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AFRICA UNITY WEEK 2024

Saturday, May 18, 2024 | 5:00 pm

Opening panel on the topic

“Africa and Beyond: Our Struggles for Liberation and Justice”

Contributions and discussion about the history, achievements and impact of African liberation movements There can be no liberation without collective and global efforts and a shared understanding of our anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles.

Panel / Contributions:

Moderation: Sipua Ngnoubamdjum & Dr. Aissa Halidou

Translation: Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou

Dr. Malusi Mncube – University of Johannesburg (Political Science Department)

Prof. Kehinde Andrews – requested – Birmingham City University (Black Studies)

Prof. Hakim Adi – University of Chichester (History of Africa and the African Diaspora)

Ayreen Anastas (Occupied Palestine)and Rene Gabri (Iran)– New York (artists/activists in exile)

Nataly Jung-Hwa Han – Prominent Activist and Chairwomwn of the Korea Verband Deutschland

(Online registration required: [email protected])

Dr. Malusi Mncube is a respected activist and scholar of Politics from the University of Johannesburg. His contributions will focus on the enduring impact of Pan-Africanism and anti-colonial movements, highlighting the role of radical activism in addressing both historical and contemporary injustices across Africa. His insights will also bridge discussions on the interconnectedness of African liberation movements with global struggles, emphasizing the critical role of international solidarity

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Prof. Kehinde Andrews, is a Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, where he established the first Black Studies program in Europe. A leading figure in discussions on racial politics and Black radicalism, his work critically addresses the global dynamics of race, class, and power, emphasizing anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggles. His insights into the transnational movements for Black liberation make him a vital contributor to dialogues on liberation across Africa and its diaspora. He is co-founder of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity.

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Prof. Hakim Adi, is a Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora, holds the distinction of being the first historian of African heritage to become a history professor in Britain. His extensive scholarship covers the Pan-African movement and the experiences of African and Caribbean communities in the UK, offering a profound understanding of the historical and ongoing struggles for liberation that connect Africa to the global Black diaspora.

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Ayreen Anastas is from Occupied Palestine. Rene Gabri is from Iran.

In their work as artists and collectively with friends, they are interested in creating spaces and contexts for bringing together fields of study and struggle. From 1999 to 2015, they have animated with many comrades, an intergenerational, diasporic political and cultural space located just below Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. 16 Beaver (the address of the space) has been a movement and learning space for rethinking, revitalizing the terms and means of struggle in the face of ongoing imperial, colonial, racial, patriarchal, capitalist extraction, dispossession, destruction, displacement, legalized mass violence and criminality. In the context of African liberation and Palestine, they are developing with friends a grammar for what could become a movement, a coalition to overcome “genocidal-denialist futurity.”

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Nataly Jung-Hwa Han, an activist with the Korea Verband in Berlin, will draw parallels between Korean and African liberation movements. She will address the struggle for liberation from Japanese colonialism, the legacy of comfort women, and how gender disparities interconnect with these struggles.

Nataly will explore the historical trauma of colonization and its impacts, linking them to African experiences. She will highlight cross-cultural solidarity and the importance of education and diaspora activism in sustaining liberation movements. Her perspective underscores the universal fight for justice and equality.

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WOCHE DER AFRIKANISCHEN EINHEIT 2024

Samstag, 18. Mai 2024 | 17:00 Uhr

Eröffnungspanel zum Thema

„Afrika und darüber hinaus: Unsere Kämpfe für Befreiung und Gerechtigkeit“

Beiträge und Diskussion über die Geschichte, Errungenschaften und Auswirkungen Afrikanischen Befreiungsbewegungen

Ohne kollektive und globale Anstrengungen und einem gemeinsamen Verständnis unserer antikolonialen und anti-imperialistischen Kämpfe kann es keine Befreiung geben.

Panel / Beiträge:

Moderation: Sipua Ngnoubamdjum & Dr. Aissa Halidou

Übersetzung: Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou

Dr. Malusi Mncube– Politikwissenschaftler University of Johannesburg

Prof. Kehinde Andrews – angefragt – Birmingham City University (Black Studies)

Prof. Hakim Adi – Universität Chichester (Geschichte Afrikas und der Afrikanischen Diaspora)

Ayreen Anastas (Besetztes Palestina) and Rene Gabri (Iran) – New York (Künstler*innen / Aktivist*innen im Exil)

Nataly Jung-Hwa Han – Korea Verband Deutschland (Aktivistin )

(Online-Anmeldung erforderlich: [email protected])

