With apartheid's end, many thought the deplorable living conditions of poor South Africans would automatically improve. Sixteen years later, for some it has deteriorated, and many called shack dwellers are still living in informal settlements called shacks. It is the all-too-familiar display of "African politics," as the mass equality Mandela was jailed for hasn't been realized, and the vote-inducing promises of decent housing for all routinely touted in ANC presidential campaigns are still unfulfilled. - Understandably, with Mandela and his successors’ elections, their governments faced the insurmountable task of providing better lives, including housing for all as…

It is widely believed that the "American dream" is easily attainable by anyone in the US. However, successful African immigrants who are usually known for not having good financial support systems, excellent financial literacy skills, access to capital, legacy name recognition, and exclusive mentorship opportunities that are easily available to non-minorities can attest to the fact that achieving their American dream wasn't easy. - In the Washington, DC area, Ethiopians are especially known for being entrepreneurs, especially in the restaurant, parking and security industries. One man who is ahead of the pack and stands out as a leader and employer to many is Ethiopian born DC…

Namibia is located along the southwest coast of Africa. It's a huge country with only 2.1 million people living there. The citizens are fiercely protective of their environment. As a matter of fact, Namibia's the only country in the world that includes conservation as part of its constitution. - If you want to see this rugged country, you need some time, a sturdy vehicle and the guts to get off the beaten track. It is said that in Namibia your adventure begins where the road ends, and so we take flight on a journey of epic landscapes, animal kingdoms, and ancient tribes. What is Namibia? Namibia's the jewel of Africa. It is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered. This …

Physically challenged Ugandan lawyer Med Ssengooba just attended the "Challenges of Living with a Disability in Africa: A Legal Approach," organized by The African Justice Initiative, a group highlighting and creating discourse on African issues from a legal perspective. He spoke about the challenges of Person(s) with Disabilities (PWDs). We engaged him after his talk: - Who is Med Ssengooba? I was born in 1981 in Uganda when polio was prevalent. The situation was further exacerbated by political unrests. In 1984, at three years old, I contracted polio, suffered the resultant paralysis and became a wheelchair-dependent PWD. After years of treatment, I began my education late…

Movies are released all the time, but few speak to the reality of the lives of African immigrants in God's own country, the good old US of A. Filmmaker, Rahman Oladigbolu has chosen to address this issue in his directorial debut titled In America: The Story of the Soul Sisters. - As the protagonist, Sade George, a Nigerian immigrant and medical student seeking greener pastures in Boston, Massachusetts laments, “In the past they were forcing us into slavery, but today, we’re voluntarily selling ourselves into it,” viewers are quickly drawn into the movie’s plot, which the talented cast brilliantly bring to life. This award winning movie recently won the 2011 Af…

To highlight the shortage of African female political leadership, African writer, Dr. Ali Mazrui, while interviewing former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings, sarcastically quipped that looking at the African leadership landscape - where many presidents seize power via coup d'états - more women should join armies and seize power to correct the gender inequity. - I laughed at this, remembering that while growing up in Nigeria, military officers enjoyed unprecedented privileges, thereby making joining the military attractive to many. Although most people for a variety of reasons eventually chose other career paths, it was often said that if the Nigerian army was like the Senegalese army, …

Roger Ross Williams, the director of Music by Prudence is the first African American director to win an Academy Award for directing and producing his documentary, Music by Prudence. The documentary is about wheelchair bound Prudence Mabhena, a singer/songwriter from the King George VI School & Center for Children with Physical Disabilities (KGVI) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, who has Arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that is characterized by multiple joint contractures. - She is the lead singer of the group, Liyana, which consists of fellow physically challenged students namely: Tapiwa Nyengera, who has Spina Bifida, Energy Maburutse, who has Osteogenesis Imperfecta/Brittle Bone syndr…

- The South African Ambassador to the USA, His Excellency Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool and Ms. Rosieda Shabodien on the 9th of August, 2012 celebrated South African National Women’s Day, a day commemorated to recall South African Women’s commitment to justice and equality and their bravery in the face of an oppressive Apartheid regime. On the 9th of August 1956, they held one of the largest demonstrations in South Africa’s history comprised of twenty thousand women of all races including some with children strapped to their backs as they marched to Pretoria’s Union Building to protest against the carrying of passes. The event titled, “Addressing Unemployme…

