1st of July Slavery Remembrance Day in The Netherlands - My personal celebration

The 1st of July is the official Slavery Remembrance Day in the Netherlands. Slavery was abolished in the Dutch colonies in 1863. Because my family is split up in an Antillean and a Surinamese part, I will celebrate both cultures evenly.

Surinamese and Antillean (Dutch Caribbean) people share the same Dutch history, but they have a slightly different culture. But most of all we share the same African heritage. So my personal celebration for today in videos.

The 1st of July is also called "Keti Koti", which is Surinamese for "breaking the chains". Although the remembrance day in the Netherlands is meant for the Dutch Caribbean (the former Dutch Antilleans) and Suriname, the date is a Surinamese slavery commoration date and not an Antillean one.

The 17th of August is the national day of commemoration in the Antilles. On this day, the revolt led by Tula is remembered and the leaders of the revolt are honored. The day was declared a national holiday by proclamation in 1985.


The videos

Video of the Maroons of Suriname, music and photos

The Maroons of Suriname are often called the best kept part of Africa outside Africa. Because of their hard guerrilla warfare the Dutch closed a peace treaty with the Ndyuka people on 10the October 1760. The music is called 'Kauna' and the language could be Saramacan or Ndyuka.

A music video of creole Surinamse theatre group Naks

They sing about Mai Aisa. It's a god who is part of the traditional afro-Surinamese african religion called "Winti". It's a nature god.
When the woman talks she says: I would rather be a Kankantri (a type of Caribbean tree), so I can use my power on every side. ... Yes my motherland Suriname ...
They sing in the creole language Surinamese.

Video: Curacao: Poet Ellis Juliana

The woman says if the master thinks he can be the boss over our mind, then he is crazy. Nobody is the boss of our dances. We are masters of our fight.

Ellis Juliana says, the masters sold their slaves. He sold the men, and the women and children stayed behind. That’s what song is all about. A slave is a chicken mama, a slave is a chicken mama. Juliana says, it's real African, they expressed their shame of what has happened to them. He says I can imagine how they sang the song, hours and hours, how they discharged their feelings. The music is called "Tambu".

The language is Papiamento. A more Spanish Creole language of the Dutch Caribbean.

And to celebrate this day a of song of Izaline Calister - "Wow'i Kariño" ("Friendly eyes"), which she sang on Mother's day. Cailister won the Dutch Edison Award 2009 in the category Jazz and World Music. She was born on Curacao, lives in the Netherlands and sings in Papiamento.


Some links
One of the books that made me more aware of my history was Creole drum, An Anthology of Creole Literature in Surinam. And it's in English.
http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/voor007creo01_01/

If you have Surinamese ancestry, you may want to take a look in the online database of the Dutch National archive.
http://www.gahetna.nl/collectie/index/nt00340

Remembrance day

A video of the commemoration of 2009 in Amsterdam. The video is in the middle of the translation. (The native inhabitans also play a part in the celebration/commoration, because they also were enslaved. Recently I heard that the As)

Girl: I think it’s very important to be here today, because we celebrate the abolition of slavery and I think that all Surinamese should celebrate this day

Surinamese Asian girls: Actually we are here because it’s a beautiful day in the park, there is music, food and there are lot of nice things do to.

Elvira Sweet (then the chairman of city counsel of Amsterdam South East): It's important that people know there roots and that eventually people will find it normal to live here and because we have a shared history

Guy with red shirt: I think it's important to remember what has happened so many years ago



Dutch Woman, under secretary/minster Ank Bijleveld: I've seen the plantations in the Dutch Antillean. And I can hardly imagine how people have experienced it. That's why it's important that there is such a commemoration.

Two girls: We are here because we think it's very important for us, as Surinamese girls, to celebrate our history. And because there is lot of tasty food.

Eddy Campbell, director of Slavery Institute Ninsee. The youth has the future. And they need to celebrate Keti Koti because it contributes to the strengthening of their identity.

Voice: Is it also important that Dutch young people celebrate this?
Guy in Red shirt. Sure, That they realise it, that they know what their history is and why we are here. And why we are one.

Voice of secretary/minster Ank Bijleveld: It had a very big influence on The Netherlands of today. You can't deny what has happened in the past. You have to learn that the slave trade was dehumanising. …

Voice: the Dutch government has voiced regret for the past. Do you think The Netherlands has done enough?

Eddy Campbell: I don't think it's so important. It's just a phrase. What does regret mean if you don't take real steps to take away the disadvantaged position where we are in, and the young people are in today.

