Italian Documentary: "Creating the Blackness of Africa"

"Creating the Blackness of Africa" is an Italian documentary on the history of the Blackness, particularly on the European classification of people into different colours (and races) as a European construct. It was screened at the 31st African film festival of Verona in November 2011.
Watch the trailer here.


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Miss Belgium 2012 is Black

Belgium elected its second black miss Belgium. The first was Tatiana Silva, Miss Belgium 2005, who was of Cape Verdean origin. This time its Laura Beyne, a 19 year old girl from Brussels. Her father is Belgian, her mother Congolese. She is perfectly bilingual and thus represents both major linguistic communities of Belgium.

Since 2000 several women of African origin were elected miss in their respective countries. They are nearly all mixed race. Below I will list the ones I know about.

Former Misses of African origin in other European Countries

France
Sonia Rolland, Born on the 11th of February in Kigali, Rwanda, she is a French actress. She was elected Miss France in the year 2000. Her father is French, her mother Rwandan.
Chloé Mortaud (September 19, 1989, born in Lisieux, Calvados) is a French beauty pageant contestant who won Miss France 2009. She represented the Albigeois-Midi-Pyrénées, a southwest region of France, and became the first winner of the Miss France beauty pageant to have dual citizenship, French and American. Mortaud received US citizenship through her mother, an African American who emigrated from Mississippi to France, and has a grandmother who lives in Los Angeles. Her father is French.


 
Switzerland
Whitney Toyloy (21. Juli 1990 in Zürich) would not always be perceived as black. She is Miss Switzerland 2009 and has a Multi-racial background (her ancestors trace their roots from the United States, China, Panama and Switzerland). I think her father is mixed race African-American and the mother white Swiss. She could pass for black, Latina, white, Arabic, Jewish, South Asian, …



Sweden
Malou Hansson, (born in 1983 in Järfälla, Uppland, Sweden) served as Miss Sweden in 2002. She was the first black woman to hold this beauty pageant title.


England
Although England has a large black community I only know of one Miss England ever, not only very recently but her story has a rather bad ending. Rachel Christie (born c. 1988) is a British beauty pageant contestant and athlete who was briefly Miss England 2009, and the first black mixed race woman to hold the title. Unfortunately in the early hours of 2 November 2009, Christie was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Miss Manchester Sara Beverley Jones at a Manchester nightclub. She subsequently announced her withdrawal from the Miss World competition and relinquished her Miss England crown. The crown was passed on to the runner-up in the 2009 pageant, Katrina Hodge.


Norway
Iman Kerigo, crowned Miss Norway in 2011. She was born in Kenia, raised in Norway.

Nederland
Just as Witney Toyloy, Sonja Silva (Rotterdam, 1 februari 1977) has a very international and multiracial appearance. I don’t know what her roots are but as far as I know she is the only Miss Netherlands who has somehow Afro roots. Her name sounds Portuguese and I thus think she may have Cape Verdean roots.


More information on these beauty pageants or other European misses of African descent is more than welcome.

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Report: Being Black in Israel

I visited Israel en Palestine during the Christmas holidays and saw many things I didn’t expect to see. One of these things is the striking presence of black people in urban Israel. They represent a diverse people of whom most are Ethiopian Jews who made aliya (i.e. the migration of the jewish diaspora back to Israel) and settled in Israel in the 80’s and early 90’s. Besides this Israeli group it is striking to see many immigrant workers from Africa and Asia, among them West-Africans, Sudanese and Ethiopians.

The Ethiopian Jews are commonly known by the slightly derogatory term Falasha but the name they chose for themselves is Beta Israel (Hebrew for The House of Israel). They are today virtually no Ethiopian Jews anymore in Ethiopia. Israel organized mass migrations in the late 80’s (Operation Moses). If you want to know more about Operation Moses read this.



Many Ethiopian Jews converted to Christianity at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. They faced discrimination and hardship and chose to become Christians in a predominantly Christian country to make their lives easier. However, today many of the descendants of these converts feel they are still Jews and should also have the right for aliya, i.e. to ‘return’ to Israel. These people are named Falash Mura and after many discussions the Israeli government made them eligible for migration although with many restrictions and limitations. More on this phenomenon here.

