Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: FW: Police Brutality at Delaware State University Dover Cops BeatAssociate Professor at Non-violent rally 3/1/2012

Well, a throw-away line/quip that suggests that Africans are likely to avoid racial issues is troubling to me, coming from a scholar. An observation becomes a conclusion. Well, African Americans are more anti-immigrant than whites. How useful is that? Words taken out of their context are more dangerous than they appear. Yes, so folks are not wearing dashikis jumping up and down in front of The Man chanting stuff, does that make them less aware/ less willing to address racial issues? As a percentage of African Americans, how many Farrakhans are there by the way?

This is the problem that I have with a lot of these activists, many of whom complain for a respectable living by the way: They protest too much! Pun intended.

- Ikhide

 

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From: joan.Osa Oviawe <joanoviawe@gmail.com>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 6, 2012 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: FW: Police Brutality at Delaware State University Dover Cops BeatAssociate Professor at Non-violent rally 3/1/2012

Moses,

You wrote: "That Africans in America are not marching on Washington (a la Randolph) or organizing million man marches (a la Farakhan) does not mean that they do not protest or challenge institutional or experiential racism. African immigrants may be more subtle, more selective, and less in-your-face in their confrontations with racism in America."

Please, what are some examples of these "more subtle, more selective, and less in-your-face...confrontations with racism in America."?

I am curios.

Saludos,
jOo

On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 8:29 AM, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:

Kwame Zulu Shabazz,

I am troubled by your insistence that Africans in America are less likely to oppose white racism. Your observation may be true, and I will defer to a study that makes that conclusion. But so far, all you advance to support your conclusion is conjecture and the weight of anecdotal evidence, which can cut both ways, since there is also evidence, anecdotal and conjectural, that points to the opposite conclusion. But that's not why your argument is troubling. It's troubling because its premise is problematic in that it defines protest, dissent, and opposition narrowly. This narrow definition is, I suspect, colored by the familiar templates of civil activism in America (your primary socio-political constituency and referent)--pickets, marches, street demonstrations, confrontations with the police, sit-ins, etc. All of these were/are heroic, self-sacrificial strategies of struggle against racism. But protest and opposition can take many other forms (ask historians!) that may be unrecognizable and unintelligible to someone schooled and socialized into a distinctly American (or civil rights) tradition of protest. That Africans in America are not marching on Washington (a la Randolph) or organizing million man marches (a la Farakhan) does not mean that they do not protest or challenge institutional or experiential racism. African immigrants may be more subtle, more selective, and less in-your-face in their confrontations with racism in America. But my guess is that they are just as opposed to it as are African Americans. The other thing is that, while all blacks may be victims of the burden of blackness in America, there are genres of racism that peculiarly victimize African Americans and African immigrants. So, it seems to me that in addition to the general struggle against anti-black racism Africans also have to contend with--and challenge--another kind of racism that equates "having a thick accent" with dumbness. Added to this is the familiar psychological and socio-cultural adjustments that African immigrants have to make--adjustments that require huge investments of time, effort, and anxiety. Because they are fighting multiple battles on their own fringe of American blackness, Africans may at times seem uninterested or less involved in the mainstream struggles of African Americans, but appearances can be deceptive and conclusions derived from these appearances of detachment and docility are problematic in their reductiveness and in their failure to account for the many struggles that African immigrants fight out everyday on the streets of America. 

On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 6:22 PM, kwame zulu shabazz <kwameshabazz@gmail.com> wrote:

Peace, Brother Chambi,

Occasionally, I bumped into Sindanius on the elevator--his office was
just a few floors above mine, but I did not have an opportunity to
take and his courses and I only have a very rudimentary understanding
of his research (NB: Sindanius is a sociologist and my training is
cultural anthropology). I agree that this issue is potentially
divisive and when framed by folks like Skip Gates it absolutely IS
divisive. But, unlike Skip Gates, I am 100% committed to pan-African
unity. My view is that we can't shy away from the issue. We should
have a frank discussion of it--perhaps even organize something around
it so that we can think through a way forward that is productive,
mutually beneficial, and advances the aims of Global African unity...

