Latest / DA CREW Podcast / AST SPEAKS WITH QM Dr ChenziRa Davis Kahina_AST SPEAKS LIVE EVERY 1ST 3RD THURSDAY

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AST SPEAKS WITH QM Dr ChenziRa Davis Kahina_AST SPEAKS LIVE EVERY 1ST 3RD THURSDAY · DA CREW Podcast

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome. Welcome.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Get tuned in to The Crew, podcast and media network,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: where voices rise, stories shine.
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• 0:30
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• 0:35
  Speaker 4: We are the change.
• 0:36
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• 0:39
  Speaker 4: Welcome home.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Welcome crew. There's a place for you.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: The crew around the world lifting every voice too.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: We make space for the voiceless. Hope for the undeserved.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Real talk, real stories. Every voice deserves to be heard.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Streaming live, we on the move. Facebook, Twitch, kick YouTube.
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  Speaker 1: From the mic to the nations. We build transformation. Change
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: begins with us. Faith, purpose, power, trust. Seen around the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: world tonight. Dark, cruel, shining, bright. This is where it starts.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: We are the change.
• 1:28
  Speaker 5: The crew partners network presents and speak.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Speaks with Queen Mother Dr.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: Chen.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Live every first and third Thursday at 8pm EST. Culture!
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Healing, heritage, spirituality, Caribbean roots and African diaspora rising. I'm
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: saying Christ shows to the world so wide. Queen Mother Dr.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Chen brings truth with pride. Culture in the rhythm, wisdom
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: in the sound. Healing for the people, roots in sacred ground.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: She keeps the story, she keeps it alive.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: African diaspora, we rise and thrive.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Caribbean voices bold and free Honoring ancestors Shaping destiny As
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: we speak So let the people know Culture and healing
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: in a reggae.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Flow As we speak.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Heritage strong Spiritual wisdom all night long Heritage strong Every
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: first and third Thursday Tune in live 8 p.m. EST
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Come feel the vibe As we speak We rise, we
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: seek Queen Mother, Dr.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Chet Ash.
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: And greetings, everyone.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: We say a quabba because we got some Guinness vibrations
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: in the house.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: We're really grateful for persons that are tuning in from
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: around the world to Ah Speaks, building a new legacy.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: I am your host, Queen Mother, Dr. Chancera, who actually
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: is so excited that I had to take a moment
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: to just kind of calm my own energy so that
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: I can focus on the layer of interviews, the layer
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: of conversation, or more accurately, versation. We're actually going to
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: be sharing some knowledge, sharing some teaching, sharing wisdom with
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: our illustrious guests. And I just would like for those
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: persons that are not familiar with what Aspeaks represents so
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: that there is no misunderstanding of anything that we're sharing
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: in this broadcast. A lot of what we're doing is
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: to ensure that persons that are listening, that are tuning in,
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: actually understand that we're speaking of building a new legacy.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: We're speaking of ways in which we can begin to
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  Speaker 4: talk about what is happening in Africa, what is happening
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: in the Caribbean Americas, what is happening in the North,
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: the South, the East and the West and the Central
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: in regard to our ability to honor culture, healing, arts, technology,
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: spirituality that supports life, inspiration, freedom and edification. So a
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: lot of what we do in this particular broadcast is
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: so that we can do exactly that. And our range
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: is quite wide. So sometimes we may speak about certain
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: things that are happening directly in the world. Sometimes we
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: will talk about what is some of the ancestral legacies,
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: ancestral intelligences that many of our people focus upon, honor,
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: and bring truth to light as power. So this evening,
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: when we also speak of Ah Speaks, we're talking about
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: an interdisciplinary approach to how we deal with transculturalism.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: What does that mean?
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: How do you make the transformative conversation around culture and
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: heritage linked to how we can dive deeply? Or sometimes
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: maybe not dive too deep, but at least provide persons
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: with vibrant, life-centered opportunities to talk about global affairs, transformative
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: movements that encompass the entire globe. We offer a fresh
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: perspective on a number of things and we work on
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: bringing focus around bridging cultures, sparking action, and always listeners.
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: We encourage you, if you have questions, post them in
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: the YouTube chat, post them in the Facebook chat. And
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: for those that are not in those platforms, we encourage you,
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: send your emails to astspeaks, A-S-T speaks, at gmail.com. And
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: we will definitely respond to you, make sure that we
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: have platforms that we can carry on in a way
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: that really provides an opportunity for us to build new legacy.
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: So with that being said, we've covered that base. I'd
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: like to offer the profile, and this is the concise
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: version because we could easily do a biographical sketch that
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: would have us here for half of tonight's broadcast.
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  Speaker 3: But Her Excellency, Dr.
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  Speaker 4: Fidelia Gran-Gallon is an ardent Christian who is married and
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: blessed with a beautiful daughter, She grew in the Moengo
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  Speaker 4: district of Suriname and developed unflinched attachment to the African
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: culture due to the happenings in the past regarding the
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: enslavement trade and the need for African integration, which guided
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: her career path. Ambassador Fidelio has risen through ranks and
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: earned an honorary doctorate in philosophy and humanities in 2014.
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: In 1993, she earned doctorandus in social sciences from the
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: Anton de Combe University of Suriname. Her deeply rooted knowledge
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: in social sciences has opened her up to concrete knowledge
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  Speaker 4: about peace and security related issues. She has served on
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: many boards and worked developmental projects with the United Nations
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: and other international bodies on behalf of the Maroons of Suriname.
