Latest / DA CREW Podcast / SEASON 2 DA CREW PODCAST_EPISODE _37 _ HOST DR CHENIZRA
Transcript
- 0:06Hey, y'all, it's the Queen. It's the Queen. It's the Queen,
- 0:09and I want y'all to join me May eighteenth at the Como Community Center
- 0:13in Fort Worth, Texas. I will be receiving the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award,
- 0:19So I want you guys to come out and support me and AA L
- 0:23A C the Chasing Your Dream Book Tour. Join me? Oh ah,
- 0:39things, ain't what? Thanks? Where has it all? The blue sky?
- 0:45That's foot boys blue from the North and South? Things well, person,
- 0:58oh things. Aspiring Author's Magazine is a founding sponsor for doc Crew podcast.
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- 1:11world. Aspiring Authors Magazine is an international magazine founded in May of twenty twenty
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- 1:46Hello, Hello, Hello, and welcome to the Crew podcast. I am
- 1:53the Visionary Queen Angela and welcome to season two. I want to thank you
- 2:00you for tuning in and for all of your support throughout season one. We're
- 2:06back them devas up the airways, so thank you for joining us tonight.
- 2:14Share this to another broadcast line with the breed up a black Connected. I
- 3:15want to read performance, have a province and all you do just make show
- 3:32that show procos is true. Have a promise in this here life song call
- 3:39April, what's right? Lip prvous and everything so we can live. I
- 3:50have a promise and all you do just make show realizes is true. And
- 4:03greetings this time tonight. Usually you know, I like to listen to the
- 4:08music for the duration of the entire piece. I am really grateful to be
- 4:13able to be joined this evening by a very distinguished and illustrious guest. But
- 4:18before we get to her coming into our studio space, I just would like
- 4:23the person to take a moment of reflection of silence on what transpired on this
- 4:32particular day, April fourth. It's really important for us to think this through.
- 4:45April fourth had a significant impact on the history of humanity in nineteen sixty
- 4:51eight, when the illustrious Honorable leader Activists, doctor Martin Luther King Junior,
- 5:06was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee Halls. May his great works be remembered for
- 5:25generations, and may his legacy through his children and their children and their children
- 5:33be respectfully honored in regards to social justice and activism African people globally and for
- 5:44humanity globally too. I think it's really important. A lot of things have
- 5:47been happening today, and I know there were observances and some persons did not
- 5:51get the opportunity to really speak truth to power in that regard to recognize what
- 5:57took place on this day in nineteen sixty eight. So with that being said,
- 6:03I'd like to ask my studio engineer to bring in our guests so that
- 6:09she can join us in the platform as I prepare to share what I consider
- 6:15a relatively short introduction. We have joining us this evening the Honorable Her Excellency
- 6:30Ambassador Doctor Fidelia Gallon of Surinama, and I will leave her to speak of
- 6:40where Surinama is. For those of us that need a geography class, I
- 6:43encourage you to go quickly Google scholar and as the Ambassador of Surinama, she
- 6:50is currently part of her portfolio is to serve as the ambassador of Surinama to
- 6:57the Republic of Ghana as well as to Kenya Republic of Kenya. And so
- 7:04she is hailing in it is midnight for her. She's hailing with us from
- 7:11Akarana and greetings and good evening, your excellency. Greetings, my Queen.
- 7:20I don't know how to express my gratitude fort tonight as coming from a country
- 7:33called Surinamou is a Dutch speaking country. The official language is Dutch, so
- 7:45please bear with me with my English, she tried. Evening to everyone that
- 7:57is participating in this broadcast. And I think the founder of this program,
- 8:05and I thank you, my queen mother, doctor Chencer. We met years
- 8:13ago, but physically met last year. I thank you. It's an honor
- 8:20and privileged of excellency. So I just would like to give some context so
- 8:24the person to know who this very humble yet very powerful ambassador is. It's
- 8:31important to just know some of the background in terms of again her proficiencies in
- 8:35multiple languages, as she shared Dutch as well as English as well as Spanish
- 8:41because her portfolio has required that. And in addition to her having doctoral mastery
- 8:48and studies and humanities, as well as connections to graduate work in seminary international
- 8:56activities, she is also very skill in sociology is one of her other areas
- 9:01and disciplines, and I think it's very important so that when you speak,
- 9:05we understand that you're speaking from a very clear sociological place of reference and that
- 9:11you're offering pedagoglogical, educational frameworks for persons to really understand what is going on
- 9:18in our societies, in our communities. She has been involved in gender equity
- 9:24and gender mainstreaming. She has been involved in personal leadership and logical framework and
- 9:30approaches for how to engage in ambassadorial work, studies, and international development in
- 9:37areas of finance. In addition to Millennial development goals that are connected to the
- 9:41United Nations, She's also served in a variety of areas where she has in
- 9:48addition to being presented credentials from the leadership the president, the current President of
- 9:56the Republic of Ghana, she is also so been an ambassador and I want
- 10:03to make sure I get this term very clear. An ambassador extraordinary plenty potentiary.
