Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Digest for usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com - 25 updates in 9 topics
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Osakue Omoera
Apr 17, 2015, 11:40:37 PM4/17/15
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Congrats Prof Moses.
On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 9:35 PM, <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
- Interview with a Bookstore: City Lights: Lost Ducks, Beatniks, and Sex in the Storeroom - 1 Update
- VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS - 7 Updates
- Toni Morrison’s ‘God Help the Child’ By KARA WALKER - 1 Update
- Youtube: Tunji Oyelana & The Benders - Ifa - 1 Update
- Congratulations to Moses Ochonu! - 11 Updates
- Deepening our democracy beyond elections - 1 Update
- Petition to stop Xenophobia in South Africa - 1 Update
- President Jonathan’s administration in retrospect - 1 Update
- URGENT NOTICE - Please I did not solicit any money for my mother's burial - 1 Update
Funmi Tofowomo Okelola <cafeaf...@aol.com>: Apr 17 09:56AM -0700
http://lithub.com/interview-with-a-bookstore-city-lights/
Interview with a Bookstore: City Lights
Lost Ducks, Beatniks, and Sex in the Storeroom
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet laureate of Coney Island, cofounder of
perhaps America’s most famous bookstore, wrote of his adopted city:
The changing light / at San Francisco / is none of your East
Coast light
none of your / pearly light of Paris
The light of San Francisco / is a sea light / an island light
There are moments in the afternoon, when the fickle coastal weather
allows, that the upstairs poetry room at City Lights—the bookstore
Ferlinghetti founded in 1953 with Peter D. Martin—fills with a perfect
San Francisco light. It becomes easy, then, to forget you’re reading
at the epicenter of mid-century counterculture, where the first
bullets were fired in a literary revolution that would change America,
the world.
Named for the Charlie Chaplin movie (Martin was a film buff, and would
soon move to New York to open a bookstore specializing in cinema),
City Lights would grow quickly—both as bookstore and press—subsuming
the adjacent flower shop, and then taking over the entire Artigues
building on Columbus Avenue.
We had a chance to talk with Executive Director Elaine Katzenberger,
along with several booksellers, about City Lights then and now.
Why did Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin open City Lights?
Elaine: The idea was to open an all-paperback bookshop, which was an
intentionally democratizing move at a time when most books were still
sold in hardcover only. Quality paperbacks were very new at the time,
and mostly unavailable outside of news racks in New York and spinners
in drugstores here and there. Bookshops in San Francisco at the time
kept banker’s hours, serving a businessman’s downtown clientele, and
the atmosphere wasn’t particularly welcoming for the young writers and
readers who wanted a place to congregate and engage with books—and
with each other. The idea from the beginning was to create a “literary
meetingplace,” which became the City Lights masthead.
How is the legacy of the Beats reflected in the store today?
Elaine: In a nutshell, the writers of the Beat Generation were
responding to the political conservatism and cultural conformism of
mid-century America. The writings and the lifestyles we associate with
the Beats were a conscious attempt to break out of scripted roles and
models for “success.” The desire was for greater personal authenticity
and individual voice, for an expanded realm of choice and for some
form of freedom from the capitalist treadmill. Of course, a critical
part of that ethos was to experiment with literary forms—both fiction
and poetry, and later, non-fiction. Poetry in particular became a
means to vividly interact with the zeitgeist, and it was a conscious
decision to popularize the form, make it “speak” directly to readers
(and sometimes huge live poetry audiences) in their own vernacular. It
was also a time when non-Western spiritual and cultural influences
were finding their way into the culture, and the literature and
practice of Zen Buddhism in particular played an important role in
motivating the desire for an “expanded consciousness.”
Every aspect of those aspirations—the attempts to throw off oppressive
or repressive forces, both external and internal; attempts to open the
mind and to engage politically; the commitment to creativity as a
potent form of revolutionary thinking and action—all of this is still
central to our sense of mission and purpose.
How intimate has been the relationship between City Lights the
bookstore, and City Lights the publisher?
Elaine: City Lights was founded as an attempt to further a robust,
informed confrontation with the realities of the times, and to provide
a place for people to engage with ideas and with each other. Lawrence
Ferlinghetti launched his publishing imprint two years after he co-
founded the bookstore, and with that City Lights was able to grow
beyond the physical limitations of the bookstore itself, creating a
network of writers and readers across the country and, after a while,
around the world. Without the publishing company, City Lights would
have been an extraordinary bookstore, but with it, City Lights began
to create its own enduring contribution to cultural history, and at a
certain point, it began to assume mythic proportions. The bookstore
has become a destination as a result, the physical space where people
come to experience something of what they perceive to be the mission
and aesthetics of our project.
What’s your favorite section in the store?
Andy Bellows, Store Manager: I have a soft spot for our Surrealism
section. It was here before I arrived (over 20 years ago) and has been
surprisingly vibrant over all these years. It not only has the well-
known French texts, but it also incorporates Surrealist descendants
from all over the world.
Layla Gibbon: Oulipo or Topographies.
Vanessa Martini, Receiving Supervisor: Our fiction sections are almost
too broad to really have those as my answer, so I will go a little
smaller and pick Topographies and Commodity Aesthetics. These two
sections face each other and are the clearest examples, to my mind, of
both academic publishing and bookstores adapting to meet the discourse
around digital culture. Topographies started as a space/place/body
section; it has since expanded to include digital humanities and the
closest City Lights comes to computing books. Commodity Aesthetics can
seem grab-bag at times but includes books ranging from race theory to
critiques of fashion to histories of piracy into the Internet era. I
love shelving them and always discover something rad.
If you had infinite space what would you add?
Andy: Actually, not having infinite space is a blessing. The
relatively small space allows us to concentrate on carrying only what
we want.
Peter Maravelis, Events Coordinator: For the sake of independent
presses everywhere, I’d propose the creation of a think-tank and
design agency whose sole purpose is to strive to make books more
beautiful whilst affordable to produce. Using the latest in 3-D
printing, CNC, laser, and recycling technologies, such an agency would
encourage the exploration of an aesthetic born from a post-minimalist
perspective. The lusciousness of embossed linen covers, letterpress
quality type, stitched binding, and iridescent paper—all in the
service of matching the printed message with a worthy vessel to carry
it.
Tân Khánh Cao: Books in French and more room to display art books.
Layla: Perhaps more space for art/photography monographs or an escape
hatch for when drunks and/or maniacs harass.
Vanessa: More gender theory. A nap chair for the staff.
What do you do better than any other bookstore?
Andy: I think our poetry room is unrivaled. We’ve dedicated our entire
upstairs floor to poetry. It’s a beautiful space that begs you to grab
a book and read bathed in afternoon light.
Tân: Our commitment to issues of race and class is not only present,
but also essential to the way the store is curated. We also stock an
unusually large selection of backlist titles.
Vanessa: My favorite thing is when someone comes to the counter and
says either “I’ve been looking for this book everywhere and nobody’s
had it but you” or “I have never seen this book anywhere else; never
even heard of it, so I’ve got to get it.” That’s the best feeling.
Layla: Providing a different point of view by not selling books that
are available everywhere, focusing instead on literature from non-
Western perspectives and smaller presses, and on subjects people don’t
necessarily know they are looking for like Surrealism, small press
poetry, people’s history, stolen continents, critical theory, and so on…
Who’s your weirdest regular?
Andy: We recently received a letter from a young woman who wanted us
to know, and hoped we wouldn’t be mortified by the fact, that she had
surreptitiously placed her father’s ashes in various nooks and
crannies throughout our poetry room. She said it was her father’s
favorite place in the world and she was comforted in knowing he was
there. He’s now a regular.
Tân: I don’t want to talk about him as the “weirdest” because he is
brilliant and fascinating and sweet. He is more marvelously strange
than weird.
Layla: Maybe the endless stream of frustrated business people who are
furious that we do not stock books about leadership/the 40-hour
workweek, etc.
Vanessa: Regular customers tend not to be so outlandishly weird. Weird
regular visitors, though, we get a lot of. It feels a bit wrong to
describe most of them though as they’re usually people who’ve been
screwed over by the shameful lack of mental health care in this
country. I guess, by extension, Reagan is the weirdest regular.
What’s the craziest situation you’ve ever had to deal with in the store?
Andy: We once had a customer complain that someone was smoking in the
basement. When we went down to check it out we discovered a woman
“servicing” a man who then complained to the woman, “I told you not to
smoke!” As if that was the only problem.
Tân: For a while there was a woman who used to sneak in a staff door,
and slide down the wooden chute into the room we receive books in. She
made herself a bed out of bubble wrap at the bottom of the chute and
was found asleep several times.
Layla: We are open from 10AM to midnight and I tend to work night
shifts, so some of the “crazy situations” I have had to deal with
aren’t that fun to recount. Not sure if these are “crazy” enough, but
since working at City Lights I have had a curse put on me by a
European “count,” befriended one of the cinematographers on Boris
Karloff’s last movie, found out the ladies who worked at the Lusty
Lady peepshow (RIP) staged a photo-shoot in the Poetry Room, and
listened to a guy explain to his kids that “that Jack Carroway guy was
born here.”
Vanessa: Definitely the duck. I can’t see the floor of the entrance
when at the counter and some German tourists said “Excuse me, did you
know there is a duck in here?” No, no I did not know. To make a long-
ish story short, the duck came, saw, freaked out, flew around, waddled
out, was eventually caught by some good Samaritans, and for all I know
is paddling around Golden Gate Park now. I’ll never forget the sound
of its quacks drifting up from the basement, though.
What’s your earliest/best memory about visiting a bookstore as a child?
Tân: Best. After cashing my first paycheck at 15, I came to City
Lights. Browsing, I found Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Dell
pocket edition. I had never heard of James Baldwin. I came back after
every paycheck for another until I had read them all.
Vanessa: Being overwhelmed by all the books and being told I could
only choose one. Still a problem.
If you weren’t running/working at a bookstore what would you be doing?
Tân: I’ve been in a bookstore for most of almost two decades. I have
no idea.
Layla: Finding other ways to frustrate businessmen.
What’s the future of bookselling?
Peter: Booksellers will more fully occupy their role as guardian of
the long narrative and extended attention span. As texting and
tweeting fragment language into a patois of bourgeois jingoism, the
booksellers shall arise to their rightful place as protectors of
critical thinking, humanism, and democracy. They will encourage the
citizenry to go against the grain. Book Clubs will emerge where
members memorize entire novels in one sitting (shades of Ray
Bradbury). Giordano Bruno will dance happily inside his tomb.
