From the US political blog Booker Rising. A translation of Rama Yade's comments about the overrepresentation of black players in the national French football team.
The French Secretary of State for Sport and moderate-conservative is uncomfortable with the high numbers of blacks and Arabs in French sport, arguing that it demonstrates lack of opportunity in France:
(commentary in French): "This week I participated in 'Diversity In Action,' a magnificent operation organized each year in Lyon with my friends Ali and Faisal Kismoune Douhane to promote diversity in French society. Around the debate 'Sport and Diversity"' which brought together Pascal Boniface, Olivia Cattan and Jean-Michel Aulas, everyone, including me, was extolling the virtue of inclusive sports. It is true that Marcel Cerdan (French Algerian origin) and Michel Platini (of Italian origin) Yannick Noah (from Cameroon), Mehdi Baala (of North African origin), and the black-white-Arab team players of the 1998 French soccer team, are all children of immigrants who passed through sport and show our young people today who identify themselves, they can escape through sport." She continues her commentary: "At a point in the debate, I felt a slight discomfort. This relentless promotion of sport as a means of social success struck me as suspicious. Is it not somewhere a symptom of a failed society? As if sport is asked to manage those it no longer wants or has failed to integrate at school or the workforce. As if other than sports, these young immigrant could not do anything else. The legs yes, but not the head. They run so fast....But our young people from immigrant backgrounds would to become a Zidane or Noah, given a high chance of failure because not everyone has the capacity to become a world champion or to win Roland Garros! In short, these young people, could they not also entitled to medical professions, journalists or lawyers? However, it is as if these trades are considered inaccessible, we choose to ghettoize youth of immigrant origin. Without solving the problems of access to the labor market because one cannot remain a top sportsman all his life, who must think of a time or another in his retraining. The labor market always eventually catches up with you, with its problems of discrimination that thought away, turning to the sport."
Secretary Yade brings up Alain Finkielkraut, a conservative French essayist who in 2005 commented that the French soccer team was "black, black, black" (as opposed to black, white, Arab: "Result: young aspiring athletes have never been numerous. Moreover, there is no problem of diversity on the field and in stadiums (in leadership, however, it's tragic!). Quite the reverse. The France soccer team, they say, has eventually become....black, black, black! Damn, is it possible that Alain Finkielkraut has been misunderstood?"
Like every year this weekend (sa 26 & su 27/06) the ‘Matongé en Couleur’ (Matongé in Colours) Festival takes place in Brussels. This is a yearly event with music and animation in the streets of Matongé.
Matongé is a commercial neighbourhood in Ixelles/Elsene, a southern borough of Brussels. The area is located close to metrostation Porte de Namur/Naamse Poort. It’s full of afroshops and African barbershop and salons. If you need anything African in Brussels it’s in Matongé you have to be.
Matongé’s name comes from the Matongé market in Kinshasa (D.R. of Congo). Most Africans in Belgium are of Congolese descent. But you will also find a lot of people from all parts of Africa, as well as shops with all kinds of African and Caribbean products.
An impression of the street ambience during Matongé en Couleur
Matongé is first of all an African commercial area. It is not a predominantly black neighborhood. Although many people of African descent live in Brussels they do not live in a separate neighborhoods but are scattered all around the city. Brussels has some boroughs that are rather posh and others that are much poorer, but the city lacks the social ghetto’s or banlieus such as in French cities. You can find more info on Matongé, Brussels in this article by Mpho Mfenyana
Matongé Mural
Detail from the Matongé Mural: "I traveled all over the world, never have I seen a city like Brussels and a neighborhood like Ixelles’s Matongé where everybody mixes (more than 100 nationalities in this neighborhood alone). Hard to describe in a word what Matongé is or the city of Brussels itself. Bruxelles is a mythical city, Brussels is a paradise."
I was in Brazil for a month, from the 12th of May till the 12th of June. I visited the 3 biggest cities of the country. Sao Paulo (aka Sampa), Salvador da Bahia (aka Bahia) and Rio de Janeiro (aka Rio). It was a revelation. Although I knew that I was visiting a country with more than 500 years of interracial history, it still was a great and beautiful surprise to experience this mixed place. Brazil is the country of the Western hemisphere with the greatest African influence and the greatest black population of the West. The way this country today handles its history and diversity is inspiring.
I’ve been thinking for years about going to Brazil. It is a country in which I thought I could find a fusion of Europe, the West, Africa and much more. A country home to any race, any culture but all as one under a Brazilian flag and a Brazilian identity. But Brazil is far away from Europe, and is therefore not a place you can visit for a week (which is OK if I go to New York for instance). I needed time, money and perseverance. This year I finally took the decision and went off to Brazil. I now know that I will return, often.
Home
I lost a piece of my heart there. It felt as if I finally arrived in my home country, although I had never been there, I haven’t any ancestors there and I don’t speak the language. But all this is not that important for Brazilians. Being Brazilian is an attitude more than a blood line, and if you’re ready to know Portuguese the rest will follow naturally. Fortunately I have an education in linguistics and Latin languages are rather similar when you get into it. My mother tongue is French and I have a good knowledge of Spanish. This helps. Before taking off I thought myself the most important expressions in Portuguese. I could immediately start and have basic conversation with Brazilians, certainly when they had some passive knowledge of Spanish. Generally Brazilians don’t speak too much English and just speak Portuguese with you once they discover you can speak some words. So, you really have to speak Portuguese, otherwise you just get isolated. After a week I could read a newspaper without too many problems, and today I start to read books in Portuguese. Without understanding everything but still understanding what the stories are about and learning many new words while reading.
