Top Left Link Buttons
  • English

Locations of our activity

Category Archives

Schiller Institute Honored at San Francisco Chinese Consulate

July 2, 2019by Jason Ross in New Silk Road / BRI updates, Our cultural events, Our musical events, San Francisco Bay Area SI activity

On June 27, 2019, the Schiller Institute was invited to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to honor the life of the great American Statesman Lyndon LaRouche, and to celebrate the common aims of both nations and cultures.  

Everyone who attended the Open House in Honor of the Schiller Institute—as each of the three large screens proudly declared as you walked into the hall—now know the power and importance of exonerating Lyndon LaRouche. It was on the faces of everyone: a sense of joy, of optimism, of urgency, and a sense of responsibility towards the future because such a man, such an America, such a view of the world and of humanity, and such an organization exist, and at a moment when without a true America, without such a world view, mankind might not survive.

ms-ii

The idea of an event was first initiated with the passing of LaRouche this past February 12. The consulate was informed soon after, and a meeting between SI reps and the Consul General was held the following week. After an hour plus long discussion with the CG and the Deputy CG ranging from LaRouche’s life and ideas to the strategic situation, the idea of an event between the SI and the Consulate was proposed.

So, on the very eve of the G20 summit (Putin and Trump would be meeting at 10 pm PT this same night), the Schiller Institute brought nearly 70 guests to an event hosted by the China Consulate. To reciprocate the generosity of the Consulate, the Schiller Institute brought Beethoven’s Op. 69 for a universal demonstration on the potential collaborative relationship between the U.S. and China with piano and cello, played at the lower tuning. Including speeches by CG Wang and SI rep Mr. Steger, the event set a new standard for collaboration around the power of LaRouche’s ideas.

macd-iThe event started with the Deputy Consul General introducing the Consul General Ambassador Wang Donghua, Schiller Institute rep. Michael Steger, and acknowledging special guests the DCG and a Consul from Vietnam, a member of the Indonesian Consulate, a member of the East-West Accord, and the President of the Russian American Congress, as well as two local Republican leaders.

The Consul General then gave a very hard hitting speech expressing China’s frustrations on the current trade talks before touching on the importance of the BRI. Given the CGs overt political tones, Mike was free to address the broader strategic aspects of the global dynamic, beginning with the introduction of the BRI by Xi, in consultation with Putin, during the chaotic coup in Ukraine, which only indicates the role of the BRI to end the risk of nuclear war today.

In summary, the importance of the G20, and the BRI as exemplary of a new global system, was on the minds of everyone on the eve of this critical summit. It is also the 35th anniversary of the SI, and the 40th anniversary of China-US diplomatic relations, and the LaRouche view of the next 40 years has never been more important. There is a long history of the U.S. and China, from Columbus’ voyage of the Italian Renaissance (nb: Columbus is honored with massive stone statue on Telegraph Hill in S.F. looking east across the GG bridge to China), to Ben Franklin printing sections of Confucius Analects in the Gazette, to Lincoln’s appointment of Ambassador Burlingame to China, to Grant’s tour of China, and his identification then of China’s coming dominance of the global economy, to FDRs insistence that no foreign ships would enter Chinese ports after the defeat of Japan, and this true history of the U.S. and China makes the point that this is the real America, the LaRouche America, and it was this that the American people are calling for today, however darkly through the mirror.

China’s development is a modern miracle and the BRI is a precious contribution to the world that must be grasped now. FDR wanted to extend U.S. production to develop the world, but his legacy was nearly destroyed. It was Lyndon LaRouche who picked up this fight for global development after WWII, and today, it is China who is making this offer, this precious gift for a new system of collaboration, of sovereignty, of space exploration. As a Russian scientist once said, space exploration makes most clear the nature of economy, that money is worthless. Energy, water, infrastructure, science and culture are paramount for a new global system, on Earth and on the Moon. This is the BRI, it is a great gift to the world that must be adopted by the U.S., and it is the very essence of the true U.S. legacy of Lincoln and LaRouche.

It’s our job to organize the American people to insist that it is adopted, otherwise the corruption in Washington will crush any potential for a breakthrough. It is not only up to the leaders, but up to us to create a new culture of development.

There was strong applause for both speeches and the DCG wishfully referred to Mike as the representative of the American people, before introducing the music.

Before the music began, we quickly asked for collaborators on the music of China, and in the course of the evening we met a music teacher, one of the very first students of piano after the cultural revolution, who wants to work on Chinese music for four hands with My-Hoa! We also met a violinst/violist who plays for the SF Ballet, a friend of one of the Consuls, so we are conspiring for future collaborations, and intend to make more classical Chinese pieces available in western notation.

maapbMy-Hoa and Andres then played Mo Li Hua or Jasmine Flower on keyboard and cello, in honor of our guests, before a lively rendition (without repeats) of Op. 69. Uncertain, the audience gave a standing ovation after the first movement, but once aware, were absolutely silent after the second, allowing the adagio cantabile of the opening of the third movement to strike the harmonious chord of collaboration that Beethoven intended.