An excellent movie on this situation is the 2005 Israeli-French film "Go, Live, and Become" , directed by Romanian-born Radu Mihăileanu. The film tells the story of an Ethiopian Christian child whose mother has him pass as Jewish so he can emigrate to Israel and escape the famine looming in Ethiopia. The film was awarded the 2005 Best Film Award at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. See trailer below:


While Ethiopian Jews face discrimination and had a difficult time integrating in Israeli society things are changing. Through the compulsory military service (3 years for men, 2 years for women) they become more and more part of Israeli society, many today prefer to speak Hebrew than the language of their parents. I saw many blacks in the army forces (the Israeli army is omnipresent in Israel and the Palestinian territories, there are many security checkpoints on the West Bank) and I dare to say that 1 out of 20 soldiers I saw, was black.

Still, black Israeli face discrimination (nearly half of all Israeli employers would rather not hire an Ethiopian Jew) and I saw that all dirty jobs in Israel are done by black people. Virtually all janitors I saw looked like Ethiopians, of course I couldn’t tell if they were black Israeli rather than Ethiopian immigrant workers.
 
Israel wants to protect its Jewish character. So while a Jew can be blond with blue eyes, a brown skinned South Asian, an Arab looking person or even a black African, if you are not Jewish you can actually not migrate to Israel. The Knesset (the Israeli parliament) recently voted a law limiting the years that an immigrant worker can actually reside in Israel to 5 years. Exceptions are made for diplomats’ personal and for non Jewish spouses of Israeli citizens.

Conversion to Judaism is also possible but extremely difficult as you actually have to study the Jewish Holy Scriptures thoroughly, follow the kosher rules strictly and have an orthodox Jewish lifestyle. During this process you are followed by a Rabbi, who will eventually decide if you are a Jew are not. Of course men have to be circumcised and all have to make the ritual immersion in a bath (mikveh). However, there are also Reformist views on conversion that do not expect converts to do as much, wanting ot be a Jew is often enough. However the State of Israel leans upon the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the supreme religious court for these matters. These institutions are mostly dominated by orthodox rabbis. But it is a complicated issue, very alive in Israeli society. For more info read this.

Blacks in Israel are also African Hebrew Israelites also known as Black Hebrews, who settled in Israel in 1969. They are of black American ancestry and were therefore not recognized as Jews. But after decades they have been granted permanent residency status in 2004 and became eligible for military service since then. In 2006, Eddie Butler, a Black Hebrew, was chosen by the Israeli public to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest. They mainly live in the Negev town of Dimona were they form a community of 3000 people, but other families live in other towns too.

Some famous black Israeli of Ethiopian descent are Hagit Yaso (singer), Shlomo Molla (politican) and Abatte Barihun (jazz musician).

Below a video telling the story of the Ethiopian Jews and their exodus to Israel:



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Blogging Break & first black minister to serve in a Dutch cabinet

I am going to take a blogging break, but it doesn't mean no news will be posted. Sibo is also blogging. But before the break I am going to post some information of an old exhibition of the Dutch Rijksmuseum in 2009.

The highlight of the exhibition was the earliest known photograph from Surinam of a young married couple in 1846. (The picture on the right is their son, the only Surinamese minister to serve in a Dutch cabinet. He also became a Vice Admiral.)

This photo, a so-called daguerreotype, depicts Maria Louisa de Hart, the daughter of a mulatto female slave whose freedom had been purchased, and the Jewish plantation owner Mozes-Meijer de Hart. Her husband was Johannes Ellis, the son of Abraham de Veer, who was a Dutchman and the governor of Elmina in what is now Ghana, and the Ghanaian Fanny Ellis. Their son, Abraham George Ellis (1846-1916) was the first and only Surinamese minister to serve in a Dutch cabinet (1902-1905, Minister of the Navy). Until now, it was not known that any pre-1860 photographs from Surinam existed.