Elvira Sweet (then the chairman of city counsel of Amsterdam South East): I thing it's good gesture. But I think it has to do with the future, with acceptance, and to combat exclusion and discrimination. I think that's more important then words.

Tula - the Rebellion of 1795 in Curaçao. The video is a style impression for a feature near future about Tula

The language is Papiamento
Check out the website http://www.tulalives.org/

The Cape Verdean diaspora

There are many Cape Verdean communities in the world. Because Cape Verde was a colony of Portugal, the largest community is of course based in Portugal.

But there are also communities in France, the UK and in The Netherlands. And not only in Europe, also in the US and South America. (Photo Suzanna Lubrano in Ebony)

In a story on the blog 'The Great Cape Verde Adventure' the blogger writes about this Cape Verdean diaspora.

"How many Cape Verdeans actually live outside of Cape Verde? These individuals comprise the Cape Verdean diaspora.

The popular thinking is that more Cape Verdeans live outside Cape Verde than live within it. The poplation of Cape Verde is just over half-million residents in 2011 (based on the most recent census). I've heard estimates for the population of the diaspora that range from half-million to one million.



And it's a very interesting question to ask for several reasons.

First, it has significant implications for the country's economy because almost 10% of the GDP comes from remittances sent to Cape Verdean families from members who live in other lands, and provides support to families for the basics of living as well as to start small businesses. Remittances were actually an even higher percentage of the total economic output but have been surpassed by tourism and foreign direct investments."

Read the full story at http://greatcvadventure.blogspot.com

Cape Verde for absolute beginners

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa.

The previously uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th Century, and became an important location in the Atlantic slave trade due to their geographically advantageous position.

Most of the population is of creole ethnicity, mixed from black African and European descent. The European men who colonized Cape Verde did not usually bring wives or families with them. As female African slaves were brought to the islands inter-marriages occurred (source wiki).

Black flight: Black British actors are moving to the US

Via Shadow and Act
It looks likes a black flight. British TV and theatre is suffering from a talent drain of black British actors, with many looking to the US for work because of the lack of opportunities in the UK, leading figures have warned, wrote the UK magazine Stage.

High-profile performers… have warned that home-grown stars are leaving the country due to its failure to fully embrace multicultural casting.

They argue the UK does not offer enough lead roles to black performers or commission programmes reflecting the diversity of life in Britain today. By contrast, the US is considered more inclusive in its casting and as somewhere black actors can better progress their careers.

Shadow and Act wrote the BBC has “rejected criticism that UK television does not provide enough parts for black actors, claiming that the Corporation “leads the way” in diverse casting,” siting primetime drama series with starring roles for Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Second, unlike the BBC, UK’s Channel 4 admits that “casting is always an area where we could do better,” and further that they are “aware of black actors looking for work in the US;“ although, while the USA might present “wider opportunities,” they believe there’s also “more competition.” “An area where I think we can really make progress is by casting against type and taking more risks with talent. It’s an area where agents, producers and broadcasters can do more,” a rep for Channel 4 said.

Also read: There’s no educated ethnic middle class in this country (the UK) to counter the black 'street’ stereotype, writes Lindsay Johns. The post is a follow up. Read it at S&A

Magazine Transition 105 - Blacks, Jews, and Black Jews

The American magazine Transition 105, of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, is teeming with thorny questions about being black in a global context.

Even the “Black-Jewish Question,” traditionally an American obsession, gains complexity when it involves a half-Kenyan president, Israel, or Igbo Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Abuja. Three writers explore three different intersections of the tribe and the people.

And the issue follows several more journeys through the Diaspora in search of black meaning. A review of the new biography of Marcus Garvey, transatlantic hero, celebrates ties between Africa and the Americas, just as Bayo Holsey questions Wole Soyinka’s reading of Africa’s role in the slave trade.

And amid these abstract tides of history, pushing back and forth, individuals are caught in small eddies: an African American anthropologist visits Brazil and has trouble getting back home; an American daughter of South African parents floats like a ghost between different cultures of death; a black writer can’t quite find home in Harlem. With the idea of home in transition, at least all these ideas find a home in Transition.

Born in Africa and bred in the Diaspora, Transition is a unique forum for the freshest, most compelling, most curious ideas about race. Since its founding in 1961, the magazine has kept apace of the rapid transformation of the black world and has remained a leading forum of intellectual debate. Now, in an age that demands ceaseless improvisation, we aim to be both an anchor of deep reflection on black life and a map charting new routes through the globalized world.

