Reflecting On 2007 For Kilombo Magazine

Kilombo Article
by Kwaku

I’m the founder of BritishBlackmusic.com and Black Music Congress, which are focused on developing the British black music sector through debates, networking, and music industry education.

Perhaps more relevant for readers of this magazine is BTWSC, a pan-London voluntary organisation I run with its Ghanaian-born barrister and co-ordinator Ms Serwah. BTWSC uses the creative arts to develop potential, raise aspirations, and promote social inclusion. I also teach, write, facilitate courses and community events.

I would like to use this article to give some background about myself, reflect on 2007, and round up with what’s in store for 2008.

Although I’m British-born, I’m very proud of my Ghanaian and African heritage. I use one name – Kwaku, because it’s the only name I have that tells people that I’m African. It was a conscious decision I made in the late 1980s, when I started in the journalism game.

Now, I enjoy using just one name, because I also love telling people who ask for a surname that I only use one name.

Why should I bother with a surname? Of course I do have one. But it’s European – something to do with colonialization, and besides it carries no weight in England, although in Ghana, it has the advantage of being a fairly well-known name.

A year ago most of us were marking – I will not use the word ‘commemorating’ – the Abolition Of The Slave Trade Act of 1807 and Ghana’s 50th anniversary of ‘independence’.

I will start by concentrating on the 1807 Act. We organised and spoke on a few Abolition-themed events last year. BTWSC is part of Truth2007, a grassroots organisation set up to put forward the African/African-Caribbean perspective in contrast to the British Government-backed Abolition activities. The latter was referred to by some of us as Wilberfest, on account of the overwhelming focus wrongly put on the British MP William Wilberforce as an Abolitionist and the man who freed enslaved Africans.

By the way, as a way of marking the legacy of those enslaved Africans, I’ve vowed that as of 2008, the descriptor to use for people of African descent, irrespective of where their antecedence is located, should be African, instead of black.

One of the founding members of Truth2007 is Ligali, the London-based African rights and media monitoring group. It was Ligali founder Toyin Agbetu who interrupted the Abolition memorial service at Westminster Cathedral, and requested the Queen, the Prime Minister, and the Arch-bishop, apologise for the role of the monarchy, Government and church in the trans-Atlantic ‘trade’ of enslaved Africans.

Agbetu was writing about how we were in line for a commemoration of the Abolition that would white-wash the facts long before 2007. He also tried unsuccessfully to engage the authorities in order to have the roles of Africans properly reflected in the Abolition story.

Indeed, my interest in the whole Abolition issue stemmed from reading an article Toyin had published in one of Britain’s African newspapers.

I then published articles in the African press in 2006, which basically stated that as we get ready to mark the bicentennial of the Abolition Of The Slave Trade Act and the twentieth anniversary of Black History Month in Britain, we must take from it two things.

Firstly, everyone of African descent would do more to honour the memory of the enslaved Africans if they referred to themselves as Africans or African-British. I pointed out the Asians born in Britain or from east Africa, refer to themselves simply as Asian.

Secondly, I pointed out the Black History Month concept was introduced to Britain in 1987 during the African Jubilee Year, as a way of highlighting Africa’s contribution to the world’s civilisation and uplifting people of African descent. So I called for Black History Month to be African and history focused, as opposed to a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural celebration, which provided little or no African history content.

Back to the Abolition – Ms Serwah and I spent much of 2007 correcting individuals, newspapers and websites that the 1807 Act did NOT seek to abolish enslavement. We also conducted lectures on enslavement and the Abolition for university students and local authority staff.

It seemed hardly anyone had read the 1807 Act. Had Africans read it, they might not have celebrated it – the worse ones being a dinner & dance and a football tournament, to commemorate an Act that enshrined discrimination against Africans by stating that Africans who served in the King’s army were not entitled to pension!

BTWSC organised talks programmes, ‘Abolition Truths’ and ‘Putting Abolition & Slavery Into Perspective’, and edu-tainment music programmes, ‘Then To Now’ and ‘From The Talking Drums To Rap And Grime’, aimed at raising awareness that the 1807 Act did not abolish the enslavement of Africans, and it was efforts by African abolitionists in Britain like Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Cugoano, and leaders across the colonies such as Toussaint L’Ouverture of Haiti, Nana (Nanny) and Sam Sharpe of Jamaica, and Bussa of Barbados to name a few, that brought about the 1807 Act and the 1833 Abolition Of Slavery Act.

