Some other place...

I wish i'd paid more attention in human geography. My geography teacher, Mr Hardcastle, divulged a bit of chinese history into his geography lesson. I heard the word history and almost instantly fell asleep. The one thing i remember is him saying something about the Chinese almost discovering the 'Americas' before Columbus et al and what a different world we'd be living in if they had come across it. How might they have interacted with the indigenous people i wonder? This teacher was always exposing our lack of knowledge on current and world affairs - "what's the most important story in the news this week?" He would ask us in turn - go around the class - and everyone would groan- "what the hell has this got to do with geography sir?". And now twenty years later - here i am wanting to return to that lesson and to ask some questions about chinese history and chinese culture and the technologies they were already making use of. Sometimes - actually quite often - i have to remind myself - it pays to listen!

looking forward to ...

A break ... visiting family in denmark - mama, lil bro and baby niece - and then heading off to Warsaw to check in with the EAVE producer network... its the last in a series of three and its been insightful being part of a programme and being there as a producer without a project. Learned loads from listening and asking questions rather than quaking in ma boots and worrying about pitchin'.

My btyahoo email has diedddddd. i can't check it but am i bovvered...?? nah. i haven't been sending any emails so likelihood is i haven;t been getting any emails.

Projects wise - the public vote is still on for the MAPPING CREATIVITY project - ARC SPACE MANCHESTER seem to be ahead in the public vote.... still time to vote online - here:

mapping-creativity

wondering what the weather is like in Poland...

What - black folk on tee vee?!

I woke up this morning and there were black folk on the sofa of the BBC... what's going on i wonder? What's next? black folk at dinner parties, businesses, history lessons, scientists... when the mic was turned on few people celebrating the american elections in the street they passed on a simple message 'america pull your pants up'. I got a text message this morning...

ROSA sat so MARTIN could walk so OBAMA could run. Obama is running so our children CAN FLY. This is history in the making.

i'm looking forward to a bunch of new youtube mashups of history that led to this day. As i write this - black history is being told on mainstream SKY TV.

And to anyone wondering - how was this possible - the guy not only has talent as an orator and writer - but... and this is important - he has a unique understanding of the world, of people, that will in part have stemmed from embracing his dual heritage and winning the internal battle of identity that can drive many mixed race kids to social care and mental institutions because there aren't the support or education or healthcare systems to understand that inner battle. And its not just a mixed race battle its a black one, its a gay one, its a disabled one, its a very human one that has to have the person in the driving seat - away and steering the car away from danger, making decisive choices about where its travelling and why.

In reference to the Malcolm X clip:
Of course - the chinese had this down a long time ago - giving their kids chinese and western names - did you see the olympics? Tony Blair said in an interview a telling thing - when he was prime minister, he had his eye on the wrong thing - when he stepped down he quickly realised that the world had shifted to the East and he was only just catching up.

Can Americans rewrite mainstream history with black contributions taking their place alongside white one and create a new inclusive culture to move on? What can be learned from South Africa and Germany?