Africa Now September 9, 2015 Lessons of Amilcar Cabral for Today's Struggles

Topic and Guests: Today Africa Now! highlights the Lessons of Amilcar Cabral in the Context of Today’s Struggles as we commemorate Cabral’s birthday which is on September 12.  Amilcar Cabral, one of Africa’s foremost anti-colonial leaders and thinkers, led the movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands to independence.  A few weeks ago Africa World Now Project and Institute for Policy Studies presented a film and discussion on Cabral’s teachings which featured the first episode of the film Cabralista, A Documentary Trilogy, directed and produced by Valerio Lopes entitled Present: Collective Memory.  This episode “deals with the present, how Cabral is remembered, defining a non-formal zeitgeist around his ideology, showing African youth with a strong Cabralist view….” (from www.africavenir.org/film-distribution/cabralista.html)  The event was held at Busboys and Poets.  The post-screening discussion was led by Mr. James Early, member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Policy Studies and former Director of Cultural Studies and Communication at the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies at the Smithsonian Institution.   The moderator was Dr. James Pope of Africa World Now Project and Executive Producer of Africa Now!    The in depth discussion explored Amilcar Cabral’s theory by exploring such questions as: Why is it important to have a theory in a movement? What are some of the important lessons that we can learn and apply from Cabral today?  What was his influence on movements that might be seen today? How can we reconcile the means and methods of movements during Cabral’s time with that of today’s Black Lives Matters?  What is the state of the Black left and is it possible to say that there is a black left?Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC.  Tune into Africa Now! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (Eastern).