What Does It Mean To Be A Global African?

What: TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question) follows up on the 'Your Are African' discussion in January 2012 with 'What Does It Mean To Be A Global African?' A free presentation followed by workshops exploring issues around African values, perspective, etc.

It's an opportunity to input your views, and to catch a bit of 'The African Or Black Question' guerilla documentary. The event's led by TAOBQ co-ordinator Kwaku, hosted by Cllr Martin Seaton, plus experienced workshop facilitators.

Come and have your say on what a global African ought to be!!!!

When: Saturday, 28 April 2012, 6-9pm

Where: Browning Community TRA Hall 57-59 Browning Street, Walworth London SE17 (Elephant & Castle)

Cost: Free

To guarantee your place book via this Eventbrite link!

Reflecting On African-Americans Grappling With the Black Or African-American Issue

Although the term 'African-American' gained currency in the late 1980s, it has not stopped the issue of whether to call themselves black of African-American, rearing its head ever since.

You may recall in 1998, the actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, declared: "I'm not an African".  For those that know what Ms Golberg (born Caryn Elaine Johnson) looks like, here's a photo to jog your memory.

In 2007 Gallup published its research carried between 1991 to 2007 in which although there was a consistent preference for African-American, the overwhelming majority had no preference for African-American or black.

A Miami-based African-American called Gibre George is one of those not comfortable with the term African-American. He has a Facebook page called Don't Call Me African-American. "If you have to call me African, then you have to call everyone African," states George. In other words, either you describe us all as African, being that is the origin of the human race, or else call be American. One wonders how he describes his ethnicity/race on the American census form, as American is not one of the options.

He one of his earliest posts, George had this to say: "It is obvious that the inspiration for the classification of African American has nothing to do with those born of African descent. It is a radical group of Black Americans who hold to the anti-American views of those shared by Jeremiah Wright, Professor Gates, Jesse Jackson, President Obama and many others who came out of the radical Civil Rights Movement. Because of these things, I now part ways with the classification of African American because I hold no allegiance to Africa. I embrace the American qualities of freedom to worship, freedom to have my own opinion, freedom to express my views, freedom to achieve whatever it is God has created me to achieve. I hope that I will find others like me who are willing to break ties with the things that divide us, and embrace the timeless principles that have made this country the greatest nation on earth. That is why, when the next U.S. Census occurs, I will be making a new category just for me, the classification of being an American."

George and his like-minded folks were featured in an article published in February 2012 by Associated Press race and ethnicity specialist writer Jesse Washington. the article entitled 'Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American'' was picked up by The Guardian. You are welcome to read the whole piece. However, I'll pick up on a few points worth making here. 

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C." 

When I first read that paragraph, I wondered whether good ole Mr Smith would have been comfortable if his family had regaled him with stories of how they'd ended up in the US from Africa. It seemed to me like a lame excuse to disassociate one's self from any African connection.

George is quoted in the article saying: "We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us ... We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

I recognise that African-Americans, and for that matter any African who's lived in the diaspora, would have a different lifestyle and hence may not easily fit into life in Africa. That's a different argument as to whether they are not Africans, simply because they've lived outside Africa for generations.

Malcolm X had this response to the latter issue: "Just because a cat has kittens in the oven, that doesn't make them biscuits." I would develop it further by offering this argument: A lion that's been kept in a zoo may be pampered and not have the skills to fend for itself in the wild, but does not stop it from being recognised as a lion.  

Jesse Jackson had this to say in the early days of propounding the African-American term: "Every ethnic group in this country has a reference to some land base, some historical, cultural base." It sound pretty much like the quote by the late historian John Henrik Clarke, who said: "A more proper word for our people, African, relates us to land, history and culture."

Jackson has made several visits to Britain, often under the auspices of OBV ( Operation Black Vote), for whom the term "black" is useful politically, and dare I say, financially. OBV literature talks in terms of black and Asian, and I think this may have made the reverend and veteran civil right activist's position on  supporting African-British, rather than black, on this side of the pond a bit shaky.

Long before TAOBQ was conceived, I had written to Jackson to get his take on supporting the African/African-British terminology, simply because he's recognised as the one that popularised African-American, and sadly, the Brits often take their lead from the Americans, rather than those at home. I did not get an answer. However in August 2007, when I heard he'd be visiting Stonebridge in north-west London, and more importantly Life FM, the local radio station I used to present on at that time, I made sure I was there to meet him. I re-printed my unanswered letter and added a copy of a document with a local flavour - the Brent Black Music History Project book and DVD I produced for our Brent-based voluntary organisation BTWSC.

On that fateful day, I'm not sure whether he shook our hands, but he certainly gave those of us standing in line as he walked out of the station's corridor. I did try to hand him my package, but that didn't go down well. So I gave it to the then local MP, and official host of that leg of the visit, Dawn Butler. Whether it got to him, or even made it unto the Virgin Atlantic-sponsored Equanomics tour bus, I don't know.

