Photo and copyright: Régis Durand de Girard: Marie-Luce Penchard & Mounia Mounia, the first black supermodel from France, has been honored by the French government and elevated to the ranks of Knight of the Order of Merit (Chevalier de l’Ordre de Mérite). She was awarded the honor on November 23th at the Ministery of the Overseas Territories in Paris.
In the name of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Marie-Luce Penchard (current Minister of Overseas Territories) described the model as she who had pushed the greatest grand couturiers to “rupture with aesthetique codes in vigor” of the time in order to include black women in their vision of elegance, sophistication and fashion. The American magazine, Essence Magazine, in 2005, placed her among the most famous black personalities. Her award was welcomed by the minister as a "tribute to the tenacity and fortitude of black women".
New Lives is the new French TV and social media reality show on RFO. Eight people who live in, or have roots in the overseas French territories embark on a journey to change their lives by following their dreams. The show is aired on TV, but people can also participate by posting advice on the social media site. Go to Nouvelles Vies (New Lives) here
Corinne, originally from Martinique, is a professional dancer. Her specialty is the limbo. She is the mother of 3 boys. At 40 she dreams of starting a dance school. New Lives proposed to accompany her with the steps she undertook, supported by her relatives. Corinne was one of the singers of the eighties disco group Bony M.
Dominique (Guadeloupe) made her living as financial advisor, and is is 30 years old. She has lived all her youth in the Paris, but has decided to leave everything behind to start a new live from scratch on Guadeloupe. Is she not going to miss the city? Gwénaelle, 18, arrived in Fort-de-France and entered the prestigious school 'école de Sciences-Po Paris'. A real change of life for this young girl who has left her family and friends, and is preparing for a difficult course. The show follows her career, and her first few weeks of adjustment in the capital Paris.
Samuel , 31, lives in Réunion. He practices organic farming and wants to share his beliefs with other farmers in the region. He is preparing to organise the first eco festival of Réunion. His wife will take the opportunity to give bio cooking classes. We'll see if this pair manages to pass on this new lifestyle.
Nathalie is an expectant mother of twins and her life is not easy. This Martiniquaise 33 years will become a single mother, but she must find a new home, repair her car and organize her life. Preparing for the childbirth, and to her new life as a mother, we follow the change of life.
Audrey, 31, originally from Martinique, dropped her job as legal officer and wants to start a new career in producing films. But the path to the cinema is full of pitfalls.
Fabrice (Réunion) is a foreman in a garage during week and skipper in the weekend: his dream is to participate in the sailing contest Round Créolia. He must train and find a teammate, but parallel to its preparation, he was to inherit a land where he plans to mount lodgings. Arrive there at any juggle? Will he participate in the race?
Tiya earns his living by making Theatre and film costumes, but wants to record an album and pursue a singing career. She has already filmed the first clip and tries to make a name for herself.
A foundation that aims to empower urban young people in the UK has made a documentary about how young black men are portrayed in the media.
The Generation Next Foundation has produced the film to mark Black History Month.
The Lambeth-based foundation was set up by two brothers - Hamdi and Ludvig Bonin - and aims to drive positive social change to help young people achieve their potential.
The film, called Minority Report, will be screened at City Hall on Friday, followed by a panel discussion with Conservative London Assembly Member James Cleverly, the Mayor's ambassador for young people, and Chuka Umunna, Labour's candidate for the Streatham seat at the next election, who is also a trustee of the Generation Next Foundation. Read press release The Generation Next Foundation is a non profit organization that was formed in 2008. The Generation Next Foundation has been founded to provide opportunities for the youth within our community. We believe that it is imperative to empower the youth in society so they have the tools to achieve their highest potential.
The film Skin has finally made it to the Netherlands. Skin is of course the portrayal of the life of Sandra Laing, a dark skinned girl born to white (Afrikaan) parents in South Africa during the Apartheid era. With UK born actress Sophie Okonedo as Sandra Laing. In an interview Okonedo said that her upbringing was not too dissimilar to Laing’s. Okenedo is bi-racial Nigerian/Jewish.
Also read the interesting review of the film on shadow and act.
But now Amsterdam. On the blog of the film I read ‘Dutch Courage’. But why do you need courage to show this film? On shadow and act screenwriter and film critic Wendy Okoi-Obuli wrote:" You know who Okonedo is, right? Dirty Pretty Things, Hotel Rwanda, Aeon Flux, The Secret Life of Bees… as well as lots of TV and theatre roles under her belt. OK, so you may not like her entire body of work, you may not even like her acting style, but she’s an Oscar nominated actress; surely that’s enough to at least make her a bankable name, right? Not to most film distributors, it isn’t. “ Read the full story here
From September 11the till October 30th the film will be shown in Europen movie theatres. From October 30th it will be distributed in the US.