SLIDESHOW: City Lights Staff Recommendations
Funmi Tofowomo Okelola
-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives.
http://www.cafeafricana.com
kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>: Apr 17 08:58AM -0400
when we boycotted s africa we had a clear target, the apartheid govt,
and a clear goal, to end that govt's white minority rule and to put in
place a black majority govt.
here the target is much less definite, which is why a boycott is not the
proper technique.
the public figures who have spoken out in attacking foreigners are
political figures, and the thugs in the street who have carried out the
attacks are both their instruments and their supporters.
we need to identify who they are, and identify who opposes them
publicly, and try to inform ourselves enough about the political
processes in south africa so as to learn how to act meaningfully.
for instance, were we to take out ads in s african papers, attacking the
xenophobia, i could imagine a backlash where we, as foreigners, could be
seen as intervening in other people's local politics.
the boycott of s africa was a solidarity movement, led by people who
were themselves south africans. if we wished to support an
anti-xenophobic movement, we'd need to find out where such a movement
could be found and contact them.
like everyone, i want to help out, but we can't really do this on our own.
ken
On 4/17/15 3:50 AM, Toyin Falola wrote:
> an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com>.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu
Tade Aina <tadeak...@yahoo.com>: Apr 17 02:23PM
Dear all:It is going to be difficult to have a consensus on actions and reactions to the ongoing violence in Durban and townships but I want to bring to your notice my observations on feelings that have been growing in a number of countries on the continent. Since I relocated to Nairobi, Kenya from last October, my work has taken me across more than 17 African countries. Increasingly it is becoming clear, that South Africa's relationships with the rest of the continent is not driven by any high progressive ideals of pan-Africanism, brotherhood-sisterhood or "Ubuntu"! It is driven by naked economic interests carried by enterprises in banking and finance, telecommunications, foods and beverages, hotels and hospitality industries, ICTs, transport and aviation, higher education, arms and armaments, etc. Most African countries are considered as markets, their citizens at best as customers and clients and most times as nuisance and scroungers! The South African immigration services and visa provision treats the rest of us with contempt and then the waves of xenophobia and what I term "Afro-phobia" that has been condoned so far by the silence or reticent reactions of a business and political elite. I have seen the changes in my ability to obtain visas to visit South Africa either to start or inspect higher education projects or simply strengthen partnerships and collaborations with South African institutions from my days in New York to now even though I remain a US permanent resident. The differences from when I was based in NYC to the global undifferentiated humiliation in Nairobi is amazing. Now we see waves of killing and attacks that we call xenophobia. Is it all just xenophobia? When does it become ethnic cleansing or transition to some variant of genocide? The movement is on to mobilize and send a strong message to the South African establishment. Yes, boycotts and citizens' sanctions are legitimate parts of civil society's response. Some key individuals and groups are complaining, South Africa has DSTV, Protea groups and franchise, the airlines, security companies, breweries,services and products, telecoms and mobile providers and banks operating across the rest of Africa. Let us not stifle a legitimate avenue of protests. Let us leave those who want to start a movement to force the South African establishment to listen and act on reclaiming their respect and recognition of the humanity of other Africans to start their mobilization. At, times it is easier to get attention, when one provides economic responses to politically insensitive actors. This is why citizens' sanctions and boycotts must go on. It is not enough, we should also pressure the AU against having its functions or meetings in South Africa where the rest of us are not wanted. Millions of Africans spend their cedis, naira, shilling and other currency on South African goods, services and products. Withdrawing some portion of this might help shake up the South Africa establishment.My bit.taa.
On Friday, April 17, 2015 10:50 AM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
From: Wangui wa goro <wag...@gmail.com>
Date: Friday, April 17, 2015 at 2:46 AM
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
Thank you Kassahun and others for opening up a conversation. I share the view that it is not time to engage in boycotts and sanctions, but it is also not a time to be having cosy conversations. Intellectuals and academics must ask themselves harder questions which some South African's have been asking for a while now, and ask ourselves what our continued role is in our countries and continent, and the freedoms to which we have contributed.
I don't think one action fits all, but I think a strong public show of concern can be one way, as our voice is strong and significant.
One: We can for instance sign a petition publicly as coming from us as intellectuals and academics, artists... friends of South Africa etc.
Second, as with the Chibok and other situations, we can mount displeasure; and solidarity with those who have died and amplify it through dignified peaceful forms such as through the internet and days of demonstration around embassies and sit-ins or other modes of collective actions in our neighbourhoods, work places and even places of worship or communes, including virtual communes;
Third, those who have friends, relatives, activist colleagues, comrades etc. must hold dialogues with SOuth Africans, including intellectual discussions in what ever mode, whether through public fora, or through one to one conversations, addressing what is happening and what should be done. I agree too that this can be done through education and cultural activiy (but this has to be planned and concerted), writing academic, journalistic analytical or opinion peices, blogging, tweeting etc. to show thatThis is our matter and African lives matter: Yes. We can: Say Stop!Calling for solidarity and supporting/guiding actions as to what should, can and must be done. We need to reflect on this carefully, so we are on message and also act in concert and solidarity with colleagues in SA as we have always done. We don't want to aggravate afro-phobia against countries, Africa and Africans as some would only be too glad to jump on that band waggon.
These moments can easily turn genocidal and then we will be left wondering: Where were we? This could happen and is happening in any of our countries. We owe it to who told us and have been telling us, for a while now, that all is was not going to be easy and that all now is not well...
Let us come up, even as a small group with concrete and do-able measures and ask others to join us.
I too will think about this.
It is never to late to act to save a life.
Wangui wa Goro
On 16 April 2015 at 21:08, Tijan M. Sallah <tsa...@worldbank.org> wrote:
Kassahun—thanks for sharing the unfortunate news about violence against other African nationals in Durban. It is an unfortunate development in post-apartheid South Africa, but understandable because of the growing inequality among blacks in South Africa. The struggle against apartheid was widely supported by other Africans and promised hope for all non-Whites. The end of apartheid opened up opportunities for especially skilled blacks who were able to ride on this wave. Also, many other African nationals flowed in, hoping to also contribute and benefit from a growing economy. It is unfortunate, but understandable, that social resentment will develop when local citizens see immigrants, who are either much better skilled or perhaps have much better drive, do better than them. We have this type of resentment in the US to African and Caribbean immigrants by native African Americans. The difference in the US is that it is not violent—perhaps because the African American civil rights struggle educated local blacks that their condition was not made worse by foreign black immigrants but was made worse by government policy and structural conditions. This way, African Americans have continued to agitate for better government policy and laws, and for better enforcement to reduce those barriers that hamper their progress. I agree with Kassahun that aggressive measures like boycotts may do more harm than good. We don’t want to paralyze South Africa’s economy; we want it to grow larger and for it to be more prosperous so that those doing less well would not blame other African nationals for their problems. Certainly, using “soft power” strategies like encouraging evidence-based debate and public awareness would help. Using also respected South African icons like Hugh Masikela, Winnie Mandela, Bishop Tutu and others to speak out against such resentment could help. After all, we want an Africa with strong and growing economies where the living conditions of the general population, regardless of their country of origin, is improved. Just a few thoughts…. Tijan ____________________Tijan M. Sallah
Practice ManagerAgriculture Global Practice (AgGP AFR3)J8-099Africa Region
The World Bank
(202) 473-2977
Email: tsa...@worldbank.org
From: Kassahun Checole [mailto:awp...@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 2:43 PM
To: 'Tade Aina'; 'Kassahun Checole'
Cc: 'Tejumola Olaniyan'; 'Tomi Adeaga'; Tijan M. Sallah; tur...@rutgers.edu; Tma...@uneca.org; 'Toyin Falola'; 'Vambe, Maurice'; 'Wangui wa goro'; 'Woldemikael, Tekle'; 'yebiow'; 'Zere, Abraham'
Subject: RE: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS My dear Brother: On the issue of Boycotts, I respectfully disagree. We have to take the space available for us to fight along with our progressive South African Brothers and Sisters, to effectively deal not only with the mindset that produces such anger and violent reaction of Africans against Africans, but also recognize the need to interrogate the economic and political atmosphere that produces the same. In the last year, I have seen on close proximity, the very difficult life choices that our people (South Africans) are placed in their own land. We need to understand the context, while condemning the horrific actions of some. The authorities have not been proactive nor sensitive enough to deal with the problem from the start. It is now left for us to try and do something about this on-going hemorrhage within our body politic. So, I think we need to work with likeminded South Africans, and strategize on what needs to be done in preventing this from going out of control, and creating permanent fissures among Africans. I believe the issue of education and information is important, and I also think there is the critical issue of addressing the very real socio-economic problems that South Africans face within their own country. In 1985, I published a book by Bill Bigelow called “Strangers in Their Own Country”. We used this book to educate and inform Westerners about the realities of Apartheid South Africa. Today, we need to do similar publications, teach-ins, forums and dialogues with South African communities and the rest of Africa on the realities of post-Apartheid South Africa. I think the space is there, we can nurture the good will, and I hope we can consider it. Kassahun Checole, PublisherAfrica World Press, Inc &The Red Sea Press, Inc541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,Trenton, NJ 08638Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-646...@verizon.net,kcheco...@gmail.comwww.africaworldpressbooks.com From: Tade Aina [mailto:tadeak...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 2:04 PM
To: Kassahun Checole
Cc: Tejumola Olaniyan; Tomi Adeaga; Tijan M. Sallah; <tur...@rutgers.edu>; <Tma...@uneca.org>; Toyin Falola; Vambe, Maurice; Wangui wa goro; Woldemikael, Tekle; yebiow; Zere, Abraham
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS My brother Kassahun,Thanks for this .Are we not entering an era of boycotts and sanctions for South African goods, products, institutions, universities and organizations? The Proteas, the Standard Chartered, the MTNs, the DSTVs, etc? Should we not start a movement to boycott and impose a Citizens' sanctions? South Africa and the South African elite have condoned this suite of prejudices in their visas, immigration system, terror on the streets and taxis for too long.Let's start a boycott and sanctions campaign!
Sent from my iPad
On Apr 16, 2015, at 8:44 PM, Kassahun Checole <awp...@verizon.net> wrote:
FYI Kassahun Checole, PublisherAfrica World Press, Inc &The Red Sea Press, Inc541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,Trenton, NJ 08638Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-646...@verizon.net,kcheco...@gmail.comwww.africaworldpressbooks.com From:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com [mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of Kassahun Checole
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 9:16 AM
To: 'Kesia-Onam Birch'; 'diaku diaku'; 'Diaku Diaku' via Pan African Peace Building and Non Violence Network'
Cc: 'Kassahun Checole'
Subject: RE: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS Dear friends: We cannot be just satisfied with condemnations, declarations and resolutions on this very ugly and sad development. As the Durban group is doing, we have to act to respond to the deeply held societal problems with direct interaction with the communities concerned (both the victims and the violators). This is a moment that we should not let pass without taking solid advantages for education, interaction and basic information in regard to why Africans are being forced to “fear” and ultimately abuse each other. There are precious lessons that we can take from our experiences in the anti-Vietnam War and anti-Apartheid and generally anti-colonial struggle. We have to agitate, educate and provide basic information to those who see “THE REAL PROBLEMS OF THEIR LIVES” projected on their guest, fellow Africans. We also have to challenge the State of South Africa and our many friends in the ANC , other political parties and civic organizations to react in a constructive and long lasting solutions to a “Socio-economic” problems visited on all South Africans. Apartheid and colonialism have indeed left us with deep seated psychological and real socio-economic problems that we have yet to address in a frontal way. African identity has been dis-formed and mis-educated with hate of self and neighbor. Let’s work hard towards the Transformation of our societies, economies, but most of all the transformation of ourselves as active African citizens, and upright human beings. Peace building starts here. (let’s start with teach-ins, dialogue forums, etc., but the key is to transform the economy so that those who are on the fringes become producers, innovators and basically well-informed, well-defined active players in a South African economy that is presently truly unbalanced and unequal) Kassahun Checole, PublisherAfrica World Press, Inc &The Red Sea Press, Inc541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,Trenton, NJ 08638Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-646...@verizon.net,kcheco...@gmail.comwww.africaworldpressbooks.com From:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com [mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of Kesia-Onam Birch
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 8:11 AM
To: diaku diaku; Diaku Diaku' via Pan African Peace Building and Non Violence Network
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS This is so so sad!!! I am gutted and as you rightly said, this is unacceptable. We need to condemn this act. The legacy of apartheid at work??? From:"pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com" <pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: diaku diaku <diakudi...@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 4:27 AM
To: "pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com" <pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS Dear Comrades, We are very saddened by the violence that has erupted against African nationals in the area of Durban and its surroundings. Loss of lives has been noticed, some with gruesome and open violence. Some of our African brothers and sisters have undergone huge inhumane treatment because they do not belong to this nation. We believe in living in an African nation that is part of Africa, which in the past has benefited asylum seekers' rights in other nations. Whichever reason has led to open violence to erupt is unacceptable and need to be condemned with force. Thousands of African nationals are living under tents with babies aged less than 3 months, which some have been fed with beans due to lack of proper food. Pregnant women sleep in the cold,"Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu>: Apr 17 11:12AM -0400
"South Africa has DSTV, Protea groups and franchise, the airlines, security companies, breweries,services and products, telecoms and mobile providers
and banks operating across the rest of Africa....."