It was now a festive celebration, with food, discussion, and humorous delight often brought by the DCG, our leading contact. The SI brought a cross section of people, from our more eccentric contacts to a range of young people, blue collar Americans, many Facebook contacts within the Chinese community in S.F., a leading retired Pakistani journalist, and all, young and old, left beaming.

The Consul General, and his staff of twenty or so, mingled and talked with all of the guests for over an hour. There was a long discussion with the Indonesian representative on the political culture of the U.S. going back to the cultural revolution and the importance of classical culture, where nations adopt a profound mission. Both she and the Vietnamese DCG were interested in holding future events with the SI. The Russian associated contacts who came were struck by the optimism, became much more educated on who we are, and one is planning to sign for exoneration.

At the end, the Consul General said good-bye and said he was very touched. We had brought LaRouche’s America to the representatives of China, and they were profoundly overwhelmed with joy. When asked by his DCG if we should do this once every two years, he said, “Once a year, at least!”

To those of us in the SI, it comes as no surprise that Lyndon’s personality and vision have such an overwhelming effect, but we also know that it is not always so easy to convey. In this case, we feel triumphant in our attempt at such a historic moment, and intend to carry that spirit into our work, outreach, and follow-up in the critical days and weeks ahead.

 

twg

Schiller Institute 30th Anniversary Conference: Rep. Walter Jones

June 24, 2014by tobi in New York City SI activity, Our conferences

Walter Jones’s Message to Schiller Institute Conference:
Americans Need the Truth about 9/11

The following video-recorded  message was sent to the Schiller Institute Conference by Rep. Walter Jones, Republican of North Carolina.

I’m Walter Jones. I represent the Third Congressional District of North Carolina, in the United States House of Representatives. I’m pleased today to share some thoughts with you who are attending the Schiller Institute 30th Anniversary Conference, and I cannot think of a better title to be discussing than “It Is Time To Create a World Without War.”

So thank all of you who are in attendance, and let me share a few thoughts with you.

I have joined Steven Lynch and Thomas Massie. Steven Lynch, a Congressman from Massachusetts, and Thomas Massie from Kentucky, and myself, have joined in a letter to President Obama, written on April 10, [2014,] and I’ll read the first sentence to you. Let’s just make it short.

“We write today to urge you to declassify the 28 redacted pages of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Activities before and after the terrorist attack on September of 2001.”

How can you have a democracy, or a republic, and not have sunshine in your government? And I, quite frankly, have read the 28 pages. So have Steven Lynch and Thomas Massie; and a few other Members of Congress in both parties have taken the time to read the 28 pages.

We had a news conference several months ago, and we brought the families in who had lost loved ones [on 9/11]. If the President could just see the pain in the eyes and the words of those family members, then hopefully, he would declassify these 28 pages.

The 28 pages have nothing to do with national security. If it did, I wouldn’t be speaking to you today. It does not. It talks about relationships in the international world that we live in. And who we can trust and not trust. And I would encourage you today, as you leave the conference over the next couple days, to contact your Members of Congress and ask them to look seriously House Resolution 428, which was introduced by Congressman Steven Lynch [D], Congressman Walter Jones, and ask that Member of Congress to do what is right for the families of 9/11.

When you have people like Sen. Bob Graham, who for years, ever since he left the Senate, have been calling on the President, and all the Presidents, and the Senators, and the House members, to declassify these 28 pages, the families deserve to know what’s in the 28 pages, and the American people do as well.

There is no democracy, there is no republic, without the American people knowing the truth about 9/11. Thank you.

Schiller Institute 30th Anniversary Conference: Brigadier General John Johns (ret.)

June 24, 2014by tobi in New York City SI activity, Our conferences

EIR senior editor Jeffrey Steinberg read the following message to the 30th Anniversary conference of the Schiller Institute, from Brigadier General John Johns (ret.).

In introduction, Steinberg said:

“He’s been an outspoken critic of all the recent wars. He and General Robert Garde wrote a major piece in the New York Times several years back when it looked like we were about to go to war with Iran, and just simply said, do not do it.

