DISCUSSION ARTICLE
WHAT EXACTLY DOES ‘SUB-SAHARA AFRICA’ MEAN?
Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
2012-01-18, Issue 566
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/79215
The widespread use of ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ makes no sense and is undoubtedly a racist geopolitical signature.
It appears increasingly fashionable in the West for a number of broadcasters, websites, news agencies, newspapers and magazines, the United Nations / allied agencies and some governments, writers and academics to use the term ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ to refer to all of Africa except the five predominantly Arab states of north Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt) and the Sudan, a north-central African country. Even though its territory is mostly located south of the Sahara Desert, the Sudan is excluded from the ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ tagging by those who promote the use of the epithet because the regime in power in Khartoum describes the country as ‘Arab’ despite its majority African population.
But the concept ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is absurd and misleading, if not a meaningless classificatory schema. Its use defies the science of the fundamentals of geography but prioritises hackneyed and stereotypical racist labelling. It is not obvious, on the face of it, which of the four possible meanings of the prefix ‘sub’ its users attach to the ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ labelling. Is it ‘under’ the Sahara Desert or ‘part of’/ ‘partly’ the Sahara Desert? Or, presumably, ‘partially’ / ‘nearly’ the Sahara Desert or even the very unlikely (hopefully!) application of ‘in the style of, but inferior to’ the Sahara Desert, especially considering that there is an Arab people sandwiched between Morocco and Mauritania (northwest Africa) called Saharan?
PRE-LIBERATION SOUTH AFRICA
The example of South Africa is appropriate here. Prior to the formal restoration of African majority government in 1994, South Africa was never designated ‘sub-Sahara Africa’, unlike the rest of the 13 African-led states in southern Africa, which were also often referred to at the time as the ‘frontline states’. South Africa then was either termed ‘white South Africa’ or the ‘South Africa sub-continent’ (as in the ‘India sub-continent’ usage, for instance), meaning ‘almost’ / ‘partially’ a continent - quite clearly a usage of ‘admiration’ or ‘compliment’ employed by its subscribers to essentially project and valorise the perceived geostrategic potentials or capabilities of the erstwhile regime.
But soon after the triumph of the African freedom movement there, South Africa became ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ in the quickly adjusted schema of this representation. What happened suddenly to South Africa’s geography for it to be so differently classified? Is it African liberation / rule that renders an African state ‘sub-Sahara’? Does this post-1994 West-inflected South Africa-changed classification make ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ any more intelligible? Interestingly, just as in the South Africa ‘sub-continent’ example, the application of the ‘almost’ / ‘partially’ or indeed ‘part of’/’partly’ meaning of prefix ‘sub-’ to ‘Sahara Africa’ focuses unambiguously on the following countries of Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, each of which has 25-75 per cent of its territory (especially to the south) covered by the Sahara Desert. It also focuses on Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and the Sudan, which variously have 25-75 per cent of their territories (to the north) covered by the same desert. In effect, these 10 states would make up sub-Sahara Africa.
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, the five Arab north Africa countries, do not, correctly, describe themselves as Africans even though they unquestionably habituate African geography, the African continent, since the Arab conquest and occupation of this north one-third of African territory in the 7th century CE. The Western governments, press and the transnational bodies (which are led predominantly by Western personnel and interests) have consistently ‘conceded’ to this Arab cultural insistence on racial identity. Presumably, this accounts for the West’s non-designation of its ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ dogma to these countries as well as the Sudan, whose successive Arab-minority regimes since January 1956 have claimed, but incorrectly, that the Sudan ‘belongs’ to the Arab world. On this subject, the West does no doubt know that what it has been engaged in, all along, is blatant sophistry and not science. This, however, conveniently suits its current propaganda packaging on Africa, which we shall be elaborating on shortly.
It would appear that we still don’t seem to be any closer to establishing, conclusively, what its users mean by ‘sub-Sahara Africa’. Could it, perhaps, just be a benign reference to all the countries ‘under’ the Sahara, whatever their distances from this desert, to interrogate our final, fourth probability? Presently, there are 53 so-called sovereign states in Africa. If the five north Africa Arab states are said to be located ‘above’ the Sahara, then 48 are positioned ‘under’. The latter would therefore include all the five countries mentioned above whose north frontiers incorporate the southern stretches of the desert (namely, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and the Sudan), countries in central Africa (the Congos, Rwanda, Burundi, etc., etc), for instance, despite being 2000-2500 miles away, and even the southern African states situated 3000-3500 miles away. In fact, all these 48 countries, except the Sudan (alas, not included for the plausible reason already cited), which is clearly ‘under’ the Sahara and situated within the same latitudes as Mali, Niger and Chad (i.e., between 10 and 20 degrees north of the equator), are all categorised by the ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ users as ‘sub-Sahara Africa’.
2012 WORLDWIDE CLASSIFICATORY SCHEMA?
To replicate this obvious farce of a classification elsewhere in the world, the following random exercise is not such an indistinct scenario for universal, everyday, referencing:
1. Australia hence becomes ‘sub-Great Sandy Australia’ after the hot deserts that cover much of west and central Australia.
2. East Russia, east of the Urals, becomes ‘sub-Siberia Asia’.
3. China, Japan and Indonesia are reclassified ‘sub-Gobi Asia’.
4. Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam become ‘sub-Himalaya Asia’.
5. All of Europe is ‘sub-Arctic Europe’.
6. Most of England, central and southern counties, is renamed ‘sub-Pennines Europe’.
7. East / southeast France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia are ‘sub-Alps Europe’.
8. The Americas become ‘sub-Arctic Americas’.
9. All of South America, south of the Amazon, is proclaimed ‘sub-Amazon South America’; Chile could be ‘sub-Atacama South America’.
10. Most of New Zealand’s South Island is renamed ‘sub-Southern Alps New Zealand’.
11. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama become ‘sub-Rocky North America’.
12. The entire Caribbean becomes ‘sub-Appalachian Americas’.
RACIST CODING
So, rather than some benign construct, ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is, in the end, an outlandish nomenclatural code that its users employ to depict an African-led ‘sovereign’ state - anywhere in Africa, as distinct from an Arab-led one. More seriously to the point, ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is employed to create the stunning effect of a supposedly shrinking African geographical landmass in the popular imagination, coupled with the continent’s supposedly attendant geostrategic global ‘irrelevance’.
‘Sub-Sahara Africa’ is undoubtedly a racist geo-political signature in which its users aim repeatedly to present the imagery of the desolation, aridity, and hopelessness of a desert environment. This is despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of one billion Africans do not live anywhere close to the Sahara, nor are their lives so affected by the implied impact of the very loaded meaning that this dogma intends to convey. Except this steadily pervasive use of ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is robustly challenged by rigorous African-centred scholarship and publicity work, its proponents will succeed, eventually, in substituting the name of the continent ‘Africa’ with ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ and the name of its peoples, ‘Africans’, with ‘sub-Sahara Africans’ or, worse still, ‘sub-Saharans’ in the realm of public memory and reckoning.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS.
* Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe is the author of ‘Readings from Reading: Essays on African Politics, Genocide, Literature’. (Dakar and Reading: African Renaissance, 2011)
OBITUARIES
~ DONNA SUMMER (LADONNA ADRIAN GAINES) (Dec 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012). Singer-songwriter, actress. The undisputed queen of disco Donna Summer passed away following a battle with cancer. She was a five-time Grammy Award winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US Billboard chart.