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  Speaker 4: Ambassador Fidelia began her ambassadorial journey in 2007, where she
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: was made ambassador extraordinaire and plenipotentiary of Suriname to Trinidad
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  Speaker 4: and Tobago. Currently, she is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: of the Republic of Suriname to the Republic of Ghana
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: and non-resident ambassador to the republics of Kenya and South Africa.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: And with that, I'd like us to welcome our guests
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: and bring her into the stage, please.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Good evening, Dr. Chan, and thank you for having me
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: here tonight. I'm very privileged to be in your platform.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: As you explained before, I was born in Mungo in
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the district of Maruena. So I've lived in a small
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: village called Tangnangalanti. That is a maroon language. Tangnangalanti meaning
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: we live in the presence of those who are not
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: immediately our clan members, but is with a broader community.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: That was my grandfather's vision. He was the chief of
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: his village. So I grew up in my first younger
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: years in a small village with my uncles and aunties.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: And my grandpa had two wives. So I'm the first
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: grandchild of his youngest wife. Him and his youngest wife.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: So I grew up there. And the journey that I
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: have had up until now was to me unforeseen. So
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: as I'm looking at myself, I'm looking at where I
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: come from you see and where I am now so
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: I've learned and I'm still learning and I want to
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: thank everyone on this platform I'm here to learn and
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I'm here to exchange with you, with the audience, whatever
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: you have, your input, I'm open to it because it
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: seems like the word ambassador, extraordinary and plenipotentiary. To me,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: I could not say it because in our language, in Dutch,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: It is another way of saying it, right? And English
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: is English. So we are not English speaking. We are
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Dutch speaking. And we have like seven Creole languages, seven
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Afro languages in Suriname, of which one is the lingua franca,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: And I speak like all of the seven. I can
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: speak one fluently, which is the one I was born in.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: And lingua franca, I think I'm good in it too.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: But the other languages, I'm trying. Because in Suriname, there
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: are Afro languages that I don't understand. So I need interpretation.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: So that is Suriname.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you for that.
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: Because part of the intention, and again, if I keep
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: saying Her Excellency Ambassador Dr. Fidelia, it's because it's really
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: important that persons recognize the work that you do and
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: what has brought you to be from very humble beginnings
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: out of South America within the Caribbean space of Suriname,
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: a former colony of led by the Netherlands and the
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: Dutch kingdoms. That's being Dutch speaking. And that it's now
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: a republic, an independent republic. And I think important for
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: persons to know that, that regardless of what other relationships exist,
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: there still is the status as an independent republic in
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: that South American continental space, but with direct connections of
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: African indigenous people within the Caribbean Americas. For some persons,
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: will speak of the Caribbean, and we've had this conversation
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: off the air, and they'll speak Caribbean and not include Suriname,
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  Speaker 4: French Guiana, or even Guyana, right?
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: So it's really.
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  Speaker 4: Important for persons to know that while these spaces, these nations,
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: sit on the continental space of South America, that these
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: are integrated within the Caribbean America. So that's why many times,
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: what we're referencing is Suriname is part of CARICOM, the
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  Speaker 4: Caribbean community, and it's important for persons to know that,
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: even when some of us in the Caribbean forget. So
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: I think it's really important that we highlight that. So
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: part of what I would love for you to also
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: share is some of the efforts, the work, you know,
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: we were able to describe some of your work in
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: as you served as an ambassador in Trinidad and Tobago,
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: your current portfolio includes being the ambassador in the Republic
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  Speaker 4: of Ghana, as well as in the Republic of Kenya,
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  Speaker 4: as well as in the Independent Nation Republic of South Africa.
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  Speaker 3: And I think it's important for persons.
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: To recognize that you have an actual embassy in Ghana.
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  Speaker 4: So can you just speak to some of the efforts there,
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: some of the work that you get to do as well, please?
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Dr. Chen. I will try to explain
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: as good as I can. As you've rightfully said it, Suriname,
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  Speaker 1: when people speak of English, of Caribbean, most likely it
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: is English. Suriname is not a member of the Commonwealth Caribbean.
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  Speaker 1: The Commonwealth Caribbean are those who are related to the
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: UK and are members of the Commonwealth. Suriname is not
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: a member of any Commonwealth of any European nation. When
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: we got our independence, we are really an independent country. Yes,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: we speak Dutch. Yes, we go to Holland. But still,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: we are a very independent country. The only link we
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: have is that a lot of us migrated to the Netherlands.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: My job is more like of cultural exchange. So what
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: do we have in common and what can we exchange?
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: and also tourism. What do we have to offer at
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Suriname and what do we want to know of Africa?
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: And the other thing is entrepreneurship. What do we have
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: to offer at Suriname to Africa and what can Africa
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: do for Suriname? so that we can thrive together. Suriname
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: is a third world country, so most likely people want
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: to know what funds you have to invest. Here in Africa,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: they look at investment. So I have to tell people
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: all the time, I'm here for cultural exchange and for
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: us to become partners in doing business so that we
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: can economically build our countries together. We are at the
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: same pace, Africa and Suriname. And what I have done
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: up until now, my first action was to know who
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: are there for us to work with. My first action
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: was to have dinner meeting with chiefs, traditional leaders, so
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: queen mothers and the chiefs, nanas, nananam, ninam, I've learned
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: a bit, and musicians. The industry of music is very
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: important to us. Remember, whenever you have a show In
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: each of us, our country, who do you have there?
