Month: April 2019

African Politics

Omar Hassan al-Bashir Is Removed as Sudan’s President
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By Joseph Goldstein and Declan Walsh

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the authoritarian leader of Sudan wanted on genocide charges in connection with atrocities in Darfur, has been ousted by his nation’s military after nearly four months of mass protests shattered his grip on the country.

The nation’s defense minister, Lt. Gen. Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, announced on Thursday that Mr. al-Bashir had been taken into custody, the government had been dissolved and the Constitution had been suspended. He said there would be a two-year transition period, with the military in charge, and announced a 10 p.m. curfew.

Continue reading “Omar Hassan al-Bashir Is Removed as Sudan’s President” →
Diplomacy

Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Khayre, Visits White House
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Somalia’s Prime Minister Hassan Khayre met with President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton at the White House on Wednesday. Khayre is seen as a key ally in the fight against the al Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab

“Pleased to have hosted Somali PM Khayre today. I congratulated him on Somalia’s economic reforms and urged sustained engagement on this front. We discussed ways to deepen the strong US-Somalia partnership on critical issues, including counterterrorism and regional stability,” Bolton wrote on Twitter Wednesday following their meeting.

Continue reading “Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Khayre, Visits White House” →
Communities, Music

Afrigo band set for Uganda Festival in New York
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Wasula said their wide collection of songs allows the band to be versatile, noting that they have many songs they didn’t perform last year.

When Afrigo band ascended to the stage at the magnificent Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington DC last year, the audience went gaga.

On their feet were thousands of Ugandans living in the diaspora and well-wishers who had gathered for the Uganda Festival and Business Expo 2018.

Continue reading “Afrigo band set for Uganda Festival in New York” →

Music

Drake Brings Out Wizkid To Perform ‘Come Closer’ With Him At The O2 Arena
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By Clement Akubude
Nigerian Afropop artiste, and StarBoy Boss Wizkid was brought on stage at the O2 Arena in London Monday night 8th of April by American singer, Drake to perform their hit single, Come Close during his Assassination Vacation Tour where he’ll be spending seven days performing at the O2.

Continue reading “Drake Brings Out Wizkid To Perform ‘Come Closer’ With Him At The O2 Arena” →

Diplomacy

Congo D.R President Felix Tshisekedi meets with Secretary Pompeo’s during U.S. visit
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Secretary Michael R. Pompeo met recently with Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi in Washington, D.C.

They discussed the future of U.S.-DRC relations following the country’s historic transfer of power earlier this year and expressed their common interest in partnering to deliver a better and more prosperous future for the Congolese people.

Continue reading “Congo D.R President Felix Tshisekedi meets with Secretary Pompeo’s during U.S. visit” →

Music

Massive crowd at Medikal’s show in USA
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By Lizbeth Brown

Ghanaian hip hop musician Samuel Adu Frimpong popularly known as Medikal pulled a massive crowd when he performed in the United States of America.

The ‘Omo Ada’ hitmaker delivered a stupendous and amazing performance to a fully-packed auditorium.

Continue reading “Massive crowd at Medikal’s show in USA” →

Diplomacy

Kenya’s Ambassador Challenges U.S. to Match Chinese Investment and Promote People-to-People Exchanges
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China president Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has spread throughout the world including the African continent challenging the U.S.’s economic dominance, is proof enough of China’s ambitions.

But last week even in Atlanta there were intimations that a more dynamic role for the U.S. would be welcome in Africa if it upped its commitment.

Continue reading “Kenya’s Ambassador Challenges U.S. to Match Chinese Investment and Promote People-to-People Exchanges” →

Uncategorized

South Los Angeles is doing business with Africa
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South Los Angeles Logistics brings Uganda coffee to the U.S.

Leimert Park Village, still a center of Pan-African thought and expression through its art, music and culture, is one of the most recognizable Pan-African Cultural Districts in South Los Angeles.  The village has seen its share of ebbs and flows, yet it still rises like the Phoenix.  

Today, you will find an increasing number of nationalities from Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Brazil, Belize, Kenya, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Ghana gathering at the Hot & Cool Café and the WE CAN Foundation merging their experiences of Pan-African thought and expression through business, foods, arts music and culture. 

