Is the NYPD Attempt to Block Historic AFRICAN DAY PARADE IN CELEBRATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT Racist or ???

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

You know, I love a parade. Especially when we do it ourselves. That's why I never miss the West Indian Day Parade every year down Eastern Parkway. The music, the color, the costumes, the pride, the crowds - they are all us! And despite the fact that the NYPD made the stupid mistake of arresting Jumaani Williams for being City Council rep while Black (and these cops were allegedly Black themselves), it was still not enough to mar my love of our parades.

So when I was asked to work as Executive Coordinator of the African (Heritage) Day Parade, I was honored. With all the beautiful, wonder, craftmanship, colors, and music coming out of Africa, this was sure to be a beautiful event. Particularly since it's the only parade of its kind where Africans from all over Africa, residing in New York, New Jersey and other eastern seaboard states, come together to show their pride and love for the Motherland, and for those of us who were brought here via the middle passage, and other means.

That would give New York three signature parades coordinated by people of African Heritage: West Indian Day Parade; the African American Day Parade, and the African (Heritage) Day Parade. The third being an all encompassing event bringing together the 6th Dispora, as well as the 54 countries on the Continent of Africa.

The African (Heritage) Day Parade is set to take place in Harlem On October 9, 2011, but the group is having difficulty is getting an innocuous parade permit so they can go forward with their plans and publications. The permit was already granted on July 5, but the route was changed from the original selecton. In the grand scheme of things we have a constitution that asserts all men (and women) are created equal, but we have some in official capacities who seem to have not gotten the message, or don't care.

I have actually not written about this, hoping that nature would take its course, intelligent minds would come into play and that our African brothers and sisters would get the same opportunity to display their pride and unity that so many others have accorded - so I've reserved comment. But now, they have gone from the ridiculous to the outrageous.

I have to talk about it, and I'm going to do it by a somewhat circuitous route, but I think you'll get my drift when I'm done:

When I was a student at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, some of my friends from Kenya and I were driving through the backwoods along the Baltimore Pike when we came upon an eerie scene: that of several hundred men dressed in white robes with hoods in front of a burning cross. It was the KKK and they had threatened to come on our campus to run us out of there - the year was 1967, and we were actually accompanying a classmate, Maxine Stewart, to a prayer vigil, in nearby Dover, Delaware.

Having never seen anything like it before in my life, I found it hard to breathe. My African brothers had likewise never seen anything like this either, and so, insisted upon going back for a closer look. And no matter how much we protested the idea, they turned that little VW Beetle, stuffed with 9 students (no seat belts, sitting on top of each other, the whole 9 yards!) around. And back we went for a closer look at these miscreants. As we approached, we observed that there were several police cars from Oxford, PA and Maryland there as well, many with the robes prominently displayed in the windows. But, this time things were different. They spotted us, and this time 2 cop cars drove up on either side and forced us to pull over. Another cop came out of no where and made us get out of the car - all 9 of us! Wanting to know what we were doing there. And I, yours truly, was totally speechless for once.

After a few invectives, one of my Kenyan friends said in a small stammer "Diplomatic Immunity!" I tried to warn him to be careful. But he kept saying it over and over again: "Diplomatic Immunity! We have Diplomatic Immunity!" He said it so long and so loud until finally, one of the police in KKK uniform heard him and quieted his companions - of course by this time we were less than 3 feet away from the bonfire, and they promised us that we would each have first hand looks.

"Hey! Wait a minute! These are n-gg-rs with foreign accents. We can't touch them!! If we do they'll be all over us. We gotta let 'em go." It took an officer with a higher ranking to understand that the incident could quickly escalate to an international one, had they continued to push us towards the burning cross.

And almost miraculously, they started dragging us back to the car. Made us get in at gun point, and escorted us back to the campus, telling us if we breathed a word about what had happened they would come on the campus and get us. By the time they escorted us back to Lincoln University campus, the Delaware Star (a racist white paper that had no doubt been told that we were going to be immolated), tried to interview us. They were looking for fear. I wouldn't say anything, but my Homeboys from Kenya told all. Of course, the KKK has never raided Lincoln University (we were prepared for them back in those days), but the fact that there was collusion between the racist forces and the mainstream white police has never been a surprise to me, whether we are in the South or in the North, since that day.

Now what does that have to do with the upcoming African (Heritage) Day Parade, and the withholding of the permits? Just this: On July 5, Kone Momadou, of the Ivory Coast, applied for a parade permit to hold a parade in Harlem that would be coordinated by Africans residing in New York, and people of African Descent to demonstrate their pride and accomplishments over the past few years. The originally requested route was from 142 and Malcolm X (Lenox) Blvd., and 122nd and Marcus Garvey Park (following which there would also be a street festival and other events.

From the outset, Lt. O'Conner has reportedly been playing cat and mouse games with this group, from arbitrarily shortening the route, to holding up the parade permit when Mr. Momadou asked for reconsideration based on the size and magnitude of the event.