The photo of the young married couple is not exactly a celebration of black Surinamese history. Slavery was abolished in 1863, so this photo of the rich couple was taken during that time.

In 1860 Abraham left Suriname with his parents and four younger sisters and moved to Amsterdam in The Netherlands. His Father had already amassed enough capital to retire at the age of 48, and the family settled at the posh Herengracht in Amsterdam. His father later returned to Suriname.

Ellis is problably the first black minister and Vice admiral in a Western country.
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Suriname abolishes Sinterklaas (and Black Pete) again

Photo: a black man as "Black Pete" ("Zwarte Piet") in Suriname
The Surinamese National Assembly has taken a resolute stance against the embattled Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas, the bearded white man who brings children goodies with the help of his slavish pitch-black helpers. “This celebration has a racist element and doesn’t belong in our community. It should be abolished,” said Ronald Venetiaan, of the New Front/National Party Suriname faction. In an unprecedented show of support, other parties, including the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) parliamentarians all agreed with the former President during the parliamentary meetings on Thursday.

Sinterklaas and his little helper “Zwarte Piet”, literally Black Pete, are a big tradition in Holland. Every year on December 5th, children wake up excited, expecting gifts and pepernoten cookies left in their stockings by the Sint who visits Dutch cities riding high a flashing white steed. The tradition has survived fierce opposition in the Netherlands from the immigrant population, who feel that Sinterklaas has racist undertones. But Dutch people say Sinterklaas should not offend anybody, because the slavish Zwarte Piet is not a black man, but a white helper who got black because he came down the chimney to deliver the children their gifts.

The tradition was left behind as an inheritance in Suriname, even after the country gained independence in 1975. It was actually already abolished in the eighties during military rule. Children’s Day was introduced on December 5th, but Sinterklaas survived obstinately to return full circle in recent years. The bearded white man was a prominent figure luring parents to toy shops a few weeks ago.

Venetiaan lamented the fact that Sinterklaas was even celebrated on the Independence Square, which he considered a slap in the face of the “Black part of Suriname’s community”, considering how hard has been fought all over the world against apartheid. His call for a renewed abolishment got full support from Parliament chairlady Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, who is also the faction leader of the NDP. Geerlings-Simons said that as a start, Sinterklaas should no longer be celebrated at public schools that resort under the Ministry of Education. “What people do in the privacy of their homes we cannot influence,” she said. (Source devsur.com)
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New film: Philippe Niang's "Toussaint L'Ouverture"

Via Shadow and Act
The long overdue film of Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L'Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang, is produced and will be aired on the network France 2 in February or March 2012.

Jimmy Jean-Louis stars as the title character in what will be a 2-part TV-movie, and he's joined by French actresses Aïssa Maïga (Paris, Je T'Aime, Bamako) as Toussaint's wife, Suzanne, and Sonia Rolland (Moloch Tropical, Midnight In Paris) as Marie-Eugénie Sonthonax, wife of abolitionist L.F. Sonthonax



Kreylicious (the hub for young, upwardly mobile Haitian-Americans) interviewed Haitian born star Jimmy Jean-Louis about the film. Some snippets of the interview.

How did you get involved?
The producers contacted me. You have to understand they have tried to make this movie for the past 20 years. And Danny Glover tried to make this movie for the past 15 years. And many other names have tried to make it. It was a long overdue movie. I was called by the producers to play the role, because they felt I fit the character. I had to do a lot of exercises. I had to learn how to ride a horse. I took lessons for a couple of months. [I had to learn how to] do sword-fighting. I took lessons in California and France.

Why was the movie filmed in Martinique and not in Haiti? A lot of people feel it would have brought a lot of publicity to Haiti, and it only seemed natural that it should be filmed in Haiti and not another island.
Haiti falls short on some requirements. I think the production tried, but it’s difficult to get insurance to insure a place like Haiti right now. From what I’ve been told, that’s one of the reasons why we couldn’t go there and shoot. The structure in Haiti is not the best either. Electricity. The roads are still pretty bad. As a Haitian, I would love to have shot it there.