Racism and poverty
Brazil is a country with problems. There is a huge social divide between poor and rich and there are still economic problems and disparities between the poor North and the rich South. It is not true that there is full racial harmony, as some Brazilians would like to think. The great majority of poor people are African descendents and most rich people are white. But still, this is the least racist place I have ever been too. And, believe me, I have travelled all around the world. Brazil is concerning race the best you can get in the Americas (maybe Canada is better, wasn’t there yet). While in the United States poor white and poor black are two different groups, and rich blacks don’t mix too much with rich whites, Brazil is totally different.
The social divide seems to be all about money not too much about color. When you are rich and black you can (rather easily) mix with whites, when you are white and poor you mix with blacks. Still, this will not yet result in a nation where everybody is mixed and brown skinned. A history of racism and slavery still has its consequences on today’s reality in Brazil.
The whites are a minority among the poor, the blacks a minority among the rich. But Brazil is a huge country with great differences between the different states. The poverty I have seen in Bahia is nothing compared to poverty I have seen in Africa. The favelas don’t even look that bad when compared to the shanty towns of South Africa, the richest country of Africa. But then again, this doesn’t mean there are no problems in these favelas. They are often ran by crime syndicates, kids don’t go to school, drugs is everywhere, people get killed, the youth sees no future. And the first victims to this situation are the Afro Brazilians.
Change and opinion
Fortunately many things have changed in Brazil for the last 20 years. The middle class has grown tremendously, and therefore a new class of people who are much more racially mixed are gaining importance in the political and social order of Brazil. Still, beauty standards are much more geared towards whites, virtually all TV presenters, news anchors, actors and commercial ads are lily white. While more than half the population of the country is non-white. Although I have seen black actors, blacks featuring in commercials etc. the media still has a long way to go to give an image that resembles Brazilian reality or promotes a racially equal society. Generally blacks presence is limited to sports and music, sometimes humor.
I talked a lot with people, mostly black Brazilians. They have very diverse opinions and attitudes towards Brazilian reality. Most people I talked to don’t think that racism is the key to the problem. Racism is just the most visible expression of problems that run deeper: economic inequality, bad public schools, social segregation and social exclusion.
Affirmative Action
Today public universities (the best ones in Brazil) use quotas to attract more black students. But I talked with a Brazilian who told me that more than a generation of affirmative action didn’t change much to the lives of most blacks in the US. Even if the US has a black president today, most blacks are still over represented among the poorer and less educated peoples of the US. Race isn’t the issue according to him. Why would a system with quotas change anything in Brazil? There is a black upper class that will benefit, but the big black masses will stay in the favelas.
Education
The key is according to many the state of the public primary and secondary schools. As long as the quality of these schools will not be upgraded, the teachers better prepared and remunerated, the poor and uneducated will stay poor and uneducated (except some smart and lucky ones, who will be put on the forefront as great examples, ‘Brazilian Dreams’).
Besides all that Brazil is a beautiful and fascinating country. The last ten years the government is doing a lot to upgrade the AfroBrazilian and indigenous cultures. You can see a lot of adds that show that Africans have been an important contribution to the Brazil we know today. In schools the African heritage is considered as a heritage of all Brazilians, whatever their color. History classes feature all Brazilians and show how the non-white Brazilians also played a major role in the constitution of the Brazilian nation. The rehabilitation of the Afro Brazilian contribution to Brazil is in full swing.
Inspiration
In a way Brazilians are also very American: you easily get in touch with people, they are very proud of their country whether they are rich or poor, and they are big fans of their own flag whatever their ancestry. There is no contradiction. The country is beautiful, and the people, black and white, express such a great confidence in the future that it is hard not to get ‘contaminated’ with their enthusiasm. Combine all this with a wonderful tropical climate, fresh fruits everywhere and a great cuisine … and yes, I might think to exchange my confused and racist home country for Brazil. Thank you Brazil, you had a dramatic and murderous history, but today you are creating something culturally inclusive and beautiful in its diversity.
While I know that if I raised my children in Brazil they could be Brazilians without having to deny or be ashamed of any part of their ancestry, I strongly doubt they will feel and be accepted as a genuine part of Belgium or Flanders while growing up here. Will it also take 5 centuries like in Brazil? Brazil is an inspiration for the future of all postcolonial nations, our European nations too!
Spotted on Ebonyjet The Colour of Beauty is a short documentary about racial discrimination in the fashion industry. Director Elizabeth St. Philip follows a young and fiercely talented Black model, Renee Thompson, as she navigates the fashion world as a visible minority.
This film asks: Why isn’t the multi-cultural society that we live in reflected in our magazines, on billboards and on the runways of fashion shows? And who are the parties involved in this industry’s lack of diversity? Does the answer lie somewhere in the back rooms of fashion magazines or in the offices of casting directors of fashion shows? Is it something that is discussed at advertising agencies, or between designers and modelling agencies? Whatever the answer, the fact is that models of colour work less, and their chances of success are very low.
Renee Thompson: "It does get very discouraging, It gets to a point where you feel like you're constantly justifying your worth… You can only take so much beating up every day and constant rejection — or that fear, that when you walk through that casting door, you're going to be reminded, yet again, that you're a black girl. But quitting to me seems like you're giving in…"
On February 4th American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson gave the Martin Luther King Jr. lecture in The Netherlands. Jackson is touring Europe at the moment.
In the lecture he stated that The Netherlands should do whatever it takes to desegregate its primary school, this should be Dutch national policy.
One result of segregation, according to Reverend Jackson, is that ethnic communities feel stigmatised, and become isolated.
"If you let people live in isolation, and make them feel left out, you are organising your own ticking time bomb."
