Marcus Garvey Centennial Exhibit Scheduled For African-American Research Library

                                                                                                        Marcus Garvey’s UNIA-ACL: The Centennial Exhibit, a month-long, mixed-media exhibition, will be on view to the public during August 2014 in the gallery of the African American Research Library & Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale. The Centennial Exhibit is scheduled to run from Friday, August 1, 2014, through to Friday, August 29,2014, and will focus on the life, times and modern day legacy of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA-ACL.

The unique exhibition is being mounted by the Rootz Foundation Inc. in association with the Broward County Library and Broward County Commissioner Dale V.C. Holness, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Marcus Garvey’s international organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association & African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). The Centennial Exhibit will be open to the public during normal library hours.

Dr. Julius Garvey M.D., son of Marcus Garvey, will be the special guest of honor for the Centennial Exhibit’s opening reception, which takes place from 4.00 pm to 6.00 pm on Friday, August 1, 2014 at the Research Library & Cultural Center located at 2650 NW 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale.

Broward County District 9 Commissioner Dale Holness is scheduled to read a proclamation by the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County declaring August 2014 as “The Right Excellent Marcus Garvey Jr. Appreciation Month” in Broward County, Florida. The proclamation is signed by Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief.

The Centennial Exhibit consists of a large collection of public and private Garvey family photographs; vintage photographs of the UNIA membership on the march and attending organization events; posters and handbills promoting the 1920s Black Star Line shipping endeavor; a variety of press clippings, books and magazines related to the Garvey movement; inspiring quotes by Garvey himself and insightful quotes about Garvey by other famous notables; historical data and timelines; plus looped audio-visual displays.

The informative special exhibit is geared specifically for students and others who are interested in learning more about the life and achievements of the Jamaican and Pan-American hero, the global impact of his organization, and about ongoing efforts by many different organizations and individuals to continue his legacy. One of the most unique aspects of this exhibition is the photographic and other materials detailing the existence of the UNIA-ACL today in 21st century America and showcasing the organization’s present day membership and its current activities internationally.

The opening reception will mark both Emancipation Day 2014 - a day of special significance for many Caribbean and African countries - as well as the start of this year’s extended Marcus Garvey Rootz Extravaganza. The Rootz Extravaganza is staged annually by the Rootz Foundation Inc. to observe and celebrate the birth of Marcus Garvey, the Jamaica-born Pan-African patriarch and hero.

Educational psychologist and Garvey scholar, Dr. Umar Johnson will be the guest speaker at this year’s Rootz Extravaganza on Sunday, August 17 at the Lauderdale Lakes Educational & Cultural Center at 3580 W. Oakland Park Boulevard. The event is scheduled from 4.00 pm to 7.00 pm and will commemorate the 127th anniversary of Marcus Garvey’s birth as well as the 100th anniversary of the UNIA-ACL.

Marcus Garvey and Amy Ashwood Garvey established the UNIA-ACL in Kingston, Jamaica in July 1914. After Garvey relocated the organization’s headquarters to Harlem, New York in 1917, the UNIA-ACL became the largest organization of Black people in the world. At its height, with UNIA branches proliferating throughout the Caribbean, North, South and Central America, and Africa, membership in the organization soared to over 6-million people.

Dr. Julius Garvey M.D.

Friday, August 1, 2014 

4:00--6:00 p.m.

Research Library & Cultural Center

2650 NW 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale.

For more information call Rootz Foundation at 754-264-2205.

The Path to Akan: An Interview with Barrington M. Salmon (Nana Yao Ansa Dankwaa)

Tell me about your religious history.
.
Mine has been an interesting journey. I was born and raised a Catholic, did all the stuff associated with that: church every Sunday, first communion, confession, confirmation etc, etc. I attended and graduated from Catholic elementary and primary schools in London and Kingston. I think the thing that first made me begin to question was what I experienced while at St. Francis de Sales Elementary School in North London.  My siblings and I were only a handful of blacks at the school and we got little to no protection from the nuns, priests and teachers at the school against the very blatant acts of racism we experienced there. We were called monkeys, gollywogs--people asked to see our tails and stuff like that.

Then, at St. Richard’s Primary in Kingston, the nuns, almost all who were light-skinned were so classist and immersed into colorism that they routinely granted all types of favors to the light-skinned children, but also to those who parents were wealthy and donated liberally to the church. While serving as an altar boy, I saw a lot of the rituals up close.

