Africa and Diasporic Cultural Institution Essay (Critical Writing)

Research Question and Introduction

Does Africa interact with the diaspora culturally? Dispersion of people around the world is a fundamental factor in exchange of idea and skills. It is through migration that the world became more interactive and made significant discoveries. Most people appreciate the fact that there are separations in humanity between races, traditions, tribes, geographical regions, believes, cultures, attitudes and nutrition among others.

These factors lead to the designation of a distinct access to knowledge, abilities and living strategies. Culture is one of the most critical factors that would describe these distinctions. We, therefore, expect that people become learners when they arrive to a new area with new cultures (Hall, 1997).

Also, they take their cultures with them to present it to other people. The question above seeks to investigate the strategies in which Africa presents its culture in the diaspora. In this respect, we can assume that Africa does not interact with the diaspora culturally. However, we cannot device strategies to prove this.

Therefore, we have to perform a study involving a hypothesis that Africa interacts with the diaspora culturally. In a bid to perform this study, we can assess Institute of Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) with an aim of evaluating how it raises its identity in the diaspora.

Institution Chosen

ICD devised strategies and programs to facilitate Africa’s socialisation and economy improvement. The title of the program is ‘Experience Africa’ Program (EAP). The program (EAP) enhances cultural interactions within and outside Africa. This institution unites international stakeholders, assesses salient features and links people with similar interests. The institution accomplishes this unity by operating academic events, conferences and tours. The goals listed below presents the institutional directives.

1. Promotion of development in African socialization especially in healthcare and education
2. Improving the relationships between African state and their cultural groupings
3. Initiation and development of intact relationships internationally
4. Creation of strategies to attract tourists, investors and trading merchants
5. Boosting the relationships of Africa’s diaspora communities

ICD uses a variety of strategies in trying to enhance these goals. In the following paragraphs, we will evaluate these strategies enabling the accomplishment of their goals.

Programs

The programs facilitating ICD development divides into the following parts;

1. Young Leaders Forums
2. Human Rights Initiatives
3. Academy for Cultural Diplomacy
4. ICD Thematic Programs.

ICD Young Leaders Forums

This program unites people with similar interests and arms them into making improvement of the cultural relationship throughout the world (Institute for Cultural Diplomacy 2012). The relationship could be between areas, countries or the globe. Different countries or regions interact culturally and strengthen the relationships existing in day to day operation.

It has several forms of operations involving interactions by areas, such as America and Europe, and involves calling different countries to meet others on their operations. For instance, arrangements are made where people from Europe move to meet with Russians. This program facilitates interaction between and within Africa, south and North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

The program advances ICD into becoming a large institution of exchanging cultures independently. Also, it assembles the global professionalisms and learning strategies. Members are able to access the cultural diplomacies and apply them in their relations. They offer opportunities to create personal programs for exchanging cultural ideas. It is evident that ICD plays a vital role in making Africa extensible in the field of cultural interactions.

The targeting to young people implies that there is future retention of these cultures and long-time allowance for further exchange. The culture will expand and attain recognition in the globe (Lentin & Gavan 2011). We expect that there will be activation of neoliberal multiculturalism due to low recognition of one culture by many people (Hale, 2005). This will, in turn, create a standard political, religious and economical stabilization due lack of favour. In this respect, African culture will have played an incredible role through ICD.

Human Rights Initiatives

Human rights are crucial and universal factors for consideration by every person. ICD picks this factor and internalises it as a factor pulling people into the activity of protecting the rights of every person. This broadens ICD and enables many people to join in encouragement of the group. It, then, incorporates the people in advocating for human rights.

The programs initiate the prohibition of certain inhumane traditions such as female genital mutilation in some communities. Apart from this, ICD has another program about genocide. The program strategizes the rights of people in their cultures and prevents massacres based on cultures. The initiation of the program on ‘Born Equal’ is another strategy encouraging equality. It educates people on democracy and shows them their roles in shaping a democratic nation.

