A Narrative Summary of the 18th Annual Africa/Disapora Conference on Race, Religion
and Ethnic Relations in Africa/Diaspora: Creating Peace & Justice Dialogues
April 30-May 2, 2009
Sponsored byCalifornia State University, Sacramento,
The College of Health & Human Services and
The Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR),
In collaboration with Pan African Studies Program
Promptly at 9:00 a.m., May 1, 2009, the 18th annual CAPCR Africa/Diaspora conference opened with a fiery half hour of drumming and dancing by the African Dance Connection. Then, Lionel Von Frederick Rawlins of North Central University, Prescott Valley, Arizona stepped to the podium and introduced conference moderator, Don Taylor of CSU Sacramento.
After Dr. Taylor’s introductory remarks to the 18th Annual Africa/Diaspora Conference, there followed more formal welcoming remarks from Lila Jacobs, Vice Chair of CAPCR: from Boatamo Mosupyoe, Director of Pan African Studies and Cooper-Woodson College; from Bruce Bikle, Chair of the Faculty Senate; from Miguel Cervantes, ASI President; from Marilyn Hopkins, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services; and Joseph Sheley, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Then, Dr. Taylor returned to the podium to introduce CAPCR Director, Prof. Ernest Uwazie who offered opening comments pertinent to the conference topics and subtopics. He noted not only the dominance of Christian and Muslim religions in African nations but also the growth and influence of more recent Pentecostal Movements, where some glamorize material wealth. He noted the ethnic conflicts throughout Africa: the women’s sex strike in Kenya, over the political wrangling between the country’s president and prime minister; the 500,000-800,000 dead in the 1994 Rwanda genocide; and the over 300,000 dead and 2.7 million displaced in the current Darfur genocide.
Then, with an emphasis upon the importance of continuing consensus-building and dialogue to bring about more successful resolutions to Africa’s problems, Prof. Uwazie acknowledged the success of South Africa’s most recent election and the power sharing arrangements in Zimbabwe, albeit shaky. He also acknowledged the role of the CSUS –CAPCR in getting Africans of “blood and the soil”—i.e., in America and in Africa—collaboratively involved in the continuing struggle to politically and economically stabilize African nations and her populations in the diaspora. In conclusion, he officially declared the 2009 conference open.
Next, Dr. Taylor introduced keynote speaker, Kelechi Kalu of Ohio State University, the first keynote speaker. In his paper, “Religion, Race/Ethnic Relations in Africa: Creating Peace Dialogues,” Dr. Kalu refuted the notion that African conflicts “derive from primordial ethnic and religious differences.” Ethnicity and religion are not inherently violent, he contended. Rather, violence is contingent upon the manner in which ethnic and religious diversity are articulated.
In his opinion, ethnic and religious diversity are strengths when embedded in a constitutional government of laws that allow for strategic negotiation in a context where enforceable rules are understood by all actors and where leaders’ personalities do not subvert those rules. Nevertheless, “In public officials’ hands language does not reflect reality but shapes it.” Resurrecting the European colonial practice of “divide and conquer”—i.e., manipulating African diversity in order to dominate it by force—post-colonial politicians too often have manipulated ethnicity and religion in order to advance divisive, self-serving agendas. For instance, in Malawi, Somalia, and Rwanda, disastrous instability resulted not from ethnic division but from the political manipulation of hierarchies. Also, the imposition of Islam in Sudan without consultation with the people is an example of charismatic leaders subverting Constitutional government.
Hence, the language of scholarly analysis should intervene. Beginning with a rigorous critique of hierarchical relations, its goal is to supplant the discourse of violence with a Constitutionally regulated dialogue that can “re-envision Africa.”That dialogue, he contended, is crucial at the present time, when the President Obama’s exercise of power through dialogue is supplanting former President George W. Bush’s policy of exacting compliance through military force. From there, Dr. Kalu suggested several admirably well-informed and closely reasoned strategies for such scholarly intervention.
