rootsandculture

Professor Samir Amin headlined the Second Annual Julius Nyerere Intellectual Festival Week. He lectured on the history of monopoly capitalism with special emphasis on the Bandung Conference as the first attempts by newly independent African and Asian states to resist all forms of imperial expansion. He reiterated the need for continued resistance, while predicting the inevitable collapse of an unworkable system: monopoly capitalism. He brilliantly wove events of history to highlight his point about the constant fight of the peasantry to assert influence on the monarchies and governments and to cut their heads off if necessary. Samia Nkrumah daughter of the Late President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and a newly elected member to Ghana’s parliament, spoke about the work of her father and gave some insight to the kinds of things needed to recapture the fervor and direction of an earlier Africa: the time of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah. It was Dr. Utsa Patnaik, author of “The Republic of Hunger

The University of Toronto’s William Doo Auditorium had the honor of hosting the largest audience for a single viewing of the film, “W.A.R. Stories: Walter Anthony Rodney”. Hostess and Chair of the Department of Caribbean Studies, Prof. D.Alyssa Trotz remarked that she had never seen such a diverse crowd for anything at the location. In truth, they were young, not so young, of African descent, of Indian descent, Africans, Euros and others not so clear and from all over the world. It really was a tribute to Walter Rodney and, of course, the organizational skills of the Caribbean Studies Department. Over 250 people sat through the film, cheering at the appearance of Dr. Rex Nettleford, in the film of course, and laughing at Denys Vaughn Cooke’s ginep tree story. I believe I saw a few tears too. Oh ..and the panel was superb: Drs. Honor Ford-Smith, Pablo Idalhoso, David Hinds and Nigel Westmaas. Prodded by a knowledgeable and determined audience, the youth central among them, the pa