Check out the full interview at http://kreyolicious.com

The film is produced by the Martinique based production company Eloa Prod
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Photo book: Black people in Turky - "Afro Turks"

In 2010 Dutch-Turkish Photographer Ahmet Polat published his photo book AFRO TURKS. It was the end of a project documenting Turks of African descend, who live in the region of Izmir. He had been working on this project since 2006.

In May this year Ahmet Polat presented his newest publication on the Afro Turkish community at gallery Liefhertje in The Hague.

On his blog he writes: "Together with Erik Vroons, a Dutch visual anthropologist who joined me in 2009, we started a research using archival, private collected images and interviews.

With this work we’ve created an exhibition and an online publication with the aim to create more attention and a better understanding of this ‘forgotten history’. At the same time we hope to give a better insight into the diverse and complex history that resides within the Turkish Republic."


Photo of Ahmet Polat: Melik's father is wrapping the virginity belt on his daughters waist.

Check out some his great photos of Afro-Turkish people.
Afro Turks no 1, Afro Turks no 2, Afro Turks no 3, Afro Turks no 4

A video about Afro-Turks


A video of Afro-Turkish Jazz singer Melis Sökmen


Read the article Afro-Turks
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Video: Young black and creative in Australia

Being black and creative is a new concept in the small black community in Australia, but things are changing.

Gillean Opoku, who was born and raised in Australia, made a video of young African-Australians about their views of an African creative culture emerging in Australia.

Opoku is also the founder of Afroklectic. Which is a platform to promote creativity within the African-Australia community. Share ideas, communicate to a wider audience that Africa is more than what they see in the media. And to communicate to an audience outside Australia that there are Africans living in Australia.



Website: www.afroklectic.com

Also check an interesting story of Gellian Opuku about her experience as black person in Austrialia. And why she tought she was white. Check her story here.

And if you want to keep informed of what is going in the African-Austrialian community tune into web radio SBS African
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Video: Bi-racial Children in Ukraine - The adoption issue

The documentary "Family Portrait in Black & White" about black/bi-racial orphans in the Ukraine triggered many responses on Facebook, blogs and websites.

Many people felt the Ukrainian foster mother should give these children up for adoption instead of keeping them in a post soviet racist environment. In a new video about the documentary (of doctalk) director Julia Invanova talks about this adoption issue.



The documentary is the story of Olga Nenya, a foster mother to sixteen black orphans in the Ukraine – where 99.9% of the population is white and where race does matter. Forced to constantly defend themselves from racist neighbors and skinheads, these children have to be on guard against the world that surrounds them.

I wonder if the Ukrainian foster mother has the legal right to put these children up for adoption. It seems that normally a foster parent doesn't have legal custody of the children; a welfare agency or a body of guardianship holds those rights.

See the previous posting: Bi-racial children in the Ukraine - "Family Portrait in Black and White"
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Editor in Chief Jackie resigns over Rihanna n*gg*b*tch controversy

According to the Dutch magazine Elsevier Eva Hoeke has decided to resign as Chief Editor of the Dutch magazine Jackie after the controversy surrounding the singer Rihanna. In the magazine Rihanna is referred to as a "niggabitch", a statement which infuriated the singer.

In the interest of the magazine and all parties involved she will resign immediately, according to Yves Gijrath, the director of GMG.

Hoeke concludes: "I should have counted to ten before making oversimplified statements via social media channels."

Today Rihanna lashed out to magazine Jackie who described her as a n*gg*b*tch.

To Editor in Chief Eva Hoeke she tweeted "@evajackie I hope u can read english, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!! You ran out of legit, civilized information to print! There are 1000's of Dutch girls who would love to be recognized for their contributions to your country, you could have given them an article. Instead, u paid to print one degrading an entire race! That's your contribution to this world! To encourage segregation, to mislead the future leaders to act in the past! You put two words together,

@evajackie with the intent of abasement, that made no sense..."NIGGA BITCH"?!....Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you...FUCK YOU!!!

