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L O N D O N G R I P . . . Politics & Society
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opening seasonmid-season
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latest film on Iraq
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ECONOMYMichael Davenport on the
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AFRICA
Joo de Pina-CabralRacialised Africa
My May 68London Gripcontributors
Duncan ProwseThe 1960s
BRAZILRuling about Race -
Joo de Pina-Cabral, a social anthropologist, is Research Coordinator at the Institute ofSocial Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal). He has published extensively onnorthern Portugal, Macao, Mozambique and Brazil.
When he was sent a copy of the Open Letter to Africas leaders, signed by the currentArchbishop Tutu Leadership Fellows (see below, left), he was moved to respond in kind andquery each of their five recommendations of change.
The Tribes, the Leaders, the Millionaires:R A C I A L I S E D A F R I C A
an open letterby
J o o d e P i n a - C a b r a l
Each year, twenty high potential individualsfrom across sub-Saharan Africa are awarded theprestigious Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship,following a rigorous competitive selection process.The Awards are aimed at the cream of thecontinents future leaders, specifically targeting thenext generation of Africas leaders in all sectors ofsociety, between the ages of 25 and 39. Thefellowship programme is coordinated by the African
Leadership Institute, and it includes a training programme coordinated by the SAID BusinessSchool at Oxford University.
See www.alinstitute.org
_________________________
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership FellowsFebruary 10, 2008
AN OPEN LETTER TO AFRICAS
PRESENT AND FUTURE LEADERS
This continent has suffered too much. We need theassistance and commitment of young leaders to continue tospeak up on behalf of the poor and the marginalized, and seeka better life for all.--- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, April 2007
From Angola to Zimbabwe, questions abound aboutAfricas present state. All capitals listed betweenAbidjan to Zanzibar, are not new to the rising voicesof Africas sons and daughters who wish to know thefate of their land. Some express this concern throughsilent hope, others through evident fear, and manyothers look in no other direction than that of theirleaders those we have come to know as thecaptains of the ship of the state. Others even arguethat Africas answers remain with future leaders, andnot todays. But there has been a crisis of leadershipin Africa. The hopes and dreams of the citizens ofthis continent have been dashed by our post colonialleaders from the heroes of the liberation strugglesthrough to the leaders of opposition parties thatsubsequently emerged. The citizens of Africa deservea brighter future, and that begins with visionaryleaders who can answer the challenges that Africafaces as part of a global community in the 21stcentury. Recent events across the continent arecause for serious concern: from the crisis ofcorruption in Nigeria, the political tensions in SouthAfrica leading to the 2009 election, or the politicalcrisis in Kenya which is turning a once prosperouscountry into one that is marred by bloodshed and
ethnic tensions. The ongoing conflict in Sudan, thecurrent crisis in Chad, or the socio-political andeconomic meltdown obtaining in Zimbabwe have allcaused great instability in the lives of millions ofAfricans across the continent.
We do not seek to play the usual game of just listingthe problems but join our voices to that of over 920million Africans to demand fair play in politicalprocesses. Though all of our democracies are youngwe expect our leaders to be men and women ofexcellence who respect the electoral process and assuch the wishes of the people. As young people inAfrica who are leaders in politics, business, healthand information technology, we stand together andrecommit ourselves to the ideals of true leadership,and we make the following recommendations:
(a)The establishment of a high-level African Union ledcampaign to fight tribalism and inequality in all itsforms across the continent. Each country shouldestablish a Commission Against Tribalism and
Inequality (CATI) t o fight the scourges, and to protectvulnerable minority groups. CATI should bringpoliticians using ethnic manipulations to perpetrateviolence to justice and stop them from participating infuture political contests;
(b)Political leaders must be servant leaders and usetheir power and influence as a tool for socio-economic change rather than oppression and fuelling
Joo de Pina-Cabral:
Thank you for sending me the recent Open
Letter of the 2007 Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Leadership Fellows, which I read with a shared
sense of urgency. Many of us feel daily deeply
distressed about what is going on in Africa. So,
my African-self shares these peoples sense that
if Kenya goes, what will remain? It would seem
that everyone in the world right now is scared
with what might happen there.
Unfortunately, over the years, my ideas about
the whole thing have evolved and, frankly, I can
no longer agree with the proposed solutions of
the people who write this manifesto. I think that
new thought is needed because the old grooves
have been proven wrong. The courage to have
that new thought does not seem to be about,
however. In any case, let me dialogue with their
five points.
(a) Concerning the need to fight tribalism
and inequality, I get really worried to see
them tying up together two things that do
not belong together. That only increases
the confusion. Tribalism is not going to go
away, in Africa or anywhere else in the
world just wishing wont help, as we have
seen. Throughout the twentieth century,
we watched the beast growing on every
continent and much as we fight against it,
it seems to be staying alive. No one in
their right mind can believe that the
problem of tribalism will just dissolve into
thin air. One might as well work at trying
to transform it into a force for good.
Tribalism in Africa needs to become a form
of African regionalism and, that way, it
might be harnessed. In any case, there is
no such thing as one tribalism there are
as many tribalisms as there are tribalized
contexts in Africa. If the genuine historical
meaning of collective identities is taken
away from them by means of rhetorical
tricks like this one, they will continue to
surprise us in the unreason of their
repeated explosions. If tribalism does not
get transformed into a kind of benevolent
parochialism, it will continue to be
murderous. What makes it monstrous is
that it was never taken into account to
start off with.
(b) Political leaders are people in Africa,
as in Europe, as anywhere the problem is
not with the lack of moral force of the
individual politicians, the problem is withthe const itut ional nature of the
post-colonial regimes. Politicians must feel
that they are part of the people in an
organic way, an historically constructed
way collectives should only be politically
represented by persons who feel that they
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