I think the last thing that shook my faith was going to church every Sunday at Our Lady of the Angels and seeing one woman in particular, who had like eight to 10 children, all stair step – a year or two apart –she was not wealthy. She had that many children, I thought, because the Church prohibited contraception. It just made no sense to me for anyone to have that many children and the church didn’t really extend its hand to help.

I also thought the church’s stand on sex, intimacy and marriage was quaint. So from the time I was 15 or so, I went on a journey, making stops at churches, synagogues, mosques, revival tents, converted halls, anywhere I could search for a connection: Seventh Day, Jehovah’s Witness, Methodist, Episcopal, Pocomania, Rastafari, and Mormons. I talked to everybody, all the time, in search of that je ne sais quoi.

I “gave” my life to Christ several times, including when the Billy Graham Crusade came to Jamaica. But that lasted a hot minute or only as long as a pretty woman walked by. And after brief moments of euphoria, I still felt a void that nothing filled. 

As a teenager, I rebelled against the idea of a white Jesus and a white God, and I resolved to find a spiritual path that embraced my Africanity and my humanity as a black man. I was drawn to Rastafari as a teenager, started loxing my hair, but my mother put a stop to that. But I have always carried Rasta tenets and beliefs while on this amazing spiritual path.

In 1996, my marriage was in trouble and a friend suggested that we go to a marriage counselor, who happened to be an Akan priest and Reiki master. My ex and I started counseling and at some point I was invited to attend an Akom, a worship service. I liked what I saw, began to feel very comfortable and never left.

In subsequent research, I discovered that my maternal grandmother was a Maroon who traced her ancestry to Ghana. So it was like my journey dovetailed culturally, genealogically and spiritually. 

I began as a general member, trained and served as an Okyeame, a linguist and interpreter for my spiritual godmother who was also a Queen Mother. At some point, during a reading, I was told that I needed to go into priest training. I resisted for several years because I had never thought of myself as possessing anything remotely priestly, but in conversations and readings, I learned of the many reasons people were drawn to the priesthood: to save their lives, heal, help their family, serve the community spiritually and so on.

What sparked your desire for change? 

My life was going along in what I called “splendid chaos.” It was unraveling personally and professionally. I enjoyed some aspects of my life, but sought to find spiritual peace. I was dissatisfied with a consumer- and celebrity-driven society. I have never bought into the materialism that is consuming this country and I always thought there should be more. I wanted more, wished to have a closer relationship with the Creator and I looked high and low, had conversations with friends and strangers, ministers and laypeople trying to understand more. The questions always lingered: Who am I? Why am I here? How can I make a difference? Luckily, the Creator guided my footsteps and led me in the right direction.

I was ordained into the priesthood in 2006 which actually marked the end of the beginning. I went on hiatus and on March 20, 2014, I traveled to Ghana to finish the second and most crucial part of my training. I had a teacher, plus my spiritual godparents, who have taught me, instructed and guided me. He was open, answered every question and showed me how to be the type of priest I’ve wanted to be. My teachers say that in order to lead you have to serve and I am ready to serve.

What is the name of your spiritual path? 

I am Akan. It is an ancient religion that predates Christianity by more than a thousand years or more, I'm told. It is practiced in Ghana, Benin, the Ivory Coast, Congo and other parts of Central and West Africa. We believe that there is one God and a multitude of Angels who are manifestations of the Creator. 

We believe that everyone who comes to earth makes a pact with the Creator (Nyame, Almighty God) to fulfill his/her spiritual destiny while we're here. It doesn't have to be as a priest, but we are called upon to help our families, improve the community, be of service to those around us, and make positive contributions to our growth and development spiritually, economically and in other ways.

We believe in God, acknowledge Jesus and other prophets and respect all spiritual paths. We don't proselytize or force anyone to convert because we feel that if a person is led to what we believe, God, the Angels and our Ancestors will show them the way. 

Our Ancestors are very important to us and we believe that they play an active role in our lives and in guiding us and helping us navigate this world. We honor and venerate them, but do not worship them. They are a part of our foundation and their sacrifices have helped us as we move forward. As ones who have been here, and lived their lives, they can help us avoid the pitfalls and problems they encountered. They are also the custodians of the culture and traditions and the keepers of order in our lives.

How does Akan differ from Christianity?

In Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God and the belief is that Christians can only go to Heaven through Jesus. There are varying views from others who share my beliefs, but I see Jesus as a prophet.

