Alice James Books will be accepting submissions of poetry manuscripts to the Beatrice Hawley Award postmarked through December 1, 2011. The Beatrice Hawley Award welcomes submissions from emerging as well as established poets. Entrants must reside in the United States.

The winner receives $2000, book publication, distribution through Consortium, and has no cooperative membership commitment.  In addition to the winning manuscript, one or more additional manuscripts may be chosen for publication.

Guidelines for Manuscript Submission:

• Manuscripts must be typed in a no less than 12 point font, paginated, and 48 – 80 pages in length (single spaced). We accept double sided manuscripts.

• Individual poems from the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks of less than 25 pages, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Translations and self-published books are not eligible. No multi-authored collections, please.

• Manuscripts must have a table of contents and include a list of acknowledgments for poems previously published. The inclusion of a biographical note is optional. Your name, address, and phone number should appear on the title page of your manuscript. MANUSCRIPTS CANNOT BE RETURNED. Please do not send us your only copy.

• No illustrations, photographs or images should be included.

• Send one copy of your manuscript submission with two copies of the title page. Use only binder clips. No staples, folders, or printer-bound copies.

• For notification of winners, include a business-sized SASE. If you wish acknowledgment of the receipt of your manuscript, include a stamped addressed postcard. Winners will be announced in April 2012.

• Entry fee for the Beatrice Hawley Award is $25 for hardcopy submissions, $28 for online submissions ($3 processing fee). Checks or money orders for hardcopy submissions should be made payable to Alice James Books.

• Manuscripts may be submitted online or by regular mail. Mail hard copy entries to: Alice James Books, Beatrice Hawley Award, 238 Main Street, Farmington, ME 04938. For online submissions, click here.

Checklist for entry:

• One (1) copy of manuscript enclosed, with acknowledgements
• Two (2) copies of title page with name, address, and contact info
• $25 entry fee enclosed ($28 if submitting online)
• Business-sized SASE enclosed

 

Third Monthly WikiLeaks

Central Essay Competition

Deadline: 10 September 2011

The third monthly WikiLeaks Central Essay Competition 2011 solicits an answer to the question: What are the root causes of the global economic crisis?

All sources used must be clearly identified when they occur and include the name of the source, and, when available, a hypertext link to the source content.

HOW TO ENTER

1.) If you do not already have one, register for a WLC account.

2.) Send an email to admin@wlcentral.org with the header: Competition: TITLE OF SUBMISSION by WLC ACCOUNT NAME. Insert your essay into the body of the email.

3.) See submission guidelines and rules below.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND RULES

1. Eligibility/topics. The Monthly WLC Competition is open to (i) any registered member of wlcentral.org except editors and WLC essay competition judges. Regular WL Central contributors, who are not editors or judges, may enter.

a. Submissions must focus primarily on theme of the month and can be any length. Submissions must be text based (we prefer html) and emailed to admin@wlcentral.org.

b. WL Central will have the right to publish the submission without payment to the author but with attribution to the author under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Please clearly indicate that your material is for publication and indicate the name you would like to appear as author. Submissions are allowed one hyperlink under the name of the author.

c. Content, previously submitted to an earlier monthly WLC essay competition, may not be again for subsequent competitions.

d. Any quotations or copyrighted material used must be properly identified. Failure to identify non-original material will result in disqualification. Each registered wlcentral.org account may enter only one entry for this month's competition. The submission must have a title.

e. Submissions can be written in any language.

2. Selection of winners. The winning essay will be selected by WL Central's editors based on (i) newsworthiness; (ii) supporting research; and (iii) organization and writing style. (iv) We will consider the essay's capacity to engender online discourse in the form of comments and retweets. The competition finalists will be published on WLC prior to the final selection. The competition winner will be notified on or about Sept 15, 2011, and an announcement of the winner will be sent via email to the winning entrant shortly thereafter.

3. Prize. A cash prize will be awarded for the winning essay ($US 100 US). WL Central may, in its discretion, decide to split prizes or award additional prizes.

4. Deadline for submission. All essays submitted for the competition must be received by WL Central by no later than 11:59 p.m. GMT, Sept 10, 2011.

5. In the event that none of the submissions are judged to be of suitable merit or unforeseen technical difficulties, WLC retains the right to roll the award to the next month's competition prize.

