Harvard University

Radcliffe Institute Fellowships

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Deadline:

October 1, 2010

Web site:

www.radcliffe.edu/fellowships

E-mail address:

fellowships@radcliffe.edu

Fellowships of up to $65,000 each, an office space at the Radcliffe Institute, and access to the libraries at Harvard University are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers to allow them to pursue creative projects. Fellows are expected to reside in Boston during the fellowship period, which lasts from September to June. Poets who have published at least 20 poems in the last five years or a book of poetry and who are in the process of completing a manuscript are eligible. To be considered for a fellowship in fiction or creative nonfiction, applicants must have a contract for publication of a book-length manuscript or at least three shorter works published. Writers who are graduate students at the time of application are not eligible. Submit up to 10 poems, one or two short stories, a recent book chapter, or an essay totaling no more than 30 pages; contact information for three references; a curriculum vitae; and a project proposal by October 1. There is no entry fee. Call, e-mail, or visit the Web site for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Harvard University, Radcliffe Institute Fellowships, Fellowship Office, 8 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. (617) 496-1324.

[UPDATE] Edited Collection - Toni Cade Bambara's Gorilla, My Love, November 1, 2010

full name / name of organization: 

Moravian College

contact email: 

memsc01@moravian.edu

cfp categories: 

african-american

american

cultural_studies_and_historical_approaches

ethnicity_and_national_identity

gender_studies_and_sexuality

journals_and_collections_of_essays

twentieth_century_and_beyond

Studies of one or more of the short stories in Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara will be considered for a new volume in the Dialogue series of literary studies published by Rodopi Press Amsterdam / New York, under the general editorship of Michael J. Meyer. The series offers new and experienced scholars the opportunity to present alternative readings and approaches to classic texts (those which have received canonical acceptance in either American or Continental Literature). The major goal of the series is to open the door to voices which are already silenced by the selective nature of academic presses and to encourage new approaches and insights that will both enliven the text and promote further discussion of the work in question. The present volume will address the short stories in Toni Cade Bambara’s Gorilla, My Love. Inquiries can be made by e-mailing Mary Comfort (memsc01@moravian.edu). Submit inquiries and expressions of interest by October 1, 2010. E-mail initial drafts by November 1, 2010.

Artists on the Cutting Edge: Thylias Moss

28 minutes

Poet and educator Thylias Moss reads selections from her award-winning collection, "Small Congregations." (#3386)

Women's Media Center / By Courtney Young

2 COMMENTS

The Way We Talk About "Women's Lit" Is Sexist

The way we categorize "women's literature" is fueled by an underlying thread of sexism in the literary industry.

May 13, 2010  |  

 

Earlier in the spring, a debate concerning the crop of literature being written by women touched off in Britain.  Daisy Goodwin, the current chair for the Orange Prize in women’s fiction, took issue with the topics of the books submitted for review, terming them “misery lit.” “If I read another sensitive account of a woman coming to terms with bereavement,” she said, “I was going to slit my wrists. The misery memoir has transformed into misery literature. There were a large number of books that started with a rape, enough to make me think ‘Enough.’ Call me old fashioned but I like a bit of foreplay in my reading…. I turned my face against them.”

Quite soon music journalist Jessica Dutchin rejoined with an opposition piece that offered more nuance, blaming the lucrative chick lit industry. “Most women writers who want to be perceived as tackling themes beyond the buying of high-heeled shoes and the seduction of Mr. Perfect loathe the concept of chick lit—which is a marketing phenomenon more than a literary one—and don’t want their work to be mistaken for it,” she wrote. “Therefore we have resorted to the tactic of choosing themes that are as dark and miserable as possible.”  As an unapologetic book lover and a woman writer to bat, I wondered during the debate about the ways that we talk about and categorize “women’s lit” and how is this fueled by an underlying thread of sexism in the industry.

The first problem is the term “women’s lit” itself. The categorization immediately establishes literature written by women as different, a sub-category, separate from, specific to a particular audience, catering to a set of ideas/themes absent in, shall we say, “men’s lit”—a term, of course, never used. I’m puzzled and a bit exacerbated when I walk into a local Border’s or Barnes and Nobles to see an “African American literature” section that is segregated from the population of general literature. Similarly, “women’s lit” can be segregated in corresponding ways. “Chick lit” and the now monikered “misery lit” may be analyzed and debated in “serious circles,” but the marketing of literature by women almost always relies on the emotional and situational. The conversation surrounding what we may call “men’s lit,” however, is almost always more cerebral, intellectual and diverse whatever the genres.

