Black European Meets Skinheads

Last year I went to Berlin to visit a friend who moved there. During my trip I experienced something special. Most of my friends told me I was totally crazy to have done what I did. They might be right, but I think that this story deserves a place on this blog.

It was a last minute decision so I couldn’t get a seat reservation anymore in the high speed train between Cologne and Berlin. I decided to go anyway and ended up in an overcrowded train sitting on the floor in the hallway. Sharing the hallway with me were, among others, two Russian dudes who looked kind of tough. Bald head, bomber jacket, big chains. They had plastic bags full of beer cans and were drinking the whole time. I tended to ignore them, they definitely looked like skinhead hooligans and I supposed they wouldn’t consider me a potential friend. It turned out I was wrong.

I read a book and tried not to look up at them. I succeeded quiet well during the first hours (the trip took about 6 hours), but I noticed that one of them gave me a sympathetic nod once in a while. It crossed my mind for a few seconds that he might be gay, but I quickly decided against it. They looked definitely very straight. Some time halfway between Cologne and Berlin one of them asked me in perfect German if I wanted a beer. I hesitated for a second, it was too early in the day for being drinking, but being tired of reading the same book for more than three hours in a row, I thought why not and accepted the offer. It was a holiday anyway. We started to chat, they turned out to be more German than I thought. I saw it as a good opportunity to oil up my German before reaching Berlin.

They shared more beers with me until there were none left (and they had brought many). I decided to buy some in the bar and to pay them more drinks. Half an hour before reaching Berlin we had drunken all the beers there were in the train’s mini bar. I felt kind of drunk and they were definitely a bit drunk too. But it was clear that they were better drinkers than I was, more used to heavy drinking. Everybody was looking at us, a strange trio, but we couldn’t care less, talked all the time and laughed together.

The time I passed with them drinking beer was very pleasant. They were curious to know where I was from and I explained. I asked them the same question and they turned out to be Germans of Russian descent, but also the other way around, Russians of German descent. I didn’t understand immediately and they started to explain their story.

Actually since the late middle ages until the early 20th century, Germans migrated to Russia for new opportunities. These people assimilated to Russian culture although some kept a distinct German identity. They lived all over the Soviet Union. When the iron curtain fell and the Soviet Union collapsed Germany accepted any person who could prove to be ethnically German to get a German passport and come back to Germany. Many Russians of German descent jumped on the opportunity.

These two guys were descendants of Germans who migrated to Russia generations ago, maybe centuries ago. Their surnames sounded German, but that was about the only thing German about them. They told me that their parents moved to Berlin in the early 90’s. They were still very young children then and they grew up in Germany. But they kept on speaking Russian in the household, lived in predominantly Russian neighborhoods and made mostly Russian-speaking friends.

They stressed the common experience they and me had as children of migrants, as people who never really belong, as people who share the experience of displacement and multilingualism. I liked that thought. And as our conversation evolved I started to ask questions too, about how they look, about how they can be perceived as racist skinheads and so on. They stressed that they weren’t racists, they said they were victims of racism too, that German people hated them.

I was fascinated and listened while the conversation evolved to football and Saint-Petersburg, the team they both supported. One of them was even such a big fan that he travelled all over Europe to see all matches Saint-Petersburg had to play abroad. He said he liked to travel, to see different places and that his love for football was a good excuse to do it. But still I couldn’t stop thinking that the guy really looked like a prototype hooligan who might be nice to me now, but who would have kicked my ass in very different circumstances.

When getting closer to Berlin they asked me if I already had plans. I actually didn’t, I only planned to see my friend in a few hours as he was still at work. So I still had some time to kill. They invited me to join them. They would go to one’s place and have some more drinks there and watch some video’s. They told me they had nothing to do that day, they worked hard for several weeks on a construction site and had some cash to spend now. Again I hesitated. Where would I end up? What would a black guy with dreadlocks do with skinheads? Did they try to trick me into some man hunting? The wildest thoughts went through my head? But my intuition, more than movies or politics, told me these guys were really all right. They were actually very friendly, warm, generous and sympathetic. My adventurous, crazy and anthropological me said just to go for it. So I accepted their offer and followed them into Ost-Berlin. After half an hour with metro and busses we arrived at some apartment blocks. I had kept a sharp eye on the itinerary so that I would easily find my way back. First we went to the shop to get some more beers and then went to one of them’s place.

We started drinking again and watching Youtube. I drank slowly. They wanted to show me video’s of hooligan fights in Russia, some hip hop video’s and so on. They started to roll joints, two more skinheads came in. All were friendly to me although I saw some surprise in their eyes. They spoke Russian with each other sometimes, so I couldn’t understand but I was tempted to think that they saw me as a potential danger to them too. Who was I? What was I doing there? All understandable questions, and I guessed the other two assured them that I was OK.