The people protesting in the streets do not control the South African economy.
This is a proxy war. Cool headed reaction is key in the light of that complication.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 10:23 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
Dear all:
It is going to be difficult to have a consensus on actions and reactions to the ongoing violence in Durban and townships but I want to bring to your notice my observations on feelings that have been growing in a number of countries on the continent. Since I relocated to Nairobi, Kenya from last October, my work has taken me across more than 17 African countries. Increasingly it is becoming clear, that South Africa's relationships with the rest of the continent is not driven by any high progressive ideals of pan-Africanism, brotherhood-sisterhood or "Ubuntu"! It is driven by naked economic interests carried by enterprises in banking and finance, telecommunications, foods and beverages, hotels and hospitality industries, ICTs, transport and aviation, higher education, arms and armaments, etc. Most African countries are considered as markets, their citizens at best as customers and clients and most times as nuisance and scroungers! The South African immigration services and visa provision treats the rest of us with contempt and then the waves of xenophobia and what I term "Afro-phobia" that has been condoned so far by the silence or reticent reactions of a business and political elite. I have seen the changes in my ability to obtain visas to visit South Africa either to start or inspect higher education projects or simply strengthen partnerships and collaborations with South African institutions from my days in New York to now even though I remain a US permanent resident. The differences from when I was based in NYC to the global undifferentiated humiliation in Nairobi is amazing. Now we see waves of killing and attacks that we call xenophobia. Is it all just xenophobia? When does it become ethnic cleansing or transition to some variant of genocide? The movement is on to mobilize and send a strong message to the South African establishment. Yes, boycotts and citizens' sanctions are legitimate parts of civil society's response. Some key individuals and groups are complaining, South Africa has DSTV, Protea groups and franchise, the airlines, security companies, breweries,services and products, telecoms and mobile providers and banks operating across the rest of Africa. Let us not stifle a legitimate avenue of protests. Let us leave those who want to start a movement to force the South African establishment to listen and act on reclaiming their respect and recognition of the humanity of other Africans to start their mobilization. At, times it is easier to get attention, when one provides economic responses to politically insensitive actors. This is why citizens' sanctions and boycotts must go on. It is not enough, we should also pressure the AU against having its functions or meetings in South Africa where the rest of us are not wanted. Millions of Africans spend their cedis, naira, shilling and other currency on South African goods, services and products. Withdrawing some portion of this might help shake up the South Africa establishment.
My bit.
taa.
On Friday, April 17, 2015 10:50 AM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
From: Wangui wa goro <wag...@gmail.com<mailto:wag...@gmail.com>>
Date: Friday, April 17, 2015 at 2:46 AM
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
Thank you Kassahun and others for opening up a conversation. I share the view that it is not time to engage in boycotts and sanctions, but it is also not a time to be having cosy conversations. Intellectuals and academics must ask themselves harder questions which some South African's have been asking for a while now, and ask ourselves what our continued role is in our countries and continent, and the freedoms to which we have contributed.
I don't think one action fits all, but I think a strong public show of concern can be one way, as our voice is strong and significant.
One: We can for instance sign a petition publicly as coming from us as intellectuals and academics, artists... friends of South Africa etc.
Second, as with the Chibok and other situations, we can mount displeasure; and solidarity with those who have died and amplify it through dignified peaceful forms such as through the internet and days of demonstration around embassies and sit-ins or other modes of collective actions in our neighbourhoods, work places and even places of worship or communes, including virtual communes;
Third, those who have friends, relatives, activist colleagues, comrades etc. must hold dialogues with SOuth Africans, including intellectual discussions in what ever mode, whether through public fora, or through one to one conversations, addressing what is happening and what should be done. I agree too that this can be done through education and cultural activiy (but this has to be planned and concerted), writing academic, journalistic analytical or opinion peices, blogging, tweeting etc. to show that This is our matter and African lives matter: Yes. We can: Say Stop!
Calling for solidarity and supporting/guiding actions as to what should, can and must be done. We need to reflect on this carefully, so we are on message and also act in concert and solidarity with colleagues in SA as we have always done. We don't want to aggravate afro-phobia against countries, Africa and Africans as some would only be too glad to jump on that band waggon.
These moments can easily turn genocidal and then we will be left wondering: Where were we? This could happen and is happening in any of our countries. We owe it to who told us and have been telling us, for a while now, that all is was not going to be easy and that all now is not well...
Let us come up, even as a small group with concrete and do-able measures and ask others to join us.
I too will think about this.
It is never to late to act to save a life.
Wangui wa Goro
On 16 April 2015 at 21:08, Tijan M. Sallah <tsa...@worldbank.org<mailto:tsa...@worldbank.org>> wrote:
Kassahun—thanks for sharing the unfortunate news about violence against other African nationals in Durban. It is an unfortunate development in post-apartheid South Africa, but understandable because of the growing inequality among blacks in South Africa. The struggle against apartheid was widely supported by other Africans and promised hope for all non-Whites. The end of apartheid opened up opportunities for especially skilled blacks who were able to ride on this wave. Also, many other African nationals flowed in, hoping to also contribute and benefit from a growing economy. It is unfortunate, but understandable, that social resentment will develop when local citizens see immigrants, who are either much better skilled or perhaps have much better drive, do better than them. We have this type of resentment in the US to African and Caribbean immigrants by native African Americans. The difference in the US is that it is not violent—perhaps because the African American civil rights struggle educated local blacks that their condition was not made worse by foreign black immigrants but was made worse by government policy and structural conditions. This way, African Americans have continued to agitate for better government policy and laws, and for better enforcement to reduce those barriers that hamper their progress.
I agree with Kassahun that aggressive measures like boycotts may do more harm than good. We don’t want to paralyze South Africa’s economy; we want it to grow larger and for it to be more prosperous so that those doing less well would not blame other African nationals for their problems. Certainly, using “soft power” strategies like encouraging evidence-based debate and public awareness would help. Using also respected South African icons like Hugh Masikela, Winnie Mandela, Bishop Tutu and others to speak out against such resentment could help. After all, we want an Africa with strong and growing economies where the living conditions of the general population, regardless of their country of origin, is improved.
Just a few thoughts….
Tijan
____________________
Tijan M. Sallah
Practice Manager
Agriculture Global Practice (AgGP AFR3)
J8-099
Africa Region
The World Bank
(202) 473-2977
Email: tsa...@worldbank.org<mailto:tsa...@worldbank.org>
From: Kassahun Checole [mailto:awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 2:43 PM
To: 'Tade Aina'; 'Kassahun Checole'
Cc: 'Tejumola Olaniyan'; 'Tomi Adeaga'; Tijan M. Sallah; tur...@rutgers.edu<mailto:tur...@rutgers.edu>; Tma...@uneca.org<mailto:Tma...@uneca.org>; 'Toyin Falola'; 'Vambe, Maurice'; 'Wangui wa goro'; 'Woldemikael, Tekle'; 'yebiow'; 'Zere, Abraham'
Subject: RE: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
My dear Brother:
On the issue of Boycotts, I respectfully disagree. We have to take the space available for us to fight along with our progressive South African Brothers and Sisters, to effectively deal not only with the mindset that produces such anger and violent reaction of Africans against Africans, but also recognize the need to interrogate the economic and political atmosphere that produces the same.
In the last year, I have seen on close proximity, the very difficult life choices that our people (South Africans) are placed in their own land. We need to understand the context, while condemning the horrific actions of some. The authorities have not been proactive nor sensitive enough to deal with the problem from the start. It is now left for us to try and do something about this on-going hemorrhage within our body politic.
So, I think we need to work with likeminded South Africans, and strategize on what needs to be done in preventing this from going out of control, and creating permanent fissures among Africans. I believe the issue of education and information is important, and I also think there is the critical issue of addressing the very real socio-economic problems that South Africans face within their own country.
In 1985, I published a book by Bill Bigelow called “Strangers in Their Own Country”. We used this book to educate and inform Westerners about the realities of Apartheid South Africa. Today, we need to do similar publications, teach-ins, forums and dialogues with South African communities and the rest of Africa on the realities of post-Apartheid South Africa. I think the space is there, we can nurture the good will, and I hope we can consider it.
Kassahun Checole, Publisher
Africa World Press, Inc &
The Red Sea Press, Inc
541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,
Trenton, NJ 08638
Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-6466
awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>, kcheco...@gmail.com<mailto:kcheco...@gmail.com>
www.africaworldpressbooks.com<http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/>
From: Tade Aina [mailto:tadeak...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 2:04 PM
To: Kassahun Checole
Cc: Tejumola Olaniyan; Tomi Adeaga; Tijan M. Sallah; <tur...@rutgers.edu<mailto:tur...@rutgers.edu>>; <Tma...@uneca.org<mailto:Tma...@uneca.org>>; Toyin Falola; Vambe, Maurice; Wangui wa goro; Woldemikael, Tekle; yebiow; Zere, Abraham
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
My brother Kassahun,
Thanks for this .
Are we not entering an era of boycotts and sanctions for South African goods, products, institutions, universities and organizations? The Proteas, the Standard Chartered, the MTNs, the DSTVs, etc? Should we not start a movement to boycott and impose a Citizens' sanctions? South Africa and the South African elite have condoned this suite of prejudices in their visas, immigration system, terror on the streets and taxis for too long.
Let's start a boycott and sanctions campaign!
Sent from my iPad
On Apr 16, 2015, at 8:44 PM, Kassahun Checole <awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>> wrote:
FYI
Kassahun Checole, Publisher
Africa World Press, Inc &
The Red Sea Press, Inc
541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,
Trenton, NJ 08638
Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-6466
awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>, kcheco...@gmail.com<mailto:kcheco...@gmail.com>
www.africaworldpressbooks.com<http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/>
From:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com<mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com> [mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kassahun Checole
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 9:16 AM
To: 'Kesia-Onam Birch'; 'diaku diaku'; 'Diaku Diaku' via Pan African Peace Building and Non Violence Network'
Cc: 'Kassahun Checole'
Subject: RE: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
Dear friends:
We cannot be just satisfied with condemnations, declarations and resolutions on this very ugly and sad development. As the Durban group is doing, we have to act to respond to the deeply held societal problems with direct interaction with the communities concerned (both the victims and the violators).
This is a moment that we should not let pass without taking solid advantages for education, interaction and basic information in regard to why Africans are being forced to “fear” and ultimately abuse each other.
There are precious lessons that we can take from our experiences in the anti-Vietnam War and anti-Apartheid and generally anti-colonial struggle. We have to agitate, educate and provide basic information to those who see “THE REAL PROBLEMS OF THEIR LIVES” projected on their guest, fellow Africans.
We also have to challenge the State of South Africa and our many friends in the ANC , other political parties and civic organizations to react in a constructive and long lasting solutions to a “Socio-economic” problems visited on all South Africans.
Apartheid and colonialism have indeed left us with deep seated psychological and real socio-economic problems that we have yet to address in a frontal way. African identity has been dis-formed and mis-educated with hate of self and neighbor.
Let’s work hard towards the Transformation of our societies, economies, but most of all the transformation of ourselves as active African citizens, and upright human beings. Peace building starts here. (let’s start with teach-ins, dialogue forums, etc., but the key is to transform the economy so that those who are on the fringes become producers, innovators and basically well-informed, well-defined active players in a South African economy that is presently truly unbalanced and unequal)
Kassahun Checole, Publisher
Africa World Press, Inc &
The Red Sea Press, Inc
541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,
Trenton, NJ 08638
Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-6466
awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>, kcheco...@gmail.com<mailto:kcheco...@gmail.com>
www.africaworldpressbooks.com<http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/>
From:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com<mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com>Sadiq Manzan <sadiq...@gmail.com>: Apr 17 03:13PM
Comrades,
As of today, April 17, I have started a boycott of South Africa. I will
not go to that country. I will not fly South African Airways. I will not
buy products. And I will make that point everywhere and every time I get
an opportunity.
That's the only language the xenophobics and ungrateful people there
understand.
