This I Remember

was fortunate indeed to be present at the inaugural meeting of the African Literature Association in Austin, Texas in the spring of 1975. remember it was a cold spring in New Hampshire so going to Texas was a double blessing! remember that visiting guests were housed in dormitory rooms-it was inexpensive; it was personal; it was friendly. It said a good deal about the ALA in the beginning.The first meeting was unlike any that were to follow in that writers, not academics, sat on center stage. do not remember any other conference with so many distinguished writers. It was like being present at a meeting of the gods. And the writers wrestled with no holds barred.Today some of the principal issues facing Africa include systematic rape, corruption, civil conflict, China's role on the continent, the need for transparency, and democracies that are democrazies. In 1975 the struggle against apartheid dominated. In 1974 Portugal was forced to let go of her African territories. Now all attention turned to South Africa and to the man whose long walk to freedom paralleled that of his continent.In 1975 Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country was often taught in American schools, but non-white voices were seldom heard. The Austin Conference told South Africa's story from Sharpeville to Soweto by writers old and young. Veterans Ezekiel Mphahlele, Mazizi Kunene, Dennis Brutus and Cosmo Pieterse shared platforms with a younger generation, mostly of poets, who were strongly influenced by strident rhythms and social activism of the African American community-writers like James Baldwin, Ishmael Reed, Sonia Sanchez and LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka). Three dynamic young South African poets Willy Kgositsile, Wally Serote and Oswald Mtshali stood up in Austin, stood up to declare, I fling the gauntlet at your feet. This remember.In the beginning the ALA was not just another academic organization. There was passion and a sense that literature mattered. Scholars were there to serve Africa and that meant forming networks to help each other. Something important was happening. From Africa, from Europe, from Canada, from Australia, from the Caribbean, from USA, scholars and literary people came together. This remember.In the beginning the ALA was exciting. Each spring eagerly looked forward to our annual meeting to renew friendships, to meet with publishers, to be stimulated by writers and academics who knew more than I. would always leave the Conference with new books to read, new avenues to research. Over the years, however, as the ALA grew, it lost, or seemed to lose, that personal sense, that intellectual integrity that characterized the early years

Blessing · China · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · Transparency (behavior · White (mutation · Gender Studies · History · Law · South African History and Culture