DOWNLOAD FREE SONGS FROM
BLACK DIAMOND BEAUTY AFRICANA ENTERTAINERS #BDBAE
BLACK DIAMOND BEAUTY AFRICANA ENTERTAINERS #BDBAE
...CONSTITUTION OF BLACK DIAMOND BEAUTY AFRICANA ENTERTAINERS
CONSTITUTION
OF BLACK DIAMOND BEAUTY AFRICANA ENTERTAINERS
1. Name
The name of the group shall be Black
Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers
2. Aim
To preserve, protect and promote
African arts, culture, tourism and to foster the unification of all African
nations states into a United States of Africa using the power of arts as its
main tool.
3. Objectives
Black Diamond Beauty Africana
Entertainers will fulfil the aim by:
* Improving the well-being
of the African people, working together with them regardless of age, ethnic
origin, ability, sex, belief or political affiliation, recognising the value of
its many differences.
* Involving the African people in the
protection, preservation and promotion of the African arts, culture, tradition,
tourism and participate in the global war against the ills of climate change.
* Using purely ancient African approach in
keeping the planet green, to carry out and promote environmental improvement
and purely practical African conservation methods, educating, encouraging and
supporting the African population through the use of arts in environmental
practices by working with statutory and non statutory agencies.
* Promoting the almost extinct African
science of arts such as the science of fast and slow dance mostly applied in
ancient African traditional ekpe society.
* To raise funds and receive contributions
where appropriate to finance the continental activities of Black Diamond Beauty
Africana Entertainers
* To publicise and promote Black Diamond
Beauty Africana Entertainers cross continental activities through the public
media
* Open bank accounts for. Black Diamond
Beauty Africana Entertainers
* Make rules and standing orders for
categories of Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers members and their
rights.
* Take out insurances.
* Organise meetings, training and
educational courses and events strictly within the African continent.
* Work with similar African groups aiming
at preserving and promoting the African culture and fostering African unity, and
exchange information and advice with them.
* Take lawful actions which would help
Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers fulfil its aims and objectives.
4. Membership
(a) Membership of Black Diamond
Beauty Africana Entertainers shall be open to primarily African artists and any
anyone interested in helping Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers achieve
its aim and objectives, also willing to abide by the rules of the group. Upon acceptance
as member, members are henceforth recognized as African nationals and neither
nationals of any other nation or African nation.
(b) Every member shall have one vote at general
meetings except authentic, recognized and registered artists who will have three
votes.
(c) Members of the Board of Trustees shall have
the power to refuse membership to any applicant, where it is considered such
membership would be detrimental to the aims, purposes or activities of Black
Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers.
(d) Registration and termination of membership.
* Any member of Black Diamond
Beauty Africana Entertainers may resign his/her membership and any
representative of any member organisation or section may resign such position,
by giving to the Secretary
General of Black Diamond Beauty Africana
Entertainers a written notice to that effect.
* The Board of Trustees may, by resolution passed at a meeting thereof,
terminate or suspend the membership of any member, if in its opinion his/her
conduct is prejudicial to the interests and objects of the Black Diamond Beauty
Africana Entertainers, PROVIDED THAT the individual member or representative of
the associated member organisation (as the case may be) shall have the right to
be heard by the African Annual General Assembly before the final decision is
made by the Board of Trustees. There
shall be a right of appeal to an independent arbitrator appointed by mutual
agreement.
(e) Termination of membership
Termination of membership shall be by:
1. Death
2. Permanent disability
3. Sanction
4. Free volition through resignation
5. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF BOARD OF
TRUSTEES and Management of Black
Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers
Black Diamond Beauty Africana
Entertainers as a liberal arts organization is strictly an association for
artists. Therefore its board of trustees shall enjoy the majority of artists
comprise:
-
80%
legalised, registered and recognized artists earning author’s rights with
acceptable work of arts already published that befits their composition as true
artists. They have a majority right of vote three votes (3) as against other
board of trustees members not known as artists with a single (1) single vote
only. They are entitld to a natural shares of Black Diamond Beauty Africana
Entertainers in the neighbouhood of 10%-20%.