Donna Summer was one of seven children raised in the Boston suburb of Dorchester. Like many great singers her first performance was at church when, aged ten, she replaced a vocalist that had failed to show up. In 1967, just weeks before graduation, Summer left for New York where she was a member of the blues-rock band, Crow. After their break up she stayed on and auditioned for a role in the musical, ‘Hair‘. When Melba Moore was cast in the part, Summer took the role in the Munich production of the show. There she also appeared in the musicals ‘Ich Bin Ich’ (the German version of ‘The Me Nobody Knows‘), ‘Godspell‘ and ‘Show Boat‘. She then moved to Austria and joined the Viennese Folk Opera.
In 1971, Summer released her first single, a cover of The Jaynetts‘ ‘Sally Go ‘Round the Roses‘, from a one-off European deal with Decca Records. In 1972, she issued the single, ‘If You Walkin’ Alone’ on Philips. In 1974, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer. The couple soon divorced but she kept his surname, Anglicising it to Summer. While singing background vocals for Three Dog Night, Summer met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and issued her first album, ‘Lady of the Night‘, in 1974 on Groovy Records. ‘The Hostage’, a single from the album reached number one in Belgium and number two in the Netherlands.
In 1975, Summer approached Moroder with an idea for a song she and Bellotte were working on for another singer with the lyric ‘love to love you, baby’. Moroder used Summer’s lyric to develop the song. Casablanca Records released ‘Love to Love You Baby‘ but asked Moroder to produce a longer version for discos. By early 1976, ‘Love To Love You Baby’ had reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while the album of the same name sold over a million copies. The song generated controversy due to Summer’s moans and groans and some US and European radio stations refused to play it but it reached the Top 5 in Britain despite the BBC ban.
In 1977, Donna Summer released the concept album ‘I Remember Yesterday‘ which included ‘I Feel Love‘, which reached number six in the US and number one in the UK. She released a further double album in 1977, ‘Once Upon a Time‘, which told of a modern-day Cinderella rags to riches story. In 1978, She released her version of the Jimmy Webb ballad, ‘MacArthur Park‘, which became her first US number one. The song featured on Summer’s first live album, ‘Live and More‘, which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and went platinum selling over a million copies. In 1978, Summer played a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club in ‘Thank God It’s Friday‘. ‘Last Dance’ from the film reached number three on the Hot 100 winning Summer her first Grammy Award. Her next album with Moroder and Bellotte was ‘Bad Girls‘, a concept album about prostitution that became a huge success with tunes such as the title track, the Grammy-winning ‘Hot Stuff‘ and ‘Dim All the Lights‘.
Due to creative differences Summer left Casablanca in 1980 and signed with Geffen Records. Her first label release was ‘The Wanderer‘, which went gold in the US. Summer’s planned second Geffen release, ‘I’m a Rainbow‘, was shelved by the label though two of the album’s songs featured in the 1980s films ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High‘ and ‘Flashdance‘. Summer then parted with Moroder after seven years when Geffen recruited Quincy Jones to produce her 1982 album ‘Donna Summer‘. The album’s first single, ‘Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)‘, became a US top ten hit on the Hot 100, followed by more moderate hits ‘State of Independence‘ and ‘The Woman In Me’.
Problems increased between Summer and Geffen Records when they were notified by Polygram Records, Casablanca’s owners, that she needed to deliver another album to fulfill her contract with them. Polygram released the album ‘She Works Hard for the Money‘, and the title song became a hit and gave Summer another Grammy nomination. The album which was certified gold also featured the reggae-flavored UK Top 20 hit ‘Unconditional Love‘, which featured Musical Youth.
Further albums included ‘Cats Without Claws‘ and ‘All Systems Go‘, which by her standards did not sell well. For Summer’s next album, Geffen Records hired the British production team of Stock Aitken Waterman (or SAW). However, Geffen decided not to release the album, entitled ‘Another Place and Time‘, and Summer and Geffen Records parted ways in 1988. The album was released in Europe in March 1989 on Warner Bros Records, which had been Summer’s label in Europe since 1982. The single ‘This Time I Know It’s For Real‘ had become a top ten hit in several countries in Europe, prompting Warner Bros’ subsidiary Atlantic Records to sign Summer in the US and pick up the album for a North American release soon after. The single peaked at number 7 on the Hot 100 in the US, and became her twelfth gold single there. It was also Summer’s final Top 40 hit on the US pop charts, though she had two more UK hits from the album, ‘I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt‘ and ‘Love’s About To Change My Heart‘.
Summer had often talked about her early successful years as a period of confusion and anxiety. Despite her musical success she struggled with anxiety and depression and became dependent on prescription drugs for several years. Following a nervous breakdown at her home in 1979, Summer went to a local church with her sister Dara and declared herself a born-again Christian.
Her awards and successes include: five Grammy Awards; NAACP Image Award; Three Multi-Platinum albums; Eleven Gold albums; Twelve Gold singles; Six American Music Awards; the first female Afrikan-American to receive an MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Female Video and Best Choreography for ‘She Works Hard For The Money’; Two Golden Globe Award nominations - one win for ‘Last Dance’ and one nomination for ‘The Deep’; the first artist to score three consecutive number-one double albums; Inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame along with ‘I Feel Love’ in 2004; and the eighth most successful female recording artist in history according to Billboard.
While Bohannon may be considered the originator of disco it was Donna Summer who brought it to mainstream commercial success on a global scale. Her role in terms of technical innovation in the music industry also cannot be overlooked. It was through her and the Casablanca label that the 12in Discomix single rose to prominence as a format that allowed mixing engineers to expand and enhance the dynamics of a song well beyond the three-minute radio-friendly format. For that, even those producers, musicians, sound system owners and club DJs who were sceptical and reluctant to embrace disco music, will forever be in her debt. ‘I Feel Love’ has been sampled by Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Moloko, Britney Spears, Robbie Williams, Darren Hayes, Mylo, David Guetta, Stuart Price, and Moby among others. ‘Love to Love You Baby’ was sampled in Beyoncé’s Naughty Girl’ and by TLC on their original version of “I’m Good at Being Bad”, but was removed by request of Summer on later editions.
Summer is survived by her husband Bruce Sudano, their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda, as well as her daughter Mimi from her previous marriage.
~ CHUCK BROWN (Aug 22, 1936 – May 16, 2012) Guitarist and Singer-songwriter. Chuck Brown passed away at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital of multiple organ failure including heart problems. He was considered ‘the Godfather of Go-go’ funk which originated in Washington, DC, in the mid-1970s. He said the style was named ‘go-go’ because the music just goes and goes. His musical career began in the 1960s playing guitar with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm before he joined Los Latinos in 1965. Early hits included ‘I Need Some Money’ and ‘Bustin’ Loose’ (used by Nelly for ‘Hot in Herre’ and adopted by the Washington Nationals baseball team as its home run celebration song).
Chuck Brown appeared in TV ads for the Washington Post and other companies from the area. The DC Lottery’s ‘Rolling Cash 5’ ad campaign features him singing his 2007 song ‘The Party Roll’ in front of various city landmarks. In 2009, the block of 7th Street in Northwest Washington, DC, between Florida Avenue and T Street was renamed Chuck Brown Way in his honour. He received his first Grammy Award nomination in 2010 for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for ‘Love’ (with Jill Scott and Marcus Miller), from the album’ We Got This’. On Sep 4, 2011, Brown was honored by the National Symphony Orchestra, as part of the Legends of Washington Music Labor Day concert - honoring Brown’s music, as well as Duke Ellington and John Philip Sousa - with a free concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. Brown and his band capped off the evening with a performance.
He is acknowledged as an influence on other go-go bands such as Big G and The Backyard Band, Rare Essence, Experience Unlimited (EU), Little Benny and the Masters, and Trouble Funk. Chuck Brown leaves two sons, Wiley and Nekos Brown.
FORTHCOMING NUBIART PROFILES
NUBIART: Focus on arts, business, education, health, political developments and the media.
