PILLARS OF CHANGE

Thomas L Blair "Provocative, intelligent and impassioned, Pillars of Change is a survival guide for Black scholars as alienated youth force the pace of urban change. Based on the Black experience in Afro-Europe, the analysis and solutions will be welcomed in all parts of the Black World."

Publishing Information Published by Editions Blair Hertford, England

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Copyright ©Thomas L Blair The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the written permission of the copyright holder. First published 2011 All photographs/montage ©Thomas L Blair taken at the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists, The Sorbonne, Paris, 19-22 September 1956. Poster, with “Negro Head” designed by Pablo Picasso appears in the background, acknowledgements to Présence Africaine, Paris The greatest care has been taken in producing this publication, however the author will endeavour to acknowledge any errors or omissions.

ISBN 978-1-908480-00-2 eBook conversion by David Stockman Contents

Elements of Change

· Immigration and its effects

· Distress

· Attitudes towards Blacks are less welcoming

· The historic present

· Inevitable results of change Black and Proud

· The scholars story

· Youth's story

· The social change story

· What then is the role of the Black intellectual?

· Thoughts on an ending Urbanism and Poetics

· • Youth's urban cultures challenge Black poetics

· • Respect for youth and all who labour · • Towards African European Studies

· • Digitising the African Diaspora Homage to Mme Y C Diop - Mother Africa in Europe

· Fundamental source of ideas

· Niam n'goura

· Themes of solidarity

· "I must go on"

What Can We Do? Resources and Further Reading Notes on the author Acknowledgements

Commentaries

"Brother Thomas [Blair] writes in the tradition of our most important scholar-activist intellectuals. His work is full of insight and reflection, and useful for the continuing struggle to raise consciousness." Molefi Kete Asante, professor of Africana Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA

"At last! A book that challenges Black scholars to recharge their mission and to restore an inter-generational dialogue that has been frozen for decades leaving a generation in amnesia… "At the dawn of the XXIst century, the Pillars of Change is essential reading to take concrete actions in order to promote Black intellectual and cultural heritage...Valérie Kanza, Administator, Brussels, Belgium.

"Congratulations. I feel we have a lot to talk about, energies are boiling and I think something new is about to emerge ... like a psychological revolution..." Brima Conteh, Black advocate and founder of Diaspora Afrique, Paris, France

"I welcome the author's vision of advancing the work of the First International Congress of Black Writers and Artists by decolonising Black psyche and Black memory. He shows why this can be accomplished at a multi-level dimension including the streets." Blogger Anonymous

"I, like you, believe that we should use Internet technology and other audio-visual media to exchange ideas, stay informed and improve conditions…we need to create our own wealth and become accountable to ourselves". Mina Montgomery- Matosi, writer and translator, Paris, France Preface Rebellious Black French youth have stated their case in the worst riots in nearly 40 years in 2005. You could almost feel the fury in their angry cries: "we reject racism and exclusion in housing and employment; we reject heavy-handed police actions and unfair stop-and-searches; we want the freedom to be free". But there is a less well-known and potentially more far-reaching result than civic disruption. The young rebels exposed the unfulfilled promise of post-war Black cultural elites to strengthen the African presence in modernising society. What's more they demonstrated that French society had failed to accept Black and ethnic minorities. Through their rebellious acts they forced leading Black elites and politicians to open up an alternative arena of debate on what it means to be Black and French in the land of "liberty, equality, fraternity". Ethical odyssey The conflicted yet inter-linked destinies of Black youth and intellectuals are tenuous at present — and often hostile. But I believe that together they must assume leadership for Black empowerment in modern French civilisation and in shaping the future of Afro-Europe. The purpose of Pillars of Change is to suggest the basis for this assumption and its justification. There was no "Eureka!" moment when this thought became conscious. But my conviction about Black youth-scholar linkages grew stronger and took shape serving as a panellist in the Contemporary Black World seminar at UNESCO Paris September 2006. The occasion was the 50th anniversary celebrations of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists in 1956. The celebrants were led by renowned personalities of liberal inspiration. Wole Soyinka of Nigeria, the famed writer, political activist, Nobel laureate and President of the African Community of Culture, opened the proceedings. The high-profile academic Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. offered greetings on behalf of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University. The leading spirit of the celebrations was the grand dame of publishing African culture and literary expression, Mme Yandé Christiane Diop, Secretary-General for the African Community of Culture and director of Présence Africaine. Out of the ashes of the seminar debates, I urged Black scholars to declare a new mission. Its platform rests on three pillars of change. First, they must build links with and learn from the new youth-led urban cultures. Second, they must introduce an Afro-European Studies programme in schools and universities. This will promote awareness of the Black experience and counter the euro-centric bias in the French educational system. Third, Black scholars must digitise Black history and fashion a place in cyberspace for the African Digital Diaspora. Towards a relevant future The pillars of change offer a wholly distinct message: we must review and revitalise the situation of the peoples of the African Diaspora. If not, then the survival and development of Black communities is in jeopardy. Each of us can start this process where we are. The need for change exists wherever youth hunger for intellectual food to fuel their quest for "the freedom to be free". It inflames the dream of progress, whether in the elite halls of academia or in the streets of disadvantage in the French banlieues, the crowded favelas of Rio, the grim bidonvilles of Africa and low income settlements of the Caribbean, or in the Black enclaves of Brixton, London and Harlem, New York. My conviction that Black youth and scholar linkages are crucial for Black survival and development has earlier origins, of course. It stems from my enquiries into the intellectual thought and practice that supports emerging Afro-Europe. It benefits from my engagement with the African Diaspora in the United Kingdom where I have professed sociology and edited and published The Chronicleworld http://www. chronicleworld.org, the Internet news magazine on Changing Black Britain since 1997. Let us be clear, however. Social action for change is not exclusively nor solely the responsibility of Black scholars, writers and artists. Black youth are fuelling the forces of change with their street protests, rallying songs, graffiti and anti-racist slogans. Nevertheless, we Black scholars are one special part of a complex process of change. If we try harder, we can give a voice to Black expression that is lyrical, cheerful and even furious at times. We can help shape the identity of coming generations and lay the foundations for greater understanding among people in multicultural democracies. Seen in this perspective, Pillars for Change is my way of "passing the torch" to a new generation ready to assume great responsibilities. Thomas L Blair, June 2011 Hertford, Herts., England

Photos by Thomas L Blair ©2011

Photo 1. “Black and proud” youth. The young rebels forced leading Black elites and politicians to open up an alternative arena of debate on what it means to be Black and French in the land of "liberty, equality, fraternity".

Photo 2. Black immigrant workers... at the margins of society are vulnerable to social exclusion in jobs, housing, and education and health services. Many are stigmatised by the judicial state as "illegals", or immigrants "sans papiers", without legitimate status./

Photo 3. Youth is in the vanguard of change and merit full support...As they walked out into the sunlit hall the youth were greeted by well-wishers from many backgrounds – (and the author Thomas L Blair, left).

Photo 4. What we can do. Identify the mutual needs of Black intellectuals and urban diaspora communities and youth for cultural expression and collaboration -- Mme Christiane Yandé Diop (centre), Secretary-General for the African Community of Culture and director of Présence Africaine, was the leading spirit of the celebrations, with fellow celebrants from Africa, Europe, USA and the Caribbean.