-
10% None artists but professionals in other
fields interested in the aims and objectives of Black Diamond Beauty Africana
Entertainers.
-
10%
None African nationals working towards the realization of the dreams of Black
Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers
(a) Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers shall be administered by the
Board of Trustee of not less than ten (10) people and not more than fifteen
(30) members elected at the group’s African Annual General Assembly, Board of
Trustees Members must be at least 25 years old.
(b) The officers of the Board of
Trustees shall be:
The Chairperson
The Treasurer
The Finance Secretary.
(c) The Management Committee
shall meet at least twice a year.
(d) At least five (7) Board of
Trustees members must be present for the Board of Trustees meeting to take
place.
(e) Voting at the Board of
Trustees meetings shall be by show of hands on a majority basis. If there is a tied vote then the chairperson
shall have two, three or four exttra votes.
(f) Members of the Board of
Trustees shall have the power to set up sub-groups and working parties as
deemed necessary who shall be accountable to the Board of Trustees.
6. Finance
(a) Any
money obtained by Black Diamond Beauty
Africana Entertainers shall be used only for Black Diamond Beauty Africanan
Entertainers.
(b) Any bank accounts opened for
Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers
shall be in the name of the Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers.
(c) Any cheque issued shall be
signed by at least two of any three nominated signatures
(d) The Board of Trustees will
ensure that the group Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers stays within
the budget.
7. Board
of Trustees Meetings
(a) The Board of Trustees shall
meet as regularly as position depending on arising matters but at least (4)
times each year
(b) The quorum for a meeting
shall be five (7).
(c) The Board of Trustees shall
be accountable to the members at all times.
(d) All meetings must be minuted
and made available to any interested party.
(e) All Board of Trustees
Members shall be given at least three (3) days’ notice of a meeting unless it
is deemed an emergency meeting.
(f) Members of the Board of Trustees shall end alowances for each each
offically announced meeting
8. General
Public Meetings
(a) Black Diamond Beauty
Africana Entertainers shall call at least two general public meetings each year
with the participation of its entire African members, the purpose of these
meetings is for the group to account for its actions and consider the
regeneration and development of Black
Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers according to Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers
objectives.
(b) The Chair of the group shall
normally chair these meetings and in his absence, the deputy chair.
(c) At least fourteen (14)
days’ notice of such a meeting involving the entire continent must be given and
advertised in at least five (5) public medias.
(d) All meetings, including AAGA,
must be minuted and made available to any interested party
(e) The quorum for al African
Annual General Assemblies is thirty (30).
9. Black
Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers African Annual General Assembly
(a) Black Diamond Beauty
Africana Entertainers shall hold an African Annual General Asembly (AAGA) at
not more than seven years intervals.
(b) Where possible members shall
be notified personally, otherwise notice will be deemed served by advertising
the annual assembly in at least five public medias giving at least 14 days’
notice of the AAGA.
(c) The business of AAGA shall
include:
* Receiving
a report from the Chairperson of Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers
activities over the year.
* Receiving
a report and presentation of the last financial year’s accounts from the
Treasurer and Financial Secretary on the financial situation of . Black Diamond
Beauty Africana Entertainers
* Electing
a new Board of Trustees Members and considering any other matter as may be
appropriate at such a meeting.
(d) The quorum for Annual
African Annual General Assembly shall be at least eight (30) persons of which
no more than four (4) shall be committee members. Transportaion of eligible
voting members from all over Africa shall be decided by members of the Board of
Trustees
10. Alteration
of the Constitution
(a) Proposals for amendments to
this constitution, or dissolution (see Clause 11) must be delivered to the
Secretary General in writing. The
Secretary General in conjunction with all other officers of the Board of
Trustees shall then decide on the date of a forum meeting to discuss such
proposals, giving at least four weeks (28 days) clear notice.
(b) Any
changes to this constitution must be agreed by at least two thirds of those
members present and voting at any African Annual General Assembly.
