Germany & the EU: Sind Wir Auch Deutschland?

The following essay “Sind Wir auch Deutschland?” (Are we Germans too?) is the original German-language version of the essay published in my previous post about black European women speaking out against racism and discrimination. The author, Patricia (Trish S.), is an African-German university student who grew up in the old Hanseatic League city-state of Bremen and is pursuing a degree in American Studies at the Universität Bremen.

This post is written in both the German (Deutsch) and English languages so if you have trouble understanding one just focus on the other. At the end of this post I have included related articles and online resources about national and cultural identity in Europe, racism and discrimination, and immigration challenges facing Europeans and new immigrants to Europe. More resources on these subjects can be found in the previous post referenced in the paragraph above. There are also new updates from Adrianne George about the excellent speakers and organizers of the 1st Black European Women’s Congress 2007 held in Vienna, Austria last month.

Sind wir auch Deutschland?

In der Bundesrepublik Deutschland leben schätzungsweise 300.000 schwarze Deutsche beziehungsweise Afro-Deutsche. Wir sind hier geboren und aufgewachsen und sehen in Deutschland unsere Heimat. Wir betrachten uns als Bundesbürger und werden doch immer wieder in die Lage gebracht, uns über unsere „ursprüngliche“ Herkunft ausfragen lassen zu müssen. Als Bonbon gibt es dann meistens noch ein grosses, herziges Lob für unsere wirklich „hervorragenden“ Deutschkenntnisse. Sollte wir dann freundlich darauf hinweisen, dass dies mit der Tatsache zusammenhängt, dass Deutsch unsere Muttersprache ist, besteht die Möglichkeit, damit das ein oder andere Weltbild unwiderruflich zu zerstören. Die Enttäuschung ist gross. Oftmals wird uns zudem noch angeraten, nicht so überempfindlich zu sein und uns nicht ständig auf unsere Hautfarbe angegriffen zu fühlen.

Aber wie sollen Rassismus und Stereotypisierung keine Rolle in meinem Leben spielen, wenn ich quasi damit aufgewachsen bin und sie seit dem Kindergarten bis jetzt - ich wurde 1976 in der wunderschönen Hansestadt Bremen geboren - immer wieder auftauchen? Konstant und nervtötend, ganz so wie ein nicht tot zubekommender Seifenoper-Charakter. Leider sind die Szenen des Alltags meistens eher spärlich ausgeleuchtet und es gibt keine Auflösung zu Gunsten der Afro-Deutschen Protagonistin. Diese taucht nämlich eher selten, und wenn, dann nur in einer Nebenrolle auf. Liebevoll verpackt in leichtverdaulichen Klischees: als illegale Einwanderin, Putzfrau, Sängerin, Rapperin oder Tänzerin.

Man muss in der Tat nach relativ normalen Darstellungen von Afro-Deutschen Menschen in TV-Serien und Filmen suchen. Die „Exotik“ und das aufdiktierte „Anderssein“ schwingt stets unterschwellig mit. Es ist fast so, als wäre es unmöglich, dass ein Charakter einfach Schwarz ist und Deutsch. Oder zumindest akzentfrei Deutsch spricht. Das passt nicht ins Bild. Das passt nicht hierher. Glaubt man nämlich dieser perfekten Klischee-Welt, die uns die deutsche Fernsehlandschaft tagtäglich kredenzt, gibt es in Deutschland nur ein kleines Grüppchen schwarzer Menschen, das ihren Alltag damit verbringt sich vor der Einwanderungsbehörde zu verstecken, Drogen zu verkaufen, zu tanzen, zu rappen oder im Gospelchor zu singen, wenn man nicht gerade damit beschäftigt ist sich über seine Hin-und-Hergerissenheit zwischen Deutschland und Afrika ( weil ja bekanntlich alle schwarzen Menschen aus Afrika kommen …) ernsthafte Gedanken zu machen.

Ich frage mich manchmal wie das Leben in der Welt der Klischees und Stereotypen für die Repräsentanten dieser Gruppe wäre. Der (Sarotti-) Mohr ist ja schon länger wieder da. Wie wäre das so für ihn und seine Freunde die „zehn kleinen Negerlein“? Elf kleine Stereotypen, die versuchen den Einbürgerungsbogen auszufüllen, die brav versuchen ihre „rassische“ Herkunft zu erklären, und dann aus unerklärlichen Gründen von unseren Freunden und Helfern, nach ihren Ausweispapieren gefragt werden. Sie werden geduzt, durchsucht und damit sie besser verstehen, was da mit ihnen passiert, spricht laut mit ihnen, weil sie a) mit Sicherheit kein Deutsch sprechen oder verstehen und b) es besser und schneller lernen, wenn man sie anschreit (Ich rate hier nur). Es handelt sich beim Deutsch bei Amtshandlungen dieser Art in den meisten Fällen um eine eher rudimentäre Abwandlung der deutschen Sprache, in der es zu derart kreativen Satzkonstruktionen kommt, dass es selbst eingefleischten Literaturkritikern Tränen der Rührung in den Augen treiben würde. So werden sie dann angebrüllt, unsere elf „Schwarz-Afrikaner“. Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden – und Helfern. Nur so ein Gedanke.