That is precisely what has concerned many here, since the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a young Dutchman of Moroccan background. But Mr Jackson's message when it comes to integration is "Keep hope alive." He is impressed by young people he has met in The Hague and Amsterdam and the efforts they have taken to learn to live together. Black schools in the Netherlands are schools where the majority of pupils have a “foreign” background. A more accurate term for these schools would be minority schools.
From Jackson’s point of view he is right of course, there is no place for segregation in a modern society. But linking black schools to terrorism is little bit overdone. Read the whole story and see a video here
On the blog Madnews I read that the Government’s controversial equality watchdog was accused of ‘rank hypocrisy’ for flouting its own policies on fair pay. The chairman is black politician, journalist and writer Trevor Phillips.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has angered business leaders by ordering a crackdown on hard-pressed companies that fail to pay the same rates to employees doing similar work.
But official figures show that more than two years after it was set up to stamp out discrimination, the commission is paying its own ethnic minority workers almost ten per cent less than white staff – an embarrassment for its black chairman Trevor Phillips. Read full story Trevor Phillips is controversial. Everyone agrees that he's great communicator, but critics say his management style is his biggest problem. Read: Trevor Phillips: a career in crisis
"Neger, Feger" (“Negro”, “chimney sweeper”), were the names other children called her numerous times during her childhood. Usually, Manuela Ritz would not see her perpetrators. She held her head down. At one point she lifted it and hollered back at them „weißer Scheißer (“whitey”, “shit“)! Maybe this was the first step towards her present profession as and to her inner belief: Fighting back sets one free.
It’s the story of German anti-racist trainer ManuEla Ritz (40), and author of her powerfull biograpy “Die Farbe meiner Haut” , or in English “The Color of my Skin”. Her book was published in 2009.
ManuEla Ritz grew up in the small town Mügeln in East Germany, a town coined by the media as extreme right wing. In her book she writes about her experience of growing up in Mügeln, and about growing up as a black German in Germany.
Book tour In March 2010 ManuEla Ritz will be on a book tour in Germany. 10.3. - Landshut (Bavaria) 11.3. - Oberschleißheim (near Munich) 17.3. - Hannover 18.3. - Leipzig 19.3. - Cologne - not confirmed 22.3. - Bielefeld
Video In an interesting interview (German) Ritz talks about her workshops, and how racism works. A short translation from 2: 43 till 5:22).
Interviewer: when I think of racism I think of Neo-nazis and violance, but there is also everyday racism. Where does racism actually begin? Ritz: When I give empowerment workshops, I say to people that racism is what you experience. Racism is a form of discrimination. Discrimination just means treating a person differently. And the "different" means who is outside the norm and who is not. And when you're outside the norm I can ask you different questions, I can look at you differently, and I can touch you, which is not "normal" in our society.
Interviewer: could you give an example?
Ritz: A friend of mine told me, a grown up woman, that in bus her hair was touched to see how it felt. She thought "hello" are we in the year hundred.
Book Review
Because the story of ManuEla Ritz is very powerfull I have added the complete English book review.
Review
ManuEla Ritz is working as trainer for Anti-Racism and Empowerment Workshops. In her biography “The Color of my Skin“, which was published in April 2009 by Herder Verlag, she describes her job and the reasons that made her chose this profession. She does this by describing scenes she has experienced in her life as Black German woman, reflections which include joyful as well as painful memories. The author calls her book rightfully „not a biography in the traditional sense“. The reality of her life - once in East Germany and now in a unified German republic - is inevitably connected with the central theme of her work, life and pain: Racism and how one can fight it.
The fact that this is a book which gives encouragement and which has been written by an author who has still „hope in her heart“ becomes clear in her introductory words. Here ManuEla Ritz describes the effects which Barack Obama’s election as president of the United States has had on her in December 2008. He fought a seemingly hopeless battle and won it. This is an experience she has made as well and continues to do so until today: „Racism in Germany is still existing,“ she says, and the experiences she presents in her book leave no room for doubts about this statement.
ManuEla Ritz grew up in a small town in Saxony, Mügeln. The reader finds out at the very beginning of the book that already her journey into life and her arrival in the same were accompagnied by complications and separations. It were those very circumstances of her birth that caused that ManuEla Ritz experienced few days after the first change of environment which was her transport into a foster house for babies in Mügeln, which was 15 kilometers away.
Mügeln, where ManuEla spent her childhood and youth, was the place where she made her first experiences with racism. „There was a time during childhood, in which I felt the pressure from the outside world to define myself through an ethnic heritage which was unknown to me. I was given the impression that I was not a real German.” She describes the feeling of being excluded from the rest of the group and her participation in the game “Who is afraid of the Black Man” in the chapter about her childhood. Until today the game represents to her an intrinsic example of how children are taught to think in racist categories at a very early age. This is another reason why ManuEla Ritz believes in fighting racism in a very early stage. The fact that she offered an Anti-Racism workshop against racism at the school of her childhood in Mügeln is therefore no coincidence at all. The media treated the town as synonym for the existence of right wing violence when in 2007 eight men of Indian heritage were beaten up and hunted through the streets of the city by a mob.
Mügeln is also the place where ManuEla Ritz learned for the first time how liberating it feels to defend oneself successfully against racism. „Neger, Feger“, were the names other children called her numerous times during her childhood. Usually, ManuEla Ritz would not see her perpetrators. She held her head down. At one point she lifted it and hollered back at them „weißer Scheißer!“ Maybe this was the first step towards her present profession and to her inner belief: Fighting back sets one free.
And there where many things she had to fight against, e.g., the obstacles she had to overcome when starting the search for her biological parents. With different experiences and realizations at the end of these roads which brought her first to Meißen, the city of her birth, and much later in 2007 to Nairobi in Kenya, the country of her father.