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: The small business people are coming along with their cultural dresses,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: with clothing, with food, with all small things that you
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: might think will not build up a community, but that
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: is on the basics of community development. So these musicians,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: they don't come alone. They come with people that can
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: do business and network with one another. So it is
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: why I did invite musicians. I invited entrepreneurs, those people
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: in business. And the other one I invited, the other group,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: are a group of actors. You know, we start to
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: understand the culture of Africa in the Caribbean when we
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: start having Nollywood makes a big impact in how we
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: see ourselves, especially in countries of the Caribbean. You know,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: it's not only Suriname, but we know all the Nollywood stars.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: and everybody of any other country that has a space
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: in Nollywood. We know them. And sometimes they are surprised
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: when I speak of some stars. Do you know them? Yes,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: they are very popular. So that is how we came
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: to understand that Africa and the Caribbean has a lot
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: in common, especially the Fufu food. The way they eat it,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: you know, we love to look at it because that's
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: the way we live. What we need to understand, Suriname
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: might be the only country that has reestablished kingdoms. When
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: these maroons ran away into the forests of Suriname, they
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: took possession of six big rivers. which they... declared their
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: kingdom and they started the clan just like they knew
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: it in Africa they continuously living like Africans and they
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: continuously calling themselves African and I've told them here In Suriname,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: especially in that space, they say, meaning pure African. So
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: they were not engaged with the Western world. They didn't
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: want to know anything about the European community. For many,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: many hundreds of years, you can say for 400 years,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: because since they set foot In Suriname, they fled slavery.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: So in the 1600s, they start living their life and
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: coming back to take back their people to freedom, to
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: see the new world they are living in like they
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: are still in Africa. And because of the competition of
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: the different tribes they took, From the continent, they could
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: not have the same language that they were speaking in Africa.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: So they created languages. And these languages still have words
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: that I have discovered in every one of the countries
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: that you have mentioned. Whenever I go in there, there
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: are names there that I know. I'm like, wow, so
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: here is where it comes from. Like in Kenya, when
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: I arrived in Kenya, I was introduced to a gentleman,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: you know, a public figure, and I asked him, what
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: tribe are you from? He said, Akamba. And I was like, wow,
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: but this is the name in my country. Akamba. But
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: that is Kenyan. And I went to South Africa, and
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: I met some kings there, and I heard the word mpo.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: And I was like, okay, mpo. That was my father's,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: his uncle's name, mpo. So I was like, okay, so
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: here is where this name comes from. And so I
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: can go on here in Ghana, Accra. Oh, my God.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: The first thing I heard from my driver was, He
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: was talking to someone and he says, oh, I don't
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: want money. And I was like, what do you say?
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: What does it mean? When he told me, I say,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: but that is my language. That's always good. So the
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: cultural exchange and where we come from and the connection
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: with Africa is there in the languages, what we preserve
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: and what we are doing. and our approach toward the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: other words. So you see, we do not speak English.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: So the languages we have does not speak of history.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: We speak of ancestral stories. And when we want to
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: express what the Europeans say, we will say the white
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: man says. So we will see it as it is.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: We won't go in one word, history. No, we will
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: say our ancestors told us this. And we will say
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: the white man says in all the seven ethnic languages
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: of the Africans, In Suriname, that is how it is.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: I can come with one. The lingua franca is the
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Serenang Tonga. Serenang Tonga. Tonga is a tongue language. Serenang language. Serenang,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: they could not pronounce Suriname. So we don't pronounce Suriname.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: It's only when we speak Dutch. But when we speak
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: in our lingua, we say Serenang.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: Serenang.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Yes, Suriname. So we say, I'm a Surinamese. In Dutch,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: So when we say Suriname, it's because of the Dutch
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: and the English. But the language, the name of Suriname
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: with the African Surinamese is Suriname. In the language, we
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: say sanang. We don't have the R in these languages.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: So you can see us living as one in Suriname,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: and we are very closely united with all the other
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: ethnic groups from Asia, from Europe, from the Middle East.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: They all speak seranang tongo. So if you don't speak English,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: you can speak Suriname Tongo, which is easier to understand
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: than the Dutch language. I'm still there, so for more
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: questions to come.
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: Well, I'm very grateful because Suriname, I can do that one.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: And I appreciate that you highlighted what are what transpires
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: in the space. And we say, for the purposes of
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: the English speakers on this side, who will say Suriname,
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: because I know Suriname, we say, some people just say Suriname.
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: And what we're learning is that when you say these things,
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: some people still don't know where we are. And I'm
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: looking forward, and I encourage persons, use your tools in
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: these platforms to just get an idea of where Suriname
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: is geographically looking like it sits inside of the south
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: american continent with its face out to the atlantic within
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: the caribbean sea i think it's important that partners get
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: that so that they you know recognize where suriname is
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: placed i like that is placed.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: So if you say that we are happy Suriname is
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: what we say. So when we are together, you will
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: never hear the word Suriname. We say, oh, we Suriname.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: We Surinamese. I am Surinamese. So what I want to
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: place emphasis on Most likely when I'm here in Africa,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: they say I resemble all Africans. So people, when I
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: say Suriname, they are, which part of Africa is that?