- 10:09I think that we need to that's like vocabulary skill sets when we start
- 10:13to say these things. And she could served in previous years from two thousand
- 10:18and seven to twenty fifteen in that capacity as the ambassador of Surinam to Trinidad
- 10:24and Tobago, and she has been very much so involved in various faculties around
- 10:28social sciences and her individual research, you know, inclusive of work at the
- 10:35University of Rena. I think it's also very important to highlight that she's been
- 10:39involved in rural development and foundational development in various communities in Surinama and globally,
- 10:48and also serving in various scientific research groups and circles that are tasked on providing
- 10:56surveys around traditional authorities within central administrations. As she's continuing that work in Ghana,
- 11:05as she has done that work in Trinidad and Tobago, as that work
- 11:07is being extended into Kenya, and of course in her home country of Surinama,
- 11:13she has been very instrumental to the development and it serves as the president
- 11:18of the Maroon Women's Network Foundation in Surinama and also on the board of the
- 11:26Maroon Women's Network Foundation as well. And some of this work, and I
- 11:30think it's important to identifies that when we're speaking of Maroons, we're speaking of
- 11:35those persons that that liberated themselves from any form of enslavement and sustained communities settlements
- 11:45that were sovereign. I think it's really important to get some of that clear
- 11:48for persons that may not be as familiar as is what is Marinaje and just
- 11:54being part of the Maroon network. And she has been instrumental to the Maroon
- 11:58women's net work, which is thousands of women strong in Surinama and has spread
- 12:03throughout the Caribbean Americas, certain parts of the Americas as well as the globe
- 12:11Africa, inclusive of courts. I think it's important to know that she has
- 12:15been also instrumental to a very recent series of awarts around the twenty twenty one
- 12:20Pioneer Award, Every Girl Wins Institute by founder and CEO, doctor Christine roberts
- 12:28Kozak out of the US. And it's like I would be speaking for the
- 12:31rest of our broadcast if I started to give recitations on the various certificates of
- 12:37appreciation, the various citations of honor that she has been so graciously awarded in
- 12:45Africa, the Caribbean, Americas and abroad. I think it's really important and
- 12:52with that, I just would like to welcome and share my most humble appreciation
- 12:58to you, your excellency, Ambassador doctor Fidelia Glon. So thank you so
- 13:05much for just joining us here on a new legacy. We're really talking about
- 13:09building a new legacy always. How do you build a new legacy, you
- 13:13know, and this is just an opportunity for you to share a little about
- 13:16course Surinama, because there's much to learn and also what are some of the
- 13:22public affairs that you've been able to celebrate and be engaged in in Ghana.
- 13:28We know that recently you expanded your portfolio, you know, being receiving your
- 13:33credentials from the President of Kenya as well, and we know that there are
- 13:37other things forthcoming in other parts of Africa in the world. So thank you
- 13:43again most humbly. I will take my leave there as I ask you to
- 13:48just share some of the narratives the legacy the importance of Surinama in this conversation,
- 13:54whether it's in the Caribbean, the America's Europe, Africa, everywhere.
- 14:00So thank you well. I will just I will just like to thank you
- 14:09very much, doctor Chancer. I feel very honored to be recognized by you.
- 14:18As I always tell everyone, I'm just a village girl. And I
- 14:24will talk about Surinama. Uh. Surinama is a country of diversity, is
- 14:33a small united nation and it's the only country in South America that speaks that
- 14:43has Dutch as the official language and Surinama has. The ethnicity in Surinama is
- 14:52so diverse you might think it's a small united nation. We have people from
- 15:00different ancient nations that are living in Surinama for over one hundred and fifty years,
- 15:09so you regard them as Turnameis people. It's part of the Surnamese nation
- 15:15and they have a lot of good impact in the history of Surinama and the
- 15:20economy, culture of sur and culture of Surinama. Currently, our president name
- 15:30is Chandri kap Sat Santoki. If you listen to that name is someone from
- 15:37Indian descent but his surnames. And we have the people from Java, Indonesia.