For more information go http://dubois.fas.harvard.edu/transition-105

Keri Hilson gives advice on music business (London)

The UK online music magazine SoulCulture produced two very interesting music business videos with American singer-songwriter Keri Hilson.

In the first video Keri Hilson talks to SoulCulture about the challenges of the music business, bonding with her musical associates such as Timbaland and the reality behind the perceived arrogance of Kanye West. Where some suffer from the blurred line between the person and the performer, Keri maintains “It’s always me”.



See full story here

Earlier this month R&B singer/songwriter Keri Hilson visited inner city London training provider DV8 Training in Walthamstow, East London to give a motivational talk on careers in the music business drawing on her own experience and Q&A with young people from some of the poorest London boroughs.



See full story here

Petition: Support National Institute for the study of Dutch slavery and its legacy (NiNsee)

Sign Petition
As of January 2013, there is a good chance that the National Institute for the study of Dutch slavery and its legacy (NiNsee) will no longer be subsidized by the the Ministry of Education, Research and Science. On Monday, June 27th, the State Secretary Halbe Zijlstra will discuss plans to discontinue the subsidy within the Tweede Kamer (House of Commons).

If these plans go through, it represents the end for NiNsee. This would be disastrous as the slavery past concerns us all. Without NiNsee:

- The only knowledge institute concerned with trans-Atlantic slavery in Holland will cease to exist.

- The impact of the Dutch slavery past on Dutch society, will rarely be discussed nationally or internationally.

- The national slavery monument in Amsterdam's Oosterpark, which is inextricably linked to NiNsee, will become an empty gesture.

- Our shared history will no longer be commemorated on a national level. In this respect, and in the eyes of the Council of Culture, NiNsee can be compared to the Dutch Institute for War Documentation (NIOD). The significant role that NIOD plays in the memorialization and understanding of the Second World War, is performed by NiNsee for the much longer period of the slavery past.

- The Dutch slavery past will barely be represented in an accessible way, as it is now via publications, exhibitions and teaching packages. Because of this, knowledge will be concealed from the larger public and the next generation of Dutch people, with the disastrous consequence that the voices of our ancestors will gradually disappear from our collective memory.

- In the "new" Netherlands that this cabinet envisions, the Dutch slavery past will be completely erased from our memory.

- Many Caribbean and Afro Dutch people will again experience alienation within Dutch society.

The only institute that is concerned with the Dutch slavery past and its legacy will not be dismantled in such a careless fashion. Sign the petition to prevent the loss of knowledge and legacy.

Sign Petition here

Dutch protesters burn photocopies of ‘Book of Negroes’ ('Someone Knows My Name') cover

A Dutch anti-slavery group has followed through on its threat to symbolically burn a copy of Canadian author Lawrence Hill’s acclaimed Book of Negroes because of its title, wrote The Star.

A spokesperson for Amsterdam’s de Telegraaf newspaper confirmed a photocopy of the book’s cover was burned Wednesday afternoon in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam, which has an anti-slavery monument.

The Dutch group, the Federation for Honour and Reparation of Slavery in Suriname, recently announced it would publicly burn the book on June 22 if the title wasn’t changed. The book has only recently been published in the Netherlands under the title, Het Negerboek.

The Book of Negroes is the title of an actual historical document which documents the migration of 3,000 African slaves who supported the British cause in the American Revolution and were allowed to go from New York to Nova Scotia. Many of them later returned to Africa.

“The title is not intended to be offensive, but. . . to shed light on a forgotten document and on a forgotten migration, that of thousands of blacks from the USA to Canada in 1783,” Hill wrote Groenberg in reply.

It’s not the first time the award-winning book’s title has raised controversy. Publishers in the United States and Australia insisted the title be changed to Someone Knows My Name and in Quebec, the book is titled Aminata, the name of a female slave who returned to Sierra Leone after being abducted as an 11-year-old.

In an interview with the Montreal Gazette author Lawrence Hill said: "If Mr. Groenberg spent five minutes reading The Book of Negroes, he probably would not want to burn it anymore, Mr. Hill suggested."

He added. "Book burning is something that Nazis did, it's something that the people who led the Spanish Inquisition did, it's a gesture designed to intimidate and silence -- it's hateful."

