Obama visits the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany

President Obama says the Buchenwald concentration camp "is the ultimate rebuke" to those who deny the Holocaust.

Obama visited the Nazi camp where 56,000 people died. He toured the memorial with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel. They laid roses at a memorial.

Obama said people today have a duty to confront those who deny such concentration camps existed.

Obama told reporters that his great-uncle helped liberate a nearby satellite camp, Ohrdruf, just days before other U.S. Army units overran Buchenwald. Obama says his great-uncle returned from war and was unable to speak of the horrible scene.

Obama says the victims and the perpetrators of the camp alike were humans and everyone must stand guard against a repeat.

On the Afro-German blog Black NRW you can find some interesting video's and links about that part of German history - Präsident Obama Rede in der Gedenkstätte Buchenwald am 5. Juni 2009

Onyewu wants ‘public excuses’ from Van Damme for racist insults

Oguchi Onyewu is an American soccerplayer who plays for the Belgian prime league club Standard Liège. Jelle Van Damme is a Belgian player who plays for the other big Belgian club, RSC Anderlecht. Oguchi Onyewu lodged a complaint against Jelle Van Damme for racial insults on the soccer field. This a sad first one for Belgium. On the 21sty of May during a match between RSC Anderlecht and Standard Liège Jelle Van damme called Onyewu ‘dirty monkey’ a first time, ‘monkey’ a second time and ‘keep crying monkey’ a third time during the competition.

Although Onyewu brought it to the attention of the referee, the referee decided not to react and asked Onyewu to keep on playing. After the match Onyewu said that since he has been playing in Belgiulm it was the first time he was confronted with such blatant racism. He told journalists he wouldn’t let it happen again. Eventually Oguchi Onyewu lodged a complaint against Jelle Van Damme.


According to Jelle Van Damme Onyewu also insulted him by several times repeating ‘sale Flamand’ (this means literally ‘dirty Fleming’ , hence has an insulting connotation in Belgian French). However, Jelle Van Damme didn’t want to confirm what he said on the soccer field and commented that it didn’t matter. According to Van damme during a match worse things may be said as emotions run high, players should be able to handle this things and put them behind them once the game is over.

Onyewu is going further anyway. According to Belgian law racist insults are illegal and therefore a penal offence. Onyewu says he is not lodging a complaint for himself alone but for all black players who may be confronted with racism on the soccer field. He wants to show a strong signal against the banality of racism in soccer competitions.

Van Damme risks a fine of maximum 2500 euros and even an effective imprisonment from 8 days to 2 months. For Onyewu public excuses are good enough. If Jelle Van Damme publicly apologizes for his racist comments Onyewu says not to go further with a trial.

In France, recently a soccer player from an amateur team in Northern France has been convicted for racism. This was a first time in France. On the 23rd of February 23 year old Maxence Cavalcante made racist comments against Senegalese player Makam Traoré. The judge convicted him to 100 hours of forced labour, a fine of 1500 euros to pay to the victim and 200 euros to pay to the League against Racism.

Street dance group Diversity beats Susan Boyle (UK)

Street dance group diversity has won the contest 'Britain’s got talent'. In the final they beat world's favourite Susan Boyle with a very creative dance act. Diversity is a troupe from East London - 11 boys aged 13 to 25 - and is head by 20-year-old choreographer Ashley Banjo. Banjo is the son of ex–ballet dancer Danielle Banjo and Nigerian ex-boxer Funso Banjo.

The dance group Flawles didn't make it to the final, but there where just as good. According the British newspaper Telegraph both dance groups brought street dance to the mainstream in the UK.

According to the Telegraph both Diversity and Flawless emphasise the value of hard work, dedication and cultivating their talent. They also hope to inspire others to dance, to fulfil their potential. As Anthony Duncan of Flawless puts it: "A lot of people don't dream any more. For so many young people, everything is today and tomorrow and that's it. There's nothing for them to attain. We want to put that back into people's lives."

Check out the video's of Flawless and the Dutch Groove Kings who competed in the Holland's got Talent contest.

Flawless


In the Holland's got Talent contest, Groove Kings became third

Groove Kings semi final

German street renamed after poetess May Ayim

A Berlin street is renamed after the internationally renowned Afro-German poetess, educationist and inhabitant of Kreuzberg, May Ayim (1960-1996). Ayim fought against ongoing racism in Germany and was active in the women’s movement, she continously highlighted Germany’s forgotten colonial past. “This renaming also challenges people to deal with the close connection between colonialism and racism”, says Luise Steinwachs of Tanzania Network (TNW). “The renaming of Gröbenufer into May-Ayim-Ufer will not make the topic of colonialism disappear from the map”, emphasizes Joshua Kwesi Aikins from the Black organisation ISD, “but rather it provides a change of perspective in remembrance.”

