African Centre for Cities presents its annual seminar series by the Notations of Theories of Radical Urban Change (NOTRUC) project. The 2017 series is entitled 'Thinking Emancipatory Change from Cape Town, Nairobi to New Orleans'.
Nutrition plays a critical role not only in child health and survival, but also in driving economic prosperity for families and nations. It is encouraging to see increased attention from world leaders to address malnutrition in all its forms and in particular to reduce stunting everywhere. It will take continued efforts and dedication to ensure this progress continues. On Saturday, 4 November the Italian Ministry of Health and the City of Milan, will host The Global Nutrition Summit 2017 in Milan - a high-level event on nutrition and food for healthier futures. The summit will take stock of global progress toward the nutrition-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and World Health Assembly global nutrition targets. They will also make additional commitments under the umbrella of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025), celebrate commitments made this year and discuss further action needed, and launch the 2017 Global Nutrition Report. ACC's Senior Researcher Dr Jane Battersby will present as part of a session entitled Improving nutrition within planetary boundaries: Cities taking the lead during which she will focus on the rapidly shifting nature of malnutrition in Sub-Saharan African cities with overweight status and obesity emerging as new forms of food insecurity while malnutrition persists. Moderator: Dr Gunhild A. Stordalen, President, EAT Foundation Speakers: Mr Tom Arnold, member of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition Mr Wayne Roberts, PhD, Canadian food policy analyst Dr Jane Battersby, Senior Researcher in Urban Food Systems, African Centre for Cities University of Cape Town Ms Anna Scavuzzo, Vice Mayor of Milan Mr Albert Anda Ntsodo, Councillor of the City of Cape Town
The third seminar in the annual ACC NOTRUC Seminar Series is presented by Koni Benson on Reflection is Part of Rehabilitation: Interventions in the History of a Land Occupation at 15:00 in Studio 3, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, Upper Campus, University of Cape Town. ABSTRACT In The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin writes: “To accept one’s past- one’s history- is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is, learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.” This paper looks at the dynamics of invention and uses of history in the politics of a land occupation in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain, where, in May 2011, over 5000 backyard shack dwellers occupied land to set up shacks on an empty field adjacent to the Kaptiensklip train station. From an initial 5,000 people the group dwindled to about 30 families who continued to defend their right to erect structures under which to sleep. The city offered them temporary relocation to Blikkiesdorp, a dumping ground, miles away from their families and support networks. What ensued was a round of court cases and appeals and, eventual eviction. What started as a document to record the brutality of the Anti-Land Invasion Unit became a co-authored book, Writing Out Loud: Interventions in the History of a Land Occupation written by Faeza Meyer and Koni Benson. The quote in the title of this paper comes from this book which creatively tracked 545 days of occupation, and raises questions about housing struggles, activism, situated solidarity, racism, writing, and feminist collaborative methodologies of approaching African history. The paper today will present a draft of a new introduction to the book, with the aim of sparking a conversation about Baldwin’s proposition of not inventing but of reflecting and using hard ‘truths’ about the past in the present, in this case, building and engaging struggles against ongoing segregation and criminalization of landlessness in Cape Town. More on the full seminar series here. More on the NOTRUC programme here.