, each man fixing his eyes before his feet and silently going about his business. But that’s not the London I saw before me from my elevated vantage point. The fog of the first half of the twentieth century has long gone, and I haven’t detected much shuffling; in fact, people appear to dash purposefully in all directions. These Londoners don’t look at all as though death has undone them. From the prow of my boat in the sky, exuberant and energetic London is clearly open for business and busy.

But preconceptions are powerful, and we often hold on to them long after reality has intervened. Between 1948 and 1962, over 250,000 West Indians arrived in Britain. British citizens clinging to suitcases, gaudy hats, and with their passports of belonging tucked neatly into their jacket pockets. They were coming to the motherland and their minds were full of images of the empire’s most important city. Marble Arch. Buckingham Palace. Hyde Park Corner. The images were iconic, and knowledge of them suggested participation. A shared history. Possessing these images – being able to recognize these places and, most importantly, talk about them with the authority of an insider - would surely produce a happy encounter with Britain. These early West Indian migrants arrived in Britain holding on to their preconceptions as tightly as they held on to their luggage.

Over fifty years later, many of these original pioneer migrants are still living in London. We know what these migrants expected because their testimony is preserved in audio archives and in documentary films. We also know what they expected because of the literature of the period, and perhaps the most evocative, and brilliant, example of this literature is Samuel Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners, first published in 1956. Selvon’s main character, Moses Aloetta, finds himself, at the end of the novel, standing by the same river that I’m now perched high above. Despite the evidence of discrimination, poverty, and heartbreak that Moses is forced to endure throughout the book, at the end of the novel our Lonely Londoner is unable to jettison his images of expectation. He stands gloriously still on the banks of the Thames knowing that he can’t help but love this city that has effectively rejected him and his kind, and somewhat ironically he comforts himself by lovingly recollecting London’s iconic images and locales:

‘Oh … [he says] to have said: "I walked on Waterloo Bridge," "I rendezvoused at Charing Cross," "Piccadilly Circus is my playground," to say these things, to have lived these things, to have lived in the great city of London, centre of the world. To one day lean against the wind walking up the Bayswater Road (destination unknown), to see the leaves swirl and dance and spin on the pavement (sight unseeing), to write a casual letter home beginning: "Last night in Trafalgar Square …"'

Selvon’s characters grapple with the symbolism of iconic London, and the protracted and frustrating nature of their struggle suggests deep and unresolved issues around questions of belonging and ownership in the Britain of the period. Landscapes are freighted with history and can suggest a national identity; they can also remain stubbornly standoffish and hold outsiders at bay.

For the past few days I have been witness to the silent muscular power of the river flowing beneath me, history emerging from its impenetrable depths. I have exchanged visions of Romans sailing up the Thames for Conradian visions of ships at anchor waiting for the fog to lift. I have contemplated contemporary images of immigrants sailing up the river and disembarking at Tilbury Docks, some way down river to my right. I have also looked out at the grandeur of the buildings; St Paul’s Cathedral, The Palace of Westminster, Somerset House, Waterloo Bridge, at the whole spread of the most familiar landmarks of the city laid out before me, and I’ve done so without feeling the same clamour for ownership that Moses so desperately desired. And, I might add, without feeling any of Eliot’s gloomy ambivalence.

However, gazing upon these iconic buildings I have found myself thinking, every minute of every day, about the enduring power of British history, and how we continue to struggle to distinguish the past from the present, the purely ceremonial from the essential, in a way which might enable us to move forward as a modern nation. Fifty years on from lonely Moses on the banks of the Thames, I’ve not been thinking of, and hoping for, ownership. I’ve simply been musing on the vexing problems of how to make the narrative of our history, as evidenced in the landscape and buildings, fit with the narrative of a twenty-first century, multicultural, multiracial, people. One would never want to dismiss the evidence of grandeur, achievement, and tradition as suggested by this landscape. But questions remain that go beyond the symbolic; just how relevant is the role of an established church in British life? The role of the monarchy? The desirability of an unelected upper house? I scan to the left, and back to the right, and then look down at the people on the streets and there seems to be disjuncture between the narrative on the streets and the narrative suggested by this particular view.