Elements of Change

The call went out to honour and debate the work of the Black Cultural Legend, Alioune Diop, and his colleagues. After 50 years does the inspiration that motivated classical post-war intellectuals have relevance today? Anxious to reply we Africans, Afro-Caribbeans, African Americans, Black Europeans and Pan Africanists gathered to discuss this question in the Great Hall of UNESCO in Paris 2006.

Culturally speaking, it was a tribute to the pioneering 1956 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists. For me it was an occasion to pledge assistance to underserved Black communities in Western societies. Diop previewed this when he affirmed that Black intellectuals must undertake "searching examinations of the methods of integrating the black man in (urban) western civilization". Prophetically, he urged scholars to address this problem as early as 1947. His article "Niam n'goura [vana mpaya] or Présence Africaine's Raison d'être" set the tone in the founding issue of Présence Africaine, the "cultural review of the Black World". Diop sounded themes too little heard before. But after 50 years what is the situation now? Events in la belle république have diminished the lustre of Diop's affirmation. Two and a half generations have grown up cruelly exposed to the limitations of Black cultural power. "Integration" was effectively doomed by large-scale African immigration, ever- growing Black enclaves in Paris and big cities, and the backlash of race prejudice. Immigration and its effects For all its power the renascent vision of the classical Black intellectuals of the 1940s and 1950s was based on slender demographics. There was on only a tiny resident Black population, mainly citizen French West Indians and immigrant West Africans, among them students and "guest workers". However, things changed as post-war politicians recruited African workers to bolster the building and car industries, and rebuild war—torn factories, mines, roads, hospitals and schools. By 1990 there were 300,000 sub-Saharan Africans in France. Job-hungry migrants from severely wounded postcolonial African nations swelled this number. Many Black workers, the travailleurs noirs en France, are from Mali and Senegal. And their lifestyles, music, traditions and Muslim faiths are familiar sights and sounds on city streets. By 2006 Blacks, (excluding French West Indians or Antillean citizens) formed four per cent or nearly two million people) in an estimated 64 million national population. Over the years, immigrant families settled into a new life in the suburbs city planners call banlieues. These are the insalubrious, fragmented districts and public housing estates reviled by urban sociologists like Henri Lefebvre in La Révolution Urbaine (Éditions Gallimard, Paris 1970). There they live with their multi-cultural neighbours at the margins of society — vulnerable to social exclusion in jobs, housing, and education and health services. Many are stigmatised by the judicial state as "illegals", or immigrants "sans papiers", without legitimate status. They are prey to national political leaders who seek to eradicate the scum (racaille), the unruly youth of the ghettoes. Geographical factors buttress youth's low status and social isolation. The poorer banlieues such as Clichy-sous-Bois, the scene of the 2005 riots, are cut off from the affluent Paris city centre some ten miles away by a circle of motorways, the Boulevard Péripherique. Black advocates say when whites speak of accepting Blacks into their midst they really mean a kind of "striptease integration". It's like saying cast off your identity: "you must learn French, think like the French, love France, or else stay out of France". That's the way social scientist Babacar Sall describes it in "Immigration dans "tous" ses états", Societés Africaines et Diaspora, No.4, Décembre 1996, L'Harmattan, Paris.

Distress This picture of distress is evident wherever Blacks have pitched up on the shores of imperial Europe. Yet, they still keep coming; pushed from the stricken West African savannah belt of poverty and drawn by the siren song of paid labour. At least 500 work-hungry Black Africans arrive in crowded fishing boats every 48 hours, according to newspaper reports. They embark from the north and western coasts of Africa and land in the inhospitable harbours of Sicily, Lampedusa and the Canary Islands. Countless die in the trek across West Africa through the barb-wired fences of Melila and Ceuta, the Spanish enclaves on Morocco's northern tip. Tragically, these rough-hewn emigrants risk their lives in search of a better life. Once work is found they can send as much as £150 (US$203) a month to their impoverished wives, families and kinfolk back home. Black settlements are therefore not some strange phenomenon. They are a consequence of Europe's imperial past and its continuing need for labour to service globalising cities and economies. Today, peoples of African and Caribbean descent reside, work and study in all the key cities and member states of the European Community. The Black presence is evident from Copenhagen and Oslo in the north to London and Paris and to urban areas of Portugal, Spain and Italy in the south. People of colour live precariously in Russian, German and Eastern Europe's cities. Furthermore, there may be 5 to 8 million people of African heritage in Europe, according to population estimates. And inward migration doesn't seem likely to be reversed anytime soon. Hence by all demographic projections this means that post- colonial Blacks, their children and childrens' children are "here to stay".

Attitudes towards Blacks are less welcoming The sphere of Blackness was not merely altered in size and variety, it was accompanied by fundamental changes in popular attitudes. Diop's vision of whites accepting and adjusting to Black people was bypassed. Old France's love affair with images of blackness — le jazz hot, Josephine Baker and the icons of African sculpture that excited Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani — grew cold. The influence of African American avant-garde jazz and downbeat culture on the young bourgeois (les zazous) of Saint-Germain-des-Pres vanished in a myth. Adieu to Cab Calloway, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker and Kenny Clark and Richard Wright, Chester Himes and James Baldwin. The "why?" of this metamorphosis can be partially explained by France's own crisis of identity following World War II. The myth of a beneficent Imperial France had ended. In its place came a loose association of French-speaking (Francophone) countries with peoples of darker hue. But two profound questions arose from this diversity and tasked the body politic: "What is France?" and, indeed, "Who is French?" The unequivocal answer was "We French are white and Christian in a land sanctified in our blood, the Crusades, Joan of Arc, and patriotism — there are no black, brown, yellow and muslim varieties of Frenchness!" Soon, the negative, racist stereotypes of pop psychologists and tabloid journalists became the measure of Black-white social relations. By 1966, public opinion surveys showed that more than half the French adult population believed there were "too many foreigners in France, especially from Africa". After the tumultuous riots of May- June 1968, university student rebels no longer shouted: "Nous sommes tous étrangères" to express solidarity with the stateless "immigrant foreigners". Au revoir to young rebel Danny le Rouge Cohn-Bendit, his anti-colonialist supporter Daniel Guérin, and the vanguard working class and anti-racist militants of '68, the soixante- huitards. Now, France and the nations of the European Union are less welcoming to Blacks than in 1956. The union of white and nominally Christian nations has closed in upon itself. Governments have raised the drawbridge of "Fortress Europe" against outsiders and agreed measures to repel and swiftly deport "illegal immigrants". Furthermore, Black-white and working class unity declined. Alliances against racism and capitalist exploitation have splintered. Support from socialists, trade unionists, white ethnics, Jews, bourgeois liberals and political journalists has trickled to a halt. The comradely embrace of the icons of literature — André Gide, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus — has withered away. Today, Europe is in thrall to promoters of western economic dominance and neo- conservatism. They use "immigrant" as a code for "Blacks and Muslims". This masks a virulent strain of negrophobia and islamophobia that feeds on ignorance, insecurity and prejudice. Therefore the possibility of race equality and respect remains as illusive now as it was in 1956.