Years before these travels, ManuEla Ritz had experienced that in a unified Germany there is not automatically a place for Black people. Again, she had to learn how it feels to be excluded, an experience which she turned into a movie script after she had completed a further education study program in script writing. In this work, she describes how the unification brought freedom for many and fears for others. For ManuEla Ritz these experiences are part of her path of life: „Fear can paralyze“, she writes. „Fear can also motivate. Fear, and even more so the desire not to allow that my life is dominated by it, were important aspects for my decision, to become an Anti-Racism-Trainer.“ She talks about this in the second half of the book, in which she also shares experiences and insights that she made during her work as Anti-Racism-Trainer. Beside that she also points to scenes of daily life racism, e.g., arbitrary controls of Black peoples’ passports as well as the common usage of established racist terminologies in the German language.
When ManuEla Ritz claims that working constructively with the topic racial discrimination is a necessity, she does this also from the perspective of a mother of two children. Her goal is to assist them, so that they are able to find and create their own strategies at hand and to strengthen them in the way they deal with racism. The topic „How do I tell my children“...what racism is about and how you fight it, is a central matter to her.
Participants of her workshops learn, that racism has many faces and that the need to fight against it, is central for a society in general, not only for those who are its target. ManuEla Ritz is aware of the fact that most white Germans have to get used to the thought that racism exists in Germany. „They don’t experience it“. Others do and not all of them survive it. The reader gets aware of this in the chapter that deals with racially motivated assassinations in Germany and that makes clear that racism concerns everybody. ManuEla Ritz knows: compassion does not help those who are the target of racism. Compassion is not visible and it does not offer any protection against attackers. The conditions that allow racism to take place at all are explained in her Anti-Discrimination-Workshops: „Discrimination is only possible if there is a majority who does not interfere” ManuEla Ritz stated once in an interview. “Those who keep silent, seem to agree.“
ManuEla Ritz is also describing strategies for those who have to deal with racist attacks. She explains to them the importance of understanding how internalized racism works. As she makes clear, it is important to replace it with the knowledge that racism is a powerful social and oppressive structure.
Structures of power and oppression are also dealt with in the subsequent chapter in which ManuEla Ritz provides an introduction to the topic Adultism. Adultism refers to the discrimination of children and youths through adults. Based on this phenomenon, the author shows that all types of discrimination are based on similar structures. To provide evidence for her findings, she presents a theoretical model as well as empirical findings from Adultism workshops that she has conducted during the course of the last four years.
Beside this biography there is more material the reader can turn to after completing the book. ‚Homestory Deutschland’, a multi-media theatre piece about Black German lives and experiences is a well received project, that provides an inter-generational and deep view onto topics that the reader will be acquainted with from ManuElas Ritz’ biography
On October 14th the Norwegian group Queendom had the television premiere of their comedy series for TV-action 2009. Queendom has written the script and plays all the supporting roles. Place of action is Sogndalstrand in Norway and Bagamoyo in Tanzania,the themes are women, Africa, development aid and multicultural Norway.
Queendom about Queendom: “Queendom is based in Oslo, Norway, and draws on the talent and experience of five performing artists with backgrounds from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Trinidad and Gambia. The group was established in 1999 and is unique in that it represents the first time young, black women have set up their own performing arts group in Norway. The members of the group are professional actors, journalists, singers and songwriters.
Queendom aims to raise the profile of black women by creating both socially aware and entertaining performances. Our shows touch on themes relevant to our everyday lives in Norway, such as racism, identity and women’s issues. While most of our material is original we also present a selection of texts and music written by other black artists - both in Norwegian and English. Through humour, satire, poetry and song, we wish to raise the level of awareness and understanding between men and women of all ethnic backgrounds.”
Queendom performers: Hannah Wozene Kvam, born 1972 - background Ethiopia Asta Busingye Lydersen, born 1970 - background Uganda / Norway Isabell Dahlsveen Sterling, born 1972 - background Trinidad / Norway Monica Ifejilika, born 1977 - background Nigeria / Norway Haddy Jatou N'jie, born 1979 - background Gambia, Norway
Black nobility in Europe? According to black Dutch researcher Egmond Codfried and author of the book "Belle van Zuylen's forgotten grandmother" there was black nobility in Europe, but there history and images were later carefully tucked away. His claims are controversial, and of course not accepted by European historians and the man in the street.
Codfried has systematically studied hundreds of paintings of famous and less famous nobility. He regularly stumbled upon people who looked black or coloured, or although they were white, clearly had African facial features.
About his work he writes: “This study of historical sources and literature on black and coloured historic persons was inspired by the chance finding of a portrait of Maria Jacoba van Goor (portraited in the picture). We get a view of the problems and of the methods to identify these Europeans. This beautiful painting was also a reason to cast an afrocentric view at Belle van Zuylens life and her works, the biographies en the origin of her financial fortune. Through her coloured grandmother, the Dutch Belle van Zuylen (1740-1805) also known as Madame de Charrière, joins the rank of writers as the Russian Alexander Pushkin, the French Alexander Dumas and Colette, the Britons Elizabeth Barrett and her husband Robert Browning. As well as the German classic composer Ludwig von Beethoven and Queen Charlotte of Britain. These are Europeans of great merit, who had black forefathers. Also we find that Belle was a friend of Pierre Alexander Du Peyrou (1729-1794), a brown coloured and wealthy Surinam plantation owner in Swiss. He is renowned as a close friend, benefactor and publisher of the most famous philosopher of the Enlightenment, Jean Jaques Rousseau.
The reason why he studies nobility has to with the fact that nobility has left traces in the form of portraits and writings.
Some of his claims
Queen Charlotte Sophie of Mecklenburg Strelitz (1744-1818), Wife of George III
Described by others in her time as 'a true mulatto face' , ' brown' or ' yellow.' Her nose is to wide and her mouth shows the same fault.