Sandra Laing was a black baby born to white parents at the height of apartheid in South Africa. The hatred, rejection and heartache she suffered at the hands of the authorities, her teachers and her family sent shock waves across the world.
On the timesonline a story was published about her life, the racial implications of being stuck in the racial middle during the apartheid in South Africa, and about the movie Skin. "The story goes beyond race. It’s about a need to belong, a need to be loved and accepted. There’s a moment when her father lovingly puts skin-bleaching cream on her face to lighten her skin. It burns and he blows on it. Fabian (Producer and director of the film Skin) describes Laing as like a peach. “The skin easily bruises, but there is a hard core, a big stone of strength. The one thing that haunts Laing is her relationship with her brothers. Neither of them speaks to her. When Adriaan was a baby she used to cradle him and feed him. “Leon told me that if Adriaan’s wife finds out that he has been talking to me she is going to divorce him.” Is it because Adriaan, himself quite dark-coloured, is ashamed of his even darker sister and the way it might interrupt his nice white life? “I don’t know what colour his children turned out to be. People say they are white. He must remember me, how close we were. Maybe he is scared of his wife.” Read the full story here.
In a book review bi-racial author Rebecca Walker wrote about laing's story. " Laing's story is similar to that of many who straddle racial designations that have more to do with social engineering than with actual differences among human beings. Shame, alienation from family members, memory loss and difficulty in sustaining a stable home are a few of the possible effects of belonging to more than one racial category. Ironically, Laing eventually seems to have found some peace with help from members of the same media that once took part in her objectification. Two journalists in particular helped to fit the pieces of Laing's life together, and as a result of their work to reunite Laing with her estranged mother, she finally felt unburdened. In a moving passage, one of those journalists, Judith Stone, tells of Laing dreaming that she was "laughing and laughing"; she felt "a new space open up in her heart."
The sad part is that one her parents has black roots, but ended up being a pro-white nationalist.
On September 1st 2009 boxing legend Muhammed Ali visited his ancestral home in Ireland. See the story and the pics here.
Muhammed Ali though he got his European blood due to slavery (see video), but it turned out he got it from his Irish great-grandfather Abe Grady, who settled in the United States in the 1860s and married a freed African-American slave. One of their grandchildren, Odessa Lee Grady Clay, was Ali’s mother.
Abe Grady lived in the Western Irish town Ennis, and Ali was honoured as the first Freeman of his ancestral home Ennis.
I don't know what "Freeman" means, but according to some people it means free drinks at the pub and free entrance to the disco.
In this interview Ali did know his ancestry, but still he thought his great grandfather was a slave owner. But listen to the mistake of interviewer!
Joyce Sylvester (43) is acting mayor of the Dutch city of Naarden. She is the first black woman to serve as mayor in the Netherlands. Sylvester is born in Amsterdam and is of Surinam descent.
Since there is so much attention for Sandy Cane, the first black mayor in Italy who is also a member of the right-wing party Lega Nord, here is a Dutch black mayor who is a member of a party which can be compared with the labour Party in the UK and with the Democrats in the USA.
About being black and female she stated in an interview (Dutch). "Yes, I am a woman and I have a colour, so what? I have experienced no limitations because of that." But during her first position as acting mayor she saw that gender and colour did matter. "You notice the signals from the organisation. You can't escape the fact of being seen as role model." In 1992 Sylvester survived a serious train accident. Five passengers were killed. They all sat with Sylvester in the coupe. She was seriously injured, was held in coma, was operated on six times and the prospects were poor. Her political party leader Bos said: "You never hear her complain, the accident affected her considerably. Even years later her toes had to be broken to put them straight. She is literally a woman of iron."
On her website she writes about her impressive career: "I am acting Mayor of Naarden.
From October 31, 2008 to May 31, 2009 I was acting mayor of Anna Pavlovna.
Since 2003 I am also a member of the Dutch Senate (PVDA).
My portfolios are Economy, Agriculture and Finance. I am a member of the Committee on Petitions.
I am also housing commissioner of the housing association Alliance, member of the Amarantis school Advisory Board in Amsterdam, a member of the Delta Lloyd Advisory Board, member of a Board of Supervisors of the diversity counsil of the Dutch police, member of the Advisory Council for Microfinance Netherlands, supervisor at the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra and member of the Advisory Board of the Dutch Society for Industry and Commerce. I am the ambassador of d'ONS Foundation, the acronym stands for Sustainable Development Netherlands Surinam. Finally, and I am owner of Spirit organisatieadvies bv.