The historic present In her defence, there are Black people, especially assimilated elites and citizens of overseas French departments, who applaud the nation's record of racial harmony. France is called a nation where all people are equally French without differentiation. They cite the declaration of the French National Convention in February 1794 that "all men, without distinction of color, residing in the colonies are French citizens and will enjoy all the rights assured by the constitution". The most progressive Black and white politicians praise the immigrant's resilience in overcoming barriers of language, culture and prejudice. They say this quality makes immigrants, for the most part, productive contributors to the economy. Moreover, they point out, the nation honours the genius of Senghor, Diop and the "Black immortals" of 1956; it accepts a largely Black and ethnic national football team; and applauds Black personalities in fashion, Afro-jazz, hip-hop, and reggae and recently in politics and the media. Indeed, the nation rallied to the African American Jessye Norman's stirring rendition of the anthem "La Marseillaise" for the bicentennial of the French Revolution in Paris 1989. These strong sentiments are welcomed in many quarters. Yet the slave chains have not disappeared say Black advocates. Even Black French citizens are seen as an "entirely different type of French people", as the poet Aimé Césaire once noted. Studies show that Blacks languish close to the bottom of the league table for respect and esteem. A 2006 poll recorded that one in three French "are racist". Furthermore, more than half of the "people of colour" in France say they've suffered discrimination in everyday life. This was revealed in the 2007 study commissioned by the Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN), France's first umbrella organisation of Black advocacy groups. Importantly, the CRAN study repeated demands that French officials should begin collecting population statistics using ethnic criteria. But with little success. Mainstream academics mounted a huge protest against "ethnic statistics" warning they could lead to confrontation and social unrest. Government officials say classifying people by their ethnicity is illegal. Therefore, no direct census questions can be asked that would indicate the exact ethnic, racial or religious make-up of society. "Hypocrisy" reply minority group leaders: "without statistics racism and discrimination is swept under the carpet, and there can be no measure of whether conditions have improved or not over the years". Praising the study, Peter Lozes, a French-educated pharmacist from Benin and head of CRAN, said: "The statistics show what this society does not want to hear or see".

Inevitable results of change Looking back on these results one can see a rupture in public affairs. Only 29 % of Blacks trusted politicians. One source of distrust is the recurring popular view that "Frenchness" is the criterion of identity and civic participation. Thus political debates on immigration and social order reek of nationalism and racism — "Vive la France, ni black, ni beurs". This increasing trend reflects the abusive lepenniste policies of the extreme far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen who shocked the nation by winning 10 to 17 per cent of the votes cast in the 2002 and 2007 presidential elections. In this hostile climate of opinion, Blacks fear being marginalised in their search for better jobs, housing and education. They protest against government policies that shelter the wealthy and dismantle the welfare state provisions aiding the poorest families. Advocates also complain at the lack of a massive investment in affordable housing. First time or "spring board jobs" for the young unemployed have yet to appear. Meanwhile, the media blame "foreigners" for every economic and social ill. Stop-and-searches by heavy-handed police continue. Community workers warn nothing has been done to halt racist discrimination despite the riots of 2005. The result can only be described as France's "moral crisis", say Black advocates. In response, out of the shadows of the banlieues a new social phenomenon is in formation. Led by youth, it draws inspiration from a desire to right social wrongs and cries out for respect for their Black humanity. Today's youth are therefore as radical on the streets as Alioune Diop and the 1956ers were in the august halls of the Sorbonne. Angry second and third-generation youth from Africa and the overseas departments are defiantly affirming: "We are French citizens who will no longer put up with being deprived of our rights, our freedom to be free". Black and Proud It is a rare occurrence when an international seminar of prestigious Black scholars — chic, well-gowned and besuited -- is forced to consider a different dimension. But one sweltering September day in Paris. Dani, Zobaly and Julien did just that. Their plea for the cause of Black youth was a poignant reminder of the rebellions in the banlieues, the city's underprivileged twilight zones. The mild and abstract tone of speakers on the contemporary Black world was not for them. The scholars had closer ties to the past than to the future. Now it was time for Black intellectuals to descend from their ivory towers and connect with the new Blacks in France and Europe. There are three separate stories here: the scholar's story; the urban youth story; and the social change story.

The scholar's story

It was well after ten o'clock when F. Abiola Irele, professor of African and Caribbean literatures at Harvard University, introduced the panel members of the Contemporary Black World seminar at UNESCO headquarters, 21 September 2006. They were gathered together at one of many events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the First International Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris in 1956. The theme addressed was "what is the current thinking about Black peoples' claims for recognition of their different forms of identity in a globalising world"? Jean-Luc Aka-Evy, of the University Marien Ngoubi, Republic of the Congo, said African languages and cultures were losing ground. This was the inevitable consequence as societies modernised in an increasingly complex world, said the leading linguist in Francophone (French-speaking) Africa. Black intellectuals must come together to praise the richness of their cultures and open a more fruitful dialogue with France and western societies, he concluded. Mwena Mwanza Ntumba, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, spoke of his struggle to create the Institute of the Black World. The professor of anthropology at the University of Kinshasa works with teachers, faith leaders and community organisations in the local language, Bafike Dimanyayi. His aim is to promote skills for "development, diversity and dynamism". These are essential tools to awaken the "Black conscience," he said. African American panel members placed some of these concerns into a broader political context. In carefully measured tones, the historian Allison Blakely of Boston University, Massachusetts, affirmed that the freedom struggle is a defining characteristic of Black cultures in western societies. The rhymes and tales, and coded language that helped slaves resist the plantation system have similarities in the ways ghetto kids and rappers attack hated contemporary urban regimes. "It remains to be seen, however, whether the age-old color stigma might still simply leave Blacks in Europe in a new special category for exclusion," said Blakely. Molefi Kete Asante delivered a sharp-edged criticism of "world systems of white domination". Oppression had a terrible impact on the confidence and cultures of Black people, he said. Therefore he welcomed the rise of "an Afro-centric awakening, [and] coming revolutions of attitudes and actions". The emergence of "Afrocentricity is a fundamental part of the decolonization process," said the globe-trotting scholar who is based at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is action that counts; theories alone will not win the battle, Asante said. "If an African writer is not critiquing and condemning domination and Eurocentric imperialism and triumphalism, then that African writer has not sufficiently understood the great legacies of the past." In a conclusion that gained a rousing response, Asante said: "We are not what we were in 1956 and fifty years into the future the African community will be even more conscious and more complex than now."

Youth's Story Which brings us to the young people in the audience called upon to speak by the seminar chairman. Their story commands that Black intellectuals recognise the passions, concerns and interests of young people in the new urban cultures of France and Europe. Danny, Julien and Zobaly are of a new generation of bright young men, aged 17 to 20 years-of-age, who are very conscious of the geopolitics of urban life. They belong to Noir et Fier (Black and Proud), a group they founded in 2005 "during the walk for honour and respect in homage with the victims of slavery". Many were born of immigrant families on French soil and claim citizenship by right of jus soli; others are the children of citizen French West Indians. But they live as phantom shadows alongside their Algerian, Moroccan and poor white and ethnic neighbours in the sour housing estates north of central Paris. Danny's father is from Zaire and his mother, a hospital worker, is from Gabon. He's quite clear about the fiery, youthful passions that raged through Paris streets in November 2005. "The problems are racism and police brutality. Young people need work and money to live their lives, but they don't have access to success", he said. "They don't have the feeling that the government does anything for them, and they become angry". Julien's mother is from Guadeloupe, French West Indies, and is a hospital nurse; his father comes from French Guiana and has worked as an architect. Julien says: "We need to awaken the conscience of our people. That's why our T-shirt proclaims we are "Black and Proud". I want to be my own boss, get responsibilities, take decisions, do mistakes and find a new solution. I just want to do something positive with my life, build a family". Zobaly is of Congolese origins; his father was in the French military and his mother, a housekeeper, helps old and sick people. The riots were not surprising, he says: "People live in difficult social conditions. The school system does not match their needs and they live in ghettos of no interest to politicians who talk but change nothing". No wonder youth, frozen out economically and racially, are turning their backs on politics and national elections. As one disgruntled youth said: "Je m'interesserai à la politique quand elle s'interessera à moi!" (I'll take an interest in politics when it takes an interest in me!)

