TAOBQ Press Release: Missed Opportunity of UN initiative prompts campaign on African identity

Missed Opportunity of UN initiative prompts campaign on African identity

TAOBQ campaign highlights issues around African identity and postulates that people of African heritage in Britain should be called African, instead of black

December 25, 2011

2011 was declared by the United Nations (UN) as the International Year For People Of African Descent. This prompted history consultant and community activist Kwaku to start 'The African Or Black Question', a guerilla documentary which solicits the views of a diverse group of London’s African community on the UN initiative and the preferred descriptor of their racial identity.

The documentary, filmed in the latter part of 2011, shows that the UN initiative seems to have passed by mostly un-noticed, and was a missed opportunity to put the African identity on the table for discussion. In the course of making the documentary, the aim has morphed into the TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question) campaign, which postulates that people of African heritage in Britain should be called African, or terms like African British or African Caribbean, where geo-specificity is necessary.

The film will be premiered as part of the You Are African discussion, a free event taking place at Westminster City Hall in London’s Victoria area, on Friday January 20 2012, 6-8.30pm, where attendees and special guests will discuss issues around African identity (booking via taobq.eventbrite.com).

The TAOBQ campaign provides an opportunity for us to begin to claim our African heritage by proudly describing ourselves as African, and refusing to be described by a colour, which has negative connotations, such as black market, black sheep, blackmail, and black Monday.

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 “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.

Who does the ‘Black’ in these cases represent?

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’.

TAOBQ recognises that as a consequence of displacement within the Diaspora, or the nature of formal British school education, some of us may have no knowledge of our African history and do not identify with Africa.

However, it’s worth pointing out what African American historian Dr Carter Woodson, who championed the Black History Month initiative, once said: "Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history”*.

Hence it is incumbent upon us to study some African history outside of formal education and African/Black “History” Month. There are libraries (those that still exist) and reputable websites, with free resources to improve our knowledge of African history. BTWSC and many other community organisations provide accessible African history programmes and courses.

Although we have an association with the production of an African British role model project**, we recognise that biographies need not be just of notable Africans in order to resonate with Africans. However, there is immeasurable worth, particularly to young Africans, when the subject is of African heritage.

If the subject has an African name, then their identity is obvious. However, if the name is European and there is no related image, then one would not necessarily know that subject is African. For example, few Africans take pride and inspiration from the achievements of 19^th century Chartist and workers’ rights activist William Kofi, because with his name spelt William Cuffay (Cuffy, Cuffey etc), instead of Kofi, they do not realise he was African.

For these reasons TAOBQ suggests the following recommendations:

1. People of African heritage be described as African, instead of black.

2. The opportunity for study of African history be made more accessible.

3. People of African heritage consider adopting African names in order to assert their African identity***.

You are welcome to get involved and help bring about a change in how African people are described.

For more information, contact:

Kwaku

jointheAOBQ@gmail.com

www.taobq.blogspot.com

www.taobq.eventbrite.com

Search TAOBQ on the social networks

Ends

1. The You Are African event is open to Africans and non-Africans, as awareness of the TAOBQ campaign issues must be raised both within the African and host communities, particularly within the media, statutory, community and educational organisations.

2. TAOBQ is meant to be a year-long campaign, ending December 2012, by which time it is hoped that the recommendations would have started a consciousness and debate in and outside the African communities in Britain.

3. During the campaign period, TAOBQ will continue to engage using on and offline opportunities to highlight the core issues. Updates will be posted on www.taobq.blogspot.com, and social networks such as FaceBook, Twitter, and YouTube – follow us by searching on TAOBQ.

4. A number of debates on African identity have been arranged on community radio stations for December 2011, and the first offline event is set for January 20 2012 – we expect to do more in 2012, and potential partners and media outlets are welcome to get in touch.

5.  We also want to use the medium of theatre to discuss the issues – so if you are a drama or theatre company, we are looking for a partner to produce a play based on a completed script.