MAY PROMOS
~ ‘BEN ZABO’ - BEN ZABO [Glitterhouse Records / Shellshock. Released - 11 June 2012] This is the first full-release by this Malian group named after their bandleader, Ben Zabo, who lovingly admits to having listened to ‘too much Afrobeat’!!! In 2007, whilst trying to establish himself as a guitarist, singer and songwriter he started working as an assistant sound engineer at Studio Bogolan in Bamako where he met Peter Weber, owner of German-based Glitterhouse Records, and the producer Chris Eckman who agreed to produce and distribute the first album to be released by a Malian of Bo descent.
The name ‘Ben Zabo’ means ‘son of Bo and Bambara’ in Bomu etymology, evoking his belonging to the double cultural identity Bambara and Bo. Ben Zabo’s songs are mostly written in Bomu, his mother tongue from the Bwa miocro-nation. Bwatun (Bwa country) straddles the border between Mali and Burkina Faso. Ben Zabo developed a fusion of Bwa rhythms and melodies with influences from Afrobeat, funk, reggae, blues, rock and jazz.
At a time when Mali is prominent in the news for all the wrong reasons with coups, counter-coups, insurgencies and drought the songs concern themes such as brotherly love, peace, justice, tolerance, solidarity, work and good governance. These are sustainable human development factors, which remain the only guarantee of integrity and social cohesion. Ben Zabo strongly denounce greed, hypocrisy, discrimination and demagoguery.
~ ’GUZO’ - SAMUEL YIRGA [Real World Records. Released - 9 July 2012]
“You give your gifts away for shiny plastic things” - ‘African Diaspora’
This is the first solo album from Ethiopian piano virtuoso Samuel Yirga who although still in his 20s only started learning the piano when he was 16. ‘Guzo’, which means ‘journey’ in Amharic, was recorded in Addis Ababa and in the Real World Studios in Britain, and is a powerful mix Ethio-jazz, soul and funk, Latin, and western classical music.
‘Abet Abet’ is a traditional love song which features the raw and melodic notes of the Ethiopian one-stringed fiddle, the messenqo. ‘Tiwista’, another well-known Ethiopian song means ‘nostalgia’. Of ‘Ferma Ena Wereket’ / ‘We don’t need paper to love each other’. Samuel says, “Everyone can sing about love but the way you describe it is what’s important.”
‘Nou Se Soleil’ / ‘I am the Black Gold of the Sun’ features guest vocalists from The Creole Choir of Cuba, Nicolette and Mel Gara and is a re-working of a 1970s psychedelic soul classic. ‘Dance With the Legend’ is a solo piano piece, inspired by Ethiopia’s great singer Tilahun Gessese. ‘The Blues of Wollo’ is based on a famous Ethiopian song called ‘Ambassel’, with vocals from Genet Masresha. ‘African Diaspora’, with vocals by Nicolette, questions why Afrikan countries are allowing a continuing brain and skills drain of much needed talent.
Videos/ Audio:
Guzo - The story behind the album (EPK): http://youtu.be/-hvlPd15ypw
‘Guzo’ sampler on SoundCloud (3 full length tracks: “Abet Abet (Punt Mix)”, “I am the Black Gold of the Sun” & “The Blues of Wollo (Dessye Mix)”)
http://soundcloud.com/realworldrecords/sets/samuel-yirga-guzo-album-sampler
“Ambassel in Box Revisited” (live):
http://www.realworldrecords.com/videos/ambassel-in-box-revisited-live
http://youtu.be/hyI7IWtb-NI
Improvisation (Audience of One): http://vimeo.com/11804510
Live in the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Hall: http://youtu.be/SfjuU5h2CSA
NUBIART LIBRARY – MAY MEDIA
We will only review books we have read and DVDs we have seen and that are available at reasonable prices online or in shops or libraries. However, given the nature and current state of Afrikan publishing and production there may be books and films on this list that are worth the extra effort to track down.
~ ‘MANGROVE NINE’. Dir: Franco Rosso. [New Beacon Books. ISBN: 9781873201275]. ‘Mangrove Nine’ tells the story of conflict between the police and the Afrikan community in Notting Hill at the start of the 1970s. The central incident of the Mangrove affair took place when a deputation of 150 Afrikans protested against long-term police harassment of the popular Mangrove Restaurant in Ladbroke Grove. The protest policed by 500 police led to 29 charges and nine arrests - Barbara Beese, Rupert Boyce, Frank Critchlow, Rhodan Gordon, Darcus Howe, Anthony Innis, Althea Lecointe Jones, Rothwell Kentish, and Godfrey Millett. The charges ranged from making an affray, incitement to riot, assaulting a policeman, to having an offensive weapon. 22 of the charges against the nine were dismissed including all the serious ones. Only seven minor counts were found proven. The high profile trial at the Old Bailey lasted for two months finishing in December 1971 with five of the defendants being completely acquitted. The case made legal history when it delivered the first judicial acknowledgement of ‘evidence of racial hatred’ in the Metropolitan police force. The Mangrove Nine film contains interviews with the defendants recorded before the final verdicts were delivered at the trial, as well as contemporary comments from Ian Macdonald and others. Watching this film at the cinema recently in a time of police corruption, shootings, racism, harassment, incompetence, prejudice, paranoia and failure to investigate deaths and crime scenes properly shows how little has changed in four decades. Contact: George Padmore Institute and New Beacon Books, 76 Stroud Green Road, London, N4 3EN. Tel: 020 7272 8915 / 4889. E-mail: info@ georgepadmoreinstitute.org or newbeaconbooks @ btconnect.com Web: http://www: georgepadmoreinstitute.org or http://www.newbeaconbooks.co.uk
~ OPERATION SANKOFA PRESENTS THE 4TH CELEBRATING BLACK DOLLS. Presentations from: Anum of Livity Foundation on Naming Ceremonies; Margaret Oshindele-Smith, Doll Collector; Rosine Mondor, Les Poupees Des Tropiques (Paris); and Etuma Seba - Pempers (Children’s Play Project Dakar). On Sat 26 May at 2.30-6.30pm at The Brix, St Matthews Church, Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1JF. Adm: £5 / 5-16 years - £3 / U-5’s – Free. Tel: 070 170 38545 (Ama) / 020 7738 6604.
E-mail: info@operationsankofa.com Web: www.operationsankofa.com
~ PANDORA’S BOX. Telling the tale of a family spanning three generations and two continents meeting in Lagos for the first time in over 30 years. But the joy of reunion also unleashes long-suppressed truths. ‘Pandora’s Box’ reveals the heartbreak behind the difficult choices some parents must make – and the price their children pay. Until 26 May at 7.30pm (Mat 3pm) at Arcola Tent, 2 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London, E8 3DL. Adm: £14 / £10 concs. Mid week specials: Pay what you can Tuesdays (tickets in person from 6pm).
~ NATIONAL FORUM FOR AFRICAN CARIBBEAN ORGANISATIONS AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY. Guest speaker: Doreen Lawrence. With PASCF / BUFP & AAPRP; PACM; Dr Cecil Gutzmore; Olu Femiola; Rev Hewie Andrew; Victoria Climbie Foundation; United Friends and Family; Nubian Jak; Sylbourne Sydial; Vincent N John; Floetic Lara; Nerious Joseph; African Simba; drums of Rastafari (EWF); Akala; Empress I; The Messenger Choir, Capoeira performers and Damari Productions. On Sat 26 May at 12-6pm. Assemble at Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park, London. Rally at Trafalgar Square, London, WC2. Web: www.thenationalforum.com
~ EXHIBITION: ‘YOUNG MEETS OLD’. A collaborative exhibition that presents the work of practicing artist Ken McCalla and recent art graduate Kemi Murphy. The artwork reflects and celebrates the significance of family and the importance of inter-generational relationships. Until 26 May at 11am - 6pm at Sprout Arts, 74 Moyser Road, Furzedown, London, SW16 6SQ.
