Bring our daughters home--Boko Haram is a religion?

In Cameroon Boko Haram Is Preached As A Religion

By Odimegwu Onwumere

The authorities and well-meaning peoples of Nigeria are yet worried about stopping the trashy activities of the Islamic sect popularly known and called Boko Haram in the country, but the sect is concerned about recruiting as many youths as possible in Cameroon into accepting the sect activities as a religion.

As the sect holds influence in the North-East of Nigeria since 1999 killing over 4,000 people and damaging property worth millions of naira, government officials in Cameroon are worried that the apparent activities of the sect inCameroon’s Far North Region is becoming bothersome.

This is coming barely a fortnight the Ghanaian former President Jerry John Rawlings reportedly disclosed at the 70th birthday of Nigeria’s former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi in Igueben, Edo State that, Nigeria should not be somnolent in the fight against Boko Haram, but suggested that tactful measures in the fight would benefit.

From Rawlings’ comment, it has become incommodious that Boko Haram might take over the continent of Africa if urgent measures are not taken and earnestly put in place to curb the activities of the group. After Nigeria, the fight against the dreaded sect without doubt has also become a thorn in the flesh of Cameroon as over 200 suspected Boko Haram members have been arrested in that country and were later set free for what authorities said was because of lack of adequate evidence to prosecute the arrested.

When this reporter made a journey of Lake Chad through Maiduguri recently, a young man who introduced himself to this reporter as Adamu and warned that pictures of him should not be taken, said that his worry in the country (Cameroon) is that members of the Islamic sect are preaching about their activities as a religion and not as terrorism.

“I can conveniently tell you that youths in our country Cameroon are being indoctrinated into belieiving that Boko Haram is a religion and not a terrorism organization. Many youths who refused to accept the volatile teachings of the group are missing today. Few of them who narrowly escaped from their captors narrated their ordeals, saying that they were being given military training in undisclosed areas so that they would be deployed to fight in Nigeria,” the source said.

It was also noted that in Mayo-Sava area and Mora District in Far North Region of Cameroon the residents are apprehensive of the surge of the sect in their areas. When this reporter questioned his informant if he was aware of the news making the rounds that Boko Haram preachers are going around the areas luring youths with monetary promises that they would be rich and better Muslims if they become Boko Haram members, he did not waste time to affirm the suspicion:

“I’ve heard of a thing like that. I also know that Boko Haram members are now dreaded in Cameroon like a scourge because their offer to the unsuspecting youths is tempting. I’ve noted that some parents give out their children to join the sect so that ‘they could become rich and better Muslims than they were.” 

Investigations revealed that Boko Haram members do not waste time to send back any injured youth that was training in their camps back home, although blind-folded, perhaps to avert a trace of their training camp. According to sources, Boko Haram preachers kidnap young Cameroonians and take them to Nigeria for training.

Some of the affected youths were noted to be those from Banki, Kolofata and Ngeshawa in Cameroon. Apart from the so-called military training that the preachers give to their victims, they also preach the ‘favourable’ side of the Koran that invariably promote violence and tell them that they are fighting a ‘just’ fight to defend the Muslim faith.

A government official interviewed who spoke under anonymity for the fear that he might be attacked should he give his name, said: “I’m not too sure that Cameroonian youths are being preached into accepting Boko Haram as a religion, but I cannot rule out the fact that it might be truth since Nigeria and Cameroon share common ethnic and cultural affinities. This is exemplified in the Cameroon’s Far North and Nigeria’s North-East. It is a common knowledge that these areas share not only semblance of culture, but, also, speak the same language.”

According to sources, many of the youths who joined the Boko Haram-initiated Islamic school have not been seen by their family members since 2012 they were declared ‘missing’. Whether they are alive or dead, no one could give an account of their whereabouts. All the hope of the affected families is that the ‘missing’ persons are with Boko Haram and are expected to come back in the event that they are alive, better Muslims and rich.

