Please choose the skin colour that you would perfer to have.
What's the relationship between skin tone, black identity and self esteem? That's the question a UK research program aims to explore. People who live in the UK and are black or mixed race can take the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com.
The survey is conducted by Akaysha Browne who is principal investigator at the Brunel University (UK).
The main aim of this study is to examine whether or not there is a relationship between one’s level of black identity, skin tone and self esteem. This study also looked at whether perceived ethnic discrimination has an influence on the way in which individuals perceive skin tone and their personal satisfaction with their own skin tone. The study also aimed to look at whether there was a gender or an age difference in the perception and satisfaction of differing skin tones in Britain. The survey referred to some other studies on this topic:
Very thought provoking questionnaire. Here are some of the questions and my answers:
It is important for Black people to surround their children with Black art, music and literature. Of course.
Because Britain is predominately white, it is important that Blacks go to White schools so that they can gain experience interacting with Whites. I think that mixed schools are better. Having black teachers on a school is also very important.
Please choose the colour that most resembles your actual facial skin colour. It depents of the time of the year.
Portuguese singer Lura will perform at French Festival Jazz Touraine 2010 on September 17
Lura, born Maria de Lurdes Assunção Pina (1975) is a singer and musician. Born in Portugal to Cape-Verdean parents, she considers herself as a Cape-Verdean.
Lura stands at the crossroads of Portuguese and Cape Verdean culture. Growing up in the Creole quarter of Lisbon, Lura was surrounded by beats from the leeward and windward islands, as well as Portugal’s pop, jazz, African music and American soul.
The song "Quebrod Nem Djosa" from the album Eclipse.
Yet she also felt intensely drawn to the African archipelago that her parents had been forced to leave, and determined to reclaim for herself. Today, all these influences are to be found on Eclipse. The album expresses love, joy and sometimes sadness. Its thirteen new tracks display incredible energy as well as Lura’s burgeoning songwriting skills. (Source 4Q)
Dutch artist and filmmaker Renzo Martens made the provocative film Enjoy Poverty, Episode III (2009). In the film Martens proposes to a group of Congolese photographers that they should take pictures of war corpses, raped women, and malnourished children--just as Western journalists do.
Martens's provocative position is that poverty is Africa's most important export product, and the poor should learn how to profit from it. ENJOY POVERTY PLEASE, reads the bright neon sign Martens shamelessly brings in to the remotest villages; it also serves as the title of the ninety-minute video he shot in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (source Arts Publication)
An interview with Martens
The interesting part is that Renzo Martens is also making money with his film, it kept him up and running for four years. When asked in an interview if he had shared the money with the poor people in Congo he replied that it was a "private" matter and not really relevant.
To be honest, I really don't know what to make of this film. Is it an eye opener, or is it just a cheap attempt of a filmmaker to exploit poverty?
Renzo Martens is exhibiting in the temporary program of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, which runs from 28 August 2010 – 9 January 2011.
Martinican actress and singer Jenny Alpha (1910-2010), a leading exponent of Creole culture, died Wednesday, September 8, at the age of 100.
Her fight for recognition of Creole culture and her incredible talent as an actress and singer were celebrated with a Honour Trophy award on September 21, 2009 at the 4th Awards of the French “Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens”.
An icon of Martinique has gone to join her old friends, Duke Ellington, Aime Cesaire, Josephine Baker, and many others.
The blog Repeating Islands wrote: The announcement of her death has prompted many reactions in France and overseas. Overseas Minister Marie-Luce Penchard praised the “exceptional and talented woman” that Jenny Alpha has been; ministerial delegate
Patrick Karam recalled the “talent and elegance of one of the greatest overseas artists of the 20th century.” Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, traveling to the Caribbean, paid tribute to “a pioneer of the arts” who “made her life a struggle for black women to have their full rights.”
Jean-François Lamour and Philippe Goujon, deputies from the 15th arrondissement, where the actress lived, expressed that she “embodied with panache the richness of French cultural life of the 20th century, at the crossroads of multiple influences.” And President of the General Council of Martinique Claude Lise praised “the exceptional trajectory of an artist of outstanding standards” with a “talent that overcame all difficulties and all prejudices.” Read more here
A child of the diaspora has died. Jenny Alpha, rest in peace.