~ AFRICAN ODYSSEYS: ‘THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR’ + ‘INFILTRATING HOLLYWOOD: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR’. The once banned cult action film in which CIA operative Dan Freeman returns to Chicago and prepares his brothers for revolution. This biting satire and razor-edged provocation in response to the urgency of its times features a score from Herbie Hancock. The screening will be followed by a discussion.
- ‘COINTELPRO 101’. 56min, 2011. Produced by the Freedom Archives (Andres Alegria, Prentis Hemphill, Anita Johnson and Claude Marks). COINTELPRO represents the state’s strategy to prevent progressive movements and communities from overturning white supremacy and creating racial justice; it is both a formal program of the FBI and a term frequently used to describe a conspiracy among government agencies-local, state, and federal to destroy movements for self-determination and liberation. ‘COINTELPRO 101’ opens the door to understanding this history.
On Sat 26 May at 11.30am-1pm and 2-5pm at BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XT. Adm: £5. Box Office: 020 7928 3232. E-mail: morethanxy@gmail.com Web: http://www.blackhistorystudies.com/our-services/african-odysseys/
~ TIATA FAHODZI & ROYAL COURT PRESENT ‘BELONG’. A satirical new play by Bola Agbaje set in a political London and Nigeria. Until 26 May at Royal Court Theatre, 50-51 Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS. Adm: £20 / £15 / £10. Tel: 020 7565 5000. Web: www.royalcourttheatre.com |
~ BLACK CINEMA CLUB presents ‘Hidden Colors: The Untold History of People of Aboriginal, Moor & African Descent’. Dir: Tariq Nasheed. Starring: Tariq Nasheed, Dr Frances Cress Welsing, Dr Umar Abdullah-Johnson, Sharazad Ali, Sabir Bey and Booker T Coleman. Cert: PG.
Dr Umar Abdullah-Johnson will be flying in to attend the post film Q&A with Mark Simpson of Black History Studies, Dr Lez Henry and Sis. Esther Stanford-Xosei. On Sun 27 May at 7-9pm at The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7JR. Adm: £10 / U-16 - £5. Black Cinema Club tel: 07718 340 682. E-mail: blackcinemaclub@gmail.com Tricycle Theatre Box Office. Tel: 020 7328 1000. Web: http://www.tricycle.co.uk/current-programme-pages/cinema-program/cinema/hidden-colors/
~ PACM AFRICA LIBERATION DAY: ‘SAVE OUR YOUTHS, SAVE AFRICA’. Invited speakers: Julius Malema, former ANC Youth leader; Bro Amon Rashidi; Bro Cecil Gutzmore; Sis Sarudzayi Barnes; Hon Anna Magowa, District Commissioner of Tabora, Tanzania; Bro Makola Libango, APSP; Sis Afryea Adofo, lawyer; and Bro Chukwu Eneka Ouagadou-Quamina, Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement. On Sun Jun 3 - Mon Jun 4 at Greenspring Training, Raleigh Industrial Estate, 196 Camp Lane, Handsworth, Birmingham, B21 8JA. Adm: £9 (one day) / £13 (two days) / U-16s – Free. Tel: Birmingham - 0121 557 2747 / 07940 709 311. Nottingham - 07952 369 112. London – 020 8801 0205. Manchester – 07577 057 960. E-mail: ald.birmingham2012@hotmail.com
~ BRITISH BLACK MUSIC MONTH (BBMM2012) LAUNCH. ‘British Black Music: How Far Have We Come?’ BMM / BMC founder Kwaku precedes the ‘British Black Music: How Far Have We Come?’ debate with a presentation that takes into account BMC’s 10th anniversary, and this year’s sub-themes: ‘Jamaica & Trinidad @ 50’, ‘Marcus Garvey @ 100’, and ‘Samuel Coleridge-Taylor @ 100’.
On Thurs May 31 at 6-8.30pm in central London. E-mail: editor@britishblackmusic.com.
~ HISPANIC & LUSO BRAZILIAN COUNCIL lecture by Dr. Shihan de Silva on ‘Luso-Asian Spaces: Portuguese-speaking Communities in Sri Lanka’. Considering language, ethnicity and identity, this lecture will focus on people of Portuguese descent and also those of Afrikan descent in Sri Lanka. It concerns the communities responsible for the survival, against all odds, of Indo-Portuguese for half a millennium. On Thurs 14 June at 6pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PJ. Adm: Free. To register tel: 020 7235 2303 x 221. E-mail: joe.mulhern@canninghouse.org Web: www.canninghouse.org
~ THE BRUNEI GALLERY present ‘Disappearing Heritage of Sudan 1820 - 1956: A photographic and filmic research exhibition’. An exhibition of materials created by Frederique Cifuentes and from Durham University’s Sudan Archive. Many of the country’s old buildings have fallen victim to wider economic development or lack of a preservation campaign. This study will show different aspects and forms of the rich colonial architectural heritage in Sudan before it vanishes completely. This is an illustrated history of a unique cultural landscape.
And ‘The Fabric of Fieldwork’ by Wessieling and Susan Ossman. Exhibition of paintings, sculpture and installations inspired by ethnographic research in East Asia and North Africa. Using art both as a recording device and a way of creating a field of exploration Wessieling and Ossman investigate issues of visibility, femininity and women’s work, including their own field weaving as artists and ethnographers.
Both exhibitions run until 23 June on Tues-Sat at 10.30am-5pm at Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG. Adm: Free. Tel: 020 7898 4046. E-mail: gallery@soas.ac.uk Web: www.soas.ac.uk/gallery
~ SHANTI-CHI PRESENTS THE SESA WO SUBAN AFRAKAN STORYTELLING FESTIVAL. Workshop leaders also include Chi Creation Storytellers, Nkechiukwu Afrakan centred Education, Kesensa, Chukwu, Amaasade Shepnekhi, Kay Smith, Galatic Clyde, Neters A Ma’at, Afrakan Professor, Kapeni Melesse, Verona Spence, Dalian Adafo, Griot Chinyere, Sista Mena, Usifu Jalloh, Michelle Campbell, Ras Kweku, Black Heartman, Aunty Jedidah, Jaavier Solicopa, Eli Anderson, Ayo Ajala. On Midday Fri 22 June to 4pm Sun 24 June at Moat Mount, Barnett Way, Mill Hill, London, NW7 5AL. Adm: £120 / 8-16 yrs - £60 / under-7’s – free. Ticket prices include all rituals, storytelling performances, workshops, communal fires, camping area, showers, toilets and inspired visions. Healthy foods, Afrakan crafts, energy healing & massage available for purchase.
~ ‘JOURNEYS AND KINSHIP’ EXHIBITION. Is the face not currency enough? This display of face casts responds to the irony that members of the African Diaspora must pay to visit sites from which their ancestors were transported into enslavement. ‘Journeys and Kinship’ explores further the themes of the London, Sugar & Slavery gallery at the Museum of London Docklands through a project between the visual artist Jean Joseph and a group of young Londoners working together with Calypsonian, Alexander D Great, and Yvonne Wilson from Equi-Vison. Until 4 Nov 2012 at Museum of London, Docklands 1 Warehouse, West India Quay, London, E14 4AL. Tel: 020 7001 9844. Adm: Free. Web: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Docklands/Whats-on/Exhibitions-Displays/JourneysandKinship.htm
Contact: Kubara Zamani, Afrikan Quest International, PO Box 35165, London, SE5 8WU. Tel: 07811 494 969. E-mail: afrikanquest@hotmail.com Web: www.southwark.tv/quest/aqhome.asp
WHAT EXACTLY DOES ‘SUB-SAHARA AFRICA’ MEAN?
Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
2012-01-18, Issue 566
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/79215
The widespread use of ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ makes no sense and is undoubtedly a racist geopolitical signature.
It appears increasingly fashionable in the West for a number of broadcasters, websites, news agencies, newspapers and magazines, the United Nations / allied agencies and some governments, writers and academics to use the term ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ to refer to all of Africa except the five predominantly Arab states of north Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt) and the Sudan, a north-central African country. Even though its territory is mostly located south of the Sahara Desert, the Sudan is excluded from the ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ tagging by those who promote the use of the epithet because the regime in power in Khartoum describes the country as ‘Arab’ despite its majority African population.
But the concept ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is absurd and misleading, if not a meaningless classificatory schema. Its use defies the science of the fundamentals of geography but prioritises hackneyed and stereotypical racist labelling. It is not obvious, on the face of it, which of the four possible meanings of the prefix ‘sub’ its users attach to the ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ labelling. Is it ‘under’ the Sahara Desert or ‘part of’/ ‘partly’ the Sahara Desert? Or, presumably, ‘partially’ / ‘nearly’ the Sahara Desert or even the very unlikely (hopefully!) application of ‘in the style of, but inferior to’ the Sahara Desert, especially considering that there is an Arab people sandwiched between Morocco and Mauritania (northwest Africa) called Saharan?
PRE-LIBERATION SOUTH AFRICA
The example of South Africa is appropriate here. Prior to the formal restoration of African majority government in 1994, South Africa was never designated ‘sub-Sahara Africa’, unlike the rest of the 13 African-led states in southern Africa, which were also often referred to at the time as the ‘frontline states’. South Africa then was either termed ‘white South Africa’ or the ‘South Africa sub-continent’ (as in the ‘India sub-continent’ usage, for instance), meaning ‘almost’ / ‘partially’ a continent - quite clearly a usage of ‘admiration’ or ‘compliment’ employed by its subscribers to essentially project and valorise the perceived geostrategic potentials or capabilities of the erstwhile regime.
But soon after the triumph of the African freedom movement there, South Africa became ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ in the quickly adjusted schema of this representation. What happened suddenly to South Africa’s geography for it to be so differently classified? Is it African liberation / rule that renders an African state ‘sub-Sahara’? Does this post-1994 West-inflected South Africa-changed classification make ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ any more intelligible? Interestingly, just as in the South Africa ‘sub-continent’ example, the application of the ‘almost’ / ‘partially’ or indeed ‘part of’/’partly’ meaning of prefix ‘sub-’ to ‘Sahara Africa’ focuses unambiguously on the following countries of Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, each of which has 25-75 per cent of its territory (especially to the south) covered by the Sahara Desert. It also focuses on Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and the Sudan, which variously have 25-75 per cent of their territories (to the north) covered by the same desert. In effect, these 10 states would make up sub-Sahara Africa.
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, the five Arab north Africa countries, do not, correctly, describe themselves as Africans even though they unquestionably habituate African geography, the African continent, since the Arab conquest and occupation of this north one-third of African territory in the 7th century CE. The Western governments, press and the transnational bodies (which are led predominantly by Western personnel and interests) have consistently ‘conceded’ to this Arab cultural insistence on racial identity. Presumably, this accounts for the West’s non-designation of its ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ dogma to these countries as well as the Sudan, whose successive Arab-minority regimes since January 1956 have claimed, but incorrectly, that the Sudan ‘belongs’ to the Arab world. On this subject, the West does no doubt know that what it has been engaged in, all along, is blatant sophistry and not science. This, however, conveniently suits its current propaganda packaging on Africa, which we shall be elaborating on shortly.
It would appear that we still don’t seem to be any closer to establishing, conclusively, what its users mean by ‘sub-Sahara Africa’. Could it, perhaps, just be a benign reference to all the countries ‘under’ the Sahara, whatever their distances from this desert, to interrogate our final, fourth probability? Presently, there are 53 so-called sovereign states in Africa. If the five north Africa Arab states are said to be located ‘above’ the Sahara, then 48 are positioned ‘under’. The latter would therefore include all the five countries mentioned above whose north frontiers incorporate the southern stretches of the desert (namely, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and the Sudan), countries in central Africa (the Congos, Rwanda, Burundi, etc., etc), for instance, despite being 2000-2500 miles away, and even the southern African states situated 3000-3500 miles away. In fact, all these 48 countries, except the Sudan (alas, not included for the plausible reason already cited), which is clearly ‘under’ the Sahara and situated within the same latitudes as Mali, Niger and Chad (i.e., between 10 and 20 degrees north of the equator), are all categorised by the ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ users as ‘sub-Sahara Africa’.
2012 WORLDWIDE CLASSIFICATORY SCHEMA?
To replicate this obvious farce of a classification elsewhere in the world, the following random exercise is not such an indistinct scenario for universal, everyday, referencing:
1. Australia hence becomes ‘sub-Great Sandy Australia’ after the hot deserts that cover much of west and central Australia.
2. East Russia, east of the Urals, becomes ‘sub-Siberia Asia’.
3. China, Japan and Indonesia are reclassified ‘sub-Gobi Asia’.
4. Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam become ‘sub-Himalaya Asia’.
5. All of Europe is ‘sub-Arctic Europe’.
6. Most of England, central and southern counties, is renamed ‘sub-Pennines Europe’.
7. East / southeast France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia are ‘sub-Alps Europe’.
8. The Americas become ‘sub-Arctic Americas’.
9. All of South America, south of the Amazon, is proclaimed ‘sub-Amazon South America’; Chile could be ‘sub-Atacama South America’.
10. Most of New Zealand’s South Island is renamed ‘sub-Southern Alps New Zealand’.
11. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama become ‘sub-Rocky North America’.
12. The entire Caribbean becomes ‘sub-Appalachian Americas’.
RACIST CODING
So, rather than some benign construct, ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is, in the end, an outlandish nomenclatural code that its users employ to depict an African-led ‘sovereign’ state - anywhere in Africa, as distinct from an Arab-led one. More seriously to the point, ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is employed to create the stunning effect of a supposedly shrinking African geographical landmass in the popular imagination, coupled with the continent’s supposedly attendant geostrategic global ‘irrelevance’.
‘Sub-Sahara Africa’ is undoubtedly a racist geo-political signature in which its users aim repeatedly to present the imagery of the desolation, aridity, and hopelessness of a desert environment. This is despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of one billion Africans do not live anywhere close to the Sahara, nor are their lives so affected by the implied impact of the very loaded meaning that this dogma intends to convey. Except this steadily pervasive use of ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ is robustly challenged by rigorous African-centred scholarship and publicity work, its proponents will succeed, eventually, in substituting the name of the continent ‘Africa’ with ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ and the name of its peoples, ‘Africans’, with ‘sub-Sahara Africans’ or, worse still, ‘sub-Saharans’ in the realm of public memory and reckoning.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS.
* Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe is the author of ‘Readings from Reading: Essays on African Politics, Genocide, Literature’. (Dakar and Reading: African Renaissance, 2011)
OBITUARIES
~ DONNA SUMMER (LADONNA ADRIAN GAINES) (Dec 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012). Singer-songwriter, actress. The undisputed queen of disco Donna Summer passed away following a battle with cancer. She was a five-time Grammy Award winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US Billboard chart.
Donna Summer was one of seven children raised in the Boston suburb of Dorchester. Like many great singers her first performance was at church when, aged ten, she replaced a vocalist that had failed to show up. In 1967, just weeks before graduation, Summer left for New York where she was a member of the blues-rock band, Crow. After their break up she stayed on and auditioned for a role in the musical, ‘Hair‘. When Melba Moore was cast in the part, Summer took the role in the Munich production of the show. There she also appeared in the musicals ‘Ich Bin Ich’ (the German version of ‘The Me Nobody Knows‘), ‘Godspell‘ and ‘Show Boat‘. She then moved to Austria and joined the Viennese Folk Opera.
