Wednesday, January 12, 2011
I WANT TO DISTURB MY NEIGHBOUR
On Tuesday, January 11, 2011 I was very pleased and honoured to have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Verene Shepherd on a radio program (Tuesday Word of Mouth 7:00 to 7:30 p.m) I host at CKLN 88.1 FM. Dr Shepherd is one of those people who it is a delight to interview. She is extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It is not surprising that she is knowledgeable, of course, she is a scholar and a historian. However, her enthusiasm and her willingness to do an interview after a busy few days of traveling was very well appreciated.
Dr. Shepherd was one of five members of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. The Working Group was established in 2002 with a mandate to collaborate with respective countries to devise policies aimed at eradicating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. As an activist scholar Dr. Shepherd was well suited to being a member of the Working Group and had much to contribute to its work. She was the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean on the Working Group.
She shared with me and my listeners that African descendants from South America were very involved with the Working Group and had urged a decade for people of African descent be recognized. It is indeed unfortunate that the UN has only designated one year (2011.)
Dr. Shepherd is the author of several books about the culture and history of Africans and we discussed some of her work. I am re-reading (third time) her 2007 published I Want to Disturb My Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Postcolonial Jamaica. Part of the title of the book comes from Bob Marley’s Bad Card released in 1980 on the album Uprising. One of many reasons for reading this book three times is the accessibility of the language of the book. Dr. Shepherd is an academic but the language she uses is not out of reach for non-academics even though the lectures in the book are for academics since they were mostly given at universities. I have shared parts of this book with children as young as junior high school age and they have been encouraged to read the book.
History becomes fascinating when historians like Dr. Shepherd write. Her letter to Mary Seacole in chapter 13 “Dear Mrs Seacole: Groundings with Mary Seacole on Slavery, Gender and Citizenship” is a delight to read. The letter was read as part the lecture delivered at the Institute of Jamaica's function to honour Mary Seacole on November 21, 2005, to mark the bicentenary of Seacole's birth. In her letter to Mary Seacole Dr. Shepherd writes: "I was surprised that you had only your little maid for a traveling companion; but admired you for defying the gender conventions of the time. Still you were lucky it was then: now, a single black woman roaming all over the world like Digicel and Cable and Wireless, and carrying herbs would certainly have attracted attention including a body scan! As an attractive Jamaican woman, brown or not, you would perhaps, have been mistaken for a drug mule, sniffed by colour-prejudice dogs and have your ample body 'feel-feel' up by strange men and women."
Mary Seacole was a woman born in Jamaica who as an adult left to live and work in several countries including Britain where she worked as a nurse during the Crimean War. Part of the advertisement for the 2005 released movie Mary Seacole: The Real Angel of the Crimea reads: Mary Seacole was a black contemporary of Florence Nightingale in the front line of the Crimea war. Her medical and mercantile endeavours made her a national hero in Victorian England but she was all but forgotten after her death.
Dr Shepherd makes an appearance in the movie.
In I Want to Disturb My Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Postcolonial Jamaica Dr. Shepherd addresses the struggle of enslaved African women and recognizes that she has benefited from their fight for freedom. In chapter 8 entitled “Petticoat Rebellion” Dr. Shepherd names several of those freedom fighting enslaved African women including Congo Sally, Minnetta, Whaunica and Phibba.
During the interview we spoke about Thomas Thistlewood’s diary where he documented his systematic sexual abuse of every female (women and children) on his Jamaica based plantation. Thistlewood’s diary is valuable as documented proof of the sexual abuse to which enslaved African women were subjected by white slave holders in addition to the back breaking physical work they were forced to perform to enrich their abusers.