Christians believe in heaven and hell. We believe that honorable people who have contributed to the community and live good lives go to Heaven (Asamando). Catholics have saints which enslaved Africans correlated with their deities (angels). 

Christians believe in conversion. We do not.

Akan Priests are the vessels and instruments of the Spirit and we are trained to possess and hold the Spirit, use that power to heal, divine and help those in need. 

Akan is African-based, Christianity mostly Eurocentric.

How has your worldview changed?

I think I’m more optimistic, desirous of peace and amiable relations with friend and foe. I am fully aware that there is a Higher Power and that we are not in control the way we’d like to think. I continue to work to be honorable, decent, a good father, companion and friend. I’m looking forward to what life has in store for me going forward.

I am more convinced that religion and spirituality as practice is more of a detriment and divider than a unifier which makes me sad. But spirituality, in my mind, has the seeds for our renewal and resurrection as human beings.  

About Barrington M. Salmon.

Barrington M. Salmon (https://barringtonmsalmon.contently.com/) is a British-born Jamaican journalist who has been writing for more than 20 years. He recently completed a master’s degree in Creative Writing and New Media from Demontfort University. Barrington is a traditional African priest in the Akan Akom tradition and has lived, worked, and studied in Washington DC, United States; Miami and Tallahassee, FL; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Leicester, United Kingdom. 

sx salon 16: Online

Giving thanks to Small Axe for publishing poems from my latest collection, LETTER FROM MARCUS GARVEY.

I am also happy to share the creative writing space with my talented sisters, Opal Palmer Adisa and Donna Aza Weir-Soley

Bless.

Anancy Festival 2014

Anancy Festival Pembroke Pines

June 28, 2014

Time: Noon – 4:00 pm

South Regional/Broward College Library

7300 Pines Boulevard, Pembroke Pines, FL 33024

Admission: Free

Susumba's Book bag: Online!

The first issue of Susumba's Book bag is now online, and features the work of Opal Palmer-Adisa, Sharon Millar, Joanne C. Hillhouse, Lisa Allen-Agostini, and Roland Watson-Grant, among others.

The inclusion of my short story “Blessed are the Meek” was especially gratifying because it has been the closest to an autobiographical story that I’ve ever written, and to see it in print has been cathartic. Publication closed the circle, so that I could lay those demons to rest.

Give thanks Tanya Batson-Savage and the Susumba team for providing another publication venue for Caribbean writers. 

Read and enjoy!

 http://www.susumba.com/magazine/issue/susumbas-book-bag-issue-1

South Florida Book Festival: Making Sound & Sense of Poetry

Sound & Sense: This workshop will explore the basic elements of poetry: rhythm, metaphor, and voice. Participants will be introduced to the work of several contemporary poets, engage in close readings of a text, and demonstrate what they have learned through an in-class writing exercise. 

Maximum participants: 15

Saturday, July 26, 2014

3:00 to 4:00 p.m.

African-American Research Library and Cultural Center

2650 Sistrunk Boulevard

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311

Click here to register: sfbf-saturday.eventbrite.com

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SUNRISE ANCESTRAL REMEMBRANCE OF THE MIDDLE PASSAGE CEREMONY

SUNRISE ANCESTRAL REMEMBRANCE OF THE MIDDLE PASSAGE CEREMONY

HISTORIC VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK

MIAMI, FLORIDA

June 22, 2014, 5:30 a.m.

The Past is Present, he Future is Now.

All peoples are Three Peoples: the Ancestors, the Living, and the Yet Unborn. All of our Ancestors and all of our Future Generations are alive and present in us today.

--Traditional African Wisdom

Every word we say, every deed we do affects the next Seven Generations.

--Native American Wisdom

Virtually every African American today is descended from at least one Ancestor who survived the Middle Passage, as the unspeakable forced Atlantic crossing was called. For each survivor, from four to seven other Africans perished, between the point of their capture and the arrival of the ships in the “New World,”lives senselessly destroyed, wasted, and sacrificed to wanton greed and corruption.

Now in its 23rd year, Miami’s annual beachfront Remembrance of the untold millions of Ancestors who perished in that demonic “trade” – and of those who survived it, and the nightmare of centuries of slavery which followed, to give life to present and future generations – is one of the earliest established of the increasing number of such remembrance ceremonies around the nation and the world.

The Miami event is held annually on the Sunday morning closest to the summer solstice, and has also become linked to the growing observance of Juneteenth, the commemoration of June 19, 1865, when the true end of legal slavery in the U.S. came, as the last of the enslaved population, in East Texas, became free:Truly, “Until all of us are free, none of us is free.”