“General Johns sent a paper, a lecture that he gave down in Virginia, and he asked that I just read a very brief quote from it, which is very much in line with the Schiller Institute’s tradition and spirit, and also with the presentations you’ve heard today. It’s actually from a former U.S. Senator named Carl Schurz, who was the first German-born American citizen later, to be elected to the United States Senate. He was a general in the Union army during the Civil War; later in the Senate; later he was the Interior Secretary; and at the time of the Spanish-American War, he delivered the following brief statement:

“The man who in times of popular excitement boldly and unflinchingly resists hot-tempered clamor for an unnecessary war, and thus exposes himself to the opprobrious imputation of a lack of patriotism, or of courage, to the end of saving his country from a great calamity, is, as to lovingly and faithfully serving his country, at least as good a patriot as the hero of the most daring feat of arms, and a far better one, than those who, with the ostentatious pretense of superior patriotism, cry for war before it is needed, especially if they let others do the fighting.”

Songs of Freedom: African American Spirituals and Songs from the New World

June 26, 2019by Malene Robinson in Boston SI activity, Our musical events

The Schiller Boston Community Chorus, based in Quincy, MA, joined by guests from New York, Detroit, and San Francisco, just completed a weekend of performances in concerts in Providence, RI and Quincy, MA featuring songs from the New World and classical African American Spirituals. 

Friday: Songs of Freedom

Baritone Frank Mathis.

On Friday, June 14, 2019, the SI Boston Community Chorus teamed up with Stages of Freedom, who hosted the event, for an evening of history through music. Stages of Freedom is an organization dedicated to providing young African-Americans access to swimming programs, cultural programming, and to educate inner-city youth by providing access to museums and live performance. Historians and Stages of Freedom founders, Robb Dimmick and Ray Rickman planned this concert at Manning Chapel (Brown University) specifically because of the role the Brown family played as the second largest slave-owner family in Rhode Island’s history.

By the time the concert began, on Friday, June 14th at 5:30pm, there was a sold-out audience of over 200 people.

Mr. Rickman opened the event by challenging the audience to not think of this event as “entertainment, but to improve your soul and spirit.” This, preceded by a stirring rendition of “I’ve been buked” by Hall Johnson, performed by the chorus a capella, set the tone for the entire event.

The concert featured the Schiller Boston Community chorus and soloists singing Spirituals and was carefully and dramatically orchestrated to portray the horrors of the Rhode Island slave trade, through readings taken from The Notorious Triangle by Jay Coughtry.  The unique and necessary participation of the chorus dramatic performances of five Spirituals and a Mozart choral piece and also of soprano, Michelle Erin performance of Hall Johnson’s “Give me Jesus,” baritone, Frank Mathis, “Goin’ Home” and excerpts from Roland Hayes “Life of Christ,” and soprano, Annicia Smith’s moving rendition of “Deep River” was punctuated by the remarks of invited guest, Northeast coordinator of the Schiller Institute, Dennis Speed.  All pieces were skillfully and beautifully accompanied by pianist, My-Hoa Steger.  At the conclusion of the 90-minute concert, the chorus led the audience in singing “Lift every voice and sing,” and led the audience outside the beautiful chapel to a receiving line.

Schiller Institute Boston Community Chorus and friends.

Schiller Institute Boston Community Chorus and friends.

Many in the audience had never heard Spirituals sung in such an honest and dramatic way.  Some people were visibly shocked when Dennis Speed said in his speech, that African-American Spirituals are Classical music.  While this event was intended to shock people and create discomfort in facing the history of slavery, the role of the uplifting and never-enraged Spirituals played the crucial role in carrying out the mission of Friedrich Schiller and the Schiller Institute; it provoked the audience to be better people and to respond in an impassioned way.  There is tremendous potential coming out of this concert, including a professional recording which will be sent out to thousands of people and future collaboration.

Saturday: Songs from the New World 

On Saturday, June 15th, the Schiller Boston Chorus hosted a concert entitled “Songs of a New World,” to educate people on the collaboration between Czech composer, Antonín Dvořák and African-American baritone and composer, Harry Burleigh. This history is necessary to understand if Americans are going to make the break from geopolitics and divisiveness of the old paradigm and move into a new paradigm of win-win cooperation between the best of all cultures.  This concert program was well composed with many solo and choral African-American Spirituals, Lieder by Brahms, and some lesser-known but beautiful and well-received songs by, Antonín Dvořák including two Moravian duets, a song in Czech, and the well-loved Songs my Mother Taught Me, sung by soprano, Michelle Fuchs and accompanied by My-Hoa Steger. Also, a very special rendition of the Chinese folk song, “Jasmine Flower (Moli-hua)” sung by Donna Liao, and accompanied by treble voices and piano, brought the beauty of Chinese culture to a largely American audience.  At certain points in the program, quotes by Dvořák, Burleigh, and Frederick Douglass, were read, to help the audience gain further insight into the beginnings of this American Renaissance and also why it was deliberately derailed into Jazz and the Roaring 20s culture, etc.  For more on this history, see The African-American Spiritual and the Resurrection of Classical Art:  Not Force, But Beauty, Will Change America.

annicia

Soprano Annicia Smith singing “Deep River.”

