“Greetings Family: I am contacting you in hopes of starting a movement.”
Nzingah Oniwosan was born in South Florida to Haitian parents. She is a dedicated pan-Afrikanist, gifted artist, as well as a talented painter, poet and activist.The past week has been immensely challenging for both her and her family as they have personally lost numerous relatives as a result of the earthquake. Nzingah has now put out an URGENT CALL with the goal of creating a grassroots movement to get much needed aid and assistance directly to our people. She has secured a plane, a pilot, doctors and supplies as well as clearance to land in Haiti. The relief effort will be focused in the most hard hit areas such as: Leogane and Petit-Goave (Tigwav). HOW CAN YOU HELP THIS GRASSROOTS EFFORT? What is needed at this time is your financial support to help pay for the pilot and landing costs. The first plane left Friday morning (1/29/10)! The goal again is to send planes loaded with supplies and skilled personnel to Haiti weekly or bi-weekly. If you would like to donate money or supplies or believe you have skills that can help on the ground please Contact Nzingah Oniwosan directly at: sankofaschild@gmail.com or make your tax deductibleDONATIONS online at changeiscomingcampaign.com and make sure to mention Sankofa’s Child
UPDATE -1/31/10
After some struggle we were finally able to get people in Haiti. Our group spent one night in Cap Haitian and are now Port au Prince. More updates are to come and stories about the experience.
We would like to thank everyone who allowed this trip to occur through their contributions.This is only the beginning of the work we have to do as a united force. Continue reading…
Haiti: Rising from the Ashes documents the coalition efforts of a Haitian and Black group from America team sponsored by the Prisoners Of Conscience Committee and HERF. The team is comprised of medical personnel, journalists, and filmmakers providing aid despite the blocking efforts of the United States, French, Canadian, and Brazilian military. Duration: 13min extended preview. Feature Film due to be released June 2010.
Earthquake in Haiti - Bayyinah Bello Interview - Part 1 - Tremblement de Terre
From: africanbushdoctor | February 10, 2010 |
An excerpt from an interview with Bayyinah Bello - Port au Prince, Haiti Interviewed by Nana Kimati Dinizulu in Port au Prince, Haiti February 2, 2010
One January 12th 2010, a catastrophic earthquake occurred in Haiti ( Ayiti). The Dinizulu Center for African Culture and Research at Aims of Modzawe Inc., which has strong ties with Haiti and some of its people, decided to explore ways in which they would be able to help with the relief efforts on the ground in Haiti. Subsequently and consequently we departed for Haiti from various locations on January 27 and 28 of 2010. Our Ren dez vous started in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic on January 28th where we traveled by land across the border to Port au Price, Haiti. Our exit was on February 4th 2010, we returned back to Santo Domingo for our return flights. Many of the reports by western media that we were receiving outside of Haiti seemed to be in direct contradiction to reports we were hearing from family, friends and associates we had on the ground. The infrastructure and communications in Haiti were severely damaged. Our communication with people on the ground was sparse and at times nonexistent. During this time period The Dinizulu Center decided to send a small relief team to assist and conduct research. We immediately began to pull together limited resources to facilitate this effort. Continue reading…
The Zulu proverb Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu expresses a profound truth embedded deep within the core of traditional Afrikan values. It translates into English as “a person is a person because of people.” Other translations state “a person is a person through other persons.” In either case, this compelling truth about what it means to be a “human” in the Afrikan context reveals the wisdom of our ancestors and the tremendous beauty of our way. According to Afrikan ancestral teachings, personhood is understood as a process and the product of interconnectedness experienced and or achieved in the context of the community. This Zulu proverb, with its numerous variants in other branches of the Nguni language family, is a pan-Afrikan truth known and lived wherever our cultural reality, though challenged, remains intact or in the process of being resurrected. Be it in the diaspora or on the continent the corollary examples of Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu richly abound. In a word it is the spirit of Ubuntu. Ubuntu: the spirit of reciprocal living that luminously envelops a community in healing energy radiating from the hearts of interdependent human spirits sharing, loving and observing Maat in the presence of ancestral spirits until they themselves join their ranks. It is this beautiful continuum of relationships, an unbroken circle of ancestral connections, a cultural ideal imbued with divine purpose and sacred meaning to which this proverb speaks. This is our truth. And while it is there for some to study, it is here for us to live, experience and pass on to the beautyful ones yet unborn! Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu - Kwadwo Gyasi Nkita-Mayala ORDER YOUR UMUNTU NGUMUNTU NGABANTU T-SHIRTS & MORE TODAY @ AFRIKAN LIBERATION APPAREL Continue reading…
Thank you for considering Afrikan Liberation Apparel. We are working to become your online source for quality Afrikan-centered revolutionary apparel. Your business and your support means a lot to us. Currently we are offering a 15% OFF SALE at Afrikan Liberation Apparel & Adinkra Styles online stores. This sale ends on March 12th (3/12/10) so make sure you take advantage of it while you can! If you haven’t visited our store recently you will be pleasantly surprised to see tons of new products for you to choose from and numerous impressive collections featuring t-shirts & more for men, women and children. We hope you enjoy the selection and we look forward to continuing to offer you great products, prices and service.