Sadiq Manzan
On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 7:50 AM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu
kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>: Apr 17 12:20PM -0400
i agree this is not the right strategy: it is sending the message to the
wrong people.
On 4/17/15 11:12 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com>.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu
Sadiq Manzan <sadiq...@gmail.com>: Apr 17 03:37PM
Well, under apartheid too the people on the streets did not control the
South African economy! Good luck to those who want a progressive and
pan-African South Africa without a firm push back
On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 3:12 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <
Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>: Apr 17 04:58PM
From: dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>>
Reply-To: dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>>
Date: Friday, April 17, 2015 at 9:23 AM
To: dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
Dear all:
It is going to be difficult to have a consensus on actions and reactions to the ongoing violence in Durban and townships but I want to bring to your notice my observations on feelings that have been growing in a number of countries on the continent. Since I relocated to Nairobi, Kenya from last October, my work has taken me across more than 17 African countries. Increasingly it is becoming clear, that South Africa's relationships with the rest of the continent is not driven by any high progressive ideals of pan-Africanism, brotherhood-sisterhood or "Ubuntu"! It is driven by naked economic interests carried by enterprises in banking and finance, telecommunications, foods and beverages, hotels and hospitality industries, ICTs, transport and aviation, higher education, arms and armaments, etc. Most African countries are considered as markets, their citizens at best as customers and clients and most times as nuisance and scroungers! The South African immigration services and visa provision treats the rest of us with contempt and then the waves of xenophobia and what I term "Afro-phobia" that has been condoned so far by the silence or reticent reactions of a business and political elite. I have seen the changes in my ability to obtain visas to visit South Africa either to start or inspect higher education projects or simply strengthen partnerships and collaborations with South African institutions from my days in New York to now even though I remain a US permanent resident. The differences from when I was based in NYC to the global undifferentiated humiliation in Nairobi is amazing. Now we see waves of killing and attacks that we call xenophobia. Is it all just xenophobia? When does it become ethnic cleansing or transition to some variant of genocide? The movement is on to mobilize and send a strong message to the South African establishment. Yes, boycotts and citizens' sanctions are legitimate parts of civil society's response. Some key individuals and groups are complaining, South Africa has DSTV, Protea groups and franchise, the airlines, security companies, breweries,services and products, telecoms and mobile providers and banks operating across the rest of Africa. Let us not stifle a legitimate avenue of protests. Let us leave those who want to start a movement to force the South African establishment to listen and act on reclaiming their respect and recognition of the humanity of other Africans to start their mobilization. At, times it is easier to get attention, when one provides economic responses to politically insensitive actors. This is why citizens' sanctions and boycotts must go on. It is not enough, we should also pressure the AU against having its functions or meetings in South Africa where the rest of us are not wanted. Millions of Africans spend their cedis, naira, shilling and other currency on South African goods, services and products. Withdrawing some portion of this might help shake up the South Africa establishment.
My bit.
taa.
On Friday, April 17, 2015 10:50 AM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu<mailto:toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>> wrote:
From: Wangui wa goro <wag...@gmail.com<mailto:wag...@gmail.com>>
Date: Friday, April 17, 2015 at 2:46 AM
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
Thank you Kassahun and others for opening up a conversation. I share the view that it is not time to engage in boycotts and sanctions, but it is also not a time to be having cosy conversations. Intellectuals and academics must ask themselves harder questions which some South African's have been asking for a while now, and ask ourselves what our continued role is in our countries and continent, and the freedoms to which we have contributed.
I don't think one action fits all, but I think a strong public show of concern can be one way, as our voice is strong and significant.
One: We can for instance sign a petition publicly as coming from us as intellectuals and academics, artists... friends of South Africa etc.
Second, as with the Chibok and other situations, we can mount displeasure; and solidarity with those who have died and amplify it through dignified peaceful forms such as through the internet and days of demonstration around embassies and sit-ins or other modes of collective actions in our neighbourhoods, work places and even places of worship or communes, including virtual communes;
Third, those who have friends, relatives, activist colleagues, comrades etc. must hold dialogues with SOuth Africans, including intellectual discussions in what ever mode, whether through public fora, or through one to one conversations, addressing what is happening and what should be done. I agree too that this can be done through education and cultural activiy (but this has to be planned and concerted), writing academic, journalistic analytical or opinion peices, blogging, tweeting etc. to show that This is our matter and African lives matter: Yes. We can: Say Stop!
Calling for solidarity and supporting/guiding actions as to what should, can and must be done. We need to reflect on this carefully, so we are on message and also act in concert and solidarity with colleagues in SA as we have always done. We don't want to aggravate afro-phobia against countries, Africa and Africans as some would only be too glad to jump on that band waggon.
These moments can easily turn genocidal and then we will be left wondering: Where were we? This could happen and is happening in any of our countries. We owe it to who told us and have been telling us, for a while now, that all is was not going to be easy and that all now is not well...
Let us come up, even as a small group with concrete and do-able measures and ask others to join us.
I too will think about this.
It is never to late to act to save a life.
Wangui wa Goro
On 16 April 2015 at 21:08, Tijan M. Sallah <tsa...@worldbank.org<mailto:tsa...@worldbank.org>> wrote:
Kassahun—thanks for sharing the unfortunate news about violence against other African nationals in Durban. It is an unfortunate development in post-apartheid South Africa, but understandable because of the growing inequality among blacks in South Africa. The struggle against apartheid was widely supported by other Africans and promised hope for all non-Whites. The end of apartheid opened up opportunities for especially skilled blacks who were able to ride on this wave. Also, many other African nationals flowed in, hoping to also contribute and benefit from a growing economy. It is unfortunate, but understandable, that social resentment will develop when local citizens see immigrants, who are either much better skilled or perhaps have much better drive, do better than them. We have this type of resentment in the US to African and Caribbean immigrants by native African Americans. The difference in the US is that it is not violent—perhaps because the African American civil rights struggle educated local blacks that their condition was not made worse by foreign black immigrants but was made worse by government policy and structural conditions. This way, African Americans have continued to agitate for better government policy and laws, and for better enforcement to reduce those barriers that hamper their progress.
I agree with Kassahun that aggressive measures like boycotts may do more harm than good. We don’t want to paralyze South Africa’s economy; we want it to grow larger and for it to be more prosperous so that those doing less well would not blame other African nationals for their problems. Certainly, using “soft power” strategies like encouraging evidence-based debate and public awareness would help. Using also respected South African icons like Hugh Masikela, Winnie Mandela, Bishop Tutu and others to speak out against such resentment could help. After all, we want an Africa with strong and growing economies where the living conditions of the general population, regardless of their country of origin, is improved.
Just a few thoughts….
Tijan
____________________
Tijan M. Sallah
Practice Manager
Agriculture Global Practice (AgGP AFR3)
J8-099
Africa Region
The World Bank
(202) 473-2977
Email: tsa...@worldbank.org<mailto:tsa...@worldbank.org>
From: Kassahun Checole [mailto:awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 2:43 PM
To: 'Tade Aina'; 'Kassahun Checole'
Cc: 'Tejumola Olaniyan'; 'Tomi Adeaga'; Tijan M. Sallah; tur...@rutgers.edu<mailto:tur...@rutgers.edu>; Tma...@uneca.org<mailto:Tma...@uneca.org>; 'Toyin Falola'; 'Vambe, Maurice'; 'Wangui wa goro'; 'Woldemikael, Tekle'; 'yebiow'; 'Zere, Abraham'
Subject: RE: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
My dear Brother:
On the issue of Boycotts, I respectfully disagree. We have to take the space available for us to fight along with our progressive South African Brothers and Sisters, to effectively deal not only with the mindset that produces such anger and violent reaction of Africans against Africans, but also recognize the need to interrogate the economic and political atmosphere that produces the same.
In the last year, I have seen on close proximity, the very difficult life choices that our people (South Africans) are placed in their own land. We need to understand the context, while condemning the horrific actions of some. The authorities have not been proactive nor sensitive enough to deal with the problem from the start. It is now left for us to try and do something about this on-going hemorrhage within our body politic.
So, I think we need to work with likeminded South Africans, and strategize on what needs to be done in preventing this from going out of control, and creating permanent fissures among Africans. I believe the issue of education and information is important, and I also think there is the critical issue of addressing the very real socio-economic problems that South Africans face within their own country.
In 1985, I published a book by Bill Bigelow called “Strangers in Their Own Country”. We used this book to educate and inform Westerners about the realities of Apartheid South Africa. Today, we need to do similar publications, teach-ins, forums and dialogues with South African communities and the rest of Africa on the realities of post-Apartheid South Africa. I think the space is there, we can nurture the good will, and I hope we can consider it.
Kassahun Checole, Publisher
Africa World Press, Inc &
The Red Sea Press, Inc
541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,
Trenton, NJ 08638
Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-6466
awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>, kcheco...@gmail.com<mailto:kcheco...@gmail.com>
www.africaworldpressbooks.com<http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/>
From: Tade Aina [mailto:tadeak...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 2:04 PM
To: Kassahun Checole
Cc: Tejumola Olaniyan; Tomi Adeaga; Tijan M. Sallah; <tur...@rutgers.edu<mailto:tur...@rutgers.edu>>; <Tma...@uneca.org<mailto:Tma...@uneca.org>>; Toyin Falola; Vambe, Maurice; Wangui wa goro; Woldemikael, Tekle; yebiow; Zere, Abraham
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
My brother Kassahun,
Thanks for this .
Are we not entering an era of boycotts and sanctions for South African goods, products, institutions, universities and organizations? The Proteas, the Standard Chartered, the MTNs, the DSTVs, etc? Should we not start a movement to boycott and impose a Citizens' sanctions? South Africa and the South African elite have condoned this suite of prejudices in their visas, immigration system, terror on the streets and taxis for too long.
Let's start a boycott and sanctions campaign!
Sent from my iPad
On Apr 16, 2015, at 8:44 PM, Kassahun Checole <awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>> wrote:
FYI
Kassahun Checole, Publisher
Africa World Press, Inc &
The Red Sea Press, Inc
541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,
Trenton, NJ 08638
Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-6466
awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>, kcheco...@gmail.com<mailto:kcheco...@gmail.com>
www.africaworldpressbooks.com<http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/>
From:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com<mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com> [mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kassahun Checole
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 9:16 AM
To: 'Kesia-Onam Birch'; 'diaku diaku'; 'Diaku Diaku' via Pan African Peace Building and Non Violence Network'
Cc: 'Kassahun Checole'
Subject: RE: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
Dear friends:
We cannot be just satisfied with condemnations, declarations and resolutions on this very ugly and sad development. As the Durban group is doing, we have to act to respond to the deeply held societal problems with direct interaction with the communities concerned (both the victims and the violators).
This is a moment that we should not let pass without taking solid advantages for education, interaction and basic information in regard to why Africans are being forced to “fear” and ultimately abuse each other.
There are precious lessons that we can take from our experiences in the anti-Vietnam War and anti-Apartheid and generally anti-colonial struggle. We have to agitate, educate and provide basic information to those who see “THE REAL PROBLEMS OF THEIR LIVES” projected on their guest, fellow Africans.
We also have to challenge the State of South Africa and our many friends in the ANC , other political parties and civic organizations to react in a constructive and long lasting solutions to a “Socio-economic” problems visited on all South Africans.
Apartheid and colonialism have indeed left us with deep seated psychological and real socio-economic problems that we have yet to address in a frontal way. African identity has been dis-formed and mis-educated with hate of self and neighbor.