Wenn mich die Mutter meiner Nachbarin für die Putzfrau hält, weil ich einen Stausauger aus dem Keller nach oben trage, und mich zudem noch mit einem freundlichen „ Cleaning?“ auf Englisch anspricht, kann ich danach trotzdem noch einen gelassenen Tag verleben. Selbst, wenn in der Konditorei jemand vor mir einen Negerkuss bestellt, mich dann entdeckt und ihn hektisch zu einem Mohrenkopf umwandelt, muss mir das nicht gleich den ganzen Tag verderben. Kritisch wird es erst, wenn ich den Fernseher einschalte, und Angehörige des Deutschen Adels, die in der Öffentlichkeit stehen ,die Aids-Problematik auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent mit der Tatsache erklären, „dass der Schwarze an sich halt gern schnackselt“.

Mein Wunsch nach lauten, medienwirksamen Protesten verstärkt sich dann um ein weiteres wenn ich mir im Fernsehen eines dieser vielseitigen Comedy-Formate, in denen stets ein und dieselben Comedians auftreten, ansehe und einer dieser Comedians den Begriff Kohlen-Latte, natürlich nur im Scherz, als Bezeichnung für das Genital eines dunkelhäutigen Mannes erklärt. Ein Brüller. Das Publikum tobt. Einfach Genial – daneben.

Situationen wie die oben genannten kommen immer wieder vor. Sie häufen sich sogar, denn niemand entlarvt diese verbalen Entgleisungen öffentlich als das, was sie sind: Rassismus. Scheinbar glaubt man tatsächlich, dass wenn man jegliche Form von Rassismus ignoriert, er von ganz alleine verschwindet. Doch genau das tut er nicht, er nimmt nur andere Formen an und weitet sich somit zu einem Problem aus und zwar für alle Menschen in diesem Land. Man sollte daher endlich damit aufhören, ihn wie einen Mythos zu behandeln.

Ein Anfang wäre da die Abwendung von dem Gedanken, dass „Deutsch“ automatisch „weiss“ bedeutet. Meines Erachtens liegt eine grosse Verantwortung da bei den Medien und ihrer Darstellung von schwarzen Menschen in Deutschland, denn wie bisher kann es nicht weitergehen. Wenn ich den Fernseher anschalte, möchte auch ich mich repräsentiert sehen und zwar nicht als eines der vielen Klischees, sondern als ganz normalen Menschen und vor allem als Bürgerin ,und somit Teil, dieses Landes.

Author: Trish S., Universität Bremen – Juli 2007
ENDE


Related news articles, blog posts, and other online resources

Jewels in the Jungle
Austria and Germany: Black Women Speak Out Against Racism and Discrimination in Europe, 10/02/07

The New York Times
Immigration, Black Sheep, and Swiss Rage by Elaine Sciolino, 10/08/07
The ruling Swiss political party runs a national election campaign driven by racial fears.

Spiegel Online International (English edition of Der Spiegel magazine)
Interview with the Turkish-German author Dilek Güngör
‘My Identity is Constantly Present’

Dilek Güngör, author of the recently published “The Secret of My Turkish Grandmother”, talks about her relationship to Turkey, German ideas about nationality, and the absurdity of being considered a poster child for successful integration.

Reuters article about the Turkish-German journalist and author Dilek Güngör: “German Author Grew Up Battling Cliches"

Perlenleuchter.de feature article about the journalist and author Dilek Güngör and her popular Berliner Zeitung newspaper column “Unter Uns
Vom Nachttish geräumt (09/08/04)


AFRA – International Center for Black Women’s Perspectives (Austria)
Press release: Conclusion of the 1st Black European Women’s Congress 2007 in Vienna, Austria (Deutsch)

Black Women in Europe blog on the 1st Black European Women’s Congress
Profile: Dr. Grada Kilomba (Humboldt Universität – Berlin, Germany)
Profile: Hellen Felter (Tiye International, Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Profile: Dr. Ama Mazama (Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. USA)
Profile: Sylvia Serbin (journalist, author, historian – France)
Profile: Zeedah Meierhofer Mageli (Director of Center for Black Women - Zurich, Switzerland)
Profile: Brenda King (European Economic and Social Committee – SOC Section, Brussels, UK)
Black European Women’s Congress Vienna Declaration (English)
Wiener Deklaration der Kongresses europäischer Schwarzer Frauen (Deutsch)

BlackPrint blog by Victoria Robinson (German, English)
Die Vienna Declaration of the Black European Women’s Congress (post includes a group photo of several of the conference attendees)

Community-Beitrag in Kolonialismus-Broschüre
Essay about the controversy over a memorial to the 18th Century German merchant, slave trader and slave holder Heinrich Karl von Schimmelman. Also see a similar controversy over the monument for 19th Century German colonialist Capt. Hermann von Wissmann at the Afrika-Hamburg Project website.

Mügeln aus afrodeutscher Perspektive
Germany’s newspaper Die Zeit Online interviews Manuela Ritz, an anti-racism trainer and black German who grew up in the East German town where neo-Nazis attacked Indian immigrants in August 2007.

Der Braune Mob e.V. Online – website about black Germans in the media and public life
Der Scwharze Blog - a media watchdog blog from African-German perspectives


Spiegel International Online
Articles published in the popular German news magazine about the ongoing struggle with immigration, radical right-wing groups, and violence against “foreigners”.