A woman who believes in and lives up to the saying "putting your money where your mouth is," Dr. Shepherd has written: The primary responsibilities of the university academic are to teach and advise graduate and undergraduate students, attend to examination duties, conduct research and publish the findings of such research. However few confine themselves to their core mandate. Many assume leadership positions and administrative responsibilities (including sitting on committees, sub-committees and the inevitable task forces) engage in public and professional service and outreach activities and form links with the international academy through the delivery of conference papers and public lectures. Historians at the University of the West Indies (UWI) are among those who refuse to imprison themselves within the walls of academia, becoming heavily involved in public service, schools and community outreach; and delivering public lectures locally, regionally and internationally. Dr Shepherd has certainly done that as evidenced by the 21 public lectures contained in I Want to Disturb My Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Postcolonial Jamaica.
With her busy schedule and great responsibilities as professor of social history and Director of the Institute for Gender & Development Studies (IGDS) at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) with oversight responsibility for the Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine Units of the IGDS Dr. Shepherd is organizing a conference in Colombia, South America in March 2011 to commemorate IYPAD. Dr. Shepherd is the author of several other books about the history of Africans and other racialized people in the Caribbean including: Slavery without sugar: Diversity in Caribbean economy and society since the 17th century, Emancipation and immigration: A pan-Caribbean overview, Women in Caribbean history, The ranking game: Discourses of belonging in Jamaican history, Working slavery, pricing freedom: Perspectives from the Caribbean and Africa and the African Diaspora.
It was an amazing, delightful and enlightening experience speaking with Dr. Shepherd and I hope to speak with her again this year as we observe the United Nations International Year for People of African Descent (IYPAD).
Dr. Shepherd was one of five members of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. The Working Group was established in 2002 with a mandate to collaborate with respective countries to devise policies aimed at eradicating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. As an activist scholar Dr. Shepherd was well suited to being a member of the Working Group and had much to contribute to its work. She was the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean on the Working Group.
She shared with me and my listeners that African descendants from South America were very involved with the Working Group and had urged a decade for people of African descent be recognized. It is indeed unfortunate that the UN has only designated one year (2011.)
Dr. Shepherd is the author of several books about the culture and history of Africans and we discussed some of her work. I am re-reading (third time) her 2007 published I Want to Disturb My Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Postcolonial Jamaica. Part of the title of the book comes from Bob Marley’s Bad Card released in 1980 on the album Uprising. One of many reasons for reading this book three times is the accessibility of the language of the book. Dr. Shepherd is an academic but the language she uses is not out of reach for non-academics even though the lectures in the book are for academics since they were mostly given at universities. I have shared parts of this book with children as young as junior high school age and they have been encouraged to read the book.
History becomes fascinating when historians like Dr. Shepherd write. Her letter to Mary Seacole in chapter 13 “Dear Mrs Seacole: Groundings with Mary Seacole on Slavery, Gender and Citizenship” is a delight to read. The letter was read as part the lecture delivered at the Institute of Jamaica's function to honour Mary Seacole on November 21, 2005, to mark the bicentenary of Seacole's birth. In her letter to Mary Seacole Dr. Shepherd writes: "I was surprised that you had only your little maid for a traveling companion; but admired you for defying the gender conventions of the time. Still you were lucky it was then: now, a single black woman roaming all over the world like Digicel and Cable and Wireless, and carrying herbs would certainly have attracted attention including a body scan! As an attractive Jamaican woman, brown or not, you would perhaps, have been mistaken for a drug mule, sniffed by colour-prejudice dogs and have your ample body 'feel-feel' up by strange men and women."
Mary Seacole was a woman born in Jamaica who as an adult left to live and work in several countries including Britain where she worked as a nurse during the Crimean War. Part of the advertisement for the 2005 released movie Mary Seacole: The Real Angel of the Crimea reads: Mary Seacole was a black contemporary of Florence Nightingale in the front line of the Crimea war. Her medical and mercantile endeavours made her a national hero in Victorian England but she was all but forgotten after her death.
Dr Shepherd makes an appearance in the movie.
In I Want to Disturb My Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Postcolonial Jamaica Dr. Shepherd addresses the struggle of enslaved African women and recognizes that she has benefited from their fight for freedom. In chapter 8 entitled “Petticoat Rebellion” Dr. Shepherd names several of those freedom fighting enslaved African women including Congo Sally, Minnetta, Whaunica and Phibba.
