UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

16.2 This is a very, very special project. It asks for nothing, it seeks nothing and it gives everything. It is a
bridge to peace. It is a focus for forgiveness and healing in the Diaspora. It is more than a symbol - it is a spirit. I
hope, if you get the chance, that you will take a look at it. Let me talk very briefly about the architect’s design.
The 90-metre tower is modelled on the Great Mosque in Burkina Faso; if you look at the plaza, the plaza is
bifurcated - it is separated, symbolizing the tearing away from the motherland of the Africans who went to the
Diaspora. It is a powerful design - you cannot imagine the enthusiasm for this in my country. Certainly the people
who have stepped forward to co-chair the commissions and committees are of the kind I have told you about
previously; but as I speak to small people in America, the average man in America - and Mr Traoré has sent me
around the world and I have criss-crossed my country talking about this - as I speak to the small people, the
people who can give $10, you cannot imagine their enthusiasm for the project. One of the big ideas that has come
up is to have chiselled into the plaza the names of people in America, with the theme “return your family’s name
to the motherland soil”. I have had church groups call me at home and say “Mr Robinson, when can we buy our
name subscriptions?”. It is very, very important - notwithstanding the large contributions we get - we connect
with the average person in the world, throughout the Diaspora.
16.3 The other idea, apart from having your name inscribed in the soil of Africa, is the peace forest. You
notice that this is a heavily forested site: we have a young man in Ghana who is an ethnobotanist, and we are
going to have a peace forest where you can buy a tree and plant it in this peace forest, and you can come and see
your tree. We think it is going to be a boon to tourism in Africa. It is a very, very important project.
16.4 I am more than pleased to present this to you. I seek your continued support and I am available to do
whatever is needed to make this happen. It is the end of my career; I took off a year from Howard University to
work on this. Mr Traoré has been just outstanding in supporting me. Our next step is a capital campaign - we are
going to have a feasibility study done in the next two months, and from that we will know how to raise the money
to build it. I am very excited about this and I hope that all of you will come in about 2005 to the dedication. I
thank you very much.
17. The PRESIDENT:
Professor, I think that everyone in this room understands the symbolic significance of the Gorée
Memorial and appreciates the work you have contributed. We thank you very much for being with us and
introducing this model.
DEBAT DE POLITIQUE GENERALE (suite)
GENERAL POLICY DEBATE (continued)
DEBATE DE POLÍTICA GENERAL (continuación)
ОБСУЖДЕНИЕ ВОПРОСОВ ОБЩЕЙ ПОЛИТИКИ (продолжение)
18. The PRESIDENT:
We shall now continue the general policy debate. I invite His Excellency Mr Yasser Abed Rabo,
Minister of Culture and Information of Palestine, to take the floor.
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