In Wake of Racist Attacks in Mügeln
Germany Wonders How to Stop the Neo-Nazis

Racism Alive and Well
After Attack on Indians, Germany Fears for Its Reputation

A New Broom in Paris
France to Pay Immigrants to Return Home, 05/24/07

United on Fighting Hate
EU Agrees on Watered-Down Anti-Racism Law, 04/20/07

An African Dream
I’ll Make It to Europe or Die Trying, 05/18/06
Photo galleries: Chasing the European Dream,
Getting to Europe at All Costs

Assaulting Ceuta and Melilla
Through the Razor Wire and Into the EU

The Financial Times (London)
EU told to accept 20 million migrant workers by 2025, 09/12/07
Immigration: the quest to become a magnet for migrants, 09/04/07
Spain tops destination list for EU migrants, 02/18/07

Foreign Policy Association blog – Migration Europe archives

About.com Europe’s New Immigration
An overview of Muslim and African immigration in Europe

Technorati tags:Europe European Union EU politics Austria Germany African diaspora black European civil rights racism equal opportunity gender equality women in politics black women blacks in media Global Voices

Austria & Germany: Black Women Speak Out Against Racism and Discrimination in Europe

Yesterday I had a brief conversation with a young Nigerian male friend of mine and as we were talking two young African women passed by. I could see that his attention was focused on the women’s bodies instead of what I was saying and I chided him about how attractive the ladies were and asked if he knew them. He stated that he did not and added “I don’t like African women.”

Normally I would have jumped down his throat for making such a stupid comment but instead I took time to try and explain to him why harboring such feelings is wrong and that what he was telling me was a lie. I reminded him of the everyday prejudices and racism that he and other black African men experience not only in Germany but all across Europe and around the world. I went on to explain that black women and women of color face even greater obstacles than black men in being accepted and respected in modern European society simply because they are women.

I asked him “Do you dislike your mother or your sisters?” He replied that he of course loved his mother and sisters. So I responded, “Every time that you see a black woman walking down the street you think about your own family, that that woman or girl is someone’s mother or sister and should always be approached with the greatest of respect.”

I cannot say that he got the point I was making or not, but I began to wonder how many other young black African men in Germany think the same way as this guy does? It goes to show that discrimination and prejudice against women of color in modern European society is not only a black/white problem but is much more complex than some experts on the subject would have you believe. Fortunately the voices of more and more black women and girls in Europe are beginning to be heard as they make their impact felt in literature, news and entertainment media, education, and European politics. This month I want to draw attention to the work online by some courageous women of color at the heart of Europe today who are choosing to speak up for their civil rights by sharing their thoughts and ideas and experiences.

Last weekend while the eyes of the world were focused on the unfolding events in Myanmar (Burma) or some other hot news story there was a quiet gathering of women (black, white, and black & white) in Austria to discuss issues that affect the everyday lives of black women and girls in Europe. The Black European Women’s Congress 2007 was held from September 27th thru 29th in Vienna under the patronage and sponsorship of Frau Barbara Prammer, President of the Austrian National Assembly (Parliament). The BEW congress was organized by the Vienna-based organization AFRA and the Tiye International foundation of The Netherlands. The International Herald Tribune published an AP (Associated Press) article about the conference titled “Black European women at Vienna conference urge recognition, equality”. Here is an excerpt from the September 29th AP article:

VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Black women play a crucial role across the EU and deserve to be recognized and respected, and have equal opportunities, organizers of a black European women's congress said Saturday.

The three-day gathering, which ended Saturday afternoon, drew more than 80 black women from 16 European Union countries, as well as from Switzerland and the United States.
The conference was deemed the first of its kind by the co-organizers, the Vienna-based, nonprofit International Center for Black Women's Perspectives, also known as AFRA, and Tiye International, a Dutch umbrella NGO aimed at promoting equal opportunities for effective participation of black and migrant women. It was held under the patronage of Barbara Prammer, the speaker of Austria's parliament.

"I think one of our messages is that we don't want to be invisible," Hellen Felter, director of Tiye International, said at a news conference at a Vienna hotel.

Conference delegates — including activists, academics and other black women of all ages — focused on themes such as identity and empowerment, challenges faced by the young, political participation and access to the labor market.

AFRA Director Beatrice Achaleke said black women looking for jobs were often discriminated against because of their skin color, negative stereotypes and the general population's unwillingness to accept them.

"It doesn't matter if I speak German perfectly or not — we have to take into consideration that we are a visible minority," Achaleke said.

End Excerpt

Adrianne George of the award-winning Black Women in Europe blog (Sweden) attended the congress along with other Europe-based female blog authors such as Victoria Robinson of BlackPrint (Hamburg, Germany). Adrianne has published a series of posts about the conference (in English) while Victoria will soon be writing about the congress “auf Deutsch” (in German). Hopefully more articles and posts and essays from other BEW Congress attendees will be published online in the near future in a variety of European languages.

One of the most popular series of articles published to date at Jewels in the Jungle was our group project for Black History in Germany and Europe* (see related articles listed below). One member of that 4-person-plus team of amateur historians and academic hacks is herself a woman of color, an African-German woman named Patricia (Trish). I have known her for perhaps 5 years and we share a deep interest in world events, history and cultural studies, new media technologies and citizen journalism, and lots of other stuff.