The social change story Black writers and artists commonly believe that French civilisation is a "model of integration". (Adherents of this conciliatory creed in 1956 drowned out the critics of French colonialism in Algeria and Indo-China and was clearly evident in 2006 at the anniversary celebrations). But the youth of the banlieues are not convinced. Youth are frustrated that well-paid Black teachers and university academics did not speak up for them during the riots. They feel things must change, and are taking the first steps themselves. This leads us to the social dimension story. It is a tale of two different cities; the tourist's Paris centring on the beaux quartiers, the sedate fashionable areas; and the other, the poorer suburbs outside of Paris and more than 20 French towns that periodically trigger a state of emergency. If there is one person who knows most about youth's problems and prospects it is Brima Conteh. He is Paris's best known human rights activist and director of the social action group Diaspora Afrique. Originally from Sierra Leone, Conteh lives in the banlieues and was thrust into prominence by the events of 2005. At some personal risk, he guided BBC and CNN journalists through the stricken riot areas to make sure they got truthful stories of events and people's grievances. Conteh told reporters from the world's media: "These troubles are nothing new. We have known how damaging life is for Black families and youth for a long time. Furthermore, "France's progressive face was tarnished by the 2005 events…Tell me, why didn't they come to our rescue? Those elites, bourgeois liberals, left-wing democrats, mainstream political parties, trades unions, student organisation and church groups were nowhere to be seen." It's time for Black intellectuals to show support, he said.

What, then, should be the role of the Black intelligentsia? Successful Black elites, including the first professors of African and Caribbean Literature in the French universities of Paris, Strasbourg, and Cergy-Pontoise, among others, have a special set of qualities. They have privileged access to the treasures of African, French and world civilisations. Commendably, they are establishing African scholarship and writing in the French and global literary marketplace. They hold positions never dreamed of by the great men of Francophone African literature and national esteem — Alioune Diop, Aimé Césaire and Léopold Sédar Senghor (the first African elected to the "immortals" of the prestigious Academie Française). Now, I think one priority of Black intellectuals must be to help secure Black youth's right to be and to know. Their hard-won knowledge and scholarship, too long sequestered in the academies, must now be redistributed to the new generations of aspiring youth of the Diaspora. Knowing what makes Black youth what they are today is essential. These influences cut across and meld with many different cultures and national identities. I asked the young men in "Black and Proud" what best describes their tastes and attitudes. They all point to the influence of family, of ideas, and a desire to visit Africa. One, Furillo-Kodjo, loves to read and learn from new things. His favourite American films have Black heroes. As for ideas, he says: "I like Frantz Fanon because I believe that each generation must discover its mission, fill it, or betray it". Another, Philippe, is keen to discover the homelands and cultures of his Togolese father and his mother from Benin. He says they have passed to me the love of those two countries. "My mother speaks our language to me, and I feel the need to return regularly to Africa and know more about my origins". The striving and aspiring nature of modern Black youth in the Diaspora must also be appreciated. Their drive to succeed comes partly from exposure to the mobile- or cell-phone-connected consumer society. It also stems from their desire to change or escape the excluded, repressive spaces in which they live. I learned this from their mentor, Antoine Garnier, an Antillean journalist and pioneer presenter of hip-hop and popular Black musical arts on French radio and television. When interviewed, Garnier said he helps them "to develop their potential as community leaders, as social entrepreneurs, as young Black men in France". They meet twice a week for English lessons and use the Internet to catch up on the latest sounds of hip-hop, rap, reggae and Afro-jazz emanating from New York, Paris and Dakar. To play their part, Black intellectuals are well-placed to unleash the power of Black literature and the arts. But, says Julien, "Black intellectuals will have to shout they exist, because young people don't know them". They must "encourage teachers and even the minister of education to introduce a new programme including Black civilisation history for everyone and particularly for the children, little brothers, sisters, sons and daughters". From my observations, youth are not trying to be "racial patriots" — this role is taken by Black French militants who want to "bonfire the system". Nor are they calling for an "explosion of the deprived, excluded classes" against the bourgeoisie and national elites. No, they are increasingly drawn to dedicated cultural and anti-racist Black organisations. Witness Les Braves Garçons d‘Afrique (BGA), and the Alliance Noire Citoyenne (ANC). However, youth do want more than a taste from the grand menu of French culture, "liberty, fraternity and equality". In truth and pride they can proclaim "Our great- grandfathers helped liberate France in World War I. Our grandfathers fought the Nazis and worked to reconstruct France in the 1940s and 1950s. Our fathers and mothers cleaned the streets and toilets of France for decades. It's time for the truth to be told." Telling the truth is necessary to instil self-knowledge, self-awareness and self- discipline into Black communities and youth in the Diaspora. The final declarations of the 50th anniversary conference, endorsed by delegates and participants, made that clear. Black writers, artists and intellectuals should undertake and contribute to "the social promotion of Black communities, especially youth and women, their heritage and aspirations".