I spend around 2 or 3 hours there, the owner of the place was getting very very drunk, too drunk actually. He started to put some Saint-Petersburg Hooligan video’s with songs. He sang them along and he started to do the Sieg Heil sign while singing. I was kind of embarrassed about it, and I noticed that the three others were too. They tried to assure me that it’s just football and that I shouldn’t feel threatened. The thing is that I didn’t feel threatened. Was I naïve? Maybe so, but the truth is that nothing happened to me, the atmosphere was very relaxed and everybody was friendly and nice to me. I even went out once with one of the new guys to get some more beers and he was actually very soft, he wanted to know about me, was curious about my experience of being black in Europe and so on. I thought that I may have been the very first black person this guy actually talks to (instead of shouting racist slurs to). These guys were not stupid, they were just low class immigrants with a lot of frustrations, just like many other immigrant kids. They were put into a situation in which they had to talk to me as human beings to human beings.

I had stopped drinking after a while, I didn’t want to lose control. The two guys I met on the train were way out there now. Fortunately the two others were still kind of sober. The main language spoken was often Russian now and I couldn’t really follow. I said that I had to go now, as I had a meeting with some friends, we shared e-mails and phone numbers, gave each other ‘man hugs’ and I left. Still, I didn’t feel like having a lasting internet relationship with these guys, so I gave an e-mail I nearly never use and a wrong phone number. I never tried to reach them again though.

Later that evening I told my story to my Berlin friend who said I was lucky not to get killed. I knew the stories of Adriano and other black Germans who were killed by skinheads in Germany. But I still don’t know, I think that the context gave me an opportunity to discover something I only had prejudice against and didn’t know. At the same time, without wanting to do it, I let them experience something they didn’t know. Still, they were the ones who offered me a beer, they were the ones who smiled sympathetically at me, and they were the ones who invited me in their home. I realized that I could have met the exact same 4 guys in a very different situation and that they would have seen me as an easy target to ventilate all their aggression and frustration, they could have killed me. But the thing was that at that time and place they wanted to be my friends.

The next day I was eating a quick snack in an antifa (antifascist) vegatarian snack bar in Friedrichshain and reading a magazine that lay there for customers. There was an article about hooligan skinheads and their use of fascist symbols, mostly by Russians. A study had shown that many of the kids using the nazi symbols didn’t even really know what these symbols stand for. They know it’s anti-communist and they know it is anti-establishment and that it shocks and scares people. As far as they are concerned it works for their purpose, it is not about history repeating itself, it is about expressing anger, aggression and frustration. Against everything that’s politically correct and socially accepted. Maybe they saw my dreadlocks as an expression of the same thing.

It’s maybe not all that strange. Skinhead culture has black roots after all, check these video’s below to discover a strange twist in musical history and racist attitude.

This is of course about England in the 70's, and not about Russian-German Hooligans in the 21st century. Still, I think that being a skinhead is first and for all an anti-establishment style, more than a political stance. Of course I do not ignore the dangers this 'style' has for all people who look like me.

The Côte d’Ivoire Issue

Abidjan skyline.

Today I want to write something about Côte d’Ivoire. Why is this relevant on an Afro-European blog? Because the current situation in Côte d’Ivoire is about conflicting interest between Africa and Europe. Because the Ivoirian community of France is clearly expressing its frustration in the way France (and generally the West) is involved in local issues in Africa (see video's below). In this post I will try to clarify what is exactly going on as I think this story is relevant for most ex-colonies in relation to their past and Europe, this story is relevant for all Europeans of ex-colonial origin.

Rich but poor

Côte d’Ivoire is on the brink of a civil war. Again. People disappear, others are threatened. Côte d’Ivoire has long been considered an example of how it should be. But while being the greatest cocoa exporter in the world, while being a economically prosper country, Côte d’Ivoire still has its majority population living in utter poverty. Many countries in Africa have the poorest populations in the world while they often are very rich countries. The reason for this is complex. There is the colonial heritage, there are Western financial interests, there are disloyal and corrupt leaders, demographic explosion, … Côte d’Ivoire is today another victim of all these elements. Big boys with different interests are using the African people to gain their advantage, whether black or white, Ivoirian or French.
Côte d’Ivoire has long been a prosperous country. It is the world’s lead cocoa exporter and Africa’s biggest palm oil producer (palm oil is an important raw material in the manufacture of soaps, washing powder and other hygiene and personal care products, besides biodiesel).

Even before independence Côte d’Ivoire was economically the most important region of French West Africa (which was administered as one colonial entity, only divided by France during the independence struggle). Many people from all over French West Africa migrated there for work. After independence this trend didn’t stop. These migrations have been going on for decades now, and many people who are born and raised in Côte d’Ivoire have foreign roots in other formerly French West African countries. Many live in the north and urban areas, with a concentration in the economical center of the country: Abidjan (the capital being Yamoussoukro).

Not only Africans moved to Côte d’Ivoire for work. In contrast to many African nations, the presence of French people more than doubled after independence while many other Europeans also came to work in Côte d’Ivoire. Today the white elite is fleeing the country.

Côte d’Ivoire is not just another African republic. Western nations, France first, have many financial and economical interests there. This is why they are getting involved so much. Below I will go deeper into Côte d’Ivoire’s history and the meaning of last elections for the international community.