Trish submitted an article for our black history series some months ago that did not make the original submission date deadline so I have sat upon it waiting for the right time to publish it here at Jewels. Now is that time, particularly in light of the Black European Women’s Congress 2007 in Vienna and the growth of excellent writing online by some of Europe’s outstanding women of color, voices that have been ignored and marginalized by the European and international press, the news and entertainment media, academia and broad sectors of European society for decades. “The Silence of the Lambs”, an expression that I have often used to describe the hesitant and weak public voice of Europe’s black population, is finally being broken and Europe’s women of color are leading the way.

Trish’s essay is about the need for recognition and acceptance in German society with a special focus on how the German news and entertainment media must work harder to honestly portray the everyday lives of African and African-German women and men who live here. This essay is of special significance today as the 17th German Day of Unity holiday approaches, a day set aside every October 3rd to recognize the contributions made by world figures and ordinary citizens to the re-unification of the two Germanys irregardless of their nationality, ethnic origin, or the color of their skin.


Aren’t We Germans Too? (Original essay written in German)
Trish S., Universität Bremen - July 2007
Edited by BRE @ Jewels in the Jungle – Sep 25, 2007

Between 300,000 to 500,000 African-German people are living in the Federal Republic of Germany today, and I am one of them. Born and raised in this country we regard Germany as our home and see ourselves as citizens of this country. Yet we still find ourselves in situations where we must explain repeatedly where we were originally born. For example, some people compliment us for our great fluency in the German language and then are disappointed to learn that our proficiency in the language stems from the fact that we are German, that there will be no exciting or romantic adventure story about how we came to this country.

At other times people advise us not to be too sensitive about the colour of our skin. But how is racism and racial stereotypes not supposed to have a big impact on my life? I have grown up with racism and prejudice in Germany, it has been a part of my life since my childhood and even today as a 30 year-old woman I am still confronted with it. It is irritating and ever-present like a TV soap-opera bad guy who always returns when you least expect it.

Of course the reality is that racial prejudice and discrimination cannot be easily erradicated in modern German society. There will be no dashing African-German film hero who overcomes one obstacle after another to emerge victorious on the silver screen. We Germans first need to give long overdue recognition to our black German film stars and TV personalities and promote their work to German and international audiences. African-German (Afro-Deutsch) men and women working in German film and television today mainly play supporting roles where the character is wrapped in strongly embedded cultural stereotypes: an illegal immigrant, a cleaning woman, a singer (Jazz, Blues, Soul, Reggae- never Rock), or a dancer.

In German film and television productions one must search hard for a realistic and accurate portrayal of black people. It seems nearly impossible for many German production companies and filmmakers to understand that a leading character in their productions can be both black and German and also be fluent in the German language. Instead, cinema and TV producers and directors here almost always choose to convey an air of the exotic and other-worldliness around dark-skinned German characters in their works, as if people of colour born-and-raised in Germany cannot be portrayed as an ordinary “typical German”.

If one were to believe this “perfect cliché world” image of the country distributed by the vast majority of German entertainment media industry and news media then foreign audiences would think that there are only a small group of black people living in the country who spend their days hiding from immigration officers, selling drugs, dancing, rapping or singing gospel music. That is if they are not busy dealing with the agonizing decision to remain in Germany or go home___ home being Africa since all black people are from the dark continent.

I sometimes ask myself how life in a world of racial stereotypes and clichés would be for the people who propagate these negative images of blacks in Germany (role reversal). The Sarotti-Mohr, a logo character for a famous German chocolate brand, has been around for quite a while. How would it be for Sarotti and his friends die zehn kleine Negerlein (a popular German children’s story with racist characterisations of black African children)? Attempting to fill out immigration forms and not knowing what to write down as your racial origin or to be regularly confronted by police officers asking for your identification papers and yelling at you in such a rudimentary form of the German language that it would shock any decent German citizen.

When my neighbour’s mother thinks I’m the cleaning lady because I carry the vacuum cleaner from the cellar to my apartment it won’t ruin the rest of my day. I can also live with the insult when someone at the confectioners orders a so-called “Negerkuss”, and then when they realize I am standing right behind them they hastily change their order to a “Mohrenkopf”*(1).

It is irritating but it does not come as that big of a surprise to me because although there is still a great deal of racism in our society few Germans want to appear to be racist. As long as the true underlying problems that support racism and prejudice in our society are seldom openly discussed in a national dialogue, racism can and will continue to grow and spread in Germany. The attitude of some of our political and civic leaders seems to be that if we don’t talk too loudly about racism and prejudice in our society, then it might just disappear on its own.

Unfortunately it (racism and prejudice) does still exist in Germany today. There have been several instances while watching a program on German television that I have asked myself, “How long it will take until we (black Germans) will be respected for who we are and accepted as individuals?” Moreover as citizens of this country with a long history here that goes back much further than the end of the 1st World War. Anton Wilhelm Amo, one of the earliest known Africans to live, study, and teach in Germany, came here in the 18th century as a child slave from Ghana. Amo went on to become a noted philosopher and professor of his day, teaching at both Halle University and Jena University. Until this day, I have never seen a report about him on German television such as ZDF’s popular education series “History”.

It is necessary that we as Germans begin to move beyond the common belief that being German is synonymous with being white. This means there are many challenges ahead for African-Germans and other people of colour living in Germany as we struggle for acceptance as equal citizens, equal as we go about our daily lives and being honestly portrayed in the media and cinema. As long as loopholes in German law exist for the continued propagation of racial stereotypes in our society there will be an awful lot of work to do.

