11.03.2015

EVENT ALERT EXTRA: UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT - BE THERE OR WATCH ONLINE

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

It is of the utmost importance that we tune in to this event - if we are not able to attend in person.  I had intended to attend, but a major conflict in schedule prevents my doing so - so I will be watching on the UN Channel  http://webtv.un.org/





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"Confronting the Silence: Perspectives and Dialogue on Structural Racism against people of African Descent Worldwide (3 November 2015)

Date: Tuesday, 3 November 2015 
Time: 1.30 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. 
Location: ECOSOC Chamber, UN Secretariat Conference Building
Watch it live here: http://webtv.un.org/
Programme
The event will be organised in the form of a panel discussion. Following opening remarks and presentations made by the panellists, the floor will be opened for a question and answer session with participants to exchange and express views in a frank and open dialogue. 
Welcoming remarks
  • Mr. Ivan Šimonović, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights 
Video messages 
  • Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 
  • Ms. Michaelle Jean, Secretary-General, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie
Keynote
  • Mr. Harry Belafonte, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador 
  • Ms. Mireille Fanon-Mendes-France, Chairperson, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
  • Mr. Mutuma Ruteere, Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
Panel Discussion
  • International perspective
    • Ms. Gay McDougall, Member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
  • Latin America and Caribbean perspective
    • Ms. Cheryl Sterling, Ph.D., Director, Black Studies Program, The City College of New York 
    • Ms. Ramona Hernández, Ph.D., Director, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute & Professor of Sociology, The City College of New York
  • North American perspective
    • Ms. Alicia Garza, Black Lives Matter
    • Mr. Steven W. Hawkins, Executive director of Amnesty International USA
    • Ms. Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice who was fatally shot by police as a 12-year-old
    • Ms. Nicole C. Lee, Mothers against Police Brutality
  • European perspective
    • Mr. Christian Ahlund, Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
Moderator: Mr. Bruce Knotts, Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association United Nations Office
Organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the co-sponsorship of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Nations Department of Public Information, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Black Lives Matter, and Amnesty International USA. 

UN Web Services Section, Department of Public Information, United Nations


Someone foolishly said that we should ignore Africa and only deal with the problems we have here in the United States.  She was lucky she was standing just far enough away that I couldn't really take her to task.  We, as Black people, people of AFRICAN HERITAGE or DESCENT, can no more ignore our people in Africa than we could our people here in the United States.  For in truth, there is no place on this planet where Black people as a whole are doing well.  We are all one people separated by an ocean and time, but not by destiny.  We can't turn our backs on each other.  It's only by working together and banding together that we are going to overcome, surmount, surpass, succeed, and exceed expectations.  We have to think global, work local, and consolidate our wisdom, knowledge, understanding and efforts to make sure we all rise. 
Our enemies have used the methodology of divide and conquer successfully for decades. We know it. It's high time we turned the tables and stop being the victims, following blindly behind the very same people who caused us the problems and the misery our people have suffered for centuries.  So whatever you're doing at 1:30 this afternoon, November 3, 2015, stop it - if you can't watch it, tape it - but make sure you are aware and can converse and take part in what it is we need to do to change our destinies - for ourselves and for BLACK PEOPLE WORLDWIDE!

I FIND IT INTERESTING AND SOMEWHAT IRONIC THAT AN ASIAN BROTHER - BAN KI MOON - WAS THE ONE WHO DECLARED THIS THE DECADE OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT - as opposed to two Black men who could and should have done so during their tenure at the UN.  We owe him a debt of gratitude. Now don't waste it.
One of the key things we must focus on is REPARATIONS - both here in the UNITED STATES, and in AFRICA - as well as the CARIBBEAN and SOUTH AMERICA.It may take shape in different ways based on where we are, but the truth of the matter is that the US, Great  Britain, and the rest of the world that indulged in and benefitted from the transatlantic slave trade and our free labor for 400 years, now owe us big time.  Once we come away from this forum, I think we need to begin putting together a national petition here in the US, demanding our 21st CENTURY EQUIVALENT of our 4O ACRES AND A MULE- which was written into law by President Abraham Lincoln - 150 years ago - NOW IS THE APPOINTED TIME, AND THIS IS THE HOUR!

NOW THAT YOU KNOW - WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? 
STAY BLESSED  & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK 
GLORIA 


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