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Even when I was ambassador in Trinidad, someone asked me,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: you see, when they see my attire, because the Maroon
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: people and the Serenang people, let me say it now,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: the Serenang people, The African Sranang people created their own clothing,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: their own cultural. You will see it, especially look at
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: my shoulder. We call it pangi. That's how we call it, pangi.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: So you would say it's a scarf, but it's not
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: a scarf. When I have it around my waist, you
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: will say it's a wrap. We don't call it a wrap.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: We call it pangi. And when I put it the
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: other way around on my shoulder, I put a knot.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: The name changes too. Yes, it changes. And we call
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: it banjakosu or banjakoto or jemba. In the language group
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: I was born in, we call it jemba. And in
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: the other bigger language group, they call it banja koto.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: So it's the way the, yes, banja koto. That is,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: you put it, if you look at the Rwanda traditional wear,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: you look at the ladies, that is the banja koto
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: or the jemba. I was surprised to see this in
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Africa because I thought, okay, we didn't have much, so
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: they used it and so, but Africa surprises me. So
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: in Trinidad, when I had my attire on, someone asked me,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: are you from Malawi or Trini? I said, no. Or
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: they would ask me, are you the wife of the
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Nigerian High Commissioner? I say, no. I am the ambassador.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Maybe I have something to do with Nigeria, but I
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: was born in Suriname. Where is that? Even in the Caribbean.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: So we need to understand that there is much more
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: to know of Africa within the continent of the Americas,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: in the Caribbean. So I know one day someone was
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: saying like emancipation. The first country, when I heard of
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: the first country that had the emancipation day as the
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: national day, They didn't mention Suriname. And I had to
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: tell people, no, we had our Emancipation Day as a
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: holiday long before English Caribbean had it as a holiday.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: We had it as a holiday in 1963. And we
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: don't call it emancipation. We call it manspasi or ketikoti.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Keti Koti means the chain is broken. Keti is chain.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Koti means broken. So when we celebrate, we celebrate Keti Koti.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: And then we will add to it Manspasi, emancipation. Manspasi.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: And one good thing that I've seen here in Africa
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: that makes me feel so well at home is when
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: they pour libation, especially in Ghana, I hear the word ago.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: But ago, I thought it was just a maroon thing.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Never did I know they took it right from their
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: continent into where they're in their independent space up until now.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: And what they do in Suriname as well is to
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: use all the protocol of chieftaincy that you have in
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: Africa are still there. You don't go to a chief
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: without having to have an appointment before, even if you
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: live in the village. You don't go to the chief
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: and say, oh, chief, if you pass by, and he
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: sits at his balcony, you can greet the chief politely.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: But to go and have a conversation, you need an appointment.
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's respect. That's respect.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: That's respect. I know that because my own father was
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: a chief. So, and I have to behave all the time.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: You need the protocol. And what I learned is that protocol,
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: as we do a diplomacy, the first thing I did
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: as ambassador was to see where diplomacy came from, stems from.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: And I read a book of a very renowned ambassador
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: of India, Kishan Rana. He served in Africa. And he
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: wrote a book. And I read his book. And in
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: his book, he said, all this protocol, the diplomacy, rules,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: and guidelines came from the kingdoms of Africa. So when
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: we go to big universities to have a doctorate in diplomacy,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: it is born in Africa.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: Correct. And that's what we keep to persons. We tell
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: them that.
• 33:21
  Speaker 4: And sometimes persons don't choose to hear that, Your Excellency.
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: And that's why having these types of conversations, these reasoning
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: discussions with respect and inclusivity of all of our spaces
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: that have been influenced by Africa and also impacting to Africa.
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: I think that that's the portion that sometimes we do
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: not get a chance to expand upon, right?
• 33:53
  Speaker 3: And I'm so grateful that you're sharing this part. Yes, yes.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Because you see, What I also experience is
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: most likely what we Africans have. We think we take
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: it for granted. You see, the medicinal space that we have,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: the big universities in Africa before enslavement, before the transatlantic
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: slave trade, those who came from these big mines, They
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: went into the forest in Suriname, and I know in
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: every other part that they went to in the Americas,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: they took knowledge with them, right? And in Suriname, what
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: I never knew, I knew that the villages....
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: And hopefully we'll be able to keep this moving forward
• 35:04
  Speaker 4: because we're, we know we've got certain signals that are
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: going in and out.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: I realize that there, and that's okay. We will keep
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: this going forward. We're having a very good interview, very
• 35:17
  Speaker 4: informative interview with the, Her Excellency Ambassador, Dr. Fidelia Garangalong,
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: who serves as the Surinamese.
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: We've been corrected. Surinamese.
• 35:31
  Speaker 4: Suriname ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, as well as
• 35:38
  Speaker 4: within her portfolio. She is also the ambassador of Suriname
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: to the Republic of South Africa and Kenya. And I
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: really would like to, you know, while she's getting things
• 35:51
  Speaker 4: back in order to be able to come back into
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: the broadcast, I wanted to take this time to also
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: share some information for those that are just joining us
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: to this particular broadcast of Ah Speaks, building a new
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: legacy of highlighting what are some of the peace building,
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: cultural exchanges, entrepreneurial exchanges.