- Amandla! Colloquium “The Reproduction of Cheap Labour in Post-Apartheid South Africa” 16-18 November 2012 Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) 129 Rochester Road, Observatory Cape Town PURPOSE OF COLLOQUIUM Colloquium will discuss the topic “The Reproduction of Cheap Labour in Post-Apartheid South Africa” according to two themes, I. The low wage regime problem in South Africa II: Strategies towards a wage-led and sustainable growth path This is not a traditional academic research conference. Colloquium would involve a thorough exploration and discussion of the topic in terms of the proposed content guideline…

- If you are an avid reader of African literary works and you haven’t already heard of him, Caine Prize winning author, Olufemi Terry will soon become known to you as he is working steadily to become a household name. His short story; Stickfighting Days, originally published in Chimurenga Vol. 12/13, a Pan African publication of writing, art and politics, defeated several others to emerge as the 2010 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. His talent caught the eye of The Chair of Judges, The Economist’s Literary Editor, Fiammetta Rocco, who is quoted as having said, “Ambitious, brave and hugely imaginative, Olufemi Terry's Stickfighting Days presents a h…

- In honor of World Press Freedom Day let us take the time to remember a fearless African woman who is standing up for what she believes in and is being both celebrated and prosecuted for it. 31 year old Ethiopian journalist, Reeyot Alemu, is a 2012 Courage in Journalism Award winner. She was chosen to receive the award which honors women journalists who have shown extraordinary strength of character and integrity while reporting the news under dangerous or difficult circumstances given by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), because of her exemplary courage and track record. Prior to her incarceration, she worked as a columnist for independent Ethiopian newspape…

- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently visited Ivory Coast as part of a four-nation tour of West Africa, promoting good governance and economic development. Some say it was to reinforce the United States’ support for Alassane Ouattara, who they assisted in becoming the President following the 2010 presidential election, after which former President, Laurent Gbagbo challenged the vote count, alleged fraud, refused to step down and called for the annulment of results from nine of the country's regions. Ouattara was declared the winner and recognized by election observers, the international community, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West Afri…

- Tuesday, January 17, 2012 is the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba by the United States and Belgium (Belgium apologized in 2002), in cahoots with select Congolese elites. Congolese people and friends of the Congo throughout the globe commemorate Lumumba's assassination each year to bring attention to the Congolese people's pursuit of freedom and liberation in the heart of Africa. Since the assassination of Lumumba, the foreign multi-national corporations of the 1% profit from the plundering of Congo's abundant mineral resources and are complicit in the super-exploitation of Congolese labor. They are also the underlying engine of the violent c…

- Every now and then, a movie comes along that inspires you through the depiction of past heroic acts of brave men and women. Red Tails, a World War II movie based on actual historical events of a crew of African American pilots in the Tuskegee training program facing segregation while kept mostly on the ground and called to duty when desperately needed under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard is such a movie. The cast includes British born Nigerian actor, David Oyelowo as Joe 'Lightning' Little and several other African American actors such as Bryan Cranston as Maj. William Mortamus, Cuba Gooding as Jr.Major Emanuelle Stance as Josh Dallas Ryan (as Joshua Dallas), Daniela…

- Dr. Rosetta Codling I recently met Dr. Rosetta Codling, an African American scholar and critic whose critiques of African and African American literature have appeared in numerous journals. Her latest critique appears in The Journal of African Literature 2010. Her professional career spans over 25 years in education. She recently shared her enlightening thoughts on the roles of Africa and the West in the global economy with me. Below are excerpts: What are your thoughts on Africa and the African Diaspora in the global economy? They face many challenges including the Diaspora's involuntary contributions to the global economy in the past and in the new Millennium. They have al…

- Gold, tin, tungsten, and tantalum power many Apple Inc. products including iPhones, iPads, MacBooks included. These minerals are in abundance in Congo where the deadliest war in the world today has been raging for over fifteen years. Also, Belgium and France, in the pursuit of the minerals like Coltan, the industrial name for columbite–tantalite, which is vital for making computer chips and cell phones, incite internal disputes in African nations in places such as Congo. Companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, Intel, and Sony lust for African resources, consequently, a dozen years of war over tin and coltan mines -- minerals vital to modern technology -- have created the largest hu…

