John Connorton, a leading attorney and advocate for the Irish peace process, is pictured here branching out in front of the imposing Dubuffet Group of Four Trees sculpture at Chase Manhattan Plaza — a Lower Manhattan landmark within walking district of Ground Zero.
John makes a strong case for John Hume to be acknowledged in some way at the upcoming The Black and the Green celebration in New York on the basis that he adopted Martin Luther King's non-violent activism philosophy and applied it in Ireland. He also of course won the Gandhi Prize, the Nobel Prize and the Martin Luther King Prize. I have a feeling that this inaugural event celebrating diversity, community and bridgebuilding by spotlighting links between African Americans and Irish Americans will strike a chord with Irish Echo and Amsterdam News readers.
Marty McLaughlin, an advisor to Speaker Christine Quinn, recalls New York State Assemblyman Herman D. (Denny) Farrell being proud of his mixed heritage. "We'd meet him in the morning and say, what are you today, Denny, Irish American or African American?" says Marty.
Farrell, who represents Harlem is also a member of the Friendly Sons of St Patrick, the prestigious organisation which runs some of the biggest events over the Patron Saint's Day.
2 comments:
The links between Irish America and Africa go back to George Harrison and Bernadette Devlin McAliskey.
George was the first guest of honor at the first official state dinner given by Nelson Mandela in the US.
Bernadette had probably more to do with the civil rights movement than anyone else.
As an important footnote to history, it was the American CIA who betrayed Nelson Mandela and was the cause of his many years in prison. The CIA did the same to Che except in Che's case they murdered him and tried to play innocent.
It was the same CIA behind the torture of countless Muslims in Guantanamo and around the world in secret prisons including the EU.
Thanks for highlighting this event. Currently reside in NC, via Andytown and have tried to highlight to the locals the links, as well as great similarities between the struggle for civil rights in Ireland and the struggle for much the same rights of African Americans. Hopefully some useful paperwork/book will arise from this event.
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