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We look to convene an Afrikan Council of African Elders for the International Afrikan Community. This Council will help to guide us on making decisions in the community for the interests of the people. The Council of Elders should consist of seniors that are highly respected in the Community for their character or spirit, demonstrated through their behavior, good judgment and sensitivity to the needs of our community and people. An elder is normally a person of influence in their family and community and is often used to help maintain balance and peace. An elder would include both men and women. The elders should be at least 55 years of age. The number of members of the council should be at least twelve personnel. Ideally, we would like to have twenty or more members of the Council of Elders. After the International Council of Elders is formed we can form local Councils of Elders for each community. As persons are recommended from the community to serve on the council, we will contact those recommended to let them know that their names had been submitted, inform them of the responsibilities of Council membership and assess their ability and willingness to serve. The potential Elders' names and bios would be placed before the elected Council of Elders Committee for approval or disapproval. Unless compelled to do otherwise, the Council of Elders Committee would approve those recommended from the community who meet the basic requirements. It should be very rare that anyone recommended, willing and qualified would not be approved for membership on the Afrikan Council of Elders. Anyone in the world can recommend a Council of Elder. This can be done by going online to our website and submitting the name on our Contact Form. The person making recommendation should be prepared to provide contact information for the person they recommend. Seniors are elected for lifetime terms. Natural turnover will occur as new elders are recommended and approved and current elders leave for any number of reasons. - Our community must show high respect to all our elders, but special respect is to be shown to the brothers and sisters who give of themselves to serve as a member of the Afrikan Council of Elders. We shall seek ways to build and maintain a monetary fund to support our Elders in times of need. The Council of Elders committee insures that the Council of Elders receives monetary support for their services.
The Council of Elders committee will assign a mediator to the panel of Elders in session. The mediators would facilitate sessions, but would not be a part of any decisions. In their role of providing counsel and guidance to the Council of Elders Committee and our Community in general; the Council of African Elders would function as a panel (small number) or as a council-of-the-whole depending on the need. As council-of-the-whole, all members are to deliberate. Any recommendation from the Council of African Elders wherein ¾ or 75% of the members in attendance and satisfying requirements for a quorum (50% of total membership), would be considered official. Any individual or organizational member of our community would be able to call on the Council of African Elders for guidance. Specific process to be established: The Afrikan Council of Elders in helping resolve conflicts and disputes: In their role of helping to resolve conflicts and disputes, the Afrikan Council of Elders provides the community with a venue to attain resolution without (or before) having to bring in outside judiciary systems that do not have our best interest at heart. In this role, the Afrikan Council of Elders would divide itself into panels (7, 9 or 12). A panel with a trained mediator would be used to help restore unity/harmony to any matter correctly brought before the Council. The details of this process are a work in progress. When an individual, organization or institution in our community has a concern it wants to bring before the Council, they can reach out to any member of the Council of Elders Committee. That concern (w/contact info) would be communicated to a committee (3 to 5 members) of the Council for review and appropriate action. This document is being disseminated throughout our community. Everyone is strongly encourages to share it with persons they know and also to respond with recommendations that would help strengthen this document and the process. In addition to the dissemination of this document and our desire for feedback, we strongly request recommendations from the community for brothers and sisters to serve on the Council. You are being entrusted with the responsibility to: 1) forward/share this document with brothers and sisters you know and 2) respond with your recommendations for persons to serve on the Afrikan Council of Elders and also with suggestions to help strengthen this process. Please do not take this effort lightly; our youth are watching and future generations will judge us. This is a clear opportunity for us to build (collectively) an institution/process that meets a real need and at the same time is a bold statement of our determination to be free of exploitation and domination by others. Our Committee on the Council of Elders will highlight the Afrikan Council of Elders and the process outlined here. Speakers will stress the need for this process and outline methods we might consider. We should come away from the Community Assembly with a committed team and momentum to move this process forward. Suggested Council of Elders: J. Everet Green is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Conference coordinator of Philosophy Born of Struggle. Horace Campbell, is of African American studies at Syracuse University, and author of Rasta and Resistance, from Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney, and Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation. Ras McPherson, Co-Representative of the African Union 6th Region (AU) New York State & Co-Alternate Representative of AU 6th Region (N/S/CentralAmerica) dR. Bidi XiLi, EtYmoLogist , Director of Qidamawi Hayele Selase Supreme Regal Lodge, Inc. Etymology & Epistemology School. Toni Morrison, A member since 1981 of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she has been awarded a number of literary distinctions, among them the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Dr. Kabiru Kinyanjui, is the Esau Distinguished Visiting Professor in International Development Studies at Menno Simons College this year. He lives in Nairobi, Kenya, where he is Chairman of the Nairobi Peace Initiative-Africa, and serves as a consultant in peace and development issues in several countries. Sonia Sanchez is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, Sonia Sanchez has lectured at more than five hundred universities and colleges She was the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University, where she began teaching in 1977, and held the Laura Carnell Chair in English there until her retirement in 1999. Dudley Thompson, President of the World African Diaspora Union (WADU), Participant of the 5th Pan African Congress with those like Kwame Nkrumah, Amy Garvey, and WEB Dubois. |