Félix Houphouët-Boigny

Félix Houphouët-Boigny was Côte d’Ivoire’s first president and he stayed in power until his death in 1993. Although having spend large amounts of public money for megalomaniac projects, he was and still is a very much respected and loved figure for the Ivoirian people. Félix Houphouët-Boigny has been instrumental in keeping the Ivoirian nation united, avoiding ethnic tensions and accepting Ivoirians of foreign origin as fellow nationals and Ivoirians.

Félix Houphouët-Boigny is a giant of the African emancipation. He is a name stated next to Senghor and Césaire. He left a stable and relatively prosper country behind him. Things would start to change dramatically after that.

Ivoirité

Bédié followed him up. He succeeded to divide his rivals and held on to power. To do that he emphasized the concept of ‘Ivoirité’, or Ivoirian identity, excluding his main political rival Allassane Ouattara, Houphouët-Boigny’s last prime minister. Although Ouattara was born in Côte d’Ivoire from parents who were also born in Côte d’Ivoire, he has roots from Burkina Faso, which made him in Bédié’s concept of Ivoirité a foreigner.

This excluded Ouattara from presenting himself for the presidential elections of 2000, but also excluded a great many people in Côte d’Ivoire from the Ivoirian nationality. Consequently the relationship between various ethnic groups became strained and a fire was sparked which is still burning today.

Bédié also tried to exclude potential opponents from the army. This led to a military coup in 1999 and the organization of new elections in 2000. That’s when Gbagbo got elected. Still, the concept of Ivoirité persisted in post-Bédié Côte d’Ivoire. Excluding Ouattara from the 2000 presidential election led to the civil unrest during the elections and eventually to a civil war in 2002.

Rebellion in 2002

The rebels controlled much of northern Côte d’Ivoire, where many Ivoirians lived who were excluded from Ivoirian nationality due to the Ivoirité policy. The rebels threatened to seize Abidjan, the economical center, but then France came into the picture. Under the official stance that French soldiers were sent to protect French citizens living there, many consider they were there to protect their financial and economical position. For many Ivoirians today the French actions worsened the situation in the long term. France didn’t learn from what happened then.

Alassane Ouattara took refuge in the French embassy, his home in Abidjan burned down. President Gbagbo stated, in a television address, that some of the rebels were hiding in the shanty towns of Abidjan where ‘foreign migrant workers’ lived. The police forces bulldozed and burned homes by the thousands, attacking the residents.

Transition under Gbagbo

Eventually a few months later in 2003, Gbagbo and some rebel leaders signed accords creating a government of national unity. But that government prooved unstable. UN peacekeepers and French troops still controlled areas of the country and violent clashes occurred often. When the time for presidential elections came in 2005, it was deemed impossible to hold an election due to the lack of disarmament.

The 2005 elections were postponed until last month, november 2010. This time Ouattara was not excluded because of his so called Burkinabe origins.

The preliminary results announced by the Electoral Commission showed a loss for Gbagbo in favour of Alassane Ouattara who won with 54% of the vote (having received most votes from the Northern departments and the city of Abidjan). Gbagbo’s ruling FPI contested the results before the Constitutional Council, charging massive fraud in the northern departments. These charges were contradicted by international observers.

The Constitutional Council, which consists of Gbagbo supporters, declared the results of seven northern departments unlawful and that Gbagbo had won the elections with 51% of the vote. After the inauguration of Gbagbo, Ouattara, recognized as the winner by most countries and the United Nations, organized an alternative inauguration. These events raised fears of a resurgence of the civil war.

When I heard this news I was tempted to compare Gbagbo’s succes with the re-election of George W. Bush. But I couldn’t remember any official foreign reaction or support for Al Gore at the time.

I am not a Gbagbo fan. Since he came to power he has always used the ethnic card to gain popularity. Besides that he has questioned the French presence and economical interests in his sovereign country. This has led to ethnic tensions and to a worsening of the economical situation.

The first who suffer are the poorest, not the political elite. But Gbagbo blames the ‘foreign immigrants’ and the French. Ouattara represents both at the same time. Considering the election’s official results (51% for Gbagbo) I would think that Gbagbo’s discourse is not that convincing for the Ivoirian masses. Still, considering all this I wonder if it is a good idea to try to oust him from power right now. Certainly, I don’t think that it is the West’s role to do so. Sadam Hussein may have been a ruthless dictator, ousting him from power hasn’t improved the lifes of Iraqi’s. More on the contrary.

Ouattara

Ouattara is considered by Gbagbo as a representative of foreign and Western interests. And he actually is. Ouattara was educated in the US and earned a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked for the IMF and the BCEAO (central bank for the east African states) in Paris which makes him an advocate of the Franc CFA.

The Franc CFA is the common currency of most former French colonies. It is pegged to the Euro and according to many critics the cause of many economical problems and the economic dependency of these African states towards Europe. The Franc CFA is controlled and managed from Paris. Ouattara worked for the BCEAO in Paris until becoming its governor in 1988.

During the last years of Houphouët-Boigny’s rule from 1990, he was Côte d’Ivoire’s prime minister and actual leader once Félix Houphouët-Boigny got too ill. Ouattara was the one who announced Félix Houphouët-Boigny’s death to the nation.

