THE BRIDGETOWN PROTOCOL CRITICAL YOUTH PROGRAMS WORKING GROUP REPORT
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Back to Working Group ReportsPART III - WORKING GROUP REPORTS
Chairperson: Lamisi Gurah
Rapporteurs: Serena deCordova and Femi MartinINTRODUCTION
PRIORITY AREAS
RECOMMENDATIONS
WAY FORWARDWe, the Afrikan youth of the world, have gathered in Bridgetown, Barbados, to participate in the Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants World Conference Against Racism (AAD WCAR). We convened on the first official day of the conference in the designated Youth Working Group and made the decision to form a caucus and, also, participate in the other thematic working groups of the conference. This decision was made because we felt that, as youth, we would have been marginalized from the rest of the process by not being able to make direct input into the working groups. However, to make sure that the youth could raise issues of specific concern in addition to the themes discussed in the working groups, it was decided to meet as a caucus on a daily basis.
We, the Afrikan youth, believe that one of the first and most important steps and strategies that we should employ is to increase our access to each other, our organizations and initiatives. We propose to do this through the establishment of a youth network that crosses regional, national and international borders. This network, born by the Youth Caucus at the AAD WCAR 2002, has started off by the exchange of details and information, and the creation of a list serve. Affiliated to the pan-Afrikan organization born in Bridgetown, Barbados (Global Afrikan Congress), we will seek to develop youth exchange programs for Afrikan youth that will enable us to share information and skills. We, as Afrikan youth are in great need of developing solidarity, to share our ideas and support each other in our collective struggles for the liberation of Afrikan peoples from all forms of oppression. The youth present must take on the collective responsibility of sharing what took place at this conference with other youth in their respective communities as well as maintaining and strengthening those networks that have been developed already.
We have identified some of the most critical concerns we have as Afrikan youth in regards to racism and all its manifestations, and have summarised the problems that were identified and discussed below. These concerns are not in any particular order of priority.
Economic and Community Development
Afrikan young people recognize the problems of labour inequality and youth exploitation. Afrikan children and youth fall victim to trafficking, slavery and forced labour. We are disproportionately unemployed and suffer underemployment. In addition, Afrikan youth suffer the direct consequences of historical and contemporary forms of slavery. As Afrikan youth we are concerned about the amount of debt our countries in the developing world are suffering. In all the regions across the Afrikan continent and the Afrikan Diaspora, Afrikan youth suffer from racial discrimination in the employment system at varying levels, at the recruitment stage and in promotion.Education
Afrikan youth face discrimination in education. We are denied access because of economic reasons and exclusion. We are taught a curriculum which does not include true Afrikan history.Health and Environment
Afrikan youth face racial discrimination in health. We cannot access appropriate health care treatment information and facilities. We are the largest group of people suffering from HIV/AIDS. We face discrimination from practitioners.Media
The negative and inaccurate representation of Afrikan people in the media has a variety of manifestations which impacts on how Afrikan youth view themselves and how Afrikan people are viewed in the world. There is also lack of representation of Afrikan people at all levels in the media.Reform of Judicial, Legal and Penal Systems
Afrikan youth are experiencing racial problems from police authorities, detention personnel and the judicial system. Many are victimized by racial profiling; stopped and controlled without reason, detained on false claims, sentenced for their political views, held in custody for too long time and not given a fair trial.As a caucus we propose the following as solutions that will assist us in our fight to end racism and improve our position in the world:
Economic and Community Development
· Lobby the international community for an equitable trading environment, which can support Pan-Afrikan trade
· Design and implement programs where youth establish, maintain and profit from their own businesses.
· Introduce money management seminars in the schools and communities for the youth.
· Research and develop a global database of Afrikan businesses, and create employment opportunities and work experience for Afrikan youth within these businesses.
· Mobilise Afrikan youth in the campaign for the cancellation of debt.
Education
· Affirm the right to free education as youth and, in particular as Afrikan youth, within the scope of Reparations.
· Mobilise Afrikan youth to challenge the exclusion of Afrikan centred education from the curriculum.
· Expose and demand the eradication of racist hiring practices within the educational system at all levels.
· Promote teaching as a profession through which Afrikan youth can be successful in initiating change.
· Create Afrikan centred vocational training programs, especially within disciplines that relate to the
improvement of our circumstances.
Health and Environment
· Educate Afrikan youth across the Continent and the Diaspora about the epidemic of HIV and AIDS and its effects on Afrikan communities and the youth within these communities.
· Educate youth about violence against Afrikan youth and the wider effects on youth as a collective.
· Educate Afrikan youth about nutrition and physical and emotional effects of diet.
· Involve youth in the campaign for renewable resource farming.
Reform of Judicial, Legal and Penal Systems
· Research which bodies are in control and demand a review of sentencing programs for juvenile offenders.