Let’s work hard towards the Transformation of our societies, economies, but most of all the transformation of ourselves as active African citizens, and upright human beings. Peace building starts here. (let’s start with teach-ins, dialogue forums, etc., but the key is to transform the economy so that those who are on the fringes become producers, innovators and basically well-informed, well-defined active players in a South African economy that is presently truly unbalanced and unequal)
Kassahun Checole, Publisher
Africa World Press, Inc &
The Red Sea Press, Inc
541 West Ingham Avenue, Suite B,
Trenton, NJ 08638
Tel: (609) 695-3200, Fax (609) 695-6466
awp...@verizon.net<mailto:awp...@verizon.net>, kcheco...@gmail.com<mailto:kcheco...@gmail.com>
www.africaworldpressbooks.com<http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/>
From:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com<mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com> [mailto:pan-african-peace-buildin...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kesia-Onam Birch
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 8:11 AM
To: diaku diaku; Diaku Diaku' via Pan African Peace Building and Non Violence Network
Subject: Re: VIOLENCE IN DURBAN AND TOWNSHIPS
This is so so sad!!! I am gutted and as you rightly said, this is unacceptable. We need to condemn this act. The legacy of apartheid at work???
From:
Funmi Tofowomo Okelola <cafeaf...@aol.com>: Apr 17 12:04PM -0700
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/books/review/toni-morrisons-god-help-the-child.html?emc=edit_bk_20150417&nl=books&nlid=68883056&_r=0
Toni Morrison’s ‘God Help the Child’
By KARA WALKERAPRIL 13, 2015
Olaf Hajek
As children we have gentle, wordless expectations that the big people
in our lives will endeavor to keep us from harm, or, at the very
least, not harm us. It’s the sacrosanct social contract: that adults
will feed, clothe and protect us, that they will keep our bodies alive
long enough for us to devise adult survival strategies of our own.
Child abuse cuts a jagged scar through Toni Morrison’s “God Help the
Child,” a brisk modern-day fairy tale with shades of the Brothers
Grimm: imaginative cruelties visited on children; a journey into the
woods; a handsome, vanished lover; witchy older women and a blunt
moral — “What you do to children matters. And they might never forget.”
At the heart of the novel is a woman who calls herself Bride. Young,
beautiful, with deep blue-black skin and a career in the cosmetics
industry, she was rejected as a child by her light-skinned mother,
Sweetness, who’s been poisoned by that strain of color and class
anxiety still present in black communities. “It didn’t take more than
an hour after they pulled her out from between my legs to realize
something was wrong,” Sweetness says. “Really wrong. She was so black
she scared me. Midnight black, Sudanese black.”
Photo
Toni Morrison CreditKaty Grannan
Bride’s father is also unwilling to accept the child’s dark skin and
walks out on the family, accusing Sweetness of infidelity. And so
Bride grows up, pinched by hunger and shame, craving love and
acceptance. “Distaste was all over her face when I was little and she
had to bathe me,” Bride says of her mother. “Rinse me, actually, after
a halfhearted rub with a soapy washcloth. I used to pray she would
slap my face or spank me just to feel her touch. I made little
mistakes deliberately, but she had ways to punish me without touching
the skin she hated — bed without supper, lock me in my room.”
But one mistake has devastating consequences. To get her mother’s
attention, Bride accuses an innocent woman of a terrible crime. As an
adult, Bride sets out to make restitution to this woman but bungles
it. She knows only how to turn heads and suppress emotions; she knows
nothing (as yet) of kindness and compassion.
Strangely, Bride’s desire to cleanse her conscience angers her lover,
Booker, who abruptly abandons her. Bride seeks solace in drugs,
drinking and sex, but she’s haunted by Booker — “I spilled my guts to
him, told him everything: every fear, every hurt, every
accomplishment, however small. While talking to him certain things I
had buried came up fresh as though I was seeing them for the first
time.” She takes to the road to track him down.
Miles from home, in Northern California logging country, she suffers a
car accident and is taken in by a white hippie family. Their self-
sufficiency and indifference to money startles her, and, as she
recovers in their home for some six weeks, she becomes close to a
child in their care named Rain, who was badly abused by her prostitute
birth mother and her mother’s johns. In Rain, Bride finds a friend;
they understand each other in the easy way of children. The
interactions between the two — one stark black, the other “bone
white,” one adult, one child, but emotionally the same age — make for
the still center of this furious story. For Bride, this episode is
transformative and healing; for the reader, it’s all too brief.
There’s an important plot point I don’t want to spoil (especially
since the surprises in the book are disappointingly few), but there
are ghostly developments throughout: Bride starts losing her body hair
and her breasts. Her body becomes smaller and smaller, her period is
strangely late. She nurses the “scary suspicion that she was changing
back into a little black girl.” Stranger still, this development is
only apparent to our protagonist; no one Bride encounters acknowledges
her peculiar transformation.
In this shape-shifting form, she eventually finds Booker in another
part of the woods, living in a trailer near his eccentric aunt Queen.
And we come to understand how violence has shaped Booker’s own life,
how his family has been shattered by tragedy.
Toni Morrison has always written for the ear, with a loving attention
to the textures and sounds of words. And the natural landscapes in her
books have a way of erupting into lively play, giving richness and
depth to her themes. Her novel “Tar Baby” (1981) opens with this
description of a river: “Evicted from the place where it had lived,
and forced into unknown turf, it could not form its pools or
waterfalls, and ran every which way. The clouds gathered together,
stood still and watched the river scuttle around the forest floor,
crash headlong into the haunches of hills with no notion of where it
was going, until exhausted, ill and grieving, it slowed to a stop just
20 leagues short of the sea.” The long arms of the story embrace you
before you fully understand where you are or what is happening. You
read with total trust, because in a place this alive, there’s surely
more to come.
Continue reading the main storyVideo
PLAY VIDEO
Toni Morrison: ‘I Know How to Write Forever’
By Colin Archdeacon on Publish DateApril 8, 2015. Photo by Colin
Archdeacon/The New York Times.
In “God Help the Child,” however, we get clipped first-person
confessionals and unusually vague landscapes: “The road looks like a
kindergarten drawing of light-blue, white or yellow houses with pine-
green or beet-red doors sitting smugly on wide lawns. All that is
missing is a pancake sun with ray sticks all around it.” The settings
feel flat, the tone cynical. There are swirls of brutal personal
histories, hurried vignettes and blatantly untrustworthy monologues.
(“It’s not my fault,” Sweetness protests. “It’s not my fault. It’s not
my fault. It’s not.”) The reader is positioned as a judge over a cast
of characters standing accused of the same crime: their inability (or
unwillingness) to confront and take responsibility for the suffering
of children in their care. Instead, like Sweetness, they choose self-
righteousness. Or, like the hippie couple in the forest, they seem
unable to face the crimes.
Morrison herself handles child abuse with a cautious disgust, not with
the terrifying closeness of her first novel, “The Bluest Eye” (1970),
in which an 11-year-old girl is raped by her father. The world of “God
Help the Child” is crawling with child molesters and child killers —
on playgrounds, in back alleys — but they remain oddly blurry, like
dot-matrix snapshots culled from current headlines. When they join the
scene, it’s rarely as full citizens of the narrative, and this is a
loss. As Booker notes of one predator: “Bald. Normal-looking. Probably
an otherwise nice man — they always were. The ‘nicest man in the
world,’ the neighbors always said. ‘He wouldn’t hurt a fly.’ Where did
that cliché come from? Why not hurt a fly? Did it mean he was too
tender to take the life of a disease-carrying insect but could happily
ax the life of a child?” The pity is that the book itself never
struggles to answer the questions it poses and keeps these men at the
margins.
There are many other characters I’d also like to know more about,
whose strategies and coping mechanisms and pleasures I wanted to
understand, but the novel withholds so much information. I found
myself reading between the lines, sucking the marrow out of every
sentence. It’s even difficult to pin down when the book takes place:
Bride sounds contemporary, but Sweetness’s voice seems to belong to
another era entirely. Curiously, the abundance of first-person
confessionals does little to invite actual intimacy. They reminded me
of reality TV — thin declarations of trauma followed by triumphant
dismissals of enduring hurt. It’s too easy for the reader to scratch
at the superficial posturing and say, “That person is hiding
something.” Yes, pain, but what else?
In the world of “God Help the Child,” there are few caregivers or true
friends, no therapists or social workers, and so the adult victims
cultivate thin shells of resistance and scrabble to seek justice. I
was left with the bitter supposition that childhood is the perfect
condition to be manipulated by adult power because it is self-
perpetuating. Children become adults and carry with them a trauma
imprinted on the body and memory. And there is always the fantasy that
a new child means new life: “Immune to evil or illness, protected from
kidnap, beatings, rape, racism, insult, hurt, self-loathing,
abandonment. Error-free. All goodness.”
With cutting severity, Morrison touches on possibilities of
redemption, only to yank them away again and again. “They will blow
it,” Queen observes of Bride and Booker. “Each will cling to a sad
little story of hurt and sorrow — some long-ago trouble and pain life
dumped on their pure and innocent selves. And each one will rewrite
that story forever, knowing the plot, guessing the theme, inventing
its meaning and dismissing its origin. What waste. She knew from
personal experience how hard loving was, how selfish and how easily
sundered. Withholding sex or relying on it, ignoring children or
devouring them, rerouting true feelings or locking them out. Youth
being the excuse for that fortune-cookie love — until it wasn’t, until
it became pure adult stupidity.”
But every now and then, “God Help the Child” steps away from
moralizing and yields to the slow, tender, dangerous art of
storytelling. Morrison brings back her paintbrush and indulges the
reader with color and dread as she vividly evokes Booker’s tight-knit
family and his idolized older brother: “The last time Booker saw Adam
he was skateboarding down the sidewalk in twilight, his yellow T-shirt
fluorescent under the Northern Ash trees. It was early September and
nothing anywhere had begun to die. Maple leaves behaved as though
their green was immortal. Ash trees were still climbing toward a
cloudless sky. The sun began turning aggressively alive in the process
of setting. Down the sidewalk between hedges and towering trees Adam
floated, a spot of gold moving down a shadowy tunnel toward the mouth
of a living sun.”
So we are lured by beauty into a scene that ends in evil and horror.
The best stories coerce us to live inside terror and instability, in
the messiness of human experience. They force us to care deeply for
everyone, even the villains. Morrison’s obvious joy in language
(especially evident in the passage above) entraps and implicates the
reader, and we read ourselves into spaces that would make our better
angels shudder.
But too often we get a curt fable instead, one more interested in
outrage than possibilities for empathy. Like Sweetness, Morrison
doesn’t seem to want to touch Bride either — at least not tenderly.
The narrative hovers, averts its eyes and sucks its teeth at the
misfortunes of the characters.
And like Bride, I was left hungering for warmth. I wanted to be lured
even deeper into that awful golden landscape. I wanted to tug at the
sleeve of the storyteller and say, “Yes, yes, I know all that, I get
the message, but the story is the thing; tell me the part about the
trees again, and don’t forget the sunlight.”
GOD HELP THE CHILD
By Toni Morrison
178 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $24.95.
Kara Walker is a New York-based artist. Her public installation “A
Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby” was on display last summer at
the former Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Funmi Tofowomo Okelola
-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives.
http://www.cafeafricana.com
Funmi Tofowomo Okelola <cafeaf...@aol.com>: Apr 17 12:42PM -0700
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tENFlBubMug
Bio: Tunji Oyelana:
Funmi Tofowomo Okelola
-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives.
http://www.cafeafricana.com
Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>: Apr 17 02:43AM -0700
Mighty Congratulations Don Moses Ochonu !
Even the wimps of non-Academia salute you!
More power and wattage to your brain!
Cornelius
*We Sweden <http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/>*
On Thursday, 16 April 2015 23:27:41 UTC+2, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
Patrick Effiboley <peffi...@yahoo.fr>: Apr 17 11:59AM
Dear Moses,Congratulations for this promotion. May the Lord provide you with more and more ink to serve our Academia.Patrick Effiboley
De : Ugo Nwokeji <u...@berkeley.edu>
À : usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Envoyé le : Vendredi 17 avril 2015 8h23
Objet : Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Big contraindications, Moses. This promotion is entirely well-deserved. Continue with the good work.UgoG. Ugo Nwokeji From my mobile phone
On Apr 16, 2015 8:49 PM, "'Ola Kassim' via USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Congratulations to Prof Moses Ochonu.