I started my career as a controller at the central FEZ Directorate of the Ministry of Transport. After I became adviser to the Mayor of Amsterdam I worked for Twynstra Gudde management consultants."
Sylvester earned a Masters degree in communication science and political science from the University of Amsterdam, and she holds a PhD from the Law Faculty of VU University Amsterdam.
Beware: In this article I will use the word 'mulatto'. I know that some people are sensitive about the use of this word due to its ethymology. The reason I use it is not because I like it but because I will tackle an issue about mixed race people and want to describe things clearly. If this shocks anyone please accept my appologies before starting to read this.
In the following days after Michael Jackson’s death we have heard a lot of speculation about MJ’s fatherhood. During the ceremony we saw his children for the first time and many people were surprised to see that MJ’s children looked so white/Caucasian. Tom Vandyck, US correspondent for the progressive newspaper De Morgen (Belgium) expressed his doubts about MJ being the real biological father of these children. His doubts were based on Paris’s appearance. For him, biologically, she couldn’t be part of the Jackson family.
I was shocked as it reflected the fact that race is still perceived as a hard evidence. But my experience among mixed race people is that whether the parents look black or not, once there is some racial mixing in your background, the racial features of your children is a lottery.
According to an article in The Observer two years ago, nearly all African Americans have some white ancestors. This is the reason many African Americans do actually look like mixed race people with an African and European parent. Look at Colin Powell, Jeremiah Wright, Beyoncé Knowles, … and many more. They all identify as black and have a black identified mother and father. Therefore they are black in the US American context. But these people have white ancestors too and could have children with blond straight hair and blue eyes, certainly if they would choose a white partner.
When you are 'real mulatto', that is first generation black African & white European mixture, your children will generally look white if your partner is white, and black if your partner is black.
Below is a picture of Victoria Rowell, an actrice who has one white and one black parent. on this picture you can see her with her two kids. The white girl's father is white, the black boy's father is black.
Although we can’t really make a rule out of this. Different exceptions are just as common as the rule. My sister, who is half white half black has two daughters with a white Belgian man. The first girl looks white: bleu eyes, light brown hair. The second girl looks mulatto, but still with blue eyes. A good friend of mine who is half white half black has two children with an African man. They both look mulatto. One of my best friends has a mulatto mother and white father, he looks mulatto although his brother is blond and has blue eyes. Still, if you see them together you can see they are brothers.
When you look mulatto Africans can see you are not black and Europeans can see you are not white. Africans in East-Africa will call any white person ‘muzungu’, also someone looking like Obama will be called ‘muzungu’. It’s the same thing to them.
Europeans call light skinned blacks and mulattos also black. To most Europeans whether you are mulatto are not, you are just black. This means that a mulatto is ‘white’ or ‘black’ depending on the place where he is. Race is a relative thing.
I once asked a black street boy in Kenia whether he thought Beyoncé was white or black. He said without hesitating he thought she was white. He had a point, don’t you think so?
The only places on earth I know where people perceive the difference between black, mulatto and white is in Cuba and South Africa. Two places where many people of mixed race of all shades live. I have never been to Brazil, but there too, I heard it’s not just black and white, there is a whole world in between and people are very much aware of it.
My point is that based on the racial appearance of MJ’s children we can’t see if MJ is their real biological father or not. It’s pure guess work and it is wrong to say ‘they look white so therefore they can’t be his children’. Maybe they aren’t but that’s not for certain because of their skin colour. You can look white and still resemble you black father a lot.
Michael Jackson (before getting vitiligo) was a brown skinned black man, with the features of a mulatto. If you look at him, the ‘real black man’ (because having 2 black American parents) and the 'real mulatto' Obama; honestly they are the same type of black man, aren’t they?
Paris and Prince, if mixed race, are not the only mixed race children who look like white people. There are actually many. I will list some famous American ones.
This however doesn't prove that 'mulatto' people look white, this just proves that mixed people have all colours and shapes, and that they prove that race is just an illusion.
Mariah Carey, singer, father black (Afro-Venezuelan), mother white
Jason Kidd, basketball player, father black, mother white
And then last but not least: a little youtube video about biracial twins, one white, the other biracial as the world expects it (although called 'black' by the journalists). As twins this is rather special, but even then, brothers and sisters one white and one 'black' will become more and more common in interracial families.
Don't listen to what these journalists say nor the doctor they quote. The father might be 'black', he is certainly not a black African. He has clearly some white ancestors somewhere in his family tree. He looks mixed race.
The girls are not white or black, they are both mixed race. One looks white and is blond, the other looks dark and brown skinned.