- 15:50We call them Javanese part of the Tsunamis community. We have Chinese people.
- 16:00The Chinese people that are living in Surinama speak to two languages, Mandarin
- 16:11and the other one please forgive me. Two types of Chinese languages are being
- 16:18spoken in Surinama and they have their own institutions. We have the African Turnamis
- 16:29community. We have the indigenous people's communities of Surinama, meaning the natives and
- 16:38the natives there are like about seven to ten native tribes in Surinama indigenous and
- 16:49they all are still keep on to their original languages. And last but not
- 16:57least, we have the African Surnames community. And it is interesting for Surinama
- 17:06that Surinama has seven different African based languages. We have the Creoles and the
- 17:18Creole language. When you speak that language, it seems like you speak a
- 17:25little bit what you have in Jamaica and Sierra Leone. We call it the
- 17:33Surnames language or Sorranantngo. That is in that language Sranan Tongo. I like
- 17:42how that sounds too, is a g on the and Sranantngo that is the
- 17:53lingua franca of the country. And then you have a six Maroon languages.
- 18:03These Maroon languages come from six big rivers regions in Surinama. And the first
- 18:14one that I will call is the Samaca language. We regard that group as
- 18:19the largest Maroon group at the Surinama River. And then the second largest is
- 18:27at the east of Surinama and it's the Okanissi group and they speak Ocanisi and
- 18:40they are known as Juka because the river that they establish themselves, they call
- 18:47it Juca. But later on those who came to do a scientist came there
- 18:55and to do his research and call it the Tappanahoni River. So that is
- 19:02where the Kani tribal people are living. They are living in two other rivers
- 19:10which are Kotica River and the Camawaana River. So you can find this tribe
- 19:21in these big rivers. And more then we will let us stay at the
- 19:26eastern part of Surinama. We have the Aluku people called Bonnie Bonni or a
- 19:36Luku tribe. They are at the border river bordering river in the south side
- 19:44of Surinama and French Guyana. There is where they live. They have their
- 19:49language, We call them Aluku. And then we have the Pamacaa. Pamaca
- 19:56people are living in the Maruaana River. They share that river together with the
- 20:04Okani people as well. And then we will go to the center of Surinama
- 20:11where the Surinama River. Next to the Surinama River we have the Saramaca River.
- 20:18So in the Surinama River you have the Samaca people living, but in
- 20:25the Saramaca River you have the Mattawai people living Mattawai and they speak Mattawai.
- 20:34And in the last but not least, we have the Quinti people. They
- 20:42speak Quinti. So the languages that I speak are saran Antuno. It is
- 20:52the linguas Franca. But my the language the I learned to speak is the
- 21:02Ossi language. Because I belong to that group of Maroon that live like they
- 21:15are still in Africa. They have chieftaincy. The paramount chief of the OCANSI
- 21:25the paramount chiefs. The title of all the paramount chiefs is gar Mank like
- 21:30we have in Ghana Garmanche, but there are six gar monks. They are
- 21:37paramount. And then we have clans and each clan has several chiefs depending on
- 21:45how many villages this clan has. So I belong to a clan as well,
- 21:52and we have a lot of chiefs. And then you have an overlord
- 21:57as the iord them. Seeing it here in Ghana. The overlord is that
- 22:04is a leading chief, but we don't call them chiefs. We call them
- 22:11captains or kaby ting in the language is kabyte derived from captain as the Dutch
- 22:19called gave them the title of captain. You know, this influence is always
- 22:26there, like how I see it here in Ghana. The chiefs have their
- 22:32own title like I know the the You have a Sanahini. You have a
- 22:40lot of named toby's uh, you have the oh Mahine. We have a
- 22:47lot of title that is not but when you come into English, you call
- 22:52them chiefs. And the same goes for Surinama. They call them kaby ting
- 22:59uh in Surinama. So that is about Surinama. We have other nations in
- 23:07Surinama, but they are in smaller The numbers are not that big, but
- 23:15we have people all over the world. But the unique thing about Surinama is
- 23:21the inhabitants. The population is only six hundred thousand, and if we take
- 23:30the size of the country, we are like about thirty three times bigger than
- 23:38the country that I served Triniad and to beg the landscape is big. The
- 23:48the inhabitants is only seven percent and ninety three percent of Surinama is forest.