Contact Information:

For inquiries: admin@wlcentral.org

For submissions: admin@wlcentral.org or register here

Website: http://wlcentral.org

 

Watch Trailer

For The Documentary

“Phunny Business”

Below is the trailer and brief clip from a really terrific and entertaining new documentary Phunny Business. And I’m not saying that because a certain person is quoted in the trailer. First time I’ve seen it. I had NO idea. Scout’s honor.

The film chronicles the rise and eventual fall of the legendary black comedy club All Jokes Aside, co-founded by Raymond Lambert, (pictured above) which, during its glorious decade-long run, was the starting place for literally every black comedian working today: Cedric The Entertainer, Chris Rock, Steve Harvey, Jamie Foxx, the late Bernie Mac. The list goes on forever, including a few white and Latino comics as well.

The film is currently making the film festival rounds including the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, where it sold out Saturday night, and the second showing on the festival’s closing night on Sept 1st sold out days ago.

However don’t despair. There are plans in the works for the film to be screened theatrically at AMC Theaters nationwide, and it will be shown on the Showtime channel in Feb. 2012.

Here’s the trailer for the film.

And here’s brief clip from the film as well.

 

Sergio posted to Trailer

Youth Violence in the U.S.

– An Existential Crisis

Posted by Laura Turner-Essel on August 29, 2011 1 Comment

 

They fear the youth on the street rather than see them as vital members of the community. Our children are aware of this fact, and they’ve got the energy to show us with their behavior just how tired they are of our crap. Our children are picking up on the bankruptcy of mainstream culture, the void in which so many of us have resigned ourselves to exist…

by Laura Turner-Essel

Recent incidents of youth crime have elicited a rise in curfew laws around cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cleveland where teens can actually be detained by police for hanging out in their own communities past a certain hour. Not surprisingly, such curfew laws are common in the U.S. (around 200 cities have them) but almost unheard of in other nations. Why is this not surprising? Because the U.S. is notorious for its declining sense of meaning and connection between citizens.

African-centered psychologist Wade W. Nobles has critiqued Greco-Roman based U.S. culture, stating that “Western man’s consciousness is shaped by the necessity to perceive his own sense of separateness and individuality as all important…the resultant meaning of a human being is that a human is an object, which is self-sufficient, aggressively independent, and perceives other beings and nature as something to be controlled and dominated.” (Seeking the Sakhu: Foundational Writings for an African Psychology, pg. 159) Chronicled for years by Europeans themselves in popular books like The Lonely Crowd, Habits of the Heart, Bowling Alone, and Empire of Illusion, this culture’s tendency to foster narcissism and individualism while increasingly destroying bonds of knowing and trust within communities has seen its latest manifestation among the youth. Alienation from the larger society, lack of attachment to caring adults, lack of meaningful work, and plain boredom account for current increases in crime and violence among young people all across this country. Black folks within tight-knit communities used to be able to count ourselves out of such foolishness, but now we find ourselves at the center of yet another disturbing trend. The recent flash mobs are not like protests of the 1960s, when youth rebelled in order to call attention to demands for justice and equality. No, this is a different type of acting out, one unique to our overstimulated 21^st century culture. Flash mobs, gun violence, gang fights… Make no mistake, this is an existential crisis we are witnessing.

And how do we elders respond? Like any dysfunctional parent- with punishment. We should be greatly disturbed to see conversations about youth violence revolve around curfews, law enforcement, and how much jail time is appropriate rather than how to create more and better spaces for our children to pursue significant, constructive life goals while forming social bonds with their peers. Curfew laws are disproportionately enforced upon Black youth, and aren’t effective in that they don’t actually reduce overall crime rates. So why are we not talking about how to give these kids what they truly lack…not a criminal charge, but a sense that they have an important place in the world? Why are we not talking about building community centers, revitalizing rites of passage programs and community rituals that allow youth to feel pulled in to a greater purpose? Why are we encouraging kids to get jobs but not to build authentic relationships and productive institutions within their communities? The solution to youth crime is a paradigm shift, and it begins with more purpose in their lives, not more police on the streets.

Like most people in the hip hop generation, I tire of listening to my elders wax nostalgic about “back in the day” when everybody knew everybody, neighbors would spank your kids for you, and children were free to roam the neighborhood all day (at least, until the street lights came on) without worrying about their safety. I know that’s not the world we live in today. Our contemporary culture is such that people move long distances away from kin, work long hours away from their children, fear their neighbors more often than trust them, require children to spend their days in various institutions (day cares, schools, workplaces, etc.) rather than with a relative or friend, and measure their success by how easily they can afford to get away from other people. Add to that a political environment in which all sides agree on two solid facts: our leaders are typically lying through their teeth, and the system is broken (although their ideas on how to fix it depends on which lying group of politicians they support).

