Be German Gifted

8/14/2019 Be German Gifted

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TO BE GERMAN, GIFTED & BLACK"

Afroancestral Artists in German FilmBy Akinyi Princess of KOrinda-Yimbo

in my court of justice, any Afroancestral passing on these psychological debilities to their children are

committing the crimes of lifelong mental cruelty, lifelong anguish of the soul andlifelong psychological damage - APKY

On the 26 February 2007, I sat through a discussion in Munichs GASTEIG an

enormous complex housing theatres, operas, libraries, the citys adult education centre,

congress halls, cafs and restaurants. In one of the halls was the discussion event

organised by various organisations of Germans of mixed parentage, with at least one


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parent or grandparent having African blood. In the packed hall were six panellists from

various African-German artists groups (an actress, a sculptor, a female lawyer, a

German scholar & philosopher, a female radio commentator) on the podium including the

German presenter. The discussion was about racial discrimination in the professions.

There were various examples given to prove the fact, such as having no African-German

TV commentators and newsreaders in German TV channels, and when there was one (in

the private channels) their work is pushed from prime time to programmes aired after

midnight. The same went for public radio commentators. Other professionals in branches

such as law, lecturing and medical health have a hard time practising their professions or

winning the confidence of their clients and/or employers. Actors and actresses are

perpetually cast in the roles of asylum seekers, drug dealers, prostitutes, illegal refugees,

paid male lovers or mistresses of some wealthy white woman or man. The man as a

rule earns his fortune by illegal means such as sales of weapons and blood diamonds,

smuggling ivory or finding Western clients for African dictators murdering their citizens

and robbing their countries blind.

All the African-German panelists insisted on the fact that they were Blacks. I later

on wondered why aloud, during the podium discussion. Was it because it was easier to

step into the African turf and be accepted as an equal human being? I provoked a

snowball into rolling whose arguments are too long for an article.

Living in the West awakened in me the realisation that Kenya in particular and

Africa in general, had quite effectively protected me from being conscious of the fact that

the colour of my skin was supposedly not on a par with the pink or out-of-Sub-Saharan-

Africa light brown variety. In retrospect, I count myself exceptionally lucky to have made

acquaintance with this fact when I was already well into adulthood. And this makes me

ponder the effect of these B and W words on small children. What does an Afroancestral

child feel the moment it learns or discovers that its complexion is not beautiful because

its black no matter what its eyesight conveys to it, nor is its kinky hair, its (in todays

world of beauty, actually sensuous) mouth, nose just about the lot and furthermore,

that this fact of being black relegates it and its entire people to the lowest rung of the


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human ladder? Added to this later, comes the absorption of cultural and spiritual/religious

confusion and the naked miseries hinged on poverty! Anything and everything African is

supposedly primitive and heathen or at best backward. No history, no identity, but

stinkingly corrupted. Underdeveloped. Starving. Africans are supposedly riddled with all

manner of abominable diseases no other human species has spewed out into the world.

The entire psyche of Afroancestrals would seem to be one heap ofdisjecta membra! This

child has a great deal of his self-worth ruined for him and might easily develop acute

complexes and resign himself to them.

But the most lamentable is the fact that this was and is a psychological booby-

trap set up nearly four centuries ago to keep on ensnaring and exploding and self-

propagating in the Afroancestral psyche as a constantly inhaled confirmation of their

inferiority. While no one is better at setting up such psychological booby-traps than the

Euroancestrals, no one is better at the servility required to adopt and haul around with

them such subtly corrosive, damaging and damning notions than the to borrow from

Joseph Addisons writing in 1711 Savage Greatness of Soul whose fidelity nobody

can forbear admiring. Afroancestrals have been religiously passing on this corrosive

psychological damnation from generation to generation over at least the last three and a

half centuries, while the Euroancestrals snigger in brisk asides. How many Afroancestrals

have heard the But your skin is not really black, is it? from a Euroancestral? Im black

and proudandBlack is beautifulwere deep-seated screams from the psyche and the

soul, trying to rid themselves of the damnation as best as they could. Neither Malcom

became Malcom X nor did Cassius Clay metamorphose into Mohammed Ali out of some

social fad. Tortured souls and wounded psyches were all out there screaming for some

kind of salvation, some rescue from a festering-wound trap no one quite knew how they

had been caught into and whether death was the single alternative in getting out of the

misery. And yet the booby-trap is still firmly in place and stronger than ever, nearly four

centuries later. Thats Grade A-plus fidelity. We Africans have even never given thought

to the fact that no European religion ever made it to a world religion. Christianity is Afro-

Orient. Euroancestrals appropriated it and instantly made Christ the Jew an Icelander.


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But an African religion has made it to the rank of world religion Candombl widely

spread in West Africa, in Western Europe and the entire Americas. Yet we the Great

Savage Souls dont want to know about it, do we? So we cloak ourselves in the blanket

of being blacks and pray to be invisible. But in my court of justice, any Afroancestral

passing on these psychological debilities to their children are committing the crimes of

lifelong mental cruelty, lifelong anguish of the soul and lifelong psychological damage.