11. Dissolution
The group may be wound up at any time
if agreed by two thirds of those members present and voting at any general
meeting. Any assets owned by Black
Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers shall be returned to their providers, if
they require it, or shall be passed on to another group with similar aims.
12. Adoption of the Constitution
This constitution was adopted by the
members present at the AAGA held the Cultural Center Complex of Calabar, Nigeria,
West Africa of the United States of Africa on:
...WORD FROM THE FOUNDING CHAIRMAN #BDBAE
Mr. Agbor Martins the founding chairman had this to say about the Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers:
Historically, many different cultures have come
into existence. Through time however, higher and more influential cultures have
emerged centering on rising new religions. Through a process of absorption of
the varied and numerous lower cultures by the higher and more universally
promoted and recognized ones, a consolidation of cultures have taken place. As a
result, there are only four major remaining cultures left in the world today.
They include: the Christian, Muslim, and Far Eastern (based on Buddhism, Confucianism,
and Taoism) and Hindu. This convergence flow of history shows the trend towards
the establishment of a one world culture. A social prophecy alerts us to
prepare our minds to eventually be led by a single world culture in the soonest
of time.
Should this happen, what becomes the fate of
the African, Nigerian and Cross River State culture? The project Miniature
Cross River State in Cross River State is aimed at fighting against adverse
effects of the above global subsuming cultural tread that took its rise from
the Middle Ages.
Since
the culture of a people is their identity as it affords them due recognition, the
indispensability of this project will soon be justified by its impacting vigorous
and economic growth. Spreading on this horizon, the project’s regenerating
impacts will in shortest possible delay be evidenced in its strong penetration in
society, politics, and culture and above all, the economy of the state of Cross
River, nation of Nigeria and the African continent.
The
project aims at introducing a new African Renaissance in every aspect of its
being, both educationally, scientifically, culturally and spiritually.
A
practical example may be drown from our educational system were our pupils learn
to despise even their own parents because according to Western belief and
educational structures, parents are old-fashioned and ignorant. Influenced by new Western thought patterns, there
is nothing in our existing educational system which suggests to the pupil that they
can still learn important farming techniques from their elders.
The
result is that youths absorbs beliefs about witchcraft before they go to
school, but does not learn the properties of local grasses; they absorb only the
taboos from their families but does not learn the methods of making nutritious
traditional foods. And from school, they end up acquiring knowledge unrelated
to agricultural life. They acquire the worst of both systems.
Prior
to independence, many Africans were socialized within indigenous contexts. At
present, traditional institutions of customary law, land tenure systems,
inheritance rights, and rituals are disappearing due to changes in power
relations inherent in modern techno-industrial culture, resulting in the
devaluing or erasure of indigenous African knowledge.
Indigenous
knowledge encompasses what local people know and do, and what they have known
and done for generations. These practices developed through trial and error,
and proved flexible enough to cope with change. Much of this knowledge,
however, has never been systematically documented and is subsequently being
forgotten and replaced by "modern" education and technology. The mission of Black diamond Beauty Africana
Entertainers is to call back yesterday, contemporary trends and finally
construct an object for African focus. And as we dare into this new
dispensation of African restoration, "modern" education, the formal,
Western-style educational system associated with Western thought will no longer
be perceived by Western influenced African educators as better than indigenous knowledge,
which is typically associated with folk knowledge and hence considered
"inferior." The term "indigenous" refers to the complex,
culturally diverse societies of Africa which have resulted from decades of
immigration and integration.
Such
a complex includes Christian and Islamic traditions, which vary greatly and
cannot be separated from other indigenous practices. The modern folk dichotomy
contributes to a widening gap between youth and elders in many rural African
contexts and perpetuates a false perception that modernization is a
unidirectional process.
A
curriculum which divides "indigenous" knowledge from
"modern" knowledge fails to teach students about the unique cultural
patterns by which Westerners develop and advance their social worlds, and
ignores the ways in which "modern" cultural beliefs and practices
draws from folk and indigenous ways of life. Black
Today
in culturally and religiously diverse African societies where the extended
family system is giving way to urban style nuclear families, education can only
be relevant if it provides individuals with the intellectual tools, moral
values, and skills needed to cope with this changing situation. Diamond Beauty
Africana Entertainer embodies the historic task of addressing these imbalances.