There were a few incredible responses from the audience which characterize a more general hunger for beautiful culture that our choruses are finding around the country, particularly right now. This audience, made up entirely of the local community, including family and friends of chorus members, local business owners, and some children, gained their concentration and settled down during the opening piece, the beautiful prayer-like “Laudate Dominum” from Mozart’s Solemn Vespers. 

At the conclusion of the concert, there were many responses by audience members and chorus members alike.  Many people could not believe that we are a community chorus and that we do not hold auditions.  This led to many good discussions about the important role of the Verdi tuning and bel canto vocal training to train amateur voices.  One chorus member noticed that during one particular dramatically soft and beautiful choral phrase in a spiritual, many members of the audience simultaneously sat back in their seats and closed their eyes, as if to be relieved by the music. Many expressed how important it is to have this beauty here in this community and how every single arrangement was beautiful. 

Another important note was the affect of the historical excerpts and quotes, as a few members of the audience wanted to discuss the role of slavery in the United States and more of the history of Burleigh and Dvorak.  Following the concert, there was a wonderful food reception attended by audience and performers alike. 

This full weekend of two beautiful concerts reinforced our firm commitment to bringing high-level culture to all peoples and that if we can avoid the dangers of war, the United States can be ready to join the new paradigm.

– Jen Pearl, Conductor, Schiller Boston Community Chorus  Follow the Boston chorus on Facebook.

 

Schiller Institute 30th Anniversary Conference: Daisuke Kotegawa

June 24, 2014by tobi in New York City SI activity, Our conferences
Kotegawa

Daisuke Kotegawa

I would like to extend a deep congratulation for your 30th anniversary meeting in New York on June 15. At this critical time of the history, it is so important that unselfish people work together towards the common welfare of all people on this earth.

It is well known from our experience in late 1990s that recovery from an economic crisis triggered by financial crisis requires special subscription. A cleaning of the banking system, with substantial change in management of major banks and with pursuit of responsibility of management, is a precondition of the bail-out of banks and restoration of confidence in the financial system. A fundamental streamlining of the financial system by reintroduction of the Glass-Steagall Act is essential to avoiding repetition of the mistakes made by Wall Street to gamble with depositors’ money. A battle against Wall Street is an urgent task for us, to defend our lives.

After restoration of confidence in financial system, a large-scale fiscal stimulus is necessary to create real demand and increase the welfare of whole world. One example is the idea of a new canal at the Kula Narrows in Thailand. Financial resources have to be mobilized for such purposes, rather than gambling by Wall Street.

Power has to be brought back to Main Streets from Wall Street. I hope that you will win in the battle soon.

With best regards,

Daisuke Kotegawa

Schiller Institute’s Sébastien Périmony Goes to Ivory Coast & Angola

June 26, 2019by Jason Ross in Africa (Subsaharan) SI activity, General, New financial order updates, New Silk Road / BRI updates, Our economic development events

by Sébastien Périmony, @SebPerimony  

Saturday, June 15, 2019, a conference on the New Silk Road was held at the headquarters of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.

This conference, organized by the Association pour la Sauvegarde et la Promotion de la Pensée d’El Adj-Boubacar Gamby Sakho (ASPP-BGS) in partnership with the Foundation Félix Houphouët-Boigny for Peace Research, brought together about 400 young students, mainly from the Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët-Boigny de Yamoussoukro.

aud-nsr

The objectives were as follows:

  • Improve China’s knowledge and visibility in Ivory Coast
  • Present the example of Chinese development, with particular emphasis on the crucial role played by the Silk Road
  • Lay the foundations for the bilateral partnership between Ivory Coast and China, between Chinese and Ivoirian industrialists, researchers, etc.
  • Highlight the impact of culture on the harmonious development of Ivory Coast
  • Make Yamoussokro the scientific capital of West Africa in infrastructure, medicine, information technology and telecommunications (5G, Big data, artificial intelligence), robotics, space education.
  • Make Yamoussokro a “smart-city”
  • Develop from Yamoussokro special economic zones and industrial parks such as Ethiopia or Kenya.

The Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Joseph Kobi, introduced the conference with two quotes from President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who urged the integration of culture into the dynamics of development.

t-ic-nsr

Two conferences were given on the following themes: “Presentation of the New Silk Road: Opportunities for Africa, the Case of Ivory Coast” and “Africa and the New Silk Road: Cultural and Strategic Approach.” Their moderator was Professor Bamba, a professor and researcher in history at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Cocody, Ivory Coast.

The first lecture was given by Mr. Sébastien Périmony of the Schiller Institute. The speaker first presented the purpose of the New Silk Road project, which is to put an end to centuries of conflict, war and colonialism and instead, move towards “a world of mutual development and dialogue of cultures.”