Read the full story on Der Schwarze blog: Berlin-Kreuzberg, re-naming of street in May-Ayim-Ufer

European contest for young leadership talent from minorities

Photo: AtmosphEuropa Inspire people!

A European contest for young leadership talent from minorities of any kind. Barack Obama inspired the contest because he inspired many young and minority Europeans.

So what do you have to do? Of course enter the contest. Inspire people as Obama does. Speak your mind about climate issues, conflicts, and new poverty. You can do this by writing a paper and plug a 3-minute video on YouTube or Daily Motion

But you have to be les then 30 years old. And you have until Saturday, 18 July 2009 to enter the contest

For more information go to: www.atmospheuropa.eu

Raphael Saadiq in Europe, '100 Yard Dash'

Raphael Saadiq is touring Europe from july 25th till sept 9th 2009.

From his early days as a member of the '80s group Tony! Toni! Tone! through his work as a producer with artists such as Joss Stone, The Roots, Snoop Dogg and John Legend, Raphael Saadiq [ tickets ] has always kept the faith--especially when labels told him there was no place in today's music for his stylish, '50s-inspired solo album, "The Way I See It."

"They said, 'You're a black American guy when there's only really, like, a blonde British girl [Joss Stone] singing this type of music. Where do you fit in?'" Saadiq recalled during a recent interview with LiveDaily.

At first I taught: this guy is from Europe!

Raphael Saadiq on Myspace
Check out video below

Stop aid to Africa! Why Bono hates Dambisa Moyo

Dambisa Moyo is a Zambian-born economist who says aid is killing Africa. She is to aid what Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to Islam.

In her new book, Dead Aid, she argues that official aid is easy money that fosters corruption and distorts economies, creating a culture of dependency and economic laziness.

Moyo is particularly dismissive of the ‘celebrity aid’ model popularised by international stars such as Bob Geldof and Bono and says many aid organisations and NGOs are more interested in perpetuating poverty in order to justify their own existence.

Controversially, she advocates turning off the aid taps within five years and claims this will result in more Africans being pulled out of poverty.

Moyo, who has a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University, and a Masters from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, has been a consultant to the World Bank and recently worked for Goldman Sachs in London. Currently she is a member of the Board of Lundin Petroleum.

For those of us who have roots in the Caribbean, Africa, or South America this is an interesting view to pass on after dinner. Since Dambisa a is great fan of China, she argues that the Chinese contracts are a good alternative for western aid. But what about Darfur! we all know that the Chinese are not really trying to end the conflict, they are actually a part of the problem. But inspite of China, she presents a new vision.

I must admit I never heard of Dambisa Moyo until I read the interesting post of Lola Adesioye.

The Anti-Bono interview
Is Aid Killing Africa?

A short interview


A long interview

Negro for rent in the Netherlands

Renting a negro is not a problem anymore. In the Netherlands you can hire a negro for just 55 Euro an hour.

The Dutch company BlackPack is an agency exclusively for black men, white women are the main customers. The founder Bryan Oudhoff wants to respond to the stereotypes that exits of blacks: blacks are better dancers and have more sense of rhythm, writes the Dutch paper DePers.

The founder of the firm Bryan Oudhoff is of Afro-Surinamese origin. He daily faces the known stereotypes about black men. So he decided to respond and started Black Pack: a black agency, where only black men are allowed to register. Currently, BlackPack has a list of twelve employees, they are from Surinam, Ghana, the Moluccas and the Antilles. His main customers are white women who hire the men to strip, dj, dance or to play djembe, but also to assist in shopping, playing chauffeur or for exotic cooking. "But I do not run escort bureau, although the strippers are popular," says Oudhoff.

The company got a lot of criticism in the Netherlands, it would only exploit stereotypes about blacks. According to the Dutch Anti-discrimination agency the initiative causes "a strange feeling and colonial thoughts. How can color be relevant with cooking or driving a car?" The company would even violate the law, because it employs people purely on the basis of color, white men don’t have no chance. Oudhoff compares Black Pack with the ‘Miss Black’ contests for black women, he sees it as entertainment. "My staff is not at all stereotype. They are always on time,” he ends smiling. (Translated story.)

