African Symposium Negotiating the Future

Author: Charlie Goulding

This weekend marked the ninth annual African Symposium. Spanning three days from Thursday to Saturday, the symposium featured three lecturers, a dinner of African cuisine, a student-led panel discussion, a drumming and dance workshop and, finally, a concert. By all accounts the symposium was a success, largely due to high student turnout and dedicated preparation by UMOJA, the group that organized the event.
UMOJA, which means "unity" in Swahili, came to fruition in 2001 and represents African students. Prior to UMOJA, the symposium had formerly been organized by a number of African students and was thematically restricted to the area of Sub-Saharan Africa -- the primary region of concern of the symposium's founder, Ben Gyepi-Garbrah '93. This is the first year the symposium has been organized by UMOJA, which chose to expand the event to include all of Africa.
Each year, the organizing body of the symposium chooses a particular theme around which to mold the symposium in order to direct attention to a particular area of concern in Africa. Past topics have included: "Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Framework for Survival," and "African Health: Present Pain, Future Health?" The topic chosen for this past weekend was: "Power and the State in Africa: Negotiating the Future."
The topic is an apt one considering the difficulties many African states have faced in the post-colonial era. The hardships of building and maintaining a new political, social and economic infrastructure subsequent to independence permeate much of the continent to this day.
The symposium began with a lecture on Thursday afternoon by John Spencer, professor emeritus of history and College trustee, entitled "The Future of Africa through the Lens of the Past."
Spencer's talk divided the stages of many post-colonial African states into two stages: an initial atmosphere of hope and optimism immediately following independence, and an ensuing period of disillusionment which has enveloped much of the continent. According to Spencer, the disillusionment many Africans maintain towards the prospects of a successful, independent state, can be attributed to three things: corrupt leadership, the residue of colonial power and static boundaries between nations. These boundaries have remained rigid and immutable despite the chaotic state of flux which defines the internal conditions of a number of African nations.
The reasons given by Spencer for disillusion and instability in Africa generated much student response and some criticism. Kaleb Tamiru '03 noted, "The impression I got, and the impression most of the people I talked to got, was that the beginning and the end of the story was corruption. 'New leaders aren't ready to pick up the responsibility.' I think he neglected to mention other problems, specifically external issues generated by the world community."
Among those external issues, the role of the World Bank and the IMF in creating a world economy unamenable to the stabilization of developing African nation-states is often suggested.
Spencer went on to discuss Africa from the perspective of American intervention. "Are we wasting our time?" he boldly inquired. Before answering this question, Spencer indicted American foreign policy for having "no overall, consistent policy toward Africa." With this in mind, Spencer asserted that indeed, America should remain involved in the development of Africa for three reasons: development stabilizes the surrounding area, as well as the world community; stability leads to security, an issue that has risen to the forefront of American consciousness recently; and the potential for markets in Africa remains promising.
On the second day of the symposium, Northwestern University Professor William Reno gave a speech entitled "Western African Conflicts and Prospects for Resolution." Reno affirmed the aptness of the symposium topic considering the media attention given to areas such as Guinea-Bisseau, Liberia and Nigeria. He went on to suggest that the troublesome experience of post-colonial Africa "casts doubt upon the viability of the state system."
Reno primarily attributed the failure of the state system in many African countries to the development of what he termed the "shadow state." In many instances, once African states regained their independence, the ruling elite "turned legitimate stages into facades in order to build extensive patronage networks." Social services, in turn, dissolve, and no semblance of a national army is able to materialize under such coercive, fragmented control. Africa's youth, in turn, become "foot soldiers at the bottom of patronage politics" and "would- be warlords." Moreover, the lack of a national army makes insurgence from neighboring states a constant threat.
While Reno did call attention to "global causes" of state failure, the thrust of his argument for external factors fell solely upon France, whom he indicted for a "tacit alliance with state decay in Liberia."
Reno was followed by Georgia State University Professor Guy Martin,who gave a talk entitled "Re-thinking the African State in the Pan-Africa Perspective." His speech was a synopsis of a recent article published in Black Renaissance Magazine.
Martin first called attention to the well-documented but under-appreciated reality that Africa is in a serious crisis. "In the Congo alone, the death toll since 1998 exceeds three million people." He also cited AIDS, famine, war and economic downturn as overwhelming sources of pain and suffering.
Secondly, Martin asserted that while leaders are often the focus of expert analysis, the people of Africa are the victims of these tragedies and are too often overlooked.
Martin subsequently called for a new paradigm to the African system, and passionately stipulated that the paradigm "must allow Africa to solve its problems the African way." Martin termed this paradigm shift a "Renaissance" and remarked that it must entail reconstruction based on African traditions, history and culture; its solutions must come from the African people; the AIDS and educational crises must be resolved and women need to be put at the center of this development.
Virtually all attendees of these two lectures, as well as the previous one, agreed that the speeches were highly informative and called attention to areas of serious import in Africa. Jasmin Johnson '05 noted, "The symposium covered some very important topics which I think were fantastic to be discussed."
The one deficiency of the lectures appeared to be a lack of practical, specific paradigms for improvement. "I thought the [last two] lectures were really theoretical," commented Freeman White '03. "They addressed a lot of concerns, but didn't show any practical applications for solving the predicament in Africa."
Dinner that evening was held in Redfield Proctor and featured an array of African Cuisine. The dinner was by reservation only and was set up in such as way so as to promote discussion and interaction among students and faculty alike. Johanna Opot '05 enjoyed the opportunity to discuss various issues with new people and took a particular liking to the chicken in peanut butter sauce.
The panel discussion on Saturday combined the thoughts and experiences of the three lecturers as well as three Middlebury students: Anywhere Sikochi '05 of Zimbabwe, Leah Okollu '04 of Kenya and Paul Opare-Addo '04 of Ghana. The panel was moderated by Kudzai Zvoma '03.
When asked about the prospects of the future in her country, Okullo responded, "Despite growing up thinking politics were a big joke, my opinion is changing due to some small but very important changes." Leah's remarks reflected the "moderately hopeful" outlook manifest in the panel as a whole.
The symposium concluded with a drumming workshop, held by a Senegalese band called Gokh-Bi System (Neighborhood System) who later performed in the McCullough Social Space. The band's music consisted of a hybrid between traditional West A
frican sounds and "global rhythms," and was extremely well received.
The members of UMOJA drafted a response to the symposium in which they were resoundingly positive about the event. "The symposium went better than we had expected -- it appealed to a larger audience and received active participation." The Thursday and Friday lectures alone received 83 attendees and 66 attendees respectively.
UMOJA received crucial support from many of its members, as well as Professor of Sociology David Eaton (UMOJA's faculty adviser), Professor Jacob Tropp, Spencer Fellow in African Studies, as well as Michael Sheridan, visiting associate professor of sociology and anthropology. UMOJA also credited the Office of Public Affairs with providing a strong foundation for the symposium by publicizing it well.
"It was a truly rewarding experience... I am excited about the growing participation of UMOJA members and anticipate an even better symposium next year," concluded Zvoma. Zvoma also cited Alice Quist '03 and Keitha McFarlane '03 as being integral components to the weekend's success.