UN's Zwarte Piet critic is an 'unpaid volunteer' says Belgian paper

DutchNews.nl, Thursday 24 October 2013

Verene Shepherd

The United Nations official who said the Netherlands' Sinterklaas festivities should be scrapped because Zwarte Piet is a throw-back to slavery is a volunteer who is not paid by the UN and does not speak on behalf of the organisation, according to Belgian newspaper De Morgen.

There has been an outcry in the Netherlands since Verene Shepherd made her comments about Zwarte Piet and racism on a television programme. But according to UN spokesman Xabier Celaya in De Morgen, Shepherd is an 'independent expert chosen by member states'.

Sinterklaas is also celebrated in Belgium and the festivities there also include Zwarte Piet.

Unesco

Shepherd leads a four-person strong working group which was set up in 2008. In January the team, known as the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, wrote to the Dutch government asking for clarification about the character of Zwarte Piet. It also asked about plans to have the festivities included in Unesco world heritage listings.

Marc Jacobs, Belgium's Unesco representative, said in an opinion piece on website deredactie.be that Shepherd's group does not represent Unesco in any way. 'The four signatories are not a Unesco recognised body but used United Nations letter paper,' he said.

However, according to the Volkskrant, the team will publish a report on the case which will be presented to the UN’s high commissioner on human rights or the human rights council.

That could lead to a UN resolution, UN expert Dick Leurdijk of the Clingendael institute told the paper. Eventually, the Netherlands could be recommended to drop the Sinterklaas festivities, although the Netherlands would be free to refuse to do this, Leurdijk said.

Groningen

Meanwhile, Groningen city council is reportedly considering inviting Shepherd to the northern city to witness the arrival of Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piets on November 16.

The council wants to show Shepherd 'what an enormous children's party' is celebrated every year, the NRC reported.

However, the town of Hoogezand has cancelled plans to include multi-coloured Piets in its Sinkerklaas celebrations for disadvantaged children after receiving email threats and accusations that officials were traitors.

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Zwarte Piet is a throwback to slavery, says UN working party chief

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Kryon Q&A

Question: I’m a black woman who enjoys your teachings tremendously. It seems that there aren’t a lot of black people involved in these discussions. Is this true, and is there a reason for this? Is it cultural? Or am I wrong in this assumption?

Answer: Dear one, yes. If you’re speaking about black Americans, you’re right. It’s cultural. There are two basic reasons you won’t find many blacks in metaphysics in your culture: The first one is that in your land, your race is a minority with a history of oppression. This has created a very strong spiritual support base. Almost from birth, most of you have been exposed to very high church and spiritual support and a feeling of belonging and sticking together. There are few groups that have this kind of support and prayer base. So spiritually, you don’t look around much for answers other than what you have already learned about the love of God. This works for you and is honored.

The second reason is perhaps politically incorrect in your culture to speak of, but Kryon is not of your culture. Many of you are in survival mode due to sustained second-class citizenship you experience from birth. This causes despair, poverty, and a shift to crime among many due to despondency over life and a need to survive in a system that does not honor you. When a Human is consumed with survival in a difficult environment, they don’t have time or a desire for introspection or a search to better themselves spiritually. All their time is spent spinning within the challenges they have, many of which they assume to be their plight, many of which they have created themselves.

The sadness here is that if they did look within, they would find the tools to co-create a life outside of survival, and start processes that honors their endeavors and their lives. Blessed are those with life challenges, as so many of the minorities have, but who have decided to increase their spiritual knowledge as a solution, instead of trying to force-manipulate the reality of the cultural situation.