- 23:56We are rich in minerals because we belong to the green belt that comes all
- 24:02over from the northern part of Ghana the Atlantic Ocean. So we share the
- 24:07same continent as West Africa. Let me see Ghana. So the minerals are
- 24:15there. We have oil and gas, we have a box side, we
- 24:21have gold, we have diamond, we have clean water in abundance, and
- 24:32we are very clean. The that we delivered to the world is u is
- 24:41just amazing. So that is Surinama, and everything goes to the fact that
- 24:48the diversity is also uh in the way we speak the languages of origin.
- 24:57So if you come from India, you still speak Hindley and you speak Dutch
- 25:04and you speak Sar. I will keep bid to that level. Plusama.
- 25:12Well, no, I'm so grateful that you gave us that chronological history,
- 25:18because some persons don't recognize that there is a space called Sernama that is in
- 25:23South America that is literally very rich, very very very land rich as wealth
- 25:33resources. So then it explains to persons why it was used in many respects
- 25:40in history as a place of resource for certain forms of colonization. Hence some
- 25:45of the things that have transformed as it is now. It is now independent,
- 25:49you know, I think it's important for persons to also just get context.
- 25:53So we talk about South America and most people think of Brazil, and
- 25:57it's important to know that the northern portune that you know, the Surinama,
- 26:03Surinama touches its southern border, touches Bracil. So I think it's important to
- 26:07know that particular part and that and directly to its east it's it's eastern border
- 26:17touches French Guyana or what people refer to as Guyana, right, and that
- 26:22to its western border, Surinama is next to Guyana, which in previous years
- 26:33this British Guyana. So notice what's happening here. You have an English speaking
- 26:37Guyana with a Dutch speaking Guyana in the middle, and a French speaking Guyana.
- 26:42French speaking Guyana, thank you to it's to its east, and it's
- 26:48really important to just know the dynamics of this place, this country, this
- 26:52space, to know, you know, And you know, I like always
- 26:56going into certain facts because I too like to share data like you do.
- 27:00And I think it's important for persons to know when you're talking of a space
- 27:03with six hundred thousand persons and its population and it's sixty three thousand square miles.
- 27:11That just lets you know that population density is not their issue. So
- 27:15there's a lot of land, a lot of water, a lot of minerals,
- 27:19a lots of wealth, and that also invites certain things that don't always
- 27:25work in the best interests of everyone. So we're just kind of highlighting so
- 27:29persons can know, I've been where with one hundred and sixty three square kilometers
- 27:36as we can see it like that. Yeah, yes, we can put
- 27:38it in that in metric as well. Yes, And I think it's also
- 27:41important for persons to know that many times when we're speaking about Caribbean issues that
- 27:48sometimes even though the people of Surrenama are part of our Caribbean spaces because Poppet
- 27:55it right, they're inside of CARACM, the Caribbean community. They work with
- 28:00the African Union. That was one of the joys and privileges of being able
- 28:03to meet physically Her Excellency Ambassador Doctor Fidelia during the invitational KA Reparations Conference that
- 28:15was hosted in you know, on the invitation and leadership of the current President
- 28:22President, His excellency President Adult and I think it's important that persons also recognized
- 28:27that there were several elements in that conversation. So you had persons speaking from
- 28:33the Caribbean, Caribbean Community CARA COM, You had persons speaking from the Caribbean
- 28:38and African Network, other agencies. You have persons speaking from the forty eight
- 28:44Contiguous US around these reparatory justice pieces. Then we have representation in the embodiment
- 28:49of representatives coming out of the Netherlands, out of France, out of the
- 28:55UK and England, as well as members of the African Union, members of
- 29:00the African Jurists Organization, and a variety of other agencies. You had repatriates
- 29:07from the Americas, the forty eight Contiguous US and the Caribbean and South America
- 29:12that reside in God and under your leadership, there's been a reconnection and a
- 29:18very engaging connection of work and recreation, i should say, but particularly a
- 29:26lot of new relationships that allow for collaborations with our sisters and brothers of Surinama
- 29:30through your leadership. You know. So I'm hoping that the President, you
- 29:37know, the Prime Minister, is the leadership the administration of Surinama are hearing
- 29:42this that you have really represented the Republic of Surinama exceedingly well in terms of
- 29:51making sure that people know about Surinama, know the connections to Surinama has to
- 29:56East Indian culture, two Africa, traditional continental culture, to Maroon culture,
- 30:03to Asian culture, to Eurasian culture, and just to the world. So
- 30:08the persons do not think of where's signa what is that I mean? Because
- 30:15no, I remember you know you were able to say these things floor you
- 30:18said it in your presentations, you said it in your publications, and I
- 30:22really wanted to take this opportunity in time to commend you, your excellency for
- 30:26bringing that type of history and then showing us the connections that it has to
- 30:33African global culture and traditions, you know. And then you also are able
- 30:40to give us some context around you know, preparatory justice, reparations, decolonization,
- 30:47you know, and you always offer your support so prely. So I'm
- 30:51very grateful. I'm very very very grateful. Well, thank you the gens
- 31:00RAP because I don't know even I don't even know where to start, but
- 31:04let us start where we know the best. Yes, right, the diversity
- 31:11of Africans in Surinama and the history people are asking me Just recently, I
- 31:22met some young people and I asked them if they know where Surinama was.