· Demand youth access to Afrikan centred educational opportunities while institutionalised in the penal system.
· Mobilise Afrikan youth across the Diaspora to challenge the building of prisons and similar institutions in recognition of their status as modern day plantations and divert the resources into Afrikan centred education.
· Encourage and support Afrikan youth to pursue careers in the legal professions of the police and other institutions, and to be responsible for their communities.
· Demand reform of the judicial system to eradicate unjust laws and deal adequately with extra judicial killings, racial profiling, the trying of youth in adult courts and the death penalty.
· Demand release of all Afrikan political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and prisoners held unjustly
· Educate Afrikan youth about their civil rights in order to be able to protect themselves from abuse from the judicial system.
· Recognize that Afrikan youth are under attack from governments which break their own laws using agents of the state such as the police to brutalise our youth.
· Promote and campaign for the creation and maintenance of self policing organizations for Afrikan communities internationally.
· Insist that Afrikan youth under the age of 18 should not be forced by national governments to join the national army. Legal provision must be set up to protect this right.
· Lobby governments to set up community reintegration programs for youth that are coming out of circumstances of war.
Media
· Integrate media literacy as part of formal mainstream educational systems, decoding images and information which perpetuate racism
· Create a global media watchdog organization for Afrikan people with representation in all countries and regions
· Increase the access to progressive Afrikan media products all over the Diaspora
· Initiate protective legislation mandating minimum quotas of programs giving a true reflection of Afrikans in broadcast channels (radio and television).
· Incorporate affirmative action in hiring practices in media organizations.
· Establish an oral history emergency fund to document the lives of heroes, pioneers and legends in our communities
WAY FORWARDIn the format of the conference, the youth were expected to give recommendations on each of the working group subjects (12 subjects in total). During the discussions, the youth caucus agreed that there has not been sufficient time to work out specific and detailed solutions to each problem outlined. The caucus wants to make sure that the concerns and recommendations agreed on can be further discussed. To ensure that the voice of young people is heard, noted and respected in the formation of the pan-Afrikan organization (Global Afrikan Congress), we want to make the following requests to the 'planning process': · It is crucial that youth are involved in the design and implementation of policies and programs; not just in youth based projects but in all projects regarding Afrikan people. This is to ensure that youth are not marginalized.
· The term 'youth' needs to be defined in terms of an age bracket.
· Young people need to agree on a criteria for the selection of regional representatives, for example, whether this may be based on international or grassroot experience.
· Funding must be made available so that youth representatives can both attend regular conferences and co- ordinate separate youth conferences
· Networking is crucial amongst youth in an international forum in order for youth to maximise the potential and fulfil the responsibility we have to the international Afrikan youth community.
· Another important reason for youth to be represented strongly within the organizational structure is to provide a link between the youth and the elders. We resolve that either 7 (seven) places, or the equivalent of one place per region, on the Executive Committee, be reserved for youth delegates. Also that these representatives be charged with the networking and mobilisation of Afrikan youth internationally.
Guidelines for Future Activities1. Self Determination: The legitimacy of the language that our forefathers, the leaders of the Pan-Afrikan century, have given us in relation to our own reality, i.e. ‘Afrikan’ as a term to describe us as a people. 'Black' is too limited. 'Negro' is unacceptable. The Youth Caucus propose that we immediately take a stand as Afrikan people to transform western sensibilities where this is concerned. The people of the American region have gone from ‘Amerindians’, ‘West Indians’ and ‘Cannibals’ to ‘Indigenous Americans’. There is no reason why we cannot go from ‘Negro’ and ‘Black’ to ‘Afrikan’ if this is our wish. This is especially important in the context of our history where our right to self-determination in relation to identity was stolen. The time has come when our children should not be told one thing at home and another thing in the dictionary, at school, or in the rest of the world. Let us eliminate confusion around the identity question and move on in unity and strength.
2. Respect for Spirituality: We demand our religions and belief systems be given equal respect as other recognized faiths. This must include the ancient (for example Kemetic divinity), traditional (for example Orisha worship), neo-Afrikan (for example Rastafari) spirituality and other Afrikan Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Afrika and the Diaspora.
3. Non-discrimination: We want to make it clear that we believe in the idea of a world free from discrimination against all people regardless of race, colour, creed or gender. This is the spirit of Durban and this is the spirit of Bridgetown.
4. Cultural privacy: The decision to create an allied group for non-Afrikan participation in the conference will generate controversy and criticism worldwide. It is in response to this that we affirm our right as a people, brought together by a unique historical and contemporary unjust circumstance, to have a discussion amongst ourselves exclusively.
5. Reparations: We believe that compensation is due to Afrikans worldwide for the crimes of slavery, the slave trade and activities committed during a time of colonialism and neo-colonialist periods, as a matter of justice, as determined by international law.
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World Conference Against Racism 2003. All Rights Reserved.