Apparently magazine Jacky realised they had gone one step to far. Today Eva Hoeke wrote on twitter they would rectify the story in the next edition.

The first to respond to the story was Dutch black Televion host Zarayda Groenhart. According to the newspaper she was furious.

Chief Editor of Jacky first responded on twitter with: "I think it's more than obvious that it's a joke. Anyone who doesn't see this is extremely sensitive to the topic." Afterwards Eva Hoeke gained some new insights. For her boss that apparently was not enough.

On the picture the staff of Jackie, Chief editor Eva Hoeke is the blond third one from the right. Just to give you an impression of where this story came from.
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Dutch Magazine calls singer Rihanna "The Ultimate Niggabitch"

From Madnews
In an article published in the latest issue of Dutch fashion magazine Jackie, the magazine offers a little advice on how to dress like Rihanna without looking like the “ultimate niggerbitch.” That’s right. No typo there. Check out the full English translation below:

“She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate niggabitch and displays that gladly, and for her that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare.”

Two hours ago, Jackie Editor in Chief Eva Hoeke posted the below apology on the magazine’s Facebook page:

Dear readers,
First: thanks for all your responses. We are of course very fed up over this and especially very shocked. However I’m glad that we’re engaging in a dialogue on this page — not everybody does that. Thanks for this. Other than that I can be brief about this: this should have never happened. Period. While the author meant no harm — the title of the article was intended as a joke — it was a bad joke, to say the least. And that slipped through my, the editor-in-chief’s, fingers. Stupid, painful and sucks for all concerned. The author has been addressed on it, and now I can only ensure that these terms will no longer end up in the magazine. Furthermore I hope that you all believe there was absolutely no racist motive behind the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang — you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts — but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it. We make our magazine with love, energy and enthusiasm, and it can sometimes happen that someone is out of line. And then you can only do one thing: apologize. And hope that others wish to accept it.

From the bottom of my heart I say it again: we never intended to offend anyone. And I mean that.

Regards,

Eva Hoeke

So, as editor in chief, Hoeke had no idea that this was offensive before running it and actually considered it a joke? In addition to being blatantly racist, calling Rihanna Jamaican (she’s from Barbados) and actually suggesting that mothers should dress their daughters like her, this article is just wrong from every angle.

According to our source in Holland, Jackie is a well known local fashion publication with a circulation of 57,700 copies per month. (Source Parlour website)

I don't think the Editor in Chief Eva Hoeke is really sorry about publishing the story. Being offensive is the Dutch norm these days, so this story was a perfect fit.
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Report: Congolese Diaspora Waves the Flemish Flag in Protest

Congolese Diaspora, in protest against president Kabila and the Belgian political establishment, brandishes Flemish nationalist symbols.

President Kabila was officially re-elected as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Carter Center reported that the presidential elections lack credibility but the ‘international community’ keeps silent.

With war raging for nearly 15 years through the interior of Congo and with a corrupt elite at its head, many Congolese emigrated. They are now everywhere but Belgium, the former colonizer, hosts since a long time a large community.

While protests have been violent in Congo and many people were killed, there is very little information about what’s going on in Congo. The Congolese diaspora is also protesting. There have been protests in Brussels, London, Paris and elsewhere.

The Congolese Belgians protested last Friday in the streets of Brussels. At least they want the Belgian government to give a sign: to condemn the electoral forgery and to reject the election’s results. The Belgian government has long been Congo’s best ally and as economical and political interest have to be protected the Belgian political elite tends to be very mild towards Congolese leaders. Certainly since China started to be an economical competitor in the region, Belgium not only stopped to be critical towards the government, it supports Kabila.


The Congo politics in Belgium have traditionally been dominated by the French-speaking political elite. They were friends with Mobutu and now court Kabila. Only one Belgian foreign minister, Karel De Gucht, officially condemned the corrupt Kabila regime. He was a Flemish minister, known to be outspoken. A few years ago in a bar in Kinshasa there was a picture of him on the wall with below a sign stating ‘Here speaks the truth’. In 2007 Congolese Belgians already expressed their sympathy for the Flemish honest political style in contrast to the French-speaking smoothness (perceived as treacherous).