Maurits Huygens (painted by Rembrandt in 1632) the older brother of Constantijn Huygens. Constantijn was one the most famous poets in the Golden Century.
The way black people were portraited
A painting of the French-Swiss painter Liotard (1702-1789) "Portrait of a young woman". Liotard is also considered coloured by Codfried.
A Moor by Juriaen of Streeck (1619-1673). Most people do not realize how many pictures exist of Moors in Europe. Why the love of Moors? Names, family crests, geographical indications, all references to the Moor, according to Codfried.
On the forum someone writes, that this is a picture of a servant.
As a response Codfried writes: "Part of the Moritzburg Treasure (Renaissance), , with a gold and silver cup in the form of a Moor's head, which was used at high nobilty marriages. Why Moor's head? The Moor was apparently in high regard."
PORTRAIT OF AN AFRICAN MAN January Mostaert (ca.1474-Haarlem Haarlem 1552/1553) Ca. 1520-1530. A unique 16th-century portrait
A painting of a black African in European clothing - with sword - portrayed as a Habsburg-Burgondian nobleman from that period. The self-conscious attitude, clothes and rich attributes demonstrate a successful assimilation of this man within the cultural norms of the European Renaissance. (Research lab Black is beautiful Dutch)
But, the research lab also writes, black Africans were in the 16th-century Europe rarely people of distinction. Most of them were imported as slaves in Spain and Portugal. A small number of them were released over the years, but most were employed as servant to their master. Only the Congo, which in the late 15th century was Christianized by the Portuguese, had a special status as a black kingdom of which the elite was educated in Portugal. Some Congolese made it as scholar, clerk, musician and jester quite far. Most remained employed in subordinate occupations. In the Netherlands, where the slave status was not recognized, negroes usually came along as servants of Spanish and Portuguese traders.
But why is it so important to show that black or coloured people were part of the European nobility? Codfried's motivation is to show that Europe was never as 'white' as we have been taught. Black people were always in Europe, even among the European nobility.
Looking at the portraits of those 16th and 17the century black people in Europe, I wonder what they would think of us now.
For the second time the StrangerAcademy opens its doors in Amsterdam, this year from 13 - 17 October 2009.
Over 150 video-makers between the ages of 15 and 25 from across Europe will together improve their skills in video and storytelling. They will all take part in one of the professional-led StrangerAcademy workshops and show their work to an audience of experts and other video fans. All participants stay in the Stayokay hostel ajoining the festival location (Studio K, Timorplein, Amsterdam Oost).
Programme preview Strangeracademy: click here. Participants of the StrangerAcademy are the finalists of the StrangerFestival competition, talented video makers selected by our international partners and Dutch talented young video makers. Dutch video makers can still sign up!How? sent an email to puck@eurocult.org and ask for the registration form, or copy the text below & sign up. One of the conditions for signing up is you have to upload at least 1 self-made video on this website... you can also sign up when you have NOT uploaded a video and you take part in a beginner workshop. More info in the registration form.
Joyce Sylvester (43) is acting mayor of the Dutch city of Naarden. She is the first black woman to serve as mayor in the Netherlands. Sylvester is born in Amsterdam and is of Surinam descent.
Since there is so much attention for Sandy Cane, the first black mayor in Italy who is also a member of the right-wing party Lega Nord, here is a Dutch black mayor who is a member of a party which can be compared with the labour Party in the UK and with the Democrats in the USA.
About being black and female she stated in an interview (Dutch). "Yes, I am a woman and I have a colour, so what? I have experienced no limitations because of that." But during her first position as acting mayor she saw that gender and colour did matter. "You notice the signals from the organisation. You can't escape the fact of being seen as role model." In 1992 Sylvester survived a serious train accident. Five passengers were killed. They all sat with Sylvester in the coupe. She was seriously injured, was held in coma, was operated on six times and the prospects were poor. Her political party leader Bos said: "You never hear her complain, the accident affected her considerably. Even years later her toes had to be broken to put them straight. She is literally a woman of iron."
On her website she writes about her impressive career: "I am acting Mayor of Naarden.
From October 31, 2008 to May 31, 2009 I was acting mayor of Anna Pavlovna.
Since 2003 I am also a member of the Dutch Senate (PVDA).
My portfolios are Economy, Agriculture and Finance. I am a member of the Committee on Petitions.
I am also housing commissioner of the housing association Alliance, member of the Amarantis school Advisory Board in Amsterdam, a member of the Delta Lloyd Advisory Board, member of a Board of Supervisors of the diversity counsil of the Dutch police, member of the Advisory Council for Microfinance Netherlands, supervisor at the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra and member of the Advisory Board of the Dutch Society for Industry and Commerce. I am the ambassador of d'ONS Foundation, the acronym stands for Sustainable Development Netherlands Surinam. Finally, and I am owner of Spirit organisatieadvies bv.
I started my career as a controller at the central FEZ Directorate of the Ministry of Transport. After I became adviser to the Mayor of Amsterdam I worked for Twynstra Gudde management consultants."
Sylvester earned a Masters degree in communication science and political science from the University of Amsterdam, and she holds a PhD from the Law Faculty of VU University Amsterdam.
Approx. 45000 people danced the night away at the Antilliaanse Feesten in the small town of Hoogstraaten, Belgium. Not like most festivals, the Antilliaanse Feesten starts when the sun goes down and keeps on going until dawn. Music from Latin-America and the Caribbean is getting more and more popular in Belgium (as all over northern Europe). So is this festival, which has a summer and winter edition (in-door).