They deserve the cruelest punishment, if with mitigating factors because they themselves

have been victims all their lives. But its time for a take-home pay, people.

The annual meeting of the organisation I nitiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland(Initiative of Black People in Germany). It is a sort of exclusive club for blacks only. Alonethe fact of calling themselves black is ridiculous as the photo show s. Some are long since

blond and blue-eyed. To me they are actually trying to make themselves invisible to thedreaded rejection of the w hite w orld and ghettoizing themselves in the black w orld

complete with their progeny

The Euroancestral or Asiancestral child also encounter the same processes and

experiences as they grow up. But on a different rung. The Euroancestral child discovers

that it and its people are the rulers of the current world (or any other world that has ever


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been, for all the child learns in its society and cares for), and it carries this complex into

its adult life. It is part of the rulers by virtue of its complexion and characteristics. All the

way to economic, military and technological power. It grows up elevated by the fact

that it and its people are not at the bottom rung of the ladder. It is further cushioned by

its peoples apparent cultural and religious clout. The worst that can happen to it is that it

grows up with superiority complexes harmful not only to the others but also to itself as

well. These are what I call Megignoarrogance complexes mega ignorance and mega

arrogance combined which are so characteristic of Euroancestrals. Especially the I

have nothing against other races type. This is why it never even occurs to them to send

emmissaries to Africa who speak at least one African language of the nation they are

sent to. But they would never send one to a European, an Australian or North American

country who does not master the languages spoken in these countries. On the other

hand they would never tolerate an African or Asian emmissary who does not speak the

language of the Euroancestral nation of his mission, to be posted among them.

The Asiancentral child is possibly comforted by the fact that it and its people are

not at the bottom rung of the ladder. Not even in complexion, if perhaps in

characteristics. Apartheid South Africa used this strategy very successfully, creating the

buffer zone of the so-called coloureds as if there is a human being who is colourless!

Moreover, the Asiancestrals have religions however conceived as against African

religions and cultures that have endured or even repelled the impact of the

Euroancestral all-round hegemony. The Euroancestral is not even conscious of the fact

that no European religion became a world religion. Jerusalem long lost or not, their

Megignoarrogance tells them that they are the civilized Christians of Christendom. Once

again, Christianity is Afro-Orient, not European. On the other hand African religions

survived across the Atlantic, incorporating other elements but remaining intact in their

original basic elements, despite the dehumanisation, disorientation and hardships, and

are alive and kicking to this minute.

The reader has noticed that I never use the artificial complexion notions, because

they simply are false and are not a restitution of the truth. The colour black is naturally


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too negative to all human beings in too many ways right up to having a blacklist

reputation or status. Even a black figure is not the sort of person anybody voluntarily

wants to be associated with. The colour black is threatening even to animals of the

jungle. For every living creature but a handful of night predators, it represents evil,

invisible danger, dark powers, treacherous beings, the colour of death itself. In the

human beings various languages, people have black moods, black hearts, black days,

black futures, black sheep in the family, black Mondays or black Sundays, black markets,

black storms, black heavens, black holes, blackguards or even blackheads. The black-box

is actually orange but referred to as black because it is the last harbinger of news after

an aeroplane crash, an unhappy event that always involves loss of human life. What

reason is there for turning the African pigmentation into black when it isnt?

In Germany, there is no Oprah Winfrey, no Denzel Washington, no Halle Barry.

Afroancestral faces as newsreaders or talk show professionals on German screens would

seem to upset the norm, so measures are taken to make sure that the norm is not upset.

Unless the African blood in the person has become as invisible as it was in Sir Peter

Ustinov. Prime time is not for Afroancestrals. Neither are they the heroes or heroines in

films unless as Idi Amin or girlchild victims of FGM.


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Sir Peter Ustinov with children who had just performed a traditional

folk dance for him, at the UNICEF-assisted child protection centre in Takhman district, Cambodia.Sir Peters paternal grandmother was Ethiopian. (Source: UNICEF)

Schwarze Filmschaffende in Deutschland (Afroancestral Artists in German Film) is

an organisation which was established as a professional association in the summer of

2006. Its purpose is to unite the creative talents of Afro-Germans with those of directors,

producers, screenwriters, actors and actresses of African origin, who live in Germany and

share an interest in fostering a more diverse representation of the lives of Afroancestrals

in German film and television. The objective is to satisfy a need, for up until now there

has been no entity that enables Afro-Germans and filmmakers of African origin to tell

their (hi)story from their own perspective. Now, however, there is a way to challenge the

stereotyped portrayal of Afroancestral characters in German as well as Euroancestral

film and television, that has prevailed to date. Their goal is to reveal both past and

present-day trans-cultural processes along with the multiple realities of Germany,

present not only in film but also in television. As Afro-Germans and/or filmmakers of

African origin working in Germany, it is their wish as well as professional duty to take an

active part in the production and telling of their own (hi)story. On the one hand, that

entails challenging the prevailing stereotypes of Afroancestral characters in the German

media depicted as prostitutes, asylum seekers, petty criminals, mistresses, noble

savages or other exotic creatures. On the other hand, it is about creating a neutral space

where stories can be told from an Afroancestral point of view and where new

perspectives can develop. Alternative and diverse characterisation of Afroancestrals in

German-language films can change both self-perception and the perception of others,

thereby making a contribution to contemporary social discourse. They are convinced that

the medium of film can be used to generate significant impetus towards greater

understanding and more open communications.


