(PS. Just now, was thinking of Madi Gray at whose table Jeff and I sat with some other South African dignitaries, during that Abdullah Ibrahim concert in Fasching. A couple of years back I listened to her talk at the Afro-Swedish centre in Stockholm – known as Afrosvenskarna
In Muntu we understand that it's not for someone to say " I am " but for other people to define you - say he is … give you recognition, prizes etc. So in my sense of people culture, in talking about others I'm not "dropping names", it's just some more history as gossip or as Ishmael Reed puts it so mildly, about some media reporting in the OJ Simpson case,
" Both Toobin and the late Norman Mailer, writing in New York Magazine, said that blacks are incapable of rational thought. Like members of many other species , blacks operate on the basis of instinct, they were suggesting Blacks were non-Cartesian. ( They don't think therefore they ain't)"
Obviously, I'm also operating on the basis of instinct:
Am also thinking about when I carried the PAC's banner together with the PAC's representative in Stockholm, Cecil Sondlo, past the American Embassy, in 1985. Thinking of Sathima, of Joy, of course of Johnny Mbizo Dyani (late) , of Bizo , of Peter Radise (late) Jackie (late), Wana (late) Brian Isaacs, Lefifi Tladi, Molefe Pheto ("Azania"), Dudu Pukwana, Bheki Mseleku (late) once upon a time we used to mediate – together - but divided by personal space - last saw him blowing in London with the Brotherhood of Breath at a concert for Johnny Dyani in December 1986, two months after Johnny passed away – thinking of Miss Betty Nokwedi (South African piano teacher in Sierra Leone), thinking of Desmond – South African of Scottish descent (late) – he also used to say "We" , thinking of Ronnie who burst into the Odenplan public library and saw Boers everywhere and started cursing them all, thinking of many anti-apartheidist companions here, in South Africa and in the UK and in Nigeria (Wole Soyinka is one) , people from Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mali, Mozambique, all corners of Africa & Diaspora – and more recently Ron (white cat) who explains and explains some matters to me every time I meet him. The early picture would not be complete without Per Wästberg and the later picture must also star Marika Griehsel. The anti-Apartheid movement in Sweden, from its very inception comprised both "Blacks" and Indians and many "Whites" - and of course, many SWEDES!
Could add many more heavy names etc but I'm keeping them in reserve. I'm not the kind who would like to drop the bomb at the first opportunity to do so - but the bomb will certainly be dropped should things escalate to that point - and I'm surprised how anyone apart from one suffering from an inferiority complex could grudge Brother Obama's forthcoming visit to South Africa – and needless to say some people do suffer from such a complex (an inferiority complex) when they compare or measure themselves against the status and worldwide recognition of Brother Barack Hussein Obama, the president of the United States of America. This inferiority complex accounts for their incessant criticism of the president even before he became president and this complex also explains their unrepentant hatred for him, especially after he became US president and the hater/haters and pathological liars would much prefer that we admire themselves instead since they believe that they are superior. (Having "studied Judaism in Italy" since I arrived on the scene, but not before & would like to teach me some and of course more Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Sheikh Spear and some English poetry too...
I should also like to add that my stepfather, British War hero John Patrick Johnson was born in Johannesburg and grew up in Glasgow; Scotland, where his parents and other ancestors hail from...
I'm thinking of him right now in connection with Aliyu U. Tilde's posting in facebook, entitled "How the American Ambassador Grilled Jonah Jang on Jos Crises WIKILEAKS" and that to begin with, the variant definitions of indigenes is an outstanding issue crying out for justice and one which hopefully will be high on the agenda should the Sovereign National Conference ever be convened. One would presume that for legal purposes the Nigerian Constitution guarantees that anyone born in Nigeria is an indigene and that given the social mobility that is permitted within the country, people may migrate from North to South and (and from the East to the West) without fear of forfeiting their indigenous local and national rights.
The fact that Eric Blair more popularly known as George Orwell - was born in in Motihari, Bihar, in India did not make him less an Englishman and here I'm thinking of the likelihood of Diaspora Nigerians whose children or grandchildren could be born abroad being denied their ancestral rights, as those who are already born in Nigeria are denied the privilege of being classified as indigenes - if born a little distance from certain localities....
On Monday, 3 June 2013 18:44:13 UTC+2, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:
--I was only pulling the Ibrahim Abdullah's leg.