In the contemporary African world, there is a dichotomy between what is secular and what is religious. People’s view of the universe has changed. The world is no longer viewed in the religious sense but rather it is looked at as something to be totally exploited for the benefit of the human being. Nature now is viewed in terms of exploitation of natural resources. Africans in the contemporary time should borrow a leaf from traditional Africa. They should use African cultural heritage in preservation and rehabilitation of the environment that has been destroyed and degraded by selfish economic motives of few people.
In the contemporary African world, there is a dichotomy between what is secular and what is religious. People’s view of the universe has changed. The world is no longer viewed in the religious sense but rather it is looked at as something to be totally exploited for the benefit of the human being. Nature now is viewed in terms of exploitation of natural resources. Africans in the contemporary time should borrow a leaf from traditional Africa. They should use African cultural heritage in preservation and rehabilitation of the environment that has been destroyed and degraded by selfish economic motives of few people.
The
efforts of different organizations like Green Belt Movement, churches, United
Nations Environmental program and world commission on Environment, to preserve
and rehabilitate the environment should take into consideration the attitude of
the Africans. These efforts should learn from traditional ways of nature
conservation and try to come up with modified attitudes suitable to the
contemporary African world. The African worldview and beliefs that encouraged
the sacredness of the universe and all created beings should be taken into
consideration if contemporary Africa wants to preserve the environment.
African religious heritage, which links Africa with nature and God, should be
the point of departure in preserving the environment.
Through
the present project embarked upon by Black Diamond there will be a
rehabilitation of African Traditional Religion and Philosophy since it is
abundantly evident that Africans are notoriously religious by nature. This
implies that religion permeates and penetrates the whole life of the African
whose traditional religion typically integrated in its daily life. For the
Africans there is no clear-cut separation between what is secular and what is
sacred. Everything and every act are looked upon in a religious perspective.
African religion centered on human person as
passed down by the African ancestry is found in peoples’ daily activities. It
is oriented towards preservation of life and promotion of whatever enhances
life. In promoting life, African Traditional Religion is connected with the
environment because it is through healthy environment that life is enhanced.
Environment is part of life. As a communal religion, African traditional
religion is concerned with whatever affects human life. As a result, Africans
view the universe as a profoundly religious universe; hence they treat it as
such. The Africans view the human person as part of the environment.
Environment to an African means a whole life. Everybody then in traditional
African culture had a religious and moral responsibility towards the environment.
They knew that to destroy the environment meant to destroy the human person.
In
the contemporary African world, there is a dichotomy between what is secular
and what is religious. Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the African shores,
Africans’ view of the universe underwent a dramatic changed. To the African,
the world is no longer viewed in the religious sense but rather it is looked at
as something to be totally exploited for the benefit of the human being.
This view has caused environmental problems in Africa, such as soil erosion,
de-forestation, water pollution and desertification.
Africans
view themselves as part of the environment. Man is conceivable only in this
cosmic interweavement. This web of relation is what makes Africans view the earth
as their mother and themselves as her children.
This
means that, though God, humanity and nature are distinct concepts they are
ontological categories that are interrelated and interdependent. Therefore
plants, animals and other non-living beings are part of nature, which is the
product of God’s creation deserving to be respected as much as human beings who
are also part of nature. The relationships between persons and nature are
rooted in God as the creator of all. So plants, animals, minerals and other
inanimate beings form a unity and depend on each other. This is what makes
Africans regard themselves as being in close relationship with the entire
cosmos. Africans, especially in the traditional setting, were nature-oriented. A
person in the African sense is the one who is in good relationship with nature.
In
traditional African societies, many people believed that trees and forests were
the manifestation of the power of the Supreme Being. They saw these things as
ideal places to meet God. Traditional African societies had many shrines, which
were associated with big trees such as fig trees and baobabs. These trees
together with the vegetation around were preserved as sacred places for
worship.