Thoughts on an ending Looking back on my interviews with the youths, I can see that what they want is no less than that which all true Black intellectuals desire. That is "to define and accept their responsibilities, to assess the riches and the promise of their cultures, and to open, in effect, a dialogue with Europe". This is what James Baldwin affirmed in his essay on the 1956 Congress, "Princes and Powers" in Nobody Knows My name. More Notes of a Native Son, Dell 1964. Anyone who witnessed the power and grace of the youth's presentation will be able to say in the next 50 years that they heard the first major awakening of Black France and Afro-Europe. Who knows, the wretched streets may produce the first crop of French-born Black writers and artists? With help, says Brima Conteh, youth can transform their exuberant hopes into concrete political actions. In a transatlantic perspective, Molefi Kete Asante says: "For me, listening to them was like the l960s in the United States when African Americans woke up from many years of slumber to demand a transformation in the social, political, economic and cultural landscape. What is different, I think, with Noir et Fier ("Black and Proud"), is the fact that these young people have grown up in a society that prides itself on a liberal spirit yet the youth have discovered the incredible bias against African culture and blackness itself. Yes, their intervention was necessary, provocative, and hopeful. I predict that we will see an explosion of Afrocentric groups in the French society as young people seek to express their total acceptance of their heritage and future." As they walked out into the sunlit hall the youth were greeted by well-wishers from many backgrounds: African, French, German, Portuguese, Antillean, Australian and Asian as well as delegates from the Americas. This seemed a fitting note to end on. Memorably, they received encouragement from Mme Yandé Christiane Diop, the leading figure in the Society of African Culture and co-sponsor of the anniversary celebrations. As one youth in "Black and Proud" recalled later: "She was very happy to see young people like us doing what we do, and acknowledged that the aspirations of the youth of the diaspora must shine through the shadows and be heard." Urbanism and Poetics "Africans are not supposed to think or debate; they just dance". That's what many colonialists thought. This epithet was typical of an era when Blacks, even after slave emancipation, were regarded as little more than chattels. They were used and abused with scant opportunity to defend their cultures in a white-dominated colonial system. But then in 1956 Black intellectuals said "Non!" Senegalese editor and philosopher Alioune Diop and delegates to the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris denounced the "shameful practices of colonialism and racism" that ravaged Black peoples and their cultures. Once freed from oppression, they proclaimed, Africans would be welcomed in the ranks of western society and Black genius would regain its rightful place in the pages of history. This vision of Black "integration" was never to lose its ability to stir creative emotions. However, large-scale Black immigration, the growth of Black settlements and the rise of racial prejudice threatened its achievement in the following 50 years. The problem of "integration" was evident in all imperial Europe. But it was most dramatically expressed in France, the same la belle république that schooled most of the assembled scholars from francophone Africa. Were the 56ers just woolly-headed idealists? I think not. But inaction in the face of changed events and attitudes is not an option. Youth left adrift in a hostile environment affronts the vaunted dreams of cultural heroes. Equality in academia and the arts is an absurd pretence if there is inequality in the streets. So how can Black writers and artists address this modern "integration problem" and save our youth? How, indeed, can they give substance and meaning to the "tributes, assessments and perspectives" called for by the organisers of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the 1st International Congress? In my view, we will need to build upon three pillars of change. That is, we need to review our poetic mission in order to address new urban Black cultures, to cleanse education with Afro-European Studies, and to fashion a place in cyberspace for the African Digital Diaspora. Youth's urban cultures challenge Black poetics Black writers and artists with their poetical inspiration forging a spirited engagement with the new urban cultures of Black youth is a basic pillar of change. But we must not be naïve. There are points of divergence to be understood and overcome. Modern Black poetics is my shorthand for the sweet expression of Black intellectual and artistic heritage proclaimed by the immortals of 1956 — among them are Alioune Diop, Léopold Sédar Senghor and Richard Wright, the African American writer- activist. The words are eloquent but fail to meet the needs of Black low-income families, casual workers, asylum seekers, economic migrants and youth hustling to make a living in a divided society. Little do young Blacks in the ghettoes know of the titans of word power and their melodious words: "nègritude", "la personalité Africaine", and their sweeping allusions to "Black humanity". No wonder, like latter-day Black Panthers, youth shout "Poetry ain't going to feed us always!". How different things are from 1956. Paris, the hallowed ground of "Black men of culture", is encircled by banlieues, the impoverished districts of youth's rebellion and resistance. Their antecedents left the African countryside for Europe. Now, the children of the city have created their own character and way of life. This new Black urbanism is the product of modernising metropolitan cultures. The ingredients come from many sources and parts of the world. It is a heady mixture of natal cultures, their own and diverse suburban neighbours -- Arab, Muslim, ethnic Turks and Cypriots, Caribbean, francophone, and disadvantaged whites — all wired into a cellphone- and Internet-connected society. Add to this mixture a soupçon of "in-your-face" street savvy, coupled with pride of origin, and invite everyone to share your table in a multiracial, multicultural dining room. One can sense the fear that modern Black intellectuals may feel in confronting the reality of the new Black urbanism. Many of them are highly placed professors, researchers, teachers, artists and writers. Others are government employees: lower grade bureaucrats and public service workers. Some are trainees for jobs and power in church and state offices overseas. Most just want a stress-free life far away from the taint of the banlieues. Nevertheless, they must be reminded of their social duties. A key resolution of the 1st International Congress in 1956 called upon them "and all justice-loving men to struggle to create the practical conditions for the revival and growth of Black cultures". Towards Afro-European Studies Today's new Black urbanism is the proving ground of this pillar of change. Afro- French youth of the banlieues have revealed their quest for self-knowledge and self- determination. Black intellectuals have a duty to service their needs. If not, the unequal status quo will prevail and steadily worsen. One question that arises is "where to begin to communicate with youth"? Where better to start than by charting the legacy of Black heroism? Blacks in France have a powerful association with historic events. Intellectuals, teachers and advocates must tell the stories of the Caribbean rebels, the Garifunas and Maroons who fought for land and freedom from French colonialism. They must retell the political and military exploits of Toussaint l'Ouverture, the self-educated slave who drove Napoleon out of Haiti and quickened the people's stride towards independence. (And the story of the Chaussers Volontaires de Saint-Domingue who fought for the French colonisers from 1779 is no less remarkable. Historians say it was the first Black regiment in the history of the French Army). Furthermore, Black intellectuals must prick the nation's conscience with stories of the "tirailleurs" of the Black Force — the African, Algerian and Moroccan soldiers who fought in two devastating 20th century world wars, saluted the tricolour flag, and lustily sang the anthem La Marseillaise for France "the beloved country" they had never seen. But that's not all. Blacks are no strangers to Europe. The Romanised African Emperor Septimius Severus ruled Britannia circa 200AD. The Moors founded cities and left a treasury of palaces and buildings, arts, music and science. They etched the mark of Islamic Arab African culture in Spain, Portugal and southern France over seven hundred years from 700AD. Historians tell us of Africans in Europe as both conquerors and slaves and as domestics and lovers. There is a long trail of visitors: soldiers and sailors, sportsmen, musicians, artists, writers, pilgrims, teachers, priests, ambassadors, princes, politicians and traders. Blacks were in the Ottoman Empire, as well as in central Europe, Germany and Italy, eastern Europe and Scandinavia. More evidence is yet to be found as scholars, DNA scientists, genealogical specialists and archaeologists develop their skills in uncovering their remains. Real life keys to empowerment It will soon be apparent, however, that a more formalised approach to the new Black urbanism is required. There must be themes, aims, objectives and educational benefits that can be measured. Hence, Black intellectuals will need to design a new philosophical and cultural programme of African European Studies. It will be transnational in perspective and draw upon not only matters of the day but also benefit from the intellectual authority of Black writers and artists. Themes of the unity of Black experience — in politics, culture and society --and the quest for empowerment will be of central importance. As famed Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe told his audience at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London in 2005: "We need to remember that we are one." [Whether in Louisiana, Haiti or Africa, blacks are fighting the same battle - against inequality]. Therefore, "black people need to be aware of power. We need to talk together in order to form a powerful base." So what are the keys to educational empowerment? Establishing a well-ordered set of goals is a basic requirement. The programme of Afro-European Studies is focused on the 20th century and the surrounding decades. The goal is to stimulate understanding of the purpose, direction and significance of the recent Black experience. Unlike the eurocentric and biased narratives about Blacks so common in academia, the programme should cover a range of pertinent topics:

· Countering eurocentric history with the truth about the Black Presence and experience

· Initiating social and demographic studies in Black communities

· Examining notions of Blackness, Africanness and Caribbeanness and mixed race heritage

· Reviewing and replacing negative stereotypes and race concepts

· Exploring the politics of the class-race struggle and Black liberation

· Considering new alliances of older, "assimilated" Blacks with newcomers, and Black solidarity with les beurs, and their white and ethnic neighbours

· Studying the origins of Black European Consciousness, Black Activism, and Black Church Movements, and

· Highlighting Black media, Cultural Productions, and Archives of Collective Memory