During the interview we spoke about Thomas Thistlewood’s diary where he documented his systematic sexual abuse of every female (women and children) on his Jamaica based plantation. Thistlewood’s diary is valuable as documented proof of the sexual abuse to which enslaved African women were subjected by white slave holders in addition to the back breaking physical work they were forced to perform to enrich their abusers.
A woman who believes in and lives up to the saying "putting your money where your mouth is," Dr. Shepherd has written: The primary responsibilities of the university academic are to teach and advise graduate and undergraduate students, attend to examination duties, conduct research and publish the findings of such research. However few confine themselves to their core mandate. Many assume leadership positions and administrative responsibilities (including sitting on committees, sub-committees and the inevitable task forces) engage in public and professional service and outreach activities and form links with the international academy through the delivery of conference papers and public lectures. Historians at the University of the West Indies (UWI) are among those who refuse to imprison themselves within the walls of academia, becoming heavily involved in public service, schools and community outreach; and delivering public lectures locally, regionally and internationally. Dr Shepherd has certainly done that as evidenced by the 21 public lectures contained in I Want to Disturb My Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Postcolonial Jamaica.
With her busy schedule and great responsibilities as professor of social history and Director of the Institute for Gender & Development Studies (IGDS) at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) with oversight responsibility for the Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine Units of the IGDS Dr. Shepherd is organizing a conference in Colombia, South America in March 2011 to commemorate IYPAD. Dr. Shepherd is the author of several other books about the history of Africans and other racialized people in the Caribbean including: Slavery without sugar: Diversity in Caribbean economy and society since the 17th century, Emancipation and immigration: A pan-Caribbean overview, Women in Caribbean history, The ranking game: Discourses of belonging in Jamaican history, Working slavery, pricing freedom: Perspectives from the Caribbean and Africa and the African Diaspora.
It was an amazing, delightful and enlightening experience speaking with Dr. Shepherd and I hope to speak with her again this year as we observe the United Nations International Year for People of African Descent (IYPAD).
Sunday, January 9, 2011
INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT (IYPAD)
Karibuni! Welcome! We are in 2011, the second decade of the 21st century and the United Nations (UN) designated International Year for People of African Descent (IYPAD.) This is a Pan-African commemoration, memorialization and an opportunity to do some serious education (learning and teaching) about African culture and amazing opportunity to tell our stories. As Peter Tosh sang in his popular 1977 released song African (from the album Equal Rights): “Don’t care where you come from as long as you’re a black man, you’re an African.” We also know that the beginning of human existence, scientifically proven, is from the African continent. The greatest civilizations, mathematics and science had their beginnings in Africa. However there are many, including Africans, who do not know of our glorious history and the contributions that our people, regardless of where they were born, have made to ancient and modern civilization.
The Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, considered the father of the modern Pan-African movement, said: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” We know that a tree without roots is a dead tree, sometimes tumbleweed, moving in whatever direction it is blown by the wind.