Luckily in December 2011, a call went out about a hastily arranged press release with Jackson at the OBV HQ. This time round, not only was I able to put into his hands a copy of our latest book, 'African Voices: Quotations By People Of African Descent', the reverend was kind enough to actually pose with the book, although there was no time to capture it as properly as I'd have liked on my video camera.

Click to see very short video clip of Rev Jesse Jackson posing with 

'African Voices: Quotations By People Of African Decent' book

But perhaps even better was the fact that I managed to join Jackson and his entourage on the tube journey to St Paul's, where he was heading to lend support and address the Occupy London protesters encamped in front of St Paul's Cathedral.  On the way from the tube station to the Cathedral, I tried to get Jackson's take on the African Or Black Question filming guerilla style.

Perhaps it's because of his long-standing and strong relationship with OBV and its related organisations, or maybe because he was distracted, the man recognised as having popularised the African-American terminology, was not unequivocal in supporting the African-British terminology within the British "context". Instead, he suggested one recognised the "real value" provided by coalitions of "blacks, Asians, Caribbeans..."

I'm convinced this is not Jackson's definitive position on the matter. Perhaps one day, when he's not caught on the hop, and in more relaxed circumstances, we'll get a "proper" answer.

Going back one more time to Washington's piece, he highlights the views of Tomi Obaro, a young woman brought from London by Nigerian parents, and who's now a US citizen. African-American "sort of screams this political correctness" opines Obaro. She and her black friends rarely use it to refer to themselves, except when they're speaking in "proper company" - whatever that means.

This weekend, just before I got round to write this piece, I got a phone call from my friend Kienda (who's featured in 'The African Or Black Question' documentary), not only to inform me of the sad news of the passing of Whitney Houston (RIP), but also that he had come by BlackPlanet alert on an article and video dealing the Are You Black Or African-American? issue. The BBC World Service's World Have Your Say programme also recently dealt with the same issue - click to hear it.

Guess this issue is something that's going to run and run. But as per our first post-event press release, we've moved on from that discussion. TAOBQ's next phase is focused on dealing with what it means to be a global African.

Kwaku
www.TAOBQ.blogspot.com

TAOBQ Press Release: Attendees Affirm We Are African

22/01/2012

Immediate Release

From being called Africans, Negroes, Moors, Blackamoores, Coloureds, Blacks, attendees at the first TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question) event declare: “We Are African”

At the first TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question) event held last Friday (Jan. 20), a motion moved by Southwark Cllr Martin Seaton asking the attendees to affirm they were African was carried unopposed.

This comes at a time when the issue of racism, racial identity and terms like “black community” have been in the media spotlight due to the recent court case regarding the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and Diane Abbott’s tweet controversy, which started with someone questioning the blanket expression “black community”.

The TAOBQ is a year-long campaign which focuses on three key points: People of African heritage to be referred to as African, or British African rather than black; African history to be made accessible and mainstreamed; and Africans without African names to consider adopting African names for easy recognition of their race/ethnicity.

The TAOBQ event, which consisted of the screening of ‘The African Or Black Question’, a guerrilla film examining the African racial identity by TAOBQ campaign co-ordinator Kwaku, and a discussion entitled ‘You Are African’, took place at Westminster City Hall.

The documentary film, which features randomly chosen subjects, including some well known figures such as former Brent South MP and junior minister Dawn Butler, defence lawyer Courtney Griffiths QC, political activist Lee Jasper, community activist Toyin Agbetu, and historians Dr Kimani Nehusi and Dr Lez Henry, examines not just racial identity. Each contributor also opines about the United Nation’s declaration of 2011 as the International Year For People Of African Descent, which passed by many unnoticed.

The well attended event facilitated by Kwaku, included Butler, Agbetu, Southwark Cllr Michael Situ, veteran community activists Eric and Jessica Huntley, NUS Black Students’ Officer Kanja Sesay, pan-Africanist journalist Mandingo, verteran photographer James Barnor, and Windrush Society founder Arthur Torrington CBE.

In a small way, this event links back to another meeting in which Africans convened in London to take charge of their identity and destiny – the 1900 Pan-African Conference, which took place at the nearby Westminster Town Hall (now Caxton Hall).

“Last year, I had to present a programme at Westminster City Hall marking August 23, which British institutions call Slavery Memorial Day, but which conscious Africans call the International Day Of African Resistance Against Enslavement on account of the UN having chosen that date because it was the start of the Haitian Revolution,” says Kwaku.

“A day or two before that event, I thought I’d film a documentary focused on asking Africans in London their thoughts on the UN initiative, and their views on whether they preferred to be called African or black?

“We’d planned on having a number of events discussing the African or black identity issue. But since Cllr Seaton, without prompting from us, brought forward the issue, which was carried unopposed, we’ve decided to move to the next stage. This includes workshops to examine what it means to be a global African. We expect to have some concrete outcomes from these workshops, to help move forward the African communities in Britain.”