Asked why the group is in the Cameroon’s Far North; it was gathered that the neo-presence of Boko Haram members in the villages neighbouring North-Eastern Nigeria was not unconnected with the May 2013 offensive that was launched by the Nigerian military that invariably compelled the surviving members of the group to look for safety in the neighbouring Far North of Cameroon.

Notwithstanding, it was gathered that security officials in Cameroon are doing everything within their reach to send the constituents of the group packing from the country. According to an account credited to Emmanuel Bob-Iga, head of the police division at the Far North governor’s office said: “We strongly believe that Boko Haram has elements in Cameroon and the authorities are doing everything possible to track them down.”

Odimegwu Onwumere, a Poet/Writer, writes from Rivers State.

Tel: +2348032552855

Email: apoet_25@yahoo.com

www.odimegwuonwumere.wordpress.com

Film: Out of My Hand

OUT OF MY HAND: FILM CAMPAIGN PHILLY RECEPTION WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY TAKESHI FUKUNAGA Last year Japanese director, Takeshi Fukunagaspent weeks in Liberia filming Out of My Hand, only the second feature film to be shot in the West African nation and the very first film to be officially supported by the Liberian government and its film union. Takeshi Fukunaga & Co-Producer, Donari Braxton Television Productions Join the Out of My Hand production team for a Kickstarter campaign fundraiser reception to raise completion funds for the film which chronicles the journey of a struggling Liberian rubber plantation worker who risks family, hearth and home, to discover a new life as a Yellow Cab driver in New York City.  WATCH THE TRAILER SUPPORT THE FILM FINISHING CAMPAIGN This project's gone beyond the makings of just another independent movie. It's also in line with a movement in Liberia to grow and expand its arts communities, one that has immense possibilities to bring positive influence to the country, to its movie industry, and to its aspiring filmmakers. The Philly event will feature Q&A with director, footage from the Liberia shoot and cocktail reception. Friday, May 9, 2014 Scribe Video 4212 Chestnut Street, 3rd Fl Philadelphia, PA 6-8pm Suggested Donation: $10  Event Partners: Sun in Leo Liberian Stars View Scribe Video Nisa Ra FunTimes Magazine Suggested $10 Kickstarter Donation

African Liberation Day, 2014

AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY, 2014

 Chairman's Message

Congress of African People, and 

Friends of African Unions' Congress, Chief of Staff.

In 1963 the Heads of State of the then, Independent African States, met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to form the Organization of African Unity,  and first declared May 25, as African Liberation Day. In the years since, African Liberation has taken many shapes and forms, all of which are well documented.

What we, as the Congress of African People (CAP) and Friends of the African Union (FAU) wish to declare today, May, 2014, is that we have learned from the lessons of the past, and are clear on our identity, purpose and direction as we move forward towards building a safe, sustainable and progressive future for ourselves, our people, and our Pan African Community. 

Today, African Liberation does not limit itself to only the continent of Africa, but extends itself to include the masses of African People around the Globe, inclusive of the African Diaspora. We realize today, through the works of such giants as Cheik Anta Diop, Drusilla Dunjee Houston, Ivan Van Sertima, Frances Cress Welsing, Runoko Rashidi, Marimba Ani, John Henry Clarke, Suzanne Cesaire, John Jackson, Amy Jacques Garvey, and many other women and men - that Africa is not just a continent rich with diverse elements of African culture, but that Africa is also a People who have taken African culture to every part of the World.

Therefore,  we in CAP  and FAU identify with the aspirations and interests of our African families in India, West Papua, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Ecuador, Brazil, Germany, England, France, Figi, Australia, New Zealand, Guyana, Trinadad, Barbados, Bermuda, Bahamas, Canada, Vietnam, Japan, 

Malaysia, as well as the U.S. Africa is a Global Community, and until/unless all of us are free, none of us are.

Of course, we all recognize Africa as our Homeland, and the Sacred Land of our Ancestral Spirits who first laid the foundations for human civilization in Ancient Kemet (Egypt). The African values embodied in Ma'at (Truth, Justice, Balance, Harmony, Order,Propriety and Reciprocity),  held the Kemetic Civilization together for over 5000 years. We are also grounded by, and recognize the principle found in the Odu Ifa, of "Bringing Good Into the World". 