There are plans by various organizations in recognition of the year and it is important that we co-ordinate as much as possible so that our energies are not depleted by duplicating the same initiatives. Part of the declaration from the UN states: The General Assembly encourages Member States, the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and existing resources, and civil society to make preparations for and identify possible initiatives that can contribute to the success of the Year. Since the Canadian government is a member of the UN it should at least be supporting with resources initiatives that can contribute to the success of the Year. However, when considering the inaction of the government in 2007 for the commemoration of the UN recognized bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade and their refusal to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples there is faint hope that there will even be a recognition of the UN designated International Year for People of African Descent. On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly voted on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA voted against adopting the Declaration. It was not until November 12, 2010 (probably attempting to project a new international image after failing to be elected to the UN Security Council) that the Canadian government formally endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
We must not let the past inaction of the Canadian government deter our movement to commemorate this year. It is vital that we ensure this year is not ignored by the government. We are Canadian, our labour and taxes continue to contribute to the wealth of this country. A large part of the education during this year must be dedicated to the decolonization of the minds of our people. During the four hundred years enslavement of Africans by white people and even the colonization of Africans on the continent there was a systematic colonization of the minds of Africans. Today there are Africans in the Diaspora and on the continent who embrace white supremacy. Deliberate, strategic methods were used to alienate Africans from tradition and from each other and to teach African inferiority and European superiority. Europeans first attacked African culture; then they denied that African culture ever existed. Stripped of their names and identities, our ancestors were no longer Africans; they were made "Negro" by white enslavers. The names many of us carry today reflect the nationality of the Europeans who enslaved our ancestors. Most Africans in the Diaspora cannot claim one particular country in Africa (since it was carved up for the convenience and greed of Europeans) as the country of their ancestors; our history of enslavement with the accompanying destruction of family units makes it impossible. The European enslavers knew that divided we were vulnerable so they designed a system to make us lose the basis of our collective identity. We were separated, and then our names, our language, our stories, our songs, our family structures, even our understanding of God -- the things that bound us together -- were beaten out of us. Then they had to make us believe in, protect and even demand white supremacy. We had to be taught to love and revere Europe and European culture more than life itself. We were also taught that Africans had contributed nothing to the world.
In the 1923 published book The Philosophy and opinions of Marcus Garvey: Or Africa for the Africans Garvey is quoted on the subject of the deliberate attempt to create division of Africans:
The approximately 360 days left of 2011 are not enough to do all the work that has to be done to address the concerns that come from centuries of oppression. There was trauma that has never been addressed and continues to plague our communities. This year of recognition is a beginning that needs to go forward further than 2011. We can all do our part. We all have a role to play.
The Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, considered the father of the modern Pan-African movement, said: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” We know that a tree without roots is a dead tree, sometimes tumbleweed, moving in whatever direction it is blown by the wind.
There are plans by various organizations in recognition of the year and it is important that we co-ordinate as much as possible so that our energies are not depleted by duplicating the same initiatives. Part of the declaration from the UN states: The General Assembly encourages Member States, the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and existing resources, and civil society to make preparations for and identify possible initiatives that can contribute to the success of the Year. Since the Canadian government is a member of the UN it should at least be supporting with resources initiatives that can contribute to the success of the Year. However, when considering the inaction of the government in 2007 for the commemoration of the UN recognized bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade and their refusal to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples there is faint hope that there will even be a recognition of the UN designated International Year for People of African Descent. On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly voted on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA voted against adopting the Declaration. It was not until November 12, 2010 (probably attempting to project a new international image after failing to be elected to the UN Security Council) that the Canadian government formally endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
We must not let the past inaction of the Canadian government deter our movement to commemorate this year. It is vital that we ensure this year is not ignored by the government. We are Canadian, our labour and taxes continue to contribute to the wealth of this country. A large part of the education during this year must be dedicated to the decolonization of the minds of our people. During the four hundred years enslavement of Africans by white people and even the colonization of Africans on the continent there was a systematic colonization of the minds of Africans. Today there are Africans in the Diaspora and on the continent who embrace white supremacy. Deliberate, strategic methods were used to alienate Africans from tradition and from each other and to teach African inferiority and European superiority. Europeans first attacked African culture; then they denied that African culture ever existed. Stripped of their names and identities, our ancestors were no longer Africans; they were made "Negro" by white enslavers. The names many of us carry today reflect the nationality of the Europeans who enslaved our ancestors. Most Africans in the Diaspora cannot claim one particular country in Africa (since it was carved up for the convenience and greed of Europeans) as the country of their ancestors; our history of enslavement with the accompanying destruction of family units makes it impossible. The European enslavers knew that divided we were vulnerable so they designed a system to make us lose the basis of our collective identity. We were separated, and then our names, our language, our stories, our songs, our family structures, even our understanding of God -- the things that bound us together -- were beaten out of us. Then they had to make us believe in, protect and even demand white supremacy. We had to be taught to love and revere Europe and European culture more than life itself. We were also taught that Africans had contributed nothing to the world.