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: I think she's returned. Thank you. Not a problem.
• 36:20
  Speaker 4: We were just covering the different portions of what you
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: have shared, Your Excellency. and really highlighting the role of
• 36:29
  Speaker 4: Suriname in the Caribbean spaces, the role of the Maroon communities,
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: the Maroon nations that have maintained their, in an academic space,
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: we tend to speak of it as marronage, right? We
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: speak of the people as the Maroons, yes, but we
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: speak of the action and the concept of maintaining that
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: independence and that freeness as part of the marronage legacy
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: and just from.
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: An ancestral space and bringing that forward.
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: It also allows for us, some of the conversations and
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: reasonings that Her Excellency and I have had outside of
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: this platform have been, how do we restore building institutions
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: that are sustainable and being able to build these institutions
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: in Ghana, in Kenya, in South Africa.
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: Throughout Africa, in Suriname, Suriname. Yes, Suriname.
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: And, you know, within the Caribbean spaces and wherever we are,
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: where we're establishing institutions that are maintaining standards of excellence
• 37:42
  Speaker 4: that facilitate our learning systems, our ancestral intelligence, so that
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: we're not just becoming food or food just being used
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: by artificial intelligence when we are actually the formulators with
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: the honor working through us from the creative source through
• 38:03
  Speaker 4: the creator to be able to deal with ancestral intelligence.
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: So there was a couple of things that you were
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: speaking to before we had that shift. So I'd love
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: for you to continue. I have maybe two more questions.
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: I told you the hour goes like pew!
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: It goes fast, but I love to talk about the institutions.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Sometimes we think of institutions as buildings when you see
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: a physical building, but we have our own institutions without borders.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: As soon as we connect intellectually with our own intellectual property,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: You see, when I hear the explanation of Ubuntu, that's
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: where I came to understand, like, hey, listen, we have
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: it in other wordings. We are here in my upbringing,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: they say, nafui sefi udeya. Nafui sefi udeya. That is
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: what Ubuntu says. And these people never heard the word Ubuntu.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: And how do they call it? They say ahala. So ahala,
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: we are literally bound together to bear fruit not literally
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: fruit but it's also fruit when you look at the
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: banana tree you see we put a stick you know
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: to hold it standing to bear fruit that is the
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: name of ahala And then when we meet one another,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: we say, you are my ahala and I'm your ahala.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: So what we do, we keep one elbow to the
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: other elbow. And if there are 10 of us, all
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: of us together are ahala towards one another. And when
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: a power comes after us and push us, we will
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: still standing very strong. No one can pull us down.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: So that is a common word in the maroon community.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: Let us give each other a hala. And that is
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: the spirit of a hala.
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: A hala, a hala, a hala.
• 40:38
  Speaker 4: Right, well, we're grateful when we're able to share those
• 40:42
  Speaker 4: things in that context, to be able to speak of
• 40:45
  Speaker 4: that phrase. We've heard some terms tonight, viewers and listeners, ahala, umbuntu, serenang.
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: We've referenced maroons. We've referenced marronage. We've referenced ancestral intelligence.
• 41:05
  Speaker 4: We've referenced legacy. We've made a number of conversations come
• 41:12
  Speaker 4: to light in regard to how we can strengthen our
• 41:15
  Speaker 4: relationships from where we are in the Western hemisphere and
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: the connections and linkages and bondage that we bring to
• 41:26
  Speaker 4: the forefront onto the Eastern hemisphere. And we do our
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: best to be able to facilitate, highlight, strengthen, engage with
• 41:39
  Speaker 4: one another. Part of what I'm looking forward, and if
• 41:42
  Speaker 4: we do not get to finish it tonight, we will
• 41:44
  Speaker 4: definitely ask Her Excellency Ambassador Dr. Fidelia Gran-Galon, who is
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: residing in Ghana. So again, it's quite late for her
• 41:55
  Speaker 4: this evening. And we're grateful that we are able to
• 41:59
  Speaker 4: at least have this preliminary discourse around the role, the strength,
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: the cultural richness of Suriname, that people in English reference
• 42:11
  Speaker 4: as Suriname, and the way in which we can have
• 42:15
  Speaker 4: institution building based on the reasonings that we have, the
• 42:21
  Speaker 4: level of teaching and edification that we are engaged in,
• 42:25
  Speaker 4: the way that we invest in our cultural heritage and
• 42:29
  Speaker 4: nuances as well, how we bring in our traditional African, Maroon,
• 42:36
  Speaker 4: indigenous marketplace. And when we speak of the marketplace, we're
• 42:42
  Speaker 4: speaking of the clothing, the food, the primary arts, We're
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: talking of the crafts. Yes, this heritage, that's a whole,
• 42:51
  Speaker 4: heritage is its own thing, not heritage, but heritage. That's
• 42:58
  Speaker 4: a whole other piece in of itself. Dance, the music,
• 43:03
  Speaker 4: the theater, the film, right? The spoken word, the wordsmith,
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: the journalism, the media, publication, yes.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: Maybe I can share something for the Caribbean because I've
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: been teasing some Bajans with this. You see the music
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: and the song and what the lesson learned and the
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: morals in the songs. We have a song, a storytelling song.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: Whenever we tell story in the villages or on the plantations,
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: there is a song comes along with it, which is
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: a messaging, it's a coding. So in all our songs
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: of the Africans outside of Africa, they coded their messages
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: in songs. So not only Suriname, but Suriname, I speak
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: of what I know. So there was a storytelling song
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: of a girl called Donaye. And Donaye's father had two wives.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: And then her mom and the other wife went to
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: the farm. So the other wife, not her mom, stayed
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: in the village with all the children of everybody else.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: And before her mom left, she told her rival, we
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: call it in our language, say, listen, my daughter doesn't
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: eat this fish. She's allergic to it. When the lady
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: went to the farm, the other lady, her rival, went,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: caught the fish, gave it to the little girl, beautiful
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: young bird, and she died. When she died, they mourned
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: the death, and they cried along in the village, and
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: they were asking, how come she died? Because she was healthy.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: How come? What killed her? The children were not allowed
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: to go near. And then suddenly they heard the children
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: singing from afar. And that is the song that they
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: call Faluma ding, ding, ding. It's a carnival song. Yes.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: So the first. Wow.