In contrast to ‘World’ festivals where you have a predominant white audience coming to see African, Asian and Latin artists, the Antilliaanse Feesten has a totally mixed audience of all colours. It was surprising how many mixed couples were present. Many men wore white shirts and trousers, while the ladies wore very short skirts and high heels. Not the easiest outfit for a festival in a rural grass field, but everybody wanted to look at its utmost best. And it was beautiful to see.
The most famous act this year was Carlos Vives, a Colombian superstar well known in all parts of Latin America. This was his very first gig in the Benelux (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxemburg). On Saturday the French Creole super band Kassav, from Guadeloupe, came to make the crowd dance and party. Kassav has been on stage throughout the world for 30 years now, and are very popular in the French speaking world. This was the 5th time they came to the Antillianse Feesten and they were still bringing us great Afro-Caribbean vibes .
The crowd was super enthusiastic and going crazy, all over the place you could see people branding flags from Trinidad, Jamaica, Cuba, Martinique, Surinam, … There were cocktail and champagne bars and delicious cigars. The food was not typical Flemish festival food, i.e. French fries and hamburgers, but Caribbean Chicken grill, cornbread, rice & beans, Surinam Chicken with peanut sauce, …
The Notting Hill Carnival is now a showcase of London’s multicultural society, but in 1976 the Carnival turned into a race riot. See the interesting post of the history of black British people in West London, on the French blog Caraïbes et z'Antilles
In about two weeks, the streets of Notting Hill in West London, will be flooded for two days by more than one million people who come to attend the second largest street parade in the world after that of Rio de Janeiro. The Notting Hill Carnival is so immense popular that it allows the British government today to extol the virtues of its model of integration.
But its success was not obvious if you look at the early years of the Notting Hill Carnival. In the summer of 1976 racial tensions between the police and the Caribbean community sparked a riot after the arrest of two black men. The riot turned Notting hill into a battlefield.
In the compelling documentary 'The Long Hot Summer of 1976' the build up to the riot and the clash with police is told through interviews and visuals. Among the interviewed are black British filmmaker Don letts, singer Eddy Amoo and many others. Official website Notting Hill Carnival Read: Remembering the Notting Hill riot
For the film 'I’m Bi-Racial… Not Black Damn It!' see the interesting post and comments on the film blog Shadow And Act
Of course I've asked a bi-racial Dutch African-American woman about her opinion. She feels that the title, I’m Bi-Racial… Not Black Damn It!, is wrong. Being bi-racial means not black not white, but both. It's a combination.
People with a bi-racial background are a fast growing group in Europe. It's a consequence of the fact that Europe is less racially segregated then the US.
Photo and copyright: Régis Durand de Girard The French urban media organisation Trace has moved to a new location in Paris. On July 8th Trace celebrated the event by throwing a party for French urban celebs and media officials. Almost 300 people attended the event. The French blog Fxgpariscaraibe made full a photo report of the day. For the photos click here. (On the photo: Vicelow de Saïan from the Supa Crew and Virginie Koné from Trace.)
But what is Trace? Trace is the biggest French urban music and culture channel in the French speaking world. Launched in 2003, TRACE is available in over 1OO countries through digital TV, radio, magazine, web and mobile. But unlike it’s American rival MTV, Trace TV also airs European and afro Afro-Caribbean artists. With eight million subscribers it has become the third French channel behind TV5 and Euronews. But its success didn’t start in France. Finance for a multicultural urban music channel was hard to find in a country where a black news anchor was seen as revolution. It was the prestigious American investment bank Goldman Sachs who first saw the potential and injected 6 million dollar in the concept.
Trace TV is a black success story. Trace is owned by Claude Grunitzky, Olivier Laouchez and Richard Wayner along with Goldman Sachs Group and other private investors.
Olivier Laouchez , who is born in Martinique, is now the CEO of Trace television. He is the only Black to head of a French television channel. Claude Grunitzky, born in Togo, is the editor in chief of Trace magazine. And Richard Wayner was one of the first members of the new Urban Investment Group of Goldman Sachs. The group was established to focus on investing in urban venture capital and real estate with a specific focus on minority and female entrepreneurs.
In urban city life vegetarian food with a touch of spirituality is seen as food for tree huggers only. But vegetarian Ital food of Rastafarian roughnecks of Jamaica is – of course – a different story.
Since I watched the video of London chef Hassan Defour going back to his Caribbean food roots and meeting Rasta farmer Iral Axum, I am interested in being a little bit green.
So what is Ital food? Is is just health food or more?
Ital is a term used by Rastas, derivated from "vital", who means a natural and sane way of life. One aspect of Ital is the Ital food: because the body is a temple, you should not eat unpure food. Also you must take care of your body, cause it is Jah creation.
Ital is generally a vegan diet, even if some Rastas eat fish. Some prohibit salt, some not.
In all cases, Ital prohibits pork, preservatives, chemical ingredients. Ingredients have to be the most natural possible.
In Jamaica, Ital cooking is most often inspired from Indian and African cooking. But lot of recipes can be "Italized" if prepared only with vegetables and natural ingredients. (Rasta meal.)
The video
See more videos the UK Itzcarribean.com In the video Iral made a shake called ‘Live forage’, it's made of: Raw oats Peanuts Sesame seed Pumpkin seed Raisins Molasses Bananas
The dread library "Ital is Vital"- A long interesting story about Ital food with recipes from The Rasta Cookbook. If you want check out the recipes first, go the last page and scroll up!
On June 11th black urban kids from the Amsterdam district Bijlmer in The Netherlands performed in the Amsterdam Concert Hall. In a orchestra they played on violins, tuba’s and bassoons. The idea is called the ‘Leerorkest’ (learning orchestra) and it’s a huge success.