6. Whilst we reject the ‘black’ terminology, we fully support the global African sentiments expressed in former Wailer Peter Tosh’s African' song: "As long as you're a black man, you're an African..."

7. *‘African Voices: Quotations By People Of African Descent’ (Ms Serwah & Kwaku, 2010 BTWSC)

8. ** ‘NARM (Naming And Role Model) Highlighting African British Male Role Models 1907-2007’ (Kwaku, 2010 BTWSC)

9. *** If we are unable to go the whole hog, like actor/playwright Kwame Kwei Armah (formerly Ian Roberts), having just one African name can make the same point. Despite the opportunities offered by DNA in tracing one’s genealogy, one does not necessarily need to go through the expense of tracing lineage to a particular area in Africa in order to find a name. If one accepts that one is African, then with the help of books or online searches, one can choose an African name one likes. An easy start may be to investigate the day names given based on day of birth in Ghana.

An African Name Asserts One's Africanness And Makes Racial Identification Easier

In my African history writings and teachings, I have always referred to Jamaican heroine and maroon leader as Nana, a good Ghanaian name befitting her status as an esteemed elder and leader, instead of the English corrupted version, Nanny.

Recently, I discovered that even students who had been taught about Chartist leader and workers' rights activist William Cuffy, were not aware that he was African. This is why I now spell his name Kofi, a typical Ghanaian name, instead of the better known corrupted version. This way there's no confusion that he's African.

This is why we recommend that Africans without African names should consider adopting an African name in order to assert their Africanness, and also make their racial identity obvious without the aid of a photo or a video.

Copied below is a letter I wrote to The Voice newspaper in response to the 'What's In A Name?' article by historian SI Martin, plus another letter I wrote responding to a number of issues, including a response to my first letter.

Kwaku

www.taobq.blogspot.com

'Embrace Your Roots'

November 17-23 2011, p.13

I read Steve Martin’s ‘What’s in a name?’ with interest, and would like to add to his query. I appreciate the fact that European or so-called “Christian” names were imposed on our diasporic brothers and sisters as part of the process of stripping them of their identity. What is however interesting from Martin’s piece, is the fact that after the abolition, when it would seem they had a choice because they were supposedly free, the number of people in Barbados, for example, who had African names actually fell, compared to during the period of enslavement!


Sadly, a similar situation has taken place on the African continent, where European colonisation, plus so-called “Christianisation”, meant Africans were either forced to or chose to adopt partially or fully European or “Christian” names. Hence it’s common for Africans, including present day presidents, to be called names like Goodluck Johnson or John Atta Mills. How many people from the Indian sub-continent, which was colonised by Britain, have European names such as John Patel, or Paul Gladstone, for example?



Names, and the correct spelling of names, are very important. During my African history presentations, I spell Jamaican national hero and Maroon leader not as the corrupted Nanny, but Nana, which befits her African royal roots in Ghana. Recently, I heard someone say that they learnt about William Cuffay, the British Chartist workers’ rights activist, but never realised he was African. It is for this reason that I now spell his name Kofi, the correct way of spelling the Ghanaian day name – the same goes for Nana’s brother who is better known by the corrupted spelling Cuffy.

I’m presently in the process of making a documentary focused on African identity, and have two questions especially aimed at my diasporic family: particularly in 2011, the UN Year For People Of African Descent, are you ready to embrace your Africanness, by calling yourself African instead of black, and like Kwame Kwei Armah, by either swapping your European names in favour of African names, or at least adding an African name to what you have?



Kwaku


BTWSC (Beyond The Will Smith Challenge) project designer

(Unpublished 12 December 2011)

I would like to briefly respond to three items in recent editions. Although the headline (Re: 'We're Not A Black Band - We're JLS!') was not from a direct quote from the band, I think it’s a bit naïve of them to think race does not play a significant role in the success of artists. For example, it does determine the level of marketing budget, and the openings available to an artist.