The result of all these factors? An unusual number of adults in this country don’t know, don’t believe, or don’t care about community issues because they are, whether consciously or not, tired of the meaningless rhetoric and spectacle that constitutes much of American culture and politics. And they don’t feel particularly concerned about the countless members of their own community that they never quite have the time or energy to meet and get to know. They fear the youth on the street rather than see them as vital members of the community. Our children are aware of this fact, and they’ve got the energy to show us with their behavior just how tired they are of our crap.

Our children are picking up on the bankruptcy of mainstream culture, the void in which so many of us have resigned ourselves to exist. So the questions that our kids are asking us with their outbursts–Why are we here? How are we to relate to ourselves, each other, and the larger world? What are we to do with our lives? – can’t be answered by a society of adults only interested in showing who’s boss and maintaining a façade of societal order. Youth naturally need guides, and we can’t expect parents alone to shield their children from a perversely alienating culture. I won’t give the tired “It take a village…” rant. But I will suggest that a true sense of caring, nurturing community is a prerequisite for respectful youth. African-centered psychologist Na’im Akbar reminds us, “Respect for the young by the adults and the respect for the adults by the young is not simply a matter of proper conduct; it is an outgrowth of the recognition of a spiritual core or essence in all of us.” (Know Thyself, pg. 23)

Until we form families, neighborhoods, and a society that honestly mean these youth well, they should be pissed, and they will be destructive. Until we as elders are willing to give up our attachments to personal comforts and private property in order to create the sense of community and collective accountability that these kids seek, we might as well stop talking trash about the “youth of today.” Their actions might seem random and without reason, but deep inside I think we all know that such acts never really are.

We’ve already done enough harm to these kids – turning them into insatiable consumers at the mall, forcing them to act like test-taking robots in the classroom, and now expecting them to scram so our precious public areas won’t be sullied with their presence. Our efforts to punish and control young people into submission, while never providing them with a sense of identity or purpose, will only heighten their angst and rage, and make destroying everything in sight (including one another) seem like that much more of a fun thing to do.

Laura Turner-Essel is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at the University of Akron in Ohio. Her research interests include international perspectives on Black identity, internalized racism, and social justice.

 

Uprising in Spain and Syria:

Interview with Leila Nachawati

30.08.2011

Guestpost by David Sasaki

Spanish-Syrian activist and journalist, Leila Nachawati, has found herself at the center of the largest protest movements in recent years in both countries. As a veteran social media strategist — and a fluent speaker of Spanish, Arabic, and English — Leila has a unique perspective of the events unfolding in Spain and Syria, and their causes. She will join us at the Public Square Squared symposium on September 4th at the Brucknerhaus. The following interview took place over email.

DS: What has the Spanish 15 M movement achieved? What does it want to achieve?

LN: People have spoken up after years of apathy towards a political system that does not meet the needs and demands of a large part of the population. Hundreds of thousands [of protesters] spread out all over the country and spoke up against corruption, unemployment and a political structure that favors a two-party system, to demand a more representative democracy. “We’re not merchandise at the hands of politicians and bankers”, was the motto of most demonstrations. I think the most important result is that people have realized that they´re not alone and that they can get together to advance the changes they would like to see , that they can and should get involved. The 15 M movement, which has now moved to the neighborhoods, where assemblies and committees are organized, has taught traditional politics a lesson of democracy. It aims to bring citizen participation back to Spanish society (after civil society institutions were absorbed by political structures in the 80s). It also has specific goals — like changes in the electoral law that favors a two-party system, transparent lists and corruption control systems — that many in Spain would like to see implemented.

DS: Spaniards and Arabs have deep historical ties. It’s even said that 8% of Spanish derives from Arabic. But for the past decade, the relationship between Arabs and Spaniards has mostly been defined by tension around immigration policies and the treatment of Arabs in Spain. This spring we’ve witnessed new forms of collaboration, as mostly young activists on all sides of the Mediterranean have taken to the Internet and to the streets to protest against censorship and corruption. You have written on Al Jazeera that the Spanish-Syrian community — “afraid to speak for decades” — found spaces within the Spanish protest movement to advocate for greater freedoms in their native country. Do you sense a strong level of support among Spaniards for the various movements throughout the Middle East and North Africa? Have you noticed a difference in how Arabs are treated in Spain?

