Sean
Creighton, who
contributed. Although Peter Fryer and several sources state that Archer’s
mayoral vote was 40-39, Sean opts for the contemporaneous reports of the day,
which indicate 30-29. Archer’s wife is often referred to as Bertha, an African
Canadian, but Sean’s research shows his first wife was called Margaret, an
African Canadian, whilst Bertha was the second wife, and English.
Knowing my
stance in using ‘African’, and promoter of ‘black music’, Sean thought some clarification would be helpful.
Well, there’s no confusion. Reproduced here from the TAOBQ (The Black Or African
Question) blog is
my position on the matter:
Black is a term that does not recognise the African identity or connection with the African continent. It was once a powerful and unifying political term, which embraced British “ethnic minorities” such as Africans and Asians. However, the latter have in recent years forged a separate identity, whether or not they were born in Asia, which has led to classifications such as Black And Asian, and Black, Asian And Minority Ethnic.
Black is a term that does not recognise the African identity or connection with the African continent. It was once a powerful and unifying political term, which embraced British “ethnic minorities” such as Africans and Asians. However, the latter have in recent years forged a separate identity, whether or not they were born in Asia, which has led to classifications such as Black And Asian, and Black, Asian And Minority Ethnic.
Whilst TAOBQ
has no issues with ‘black’ in relation to an all-inclusive term for political
solidarity among British ‘ethnic minorities’ or ‘black music’ describing a
music genre, the campaign is advocating that people of African heritage be
identified as African, instead of the meaningless ‘black’.
Next on the
roll-call is Allswell Eno, who’s behind the The bLack Of Respect campaign, which aims to “restore our dignity as a race by
getting people, chiefly ourselves, as well as institutions in the UK, Europe
and other parts of the world to cease referring to us as ‘black’ and describe
us by heritage, like every other race.” Please support the bLack Of Respect petition for institutions such Office of National
Statistics and others that engage in ethnic monitoring to abandon ‘black’
for African, be it British
African, British African-Caribbean, African-American, African-Brazilian etc.
Brother
Omowale’s attendance
was a timely reminder for me to attend the PASCF (Pan-Afrikan Society Community
Forum) workshop last Thursday on Kwame Nkrumah’s Consciencism philosophy.
Although we only managed to read a few paragraphs on the introduction to ‘Consciencism:
Philosophy and Ideology for De-Colonization’, I learnt so much about my former president
because facilitator Brother Kwami made sure we understood the import of every
sentence! Nkrumah did not use words “by heart” - each word was used
purposefully.
If I was to sum
up what I learnt - in a way Nkrumah is warning us about the mis-education of
the then colonial African, who becomes learned through his engagement with
Western philosophers and higher education, which if applied
"wholesale" just props up the status quo i.e. Western capitalist and
imperialist structures and viewpoints. It is the awakening or conscientisation
which allows Africans to use that knowledge in a way that serves its people,
rather than the colonisers.
If you are
interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the works of Nkrumah’s and other
political thinkers, this free, small class is highly recommended. It’s not a
seminar, and be ready to be a pro-active participant. Participants are
encouraged to study particular topics in order to lead a discussion. The next
Consciencism workshop is this Thursday April 25, 7-9pm at WASP (the West Indian Association of Service Personnel),
163 Clapham Manor Street, London SW4 6DB (Clapham Common). Just turn up or
email: omowalerpt@yahoo.co.uk.
Nubian Jak almost gave the impression that my
presentation was literally predestined, as that was the same day the news of
the John Archer stamp was announced! I thought it was the Post Office that had
introduced that horrible term ‘Afro-Caribbean’, but I was wrong – the Post Office’s website uses
the African-Caribbean terminology. I suspect that ‘afro-‘ source must be the Daily
Mail’s story, which
has then been lazily regurgitated by other media!
Talking about
black music, my organisation, BritishBlackMusic.com/Black Music Congress, is
the initiator of British Black Music Month (BBMM), which takes place in June into
mid-July - expect a Nubian Jak plaque to be unveiled in London during BBMM2013. BBMM2013 will also
feature a Vinyl Memories event in Battersea Library, and I’ll be roping in two
old mates who attended, Clive Allick and Mark Jackson, as guests on the Veterans’ Front Room:
Vinyl & Music Industry Memories sessions that will take place on the
weekends in Wembley.