- 31:26They said, in Africa. It's sound South African. And I had that
- 31:33experience. About twenty two years ago. I was invited by African Studies Department
- 31:45of UCLA to travel with them to India and it was sponsored. My ticket
- 31:53was sponsored and I ended up going to Trinidad and Tobago to fly from Trinidad
- 32:01through the US to India, and my ticket didn't arrive. They sent my
- 32:09ticket to South Africa because those who were sending the ticket taught Surinama was in
- 32:22South Africa, not South America because it was just the abbreviation SA. So
- 32:31they taught South Africa. And look how close we are with the United States
- 32:37of America. So I had to wait, I had to call and they
- 32:42luckily they purchased another ticket for me and I could. They canceled that one
- 32:46and I could go. That is the same up until today, even when
- 32:52I was in Trinidad and Tobago as the ambassador, you would have the first
- 32:59question to me where I came from. Someone just came to me. You
- 33:05know, those who know me, You saw me with my regalia as the
- 33:10maroon regalia. Someone came to me in Trinidad and Tobago and asked me,
- 33:16are you from Malawi. I said, well, I don't know, but
- 33:22I was born in Surinama, South America. Oh okay. And then again
- 33:29they would always refers to me, are you reverred to me as the wife
- 33:37of the Nigerian ambassador. I'm like, well, maybe I'm Nigerian, but
- 33:42I was born in Surinama and I saw Surinama, South America one hour and
- 33:47a half away from Trinidad and Tobago. So people would be surprised of the
- 33:54story. But the history is that all of US African people in Surinama were
- 34:04shipped about four hundred years ago from Ghana, the West the Gold coast of
- 34:14Africa. Then in the seventy in the fifteen hundreds and sixteen hundred, seventeen
- 34:22and eighteen one hundreds through Surinama History SSS, there were three hundred and three
- 34:36thousand Africans that were shipped from the coast of West Africa to the coast of
- 34:45South America Surinama. What happened in those years there has been a lot of
- 34:57war, war warlords. We're there out of Africa and their names are very
- 35:04significant up until today. The the the as soon as a turnamis enslaved,
- 35:12someone enslaved in Surinama fled slavery, they will go back to their roots.
- 35:19So I now understand the names of the the names of the warlords. Then
- 35:25you have a do or we call it a Do because of Dutch is a
- 35:31name here in Ghana. And you add a jacko in Ghana they say a
- 35:37jacko. Uh. This This was one of the leaders as well, and
- 35:44one of our most feelers. All of them were feelers. Bonni is only
- 35:50when I came here as ambassador in Akraghana I heard that Bonni means leader.
- 35:59You are the leader there and a lot of stuff has been going on.
- 36:05And these people are my people who are freedom fighters. Still have their names
- 36:13and the villages that they have. Even I recently heard something that I never
- 36:21expected that my own grandmother's name is a communities, a community in the northern
- 36:29part of Ghana called tom. I thought it they just found the name,
- 36:35but they give the names of where they came from. We even have words
- 36:40and that is in the Creole and the Maroon groups called Jaja and Judja comes
- 36:50from a Nigerian. A phyllis Nigerian king in the Yoruba nation of Nigeria.