Dr. Malusi Mncube ist ein angesehener Aktivist und Politikwissenschaftler der Universität Johannesburg. Seine Beiträge werden sich auf die anhaltenden Auswirkungen des Panafrikanismus und der antikolonialen Bewegungen konzentrieren und die Rolle des radikalen Aktivismus bei der Bekämpfung sowohl historischer als auch zeitgenössischer Ungerechtigkeiten in ganz Afrika hervorheben. Seine Erkenntnisse werden auch eine Brücke zu Diskussionen über die Vernetzung afrikanischer Befreiungsbewegungen mit globalen Kämpfen schlagen und die entscheidende Rolle der internationalen Solidarität hervorheben.
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Prof. Kehinde Andrews ist Professor für Black Studies an der Birmingham City University, wo er das erste Black Studies-Programm in Europa etablierte. Als führende Persönlichkeit in Diskussionen über Rassenpolitik und schwarzen Radikalismus setzt er sich in seiner Arbeit kritisch mit der globalen Dynamik von Rasse, Klasse und Macht auseinander und betont dabei antikoloniale und antiimperiale Kämpfe. Seine Einblicke in die transnationalen Bewegungen zur Befreiung der Schwarzen machen ihn zu einem wichtigen Mitwirkenden an Dialogen über die Befreiung in ganz Afrika und seiner Diaspora. Er ist Mitbegründer der Harambee Organization of Black Unity.
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Prof. Hakim Adi ist Professor für die Geschichte Afrikas und der afrikanischen Diaspora und gilt als erster Historiker des afrikanischen Erbes, der in Großbritannien Geschichtsprofessor wurde. Seine umfangreiche Expertise beinhaltet panafrikanische Bewegungen und den Erfahrungen afrikanischer und karibischer Communities im Vereinigten Königreich und bietet ein tiefgreifendes Verständnis der historischen und aktuellen Befreiungskämpfe, die Afrika mit der globalen Schwarzen Diaspora verbinden.
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Ayreen Anastas stammt aus dem besetzten Palästina. Rene Gabri kommt aus dem Iran.
In ihrer Arbeit als Künstler*innen und gemeinsam mit Freunden sind sie daran interessiert, Räume und Kontexte zu schaffen, um Studien- und Kampfinhalte zusammenzubringen. Von 1999 bis 2015 haben sie mit vielen Genossen einen generationsübergreifenden, diasporischen politischen und kulturellen Raum direkt unterhalb der Wall Street in Lower Manhattan belebt. 16 Beaver (die Adresse des Raums) war eine Bewegung und ein Lernraum zum Umdenken und zur Wiederbelebung der Bedingungen und Mittel des Kampfes angesichts der anhaltenden imperialen, kolonialen, rassischen, patriarchalischen, kapitalistischen Enteignung, Enteignung, Zerstörung, Vertreibung und legalisierten Massengewalt und Kriminalität. Im Kontext der afrikanischen Befreiung und Palästinas entwickeln sie mit Freunden eine Syntax für eine neue Bewegung, einer Koalition zur Überwindung der „völkermörderisch-verleugnenden Zukunft“.
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Nataly Jung-Hwa Han, Aktivistin beim Korea Verband in Berlin, wird Parallelen zwischen koreanischen und afrikanischen Befreiungsbewegungen ziehen. Sie wird sich mit dem Kampf um die Befreiung vom japanischen Kolonialismus, dem Erbe der Trostfrauen und der Frage befassen, wie Geschlechterunterschiede mit diesen Kämpfen zusammenhängen.

Nataly wird das historische Trauma der Kolonialisierung und seine Auswirkungen erforschen und sie mit afrikanischen Erfahrungen verknüpfen. Sie wird auch über interkulturelle Solidarität und die Bedeutung von Bildung und Diaspora-Aktivismus für die Aufrechterhaltung von Befreiungsbewegungen sprechen. Ihre Perspektive unterstreicht den universellen Kampf für Gerechtigkeit und Gleichheit.

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SEMAINE DE L’UNITÉ AFRICAINE 2024

Samedi 18 mai 2024 | 17h00

Panel d’ouverture sur le sujet

« L’Afrique et au-delà : nos luttes pour la libération et la justice »

Contributions et discussions sur l’histoire, les réalisations et l’impact des mouvements de libération africains

Il ne peut y avoir de libération sans efforts collectifs et mondiaux et sans une compréhension commune de nos luttes anticoloniales et anti-impérialistes.

Panel / Contributions:

Modération: Sipua Ngnoubamdjum & Dr. Aissa Halidou

Traduction : Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou

Dr. Malusi Mncube – Université de Johannesburg (Département de sciences politiques)

Prof. Kehinde Andrews – demandé – Université de la ville de Birmingham (Études noires)

Prof. Hakim Adi – Université de Chichester (Histoire de l’Afrique et de la diaspora africaine)

Ayreen Anastas (Palestine occupée)et Rene Gabri (L’Iran) – New York (artistes/militants en exil)

Nataly Jung-Hwa Han – Korea Verband Allemagne (traductrice)

(Inscription en ligne requise : [email protected])

Le Dr. Malusi Mncube est un activiste respecté et un universitaire en politique de l’Université de Johannesburg. Ses contributions se concentreront sur l’impact durable du panafricanisme et des mouvements anticoloniaux, soulignant le rôle de l’activisme radical dans la lutte contre les injustices historiques et contemporaines à travers l’Afrique. Ses idées jetteront également des ponts sur les discussions sur l’interdépendance des mouvements de libération africains avec les luttes mondiales, en mettant l’accent sur le rôle essentiel de la solidarité internationale.
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Le professeur Kehinde Andrews est professeur d’études sur les Noirs à la Birmingham City University, où il a créé le premier programme d’études sur les Noirs en Europe. Figure de proue des discussions sur la politique raciale et le radicalisme noir, son travail aborde de manière critique la dynamique mondiale de la race, de la classe et du pouvoir, en mettant l’accent sur les luttes anticoloniales et anti-impériales. Ses connaissances sur les mouvements transnationaux de libération des Noirs font de lui un contributeur essentiel aux dialogues sur la libération en Afrique et dans sa diaspora. Il est co-fondateur de la Harambee Organization of Black Unity.
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Le professeur Hakim Adi, professeur d’histoire de l’Afrique et de la diaspora africaine, a la distinction d’être le premier historien du patrimoine africain à devenir professeur d’histoire en Grande-Bretagne. Ses vastes recherches couvrent le mouvement panafricain et les expériences des communautés africaines et caribéennes au Royaume-Uni, offrant une compréhension profonde des luttes de libération historiques et en cours qui relient l’Afrique à la diaspora noire mondiale.
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Ayreen Anastas vient de Palestine occupée. René Gabri est originaire d’Iran.
Dans leur travail en tant qu’artistes et collectivement avec leurs amis, ils souhaitent créer des espaces et des contextes permettant de rapprocher les domaines d’étude et de lutte. De 1999 à 2015, ils ont animé avec de nombreux camarades, un espace politique et culturel intergénérationnel, diasporique situé juste en dessous de Wall Street dans le Lower Manhattan. 16 Beaver (l’adresse de l’espace) a été un mouvement et un espace d’apprentissage pour repenser et revitaliser les termes et les moyens de lutte face à l’extraction, la dépossession, la destruction, le déplacement et la légalisation de masse en cours la violence et la criminalité. Dans le contexte de la libération de l’Afrique et de la Palestine, eux et leurs amis développent une syntaxe pour un nouveau mouvement, une coalition pour surmonter le « futur négationniste du génocide ».
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Nataly Jung-Hwa Han, militante du Korea Verband à Berlin, établira des parallèles entre les mouvements de libération coréens et africains. Elle abordera la lutte pour la libération du colonialisme japonais, l’héritage des femmes de réconfort et la manière dont les disparités entre les sexes sont liées à ces luttes.