This year’s Ancestral Remembrance takes on even more timeliness and importance because 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the 1994 launch of the UNESCO Slave Route Project in Benin West Africa, cosponsored by Haiti, as a global call to all nations which were touched by the “slave trade” to identify and conserve all historic sites, artifacts, archival records, oral memories, and other evidence so that this story is never lost or forgotten by future generations. This anniversary includes a special appeal by the Slave Route Project to the U.S. and North America to become more involved.

The Remembrance is open to all and is largely informal and grass-roots based. It begins with a Native American “Opening of the Way” ceremony and a pouring of a libation honoring African tradition, followed by an open invitation to share welcoming prayers, thoughts, performances, art, music and songs
(drummers are specially invited), and other expressions. The ceremony concludes with the placing of offerings of fruits, yams, grains, flowers, and other appropriate items, on a raft and carried out to sea and released.

For further information, call 305-904-7620 or 305-260-1246.

Happy Juneteenth!

Image by Cedric Cannon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States honoring African American heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865. Celebrated on June 19, the term is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, and is recognized as a state holiday or state holiday observance in 41 states of the United States.
"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds" 
~Bob Marley's adaptation of a speech by Marcus Garvey.

Escribe Aqui/Write Here at The Betsy!

The Betsy Writer's Room presents a multilingual, multicultural Reading at The Betsy, Friday, June 27 at 6 p.m. in B Bar.

The Betsy hosts authors from various Hispanic and Caribbean countries in a multilingual reading in B Bar. The evening will be broken up into two readings:

Escribe Aqui will feature readings in Spanish with Hernan Vera Alvarez (Argentina), Pedro Medina Leon (Peru), Camilo Pino (Venezuela) and Jose Ignacio Valenzuela (Chile) at 6PM.

Write Here will follow, with readings in English by Anjanette Delgado (Cuba), MJ Fievre (Haiti), Mia Leonin (Cuba) and Geoffrey Philp (Jamaica).

Special Musical Performance by jazz saxophonist, Nestor Zurita.

Books & Books will have copies from selected works available for purchase.

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW.<http://the-betsy-south-beach.ticketleap.com/betsy-write-here/details>

Cash bar available. This is a free event.

2014 Annual FLASC Symposium Moca @ The Crossroads

2014 Annual FLASC Symposium 

2014 Annual FLASC Symposium  Moca @ The Crossroads

What happens when politics of class and culture collide? 

Saturday, June 14, 2014  |  4 - 8 pm

MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art, NORTH MIAMI

770 NE 125 Street, North Miami, FL 33161

While communities across the United States are becoming more diverse, more globally connected and less territorialized, artistic institutions that are entrenched in frozen concepts of representation, interpretation, communication, programming and access; not only have less relevance within their communities,  but find themselves in conflict with the very people for whom they were created.

Join some of the nations leading art scholars as they present the latest information and ideas and delve into the salient questions:

What role can artists and art institutions play with residents who live in an 

increasingly globalized and continually de-territorialized world? 

How can artists and art institutions organize sociopolitical and cultural 

dis/order with this globalized existence?

SPEAKERS

Houston Baker

Distinguished Professor, Vanderbilt University

Jessy Benjamin

Kennesaw State University 

Linda Carty

Syracuse University

William Cordova

Artist, Yale University

Margo Natalie Crawford

Cornell University 

Carole Boyce Davies

Cornell University

Jose Gutierrez

Miami Triennial 

Redell Hearn 

John Hopkins University 

Pete Wayne Lewis

University of Massachusetts 

Satya Mohanty

Cornell University   

Nkiru Nzegwu

New York State University at Binghamton

Alfredo Triff

Miami Dade College/University of Miami

For more information, please call  305.893.6511 x 12110

"Letter from Marcus Garvey"

Letter from Marcus Garvey

London, 9 June 1940

When I was in the Atlanta Federal Prison

I chanted through the silence, "Keep cool,

keep cool," For I didn't want to see twisted

bodies ripening on the flowering dogwood.

Or when I emerged from the caverns

of the Spanish Town District Prison,

the children hurled stones at my head,

like I was some lame poet,

and even after my first betrayal

when Amy brawled with a Judas,

you ignored me and said I made us

"a laughingstock to the world."

