<font size="5"><center>Miss Black America Contestants Awed
by African Culture, Hospitality</font size></center>
Black Press USA
by Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga
NNPA Special Correspondent
BANJUL, The GAMBIA, WEST AFRICA (NNPA) - Ever since Africans were snatched from their homes and forced into slavery in the United States, there has always been among many of their descendants, a yearning for their motherland, a desire for connection to the home of their ancestors.
The Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant celebrating its 20th year, took its 36 contestants and more than 100 others on “A Royal Journey Back to Our Roots” last week. For the first time, the pageant was held outside the U.S. in The Gambia, West Africa. Both, the Gambians and the Americans benefited powerfully.
“We want to seize the opportunity to penetrate the American market and not just depend on the Europeans for tourism,” says Secretary of State for Tourism and Culture, Angela B. Colley. “Last year we traveled to the U.S. and met a number of African-Americans. This is your motherland, we invite you back home, you are children of Africa,” she says.
Gambia’s President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh has created an environment where African-Americans are warmly welcomed. This is part of a trade and investment strategy.
“Gambian hospitality is off the chain,” says Miss Black Virginia Takiyah Nur Amin. “Most of the people are not affluent but they always have a spirit of openness and helpfulness,” she says.
“The economic disparities took me by surprise,” says Miss Black Conneticut, Ayesha Faines. “I was saddened, humbled and inspired to exert influence and give more of myself. There is a need for more African-Americans to connect with Africans on an economic level. We should do as the Jews do for Israel.” Miss Black New Hampshire, Telena Cassell, was impressed to see the level of women in government in The Gambia. “There are so many involved, not just tokens, but really taking ownership and governing.
We can learn a lot from them. “Gambia is a small country with a huge heart,” says Karen Arrington, founder of the Miss USA Scholarship Pageant. Gambia is well known as the home of Kunte Kinte, the ancestor of the late African-American author, Alex Haley who wrote the ground-breaking book “Roots” which also became a television series.
The contestants were accompanied by pen pals on the Roots tour to James Island. “James Island was an important location during the early slave trade,” says Momodou C. Joof, Executive Director of Gambia’s National Council for Arts and Culture. “The Portuguese landed there in 1455 in search of gold but when one of their sailors got sick and died there, they abandoned the island. At the height of the slave trade a couple of hundred years later, the French and the British were competing militarily for the island due to its strategic location.”
Joof says that while it is true that Africans enslaved each other before the arrival of the Europeans, it was not the brutal slavery that came to be known in America during the Middle Passage. Some Africans, due to greed, aided and abetted the Europeans by selling their fellow Africans into slavery. James Island is now a World Heritage Site because of its outstanding universal value to humanity.
The winner of Miss Black USA 2007, Kalilah Allen-Harris, Miss Black Tennessee, says she grew up with all the negative images of Africa in school and in society but at home mother gave her another view. As a result of taking an African studies class at college she realized the importance of educating herself on Africa. “I was outraged when I first learned about colonization. I’ve been so moved by my experience here in The Gambia. I have grieved for my forefathers and felt my ancestors watching over me.”
Sculptor Donald Wood is a 43-year old British citizen of African descent who was born and raised in England. He is on a mission to build a “Monument to Slavery” in The Gambia. While at James Island, each contestant took a piece of clay and mixed it with the soil of the island. “The resulting lump of clay will begin the heart of the sculpture”, says Wood. He wants others who share his vision of a “Monument to Slavery” to become involved. He explains more at www.dbart.org.
Friends and family who traveled with the pageant were also awed by the hospitality.
Twelve-year old Erika, the daughter of Meri Robinson, of Prince George’s County, Md., said, “I didn’t expect everyone to be so friendly, calling us brothers and sisters. It is wonderful. People in the States should come and see for themselves.”
Her grandmother, Annette Townes, says she believes that African-Americans should become involved in doing what they can to help in Africa. “The Lord showed me that the harvest is ripe, we need to help.” Her daughter Meri has agreed to sponsor a child for $120 a year which will pay for tuition.