One year and half ago the N-VA won the parliamentary elections, they came out to be the largest party. The N-VA is a new right wing Flemish nationalist party, compared to the US they are more like Republicans than Democrats (they want less government). In the democratic system in Belgium the winning parties always have to make a coalition government representing the parliamentary majority (it is not the winner takes it all principal as in the US or France). In the past Christian-Democrats, Social Democrats and Liberals formed different governments in different configuration and coalitions having one of the 3 political families always in opposition while the other two are governing (for each political family there are 2 parties, one supporting Flemish interests, the other French-speaking interests).

This time though the biggest party was the new N-VA, for which there is no French speaking equivalent. But after more than a year of negotiating, N-VA couldn’t find the needed political allies to form a majority. So eventually the loosing parties, i.e. Christian-Democrats, Social Democrats and Liberals formed a government together leaving the winning party in opposition together with the far right and green parties.

The leader of N-VA, Bart De Wever is known to be outspoken, clear, honest, intelligent, hard working and undiplomatic. The N-VA represents the hard working no-nonsense Flemish stereotype. But its stubborn position for more Flemish control and power annoys the French-speaking minority in Belgium (who have proportionally more say on the Belgian political scene).

The French-speaking media in Belgium like to portray Bart De Wever as an arrogant far right politician, but he clearly states he’s not. He just wants Flanders to be more under control of its own destiny and he wants French speaking Belgians who settle in Flanders to learn and speak the Dutch language. He therefore is a natural enemy of the French-speaking political elite, who are traditionally friends with the Congolese political elite. Besides many people believe he wants to abolish the Belgian state and aspires for an independent Flemish republic. But just as many people think that this is propaganda to bring N-VA in discredit.

As a result the Congolese protester chose the Flemish flag and the person of Bart De Wever as key symbols in their protest against the Belgian political establishment.
There are three reasons why the Congolese community found solidarity with the Flemish cause. While N-VA won the elections, the political leaders in Belgium stayed more or less the same. N-VA stayed on the side without direct power (For some it is N-VA’s fault, as they didn’t want to make any compromise). Second the Flemish politicians, and certainly N-VA, are known to be outspoken and Flemish politicians often were critical towards the Belgian Congo-policy. N-VA is therefore their ally against Kabila. Third is the following principal: ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. We could hear Friday Congolese Belgians screaming that next time they will vote for N-VA. This shocks many French-speaking people, but also many Flemish people who see in N-VA a threat for Belgian unity and in the Flemish nationalistic signs a reflection of racism and fascism.

Journalists and politicians in Belgium are completely confused about this spontaneous reaction from the Congolese community.

Video (Dutch)

NB:

Most protests in Brussels resulted into rioting. Why is that? While there were young thugs who mixed into the protest, I think that the police force has a very different reaction confronted with crowds of screaming Africans than with white people. Additionally Congolese are rather ‘loud’ and you may think they have a fight while they are just having a friendly conversation. I believe that this intercultural misunderstanding has quickened the chance for clashes.

Furthermore I know the police reacts totally out of proportion. One anecdote about someone I know may be illustrative. He is from Angolan descent and had nothing to do with the protest. He just works at a theater in the neighborhood where the protesters passed. Because he heard some noise in the streets he took a look at the door (as so many people did). But he is black and immediately the police took him out of the theater’s door gate, dragged him in the street, kicked him and handcuffed him. His (white) colleagues, seeing what went on, ran after him and explained to the police officers that he is an employee of the theater, that he is of Angolan origin, that he has nothing to do with the protest. The police men didn’t listen, asked them to mind their own business and just ignored the colleagues. Once they had him under control and that he didn’t move anymore they let their dogs loose to attack and bite him while he was handcuffed on the floor. Eventually they took him away. He spend 12 hours in jail, bleeding and sour all over his body, they finally released him so that he could be hospitalized. His colleagues were under shock, the theater filed a complaint against the police force.



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