Using real life issues to illustrate and strengthen the curriculum is another necessary condition. The focus must included the study of the new Black urbanism and its dynamic components. In brief, migration and recruitment result in a rising proportion of Black people living in modern cities. There they suffer the perils of life in the older slums and new insalubrious suburban districts planned for but abandoned by working class whites. In the process of urban living, they adapt to and clash with the sociocultural systems of hostile environments. Kinship ties are ruptured and replaced by transitory and instrumental relationships. Their offspring grow up as rootless children of the western city and its multi-racial multi cultural enclaves. New aspirations replace memories of the African and Caribbean homelands of their parent families. Youth seek education, jobs, housing and status as free-born citizens beyond the barriers of prejudice. They are willing to riot on the mean streets and invade the fashionable areas and citadels of power to express for their rights to be Black and Proud (Noir et Fier). But the interminable struggle to be accepted as French and equal by a tolerant nation continues. Examining the livelihood and life conditions of Afro-European people is therefore essential. Understanding the way they interact with dominant political events is crucial. For example, what factors -- of racism, housing woes, hassles with police and the near-impossibility of obtaining work papers -- caused the spread of violence to the poor, multiracial suburbs of almost every town in France. Crucially, students can use topical issues to build up a stock of knowledge about Black people in Europe. Furthermore, clarifying the origins and rise of youth's turbulence is essential. We may think the rebellious modern teenager was born in 2005 — but the roots of adolescent social consciousness run much deeper. Militant youth and rappers were threatening to burn a path to the Elysée, the presidential palace, as early as the 1960s. Portuguese and ethnic youth of the bidonvilles (shanty towns) of Nanterre joined university students in tearing down the walls of urban segregation. The unrelenting anger of the Beur musician Karim Kacel's "Banlieue" topped the rap charts in 1983 when the grey, soulless, poorer suburbs became symbols of urban deprivation. So, why the "silence syndrome" in public affairs for so long? Responding to these topics raises a number of questions to enrich student projects and evaluation in Afro-European Studies. Across Europe, how have Black Europeans viewed themselves historically? What is, and should be the ties of Black Europe to Africa and to other communities in the African Diaspora? What is their relationship to other ethnic minorities in Europe — the Jews, Turks, Muslims, Armenians and the Sinti and Roma people, for example? Furthermore, how do Black Europeans fit within the recognised categories of nation, gender, class, and religion? What attempts are being made to improve the status of Black Europeans within nation states and the institutions of the European Union? Study the Black experience Confronting the doubters in academia is another key requirement. Of course, educational leaders will resist the insertion of these ideas, topics and questions into the sacred halls of academe. Guardians of scholarly virtue will say Afro-European Studies does not meet the canons of academic respectability. Hence, programme organisers will have to demonstrate that the Afro-European experience is artistically and intellectually significant. They will need to prove that the special study of the Black experience is academically valid and educationally responsible — and therefore worthy of inclusion in the nationally recognised teaching and research disciplines. Furthermore, they will have to make the case that introducing African European Studies into schools and colleges is socially constructive and beneficial to students of all backgrounds. Yet, to be true to themselves Black intellectuals must have a public persona. We know roughly what this means. They must insert the Black European experience into all debates about education, culture and economy. Unwelcome truths must be confronted: institutional racism privileges whites over Blacks. They must intervene to raise scholastic standards in deprived, multi-ethnic schools. Moreover, they can promote topical seminars and workshops for policy makers and decision-takers. These should include mayors and councillors, police chiefs, judges and lawyers, along with media editors and journalists. An added emphasis on race equality awareness will prove useful. This is necessary for employers, educational leaders and government officials in Immigration, Interior, Constitutional and Home Affairs ministries. Some more adventurous writers and artists will embark on "an apprenticeship of politics": that is learning to act on behalf of excluded Blacks in the city and suburban ghettos. Brima Conteh, one of the earliest Black community organisers has called for the promotion of action institutions such as:

· A Public Policy Institute of the African Diaspora

· An African Diaspora Social and Economic Initiative

· An African Diaspora Historical and Collective Memory Institute

· A Trans-European Movement for Reparations from former imperial and colonial powers

In this way, hopefully, the Afro-European Studies organisers will serve a social as well as pedagogical role. They will preview and explore some of the main issues and debates that arise when the beacon light of the 1956ers strikes the prism of the new Black urban culture.

Cyberaction for Digital Futures Harnessing the power of the new information age technologies lies at the heart of the third pillar of change. The task is to add value to people's lives. The basic instruments are computers, access to the Internet and the digitised information transmitted. The content providers and users will include community leaders as well as students and teachers, librarians and media professionals. But what is there to digitise, you may ask? Firstly, Black intellectuals can digitally copy the storehouse of knowledge and heritage of Africa, Afro-Europe and the diaspora for transmission widely. A prime candidate for digitisation is, of course, the literary works of the publishing house and journal Présence Africaine. Created by Alioune Diop and his associates, they are jewels in the crown of 20th century "men of culture" of African heritage. With the new technologies, intellectuals and experts can create a virtual library of books, articles and monographs documenting the cultural renaissance of the Black World. Contemporary observations on life conditions and oral histories can be added to this digital storehouse. The creativity of urban youth cultures is another candidate for digitisation. Consider their lyrical manifestos, video documentaries, graffiti, and their music: Afro-jazz, reggae, rap, hip-hop and Algerian raï. To this must be added the books, monographs and learned papers of scholars and experts in the information sciences. Seen in all these aspects, Black scholars, writers and artists can be the midwives of a breathtaking possibility. That is, the creation of a global "knowledge network" linking communities of African culture. Imagine being able to digitise the whole proceedings of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists, the papers and debates of the 50th anniversary celebrations, and all the volumes and books of Présence Africaine since 1947. What, also, of sharing the global Black cultural experience with cyberenthusiasts in the busy Internet cafes, universities, polytechnics and media outlets of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas? But why engage in this digital pursuit? One over-riding reason looms large. The invaluable well-springs of knowledge in scholarly, cultural, scientific and human resources, if untended, may be lost to future generations. To counter this disaster, Black scholars must descend from their ivory towers and share their intellectual and artistic wealth with Black people. For this purpose the World Wide Web is the favoured medium of choice in the 21st century information age. What will it take to accomplish this digital sharing? Black writers and artists must give their attention to the selection, creation, and archiving of relevant websites. Leading national libraries and educational institutions will have to form consortia to share the risks, costs, expertise and operational facilities. I envision as a result a truly independent network of online content producers and consumers and a forum where messages are translated and posted. Diversity of interests will be portrayed and respected. Some consortia may select and capture content relevant to their needs. Many will archive sites reflecting their own language groups, faiths, national cultures and events of political and historical importance. The sites should be user-friendly. Users should be able to search through a wide range of web resources, literary and creative projects. These will include library and museum web pages, e-theses as well as blogs and podcasts. Youth is in the vanguard of change and merit full support. From graphic design to digital music mixing and video animation, they are sharing and shaping the latest technologies. Their outrage resonates in their songs: "Down with all barriers and borders". This theme is echoed in the community-based "pirate" radio stations of Black Britain. Cyberorganisers in St Paul's, Bristol and Brixton, London agree that youth must have a chance to show their potential as they use multimedia software, CDs and the Internet to combat racial stereotypes. These acts of creativity and protest are like improvisational metaphors. They stand for both the angst of the ghetto and of Black spirits soaring. Notable academics have begun to define a "cyberblack" or unashamedly "Afrocentric" niche in cyberspace. Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr of Harvard University edits "the first online resource center for African American and Africana Studies" in association with Oxford University Press. Prof Abdul Alkalimat of the University of Toledo moderates the www.eBlack Studies.org project on Africa and the African Diaspora. His book The African American Experience in Cyberspace, London: Pluto Press 2004 is a major directory of the best web sites on Black Culture and History. In time, Black intellectuals will create online "networks of networks" to transfer knowledge and strategies for change. Schools will use the Internet to develop youth's capabilities in literacy and numeracy, the traits that prospective employers are looking for. Teachers and students will debate the legacy of classical Black poetics and its links to the new Black urbanism. Computer-skilled emigrants will form business partnerships and political groups to improve people's lives and the environment. In the future, too, cyberorganisers will create "online learning centres without physical boundaries" to reach out to under-served communities. Empowered Internet-linked local groups will go online to share projects of hope with kith and kin everywhere. Highly motivated Black entrepreneurs will give birth to a popular and profitable high- tech components in the world's knowledge economy. With some imagination and long-term planning contemporary Black scholars can fulfil a noble task. They can revalue and reinforce Alioune Diop's vision that Blacks are uniquely capable of explaining Blacks to themselves. Recognising the potential for mutual collaboration with the new Black urbanism is a start. Fashioning an Afro- European Studies programme and defining a place in cyberspace for the African Digital Diaspora are essential. By these means, Black writers and artists can, in the words of the grand immortals, affirm Black cultural identity as a force for liberation and human understanding. Homage to Mme Y C Diop - Mother Africa in Europe It is a little-known fact that Blacks in Europe are heirs to a long tradition of intellectual and militant action in defence of liberty and dignity. The solemn task of Mme.Yandé Christian Diop, director of Présence Africaine Éditions, bookshop and publisher in Paris, is to keep alive the post-war dream of Black intellectual achievement and development. When you meet her you first notice the warmth of her eyes and then the strong nose and lips that give her that decisive, no-nonsense look. While others her age have long since retired, she still goes in most days to oversee a legacy of what was a turning point in the cultural history of Africa and the Black world, of which her husband Alioune was a part.