For example, in the acclaimed literary journal n+1, writer Marco Roth published a trend piece on the rise of the “neuro-novel.” Writing about authors including Jonathan Lethem, Richard Powers, and Ian McEwan, Roth speaks to the proliferation of male authors who complicate their narratives with male protagonists suffering a neurological disorder (think Lethem’s Lionel Essrog in Motherless Brooklyn who has Tourette’s Syndrome or Mark Schluter who battles with Capgras Syndrome in Powers’ The Echo Maker). Earlier this year, Katie Roiphe published what may be one of the most debated and most read articles in the history of the New York Times entitled “The Naked and the Conflicted—Sex and the American Male Novelist.” In it, Roiphe champions the sex narrative of such literary heavyweights as Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, and John Updike despite the underlying misogyny and violence within those texts.  And though such celebrated novelists/short story writers as Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, and Annie Proulx are lauded individually, where is the deep, nuanced debate surrounding groups of literature written by women outside of chick or misery lit? (And by the way, couldn’t authors such as Cormac McCarthy and Dennis LeHane fall into the category of “misery lit?”)

I believe a strong case could be made in the public sphere to speak collectively about literature written by these women—as well as Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. LeGuin, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie—that hinges upon the intellectual, the violent, the spiritual, the quirky, and so forth. But it just isn’t done. It tends to hinge more heavily on the writer as woman—or the writer as woman of color/ethnic writer/bi-racial writer as in the case of Adichie or Smith.

Looking at books optioned into films, it seems clear that the gendered way the critical conversation is structured spills over into popular culture. Consider the variety in this list: Robert Ludlum (The Bourne series), Cormac McCarthy (All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, The Road), Dennis LeHane (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River, Shutter Island), Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, Dear John), Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), and Alan Moore (Watchmen). Now consider the female book to film translations, including Stephanie Myers (The Twilight series), J.K. Rowlings (Harry Potter series), Sophie Kinsella (The Shopaholic series), Candace Bushnell (Sex and the City), Helen Felding (Bridget Jones’s Diary), and Fannie Flagg (Fried Green Tomatoes). While many of the book to film adaptations spawned by male authors span genre—including romance, comedy, action, superheroand drama—female book to film translations are heavily sequestered in fantasy and drama with a large dose of romance.

The choices partly reflect both what houses are willing to publish from female authors and how these books get marketed. The influence of marketing was central to 2009’s highly charged debateover Publisher’s Weekly’s 10 best books list that did not include a single woman writer. As Claire Messud illuminated in February’s Guernica Magazine, “Our cultural prejudices are so deeply engrained that we aren’t even aware of them: arguably, it’s not that we think men are better, it’s that we don’t think of women at all. The absence of women from lists and prizes leads, then, to the future absence of women from lists and prizes. Now, lists and prizes mean nothing, of course; except that they inform curious readers about who and what to read.”

I can’t help but think about what the impact would be if instead of Stephanie Myers’ vampire romance series slaughtering the young adult and film industries, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series took its place wherein the protagonist does not need to be saved but does the saving. Or if Octavia Butler’s fiction that plays with both conventional gender and race roles within a sci-fi setting was consumed more readily by the masses. Given that 80 percent of all fiction readers are women, shouldn’t we be talking about literature written by women in a different way?

 

The Poster Girl Who Was Cut Out of the Picture

By Kwame Dawes
Sunday, June 8, 2008

 

KINGSTON Early last year, Annesha Taylor's face was plastered on billboards, posters and flyers across Jamaica. Dancing and smiling brightly, she looked vibrant in her yellow blouse. The caption told her story: She was living with HIV, taking her medication, eating well and, above all, "getting on with life."

There were television spots as well, and radio ads. In a blitz organized by the Jamaican Ministry of Health, Annesha became the poster child for the country's fight against HIV/AIDS. Some people assumed that the 27-year-old was an actress. (How could such a beautiful woman be living with such an ugly disease?) Others took her apparent well-being as evidence that HIV isn't so dangerous after all.