ICD emphasizes on the freedom of expression by protecting people in the field. It points out on the necessity of considering people’s cultures, traditions, religions, governments and backgrounds. ICD conducts research forums, program, dialogues, conferences preparation and making of recommendations with an aim of addressing policies of the globe to people.

Lastly, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a prominent part in the facilitation of cultural relations between parties in the globe. Rooted relationships between the parties lead to easy interaction and business association. Corporation between parties assists in the presentation of concise and complete overview about company’s ethical backgrounds. ICD developed this corporation with an aim of attracting a debate on their achievements to the concerned parties.

Academy for Cultural Diplomacy

This is an academic institution developed by ICD. The institution specialises with cultural studies. Their mode of study considers the globe by involving electronic learning. E-learning enables the creation of a strategic and organised distance learning where many people study at different parts of the globes. It offers potential people opportunities to attain knowledge and gather complementary experiences in this institution.

It, also, provides adequate facilities such as libraries and audio-visual enhancements. The distance learning enables worldwide interaction of peers and creates the ease of learning when working or having other commitments. It, also, enables easy access and freedom to perform tasks with personal basis. It reduces the dependence of people by making them feel responsible for their performances without discrimination due to personal characters or behaviours.

Another factor of distance learning that enhances effective learning is freedom to receive learning instructions. For instance, student can watch lecture videos at wish and repeat watching any time they need to receive emphasis on certain issues.

The programs offered shows emphasis on cultural relationship in the globe. For instance, a course on cultural diplomacy and international relations arms students with strategies of initiating and developing personal programs throughout the globe. The following list includes other courses offered in ICD academy.

1. Cultural diplomacy and the media
2. Cultural diplomacy in Africa
3. Cultural diplomacy in the global economy

These programs show a clear concern that the institutions have on developing the strategies of cultural interactions. ICD conducts seminars within time intervals that allow traditional presentations and performances. The seminars conduction and operation lie on professionals such as lecturers, diplomats and other individual professional in recognised institutions.

These studies on cultural diplomacy have helped participants in knowing about the cultures of the globe especially in Africa. An upcoming conference arranged to happen from 13th to 16th December 2012 in Berlin aims at making an exploration on culture and its diplomacy. Other events portray a cultural dimension aiming at improving international relations (Institute for Cultural Diplomacy 2012).

ICD Thematic Programs

This is the other specialised field in cultural activities. It focuses on issues concerning politics, cultures and economy on a chosen geographical area. Every program developed under this category assesses various activities with thematic bases that range from conferencing to exhibitions.

For instance, the various programs initiated under this arm involve cultural diplomacies in various countries and continents. They include transatlantic relations, Slovenia House Berlin, and Cultural Diplomacy in Africa, East Asia, Latin America, Germany and United Kingdom. The program designs strategies in which cultural music and sport activities such as cultural gymnastics performances take place.

Other strategies involve the use of art studies as a way of shaping intercultural activities. The pictures below represent the art work in the enhancement of African cultural activities.

Interaction of African countries through UMOJA (Swahili word for unity) is another vital and incredible role of ICD. During this period, many people gather together to portray their differences and show their love on cultures. The pictures below present the unity facilitated by this special gathering within Africa and involving Africans (Institute for Cultural Diplomacy 2012).

Modernity

Differences are the key causative agents of break and ideas distinctions. However, interrelations between cultures kill these differences. For instance, the rise of scholarships and internet enhanced strategies of learning among other program such as the ones’ discussed above lead to innovation of a modernized society.

This society will accept other cultures and consider the differences as learning tools (Taylor & Gutmann, 1994). It is time that people note that knowledge only grows when shared among people. Penetration of ideas, skill and knowledge rely on sharing between individuals in the universe.

It is through sharing that we learn what we do best and what we can learn from other people. We, therefore, should learn to appreciate those teaching communities and treat them with courtesy and respect. If we do this, respect and courtesy within communities would arise and dominates the globe.

