Crossing Borders

Check out the full article here: Interview with Garba Diallo

We start by thanking the BLACK LIVES MATTER Movement for their brave actions to heal the world of the pandemic of racism. We applaud their powerful push to restore the dignity of black people and other people. We consider the Black Lives Matter as a way for our inner and outer emancipation and that of our cultures and other aspects of life. The 25 May assassination of George Floyd under the sadistic knee of Derek Chauvin and his brothers in crime has once again reminded us that the cries of the Black Lives Matter movement are not only natural. They are necessary absolutely necessary in order to liberate humanity from the pandemic of racism. Therefore, as Crossing Borders organisation whose mission is to create spaces for dialogue on equal terms, it is only natural that we join the Back Lives Matter to condemn in the strongest possible terms the systemic police brutality and its underlying historical, cultural, linguistic, media, economic and power structures. We condemn these structures as they inspire and fuel the mental and emotional infrastructures that justify having cruel supremacist knees on the necks of the black people for so long. We recognise that these knees on the necks of the black are the pandemic that has prevented black people from breathing for the past 401 long years. During these years, black people endured kidnapping, enslavement, forced labour, colonisation, apartheid, and ongoing exploitation of their bodies and economies. We recognise that these infrastructures are the root causes of the daily racism and discrimination that black people and communities of colour are systematically subjected to in our international relations, academia, museums, movement across borders our borders, on our streets, schools, and workplaces. We also recognise that the history of racist abuse has run so long and so deep that even the black victims have internalised and applied it on themselves, as manifested in self-denial and abuse. Thus, we hope that the momentum that the murder of George Floyd has generated will be escalated and sustained until these underlying structures are dismantled and replaced with the recognition of the fact that there is only one human race and that the cultural and other human diversities are not only what makes the human race survive and thrive, but, cultural diversity is as necessary as the biological diversity of planet earth. As a contribution toward restoring trust and healing, we propose the following measures: Recognise, apologise, and cleanse the historical crime of enslavement, colonialism, apartheid, and the still ongoing discrimination, exclusion, and exploitation of black people and other communities of colour. Cleanse our education, media, language, museums and amusement parks of racist legacies just like we have done with the bundling and burning of smart women and pulling down of the monuments of Nazi war founding fathers Launch an honest cultural exchange and spaces for dialogue for youth, educators, artists and schools and university to learn not to repeat the past Replace development aid with fair trade and knowledge sharing partnership with Africa and the countries of people of colour Include black and brown people in our schools, workplaces, parliaments, company boards, and other key positions wherever possible. The public and civil society sectors should walk the talk by taking the lead on this front The nations whose economies were built on black blood and bodies should set up museums and memorials to recognise and honour the vital contribution of black and brown people to their countries Launch campaigns of public education to put an end to the degrading abuse of black people’s pictures by our charities/ development industry for fundraising purposes

That most countries, including the most advanced ones, are ill-prepared for the sudden COVID 19 outbreak proves that the world has not invested in where it matters the most: relevant education, public health, decentralized provision of vital goods and services. The result is the panic and uncoordinated and fragmented responses we witness right now. Responding to and defeating an invisible global enemy calls for global coordination and cooperation and solidarity. In other words, solidarity, and sharing of information, knowledge, expertise, and resources within and across countries and continents. The absence of solidarity and collaboration makes each country grapple with the outbreak within its confines. For populist leaders, the easiest response is resorting to quick fix: closing their borders as if the COVID 19 could be shut out by shutting the borders. During his solitary prayer in the Vatican at the peak of the COVID 19 pandemic in Italy, Pope Francis urged the world to see the coronavirus pandemic as a test of solidarity and a reminder of basic values” and that the health crisis put everyone “in the same boat”.[i] The lesson here is that we need to shift our priorities away from the notion of bigger is better toward small and decentralised units. The orthodox notion of bigger is better that has driven the modern development toward over-centralization has proven itself to be ineffective. The results are mega metropolis with mega glass towers, high ways for mega lorries transporting endless chain of necessary and un-necessary products, a complex web of mega metros and airports, mega power plants dominated by polluting coal, gas, nuclear and hydro plants, mega monoculture-agri-business, mega ports for mega ships ploughing the seas with mega containers and mega fishing trawlers to feed mega markets owned by fewer and fewer mega transnational corporations. The inevitable results include stress and pollutions of various kinds including air, noise, light, water, and stench which breed outbreaks of diseases as we witness today. Other harmful consequences can be seen in the growing mental ill-health, depression, and a general sense of identity crises, unhappiness and satisfaction, and human insecurity.  Therefore, that we have been grounded and provided with ample time by the coronavirus we should be able to reflect about and chart a new direction toward more solidarity and cooperation on global issues like the current COVID 19. Writing in the Financial Times on 25 March 2020, the prime minister of Ethiopia and the 2019 Nobel Peace laureate Aby Ahmed warns that “..if the virus is not defeated in Africa, it will only bounce back to the rest of the world. That is why the current strategy of uncoordinated country-specific measures, while understandable, is myopic, unsustainable, and potentially counter-productive. A virus that ignores borders cannot be tackled successfully like this. We can defeat this invisible and vicious adversary — but only with global leadership. Without that, Africa may suffer the worst, yet it will not be the last. We are all in this together, and we must work together to the end.”[ii] Small could be beautiful and more efficient more sustainable Thus, one of the many lessons we should learn from the corona crisis is to shift the direction from bigger is better toward smaller and decentralized economic models with smaller and self-reliant units of production, supplies, and services. This is not about going to back hunting and gathering mode of society. As can be seen in the global growth of transition towns and eco-villages, reinventing smaller units is the new modern way of leapfrogging back to living with and not apart from nature. Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian earth scientist Dr. Vandana Shiva asserts that “With the health emergency engendered by the coronavirus we need to look at systems that spread disease and systems that create health in a holistic, systems approach. A systems approach to health care in times of the corona crisis would address not just the virus, but also how new epidemics are spreading as we invade into the homes of other beings. It also needs to address the comorbidity conditions related non-communicable chronic diseases which are spreading due to non-sustainable, anti-nature , unhealthy industrial food systems” She continues “…we need to discard “policies and practices that lead to the physical and moral degradation of the food system while destroying our health and endangering the planet’s ecological stability, and endangering the biogenetic survival of life on the planet.”[iii] Thus, it is high time we turn toward a new sustainable form of production and consumption. A form that is more efficient, healthier, safer, and sustainable than the currently dominant, extractive, and destructive forms. Toward this kind of utopian society, I propose the following seven strategic steps. Decentralise the mega citifies and sectors in order to localise the control over their vital sectors of education, health, production, and energy supply units. In such smaller communities, people will be able to walk and bike in green parks with small schools, clean energy plants, solar and heat pumps Focus on enlightenment and entrepreneurship education to prepare collaborative and job creating citizens rather than frightened job seekers Shift our economic system toward green and cradle to cradle zero economic production, processing and consumption systems that are in harmony with the environment Shift investment from the destructive militarised economy, commercialised public health to life giving and regenerative economic activities  Reform from post-WWII world order to a more democratic global forum with equal representation of the different regions of the world according to proportional democracy with no veto to power on global issues Promote intercultural contacts, exchange, and collaborations to reduce harmful old and prevent new stereotypes Foster and reward international peaceful and climate-friendly joint ventures by providing tax-free to such ventures    Already we see all over the world people volunteering to help, offering food and sharing within and across communities. We also see doctors, nurses, caregivers, and social workers from multicultural backgrounds putting their lives at risk in order to save the lives of fellow humans. This heroic dedication shows the corona