In 1971, Summer released her first single, a cover of The Jaynetts‘ ‘Sally Go ‘Round the Roses‘, from a one-off European deal with Decca Records. In 1972, she issued the single, ‘If You Walkin’ Alone’ on Philips. In 1974, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer. The couple soon divorced but she kept his surname, Anglicising it to Summer. While singing background vocals for Three Dog Night, Summer met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and issued her first album, ‘Lady of the Night‘, in 1974 on Groovy Records. ‘The Hostage’, a single from the album reached number one in Belgium and number two in the Netherlands.
In 1975, Summer approached Moroder with an idea for a song she and Bellotte were working on for another singer with the lyric ‘love to love you, baby’. Moroder used Summer’s lyric to develop the song. Casablanca Records released ‘Love to Love You Baby‘ but asked Moroder to produce a longer version for discos. By early 1976, ‘Love To Love You Baby’ had reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while the album of the same name sold over a million copies. The song generated controversy due to Summer’s moans and groans and some US and European radio stations refused to play it but it reached the Top 5 in Britain despite the BBC ban.
In 1977, Donna Summer released the concept album ‘I Remember Yesterday‘ which included ‘I Feel Love‘, which reached number six in the US and number one in the UK. She released a further double album in 1977, ‘Once Upon a Time‘, which told of a modern-day Cinderella rags to riches story. In 1978, She released her version of the Jimmy Webb ballad, ‘MacArthur Park‘, which became her first US number one. The song featured on Summer’s first live album, ‘Live and More‘, which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and went platinum selling over a million copies. In 1978, Summer played a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club in ‘Thank God It’s Friday‘. ‘Last Dance’ from the film reached number three on the Hot 100 winning Summer her first Grammy Award. Her next album with Moroder and Bellotte was ‘Bad Girls‘, a concept album about prostitution that became a huge success with tunes such as the title track, the Grammy-winning ‘Hot Stuff‘ and ‘Dim All the Lights‘.
Due to creative differences Summer left Casablanca in 1980 and signed with Geffen Records. Her first label release was ‘The Wanderer‘, which went gold in the US. Summer’s planned second Geffen release, ‘I’m a Rainbow‘, was shelved by the label though two of the album’s songs featured in the 1980s films ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High‘ and ‘Flashdance‘. Summer then parted with Moroder after seven years when Geffen recruited Quincy Jones to produce her 1982 album ‘Donna Summer‘. The album’s first single, ‘Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)‘, became a US top ten hit on the Hot 100, followed by more moderate hits ‘State of Independence‘ and ‘The Woman In Me’.
Problems increased between Summer and Geffen Records when they were notified by Polygram Records, Casablanca’s owners, that she needed to deliver another album to fulfill her contract with them. Polygram released the album ‘She Works Hard for the Money‘, and the title song became a hit and gave Summer another Grammy nomination. The album which was certified gold also featured the reggae-flavored UK Top 20 hit ‘Unconditional Love‘, which featured Musical Youth.
Further albums included ‘Cats Without Claws‘ and ‘All Systems Go‘, which by her standards did not sell well. For Summer’s next album, Geffen Records hired the British production team of Stock Aitken Waterman (or SAW). However, Geffen decided not to release the album, entitled ‘Another Place and Time‘, and Summer and Geffen Records parted ways in 1988. The album was released in Europe in March 1989 on Warner Bros Records, which had been Summer’s label in Europe since 1982. The single ‘This Time I Know It’s For Real‘ had become a top ten hit in several countries in Europe, prompting Warner Bros’ subsidiary Atlantic Records to sign Summer in the US and pick up the album for a North American release soon after. The single peaked at number 7 on the Hot 100 in the US, and became her twelfth gold single there. It was also Summer’s final Top 40 hit on the US pop charts, though she had two more UK hits from the album, ‘I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt‘ and ‘Love’s About To Change My Heart‘.
Summer had often talked about her early successful years as a period of confusion and anxiety. Despite her musical success she struggled with anxiety and depression and became dependent on prescription drugs for several years. Following a nervous breakdown at her home in 1979, Summer went to a local church with her sister Dara and declared herself a born-again Christian.
Her awards and successes include: five Grammy Awards; NAACP Image Award; Three Multi-Platinum albums; Eleven Gold albums; Twelve Gold singles; Six American Music Awards; the first female Afrikan-American to receive an MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Female Video and Best Choreography for ‘She Works Hard For The Money’; Two Golden Globe Award nominations - one win for ‘Last Dance’ and one nomination for ‘The Deep’; the first artist to score three consecutive number-one double albums; Inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame along with ‘I Feel Love’ in 2004; and the eighth most successful female recording artist in history according to Billboard.
While Bohannon may be considered the originator of disco it was Donna Summer who brought it to mainstream commercial success on a global scale. Her role in terms of technical innovation in the music industry also cannot be overlooked. It was through her and the Casablanca label that the 12in Discomix single rose to prominence as a format that allowed mixing engineers to expand and enhance the dynamics of a song well beyond the three-minute radio-friendly format. For that, even those producers, musicians, sound system owners and club DJs who were sceptical and reluctant to embrace disco music, will forever be in her debt. ‘I Feel Love’ has been sampled by Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Moloko, Britney Spears, Robbie Williams, Darren Hayes, Mylo, David Guetta, Stuart Price, and Moby among others. ‘Love to Love You Baby’ was sampled in Beyoncé’s Naughty Girl’ and by TLC on their original version of “I’m Good at Being Bad”, but was removed by request of Summer on later editions.
Summer is survived by her husband Bruce Sudano, their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda, as well as her daughter Mimi from her previous marriage.
~ CHUCK BROWN (Aug 22, 1936 – May 16, 2012) Guitarist and Singer-songwriter. Chuck Brown passed away at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital of multiple organ failure including heart problems. He was considered ‘the Godfather of Go-go’ funk which originated in Washington, DC, in the mid-1970s. He said the style was named ‘go-go’ because the music just goes and goes. His musical career began in the 1960s playing guitar with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm before he joined Los Latinos in 1965. Early hits included ‘I Need Some Money’ and ‘Bustin’ Loose’ (used by Nelly for ‘Hot in Herre’ and adopted by the Washington Nationals baseball team as its home run celebration song).
Chuck Brown appeared in TV ads for the Washington Post and other companies from the area. The DC Lottery’s ‘Rolling Cash 5’ ad campaign features him singing his 2007 song ‘The Party Roll’ in front of various city landmarks. In 2009, the block of 7th Street in Northwest Washington, DC, between Florida Avenue and T Street was renamed Chuck Brown Way in his honour. He received his first Grammy Award nomination in 2010 for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for ‘Love’ (with Jill Scott and Marcus Miller), from the album’ We Got This’. On Sep 4, 2011, Brown was honored by the National Symphony Orchestra, as part of the Legends of Washington Music Labor Day concert - honoring Brown’s music, as well as Duke Ellington and John Philip Sousa - with a free concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. Brown and his band capped off the evening with a performance.
He is acknowledged as an influence on other go-go bands such as Big G and The Backyard Band, Rare Essence, Experience Unlimited (EU), Little Benny and the Masters, and Trouble Funk. Chuck Brown leaves two sons, Wiley and Nekos Brown.
FORTHCOMING NUBIART PROFILES
NUBIART: Focus on arts, business, education, health, political developments and the media.
