Combined Federal Campaign #9956

Arts & Culture

Preamble
Arts and Culture are central to the life of all Africans. In this context therefore, we wish to make the adjunctive statement that our spirituality is integral to our people; and our cultural expressions have devolved directly from our spiritual practices. We have created a wealth of cultural art forms, but these have not meaningfully rebounded in the form of an improved image of self-worth, nor of economic well-being. As we seek to consolidate our relationship with the new African Union, even the very fabric of our discourse must reflect the essence and images of an African world-view.

We also consider education to be a critical component in the conscientisation and re-socialization of our people, and register deep concern for the need for urgent action to eliminate the culture of violence in African societies.

General Recommendations
The term culture must not be confused with the artistic emanations of culture. Culture is pervasive, manifesting in every facet of our lives. We suggest that each committee interact closely with the Arts and Culture Committee, and a culture bearer be elected to serve on each of those committees.

In conjunction with cultural activists in the Diaspora, the African Union should:

• Establish a cultural foundation that straddles both the Continent and the Diaspora.
• Promote cultural exchanges amongst artistes and organizations.
• Promote iconic festivals, e.g. Emancipation, Kwanzaa, Carnival and all festivals that celebrate African traditions.
• Ensure the continuance of our culture by initiating specially designed programs, like promoting the widespread adoption of a Rite of Passage, which will be used to induct our youth into responsible and accountable adulthood. These will help all Africans regain cultural retention practices that were once the fabric of our societies.
• Address the question of Haiti. Recognition must be given to Haiti's history of commitment to the vision of a united African nation. Tangible financial support and reparation should also be addressed.
• Support the Reparations Movement by the establishment of an International Day of Expiation where all cultural expressions of our peoples, and the struggles of our ancestors, will be celebrated.
• Set up of a monument and a museum in honor of our enslaved ancestors. This monument will become a place of pilgrimage for our people.
• Establish more direct routes, affordable fares, and group travel to facilitate interaction between the continent and the Diaspora, particularly for our youth.
• Establish a mechanism to help artistes in the protection of their intellectual property by ensuring that each country is a signatory to all international conventions on copyright and trademarks.
• Protect other aspects of our heritage, e.g. traditional medicines, plant life, and genetic material.
• Recognize the importance of technology in the service of promoting, propagating, and the sharing of information. An information-rich global African nation is a prerequisite for development and cultural cohesion.
• Promote a 'healthy life style' culture.
• Language is a critical element of culture. All attempts should be made to assist Diaspora Africans in the Diaspora in learning one of the major African languages.

Specific Recommendations
The African Union in conjunction with the Diaspora should:

Economics

• Accept responsibility for funding African Art and Culture.
• Recognize that the production of African cultural items, festivals and other intellectual property constitute a significant financial turnover, and therefore initiate and support Art and Culture projects.
• Develop new creative economic systems based on African traditions but influenced by present realities (e.g. the concept of the ESUSU).
• Promote trade of cultural items between the Continent and the Diaspora.

Spirituality

• Promote unity in spirituality and traditional values, while discouraging division on the basis of religion.
• Promote linkages and contact between practitioners of traditional religions in the Diaspora and on the continent, supporting internships for priests.

Role of Women

• Promote respect for the image and essence of woman.
• Give honor and attention to the relationship between Black men and Black women.
• Support the African family, promoting the extended family structure.
• Educate our men and women to practice mutual respect and healthy lifestyles including sexual relations. Revisit, re-evaluate and even challenge traditions with regard to women and girl children.

Education

• In conjunction with libraries and heritage information centers worldwide, initiate a program to create a data base of all forms of documentation on Africans everywhere, in different languages and formats.
• Promote the publication and distribution of such work to will fill gaps in the documentation of our people.
• Create a seal of approval for material deemed important to the African heritage. (a system similar to the Nihil obstat used by the Roman Catholic Church.)
• Use festivals, symposia, book fairs, artistic expressions, and popular art forms to educate and inform all Africans.
• Promote the teaching of history from an Afro-centric perspective.
• Use media as a tool for education.
• Establish and maintain critical and creative links with Africans working in the media.

Politics

• Seek the elimination of the political culture of corruption amongst our leaders.
• Pursue links with political organizations where African people are represented.
• Recognize its responsibility to groups of Africans who are in the minority in certain countries and societies and consequently are at risk of racism, cultural isolation, and cultural erosion.