Wednesday, April 20, 2011

New Americans Rally!


I'm looking forward to the New Americans Rally on April 30th in support of the “One Nation, One Dream” agenda!

Do you know that immigrant communities now make up 13.5 percent of the population and 17.5 percent of the workforce in Illinois?

Do you know that immigrants are 50 percent more likely to start businesses than native-born Illinoisians?

The April 30th New Americans Rally is a chance to recognize the contributions of immigrant communities, and re-commit the State to policies that welcome these diverse communities.

Keynote speakers will include: Senator Richard Durbin, State Senate President John Cullerton and University of Illinois President Michael Hogan. Other invited supporters of the Illinois DREAM Act include: House Speaker Michael Madigan, Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, and dozens of law enforcement leaders and university presidents.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Congressman Rush at African Summit in Chicago

I'm very pleased to announce that Congressman Bobby Rush will attend the upcoming summit of the United African Organization on May 14th! Congressman Rush is a passionate advocate for issues affecting Africa and the African Diaspora. He currently serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The plenary sessions sound great, too. Panelists include renowned scholars like Abu Bakarr Bah of Northern Illinois University and Lynette Jackson of University of Illinois at Chicago.

This is going to be a great summit! Click here to register now! I will be there, and I hope to see you there!!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Film "The Neo-African Americans" opens conversation about race and migrant identity

In February, the UAO held a film screening for Kobina Aidoo's film "The Neo-African Americans."  I was not in attendance, but based on the recommendation of the other staff here, I checked out the film this past week from the Northwestern University library to see it for myself.  The film features interviews with a diverse group of immigrants to the U.S., mostly first generation, and focuses on how individuals identify themselves and are identified in various ways: African-American, Black, African, Afro-Latino-American, African-African-American, "true" African, Caribbean, West Indian, etc.  As this long list of names suggests, the diverse experiences of people of African origin in the U.S. are complex, and these titles are not without controversy and contention. 

As a citizen of the U.S. of European origins and, thus, an outsider to these experiences, I thought the film was engaging and useful as a way of informing people about how the waves of immigration since 1965 are impacting experiences of being of African origin in the US.  I appreciated also that the film raised more questions than answered.  At its close I was left with a sense of uncertainty about what the most appropriate identifiers were.  While some people might find that unsatisfying, I would argue that this feeling is perhaps useful because it shows the blurring of the many ways that people identify and are identified by others and the contextual nature of these labels.  As one young woman interviewed in the film remarked, in Georgia she was identified as black, but in New York City, she was glad to be acknowledged more specifically as Panamanian.  While some preferred specifying their country of origin or ethnicity, others sought to identify as a member of a larger African Diaspora.  The take-away message for me was that the best thing to do is ask someone how they want to be identified.  I consider it a sign of success that the film would make people question pre-existing notions of what it means to be African-American, even if at the end they are left on uncertain ground.  Indeed, peering into the future it is hard to predict what these categories will come to signify. 

If you have seen the film, I would love to know your response and thoughts about these issues of Neo-African-American identity.  Leave your comments here or send me your review to post to this blog.  Let's open the conversation!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Welcome to the Chicago African blog!

Here is a space for conversation about community issues, trends, and events -- from organizing and advocacy to public education and civic engagement. The United African Organization is the one-stop information and resource clearinghouse of the African immigrant and refugee community in Illinois.  Join the conversation!  We are happy to accept your submissions via email.