LN: I wouldn’t say the relationship is that tense, co-existence between people is mostly peaceful and healthy, keeping in mind that the relationship between neighboring countries with such social and economic differences tends to be complicated. There were some tensions after the March 11 attacks in Madrid, when some Spaniards started having more prejudices against Arabs or Muslims and making dangerous generalizations based on religious or cultural background. Mobilizations in the MENA region have helped portray Arab citizens in a different way, more complex and diverse. Suddenly there is more to the Arab world than what we see through traditional media, and for the first time we hear about Arab civil society, Arab peaceful resistance, Arab organization, Arabs’ efficient use of technology, Arab bloggers… we finally see some of the diversity of these societies that had been presented with very little nuances before. And as someone who is both Spanish and Syrian I’ve always dreamed of the North and the South of the Mediterranean getting closer to each other, exchanging and co-operating in more ways. They need each other.

DS: As a Spanish-Syrian yourself — and as someone who is fluent in Spanish, Arabic, and English — what have you noticed about the mainstream, international media coverage of the protest movements in Spain and Syria?

LN: There´s a big gap between traditional structures (both political and media structures) and these forms of citizen expression that we´re witnessing. Between old and new formats. That can be seen through the coverage of mobilizations in Spain, that have been mainly shared by citizens, who have made a very good use of technology, and small independent media sites like Periodismo Humano. Most traditional media have failed to understand a movement that challenges traditional formats and flows in a decentralized way, which is also the character of the Internet itself. In Syria the gap is obviously more dramatic, since the regime owns the media and the power structures try to repress every form of expression and freedom. No journalists are allowed in to cover the events and this attempt to control information takes place on digital spaces too. But for the first time we do have information coming out in spite of all of that, and that´s because digital tools like YouYube — and especially mobile phones — have allowed citizens to empower themselves and share their stories without much need for traditional media coverage.

DS: On your profile page at Periodismo Humano, where you’re an active contributor, you quote Fred Dallmayr: “Almost everywhere one looks in our world today one finds an actual state of war or the prospect of an impending war… as an antidote to these dangers, there is only one remedy: genuine dialogue.” It is an inspiring quote, but when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called for a “national dialogue,” most protesters and opposition leaders refused to participate. Are there limits to what dialogue can achieve?

LN: Genuine dialogue can only happen between equals. What kind of dialogue can we think of, while people are been bombed, tortured and arrested for demanding freedom?

NTERIOR INSPIRATION exclusive

Posted January 25th, 2008 by piablog

Are you prepared to be dazzled, frazzled and knocked right off your office chair? And are you prepared to have an unyielding urge to purchase a one-way ticket to Africa pronto? You think I kid and exaggerate BUT I MOCK YOU NOT! We are about to hit interior inspiration overload mes cher amis, and here is a little peak…

There are two words that I like to use when describing my chosen style and decor: raw + sophisticated. And rarely do I get to use these two words together. But this is one of those rare occasions. So pack your suitcases, slap on some sunscreen and come with me while I take you on an epic visual journey through this African retreat. This is one place you will never forget…

 

Tucked away amongst sand-dunes and coconut palms on a vast beach of Kenya, this down-to-earth dwelling is pure imagination. It is beautifully described as a house of light, flowing lines and quiet spaces that is open to the elements and fresh air…

It is owned by famed designer Marzia Chierichetti who, using her background in Art and Interior Design and working as a stylist for the likes of BOFFI and CAPPELLINI INT, has created this rustic retreat drawing direct inspiration from the natural and wild surroundings. This magical dwelling is complete with all the essentials for a modern life of indulgence and relaxation, and is furnished by Marzia’s own creations…

Marzia owns a fabulous design studio in the heart of Kenya where she designs her own jewelry, soft furnishings, furniture and fabrics. She uses recycled materials like plastic water bottles and rubber hose pipes which are miraculously transformed into stunning lamps, as well as old car tyres that turn into shoes, and ancient metal furniture into bowls, frames and jewelry. The mango wood she uses is grown in the local coastal belt and for every mango tree harvested, 10 are re-planted in the local villages. Marzia is very passionate about conservation, she has big plans for the future including the set up of more re-forestation projects, a school to encourage local artists to explore their creativity and more projects to utilise natural materials in the improvement of living standards for the local communities.