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: And the moral is don't eat out. Eat only what
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: your mommy cooks.
• 45:27
  Speaker 3: That's a song that was done popular by. It was.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Very popular in Suriname when she came. She heard the song.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: She loved the song. And the lady, Sisa Aki. Sisa Aki,
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: that is the lady that made it very popular in Suriname.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: But it's out of storytelling. It was not Sisa Aki's song.
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: It's an Okanese folklore. And what I want to make
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: people alert of, when I go to Google and they
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: write the names of the different Surinamese tribal community of
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: African descendants, they make a mistake all the time with
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: the one I came from. The name is Okanisi. And
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: today I was going through it, and I see they
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: say Okanisi or Njuka or Bush Negro or Bushinenge or whatever.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: The name is, they have only one name, Okanisi.
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: Okanisi.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: But it is the name they call themselves. That is
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: what we need to use on Google. So AI is
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: not doing well, and some people are putting love. Information
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: out there. Please, if you don't really know, respect the
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: way people call themselves.
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: That one.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: That one. We need to respect that. That one. Even
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: in our own community, you have people, oh, why should
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: you call yourself? Because that is Bushinenge and people. Bushinenge,
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: one of the paramount chiefs, who they call Damang. So
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: you see, in Ghana, you have Asantehene, you have all
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: these names. But in Suriname, we don't say that. We
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: say Gaman, meaning paramount chief for all the six tribes.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: When you hear Gaman, meaning he's the paramount chief, the
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: ultimate leader of a tribe or of a nation in
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: a river. That is what we do. So the good
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: thing is whenever I Google stuff about Suriname, I see
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: a lot of mistakes Google makes. And there is no
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: one there to correct. And some people are taking it
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: for granted. You see, there's a marketplace in Suriname selling medicine,
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: medicinal herbs. There was an American man going through Suriname,
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: and they call it the witch market. And he interviewed
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: a Surinamese person, and the person says, oh, I don't
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: go to that marketplace. It's about witchcraft. It's a witch market.
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: And these people are selling medicinal herbs for your body.
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: selling their traditional food. They call something gari in Ghana.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: We call it kwaka. You see? So when you see
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: gari in Africa, Surinamo calls it kwaka. And it's very popular,
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: it's fast food. So there's so much we elaborate on,
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: my dear Queen Mother, Dr.
• 48:53
  Speaker 7: Chen.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: You see, it's so much to share. Because what is
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: reparation to us? What do we repair? What do we
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: want to repair? Can they pay us for all the
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: atrocities that happen? No, there is money involved. Yes. I
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: don't say there's no money involved.
• 49:18
  Speaker 8: But these broken spirits, these broken bones and the blood
• 49:24
  Speaker 8: that has been shed in Africa and in the continent,
• 49:31
  Speaker 8: on the islands, the continents of America, how do we
• 49:36
  Speaker 8: repair it?
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: How do we do that?
• 49:40
  Speaker 4: Well, see, there are a number of ways that, and
• 49:44
  Speaker 4: I'd like to just make sure that, because you said
• 49:47
  Speaker 4: three things that I'm seeing people ask questions on our
• 49:51
  Speaker 4: other platforms, and I know that we're getting towards the
• 49:55
  Speaker 4: closing of our time, and I would like to just
• 49:57
  Speaker 4: highlight the persons. You're listening to Her Excellency Ambassador Dr.
• 50:03
  Speaker 4: Fidelia Grangalon, who serves as the Suriname Surinamese ambassador, I
• 50:11
  Speaker 4: want to try to clarify, in Ghana, right? And we're
• 50:14
  Speaker 4: grateful that you're staying up so late tonight, or I
• 50:17
  Speaker 4: should say early this morning, to stay with us and
• 50:20
  Speaker 4: share this information. But her portfolio also includes her ambassadorial
• 50:25
  Speaker 4: responsibilities to the Republic of Kenya, as well as to
• 50:29
  Speaker 4: the Republic of South Africa. And I wanted to just
• 50:33
  Speaker 4: come back to the things that you shared when you
• 50:34
  Speaker 4: were mentioning about the Gamanga, because I think that people
• 50:38
  Speaker 4: forget that we may in English say paramount chief. You
• 50:42
  Speaker 4: may hear people speak of Nambusas in other languages or
• 50:47
  Speaker 4: the Asantihene in other languages, but it's Gamang in the
• 50:52
  Speaker 4: Suriname space and that there are elevated as chiefs. They're
• 50:57
  Speaker 4: paramount chiefs and they are to be respected accordingly. I
• 51:01
  Speaker 4: really am grateful that you also highlighted the misrepresentation of
• 51:07
  Speaker 4: your authentic name so that persons stop using names that
• 51:13
  Speaker 4: are derogatory, negative, and incorrect, right? I think that's really important, right?