Sweden's Minister of integration Nyamko Ana Sabuni (1969), currently serving as Swedish Minister for Integration and Gender Equality , wants to become Prime Minister of Sweden. But does she really have chance to become the female Barack Obama of Europe, or is it just a political daydream?
The Times wrote about her: Ms Sabuni has never made any secret of her ambition to be Sweden’s first black Prime Minister. Some see parallels between her and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali refugee who renounced Islam, became a Dutch MP and spoke out against the religion, only to relocate in the US after a row about her asylum application.
“We are compared because we are both young, we are both black, we are both politicians,” Ms Sabuni said. “The mission of Ayaan is to reform Islam. My mission is not to reform Islam, my mission is to say that certain traditions are unacceptable. ” Read: Young, black, Swedish – the minister for controversy.
On Zuseeko's official Blog I read a very interesting opinion about Sabuni and her ambition. You can read part of it below.
“ Despite the recent Increase in "White Power" Groups and outright Violation of Civil Rights in the Scandinavian country. This might come as a surprise to you because you probably think Sweden would be one of the last countries in Europe to have a person of African descent occupy the highest office in the land - Office of the Prime Minister. You're wrong!
It is worth mentioning that despite Sweden's generosity, there is a glass ceiling all across the continent. The odds of a person of "color" becoming Sweden's prime minister anytime soon are slim, but make no mistake - Sabuni might as well be setting the stage. When Barack Obama claimed victory in November 2008, he said his presence on the stage was unlikely and that in no other country on Earth is his story even possible. Could this be true? Is it impossible for a person of African descent to be in the realm of political power in a country in Europe? Read more on Zuseeko's official Blog
” It is interesting that she is compared with Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
“African and African Diasporans have been living in Sweden since the 1300s,” writes Madubuko A. Robinson Diakité in his briefing ‘Afro Diasporians in Sweden, An unfinished History’ (2005). Diakité is a US born Swedish human rights lawyer and academic who has lived in Sweden since 1968.
His briefing is about Sweden’s “Blue men” during slavery, the African-American experience from the 1960s until today, and about the new arrived African immigrants in Sweden. In the intro he writes: “It's the result of many personal interviews and oral histories I have listened to with people here since my arrival in 1968.”
See snippets of the document below and download the pdf-document here.
M. A. Robinson Diakité is also Publisher and Managing Editor of a English University magazine entitled The Lundiun . A must read for everyone who is interested in Sweden.
Snippets of Afro Diasporians in Sweden
Post World War II arrivals
During 1950s and 60s, most African Americans who came to reside did so to join Family members (wives, husbands), or in the promotion of their arts. Also Jazz musicians, choreographers and others came during that time and made a lasting contribution to the development of post-ware Swedish artist, dancers and singers. Bad Icons
It has been estimated that during the Vietnam era, between 600 and 800 US deserters came to Sweden, and appromatitely 15% of these were African American. [Unfortunately some of them became bad icons, because they were involveld in criminal activities.]
When president Jimmy Carter's Amnesty was adopted most of deseters returned home, Today, there are only a few (less than 20) African American military deserters living in Sweden.
African American Business in Sweden
One of the success stories is the language school and translation company from New Orleons native Ronald B. Antoine. The company was founded in 1970 and expanded in the period of 1971- 1980.
The end of A love affair
The handfull of African American in Sweden who live here today seem to be well assimilated even though they are, like other non-European immigrants, the victims of ethnic discrimination on the job and housing markets. To earn of living most of us have either low-level service-oriented job, are engaged in the production of fine art, or are on disability pensions for one reason or another.
New and recent arrivals
Today's fresh arrivals of African Americans are nearly all young men who are employed for their skills at basketball to work as coaches or team members. But this a skills-bank which is not open to other sports where African American have a high profile such as boxing or track.
Many members of the older generation now have children who, because they attend elementary school here and may have one Swedish parent, have integrated into Swedish society better then they did. But there are also those whose now grown children have left Sweden because they failed to find their place in Sweden society.