Oh Gloria! So we love both him (Abdullah Ibra-him) ? That's good news coming from you. We have several friends in common, mostly here in Stockholm. Met him for the first time at a Fasching Concert to which I took the late Jeff Cartriers ( great jazz bassist from South Africa - also known as Ishmail) who was then in a wheel chair. Jeff was a friend of Elisabeth Palme – the wife of Olof Palme...that's just a small indication of how close the anti-Apartheid movement in Sweden was to the Swedish government. The cream of the still Stockholm based South African freedom fighters, musicians, poets, ideologues, grass root workers, future ambassadors etc. were at the concert I'm talking about and we sat at the high table with some of the great ones. During the break Jeff introduced me to Abdullah Ibrahim ( whose music I had been listening to for years) at which point - on being introduced to him, I recited one of his anti-apartheid poems to him, a poem I had read in "Transition Magazine " or maybe "Black Orpheus" at the Institute of African Studies library in Ghana, in 1970 :
"Then
as now when
finger-touched
you moved your hand
away."
and then immediately made the fatal mistake of attributing the poem to the name under which he had created it : Dollar Brand. (He hates that name). I've met some of the great South African and African American jazz musicians. It's a tough profession....
Here he is with Johnny : Abdullah Ibrahim & Johnny Dyani : Namhanje
Another favourite : Abdullah Ibrahim - Soweto/Dollar Brand - African Herbs
So many Swedish women that I know, are in love with that. South African jazz pianist ….
On Monday, 3 June 2013 15:56:38 UTC+2, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:Correction:
The South African Jazz pianist, a musician with over seventy albums to his name,
is Abdullah Ibrahim. I love his music. He is my favorite musician.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2013 5:21 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Swedish Peace keeping troops for Mali
There's a connection between the little provocations made by my most dear, most revered, most effulgent Mwalimu Mama Mzuri Gloria-in-excelsis-Emeagwali and my favourite South African jazz pianist, Brother Ibrahim Abdullah and that is that you both touch a raw nerve : Dag Hammarskjöld<http://www.google.co.uk/#output=search& > perishing because he and the Swedish peacekeeping military were standing up against international racism (immorality for profit) in Conrad's and King Leopold's Congo - and the recent riots that spread from Husby - that have been characterised as "Muslim riots<http://www.google.co.uk/sclient=psy-ab&q=Dag+ Hammarskjöld+and+the+Congo&oq= Dag+Hammarskjöld+and+the+ Congo&gs_l=hp.12..0i22i30l4. 2752.2752.0.4437.1.1.0.0.0.0. 115.115.0j1.1.0...0.0...1c.. 15.psy-ab.a4ZXqdqZzTM&pbx=1& bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv. 47244034,d.bGE&fp= 35acbb9113f5c85e&biw=1024&bih= 613 #sclient=psy-ab&q=muslim+ >" by the enthusiastic sections of the islamophobic media , otherwise also wrongly characterised as the Swedish race riots <http://www.google.co.uk/#riots+in+sweden+2013&oq= Muslim+riots+in+Sweden&gs_l= hp.1.2.0j0i22i30j0i8.2447. 10301.0.14281.22.13.0.9.9.0. 243.1348.9j2j2.13.0...0.0... 1c.1.15.psy-ab.gg08tvdk8Z4& pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm= bv.47244034,d.bGE&fp= 35acbb9113f5c85e&biw=1024&bih= 613 sclient=psy-ab&q=race+riots+ >in+Sweden&oq=race+riots+in+ Sweden&gs_l=hp.12..0i8. 1094005.1099334.1.1101652.20. 12.0.8.8.0.92.811.12.12.0...0. 0...1c.1.15.psy-ab. LJGMfVtTOFQ&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or. r_qf.&bvm=bv.47244034,d.bGE& fp=35acbb9113f5c85e&biw=1024& bih=613
It's so tedious having to have to engage some of the self-appointed media pundits (they're everywhere) and sometimes have running battles (verbal) with them, trying to explain that it's not only Muslims rioting. It's mostly frustrated and marginalised immigrant youths – nearly all of them Swedes/ Swedish citizens many of whom were born and bred in Sweden etc. most of them white or Semites. Some academics have now proposed a commission to look into the causes of the violent
" resistance" and I hope that the commission will include some experts "of foreign extraction" and that they will come out with meaningful recommendations that will be implemented in this our refugee-land in which many immigrants – like the Jews of old – do not want to assimilate or succumb to the Francophone type policy <http://www.google.co.uk/#gs_rn=15&gs_ri=psy-ab&suggest=p& > in Africa, that demanded that they become assimilated, "assimilé" - a slightly more difficult thing for many immigrants to achieve in Sweden, when for most parts of their lives they are sequestered in immigrant ghettoes such as Husby – where Sheikh al-Hajji Bangura's other most favourite Negro from Sierra Leone (not me) used to live...cp=36&gs_id=88&xhr=t&q=French+ assimilation+policy+in+Africa& es_nrs=true&pf=p&output= search&sclient=psy-ab&oq= French+assimilation+policy+in+ Africa&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2, or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47244034,d. bGE&fp=35acbb9113f5c85e&biw= 1024&bih=613
