National Kriol Council

REPORT OF CABO CONFERENCE IN COSTA RICA – LIMON December 2010

by Myrna Manzanares

The Central American Black Organization Conference (CABO) was held in Limon Costa Rica December, 2010. Myrna Manzanares, the president of NKC and Janice Young member attended the conference. It was quite an experience getting to Limon from San Jose, the capital .The day was very wet and it rained all the while we were travelling.  Some parts of Costa Rica is similar to Belize when it rains  constantly. Bridges and streets get flodded  and yes there are also potholes!

We expected to reach Limon between four and four-thirty, but unfortunately like Belize a number of bridges were flooded and we didn’t arrive until eight o’ clock, spending a total of seven hours on the road. Fortunately we caught  the earlier bus, but the group of eighty other participants including the president were held up in San Jose , because the roads  had already closed. They  missed the entire first and second day of the conference.

This year’s conference was held in the memory of Austin Flores who passed away earlier 2010. He was one of the founding members of CABO. The  conference included the proclamation to the inauguration of the sixteenth  Assembly of CABO  at the Salon Liberty Hall Black Starline UNIA. Despite the rain and revised schedule the conference proceed  and all efforts was made to include as much of the agenda as possible.

The first day of the sessions included words from  Mirta Colon, Women’s secretary of CABO;  paper presented by Epsy Campbell on cultural Identity;   information on the role of the black woman in history  by Arzinia Richardson ; and a session on Traditional Medicine. These were all general sessions with all the delegates. These were very informative sessions

Mirta Colon shared the activities that were carried out over the year 2010.The basic message from Ms Campbell was that black women need to recognize the power they have inside and the importance of knowing their identity.  She shared the injustices that is being done to women in this region and how women are  expected to be less that men, as well as the violence women continue to suffer. She feels that the women of Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras need to step up .

Listening to her its clear that black women in Belize have come a long way in achieving a  modicum of equity and equality in Belize. That does not mean that we have met our goal in this process but we are way ahead in this region and that there are ways  in which we can share and support our sisters in the region. Reflecting on Belize we see that there are many opportunities for women to be educated, black or otherwise. What the region is trying to push is women in the political process.

Epsy Campbell spoke about cultural identity and the need to teach our young people about their identy which includes the origins of their identity, no matter the skin color. If you have African origins you have to understand who you are .  There are kriols all over the  Central American region  as well as Garifuna who are of African origins. She feels that it is important to teach our youth about the UNIA and the work they have done in the region to move black people forward. It is also important to teach about Garvyism ( the work of Marcus Garvey )

An interesting session was conducted by Arezinia Richardson on the presence of black women thirty thousand years before the first dynasty. He spoke of the role the African woman played in history. A queen of England was African, three popes married African women. He shared that black women have always been worshipped by all women. The sympol is the feather meaning the feather in my heart.  Women were important  in the old African traditions. The Africans felt that women had the ability to take the mind of the creator and make a living body to save the world. He also share that  in South America, the Caps an African tribe headed by a woman was wiped out. 50 villages were wiped out and  buried with the African princess who was the head of the tribe.

Other interesting information he shared was that African women invented the entire idea of justice. He also shared that women were the ones who calculated the math to send people to the moon.

Other  areas of the conference that were covered are sited below.

• Problem with US immigration in the central American countries. Why is there such a problem when the countries help in the development of the US. A Representative for the Us Immigration spoke on the problem in Europe which is similar. Africans go to Africa, not to Central America. The international African Leaders have been doing the best they can to address this problem they will be havi ng a meeting and will send invitations for participation.
• Working with the census in the Americas. Encourage individuals to participate. Problem in last cencus in Costa Rica is that they did not count the city of Limon where the most black people live. They chose a place where there was a small amount of blacks, so it looked like there is only  small amount of blacks lice in Costa Rica. They did  not want this to happen in the 2011 census.
• There was also a session on climate change and the effect it has and will continue to have on the region
• The last day the youth presented on the works they  had been involved with and  they shared their concerns and resolution which included: working with the community to make decisions; include the youth more in what is happening; some of the regions need to unite and analyze plan of action; establish school for leadership of our black youth in the region; need to strengthen youth arm of CABO.

An exciting part of the conference was the  cultural presentations which were shared through dancing . The similarities in the cultural outfits and dancing were powerful particularly to the Kriol.

This year there was no election of new officers  and it was agreed for the current Board to be in place another year . Myrna Manzanares from the Kriol Council was selected to be an observer on the board.

The presence of representation from the Garifuna Council in Belize at the conference was very much missed, although, their representative  on the board sent in the name of  Cynthial Ellis to represent  him. She was not  present  at the conference.

The other representatives from Belize was Ya Ya marin Coleman from UEF- she travelled by bus from Belize to Costa Rica. Harry Arzu who was sent by IDB, and Emmerson guild from the Venezuelan Embassy.

In the summary of the conference it was pointed out that we had much work to do in the Central American Region, and we need to decide how to make it work.  A serious call was made for people on the coast to understand the importance of participating in the development of the their land as it will be worth a hundred times more in years to come.

It  was also pointed the importance of Building capacity of black  administrators and owners of community business;  to be involved and use community based marketing and distribution of  products to local and international bodies and the important of setting up connections to international bodies.

Proposal for CABO

The following proposals were set forward.

•  movement to recognize our heroes in the Hemesphere – Marcus Garvey, Nelson Mandela etc. as well as feminine heroes in the hemisphere
• Communicate the essentials with each other across the region
• Adopt an eco-cultural-social perspective for development.

CABO 15^th, GENERAL ASSEMBLY

University of Belize Campus

Dec.3^rd-5^{th, 2009}

Myrna Manzanares' Impression of the CABO 2009 conference

Totally exhausted, body barely moving , -Satisfied

Because God sent the rain to signal his  blessings on the deliberations and the resolutions that  were made on this occasion

What a week one would say

What an awesome , challenging week

Awesome - to see the coming together

Of our afro brothers and Sisters from Central America in Belize

Awesome to see the dedication to a strong cause.

Awesome to be able to communicate through whan can be seen as a Language divide

Spanish, Garifuna English Kriol

Awesome, because despite all the adversities

The mission was accomplished.

Challenging - because of all the uncertainties From beginning to end.

Challenging - because of the clash of personalities

Challenging because of not being mindful 

Of the choice  of communication style

Which can often create conflicts

And challenging because of seeming disrespect for  others

And  negotiations agreed upon.

This was indeed an exhausting, awesome and challenging experience.

Irreparable ?  No! Lessions learned?  Many

So now is the time to really get to work

To analyze what could have been a regional calamity

With international implication

For the advancement of our people

What could have been a severing of ties

Causing irreparable damages to our image

And given credence to the perception

That indeed black people will forever

Be in mental slavery, even amoung their own

Yes this is a good time

This is the  right time

The time is now to get back to the drawing board

To re-assess ourselves as Afro-descendants

To plan a multi-prong strategy

That will not leave anything to chance

The time is now to build our economic base

So that every group can share in the

Financing  of  their participation in the various  activities

And let the business of CABO be to  fill in the gaps

And to tend to the international fundraising and relationships

So that we can all benefit from the educational, social, cultural

Environmental , health and other programs negotiated for us.

AWESOME,     CHALLENGING,      EXAUSTING,  SATISFYING

This Fifteenth General Assembly in Belize

One to be remembered and cherished

As the catalyst for truly moving forward – United for progress.

Myrna Manzanares  ( December 5^th. 2009)