However, there are some succes stories too: the country's most popular Rap artist, Timbuktu, is an African American by parentage (both parents are Americans: one black, one white). [His real name is Jason Michael Robinson Diakité, he is the son of the author.]
Africans and African Diasporans have a long, intensive history in Sweden, and have left many legacies. Scores of Swedish singers, musicians and civil rights activist proudly tell long stories of the contributions that African American dances and musicians made to their own interpretations of the arts and cultures. But these stories are never written in Swedish history books.
The older generation of African and Diasporians in Sweden is aging and passing on. The new generation, consisting largely of political refugees from Sub-Saharan Africa and their families, are beginning to enter the political arena, albeit slowly. The national election of 2001 saw the election of two Sub-Saharan Africans to the Swedish Parliament. [One of them is of course Nyamko Sabuni (politician, currently serving as Minister for Integration and Gender Equality in the Swedish government)]
Under the Mush interview with Nikyatu Jusu The winner of the Shadow And Act $3300 Filmmaker Challenge is Nikyatu Jusu, and her screenplay tentatively titled Black Swan Theory. See the video for a recent Under the Mush interview with Nikyatu.
About Nikyatu Jusu, in her own words: “Originally bred in Atlanta, Georgia to Sierra Leonean parents, Writer/Director Nikyatu Jusu is an MFA candidate at New York University’s graduate film program. Her second short film, African Booty Scratcher garnered her a Director’s Guild Honorable Mention, HBO Short Film Award and JT3 Artist Award. Nikyatu is currently touring the festival circuit with her thesis film, Say Grace Before Drowning; the screenplay alone earned her a Spike Lee Scholarship and a Princess Grace Foundation-US Graduate Film Scholarship. Because she has a preoccupation with foreigners, damaged women and the contradictory nature of humanity, these themes presently permeate her work.”
About the contest: The Shadow And Act Filmmaker Challenge is a contest of the US black Film and Media Blog Shadow and Act. Every 3 to 4 months, A MINIMUM of $1,200 will go towards the funding of a 3 to 10 minute short film by a filmmaker of African descent, with a story about people of African descent, based on their own original idea.
The contest is only open to US filmmakers, but it's likely they will expand to other regions over time. Some international donations may speed up the process of course. Read more here.
The Screenplay
The Black Swan Theory synopsis: A psychiatric casualty of war, recently returned to the US, Sonya’s imagined sense of normalcy crumbles around her; she must hunt or become the hunted.
About the screenplay she explains: “I’m always intrigued with black women in settings that are typically not seen as conducive to their presence: for instance a former US Soldier struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We rarely, if ever, hear about the experiences of black women who have fought for this country and I thought it would be interesting to explore such a character in the context of an attempted return to normalcy–when normalcy is no longer definable. I hope to convey a woman battling both her own private demons and the demons of war. I’m also very influenced by graphic novels and have been craving a black female heroine.”
Read more about her film and the Shadow And Act Black Filmmaker Challenge here.
See also the 2010 Shadow And Act Black Filmmakers To Watch list, here.
I think I am the last in Europe who has posted this video: Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble Feat Bilal – ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’ from Donny Hathway. I saw this great performance on a Dutch and an English music blog. So I jacked it from the London based music blog http://pinboardblog.com. A great blog by the way! About the video they wrote: "The city of Los Angeles was blessed with a free concert from the Miguel Artwood-Ferguson Ensemble on July 23rd 2010. Recently known for his work on Mochilla’s “Suite for Ma Dukes” project, where he arranged and conducted music from the late, great J.Dilla for a full orchestra. Ferguson assembled an all-star cast of musicians and special guests featuring artists such as Flying Lotus, Aloe Blacc, Bilal, Stephen ‘Thudercat’ Bruner, Chris ‘Daddy’ Dane and many more for a special evening at the Grand Performance California Plaza.
The video up top and the download below is of an amazing arrangement from Miguel Atwood-Ferguson of Donny Hathaway’s CLASSIC ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’ featuring Bilal on vocals. Yea – you read right – Bilal singing Donny Hathway with a full on Orchestra."