After a brief power struggle bewteen Bédié en Outtara, Bédié became president en Ouattara resigned as prime minster. He went back working for the IMF as Deputy Managing Director and stayed there until 1999. After that he re-entered the political arena in Côte d’Ivoire leading up to the elections of last month.

Because of his career and marriage to a French woman (Dominique he often is considered by his critics as a representative of French and Western interests, and considered due to his northern roots and white wife, as not a real Ivoirian.

All these are false arguments of course. While understanding the critique against Western economical interests in Africa I don’t think that confrontation is the best tactic to improve the live of the Africans. It might get you elected, but then?

French Ivoirians and the Ivorian issue

Ivoirians in Paris supporting Gbagbo and protesting against French involvement (nr1):


One of the interviewees says: “Gbagbo is contested because he annoys the Western world, because he wants the wealth of Africa to be for the Africans … He is the man who can raise up Africa.”

Ivoirians in Paris supporting Gbagbo and protesting against French involvement (nr2):


Ivoirians in Paris protesting against Gbagbo in favor of Outtara(nr1):


Ivoirians in Paris protesting against Gbagbo in favor of Outtara(nr2):


Considering the reactions of Ivoirians in France it is clear that even if Gbagbo stole the elections it is not the role of foreign nations to intervene in local matters. According to Ivoirians this can only worsen the situation and divide the nation even more. The Ivoirians have to solve their own problems.

As you can see in the video’s above the Ivoirians are divided, but they areready to talk. Most voices of whatever side are against war and violence and have a peaceful message.

According to me Ouattara should accept his unfair defeat and go into opposition. From there he should teach Gbagbo what is democracy and from there he can either trap him (blame Gbagbo for all problems or show that he doesn’t do what he says) and make himself popular to an even larger electorate.

Gbagbo plays the role of the ‘real African’, fighting against the Western interests and therefore ‘for the African people’. But at the same time he is throwing oil on the ethnic fire that is burning since Bédié’s presidency. Côte d’Ivoire is devided between North and South, between Muslim and Christian, between ‘foreigner’ and ‘autochtones’. But it is a false division that is hiding the deeper laying problems of a rich country with too many poor people, of a rich country where foreigners, big companies and corrupt politician are getting richer, while the masses are living in dire poverty. It sometimes seems to me that Gbagbo is copying French political style, where Frenchness is questioned (refering to Sarlozy’s ‘débat sur l’identité française’) next to the so called ‘immigrant Muslims’.

Today the country has been sealed off from the outside world by Gbagbo. Gbagbo is not considered a lawfull head of state by the UN, EU and US. They only recognize Ouattara as the lawfull president. But a president without power, and the West’s reactions is only worsening the local situation. Everybody is holding their breath.

Guinea

All this happens today in so exemplary Côte d’Ivoire while Guinea-Conakry, the bad boy of former French colonies (who rejected the Franc CFA and has its own currency), a country with difficult diplomatic relations with France, just had its first free and fair elections since independence (without France or the UN getting involved). The transition from dictatorship to military rule and then elections didn’t happen without problems of course. But it was a transition done by and for the Africans themselves. Let’s now wait and see what freshly elected president Alpha Condé will do for his country and its people.

The break: Blogging Black from the Netherlands and how I became an Afro-European

Ground level Ganzenhoef Amsterdam Bijlmer
I am going to take a break, but of course blogger Sibo wil continue to post his views on Afro-Europe. But before I leave I would like to share some of my toughts and experiences about becoming Afro-European and how I started blogging.

A year ago I received an e-mail from someone who wanted to know more about black people in the Netherlands and how I got there.

Of course I have had these question before. I remember a few white Americans stopped me in the city centre of Amsterdam to ask me if I could translate a few English words for them in Dutch. Suddenly they asked me where I came from. “I was born Amsterdam,” I replied. “No, where do you really come from,” they answered. Great people by the way, so I gave them an elevator pitch about the “African-Americans” of Holland.

This post will not be an elevator pitch.

Growing up ignorant in Amsterdam

I grew up almost colourless. Although I knew I was black there was no racism around me that made more aware of it. I was born in Amsterdam before the big Surinamese migration started in 1975, and I lived in a part of Amsterdam which was almost 90 percent white. But luckily my social circle was cultural diverse. I had Dutch, Surinamese, Bi-racial Surinamese, Jewish and Chinese friends.


Moving to the “black” part of Amsterdam, Amsterdam South East (De Bijlmer)

Moving to a black environment was an experience. The place exploded with anti-racism activists, rastas and black culture advocates. Everything was black, including the junkies of course. But it was a tremendous experience. Walking in the Bijlmer in the summer was like walking on a Caribbean Island, black people everywhere.

From an identity point of view the move was gift from God. But since I was born and raised in the Netherlands I actually had to integrate into the black community. Because I also had an uppity Dutch accent (so to speak) this also complicated the challenge to integrate into a society which was a “deep” black Surinamese Caribbean community back then with a lot of black American influences. I was considered "white” of course. But thanks to shooting hoop all winter I managed to get into the pickup basketball games in the summer. And that’s where my black identity journey began. The character in the book “The white boy shuffle” is me.