He described the history of the idea of connecting the world through major infrastructure projects, dating at least back to the 1890s, with the proposal to connect the American transcontinental railway to the railway network in Europe.

Périmony then described the 1975 proposal of American economist Lyndon LaRouche (late husband of Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche)  which was the creation of an International Development Bank that would be entirely dedicated to industrial and infrastructure development. In 1980, LaRouche proposed a comprehensive plan for the industrialization of the African continent.

Building on the economic concepts developed by Mr. LaRouche, the speaker outlined three economic principles: the potential for relative population density, leapfrog, and energy-flux density.

Turning to the issue of New Silk Road, Périmony said that this project began to take shape following the announcement in September 2013 by President Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan launching the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, project based on the idea of a “community of shared future of humanity.”

With regard to the particular case of Africa, the moderator clarified the African Union’s desire to link, by 2063, all African capitals with a view to cooperation with the rest of the world. As such, several projects have been detailed :

  • Transaqua, which consists in revitalizing Lake Chad
  • The trans-Sahelian, a railway project that will go from Mauritania to Chad via Mali and Niger
  • The Lumumba 2050 project aimed at modernizing the Democratic Republic of Congo with 9,500 km of high-speed rail and the development of the Congo River
  • The Great Inga Dam in the D.R.C. and the interconnection of the African Great Lakes in east
  • The Great Green Wall, a project to reforest 12 African countries to stop the spread of the Sahara
  • The development of the Lac Figuibine system in Mali: an irrigation project aimed at the establishment of a modern agriculture
  • Rail modernization in Nigeria: two lines of about 1400 km each are in progress. This could contribute to the reduction of terrorism.

With particular reference to Ivory Coast, emphasis was given to the construction of the railway loop in West Africa, known as Africarail. A project that would be an important first step in the industrialization of the country. This railway loop, which would start in Abidjan, would pass through Yamoussoukro, then on to Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin and Togo, would strengthen Yamoussoukro’s central position as the scientific capital of West Africa. It should be recalled that the Institut National Polytechnique, which is unique in the region, already welcomes some students from other neighboring countries.  This rail loop will be the central part of the broader trans-Sahelian project and would therefore place Côte d’Ivoire as an inevitable center in the development of the sub-region.

The second lecture was delivered by Mr. Pierre Fayard, Professor Emeritus at the University of Poitiers. The speaker developed the theme “Africa and the New Silk Road: A Cultural and Strategic Approach” around culture, the economy and the strategy of conquest.

aud-nsr-ii

A question and answer session provided an opportunity to gather participants’ concerns which included questions about the debt repayment generated by the New Silk Road; the concern of moving to a neo-colonialism; the participation of African States in the determination of infrastructure construction projects; the means for Africa to achieve Chinese cultural integration; the accession of all African countries to the Silk Road project; the issue of equity and equality in Sino-African cooperation.

The response to presentations revealed that this project will not be launched in Africa without the support of Africans. It will be a win-win cooperation.

Then, from June 18-20 2019, Périmony traveled to Angola for the ANGOTIC  — Angola ICT Forum 2019 — a global event dedicated to information and communication technologies (ICT) for knowledge sharing. The event is a networking hub for government entities, industry players and new mobile service providers that brought together more than 8,000 participants and 150 speakers over three days, from various sectors, public and private, actors from across the ICT ecosystem in the country and abroad.

This information and communication technology exhibition “Angotic 2019,” targets all technological tools that aim to provide solutions to problems related to health, education, agriculture, fishing, etc. National and international speakers addressed various topics related to the digital economy and what some call  “the fourth industrial revolution.”

seb-p-wa

Sébastien Périmony, representing the Schiller Institute, was able to speak on the theme “Education in the Digital Era.”

Before more than a 100 people, including the Secretary of State for Technical  Education, managers of an Angolan telecom company Unitel S.A., and IBM, as well as a professor of law at Agostinho Neto University, Périmony presented the Schiller Institute’s dossier on the New Silk Road and its impact in Africa, requiring a revolution in education on the continent to mobilize young people around the major infrastructure, science and technology projects on the horizon.  (see the full speech below)

“We believe that over the next three years, the projects will help to connect all parts of the country, especially as we evolve and provide more and more ICT services to the population” said José Carvalho da Rocha, Telecommunications and Information Technology, at a round table attended by Rwanda’s Minister of Information and Communication Technologies and Innovation Paula Ingabire, former Prime Minister of Cape Verde José Maria Pereira Neves,  and former Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe.

The Angolan minister stressed the commitment to the implementation of structural projects such as the deployment of a 22,000 km fiber optic network.