Nataly explorera le traumatisme historique de la colonisation et ses impacts, en les reliant aux expériences africaines. Elle soulignera la solidarité interculturelle et l’importance de l’éducation et de l’activisme de la diaspora dans le soutien des mouvements de libération. Son point de vue souligne la lutte universelle pour la justice et l’égalité.

DE siehe unten | En français, voir botom

HAMBURG

Africa Unity Week has been an annual event since 2011, dedicated to honoring Africa’s rich and unique heritage and focusing on the African diaspora living in Germany. Scheduled from May 18 to May 25, 2024, it culminates in the celebration of African Liberation Day.
Organized by the AKONDA e.V., Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Tschoobe For Freedom, Alafia Africa Festival and others this initiative aims to unite and support all People of African Descent as they celebrate this significant day.

PROGRAM:

Saturday, May 18^th 2024 | 5 PM Opening panel on „Africa and Beyond: Liberation & Justice Struggles“ Discussing that there can be no liberation without collective effort and understanding. Hybrid Online-Panel (Online-Registration required for Zoom-Link)

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Sunday, May 19^th 2024 | 2 PM Commemoration with Liberation and Healing songs — Orisa songs and Liberation songs fostering spiritual and communal well-being. Registration required ([email protected]) Venue will be shared through registration

Sunday, May 19^th 2024 | Malcom X Day Commemoration — worldwide

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Monday, May 20^th 2024 | 1 PM Africa Family Day Fest — A day of joy, Story telling, food and family activities to celebrate African heritage. Face2Face (Registration required)

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Tuesday, My 21^st 2024 | 6:30 PM Campaign for Justice „Touch One – Touch All“ — Advocacy and solidarity actions focusing on justice and communal support. Touch One -Touch All! Network Hybrid-Online-Panel – Live-Stream at Facebook and Youtube | Audience and screening at B5 Internationales Zentrum

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Wednesday, 22^nd 2024 -|- 5 PM Sister’s Circle with Coffee & African Ethnic Food — An afternoon dedicated to empowering conversations over coffee and delightful dishes. Face2Face – AKONDA Cafe Barmbek°Basch (Wohldorfer Str. 30, 22081 Hamburg)

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Thursday, 23^rd 2024 | 10 to 10:10 AM Stand in Power: Silent Picket-Protest — 10 minutes of silence in strike at 10 AM to make a powerful statement on social racial issues. Nationwide , Social media Campaign

Film screening — INNER CIRCLE – OUTER CIRCLE (de) Documentary by Wilma Nyari (2024) | 7 PM at B5 Internationales Zentrum

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Friday, 24^th 2024 | 3 PM Public Townhall Meeting in front of Hamburg City Hall — Open mike, individual cases and discussions about community issues, racial justice, decolonisation and development plans. Rally – Rathausmarkt

SATURDAY, 25^th 2024 | 2 PM AFRICA LIBERATION DAY 2024 Rally – Wandsbeker Marktplatz (22041 Hamburg-Wandsbek)

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HAMBURG

Die Africa Unity Week ist seit 2011 eine jährliche Veranstaltung, die sich der Würdigung des reichen und einzigartigen Erbes Afrikas widmet und sich auf die in Deutschland lebende afrikanische Diaspora konzentriert. Die Veranstaltung findet vom 18. bis 25. Mai 2024 statt und findet ihren Höhepunkt in der Feier des Africa Liberation Day. Diese Festwoche wird von AKONDA e.V., Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Tschoobe For Freedom, Alafia Africa Festival und anderen organisiert und zielt darauf ab, alle Menschen afrikanischer Herkunft bei den Feierlichkeiten dieses bedeutenden Tages zu vereinen und zu empowern.

PROGRAMM:

Samstag, 18. Mai 2024 –|– 17:00 Uhr Eröffnungspanel zum Thema „Afrika und darüber hinaus: Unsere Kämpfe für Befreiung und Gerechtigkeit“ Diskussion darüber, dass es ohne kollektive Anstrengungen und ein gemeinsames Verständnis keine Befreiung geben kann. (Online-Anmeldung für Zoom-Link erforderlich)

Sonntag, 19. Mai 2024 | 14:00 Uhr Gedenkfeier mit Liedern der Befreiung und Heilung – Orisa-Lieder und Befreiungslieder zur Förderung des spirituellen und gemeinschaftlichen Wohlbefindens. Anmeldung erforderlich ([email protected]) Der Veranstaltungsort wird durch die Anmeldung bekannt gegeben

Sonntag, 19. Mai 2024 Malcolm X-Tag Erinnerung und Gedenken — weltweit

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Montag, 20. Mai 2024 | 13:00 Uhr Fest zum Tag der Afrikanischen Familie — Ein Tag voller Freude, Geschichtenerzählen, Essen und Familienaktivitäten zur Feier unseres afrikanischen Erbes. Face2Face (Anmeldung erforderlich: [email protected])

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Dienstag, 21. Mai 2024 | 18:30 Uhr Kampagne für Gerechtigkeit „Touch One – Touch All“ —Interessenvertretung und Solidaritätsaktionen mit Schwerpunkt auf Gerechtigkeit und gemeinschaftlicher Unterstützung. Touch One – Touch All! Netzwerk Hybrid-Online-Panel – Live-Stream at Facebook and Youtube | Präsenz und screening: B5 Internationales Zentrum