In the 1923 published book The Philosophy and opinions of Marcus Garvey: Or Africa for the Africans Garvey is quoted on the subject of the deliberate attempt to create division of Africans:
"This propaganda of dis-associating Western Negroes from Africa is not a new one. For many years white propagandists have been printing tons of literature to impress scattered Ethiopia, especially that portion within their civilization, with the idea that Africa is a despised place, inhabited by savages, and cannibals, where no civilized human being should go, especially black civilized human beings. This propaganda is promulgated for the cause that is being realized today. That cause is colonial expansion for the white nations of the world."While it is recognized that 2011 has been designated the International Year for People of African Descent by the UN it is also important to understand that the idea came from the work of people who attended the 2001 (August 31 – September 7) World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa. It was at that conference that delegates ensured the UN recognized and declared the brutality and horror of the Maafa (the slave trade and four hundred years enslavement of Africans) a crime against humanity. Reparations for the unpaid labour of enslaved Africans that enriched Europeans and Europe was also discussed at the conference and those discussions must form part of what we address during this year.
The approximately 360 days left of 2011 are not enough to do all the work that has to be done to address the concerns that come from centuries of oppression. There was trauma that has never been addressed and continues to plague our communities. This year of recognition is a beginning that needs to go forward further than 2011. We can all do our part. We all have a role to play.
Monday, January 3, 2011
TRAUMA AND VIOLENCE IN THE LIVES OF YOUNG AFRICAN CANADIANS
Nosa Idalu Iyirhiaro transitioned to be with the ancestors on December 5, 2010. He was a loving and beloved son, grandson, brother, uncle, cousin and friend. Nosa Idalu Iyirhiaro celebrated his 24th birthday on April 21st, 2010 and is one of the many young African Canadian men who have been the victims of violence in 2010. Nosa is an Edo (from Nigeria) name which means God has spoken. To deal with the grief and shock of the unexpected loss of this young life his loved ones have to grapple with the thought that God has spoken and that is why Nosa is no longer with us in the flesh. Nosa’s passing was noted in a few paragraphs in a Hamilton newspaper where he was identified as Hamilton’s 10th homicide of the year. According to the story in the newspaper one witness said “I heard a person hollering, ‘Help me, help me! I’m dying, I’m dying, call 911.” Those were probably the last words Nosa spoke because five hours later he had passed from this life. An article in a Toronto newspaper published in November said that of the 29 gun deaths in 2010, 26 were African Canadians. Nosa was not killed by a gun; he was stabbed several times in his upper body. On December 17th, he was laid to rest at St. James Cemetery (Parliament and Bloor Streets.) The sudden end to the lives of young men in our community due to violence has reached epidemic proportions. Week after week we read of these young lives and it seems that they are just faceless numbers to justify calls for more police and harsh law and order policies.
In his 2009 published book Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men Dr. John A. Rich writes: The shooting of a young black male doesn't make the front page. It's most likely to appear inside the Metro section -- that is, if the victim dies. Even then, he's unlikely to receive more than a couple of inches of print. After all, it's the same old story: young black men killing other young black men. What's the big deal? The shooter and the victim are assumed to be drug dealers or gang-bangers doing their thing in a part of town where people of means and good sense would never venture.
Dr. John A. Rich could very well be speaking about Toronto or elsewhere in Canada, the situations are so similar. Incidents of violence against young African Canadian males and in many cases by young African Canadian males are alarming. The estimated 26 African Canadian males whose lives ended through gun violence are not faceless and nameless statistics to their relatives and friends. However when these shootings happen there is usually a call for more police and warnings of dangerous gangs occupying the city. Hardly ever is there an article that addresses the circumstances that led to the reasons why there is this level of self-hatred among our male youth.