ENDE

*(1) Editor’s Note: the expressions Negerkuss and Mohrenkopf refer to a chocolate-covered marshmallow confection created around 200 years ago in Denmark. Literally translated from the German language the word Negerkuss means “Negro’s kiss” and Mohrenkopf translates to “Mohr’s head”. David’s Medienkritik, a German press and media watchdog blog authored by David Kasper and Ray Drake, delves into the subject of Negerkussen in their May 2005 post titled “German’s aren’t racist” (see comment threads). Andrew at German Joys goes even deeper into the subject of Negerkussen and other "politically incorrect" Negro memorabilia and long-standing cultural traditions in Europe with pictures and everything.


Related articles and online resources

International Herald Tribune
Black European women at Vienna conference urge recognition, equality, 09/29/07

AFRA – International Center for Black Women’s Perspectives (Vienna, Austria)
1st Black European Women’s Congress 2007, Sep 27th-29th (Vienna)
First European Women’s Congress in Austria itinerary (Afrikanet)

The European Commission
2007 European Year of Equal Opportunity for All official website
2007 European Year of Equal Opportunity for All - Ambassadors

Politics and Government of the European Union (Wikipedia)
Lisbon Strategy explained (also see Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process)
Europa Glossary – Lisbon Strategy
European Commission - Official website of the Lisbon Strategy
European Union – Employment and Social Affairs – Social Inclusion

Johannes Gutenberg University – Mainz, Germany
Black European Studies Program (BEST)
Team members, Program Overview, 2005 Conference Reader

Afro-German (Afro-Deutsch) entry at Wikipedia


Black Women in Europe blog authors of note

Black Women in Europe by Adrianne George (English)
(author is an African-American woman living in Sweden)
Vienna Declaration following the 1st Black European Women’s Congress 2007
Kongress Schwarzer Europäerinnen: “Wir wollen uns vorwärts bewegen”
A Closer Look at EU Parliamentarian Brenda King (UK)
Video of address by Brenda King, UK President of Specialized Section Employment, Social Affairs & Citizenship of the EESC

BrauneMob e.V. website and blog (German and English)
(an online community for African-German youth and adults)

Victoria Robinson’s BlackPrint blog (German and English)
(author is an African-German woman living in Hamburg, Germany)

Black Girl on Mars by Lesley-Ann (English)
(author is an African-American woman living in Denmark)


Spiegel Online International - (English edition of a major German weekly news magazine) Article about black women filmmakers and actresses presenting their work for the first time at the Berlinale International Film Festival 2007

Black German Film at the Berlinale
African German Filmmakers Hope to Open Up “New Perspectives”, 02/09/07

More info about African-German and African-Austrian TV/film actors, producers, and directors
Black Artists in German Film Foundation (Berlin)
SFD – Schwarze Filmschaffende in Deutschland (Wikipedia)
SFD official website (presently offline): http://www.sfd-net.com/home2.html

Berlinale International Film Festival (Berlin, Germany)
NEUE BILDER schwarzer filmschaffende in Deutschland
(NEW PERSPECTIVES – black artists in German film)

Black Artists in German Film (SFD) founding members
Anna Benza-Madingou (writer)
Phillipa Ebénéi (writer)
Winta Yohannes (director)
Nataly Kudiabor (producer)
Araba Walton bio (actress, singer)
Nisma Cherrat bio (actress)
Carol Campbell bio (actress)

Arabella Kiesbauer*(2) - African-Austrian Actress and Talk Show Host
Arabella Kiesbauer bio (Wikipedia)
Arabella’s official personal website

Note*(2): Arabella Kiesbauer is a talk show host well-known in Germany for her daily show “Arabella”, which was awarded the Bavarian Television Prize in 1994. She has also appeared in the feature film “Das Superweib” (1996) and in the popular German television series, “Kommissar Rex” (2004). On June 9th 1995, the daughter of a German mother and Ghanaian father was the target of a racially motivated crime when she received a letter bomb. She was not injured.


DW World - Deutsche Welle Online
New Face on German TV Highlights Dearth of Minority Presenters, 04/25/07

Spiegel Online International (related articles and special features)
Integration of Foreigners
German Media Too White, Says Government, 12/20/06

The Germany Survival Bible 2006
(a special feature guide to understanding Germany today)

Racism Alive and Well
After Attack on Indians, Germany Fears for Its Reputation, 08/22/07

The World from Berlin
Stamp Out Racism -- It’s Your Job!, 08/24/07

Poll Shock
Spiegel poll shows Social Democrats trail neo-Nazis in Saxony, 09/07/07

Stones of Remembrance
German Artist Commemorates Black Holocaust Victim, 09/04/07

Spiegel Special Feature archive – Right Wing Extremism in Germany


Jewels in the Jungle / Atlantic Review “Black History in Germany and Europe” 2007 blogathon archive

Black History in Europe? An Introduction to the Invisible Ones
Black History Month 2007 in Europe: Updates
Black History Month 2007 in Europe: Amo’s Ghost
Black History Month in Germany at the Atlantic Review
Black History in Germany and Europe: An African-German Educator Speaks Out (English version) (German version)
African History in Europe: Blacks in the Renaissance Part I
African History in Europe: Blacks in the Renaissance Part II

Atlantic Review blog
Rise in Racist Crimes in Europe, 08/28/07
German Schools and Universities Don’t Teach Black History, 08/22/07


Technorati tags:Europe European Union Austria Germany African diaspora black European civil rights racism equal opportunity gender equality women in politics black women blacks in media filmmaking cinema Global Voices

Burma: Standing Up with the Felonious Monks of Myanmar

Breaking News Update September 27th:

The dreaded violent crackdown by the military junta in Burma is in full swing. CNN International and other major news networks report that the military has opened fire indiscriminately on crowds of protesters and bystanders with automatic weapons yesterday and today. In an effort to corral and silence the 1000’s of Buddhist monks in the capital Rangoon and elsewhere across the country the junta has rounded up hundreds of monks and carted them away in trucks for questioning (beatings and torture).

