of race and zookeepers

Today an "African village" opened in Germany's Augsburg zoo. To be sure, exhibiting "exotic others" is not a new phenomenon. European and American colonial powers have revelled in such horrific displays since the moment of contact. What shocks and appalls many members of my H-Net listserv--where dialogue and calls for protest have circulated for the past week--is that this is the twenty-first century! Shouldn't it be obvious that exhibiting humans in a zoo--even under the guise of displaying arts and crafts and deepening Germany's knowledge of African culture--is inhumane?

I think Nick Nolte's character in Hotel Rwanda captures the western world's view of Africa when he tells Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle) that Africans aren't even niggers. In other words, the West still views Africans as the lowest form of life, kissing cousins to apes and certainly not worth helping. Why else would the supposed more advanced nations turn a blind eye to the war and genocide in Rwanda? Why have these same nations continued to ignore the genocide in Sudan?

Dr. Barbara Jantschke the organizer of the "African village" defends the display based on the ethnicity of her co-organizer, whom she describes as "a native African with black skin color." I guess if Condi Rice sanctioned an auction of African Americans that would make it okay.

bad blogger

Still struggling to make blog postings a regularity. My goal was to do a sort of "blogging while in Hartford" series as all my former posts detail my time in Austin as a young hip all but PhD p.o.c. In many ways, Hartford and Austin are a lot alike. Both capital cities. The cultural outposts in both places leave me wanting except that Austin has more "off the beaten path" coffee houses, small galleries and the like whereas Hartford's a bit of a cultural wasteland, especially for hip thirty-somethings of color like myself.

Three noteworthy exceptions to that statement are Real Art Ways, The Artists Collective and the Wadsworth Atheneum. I tend to frequent RAW's Third Thursday cocktail events to check out new exhibits, enjoy good sounds (usually) and take in an eclectic crowd. Admittedly I haven't taken full advantage of The Artists Collective. I've been to a show there but am eager to check out an African dance class. The cool thing about the space is that it is beautifully designed and located in the center of a predominantly West Indian community. So one can catch a show, get a roti afterwards perhaps and wind all in the same evening.

The Wadsworth is sometimes stuffy but they do have cool cocktail events called Collage and some of Hartford's hipsters show up. In general though, the young tend to flee this little city for the bigger betters. Midway between New York and Boston, Hartford has a hard time keeping the cool entertained. Myself included. The first weekend I moved here, I was off to New York. The second ... to Boston. But I also get out and explore HC more than most people I know. And it's ... quaint. Many of the upper class neighborhoods are quite beautiful. And hey, we're a stone's throw away from 50 Cent's mansion. What could be better?

But alas to my regrets for being a bad blogger. Just as I'm amped up for my Hartford series, seems I'm on to bigger better as well. What can I say? Stay tuned for the BK ...