Black history draws
UH focus

An international conference at the University of Hawaii-Manoa will look at the history of African Americans in Hawaii and the Pacific.

"This event brings together diverse peoples and interests in a state that loves to tout its diversity," said Kathryn Waddell Takara, a University of Hawaii-Manoa professor who is organizing the conference. "We encourage faculty, students and Hawaii residents to join us in exploring the intersections of histories and cultures of Africa and her diaspora as it stretches from east to west."

Organizers hope the conference -- "Forging Links" -- will stimulate the growth of research on the black diaspora in the Pacific with other scholars from Asia and the Pacific.

Conference participants will discuss the establishment of an International Center for Africana Studies and Research in Manoa.

The conference will also address what Takara describes as a serious lack of black presence and scholarship in the islands.

"The university offers few black courses, has few black professors and is thirsty for an infusion of black scholarship," she said.

African Americans represent 3 percent of Hawaii's population but make up less than 1 percent of students and faculty at the university.

"Hawaii has long been seen and acknowledged as a center for diversity, but for complex reasons there has been a pattern of exclusion that has directly affected black people: their lives, immigration patterns, careers and educational opportunities and acceptance in the local ohana," Takara said.

Writer and poet Ishmael Reed, recipient of the MacArthur Fellows Program "Genius Award" in 1998, will give the keynote address.

The conference will be held Nov. 18-20 at the East-West Center's Imin Center. Admission is free for programs during the day.

Panel topics include "Diaspora Perspectives," "Shifting Borders and Identities" and "Africa in the Pacific." These will address the complex racial identification of the indigenous groups throughout the Pacific island regions.

Activities will culminate with a Saturday program to include ethnic food and "choreopoems" featuring Adela Chu and Sequoia (dance), Azure McCall (jazz vocalist), Jammerek (drumming) and poetry.

The events are sponsored by the University of Hawaii, the East-West Center, the UH Manoa Interdisciplinary Studies Program and the Hawaii black community.

For conference program information, contact professor Kathryn Takara at 956-7067, or contact the UH Conference Center at 956-8204.