This is the Archived "Legacy" version of the BPAF webpage, For
the current on-line webpage, click here BPAF.ORG
The Boston Pan African Forum
continued
|
Our membership form
is available online
postal contact Address
Boston Pan-African
Forum
c/o Joyce Hope
Scott
PO. Box 55
Newton, MA 02464
|
The
BPAF is a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) open-membership organization that was
created in 1997 in order to promote a widespread appreciation of current social,
economic, political and other issues affecting relations between Americans
and peoples of African descent around the world. It seeks to mobilize
all sectors of American society especially regarding U.S. foreign policy
and international relations. The BPAF is based in Boston with a membership
throughout New England. Our organization's mission emphasizes connecting African
peoples with each other, and with their friends and allies.
Come
and participate in our programs to help build an understanding of why,
and how, and with whom we all can connect, for our common good.
For a Bay State Banner newspaqper account of the 2014 BPAF Annual Meeting,
whick featured a presentation regarding the history of Africans in Venezuela,
click
here
Additional action Links:
Send
a Message to CONGRESS
Contact Other Branches of Government
scroll down this page for on-going
and other past activities,
including the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan
interview on AIDS
PAST and On-going PROGRAMS
PROGRAMS of 2011
WORLD AIDS DAY PROGRAMS
Dec 3 2011 film and guest appearance
Dec 4 10:45am service at St. Paul AME Church, Cambridge
Click here-- here for detailed information
regarding the DEC 3 program for featuring the exceptionally inspiring speaker
Mr. T. JACKSON KAGURI
Our Dec 3 program was also co-sponsored by the NYAKA AIDS ORPHANS SCHOOL PROJECT.
See their video (preceded by a sponsor's short commercial advertisement) click
here
Dec 4 10:45am service at St. Paul's AME Church, Rev. Marcellus A. Norris, Pastor,
37 Bishop Allen Drive (at Columbia St), Central Square Cambridge MA was
co-sponsored by the St. Paul A.M.E. African Cultural Society. The guest speaker
was also Mr. T. Jackson Kaguri. The "Love Offerings" of both the morning
services benefited the Nyaka AIDS Orphans School Project.
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OCTOBER 29, 2011
Democracy in Dakar: A Forum on Politics in Senegal
Saturday, October 29, 2011
11:00 - 2:00
Suffolk University
Donahue Building, room 331
Featuring
Documentary Film
Democracy in Dakar
and discussion on
The Future of Democracy in Senegal
Reception following discussion
Donahue Building, room 430
Sponsored by The Suffolk University Black Studies Program, Collection of African
American Literature, and African Students Association.
============================================
OCTOBER 28:
Special Presentation and
Reception for new arrivals
from the African Diaspora
(for faculty, other professionals and students)
Friday, October 28th, 3:00-8:00pm,
at UMass/Boston in the Snowden Auditorium (1st Floor Wheatley Hall).
Our featured speaker will be
Dr. Juliette Tuakli
from Ghana.
She will be speaking on the topic:
"The Role of Global Politics in Health Care in Africa."
With over 25 years of experience in international public health, gynecology,
and developmental pediatrics, Dr Tuakli co-developed Ghana’s successful
10 year National HIV/AIDS Response and has worked with UNFPA and Ghana AIDS
Commission’s program with Ghana’s traditional leadership on gender,
culture and HIV issues. She has a broad range of experience, having worked in
Kenya, England, and the US, and is a cross cultural child development specialist
and promotes child friendly national health policies, She has been Chair of
WISE (Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment) , Ghana’s national
women’s empowerment program, for 5 years.
Place: Wheatley Hall, 1st Floor Muriel S. Snowden Auditorium (0088)
Date: Friday, October 28, 2011
Presentation: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Reception: 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Co-Sponsors: University of Massachusetts Boston Office of Student Affairs,
The Boston Pan-African Forum, Africana Studies, Center for African, Caribbean
and Community Development, Black Student Center, African Students Union
==================================================
APRIL 2, 2011
Film Screening: A Panther in Africa, in collaboration with the
African Cultural Society of St. Paul AME Church, Cambridge and with support
from Boston University African Studies Center Outreach Program.
Presented the film A Panther in Africa with guest speaker and former Black Panther
Mama Charlotte. Pete O'Neal, Black Panther in Kansas City, was arrested on October
30, 1969 for transporting a gun across state lines. A year later, O'Neal with
his wife, Charlotte Hill O’Neal, aka Mama C, fled the United States and
eventually settled in Tanzania, where he still lives in exile.