I took it because I knew you were blind

to your own beauty, that you could be seduced

by weak-kneed hypocrites who would call me

"a half-wit, low-grade moron." I took it all.

But what has me choking
on my words,is not the asthma, 
the shortness of breath

that has slowed my heart, 
my body that will be taken away soon-soon

by the whirlwind--what's left me mute

is the broken faith of my brothers

and sisters, scattered like goats on a far
hillside where my father lies buried
under the broad leaves of the breadfruit; 
his bones warmer than these white, 
cold pages swirling in my doorway

"Letter from Marcus Garvey" by Geoffrey Philp

"Letter from Marcus Garvey" was first published in Dance the Guns to Silence (2005), an anthology of poems that celebrated the life of the Nigerian activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa ((1941-1995): "the writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely X-ray society's weaknesses, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved shaping its present and its future."

The title, Dance the Guns to Silence is taken from one of Saro-Wiwa’s own poems, ‘Dance’. The anthology has a Foreword written by Ken Wiwa and editorial advisory from the renowned Malawian poet, now living in exile in Britain, Jack Mapanje.

Dance the Guns to Silence is an anthology of strong, thoughtful, poems of tribute, ranging from words of social consciousness to hard hitting images and moving stories.

Dance the Guns to Silence: 100 Poems Inspired by Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Edited by: Nii Ayikwei Parkes and; Kadija George.

For more information, visit this site: http://www.remembersarowiwa.com/poetry.htm

"Letter from Marcus Garvey" was also published in my most recent collection of poems, Dub Wise.

Visit my author page @ Amazon: Geoffrey Philp

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Presidential Proclamation for 2014 National Caribbean American Heritage Month

National Caribbean-American Heritage Month 2014

A Proclamation

For centuries, the United States and nations in the Caribbean have grown alongside each other as partners in progress. Separated by sea but united by a yearning for independence, our countries won the right to chart their own destinies after generations of colonial rule. Time and again, we have led the way to a brighter future together -- from lifting the stains of slavery and segregation to widening the circle of opportunity for our sons and daughters.

National Caribbean-American Heritage Month is a time to celebrate those enduring achievements. It is also a chance to recognize men and women who trace their roots to the Caribbean. Through every chapter of our Nation's history, Caribbean Americans have made our country stronger -- reshaping our politics and reigniting the arts, spurring our movements and answering the call to serve. Caribbean traditions have enriched our own, and woven new threads into our cultural fabric. Again and again, Caribbean immigrants and their descendants have reaffirmed America's promise as a land of opportunity -- a place where no matter who you are or where you come from, you can make it if you try.

Together, as a Nation of immigrants, we will keep writing that story. And alongside our partners throughout the Caribbean, we will keep working to achieve inclusive economic growth, access to clean and affordable energy, enhanced security, and lasting opportunity for all our people. As we honor Caribbean Americans this month, let us strengthen the ties that bind us as members of the Pan American community, and let us resolve to carry them forward in the years ahead.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2014 as National Caribbean-American Heritage Month. I encourage all Americans to celebrate the history and culture of Caribbean Americans with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

Presidential Proclamation for 2014 National Caribbean American Heritage Month -- JUNE 1st - geoffreyphilp101@gmail.com - Gmail:



'via Blog this'

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Happy Birthday, Kamau!

Dear Kamau,

Opal and I wanted to give you something for your birthday, so we decided to do something that we hope you will like. I have done a podcast of one of your earliest poems from the Caedemon (did I spell it right?) recordings--one of the poems that I liked from the first time I heard it, you know the one. Yes, "Francina." 

And Opal has livicated a poem for your birthday. We have done this tribute because in your poems and life, you have given us an example of how a life should be lived--on its own terms. You have always written how you felt the poem could only be written, and you have taken a lot of criticism over the years for doing that. But where are the critics now? You are still creating, new vibrant poems and you are still leading the way for us.

Give thanks, Kamau.
Here is Opal's poem:

reinscribing

love is not an ideal

but power to render

truth in the present

daily

despite dismay

and hopelessness

gallantry is not going

into battle shielded

by armor

rather refusing to submit

or be silenced

by corruption

or narrow religious zeal

insisting

that the flamboyant tree

will flame red in july

taking the anvil to words

hammering away like ogun

being the voice

echoing

repetitive

perpetual

you i´ve been loving

long before face and voice

brushed my ears

will be loving you

long after

the feel of your hands

have dissipated

one love

walk good

happy birthday, kamau

opal palmer adisa

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First published 5/11/07