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Mittwoch, 22. Mai 2024 -|- 17:00 Uhr Schwesternkreis mit Kaffee und afrikanischem Essen — Ein Nachmittag mit belebenden Gesprächen bei Kaffee und köstlichen Gerichten. Face2Face – AKONDA Café Barmbek°Basch (Wohldorfer Str. 30, 22081 Hamburg)

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Donnerstag, 23. Mai 2024 | 10 bis 10:10 Uhr Power-Streik: Stiller Streik-Protest — 10 Schweigeminuten im Streik um 10 Uhr, um eine kraftvolle Erklärung zu sozialen Fragen abzugeben. Bundesweit, Social-Media-Kampagne

Filmvorführung INNER CIRCLE – OUTER CIRCLE (45min/de) – Dokumentarfilm von Wilma Nyari (2024) | 7 PM B5 Internationales Zentrum

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Freitag, 24. Mai 2024 | 15:00 Uhr Öffentliches Townhall Meeting vor dem Hamburger Rathaus — Offenes Mikrophon, Einzelfälle und Diskussionen über Community-Themen, rassistische Diskriminierung, Dekolonisierung und Entwicklungspläne. Kundgebung – Rathausmarkt

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SAMSTAG, 25. Mai 2024 -|- 14:00 UHR AFRICA LIBERATION DAY 2024 Kundgebung – Wandsbeker Marktplatz (22041 Hamburg-Wandsbek)

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FR

HAMBOURG

La Africa Unity Week est un événement annuel depuis 2011, dédié à honorer le patrimoine riche et unique de l’Afrique et à se concentrer sur la diaspora africaine vivant en Allemagne. Prévue du 18 au 25 mai 2024, elle culmine avec la célébration de la Africa Liberation Day. Organisée par AKONDA e.V., Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Tschoobe For Freedom, Alafia Africa Festival et d’autres, cette initiative vise à unir et à soutenir toutes les personnes d’ascendance africaine alors qu’elles célèbrent cette journée importante.

PROGRAMME:

Samedi 18 mai 2024 | 17H00 Panel d’ouverture sur „L’Afrique et au-delà : luttes de libération et de justice“ Discuter du fait qu’il ne peut y avoir de libération sans effort et compréhension collectifs. (Inscription requise pour Zoom-Link )

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Dimanche 19 mai 2024 | 14H00 Commémoration avec chants de libération et de guérison — Chants Orisa et chants de libération favorisant le bien-être spirituel et communautaire. (Inscription requise) Le lieu sera partagé lors de l’inscription

Dimanche 19 mai 2024 | Malcolm X-Day Commémoration — mondial

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Lundi 20 mai 2024 | 13H00 Fête de la Journée de la famille en Afrique — Une journée de joie, de contes, de nourriture et d’activités familiales pour célébrer le patrimoine africain. face à face (Inscription requise)

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Mardi 21 janvier 2024 -|- 18H30 Campagne pour la justice „Touch One – Touch All“ — Actions de plaidoyer et de solidarité axées sur la justice et le soutien communautaire. Touchez un – touchez tout! Panel en ligne hybride – Diffusion en direct sur Facebook et Youtube | Présence et projection : Centre International B5

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Mercredi 22 2024 | 17H00 Cercle des sœurs avec café et cuisine ethnique africaine — Un après-midi dédié aux conversations stimulantes autour d’un café et de plats délicieux. face à face – AKONDA Café Barmbek°Basch (Wohldorfer Str. 30, 22081 Hambourg)

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Jeudi 23 2024 | 10H à 10H10 Stand in Power: piquet de protestation silencieux — 10 minutes de silence en grève à 10 heures du matin pour faire une déclaration forte sur les questions sociales et raciales. Campagne nationale sur les réseaux sociaux

Projection du film — INNER CIRCLE – OUTER CIRCLE (45min/de) – Documentaire de Wilma Nyari (2024) | 19h Centre International B5

Vendredi 24 2024 | 15H00 Réunion publique de la mairie de Hambourg — Microphone ouvert, cas individuels et discussions sur les enjeux communautaires, la justice raciale, la décolonisation et les plans de développement. Rassemblement – Rathausmarkt

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SAMEDI 25 2024 | 14H00 JOUR DE LIBÉRATION DE L’AFRIQUE 2024 Rassemblement – Wandsbeker Marktplatz (22041 Hambourg-Wandsbek)

In a profound state of shock, outrage, and grief, we, the BLACK COMMUNITY-Coalition for Justice and Self-Defence (BCCJSD), alongside the Black, African and African Descendant, Afro German, Indigenous, and POC communities in Germany, are confronted with the stark realities of systemic injustice. This has been tragically highlighted by the events leading to the death of Lamine Touray in Nienburg on March 30, 2024. In a critical moment of mental health crisis, Brother Lamine Touray encountered not the assistance his loved ones desperately sought when reaching out for emergency help but instead was met with excessive force by those called to protect and serve. Despite initial police claims, Lamine had not threatened his girlfriend with a knife — a narrative proven unequivocally false, yet utilized to justify a response so disproportionate that it resulted in eight shots being fired, leading not only to Lamine’s untimely death but also to injuries within the police ranks.

The tragic circumstances surrounding Lamine Touray’s death and the subsequent police response cast a glaring light on deep-seated issues of anti-Black racism and the pervasive, harmful stereotype of the „dangerous Black man.“ Rooted in centuries of racial bias and discrimination, this stereotype continues to endanger Black lives by influencing law enforcement’s perceptions and actions, often resulting in unnecessary and excessive use of force in situations necessitating empathy and assistance. Lamine Touray’s encounter serves as a harrowing reminder of the lethal consequences of such biases. Despite his vulnerable state and the need for mental health support, Lamine’s experience was shaped by entrenched notions of threat and criminality tied to his Black identity.

This event is not isolated but adds to a distressing pattern marked by the deaths of Mouhamed Lamine Dramé in Dortmund in August 2022, and the looming five-year commemoration of Tonou Mbobda’s death at UKE Hospital on April 21st. These incidents collectively underscore the urgent need for comprehensive reform in our approach to mental health crises and policing practices.