Charlotte Hill O’Neal and Pete O’Neal are the subjects of the award
winning PBS documentary about the lives and activism of the former Black Panthers.
They founded the United African American Community Center (UAACC), a non-profit
NGO in Arusha, Tanzania with a mission to provide programs and projects for
the enrichment of the Arusha community, both urban and rural, and to promote
closer cultural ties to communities in America and around the world. Mama C
is an artist, poet, musician, community activist, and co-director of the UAACC.
She states, “As a member of the Black Panther Party, I was taught the
importance of building international solidarity among all people while honoring
my Ancestral roots. That philosophy has never changed. Many of my poems and
songs reflect this burning desire and mission to spread peace, love and unity
through my art.”
The Black Panther Party rose to power in the late 60’s to uphold self
determination and collective vision offering programs such as the Free Breakfast
for Children and Free Health Clinics. Pete and Charlotte are proud to have been
a part of that historic chapter of American history. “Our present day
community outreach service continues to be informed by our time as Black Panthers,’”
Pete acknowledges. “Our work is truly a continuation of the work we did
as members of the Black Panther Party!”
===========================================================
February 26, 2011
Cote d'Ivoire: Strengthening of Democracy
Suffolk University School of Business
Co-sponsored with Network Afrique
Panelists
Dr. Joyce Hope Scott, President of the Boston Pan African Forum (BPAF)
Dovi Abbey, Founder of SOMPATT, Treasurer BPAF
Norbert Prevaut, Writer and Lecturer
Dr. Hyacinth Ntchobo
Dr. Konan Martin
Dr. Emile Tabea
On November 28 2010, Cote d'Ivoire held its Presidential election (the second
round) --somehow, in a peaceful atmosphere. As of today, Cote d'Ivoire is the
only country in the world to have two competing Presidents and two competing
governments. We will explore how this country, which was once known for its
peace and cocoa wealth, got to this point of confusion creating division of
opinion within and between the Ivoirian, the African, and the International
communities. The country is on the verge of a civil war, and once again, mediation
after mediation sessions are being held to attempt to resolve the issue. The
peace and welfare of the population should be the priority of every one, but
there can not be peace and welfare without political stability.
PROGRAMS OF PRIOR YEARS
October 23, 2010 SOMPATT FORUM on African Institutions of Higher Education,
held at Boston University, with the co-sponsorship of the BU African Studies
Center. For the flyer announcing this event click
here and for a list of the speakers click
here
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July 28, 2009 -- Our partner, The African Society of the National Summit
on Africe, held a WEB EVENT on July 28th, 2009
2-4pm EST
Participants could take a virtual expedition to Africa and join fellow teachers
and students in a one-of-a-kind live web event! Explore the Republic of Benin,
one of the most diverse areas of West Africa, with special guest His Excellency
Cyrille Segbe Oguin, Ambassador to the U.S. from Benin, who will bring the diversity
of the country, its people and cultures to life in an open, interactive discussion.
Learn about changes taking place within Benin as the country embraces the modern
challenges of democracy while honoring its heritage.
This event was sponsored by USAID, The Discovery Channel's Global Education
Partnership, The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa and Discovery
Education This unique online and in-person event was an extension of the ExploreAfricaToday.com
initiative, featuring the AfricaToday documentary series, both of which are
part of the USAID-funded Teach Africa™ program.
Teach Africa™ showcases the culture and history of Africa and underscores
the importance of its inclusion in American curricula. One-day Africa immersion
forums for more than 3,300 students were held in Atlanta, Ga., Houston, Texas,
and Los Angeles, Calif., during the past three months alone. Teach Africa™
has previously been implemented in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Penn., San
Francisco, Calif., and Portland, Ore.
==========================================================
The 2009 BPAF Annual meeting was held
July 9th 7-9:30pm at MIT. It featured a shared reading of the famous
1852 speech by Frederick Douglass “What,
to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” The Massachusetts
Humanities Council featured this speech in its programs for 2009. For copies
of the speech and guidelines for making good educational use of it click
here.
The participants also discussed possible BPAF programs for the coming year,
heard reports on programs of the past year, discussed other topics of interest
to the participants, and tallied and announced the results of our election of
the Board of Directors. The newly elected Board is to elect the Officers for
the coming year.
