The African Voices Forum
The African Voices Forum was the climax of the weeklong work of Sustaining All Life/United to End Racism at Climate Week in September 2020. Over 224 people from across the globe participated in the Forum. It was interpreted into Igbo, SiSwati, and French, in line with the organizers’ commitment to language liberation.
The leadership and organizing teams of the Forum were drawn from seven African countries. It was great to connect and work together.
Janet Kabue, the leader of the Forum, began by stating that the team might have Internet challenges. She explained that it was one of the many effects of oppression and exploitation. The opportunity to have good Internet, health care, and other systems was stolen from Africa and the African people.
Janet did the land acknowledgment, to honor the land and its Indigenous people. She expressed appreciation for nature, forests, seas, land, and people. She also acknowledged the ancestors who had fought for our land and our freedom as Africans. She expressed the need to have our natural land respected and preserved.
Sustaining All Life/United to End Racism believes that the environmental crisis cannot be solved without ending racism, other oppressions, and genocide toward Indigenous peoples. Accomplishing this will require a large, powerful, and inclusive worldwide movement. SAL/UER offers mutual support and engaged listening, which free people from the effects of oppression and other hurts.
Urbain Bamana explained the importance of language liberation. Every language is beautiful. English is mistakenly treated as a superior language; it is not. He added that interpretation into other languages creates a good pace and makes it possible for everyone to be included.
Then we had a panel. Here is some of what the people on the panel said:
Janet Kabue, Kenya: Africa is rich in resources that the world exploits at the expense of the African people’s lives and land. The systematic exploitation of Africa has led to loss of lives and the destruction of our continent. The destruction of our lives is the ultimate price paid for the oppressor nations’ comfort.
The above is happening at the same time that we are experiencing climate change. Thousands of people are dying from droughts and floods, and conflicts arising from scarce resources. Fossil fuel development by Western corporations is polluting our land and causing climate change while the corporations take their profits back home. We are left with a polluted land and the worst impacts of climate change. We count on [expect] the Western world to decrease its emissions that are the cause of climate change.
We’ve had many challenges, but we have hope because we connect with each other and use the tools of SAL/UER to heal.
Nez Ibekwe, Nigeria: Climate change has caused rising temperatures in Nigeria, leading to the rapid southward expansion of the Sahara Desert. Due to the advancing desertification, thirty-five thousand hectares of arable land is lost annually, and crop yields have been reduced by as much as eighty percent in the northeast.
Extreme heat has led to a massive migration of people from the northeast toward the middle belt and plateau regions. These people have had no option except to move southward in search of fertile terrain, but they have been seen as land grabbers and, as such, are constantly engaged in fierce and deadly conflicts with those whose land they are occupying.
Northern herdsmen have been forced to graze their cattle further south, often on cultivated farmlands belonging to middle-belt farmers. This has sparked even more violent and bloody clashes, with many herdsmen wielding military-grade weapons. These clashes have claimed thousands of lives in the last few years and divided the nation along ethnic lines.
(Nez uses SAL’s teachings to help move people through grief, fear, and anger toward communicating and solving problems. She also visits schools to teach pupils about the dangers of pollution, the importance of planting trees, and how every single person can play a role in helping to heal our world.)
Rudo Phiri, Zimbabwe: When I was growing up, I loved to go out and be surrounded by nature. There were rivers flowing with clear water, and huge trees bearing fruit all year ’round. The weather pattern today is unpredictable. Settlers have displaced the people from the rich valley in order to plant wattle plantations. Some people have relocated to dry places that are already occupied, so there is tension, conflict, and loss of lives. In the midst of all this, foreign miners burn forests to dig for gold and diamonds.
Janet Kabue: Much of the country’s best land was reserved for the white population while Zimbabwean farmers were forced onto marginal areas.
Onii Nwangwu-Stevenson, Nigeria: We who have contributed the least to climate change suffer the most. But despite the numerous challenges related to the climate crisis, we continue to show up and join the voices calling for the crisis to be addressed, for the exploitation of Africa to stop, and for us to know that our lives are important and worth saving. We have so much hope and love for our continent. And your presence at this Forum reminds us that we have allies.
The Forum ended on a high note. Participants appreciated the short listening exchanges, and a good number stayed for the longer ones.
Lagos, Nigeria
Nairobi, Kenya
Accra, Ghana
(Present Time 202, January 2021)