Sometimes there are calls for programs that will keep children and youth occupied in social activities. In November 2005 the Coalition of African Canadian Organizations met with then Prime Minister Paul Martin and presented a plan that included calls for the federal government to create employment and training opportunities to bring more African Canadian youth into the workforce.
Earlier the same month (November 9, 2005) while attending a meeting of federal, provincial and territorial Ministers in Whitehorse, Yukon, Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada, Irwin Cotler announced: “The disturbing increase of homicides involving firearms in urban centres such as Toronto and Winnipeg have underscored the need to attack the problem of the illegal use of firearms on a number of fronts. What I am announcing today is a three-pronged strategy involving: first, legislative measures and enhanced punishments; second, initiatives to assist prosecutors and law enforcement officials in bringing the perpetrators of gun-related crimes to justice; and third, investments to prevent youth from following a life of crime and to provide them with hope and opportunity." Five years after the 2005 announcement, with a new federal government (elected January 23, 2006) in place only the first two of the three prongs seem to have been initiated in the African Canadian community.
Dr. John A. Rich is an African American physician, scholar and a leader in addressing the health care needs of African-American men in urban areas. He has linked economics, mental health, educational and employment opportunities to physical well-being and his work is influencing policy discussions and health practice throughout the United States. Rich has established the Young Men’s Health Clinic at the Boston Medical Center which provides primary care to men ages 17 to 29 many of whom are victims of violence. In Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men he writes about the lives of several young African American men who were traumatized by the violence they experienced. He has gone beyond the numbers and statistics that appear in newspaper articles to delve into the lives, decipher reasons and act on his findings. Rich writes: “Even though large numbers of African American men have suffered from violent injury, little research attention has been paid to the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma related symptoms on the lives of these young men.” Rich suggests that the hypervigilance that leaves these young men constantly feeling that their lives are in danger can lead to them being unable to feel and subjecting themselves to danger. Some may turn to alcohol or drugs to ease their pain and shame, especially if they had walked away from a dangerous fight that could have cost them their life.
Rich concludes that there is a right place and a right time to understand how violence affects the lives of young racialized men. He writes: The right place is the community, defined not simply by the neighborhoods where these men live but also the larger community of which all of us are residents. Now is the right time to hear the clear resonance of their voices and involve them as central participants in formulating the solutions.
The United Nations has designated 2011 the International year for people of African descent. Surely it is time to address in a concrete manner the trauma that many of our young men live with daily because of the violence from many sources that plague their lives. Dr. John A. Rich could have been writing about Nosa Idalu Iyirhiaro or Yannick Roache, an 18 year old who transitioned on Christmas Eve day 2002, when he wrote that the young men from urban neighbourhoods in the USA had “lives that were textured and complex” and “their struggles and their anger were counterbalanced by laughter and generosity.” His advice is valuable for the people in power, those who make the decisions that affect the lives of our youth: “Without any access to their voices, we could easily formulate solutions that are out of sync with the realities of their lives and that would be ineffective or outright destructive. This is why hearing their stories told through their own words is important. Not only does it reaffirm their basic humanity, it also points to a need to consider a different palette of approaches to violence and poverty and masculinity and non-violence that might eventually yield enduring results for change.”
I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. John A. Rich on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at CKLN 88.1 FM Tuesday Word of Mouth radio program (7:00 - 7:30 p.m.) He is doing an amazing job in addressing and documenting the effects of the violence on the health of those who live with it every day. The voices of those young men have been heard by all those who have read Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men.
In his 2009 published book Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men Dr. John A. Rich writes: The shooting of a young black male doesn't make the front page. It's most likely to appear inside the Metro section -- that is, if the victim dies. Even then, he's unlikely to receive more than a couple of inches of print. After all, it's the same old story: young black men killing other young black men. What's the big deal? The shooter and the victim are assumed to be drug dealers or gang-bangers doing their thing in a part of town where people of means and good sense would never venture.
