African Center celebration focuses on graduate student projects

By David King Daily Bruin Contributor Bringing together 56
presenters representing 17 universities, Saturday’s conference
called "Africa: Past, Present, and Future" was more than a meeting
of minds ­ it was also a celebration.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the James S. Coleman African
Studies Center at UCLA, the all-day conference at the Public Policy
building was attended by people from as far away as Australia, and
covered issues surrounding the continent, its cultures and
people.

Although the conference included several keynote speakers ­
including Edmond Kellor, director of the Coleman center ­ the
focus of the event was on graduate student presentations, said
Lahra Smith, co-organizer of the event.

"It’s a good opportunity for graduate students to present their
work, with the primary focus on students at UCLA," Smith said.

She said that the day also gives them a chance to network and
discover what research is done at other universities.

Vivian Nun Halloran, a UCLA comparative literature graduate
student and presenter, said such diversity made the day interesting
and constructive.

"(The conference) has included different types of dialogues,
which are a very important part of my research," she said.

"This was a great opportunity to talk across the disciplines,"
Halloran added. "I was really encouraged by the response of the
other universities."

Halloran’s research investigated the implications of references
to Africa’s metaphoric parental role in novels such as "Crossing
the River" and "A Woman named Solitude."

By analyzing specific passages from the books, Halloran
concluded that references to Father Africa are associated with
care-giving for children and memories, while Mother Africa often
represents violence or pain.

Many presentations not only investigated the culture within the
continent, but also examined Africans outside of their
homeland.

UCLA African history graduate student T.J. Desch-Obi’s
presentation investigated the evolution of capoeira, a martial arts
dance used for self-defense.

According to Desch-Obi, capoeira was originally known as
"azanga" and was brought to Brazil by African slaves.

Although early participants in capoeira ­ known as "maltas"
­ were feared and eventually oppressed by the Brazilian
government and police force, the martial art form spread to wider
segments of society, Desch-Obi said.

In addition to acrobatic defense of themselves, the dance gave
the Africans a group identity.

"Through capoeira, enslaved Africans set out to identify
themselves with people of the same ethnicity," Desch-Obi said.
"They didn’t just fight as individuals, but formed groups, like
modern gangs."

He concluded by saying where capoeira was once repressed by
Brazil’s government, it is now widely accepted, and is mandatory in
Brazilian police training.

While Desch-Obi focused on the dances and influence of slaves,
Kimberly Willis-Praggett of Clark Atlanta University presented her
research on the rites of passages for enslaved African women in
America.

Willis-Praggett said pre-colonial African initiation processes
were very important for young men and women, often involving
separation from their parents, endurance tests including fasting
and flogging, and a new name. But such traditions vanished with
tribes being captured by slave traders.

"The enslavement process disturbed these age-old traditions of
initiation," Willis-Praggett said. "Girls went abruptly into
womanhood, from womanhood to forced motherhood and a search for
true wifehood."

She added that the concept of rites of passages drastically
changed in the young African woman’s new world, one that posed
unique challenges.

"Where once initiations were a celebration, the new initiations
taught young girls how to protect themselves against sexual abuse,"
Willis-Praggett said. "These young women had to come up with
completely new means of helping their children, and helping
themselves."

Willis-Praggett ended her presentation by suggesting that while
initiation practices were upset by slave trading and colonization,
they remain an important part of African culture today.