It seemed like
everyone else had something to sell or plug, apart from me! Sean is the
publisher of those useful booklets covering the likes of composer Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor and Plymouth Labour activist Bill Miller. NARM role model
Marc Wadsworth, who is
mentioned in my presentation on account of being the biographer of John
Archer’s one time comrade Shapurji Saklatvala, had copies of the ‘Divided By
Race United In war And Peace’ booklet – you can see the trailer of the film at
The-Latest.com.
Elder Clarence
Thompson MBE, came very
early and spent the time telling me and showing me material about things he had
done, which he didn’t mention during my recent interview with him for the Look
How Far We’ve Come project. He’s one of the unsung been there, done it type of
fellow, whose history needs to be better known. He was given an opportunity to
raise awareness and fundraise to help south London’s Queen Mother Moore move from a supplementary to a fulltime
school, by selling a special badge and copies of his illustrated poem. The
original is housed in the UN HQ.
Cllr. Tony
Belton, who’s the councillor for John Archer’s old Latchmere, ward attended
with Penny Corfield, who scripted the ‘Red Battersea: One Hundred Years of
Labour 1908-2008’ DVD,
which tells the story of Battersea’s long and chequered Labour party history.
Naturally John Archer is featured. Penny was kind enough to give us a copy, and
Cllr Belton sent me a copy of the John Archer portrait, which hangs in his
hometown Liverpool. See the Battersea Labour
website for details
of how you can purchase a sleeveless version for £5.
Brother Omowale
had flyers promoting his Pan-Afrikan People's Phone-In on Sundays 7-10pm (studio phone number
020 8144 4547). It can be heard via a link on the www.pascf.org.uk website.
To wrap up,
it’s nice to see history teacher Dan Lyndon-Cohen kept the promise he made on the BASA
e-list “to be more conscious in the future” by refraining from using “by people
of Black and Asian heritage”. In his comment piece for History Workshop Online,
‘A Response to
the Proposed National Curriculum in History’, he must be commended for using “people of African
and Asian heritage”.
Nothing to
do with history – well actually it does in a sort of round about way, and it
focuses mainly on BASA interest areas, Africa and Asia, here are details of two
Fairtrade related activities in Brent and Harrow:
Fairtrade
presentation 8th May 1-3:30pm
In the lead up
to World Fairtrade Day, there will be a Fairtrade presentation by Cllr Nana Asante, Chairperson of Harrow Fairtrade
Campaign and Brent Fairtrade steering group member, at the Luncheon Club, St.
John's Community Centre, Crawford Avenue, Wembley HA0 2HX.
The cost of the meal is £4 and the presentation will take place after lunch. For more information: catherineamiller@hotmail.co.uk.
Fairtrade
Pop-up Restaurant
Mark World
Fairtrade Day at the Fairtrade Pop Up Restaurant at Stanmore Baptist Church, Abercorn Road,
Stanmore, HA7 2PH on Saturday 11th May 1:00-3:30pm. It’s organised by Harrow
Fairtrade Campaign in partnership with Mission Dine Club (MDC) and is an
opportunity to fundraise for MDC & Harrow’s Foodbank, and raise awareness
about Fairtrade. The cost is £6.50, but £5.50 if tickets are bought at http://missionfair.eventbrite.com. Menu: Jollof rice & chicken and plantain,
with vegetarian option, and dessert. For more information: missiondine@hotmail.co.uk.
Lastly, lastly,
lastly – I had an opportunity to watch the South African made feature film ‘Otelo
Burning’
last Sunday. Although Flash Musicals Film Club’s regular spot at the their
Edgware base is the first Friday of the month, from 6.30pm (£5 adults, £2
children, includes meal), they do the occasional Sunday special. This screening
had the director and one of the cast, whom we were able to chat with. Whilst
the film is said to be based on real life incidents around the time the country
was about to move towards multi-racial elections and surfing, there’s a
disturbing end bit, which was not based on an actual incident. It was so bleak,
one wondered why the director swung her artistic licence in that direction,
instead of offering some positivity or hopeful alternative.
Kwaku
John
Archer and Paul Stephenson are NARM role models and the focus
of BTWSC/African Histories Revisited’s 2013 African British history
presentations. it will be 100 years since John Archer became London's
first African mayor, and 50 years since Paul Stephenson successfully led
the Bristol Bus Boycott. For more information regarding creating or
delivering an African British civil rights history programme around these 2
NARM role models: btwsc@hotmail.com. For event details and bookings: www.narm2013.eventbrite.com.
