First, we are a small community organization and, at this time, are not formally incorporated, do not have a written constitution or a Board of Directors. We do have a small Editorial Board for our Newsletters that are published quarterly. We are simply a community-service and action organization, self-funded for the most part, although we do, when necessary, community based fund raising activities to fund certain programs. As you will note, we do not accept advertising space on our website. The purpose of our website is to create somewhat of an on-line community center, if we may, to share our history and culture and to increase appreciation of --and participation in--the creative process. Our presentations/historical accounts are also an attempt to create a sort of a “literary one-stop shopping” environment for our youths, in particular, to gain knowledge and understanding of our history and our true identity. Our WI culture formation varied from place to place perhaps more often than any other ethnic group in the Black Diaspora. We, as a people, have always been propelled by Eurocentric "outside" agendas and "distracting" agents rather than ourselves throughout these journeys. It is our hope that this exercise may help us open our eyes and take action against what we see as a slowly, diminishing, diverse culture if we maintain the “status quo.” We would like to be viewed as a community-based presenter of selected video short stories as well as selected readings regarding the details of major events in our history. The literary/video collages attempt to interpret/summarize our somewhat “knotty” history as well as to celebrate all four sides of our hyphenated identities (African, Caribbean, Panamanian and American) With our Newsletter presentations. We acknowledge that our video/photo gallery presentations are “Mom & Pop” quality, but the project scope is, of course, an interim measure towards improving on our museum to be the ultimate repository of the historical treasures of the Afro-Panamanian village/community. After all, we view the contribution of the “Silvermen” to be the most heroic event in the development of our beloved country, Panama. We realize that all historical data is no substitute for creativity, however, we believe the use of this data is crucial in order to stimulate creativity. Our sole ambition is to see our visions becoming a reality. |