Kwaku

jointheaobq@gmail.com

www.taobq.blogspot.com
www.taobq.eventbrite.com

ENDS

High resolution photos available upon request

TAOBQ background resources” www.taobq.blogspot.com

First TAOBQ press releases: http://www.taobq.blogspot.com/p/press-release.html

1.           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.           Whilst we reject “black” as a race/ethnicity descriptor, we are not against “black” as a singular, unifying political descriptor

5.           The first offline event was January 20 2012 – we expect to do more events in 2012, and potential partners and media outlets are welcome to get in touch.

6.            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.

7.           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.

The Colour Terminology For Race

Here's a brief history of colour coding racial groups over the centuries culled from Wikipedia.

Kwaku
www.taobq.blogspot.com

Color terminology for race

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In some societies and among some anthropologists, color terminology (or colour terminology) was used to label races, sometimes in addition to a non-color term for the same race. Identifying races in terms of their skin color has been common since at least the Physiognomica falsely attributed to Aristotle.

Other scientists were more cautious about such categorization, and Charles Darwin argued that the number of categories, or in this case the number of different colors, is completely arbitrary and subjective. For example, some claimed three distinct colors, some four, and others have claimed even more. In contrast, Darwin argued that there are gradations, or degrees between the numbers of categories claimed, and not distinct categories, or colors.^[1]

Western classifications

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

Further information: Scientific racism

One of the earlier uses of the concept of “black” as a metaphor for race was first used at the end of the 17th century when a French doctor named François Bernier (1625–1688), an early proponent of scientific racism, divided up humanity based on facial appearance and body type. He proposed four categories: Europeans, Far Easterners, Lapps, and Blacks.^[2] The first major scientific model was created in 18th century when Carolus Linnaeus recognized four main races: Europeanus which he labeled the white race, Asiatic, which he labeled the yellow race, Americanus, which he labeled the red race, and Africanus, which he labeled the black race.^[3] By adding the brown race, which he called "Malay" for Polynesians, Melanesians of Pacific Islands, and aborigines of Australia,^[4] Linnaeus' protégé, anthropology founder Johann Friedrich Blumenbach(1752–1840), came up with the five color typology for humans: white people (theCaucasian or white race), more or less black people (the Ethiopian or black race), yellow people (the Mongolian or yellow race), cinnamon-brown or flame colored people (theAmerican or red race) and brown people (the Malay or brown race). Blumenbach listed the "races" in a hierarchic order of physical similarities: Caucasian, followed byAmerican, followed by Mongolian, followed by Malayan, followed by Ethiopian. Rand McNally's 1944 map of races describes Amerindians as being the copper race or copper people.^[5]

According to conservative writer Dinesh D'Souza, "Blumenbach's classification had a lasting influence in part because his categories neatly broke down into familiar tones and colors: white, black, yellow, red, and brown."^[7][8]

[edit]Different races

Two historical anthropologists favored a binary racial classification system that divided people into a light skin and dark skin categories. 18th century anthropologist Christoph Meiners, who first defined the Caucasian race, posited a "binary racial scheme" of two races with the Caucasian whose racial purity was exemplified by the "venerated... ancient Germans", although he considered some Europeans as impure "dirty whites"; and "Mongolians", who consisted of everyone else.^[9] Meiners did not include the Jews as Caucasians and ascribed them a "permanently degenerate nature".^[10] Hannah Franzieka identified 19th c. writers who believed in the "Caucasian hypothesis" and noted that "Jean-Julien Virey and Louis Antoine Desmoulines were well-known supports of the idea that Europeans came from Mount Caucasus."^[11] In his political history of racial identity, Bruce Baum wrote,"Jean-Joseph Virey (1774-1847), a follower of Chistoph Meiners, claimed that "the human races... may divided... into those who are fair and white and those who are dark or black."^[12] Later, another binary racial classification system took hold de facto in the United States based on light skin people and dark skin or black people. According to Stephen Saris, in the United States there are two big racial divides. "First, there is the black-white kind, which is basically anti-black.". The second racial divide is the one is "between whites and everyone else" with whites being "narrowly construed" and everyone else being called "people of color".^[13]

[edit]Understanding of melanin

Racial classification according to skin color became more complex when anthropologists added other, less obvious characteristics, in their attempt to achieve a scientific classification of races. It was later found that skin color depended essentially from the amount of melanin, and could vary widely in the same community. Thus, it could not provide a satisfying way to classify ethnic groups, much less "races." Following World War II and the discredit of such racial classifications, more and more biologists and anthropologists began to question the concept itself of "race." Thus, The Race Question statement by the UNESCO, in the 1950s, proposed to substitute the term "ethnic groups" to the concept of "race," arguing that human communities were defined as much by cultural traits (language, religion, etc.) as by biological characteristics (skin color being only one of them, along with blood types, which did not recover previous racial classifications, etc.).

[edit]Symbolism and uses of color terminology

The Martinique-born French Frantz Fanon and African-American writers Langston Hughes ("That Word Black"), Maya Angelou, and Ralph Ellison, among others, wrote that negative symbolisms surrounding the word "black" outnumber positive ones. They argued that the good vs. bad dualism associated with white and black unconsciously frameprejudiced colloquialisms. In the 1970s the term black replaced Negro in the United States.^[14]