==========================================================
May 12, 2009 Somalia:
A Crossroad? A FORUM FEATURING Abdul Kadir Hussein,
Founder & CEO, African Community Education Development of New England -
Paul Camacho, Associate Director, Joiner Center, UMass Boston; - Hodman Osman,
Graduate Student, UMass Boston; - Abdi Jama, President, Massachusetts Association
of Somali Students; - Amani El Jack, Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies,
UMass Boston ---- Location: UMass Boston, Ryan Lounge, McCormack Hall
-
THIS EVENT WAS CO-SPONSORED BY The William Monroe Trotter Institute
for the Study of Black Culture, The Department of Africana Studies, and The
William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences OF THE UNIVERSITY
OF MASSACHUSETTS AT BOSTON
ON-GOING PROJECTS
THE AFRICAN DIASPORA PROJECT
CLICK HERE FOR DESCRIPTION
"PROJECT ADOPT" = helping AIDS ORPHANAGES
The AIDS pandemic is widely recognized as the most serious
human health crisis in history. Ultimately, it threatens everyone, everywhere.
However, its worst effects are now concentrated among the world’s poorest
and most politically destabilized peoples. We believe that there is a reason
for this - that the global system works to allocate misery just as it does
wealth and privilege. Just as “money goes to where money is,”
so misery goes to where misery is. We must work to break this cycle.
One small but significant thing we can do is help to save the
next generation! And we can attempt to understand the challenge of AIDS within
the context of understanding the challenges of globalization. That is why
we have joined our project to the nation-wide "Campaign to End Global
Apartheid and Secure Africa's Right to Health” that has been organized
by Africa Action Inc.
Watch our website for future programs of this project. You may
continue to contribute to this on-going effort, by sending your contribution
to our postal box, earmarked for the "Adopt an Orphanage" project.
Click Here for more
Information
We call your attention to a moving BBC interview with U.N.
Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan,on the subject of HIV/AIDS, which
aired November 28, 2003 Click
here for plain text of Kofi Annan interview For a audio/visual clip of
the interview BBC News URL-
you must have Real Player on your computer (which you can download free from
the internet if you do not already have it.)
THE AFRICA CONNECTION SERIES
KWAME NKRUMAH SAID "AFRICA MUST UNITE!" In the context
of an often pernicious and imbalanced GLOBALIZATION, the emeregence of
a NEW IMPERIALISM from "uberpower" arrogance, the ravages of the AIDS
pandemic, and the crushing burdens of an unfair financial DEBT, and ECONOMIC
and POLITICAL ISOLATION, this is even more necessary today.
African peoples around the world confront many challenges often not of
their own making, and sometimes because of their own mistakes and isolation.
This must stop. The answer is not more isolation into a new apartheid. The answer
is for African peoples and their friends and allies to collect their wits, combine
their strengths, and defend their common interests.
HOW is this to be done? Africans around the world must meet the challenges
that confront them in the areas of: stopping the genocidal slaughter going on
in the Darfur region of Sudan; arresting the spread and combating the ravages
of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; in overcoming technological, economic and political
isolation; in ending the burden of debt; in achieving sustainable development;
in protecting the cultural strength of Africa's peoples around the world. Our
programs aim to further the achievement of these goals.
ACTIVE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
The
Boston Pan-African Forum is a local program partner with AFRICA ACTION of Washington
D.C. click here for
their ACTION ALERT regarding (March 04) BUSH funding proposals for fighting
AIDS in Africa. For other action alerts and information on their programs, click
here
BPAF
was also the delegate organization for Massachusetts activities to promote the
implementation of the National Plan of Action adopted at the National
Summit on Africa in Washington, DC, in February 2000. The plan emphasizes
5 themes: Economic Development; Education and Culture; Environment & Quality
of Life; Democracy & Human Rights; and Peace & Security.
Visit the website at
Click here for the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa website
TransAfrica Forum: for information regarding current
programs, click here
OTHER PAST ACTIVITIES
JULY 25, 2007 PANEL: "WHAT IS AFRICA
TO ME?: THE RELEVANCE OF PAN-AFRICANISM TODAY"
Elizabeth A. Sarkodie-Mensah, Ghana Association of Greater Boston
Joyce Hope Scott, Professor, Wheelock College
Moderator: Willard R. Johnson, Professor Emeritus, M.I.T.
-- PIANO CRAFT GALLERY, 791 Tremont Ave.
For a summary of the discussion click
here -- Please give us your own views on this topic!
For information on a conference held in Ghana in August, 2007,
about the history of various governmental efforts to end the Atlantic
Slave Trade click
here!
