Oloxala (Fusion of African Descendants)

Molly Melching in the founder of Tostan meaning (Breakthorough in wolof-native language of Senegal). The Non-Governmental Organisation’s mission is to empower African communities for sustainable development and social transformation in the respect of human rights and abandonment of female genital cutting (FGM) and child/forced marriage in Senegal, Guinea and Burkina Faso. To date, 2,996 communities have abandoned FGC in Senegal through a public declaration, in Guinea, 298 communities have declared, and 20 have declared in Burkina Faso.

Awards Molly has received are:
1999 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2002 Sargeant Shriver Distinguished Award for Humanitarian Service
2007 One’s World Person

She has written a children’s book called Anniko which was published by the (NEA) New African Editions.

In November 1976, she joined thePeace Corps on an individual placement to continue developing and publishing books for Senegalese children tailored to their culture and environment. To accomplish this, Molly created the "Demb ak Tey" (Yesterday and Today) Center, which opened in the African Cultural Center, and served street children in the most populated area of Daka. Using songs, stories, proverbs, theater and other oral African traditions, Molly and her Senegalese team promoted children's literature pertaining to West African culture. Seeing the popularity of traditional African stories and their potential as a vehicle for education, Molly began a weekly radio program in Wolof, a major national language of Senegal. By including messages on health and the environment, the radio program reached thousands of families with relevant information for improving their lives.

In collaboration with community members, she and her Senegalese team developed a basic, nonformal education program for rural populations based on their traditions and culture. This program, funded by USAID, was so successful that many other NGOs soon adopted it.

Molly began collaborating with UNICEF /Senegal in 1988 to improve and expand this nonformal education program to other languages and regions of Senegal. Recognizing women’s crucial role within their own communities as well as the whole of Senegalese society, Molly took note of these women’s distinctive need for literacy training and other kinds of basic education. With UNICEF’s support, the program was extended to thousands of women throughout the country and was also adapted for at-risk, out-of-school adolescents using a basic life skills approach.

I Admire Molly for her courage to take on such a sensitive issue in Africa where some traditional practices were thought never to be eradicated. It is a great achievement and accomplishment she has undertaken. And for her to promote awareness of this issue that is hardly spoken about in today’s society.

Republic of South Africa

Capital: Pretoria

Largest City:Johannesburg

President: Kgalema Motlanthe

Former Presidents: Thabo Mbeki & Nelson Mandela

Female Vice President: Baleka Mbete

Independence: 31 May 1961 (republic declared) 27 April 1994 (majority rule)

Main Languages: Afrikaans & English

Other Languages include: Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.

Some Native Tribes: Zulu, Xhosa, Bantu, Tsonga, Sepedi, Setsotho & Setswana

Natural resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas

South Africa is a country blessed with an abundance of natural resources including fertile farmlands and unique mineral resources.

**European settlement expanded during 1820’s as the Boers (Dutch, Flemish, German, & French) meaning in Dutch farmer.

*First Anglo Boer War (1880-1881) was between the Boers & British fighting for South Africa’s mineral wealth when diamonds & later gold was discovered.

**Second Anglo Boer War 1899-1902, was eventually won by the British

National Park Map

***Country contains archaeological sites – fossil remains in Sterkfontein, Kromdraai & Makapansgat Caves.

Sterkfontein “Cradle of Human Kind”

Visiting the World Heritage site of Sterkfontein and Wondercaves, comprising 13 fossil sites. It includes Mrs. Ples, a 2.5 million year old skull and “Little Foot” a virtually complete skeleton 4.7 million years old.

Remains of ape-man, fauna remains exceeding a million years, cave formations and chambers. Fossil remains of sabre-toothed cat and 2.8 million year old forest-dwelling monkeys. This area is mysterious and enchanting, with new discoveries almost daily.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Born 18July 1918)

*He is of Madiba clan, his birth name Rolihlahla means “to pull a branch of a tree” or “troublemaker”.

