Festival international Nuits d’Afrique will be coming to Montreal July 10 to 22, 2012

The 26th edition of Festival international Nuits d’Afrique will be coming to Montreal July 10 to 22, 2012. If you're in the vicinity ie. NYC, TO, Philly you can drive that in 7hrs or less. If it's as least as good as the other years, you'll be in for a treat. This year, the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique offers a record number of 91 shows and workshops, given by more than 500 artists from 32 countries. Five concert series presented in seven different indoor venues, with two Nuits d’Afrique Passport packages, lets you experience the greatest number of shows, with no need for visas and without jet lag.

THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY JULY 19, 20, 21 AND 22 The Village Nuits d’Afrique on the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles will provide four days of free festivities with 28 concerts on the LOTO-QUÉBEC Stage and eight open-air workshops as well as 25 activities at the Agor’Afrique, four on site parade activities, the Children’s Village and the famous Timbuktu Market with its 44 craftspeople. Every evening, starting at 8 p.m., there will be projections of live sets on the façade of the Maison Symphonique de Montréal ! The Artists hail from throughout the African diaspora and they bring it. This is always one of my favorite events in Montreal, the music is always good and the spirit is always festive.
 









 The 26th edition of Festival international Nuits d’Afrique

Gay Marriage Controversy in The Hood

Don't vote for Obama, God says it's wrong (Anti-Gay Richmond pastor goes...



 Well, now it's on. The great debate over gay marriage has moved into the hood. While I definitely have an opinion about that. I don't really think, that we should at this time place this topic at the top of our list of things to clear up. At this time all Black folks straight and gay, married and single, young and old, you get the picture, need to be concentrating on the top 5 things that Black folks need to make our priority. You'll notice I haven't said what these top 5 things are. That's because we haven't yet defined them for ourselves. We just keep jumping from one thing to the next as the subject comes up or more likely as we are led to it by the mainstream media. I challenge you all to come up with a consensual top 5 list for the year 2012 and then distribute it, discuss it, act on it and when 2013 comes along renew or modify it as applicable for that year. In my opinion if we can actually come together and address even one of these top 5 things with any kind of unity then then the topic of gay marriage might take on a lot less importance for many of us who take such a unified stance.

Pambazuka - Struggles for the promised land: Letters from West African sisters

Pambazuka - Struggles for the promised land: Letters from West African sisters

AUSTRALIA AND THE KANAKA SYSTEM

This time after reading "Following The Equator" a book by Mark Twain, I've decided to post something about the South Sea Islanders for a change.

"According to the Macquarie Dictionary, the word "kanaka", which was once widely used in Australia, is now regarded in Australian English as an offensive term for a Pacific Islander.^[1] In part, this is because most "Kanakas" in Australia were people from Melanesia, rather than Polynesia, and included few Hawaiians. The descendants of 19th century immigrants to Australia from the Pacific Islands now generally refer to themselves as "South Sea Islanders", and this is also the term used in formal and official situations.
Most of the original labourers were recruited from the Solomon Islands and New Hebrides (Vanuatu), though others were taken from the Loyalty Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati and Tuvalu. Some were kidnapped ("blackbirded") or otherwise induced into long-term indentured service.
Reflecting European prejudices of the time, the men were generally referred to as "Kanakas" (boys). Islander descendants regard this term as a pejorative and insulting reminder of their ancestors' exploitation at the hands of white planters and their recruiters. In Australia, South Sea Islanders were often unfree labour, of the specific form known as indentured labour. It is often alleged that their employment in Australia was a form of slavery, due to the belief that many people were recruited by "blackbirding", as the enslavement of Pacific Islanders and indigenous Australians was known at the time."
Taken from Wikipedia.


At a time when the Western World was beginning to turn its back on all systems of slavery, Queensland was in the process of embracing it in an attempt to get industry on its feet and flowing financially. A man named Robert Towns was the first instigator of using South Sea Island labour. Towns could almost be likened to Cecil J Rhodes, of Rhodesian fame, for his empire-building attitudes, and his almost flagrant disregard for official and public opinion. The American Civil War broke out in 1861, and lasted until 1865, during this time the American cotton crop dwindled to a trickle and died. this left the industrious maw of Britain's Midlands region without the raw material for its massive weaving industry, and worldwide the demand for cotton was   enormous.

Queensland's Governor Bowen was interested in meeting that demand, and he was backed by Robert Towns and other powerful pastoralists, who made it quite clear to the Governor, that for a project of this magnitude to succeed, a vast amount of labour would be required; cheap labour accustomed to working in the harsh sub-tropical climates found in Queensland, and negotiations were entered into with a view to importing labour from India. However, these broke down after a multitude of discussions, and towns decided to import men from the Pacific islands. Towns' needs at this time, were obviously desperate. His property on the Logan River urgently required an influx of cheap workers following one very bad season, and he did not wish a repetition of that unhappy event, and so he commissioned one of his many ships under the command of Captain Geurber with Ross Lewin as recruiting officer, to sail to the Polynesian Islands for the purpose of purchasing labour.

 Considering who we're talking about you can just imagine what followed.

To read more click here.

AFRICA BEFORE SLAVERY! DR.CLARKE PTs. 1-4