In the Dutch newspaper Het Parool Groenberg said he was not going to burn the book. “ This book is my friend. It tells the history and the horrors of slavery. Things that happened to my family.” See a video of the protest here.

Burning the entire cover wasn’t an option either. “ They have put one of our ancestors on the cover. We aren’t going to set fire to our grandmother,” said Groenberg.

The group "Eer and herstel" of Dutch Surinamese activist Roy Groenberg has threatened in the past to burn the standard Dutch dictionary “De Grote VanDale” because of the word Negro. Groenberg wanted the word to be removed. Although the word remained in the dictionary, the book wasn't burned.

The group was more successful with a candy called "Negro kiss", "Negerzoen" in Dutch. The name was later changed to "Buys Zoenen" ("Buys kisses").

But the Dutch publisher of the book knew this organisation would protest. In an interview in De Pers the publisher said they wanted to be provocative. Since Canadian author Lawrence Hill was in the Netherlands a few month ago to promote his book, he could have known that some black people in the Netherlands would protest against the title.

But both the publisher and the author got what they wanted, publicity. So one way or the other profit is being made. Again.

On the Dutch TV station AT5 the book was burned, but not by the Federation for Honour and Reparation of Slavery in Suriname of activist Groenberg.

See a video about the book

School’s refusal to let boy wear cornrow braids is ruled racial discrimination

Boy’s family wins case in high court against Harrow college in North London that bans ‘gang-related’ hairstyles.

A school’s anti-gang ban on unconventional hairstyles has resulted in “unlawful, indirect racial discrimination which is not justified”, the high court has ruled.

The test case decision is a victory for the family of African-Caribbean teenager “G”, who wears his hair in cornrow braids as part of a family tradition.

G, who cannot be named, and his mother challenged a refusal by St Gregory’s Catholic Science College in Kenton, Harrow, north London, to let G through the school gates with his braids in September 2009, when he was 11.

Mr Justice Collins, sitting in London, ruled that the hair policy was not unlawful in itself, “but if it is applied without any possibility of exception, such as G, then it is unlawful”.

He said in future the school authorities must consider allowing other boys to wear cornrows if it is “a genuine family tradition based on cultural and social reasons”.

Even though the family’s application for judicial review was successful, G, now 13, does not wish to return to the school, which he left in tears on his first day.

“This is an important decision,” said G’s solicitor, Angela Jackman, after the hearing. “It makes clear that non-religious cultural and family practices associated with a particular race fall within the protection of equalities legislation.”

The judge emphasised that the school’s “short back and sides” hair policy was perfectly permissible and lawful, but exceptions had to be made on ethnic and cultural grounds.

He stressed that the school was “not in any way racist” but had made “an honest mistake” in failing to allow for exceptions, adding: “The school has had glowing Ofsted reports and there is no question that it is an excellent school.”

The judge said headteacher Andrew Prindiville had justified the policy as necessary to stop the gang culture prevalent in the area, in which haircuts were used as badges of membership, coming into the school.

Cornrows were not necessarily gang-linked but other styles, like the skinhead haircut, might well have that connection, the judge said.

The fear was that allowing exceptions to the “short back and sides” rule would undermine the anti-gang policy.

But the judge pointed out that exceptions were already made for Rastafarians and Sikh boys who wore hair beyond the collar, and similar exceptions should be made for African Caribbeans.

The judge said G’s family was not alone in regarding cornrows as part of their culture: “There are, on the evidence, other African Caribbeans who take the same view.”

The judge refused the head teacher and governors permission to appeal to the court of appeal, but they can still go to the appeal judge directly to ask them to consider the case.

The judge stressed that he was not ruling on whether the exclusion of G in 2009 was unlawful. It had been suggested that G’s family might bring a county court damages action over the case.

That would be the time to decide whether or not the school had dealt with G’s desire to wear cornrows in an unlawful manner, said the judge.

Jackman said the judge had found the school’s policy unlawful as it applied to African Caribbean boys with G’s beliefs because it indirectly discriminated on race grounds.

She added: “For G, wearing his hair in cornrows is a fundamental cultural practice which would have had no adverse impact upon the school. His wishes, however, were dismissed by the school without any consideration. Whilst schools face the challenges of maintaining good discipline, a community environment and their particular ethos, this case is a reminder that they must do so within the boundaries of the law.”

Via http://repeatingislands.com

But Mr Justice Collins, sitting in London, ruled that the hair policy was not unlawful in itself, “but if it is applied without any possibility of exception, such as G, then it is unlawful”.