*1923: becomes a herd boy

*1925: first in his family to attend school @ 7 years old.

*1927: his father dies

* 1941: works as a night watchman at a goldmine, then becomes a clerk at the law firm Witkin & studies for his B.A.

*1942: graduates from the University of South Africa. Begins attending ANC (African National Congress) meetings, a nationalist group that aimed to unite Africans & establish a democratic form of government.

*1943: marches in support of a bus boycott to protest a fare hike in Aleazandra, erolls at University of Witwatersrand for degree in Law.

*1944: helps form ANC youth league, marries evelyn Mase, 2 years later their son Madiba is born.

5 August 1962 Mandela was arrested with the charges of leading workers to strike in 1961 and leaving the country illegally, plots of sabotage, treason and the second charge he was accused of plotting a foreign invasion of South Africa, which Mandela denied.

He was sentenced to life in prison on 12 June 1964. He was imprisoned on Robben Island. Prison conditions were very basic. Prisoners were segregated by race, with black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. He was as a D-group prisoner (the lowest classification).

“ During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”...in the defense case in Rivonia Trial by Nelson Mandela.

His prison number was 46664 – representing that he is the 466^th prisoner of Robben Island in 1964.

Mandela’s incarceration brought international attention to the racial injustices of South Africa’s apartheid government sparking the rally cry ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ worldwide. He served 27 years in prison before his release in 1990 at the age of 72 and was elected the first black President of South Africa in 1994. Although he retired from political life in 1999, Mandela continues to lend his voice towards issues that affect his country and the world at large, such as the AIDS epidemic, poverty, and human rights.

He is a shining example of the incredible strength of the human spirit to persevere in the face of adversity for the pursuit of freedom.

In 1944 Nelson Mandela married his first wife Evelyn Ntoko Mase, his second wife was Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (SA Politician) they wed in 1958. In 1998, on his 80th birthday, Nelson Mandela married his 3red wife Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique and continued travelling the world, meeting leaders, attending conferences and collecting awards after stepping down as president.

He was an anti-apartheid activist and has received many awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Since his retirement, one of his primary commitments has been to the fight against AIDS.

46664 campaign began in 2003 and is an African response to the global HIV AIDS epidemic that invites the whole world to take the fight in hand. Their aim is to raise awareness overall and educate the younger generations in particular. By gaining global backing for the cause, they raise funds to directly assist the many HIV AIDS projects they support. They intend to do this by using our international ambassadors to spread our messages of hope, our calls to action, our pleas for compassion and our requests for assistance and support for those living with HIV AIDS.

Apartheid: was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1994. Apartheid had its roots in the history of colonisation and settlement of southern Africa, with the development of practices and policies of separation along racial lines and domination by European settlers and their descendants.

South Africa was colonized by the English and Dutch in the seventeenth century. English domination of the Dutch descendents (known as Boers or Afrikaners) resulted in the Dutch establishing the new colonies of Orange Free State and Transvaal. The discovery of diamonds in these lands around 1900 resulted in an English invasion which sparked the Boer War. Following independence from England, an uneasy power-sharing between the two groups held sway until the 1940's, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority. Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system. Initially, aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. Starting in the 60's, a plan of ``Grand Apartheid'' was executed, emphasizing territorial separation and police repression.

With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of ``white-only'' jobs. In 1950, the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent). The coloured category included major subgroups of Indians and Asians. Classification into these categories was based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent. For example, a white person was defined as ``in appearance obviously a white person or generally accepted as a white person.'' A person could not be considered white if one of his or her parents were non-white. The determination that a person was ``obviously white'' would take into account ``his habits, education, and speech and deportment and demeanor.'' A black person would be of or accepted as a member of an African tribe or race, and a colored person is one that is not black or white. The Department of Home Affairs (a government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books'' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas.