Then, Dr. Taylor returned to the podium to introduce the second keynote speaker, Dr. Judith Byfield of Cornell University. Her paper, “Echoes of History, Peace, Justice, and Idealism in the 21st Century” emphasized writing, intellect, and spirituality over violence. She recalled Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King’s 1957 visit to Ghana when thousands gathered to “watch the Union Jack lowered and the Black Star, Ghana’s flag, rise in its place.” According to Byfield, that day affirmed King’s statement that “oppression never voluntarily relinquishes power; rather, freedom comes through persistent revolt and agitation” in defense of the people’s rights.Moreover, that occasion inspired King’s understanding that “this freedom—the freedom in the birth of a new nation—will influence the situation [in America]” (quoted from Etta Barnett’s 1957 interview with King).
Although Byfield lamented that, fifty years later, many tyrannical African leaders have as much reason as their colonial precursors to be fearful of a politically mobilized citizenry—especially of “the unions, college students, women’s organizations that brought them into power,” she maintained that King would acknowledge that the struggle for freedom in Africa has persisted, due to the effortsofcelebrated activists such as Wangari Mathai, the late Ousmane Sembene, the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and “countless individuals and organizations we do not hear about in the New York Times or the Washington Post.” She hoped that President Obama’s victory can provide new impetus to that struggle.
Afterward, Nii Akuetteh of TransAfrica, Washington D.C., offered a special luncheon presentation: “Responding To the Somali Conflict and Piracy Dilemma.” At the root of the problem, he insists, are not only the Ethiopian occupation—now ended—but also the lack of democracy, the years of low-level civil war, the country’s humanitarian crisis, and the recent history of wealthier countries using Somalia as a dumping ground for toxic materials.
Why is it America’s problem? he queried rhetorically.
It is America’s problem because of four episodes of American intervention in Somalia. 1). In 1977, Jimmy Carter with the support of Sing Buri engineered a coup d'état in an effort unify Somalia.2). November 1992, George Bush Sr. order American marines to secure grain deliveries against warlords. 3). Subsequently, Clinton protected grain deliveries, which led to Blackhawk Down, whereupon Clinton became “gun shy”; 4). The worst intervention, tantamount to war crime, was led by George Bush Jr., who opposed peace by paying off Somali warlords to overload the Islamic union, thereby re-escalating the civil war that had been de-escalating for four years.
The only lasting solution, contends Akuette, is to rebuild Somalia, which is America’s responsibility because of the history of America’s disastrous interventions.
As usual, plenary and concurrent panels begin the afternoon preceding the opening ceremonies. At 1:00 p.m. Thursday April 30, Dr. Ricky Green of CSUS chaired Plenary A, “An Inquiry into the Concept of Soul in African Diaspora: Art, Politics and Philosophy as Mediating Discourse of Justice and Peace.” CAPCR Board member Beatrice Russell provided the following summaries of their presentations.
Toni Tinker’s essay titled “Coded Messages” addressed how coded messages in African-American music inform youth politics. Since black dissent has been violently suppressed throughout most of American history, black musicians have been agents of African-American activism. Whites, she asserts, are drawn to black rhythms but do not necessarily understand the “hidden transcript” of political dissent in the lyrics.
Her paper is an attempt to give outsiders an insider’s view of some of the lyrics’ coded messages. For instance, black insiders hear the resonance between Sam Cookes’ “Change is Gonna Come” and Barack Obama’s “change has come to America”: between Robin Kelley’s “Race Rebels”, W.E.B. Dubois’ The Souls of Black Folk, and Angela Davis’s speeches on the blues and black feminism: between Tupac Shakur’s “If I Were President” and Barack Obama’s run for the Presidency: and between the expectations of white violence in Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” and rapper Naz’s attacks on Fox News coverage of President Barack Obama.
Darryl Freeman’s paper, “Examination of the Lost Soul connection between the African-American Community and its Traditional African Heritage” lamented loss of the African communal spirit among African-Americans. The modern diaspora has sacrificed its “soulful” communal emphasis in favor of American individualism and the conspicuous consumption of capitalism.