So it appears a school can still put a ban on cornrow braids when a school regards it as a ‘gang-related’ hairstyle. Unless someone can prove the cornrows are part of his or her cultural tradition.

Also see No nappy hair during classical ballet

New Project: “EOTO-Archiv”– Black German literature archive

In the 1990s Vera Heyer, a Black German lady, began building a collection of books about the black experience in Germany.

Unfortunately she died before she could see her dream become true. A new project entitled ‘EOTO-archiv’ is set up to realize Vera Heyer’s dream to preserve this important part of black German history.

What is the Each One Teach One Archive (eoto-archiv.de) in Berlin, Germany, about?

By Tina Bach

To get literature by Black authors about Black life experiences globally is not an easy thing to accomplish in Germany. And if we are speaking about literature that is already some decades old, it gets even harder. Books that were published either in German or English language by African, Black European, Caribbean, and African American authors can oftentimes only be found in second hand / antiquarian bookshops or in libraries.

To make the diversity of global Black life experiences accessible to a wide audience including the next generations, it is indispensible to maintain such books. This has a special importance if it concerns books written in German language as they offer the unique opportunity for readers to learn about Black literature even without mastering the English or French language. Many literature highlights are still first translated in one of these two languages.

The Each One Teach One Archive (www.eoto-archiv.de) project in Berlin aims to make an existing archive of about 2000 Black books accessible to the public through building a library structure for it. It is a project that was originally initiated by Vera Heyer, a Black German lady who started building the book collection already in the 1990s. Unfortunately Vera died before she could see her dream become true which is to create a public place for these books so that the goal which was meaningful to her - teaching and learning through literature - can continue.

Currently the Each One Teach One Archive is in the process of being established which includes documenting and structuring the literature, getting a voluntary association registered in order to be able to able for funds, and ultimately to look for an appropriate location in Berlin.

In the meantime while building the project the initiators are using their blog to get people interested in this initiative and to network with other organizations and individuals for whom the topic of knowledge transfer is also essential in their work.

An important aim is to get the next generation, the youth, involved from the beginning. When the project is “live”, the message ‘Each One Teach One’ shall be exercised amongst all participating generations and include all different types of literature (oral and written) and ultimately help create new literature for the future.

See website at www.eoto-archiv.de

Video: Afro-German writer Olumide Popoola about the difference between Germany and London

Nigerian German writer Olumide Popoola discusses the difference between living in London and Germany, and she reads from a her short novel 'This is not about sadness'.

She is interviewed by Henry Bonsu, the presenter of Shoot The Messenger on the channel Vox Africa.

Olumide Popoola is a Nigerian German performer, poet and writer. She has performed internationally, increasingly also as a guest lecturer or speaker and collaborates with other artists and musicians.



Check out her blog http://olumidepopoola.blogspot.com

Diversidad Paris Urban video + remix contest part 2

Beat-makers from all over Europe will compete to remix
"Concrete Jungle" and "Anthem" both produced by Eversor for "The Experience Album".

Enter the contest and win great prizes! More information here.


Video:The Diversidad Show at “Le Trianon” – Paris, May 2011

News portal for UK based African and Caribbean Writers

Photo: Alex Wheatle
If you want to stay updated about UK based Black writers, literary events and workshops in the UK, check out the blog UK Black Writers Board.

The author of the blog also tries to keep track of Black writers in the rest of Europe. See the page European Based Authors.

On the blog an interview with British author Alex Wheatle. One of the questions is, why is there, even in the 21st century, still a lack of black writing?

Alex Wheatle: "Publishers don’t trust it. Publishing is too white, really. When you go to the big publishing houses, you rarely see black faces. There’s a fear of taking on black writers. But, in my experience, the British people are very tolerant. I find that at my events, people come because they love reading, they love fiction, they love stories. It seems that those who have the power think: ‘Oh, Alex Wheatle’s books only appeal to the West Indian community’ and for me that’s false. We need to start believing that all kinds of stories can appeal to anybody." Read the full interview here.

Black in Latin America - Brazil a racial Paradise?

Black in Latin American is a four-part series about black people in Latin America. Interesting part, you can watch all episodes also in Europe.

One of the episodes is about Brazil. It's entitled "Brazil a racial Paradise?". In Brazil, Professor Gates delves behind the façade of Carnival to discover how this ‘rainbow nation’ is waking up to its legacy as the world’s largest slave economy. Also check out the comment on this episode on the website Fly Brother.