If you keep on looking around you will find out that this phenomenon -maybe not twins but brothers and sisters having a totally different racial make up- is not a One in A Million case.
Photo and copyright: Régis Durand de Girard On July 13th 2009 the French Overseas Departments had their annual garden party. The invited guests are seen as a reflexion of who is in and who is out of the black socio political spotlight in France. See the photos here.
On the photo (right) Marie-luce Penchard, the new appointed Secretary of State for Overseas Territories, and host of the garden party. Penchard replaced Yves Jégo, who was a mayor player in the 2009 French Caribbean general strikes. Olivier Biancarelli (left) is the special overseas territories advisor and top aid of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The photo comment on the Paris blog (see photos) states: "Qui est le chef maintenant? (Who is the boss now?)." The Overseas Departments and Territories (French: départements d'outre-mer and territoires d'outre-mer or DOM-TOM) are the Caribbean islands Martinique, Guadeloupe, the South American country French Guiana, and the African island Réunion. The other countries have a different status. People from the d' outre-mer are French citizens.
Not only government officials were invited at the garden party. Actrice Firmine Richard and Zouk singer Claudy Siar were also present. But also professionals, young potentials and people who play an active role in the French black community were invited. Lucette Michaux-Chevry, the powerful mother of Marie-luce Penchard, also attended the party.
The important question is if Marie-luce Penchard will be able to stabilise the explosive political situation on the French Caribbean Island Guadeloupe. According to critics Penchard is not a political powerhouse, but the fact that she is born in Guadeloupe is seen as a positive factor in the conflict.
But what happened to Christine Kelly? The glamorous black French TV presenter and writer who had come to the attention of star-struck president Nicolas Sarkozy for the post of Secretary of State for Overseas Territories. The latest news: she has turned green.
For the film 'I’m Bi-Racial… Not Black Damn It!' see the interesting post and comments on the film blog Shadow And Act
Of course I've asked a bi-racial Dutch African-American woman about her opinion. She feels that the title, I’m Bi-Racial… Not Black Damn It!, is wrong. Being bi-racial means not black not white, but both. It's a combination.
People with a bi-racial background are a fast growing group in Europe. It's a consequence of the fact that Europe is less racially segregated then the US.
Rachel Christie is the first Miss England who is black. Christie, 20, a heptathlete from London, is the niece of Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Linford Christie.
But her election has already sparked controversy. Not because she is black, but because she won with only nine votes from the public. The runner up won the public vote with 2,013 votes. But in spite of low public vote the organisers chose Rachel Christie as Miss England 2009. The organisers defended their vote. Angie Beasley, director of Miss England, said the public played only a part in the contest, choosing one of the 15 top finalists with this vote amounting effectively to a seventh judge in the final selection. Read Organisers defend Miss England vote
Here's the video of the rehearsal two days before his death. Thanks to CNN for the footage. CNN reports that there is over 100 hours of rehearsal footage.
NewsOne.com covered the Apollo Theater Tribute to Michael Jackson the King of Pop. Those in attendance included Rev. Al Sharpton, film-maker Spike Lee, and of course his loyal and devoted fans of all ages.
The memorial service will be held on tuesday July 7th. Live broadcast in Europe will start at around 7pm.
Michael Jackson, the show-stopping singer whose best-selling albums -- including "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" -- and electrifying stage presence made him one of the most popular artists of all time has died. Michael Jackson, August 29 1958 – June 25 2009, became 50.
Rest in peace and thanks for the music and the memories. This is my pick too.
A post about a flick called the 'The Neo African Americans' on the blog Shadow and Act, reminded me of an article about an African-American Harvard graduate who found out that a high percentage of 'blacks' on Harvard where from Africa and the Caribbean.
Since she was also the director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, she wanted to know how black immigrant students would fit in that goal of correcting American racial injustices.
In the story entitled 'Among Black Students, Many Immigrants' African-American students were quoted: " Last month, a Harvard Black Students Association message board asked, "When we use the term 'black community,' who is included in this description?" A lively debate ensued, with some posters complaining that African students were getting an admissions boost without having faced the historical suffering of U.S. blacks." I think this will always be a problem. When the French NAACP, Le Cran, pushed for an investigation into the racial discrimination in France, immediately the French organisation of the French overseas departments (D’outre-mer) made the distinction that blacks from the French Caribbean Islands were different from blacks from Africa, because of their French status.
Maybe it’s time to look at what binds black people from the different countries. Is it race, skin colour, racism, being studied, music, sports, black experience, black men versus black women, slavery, colonialism, segregation, freedom, immigration, identity, selling out, bleaching, crime, ghetto, poverty, struggle, giving back, diaspora, rising, black history, Africa, Caribbean, US, Europe, dislocation, crises, war, Afro, protest, revolution, being the first … ? To be honest, I don’t know.