People may not say it to them directly, but I wonder what makes Oritsé Williams think that people seeing JLS do not think “that’s a black band”? Or has commercial success meant they’ve transcended the race issue, as opposed to their pre-X Factor days, when the same group, then known as UFO, were a “black band” involved in the Urban Voice competitions?

Interestingly, in the same paper, there was a piece on jazz musician Soweto Kinch (Re: We Shouldn’t Be Ashamed To Say ‘Black’). I concur with Soweto when he says “we can be very apologetic because the word ‘black’ is often seen as political and no one wants to rock the boat.” I have no problem with a music genre called “black music”, but I prefer people of African heritage to be called African, African British, or African Caribbean.

Finally, regarding Lorraine’s letter (‘Africans Unite’), which was in response to my letter (‘Embrace Your Roots’), despite the opportunities offered by DNA in tracing one’s genealogy, I do not think people necessarily need to go through the expense of tracing their lineage to a particular area in Africa. It’s important to accept that one’s African, then through books or online search, choose an African name which one likes. An easy start may be to investigate the day names given based on day of birth in Ghana.

Kwaku

BTWSC (Beyond The Will Smith Challenge) project designer

Using The Census To Determine Diversity And Ethnic Shift

We have covered briefly the main point of the census. Leading on from that, copied below is an item from Linstock Communications' blog entitled 'Why the census is the best measurement of the UK’s ethnic diversity', which argues that the census is the best source for tracking diversity and ethnicity.

Linstock was the PR company used by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) in 2010 to raise awareness within the African community regarding the then upcoming 2011 census. One of the techniques they used to achieve their remit was to get British rapper Ghetts to record a song and video entitled 'Invisible', which highlighted some of the reasons for completing the census.

The item copied from Linstock's blog shows how the database of a credit company is used to track the diversity and ethnic make-up, and shift - apparently, there's a growing move from inner London into the suburbs. Worrying, that data is used to extrapolate the ethnic spread by linking surnames to postcodes/localities. As is pointed out in the piece, this is very flawed - a significant amount of Africans, be their continental or diasporic, have European surnames, so how can their names alone indicate their ethnicity?

Reason why one of the TAOBQ recommendations is that if we don't already have one, we adopt an African name, which should positively establish our racial identity without any guesswork! Click to see Kwaku's letters on African names.

Kwaku
www.taobq.blogspot.com

18 april 2011

Why the census is the best measurement of the UK’s ethnic diversity

It is widely acknowledged that the UK is becoming more ethnically diverse, and the 2011 Census is expected to verify this by showing an increase in the ethnic minority population from 7.9% to 15%. As we await the results of the census, which will be released from September 2012, it is useful to assess the merits of other data sources that highlight changes to the UK’s ethnic and cultural landscape.

Most recently, Experian, the credit agency, carried out an analysis of Britain's ethnic minorities for the Observer Newspaper. The analysis used Experian’s Mosaic database, which matches more than 50 million surnames to postcodes, to paint a picture of Britain’s second and third generation migrant communities. By tracking surnames Experian deduced that migrant communities, driven by economic empowerment, are moving away from inner London and relocating to the suburbs.

Experian’s analysis is food for thought and supports the findings of research that has already been conducted in this area by Leeds University and Tim Butler, professor of Geography at Kings College London. However, Professor Richard Webber, who developed the Mosaic database, concedes in this article that surnames are merely “useful indicators of people's origins”. This calls into question the validity of the research methodology employed by Experian, as well subsequent assertions made in relation to Britain’s ethnic landscape.

Unlike Experian’s methodology, the 2011 Census asks individuals to define their own ethnic group either by using one of the prescribed categories, or by filling in the write-in box, immediately boosting the accuracy of the data by replacing “useful indicators” with hard facts.

With its focus on data supplied by the individual and the inclusion of a number statuses including ethnicity, the census is unlike any other data source that currently exists. Not only does the census provide an in-depth analysis of the state of the nation required by central and local government, businesses, charities and research organisations; it remains the true yardstick for assessing the scale and scope of Britain’s ethnic diversity.

Bieneosa Ebite, Linstock Associate