Becoming “Black” gradually

I also got new friends of course. They introduced me to the black organisation scene, which meant that I got to meet a lot of black artists and black activists and different black people from across Europe. I remember how I got lost when I had to speak to a French black girl, she could hardly speak English and I hardly could speak French.

What I did learn during that period was the way skin colour was perceived. Most of my black friends dated white girls and I dated black girls. The entire racial dimension when past me like a ship in the night, but I would gradually learn the deeper structure of things. I think it’s a part you miss if don’t grow up in a environment where skin colour is like a military rank.

But although my black identity was developing I felt something was missing. It was like watching CNN, but not understanding the background of things. I was missing a deeper understanding of blackness.

My black experience

I knew that my knowledge of blackness wouldn’t come from playing basketball, eating rice and beans, or hanging out with my friends. The difference with my friends was that I had learned nothing at school about colonialism, slavery or even the history of Suriname. I knew it vaguely, but that was it.

Because Suriname lies in South America one of the first books I read was the “Open viens of Latin America” by Eduardo Galeano. I think it’s the book that Venezuelan president Hugo Chaves gave to president Obama. I remember it opened my eyes about the history of Latin American from a left wing point of view. It’s a radical book, but I think a needed a radical view at that time. I read a lot of books about latin American, but later I found out it wasn’t exactly “my” history. Although Suriname lies in South America, it’s in fact a Caribbean country. But I am glad I read it, it’s a classic. Although Galeano could have added some more black history in it.

The book which really took me closer to my roots was “Van Priary tot en met De Kom, the history of resistance in Surinam”, by Sandew Hira. Hira is the Surinamese version of Eduardo Galeano. although he didn’t made me wear a dashiki, he did gave me a deeper understanding of the black struggle in Suriname and of Dutch colonialism.

The book that shaped by black identity was “Black Skin, white Masks” of French writer Franz Fanon. I think James Baldwin would have said, that it takes you to the dungeons of your black soul. I started reading the book, closed it and opened it again three month later. Fanon dropped an issue that I never thought of before, one of his famous lines is, a black person wants to be white. But he made me feel at ease by explaining that it was a logical consequence of slavery and colonialism that I could have these feelings. But after finishing his book he didn’t leave me with the feeling that I wanted to be white, but he did leave me with the question: why should I be proud to be black if being black meant having a twisted black frustrated mind.

Fanon's book really gave me a Teflon layer so to speak, but as African scholar once said: it didn’t cure Fanon. Did it add to my black identity yes, to my Afro-Dutch identity, no.

Becoming Afro-Dutch?

I don’t have an Afro-Dutch identity, I have a Surinamese-Dutch identity. Saying you’re Dutch to a Surinamese person is sometimes even considered an insult. I think the mayor difference between the French and the British is that the Dutch were more preoccupied with trade then with assimilating slaves into Dutch Culture. Not very a long ago in the Netherlands children from foreign countries could get lessons in their own language and culture during school time. Comfy together, or as they say in Dutch “gezellig bij elkaar” with your own people was the Dutch mantra for integration. Foreign films in Holland are not voiced over as in France or Germany, but subtitled. But the perception about integration and minorities has changed now.

Being Surinamese-Dutch feels like belonging to a cult group, and to be honest I am comfortable with it.

I am going to take a giant leap forward in time.

Blogging and becoming Afro-European

Fast forward two years ago. Before I started blogging about Afro-Europe I was focused on the Netherlands. Although I had met black people from different countries in Europe and Africa, I had virtually no deep knowledge of their backgrounds. Even on holidays in Europe I was running to see the buildings, or other tourist places. A market full of black people in London doesn’t differ much from a market in Amsterdam-South East.

Like most holidays I focused on the beach, or on sight seeing. There is hardly time to actually meet black people in their countries. Before you know it, you’re home in the rat race again.

The inspiration for Afro-Europe began after an interview I did with an Afro-German woman. I am not going to say who it is, but if she reads this: thanks for the inspiration and your mind blowing insights. Although I had met French, British and African people it never came to mind that there were actually black people in Germany, although Germany is the neighbouring country of the Netherlands. What also inspired me was the blog Black Women in Europe.

One of the books I read was the book of Noah Sow, "Deutschland Schwarz Weiss - der alltägliche Rassismus" (Germany Black White - the everday racisme"). The thing I got out this book was the subtle racism I had never seen before. It was as if different lights went on on the same stage. I saw objects I had never noticed before. The little black boy on my cornflakes box who was surrounded by African Elephants and zebras, were thinks I hardly noticed before. To me they were just part of yet an another “Africa” contest campaign. But after reading Sow’s book I realized that there is an implicit racist connection when black kids are portrayed with African animals. Her book made me more aware that I was living in a society with hidden and sometimes even subliminal racist images. I somehow felt as ignorant as the day I moved to Amsterdam-South East. It was strange to get this information out of German book. And yes, these images were floating around me in the Netherlands.