Thousands more have been locked into monasteries and temples overnight to prevent the monks and nuns from hitting the streets today and going unedited into the World Live Web (the blogosphere). Myanmar security forces are presumably working feverishly to filter and/or shut down Internet access and close Internet cafes in order to stop the images and reports of their brutality against innocent monks and peaceful protestors from reaching the world’s eyes and ears. All to no avail for the mob (the bloggers of the world) have got wind of the atrocities and are all over this story.

What is also interesting to see is that news editors and producers have (finally) woken up to the fact that the world’s bloggers can be very helpful in a crisis like this where the professional media and press have been totally barred from reporting inside of a severely oppressed country like Burma. CNN TV anchors today are using text, photos, and interviews obtained from citizen journalists and blog authors who are on the ground inside of Burma as well as from people in the region and around the world.

In the CNN.com online report ‘Myanmar junta intensifies crackdown’ the staff writer references the Burma and SE Asian news website The Irrawaddy but unfortunately links to the wrong URL. I notified CNN.com about this error more than one hour ago but the website editors have not yet fixed the problem. The correct URL for The Irrawaddy News website is http://www.irrawaddy.org/. The Irrawaddy has exclusive breaking news and eyewitness reports about the crisis in Burma and is also asking CJ’s and bloggers to contribute their reports and photos.

TIME.com published the article Monks vs. Police in Burma, an eyewitness account of the battle for Shwedagon Pagoda, the centuries-old golden domed Buddhist shrine that sits at the heart of Rangoon built by the Mon people sometime between the 6th and 10th Century (500-900 AD). This ancient holy shrine is now cordoned-off by a ring of government soldiers and riot police presumably with the orders to shoot to kill. Here is an excerpt from TIME about the Battle for Shwedagon:

“The battle for Shwedagon began in ferocious noonday heat. The authorities had locked the gates of the pagoda, Rangoon's most famous landmark, by mid-morning to prevent the monks who had led the weeklong demonstrations against Burma's military rulers from gathering. Police and soldiers guarded the entrances. The eastern gate of Shwedagon is where thousands of monks would otherwise exit to start their march into downtown Rangoon. But today, hundreds of soldiers and riot police blocked their way.

By 12:30 p.m., hundreds of monks, students, and other Rangoon residents approached the police, stood in the road and began to pray. Then the soldiers and police began pulling monks from the crowd, targeting the leaders, striking both monks and ordinary people with canes. Several smoke bombs exploded and the riot police charged. The monks and others fought back with sticks and rocks. Many others ran, perhaps four or five of them bleeding from minor head wounds. A car was set alight — by the soldiers, some protesters claimed — and then there was the unmistakable crack of live ammunition: the soldiers were shooting into the air.

"They are not Buddhists," cried one student, who clutched half a brick in his hand, running from the smoke. "They are not humans. We were praying peacefully and they beat us. They beat the monks, even the old ones." An 80-year-old monk stood with the student, bleeding from a baton gash on his shaven head. “

End excerpt. Read the complete story.
Also checkout the TIME.com photo essay Burma: 19 Years of Protest.

Another great source for reliable up-to-the-minute news and commentary about the political crisis in Burma is from the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma website. The DVB is a non-profit media organization that provides unbiased and accurate news to the people of Burma (and the world) via radio broadcasts and the Internet.

O.K., that’s it for today. I’m out of here for now.
_______________________________________________

Original post from September 26th

Today I had planned to post about a conference for black European women opening in Vienna, Austria but the images of protests coming out of Myanmar (Burma) are so powerful and inspiring that I feel I must say something about it right now.

Much of the world news this week has been dominated by the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City where over 100 “world leaders” are in attendance for the ceremonies and speeches about everything from the floods in Africa and climate change emergencies to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and the Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s disastrous and ridiculous debut at Columbia University.

But today the world’s attention is riveted to news about the 10’s of thousands of humble Buddhist monks and nuns and citizens of the oppressed nation of Myanmar who have decided that they have had enough of the brutal military regime that has ruled over them for more than 40 years. A regime that has robbed and raped the nation of Burma of precious natural resources until there is almost nothing left.

My message is for you, the defiant monks and religious leaders and citizens marching in Myanmar and those in the Burmese diaspora around the world:

Your courageous defiance of the military junta and their henchmen as you march peacefully by the thousands through the rain-soaked streets of Yangoon (Rangoon) and Mandalay and cities and towns across your country, this act has inspired millions of people around the world. We are watching and reading every bit of news that you can get out of the country at great risk to your very lives.