Such questioning seems to me to be part of the legacy of growing up in the second half of the twentieth century, during the years in which Britain lost an Empire and somewhat reluctantly began to reconfigure her sense of herself. These are the years in which Britain – kicking and screaming - became both multiracial and European. However, I had initially assumed that the writers of the first half of the twentieth century who grappled with these questions of identity and belonging under the full gaze of Empire must have had a harder time of it than those of us in the post-Empire world. But after these past few days up here in Mr. Conrad’s boat, I’m not so sure. Publicly questioning our history is a healthy development, but it remains nonetheless unnerving. However, doing so will lead us forward to a place where we might responsibly start to question the ever-changing criteria for membership of a nation – this nation - while remaining cognizant of the fact that there are among us, in early twenty-first century Britain, countless numbers of Moses Aloettas, of all backgrounds, who are metaphorically standing on the banks of the Thames and simply dreaming of belonging.

On my second day atop the Queen Elizabeth Hall, I crossed the river and went to the Embankment where I sought out Yvonne; an elderly Caribbean person who, for the past seven years, has established some sort of a home for herself on the banks of the Thames. Smart, intelligent, not addicted to drugs or drink, she lives in and around Victoria Embankment Gardens near the seventeenth-century Watergate which depicts the old water line of the Thames before the building of the Embankment. I found her on a bench, surrounded by a huge pile of bags and suitcases; in short, her worldly possessions. She was asleep on a bright Sunday morning and so I didn’t disturb her. Instead, I continued to wander up and down the Thames, taking a closer look at these buildings which signify a particularly powerful history, contemplating both their symbolic, and actual, significance in 2012 in this culturally hybrid city of London.

I eventually wandered back to Mr Conrad’s boat and sat out on deck and looked at the lights playing on the undulating blanket of water, which bestowed upon it a glossy patina of melancholy. And then I took out my copy of The Lonely Londoners and read the first few lines again, feeling the unease and ambivalence in the words.

‘One grim winter evening, when it had a kind of unrealness about London, with a fog sleeping restlessly over the city and the lights showing in the blur as if is not London at all but some strange place on another planet …’

That’s it, exactly, I thought; ‘some strange place on another planet …’ For so many people the possibility of their participating in the type of Britain that these buildings symbolically suggest, remains for them about as real as the possibility of their participating in lunar exploration. It’s not the fault of the buildings, of course, but it’s what the buildings suggest. Exclusivity; privilege; power. Cumulatively the evidence of the buildings forms a powerful narrative that for many is a narrative of rejection. Even if one did take the time to learn the actual and symbolic meaning of this resplendent view of the city, the confident narrative at the heart of the city might well still neither recognize you, let alone embrace you and take you in.

The fact is, Britain’s history as evident in the buildings along this particular stretch of river, suggests a tradition that no longer really squares with the Britain that we deal with on a daily basis. Britain is no longer exclusively Judaeo-Christian. English is not the only language we hear daily on the streets. The monarchy are not universally respected. And the upper house of our parliament could use some serious reform.

Britain, like most European nations, is not particularly open to hyphenation. We don’t talk easily of Jewish-Britons, or Afro-Britons, or Swedish-Britons, thus making it relatively easy to couple ones cultural traditions to national identity. Being British remains a largely concrete identity, quite well gated, and not particularly flexible. For the past four days I’ve gazed upon the most familiar and easily identifiable aspects of British identity, as evidenced in the buildings on this particular bend in the river, and wondered about the plight of those who wish to belong to this nation but feel, for whatever reasons, locked out by dint of nationality, gender, race, class or religion. And, of course, I’ve wondered about the situation of those who have belonged and then capitulated to some form of participation fatigue. The July 7th bombers, for instance. It seems clear that in our early twenty-first century the process of engaging with these vexing issues of British identity and exclusion has, if anything, become an increasingly urgent part of our social contract. Something which I feel would not have surprised either gloomy Eliot or tremulously anxious Selvon.