Five years ago when the director of the local music school, Brazilian Marco de Sousa, started searching for a violin instructor he was asked: Why do you need a violin teacher in the Bijlmer? He replied, children's enthusiasm for something that they normally would never touch. Not because children are from Africa it means that they are more connected to a djembe then to a bassoon. Sousa:” Children have a different view. They choose for a bassoon because it’s funny and for a tuba because it’s big.” In the Amsterdam Bijlmer children of three primary schools are getting music lessons on violins, tuba’s and bassoons. De Souza, saw that black children were not coming to the music school, so he decided to take the music school to them.
De Souza: "The number of children that attends the music school is very small. In Amsterdam only 4.5 percent of children attends a music school, in neighbourhoods such as the Bijlmer it’s about 2.7 percent. "De Souza know why:" Music costs money, books should be purchased, and a child must be brought and be picked up. " Many parents don’t want to make that effort.
Five years ago De Souza began a pilot with forty students, now four hundred children in the Bijlmer play a classical music instrument. The lessons are given in primary schools: "Everyone in the class chooses an instrument. Then the children get compulsory music lessons from a professional musician, one hour every week. Four years in school group five to eight." In the Netherlands it’s in the age from 8 to 12years old.
Child and instrument are carefully linked together. "We start with a visit of a rehearsal of Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra," says De Souza. This is followed by a workshop where children can speed date with a few instruments. After four months, the final choice is made.
UK
In 2002 cellist Julian webber wrote in the Telegraph in the an article entitled 'Who says classical music is for whites only' that there will be no improvement in musical education until the myth that classical music is white, middle-class and elitist has been debunked.
Webber: “What chance does a young British black child have of coming to know classical music? In many urban primary schools, they would be lucky to find two sides of a triangle in a back cupboard.
It may seem an obvious question, but how can anyone like any kind of music if they never hear it? White people decided that they liked MOBO - music of black origin - (jazz, rock and roll, r'n'b) because they had easy access to it - and they particularly liked it when it was "legitimised" by one of their own colour. To interest black people in classical music, we need more young black role models like the organist and conductor Wayne Marshall. Our present system is not designed to produce them.”
Germany
The idea of music education in primary schools isn't new. In Germany it's called 'Jedem Kind ein Instrument' (An Instrument for Every Child).
Keeping it real?
You may ask why black children are learning classical music? We have are own music tradition. So why can’t they play Caribbean or African music or just rap. From a black socio political point of view you may even think it looks like an attempt to ‘civilize’ black children with Bach.
In an interview award winning Dutch Black Cellist Steven Bourne was asked why he played chello. “ My parents, who are from Surinam Caribbean origin, just wanted me get to get in touch with other cultures. They listen to Caribbean music, but they also liked classical music. “ Bourne is the 19 year old winner of the Avond van de Jonge musicus (Evening of the young musician) of 2008. His sister is also a talented piano player.
But the real answer came from the young musicians of the Leerorkest. “You just feel terrific when you play contrabass. Because this is biggest instrument of the orchestra. “ And, "I feel the music. And I realise that I can do that."
Classical music is not Hip Hop or pop, but for black kids it’s a way to look beyond of what is perceived to be black. And maybe that's a part of growing up in Europe.
Renting a negro is not a problem anymore. In the Netherlands you can hire a negro for just 55 Euro an hour.
The Dutch company BlackPack is an agency exclusively for black men, white women are the main customers. The founder Bryan Oudhoff wants to respond to the stereotypes that exits of blacks: blacks are better dancers and have more sense of rhythm, writes the Dutch paper DePers.
The founder of the firm Bryan Oudhoff is of Afro-Surinamese origin. He daily faces the known stereotypes about black men. So he decided to respond and started Black Pack: a black agency, where only black men are allowed to register. Currently, BlackPack has a list of twelve employees, they are from Surinam, Ghana, the Moluccas and the Antilles. His main customers are white women who hire the men to strip, dj, dance or to play djembe, but also to assist in shopping, playing chauffeur or for exotic cooking. "But I do not run escort bureau, although the strippers are popular," says Oudhoff.
The company got a lot of criticism in the Netherlands, it would only exploit stereotypes about blacks. According to the Dutch Anti-discrimination agency the initiative causes "a strange feeling and colonial thoughts. How can color be relevant with cooking or driving a car?" The company would even violate the law, because it employs people purely on the basis of color, white men don’t have no chance. Oudhoff compares Black Pack with the ‘Miss Black’ contests for black women, he sees it as entertainment. "My staff is not at all stereotype. They are always on time,” he ends smiling. (Translated story.)
The issue of stereotyping seems to be a Dutch black problem at the moment. First there was the novel ‘Alleen maar nette mensen’ (Just fine people) where black woman are being stereotyped as easy and white men lovers. And now there is an agency which rents black men to white women. The novel was written by white author with a black girlfriend and the agency is run by a black man.
So what’s the problem with the black community in Holland. Compared with other European countries there are no books written anymore about racism, black identity or anything else that has to do with blackness.
The reason. The black Dutch community - from former Dutch colony of Surinam and Dutch Antilles - is widely regarded as the most integrated community, compared with other large ethnic (Muslin) communities.
The grim reality is that ‘we’ are not as integrated as we are made to believe. Recently black Dutch author Clark Accord made a statement in the media, about the total lack of black representation in de media and lack of attention for ‘black problems’. He feels black people issues are overrun by problems of Muslim communities.
But I am afraid Accord is too late. Because this is what you eventually get when you have stopped investing in community visibility and black awareness. You will end up to be a powerless black community where every form a racism is regarded as a misunderstanding, a joke or as gay and muslim problem. But what you do get is a world’s premier. A rent-a-negro agency. Black owned.
On Wednesday May 13th theatre maker Anousha Nzume, writer Clark Accord en Professor Gender studies Gloria Wekker debated with author about his book at Woman inc.
