PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN AMERICA AND WEST AFRICA
In December 2023 we said ‘Farewell’ to our monthly newsletter The Richmond Chiwara after 50 editions. It has been fun writing and sharing our love of Africa with the world: and you can read the stories and enjoy the pictures in the archive:
RICHMOND CHIWARA archive:
https://us20.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=3fc13b3ee64508366fa23697c&id=e398f1452d
Chiwara? This is one of the most important symbols of human civilization (and of Mali) because the Chiwara mask – part lion, part antelope, part farmer - celebrates the moment in human history, thousands of years ago, when hunters in Africa discovered how to cultivate crops in the Nile River Valley, and created the first settled communities. You can still see Chiwara masks dancing in West Africa at planting tim ; and you can read about this important symbol in the Chiwara archive.
The Chiwara archive is also filled with stories of history: stories about the medieval Mali Empire and its founder Sunjata Keita, the original Lion King, and also stories about life, and women, about society and peace in West Africa.
One reason we started our Chiwara monthly newsletter was to celebrate the Richmond-Ségou Sister City relationship virtually at a time when Covid-19 made mutual visits more difficult. Given that Mali is now less stable, and is run by a military junta that has been placed under international sanctions, visiting Mali remains tricky. Few Virginians will risk a trip to Ségou right now – only the real fanatics who love Mali too much, and who need to go visit friends and family.
As an example of political insecurity under the military junta, here are two photos of the ferry Tombouctou. In the first, the ferry is moored in the river port of Ségou, one of the stops on its journey between Gao and Koulikoro during the September-January period, when rains fill the Niger river valley and cover its interior delta.
On 7th September 2023, armed jihadists in North Mali attacked and burned the Tombouctou. It was a devastating attack against an obvious soft target. We present our condolences to all Malians, and especially to our friend Dr Kalifa Touré, whose family lost around 20 members in this heinous and brutal attack.
There is not much left of the Tombouctou.
But the friendships remain strong between Virginia and Mali. This next picture shows Virginia Friends of Mali celebrating 15 years of the Richmond-Ségou Sister City relationship.
October 2019: Jumelage party and film projection at Virginia Commonwealth University. We see in the front row Ana Edwards, VFoM vice-president, Professor Pat Cummins, Richmond Sister City Commissioner, Sombo Muzata Chunda of the VCU Business School; 2dn row (from the left) three VFoM founder members: Robin Poulton, Su Boer, Dana Wiggins holding her delightful son Theo. Next are Kit Cameron Robinson and Andee Arches, who presented their short film on Ségou, and our Ségou representative Madani Sissoko (in white) visiting Richmond for the celebration. Next to Madani is VFoM president Lydie Sakponou (in black). Far right stands the editor of the Richmond Chiwara, Elisabeth Drumm wearing a Ségou scarf with a Chiwara on it. Behind Sissoko we see VFoM treasurer Allan Levenberg standing beside Sombo’s tall husband Emmanuel Chama Chunda, who comes from Zambia. Others are VCU students and audience members who watched the film.
And here is Ana presenting her book, the story of Ségou & Richmond.
This book is a classic about African American modern history, describing the 400 years of shared history and relationships between America and West Africa, putting history into its modern context. A fun read! A MUST READ!