From the vantage point of my boat here on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank of the river, I am witnessing iconic London; iconic Britain. What I’m gazing upon is the familiar, hugely exportable, and in a sense, very comfortable, public face of Britain. Soon after arriving on the boat, the suggestive rootedness, and un-selfreflective confidence of these buildings - for instance the self-conscious grandeur of the Savoy Hotel directly across the river - began to irritate me. Yesterday I finally gave up and jumped on a Thames Clipper and headed off down river in search of another vision of London. And of course, I found it. The historic buildings of Bankside and Shakespeare’s Globe, gave way to the Tower of London, and then the astonishing array of modern flats around the newly revamped Isle of Dogs. The Dubai like spectacle of Canary Wharf appears almost like a mirage, and beyond this there is the glory of Greenwich Palace and then the extraterrestrial vision of the O2 arena. And beyond this? Well, less development and a reminder of an earlier unregenerated Thames. I went in search of other visions of London and found many Londons which, on my return to my own little rooftop boat, made me feel slightly more comfortable with my iconically powerful view. After all, it’s just a view, right? One which carries the authority and weight of power, but no more representative of London than the Isle of Dogs or the underdeveloped wastelands beyond Greenwich. But tell that to the tourists. Or to Moses Aloetta standing motionless on the banks of the Thames and wanting to belong. But wanting to belong to this London on my gentle bend in the river, not those Londons to the east. To this idea of London and Britain that constitutes my view. Can it really be true that not all views are equal? And if this is the case, is it possible, or even desirable, to make the narrative embedded in the view of London that is spread out before me available to everybody in Britain? Not for the first time I’m glad that Mr Conrad’s boat has come equipped with window blinds.

This essay evolved into a new work, viewable on The Space, with photographer Johny Pitts, exploring the journey between A Room For London and Tilbury.

************

Caryl Phillips was born in St Kitts, West Indies, grew up in Leeds and was educated at Oxford. He has written numerous scripts for film, theatre, radio and television. He is the author of six novels: The Final Passage, A State of Independence, Higher Ground,Cambridge, Crossing the River, The Nature of Blood, and four works of non-fiction,The European Tribe, The Atlantic Sound, A Distant Shore and, published in September 2005, Dancing in the Dark.

He has also edited Extravagant Strangers: A Literature of Belonging and The Right Set: The Faber Book of Tennis. Phillips’ awards include the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, a Guggenhein Fellowship, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. He has taught at universities in Sweden, Singapore, India, Ghana, Barbados and the United States. He divides his time between London and New York City.

A London Address podcasts are in collaboration with the Guardian.

>via: http://aroomforlondon.co.uk/a-london-address/apr-2012-caryl-phillips%22

Black History Month 2010

in the UK

Not February, but October is the Black History Month in the UK. This means an entire month full of events, music and debate about the presence of black people from the Caribbean and Africa in the UK.

To celebrate BHM a video of the Windrush legacy, West Indians in the UK in World War II and the poem "What it Means to be Black" of Jason Nwansi. And a video of Beyonce singing the national anthem of Nigeria, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of Nigeria.

West Indians also fought in World War II and some of them were stationed in the UK. The video West Indies Calling (1943) describes the Caribbean support of a group of West Indians during World War Two

See more videos here

An important landmark of the history of the Afro-Caribbean community in the United Kingdom is the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948 in the harbour of Southampton. The Empire Windrush arrived on 22 June, carrying 492 passengers from Jamaica wishing to start a new life in the UK. The passengers were the first large group of West Indian immigrants to the UK after the Second World War. Most of them only intended to stay in England for five years, but most of them stayed.

Video of the Windrush legacy

The poem "What it Means to be Black" written & performed by Jason Nwansi.

See the written poem here

Also part of UK's Black History is the celebration of 50th anniversary of the independence of Nigeria. So, a gift from Beyonce. In the video she sings the national anthem of Nigeria "Arise, O Compatriots".

I am not Nigerian, but it gives me goose bumps when I listen to it.

BHM links

BHM the official guide to Black History Month
www.blackhistorymonthuk.co.uk

Black History Magazine 2010
www.blackhistorymonth2010.co.uk

Black history agenda Catch a Vibe
www.catchavibe.co.uk

 

Radio Afrodicia

(KPFK) Interview

 

 

by benjamin on September 27, 2012

Last week I was invited by a long time supporter of Akwaaba, Nnamdi Moweta, host of the weekly Radio Afrodicia show on KPFK in Los Angeles. This interview is a good roundup of the different music trends and developments I’ve witnessed this past year throughout Africa, in particular in Ghana, where I live, and Angola, where I just traveled to. A few of the cuts we played are from the Lungu Lungu column I write for Fader mag, which is paired with a great playlist of all free tunes you can download here.