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that many of Burma’s revered religious leaders and activists for democracy and justice will face severe punishment from the government soldiers and the police, perhaps even death. But unlike the violence by the regime against the students and citizens of Myanmar during the uprising of 1988 that took more than 3,000 lives, today the world is listening and watching closely thanks to your bravery and embracing of new technologies such as mobile phones and cameras and access to the Internet. This time the two-legged cockroaches that have caused so much suffering in your country for so long cannot hide behind news blackouts and the brutal suppression of free speech and a free press in Myanmar. This time you the people are both the newsmakers and the news reporters and the world can follow your every word and action LIVE as it happens.

I stand with the people of Burma today and everyday until you have thrown off the chains of brutal slavery and oppression. Live free or die trying to be free from this oppression; resist and defy peacefully. People who are suffering just like you under repressive regimes the world over can learn a great deal from your courage and peaceful resistance and your sacrifice in blood for a democratic and just future for your nation.

Many of the world’s leaders who have assembled themselves at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to loudly declare their support for human and civil rights and democratic values, rights that the people of Burma have yearned for for so very long, must hang their heads in shame before a world audience due to their collective paralysis to support you now in your desperate time of need with meaningful actions and measures against Burma's military dictatorship.

All decent and freedom-loving citizens of the world must stand up with the people of Burma in their fight for freedom from oppression and injustice. Victory in the end will surely be yours, you the good and great people of Myanmar.


Related articles and online resources:

Reuters
Bush announces new US sanctions on Myanmar
China quietly reaches out to Myanmar opposition
FACTBOX – Global reaction to Myanmar protests
Chronology – 45 years of resistance and repression in Myanmar

AFP
Technology puts Myanmar protests in international eye

Associated Press
China nudges Myanmar on protests

CNN International
Myanmar crackdown, monks killed (text and video)

TIME Magazine
The Fighting Monks of Burma
Burma’s Military Solution

BBC News
Chinese dilemma over Burma protests
Burma’s hardline generals

Burmanet.org (news and opinions on Burma from around the world)

Witness.org (the human rights video journalism website)
Shoot on Sight: the ongoing military junta offensive against civilians in Eastern Burma

Global Voices Online
Myanmar: Voices from the region (reports from bloggers in SE Asia)
Myanmar (Burma) blog archives

Open Society Institute (Washington D.C.)
Burma Project / Southeast Asia initiatives

IPI – International Press Institute
World Press Freedom Review – Burma 2006

Xinhua News Agency (Chinese government-controlled news)
Myanmar issues curfew order in Yangoon
China believes Myanmar government can handle the situation

Myanmar (Burma) at Wikipedia

Profile of Burmese democracy activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi

Technorati tags: Burma Myanmar burmese human rights Burmese monks Global Voices Freedom of Speech

Africa: New Media and Information Technology Updates from Africans for the World

I must apologize to my regular readers for not posting as frequently to Jewels in the Jungle as I would have liked over the past few months. I’ve been extremely busy with work on new business initiatives and projects for emerging markets with a special focus on key African countries open and ready for foreign investment and business development.

I’ve recently had some very interesting communications with U.S. and European technology companies about new Web 2.0 tools and SaaS offerings (Software as a Service) that are the present buzz in the IT press and media. Having followed these often confusing developments and trends in IT over the past decade it looks as if many new startups and established technology companies are finally getting their act (and apps) together for use by SME businesses, government and the public sector, and other workgroups (i.e. bloggers) worldwide. There are many interesting new tools for networked-based and web service based (online delivery) productivity, content creation and publishing, communications, and collaboration.

For more about what is going on in this hot technology space see the Office 2.0 Conference 2007 that just ended last week in San Francisco and the O’Reilly/CMP Web 2.0 Expo held earlier this year. Berlin, Germany will be hosting the European launch of the Web 2.0 Expo 2007 and Tokyo, Japan will be home to the Asia Web 2.0 Expo. Both shows are scheduled for November 2007 so stay tuned to the news about these conferences and trade shows if you cannot attend.

The tech savvy folks at South Africa’s Rhodes University New Media Lab are wrapping up the 2nd Annual Digital Citizen Indaba (DCI). This year’s conference featured several impressive presentations by leading figures in the African blogging community who spoke and wrote about the use of new media technology in Africa. Don’t miss the latest news posted to the Digital Citizen Indaba 2007 blog (sponsored and hosted by South Africa’s Mail & Guardian) and the official DCI conference wiki.

Global Voices Online’s regional editor for sub-Saharan Africa Ndesanjo Macha delivered the opening address. Melissa Gardnier of the Rhodes University New Media Lab summarized Ndesanjo’s opening address in her post “From Rock Paintings to Blogging”. Top Kenyan blogger Daudi Were of Mentalacrobatics delivered a presentation titled Fractured Identities and then followed-up with a hammer titled “Who Owns the African Blogosphere”. Daudi’s piece is a Must Read for many of us who write about Africa as he addresses the heated global debates about who is African, what is African, who is an African blogger, where is Africa, who owns Africa and other nonsense from some people with an African identity crisis. Heck, the last time I checked with the experts on human origin and migration over the past 40,000 years every human being on Earth is an African. It’s just that some people are more African than others and race and skin color and geographic location and culture are simply pieces of the great human puzzle.

Here is the introduction to Daudi’s post because he lays it out so beautifully:

“Colonialists would often turn up at an African community and ask, “Who does that land belong to?” pointing to the vast fields around the village. Many times the reply from the villagers would be, “It does not belong to anyone.” The colonialists would then promptly set about fencing and craving [sic] up the land amongst themselves, which would enrage the Africans, which, in turn, would confuse the colonialists as after all they had been told that this land did not belong to anyone.