Dr. John A. Rich could very well be speaking about Toronto or elsewhere in Canada, the situations are so similar. Incidents of violence against young African Canadian males and in many cases by young African Canadian males are alarming. The estimated 26 African Canadian males whose lives ended through gun violence are not faceless and nameless statistics to their relatives and friends. However when these shootings happen there is usually a call for more police and warnings of dangerous gangs occupying the city. Hardly ever is there an article that addresses the circumstances that led to the reasons why there is this level of self-hatred among our male youth.
Sometimes there are calls for programs that will keep children and youth occupied in social activities. In November 2005 the Coalition of African Canadian Organizations met with then Prime Minister Paul Martin and presented a plan that included calls for the federal government to create employment and training opportunities to bring more African Canadian youth into the workforce.
Earlier the same month (November 9, 2005) while attending a meeting of federal, provincial and territorial Ministers in Whitehorse, Yukon, Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada, Irwin Cotler announced: “The disturbing increase of homicides involving firearms in urban centres such as Toronto and Winnipeg have underscored the need to attack the problem of the illegal use of firearms on a number of fronts. What I am announcing today is a three-pronged strategy involving: first, legislative measures and enhanced punishments; second, initiatives to assist prosecutors and law enforcement officials in bringing the perpetrators of gun-related crimes to justice; and third, investments to prevent youth from following a life of crime and to provide them with hope and opportunity." Five years after the 2005 announcement, with a new federal government (elected January 23, 2006) in place only the first two of the three prongs seem to have been initiated in the African Canadian community.
Dr. John A. Rich is an African American physician, scholar and a leader in addressing the health care needs of African-American men in urban areas. He has linked economics, mental health, educational and employment opportunities to physical well-being and his work is influencing policy discussions and health practice throughout the United States. Rich has established the Young Men’s Health Clinic at the Boston Medical Center which provides primary care to men ages 17 to 29 many of whom are victims of violence. In Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men he writes about the lives of several young African American men who were traumatized by the violence they experienced. He has gone beyond the numbers and statistics that appear in newspaper articles to delve into the lives, decipher reasons and act on his findings. Rich writes: “Even though large numbers of African American men have suffered from violent injury, little research attention has been paid to the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma related symptoms on the lives of these young men.” Rich suggests that the hypervigilance that leaves these young men constantly feeling that their lives are in danger can lead to them being unable to feel and subjecting themselves to danger. Some may turn to alcohol or drugs to ease their pain and shame, especially if they had walked away from a dangerous fight that could have cost them their life.
Rich concludes that there is a right place and a right time to understand how violence affects the lives of young racialized men. He writes: The right place is the community, defined not simply by the neighborhoods where these men live but also the larger community of which all of us are residents. Now is the right time to hear the clear resonance of their voices and involve them as central participants in formulating the solutions.
The United Nations has designated 2011 the International year for people of African descent. Surely it is time to address in a concrete manner the trauma that many of our young men live with daily because of the violence from many sources that plague their lives. Dr. John A. Rich could have been writing about Nosa Idalu Iyirhiaro or Yannick Roache, an 18 year old who transitioned on Christmas Eve day 2002, when he wrote that the young men from urban neighbourhoods in the USA had “lives that were textured and complex” and “their struggles and their anger were counterbalanced by laughter and generosity.” His advice is valuable for the people in power, those who make the decisions that affect the lives of our youth: “Without any access to their voices, we could easily formulate solutions that are out of sync with the realities of their lives and that would be ineffective or outright destructive. This is why hearing their stories told through their own words is important. Not only does it reaffirm their basic humanity, it also points to a need to consider a different palette of approaches to violence and poverty and masculinity and non-violence that might eventually yield enduring results for change.”
I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. John A. Rich on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at CKLN 88.1 FM Tuesday Word of Mouth radio program (7:00 - 7:30 p.m.) He is doing an amazing job in addressing and documenting the effects of the violence on the health of those who live with it every day. The voices of those young men have been heard by all those who have read Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men.
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