Creating ‘something from nothing’ is how Marzia likes to describe her work, but for me this is the understatement of the century as her ‘something’ is breathtaking…

While we catch our breath, let me tell you a bit more about Marzia’s design studio. Each artisan (all local) has been trained by Marzia, producing work of the highest quality using raw materials gathered from the local area. Her workshop has not only provided this group of artists with training, but has also given them an opportunity to earn a living with which to support their families and improve their standard of living. Who would have ever imagined that such a place existed hidden amongst the whispering palm trees of Kenya. Now, where were we in Marzia’s home, oh yes, let’s stroll on through the bar to take a closer look at this rather unique window…

and a quick peak into the bathroom…

And before we bid our very gracious thank you’s to Marzia for giving us this exclusive peak into her special home, there is one more room to visit. Personally, I can see myself in this heavenly sanctuary with a cool glass of iced tea while I finish reading Defoe’s Robinson tale…

As I always like to save the best to last, I have one more surprise for you. What could it be? The link. This will take you straight to Marzia’s studio where you can examine and purchase every incredible piece she creates. I have my eye on the in-out bed, the in-out chair, and the in-out bedside table. Oh, I’m also packing in my suitcase the chaise lounge, the kiko stool, and the mini cube bench. And Fred Flintstone style, I’m taking the very fun bone shaped mafupa bench on my roof racks! And my wrists, neck, angles, waist and pockets are stuffed with every piece of jewelry Marzia has ever made. And THEN I’m outta here!

Credits:

All images are courtesy of

Debi Treloar and Marzia Chierichetti.

Marzia’s home has been featured in

Elle Decor Italia and Elle Decoration Germany.

My sincere thanks to Debi for giving me her time with collecting these images. I hope to meet both you and Marzia one day in the near future.

Marzia’s furniture company details are: BE CLEVER™, P.O. Box 424, Malindi, Kenya (254)722 931157

www.becleverltd.com

Afterword:

Now perhaps this week you thought that my mind had drifted away from the Kenyan crisis. But alas no. The update is that things are looking better – the opposing leaders shook hands and although this is only a little step, it is no less than a breakthrough. The violence and mayhem has certainly abated which is the best news and it means Kenya is on its way to healing. I caught an interview last night on BBC World Hard Talk with John Githongo (former Kenyan Corruption Investigator), and he said the international community has been of great help by supporting the African Union. I am so pleased to hear this, perhaps our little efforts of signing the petition, talking about Kenya, and bringing awareness has helped. I’d like to think so anyway. I do believe that no matter how small our voices are, that someone, somewhere is listening.

In light of the beginnings of peace being restored in Kenya now, this will be my final post for the time being, in showcasing African, and specifically Kenyan, design. I hope you have enjoyed the journey through this unbelievably beautiful continent, and I hope I have inspired you to keep a look out for African homewares, designers and creatives, as well as helped raise awareness within you to cast your care abroad. But don’t fret that you will not be seeing more of Africa on this blog! On the contrary! Of course I will post about it again, but I also have a fantastic project lined up there for this year and I must keep some secrets, otherwise I am out of a job! In the meantime, keep up to date with everything African by visiting Miss Beverly Lwenya (notice that rhymes with Kenya?!)’s Afropolitan blog – it is a great resource and I will be posting about her posts no doubt in the future, she always comes up with fabulous finds. You can also click on africa to the right under ‘categories’ here on my blog and you will find all the African related posts in a neat bundle.

I will be showcasing another country very soon, in the lead up to a rather significant world event. And this country is very dear to my heart. In fact, I’m sure a piece of my heart wandered off there and has never returned. I may have to go looking for it.

Remember, IMISO: work today, change tomorrow.

fyeahblackhistory:

100 Things

 

That You Did Not Know

 

About Africa - Nos.26 - 50

26. West Africa had walled towns and cities in the pre-colonial period. Winwood Reade, an English historian visited West Africa in the nineteenth century and commented that: “There are … thousands of large walled cities resembling those of Europe in the Middle Ages, or of ancient Greece.”

27. Lord Lugard, an English official, estimated in 1904 that there were 170 walled towns still in existence in the whole of just the Kano province of northern Nigeria.