- 37:00So there is so much, so much kept well kept and preserved in Surinama,
- 37:08and not everybody is aware of it. I always see people on Facebook
- 37:16when mister Whatemaya went to Surinama. When you read the comments, they say,
- 37:22oh, never heard of that country and even the dance styles. And
- 37:28we even have a village called Daoumi, and I hear it's related to Benin
- 37:36and Daomi is a very sacred village in the sense of religion. But the
- 37:45to to make a point very clear here is that if the Africans were not
- 37:54in Surinama, Surinamo would not be what it is today. When slavery was
- 38:02about to be abolished, they shipped Chinese from China is like one hundred and
- 38:15seventy years ago. They took the Chinese to where the Africans and slave were
- 38:23at the coast of Surinama, a place called Coroni. We call it a
- 38:30coconut district. And Coroni, you are a fighter there for freedom even in
- 38:38slavery time. You want to live better. Tata Colain meaning father, Colin
- 38:49Colin means like looks like Colin's Tata Colleen. He was a fighter also,
- 38:58but he did not went out of the district, but he fought for his
- 39:07existence for his people. And even schools are called after him, the Tackling
- 39:14School. You have also fighters in the time of slavery that they were caught.
- 39:25We have a statue for emancipation and the statue is placed there in Paramaribo
- 39:36for the first of July when an emancipation came became a reality for Cerinama in
- 39:44eighteen sixty three about not about his last year was one hundred and sixty years
- 39:55ago and ten year after slavery was abowledged, they brought in our brothers from
- 40:06India and they brought in others and sisters from Indonesia. So that is the
- 40:15the historical UH composition of Surinamma. The indigenous people were there, but at
- 40:23some point all of us know in all over the Americas that they were.
- 40:29They could not they ran away and they could not bear the slavery, so
- 40:35they went and lived in freedom in the hinterland of Surinama. So what we
- 40:42have in those days even UH, the importance of culture in Sirinama is there.
- 40:52When we celebrate Immigration Day, and and also days of religion like Ramadan.
- 41:00We are in Ramadan, we celebrate that. And we have Muslims holidays
- 41:06that came from Asia to Surinam, and we have Chinese holidays when they celebrate
- 41:14the year. I believe this year is the year of the Dragon, if
- 41:17I'm right, And the Africans also celebrate their holidays the first of July and
- 41:25the tenth of October. Why the tenth of October, that is the first
- 41:30date that peace treaty was signed and there were no more war with the Maroon.
- 41:39That was tenth of October seventeen sixty seventeen sixty, one hundred and three
- 41:47years before slavery was abolished in Surinama. Slavery was abolished in on the first
- 41:57of July eighteenth sixty three, and the treaty was signed on the tenth of
- 42:06October by the Ocanissy Maroons. And in nineteen seventy four, a Maroon warrior
- 42:17in his own time, mister Andre Pacossi, got some African surnameis people,
- 42:25both Trioles and Maroon to agree on the tenth of October, because that is
- 42:32not the only date of treaty. Signing treaty with the Dutch colonial leaders.
- 42:42We have the eighteenth of September, if I'm not eighteenth or nineteenth of September,
- 42:51where we have the Sammaca treaty that was two years after the Vcanisy signed
- 42:58the treaty with the Collar leaders. And then you have two other tribes that
- 43:04signed that treaty after some years with the colonial leaders. So the governments came
- 43:10together this then, young man, I will say da Andrei Pacossi got the
- 43:22Paramoun chiefs together to agree on a national day for the Maroons in nineteen seventy
- 43:30four and Guest was only in two thousand and ten this date was recognized by
- 43:37the then President of Surinama as a national holiday celebrating Maroon Day. So this
- 43:47year will be the fourteenth consecutive year that it is known as a holiday in
- 43:57Surinama. But since nineteen seventy four, the Maroon community was those who were
- 44:05young, young men and young women in that time were celebrating Maroonde. Then
- 44:13I was too young to know about it and I was out. So that
- 44:19is how Maroonde was established and we celebrated. So we need to give the
- 44:25recognition to those who work hard and the leader to work hard to recognize Maroon
- 44:34de for this reason is mister d Andre Pacossi. He lives and he works
- 44:40in an island. He has written a lot of books. He has his
- 44:45Sabana Petty Institution is known. He's giving some awards as well, and I
- 44:54believe a lot of us received awards from this institute. Of the of this
- 45:04Maroon institution. What I want to say to is that we have embassies Asian
- 45:13embassies in Surinama, but there are no There are ambassador accredited to Surinama from
- 45:22the African countries, but Surinama doesn't have residing African ambassador in Surinama. But
- 45:32there I don't know. For as long as I know, even before our
- 45:37independence in nineteen seventy five, India has an embassy there. China has an
- 45:45embassy Indonesia as an embassy and they have their cultural center. The Cultural center
- 45:53of Indonesia is in the northern part of Surinama UH. And then you have
- 46:01Matta Koori which is an Indian cultural center UH in Surinam. For and even
- 46:10the Chinese have two different Chinese cultural center directly from China, directly from Indonesia
- 46:22directly, but the African surnames. We have our own centers for practicing African
- 46:31culture and one of them is NATS that is a Creol UH center. And
- 46:40then we have uh AS an African Institute where they UH still practice afric study
- 46:51that you can uh imagine about the Maroons and about the Creole, the plantations
- 46:59and everything, and the music is still there and they have everything, not
- 47:06only nights, but I'm referring to the African Sunamis community. Different dance styles
- 47:12and one big thing is that we think a nanzi is ours, You're going
- 47:20to have a big story and his wife. We still tell the story.