The profound delay in securing justice, particularly in cases involving the deaths of Black individuals in Germany, starkly embodies the principle that „justice delayed is justice denied.“ This sluggish progression in addressing and resolving such pivotal matters not only exacerbates the trauma experienced by our communities but also signals a broader systemic failure to afford Black lives equal protection and value on all executive levels. The slow response and extended investigations deepen the sense of injustice and mistrust within the African and African Descendant communities in Germany, highlighting a systemic reluctance, bias or incapacity to promptly and effectively confront the root causes and repercussions of anti-Black racism and police violence. This inaction prolongs the anguish of affected families and communities and perpetuates a cycle of trauma and fear among all Black individuals within these societies.

From repeated and consistant experiences, we fundamentally doubt the system of Police investigating Police or Prosecutions investigating themselves to challenge systemic cognitive dissonance and supremacist ideologies with the authorieties at work in the so called State of Law – where the presumption of innocence is strictly rewarded to perpetraiting officers and pre-judgments regulary allocated to the the victims of state violence and racial discrimination.

Our Unified Call for Action:

1. Comprehensive Support for Lamine Touray’s Family:

We demand immediate and comprehensive support for the family of Lamine Touray, including psychological and grief counseling, legal assistance, and financial support to cover all funeral and memorial expenses. This support should also extend to facilitating any travel and accommodation needs for family members who have come to Germany in their quest for justice and closure.

2. Correction of Misinformation:

We call for the public correction of false narratives surrounding this incident, to restore the dignity of the victim and his family.

3. Direct Dialogue with Authorities:

The family of Lamine Touray must be given opportunities for direct dialogue with investigative authorities and policymakers. This will ensure transparency, allow the family to voice their concerns and questions directly, and engage in the pursuit of justice for Lamine. It is crucial that the family’s voices are heard and respected throughout the investigation and beyond.

4. Community-Led Crisis Intervention:

We advocate for the funding and implementation of community-led programs, prioritizing the expertise of mental health professionals over police intervention in crises.

5. Comprehensive Reform and Education in Policing:

We insist on mandatory, extensive training for all police officers in de-escalation techniques, mental health awareness, and a deep dive into the historical and oppressive origins of policing, particularly its roots in colonialism and slave patrols. Recognizing and addressing this history is crucial for dismantling racial biases and reimagining a policing model that serves and protects all community members with equity and compassion.

As we navigate our collective grief, our resolve for justice, systemic change, and the eradication of racial biases within policing and crisis response systems only intensifies. The tragic killings of Lamine Touray, Mouhamed Lamine Dramé, and Tonou Mbobda are stark reminders of the deep reforms required in our policing and mental health care systems. We stand united in our call to action, seeking clarity, accountability, and justice, and insisting that dignity and humanity guide our society’s approach to the well-being of every individual.

Justice For Lamine Touray

Touch One – Touch All!

Signatories:
BCCJSD
Black Community Hamburg
ARRiVATi
Alafia
Akonda e.V.
Africa Home
Africa Survival in Hamburg
Tschobe for Freedom
Africans From Ukraine
Sisters in Struggle
Black Media Group

Speech on Rally at Jungfernstieg August 21^st 2022

It’s been 6 months and we are still on the same topic. What is our status? Have we really escaped the war just to meet another kind of war ahead of us? It’s been 6 month since we left Ukraine in an attempt to escape the war and seek help in Germany, just like many Ukrainians. I have friends who are settled and are not passing through what we, as 3^rd world nationals, face on a daily basis; the uncertainty, the threats to leave the country, the discrimination we face at the immigration office. They are taking our passports and forcing us into asylum.

We are not asylum seekers, we are refugees of war just like the Ukrainians but I don’t see any of them being forced into asylum. We are students just like the Ukrainians. We invested into the Ukraine. We studied there. We worked there. We have memories there. Our livelihood and properties has been destroyed just like theirs. The Ukrainians came looking for help from Germany, just like us. Were we wrong to believe that we could find help within the borders of Germany?

Initially we were given 3 months to stay and for most of us we used that time to recuperate and get back ourselves; due to the trauma we faced while fleeing the war. Some of us are still struggling actively to move pass the horror we faced simply because of the colour of our skin. We will never forget. It has become a vivid reminder that we will always be treated differently; picked last while fleeing by train, picked last at the border and abandoned under freezing cold. Some even had to witness the loss of friends but no one cared for us because we were not or rather, we didn’t fall under the criteria that are required to be let in.

Even though we are not indestructible nor invincible to the bombs that fell through the sky not knowing or caring or even able to differentiate if it was a 3^rd country national under the roofs it tore through or a Ukrainian; If it was a 3rd country national in the streets walking while air strikes were launched from the sky or not. Even though we faced the same experiences, we were picked last.

Finally we got through the border thinking we were safe and can now resume our lives, and build from scratch what we lost due to the war both physically and mentally. But little did we know we will also be picked last. The cycle never ends so it seems. Germany promised no discrimination but that is the exact thing we met. We are not given a fair opportunity to integrate into the system here. They say they want to help all but the officers we meet at the immigration say otherwise. Some of us were given a 6 months period to reach German language level C1. We were told to get an admission in schools, but also there we need at least a B2 to get one, depending on what you want to study.

Some of us were studying to become engineers, doctors, IT specialists, even footballers in Ukraine. We would like to continue as that but it is impossible because the 6 months is not enough to meet the language requirement.

And 10,000 euros? From where? How?

We are refugees of war. Our accounts are frozen. We lost properties and money in the war. Our parents sacrificed so much to get us to Ukraine. School agent stole from us. So how can we produce that sort of money again and again?

Are you asking the Ukrainians for 10,000euros in block accounts?

No!