The first real racist that I ever met in Sweden was a guy who had served in the Swedish military in the Congo. He even explained it to me and I could understand that he became a racist out there in the jungle – and perhaps you would have become one too ( or a tribalist ?) if the enemy tribe or Oyibo had been shooting at you and trying to genocide you (like Moïse Tshombe) 24 hrs a day - or a couple of months or years whilst serving out there. You'd bear the scars of war – the scars of having to do unpleasant things such as killing, mostly in order to stay alive – killing - instead of turning the other cheek or " loving your enemies" as the Xtian scriptures tell us – as in I wanna love you<http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy-ab&q=Bob+Marley+:+ > – and treat you right (everyday and every night)Is+this+love&oq=Bob+Marley+:+ Is+this+love&gs_l=hp.12..0l4. 4496.4496.0.5766.1.1.0.0.0.0. 91.91.1.1.0...0.0...1c..15. psy-ab.wLfOhA7lI2A&pbx=1&bav= on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47244034, d.bGE&fp=35acbb9113f5c85e&biw= 1024&bih=613
That Swedish troops have ever been accused of "looting" is news to me – in fact much of the once great Swedish auto industry depended on raw materials like cobalt which is still plentiful in the Congo and South Africa – and yet Swedish trade unions of the type which the current leader of the Social Democrats Stefan Löfven used to head ( it's called METAL) - they were prepared to suffer the effects of sanctions on South Africa which could have crippled or immobilised the auto industry - with no alternative sources of supply, but they went ahead – and in fact I occasionally met a couple of COSATU representatives (at home for dinner) who were sent to Sweden to train....
We should be happy and congratulate Sweden for wanting to help our people in Mali - whilst the Africa Union is still dragging it's feet complaining about lack of finances and equipment (as usual) after so many years of independence and co-operation with the looting of the continent they are still engaged in their favourite Buddhist contemplative pastime called "do-nothing" perhaps on the way to Nirvana, a supreme state of super-natural indifference and inertia.
'Sweden should be proud of its troops' - The Local<http://www.google.se/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s& >source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved= 0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F% 2Fwww.thelocal.se%2F48216% 2F20130529%2F&ei= V0qsUYbfCIX24QSL5ICoDg&usg= AFQjCNHunSpiHu460ZffqtICKaedWW E7ng&sig2= uby5PRI2nu0vNwNnfQ5UHw&bvm=bv. 47244034,d.bGE
Sin-cerely,
http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/
On Monday, 3 June 2013 02:48:41 UTC+2, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
...and they had a whole week of race (?) riots last week.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net >
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/ >videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<https://webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ > [usaafric...@googlegroups.com<UrlBlockedError.aspx https://webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ >] On Behalf Of Ibrahim Abdullah [ibdu...@gmail.com<https://UrlBlockedError.aspx webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ >]UrlBlockedError.aspx
Sent: Saturday, June 01, 2013 6:46 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<https://webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ >UrlBlockedError.aspx
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Swedish Peace keeping troops for Mali
Hope the Sweedes will behave this time around--they looted the Congo in the 60s.
========
On 5/30/13, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com<https://webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ >> wrote:UrlBlockedError.aspx
>
>
> *Swedish Peace keeping troops for
> Mali*<http://www.thelocal.se/48232/20130530/ >
>
>
> Of relevance: *African Union proposes an emergency military
> force*<http://www.google.co.uk/#output=search&sclient=psy- >(someab&q=African+Union+proposes+ an+emergency+military+force& oq=African+Union+proposes+an+ emergency+military+force&gs_l= hp.12...3502.3502.0.5405.1.1. 0.0.0.0.96.96.1.1.0...0.0... 1c..15.psy-ab.2lSKPuehb7c&pbx= 1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv. 47244034,d.bGE&fp= d1dc93a0ad812a1b&biw=1024&bih= 593
> kind of rapid reaction force. Let's hope that words will be
> translated into actions...
>
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