Photo and Copyright Iris Kensmil: Exhibition of Iris Kensmil in the Stedelijk museum Iris Kensmil is one of the artists who is selected to exhibit in the temporary opened Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
The work she exhibits in the Stedelijk is inspired by Adjankoeso, the village head of a group of Surinamese Maroons in the early 20th century. Adjankoeso wrote a letter to the secretary of the League of Nations in which he expressed his joy over the end of World War I.
The Stedelijk Museum has one of the richest modern art collections in the world. The exhibition is named The Temporary Stedelijk at the Stedelijk Museum. It's temporarily because the museum has been closed for renovations for years. Exhibition date: 28 August 2010 – 9 January 2011.
For this special occasion the museum comes out with two exhibitions: Taking Place and Monumentalisme. Iris Kensmil exhibits her work together with 18 other artists in Monumentalisme. In this exhibition artists reflect on history and identity.
These themes aren’t new to Kensmil. Topics such as negritude, the African Diaspora, and the position of black people in the society are key elements of her work.
Kensmil (1970) was born in the Netherlands and is from Surinamese Origin. She has won several scholarships, and has just returned from a long stay in New York.
In the newspaper Parool Kensmil explains why colour is so important in her work: "There is a very large group of Surinamese and Antilleans, and they are part of this society. I suppose that as white person you think: where do these people come from?"
In April of this year the big monument of African Renaissance was inaugurated in Dakar, Senegal with the presence of many African leaders. Although this is not an AfroEuropean issue as such I’d like to express my opinion on this.
According to Senegalese President Wade, the initiative taker of this project, this is not just a Senegalese or African monument, but it also represents the people of the African diaspora all over the world. This means that this monument is symbol uniting all peoples of African descent.
The statue is 49m high set on a 100m high hill in the Ouakam suburb of Dakar. Thus being bigger and higher than New York’s statue of Liberty (46m high on a pedestal of 47m, total 93m) it now dominates Dakar’s skyline. Of course the building of such a huge monument in a poor country erases doubt and criticism. Even the way how the project took off makes one wonder who will really profit of this massive monument.
It was first and for all build for the 50th anniversary of independence of most African nations. The inauguration was set during Senegal’s independence ceremony but was meant as reaching to the whole continent. Many African leaders were present, and even Jesse Jackson came to give a speech (I wonder how much he got paid for this). Senegal is one of black Africa’s nations to have been first in touch with the European and Arab worlds and was a main contributor of slaves during the 5 centuries of AfroEuropean colonial ‘exchange’. In this sense Dakar may be the right place for such a monument. Below I will go deeper into the meaning of and the criticisms surrounding this monument. Design The monument was officially designed by President Wade himself. But Ousmane Sow (Link in French), a famous Senegales sculptor, pretends to have designed it. Wade admitted that ‘an artist’ came up with the idea but that he worked it out. He states he cannot remember who that artist was, but that he is the final and genuine producer of the concept.
It depicts an African family. A gigantic father holding his child on his left arm and behind him a woman, his right arm around her waist. The child (a boy?) is resolutely pointing his finger West. This pointing is a pointing to the future and pointing to the African diaspora. I don’t want to speculate about the meaning of art, or the meaning of the child who points West. I’ll leave this for personal discussions and thoughts.
From a gender perspective the whole statue is rather problematic. It is obviously male-centered and depicts women as secondary to men. I think that this is a lost chance, considering that women in many post-war African countries play a central role in the rebuilding and future of their country. Apparently not for Wade. Another detail that bothers me is the woman’s hair. She has straight hair in the wind. While many African women straighten their hair with chemicals it is an illusion to have it waving in the wind such as seen here. Straightened hair is too dry to move like that in the wind. Having put a woman with cornrows or other braids or even an afro would have been much more African I think. It’s true that her hair could be interpreted as thin dreadlocks, a hair style very uncommon among African women in Africa, but becoming more and more normal in the African diaspora.
Intellectual profit and financial profit President Wade, as conceiver of the monument, will get 35% of all profits that this monument generates. This is highly problematic because he didn’t conceive this monument in his free time as a private person, but as a president. A president cannot claim copyright over ideas conceived as function of his public office. In this sense all he produces for the nation is property of the state and not his personal property. Let’s compare it to what every employee produces within a company; it is owned by the company and not by the person who produced it.