Paula Ingabire offered Angola a partnership in these areas, announcing the signing, during the event, of a memorandum of understanding that will allow the governments and companies of both countries to transfer their knowledge and technologies.

Angola does not cover 50% to 60% of what it could develop in the field of telecommunications, so the potential for investment in the sector is very high. Introducing the forum, Angolan Vice President Bornito de Soussa Baltazar Diogo stressed the government’s focus on the digital transformation sector, but argued that the executive must first examine all sectors of activity, from submarine cables to optical fiber and satellites. About 65% of African communities are located in rural areas and most often have no access to digital services.

Historic day for Angola

The very first satellite produced in Angola was launched in Cabo Ledo on Wednesday, June 19, 2019,  on the occasion of Angotic 2019. Called “CanSat,” the mini-satellite is the result of collaboration between the National Space Program Management Office (GGPEN), the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTTI), the Department of Space Science and Applied Research (DCEPA), and several Angolan students.

The conference participants were able to watch the launch live, remotely from the conference in Luanda, which was broadcast from a helicopter at an altitude of 500 meters, and waited with apprehension to see if the results were captured from the ground by the students who set up the project. The emotion reached its peak when the first results arrived on the students’ computers and the room exploded with joy and endless applause erupted to celebrate this historic day in Angola. Long journeys always start with a first step.

The excitement was palpable at the various stands dedicated to Angolan space policy, and the mini-satellite was present on the Angosat stand (the Angolan satellite program).

Agreement with France

According to the newspaper Jornal de Angola, a technical and scientific cooperation protocol, valued at $1.2 million, was signed in Luanda by the Agostinho Neto Universities (UAN) and the Belfort Montbéliard University of Technology (UTBM) in France. The agreement provides for a disbursement of $600,000 by each party, mainly to facilitate the two-way mobility of teachers and students from both countries, as part of an exchange of experiences inherent in the industrial systems engineering course. Pedro Magalhães, Dean of Agostinho Neto University, and Ghislain Montavon, Dean of the Belfort Montbéliard University of Technology, signed the agreements. The meeting coincided with the Angotic 2019 in Luanda, where key issues in the sector were discussed.

sp-wip

On June 20, Périmony was met with the president of the Agostinho Neto foundation, the widow of the first President of Angola Agostinho Neto, and his daughter Irene Alexandra Neto, who is deputy in Angola and presented the Schiller Institute report on the New Silk Road.

SPEECH DELIVERED AT ANGOTIC 2019 THE FORUM BY SÉBASTIEN PÉRIMONY to present the “African space” part of the Schiller Institute’s report on the New Silk Road

Mr. Secretary of state,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honor to be invited to attend the conference held in such a beautiful country. I am responsible for African issues at the Schiller Institute and I am very honored to speak here on behalf of its president, Mrs. Helga Zepp-LaRouche. I will start by quoting a statement she recently made in the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper, just before her intervention at the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations forum in Beijing last month [May 15, 2019].

“I think we are probably the generation on whom later generations will look back to, and say, ‘Oh! This was really a fascinating time, because it was a change from an epoch to another one.’  And I have an image of that, which is, this change that we are experiencing right now, is probably going to be bigger than the change in Europe between the Middle Ages and modern times.  Now, I think we are before, or the middle of such an epochal change, where the next era of mankind will be much, much more creative than the present one, and that’s something to look forward to, because we can actually shape it, and we can bring our own creative input into it.  And there are not many periods in history when that is the case:  So we are actually lucky.”

I’ve been invited to present the report that we have just published, “The New Silk Road Becomes the World Land-Bridge: A Shared Future for Humanity.” A 500-hundred pages report which has been produced by our organization and which was already translated into Chinese, Arabic, and recently in French too. This report presents the new paradigm initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2013 with the launching of the “One Belt, One Road initiative” that integrates (includes plutôt) major development projects from around the world. An important part of this report is devoted to the future of Africa. Because the New Silk Road is also aimed at helping Africa do what the Chinese managed to achieve, which is already considered as an economic miracle, that is, pulling 700 million people out of poverty.

So as I said, an important part of this report is devoted to the development of Africa. With a top-down approach, which consists in laying the basis for the breakthroughs in science and the creation of new technologies that define the future of mankind.

Ironically, the deficit of basic infrastructure in Africa, as it was in China, is an advantage, in that it allows nations to skip the intermediate stages of development that occurred over centuries in the industrialized countries, to leapfrog directly into the technologies that are at the frontier. This is the approach that has been taken by China, deploying high-speed rail and magnetically levitated trains, and fourth-generation nuclear fission technology. Similarly, China’s space program is not simply repeating what other nations have done, but is carrying out challenging missions that have never been attempted before.

