Madubuko A. Robinson Diakité (born 17 December 1940) is a US-born human rights lawyer and documentary filmmaker currently residing in Sweden. He has traveled widely throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and currently freelances as a guest lecturer and consultant on African migration, the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

law, film history, mass media. He attended the UN's World Conference Against Racism in Durban, 2001, where he was part of the Migrant Worker Caucus.

Early life

Diakité was born in New York City 1940. Following his parents' divorce, his mother married a journalist from Nigeria, and he and his three siblings spent most of their teenage years there. Encouraged by his stepfather's important role in the struggle for

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from Britain, Diakité developed his own interests in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

and

. Upon returning to New York City in the 1960s, he served for two years in the US Army, then attended Hunter College, New York (No degree). In 1967 he earned a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

La Salle Extension University La Salle Extension University (LSEU),De Sola, Ralph (1981). ''Abbreviations dictionary.'' Elsevier, also styled as LaSalle Extension University,The university styled its name as both "La Salle" and "LaSalle" in print mediahttp://aycu21.websho ...

, Chicago, Illinois.

Career

Inspired by Direct Cinema filmmakers whose films he saw in New York during the early 1960s, Diakité earned a diploma in documentary filmmaking at the

New York Institute of Photography The New York Institute of Photography (or NYIP) is a for-profit online school based out of New York City, offering different courses in photography to students all over the world. NYIP currently offers ten courses in photography. History The Ne ...

under George Wallach. He then went to Sweden as a foreign student in 1968 and earned a Swedish B.A. (fil.kand) and an M.A. in film at the Department of Film Studies,

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

(1972-3) under the guidance of Professor Rune Waldekranz, its founder. In 1973, Diakité won an Honorable Mention prize for a film on youth in Harlem at the Grenoble Festival of Short films (''For Personal Reasons'', co-produced with SVT2, Malmö). After completing studies for a Ph.D. in film history (ABD) at Stockholm University he published the draft of his dissertation as a book entitled ''A Piece of The Glory: A Survey of African American Filmmakers and Their Struggles with Popular American Myths'' in 1992. Library of Congress Card Number 92-73502. Employed as a Researcher in Film at

Ahmadu Bello University The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public research university located in Zaria, Nigeria, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. The university has four colleges, three schools, 18 faculties, ...

, Zaria,

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, 1974 -1975, Diakité established the Film Unit at the Centre for Nigerian Cultural Studies, (under Professor Michael Crowder, Director).The short film produced and directed by Diakité examined village activities to support the crowning of a new Emir. (See: ''From Harlem to Sweden to Nigeria'',YouTube, madubukodiakite.) Diakité returned to Sweden shortly after the Coronation. In 1992, Diakité earned an LL.M. (Master of Law) at the Faculty of Law,

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

,Sweden. In 2007 Diakité earned a Juris licentiat degree at the Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden. The title of his dissertation is ''Managing African Migrant Workers'' In 2008 he published ''Not Even in Your Dreams'', an autobiographical work about his childhood growing up in Africa. Besides teaching and making films, Diakité assists refugees and migrants as a Public Defender (Offentlig Biträde) in Migration Law in Sweden. Diakité has published articles on film and human rights law for several international publications, and has headed several projects on the rights of people of African descent in Sweden. He is also the publisher of ''The Lundian Magazine'', an English language newsletter in Sweden, the director and CEO of The English International Association of Lund, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

based in Lund, Sweden (founded in 1987). Until 2024 Diakité was a Senior Researcher Emeritus at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Lund, Sweden. His research at the institute focused on migration in Africa, structural discrimination and refugee migration in Sweden. He has also researched

and

migrants Migrant is a term that may refer to: Human migration *Human migration, including: **Emigration, leaving one's resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere. 1988 Webster's Definition. One who migrates, esp. from 1 region to another in sear ...

workers in

Personal life

Diakité lives in Malmö with his Dutch-born wife. He is the father of Swedish rapper Jason "Timbuktu" Diakité, and uncle to

Nigerian American Nigerian Americans (; ; ) are Americans who are of Nigerians, Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigrants residing in the United States is rapidly growing, expanding from a small 1980 population of 25,000. The 2022 American Community S ...

actor

Chet Anekwe Chet Anekwe is an actor and filmmaker who was born in Nigeria and raised in New York City. His work spans Hollywood, Nollywood and the New York Theater. Filmography Awards and nominations Other awards *1997 AUDELCO Award nomine ...