TRADE-UGANDA: ‘‘Green’’ Burial Cloth Gets New Lease on Life
By Wambi Michael
Vincent Musubire (wearing hat) and local young designers show some of their bark cloth products. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS
KAMPALA, Feb 6, 2009 (IPS) - Bark cloth, a fabric historically used by the Buganda in central Uganda to wrap their dead before burial, is making a comeback in the form of trendy crafts, clothing and household goods.
The cloth, made from ficus natalensis trees and known locally as olubugo, was supplanted with the introduction of cotton by Arab caravan traders in the 19th century. Now bark cloth crafts such as table mats, bedcovers, jackets, purses and wide-brimmed hats are finding their way to the international market.
Bark cloth - also called back cloth - is exported to Germany, Japan, Australia, the U.S. and Canada where significant populations of Ugandans live in the Diaspora. There is also huge demand from neighbouring Kenya. Kenyan traders blend the cloth and export the products to Europe and the U.S..
Vincent Musubire, chairperson of Mwangwe Rural Development Association, told IPS that, ‘‘when we look at it critically, bark cloth has a big future but not in the traditional sense of burying people. It has value and can generate income, which is where I am putting the emphasis.’’
The Mwangwe Rural Development Association works to raise consciousness among artisans about value addition to improve the quality of bark cloth products.
He said the prospects for the bark cloth market were promising, especially internationally. ‘‘Tourists who come here always admire and purchase crafts made from bark cloth. So we want to ensure that the crafts from bark cloth produced by women and men meet the quality requirements of the local and international craft market.’’
‘‘That is why we are not leaving it to the local community to produce. I’m linking up with skilled young graduates of industrial art and design to work with local craftspeople to produce quality products,’’ Musubire added. Continue reading…
Barkcloth making is an ancient craft of the Baganda people who live in the Buganda kingdom in southern Uganda. Traditionally, craftsmen of the Ngonge clan, headed by a kaboggoza, the hereditary chief craftsman have been manufacturing bark cloth for the Baganda royal family and the rest of the community. Its preparation involves one of humankinds oldest savoir-faire, a prehistoric technique that predates the invention of weaving.
The inner bark of the Mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis) is harvested during the wet season and then, in a long and strenuous process, beaten with different types of wooden mallets to give it a soft and fine texture and an even terracotta colour. Craftsmen work in an open shed to protect the bark from drying out too quickly. Barkcloth is worn like a toga by both sexes, but women place a sash around the waist. While common barkcloth is terracotta in colour, barkcloth of kings and chiefs is dyed white or black and worn in a different style to underline their status. The cloth is mainly worn at coronation and healing ceremonies, funerals and cultural gatherings but is also used for curtains, mosquito screens, bedding and storage. Continue reading…
To put the history of Haiti in context, we turn to the 1992 documentary Haiti: Killing the Dream produced by Hart and Dana Perry of Crowing Rooster Productions and narrated by Ossie Davis. In this excerpt, the film looks at the nearly twenty-year occupation of Haiti by US Marines beginning in 1915. [includes rush transcript]
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go now to an excerpt of a documentary that, actually, my colleague here at Democracy Now!, co-host Juan Gonzalez, wrote the screenplay, if you will, or rather the script for, because it is not—it is a documentary. To put history of Haiti in context, we’re going to go to Haiti: Killing the Dream, that was produced by Hart and Dana Perry of Crowing Rooster Productions. This is just an excerpt. I think it demonstrates what you are laying out. Thank you so much, Danny Glover.
OSSIE DAVIS: Haiti is located on the western part of the island, Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. The French turned it into their most profitable slave colony. But in 1791, the slaves revolted. By 1804, the slave armies defeated Napoleon’s legions, making Haiti the first independent black republic in the world. Fearing the example would spread, the United States refused to recognize Haiti, beginning an uneasy relationship between a country founded by slaves and one founded by slave owners. At the turn of the century, America’s view of Haiti was summed up by Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, who said, “Dear me, think of it? Niggers speaking French.”
RAMSEY CLARK: You know, more than two years before we entered World War I, we decided we had to control Haiti. Continue reading…
They were stolen from their homes, locked in chains and taken across an ocean. And for more than 200 years, their blood and sweat would help to build the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever known.
But when slavery ended, their welcome was over. America’s wealthy elite had decided it was time for them to disappear and they were not particular about how it might be done.
What you are about to see is that the plan these people set in motion 150 years ago is still being carried out today. So don’t think that this is history. It is not. It is happening right here, and it’s happening right now.
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian police have arrested 10 U.S. citizens caught trying to take 33 children out of the earthquake-stricken country in a suspected illicit adoption scheme, authorities said on Saturday.
The five men and five women were in custody in the capital, Port-au-Prince after their arrests on Friday night. There are fears that traffickers could try to exploit the chaos and turmoil following Haiti’s January 12 earthquake quake to engage in illegal adoptions.
One of the suspects, who says she is leader of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children’s Refuge, denied they had done anything wrong.
The suspects were detained at Malpasse, Haiti’s main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police conducted a routine search of their vehicle.
Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children — aged 2 months to 12 years — through any embassy and no papers showing they were made orphans by the quake in the impoverished Caribbean country.
“This is totally illegal,” said Yves Cristalin, Haiti’s social affairs minister. “No children can leave Haiti without proper authorization and these people did not have that authorization.”
U.S. authorities could not be reached for immediate comment on the arrests. Continue reading…
They were stolen from their homes, locked in chains and taken across an ocean. And for more than 200 years, their blood and sweat would help to build the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever known.
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