The Virgin Islands Daily News
Race relations, Pan-Africanism discussions to wind up Liberation Day event
By AYESHA MORRIS
Saturday, May 28th 2005
ST. THOMAS - African Liberation Day celebrations draw to a close today with a dialogue on race relations and discussion of Pan-Africanism, featuring former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown and noted scholar Manning Marable.
The Virgin Islands Dialogue on Race Relations of St. John will hold a discussion from 2 to 4 p.m. today at St. Ursula's Multipurpose Center in Cruz Bay .
Following that event, at 6:30 p.m. , the Pan-African Support Group will hold a program titled "Forging Positive Action to Achieve Pan-Africanism," at the University of the Virgin Islands Chase Auditorium on St. Thomas .
African Liberation Day has been observed in the Virgin Islands as early as 1975. A series of events have been held locally this month in observance of the celebration.
The holiday was inspired by resistance efforts to win independence for all African countries, culminating on May 25, 1963 , when more than 30 African heads of state chartered the Organization of African Unity.
Brown, who arrived in the territory Friday, said African Liberation Day is still relevant today.
"Although Africa is the breadbasket of the world, no matter where you look, we are still not in control of our own resources on the continent," she said.
That lack of control also extends to other parts of the world where African descendants live, including America , she said.
"We as black people are lost in America ," Brown said. "We were thrown together, oppressed and powerless. We've always lived in the home, house and land of the oppressor."
Brown is director of political affairs for the National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform and is a founding member of Mothers Advocating Juvenile Justice. She is also vice president of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, an author and lecturer. Brown is a member of the Geechee Council of Georgia and is running for mayor of Brunswick , Ga. , as a Green Party candidate. Her goal is to create an economic power base for the city's majority black population by redistributing revenues from the city's port.
Marable is director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies and a professor of Public Affairs and Political Science, History and African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York City . He is also a prolific author and human rights activist. He spends much of his time fundraising and speaking on behalf of prisoners' rights, labor, civil rights, faith-based institutions and other social justice organizations.
For more information about the event on St. John , call 693-8580 or 776-0033, or on St. Thomas , 775-4825 or 774-1318.
- Contact Ayesha Morris at 774-8772 ext. 302 or e-mail to amorris@dailynews.vi.