I met Annesha last September, when I was reporting on the impact of the disease in Jamaica, the country where I grew up. She was confused by the fame the ad campaign had brought her. Yes, many people on the island recognized her, but she was not a superstar making superstar money. She still lived in Arnett Gardens, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Kingston's inner city. Her work with the Ministry of Health was just that: work, a shot at some income, some support for the three children she was raising with the help of her mother.

But less than a year into the campaign, Annesha lost her poster-child status. She was pregnant. The billboards and posters stayed up, at least for a while, but her role as the campaign's public ambassador was over.

Annesha's experience reveals a lot about the changing reality of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica and in disadvantaged communities the world over. Astonishing medical breakthroughs and widespread access to treatment allow patients to live longer and better than ever before. Thanks to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Jamaican government has supplied free or low-cost antiretroviral drugs to thousands of Jamaicans in the past several years.

These improvements demanded a new public relations pitch -- a shift from "AIDS kills" to "Get on with life." But the government had to walk a fine line. It needed to destigmatize the disease, to convey that an HIV diagnosis is not a death sentence and that people suffering from the disease can live productive lives. At the same time, it had to teach HIV patients the importance of protecting others from becoming infected.

The campaign organizers wanted to give the disease a human face, and Annesha, they believed, would do just that. Of course, she was beautiful. But beyond that, so many elements of her story -- unemployment, marginalization and poverty -- are common among Jamaican HIV/AIDS patients. The father of her youngest child gave her the disease; he had been killed at the age of 46, allegedly by the brother of another woman he had infected. Three times after her own diagnosis, before she graced billboards and television screens, Annesha tried to take her own life.

Going public about her illness was risky in a society where people who are HIV-positive are often ostracized and sometimes attacked. And then, after months of promoting the message "I use a condom every time," she became pregnant. The father, a member of her support group, was also HIV-positive. They were committed to each other, she said, and were prepared to have the child.

But the prospect of a pregnant spokeswoman for abstinence and responsible sexual practices did not sit well with ministry officials. Most Jamaicans are born out of wedlock, but unmarried pregnant women still carry the stigma of moral failure.

Last October, I met Annesha again in a brightly lit examination room in the clinic where she had first been diagnosed. She looked me in the eye and explained the dilemma of being young and HIV-positive and wanting to be loved. She knew that no man would marry her unless he was also infected. But she didn't want a husband who was HIV-positive; someone already suffering from the disease could be infected with a more virulent strain. She also knew that she would have a hard time finding a partner who wasn't positive. "The ones who are not positive, they won't walk with me in the public," she said.

She was adamant that the pregnancy was the result of a defective condom -- that she, more than anyone else, had the right to be angry because she'd been betrayed by her own message. But her supervisors "just don't buy it," she said. "They believe I was practicing unprotected sex." So she was removed from school education and reassigned to a less visible role at the public health clinic in Kingston.

Annesha believes that the Ministry of Health didn't want to upset donors, most of them American, who supply antiretroviral medications only if the government agrees to teach abstinence and monogamy. None of the married abstinence counselors are punished for having children, Annesha said; had she been married to her baby's father, the issue never would have arisen.

Not long after her reassignment, Annesha miscarried, and she and the father separated. She now has a more permanent position at the public health clinic, a job that she enjoys and for which she is grateful. Sometimes people still recognize her, and she has to think carefully before answering their questions: Are you still having unprotected sex? Are you giving the disease to other people?

The last time I saw Annesha, I asked how her antiretroviral drugs were working. She sighed, smiled sheepishly and said, "I might not continue with the medication." She insisted that she knows her body, that the treatment was making her sick and that she could beat the disease without it. I told her that others were depending on her and asked her to promise that she would keep taking the drugs. She didn't give me any guarantees.

She also mentioned that sales representatives at a U.S.-based natural-remedy firm were courting her. They would supply her with "natural" pills, and she, in turn, would try to convince other Jamaican HIV patients to use their products. I asked whether she had talked to her doctors about the pills' possible impact on her regimen. She said that she hadn't because they would steer her away from such drugs and the chance to make some money.

I left Annesha with the sense that things could quickly go wrong for her. Then, about two weeks ago, she called and told me that she had been in the hospital for three weeks with serious respiratory and heart problems. I asked whether she had stopped taking her antiretroviral medication, and she assured me that she hadn't, that she was staying on it for her mother and children. But she had gotten ill nonetheless. She said that she sometimes feels like giving up and that her children are afraid their mother is going to die.