As we seek Strategies and Solutions to rebuild our Global African Community, we take the Sankofa Journey back into our past, to find remedies, paradigms and examples, such as the political system of Mbongi (http://www.amazon.com/Mbongi-African-Traditional-Political-Institution/dp/0979895103) ,  which can be adapted to and will inform our progress forward as we engage this African Renaissance Period.  

We commit to the 50 year, Agenda 2063 Plan instituted by the African Union (http://agenda2063.au.int/en/about),  which is dedicated to unifying the African Continent, and to unifying the continent with the entire African Diaspora. We subscribe to such values as Communitarianism, which places people above profit, and which recognizes the worth and dignity of each human being, and their respective roles and responsibilities within Community. Another key value we stand for is the full integration, complimentarity and mutuality of women and men in society and that any familial institution and community is incomplete without the free and full participation of Women. This has always been a valued African principle, despite what late religious zealots espouse. 

Therefore, it is with great pride, that we announce In Celebration of African Liberation Day (ALD) 2014, the Harambee Women's Circle of the Congress of African People  is sponsoring a Pan African Women's Global  Conference Call to begin networking grassroots African Women around the World. This call will take place on May 24, 2014 in celebration of AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY, 2014 ; 10 am Eastern Time, on coordinates, 424 203 8405; PIN 713167# . The countries on the following list, may call in on the North American call, using these call in numbers; 

 https://www.freeconferencecall.com/free-international-conference-call/internationalnumbers.aspx?lang=US&altlang=EN&phonenumber=+1%20424-203-8405 Please send any inquiries to harambeewomen@gmail.com.

Co-Sponsors for this event is the Friends of the African Union's, Women's Congress. Also, we Dedicate the Historic Endeavor to the Safe Rescue and Return of the Nigerian School Girls, #Bringbackourgirls!!!

We are an audacious People with and audacious History, and therefore, feel, that we, as an African People, have a unique contribution to make to the Forward Progress of World History, as a free, proud and productive people, and that our liberation will not only free us, but bring all of humanity closer to Full and Final Liberation, where our children can, ALL, stand tall and walk in a warmer Sun.

In Unity and Struggle, 

Mwalimu Wesley Kabaila

Chair, Congress of African People; Chief of Staff, FAU Congress 

CAP V. Chair, Zakiya Penny

Malcolm X Jazz Festival, Sat. May 17, Free, San Antonio Park, E18th St. and Foothill

Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement Poets Choir and Arkestra

EastSide Cultural Center
2277 International Blvd, Oakland CA, 94606 ph: 510-533-6629
E-mail: eastsideculturalcenter@gmail.com

Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival 

SAT MAY 17, 11am-7pm, San Antonio Park

In Honor of Amiri Baraka

MAIN STAGE: 
-The Last Poets
-Ms. Faye Carol (in a tribute to Abbey Lincoln)
-Howard Wiley & Excerpts from Amiri Baraka's The Sisyphus Syndrome
-Unity Grooves: EastSide Youth Jazz Workshop
-Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement

KATHERINE DUNHAM DANCE STAGE:
-Starchild Dance Lindy Hop Project
-Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble
-Sister Linda Johnson

Also featuring: Local crafts vendors & community organizations, The Javad Jahi Soapbox stage, The Mike Dream Courts, Kid's Court for family fun, and our Food Court featuring international flavors!

The Black Arts Movement by Komozi Woodard

 Black Arts Movement East, Amiri Baraka, and Black Arts Movement West, Marvin X

 Playwright Ed Bullins

 Dr. Julia Hare, fiery orator, called the female Malcolm X, her husband founded Black Scholar Magazine. 

 Amina and Amiri Baraka, baby is Ras, now running for mayor of Newark, New Jersey

Revolutionary art by Elizabeth Cattlett Mora, Negro es bello (black is beautiful)

The Black Arts Movement

Finally, one of the most lasting legacies of the Black Power movement has been the ongoing strength of the Black Arts movement. Not only has Kwanzaa spread, but institutionally and stylistically the black cultural revolution left indelible marks on Rastafarian, hip hop, and spoken word artists. Black Arts festivals began in the 1960s and continue in the annual National Black Arts Festivals in Atlanta.

