#festac77 #arts #culture #politics Short History of Omid Wisdom's Pro Africanist Origins
Channel: Omid Wisdom Official
Date: 2022-05-19

Brief History of my pro Africanist origins. 


I lived in Nigeria in the 80's. Had a relatively good life in Victoria Island & other parts of the world. My ghetto living trajectory came later on in life but that's a story for another day.

Never really questioned the origins of my pro Africanism. I knew well that I got it from my GRANDFATHER who during his days was Minister Of Foreign Affairs/Ambassador to the Congo/Belgium & more. Yet I always wondered if there were any origins to my passion for the pro African type of music I am known for. Little did I know that he was also the zonal chairman & festival vice president of the greatest pro-African music festival to ever take place in Africa. #felakuti politicized it to an extreme as a cover up for the then corrupt Nigerian government but that's also a story for another day. 

The Second World Black & African Festival of Arts & Culture also popularly known as as Festac 77, coined by #thegurdian as an Olympic Games of pan-African culture – with #steviewonder as the joyous headliner. The Americans #sunra, #donaldbyrd, #archieshepp; #gilbertogil (Brazil); Trinidad's #allstarssteelorchestra & #calypsonian; #mightysparrow whose performance left behind a Nigerian craze known as #discolypso; #miriammakeba (South Africa) & #osibisa , the African/Caribbean #funkband from London, part of a UK delegation that, in the opening ceremony, paraded around the National Stadium’s track behind a banner announcing themselves as “Black People of Great Britain”. #tabuley's #afrisa #franco 's #okjazz, #mbiliabel, pianist #raylema(Zaire) & more. Grandad was part of the leaders that brought this great event & great artistes together. He was part of the executives who hammered out guidelines for procedures of the seperate international zones & the functions of the international secretariat.

My grand father, primarily a politician has had letters from him documented in the TCHIWEKA Documentation Association (ATD), a voluntary and non-profit legal person, with the fundamental mission of promoting and disseminating cultural, scientific and educational activities that contribute to preserving the memory and deepening the knowledge of the Angolan people's struggle for their independence and national sovereignty.  As a whole, it is one of the most important set of sources placed at the service of researchers interested in the struggle that ended colonial rule in Angola, but its interest extends to other regions and themes. An archive about individuals and organizations linked to the struggle for the liberation of Africa, especially the former CONCP, Central Africa and Southern Africa.

I've often wondered what his life was like as one of the good ministers under a dictator like Mobutu. Now I'm wondering what role my grandad had to play in the liberation of the Angola from Colonial rule and the struggles he must have manoeuvred through under Mobutu. And maybe others that might be undocumented. The letter read : Letter from Tshilumba-Kabishi (i. Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DRC) to the Chairman of the Special Committee written 29th of May 1967. 

With the little I know I wonder how deep my roots with the #arts #culture #politics  as well the liberation struggle in Africa. 
Also more to find out about my Gambian family history

To be continued...#omid #sekou #wisdom #diplomatic #origins

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