These exchanges highlight the differences in the cultures involved and the different understandings of what initially looks like a very simple situation. When the Africans tell the colonialists that this land does not belong to anybody, the colonialists would take that to mean that the land is unoccupied. “It does not belong to anyone” is taken to mean it is ownerless. That was a misunderstanding of what they had been told. For when the African said, “This land does not belong to anyone”, what they mean is this land does not belong to any single person or family. This land is the property of the community under the stewardship of those who currently occupy it. The Elesi of Odogbolu*, a Nigerian chief, told the West African land commission in 1912, that he “conceived that land belongs to a vast family of which many are dead, few are living and countless yet unborn”. In other words, “this land does not belong to anyone” meant this land belongs to everyone. It is occupied by us, but we do not own it, we are merely the current stewards holding it for future generations…”

End excerpt: Read more from Who Owns the African Blogosphere (Sep 11th)

Author’s Notes: Damn. The same thing happened in my country of birth, the U.S.A. Our own oft times bloody history of conflicts over land was a big misunderstanding between people from different cultures. A lot of good people died over lands that in essence never belonged to anyone or better stated belonged to those who were the appointed stewards of the land. Boy that could put U.S. real estate markets and the world economy into a downward tailspin if it would hold up in a court of law!

*For detailed information about the history of property rights in 19th Century Nigeria see “The Emergance (or Not) of Property Rights in Land: Southern Nigeria, 1854 to 1914” by James Fenske. Yale University Dept. of Economics has a download of the 170 page document (PDF) at the following URL: http://www.econ.yale.edu/seminars/echist/eh05-06/fenske-061129.pdf

In my recent communications with technology professionals about the use of their new communication and collaboration software I was proud to be able to point to the excellent work by East Africa’s new media & technology pioneers at Kenya Unlimited and the KBW (Kenyan Blogs Webring). The UK newspaper The Independent published a feature article in August about the movers and shakers behind this excellent social networking community and freedom of expression experiment in Kenya. The article highlighted work by our very own GVO pioneer Ory Okolloh on the Mzalendo.com project, the Nairobi-based government watchdog project to help the citizens of Kenya take a more active role in monitoring the activities of their national and regional government. Please read:

FCAEA: Foreign Correpspondents of East Africa Association (source: The Independent)
Boom in blogs gives Africans a voice on the Web, 08/02/07

Ory Okolloh, a Harvard Law School graduate and author of the Kenyan Pundit, M of Thinkers Room, and Daudi Were of Mentalacrobatics were interviewed for the article. Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder of Global Voices Online and a pioneer in providing inspiration and opportunities to bloggers worldwide, was also interviewed. Ethan is everywhere in the mainstream media these days, and that is a good thing for many international blog authors and their respective communities.

Of course there are other noteworthy social networking sites and blogger communities, blog aggregators, and citizen journalist-powered news & opinion websites springing up all over the Africa sector of the Sphere that may not be so well known to international news editors and technology columnists who are supposed to be on top of New Media developments worldwide.

Key Nigerian tech professionals and bloggers have done some remarkable work in supporting their large online communities at home and abroad and there are the new pan-African sites like African Loft and African Path and African Women Reblog which attract top international writers, professional and citizen journalists, and top blog authors that have rapidly growing readership (10’s of 1000’s) that spans the globe.

The UK’s Pambazuka News, where Sokari Ekine of Black Looks serves as Online News Editor has won a number of awards for their content and their technology, including the coveted Tech Museum Award (Microsoft Education Award category). South African startup Afrigator, a new African blog aggregator, was featured in a story last month on hot new non-U.S. startups in the Web 2.0 tech arena: See “It’s a Web, Web, Web 2.0 World” by Eric Schonfeld and Yi-Wen Yen of Business 2.0 magazine (a Time/Warner publication).

That’s it for today 'cause that’s enough for now and it is the beginning of the weekend over here. I promise to get new posts up at Jewels in the Jungle over the next couple (5-7) of days. Lots of interesting news and views and stuff about Africa’s new renaissance in the 21st Century are in the pipeline. Ciao Ya’all.

Related articles and online resources

The Independent (UK newspaper online)
Boom in blogs gives Africans a voice on the Web, 08/02/07

Mzalendo.com (a Nairobi-based government watchdog project to help the citizens of Kenya take a more active role in monitoring the activities of their government)

Ethan Zuckerman (co-founder of Global Voices and Harvard Law School Berkman Center fellow) writes about Ory Okolloh and the Mzalendo.com project in Kenya. Ethan’s personal blog it titled My Heart’s in Accra.

PBS Media Shift (Mark Glaser) on Ory Okolloh and the Mzalendo project

Ory Okolloh of the Kenyan Pundit (Harvard Law School graduate, a Global Voices pioneer blogger for Africans, and co-founder of Mzalendo.com). The UK BBC radio program Outlook has just interviewed Ory re: the Mzalendo project.

Thinker’s Room (M is a leading Kenyan blog author, an IT professional, and co-founder of Mzalendo.com)

Mentalacrobatics (personal blog of Kenyan Daudi Were featured in The Independent article. Daudi is also a key figure in the new media scene and citizen journalism initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa

Technorati tags: Africa sub-Saharan AfricaKenya South Africa Indaba Nigeria New Media technology blogging media journalism news Global Voices Online