The issue of stereotyping seems to be a Dutch black problem at the moment. First there was the novel ‘Alleen maar nette mensen’ (Just fine people) where black woman are being stereotyped as easy and white men lovers. And now there is an agency which rents black men to white women. The novel was written by white author with a black girlfriend and the agency is run by a black man.

So what’s the problem with the black community in Holland. Compared with other European countries there are no books written anymore about racism, black identity or anything else that has to do with blackness.

The reason. The black Dutch community - from former Dutch colony of Surinam and Dutch Antilles - is widely regarded as the most integrated community, compared with other large ethnic (Muslin) communities.

The grim reality is that ‘we’ are not as integrated as we are made to believe. Recently black Dutch author Clark Accord made a statement in the media, about the total lack of black representation in de media and lack of attention for ‘black problems’. He feels black people issues are overrun by problems of Muslim communities.

But I am afraid Accord is too late. Because this is what you eventually get when you have stopped investing in community visibility and black awareness. You will end up to be a powerless black community where every form a racism is regarded as a misunderstanding, a joke or as gay and muslim problem. But what you do get is a world’s premier. A rent-a-negro agency. Black owned.

The Hague Jazz, May 22 and 23 2009 (The Netherlands)

With The Hague Jazz, the city The Hague received a successor of the North Sea Jazz festival (which has moved to Rotterdam). The Hague Jazz has grown to a big festival with 91 acts on twelve stages. With Afro-Spanish singer Concha Buika, Dutch talent Sabrina Starke and cracks like Bebop pianist Hank Jones, Rod McKuen, trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Rod McKuen. But there is also attention for experimental Jazz and the underexposed German scene.
The Hague Jazz, Fri May 22th en Sat 23th World Forum, Den Haag, www.thehaguejazz.com

Stevie Wonder rocks the White house

Stevie Wonder turned 59 on May 13th. But before his birthday he received at the Whitehouse the ‘Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song’, and of course he also performed for the Obama's. You can watch the entire broadcast on PBS.

It was big difference with George Bush at Gospel night at the Whitehouse.

Dutch novel reinforces sexual stereotypes of black women

Photo Woman Inc
In the Netherlands an author started a row by publishing a book that is sexual stereotyping black women. The book ‘Alleen maar nette mensen’ (Only decent people) is the debut of Dutch Jewish author Robert Vuistjes.

On Wednesday May 13th theatre maker Anousha Nzume, writer Clark Accord en Professor Gender studies Gloria Wekker debated with author about his book at Woman inc.

In the book ‘Alleen maar nette mensen’ (Just fine people) main character David, who comes from a intellectual high class environment in Amsterdam, undertakes a quest to find the ‘real negro’ woman. In his search he meets various stereotype black women, who are each sexy, lusty, and can be picked up for a few euro's. David’s hunting ground is the Amsterdam Bijlmer, the part of Amsterdam where most black people live.

In a column Anousha Nzume wrote about some of the stereotype passages in the novel. "Main character David believes that there are two types of 'Black' women. The Sherida chain (Sherida was a popular Surinam name); very dark skinned, wears at least size 46. Cup size 95 F. Not taller then 1.65. At least one of her garments has tiger print. She dates any man. Breezer desirable but not essential. Available in the “negro women disco". Then there is the “bounty” (black from the outside, white from the inside), highly educated with dreadlocks. Dates only white men, in the absence of negroes of a certain level. She is boring, unsociable and mainly dressed in batik. You can find her at a slavery debate."

Under a literary flag Vuijsje sketches -intended or unintended - an archetypal image of (black) women, which some consider stereotype, stigma, caricature and even discriminatory. This book was previously awarded with the Belgian literature prize The Golden Owl with the comments of the jury; the style swings as an African tit. The book is not only praised by the literary authorities, but in many Talkshow praised for its "humorous" and "sharp" analysis of the black woman.

The opinions about the book are mixed. The black local city chairman of the Bijlmer, Elvira Sweet, finds the book a stigma for the neighborhood, and for black woman. Cultural anthropologist Irma Accord finds it racist and sexist. But Mildred Roethof documentary maker of Sex Sell’s finds the book funny. Lynn Spier, social therapist in a clinic for criminal offenders and the black girl friend of the author, doesn’t recognise herself in one of the characters.