That conversation was disheartening, but a few days ago I spoke with Annesha again. This time, she sounded tired but optimistic, as if her hopeful spirit could carry her through her struggles. I pray that it will keep her going for as long as possible.

dawesk@mailbox.sc.edu

Kwame Dawes, a poet and professor at the University of South Carolina, reported from Jamaica on a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. For related poetry, photography and video interviews, visit http://livehopelove.com.

 

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Monday August 30, 2010

The world of the Rastafarians

By MARTIN VENGADESAN
startwo@thestar.com.my

The movement which grew from the slums of Jamaica in the 1930s made considerable impact as a political and social force.

A DISHEVELLED man sits in a street cafe occasionally brushing back his thick dreadlocks which are half hidden beneath a floppy red, gold and green coloured beanie. As he gently nods in time with the pulsating reggae music blaring from the cheap, throbbing speakers, a speck of ash falls from a marijuana joint onto a T-shirt which bears the image of the legendary Bob Marley.

The world of Rastafarianism can certainly be a confusing one ... part lifestyle choice, part bona fide religion, with few formal boundaries between the two. Not too long ago, Rastafarians were viewed with suspicion and distrust by many societies, yet they are now widely tolerated and occasionally even embraced by the mainstream. In fact, the scene I have just described might occur anywhere from Senegal to Brazil, Thailand to Sweden.

But just who is a real Rastafarian? And what does the future hold for this colourful, yet numerically small group of devotees?

The roots of rasta

Thirty-five years ago on Aug 28, 1975, the Ethiopian Marxist military junta known (by its Amharic acronym) as the DERG announced the death of the aged Emperor Haile Selassie I. Selassie, 82 at the time of his death, had been living under house arrest in his palace ever since a military coup had deposed him a year earlier (on Sept 12, 1974).

Jah Rastafari: The legendary Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I was believed by his followers to be divine. Last Saturday marked the 35th anniversary of his death.

Although he was old and infirm, his death was shrouded in mystery. However, that mystery pales in comparison to the effect that Selassie had on a group of his followers.

Hailing from a distinguished family (it is claimed that he was a direct descendent of the biblical King Solomon), he was born Tafari Makonnen in 1892. Soon after his birth, the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II scored a historic military victory when he decisively defeated the Italian army at the Battle of Adwa to preserve Ethiopia’s independence.

This defeat rankled so much with the Italians that under the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, they were to attempt another invasion of Ethiopia 40 years later. This time, Ethiopia was led by Tafari Makonnen who adopted the title Ras Tafari upon becoming heir to the throne and Haile Selassie upon being crowned Emperor in 1930.

Providence Brown, a Trinidadian musician and one-time Rastafarian who still maintains his dreadlocks, takes up the tale. “As far as I know, Rastafarianism grew out of Haile Selassie’s defence of Ethiopia against Mussolini’s war-mongering. At that time, almost all of black Africa was under colonial rule by the white man, except Ethiopia. Even though Selassie was not able to prevent the invasion, many believed he was a special man. He travelled around Europe and America and gained much respect and many followers.”

Indeed in 1936, Selassie made an impassioned plea before the League of Nations (the forerunner of today’s United Nations) that marked him as a statesman of some note. Curiously it was at this point that his life story, coupled with his nation’s leading role in combating imperialism, led a small group of people to dub him a reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

While that may sound blasphemous to Christians, it should be remembered that Christ himself was viewed as a blasphemer by orthodox Jews who were waiting for their Messiah. As with many religions, Rastafarianism has its roots in a political conflict and some of the proponents of the new religion were keen to introduce the concept of a black Messiah.

A number of important books helped form the nascent religion and build a mythology around Selassie, who was seen to fulfil some of the vague prophesies of religious texts. The King James version of the Bible and the Kebra Negast (a sort of Ethiopian Orthodox bible) formed the base texts, while a number of books written and published in the first half of the last century (The Holy Piby, The Royal Parchment Scroll Of Black Supremacy and The Promised Key) added to the new religion.

Twist and turn: It takes a lot of work to turn ‘normal’ straight hair into dreadlocks.

The thoughts of Jamaican black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who founded the black power Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the 1920s, were also woven into the Rastafarian theology.

In the post-World War II scenario, in which Ethiopia regained its independence under Selassie’s rule, the first wave of Rastafarians from the United States and Jamaica began moving to communes in Ethiopia.