The Parade, which is set for Sunday, October 9, 2011, has been in the making now for the past two months, including contacts with the diplomatic core of Africa, the Caribbean, and other entities. Requests for reconsideration have likewise gone out via individuals who have given them assurances that these issues would be rectified. However we sit today with O'Conner still playing keep away games with the parade permit. Now trying to further truncate the parade to an even shorter, more proscribed route.

Is there some sort of cognitive dissonace withing the NYPD that emanates from the Mayor's office of community relations that people of other countries who reside within the borders of New York are not worthy of being accorded simple courtesy and respect they give the Chinese, Koreans, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians, and others.

Our African and sisters who live in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area, are from all of the various regions of Africa -- East, West, North and Central, but appear to have no coinage for respect in New York City. Amazing, isn't it, when you consider that the fact that over half of the Africans in the US happen to reside in New York City, Philadelphia and DC. By the way, they are merchants, own businesses, pay taxes, are well educated, and for the most part, stay out of trouble.

So, I guess we have to chalk it up to the fact that the some of the police in authority for permits in the Black community, may likewise have "white robes" in the back of their vehicles, like the ones I dealt with long ago on the Maryland Pennsylvania State Line. WE are all Black, whether we are here, or from Africa, and are worthy of respect and consideration. We are neither n----ers with foreign accents, but assets to the community, with even broader connections spanning four continents.

While I've been told that they are shortening all the parades, I doubt seriously this is true of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; the Columbus Day Parade, the St. Patrick Day Parade, etc.

I and others in the community urge you to give them the permit which had already been signed by you, and stop jerking them and the citizens of New York City around, with arbitrary rules, made up for your convenience, not for the needs or the wishes of the community that you purport to service.

It's time to respect those who are still residing in our beloved city, and stop treating them like they have no value. Unless, of course, the idea is to transform NYC into some quasi militarized, gestapo city, where people are goosestepping along, instead of living their lives in a harmonious, enjoyable fashion.

READERS AND FELLOW BLOGGERS: Below is an excerpt from a letter from Mr. Momadou requesting assistance in rectifying this situation. We need your help. Please contact the Mayor or Commissioner's office and urge them to reinstate the Parade Permit and the Parade Route for the African Day Parade. You can also contact the African Day Parade Committee (646)934-7337.


"Dear Sir:

I was informed by Detective Leslie Leon about the meeting with Lieutenant O Connor. We initially asked for the parade to be from 142 and Lenox ave., to 122 and Marcus Garvey Park, where our festivities would continue until 8:PM. The permit was granted, but Chief O'Connor shortened it to 135th Street. When we tried to negotiate it to 142nd street, to be able to use MiniSink Town House as a staging area; O'conner held the permit. Now he is trying to shorten the route even further, and to change it completely, taking to from 135th street to 122nd street on Lenox and changing it to 112th street to 120th street on Lenox. While both route has the same amount of bloks. they are two totally different neighborhoods. This is our fifth parade, but already we have lost a year in 2011 because of lack of funds. We do not want to loose another year, and we are just two to 3 week away from the parade date.

We applied for the 2 consecutive years to use 142th Street to 122nd street on Lenox, we are again appealing to you to take this matter higher to the commissioner so he can allow us to use the the route we applied for.

We already made an effort for not allowing us to use more blocks, I think we would be able to be where the African are, the reason the parade didn't happen last year it s because of the same reason this year again, Mr. President you been at the African day parade as a Grand Marshall, we can say today that is one of the most successful and bigger African Events. The police Commissioner has been there as a grand Marshall.

The African Day Parade is more than just a parade, this is a showcase of our heritage and culture. the reason we want to used the 142nd street is beceause we have a school right there where we can do our ritual: in 2008 when we parade on 126 street we came upstairs and saw how we prepare.

We are bringing 20 very sacred masks from Cameroon, they need the school to prepare, we are doing the king and queen presentation this year , we need the school classroom to prepare that.

Mr. President as a leader of the African Community , you know how hard it is to assemble the Africans. An event like the African day Parade is trying to find the balance to get the Africans out early so they can come and celebrate their own culture. The blocks on Lenox are very small. In our parade you can see that we do not have barricade and large police present, cause we parade to showcase our culture and tradition; we would like you to be our advocate to the Chief, or the Commissioner, our request is to parade from from uptown side to south down to 122nd street with the same amount of blocks.

- We have all of our application and permits, we are asking for a route who will reflect our culture , on Lenox we will parade in front of African stores and businesses, and African restaurants. To keep changing route and location is not a good practice for us or the participants....Kone Momadou"


Please write, call, meet with and contact the Police Commissioner, Chief of Police and those in the Harlem area to let them know that you support the parade being allowed its full route, as well as the opportunity of displaying African Pride in Harlem, NYC.
Thanks and
STAY BLESSED &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

NIGERIA CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF LIBERATION FROM COLONIAL MONSTERS

by Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Nigeria is celebrating 50 years of liberation from British colonialism. They were liberated in 1960. Now to those of us who are part of the African Diaspora, I.e., offshoots of Africa, this may not have much resonance.