Ukrainian national refugees are given a fair chance to integrate. We just want to be given the same chance – or at least a fair enough chance. 6 month is too little a time to get C1 and admissions from a university, which expects the same preconditions from us. We need at least 1 year and 6 months to achieve these language criteria. The 10,000 euros is an impossible task too. Why say all will be given fair chance and then put up impossible demands? We need the passports that have been seized from our colleagues to be returned immediately and those that have been told to leave Germany, we need those decisions retracted. We need integration programs that are available to our fellow refugees of war, the Ukrainians.

We don’t want to sacrifice our dreams of being professionals in our field of study or the professions that we were chasing in Ukraine.

Don’t ask us to sacrifice our dreams.

We will learn the language.

We will work.

We are assets and we will become assets to you. Just give us a fighting chance.

We won’t give up our dreams. You don’t ask Ukrainians to give up theirs so why should we give up ours?

When you threaten us in these manners, you threaten our dreams but we will not give up!

We demand from the German Government to give us a fighting chance as they provide to the Ukrainians without any further questions!

Thank you.

– tortured with tear gas and Taser then shot to death by Dortmund police

The 16-year-old Mouhamed Lamin Dramé was an unaccompanied refugee from Senegal and on August 8, 2022 in such an extraordinary crisis situation, that he threatened to harm or even kill himself. At that time, he was in an inpatient placement in a youth residential group of the St. Elisabeth Youth Welfare Service at St. Antonius Church in Dortmund Nordstadt. A short time before, he had been treated at his own request for mental problems in a psychiatric clinic and expressed his suicidal intentions both to his caregivers and to the police officers called. He understood little or no German. His mother tongues were Wolof and French.

So we ask ourselves: How and in which language did the police actually communicate to calm him down in order to prevent suicide?

Mouhamed died in a hail of bullets from a submachine gun. The horror of the taking of such a young life should be dominating national headlines, yet, much of the reaction seems to be a “debate” or justification about the use of deadly force given that Mouhamed was holding a knife.

We condemn the general media narrative which distorts the course of events as if the police officers „had“ to shoot Mouhamed as a last resort, because the use of irritant spray gas and Tasers had „failed to calm him down“.

Why did the team of responders in a suicidal crisis not include mental health professionals or why did the police officers not wait for medical professionals to take adequate care but intervened excessively violent in the first step, unprofessionally escalating an already existing crisis situation?

How can police officers seriously „try“ to „prevent“ a suicide by means of a chemical warfare agent („tear gas“) and an electric pulse weapon (Taser)?

What are the competencies of police officers who are primarily called to deal with patients in psychologically critical situations? Is so called administrative assistance a license to violently intervene or moreover a license to kill?

Every medical doctor* would be held accountable for wrongful fatal treatments of patients – police officers, however, have an unconditional license to harm and kill, sanctioned by the state authorities and politicians as well as media made public opinion, without regard to their lack of competence and expertise or any accountability. While „speculations“ about known facts are morally and legally „forbidden“, the prejudiced and immediate construction of „self-defense situations“ is a routine normality in the public media discourse of police killings and its juridical persecution.

However, the use of violence against children, adolescents and people in need of protection is always an inhuman problem and can never and under no circumstances be assumed a goal-oriented „solution“!

Countless cases of police violence, race-related aggression and extralegal killings of vulnerable people by police officers, who have insufficient training/expertise in handling psychological crisis situations, are an unfortunately all too familiar phenomenon – yet learning processes or even error culture in the authorities are nowhere to be recognized. Rather the contrary is the status quo: impunity by all means providable.

As we grieve the loss of Mouhamed, we share in the grief, pain, rage, and sorrow of the recent killings of

August 2nd – a 23 year old Black man from Somalia was executed by a shot in his head in the early morning hours by police in Frankfurt

August 3^rd – 48 year old Jozef Berditchevski, a street musician of Russian nationality was killed in his flat by 2 Köln civil police officers

August 7^th – a 39 year old man in an obviously psychotic state of mind was killed by the police in Recklinghausen.

We also mourn the past killings of

Kamal Ibrahim – shot dead on October 3, 2021 by Stade police – 3 shots fired

Omar K. – shot on May 28, 2021 by Hamburg police – 7 shots fired

Mohamed Idrissi – shot on June 18, 2020 by Bremen police – 2 shots fired

Aman Alizada – shot on August 17, 2019 by Stade police – 5 shots

Adel B. – shot dead on June 18, 2019 by Essen police – 1 shot (through a door)

Matiullah Jabarkhil – shot dead by Fulda police on April 13, 2018 – 12 shots fired.

This list explicitly does not mean that German police officers do not shoot or otherwise kill White people in psychological crisis situations – but it illustrates that the inappropriate and counterproductive execution of vulnerable Black and People of Colour in crisis situations by police has no legal or institutional consequences.

Not a single one of these cases resulted in criminal charges or even officer discipline. Accountability is needed to deter future use of force and build community trust

We do understand all these cases as instances of racial health inequality and race-related brutality which is deeply rooted in institutional and systemic oppression.

We understand the historical context and condemn the systemic legalization of the dehumanization of Black lives in German Laws, German Administration, Media and societal practices.

We will not allow the death of 16year old Mouhamed Lamin Dramé to be in vain.

His killing is a sober reminder of the need, once again, to fight for the value of Black life in this country where a Black child in a mental crisis can be assassinated in impunity.

The BLACK COMMUNITY COALITION Of JUSTICE & SELF-DEFENCE calls on all courageous civil society initiatives and organisations to act swiftly and thoroughly to investigate and clarify the murder of Mouhamed as to bring justice for his grieving family.

Formally we demand thorough and comprehensive procedures by the German state of law well aware of our lived experiences of legal bias and cover up in all such cases ever since.