Asante sana for mentioning Philippe Wamba. I was roommates with a very
close friend of his and was due to meet him before his tragic death. I
use his book that you have cited, "Kinship," as the primary text from
my Intro. to African and African American Studies course. Brother
Philippe is definitely missed. kzs

On Mar 5, 6:49 am, Chambi Chachage <chamb...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Kwame, did you take a class with Prof. Jim Sidanius? What is your take on his SDO/SDT explanation on why more African American women are getting PhDs than African American men? And where do these PhDs holders go? I know two, both graduated from Columbia University but decided not to be professors. Why? I guess it is because they have more opportunities money-wise out there with their ivy PhDs. So what do we, 'African Africans', do? Stop applying for teaching posts even when only a few African Americans are doing so? All in all I get your point though I have a feeling it will only contribute to widening the African and African American 'divide' that the late Philipe Wamba so eloquently critiqued in his Kinship: A Family's Journey in Africa and America. As they say, 'divide et impera'.
>
>
> My mission is to acquire, produce and disseminate knowledge on and about humanity as well as divinity, especially as it relates to Africa, in a constructive and liberating manner to people wherever they may be.
>
> Address: 41 Banks Street # 1, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
> Cellphone: +1 (857) 413 - 9521
> Skype: chambi100
> Twitter: @Udadisi

> Blogs:http://udadisi.blogspot.com &http://ufunuo.blogspot.com
> Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanazuoni
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >________________________________
> > From: kwame zulu shabazz <kwameshab...@gmail.com>