- 47:30We still have the some songs. And one important thing that we can relate
- 47:36to the Caribbean as well is the Kumanti language that they've made created at Fort
- 47:44Amsterdam kuman Si in Ghana when they were captured to be shipped. And this
- 47:52Kumanti language you have it in Jamaica Maroon communities as well. Yes, well,
- 48:00I'm just grateful because you have given us a very clear picture of where
- 48:06Surinama fits in international affairs as well as inside of South America. Also,
- 48:13that connection is a wide breadth of space that touches the Atlantic Ocean and I
- 48:17think persons just need at some point to just do their own personal research to
- 48:22see how these spaces, how these places help to be part of the building
- 48:27of legacies. Sometimes you may see someone you know in your neighborhood and think
- 48:31that they are speaking as if they come from only a Caribbean island, not
- 48:37understanding that they may be coming from a really large space out of South America
- 48:44or Central America. And I think it's really important for persons that are not
- 48:47as familiar with Surinama. You know, what you've graced us with, what
- 48:52you've given us in context provides a very big picture. And I wanted to
- 48:57just compliment part of what you were saying because I know we are in our
- 49:00in our last segment of tonight show, because easily we could do this for
- 49:05ours And I want to thank you again, your excellency, Ambassador doctor.
- 49:09But can I tap it reparation a bit? Of course, of course I
- 49:15will be very brief, very brief concerning reparations. I think the University of
- 49:24the West Indies professor his name, he was coronated Paramo Chief of the University
- 49:35of the West Indies, doctor Sir Hillary Becals. Yes, I don't know
- 49:42him personally, but tell him I know him because of his resporation legacy affecting
- 49:52Serinama as well. But what I want to say about reparation is that when
- 49:57the Africans went there, they repaired two they went back to Africa. They
- 50:07live in Africa. They never call themselves. Their identity is Africa. So
- 50:15what I want to say in this regard is that the Africans that left Africa
- 50:22forcedly never forgot their identity of Africa. So what are we repairing? What
- 50:31we repair is not the African identity they never forgot. So I think I
- 50:37speak for all of the African people living outside of Africa that they never forgot
- 50:45about their African identity. But what do we need to repair? The languages
- 50:52that we lost, the culture, the dignity that they wanted to take away.
- 51:02We need to repair with our African brother and sister in the continent of
- 51:09Africa, that we never left Africa. Yes, Peter saying about it,
- 51:15no matter where you come from, as long as you are a black man,
- 51:21you're an African. Yes, the African identity has never been lost.
- 51:27But we need to come together, identify ourselves and see ourselves. You see
- 51:32what things like fufu. My ancestors that has lived in the village in the
- 51:42forest of Surinama never forgot about fufu and never forgot about gary. Because they
- 51:49are making the gary, call it quaka and they are making the fufu,
- 51:54and they never forgot about their okra. And I believe through out the Caribbean
- 52:02the gary they call it farien, and they call it farien in Brazil.
- 52:08But the practice by the people of Surinama is still there and the cassava or
- 52:15is so very powerful in their culture. But not only that, the languages
- 52:22and the words that they had in Africa. They still have the words,
- 52:30but we need to repair our languages that we were speaking in Africa. And
- 52:37the dignity and the institutions. Sometimes we think that universities in the Western words,
- 52:44they are the universities that we but Africa's university sometimes is a virtual university
- 52:52that exists for hundreds of years, with signs and with cultes and with a
- 53:00lot that they still have and they are founders of so many And I want
- 53:08to leave you with one contribution of one surnameise person that people don't know that
- 53:16that person came from Serinama is New Orleance story. The founder of the shoemaking
- 53:24machine is an African curnameise man called young Matt Seliger. And everybody has a
- 53:31shoe factory, and Surinama has contributed to it because the founder was born in
- 53:40Serinama to an African mother. And I wantation, let us repair, let
- 53:51us come back spiritually. When I say spiritually, I don't talk about religion,
- 53:58but I talk about the spirit of Africa that is still strong in the
- 54:04people of African descent that are living elsewhere, that are that cross the Atlantic
- 54:10Ocean and still live Africa. One thing people of Suriname are doing when they
- 54:20are among themselves, they still call themselves kan kan African, pure African.