TOUCH ONE  –  TOUCH ALL

GERECHTIGKEIT – Justice for Johanna De Souza

München, Bayern, Deutschland April 2022 …

Schon wieder starb eine Schwarze Schwester in einem deutschen Psychiatrie-Krankenhaus …
Schon wieder erfolgte eine Zwangsbehandlung, die tödlich endete …
Schon wieder wurden die Beschwerden der Patientin über die starken Nebenwirkungen der Zwangsmedikation nicht ernst genommen …
Schon wieder wurden die Angehörigen nicht unmittelbar über die Zwangsbehandlung, die Notfallverlegung in ein Herzzentrum und den Tod der Patientin informiert …
Schon wieder soll ein „Herzinfarkt“ für den Tod der 34-jährigen Patientin verantwortlich sein …

Mit tiefer Trauer gibt die BLACK COMMUNITY den Tod von Schwester Johanna De Souza bereits am 22. April 2022 in München bekannt. Johanna wäre am 30. Mai 2022 35 Jahre alt geworden, durfte diesen Geburtstag nach einer tödlichen Zwangsbehandlung in der kbo-Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie Nord allerdings nicht mehr erleben.

Johanna wurde in dieser Psychiatrie seit Anfang April stationär behandelt. Sie beschwerte sich im Verlauf ihrer Behandlung mehrfach über die starken Nebenwirkungen der ihr verabreichten Psychopharmaka und bat ihre Mutter „Bitte hol mich hier raus – die bringen mich sonst um!“. Ihrer Mutter wurde mehrfach verweigert, ihre Tochter zu besuchen, immer weil Johanna angeblich „schlafen“ würde. Einmal drohte ihr die Stationsärztin sogar, dass sie die Polizei rufen würde, wenn die Mutter nicht einfach freiwillig gehen würde. Die Mutter wandte sich am 21. April 2022 an ihren Cousin und dessen deutsche Frau und bat um Mithilfe bei der Intervention an der Klinik. Am 22. April 2022 erhielt die Ehefrau des Cousinss auf telefonische Nachfrage in der Klinik die Antwort, dass Johanna in der Toilette „zusammengebrochen“ sei und in das Herzzentrum „verlegt“ wurde.
Als die Mutter ihre Tochter noch am selben Tag im Herzzentrum aufsuchte, war diese bereits tot, aber noch an die maschinelle „Lebenserhaltung“ angeschlossen. Die Maschinen wurden am 23. April 2022 abgestellt, da ein „Multiorganversagen mit Blutgerinnseln im ganzen Körper“ vorlag. Die Ärzt*innen im Herzzentrum konnten keine genaueren Auskünfte erteilen, da Johanna ohne Arztbrief aus der Psychiatrie notverlegt worden war.

In der Rechtsmedizin der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München wurde eine Autopsie durchgeführt, deren Sektionsprotokoll für die Angehörigen bis heute noch nicht einsehbar ist. Die Kriminalpolizei teilte auf Anfrage mit, dass als „natürliche Todesursache“ ein „Herzinfarkt“ angegeben worden sei. Die Familie wurde seitens der Ermittlungsbehörden nicht über die Freigabe des Leichnams und deren Aufbewahrungsort informiert.

Am 5. Mai 2022 fand ein Gespräch mit den Hinterbliebenen in der verantwortlichen Psychiatrie-Klinik statt, bei dem die Fragen der Familie unbeantwortet blieben, weil sich die Ärzt*innen auf ihre „medizinische Schweigepflicht“ zu den Umständen der Behandlung und des Todes von Johanna beriefen.

Wir unterstützen die Familie De Souza in ihrer Forderung nach juristischer Aufklärung der Todesumstände inklusive einer unabhängigen Zweitautopsie und bitten Euch um die Verbreitung und Beteiligung an der dafür bereits eingerichteten GoFundMe-Kampagne:

SPENDEN auf https://www.gofundme.com/f/johanna-de-souza

TOUCH ONE – TOUCH ALL!       #JusticeForJohannaDeSouza

____________________________________________________

EN

JUSTICE FOR JOHANNA DE SOUZA

Munich, Bavaria, Germany April 2022 …

Yet again, a Black nurse died in a German psychiatric hospital …
Yet again, coercive treatment took place that ended fatally …
Yet again, the patient’s complaints about the severe side effects of the forced medication were not taken seriously …
Yet again, the patient’s relatives were not immediately informed about the forced treatment, the emergency transfer to a cardiac center and the death of the patient …
Yet again, a „heart attack“ is said to be responsible for the death of a 34-year-old patient …

It is with deep sadness that BLACK COMMUNITY has to announce the death of Sister Johanna De Souza as early as April 22, 2022 in Munich, Germany. Johanna would have turned 35 years old on May 30, 2022, but was not allowed to experience this birthday after a fatal forced treatment in the kbo-Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy North.

Johanna had been treated as an inpatient in this psychiatric clinic since the beginning of April. During the course of her treatment, she complained several times about severe side effects of the psychotropic drugs administered to her and begged her mother, „Please get me out of here – or else they gonna kill me!“
Her mother was refused to visit her daughter several times, always because Johanna was supposedly „asleep.“ Once, the ward doctor even threatened her that she would call the police on her if the mother would not simply leave voluntarily. On April 21, 2022, the mother turned to her cousin and his German wife for help in intervening at the clinic. On April 22, 2022, the cousin’s wife received a response to a telephone inquiry at the clinic that Johanna had „collapsed“ in the restroom and had been „transferred“ to the Heart Center of Munich.
When her mother immediately went to see her daughter at the Heart Center, Johanna was already dead but still on machine „life support.“ The machines were turned off on April 23, 2022, due to „multiple organ failure involving blood clots throughout the whole body“. The doctors at the Heart Center were unable to provide more detailed information, as Johanna had been transferred from the psychiatric clinic without any doctor’s note.

An autopsy was performed at the forensic medicine department of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, the protocol of which is still today not available to the relatives. On request, the criminal investigation department stated that the „natural cause of death“ was a „heart attack“. The family was neither informed by the investigating authorities about the release of the body nor about its actual location after autopsy.

On May 5, 2022, a meeting with the bereaved family took place at the psychiatric clinic responsible, during which the family’s questions remained unanswered because the doctors invoked their „medical confidentiality“ regarding the circumstances of Johanna’s treatment and death.