> >To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> >Sent: Sunday, March 4, 2012 10:52 PM
> >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: FW: Police Brutality at Delaware State University Dover Cops BeatAssociate Professor at Non-violent rally 3/1/2012
>
> >Peace to you brother Kwabena,
>
> >First let me preface my comments by noting that I am African American,
> >a pan-Africanist, and I have an intimate relationship with Ghana going
> >back to 1997. When I say the protesters at Delaware State have a
> >legitimate concern my basic point is that DSU is a HBCU and African
> >Americans, by virtually any metric we can dream up (prisons,
> >unemployment, health, education, downward mobility, etc.), are still
> >marginalized in US society. I don't think I have to run down the stats
> >here, but I think we will all agree that the status of African
> >Americans--or at least a large subset of said group--is quite bleak
> >and getting worse.
>
> >Take Education.
>
> >All over the US, African American students are disappearing from
> >predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and African American faculty
> >still face lots of barriers at PWIs. For this reason HBCUs remain a
> >vital lifeline for African Americans. Given these circumstances, I
> >think HBCUs should be aggressively finding ways recruit more African
> >American students and faculty. By all means immigrants of all color
> >should also be welcome. After all, HBCUs have a long-standing
> >tradition of educating Haitians, Jamaicans, Trinidadians and so forth.
> >Thousands of Africans have passed through HBCU corridors--Kwame
> >Nkrumah (Ghana), Hastings Banda (Malawi) and Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria)
> >being two notable examples. And Native Americans were attending HBCUs
> >over 100 years ago. However, for the reasons I have outlined above, I
> >still maintain that there has to be a primary push to recruit African
> >American students and faculty.
>
> >I have an additional concern. A majority white faculty and a black
> >faculty that is majority African suggests to me that the faculty and
> >administration will be far less attentive to racial justice. I
> >witnessed that first hand as a graduate student at Harvard University
> >where they boast relatively high rates of black undergraduate
> >enrollment, but what they avoid discussing is that the majority of the
> >black undergraduates are not African American. Hence African Americans
> >are benefitting the least from centuries of African American struggle.
> >That is unacceptable, in my view. There must be a remedy for the
> >social, political and economic injustices suffered by African
> >Americans. HBCUs and Affirmative Action are imperfect remedies, but
> >remedies nonetheless. We should be thinking of HBCUs from the
> >perspective of reparations instruments no different from, say,
> >comparable remedies for "blacks" in Brazil or South Africa. kzs
>
> >On Mar 4, 10:16 am, "Akurang-Parry, Kwabena" <KAP...@ship.edu> wrote:
> >> Kwame:
>
> >> In response to Akwasi's intervention below, you wrote, "Delaware State has a white majority faculty and much of the 'black' faculty is not African American. The students have a legitimate concern."
>
> >> What exactly does your statement above mean?
>
> >> Kwabena
>
> >> ________________________________________
> >> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] on behalf of kwame zulu shabazz [kwameshab...@gmail.com]
> >> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 10:28 PM
> >> To: USA Africa Dialogue Series
> >> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: FW: Police Brutality at Delaware State University Dover Cops BeatAssociate Professor at Non-violent rally 3/1/2012
>
> >> Akwasi,
>
> >> Have you watched the video? The police are clearly abusive. Arresting
> >> a university professor exercising Free Speech is outrageous. Delaware
> >> State has a white majority faculty and much of the "black" faculty is
> >> not African American. The students have a legitimate concern.
>
> >> kzs
>
> >> On Mar 3, 11:27 am, Akwasi <aosei121...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> > Hi Abdul:
>
> >> > Someone called my attention to this, and I thought I should respond as
> >> > best as I could.
>
> >> > First, how are you?  It has been a hile since we made contact.  Hope
> >> > all is well.
>
> >> > As Chair of the History, Political Science and Philosophy department
> >> > at DSU, and as a long serving faculty member, I want you to know that
> >> > whatever infiormation you have on this topic is flawed, full of
> >> > innacuracies, half-truths and outright misrepresentations.  Clearly, I
> >> > am unable to share what I know , but I can say this:  there has been
> >> > no evidence of police brutality on this campus that anybody is aware
> >> > of.  You do not want to be the carrier of rumors and innacurate
> >> > information.
>
> >> > I notice Dr. Nyang also was concerned.  You can tell him that there is
> >> > no issue of police brutality on our campus.
>
> >> > Sinceley
>
> >> > Akwasi Osei
>
> >> > On Mar 2, 12:39 am, "Abdul Bangura" <th...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >> > > From Dr. Randy Short:
> >> > > For Immediate Release 3/2/2012
> >> > > Delaware State University Professor of History Brutally Treated and Arrested by Dover Police Officers
> >> > > Stop Police Brutality at Delaware State University!
> >> > > Human Rights Activist and Professor of African American History at Delaware State University (DSU), located in Dover, Delaware, Dr. Jahi Issa had to be hospitalized prior to his arrest. Dr. Issa was part of a student-organized protest concerning the unfair treatment of proactive faculty at Delaware State. Recently, Dr. Issa had filed an EEOC complaint regarding unfair and discriminatory treatment of African American faculty at the university. Delaware State University has since the ultra-conservative presidency of Dr. Allen L. Sessoms who had the Africana Studies library materials destroyed in 2008. Sessoms ordered staff to leave Africana studies books to be left on the lawn to be destroyed by rain.  Dr. Harry L. Williams replaced Sessoms as President of Delaware State in September 2008.  President Williams earned his Ed.D. from the conservative East Tennessee State University.
> >> > > Dr. Issa who is very popular with students who have become disenchanted with the plantation styled administration of their school. Recently, Dr. Issa had written about the inner threat that reactionary administrations pose to the future survival of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Black Agenda Report ezine in late 2011. Friends to Dr. Issa were concerned when DSU President made veiled threats to protect the image his university on a cable program that aired Sunday, February 26, 2012.  Media concerns interested in learning more about the plight of minority colleges and universities or the recent violence at DSU can contact Dr. Issa of the HBCU Initiative at 302 465-3787 or his email jahiiss...@gmail.com or his Washington, D.C. representative Dr. Randy Short at wrandysh...@gmail.com. Presently, Dr. Issa is under arrest in the custody of the Dover police (302) 736-7111. As of 10:00 p.m.
>
>  3/1/2012, the authorities have refused to release Dr. Issa or explain the charges for his arrest nor given his family time for his arraignment.  President Harry L. Williams can be reached at 302 857-6001 or hwilli...@desu.edu. What kind of university leadership uses police state methods on non-violent students and faculty?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >> --
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