We will create harmony between communities, tribes and races slowly until we attain a peaceful and stable community. This is a strategy fit for recognition and recommendation to those potential organizations capable of action. It is a strategy to eradicate arrogance and ignorance within people. It, also, leads to activation of their desires in investigating cultures from different communities.

Advertisement and Foreign Income

The diplomatic ideas of implementing education and uniting strategies in the ICD not only reveal Africa cultural interests, but also make Africa a culturally rich continent. The developments initiated reveal African cultural feature and populates their presence in the globe. They advertise the features in their countries and attract tourist. This, in turn, increases the foreign earnings due to the rise of African sociality and state.

They record audio visual enhancements that advertise and familiarize the globe with them. In these videos, they wear appropriate cultural attires and form patterns expected to make videos appear cultural.

In fact, since the traditions of some African communities have remained intact, it becomes easy to trace the appropriate cultures and strategize institutions in a manner that portrays culture in the right way. The atmosphere provided by ICD fits the words cultural community. Cultural food, dances, education and music acts as evidence to these situations.

Africans in Diaspora

In essence, Africa is a continent with stable cultural identities in the diaspora. It has characters to fight racism and bring harmony to all. Africans living in the western countries encounter the struggle of fitting into other cultures as well as retaining their own. It happens that the differences are conspicuous in a way that there are high chances of misconceiving an African into the western culture (McKay, 1966). Otherwise, failure to adapt into these cultures would only portray a person as a home traditional African.

These characters would reduce the respect and recognition of a person because s/he is seen as a cultural egotist. When avoiding this treatment, an African could try to enhance accent and culture towards fitting the host one. Change is a factor hard to adapt and accept immediately.

For instance, if a situation arises where a student gets a scholarship to Britain, we would expect the following incidences in a cultural distinct environment. This student must adapt the accent differences and his/her unique cultural behaviors. Before making these adaptations, s/he becomes unsociable and separates from other students. They, therefore, remain distinct and unsociable during the rest of their school life. On the other hand, natives make friends easily and adapt to the school in their area faster (Segal, 1995).

Cosmopolitan Solution

The destiny and desire of a person is the route in which people manage to navigate the world and attain consequent knowledge throughout the globe. We must, therefore, retain a cosmopolitan identity with aims to search and internalize the knowledge that we already have.

It is the destiny of each person to eliminate those differences created by nature and consider other people as equals. In doing this, we have a tool that will facilitate successful endings. Culture will not fail us from achieving unity and harmony within the globe. Allowing people appreciate their cultures with friends belonging to different cultural groups. This is happening in learning institution such as the Culture Week of Kenyatta University among others and will continue to grow with time (Conniff & Davis 1994).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Africa is playing a vital role of cultural interactions in the diaspora. People around the globe can now explore around without fear of rejection and hardness of adaptation. Migration will, therefore, continue to enhance interactions and discover more with time. Also, people will enjoy their cultures and discourage the arising differences in time. Cultures will ensure that the globe attain solid harmony and intact stand that will never sway. I recommend individuals to fight with an aim of achieving prominence and unity.

References

Conniff, M. L., & Davis, T. J. (1994). Africans in the Americas: a history of the Black diaspora. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Hale, C. (2005). The Remaking of Cultural and Racial Dominance in Central America. Neoliberaral Multiculturalism, 28(1), 10.

Hall, S. (1997). Representation: cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage in association with the Open University.

Lentin, A., & Gavan, T. (2011). The crises of multiculturalism: racism in a neoliberal age. London: Zed Books.

McKay, V. (1966). African diplomacy; studies in the determinants of foreign policy.. New York: Published for the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University by Praeger.

Segal, R. (1995). The black diaspora. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Taylor, C., & Gutmann, A. (1994). Multiculturalism: examining the politics of recognition. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (2012). Welcome to the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Retrieved from http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/index.php?en