In 1948, Selassie himself donated 202ha of his private land in Shashamane, central Ethiopia, to enable members of the emerging Rastafarian movement to settle in his country. While he himself did not appear to believe that he was a reincarnation of Christ, records indicate that Selassie had a very warm relationship with his followers.

As time went by, a number of developments further defined the Rastafarian movement. It is believed that adherents of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya grew “dreaded locks” when hiding in the hills during their vicious guerilla war against the British colonial authorities.

Soon followers of Rastafarianism began adopting this look, citing various passages of the Bible and Kebra Negast.

The consumption of marijuana to facilitate spiritual awareness also became tied up with the religion, although it could be argued that most mainstream religions use sensory deprivation and/or stimulation to heighten the spirituality of adherents. Many Rastafarians abstained from eating pork, and in some cases, meat altogether.

In 1966, the visit of Selassie to Jamaica became an extraordinary event. Feted by crowds of tens of thousands wherever he went, Selassie gained a whole new legion of followers. Crucially these were to include many Jamaican musicians, notably Bob Marley. These converts to Rastafarianism used the emerging reggae genre as a method of evangelising their new religion. Thanks to reggae’s remarkable success as a musical export, the Rastafarian religion and culture became known throughout the world.

Lifestyle or religion?

So widespread is reggae music and the dreadlock culture that one might be tempted to think the world is full of millions of hard-core Rastafarians.

Bernie and Ernie, the unforgettable Rastafarian jellyfish in Shark Tale.

However, just as every one who wears a Che Guevara T-shirt is not necessarily a card-carrying member of his local communist party, so the vast majority of dreadlocked reggae lovers are not formally Rastafarians.

Musician Brown describes his initial exposure to the religion in the 1970s: “I grew up in San Fernando in Trinidad. Rastafarians at the time could go to orthodox churches and there were also churches called the Twelve Tribes of Israel.”

As with many religions, Rastafarianism developed a number of sects, namely the Nyahbinghi Order, Bobo Ashanti and the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

“I think Rastafarianism had various phases. There was a lot more than just Selassie and his history. In the 1960s and 70s, there was a lot of identification with black power too, and many people gravitated towards the belief. But it was never very formal; I went to an orthodox church but considered myself a Rastafarian.”

At that time, despite the popularity of Marley and other reggae musicians, the authorities weren’t always fond of the religion’s adherents. “When Rastafarianism first became popular in the Caribbean, the government and the police didn’t like it. When I was a teenager, we would be harassed by the police. My generation helped put a stop to that,” recalls Brown.

“There were no strict rules. Some were vegetarians, some didn’t eat pork, others didn’t drink alcohol. There used to be these awesome parties/festivals that would go on for days. There would be great vegetarian food, people playing drums and chanting African songs constantly. It was just great, man!”

Eventually, however, Brown drifted away from the core religion, even though he still carries a lot of it with him. “Now I look at life differently. When I was younger, I took a lot of reef (marijuana) but I gave that up. There are so many other things to do in this life. The world is much bigger than sitting around being stoned. I am more into the power of the mind. I became a free-thinker over the years. Rastafarianism is not about the hair but the heart. If you are someone who challenges injustice and defends the rights of humans, animals, plants and the Earth itself, then you are all right in my book.”

Rastafarian Barbara Makeda Blake Hannnah authored the book Rastafari – The New Creation in 1981. In an updated commentary from 2002 entitled If Bob Marley Was Still Here, she lamented the commercialisation of what was once a militant and serious religion, and argues that the intended political impact of the movement has all but disappeared.

Interestingly enough, Nándor Tánczos, a Rastafarian from New Zealand, was an MP from 1999 to 2008, representing the Green Party. Tánczos, who maintains rasnandor.blogspot.com and nandor.net.nz, introduced a series of interesting proposals in the New Zealand parliament, including the Clean Slate Bill (to wipe minor convictions off a record if the offender hasn’t reoffended for seven years), and a failed attempt at marijuana law reform.

On his website, Tánczos says: “Being a Rasta is who I am, and it influences everything I do. It influences every moment of my life and my politics. Because politics is one expression of the philosophy that underpins, you know?”

Tánczos explains his reasons for venturing into formal politics: “I come from an anarchist background, politically. The idea of parliamentary politics was a total anathema to me for a long time. People ask me: ‘Isn’t parliament an elite power structure designed to maintain the status quo?’ Of course, that’s why we need to change it. I felt the Greens were able to articulate a different kind of vision of what politics was, and a different vision of the future of this country and what this world could be, and so I joined the Green Party.