- Howard University recently hosted an international conference titled Africa and People of African Descent: Issues and Actions to Re-Envision the Future from September 14-16, 2011. The conference which was organized by Dr. Clément Akassi and Dr. James Davis of the Department of World Languages and Cultures was held to celebrate and reinforce the United Nations declaration of 2011 as the year of Africa and People of African Descent, and unite Africans and people of African descent. The opening guest speaker was Congressman Hayden Pirela of Cojedes, Venezuela. His presentation was titled: Race and Affirmative Action in Venezuela. The conference also included distinguished speakers who con…

- The meaning of the lyrics of Tuface Idibia’s hit song; African Queen rang true recently as Africa’s very own daughter has done her motherland proud by winning the Miss Universe 2011 pageant. From 87 stunning ladies from around the world who assembled in Sao Paulo, Brazil, when all was said and done, it came down to one intelligent, articulate, confident and gorgeous queen, the only chocolate beauty standing among the five finalists who took home the crown by emerging as the 2011 Miss Universe winner. The Miss Universe dream became a reality for Leila Lopes, also known as Miss Angola from Benguela, a 25 year old stunner and business management student who plans to ope…

- On Thursday, September 8th, 2011 at 6pm, Genesis Deluxe Cinemas at The Palms Shopping Mall in Lagos, Nigeria will be the place to be, as the premiere of the African Movie Academy Award (AMAA) award winning movie, In America: The Story of the Soul Sisters will be held there. The event promises to be very memorable. This Hollywood standard, multi-award winning and exceptionally well-written and directed movie, brought to life by a stellar cast, features established actor, Jimmy Jean-Louis of Heroes and Phat Girlz, and several emerging talent including: Mirlyne Dorvilus, Kandace Cummings, Cristian DeJesus, Roger Dillingham and Linda Starks. The movie which becomes available to the p…

- There's a saying that if you want to hide something from a black man put it in a book, insinuating that people of African ancestry focus more on oral rather than written communications. This anti-intellectual sentiment about people of African ancestry some say was born out of slavery, a time when slaves were denied access to education with the subsequent consequences lingering for centuries. Thankfully that's no longer the case and several emerging African authors are creating a renaissance of African literature by writing authentic African stories that correctly depict African characters with authentic African behaviors and sensibilities. These authors who previously only…

- More than ever, recording artists’ careers are being buoyed and invigorated by brand partnerships. An excellent example of this is K'naan and Coca-Cola®. K’naan is Coca-Cola’s brand ambassador, and his song Wavin’ Flag was their multimedia advertising campaign anthem during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I was fortunate to attend an event where the architects of the deal, K’naan’s manager, Sol Guy, and Chief of Possibilities of Deviant Ventures, Umut Ozaydinli who represented The Coca-Cola Company discussed what is required to create an unparalleled global World Cup campaign for a market leading brand like Coca-Cola®. Below is som…

- AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is hosting the seventh annual New African Films Festival, co-presented by AFI, TransAfrica Forum and Afrikafé from March 10-15. The vibrancy of African filmmaking from all corners of the continent is currently on display in Silver Spring, MD. Yesterday was the Opening Night in which the Amharic film subtitled in English, The Athlete [Atletu] was screened. Ethiopian born Rasselas Lekew (co-director, writer, producer and the film's star) and Davey Frankel (co-director, writer and producer) were both on hand to share about their fabulous film. The story is about about Abebe Bikila, an unknown, barefoot Ethiopian who stunned the world by…

- Uganda’s President Museveni needs to learn civility, which includes being respectful of others whether or not he agrees with them. I say this, because civility is obviously missing in his presidency, as displayed when he and his cohorts disguised as police officers recently arrested Director Samuel Ssejaka and Editor Mustapha Mugisha over a front page cover of their Summit Business Review's depiction of him blowing out a candle and wielding a knife, ready to cut a Ugandan shaped cake. This is not the first controversy caused by a cartoon of a president and it won’t be the last. However, the issue here is his response. I also understand that several Ugandan journal…

Mr. Shantayanan Devarajan, the Sri-Lankan-born Chief Economist of the World Bank's (WB) Africa Region whose research covers public economics, trade policy, natural resources, the environment, and general equilibrium modeling of developing countries is a sought after authority on Africa. - Although there are many “unofficial authorities” on Africa at the WB, his name is the only one listed on the World Bank’s website as their expert on Africa. He has a B.A. in mathematics from Princeton and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a faculty member at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Principal Economist a…