MAY PROMOS
~ ‘BEN ZABO’ - BEN ZABO [Glitterhouse Records / Shellshock. Released - 11 June 2012] This is the first full-release by this Malian group named after their bandleader, Ben Zabo, who lovingly admits to having listened to ‘too much Afrobeat’!!! In 2007, whilst trying to establish himself as a guitarist, singer and songwriter he started working as an assistant sound engineer at Studio Bogolan in Bamako where he met Peter Weber, owner of German-based Glitterhouse Records, and the producer Chris Eckman who agreed to produce and distribute the first album to be released by a Malian of Bo descent.
The name ‘Ben Zabo’ means ‘son of Bo and Bambara’ in Bomu etymology, evoking his belonging to the double cultural identity Bambara and Bo. Ben Zabo’s songs are mostly written in Bomu, his mother tongue from the Bwa miocro-nation. Bwatun (Bwa country) straddles the border between Mali and Burkina Faso. Ben Zabo developed a fusion of Bwa rhythms and melodies with influences from Afrobeat, funk, reggae, blues, rock and jazz.
At a time when Mali is prominent in the news for all the wrong reasons with coups, counter-coups, insurgencies and drought the songs concern themes such as brotherly love, peace, justice, tolerance, solidarity, work and good governance. These are sustainable human development factors, which remain the only guarantee of integrity and social cohesion. Ben Zabo strongly denounce greed, hypocrisy, discrimination and demagoguery.
~ ’GUZO’ - SAMUEL YIRGA [Real World Records. Released - 9 July 2012]
“You give your gifts away for shiny plastic things” - ‘African Diaspora’
This is the first solo album from Ethiopian piano virtuoso Samuel Yirga who although still in his 20s only started learning the piano when he was 16. ‘Guzo’, which means ‘journey’ in Amharic, was recorded in Addis Ababa and in the Real World Studios in Britain, and is a powerful mix Ethio-jazz, soul and funk, Latin, and western classical music.
‘Abet Abet’ is a traditional love song which features the raw and melodic notes of the Ethiopian one-stringed fiddle, the messenqo. ‘Tiwista’, another well-known Ethiopian song means ‘nostalgia’. Of ‘Ferma Ena Wereket’ / ‘We don’t need paper to love each other’. Samuel says, “Everyone can sing about love but the way you describe it is what’s important.”
‘Nou Se Soleil’ / ‘I am the Black Gold of the Sun’ features guest vocalists from The Creole Choir of Cuba, Nicolette and Mel Gara and is a re-working of a 1970s psychedelic soul classic. ‘Dance With the Legend’ is a solo piano piece, inspired by Ethiopia’s great singer Tilahun Gessese. ‘The Blues of Wollo’ is based on a famous Ethiopian song called ‘Ambassel’, with vocals from Genet Masresha. ‘African Diaspora’, with vocals by Nicolette, questions why Afrikan countries are allowing a continuing brain and skills drain of much needed talent.
Videos/ Audio:
Guzo - The story behind the album (EPK): http://youtu.be/-hvlPd15ypw
‘Guzo’ sampler on SoundCloud (3 full length tracks: “Abet Abet (Punt Mix)”, “I am the Black Gold of the Sun” & “The Blues of Wollo (Dessye Mix)”)
http://soundcloud.com/realworldrecords/sets/samuel-yirga-guzo-album-sampler
“Ambassel in Box Revisited” (live):
http://www.realworldrecords.com/videos/ambassel-in-box-revisited-live
http://youtu.be/hyI7IWtb-NI
Improvisation (Audience of One): http://vimeo.com/11804510
Live in the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Hall: http://youtu.be/SfjuU5h2CSA
NUBIART LIBRARY – MAY MEDIA
We will only review books we have read and DVDs we have seen and that are available at reasonable prices online or in shops or libraries. However, given the nature and current state of Afrikan publishing and production there may be books and films on this list that are worth the extra effort to track down.
~ ‘MANGROVE NINE’. Dir: Franco Rosso. [New Beacon Books. ISBN: 9781873201275]. ‘Mangrove Nine’ tells the story of conflict between the police and the Afrikan community in Notting Hill at the start of the 1970s. The central incident of the Mangrove affair took place when a deputation of 150 Afrikans protested against long-term police harassment of the popular Mangrove Restaurant in Ladbroke Grove. The protest policed by 500 police led to 29 charges and nine arrests - Barbara Beese, Rupert Boyce, Frank Critchlow, Rhodan Gordon, Darcus Howe, Anthony Innis, Althea Lecointe Jones, Rothwell Kentish, and Godfrey Millett. The charges ranged from making an affray, incitement to riot, assaulting a policeman, to having an offensive weapon. 22 of the charges against the nine were dismissed including all the serious ones. Only seven minor counts were found proven. The high profile trial at the Old Bailey lasted for two months finishing in December 1971 with five of the defendants being completely acquitted. The case made legal history when it delivered the first judicial acknowledgement of ‘evidence of racial hatred’ in the Metropolitan police force. The Mangrove Nine film contains interviews with the defendants recorded before the final verdicts were delivered at the trial, as well as contemporary comments from Ian Macdonald and others. Watching this film at the cinema recently in a time of police corruption, shootings, racism, harassment, incompetence, prejudice, paranoia and failure to investigate deaths and crime scenes properly shows how little has changed in four decades. Contact: George Padmore Institute and New Beacon Books, 76 Stroud Green Road, London, N4 3EN. Tel: 020 7272 8915 / 4889. E-mail: info@ georgepadmoreinstitute.org or newbeaconbooks @ btconnect.com Web: http://www: georgepadmoreinstitute.org or http://www.newbeaconbooks.co.uk
African Quest International
Nubiart Diary
~ OPERATION SANKOFA PRESENTS THE 4TH CELEBRATING BLACK DOLLS. Presentations from: Anum of Livity Foundation on Naming Ceremonies; Margaret Oshindele-Smith, Doll Collector; Rosine Mondor, Les Poupees Des Tropiques (Paris); and Etuma Seba - Pempers (Children’s Play Project Dakar). On Sat 26 May at 2.30-6.30pm at The Brix, St Matthews Church, Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1JF. Adm: £5 / 5-16 years - £3 / U-5’s – Free. Tel: 070 170 38545 (Ama) / 020 7738 6604.E-mail: info@operationsankofa.com Web: www.operationsankofa.com
~ PANDORA’S BOX. Telling the tale of a family spanning three generations and two continents meeting in Lagos for the first time in over 30 years. But the joy of reunion also unleashes long-suppressed truths. ‘Pandora’s Box’ reveals the heartbreak behind the difficult choices some parents must make – and the price their children pay. Until 26 May at 7.30pm (Mat 3pm) at Arcola Tent, 2 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London, E8 3DL. Adm: £14 / £10 concs. Mid week specials: Pay what you can Tuesdays (tickets in person from 6pm).
~ NATIONAL FORUM FOR AFRICAN CARIBBEAN ORGANISATIONS AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY. Guest speaker: Doreen Lawrence. With PASCF / BUFP & AAPRP; PACM; Dr Cecil Gutzmore; Olu Femiola; Rev Hewie Andrew; Victoria Climbie Foundation; United Friends and Family; Nubian Jak; Sylbourne Sydial; Vincent N John; Floetic Lara; Nerious Joseph; African Simba; drums of Rastafari (EWF); Akala; Empress I; The Messenger Choir, Capoeira performers and Damari Productions. On Sat 26 May at 12-6pm. Assemble at Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park, London. Rally at Trafalgar Square, London, WC2. Web: www.thenationalforum.com
~ EXHIBITION: ‘YOUNG MEETS OLD’. A collaborative exhibition that presents the work of practicing artist Ken McCalla and recent art graduate Kemi Murphy. The artwork reflects and celebrates the significance of family and the importance of inter-generational relationships. Until 26 May at 11am - 6pm at Sprout Arts, 74 Moyser Road, Furzedown, London, SW16 6SQ.