Indeed, because of the misunderstanding and mis-information, BTWSC will be publishing an Abolition primer this year for young and old alike, to find about the basic facts.

Regarding Ghana’s golden jubilee, someone said the fact that the country had survived that long without any major skirmishes was reason enough to celebrate. It did not seem reason enough, until one saw what has been happening in Kenya. One hopes that the maturity that has followed recent elections in Ghana continue after this December elections.

That said, I find very little to celebrate. I’ve already highlighted many of the issues in my Travelogue feature in the January 2008 edition of New African. All I’ll add here is that it worries me when our leaders think the way to develop is either to sell our assets to foreigners or continually ask for foreign aid. Also, not having a handle on the way Accra, for example, has expanded without adequate infrastructure, which results in regular interruption of water and electricity supplies is unacceptable for a nation that aims to be the hub of the sub-region.

I marked the jubilee with a small Ghana @ 50? display of Ghanaian goods during the BTWSC Abolition events, and An Evening With Mr K B Asante, where the esteemed former Ghanaian diplomat read from his ‘Voice From Afar’ book, and fielded questions ranging from his time working with Ghana’s first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to the vision for Ghana.

We launched the BTWSC Professor Allotey Science Prize in London in October. The Prize, which is named after the renowned eponymous Ghanaian mathematician and physicist, aims to popularise the sciences among young Africans in Britain and Ghana. The Prize, which has a laptop computer as the top prize, will also be presented to the best student at Professor Allotey’s wife Ase Allotey’s alma mater Aburi Secondary School in April 2008.

I started 2008 as one of the panellists on the Ghana We Can Do Better Conference, which highlighted some of the work done by Ghanaians in London, and sought ways in which we can positively impact upon Ghana.

One of the suggestions I put forward was that if we who are overseas have ideas that we believe will benefit Ghana, we have to be mindful not to drive it through in a patronising manner, and that it would be an advantage to work through local personalities or agencies to champion the idea.

Open Letter by The Equiano Society's Arthur Torrington To Anti-Slavery International

AN OPEN LETTER TO: ANTI-SLAVERY INTERNATIONAL
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TO
The Trustees & Directors
Anti-Slavery International
Thomas Clarkson House
The Stableyard
Broomgrove Road
LONDON, SW9 9TL 10 JUNE 2007

Dear Sir/Madam

I write about my concern that Anti-Slavery International’s (ASI) promotional material is causing misunderstanding among many people of the main issues and legacies of transatlantic enslavement. For example, one of your Fact Sheet ‘Slavery Past and Present’ has a picture showing white sailors taking black Africans below the deck of a slave ship. References to the enslavement of Africans, and British involvement are closely associated with your publicity. There is even a tendency for some White commentators to say or imply that we should not be bothering too much about the stories of the past that give details of African enslavement, but that we should be working to abolish modern slavery. I often hear this as organisations and individuals commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Abolition Act.

This is serious matter because very many African and African Caribbean youth today do not know the history and legacies of the enslavement of their ancestors. For decades the British education system has excluded such studies from the national curriculum. This year, the Government has taken action to address the issue.

I know that some Black organisations and individuals are not happy with some of Anti-Slavery International’s promotional and fundraising material, but are reluctant to write to you, because of the respect that others have for the good work that you do. But, this is done at the expenses of portraying negative images of Black people, and giving the wrong impression to British society. Your material closely associates African enslavement and modern slavery. Whereas, legacies like the consequences of colonialism, poverty in the Caribbean and Africa after 1838, racism, exclusion, racial discrimination, etc do not receive as many column inches in your publicity. You have ensured that your publicity material features more prominently throughout the bicentenary of the 1807 Abolition Act.

Slavery existed worldwide before Africans were enslaved and taken to the Caribbean and the Americas. That institution was maintained in different forms in many pre-15th century civilisations and cultures. In fact, it goes back thousands of years. But, we should not equate transatlantic enslavement conducted mainly by some Europeans with what is happening today. Your promotional and fundraising material tends to give the impression that modern slavery/trafficking has its history in transatlantic enslavement, whereas this is not really so, and may be misleading. It is evident that capitalism and human greed drive the actions of men and women who conduct slavery and trafficking today. Modern slavery, trafficking, etc are also present within Eastern European, Asian, Chinese and other nations, so why do African people almost always feature in your promotional material? Is it that the images of suffering black African people raise more money for your organisation?

I am asking Anti-Slavery International to reconsider how its promotional material is presented.

Yours faithfully

Arthur Torrington