28. Cheques are not quite as new an invention as we were led to believe. In the tenth century, an Arab geographer, Ibn Haukal, visited a fringe region of Ancient Ghana. Writing in 951 AD, he told of a cheque for 42,000 golden dinars written to a merchant in the city of Audoghast by his partner in Sidjilmessa.

29. Ibn Haukal, writing in 951 AD, informs us that the King of Ghana was “the richest king on the face of the earth” whose pre-eminence was due to the quantity of gold nuggets that had been amassed by the himself and by his predecessors.

30. The Nigerian city of Ile-Ife was paved in 1000 AD on the orders of a female ruler with decorations that originated in Ancient America. Naturally, no-one wants to explain how this took place approximately 500 years before the time of Christopher Columbus!

31. West Africa had bling culture in 1067 AD. One source mentions that when the Emperor of Ghana gives audience to his people: “he sits in a pavilion around which stand his horses caparisoned in cloth of gold: behind him stand ten pages holding shields and gold-mounted swords: and on his right hand are the sons of the princes of his empire, splendidly clad and with gold plaited into their hair … The gate of the chamber is guarded by dogs of an excellent breed … they wear collars of gold and silver.”

32. Glass windows existed at that time. The residence of the Ghanaian Emperor in 1116 AD was: “A well-built castle, thoroughly fortified, decorated inside with sculptures and pictures, and having glass windows.”

33. The Grand Mosque in the Malian city of Djenné, described as “the largest adobe [clay] building in the world”, was first raised in 1204 AD. It was built on a square plan where each side is 56 metres in length. It has three large towers on one side, each with projecting wooden buttresses.

34. One of the great achievements of the Yoruba was their urban culture. “By the year A.D. 1300,” says a modern scholar, “the Yoruba people built numerous walled cities surrounded by farms”. The cities were Owu, Oyo, Ijebu, Ijesa, Ketu, Popo, Egba, Sabe, Dassa, Egbado, Igbomina, the sixteen Ekiti principalities, Owo and Ondo.

35. Yoruba metal art of the mediaeval period was of world class. One scholar wrote that Yoruba art “would stand comparison with anything which Ancient Egypt, Classical Greece and Rome, or Renaissance Europe had to offer.”

36. In the Malian city of Gao stands the Mausoleum of Askia the Great, a weird sixteenth century edifice that resembles a step pyramid.

37. Thousands of mediaeval tumuli have been found across West Africa. Nearly 7,000 were discovered in north-west Senegal alone spread over nearly 1,500 sites. They were probably built between 1000 and 1300 AD.

38. Excavations at the Malian city of Gao carried out by Cambridge University revealed glass windows. One of the finds was entitled: “Fragments of alabaster window surrounds and a piece of pink window glass, Gao 10th – 14th century.”

39. In 1999 the BBC produced a television series entitled Millennium. The programme devoted to the fourteenth century opens with the following disclosure: “In the fourteenth century, the century of the scythe, natural disasters threatened civilisations with extinction. The Black Death kills more people in Europe, Asia and North Africa than any catastrophe has before. Civilisations which avoid the plague thrive. In West Africa the Empire of Mali becomes the richest in the world.”

40. Malian sailors got to America in 1311 AD, 181 years before Columbus. An Egyptian scholar, Ibn Fadl Al-Umari, published on this sometime around 1342. In the tenth chapter of his book, there is an account of two large maritime voyages ordered by the predecessor of Mansa Musa, a king who inherited the Malian throne in 1312. This mariner king is not named by Al-Umari, but modern writers identify him as Mansa Abubakari II.

41. On a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 AD, a Malian ruler, Mansa Musa, brought so much money with him that his visit resulted in the collapse of gold prices in Egypt and Arabia. It took twelve years for the economies of the region to normalise.

42. West African gold mining took place on a vast scale. One modern writer said that: “It is estimated that the total amount of gold mined in West Africa up to 1500 was 3,500 tons, worth more than $­­­­30 billion in today’s market.”

43. The old Malian capital of Niani had a 14th century building called the Hall of Audience. It was an surmounted by a dome, adorned with arabesques of striking colours. The windows of an upper floor were plated with wood and framed in silver; those of a lower floor were plated with wood, framed in gold.