• 51:20
  Speaker 4: And say the name one more time, please.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: Okanisi.
• 51:26
  Speaker 3: Okanisi.
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: Okanisi. That is the name. Njuka is the region. they
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: come from. So when we say Njuuka people, the Njuuka language,
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: because of the Okanisi people that came from the Njuuka region.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: So when the correct name is Okanisi, because I will
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: go and tell people I'm an Okanisi. Because I live
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: in another riverside called Kotika. So they call us Kotika people.
• 52:06
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: You see, because of the region you come from.
• 52:10
  Speaker 3: The region you come from in terms of the land space.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Yes, the land space. But the name is Okanisi. The
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: Dutch say Okanar. But we also say Okanisi. Okanisi Maroon.
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: So Google, please stop writing Okanisi.
• 52:31
  Speaker 3: Well, you have to correct them.
• 52:32
  Speaker 4: That's why I tell persons you can only use those like,
• 52:35
  Speaker 4: you know how you use a pencil and when the
• 52:37
  Speaker 4: letters are done? Google is one space. There used to
• 52:42
  Speaker 4: be Metacrawler that gave you things more accurately. And even
• 52:45
  Speaker 4: in AI, if you're using AI, AI can only produce
• 52:50
  Speaker 4: what we give it.
• 52:52
  Speaker 3: And then it starts to pour.
• 52:54
  Speaker 4: So we have to provide the authentic, accurate, and culturally
• 53:00
  Speaker 4: correct information that so that we're clear on these spaces.
• 53:06
  Speaker 4: And sometimes, even in Wikipedia, we have to correct it.
• 53:09
  Speaker 4: You have to write to Wikipedia the same way you
• 53:12
  Speaker 4: read it. You have to write to them and correct it.
• 53:14
  Speaker 4: And I know, well, many of us do that. Many
• 53:18
  Speaker 4: don't take the time to do that. But it's important
• 53:20
  Speaker 4: that with the analytics that are available now, you can
• 53:24
  Speaker 4: do that really carefully. I want to go back to
• 53:27
  Speaker 4: a point on the reparations and just highlight that.
• 53:31
  Speaker 3: As we're having this conversation, as we're.
• 53:34
  Speaker 4: Speaking about the importance of having accurate names, as we're
• 53:40
  Speaker 4: referencing the discourse around reparations, it's very important for us
• 53:48
  Speaker 4: to also know that there will be a third conference
• 53:55
  Speaker 4: on reparations that will be happening in Barbados in the
• 54:01
  Speaker 4: second week of, let me make sure I'm correct, right,
• 54:05
  Speaker 4: in the third week end of September. So I think
• 54:09
  Speaker 4: it's important for persons to just be aware that while
• 54:12
  Speaker 4: these conversations are happening and that reparations, if persons would
• 54:17
  Speaker 4: like to get a copy of the CARICOM Reparations Commission's
• 54:21
  Speaker 4: 10-point plan and the manifesto, which provides more detailed information
• 54:28
  Speaker 4: on how reparatory justice and reparations can brings on what
• 54:32
  Speaker 4: is it coming into the age of enlightenment. I need
• 54:36
  Speaker 4: people to hear this part very carefully. This includes all
• 54:40
  Speaker 4: of we. This is not just you and the ambassador.
• 54:45
  Speaker 4: This is all of we. And it's important that we
• 54:49
  Speaker 4: weigh in, that we listen, that we read, that we study,
• 54:53
  Speaker 4: that we start to use the correct terminology and references
• 54:59
  Speaker 4: to our people of African, whether you say descent, ascent, ancestry, indigeneity, heritage,
• 55:08
  Speaker 4: all in them terms, legacy, but the people that come
• 55:11
  Speaker 4: from a very long, millennia upon millennia, not just centuries,
• 55:18
  Speaker 4: thousands and thousands of years. Thousands of years, yes. It's
• 55:22
  Speaker 4: really important that persons get it.
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: I want to add to it. Not everybody that has
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: the knowledge wants to come forth and say their truth
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: because the endangerment of their truth by others to abuse
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: it is why some people, because of their experience, do
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: not want to come out and say, I know. in
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: some way you can say, okay, you say you know it,
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: so say it. I have nothing to say. So that
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean that they don't have nothing to say. They
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: have something to say. But the justification of why you
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: use it for some reason, they might see through you
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: and you might think they don't. And sometimes to keep
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: themselves protected, they remain silent because silence is stronger than
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: when you keep your, than you keep speaking. Silence might say,
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: I agree. Silence might say, I disagree with you. And
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: what I want, I want to wish everybody that will
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: speak into the next steps meeting in Barbados. I wish
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: them all well, a lot of wisdom and, There is
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: a lot hidden in islands like yours, the American Virgin Islands.
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: In Suriname, some people come forth as to be an expert.
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: An expert sometimes is someone that has a big title
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: or have a status to be the expert at that time.