~ AFRICAN ODYSSEYS: ‘THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR’ + ‘INFILTRATING HOLLYWOOD: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR’. The once banned cult action film in which CIA operative Dan Freeman returns to Chicago and prepares his brothers for revolution. This biting satire and razor-edged provocation in response to the urgency of its times features a score from Herbie Hancock. The screening will be followed by a discussion.
- ‘COINTELPRO 101’. 56min, 2011. Produced by the Freedom Archives (Andres Alegria, Prentis Hemphill, Anita Johnson and Claude Marks). COINTELPRO represents the state’s strategy to prevent progressive movements and communities from overturning white supremacy and creating racial justice; it is both a formal program of the FBI and a term frequently used to describe a conspiracy among government agencies-local, state, and federal to destroy movements for self-determination and liberation. ‘COINTELPRO 101’ opens the door to understanding this history.
On Sat 26 May at 11.30am-1pm and 2-5pm at BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XT. Adm: £5. Box Office: 020 7928 3232. E-mail: morethanxy@gmail.com Web: http://www.blackhistorystudies.com/our-services/african-odysseys/
~ TIATA FAHODZI & ROYAL COURT PRESENT ‘BELONG’. A satirical new play by Bola Agbaje set in a political London and Nigeria. Until 26 May at Royal Court Theatre, 50-51 Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS. Adm: £20 / £15 / £10. Tel: 020 7565 5000. Web: www.royalcourttheatre.com |
~ BLACK CINEMA CLUB presents ‘Hidden Colors: The Untold History of People of Aboriginal, Moor & African Descent’. Dir: Tariq Nasheed. Starring: Tariq Nasheed, Dr Frances Cress Welsing, Dr Umar Abdullah-Johnson, Sharazad Ali, Sabir Bey and Booker T Coleman. Cert: PG.
Dr Umar Abdullah-Johnson will be flying in to attend the post film Q&A with Mark Simpson of Black History Studies, Dr Lez Henry and Sis. Esther Stanford-Xosei. On Sun 27 May at 7-9pm at The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7JR. Adm: £10 / U-16 - £5. Black Cinema Club tel: 07718 340 682. E-mail: blackcinemaclub@gmail.com Tricycle Theatre Box Office. Tel: 020 7328 1000. Web: http://www.tricycle.co.uk/current-programme-pages/cinema-program/cinema/hidden-colors/
~ PACM AFRICA LIBERATION DAY: ‘SAVE OUR YOUTHS, SAVE AFRICA’. Invited speakers: Julius Malema, former ANC Youth leader; Bro Amon Rashidi; Bro Cecil Gutzmore; Sis Sarudzayi Barnes; Hon Anna Magowa, District Commissioner of Tabora, Tanzania; Bro Makola Libango, APSP; Sis Afryea Adofo, lawyer; and Bro Chukwu Eneka Ouagadou-Quamina, Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement. On Sun Jun 3 - Mon Jun 4 at Greenspring Training, Raleigh Industrial Estate, 196 Camp Lane, Handsworth, Birmingham, B21 8JA. Adm: £9 (one day) / £13 (two days) / U-16s – Free. Tel: Birmingham - 0121 557 2747 / 07940 709 311. Nottingham - 07952 369 112. London – 020 8801 0205. Manchester – 07577 057 960. E-mail: ald.birmingham2012@hotmail.com
~ BRITISH BLACK MUSIC MONTH (BBMM2012) LAUNCH. ‘British Black Music: How Far Have We Come?’ BMM / BMC founder Kwaku precedes the ‘British Black Music: How Far Have We Come?’ debate with a presentation that takes into account BMC’s 10th anniversary, and this year’s sub-themes: ‘Jamaica & Trinidad @ 50’, ‘Marcus Garvey @ 100’, and ‘Samuel Coleridge-Taylor @ 100’.
On Thurs May 31 at 6-8.30pm in central London. E-mail: editor@britishblackmusic.com.
~ HISPANIC & LUSO BRAZILIAN COUNCIL lecture by Dr. Shihan de Silva on ‘Luso-Asian Spaces: Portuguese-speaking Communities in Sri Lanka’. Considering language, ethnicity and identity, this lecture will focus on people of Portuguese descent and also those of Afrikan descent in Sri Lanka. It concerns the communities responsible for the survival, against all odds, of Indo-Portuguese for half a millennium. On Thurs 14 June at 6pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PJ. Adm: Free. To register tel: 020 7235 2303 x 221. E-mail: joe.mulhern@canninghouse.org Web: www.canninghouse.org
~ THE BRUNEI GALLERY present ‘Disappearing Heritage of Sudan 1820 - 1956: A photographic and filmic research exhibition’. An exhibition of materials created by Frederique Cifuentes and from Durham University’s Sudan Archive. Many of the country’s old buildings have fallen victim to wider economic development or lack of a preservation campaign. This study will show different aspects and forms of the rich colonial architectural heritage in Sudan before it vanishes completely. This is an illustrated history of a unique cultural landscape.
And ‘The Fabric of Fieldwork’ by Wessieling and Susan Ossman. Exhibition of paintings, sculpture and installations inspired by ethnographic research in East Asia and North Africa. Using art both as a recording device and a way of creating a field of exploration Wessieling and Ossman investigate issues of visibility, femininity and women’s work, including their own field weaving as artists and ethnographers.
Both exhibitions run until 23 June on Tues-Sat at 10.30am-5pm at Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG. Adm: Free. Tel: 020 7898 4046. E-mail: gallery@soas.ac.uk Web: www.soas.ac.uk/gallery
~ SHANTI-CHI PRESENTS THE SESA WO SUBAN AFRAKAN STORYTELLING FESTIVAL. Workshop leaders also include Chi Creation Storytellers, Nkechiukwu Afrakan centred Education, Kesensa, Chukwu, Amaasade Shepnekhi, Kay Smith, Galatic Clyde, Neters A Ma’at, Afrakan Professor, Kapeni Melesse, Verona Spence, Dalian Adafo, Griot Chinyere, Sista Mena, Usifu Jalloh, Michelle Campbell, Ras Kweku, Black Heartman, Aunty Jedidah, Jaavier Solicopa, Eli Anderson, Ayo Ajala. On Midday Fri 22 June to 4pm Sun 24 June at Moat Mount, Barnett Way, Mill Hill, London, NW7 5AL. Adm: £120 / 8-16 yrs - £60 / under-7’s – free. Ticket prices include all rituals, storytelling performances, workshops, communal fires, camping area, showers, toilets and inspired visions. Healthy foods, Afrakan crafts, energy healing & massage available for purchase.
~ ‘JOURNEYS AND KINSHIP’ EXHIBITION. Is the face not currency enough? This display of face casts responds to the irony that members of the African Diaspora must pay to visit sites from which their ancestors were transported into enslavement. ‘Journeys and Kinship’ explores further the themes of the London, Sugar & Slavery gallery at the Museum of London Docklands through a project between the visual artist Jean Joseph and a group of young Londoners working together with Calypsonian, Alexander D Great, and Yvonne Wilson from Equi-Vison. Until 4 Nov 2012 at Museum of London, Docklands 1 Warehouse, West India Quay, London, E14 4AL. Tel: 020 7001 9844. Adm: Free. Web: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Docklands/Whats-on/Exhibitions-Displays/JourneysandKinship.htm
Contact: Kubara Zamani, Afrikan Quest International, PO Box 35165, London, SE5 8WU. Tel: 07811 494 969. E-mail: afrikanquest@hotmail.com Web: www.southwark.tv/quest/aqhome.asp
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