Noted Films

After graduating from the New York Institute of Photography Diakite produced, directed and edited the following 16mm films: * ''Dreams of G,'' a short film co produced with the late Boris Bodé about the dreams of a lonely girl in New York * ''For Personal Reasons'',a 35 minute film about an angry black youth in New York who sees no way out of his misery than to take vigilante actions against NYC policemen * ''Det Osynliga Folket'' (The Invisible People, in English and Swedish), a 35 minute film about case studies of discrimination of foreign students and immigrants in Lund, co produced by Herbert Söderström and Gary Engman with a special thanks to

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

(Malmö. * ''En Dag På Mårtenstorget'' (in Swedish), a 35 minute film about Mårtenstorget, a farmers market in Lund, Sweden

Noted Articles and Publications

* Trans-Atlantic Crossings: Madubuko Diakité and Black Radical Documentary, by Dr. Christian Rossipal, Film Quarterly, Spring 2023, Vol. 76 Number 3, pp 12 - 24. The Lundian Magazine, Madubuko Diakité, teacher, filmmaker,publsher of a magazine in Lund, Sweden. June 1991, Vol 63:Issue 6. www.swedishpress.com, ISSN 0839-2323 . Basic Facts About the African Diaspora. Anthologi: Afrikansksvenska Roster (African-Swedish Voices), Andreas Stevens, editor. Notisforlag, Malmö. ISBN 978-91-976701-5-9. International skydd for asylsökande och flyktingar (International Protection for Asylum-seekers and Refugees), Anthology: omänskliga rättigheter (Andreas Stevens, editor. Notisforlag, Malmö. ISBN 978-91-976701-3-5. African American Diasporans in Sweden, The Lundian Magazine (www.thelundian.com Film and Cultural Signification:Reconsiderng Minority and Third World Films, by Madubuko Diakité, Journal of University Film Association, Vol. XXX No. 3, Summer1978. Awards CinemAfricas Honorary Prize 2023 Stockholm. 20th October (Cinema Africa) Festival International Du Film De Court Métrage De Grenoble 1973: Honorary Mention (For Personal Reasons) Prix Du Film De Combat. Film Distributors Modern Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. https://sis.modernamuseet. FilmForm, Stockholm. www.filmform.com . Commonwealth Arts Centre: Black Film Festival 1 - 13th, 1982) Independent Black American Cinema: 1920 - 1980. Third World Newsreel, Pearl Bowser Festival Director. The Black Filmmaker Foundation Festival of Black Independent American Cinema. Kaleidoscope: Invandrarfilm I Sverige: En katalog över filmer av och om invandrare i Sverige.(Immigrant Films in Sweden: A Catalogue of films by and about immigrants in Sweden. Kaleidoscope: a Publication on Immigrant Filmmakers living in Sweden. Editors Synnöve Özer, Viveca Kulvik, Mummer Özer, Ali Borer, Luis R. Vera, Myriam Braniff. Published by Invandrarfilmarnas Förening (Immigrant Film Association, Stockholm 1984. Special Viewings 1973 - 74: Swedish TV 2, Malmö, Sweden. 1973 - Grenoble Festival of Short Films, Grenoble, France. 1976 - 1987 - Worldwide Distrubutiobs in Lund, Malmö, Stockholm, New York' Thalia Theatre. 2022-05-30 Cinema Pandora, Malmö. 2022-09-16 Klarabiografen i Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden. Viewing arranged by Filmögon and Filmform, Stockholm. 2023-06-12 Maysles Doumentary Center, Harlem, N.Y.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diakite, Madubuko Swedish people of African-American descent 20th-century Swedish lawyers Living people American emigrants to Sweden 1940 births