Fundamental Source of Ideas A glance at the crowded bookshelves reveals a fundamental source of ideas. Titles abound on Pan-African opposition to slavery and colonialism. There are volumes on the rising tide of aspirations of Black people in Africa and the Diaspora to be free. Recognition is given to W.E.B.DuBois, the African American social scientist who in the late 19th century theorised the concept of "African civilisation". He defended the values of African self-determination, self-respect, and self-reliance. These principles were evident in the work of the Jamaican Marcus Garvey, the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and "Back to Africa" movement. There are records also of the generations of pacemakers for decolonisation in Africa. Among them are intellectuals and political figures from America, Europe and the colonies who rallied to Pan African Congresses in European cities from 1900 to 1945. Black writers bursting upon the literary scene in the early 20th century fill the shelves. In 1920 René Maran received the Prix Goncourt for his work Batouala. Claude McKay was heralded for his classic work Banjo. Léon Damas wrote Pigments in 1937. All these works resonate in the mid-20th century years when Aimé Césaire's Cahier d'un retour au pays natal won wide acclaim and Richard Wright's Native Son and Black Boy brought the plight of Blacks in white America to world attention. Clear evidence of these strands of thought and action can be seen in scores of tracts and journals. Many were launched by young and notable personalities in passionate defence of Black people, the "cause nègre". Unashamedly fond of the Harlem Renaissance writers and artists, they longed to empower blacks to write about themselves. They contributed essays and poetry to the Revue du Monde Noir in 1931, created in the drawing rooms of the sisters Paulette and Jane Nardal. They voiced their radical challenges in the Légitime Défense in 1932 and L'Étudiant Noir in 1934, and Tropiques edited by Aimé Césaire between 1941-45. Then, as Mme. Diop recalls, came the genius of Alioune Diop. The birth of his Paris- based journal Présence Africaine in 1947 occurred as the postwar world emerged from the defeat of fascism and nazism. M. Diop, born in Senegal and a brilliant professor of philosophy, opened a debate at the heart of the French psyche. In his view, European liberation and the recovery of French republican values of liberty, equality and justice must coincide with the restoration of the sovereignty of African peoples and cultures. His contemporaries in the 1950s lent their support. Cheikh Anta Diop in Nations nègres et Culture and Aimé Césaire's Discours sur le colonialisme laid the foundations of Francophone African literature. French partisans, intellectuals, artists and anthropologists -- Jean-Paul Sartre, Georges Balandier, Theodore Monod, Michel Leiris, Picasso, Andre Gide, and Jacques Howlett — added their thoughts, drawings and prestige.

Themes of solidarity With Diop at the head, Présence Africaine, symbolised the renaissance of African Caribbean and diasporic literature. It expressed all the energies and talents of young African intellectuals, students and emigrants to Paris. Collaboration was sought with "all men of goodwill - white, yellow, black - seeking to aid us in the definition of African originality and its involvement in the modern world". This collaboration was sustained with the formation of the Society for African Culture (SAC) in 1956 and gained the support of UNESCO. Diop, along with Aimé Césaire, Dr. Jean Price-Mars, first chancellor of the University of Haiti, and Eric Williams of Trinidad, a professor of political and social science and later prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, sought "to unite by links of solidarity and friendship all men of culture of the Black world". Notably these themes of solidarity were evident at the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists sponsored by SAC in Paris in 1956. Pictures show Diop and his fellows from Europe, Africa and the USA in the courtyard of the Amphithéâtre Descartes, the "temple of white wisdom" at the Sorbonne. But the sub-text of the assembly was "the dawn of the intellectuals of the Black world". Diop and his partisans urged that "Black culture must become a power for liberation and solidarity as well as an expression of our personality". Mme Diop recalls that all the great figures passed by the book shop at rue des Écoles, including the psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, the philosopher Cheikh Anta Diop, the poet Mario de Andrade, and the writer and filmmaker Ousmane Sembene. Présence Africaine published the words of Africa's defenders, freedom fighters and anti-colonialists such as Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Haile Selassie, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Sékou Touré, and Malcolm X among others. The Second Congress of Black Writers and Artists held in Rome 1959, and the meetings in Dakar 1966, Algiers 1969 and Lagos 1977, attracted support by African Americans such as John A Davis of the Society of African Culture, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Katherine Dunham, and Richard Wright. The name of Alioune Diop, who died in 1980, may not be widely known outside his circle of devotees. Yet the framework of Francophonic Black poetics designed by his band of scholars remains potent. He was a symbol of what W.E.B.Du Bois would have called the "talented tenth", that is individuals among Blacks who by virtue of their abilities, vision or education should provide leadership. In this vanguard role, self- knowledge and the command of scientific facts and technology would have equal importance with culture and beauty.

"I Must Go On" When asked her response to the heavy weight history has placed upon her shoulders, Mme Diop who was recently honoured in Dakar and New York, is self-effacing, as always. "I must go on," she says, "too great a sacrifice has been made by others". The spirit of Niam n'goura must have strengthened her efforts to convene the Présence Africaine 50th anniversary celebrations held in Paris in December 1997. Visibly moved, she heard tributes from Federico Mayor, director general of UNESCO, Léopold Sédar Senghor, African member of the Academie Française, and Daniel Maximin of the French ministry of culture. With fellow celebrants from Africa, Europe, the USA and the Caribbean she bowed silently as a libation was poured by the Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian scholar-militant and Nobel Prize winner for literature. In her seventies then and still determined, you will find her daily, with co-workers supervising the bookshop and publishing house Librarie/Edition, rue des Ecoles, the Parisian avenue of learning, between the College de France and the Université de Jussieu. Présence Africaine, the oldest and most prestigious journal and publisher of Black writers and scholars founded on European soil, is her legacy, and ours too.