Then I got a mail from Belgium. My name is Sibo and I would like to contribute. It was again strange to find out there was a person from another country who wrote about everything I always wanted to write about, but couldn’t. I was again interested to see new a perspective from a black person from Belgium. But he has something I don’t have, a close connection to Africa.

Identity

To me being Afro-European is not the same as being a Dutch black person. I’d like see as an element of it. I’m different from a black British Caribbean or African person. Growing up black in a class structured society is perhaps different from growing up in the egalitarian Netherlands. Growing up black in a French society where showing your black colours was in conflict with the all-people-are-French ideal is very different from my black experience. And being Afro-German is also different because it’s small community in a big white country with an infamous racial history.

But my Afro-European element what I perhaps share with other Afro-Europeans is that I want to have a piece of the country where I was born and raised in. It’s position I don’t even have to defend. Being black and European means that I also have an Afro-European connection on issues like race, black success and other specific black issues. But there is one issue that I consider very important, I don’t only have connection with Afro-Europe, but also with Africa.


How I became African, again

I don’t know if it sounds familiar, but although I read the ‘positive’ books about Africa I still remained biased. I read books about Africa, about the copper masks of the Yorubas and about the monument of great Zimbabwe, but still it looked as if they were compensations for the daily reality I saw on TV. The images of the machetes in Rwanda, the hunger, the child soldiers and the corrupt leaders. If in Europe one person dies it almost seemed similar to 500 deaths in Africa. As if large scale deaths is a natural thing in Africa. That was ignorant me two years ago when if first started blogging.

Thanks to all those wonderful African blogs I know that “Africa” doesn’t exits and that my lack of interest and knowledge made me stereotype a whole continent. It reminds of the silent Nigerian basketball player who trained in my basketball team. I never asked him anything about Nigeria. If you read this Femi, sorry for being so, “basketball minded”? Or the African woman who asked me the direction, and while we were talking I asked her about the “war” in a country in Africa which I had seen on TV. “No that’s not my country, that’s another system,” she replied while shaking her head. If you read this, sorry.

I can honestly say that blogging has changed my perspective on African countries and Africans completely. I have never visited Africa, but the slave fort Elmina where my ancestors left Africa will not be on my visiting list. There is so much more to see then a broken down slave fort, a fort which is just one leave on the tree of Africa.

Has blogging about Afro-Europe changed you?

A lot. I can’t go back blogging on a national level because I have seen, heard and experienced so much of the Afro-European community. I’ve seen people who would outsmart me ten times. I’ve seen successful initiatives that could be copied in other European countries with the same results. And I’ve seen a media landscape which could be a goldmine and powerful network if they would only touch each other.

Two years ago I lived in the dungeon of my own community, today I have new and different perspective. If I was a community consultant I think I would be the one with all the great and successful ideas. I won’t go into personal details, but the blogging has even changed me on a professional level. Blogging Afro-European means reading French, German and Spanish and of course English again, so working on my languages was also a good training.

Is this the end?

No, I think it’s just a break.

Best wishes for 2011!

Erik K.

British rappers criticise Jay-Z

The UK Hip Hop scene is not amused with Jay Z’s visit to the White House. Wasn't Hip Hop about fighting the power? Apparently things have changed according to British rappers Akala and Lowkey. "Is Hip Hop serving power, or is Hip Hop challenging power," that is question. And, "if the US government loves the same rappers as you love, you have to question whose interests are those rappers serving. “

In a conversations three British minds (Akala, Lowkey and Saul Williams) discuss the current state of hip-hop and it's misguided use by the youth of today. They underline the various struggles in making music as an independent artist.

See more interesting stuff at www.bashy.com

Video: Nicole Bus: new neo-soul talent from Holland

Last week singer-songwriter Nicole Bus won the 25th anniversary edition of Holland’s longest running music competition “De Grote Prijs van Nederland” (" The Grand Prize of the Netherlands"). The competition was the launching point for many of Hollands major artists.

According to her Bio Nicole Bus (Dutch/Dutch-Antillean) is a soulful singer-songwriter with a raw and authentic sound. At age eleven Nicole started writing and composing her own songs. Her music is a presentation of her believes and deepest felt emotions.

Video of Nicole Bus's winning performance at “De Grote Prijs van Nederland” ("The Grand Prize of the Netherlands") in Paradiso


In 2006 she performed as opening act for the American gospel singer Canton Jones.

Recently Nicole finished a tailor made training program called ‘Harvest Me’ organized by De Nieuwe Oogst led by Tasha’s World. At the end of this program all the participating artists had the opportunity to present themselves in an unique showcase at the new Dutch music conference Buma Rotterdam Beats to a panel of judges from a varying range of international music institutions (universal music GB, warner/ chappell music NL, badboy records US).All the judges present were awestruck by Nicoles performance and praised her uk/us sound.



Nicole Bus's official website at www.nicolebus.nl

Video: Szjerdene: new soul-jazz talent from London

SoulCulture featured the fresh unsigned talent from London by the name of Szjerdene.
The young up-and-coming soul-jazz singers, Szjerdene presents her demo for free download featuring three songs as a warm up for forthcoming EP, Tailored, which promises to be a “soulful, bluesy fusion of sounds both old and new”.