“As a Rastafarian man, a constant fact of life is people trying to pigeonhole, stereotype, belittle and objectify me. This became especially true after stepping into Babylon (the Rastafarian term for an evil Empire!) and entering the New Zealand Parliament. But Rasta livity (way of life) is holistic and mindful of what is holy. It’s about not being ashamed to assert my own philosophy, while fully recognising and respecting everyone else’s as well.” Malaysian Rastas?

Reggae Joe is a local Malay lad who became so fascinated with reggae music that he grew his hair into dreads and formed the roots reggae band Pure Vibracion which released its debut album Peace And Love last year after many years of live gigging.

He explains: “My dreads symbolise the roots of the man and my spirituality. But when I first started to grow dreadlocks, I can say it was because of fashion, inspired by Max Cavalera singer from SoulFly, Jonathan Davis from Korn and Aru (of another local band Koffin Kanser).”

Growing dreads can be quite an undertaking, says Joe. “When I first started to dread my hair, I didn’t know much about it. The early period of about three to six months, you could go mental from the itchiness! It’s painful because your hair is tied up straight from your scalp. I had to sleep upside down or even on my front for almost three months! To make your new dreads stick together fast, it’s good to wash it with salt water cause it makes your hair sticky and it’s faster to tie the dreads together.”

“It’s not really cheap to maintain a good healthy dreadlock. Washing is easy, but keeping it dry is the hardest part. I only use two products for my dreads. One is tightening gel mixed with lime and aloe vera for making your dreads tighter, and I use a shampoo that is a mix of tea tree, rosemary and peppermint. They cost about RM80 each but there are a lot more products for dreads.”

Joe did feel a certain sense of alienation when he first decided to go dread. “I think you got to be strong mentally and patience is needed to carry a dreadlock upon your head. People look at you like an alien. They get scared of you, think that you are crazy cause they think you’ve not been washing your hair for many months or years. You feel left out.”

However, he says that this stigma has been lifted somewhat. “Now Malaysians are more understanding about dreads. After so many years of growing dreads, I can feel good positive vibes flowing inside me.”

Despite his interest in the culture, Joe is not particularly interested in the theology of Rastafarianism. “I see Rasta more as a way of life than a religion. Rastafarians believe in respect for all living creatures and hold self-respect in high regard. Spiritual freedom is also an important aspect. The movement is about belief in resistance of oppression, and pride in African heritage. (Well, I’m proud of the Malaysian heritage and culture.)

“They come from an environment of great poverty, depression, racism and class discrimination. They send a message of their people’s pride, freedom from oppression, a united world, peace, love, strong humanity spirit and positive vibes.”

Despite having been a member of Malaysian rasta cliques for a decade, Joe does not actually know any Malaysians who follow the Rastafarian religion strictly.

“The ones I know are not here in Malaysia. So I’m getting more knowledge about reggae, Rastafarians and dreadlock from these guys. I know many friends that only take Rastafarian as their way of life, just sending good words and vibes to each other.

As for the various pubs and stalls around KL that use the reggae/Rasta moniker, Joe has this to say: “Our band has played in some reggae bars in KL; the place looks reggae, but they play hip/hop and rock ‘n’ roll songs so that takes away from the ‘reggaeness’ of the place. There are also places like Babylon Bar in Langkawi which is run by fellow dreadlockers and they have lots of real reggae influences. It helps that it’s next to the beach and on the island! You can tell reggae is definitely growing here in Malaysia; some of them can feel the vibes.”

A future for Rasta?

Despite some claims that Rastafarians number around a million worldwide, there really does not seem to be that many. Even in Jamaica, the cradle of Rastafarianism, only around 20,000 people identified it as their religion in the last census (2001), while the number of Rastafarians in Ethiopia is believed to number only 200 or so (Selassie was deposed in 1974 when the new government confiscated all but 11ha of their commune).

There are small pockets and communities spread throughout the Caribbean as well as in Britain and the United States, but it is possible that the heydey of the Rastafarian religion has come and gone. What is certain, however, is that the music, cultural icons and simple messages of peace and love have made a permanent mark on our collective consciousness.