In 1951, the Bantu Authorities Act established a basis for ethnic government in African reserves, known as ``homelands.'' These homelands were independent states to which each African was assigned by the government according to the record of origin (which was frequently inaccurate). All political rights, including voting, held by an African were restricted to the designated homeland. The idea was that they would be citizens of the homeland, losing their citizenship in South Africa and any right of involvement with the South African Parliament which held complete hegemony over the homelands. From 1976 to 1981, four of these homelands were created, denationalizing nine million South Africans. The homeland administrations refused the nominal independence, maintaining pressure for political rights within the country as a whole. Nevertheless, Africans living in the homelands needed passports to enter South Africa: aliens in their own country.

In 1953, the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act were passed, which empowered the government to declare stringent states of emergency and increased penalties for protesting against or supporting the repeal of a law. The penalties included fines, imprisonment and whippings. In 1960, a large group of blacks in Sharpeville refused to carry their passes; the government declared a state of emergency. The emergency lasted for 156 days, leaving 69 people dead and 187 people wounded. Wielding the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the white regime had no intention of changing the unjust laws of apartheid.

The penalties imposed on political protest, even non-violent protest, were severe. During the states of emergency which continued intermittently until 1989, anyone could be detained without a hearing by a low-level police official for up to six months. Thousands of individuals died in custody, frequently after gruesome acts of torture. Those who were tried were sentenced to death, banished, or imprisoned for life, like Nelson Mandela.

Segregation - The classification and separation of people due to race. This separation pervades all aspects of life, including separate schools, housing, and public facilities.

Pan-Africanism - The belief in a broad African identity, including all those of African descent in Africa and abroad, and the need for African unity to fight against slavery, racism, imperialism, and colonial occupation. Pan-Africanism also refers to a world-wide movement for the political unity of African states.

http://delbanella.blogspot.com/2009/02/pan-africanism.html

Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating, or artificially injecting the culture or language of one culture into another.

Colorism is a form of discrimination or racism based on skin-tone. The term is generally used for the phenomenon of people discriminating within their own ethnic groups.

Some examples was the brown paper bag test and the blue vein society. The days of slavery about the House & Field Negro. And even in Liberia, descendants of African-American settlers in part defined social class and standing by raising people with lighter skin above those with dark skin. In addition to rivalries among descendants of African Americans, the Americans held themselves above the native Africans in Liberia. Thus, descendants of Americans held and kept power out of proportion to their representation in the population of the entire country, so there was a larger issue than color at work. Even still today African diasporians still want to see themselves as distinct from Continental Africans.

Colorism is a process that privileges light-skinned people of color over dark in areas such as income, education, housing, and the marriage market. The color complex is also exported around the globe, in part through global media images, and helps to sustain the multibillion-dollar skin bleaching and cosmetic surgery industries, mainly rhinoplasty. Colorism also occurs in other western cultures where fair people are considered to be more superior, affluent, and powerful then those of a darker skin tone. The term colorism can also refer to when darker skin tones are preferred and lighter skin is considered less desirable or vice versa.

The range of colour people possess is awesome. Black, in all its splendid hues, is indeed beautiful. It should also go without saying, that this variation is useless as an index for judging individual beauty, intelligence, aspirations and the like. One’s complexion is intrinsically irrelevant to any and all of these qualities.

"Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? You know. Before you come asking Mr. Muhammad does he teach hate, you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what God made you."

Malcolm X

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe apartheid, racism and colorism are purposely entangled with each other. Also my belief for why this persistent problem ‘colorism’ continues in society around the world, especially with people of colour is because people continue to have this mentality of the past colonialism European racial hierarchy that continues to destroy unity amongst society. I also believe in part of the colorism issue it was manufactured by society itself by only a minority of people who have self-hate of themselves and prey it onto others to make themselves feel better.

Colorism will remain a consistant problem in society if people continue to have this mentality, I just believe we should not discriminate anyone regardless of their skin tone even in the ethnic society. If the world had people all looking the same and the same colour it would be pretty boring and dull and then how would we embrace all races for their cultures and music etc.

