Posts tagged abenghorn

dominickbrady: There is a certain, but small, nationalistic part of me that has been sickened over the past 5 years or so of Chinese investment in Africa.  Africa is still working out issues brought on by it’s colonial past- nearly the entire continent is embroiled in uncertainty. It seems like the continent would be better served given space to find itself.  Trading one patriarchal benefactor for another will place a band-aid over the sopping, festering wounds that Europe left.   Give them time.  Without local control of resources, do people think that stability will EVER be possible in the third world? Feel you on this man.  I don’t trust China over there one bit.  In some cases they’ll move an operation in and won’t hire any local people.  So you’ll have a chinese factory filled with chinese workers making money off African land.  How does this help the indigenous people?  There’s a word for that and it’s not investment

dominickbrady:

There is a certain, but small, nationalistic part of me that has been sickened over the past 5 years or so of Chinese investment in Africa.  Africa is still working out issues brought on by it’s colonial past- nearly the entire continent is embroiled in uncertainty.

It seems like the continent would be better served given space to find itself.  Trading one patriarchal benefactor for another will place a band-aid over the sopping, festering wounds that Europe left.   Give them time.  Without local control of resources, do people think that stability will EVER be possible in the third world?

Feel you on this man.  I don’t trust China over there one bit.  In some cases they’ll move an operation in and won’t hire any local people.  So you’ll have a chinese factory filled with chinese workers making money off African land.  How does this help the indigenous people?  There’s a word for that and it’s not investment

dominickbrady:

A group that does work with school systems but is diverse and believes in diversity as well as in celebrating ethnic cultures and their history is Projectsouth.  Project South is based right here in Atlanta and they work more from the scope of social awareness and as advocates for disenfranchised groups like those with disabilities, illness, victims of gender/race/sexuality based marginalization, etc:

Founded in 1986, Project South acts as a regional hub for leadership development, movement-building, and long-term strategy development within community-based organizing for racial and economic justice. By creating collective spaces for communities and organizations to develop bottom-up grassroots organizing models, Project South shifts Southern-based organizing from reactive battles to visionary and strategic movement building on local, regional, and national levels.
Project South works directly with young people, intergenerational collaborations, Southern-based organizations, communities affected by social control and violence, cross-regional alliances, and our Atlanta and Southeastmembership base. Our three primary strategies to increase the viability of community-based efforts to shift resources and power

nakaonwood

dominickbrady:

There are MANY of these here in Atlanta.  They do a good job with teaching kids material that is waaaaaay ahead of the curriculum in the Public school system here in the city, BUT…the few I’ve been to are racially and gender/sexuality biased as hell.  They might have a few whites and latinos in them, but some of what they teach goes a bit too far for ME.

I have a problem with that.  I went to a Private school in Brookyln that was West-Indian centric.  We learned a lot about Island and African culture and THEY were a bit out there for me, too.

A happy medium is best.  There are schools here that give that like the Nsoromma school

Some of the others? I don’t know. I asked one of their administrators if there was such a thing as a good white person and he laughed at me.  I walked away.

nakaonwood:

Independent African Centered Education.

Great idea, long time coming but how feasible is it?

I know of a couple of places around Atlanta that seem to have that vibe, The Shrine of the Black Madonna in the West End, a lil elementary school (@ least I think it is) off Campbelton but can this really spread on a larger scale?  Maybe it’s not meant to. Maybe not yet.

Maybe we’ll just keep having these little enclaves of schools that cater specifically to our culture in tiny niches until one day people see learning our true great history as not only legitimate but as a vital pursuit.

Man I feel you on that biased tip.  I’m starting to work with a few groups around the City that want me to film promo’s for their org’s and they’re pretty much on the same empowerment tip.  They have a great message to share with the people but they seem to feel white people can’t be trusted and that is a big problem with me.  Where is the balance?  I understand many powerful white people in the past have caused a lot of horrible problems for millions of people (and many people of all races are still doing it).  But singling out the whole race is just repeating the other side of the problems that got us here.  Sigh. What is it about cats that preach knowledge of black history and hating white people…must these two things really go hand in hand?

Thanks for droppin some knowledge, man.  Every effort is a step in the right direction in my book.  Even if there are flaws.

nakaonwood