Black Jacobins past and present

Posted By Stabroek staff On August 30, 2010 @ 5:08 am In Features | 1 Comment

Selma James, who celebrated her 80th birthday two weeks ago, has  been campaigning against sexism, racism and capitalism for more than six decades.  She is a strategist and critical thinker who has published widely.  She is the founder in 1972 of the International Wages for Housework Campaign and co-ordinator of the Global Women’s Strike whose strategy for change is “Invest in Caring Not Killing” (www.globalwomenstrike.net ^[1]). In this week’s column she reflects on the continuing relevance of the Black Jacobins, which was written by CLR James, her partner and colleague for almost 30 years.

By Selma James

^[2]It took an earthquake whose destructive power was enhanced by dire poverty to rekindle interest in Haiti. Many who want to know who Haitians are seem to have turned to CLR James’ classic text, The Black Jacobins, a history of the revolution the slaves made.

Seizing on the revolution in France, they took their freedom and got revolutionary Paris to ratify it.  But as the revolution’s power in France waned, to prevent slavery’s return they had to defeat the armies of Spain and Britain as well as France’s Napoleon and, amazingly, they did. In 1804 the independent republic of Haiti was born.

Black Jacobins was published in 1938 as a contribution to the movement for colonial emancipation — for Africa first of all, when few considered this possible. By 1963 it had been out of print for years but the exploding anti-imperialist and anti-racist movements had created a new market for it.  Later books updating information on Haiti’s revolution have not challenged its classic status.  It’s worth asking why.

C. L. R. James

First, James takes sides uncompromisingly with the slaves.  While he has all the time in the world for anti-racist whites who loved Toussaint and the revolution, his point of reference is the struggle of those who were wresting themselves back from being the possession of others.  The book recounts their courage, imagination and determination.  But James doesn’t glamorise: ‘The slaves destroyed tirelessly.  . . . And if they destroyed much it was because they had suffered much.  They knew that as long as these plantations stood their lot would be to labour on them until they dropped.  The only thing was to destroy them.’

Nor does he shield us from the terrorism and sadism of the masters. But the catalogue of tortures does more than torture the reader; it deepens our appreciation of the former slaves’ power to endure and overcome.  Despite death and destruction, the slaves are never helpless victims.  This may explain why strugglers from the Caribbean and even South Africa told the author that at low points in their movements Black Jacobins had helped sustain them.  This quality is what makes the book thrilling and inspiring — we are learning from the Haitians’ determination to be free what being human is about.

Second, Toussaint L’Ouverture possessed all the skills of leadership that the revolution needed.  An uneducated, middle-aged West Indian when it began, he was soon able to handle sophisticated European diplomats and politicians who foolishly thought they could manipulate him because he was black and had been a slave.

James liked to say that while the official claim is that Lincoln freed the slaves, it was in fact the slaves who had freed Lincoln — from his limitations and the conservative restraints of office.  Here James says that ‘. . . Toussaint did not make the revolution.  It was the revolution that made Toussaint.’  Then he adds:  ‘And even that is not the whole truth.’

In other words, while the movement chooses, creates and develops its leadership, historians are unlikely to pin that process down, whatever they surmise from events.  What we can be sure of, however, is that the great leader is never a ‘self-made man,’ but a product of his individual talents and skills (and weaknesses) shaped by the movement he leads in the course of great upheavals. The Haitian Jacobins created Toussaint and he led them to where they had the will and determination to go.

This is still groundbreaking today, considering that there are parties and organisations, large and small, which claim that their leadership is crucial for a revolution’s success.  There are also those who believe leadership is unnecessary and it would hold the movement back.  In Haiti the slaves made the revolution, and Toussaint, one of them, played a vital role in their winning.

Third, James tells us who many of these revolutionary slaves were.  They were not proletarians,

‘But working and living together in gangs of hundreds on the huge sugar-factories which covered the North Plain, they were closer to a modern proletariat than any group of workers in existence at the time, and the rising was, therefore, a thoroughly prepared and organised mass movement.’

This is relevant to the problem of development which the book poses: what are non-industrial people to do after the revolution?  The movement has struggled with this question for generations.  Toussaint relied on the plantation system of the former masters who claimed to personify ‘civilisation’ and ‘culture’; they ultimately captured and killed him.  The ex-slaves would not have it.  They wanted their own plots of land, and the end of the plantation – an early form of forced collectivisation.