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 16, 2015, at 5:02 PM, Farooq A. Kperogi <farooq...@gmail.com> wrote:
I am delighted to inform you that Moses Ochonu, an active member of this forum, has just got word from the chair of his department that the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has approved his promotion to the rank of Full Professor effective immediately! Please join me in congratulating this superb, hardworking scholar on this admirable milestone.
Farooq
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogiTwitter: @farooqkperogi
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
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PrinceBubac...@gmx.de: Apr 17 02:21PM +0200
BOYCOTT SOUTH AFRICAN TV CHANNELS NOW!
Without the cheap supply of home-movies from NIGERIA, GHANA and other parts of Africa those fat South African pay and related TV channels will not survive.
Since their Afro-phobic, brainwashed and narrow-minded South African house Negroes are repaying our Pan-African anti-Apartheid solidarity (I for one remember how I contributed money and time to the anti-apartheid movement in my community) with mass barbaric butchery of our Black brothers and sisters, let us teach them a lesson.
I implore my comrades in the greater African film industries to follow the example of the historic Montgomery bus boycott by the US Civil Rights Movement with a powerful message that will serve as a deterrent to would be annihilators of the Black Race and Ubuntu values. Remember that among those killed in South Africa were community patrons or viewers of your home-movies in one way or the other. Let us pay them homage.
The Guilds and Associations in the Nigerian and Ghanaian home-movie industries should kindly convene meetings of their respective members or executives to get the legitimate consensus or majority approval for call this call of a solidarity action of move boycott.
Let us teach them that the cheap delivery of home-movies to their channels does not mean our African lives are cheap.
No more talking and empty condemnation. Let us ACT NOW.
Join and pass on the message.
Yours in genuine passion for the Sacred African Solidarity,
Prince Bubacarr Aminata SANKANU
Scholar on African Cinema
@princebasankanu
#NoNigerianGhanaianMovies4SouthAfricanChannelsNow
kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>: Apr 17 09:25AM -0400
does it make sense to boycott the tv channels that feature nigerian
films? cutting of the nose to spite the face?
we need a better target
> an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com>.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu
Ademola Dasylva <dasy...@gmail.com>: Apr 17 03:08PM +0100
Hi Moses! Big congratulations for your well deserved promotion! May you
continue to rise and shine and be a blessing, always, to our generation,
and generations yet unborn. Keep up the good work my broda!
Ademola Dasylva
On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 10:02 PM, Farooq A. Kperogi <farooq...@gmail.com
"Assensoh, Akwasi B." <aass...@indiana.edu>: Apr 17 02:19PM
Sorry for the length of the message below, as I really wanted it to be brief! "Sorry, oo!" as Baba Ijebu would say!
To re-echo other wise voices, congratulations and a word of advice are in order for our forum brother (Moses) on his elevation to Full Professor status in his Department at Vanderbilt University. In fact, a family friend of ours from New York University (NYU) is on her way to Vanderbilt as the new Dean of Arts and Sciences (which often happens to be a major position on several academic campuses), and it is hoped that Brother Moses (in his new exhorted status) will find her to be a great intellectual ally!
In my own leap of academic and intellectual fate, as I climbed the promotion ladders on Research 1 campuses, I still remember pieces of sagacious advice from two eminent scholars, one of whom is still a regular and active member of this important forum: namely Professor John Mukum Mbaku and Mwalimu (Professor) Ali Al'Amin Mazrui of blessed memory!
Professor Mbaku (Brother John) gave an "advisory" talk (or lecture?) to our study group known as African Studies and Research Forum (ASRF) of the Association of Third World Studies; many of us were young Assistant and Associate Professors. At the time, he was a rising academic star and also one of the active area Editors of the association's peer-reviewed publication, Journal of Third World Studies. His "stern" and no-nonsense advice (at a Denver, Colorado annual conference meeting) was that those of us working toward our promotions should not wait until it was too late to do what it takes to be promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor and, also, from Associate to Full Professor. He also urged us, without mincing words, that it would be too late to knock on his door at the proverbial midnight hour to ask him to publish a particular article or review essay in the journal for an individual, who has a few weeks to come up for promotion! As my dear "old" and sagacious Baba Ijebu would say: "Listen to good advice and use it for yourself, even if you have nobody to offer you advice!" I did over the years, and it paid off handsomely!
Then came the order of things, including working hard for promotion to Full Professor. In fact, Professor Mazrui, one day, spent an entire evening at The Ohio State University (where I was a Postdoc and he was a Visiting Professor from Michigan) speaking with me about the need to see the Full Professor rank as something that was/is akin to an "Exclusive Club". He added, in jest, that it could be likened to the Augusta Masters, in golf tournaments: "Not everybody gets to wear the oversized green jacket...", he told me candidly. Mwalimu (also Nana in Ghana royalty title) further urged me to publish extensively as well as "everywhere" and, also, to take my teaching very seriously. In the end, he as well spoke sternly against "dead woods" in academia: individuals, who do nothing else after becoming Full Professors! Instead, Professor Mazrui added that I should work so hard after my promotion to Full Professor that my institution should find me "very relevant" in everything that happens on the campus, where I was teaching. I did and, in the end, my bosses at Indiana University smiled, and I also smiled when the time came in 2011 to be elevated to Professor Emeritus status!
Our own SIR Toyin Falola and several brothers and sisters from far and near (many of whom are on this wonderful forum) converged on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University to "toast" and "roast" me, as part of a major celebration. In the end, the attached announced 350-page hardcover book was co-edited by SIR Toyin (and Professor Emmanuel Mbah) to honor my elevation. In fact, one day, I expect Full Professor (Brother) Moses Ochonu (and other younger brothers and sisters in academic rat race) to celebrate similarly, hence sharing my litany of experiences and advice! It is not a mere boast, please!
Again, congratulations, Professor Moses Ochonu of Vanderbilt University!
A.B. Assensoh.
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 5:43 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Mighty Congratulations Don Moses Ochonu !
Even the wimps of non-Academia salute you!
More power and wattage to your brain!
Cornelius
We Sweden<http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/>
On Thursday, 16 April 2015 23:27:41 UTC+2, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
I am delighted to inform you that Moses Ochonu, an active member of this forum, has just got word from the chair of his department that the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has approved his promotion to the rank of Full Professor effective immediately! Please join me in congratulating this superb, hardworking scholar on this admirable milestone.
Farooq
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com<http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com>
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi
Twitter: @farooqkperogi<https://twitter.com/#%21/farooqkperogi>
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
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"Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu>: Apr 17 11:03AM -0400
Hearty congratulations to Moses for his well-deserved promotion to Full Professorship.
GE
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Assensoh, Akwasi B. [aass...@indiana.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 10:19 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: anthony...@yahoo.co.uk; szalan...@msn.com; Afoaku, Osita; and...@southernct.edu; gohi...@njcu.edu; abiol...@gmail.com; phili...@hotmail.com; doy...@gmail.com; asse...@uoregon.edu; deji...@yahoo.com; bgw...@gmail.com; Ford, T Michael; titl...@gmail.com; titlo...@gmail.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Sorry for the length of the message below, as I really wanted it to be brief! "Sorry, oo!" as Baba Ijebu would say!
To re-echo other wise voices, congratulations and a word of advice are in order for our forum brother (Moses) on his elevation to Full Professor status in his Department at Vanderbilt University. In fact, a family friend of ours from New York University (NYU) is on her way to Vanderbilt as the new Dean of Arts and Sciences (which often happens to be a major position on several academic campuses), and it is hoped that Brother Moses (in his new exhorted status) will find her to be a great intellectual ally!
In my own leap of academic and intellectual fate, as I climbed the promotion ladders on Research 1 campuses, I still remember pieces of sagacious advice from two eminent scholars, one of whom is still a regular and active member of this important forum: namely Professor John Mukum Mbaku and Mwalimu (Professor) Ali Al'Amin Mazrui of blessed memory!
Professor Mbaku (Brother John) gave an "advisory" talk (or lecture?) to our study group known as African Studies and Research Forum (ASRF) of the Association of Third World Studies; many of us were young Assistant and Associate Professors. At the time, he was a rising academic star and also one of the active area Editors of the association's peer-reviewed publication, Journal of Third World Studies. His "stern" and no-nonsense advice (at a Denver, Colorado annual conference meeting) was that those of us working toward our promotions should not wait until it was too late to do what it takes to be promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor and, also, from Associate to Full Professor. He also urged us, without mincing words, that it would be too late to knock on his door at the proverbial midnight hour to ask him to publish a particular article or review essay in the journal for an individual, who has a few weeks to come up for promotion! As my dear "old" and sagacious Baba Ijebu would say: "Listen to good advice and use it for yourself, even if you have nobody to offer you advice!" I did over the years, and it paid off handsomely!
Then came the order of things, including working hard for promotion to Full Professor. In fact, Professor Mazrui, one day, spent an entire evening at The Ohio State University (where I was a Postdoc and he was a Visiting Professor from Michigan) speaking with me about the need to see the Full Professor rank as something that was/is akin to an "Exclusive Club". He added, in jest, that it could be likened to the Augusta Masters, in golf tournaments: "Not everybody gets to wear the oversized green jacket...", he told me candidly. Mwalimu (also Nana in Ghana royalty title) further urged me to publish extensively as well as "everywhere" and, also, to take my teaching very seriously. In the end, he as well spoke sternly against "dead woods" in academia: individuals, who do nothing else after becoming Full Professors! Instead, Professor Mazrui added that I should work so hard after my promotion to Full Professor that my institution should find me "very relevant" in everything that happens on the campus, where I was teaching. I did and, in the end, my bosses at Indiana University smiled, and I also smiled when the time came in 2011 to be elevated to Professor Emeritus status!
Our own SIR Toyin Falola and several brothers and sisters from far and near (many of whom are on this wonderful forum) converged on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University to "toast" and "roast" me, as part of a major celebration. In the end, the attached announced 350-page hardcover book was co-edited by SIR Toyin (and Professor Emmanuel Mbah) to honor my elevation. In fact, one day, I expect Full Professor (Brother) Moses Ochonu (and other younger brothers and sisters in academic rat race) to celebrate similarly, hence sharing my litany of experiences and advice! It is not a mere boast, please!
Again, congratulations, Professor Moses Ochonu of Vanderbilt University!
A.B. Assensoh.
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 5:43 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Mighty Congratulations Don Moses Ochonu !
Even the wimps of non-Academia salute you!
More power and wattage to your brain!
Cornelius
We Sweden<http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/>
On Thursday, 16 April 2015 23:27:41 UTC+2, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
I am delighted to inform you that Moses Ochonu, an active member of this forum, has just got word from the chair of his department that the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has approved his promotion to the rank of Full Professor effective immediately! Please join me in congratulating this superb, hardworking scholar on this admirable milestone.
Farooq
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com<http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com>
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi
Twitter: @farooqkperogi<https://twitter.com/#%21/farooqkperogi>
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
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Tade Aina <tadeak...@yahoo.com>: Apr 17 03:00PM
Congratulations Moses, well deserved.Best wishes,Tade Aina.