Citing the Fifth Pan-African Congress that “positioned [its] political and economic demands within a new world context of international cooperation,” he suggested that “perhaps it is time for a new Pan African Congress. . . to reaffirm the communal goals and processes of African nationalism and [to reaffirm] a unity of purpose for the African Diaspora around the world.”
At 2:50, Concurrent Panel One, “Religion and Societal Values,” combined with Concurrent Panel Two, “Religion, Ethnicity, and Peace Education.” The combined panel was chaired by Lila Jacobs and Sylvester Bowie of CAPCR CSUS. The initial speaker, Victor Adefemi Isumona from University of Ibadan, Nigeria, presenting his paper “The Clergy Class: Domination and Accumulation in Nigeria.” Whereas, argued Isumona, post-colonial America adopted constitutional democracy, Nigeria took a different path: those able to get power tyrannized over others and disrupted efforts to implement democracy. Why have not the people revolted? he asked. The answer: the clergy play an important role in perpetuating the system of oppression.
The clergy claim to solve poverty, barrenness, disease, and unemployment through miracles, then claim that the people lack sufficient faith to bring about the promised miracles. Thus, the Church absolves the government of its responsibility, pacifies the population, and suppresses dissent.
Following Isumona, Elizabeth Anyaonu of Nnamdi Azikiwe University read her paper, “Religious Practices: The Bane of Peace & Justice: A Continuum in Nigeria,” co-written with Ogugua V.C. Ikpeze. Their paper attributed Nigeria’s rising tide of violence to religious practices that “encourage discrimination and violation of the rights of other religious practitioners.” It cites conflicts between Roman Catholics and Anglicans, between the Islamic Maitasine and Shiites and, most disastrously, between the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Jama-atu Nasril Islam (JNI).
Friday at 1:00 p.m., following Nii Akeuette’s Special Luncheon Presentation on Somalia, Concurrent Panel Three “The Politics of Justice, Ethnicity, and Conflict Resolution” and Concurrent Panel Four combined. Panel chairs were Kaylene Richards-Ekeh of CSU Sacramento and Browne Onuoha, a visiting Professor at CSUS from University of Lagos, Nigeria. Barbara Tint of Portland State University led off with her paper, “Dialogue & Reconciliation Process within African Diaspora”—co-written with Roland Clarke and Carmina Rinker. The paper emphasized the authors’ involvement with immigrant refugee communities in Portland, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. There were four phases of the project: 1). assessing each community’s needs, challenges, and issues; 2). participant led dialogue in each community’s own language; 3. participant led conflict resolution; and 4). capacity building.
With respect to conflict resolution, the paper cites four areas of inquiry: 1). When are antagonists most amenable to peaceful conflict resolution? 2). How do intensity and immediacy of experience result in amenability? 3). How does one sustain the transition from conflict to peace? 4). How does one develop replicable dialogue and conflict resolution processes?
The discussion remains general, noting that antagonists are most amenable to change at moments when status is about the change, at moments of spiritual crisis, at moments of loss of control, or with threats to family, self-esteem, health, freedom, profession. It is at such moments that dialogue can most successfully intervene: facilitating new identity construction, healing, curiosity, and risk taking; and bringing an end to fear, despair, paranoia, judgment, avoidance, and hierarchical relationships.
Barbara Tint’s paper was followed by “The Tiv-Jukun Conflict: The State of Human Rights Violations in Central Nigeria,” read by A. O. Banjo from the University of Zululand, South Africa. The paper is basically a survey of the conflict.
Before 1926, there was no conflict between between the Tiv and Jukun. Then, British patronage of the Jukun led to violations of Tiv civil rights and eliminated the Tiv leadership. After, decolonization the Tiv retributive civil war waged from 1962-1964, followed by sporadic outburst of violence but no large scale escalation until 1990-1992 when hundreds of houses, businesses, and schools, were looted and burned. The killing was extremely brutal, including beheading, setting victims ablaze. Children and pregnant women became targets. Since then, the government has failed to assist the victims and the destruction is still visible.