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: So we need to be very conscious of it. And
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: sometimes the real experts might be kept back for someone
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: to have a status somewhere in the world. Not only
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: in Africa, but everywhere.
• 57:31
  Speaker 3: Everywhere.
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: In households, in communities. Some, they say you talk too much,
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: keep your mouth shut. Oh, stop that person from talking.
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: In a household, you know. You talk too much, keep
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: your mouth shut, and then you say, okay, you don't
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: want me to speak? Well, I won't speak when you
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: want me to speak. You know, so let us go
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: for my honorable, I'm so happy that I've met you
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: long before we met. We met. And I am lucky
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: enough to be that small little girl of that village.
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: Could not speak English, could not speak Dutch, only the language.
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: But I'm happy that I can serve my country. The Indians,
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: the Migs, the Javanese, everybody. I'm happy because I have
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: friends all over in Suriname. Everybody, not only the Maronite people,
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: but everybody. We are one in Suriname. In Suriname. Okay.
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: We love it. We love to be and we love
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: to be where we came from and how we last
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: month was our heritage month and we had some program
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: and some dance and I see the minutes are ticking.
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: I have to say thank you all that listened to me.
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: I hope I made sense.
• 59:11
  Speaker 4: Always.
• 59:12
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 59:13
  Speaker 4: Thank you again, Your Excellency. Ambassador Dr. Fidelia Gran-Gallon, who
• 59:20
  Speaker 4: serves as the ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, the
• 59:23
  Speaker 4: Republic of South Africa, and the Republic of Kenya. On
• 59:27
  Speaker 4: behalf of Our Speaks, building a new legacy and our
• 59:31
  Speaker 4: team here in the crew podcast, you know, I always
• 59:34
  Speaker 4: give a shout out to all of the sister Queens
• 59:38
  Speaker 4: and the Kings that have really facilitated our ability to
• 59:41
  Speaker 4: have this platform to be able to share this type
• 59:44
  Speaker 4: of information. You know, I see you there, queen visionary,
• 59:49
  Speaker 4: Angela want to give a special shout out to you
• 59:51
  Speaker 4: for just having the vision and putting all of this
• 59:53
  Speaker 4: together in that regard and supporting all of us being
• 59:56
  Speaker 4: able to do this.
• 59:57
  Speaker 3: And to you sister queen, But today, I'm.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 4: Grateful that you were able to tune in and get
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 4: me started and moving tonight. I want to just make
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 4: sure for persons that are listening, we're speaking of the
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 4: third CARICOM regional conference on reparations. Reparatory justice as the
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 4: coming enlightenment is the theme, September 17th to the 19th, 2026,
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 4: and it will be held in Barbados. Persons can get
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 4: more information from CARICOM's website, also from the CARICOM Reparations
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 4: Commission's website, as well as the Center for Reparations Research
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 4: at the University of the West Indies. And there are
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 4: very powerful opportunities for us to really engage and move
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 4: the needle forward. For persons that have not had the
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 4: opportunity to read or get access to the CARICOM Reparations
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 4: Commission's 10-point plan and the manifesto on the coming of
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 4: the Age of Enlightenment. I think it's really important. If
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 4: you need a copy, you can go to these sites.
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 4: If you have difficulty, please email ostspeaks, A-S-T-S-P-E-A-K-S at gmail.com.
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 4: And once you give us the information that you require
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 4: and request, we will send you a copy of the
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 4: document as well because it's fully like being globalized. I
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 4: just need persons to catch on to that because I
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 4: think it's important to know there's a relaunching happening of
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 4: the revised CARICOM 10-point plan as a global model and
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 4: framework for reparatory justice. There's the advancing strategic frameworks for
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 4: reparation payments, as well as a digital library and archival partnerships,
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 4: which we're adding more content to as it's.
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 3: Developing and growing.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 7: There is an advancing of the CARICOM Reparations Commission action
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 7: plan and a joint action plan with Global African Diaspora Partners,
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 7: among other things.
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 4: So with that, I want to say thank you again, Ambassador.
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 4: Thank you to our viewers and listeners. And I'm looking
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 4: forward to our next conversation. Remember, culture heals humanity. Land
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 4: is our foundation, and spiritual harmony unifies us. One of
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 4: the more important things I need to say right now,
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 4: because of the ding that you just heard, today is
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 4: the anniversary of the birth of one of my sons.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 4: He turned 40 today and to have this conversation with
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 4: you and persons listening, I'm saying a newbie, Chionesu Ezra,
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 4: my beloved son, please enjoy your 40th anniversary on the earth.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 3: Continue to be blessed.
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 4: With long life, health, wellness, and prosperity into all abundance.
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: His mom is young and strong Congratulations to him that
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: he is so lucky to have a mother like you.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: God bless you. And for me to have a sister
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: like you, God bless me too. God bless you all
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: and have a wonderful time with your son. God bless you.
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: And thank you, audience. Okay.
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 3: Good night. Good night. We thank you.
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 4: We look forward to the first and third Thursday of
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 4: each month here with the Crew Podcast. Keep joining in
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 4: to I Speak. And we are looking forward to our
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 4: next engagement. Give thanks. Looking forward.
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: God bless. Good night. Good night. Audible, Deezer, iHeart, Oreo too.
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 2: Amazon Music bringing vibes to you.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: I still speak to let the people know.