Resources for the Journey
I just sent out an e-mail to the 2009 Sankofa team. The e-mail included recourses for them to continue to think about race in North America. I hope that you also find this info helpful:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/198853
This is an article about a Portuguese slave castle.
“The Portuguese built
Elmina Castle in 1482 as a trading post for goods bartered for local gold and gems. As demand for slaves increased in America and the Caribbean, the castle began to store a more precious and perishable trade.”
“That feeling was complicated by the fact that because the history of slavery isn’t taught in the Ghanaian schools, many of the children and adults I met simply thought of me as a foreigner, and what they call “ye vu”—white visitor.”
How are we doing to teach and educate about these realities? How is our lack of education affecting us?
This is an article from the New York Times called “A Prom Divided”
(The effort is the subject of a documentary, “Prom Night in Mississippi,” which will be shown on HBO in July.)
To hear a local radio personality talk about this issue go to http://www.kfan.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=KFAN_Barreiro.xml
It is under Dan Barreiro “Segregated Prom” 5-27-09. I think he as some good things to say but he also shows that he needs some serious education around these issues.
The last thing that I want to leave you with is a documentary that I watched last night from American Masters called “Hollywood Chinese”- From the sexed-up Suzie Wong to the kung fu fighting Bruce Lee, THIRTEEN’s American Masters tackles issues of race and representation in Hollywood Chinese.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/hollywood-chinese/introduction/1146/
I hope that these resources help you on the journey, because we need to be on this journey in a serious way.
In Christ,
Tanden