On Friday, April 17, 2015 5:32 PM, "Assensoh, Akwasi B." <aass...@indiana.edu> wrote:
#yiv4837706526 P {MARGIN-BOTTOM:0px;MARGIN-TOP:0px;} Sorry for the length of the message below, as I really wanted it to be brief! "Sorry, oo!" as Baba Ijebu would say! To re-echo other wise voices, congratulations and a word of advice are in order for our forum brother (Moses) on his elevation to Full Professor status in his Department at Vanderbilt University. In fact, a family friend of ours from New York University (NYU) is on her way to Vanderbilt as the new Dean of Arts and Sciences (which often happens to be a major position on several academic campuses), and it is hoped that Brother Moses (in his new exhorted status) will find her to be a great intellectual ally! In my own leap of academic and intellectual fate, as I climbed the promotion ladders on Research 1 campuses, I still remember pieces of sagacious advice from two eminent scholars, one of whom is still a regular and active member of this important forum: namely Professor John Mukum Mbaku and Mwalimu (Professor) Ali Al'Amin Mazrui of blessed memory! Professor Mbaku (Brother John) gave an "advisory" talk (or lecture?) to our study group known as African Studies and Research Forum (ASRF) of the Association of Third World Studies; many of us were young Assistant and Associate Professors. At the time, he was a rising academic star and also one of the active area Editors of the association's peer-reviewed publication,Journal of Third World Studies. His "stern" and no-nonsense advice (at a Denver, Colorado annual conference meeting) was that those of us working toward our promotions should not wait until it was too late to do what it takes to be promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor and, also, from Associate to Full Professor. He also urged us, without mincing words, that it would be too late to knock on his door at the proverbial midnight hour to ask him to publish a particular article or review essay in the journal for an individual, who has a few weeks to come up for promotion! As my dear "old" and sagacious Baba Ijebu would say: "Listen to good advice and use it for yourself, even if you have nobody to offer you advice!" I did over the years, and it paid off handsomely! Then came the order of things, including working hard for promotion to Full Professor. In fact, Professor Mazrui, one day, spent an entire evening at The Ohio State University (where I was a Postdoc and he was a Visiting Professor from Michigan) speaking with me about the need to see the Full Professor rank as something that was/is akin to an "Exclusive Club". He added, in jest, that it could be likened to the Augusta Masters, in golf tournaments: "Not everybody gets to wear the oversized green jacket...", he told me candidly. Mwalimu (also Nana in Ghana royalty title) further urged me to publish extensively as well as "everywhere" and, also, to take my teaching very seriously. In the end, he as well spoke sternly against "dead woods" in academia: individuals, who do nothing else after becoming Full Professors! Instead, Professor Mazrui added that I should work so hard after my promotion to Full Professor that my institution should find me "very relevant" in everything that happens on the campus, where I was teaching. I did and, in the end, my bosses at Indiana University smiled, and I also smiled when the time came in 2011 to be elevated to Professor Emeritus status! Our own SIR Toyin Falola and several brothers and sisters from far and near (many of whom are on this wonderful forum) converged on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University to "toast" and "roast" me, as part of a major celebration. In the end, the attached announced 350-page hardcover book was co-edited by SIR Toyin (and Professor Emmanuel Mbah) to honor my elevation. In fact, one day, I expect Full Professor (Brother) Moses Ochonu (and other younger brothers and sisters in academic rat race) to celebrate similarly, hence sharing my litany of experiences and advice! It is not a mere boast, please! Again, congratulations, Professor Moses Ochonu of Vanderbilt University!A.B. Assensoh. From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 5:43 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Mighty Congratulations Don Moses Ochonu !Even the wimps of non-Academia salute you!More power and wattage to your brain!CorneliusWe Sweden
On Thursday, 16 April 2015 23:27:41 UTC+2, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
I am delighted to inform you that Moses Ochonu, an active member of this forum, has just got word from the chair of his department that the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has approved his promotion to the rank of Full Professor effective immediately! Please join me in congratulating this superb, hardworking scholar on this admirable milestone.
Farooq
Personal website:www.farooqkperogi.comFacebook: https://www. facebook.com/farooqkperogiTwitter: @farooqkperogi
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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takuruku <taku...@yahoo.com>: Apr 17 04:49PM +0100
Moses,
My warm congratulations. The sky is your start line. Best regards.
Zacharys Gundu
Sent from Samsung Mobile"Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:Hearty congratulations to Moses for his well-deserved promotion to Full Professorship.
GE
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Assensoh, Akwasi B. [aass...@indiana.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 10:19 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: anthony...@yahoo.co.uk; szalan...@msn.com; Afoaku, Osita; and...@southernct.edu; gohi...@njcu.edu; abiol...@gmail.com; phili...@hotmail.com; doy...@gmail.com; asse...@uoregon.edu; deji...@yahoo.com; bgw...@gmail.com; Ford, T Michael; titl...@gmail.com; titlo...@gmail.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Sorry for the length of the message below, as I really wanted it to be brief! "Sorry, oo!" as Baba Ijebu would say!
To re-echo other wise voices, congratulations and a word of advice are in order for our forum brother (Moses) on his elevation to Full Professor status in his Department at Vanderbilt University. In fact, a family friend of ours from New York University (NYU) is on her way to Vanderbilt as the new Dean of Arts and Sciences (which often happens to be a major position on several academic campuses), and it is hoped that Brother Moses (in his new exhorted status) will find her to be a great intellectual ally!
In my own leap of academic and intellectual fate, as I climbed the promotion ladders on Research 1 campuses, I still remember pieces of sagacious advice from two eminent scholars, one of whom is still a regular and active member of this important forum: namely Professor John Mukum Mbaku and Mwalimu (Professor) Ali Al'Amin Mazrui of blessed memory!
Professor Mbaku (Brother John) gave an "advisory" talk (or lecture?) to our study group known as African Studies and Research Forum (ASRF) of the Association of Third World Studies; many of us were young Assistant and Associate Professors. At the time, he was a rising academic star and also one of the active area Editors of the association's peer-reviewed publication, Journal of Third World Studies. His "stern" and no-nonsense advice (at a Denver, Colorado annual conference meeting) was that those of us working toward our promotions should not wait until it was too late to do what it takes to be promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor and, also, from Associate to Full Professor. He also urged us, without mincing words, that it would be too late to knock on his door at the proverbial midnight hour to ask him to publish a particular article or review essay in the journal for an individual, who has a few weeks to come up for promotion! As my dear "old" and sagacious Baba Ijebu would say: "Listen to good advice and use it for yourself, even if you have nobody to offer you advice!" I did over the years, and it paid off handsomely!
Then came the order of things, including working hard for promotion to Full Professor. In fact, Professor Mazrui, one day, spent an entire evening at The Ohio State University (where I was a Postdoc and he was a Visiting Professor from Michigan) speaking with me about the need to see the Full Professor rank as something that was/is akin to an "Exclusive Club". He added, in jest, that it could be likened to the Augusta Masters, in golf tournaments: "Not everybody gets to wear the oversized green jacket...", he told me candidly. Mwalimu (also Nana in Ghana royalty title) further urged me to publish extensively as well as "everywhere" and, also, to take my teaching very seriously. In the end, he as well spoke sternly against "dead woods" in academia: individuals, who do nothing else after becoming Full Professors! Instead, Professor Mazrui added that I should work so hard after my promotion to Full Professor that my institution should find me "very relevant" in everything that happens on the campus, where I was teaching. I did and, in the end, my bosses at Indiana University smiled, and I also smiled when the time came in 2011 to be elevated to Professor Emeritus status!
Our own SIR Toyin Falola and several brothers and sisters from far and near (many of whom are on this wonderful forum) converged on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University to "toast" and "roast" me, as part of a major celebration. In the end, the attached announced 350-page hardcover book was co-edited by SIR Toyin (and Professor Emmanuel Mbah) to honor my elevation. In fact, one day, I expect Full Professor (Brother) Moses Ochonu (and other younger brothers and sisters in academic rat race) to celebrate similarly, hence sharing my litany of experiences and advice! It is not a mere boast, please!
Again, congratulations, Professor Moses Ochonu of Vanderbilt University!
A.B. Assensoh.
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 5:43 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Mighty Congratulations Don Moses Ochonu !
Even the wimps of non-Academia salute you!
More power and wattage to your brain!
Cornelius
We Sweden<http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/>
On Thursday, 16 April 2015 23:27:41 UTC+2, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
I am delighted to inform you that Moses Ochonu, an active member of this forum, has just got word from the chair of his department that the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has approved his promotion to the rank of Full Professor effective immediately! Please join me in congratulating this superb, hardworking scholar on this admirable milestone.
Farooq
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com<http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com>
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi
Twitter: @farooqkperogi<https://twitter.com/#%21/farooqkperogi>
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
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Moses Ebe Ochonu <meoc...@gmail.com>: Apr 17 02:27PM -0500
I am humbled by all the messages of congratulations. I am also grateful for
the kind words, the wishes for further success, and the wise counsel of
experienced elders in the profession. I am fortunate to belong to a forum
that gives me a platform to interact with the finest assemblage of scholars
and thinkers, colleagues and interlocutors from whom I am always learning
and on whom I constantly bounce and test ideas. I stand on the massive
shoulders of the men and women of this great forum. I am in great company.
May God bless all our endeavors, and I look forward to celebrating other
members' milestones. Thanks a ton to Farooq Kperogi, my brother from
another mother, who brought the news to the forum, and to Professor Falola
who makes this village square possible.
On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 9:08 AM, Ademola Dasylva <dasy...@gmail.com>
wrote:
--
There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
greed.
---Mohandas Gandhi
akan...@yahoo.com: Apr 17 01:38PM -0400
Congrats to Prof Ochonu, like small, like small you don dey reach that height we've always known you were headed to!
Laolu A
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
From: 'takuruku' via USA Africa Dialogue Series
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 12:53 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Reply To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Moses,
My warm congratulations. The sky is your start line. Best regards.
Zacharys Gundu
Sent from Samsung Mobile
"Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:
Hearty congratulations to Moses for his well-deserved promotion to Full Professorship.
GE
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Assensoh, Akwasi B. [aass...@indiana.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 10:19 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: anthony...@yahoo.co.uk; szalan...@msn.com; Afoaku, Osita; and...@southernct.edu; gohi...@njcu.edu; abiol...@gmail.com; phili...@hotmail.com; doy...@gmail.com; asse...@uoregon.edu; deji...@yahoo.com; bgw...@gmail.com; Ford, T Michael; titl...@gmail.com; titlo...@gmail.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Sorry for the length of the message below, as I really wanted it to be brief! "Sorry, oo!" as Baba Ijebu would say!
To re-echo other wise voices, congratulations and a word of advice are in order for our forum brother (Moses) on his elevation to Full Professor status in his Department at Vanderbilt University. In fact, a family friend of ours from New York University (NYU) is on her way to Vanderbilt as the new Dean of Arts and Sciences (which often happens to be a major position on several academic campuses), and it is hoped that Brother Moses (in his new exhorted status) will find her to be a great intellectual ally!
In my own leap of academic and intellectual fate, as I climbed the promotion ladders on Research 1 campuses, I still remember pieces of sagacious advice from two eminent scholars, one of whom is still a regular and active member of this important forum: namely Professor John Mukum Mbaku and Mwalimu (Professor) Ali Al'Amin Mazrui of blessed memory!
Professor Mbaku (Brother John) gave an "advisory" talk (or lecture?) to our study group known as African Studies and Research Forum (ASRF) of the Association of Third World Studies; many of us were young Assistant and Associate Professors. At the time, he was a rising academic star and also one of the active area Editors of the association's peer-reviewed publication, Journal of Third World Studies. His "stern" and no-nonsense advice (at a Denver, Colorado annual conference meeting) was that those of us working toward our promotions should not wait until it was too late to do what it takes to be promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor and, also, from Associate to Full Professor. He also urged us, without mincing words, that it would be too late to knock on his door at the proverbial midnight hour to ask him to publish a particular article or review essay in the journal for an individual, who has a few weeks to come up for promotion! As my dear "old" and sagacious Baba Ijebu would say: "Listen to good advice and use it for yourself, even if you have nobody to offer you advice!" I did over the years, and it paid off handsomely!
Then came the order of things, including working hard for promotion to Full Professor. In fact, Professor Mazrui, one day, spent an entire evening at The Ohio State University (where I was a Postdoc and he was a Visiting Professor from Michigan) speaking with me about the need to see the Full Professor rank as something that was/is akin to an "Exclusive Club". He added, in jest, that it could be likened to the Augusta Masters, in golf tournaments: "Not everybody gets to wear the oversized green jacket...", he told me candidly. Mwalimu (also Nana in Ghana royalty title) further urged me to publish extensively as well as "everywhere" and, also, to take my teaching very seriously. In the end, he as well spoke sternly against "dead woods" in academia: individuals, who do nothing else after becoming Full Professors! Instead, Professor Mazrui added that I should work so hard after my promotion to Full Professor that my institution should find me "very relevant" in everything that happens on the campus, where I was teaching. I did and, in the end, my bosses at Indiana University smiled, and I also smiled when the time came in 2011 to be elevated to Professor Emeritus status!
