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10TH AFRICAN FEST ANNIVERSARY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008
VOLUNTEER FOR AAM'S UBUNTU MENTORING PROGRAM
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RENEW YOUR AAM MEMBERSHIP FOR $25!!!!
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A CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY
The capacity to embrace cultural diversity has always been part and parcel of the African mindset. Our cultures melt and spread into subcultures which in turn generate aggregates. In a bid to forge a common cultural identity and avoid asphyxiation, Africans have the onerous task of embracing their disparate subcultures. The submersion of our various cultures into a collective African heritage by means of mutual acceptance is one of the extraordinary ways in which Africans could enter into symbiotic intercourse with their kith and kin of different extractions. This is a rewarding means to communion with members of the global village. Our emotional experiences, our pains and our uncertainties, the strange curiosity of what is generally perceived as our defects and shortcomings should serve as a support base for our convivial strive toward a common identity.
One of the prerequisites for the collective survival of Africans is our ability to maintain a conscious relationship with one another and with the global community in which we live. This presupposes sinking out superficial differences and embracing our all too obvious commonalities. We must ensure that our collective consciousness celebrates and enrich rather than alienate us as a people from the community of nations. We constitute an integral part of the international community. Our African heritage should not be hijacked by others to place us in a pariah state. Our collective diversity should be perceived as part of an integrating process of world diversity. Africans must acknowledge that each culture is never a finished product but rather a rung in the continuum of global cultures. Africans are interested in relating rather than dominating, in exchanging rather than expropriating. That’s why we remain our brother’s keepers at all times. A Hausa from Nigeria is a brother
to a Hausa in Cameroon. A Fulani in Chad is a sister to a Fulani in Niger, a Bororo from Gabon is kith and kin to a Bororo from Equatorial Guinea, and so on and so forth.
Without denying the cosmetic differences that exist amongst us, differences which have been exploited by our enemies to their own advantage, we must acknowledge that what unites us as Africans is vaster that what separates us. This is to say that the celebration of our diversity should constitute a stage in the process toward an African Federation, or better yet, the United States of Africa, the only contraption that will enable us to stand united. As the adage goes, united we stand; separated we will fall. Our unity will empower us to face up to the different hegemonic challenges that threaten our very survival in a global community that has become the marketplace for the commercialization of ideas.
PETER W.VAKUNTA
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
602 VAN HISE HALL
1220 LINDEN DRIVE
MADISON WI 53706-1525
U.S.A
Office 608 262 4067
Home 608 442 6089
Cell 608 381 0407
"The day will come when history will speak... Africa will write its own history... it will be a history of glory and dignity." - Patrice Lumumba
----- Original Message -----
From: Dzigbodi Akyea <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 9:47 am
Subject: Fwd: Obama
To: [log in to unmask]
> **********************************************************
>
> 10TH AFRICAN FEST ANNIVERSARY
>
> SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008
>
> RENEW YOUR AAM MEMBERSHIP FOR $25!!!!
>
> MAIL YOUR CHECK TO AAM, P. O. Box 1016, MADISON, WI 53701
>
> **********************************************************
>
> On 05/06/2008, Kofi Ellison <sikadwa1701@ hotmail.com> wrote:
> Obama's win is indeed a lifter for blacks in America and for people
> of
> all races who somehow have been/or felt left behind by the
> system. To
> the extent seeing a black man in the White House
> serves as encouragement to people I'd say Praise Him.
>
> However, several factors enabled Obama to reach the heights that he
> has.
>
> Obama is what I call a culturally-situated person. He never pointed
>
> to his father's village with his left hand. He was proud of his
> father and his name. Thats important because in order to get to some
>
> where, one must know whence one came. The majority of the children
> of
> Africans born in America lack this cultural fortitude exemplified in
>
> Obama.
>
> As a Sunday School teacher in an all-Ghanaian church, I was befuddled
>
> by the way the children showed total disrespect for their "Ghanaian"
>
> parents; and absolute disregard for the parents' culture and norms.
> Some children would not let their parents call them by their 'African
>
> names' when their American friends (no matter the ethnic background
> of
> these American friends) came to visit. Some children forbade their
> parents to speak 'that African language' when their American visited
>
> friends. Some do not want their parents to visit their schools, and a
>
> whole host of other demeaning constrains that these children develop
>
> as a result of cultural kwashiakor!
>
> This propensity to degrade the culture, tend to psychologically
> degrade the children as time goes on. Obama's mother allowed him to
>
> take in all cultures with respect. He never degraded his side of
> Africa. And he fervenlty told his friends not to call hi 'Barry' for
>
> Barack!
>
> Even if he had not entered politics, Obama's accomplishments would
> have been worthy to emulate. But as president, he would serve as a
> beacon of hope for all those who have felt left behind. Until those
>
> left behind decide to emulate Obama's cultural fortitude to stimulate
>
> mental toughness, ten consecutive black presidents would have little
>
> effect on the growth of those left behind.
>
> Kofi Ellison
>
> Aduane a ebi nkoo wo mamme bokyea so no, yekyi'... Okomfo Anokye
> (i.e. Never eat, and consider as taboo and an abhorrence, any type of
>
> meal that your mother NEVER cooked on her stove!)
>
> The information contained in this e-mail is intended only for the
> individual or entity to whom it is addressed.
> Its contents (including any attachments) may contain confidential
> and/or privileged information.
> If you are not an intended recipient you must not use, disclose,
> disseminate, copy or print its contents.
> If you receive t message.
> his e-mail in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and
> delete and destroy the
>
>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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