In the book ‘Alleen maar nette mensen’ (Just fine people) main character David, who comes from a intellectual high class environment in Amsterdam, undertakes a quest to find the ‘real negro’ woman. In his search he meets various stereotype black women, who are each sexy, lusty, and can be picked up for a few euro's. David’s hunting ground is the Amsterdam Bijlmer, the part of Amsterdam where most black people live. In a column Anousha Nzume wrote about some of the stereotype passages in the novel. "Main character David believes that there are two types of 'Black' women. The Sherida chain (Sherida was a popular Surinam name); very dark skinned, wears at least size 46. Cup size 95 F. Not taller then 1.65. At least one of her garments has tiger print. She dates any man. Breezer desirable but not essential. Available in the “negro women disco". Then there is the “bounty” (black from the outside, white from the inside), highly educated with dreadlocks. Dates only white men, in the absence of negroes of a certain level. She is boring, unsociable and mainly dressed in batik. You can find her at a slavery debate."
Under a literary flag Vuijsje sketches -intended or unintended - an archetypal image of (black) women, which some consider stereotype, stigma, caricature and even discriminatory. This book was previously awarded with the Belgian literature prize The Golden Owl with the comments of the jury; the style swings as an African tit. The book is not only praised by the literary authorities, but in many Talkshow praised for its "humorous" and "sharp" analysis of the black woman.
The opinions about the book are mixed. The black local city chairman of the Bijlmer, Elvira Sweet, finds the book a stigma for the neighborhood, and for black woman. Cultural anthropologist Irma Accord finds it racist and sexist. But Mildred Roethof documentary maker of Sex Sell’s finds the book funny. Lynn Spier, social therapist in a clinic for criminal offenders and the black girl friend of the author, doesn’t recognise herself in one of the characters.
But has the author of the controversial novel really stereotyped black women? Good literature is about calling up images without explicitly writing about it. I remember an author’s advice for author wanna-bees; if you bring in a black woman in your story, it will add something exotic and sensual! So Dutch author Vuistjes just followed boot camp guidelines for starters and used stereotypes that already exits in literature, or even worse, in society.
But there's one thing that bordered me. The image of the author's black girlfriend sitting next to him at the presentation of his book. It was the image of: look I am not racist nor a bigot, because I have black girlfriend. And that of course, doesn’t have to be true.
Update: I changed the English translation of the book into 'Only decent people', that's correct translation of the book 'Alleen maar nette mensen'. After seeing the video of the author on Black women in Europe I understood what he really meant. According to the author, this is said by people in the upper class neighbourhood Amsterdam Zuid. They mean that only decent people live there, and not so called "allochtonen" (blacks and other non-western ethnic minorities.
Yazid Sabeg Commissioner of diversity and equal opportunity presented his plans to restore diversity and reintegration into the French society.
On May 7th Yazid Sabeg, selfmade millionaire and son of Algerian immigrants, handed over his program of action and recommendations for diversity and equal opportunities to French President Zarkosy. Commissioner of Diversity and Equal Opportunities, Yazid Sabeg, has presented his work with a month's delay. The 115 page report is divided into 76 action plans designed to promote, advise and regulate the diversity, by establishing what he calls a "new deal", addressing the foundations of the economy, the education, housing and politics. The first part of the report is devoted to the revaluation of the youth. "France is not investing enough in his youth, which combines the disadvantages in terms of training, income and access to positions of responsibility" Referring " Intergenerational divorce ", the report shows that the poverty rate is five times more than thirty years ago. Because nearly 20% of the youth does not graduate, and France by 2015 will desperately need engineers, technicians, and scientists, the report considers a national pact for the access to training.
The second part, which is the source of the controversy surrounding ethnic statistics, is dedicated to promoting diversity and the fight against discrimination. Nicolas Sarkozy, in his speech on 17 December 2008 in Palaiseau, had hoped that France "is developing statistical tools to measure its diversity." Faced with the outcry of the proposal, the consensus seems reached, the report states that the objective is to complete the instruments and data already available to "characterize the discriminatory situations. It will eventually be collected by questionnaires and anonymous census surveys. An observatory of discrimination shall use the information for analyses.
This diversity, according to the report, will be promoted to all avenues of society. Also in the political institutions. The anonymous generalized CV will be used within political parties. The reports states that "The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the States United showed the delay of the representativeness of the French political class. Of the 577 members, only 3 are immigrants from outside Europe, in the Senate they are only 4 on 343. It is also calls for the media to renegotiate their agreements for the hiring of people of diversity.
Finally, the third point of the flagship report entitled "A New Deal for the policy of the City" offers a series of measures to reinstate the "neighborhoods" in the city. This achievement is considered in line with plans for urban renewal, the de-isolation of certain areas, the access to schools to all, regardless of place of residence.
This highly anticipated "Action Program and recommendations of Yazid Sabeg received a mixed reception among unions and associations. The CRAN (Representative Council of Black Associations in France) welcomed the measures that will "finally make visible minorities full citizens," they see it as "a great day for the republican equality". Less lyrical are the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC), they are "vigilant" about the tools of measurement set out by the Commissioner. Dominique Sopo from SOS Racisme is concerned about "the absence of strong proposals" and denounced the policy of "rule out the development of a policy against discrimination in favour of a policy to promote diversity.
From the US political blog Booker Rising. A translation of Rama Yade's comments about the overrepresentation of black players in the national French football team. 
Black nobility in Europe? According to black Dutch researcher Egmond Codfried and author of the book "Belle van Zuylen's forgotten grandmother" there was black nobility in Europe, but there history and images were later carefully tucked away. His claims are controversial, and of course not accepted by European historians and the man in the street.