The great projects underway, and the drive to lift the remaining millions in China and Africa out of poverty, will depend upon the use of space technology. Satellite communications will connect rural populations to their neighbors, their governments, and to the rest of the world, and provide capabilities for distance learning and telemedicine. Data mapping of geographic and geologic features will inform the location (je comprends pas, s’il s’agit de permettre d’identifier le lieu idéal pour la mise en place de nouveaux projets, je dirais : will permit to choose ideal locations for new projects and transport routes) of new projects and transport routes, and to detect new water and mineral resources.

In the future Earth remote sensing will monitor agricultural crops for drought and disease, provide disaster warnings, and locate ocean resources. Technology has recently been developed, using GPS satellites, in order to monitor the most minute movement of large structures, such as bridges and dams.

But even more important than the practical benefits of space exploration is the drive for knowledge that is humanity’s sole responsibility. The greatest contribution space programs will make in Africa, will be to develop the talent and creativity of a new generation of scientists, who will make new discoveries far into the future. This is why education is the priority.

Unfortunately, and it is the subject of the day: today the level of education in Africa is still too low.  The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which tracks literacy publishes statistics to show that the literacy rate for Sub-Saharan Africa was 65% in 2017. In other words, one-third of the people ages 15 and above were unable to read and write.

And if Africa in general, or any country in particular, wants to succeed in its industrialization process, and in “Making the Future,” it will have to be implemented through a very efficient education program.

You know that before the French Revolution, 50% of men and 70% of women were not able to read or write!

But In 1801, Jean-Antoine Chaptal, the father of public education in France stated in 1801: “To not make public education free for all is to strike the people in their very body, to cause the nation to become demoralized. Therefore, it is a necessity to ensure education and to make it general and available to all. The government must create public schools everywhere.”

He was a collaborator of Lazare Carnot and Gaspard Monge who found the Ecole Polytechnique, which has since been one of the best schools in the world, and generated major breakthroughs in science and technology. At the same time l’Abbé Grégoire has found the CNAM, the national conservatory of arts and trades in 1794 in order to “perfect national industry.”  And I think those could can be models for Africa’s education strategy.

That said where should we start first? So the first thing to do is:  One village, One school in all the countries in Africa!

And at the same time, building universities for science and technology as it is currently done in China, as I said in my introduction: high-speed rail,  fourth-generation nuclear fission technology and fusion, modern agriculture, space industry and so on and so forth.

So a double dynamics, one village, one school and then universities providing the highest education possible in science and technology and art.

I’m optimistic, in 2017, science and education ministers representing the nations of the Africa Union adopted the first “African Space Policy: Towards Social, Political and Economic Integration.” It describes the benefits of space technology as “crucial to the economical development of the continent”

We need to prepare the youth to meet this challenge.

Dr. Lee-Anne McKinnell, currently the Managing Director responsible for the Space Science Program of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), explained that through her program, students from throughout Africa are being trained, with exchange visit among student from Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia.

On Feb. 11th this year, Angola’s Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology José Carvalho da Rocha said that Angosat-2, under construction in France, will be operational in 2021. And built by our French aerospatial company Airbus.  I noticed that recently ANGOSAT EDUCA was launched here as an educational-purpose application, an initiative of the Office of Management of the National Space Program (GGPEN), in the field of space education, which aims to disseminate basic concepts on space and gather information about the ANGOSAT project, which is framed in the National Space Program.

So to conclude: The announcement of the One Belt, One Road initiative has defined a new paradigm in the world.  It is not a hypothetical or academic speculation, it is a reality taking hold in the world now.

There is a profound reason for optimism for the African continent, because with the rise of China, and especially the New Paradigm which emerged with the Belt and Road Initiative, the world has been changing, especially in the last five years at an incredible speed. What China has done with the New Silk Road is to develop a new model of relations among nations, and it is an initiative which is open to all nations of the world.

This report presents in detail an integrated, continental transport plan, a trans-African transport network, but also inter-regional project for water, the Transaqua project, to fight desertification with the great green wall, the development of the Republic Democratic of Congo and its neighbors, and many others projects.

So now it is high time to see Africa with the eyes of the future.

Thank you very much

 

Schiller Institute 30th Anniversary Conference: Sergei Glazyev

June 24, 2014by tobi in New York City SI activity, Our conferences
Glazyev with Lyndon and Helga LaRouche in Moscow, 2001

2001: At the invitation of Dr. Sergei Glazyev (right), Duma chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee, Helga and Lyndon LaRouche revisit Moscow. At a hearing before the Duma Economic Affairs Committee on June 29, 2001, LaRouche explained his policy to reorganize the world financial system and a global economic recovery in the context of Eurasian cooperation, in front of 150 members and government advisors.

It is a great honor for me to greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Schiller Institute!