But to those brothers and sisters from Africa who have had to endure the invasion and desecration of their continent for over400 years, and invasion which spawned the transatlantic triangle trade known as slavery, which resulted in our being dropped off on islands between Africa and the US, as well as being thrown overboard when we suffered from the rigors of privation, rape and beatings - this means a great deal.

Which is worse - being stolen from your homeland, or having your homeland be invaded by racists who then proceed to dismantle your culture and superimpose their own?

In reality, there is no “worse;” there is no either/or. It’s really both/and. The fact that we African Americans supposedly got our freedom from slavery in 1865, and were at least on paper, supposed to now join the ranks of those free to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, was an illusive proposition, at best. It really was a hoax that we had to band together and enforce.

The liberation of Nigeria came after years and years of struggle, negotiations, and continuous rip off of Africa’s natural resources by the Euro powers, America and Great Britain. I have friends from Africa who, when were attending college, would not eat chocolate, because they or their family members were forced to work to harvest it for Cadbury and the others who then sold them as candy and confectionaries.

And how many of you realize that the empires of Goodyear Tire and Rubber emanate from rubber plantations that were plentiful throughout the entire region. What about gold, diamonds (don’t think the movie about blood diamonds is the only info about rip off of African resources); bauxite, emeralds, phosphorous, etc. But the king of king exploitation was and is petroleum -- better known as oil. Oil has made America rich, investors rich; but put Nigerians at peril.

50 years ago was also the beginning of the escalation of the Civil Rights Movement in America. It was the beginning of Black Power. It was the beginning of our attempt to reunite with our brothers and sisters from the Continent. It was the beginning of our ignoring the lies and the barriers that had been deliberately placed between Black Africans and Black African Americans, where we ourselves tore down the walls and begin a dialogue that would, in many ways destroy the lies and hostilities that had been fostered by whites between us. You know, the old divide and conquer tactics that have been used so effectively against for all these centuries. But this time, much to the amazement of the Brits, it wasn’t working, and the pressure was coming from both Africans and African Americans who were joining forces on both sides of the Atlantic to oust the colonial monsters (I call them monsters, others call them “colonial masters” - but I want to debunk that slave/master imagery that has so long haunted us on both sides of the ocean).

Nigeria has much to celebrate. It is the largest country in area and population on the Continent of Africa. It has produced wonderful leaders and concepts. It, along with Ethiopia, was one of the first African countries to have its own African president, Nnamdi Azikiwe, who graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (USA) -- my alma mater!! Zik, as he was called back in the day, was a Black leader from the very beginning, with many of his concepts solidified while at Lincoln. It was President Azikiwe who made it possible for Kwame Nkrumah (later the president of Ghana) to attend Lincoln University.

As with the Black Power movement, the voting rights act, and the Civil Rights Act, the liberation of Nigeria began with Azikiwe and his followers pushing against colonial rule and the status quo. Pushing against the go along to get along mentality. That spirit and energy is even more prominent and evident today, with Nigeria beginning to develop its own economic imperatives, and beginning to tell her own story from her own standpoint to educate and elevate her people and bring them competitively into the 21st century.

Likewise, as with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a little matter of reparations has never been addressed nor reconciled. England and the US owe Nigera big time -- and in the aggregate, they owe all Black people of African heritage, big time. They don’t appear to be in any hurry to repay either one of us, or make good on the empty promises that have been made over the decades (but our American Indian brothers and sisters could have told you not to hold your breath on that one - they, like Nigeria, have been colonized for centuries. They now reside on reservations -- depleted land areas where they were relegated while the best of the lands were turned over the pioneers or invaders (depending on whose telling the story).

Despite the fact that Nigeria still has not received just compensation for the indignities they have suffered, this is never the less an occasion for celebration. And celebrate they are.

At the kick off of UN Week 50 Women of Nigeria were celebrated at a Fifty at 50 Event, displaying Nigerian designed fashions, jewelry, logos and themes. It was a wonderful event, which was sponsored by the wife of the current president, Goodluck Jonathan. From that time forward there have been non-stop festivities surrounding this wonderful occasion.

I say we, who are brothers and sisters residing in the diasporic African regions of the US, Caribbean, South America and anywhere else Black people are found, all join in the spirit and congratulate Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan, and all the brothers and sisters who reside on both sides of the Atlantic -- whether they are here in the Diasporic USA, or at our continental home in Nigeria -- CONGRATULATIONS!!

Congratulations and please DO ONE HIGHLIFE FOR ME!!

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

PS: EVENT ALERT: TODAY, OCTOBER 9, 2010 The African Day Parade kicks off at 11:00 am at 54th Street and 2nd Ave, culminating in a street festival at 47th Street and 2nd Ave, Dag Hammerskjold Plaza. Wear your best and most beautiful traditional African clothing and come out to celebrate our heritage and their accomplishments.

Stay blessed
GDW