In 2006 we co-sponsored with the Harvard Law School Charles
Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice a symposium on the challenges
facing New Orleans inhabitants displaced by the Katrina disaster.
With the SOMPATT organization, and the MIT Department of Political Science,
we co-sponsored the first grand, week long SOMPATT African Diaspora Cultural
Festival performance and fair. This will be a recurrent program.
In 2005 we organized a meeting of Boston area African and
Caribbean organizations to foster communication and collaboration.
We co-sponsored a Jamaica Hurricane Relief program and fund-raising concert
With the Cambridge Multicultural Center and the Boston Arts Academy we co--sponsored
a major program featuring a gala dinner with Hugh Masekela and the South African
Ambassador to the U.S., as well as master classes by Masekela at the Arts
Academy..
With the Africana Studies Program at the Univ. of Mass. Boston, we co-sponsored
a conference on "Haitian Development and Public Policy: The Next Decade."
With the Northeastern Univ. AAMARP Center, we co-sponsored a day-long sumposium
"Immigration and the African Diaspora."
With the U.Mass. Boston, we co-sponsored the annual M.L.King/ Amilcar Cabral
Conference held on M.L. King Jr.Day.
In 2004 we co-sponsored an exhibit of contemporary South
African art, titled
"A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa" at the Museum of
the National Center of Afro-American Artists 300 Walnut Street, Roxbury, MA
(see the BPAF mainpage for more information)
2003 Events in THE AFRICA CONNECTIONS SERIES --
The first program was held September 15, 2003, and was co-sponsored by The
MIT AFRICAN STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION. It featured presentations by Dr. Pearl
Robinson of Tufts University, Mr. Reggie Jackson of Simmons College, and Mr.
Michael Ofori of the Ghanaian Association of Greater Boston.
The second program in this series was held October 1st and featured three
speakers brought directly from the African continent by Africa Action as part
of its END GLOBAL APARTHEID CAMPAIGN. The speakers were Pholokgolo Ramothwalahabo
from the South African Treatment Action Campaign; Limota Goroso Giwa from
the Nigerian Baobab for Women's Human Rights organization, and Demba Dembele
(Senegalese) from the continent-wide Forum for African Alternatives.
The 2003 program in the PROJECT ADOPT series was: :"ENDING GLOBAL APARTHEID"
-- which featured the film "A CLOSER WALK," --
It was held on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1st, and was co-sponsored by
The MIT AFRICAN STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION and AFRICA ACTION Inc.
A SPECIAL EVENT was held Oct 3, 2003 -- “Fighting
for My Life” Paintings of Ndume (Erskine Johnson) Tennessee
Death Row Inmate click here for more information
on the Ndume program and ways to contribute
We co-sponsored the King-Cabral Conference at UMass Boston on Martin Luther
King Jr. Day
In November 2002:
The Boston Pan-African Forum and Roxbury Community
College Student Government Association Presented:
Former President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia
at The Roxbury
Community College Media Arts Building.
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The Boston Pan African Forum
Supported The August 17th 2002 Mobilization March On Washington In Support
For Reparations.
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In April, 2002, in association with The Discovery Channel and The Africa
Society of the National Summit on Africa, the BPAF conducted a special preview
of the film; THE REAL EVE
For a chart of the likely route of mankinds migration out of Africa to provide
the base population for all humans alive today, anywhere in the world,
click here
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In late
1999, the BPAF served as the organizing coordinator for the New England Regional
Conferernce in preparation for the National Summit on Africa
that was held in Washington, DC, in February 2000. The regional conferences,
and the National Summit prepared, and adopted, a Plan of Action that emphasized
5 themes: Economic Development; Education and Culture; Environment & Quality
of Life; Democracy & Human Rights; and Peace & Security. As indicated
above, you can get a
copy of the Plan by visiting the website
for the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa website
Other previous BPAF
activities have included: Sponsoring a benefit for African AIDS orphanages
during World AIDS Day; hosting a reception with Tuft's University's Curriculum
Co-Develop Project for visiting faculty and staff from Makerere University in
Uganda and the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; organizing a memorial
for the late former President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere; co-sponsoring a reception
for U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania, Rev. Charles Stith; co-sponsoring U.S. Assistant
Secretary for African Affairs Susan Rice, and co-sponsoring a film series with
the Boston Museum of Fine Artts; and sponsored a reception for
the U.N. Secretary
General, Mr. Kofi Annan,
held at the
Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists.
in the heart of Boston's black community.
for the current and future events go to current
on-line page by clicking here!