Out of the plethora of activities that took place in 2007 I have chosen to discuss two of significance that I had the honour to be involved in.

Ghana Jubilee Reflections
The first indeed was an honour, as I was invited by the BCA (Black Cultural Archives) to facilitate, along with Zagba Oyortey (of the British museum) the BCA’s ‘Crossing Continents and Time’ workshop series, an exciting Oral History Project in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society commemorating Ghana’s 50th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule, this project helped capture and archive the memories of Ghanaian elders currently living in London who were alive at the time of Ghanaian independence.

This project and what it represents was highly important for several reasons:

1) The project was envisioned, and orchestrated by an organisation (BCA) that was created in the early 1980s by people of African ancestry and so was from the start clear on its objectives and able to carry these objectives out. I use the term African ancestry to encompass people politically referred to as ‘Black’.

2) The project itself was forward thinking, in that by capturing and archiving the valuable memories of those who were present at that tumultuous and volatile time in the 20th century, we in the Black community have a valuable resource that can be referenced by future generations. The value of this resource will become more evident with the passing of time.

3) The project represents a blueprint of a process that can be repeated to capture and archive the memories of other members of the African Diaspora, from the Caribbean as well as other African countries that were in the UK during the upheaval of world change that followed the Second World War, changing the landscape of the modern world.

4) The project tapped into (in a small way) the under used resource of the knowledge stored in the minds of the elder generation in the African Diasporic community.

5) The project brought together younger and elder generations to partake in the sharing of knowledge.

6) This project incorporated a number of international institutions, by collaborating with the Royal Geographic Society (which has a prized collection of photos and maps of ex-British colonies), as well as The Ghanaian High Commission.

Word Power Black Literature Festival
The second series of events that I will mention is the Word Power ‘International Black Literature Festival and Book Fair’ put on by Centerprise Literature Trust. On this occasion I had the privilege of being the first Word Power Artist-in-Residence. The festival went on throughout October 2007 and was part of Centerprise’s contribution to the commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The festival sought to acknowledge the literary contributions of people of African descent in the development of both western literature and civilization. It went about this by inviting the participation of writers, and scholars of the African Diaspora from all over the world, both of national and international acclaim.

What I found significant about this festival was that once again a Black organisation on its own terms (therefore facilitating its own agenda), had tapped into the genius and talent that exists within the African Diaspora, and provided a platform for members of African descent to engage with, learn from and question one another. Not to say that this has not happened before, however at this year of commemoration it was indeed good to see and be involved in an event that was both empowering and enlightening to writers. From a business and partnership building angle, it was also good to see the ‘Black Media’ involved in the promotion of the Word Power festival to its targeted audience through such mediums as ‘Colourful Radio’, and ‘The New Nation’, as well as established mainstream media sources such as the BBC.

Both of these events display the ‘doing for self’ mentality that I feel must be embraced if members of the African Diaspora living in Britain today wish to mark out a place for themselves under their own terms.

Prediction for 2008
There will be further financial upheaval with the fall out from the subprime mortgage lending fiasco that is causing concern in the financial markets. This will lead to more expensive mortgages, tightening of credit and greater defaults in the business and personal markets in both the US and UK. The increasing panic will lead to greater losses for those caught up in the frenzy and greater opportunities for those with liquidity (cash), patience and discernment.

Beyonder