'African Holodcaust' memorial continues at U.

While it is commonly assumed that slavery in the United States ended 130 years ago, there are some who claim it still exists today. More than 15 students who share this view attended a workshop entitled "Building Blocks--Organizing and Working Collectively Towards Liberation" last night at the W.E.B. DuBois College House. The discussion centered around the creation of organizations to promote the freedom of African Americans. The assembly marked the third day of "Maafa : The African Holocaust Memorial." Maafa, a Kiswahili word meaning disaster, refers to the deaths of an estimated 100 million Africans during the slave trade. The workshop was led by three experts, or "facilitators," who gave opening presentations and conducted the conversations. College senior Janine Peterson, one of the facilitators, spoke about the importance of African culture in the education of African-American students. "As long as someone else controls your thought process and value system, you are still a slave," she said. "We have lost our vision to create institutions and relationships which will perpetuate our culture." Peterson stressed the need for cooperation among African Americans to create organizations, as opposed to fighting the European mindset. "We should be organizing positively to create our own institutions," she said. "We should not solely be fighting against Europeans." Djibo Sobukwe, a member of the All-African Peoples' Revolutionary Party, was another facilitator who focused his speech on the problems facing Africans both in America and Africa. "Any people whose poverty level is as high as ours, whose infant mortality is twice as high as the national average, whose literacy rate is as low as ours, cannot be free," he said. Sobukwe said his solution to these problems is a complete re-education of Africans -- with an emphasis on student organization. "We must recognize the need for a revolutionary political re-education," he said, describing a plan for Scientific Socialism, a socio-economic system opposed to capitalism. "Students will form a core who will influence the working class," he added. "Organization is the weapon of the oppressed." John Shief, another facilitator, teaches in a West Philadelphia high school. His speech revolved around the changes necessary in a new educational program. "If you have a vision of freedom?you should design an educational system to teach this vision," he said. "We need an educational program to train young people to live up to our expectations, rather than living down to others' expectations." Following the talks by the facilitators, students asked questions on topics ranging from community outreach programs to the recent incident at Rutgers University. Students expressed their concern that the University does not have a good "reputation" in West Philadelphia with regard to community programs. "It is not our job to represent Penn," Peterson said. "We must represent the African people." Maafa will conclude today with a vigil on College Green at 4:30 p.m.