Traditional
Africans in their purest past regarded trees, shrubs, grass and forests as
valuable gifts from God. They respected big trees especially as a place to meet
God. Thus, sacrifices and offerings were done under trees, stones, rivers and
waterfalls. Until today, it is a taboo
to cut down certain trees in Africa because it is considered plants that
embodies the sacredness of God.
The
Africans did not attach much importance to trees and herbs just for spiritual
purposes, but also because trees, herbs and plants in general were useful in
enhancing human life. Apart from being symbols of God’s presence among people,
trees were seen as medicine to man and animals. Trees, leaves, roots and
grasses provided herbal medicines to human beings and to wild as well as
domestic animals.
Apart
from providing shade for various social gatherings, trees are also used for
some purification ceremonies and rituals. The community protects trees used for
this purpose. The wood, bark and leaves of trees may be used in, certain
purification ceremonies, to avert supernatural misfortune
The Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers Land
and water concept in the miniature Cross River State
For
traditional Africans particularly the Crossriverians, land and water were
precious gifts from God the Creator. Africans have a strong connection with the
land not only as an economic resource, but as a home, a place of sacrifice and
offerings. When traditional African people struggled or fought for land, were
not simply struggling or fighting for it economically but for social, moral, cultural
and religious motives.
As
land was strongly connected to life, then traditional African people had moral
responsibility to take care of it. Land bound people together in one community.
Its absence threatened to tear them apart. This was because for many Africans,
land was communal property. Land belonged to the community and God allotted it
to the community through ancestors. Land was respected because it produced
plants, which sustains life in Africa.
In
traditional African societies, animals were viewed as creatures of God. That is
why many myths and stories use animals as main characters. They were respected
as part of the whole creation. Some ethnic groups believed that fierce wild
animals such as lions, leopards, buffalos, and elephants were just
manifestation of the great power of God. Therefore, they would not kill them.
Some
totemic beliefs and taboos helped in the preservation of some animal species.
For example, some traditional African people who are named after names of animals
were not allowed to kill or eat meat from animals and birds, which they were
named after. They considered themselves to be bounded together by not eating
the animals. They respected these animals. This attitude helped in preserving
the animals.
As
a practical religion, African Traditional Religion involves many beliefs and
practices, traditions and customs, which are the ways the African people
express their religion. Religious values beneath these beliefs, customs and
traditions helped them to have a good relationship with their environment.
Conclusion
Prior
to the advent of explorer into the African continent when Africans were united
as one, Africans were never faced with many
environmental problems. Unfortunately however today, Westernized African
activities cause environmental hazards, which have negative impact on human
beings and other beings of the universe. The negative interaction of the human
being with his environment affects negatively. This causes soil erosion,
deforestation, pollution and desertification. Individualistic and utilitarian Western
attitudes towards nature’s gift to Africa have led people to plunder the
environment recklessly. People are after economic profit through natural
resources rather than being responsible taking care of the resources. Land
grabbing for economic use causes problems. The land grabbed is used recklessly
in the way the owner desires.
The
African worldview and beliefs that encouraged the sacredness of the universe
and all created beings is now being taken into consideration by Black Diamond Beauty
Africana Entertainers in order to preserve the environment. African religious
heritage, which links Africa with nature and God is one of the points of
departure in Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers effort in preserving
environment.
Africans
revisiting their traditional religious heritage will henceforth recover the
African spiritual wisdom, which has been affected by contemporary scientism,
and draw from it what is proper and blend it with contemporary ways of environmental
preservation. Since Black Diamond Beauty Africana Entertainers view Traditional
religious education as important in environmental preservation, Traditional
African education will henceforth be focused on preserving the sacredness of
life and whatever enhanced it. We are proposing that contemporary Africa should
borrow a leaf from traditional education systems as far as environmental
conservation is concerned. African traditional education can be integrated in
contemporary environmental studies. Like Asians, let Africans be Africans.