Thereafter followed Jennifer de Maio from CSU Northridge, reading her paper
“Africa’s Scramble for Africa: The Case of the Transnationalization of Conflict in Darfur.’The paper attributed the transnationalization of war in Darfur not to diffusion but to spillover of violence resulting from the Sudanese government deliberately exploiting the violence in Darfur to wage proxy wars in Chad and the Central African Republic.
This excellent and detailed analysis concluded with the argument that, short of a change in leadership in Khartoum and a revision of policy goals, it is very likely that the transnationalization of the conflict in Darfur will involve not only the Central African Republic and Chad but also Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, and Somalia, and thereby become Africa’s second continental war.
Finally, Eric H. Honda applied game theory to the analysis of the Rwanda genocide in “Rationalizing the Rwanda Genocide: The Irrationality of the Three-Player Decision Game.”
Next, Concurrent Panel Five “Ethnicity, Democracy, and Justice Dialogues” combined with Concurrent Panel Six “Ethnicity, Democracy and Justice Dialogues,” chaired by Professor Beatrice Russell and Cecil Canton of CAPCR CSUS. Russell also recorded the minutes of Concurrent Panel Five. Jesse Mills from University of San Diego led off with her paper, “Rebirth in the Refugee Diaspora: Organizing Somali Youth Around Religion, Gender and Culture in San Diego, California.” Working with the youth among the 12,00-15,000 Somali refugees in San Diego, Mills notes three examples of Somali religious youth leadership, giving particular attention to a youth group empowering women to go to school. Mills argues that the youth activism must be fostered because of its capacity to help unify Somalia.
Following Mills, Scopas S. Poggo of Ohio State University presented “The Origins and Patterns of Migration of Southern Sudanese Ethnic and Linguistic Groups.” Poggo traces a general history of migrations of the Luo, Bantu, and Nuba to Southern Sudan, British colonialism’s role in fostering enmity between them, and the Center for Bridging Community working to mediate ethnic relations between them.
Next, Browne Onuoha from University of Lagos read his paper “The State, Culture of Peace and Consensus Building in Africa.” His paper proceeded in three parts. The first part offered a framework for understanding the nature of State in Africa: rooted not in democratic processes but the “logic of power.” Thus, he rejects the present assumption in Africa that the civil society exists. The second part argues that the logic of power does not allow culture of peace and consensus building to prevail. The third part of the paper “suggests that a culture of peace and consensus building begins with the reduction of the high premium placed on politics in Africa, followed by the development of an ideologically imbued and oriented civil society to act as counter-force to the professional politician.” His paper takes the position of a whistle blower, pointing to the pitfalls confronting culture of peace and consensus building in Africa.
Following Onuoha, Jacqueline Munalula Msitwa of Drexel University read her paper “Is the Discovery of Oil Promoting Racial and Religious Unity in Sudan?” arguing that oil is the instrument for the death, not the life of Sudan. Rather than religion, the source of conflict in Sudan is “the resource curse,” hampering rather than promoting unity and resulting in civil conflict rather than peace. As the elite benefit from oil revenues, the quality of public spending declines, and the government borrows billions to cover shortfalls when commodity prices fluctuate. Ultimately, the elite are in control and foreign investors reap the greatest advantages.
8:30-10:40 a.m., Saturday, May 2, Concurrent Panels Seven “Gender, Media, Ethnicity, and Peace Building” and Eight “Ethnicity and Peace-Building Dialogues” combined. Panel Chairs were Jessie Gaston and Marlyn Jones of CAPCR CSUS. Beatrice Russell led off with her paper, “Gendering War: Searching for Peace and reconciliation in President Sirleaf’s Speeches.” Russell briefly traced a history of Liberian heads of State with an emphasis on Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, jailed in 1985 after challenging the Liberian government, yet elected over football star George Weah in 2005. Sirleaf’s speeches wage semantic war against the physical, sexual, and psychological violence of Liberia’s past, thus breaking with the past violence of the Doe and Taylor presidencies, argued Russell.