Collage: The Demo is Szjerdene’s way of thanking “everyone who came down to all the gigs or have supported me in some way shape or form.” She tells us, “To record those three songs was such a pleasure to give back to all the listeners and followers I’ve acquired and also a marker to show how far I’ve grown as a musician when the EP is released.”



See Szjerdene on Myspace at www.myspace.com/szjerdene

Video: Musica Cubana - "Chan Chan"

Since my previous post was about Cuba, some Cuban music now. Musica Cubana, Live in Tokyo. The first successful world tour of the film Musica Cubana. The film tells the story of the young and contemporary music scene of Cuba.

The Cuban point of view about Afro-Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas and the Sakharov Prize

I posted a press release of the European Union regarding the Sakharov Prize which was given to Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas. The 48-year-old doctor of psychology was invited to receive the €50,000 prize in Strasbourg on 15 December.

But as always there are of two sides of a story. I received a comment which sheds some light on the Cuban perspective. Main critique about the press release regarding Cuban Guillermo Fariñas was that is was misinformation in both North America and Europe.

From the Cuban point of view the press release ignored and distorted the truth on purpose to bring up these individuals as advocates of alleged human rights violations, when they are actually paid agents of a foreign power to subvert the Constitution of a sovereign country.

Read more on Dignity Cuba (Spanish) at http://dignidadcuba.blogspot.com

Interesting point of view!

Ayo is back! World Premiere On December 21st 2010

World Premiere! On Tuesday December 21st 2010, Ayo invites you to listen exclusively to her new single. Go to www.ayomusic.com

World Fencing Champion Maureen Nisima joins the champion supporters backing Annecy Olympics Bid 2018 (France)

Following on from her first individual world Epée title at the World Championships held in November at the Grand Palais in Paris, French fencer Maureen Nisima has come out behind the French bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, reports Around the Rings.

This new title adds to Maureen Nisima's already impressive record, with 2 world team titles in 2008 and 2008. The champion, already a figurehead in the fencing world, adds her name to the list of sports champions backing Annecy's bid for 2018.

Video of Nisima giving fencing lessons to a journalist


Maureen Nisima was born in Bondy France (1981) and is of Martinique origin. The French national fencing team has many fencers from the Caribbean and French Guiana.

The Emergence of Afro-Europe from an Afro-Flemish Perspective

My interpretation of the Flag for the Flanders Region of Belgium, combined with some African colours, the 'AfroFlemish Flag' so to speak (The original flag is yellow, representing a black lion called 'The Black Lion of Flanders'. This symbol has a strong political meaning in Belgium)

I am currently working on a film about black identity within the Flemish world of Belgium. For those who do not follow the Belgian social and political situation, I live in a bilingual country with a lot of communitarian (or call it ‘ethnic’) tension between the Dutch speaking Flemish population in the northern part of the country and the French speaking south. There are no wars or fights of course (I guess you’d have heard about that) but politicians and media are constantly blaming the other side for all national problems. If white Belgians don’t even know who they are, it is an even more complex issue for those whose parents and grandparents migrated to Belgium.

However, black people of very different origin tend to stand outside this issue. As Flemish identity is currently a hot topic in Belgium I wondered how black Belgians define themselves within this discourse. I decided to start interviewing black Belgians living in the Flanders on these identity issues, using very explicit questions on identity. Generally though, we are not tempted to talk about these issues overtly.

Below I will introduce you to different books recently written on the black experience in Europe. I also featured a 10 min interview with French historian and writer Pap Ndiaye on his very intersting book 'The Black Condition'.


I planned an interview with the most famous black politician in Belgium (Flemish), a city councilor in the Flemish town of Sint-Niklaas. He introduced me to a book written by an African American professor, Allison Blakely (Boston University). The book was entitled ‘Black people in the Dutch world. The Evolution of Racial Imagery in a Modern Society’ (1993) and attracted my attention immediately. It was a very interesting interview in which I heard very good arguments about the symbiosis of black identity and European identity (in his case Flemish identity).

A quick search of Allison Blakely online made me discover he is currently working on a new project called ‘The Emergence of Afro-Europe’, i.e. he’s working on a book about us … He also wrote the first chapter of ‘Black Europe and the African Diaspora’ (2009) edited by Darlene Clark Hine, Trica Danielle Keaton and Stephen Small. I ordered it online and will read it and write about it on this blog soon. Although the introduction of ‘Black Europe’ was written by Philomena Essed, a black Dutch scholar, it is worth noting that many African American social scientists feel naturally attracted by the subject and tend to dominate it. Well, of course they have been thinking and working on racial and identity issues way before there even was a substantial presence of blacks in Europe. Allison Blakely also wrote the first chapter of this book.

Today, black people in Europe (of very different origins) tend to start analyzing their situation and identity, finding a lot of inspiration in the American world. This blog is an expression of this new trend. (Although it already started in the 1930’s with the négritude literary movement that was also inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and W.E.B. Du Bois.)