Lenin finally (1923) proposed that the State encourage co-operatives which, independent of the party, would dominate the economy.  Gandhi insisted that Indians must hold on to the cotton industry and its village way of life against all odds.   Nyerere proposed ujamaa or African socialism for Tanzanians, and with the momentum of the independence movement, people made extraordinary strides (an untold story).  China has more to tell us; and some Indigenous Latin Americans are gaining the power to say what they propose.

We know that Haiti went further than the movements elsewhere: it was decades before others abolished slavery.  Haiti, so far ahead, was vulnerable to the imperial powers which it had infuriated by its revolutionary impertinence.

Now, despite often racist reporting of events there, we are learning how the present Black Jacobins have been organising and how their struggle has continued.  President Aristide, whom they elected by 92% of the vote, was twice taken from them by an alliance of the US and the local elite.  They demand his return.  The least we can do is support that demand.

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1 Comment (Open | Close)

1 Comment To "Black Jacobins past and present"

#1 Comment By twf On August 30, 2010 @ 12:15 pm

Of historical interest — You can see a clip of Toussaint’s last moments in prison from the award-winning new short film “The Last Days of Toussaint L’Ouverture” at ^[3] This film is the basis for a new feature (not with Danny Glover) that is in development.

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Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com

URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/features/08/30/black-jacobins-past-and-present/

URLs in this post:

[1] www.globalwomenstrike.net: http://www.globalwomenstrike.net

[2] Image:

[3] : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2468184/

Kakenya's Dream

 

Kakenya Ntaiya founder of an Academy for Girls on education:

The Kakenya Center for Excellence is a primary boarding school focused on serving the most vulnerable underprivileged Maasai girls. The first primary girls’ school in the region, the academy focuses on academic excellence, female empowerment, leadership, and community development. Located in Keyian division of the Trans Mara district of Kenya, the Center opened in May 2009 with 32 students. The Center enrolled an additional 31 students in January 2010 in fourth grade. Our goal is eventually to enroll 150 students in grades four to eight-website

 

The Academy for Girls: An Agent of Change

The Kakenya Center for Excellence is a primary boarding school focused on serving the most vulnerable underprivileged Maasai girls. The first primary girls’ school in the region, the academy focuses on academic excellence, female empowerment, leadership, and community development. Located in Keyian division of the Trans Mara district of Kenya, the Center opened in May 2009 with 32 students. The Center enrolled an additional 31 students in January 2010 in fourth grade. Our goal is eventually to enroll 150 students in grades four to eight.

Core Subjects

Each grade in the school has its own classroom. The students are instructed in eight standard subjects – English, Swahili, math, science, geography/history, religion, the arts, and physical education. A health course will soon focus on educating the girls on female genital cutting, menstrual cycles, and sexual and reproductive health. The aim of this portion of the curriculum is to improve the girls’ awareness of HIV/AIDS and their roles and negotiating power in future sexual relationships.

Leadership Training

Currently in the development stage is a unique feature of the academy - a leadership training program. Besides instruction in effective strategies for leadership, girls will get firsthand experience through student councils, student-run extracurricular activities, and community outreach. Living in this environment of personal involvement promotes self-confidence, something many girls may experience for the first time. The resulting empowerment will encourage the girls to speak up for their convictions and to assist in development of programs in their school and their communities.

Preservation of Culture

In addition to academic and leadership instruction, the school also promotes the preservation of non-destructive cultural and domestic values. Girls are taught the life skills of their villages so that their connection to their homes is maintained and strengthened, contributing to family traditions and productivity. Through education, they learn about the latest ways to improve their farms, the health of their cows, and their homes. Benefits to their families will be immediate.

Summer Leadership Workshops

The Kakenya Center for Excellence is committed to providing resources to every girl in the surrounding community. To that end, all girls will have the opportunity to attend summer leadership workshops starting in 2011. These programs will foster an inclusive relationship between regular students and local girls in the region.

>via: http://www.kakenyasdream.org/academy.html

"Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans"

http://bjazz.unblog.fr/
(Do you know what it means to miss) New Orleans. Music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Eddie Delange.
New Orleans (1947) by Arthur Lubin, with Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Zutty Singleton, Barney Bigard, Kid Ory, Bud Scott, Red Callender & Charlie Beal.
Actors : Dorothy Patrick, Arturo de Córdova, Richard Hageman.
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