44. Mali in the 14th century was highly urbanised. Sergio Domian, an Italian art and architecture scholar, wrote the following about this period: “Thus was laid the foundation of an urban civilisation. At the height of its power, Mali had at least 400 cities, and the interior of the Niger Delta was very densely populated”.

45. The Malian city of Timbuktu had a 14th century population of 115,000 - 5 times larger than mediaeval London. Mansa Musa, built the Djinguerebere Mosque in the fourteenth century. There was the University Mosque in which 25,000 students studied and the Oratory of Sidi Yayia. There were over 150 Koran schools in which 20,000 children were instructed. London, by contrast, had a total 14th century population of 20,000 people.

46. National Geographic recently described Timbuktu as the Paris of the mediaeval world, on account of its intellectual culture. According to Professor Henry Louis Gates, 25,000 university students studied there.

47. Many old West African families have private library collections that go back hundreds of years. The Mauritanian cities of Chinguetti and Oudane have a total of 3,450 hand written mediaeval books. There may be another 6,000 books still surviving in the other city of Walata. Some date back to the 8th century AD. There are 11,000 books in private collections in Niger. Finally, in Timbuktu, Mali, there are about 700,000 surviving books.

48. A collection of one thousand six hundred books was considered a small library for a West African scholar of the 16th century. Professor Ahmed Baba of Timbuktu is recorded as saying that he had the smallest library of any of his friends - he had only 1600 volumes.

49. Concerning these old manuscripts, Michael Palin, in his TV series Sahara, said the imam of Timbuktu “has a collection of scientific texts that clearly show the planets circling the sun. They date back hundreds of years … Its convincing evidence that the scholars of Timbuktu knew a lot more than their counterparts in Europe. In the fifteenth century in Timbuktu the mathematicians knew about the rotation of the planets, knew about the details of the eclipse, they knew things which we had to wait for 150 almost 200 years to know in Europe when Galileo and Copernicus came up with these same calculations and were given a very hard time for it.”

50. The Songhai Empire of 16th century West Africa had a government position called Minister for Etiquette and Protocol.

Part 1. 1-25

By Robin Walker 

For more click here 

Sun Ra

BBC documentary:

Sun Ra,

Brother From Another Planet

 

Sun Ra was born on the planet Saturn some time ago. The best accounts agree that he emerged on Earth as Herman Blount, born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, although Sun Ra himself always denied that Blount was his surname. He returned to Saturn in 1993 after creating a stunningly variegated and beautiful assemblage of earthly and interplanetary music, most notably with his fervently loyal Arkestra.

Sun Ra and his Arkestra were the subject of a few documentary films, notably Robert Mugge’s ’A Joyful Noise’ (1980), which interspersed performances and rehearsals with Sun Ra’s commentary on various subjects ranging from today’s youth to his own place in the cosmos. 

Today’s documentary, Don Letts’ ‘Sun Ra, Brother From Another Planet’  from 2005, reuses some of Mugge’s material and includes some additional interviews.

Call for Essays:

Studies in African Autobiography

Deadline: 31 December 2011

African autobiography has no doubt developed over the decades as a distinct literary tradition that deals in and with personal, communal as well as national histories and aspirations, cultural and religious values among other issues. As a genre of African literature, it has usually been studied as an appendage to other genres, such that while prose, poetry, and drama have books, journal issues, and conferences dedicated to them, African autobiography has to its credit mainly regional or gender-based critical works. So far, in the history of the genre, James Olney’s Tell me Africa (1973) and the special issue of Research in African Literatures (1997) edited by Patricia Geesey are two of the few boldest evidences of a continental critical inquiry into it. This book intends to provide a collection of essays which cover most aspects of African autobiography.

We seek critical essays that focus on areas which include (but not limited to):

• Theories of African autobiography
• Sub-genres such as memoir, diary, curriculum vitae, medical
• autobiographical writing
• African autobiography and the electronic media
• African autobiography and politics
• Religion and African autobiography
• Gender and African autobiography
• We encourage chapter contributions that cross genres and also those that engage contemporary issues.

Deadline for submission is 31 December 2011.

Minimum of 5,000 words and maximum of 8,000 words, Times new Roman, double spaced
Submit to fohunsu@oauife.edu.ng or oyinhunsu@yahoo.com

Contact Information:

For inquiries: fohunsu@oauife.edu.ng or oyinhunsu@yahoo.com

For submissions: fohunsu@oauife.edu.ng or oyinhunsu@yahoo.com