The UK were first in producing substantial work on black identity in Europe. Paul Gilroy’s ground breaking work ‘There ain’t no black in the Union Jack’ (1991) was followed by the still very influential work on the transnational black experience ‘The Black Atlantic’ (1993). As a bilingual Belgian I am naturally attracted to the French speaking world too where last year I discovered two very interesting works on the subject: ‘La condition noire. Essai sur une minorité française’ (2008) by Pap Ndiaye (only in French)(who also studied in the US, check his interview on France24 in English below) and ‘Noirs de France’ (2007) by politician Rama Yade. The former is a very detailed analyses of the black experience in France while the latter is more a short and personal overview of current racial issues concerning blacks in France. Both books emphasize the fact that black French people are not a community as such but form several communities (Africans from several parts of Africa, Caribbeans, Muslims, Christians, mixed race, …). They share a common experience though, an experience of being culturally French, being perceived as foreign, and being perceived as ‘black’ (which contains several stereotypes they are often confronted with in a predominantly white country). Recently I discovered ‘Portraits de douze noirs de France: ni éboueurs, ni sportifs, ni vigiles, ni musicien’ (2009) (Translation: Portraits of Twelve French Blacks: nor garbage men, nor sports men, nor vigils, neither musicians) by Baba Diawara, a very interesting little book. And I guess there must be tons of new literary productions of the sort all over Europe now, besides video and documentaries.

Literature and video production on blacks in Europe was virtually nonexistent in the 20th century (except for the UK and maybe France, both since the 90’s). Since the start of the new millennium it is literally booming in those countries and I guess this means that in other parts it must be growing too. I discovered interesting Spanish, German and Russian productions on Afro-Europe (all to be find on this blog) and I guess there are people all over Europe creating and working on the subject.

I would like readers of this blog to contribute their knowledge in comments below. Do you know of any important books on the black experience in Europe written in any language, whether existing in an English translation or not. Do you know of documentaries about black people in a European country? Let us know. This blog is an inventory for all this productions and is a platform to spread that knowledge gathered through all these experiences.

On an academic level there is the website afroeurop@s (bilingual English-Spanish) which brings together scholars from all over Europe who focus on the subject.
 
Pap Ndiaye on France24 (In English) talking about being black in France:

Pap Ndiaye, "The Black condition"
Geüpload door france24. - Nieuwscontent direct van de pers.

Spike Lee talks to black filmmakers and fans in Amsterdam

Spike Lee was in Amsterdam. On Tuesday he also talked in Amsterdam South East (the Bijlmer) with young Dutch black filmmakers and fans.

Spike Lee was at the Stadsschouwberg Amsterdam as a guest of The John Adams Institute and Binger Film Lab on December 14th, to talk about his work, politics, race, identity and inspiration. And to promote his book with photographs and interviews of his success film "Do the right thing".



The newspaper Het Parool and Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported some of the questions, answers and quotes of the meeting in Amsterdam South East with the black filmmakers and fans. You can listen to some audio here.

Question from the audiance: why are there so few black actors in science fiction films. And what can young Antilleans and Surinamese learn from the African-American civil rights struggle.

Spike Lee: "I am a filmmaker, not Obi Wan Kenobi. What I do know is that education is the key to a better future. In America there are more black boys in jail then on high school. I hope things are better here."

When asked if the negative portrayal of African-Americans has come to an end now that Obama is president, Lee replied: "blacks in films are rappers, drug dealers or just idiots. That hasn’t changed, not even after Obama."

Lee continued: "American films influence the way people in the entire world talk, walk and think. But the gatekeepers in Hollywood protect the influence. Will Smith is almost the biggest star of the whole world, but he also has no access to the real power."

Lee tells his audience that it is likely that Obama will not be re-elected. "There are more death threats against Obama than any of the previous presidents of America. And that's of course because he is colored."

One of the fans of Spike Lee's is Irish Verwey. She agrees with Spike Lee that you have use your own talent to make the film you want. "There is talent," says Verwey, "but it is not bundled. This was a great moment of inspiration to achieve something together. Spike Lee does not have to come and help us, we must do it ourselves."

But Spike Lee has promised he will return to Amsterdam to attend a premiere of a Dutch black film.

SCAWDI wants to meet Black history interest groups in the UK and abroad

SCAWDI (Sparkbrook Caribbean and African Women's Development Initiative) is a community organisation committed to engaging local people with their own heritage.

Based in Birmingham, England we have recently completed a 12 month project researching the Black presence in the West Midlands prior to 1918. This has been done by training volunteers to investigate and narrate historical sources. We have published a short book named after this project, History Detectives, which has details of all of the Black people we have found during our research period to date, fourteen of whom have had their stories told in full.

We are aware that there are many other Black history interest groups, both at home and abroad, who share our passion for uncovering hidden histories such as these, but too much work goes unnoticed.

We would like to form as many contacts as possible with groups and individuals that have similar research and organisational objectives so that all our work can be shared to as wide a network as possible.

If you would like to connect with us please contact me at dav.callaghan@gmail.com or visit our website www.scawdi.co.uk. Our mailing address is Friends Institute, 220 Moseley Road, Birmingham, B12 ODG.