What we can do The legendary cultural theorist Alioune Diop wisely saw the need and alerted us to the problem of "Black integration" into European civilisations, cultures and societies. Clearly, as we look to the future, the centrality of this vision will be lost if the problems and prospects of the new Black urbanism go unheeded. Blacks in France and Europe are in the grip of an unprecedented alienation of the young, with the most disenchanted looking to radical means of achieving a new life. Implementing three "pillars of change" is essential. We, Black writers and artists, scholars and partisans, must link our classical mission with the new urban Black cultures, insert African European Studies in education and public affairs, and fashion a place in cyberspace for the African Digital Diaspora. I believe this proposition warrants close and urgent attention. Building on their collaborative success, leadership should come from the highly regarded organisers of the 50th anniversary of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris: Mme Yandé Christiane Diop, Secretary-General for the African Community of Culture, director of Présence Africaine, Wole Soyinka, Writer, Nobel laureate, President of the African Community of Culture, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director, W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University, and their UNESCO supporters. Therefore, I urge the organisers to convene an action group of Black writers and artists, professionals and activists, and computer experts and archivists to: Identify the mutual needs of Black intellectuals and urban diaspora communities and youth for cultural expression and collaboration. Mobilise the required resources, databases and personnel to implement the findings; and Secure the goodwill and finances necessary to introduce African European Studies programmes, and build pan-African and global knowledge Internetworks.

What better way to progress Alioune Diop's "Niam n'goura or Présence Africaine's Raison d'être"? Resources and Reading Chronicleworld: http://www.chronicleworld.org. Pillars of Change reflects concerns expressed in my Internet publications over a decade and originally published in Chronicleworld.org the Internet news magazine on changing Black Britain, http://www.chronicleworld.org. They include: Blair, Thomas L, The Trilogy for Change, Part 1. Advocacy For Black Advancement And Cultural Freedom, Part 2. Black Intellectuals, Black Europe and the African Digital Diaspora, and Part 3. Out of the Shadows: "We're Black and Proud" Diaspora Youth Tell Paris Scholars, in the September-October 2006 issues; and in the Archive 01, 2.305 Mother Africa in Europe: Mme. Diop of Présence Africaine — v. English, and 2.306 Mère Afrique en Europe: Mme Diop de Présence Africaine - v. Francais

Useful resources relating to Présence Africaine Présence Africaine, Novembre — Décembre 1947, Paris-Dakar. La réimpression en fac-similé de cette revue, à la occasion du cinquantenaire de sa création, est faite grâce au concours du Centre national du Livre. See article by Diop, Alioune, "Niam n'goura or Présence Africaine's Raison d'être" Présence Africaine, Le 1er Congrès International des Écrivains et Artistes Noirs. Paris — Sorbonne- 19-22 Septembre 1956. Compte Rendu Complet. Nouvelle série bimèstrielle. No. Spécial. No. 8-9-10 — Juin-Novembre 1956 Présence Africaine, Deuxième Congrès des Écrivains et Artistes Noirs. Rome 26 mars-1er avril 1959. Tome 1. L'Unité des Cultures Négro-Africaines. Nouvelle Série Bimèstrielle, No. 24-25 Fev-Mai 1959 Présence Africaine, Mondialisation, aspects, réalites, enjeux: The Challenges of Globalisation. No. 167/68. Nouvelle Série Bilingue, French-English, 2003

Resources for cultural/political perspectives and general information Bailey, Joe (2001), Social Europe, second edition. Longman Sociology Series. Longman, New York Baldwin, James (1964), "Princes and Powers" in Nobody Knows My name. More Notes of a Native Son, Dell Publishers Doyle, William (2001), The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press Fanon, Frantz (1967), Wretched of the Earth. London. Penguin INSEE Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes economiques, No. 1098-Aout 2006 Jules-Rosette, Benneta (2000), Black Paris: The African Writers' Landscape, University of Illinois Press. July, Robert W (1987), The African Voice, Duke University Center for International Studies Public, Durham, NC, Duke University Press Societés Africaines et Diaspora, special issue, "Immigration dans "tous" ses états", Societés Africaines et Diaspora, No.4, Décembre 1996, L'Harmattan, Paris.

Reading resources on immigration, urbanisation and les beurs Bekouchi, M. Hamadi (1984), Du Bled à La ZUP: La Couleur de L'Avenir. CIEM Harmattan, Paris Bernard, Philippe (1993), L'Immigration. Le Monde Poche, Paris Bertossi, Christophe (2007), Distant Neighbours: Understanding How the French Deal with Ethnic and Religious Diversity. Runnymede Trust, London Lefebvre, Henri (1970) La Révolution Urbaine. Gallimard, Paris Menanteau, Jean (1994), Les Banlieues. Le Monde Poche, Paris Raoult, Eric (1993), S.O.S. Banlieues. L'Harmattan, Paris

Webliography Alkalimat, Abdul (2004) Cyberorganizing: Information Technology and the Fight for Black Liberation. 2004b eBook http://www.eblackstudies.org/grbk/ Chronicleworld http://www.chronicleworld.org CRAN --Conseil Représentatif des Associations Noires http://www.lecran.org/ Diaspora Afrique http://www.diasporaafrique.org Gates, Henry Louis Jr, Oxford African American Studies Center, The Online Authority on the African American Experience http://www.oup.com/online/africanamerican/ Présence Africaine http://www.presenceafrica

NOTES ON THE AUTHOR Thomas L Blair, PhD and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts FRSA, is a sociologist and editor and publisher of the Chronicleworld http://www.chronicleworld.org, the Internet magazine on the Black experience in Britain and Afro-Europe. My website CyberAction for Social Change thomblair.org.uk showcases my work on contemporary topics including urbanisation and racial integration in world cities. Both have been honoured by the British Library for inclusion in the first archived national web sites on communities and cultures. Furthermore, my thoughts on the African Digital Diaspora are included in my ongoing work on Race for Cyberspace. It demonstrates how Black communities in America and Britain, and Language Groups in sub-Saharan Africa are taming the new information technologies. I hold degrees in sociology and African and Latin American Studies, and I have taught urbanism and city planning at universities in the USA, England and the Netherlands. My relevant books include The Land to Those Who Work it: Algeria's experiment in workers' management. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books 1970, The International Urban Crisis. Paladin. London, 1974, and Retreat to the Ghetto: The end of a dream? Hill and Wang, New York 1977. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Working on this publication has been an exhilarating experience. I am honoured to have been invited by Mme Yandé Christiane Diop, Secretary-General for the African Community of Culture and director of Présence Africaine to participate in the 50th anniversary of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists convened in Paris 2006 under the patronage of Nelson Mandela, former President of the Republic of South Africa, Aimé Césaire, Writer and Honorary Mayor of Fort-de- France, Abdou Diouf, Secretary-General of the International Organization of Francophonie, and Koïchiro Matsuura, General Director, UNESCO. Furthermore, I have renewed old friendships and gained many new ones. Among them Allison Blakely, Boston University history professor, Molefi Kete Asante, professor and Africanist scholar at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Valerie Kanza-Druart, officer in the European institutions, Mina Montgomery- Matosi, writer, translator and Pan-Africanist intellectual, and Brima Conteh, youth mentor and director of Diaspora Afrique social action group. Finally, I am grateful for the opportunity to have taken part in the Contemporary Black World panel, and I welcome the views of conference panellists, delegates and readers of this publication.