Berlin’s Amerika Haus hosts a full and diverse program

At 17:00 on Sunday 1^stFebruary, the Amerika Haus in Berlin opened its doors to celebrate the beginning of the series of events organised by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (BpB), the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy and the Goethe Institute, for Black History Month in Berlin. The evening began with a bang as guests were treated to a traditional West-African song and dance performance by Black Heritage, followed by a taster of what was to come later from gospel musicians, the Black Heritage Group, lead by extraordinary vocalist MFA Kera and the US Jazz-Funk-Guitarist and singer Mike Russell. Lothar G Kopp (BpB) and Mark Donfried, director of the ICD gave a warm welcome to the guests and participants, the latter emphasising that this event marked the beginning of an ongoing project of recognising and celebrating the achievements of the African Diaspora that would extend far beyond Black History Month.

The floor was then given to Professor John Long of the University of Illinois, Chicago, who had made the trip to Berlin especially to partake in the events at the Amerika Haus and who was to moderate the subsequent podium discussion. Prof. Long began with a few facts about the African Diaspora worldwide followed by an overview of the key events that sparked the origins of Black History Month. For Prof. Long, the annual celebration of African Unity is an important part of diasporic activity globally; after some kind words of praise for the efforts of the BpB and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, he ended his introduction with the following: “Despite the violent past, the African Diaspora has found a voice in Black History Month”.

Podium discussion: the historical development of the African Diaspora worldwide and inGermany.

Professor Long was joined by four high-profile politicians and historians to discuss some key themes with regards to Black history and the tasks facing the African Diaspora today: Dr. Wilfred Imoudu, General Secretary of the Pan-African Forum, S. E. Ahmada R. Ngemera, Tanzanian Ambassador to Germany, Katharina Oguntoye, historian and author, and Axel Sabac El Cher, historian and descendent of the Prussian-African Sabac El Cher family.

The first question put to the panel was ‘how can we shake off the myths surrounding the African Continent?’ to which Dr. Imoudu was the first to respond. Drawing upon various examples of African Kingdoms that flourished prior to Western intervention, for example the establishment of a university in the Kingdomof Mali and the fully-functional self-governing Kingdom of Nigeria, Dr. Imoudu refuted the notion that African development is inferior to that of other regions in the world. Turning to the present, Ambassador Ngemera outlined some of the ways that the African Diaspora can help to improve the international perception of Africa, thereby dispelling any historical and current untruths that serve to undermine Africa’s position as a culturally rich and rapidly developing world power. For example, Ngemera stressed the importance of recording the achievements of the African Diaspora in all fields, from music and sports to science and technology, and, if possible, to undertake academic studies and collect historical material on such achievements. He also spoke of the duty that befalls members of the African Diaspora to support and advance the development agenda in Africa, and to open channels of communication between Europe, Africa and the United States of America. Ngemera drew attention to the ‘brain drain’ in Africa, that is, the thousands of qualified graduates who choose to leave Africa annually in favour of opportunities abroad and spoke of the need to somehow reverse this trend. The Ambassador ended his contribution on an optimistic note, with the oft-cited Obama mantra, ‘Yes We Can!’.  The task of re-writing a heterogeneous, multi-faceted and multi-coloured history is one that Katharina Oguntoye also feels is necessary in order to shake off myths surrounding the East-West dichotomy. As a scholar and writer, Oguntoye spoke of her experiences in organising Germany’s first Black History Month twenty years ago, which arose as a result of the collaborative literary project, ‘Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out’. Oguntoye gave a few examples of academic research in which she has traced the history of a few select African figures in pre-1900 German territories in an attempt to show that the African Diaspora has deeper roots in Germanythan can be understood merely by studying twentieth century history. Fittingly, the final speaker, Axel El Cher, is living proof of the long and complicated story of the African Diaspora in Germany. He entertained the audience with the story of his Sabac El Cher lineage, with its origins in his great grandfather, August Sabac El Cher, who was given as a present to Prince Albert of Prussia in 1843 and was brought back as a young boy from Egypt and lived for the rest of his life as a Prussian. Along with Ghanaian academic Anton Wilhelm Amo (b. 1703), August is one of the earliest recorded Afro-Germans.

Next, Professor Long asked the panellists a further question, ‘If you had the power to change laws, what would you do to improve life for Afro-Germans living in Germany?’ Dr. Imoudu pointed towards education as a factor that hinders the progress of Afro-Germans, and explained how he would open a technical school for training technicians of African origin. Ambassador Ngemera, in turn, spoke of the importance of encouraging community-level organisation so that voices of all social strata are heard and their needs can be met. Katharina Oguntoye agreed with this point, citing the example of the organisation she founded, Joliba, which acts as a point of reference and support for intercultural families. Likewise, Sabac El Cher called for a re-examination of Germany as an ‘Immigrant Country’, whereby the needs of those entering the country for the first time must be met; there is currently little judicial protection for immigrants, and no help with bureaucratic obligations such as filling out forms.

The discussion was very well received by the audience, and the overall positivity of the panellists with regards to the endeavours of the Berlin-based organisations in staging the series of events was evident. Mark Donfried gave a hospitable thank you to the participants before handing over to his colleague, Dr. Sabine Lang, to introduce the art section of the evening’s programme.

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