Furthermore Wade is not the benefactor of this project, it was financed by the Senegalese state and sponsored by a private businessman. The building of the statue would have cost around US$ 27 million, and was paid in kind with land. Wade seems to not only want to put a monument that will outlast his life, not financed with his money he still wants to get money out of it.
Construction The construction of the monument was carried out by a North Korean construction company, Mansudae Overseas Project Group of Companies. Even without taking into consideration the problematic reputation of North Korea and its leaders, I think it is a shame that the work hasn’t been carried out by Africans themselves. The African continent is full of able and unemployed people who would have loved to contribute to such a project. Instead North-Korean workers and engineers (underpaid?) were imported to Dakar to build it. I think this is another lost chance.
Conclusion In a way I am happy that this monument has been build. Half a century after the major wave of independence on the African continent such a symbolic statement might be not really necessary but certainly welcome. I don’t really care that it looks like a Stalinist monument, that’s not really the matter here. It is also without any doubt that this monument will contribute to tourism in Senegal and West-Africa, many ambulant merchants, taxi drivers and local stores will benefit of it.
Still, I am sad that so many chances have been missed and that it is strained with financial scandal. It’s true that any big project, in any country in the world would have been a point of controversy. Even New York’s Statue of Liberty was not void of controversy when planned and build. I just hope that the African Renaissance Monument can be a symbol of African unity rather than political greed and that it will get a bright future in the history of Africa and its diaspora. Only the future will tell.
For the first time the North Sea Jazz Festival will have an edition on the island of Curaçao, the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival
The International Dutch version of the festival is held annually in the city of Rotterdam, and is also the largest indoor jazz festival in the World.
The Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival will be held on September 3 and 4 2010 in the World Trade Center on the island. According to the newspaper AD, the Caribbean version of the jazz festival must become the biggest musical and tourist event of the island’s history.
The program includes, among others, Lionel Richie, John Legend, Sergio Mendes George Benson and Luis Enrique.
"Nowadays in France, like in Africa, when politicians need a boost in popularity or want to cast a wider political net, they make an appeal into the most primal instincts of the voters: ethnic identity", writes Global Voice contributor Abdoulaye Bah about French president Sarkozy.
In a very interesting post he analyses the situation of ethnic minorities in France, and the response to the recent riots in Grenoble.
In his story Bah quotes The blog lalignegenerale about Sarkozy's proposol that the nationality be revoked for the people of foreign origins when attempting to take the lives of a policeman, gendarme or any representative of the public authority.
« I won't dwell on the ubuesque notion of ”of foreign origin”. Because when exactly does “foreign origin” start? In the spirit of this measure, how many generations have to had passed on before one is protected from losing its citizenship? Does the president have criteria he'd like offer? Maybe a (DNA) Test ? And if by any chance the members of the Constitutional Council, State Coucil or the parliament were to approve of this inane proposition, what would then become of the no-longer citizens? Since they don't have a substitute nationality, what kind of legal vacuum would then fall into ? Former Frenchmen? Stateless people? As the president put it, since the “machine that provides nationality no longer works”, will it now produce stateless citizens?
The worst part is that at the end of the day, if this proposal is a serious one and not just some political fronting to win back some votes from Marine Le Pen ( ed. note: far right leader), then it would contradict three sacred axioms engraved in the founding texts of our republic: the Program of the National Council of the Resistance in May 15 1944, the Declaration of the Human Rights in 1948 and the Constitution of 1958.
As soon as those measures were announced, the daily newspaper le Figaro published an opinion poll conducted by IFOP that proclaimed the results he was hoping to see: that the majority of the French people shared his views on domestic security.
H/t Tina Bach The following video has been produced by Thabo Thindi, of http://jozi.tv about the staged reading of Amy Evan's play "The most unsatisfied Town", premiered on Tuesday, 27 April 2010 at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICI). The play is based on the widely mediatised case of the Sierra Leonean refugee Oury Jalloh who burned to death while shackled to the floor of a Dessau (Germany) jail cell. (Source: Africavenir)