The Black Arts movement inspired the establishment of some eight hundred black theaters and cultural centers in the United States. Writers and artists in dozens of cities assembled and fashioned alternative institutions modeled after the Harlem Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School (BARTS): Baraka established the Spirit House in Newark; Ed Bullins, Marvin X, Hilary Broadus, and Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Arts West in San Francisco; Kalamu ya Salaam, the Free Southern Theater in New Orleans; Dudley Randall, the Concept East Theater and the Broadsides publishers in Detroit; Barbara Ann Teer and Richard Wesley, the National Black Theater and New Lafayette in New York; Gwendolyn Brooks and Haki Madhubuti, the Afro-Arts Theater, the Organization of Black American Culture and Third World Press in Chicago.

Further, the Black Arts movement inspired Chicago’s giant mural Wall of Respect, devoted to the new voices of black liberation, which influenced murals in communities across the country. A host of new Black Arts and Black Studies journals provided vital forums for the development of a new generation of writers and artists: Umbra, Liberator, Negro Digest/Black World, Freedomways, Black Scholar, Cricket, Journal of Black Poetry, Black Dialogue, Black America, and Soulbook. Larry Neal and Amiri Baraka edited Black Fire, a thick volume of poetry, essays, and drama, which drew national attention to the transformation that was under way among African-American artists.

The influences of the Black Arts renaissance are both profound and far-reaching, reflected in the drama of Amiri Baraka, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Ed Bullins, Charles Fuller, Ntozake Shange, Woodie King, Adrienne Kennedy, and Richard Wesley; the painting of Vincent Smith; the photography of Billy Abernathy; the architecture of Majenzi Earl Coombs; the documentary films of William Greaves and St. Clair Bourne; the novels of Toni Cade Bambara, John A. Williams, Alice Walker, Ishmael Reed, Margaret Walker, William Melvin Kelley, Paule Marshall, Nathan Heard, John O. Killens, Rosa Guy, and Toni Morrison; the feature film work of Spike Lee, Samuel Jackson, and Denzel Washington; the acting of Barbara Ann Teer, Yusef Iman, Danny Glover, Lou Gossett, and Al Freeman; the music of Nina Simone, Milford Graves, Marion Brown, Sonny Murray, Abbey Lincoln, and Archie Shepp; and the poetry of Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Mari Evans, Haki Madhubuti, Jayne Cortez, Askia Muhammad Touré, Etheridge Knight, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Nikki Giovanni, Gil Scott-Heron, Marvin X and The Last Poets.

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Bibliography

Baraka, Amiri. Four Black Revolutionary Plays. New York, N.Y: Marion Boyars,1998.

Baraka, Amiri and Larry Neal, eds. Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing.New York, N.Y: Morrow, 1968.

Bracey, John, August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, eds. Black Nationalism in America.Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1970.

Carmichael, Stokely. Ready For Revolution : The Life And Struggles Of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) / Stokely Carmichael. New York: Scribner, 2003.

Carmichael, Stokely and Charles Hamilton. Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America. New York, N.Y: Random House, 1967.

Carson, Clayborne. In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996.

Hogan, Wesley C. Many Minds, One Heart: SNCC’s Dream for a New America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

Jefferies, Hasan Kwame. Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt. New York: New York University Press, 2009.

Jeffries, Judson. Black Power in the Belly of the Beast. Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 2006.

Smethurst, James. The Black Arts Movement: Literary Nationalism in the 1960s and 1970s. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.

Theoharis, Jeanne F. and Komozi Woodard. Groundwork : Local Black Freedom Movements In America . New York: New York University Press, 2005.

____________________________________. Freedom North: Black Freedom Struggles Outside the South, 1940-1980. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Woodard, Komozi. A Nation Within a Nation: Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Black Power Politics. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 1999.