"These talented writers are about to embark on 14 wholly different and fascinating itineraries, from exploring ancient scrolls in Timbuktu, to the Anglican Church in Uganda, to Somaliland's elections, to name a few," says Tom Burke, the Achebe Center program manager. "It is a landmark project, and our partners - large and small - across the continent have lent enthusiasm and support. It's an exciting time to watch these pilgrimages unfold, and it will be quite something to read these books once their pages are written."
"I don't want to look arrogant, especially with [Cornel West]. But I believe he sat on the side of something he doesn't actually know," [Nancy Morejon] said of the open letter West and 59 other African Americans sent to Cuban President Raul Castro late last year. In it, they accused his government of mistreating civil rights activists and a "callous disregard" for its Black population. "Yes, there is racism in Cuba," Tomas Fernandez Robaina, a prolific writer about the social condition of Black Cubans, told me. The country "engaged in romanticism" when Castro ordered an end to racial discrimination nearly a half-century ago, Fernandez said. "Now we understand it will take more than goodwill to get rid of it, something Americans should know better than Cubans."
Why would [Frederick Douglass], a former slave, newspaper publisher, author and United States Minister and Consul General of Haiti, so admire Haiti, its leaders during the Revolution and its contributions to the world? And why was Douglass, despite his realistic assessment of the nation, so very hopeful about Haiti's future?
KW: Dr. Karanja Ajanaku, (executive editor of the Memphis Tri-State Defender, says: "You seem to be making the point that in the U.S., we are mostly unaware, substantively, of "blacks" in Latin America. Would you speak to how aware or unaware, substantively, "blacks" in Latin America are of African Americans? HLG: No, I didn't see any sign of that, because most of those folks' first identity is a national one, as a Brazilian or a Cuban, not as a black person. For instance, in the Dominican Republic episode, Juan Rodriguez says he never even thought of himself as black until he visited New York. One of the points of the series is that identity is a very complex and ever-shifting matter. We might think that these people are obviously black, but they might not identify themselves that way.
[Carolyn Cooper] said there is a dissonance between "the brand" and the "representation of the brand" and that "until in Jamaica we come to acknowledge Jamaica is not an "out of many, one people" country but it is really a country of black people with small numbers of ethnic minorities, we're not going to get the brand right." 'At Independence, Emancipation Day just disappeared. Because if you have Emancipation Day, then you have to ask yourself what you were emancipated from. And then certain people would have to say, well, we were mixed up in it. Slavery, that is. So Emancipation Day was just erased,"she said. "But Garveyites and Rastafari kept the tradition of celebrating Emancipation Day. And it's now back on the national calendar. We even have an Emancipation Park!" "This book is a celebration of Brand Jamaica, the authentic Brand Jamaica and I hope that as you read it, you'll understand why I'm so passionate about the subject," said Cooper as she ended her remarks.
Through these public outreach efforts, Boggis was able to engage Milford leaders in the project, resulting in their designating a city park as the [Harriet E. Wilson] Adams Wilson Memorial Site. Ms. Boggis was able to further increase public awareness and gain support from the community for the commission of a life-size sculpture of Harriet Wilson and on November 6, 2006 in a celebration hosted by actress and civil right activist, [Ruby Dee], the project unveiled the Wilson memorial statue which is the only public sculpture honouring a person of colour in the State of New Hampshire.