The documentary ' The Neo African Americans' shows the different shades of black. In a way, a cliché.
The blog Afro Brazil America reported that the Brazilian musical singer Juliana de Aquino is one of victems of the flight 447 Air France disaster. Since 2003 she lived in Germany, where she had a succesfull music career
Born on the 2nd of march in Brasilia- Brasil. Juliana de Aquino started at the age of 4 her musical education. She studied piano at IMDF, musical singing with maestro Marconi Araujo and classical singing with Aeda Moreira and at Universidade de Brasília. She also took part at singing workshops with Richard Lissemore and acting workshops with Steve Markusfeld.
After playing many roles in Brasil, Juliana de Aquino had the opportunite to take part at the german production of " The Lion King" in Hamburg from 2003 till 2007. In 2008, she played the role of Maria Magdalena in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Austria.
Now, Juliana de Aquino had been playing in Stuttgart, Germany, the musical Wicked.
Raphael Saadiq is touring Europe from july 25th till sept 9th 2009.
From his early days as a member of the '80s group Tony! Toni! Tone! through his work as a producer with artists such as Joss Stone, The Roots, Snoop Dogg and John Legend, Raphael Saadiq [ tickets ] has always kept the faith--especially when labels told him there was no place in today's music for his stylish, '50s-inspired solo album, "The Way I See It."
"They said, 'You're a black American guy when there's only really, like, a blonde British girl [Joss Stone] singing this type of music. Where do you fit in?'" Saadiq recalled during a recent interview with LiveDaily.
Dambisa Moyo is a Zambian-born economist who says aid is killing Africa. She is to aid what Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to Islam.
In her new book, Dead Aid, she argues that official aid is easy money that fosters corruption and distorts economies, creating a culture of dependency and economic laziness.
Moyo is particularly dismissive of the ‘celebrity aid’ model popularised by international stars such as Bob Geldof and Bono and says many aid organisations and NGOs are more interested in perpetuating poverty in order to justify their own existence.
Controversially, she advocates turning off the aid taps within five years and claims this will result in more Africans being pulled out of poverty. Moyo, who has a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University, and a Masters from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, has been a consultant to the World Bank and recently worked for Goldman Sachs in London. Currently she is a member of the Board of Lundin Petroleum.
For those of us who have roots in the Caribbean, Africa, or South America this is an interesting view to pass on after dinner. Since Dambisa a is great fan of China, she argues that the Chinese contracts are a good alternative for western aid. But what about Darfur! we all know that the Chinese are not really trying to end the conflict, they are actually a part of the problem. But inspite of China, she presents a new vision.
I must admit I never heard of Dambisa Moyo until I read the interesting post of Lola Adesioye.
Jade Ewen will represent the UK at tomorrow's Eurovision Song Contest final in Moscow, having been chosen by BBC viewers as the best of the bunch on Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. She will perform "It's My Time", composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber especially for the competition.
Jade was born and brought up in Plaistow, London, to a Jamaican mother, Carol and a half British half Sicilian father, Trevor. Her father is blind and partially deaf, and her mother is partially blind. Because of her parents' disabilities, Jade has become a carer to both her parents and two younger siblings. Despite this, she managed to have dancing lessons from the age of three, and subsequently achieved a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre. Later on she appeared in several theatre plays.
Being environmental conscious is not a black thing. At least from my narrow minded point of view. But things are changing, black people are getting more involved in the environmental movement. And there's more. It's a trend! Black is the new green. The American environmental elite is an increasingly racially diverse place. On CNN's Blogger Bunch UK journalist Lola Adesioye was one the bloggers discussing whether Earth Day still matters during a recession.
In her home country Portugal, Sara Tavares (1978) is seen as one of the best singers. She sang Portugal to the eighth place in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, and her album Mi Ma Bo won gold. As a child of Cape Verdian immigrants Sara Tavares grew up in Lisbon.
Both cultures have influenced her music, she mixes Cape Verdean rhythms and melodies and Portuguese fado with a western pop flavour. She admires the Brazilian and Afro-American musicians, who developed a new style without forgetting their roots
Before Sara Tavares retreats to the studio to record her new album (that is expected in the spring of 2009), she'll do six live shows in Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany.
Sara Tavares: "Afro-European music is the style of a new generation Afro-Europeans. "I don't fit into one music genre of world music, I am no typical Cape Verdian musician. I'd rather stand at the beginning of a new tradition of music of the diaspora, of young African immigrants in Europe who don't only look back."