Dear colleagues! The Institute has been and will always be a unique platform for dialogue and for the development of important solutions to various aspects of contemporary social, political, and economic development and humanitarian cooperation in the world!

Many of your ideas, proposals, and thoughts have found demand, in the development of valuable initiatives of practical significance, in the areas of social justice, the global order, and the prevention of regional conflicts.

Besides the solution of strictly practical tasks related to current, day-to-day problems of our mutual development, you also make, on a daily basis, a weighty contribution to the conceptualization and solution of urgent issues of geopolitics and public life.

I am certain that your conference today will provide an important impetus to discussions concerning the equality of peoples, regardless of where they live, the sovereign right of peoples to self-determination, and the choice of methods for building a harmonious future, based on peace, cooperation and good-neighborly relations!

I wish you fruitful work, dear colleagues, and peace to your houses!

Sergei Glazyev

Moscow, June 13, 2014

Schiller Institute 30th Anniversary Conference: Ray Flynn

June 24, 2014by tobi in New York City SI activity, Our conferences

Ray Flynn, the former mayor of Boston and former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, sent the following greetings to the Schiller Institute conference:

“The concert at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, sponsored by the Schiller Institute, was one of the most inspiring events that the people of our city have experienced in a long time. People of all social and economic backgrounds turned out for this special event.

“The Schiller Institute has been a big supporter for various civic and cultural events, which have been appreciated by everyone. My best wishes to the Schiller Institute on 30 years of public service. I hope we can continue this special partnership. With deep appreciation, I am —

“Ray Flynn, former Mayor of Boston and U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.”

Schiller Institute 30th Anniversary Conference: Tom Buffenbarger

June 24, 2014by tobi in New York City SI activity, Our conferences

Tom Buffenbarger

On behalf of the Officers and Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, I wish to extend warm greetings and congratulations to the Schiller Institute on the Occasion of its 30th Anniversary.

The IAM and the Schiller Institute have long shared a vision for a world built upon progressive concepts and the ideas leading to a better, brighter future for all nations.

The application of sound economic principles, such as those contained in the proposed reauthorization of Glass-Steagall legislation, combined with a renewed emphasis on an innovation-driven industrial policy in tandem with rebuilding the global energy distribution network, are the goals that capture the imagination of nations as we collectively seek to build productive, progressive, and sustainable societies.

The IAM applauds the Schiller Institute for its monumental efforts to inform, educate, and promote the alternative ideas our entire planet is yearning for.

Best wishes to all for a successful 30th Anniversary celebration.

R. Thomas Buffenbarger

June 12, 2014

In Memoriam: The Triumph of Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

June 10, 2019by Jason Ross in Helga Zepp-LaRouche, New York City SI activity, Our conferences

A memorial event celebrating the life and legacy of American statesman, Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. was held in Manhattan, June 8th, 2019 with simultaneous satellite events watching across the country. See the full program below.

PDF of the program

Introduction – Dennis Speed

Prologue – Helga Zepp-LaRouche

Lyndon LaRouche in His Own Words
Dennis Speed, narrator

Hall Johnson (arr.): “When I Was Sinkin’ Down”

Hall Johnson (arr.): “I Don’t Feel No-Ways Tired”
Reginald Bouknight, tenor soloist
Schiller Institute Festival Chorus
Diane Sare, director

J.S. Bach: “Jesu, meine Freude,” BWV 227
Schiller Institute Festival Chorus
Andrés Vera, violoncello
Bruce Director, contrabass
John Sigerson, director

INTERMISSION

The Third Trial of Socrates
Dennis Speed, narrator

Roland Hayes: “They Led My Lord Away”
Elvira Green, alto

Roland Hayes: “Crucifixion”
Frank Mathis, baritone

Johannes Brahms: “Dem dunkeln Schoß der heil’gen Erde”
Schiller Institute Festival Chorus
John Sigerson, director

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Violonello and Piano, Op. 69
I. Allegro ma non tanto
II. Scherzo
III. Adagio cantabile
IV. Allegro vivace
Andrés Vera, violoncello
My-Hoa Steger, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven: “Adelaide,” Op. 46
John Sigerson, tenor
Margaret Greenspan, piano

Johannes Brahms: “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer,” Op. 105, No. 4
Elvira Green, alto
My-Hoa Steger, piano

The Triumph of Lyndon LaRouche
Dennis Speed, narrator

Epilogue

Robert Schumann:
“Mit Myrthen und Rosen”, Op. 24, No. 9
John Sigerson, tenor
Margaret Greenspan, piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “Ave verum corpus,” K. 618
To be sung by everyone

J.S. Bach: Chorale
“Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden” from St. Matthew Passion
Schiller Institute Festival Chorus

“Taps” for Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

Page 9 of 11First...8910...Last