African Renaissance: is a concept in which African people, nations & their descendants are called upon to solve the many problems troubling the African continent. It seeks to promote the indigenous African heritage, the art & quality of being human and promotion of Africa and it’s people. It also seeks unity in diversity a move towards a rebirth of all who value the rediscovery of ourselves.

The phrase was first used in 1994 in South Africa following the first democratic election after the end of apartheid, and was clarified with then-Deputy President Thabo Mbeki's famous " I am an African" speech in May 1996 following the adoption of a new constitution.

Emancipation: is a term used to describe various efforts to obtain political rights or equality, often for a specific group.

Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg in the early 1990s. It is based on house music beats, but typically at a slower tempo and containing melodic and percussive African samples which are looped with deep basslines. Kwaito was born in Soweto ,one of the townships where blacks were forced to live during the time of apartheid. Similarly, kwaito has been referred to as the "sound of the ghetto", and emerged from the most economically depressed areas of South Africa. Boom Shaka, the first kwaito group, was also the first to create and popularize dance moves to accompany kwaito.

Some kwaito artists are Arthur Mafokate, Mandoza, Trompies, Anashante, Malaika,TKZee, Zola , Lebo from ex Boomshaka group, etc. Also a popular star was Brenda Fassie mixed her music with kwaito and Afro pop.

One of the first Kwaito singles to become a hit in South Africa was the song “Kaffir” According to an article by Thokozani Mhlambi. The lyrics are a perfect illustration of the freedom of expression that developed as a result of the political change. Boom Shaka, the first kwaito group, was also the first to create and popularize dance moves to accompany kwaito.

Kaffir was once term for black southern Africans. It is now utilized exclusively as an ethnic or racial slur and should no longer be used in society. The original meaning of the word was heathen, unbeliever or infidel, from the Arabic Kafir. Portuguese explorers used the term generally to describe tribes they encountered in southern Africa, European colonists subsequently continued its use. The term was mostly used in South Africa, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) & Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

The term Cape Coloureds refers to the modern-day descendants of slave labourers imported into South Africa by Dutch settlers as well as to other groups of mixed ancestry (African, Indian and European origin). They were classified as this ethical group under the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

The term Coloured was not only used in South Africa, but also in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia Botswana. Majority Zimbabwean coloured come from Shona or Ndebele mixing with British.

During the apartheid era, in order to keep divisions and maintain a race-focused society, the term Coloured was used to describe one of the four main racial groups identified by law: Blacks, Whites , Coloureds and Indians.

In Zimbabwe the coloureds began to call themselves goffal. It cannot be pinpointed exactly when coloureds started referring to one another as Goffals but it is widely accepted. During the white minority rule in then Rhodesia all children resulting from inter-racial relations were separated from their families and put into race-specific schools and restricted to living in coloured designated neighbourhoods. As a result the mixed race offspring began to marry and have families within their racial group. The Goffal community began to grow and gain an identity. Specific suburbs mainly in Bulawayo (Morningside & Thorngrove) and Harare (Arcadia & Braeside). Languages spoken by Goffals are mainly English but also the “B” Language & certain slang words created by the goffals themselves. Some also in addition speak Shona, Ndebele & Nyanja/Chichewa part also being due to diversity & non – segregation after independence. Under white minority rule in the then Rhodesia, Coloureds had more privileges than black Africans, but still faced serious discrimination and racism, due to this system of the colonial era placing coloureds above blacks there was tension between both coloured and blacks. But now situations have changed and people are now coming together and also with the realisation we are all descendants of Africa, in the fight to make a better Zimbabwe and live peacefully amongst one another.

But like I wrote earlier in this post is that in order for people to move on in life, we have to put behind the class system or segregational pyramid created by the apartheid/colonial era and people should start embracing their natural beauty and stop critising other races because we all beautiful.