Our own SIR Toyin Falola and several brothers and sisters from far and near (many of whom are on this wonderful forum) converged on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University to "toast" and "roast" me, as part of a major celebration. In the end, the attached announced 350-page hardcover book was co-edited by SIR Toyin (and Professor Emmanuel Mbah) to honor my elevation. In fact, one day, I expect Full Professor (Brother) Moses Ochonu (and other younger brothers and sisters in academic rat race) to celebrate similarly, hence sharing my litany of experiences and advice! It is not a mere boast, please!
Again, congratulations, Professor Moses Ochonu of Vanderbilt University!
AB Assensoh.
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 5:43 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Congratulations to Moses Ochonu!
Mighty Congratulations Don Moses Ochonu !
Even the wimps of non-Academia salute you!
More power and wattage to your brain!
Cornelius
We Sweden<http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/>
On Thursday, 16 April 2015 23:27:41 UTC+2, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
I am delighted to inform you that Moses Ochonu, an active member of this forum, has just got word from the chair of his department that the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has approved his promotion to the rank of Full Professor effective immediately! Please join me in congratulating this superb, hardworking scholar on this admirable milestone.
Farooq
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com<http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com>
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi
Twitter: @farooqkperogi<https://twitter.com/#%21/farooqkperogi>
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." GF Will
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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Okey Iheduru <okeyi...@gmail.com>: Apr 17 12:47PM -0700
Greetings to all.
History is and has always been highly contested. Certainly, it was less so
when only the hegemonic or colonizers' versions of history wwere written
and taught in schools. Later, the *sub-alterns* (racial, gender, spatial,
geographic, inter-generational, religious, ethnic, etc.) began to challenge
that view of the world. That challenge, as we may recall, gave rise to the
multiculturalism movement and culture wars in academia--in the US, Canada,
UK, mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand, etc. Biafra is not the only
historical issue that divides Nigerians. There is hegemonic and
counter-hegemonic histories of the Yoruba vs the Bini; Usman dan Fodio as a
"reformer" vs empire-builder and even Mohammed Shekau of a by-gone era, Tiv
vs. Fulani; even Igbo history vs. Nri history, etc. Just think of the
recent vitriol about the history of Lagos. Or, the contestations over the
hegemony of the Ibadan History epistemic gate-keepers --not sure if these
amount to Nigeria's version of "culture wars", though.
The biggest problem I see in Nigeria is the tendency among academics to
always run to Government to bankroll most of their activities -- cf. the
culture of academic organizations making "courtesy calls" on state
Governors and/or the President who reciprocate with "welfare packages"
which these academics sometimes fight over viciously. Why would any
government worth its name allow you to write history that challenges or
undermines its legitimacy--especially if that same government is paying for
it? The military rulers who were expected to pay for a "balanced" history
of the Nigerian civil war hinged their sense of entitlement to rule Nigeria
as their patrimony on their (ignominious/gallant???) roles in the events
that precipitated, during and after that war. For them, the academics who
were swarming around the military in the name of a national history project
were not really different from the ten-for-a-penny praise-singing musicians
down the street. And, there were lots of coffee table verbiage that were
produced by academics to massage the egos of their paymasters during those
locust years of military rule. My point is that those military rulers (and,
indeed, any Nigerian government) are not different from those in France,
Belgium, Germany (and indeed, the West) where governments do not allow the
"truth" about their enslavement/genocide/colonialism to be included in
history books for schools, for instance.
Finally, the politics over what constitutes "history" is actually the best
argument for "true federalism" or significant devolution of powers. Local
control of cultural and historical memory is at the core of what the theory
and practice of federalism celebrates as "unity and diversity", at least as
articulated by K.C. Wheare. The history taught in Scotland and Wales does
not have to please the knowledge police in England; just as the Fulani or
Yoruba cannot ban the Angas, Igbo, or Kanuri from teaching their history
because someone's identity is going to be threatened, and vice versa. You
can't ban the teaching of history because it's controversial--and this
again is one area I fault those otherwise knowledgeable and respected
academics who supported or lent legitimacy to the military dictatorships'
tendency to ban anything they didn't like or understand. We are yet to
exorcise this demon from our psyche. The day we do it, that's the day we'll
be on the road towards the democratization of the Nigerian state.
Peace as always!
On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 11:45 AM, Richard Joseph <richard...@gmail.com>
wrote:
--
*Okey Iheduru, PhD*[image:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/banners/readmyarticle/rrip.gif]
*You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network
(SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462 <http://ssrn.com/author=2131462>.*
kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>: Apr 17 12:15PM -0400
see below for an action we can all share in
ken
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Petition to stop Xenophobia in South Africa
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2015 15:51:12 +0000
From: Leslie Hadfield <leslie_...@byu.edu>
Dear ACAS friends and Colleagues,
Please find below the wording of a petition to the South African embassy
to stop xenophobic attacks in South Africa. If you would like to sign
the petition, the instructions on where to send your name are below.
Please do so by Sunday night, April 19th.
Thank you,
Leslie Hadfield
ACAS Secretary
*Petition to the South African Embassy, Washington, DC*
We call for urgent action to end the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
The undersigned represent members of the North Eastern Workshop on
Southern Africa, the African Studies Association, the African Studies
Association Women’s Caucus, the Association of Concerned African
Scholars, and the US-Africa Network. As scholars and activists, we know
that this violence directed at “strangers” defies a long history of
exchange, migration, and solidarity in the region—especially during the
anti-apartheid movement. As friends and family members of southern
Africans, we worry about the safety of many who are close to us. And as
human beings, we are shocked and heartbroken to see this violence
continue. We therefore urge President Zuma’s administration to bring
this violence to an end, and to foster policy that prevents such
violence in the future.
Please email Meghan Healy-Clancy at healy....@gmail.com
<mailto:healy....@gmail.com> with your name, title, and affiliation
to sign the petition. She will submit the petition by the morning of
Monday, 20 April.
--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu
kayode Ketefe <kke...@yahoo.com>: Apr 17 05:52AM -0700
President Jonathan’s administration in retrospect
KAYODE KETEFE
This, of course is the twilight of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and this writer reckons it is appropriate time to appraise his administration since there only remain just a little over two months before it expires. It is widely accepted that observance of human rights is one of the major hallmarks of a liberal democracy and thus the yardsticks for assessing the outgoing government’s performance may not be far from human rights issues.
There are both positive and negative developments palpably standing out as markers of President Jonathan’s administration. Whether the positives outweigh the negatives or vice-versa is a matter of perception, but whatever the case is, his government which was widely embraced by the electorate in 2011 was no longer popular at the end of first term in 2015, making people to prefer a change which they ultimately procured with their votes.
To start with, upon ascension to office on May 29, 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan boldly declared that he would respect the rule of law and observe human rights. “Has the President lived up to his promise on the important issue?
A number of events have happened in the course of the four years that would make the question difficult to answer. Simply put there are both numerous cases of observances and flouting of human rights.
The following are some of the “Kudos” and “Sins” of incumbent president’s administration. The list does not pretend to be exhaustive of either category, though.
On the positive side, Jonathan’s government obeyed the court orders nullifying elections of some governors and replacing them with the candidates of opposition parties. Ekiti and Osun State are cases in point. Furthermore, President Jonathan signed some revolutionary bills into laws for the betterment of the country.
These include Freedom of Information Act, Minimum Wage Act and Evidence Act. That was not all. He also granted independence to the National Human Rights Commission by signing into law an enabling amendment bill. This is in addition to reformation of the National Industrial Court, through constitutional amendment. This presidential assent to these bills may appear not important until it is realised that it is “a mere presidential assent” that frustrated the FOI bill from becoming a law as far back as 2007.
Other achievements also include the novel establishment of almajiri schooling scheme in the North and the You Win project for youth empowerment. President Jonathan famously capped all these achievement by conceding to electoral defeat when he lost the March 28 presidential election. He said he would not allow personal ambition to stand in the way of Nigerian unity. This singular statesman conduct had fetched him accolades across the globe as he he being held up as shining example for African leaders.
On the negative side, the President’s increment of the fuel pump price imposed on January 1, 2012 were construed as callous and a measure to further impoverish them.
But the more perplexing aspects were wanton killing of some demonstrators during the ensuing protest and the deployment of soldiers to intimidate the “rioters.” A young man, Ademola Aderinto Daramola, was allegedly shot by a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Olusegun Fabunmi at Ogba area in Lagos during the protest. This was seen as a kind of throwback to the era of military oppression.
Another blot in the linen of this administration is the way it handled the CJN/ Justice Ayo Salami saga. Many Nigerians were of the opinion that the matter, despite its delicate nature, was politicised.
Many people also believed that failure to curb the menace of Boko Haram insurgency was attributable to weakness on the part of the president. Even those who were reluctant to make such attribution were nonetheless perplexed by what they perceived to be the President’s rather lukewarm attitude. Remember the incident when law enforcement agents tear-gassed some of those protesting the kidnap of Chibok Girls?
The same perceived non-indifference to value of human lives had earlier been protested when the administration obstinately posted corps members (on one-year mandatory service to fatherland) to troubled areas during 2011 general elections despite protests by parent, guardians and other stakeholders. Ten of the corpers were brutally killed while the repentant Federal Government compensated each of the 10 families with N5 million.
Another real human rights issue was the Federal Government crackdown on the Baga community in which over 185 people were alleged to have been killed and over 2000 houses destroyed.
How about the Rivers State anarchy where the government of Mr. Rotimi Amaechi was grossly undermined by some Is it not shameful that the legitimate authority of a democratically elected state government could be so wantonly desecrated while the whole of Nigeria purports to be under a democracy?
The controversial state pardon granted by the Council of State, presided over by the President to some convicted politicians, especially, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha, was also seen by many as an official endorsement of corruption.
What about the arrest and subsequent trial of four journalists, Chinyere Fred-Adebulugbe, Chuks Ohuegbe, Tony Amokeodo and Chibuzor Ukaibe, all from Leadership newspaper, on alleged offence that they refused to disclose their source of information?
This is not to talk of dearth of the basics like food, healthcare, housing, clothing and gainful employment which people had expected earnestly as dividends of democracy.
Surely there has been an ironic mixture of positives and negatives from this government.
Ketefe may be followed on twitter @Ketesco
Ibukunolu A Babajide <ibk...@gmail.com>: Apr 17 03:18PM +0300
Dear friends and family,
My account was hacked. I DID NOT. I repeat I did not solicit any funds for
my mother's burial.
My very good friend brought to my attention just now that a solicitation
for money is going round for money in respect of my mother's burial.
Please disregard it.
Thank you.
Cheers.
IBK
_________________________
Ibukunolu Alao Babajide (IBK)
(+2348061276622)
ibk...@gmail.com
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--
Osakue S. Omoera, CMIM
Department of Theatre and Media Arts
Faculty of Arts, Ambrose Alli University
Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria
Email:omo...@yahoo.com
Alternative emails:osakue...@aauekpoma.edu.org, osakue...@gmail.com
Mobile:+2348035714679, +2348059997573
The secret to having everything you want out of life is the realization that you really don't want most of the things you think you want. (Bo Bennett)
Department of Theatre and Media Arts
Faculty of Arts, Ambrose Alli University
Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria
Email:omo...@yahoo.com
Alternative emails:osakue...@aauekpoma.edu.org, osakue...@gmail.com
Mobile:+2348035714679, +2348059997573
The secret to having everything you want out of life is the realization that you really don't want most of the things you think you want. (Bo Bennett)
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