Africa calling

Special to The St. Petersburg Times

Published: June 3, 2005 (Issue # 1075)

FOR SPT / For The St. Petersburg Times Africa Day events attracted participants from Russia and dozens of African nations who joined together in a celebration of cultural diversity.

Africans from the continent and the surrounding islands gathered in St. Petersburg last week to encourage Russians to explore the bright side of the traditionally derogated "Dark Continent."

It took the rhythm of drums and a chorus of voices typical of Africa's many languages and cultural diversity to help counter Russian stereotypes of Africa as a continent only of poverty, hunger, disease and war on Africa Day (May 25) when a colorful display of traditional arts and artifacts, and even a fashion show, were held in St. Petersburg.

"I've a dream of Russia where such questions as whether we have houses in Africa, or if crocodiles are members of our households, are not asked," Aliu Tunkara, head of the St. Petersburg "African Union" community group that organized the event, said.

"It's a burden on us to send them [Russians] the right message from our motherland - not their books, not their media, and not their tour operators," Tunkara said. His tone reflects the pain of more than 22 years lived in Russia, where he feels there is a lack of accurate information about African life.

Video footage shown at the event showed not only Africa's jungle life and exotic tribal rituals, but also modern and sophisticated urban lives in continental Africa and the neighboring Indian and Atlantic ocean island states, some of whose people have scattered as far as St. Petersburg.

They gathered in a conference hall of the St. Petersburg Polytechnical University's Institute of International Education to commemorate the founding of the African Union (AU), formerly known as the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Africans have regarded Africa Day as their "second birthday" ever since the organization was founded 42 years ago with the aim of uniting the then-newly independent African states, liberating others from colonial clutches and resolving interstate social and political disputes.

The OAU was conceived as a stepping stone toward a "United States of Africa" as foreseen by Kwame Nkrumah, a Pan-Africanist who had in the previous six years led Ghana to independence. He collaborated with other African charismatic leaders including Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Emperor Haille Selassie of Ethiopia and Omar Bongo of Gabon to found the organization that was intended to police the continent and be a voice to be reckoned with in the international arena.

Nkrumah's dream and how much it has failed was manifest in the AU anthem which was played to mark the start of the celebrations in St. Petersburg. It was dedicated to the memory of those who fell in the struggles to make the dream of the "United States of Africa" come true and in honor of the their legacy.

"Let us all unite and celebrate; the victories for our liberation ... Defend our liberty and unity ... O sons and daughters of Africa ... Let us make Africa the tree of life ..." goes the anthem.

In response to the call to celebrate, dancers from Mali immediately took to the stage to show their traditional dancing skills. The Malians enthralled the 500-strong multinational audience.

Then an Ivorian and a Congolese sang a due in different tongues in an attempt to show that love transcends boundaries. "To betray love is to destroy humanity," reads the words from the Russian-language version of the song.

Sudanese, Moroccans, Nigerians, Zambians, Cameroonians and Kenyans also performed. But the audience applauded the loudest when a four-year-old African boy jumped on to the stage from nowhere to grab the microphone to sing, imitating an African language he didn't know, and dancing to the tune. It appeared as if the spirit of Africa had been passed to him through the genes.

An African fashion show attracted some Russian girls from the audience who asked for spare traditional dresses so that they could join the performance.

Outside the concert hall was an exhibition of the traditional arts and crafts of dozens of countries from Cape to Cairo and the island states of Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoro, Madagascar, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe.

But it was a work by Tesfaye Negga, an Ethiopian fine arts lecturer at the St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design, which conveyed the spirit of Africa Day with his poignant portrait of an Abyssinian girl.