02 Dec 05

by: Peter Fleming

Last Wednesday saw the launch of the African HIV Policy Network "Changing Perspectives Campaign" at South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, London and Peter Fleming birngs you a report of the nights proceedings.

What was most striking was evidence of welcome and regard for the attendant guests throughout the evening. I recall, after the unexpected big-gun greeting by AHPN’s Winnie Sseruma and Max Siseye at the approach room entrance to the drinks reception, the music of woman saxophonist’s penultimate number was introduced as a “Bashment riddim” and well rendered it was too.

Winnie then spoke to us with an empathy and spirit of commitment in words that rang out the urgency for us to talk to people in challenge of stigma (period) around HIV & AIDS, and the reality of the negative media following a GBH conviction that we must, and I believe Winnie might say, rebut consciously at the very first sign.

The innate charge of the Changing Perspectives campaign could be underemphasised and dampened by a statement simply saying the night featured African drumming, dancers and Henry Bonsou. In fact the pride and passion that one adores to witness was ample.

Thus from the heart calmly Max stood again, introducing the next piece generously availing us of the formality of drumming as an African tradition of welcome gathering and message transmission. Upon reflection, its clear that for a person on the fringe of a fringe or one attempting to reach such a person, much needed warmth from the fire of hope is to be felt through Max’s word here to the attendees. Let it be said in truth and that the drumming and dancing of Ujamma Arts Group was a blessing spectacular.

It then fell to Henry Bonsou the task of reaching and engaging us on the first stage of this new Journey together. Though it didn’t require us to have local knowledge of Dudley, North England, a fresher as I am to this magnitude of undertaking in African HIV work did need to see Henry dispense with his prepared speech, just to get the “new” embedded before heading off.

Henry’s delightful releases into some very serious issues AHPN’s Campaign is set up to address like ‘judgemental attitudes’ was encouraging for two clear reasons; I’ve survived some time socially with HIV in my body and know wrong attitudes cost you friends and then health follows out the door, so check-it; he had no reason to assume messing up the speech would be OK, and under gaze of organisers I believe exemplified the virtue of the recovery process needed when confronting the public us all even with the simple facts. Henry contextualised appropriately for a majority in the know starting by pledging to say something good about his people, to his people regardless.

That pledge was kept through the celebratory anecdotal account not of just his having been to Jamaica in recent months but how great for him it was to find that after official colonial powers had been and left, after everything African cultural traditions remained, essentially a unifying view point, but bright in nature and of potent effect.

Next up was Swiss who’s track “Cry” in place, said everything about the impact of HIV on us all but yet more glistening out of the classic black street culture that we can all be proud of, through Swiss and those of his genre comes the mechanism to overcome cultural antinomy, the means for this campaign to lead the world on changing perspectives. Why? Because the young(and Swiss when questioned by Henry on what keeps him going remarked “history”) in this context are strong with life-force, unbiased with need to fit some norm and vocal in expression of what is really going on within or affecting the life of their community, just look what we’ve achieved and imagine the possibilities. So encourage I say.

Edutainer Kwaku Bonsu should really take the crown for going in with the history first before anyone else but also because he’s the talent we need in civil society to help keep things civil in cultural terms. Juxtaposition of “SIV” with “seasoning/cooking” took controversy to the back door and kicked it out. They had to ‘low-im’ because of the “20-year” he had to build his pride out of the struggle that Nelson Mandela shouldered and he quoted “had not seen enough done when in power regarding AIDS ”

The organisers succeeded in giving the evenings message to those most affected slotting into the last phase artists Black Twang, also local community figures and closed with Radio 1Xtra’s Lloyd and Edu playing background to a very chatty still large group of people, just getting to know each other a different way, I guess.