- 54:24I've been seeing this all over whenever I've been interviewed. So reparation we started
- 54:31it long before, and we have prepared ourselves long before. Let me say
- 54:39four hundred years. The Africans outside of Africa have prepared to return, and
- 54:45they are all Pan Africanists. Like the great leaders of Pan Africanism in Africa
- 54:53and outside of Africa. We want to thank them. I'm just a dot
- 54:59in uh in the in the great things. I'd only got myself as great
- 55:06as well, but we have to contribute as we can. Thank you,
- 55:14Thank you so very much, your excellency, Ambassador doctor Bidelia Galloon, who
- 55:22serves as the Ambassador of Surinama. We've learned a significant amount where it's located.
- 55:28Every one, you know that essay refers to South Africa when we're speaking
- 55:31of Surinama as well as she is there and as an ambassador to the Republic
- 55:38of Ghana, also the ambassador to the Republic of Kenya, and there's some
- 55:45expansion. Next time she joins us, we will see how her portfolio is
- 55:50ship. As we get ready to close tonight, this particular broadcast is building
- 55:54a new legacy with our speaks and it has been your host, ween my
- 56:00the Senate Doctor Chanzera. I'd like to close with a quote on reparations.
- 56:05Reparations are essential within the global human rights movement and best complimented with extreamline respectful
- 56:12dialogue, with practical reconnections, implementation of the colonization Protocols, sustainable prosperous economic
- 56:21exchanges and reparatory justice frameworks linked to actionable deliverables within and through a continuum of
- 56:30global reparations, and the character justice and movements always saying freedom. We speak
- 56:38of our dis foreign, indiguenous African cultures and traditions, and we ask if
- 56:44everyone continued to really bring that kind of energy in the forefront of all that
- 56:47we do, all that we say, all that we bring to the forefront,
- 56:52you know its action. It's been a joint of privilege to tune in.
- 56:57We hope that you've received a lot of information and this evening on this
- 57:01broadcast, we're looking forward. If you have questions, comments, reflections,
- 57:06ideas, things that you'd like us to expand upon, please send an email
- 57:09to A. S. T. S P E. A K. S.
- 57:15Again ast Speaks at gmail dot com. You can also look for US
- 57:22Speaks on YouTube as well as US Speaks. Subscribe, be a part of
- 57:27the circle, help us navigate through ways that we can always highlight the culture
- 57:31huge humanity. Land is our foundation and spiritual harmony unifies us. Keep that
- 57:37at the forefront of the work that we do, and make sure next time
- 57:42share a little bit about the actionable deliverables that you produce, where you are,
- 57:49what are you doing, so that we can together, harmoniously, authentically
- 57:57and respectfully keep building a new legacy, beget thanks and praise. I think
- 58:02that that is probably my time and I want to thank you again, most
- 58:07honorable excellency, doctor Ambassador. Doctor. I need to make all of these
- 58:22thanks. I'm just known as Muffy Dey. You might make your simple Muffy
- 58:29day. That is my nickname for years and years now. So that's it.
- 58:36Thank you, doctor Ma Chancerah. You're a mother because you care.
- 58:45You care for old and young. Let's not underestimate it. And I thank
- 58:51you with all similar Maroon friends. Mister phil Fixico, that's right. I
- 58:59thank him for making me know you. That's the greatest thing that happened to
- 59:07me. For knowing you. Doctor Chen, you are like a pull of
- 59:14the Caribbean, one of the pulls of the Caribbean. Because I don't want
- 59:19to disregard anyone. You are precious to us. Keep the good work.
- 59:27God bless you with wisdom and more power. You know in Jesus Mighty name,
- 59:36I say so, I don't see I see him in the color that
- 59:40he is right. God bless you. Thank you, Thank you, and
- 59:46listeners you know the next steps. Keep bringing work forward, support the crew
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- 1:00:19learn a little bit more into a blessing on all your due jumps. Make
- 1:00:39sure that this hairline some