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The founder members of SFD Schwarze Filmschaffende in Deutschland (Black the i rw o r d , n o t m in e! Artists in German Film) are w riters Anne Benza-Madingou und PhillippaEbn; director, Winta Yohannes; producer, Nataly Kudiabor; and actresses CarolCampbell, Araba Walton and Nisma Cherrat.

Anne Benza-Madingou

writer

ArabaWalton

actress

CarolCampbell

actress

NatalyKudiabor

Head of

NismaCherrat

actress

WintaYohannes

director

development

1. Chairperson: Carol Campbell

Carol Campbell is a member of the German Film Academy. She was born in Munich,

Germany in 1966 and moved to Berlin at the age of five where she completed her

secondary school education in 1984 by taking the German Abitur examination. She went

to Paris, France in 1986 after her dance training, which she had begun while she was still

at school, and spent four years as a solo dancer at the Lido and at the Moulin Rouge.


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Back in Berlin Carol started work as a television presenter (VIVA, VOX, ZDF) and shortly

after that came her first acting roles in Tatort (Crime Scene, ARD) and the RTL three-

part series Julia. In 1998/99 she spent a year in Los Angeles where she participated in

a range of acting workshops and seminars.

On her return to Germany came several television and cinema roles including one in

Pfundskerl (SAT.1), working alongside Ottfried Fischer; Edel & Starck (SAT.1);

Tatort (Crime Scene, ARD); Du oder Keine (Only You, ZDF); Herzflimmern

(Vital Signs, ZDF); Jedermanns Fest (Everymans Party, cinema); and various

presenting roles at Daimler Chrysler, Siemens, Adidas, Hugo Boss, IBM, Debis and CeBit

corporate events, among others; she was also co- founder of the online Berlin film

industry forum, film.lounge.berlin. In addition to acting and presenting, Carol has worked

as a successful media training coach in recent years.

2. Deputy Chairperson: Philippa Ebn


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Philippa Ebn is the founder and director of the forum fr filmschauspiel e.V (Forum for

Film Acting), a further education institution for acting professionals. Furthermore, in

November 2004 she founded an acting troupe called abok that brings to the stage

contemporary, urban drama by African and Afro-European writers. She is currently

writing a stage play and a screenplay for a feature film.

Treasurer : Araba Walton

Artist and singer, Araba Walton, was born on 4 November 1975 in Simbach am Inn,

Lower Bavaria, Germany. After taking the German secondary school Abitur examination

she studied theatre studies in Munich and then went to London, where she completed a

three-year course at the ArtsEd School of Acting. In the years that followed, she had

acting roles in various West End and Off West End productions.


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At the end of 2001 she moved to Hamburg for a leading role in the successful musical,

Der Knig der Lwen (The Lion King). After a two year stint, however, she decided to

renew her commitment to acting and made Berlin her home. Araba Walton is a

permanent member of the Berliner Logentheater and the theatre group abok. This year

she appears in a leading role in the feature film, Sunny Hill by Luzius Rueedi.

Premiering at the Berlinale with NEUE BILDER (New Perspectives), SFD Schwarze

Filmschaffende in Deutschland (Afroancestrals Artists in German Film) is targeting both a

German and an international audience of film goers and industry professionals. The

official screening of the SFD film series NEUE BILDER will take place within the Berlinale

Panorama section. To accompany NEUE BILDER, SFD has prepared a complementary

programme of films, a multimedia exhibition, a series of lectures, and a discussion on the

subject of "Afroancestral People in German Film" with a top-notch panel of speakers. The

SFD film series NEUE BILDER (New Perspectives) comprises a total of six films: three are

fiction productions, one is an animation and two are documentaries.

Todd Ford und Diegonante (Zwischen)

Ezra Tsegaye und Sebastian Khne (Turmspringer)

Branwen Okpako (Landing)

John A. Kantara (Und wir waren Deutsche)

Winta Yohannes (Cherish)

Otu Tetteh (You are welcome)


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Image from "Zwischen" (In Between) Image from "Turmspringer" (Tower Jumper)

Image from "Landing" Image from "Und wir waren Deutsche"

(And We Were Germans)

Image from "Cherish" Image from "You are welcome "


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The SFD film series NEUE BILDER (New Perspectives) was screened in the Berlinale "Panorama"section as part of the official programme of the Berlinale 2007, and they won prizes from theinternational jury in Berlin.

Apart from that SFD has organized the complementary Programme of the same

title NEUE BILDER: Besides a series of lectures visitors were welcomed to two panel

discussions on the subjects Afroancestral People in German Film and The Power of

Imagery.

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Be German Gifted