We support the De Souza family in their demand for legal clarification of the circumstances of the death of Johanna, including an independent second autopsy, and ask you to spread the word and participate in the GoFundMe-campaign that has already been set up for this purpose:

PLS DONATE at https://www.gofundme.com/f/johanna-de-souza

TOUCH ONE – TOUCH ALL!        #JusticeForJohannaDeSouza

Solidarity funds to support Valérie’s family

Solidaritätsfonds zur Unterstützung der Familie von Valérie

WE ARE AFRICAN AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND REFUGEES OF THE UKRAINE WAR

Like millions of Ukrainian citizens we were forced to flee for our lives due to the war in Ukraine since February 2022 – we are refugees of this war and had to leave behind our belongings, our houses and flats, our studies and other ways of peaceful living in Ukraine as well as our investments in and fees for our future education and perspectives – some of us were separated from friends and loved ones and some even had to witness them being killed violently …

Unlike those millions of Ukrainian citizens many of us have been discriminated against all the flight way long – we have been excluded and even forced out of public transportation, we have been picked up and set out in remote forests, we have been held back at the borders from leaving the war-torn country without shelter from freezing temperatures, some of us have been dying unprotected from the cold at night and day, we were immediately told at the EU borders to return back to our respective countries of origin without regard to given situations and without access to refugee protection measures …

The EU-Council was very fast to announce that Ukrainian citizens will be granted unequivocal protection inside EU territories including unconditional access to social and medical care, work and education under temporary protection for refugees of war. Later on the same EU-Council even went on to announce that „ALL PEOPLE, who are fleeing war will be granted protection from and access to the EU, health, education, labor and residence – regardless of their nationality, ethnicity or skin color“ …

Despite this actually unambiguous statement, there were immediate exclusions from exactly this unconditional protection status for refugees of war, formulated along exactly those lines of nationality, ethnicity and skin color from the very same speakers of the EU-Council for those refugees of war who do not hold Ukrainian citizenship otherwise a Ukrainian permanent residence or have spouses of one of the 2 first categories …

What we demand:

According to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, the European Convention on Human Rights and other subsequent international treaties, declarations, codes and programs of action that EU countries are party in

WE DEMAND IMMEDIATE PROTECTION AND EQUALITY OF TREATMENT!

We appeal to the German government that the unprecedented decision to grant immediate temporary protection to ALL those who call Ukraine their home is now being translated into a practice of equality.

For all of us Ukraine has been our home and the center of our lives.

All of us have invested substantial funds and efforts as to enable their studies or respective ways of life in Ukraine and all of us had to leave behind considerable belongings, properties and deposits in uncertainty of probable loss or destruction by bombing, looting or to state of emergency laws. Also from that point of view we are in no way different from other refugees of the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

How do we feel?

After walking for days on end and having to experience segregation, racism, hunger, abuse and violence at the borders as well as separation from families and loved ones, with parents and little children being affected and exposed to harsh weather conditions and the experiences of destruction of documents, financial losses, educational losses, we now face burdensome uncertainty about our future. We are afraid and have anxiety. The trauma haunts us all. Some of us have problems sleeping, some of us have flash backs or strong reactions to unexpected noises. The war has affected us all. We do not know how our future will be. We start to wonder if we should go to another country …

We do not know if we will ever be accepted here …

Should we go or should we stay …

We arrived in Germany to again face unequal treatment based on our nationality, ethnicity and skin color as compared to people of Ukrainian citizenship, who were treated warmly and differently. While the German Minister Interior stated on March 3, 2022 “Third-country nationals who have been living in Ukraine with a regular residence status are also not required to go through an asylum procedure”, the German directive on how to address our specific situation of March 4, 2022 even falls short of the EU operational guidelines to the Temporary Protection under Article 5 of the EU Council Directive 2001/55 by excluding various groups of Ukrainian residence holders from temporary protection under section 24 of the German Residence Act, who would lose their actual accomplishments and their future by “going back to ‘their’ countries”, which they have left for still unchanged true reasons.

We need temporary protection and clarity now!

We Africans and other non-European nationals from Ukraine are neither responsible for nor part of the ongoing geo-political war but equivalently afflicted. We got into the same situation of war – both NON EUROPEAN CITIZENS & UKRAINIANS alike – and we should be given the same rights and treatment because none of us planned this war and the impact and trauma affects all of us. Bombs and bullets do not discriminate amongst their victims! And thus protection should be the same for all of those who had and lost their homes in Ukraine when war broke out. Many of our friends or international student colleagues have even met the dramatic decision to rather stay back in war-torn Ukraine than to flee to EU countries that refuse to provide protection for them.

Non-Ukrainian nationals from the war in Ukraine arriving in Germany have been facing very different terms of treatment – both in different federal states and cities but also within the very same city throughout time and different facilities. While some received so called “Fictitious Certificates” for 1 year without further procedures others were pressurized to submit an asylum application with their finger prints registered and passports seized. Again others were given a so called “Duldung” including the threat of deportation.

We call for immediate and unobstructed Temporary Protection, including the Right to Study, the Right to Work and equivalent access to social benefits i.e. accommodation, finances, medical care and social welfare as Ukrainian refugees of war. Those of us that have been forced to apply for asylum due to lack of information and administrative inconsistencies should have the asylum application withdrawn and given back their passports.

We ask to be given valid and consistent information for clarity.

Germany should take an example from other EU countries that offer protection and opportunities for studies to ALL. It is basically a shame to Germany for stepping back in regard to its responsibilities.

EQUALITY IS A UNIVERSAL RIGHT – NOT A PRIVILEGE TO SELECT!

EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT – NOT PRIVILEGE BY CHOICE!

Contact #AfricansFromUA c/o ARRiVATi – Community Care Network – mailto:info@arivati.de

Speakers:

Sister Omwenga +4915216149012

Brother Enyia +4915781315784