But has the author of the controversial novel really stereotyped black women? Good literature is about calling up images without explicitly writing about it. I remember an author’s advice for author wanna-bees; if you bring in a black woman in your story, it will add something exotic and sensual! So Dutch author Vuistjes just followed boot camp guidelines for starters and used stereotypes that already exits in literature, or even worse, in society.

But there's one thing that bordered me. The image of the author's black girlfriend sitting next to him at the presentation of his book. It was the image of: look I am not racist nor a bigot, because I have black girlfriend. And that of course, doesn’t have to be true.

Update: I changed the English translation of the book into 'Only decent people', that's correct translation of the book 'Alleen maar nette mensen'. After seeing the video of the author on Black women in Europe I understood what he really meant. According to the author, this is said by people in the upper class neighbourhood Amsterdam Zuid. They mean that only decent people live there, and not so called "allochtonen" (blacks and other non-western ethnic minorities.

Anousha Nzume's translation of her opinion piece

Also see Trailer: Dutch film "Alleen maar nette mensen" - Ghetto versus civilised (+ English translation)

Jade Ewen will represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest

Jade Ewen will represent the UK at tomorrow's Eurovision Song Contest final in Moscow, having been chosen by BBC viewers as the best of the bunch on Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. She will perform "It's My Time", composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber especially for the competition.

Jade was born and brought up in Plaistow, London, to a Jamaican mother, Carol and a half British half Sicilian father, Trevor. Her father is blind and partially deaf, and her mother is partially blind. Because of her parents' disabilities, Jade has become a carer to both her parents and two younger siblings. Despite this, she managed to have dancing lessons from the age of three, and subsequently achieved a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre. Later on she appeared in several theatre plays.

for more information Jade's offical website
And Jade Ewen on Myspace

France's plans for tackling racism and promoting diversity

Yazid Sabeg Commissioner of diversity and equal opportunity presented his plans to restore diversity and reintegration into the French society.

On May 7th Yazid Sabeg, selfmade millionaire and son of Algerian immigrants, handed over his program of action and recommendations for diversity and equal opportunities to French President Zarkosy. Commissioner of Diversity and Equal Opportunities, Yazid Sabeg, has presented his work with a month's delay. The 115 page report is divided into 76 action plans designed to promote, advise and regulate the diversity, by establishing what he calls a "new deal", addressing the foundations of the economy, the education, housing and politics.

The first part of the report is devoted to the revaluation of the youth. "France is not investing enough in his youth, which combines the disadvantages in terms of training, income and access to positions of responsibility" Referring " Intergenerational divorce ", the report shows that the poverty rate is five times more than thirty years ago. Because nearly 20% of the youth does not graduate, and France by 2015 will desperately need engineers, technicians, and scientists, the report considers a national pact for the access to training.

The second part, which is the source of the controversy surrounding ethnic statistics, is dedicated to promoting diversity and the fight against discrimination. Nicolas Sarkozy, in his speech on 17 December 2008 in Palaiseau, had hoped that France "is developing statistical tools to measure its diversity." Faced with the outcry of the proposal, the consensus seems reached, the report states that the objective is to complete the instruments and data already available to "characterize the discriminatory situations. It will eventually be collected by questionnaires and anonymous census surveys. An observatory of discrimination shall use the information for analyses.

This diversity, according to the report, will be promoted to all avenues of society. Also in the political institutions. The anonymous generalized CV will be used within political parties. The reports states that "The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the States United showed the delay of the representativeness of the French political class. Of the 577 members, only 3 are immigrants from outside Europe, in the Senate they are only 4 on 343. It is also calls for the media to renegotiate their agreements for the hiring of people of diversity.

Finally, the third point of the flagship report entitled "A New Deal for the policy of the City" offers a series of measures to reinstate the "neighborhoods" in the city. This achievement is considered in line with plans for urban renewal, the de-isolation of certain areas, the access to schools to all, regardless of place of residence.

This highly anticipated "Action Program and recommendations of Yazid Sabeg received a mixed reception among unions and associations. The CRAN (Representative Council of Black Associations in France) welcomed the measures that will "finally make visible minorities full citizens," they see it as "a great day for the republican equality". Less lyrical are the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC), they are "vigilant" about the tools of measurement set out by the Commissioner. Dominique Sopo from SOS Racisme is concerned about "the absence of strong proposals" and denounced the policy of "rule out the development of a policy against discrimination in favour of a policy to promote diversity.

Read:
Diversité quand tu nous tiens
French Minorities Push For Equality Post-Obama