“This entire experience has helped me to grow intellectually and spiritually,” says Annette. “It is good to see where I come from. It makes me appreciate being who I am.”
http://www.blackpressusa.com/News/Article.asp?SID=4&Title=Departments&NewsID=13466
by African Culture, Hospitality</font size></center>
Black Press USA
by Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga
NNPA Special Correspondent
BANJUL, The GAMBIA, WEST AFRICA (NNPA) - Ever since Africans were snatched from their homes and forced into slavery in the United States, there has always been among many of their descendants, a yearning for their motherland, a desire for connection to the home of their ancestors.
The Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant celebrating its 20th year, took its 36 contestants and more than 100 others on “A Royal Journey Back to Our Roots” last week. For the first time, the pageant was held outside the U.S. in The Gambia, West Africa. Both, the Gambians and the Americans benefited powerfully.
“We want to seize the opportunity to penetrate the American market and not just depend on the Europeans for tourism,” says Secretary of State for Tourism and Culture, Angela B. Colley. “Last year we traveled to the U.S. and met a number of African-Americans. This is your motherland, we invite you back home, you are children of Africa,” she says.
Gambia’s President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh has created an environment where African-Americans are warmly welcomed. This is part of a trade and investment strategy.
“Gambian hospitality is off the chain,” says Miss Black Virginia Takiyah Nur Amin. “Most of the people are not affluent but they always have a spirit of openness and helpfulness,” she says.
“The economic disparities took me by surprise,” says Miss Black Conneticut, Ayesha Faines. “I was saddened, humbled and inspired to exert influence and give more of myself. There is a need for more African-Americans to connect with Africans on an economic level. We should do as the Jews do for Israel.” Miss Black New Hampshire, Telena Cassell, was impressed to see the level of women in government in The Gambia. “There are so many involved, not just tokens, but really taking ownership and governing.
We can learn a lot from them. “Gambia is a small country with a huge heart,” says Karen Arrington, founder of the Miss USA Scholarship Pageant. Gambia is well known as the home of Kunte Kinte, the ancestor of the late African-American author, Alex Haley who wrote the ground-breaking book “Roots” which also became a television series.
The contestants were accompanied by pen pals on the Roots tour to James Island. “James Island was an important location during the early slave trade,” says Momodou C. Joof, Executive Director of Gambia’s National Council for Arts and Culture. “The Portuguese landed there in 1455 in search of gold but when one of their sailors got sick and died there, they abandoned the island. At the height of the slave trade a couple of hundred years later, the French and the British were competing militarily for the island due to its strategic location.”
Joof says that while it is true that Africans enslaved each other before the arrival of the Europeans, it was not the brutal slavery that came to be known in America during the Middle Passage. Some Africans, due to greed, aided and abetted the Europeans by selling their fellow Africans into slavery. James Island is now a World Heritage Site because of its outstanding universal value to humanity.
The winner of Miss Black USA 2007, Kalilah Allen-Harris, Miss Black Tennessee, says she grew up with all the negative images of Africa in school and in society but at home mother gave her another view. As a result of taking an African studies class at college she realized the importance of educating herself on Africa. “I was outraged when I first learned about colonization. I’ve been so moved by my experience here in The Gambia. I have grieved for my forefathers and felt my ancestors watching over me.”
Sculptor Donald Wood is a 43-year old British citizen of African descent who was born and raised in England. He is on a mission to build a “Monument to Slavery” in The Gambia. While at James Island, each contestant took a piece of clay and mixed it with the soil of the island. “The resulting lump of clay will begin the heart of the sculpture”, says Wood. He wants others who share his vision of a “Monument to Slavery” to become involved. He explains more at www.dbart.org.
Friends and family who traveled with the pageant were also awed by the hospitality.
Twelve-year old Erika, the daughter of Meri Robinson, of Prince George’s County, Md., said, “I didn’t expect everyone to be so friendly, calling us brothers and sisters. It is wonderful. People in the States should come and see for themselves.”
Her grandmother, Annette Townes, says she believes that African-Americans should become involved in doing what they can to help in Africa. “The Lord showed me that the harvest is ripe, we need to help.” Her daughter Meri has agreed to sponsor a child for $120 a year which will pay for tuition.
“This entire experience has helped me to grow intellectually and spiritually,” says Annette. “It is good to see where I come from. It makes me appreciate being who I am.”
http://www.blackpressusa.com/News/Article.asp?SID=4&Title=Departments&NewsID=13466