Continue reading “South Los Angeles is doing business with Africa” →
Communities

How did US and Ethiopia become so close?
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A high-level US delegation just returned from Ethiopia, which is arguably America’s closest ally on the continent of Africa. How did these two countries become so close? Journalist James Jeffrey explains.

It’s noticeable soon after you land in Washington – the city is full of Ethiopians.

Their ubiquitous presence – behind the counter at Starbucks or the wheels of taxis – in the bastion of American government symbolises the two pillars of this alliance.

Continue reading “How did US and Ethiopia become so close?” →
Ancestry

NAACP Announces Memorial Trip to Ghana
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  • Jamestown to Jamestown memorial trip to Ghana announced to commemorate 400 years of African diaspora
     

The Jamestown to Jamestown Memorial Trip to Ghana, an official event of Ghana’s Year of Return, was announced at the 50th NAACP Image Awards in Hollywood, California by Diallo Sumbry, Ghana’s first Black American Tourism Ambassador, in partnership with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Continue reading “NAACP Announces Memorial Trip to Ghana” →

Culture

African Migrants Strive to Preserve Their Cultural Heritage
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By Sharon Birch-Jeffrey*

To experience a taste of African culture deep inside the Big Apple, visitors – including many Senegalese – turn to Le Petit Senegal (Little Senegal), a West African neighborhood in West Harlem, New York.

African grocery shops, fabric stores, hair braiding parlors and regional restaurants sit shoulder to shoulder along the streets.

Continue reading “African Migrants Strive to Preserve Their Cultural Heritage” →

Remittance

Kenyans in diaspora sent home $2 billion
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By Kelvin J. Kelley
The estimate by the Pew Research Centre is based on statistics developed last year by the World Bank
The United Kingdom was Kenya’s single-largest source of remittances, with $663 million sent home in 2017.
Kenyans living in the US, which ranked second, sent back $584 million.
Ghana and Senegal each accounted for about $2.2 billion in remittances.

Kenyans living abroad sent almost $2 billion (Sh200 billion) to their families and others in their homeland in 2017, a US data-analysis group said.

Continue reading “Kenyans in diaspora sent home $2 billion” →

Uncategorized

Chef’s Memoir Tackles What It’s Like To Be Young, Gifted And Black In Fine Dining
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Kwame Onwuachi is a rising star in the food world — the executive chef at Kith and Kin, a celebrated Afro-Caribbean restaurant in Washington, D.C., and a nominee this year for a prestigious James Beard award.

By Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Maria Godoy

It was the morning after the election of America’s first black president, and Kwame Onwuachi was hungover. He’d been partying all night. He was dealing drugs to survive after he dropped out of college. He was, he says, lost.

Continue reading “Chef’s Memoir Tackles What It’s Like To Be Young, Gifted And Black In Fine Dining” →

News

US-based expert wants Nigerians in diaspora to return to develop country’s healthcare
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A United States of America, USA based healthcare expert and a leading member of the League of Nigerians In Diaspora, LNID, Chief Shegun Olagundoye, has urged investors and professionals in the Diaspora to return home to invest in the large potentials that abound in the nation’s medical tourism and other sectors of the economy.

“With the current favourable investment environment, if our compatriots heed this call, Nigerians in Diaspora can turn the country to a global medical tourism center within the next seven to ten years,” Olagundoye said in a chat with some Nigerian journalists.

Continue reading “US-based expert wants Nigerians in diaspora to return to develop country’s healthcare” →

Uncategorized

American students visit Africa via Motherland Connect
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By Maya DuBois 

The non-profit organization Motherland Connect takes HBCU students to their African roots one country at a time.

The Motherland Connect started in South Africa and it operates on Florida A&M University’s campus via political science assistant professor Christopher Daniels. Continue reading “American students visit Africa via Motherland Connect” →

Achievements

Ugandan cardiologist scoops top US award
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A Ugandan doctor has been awarded a prestigious United States (US) award for his role in the treatment of heart diseases.

Dr. Emmy Okello, an interventional cardiologist at the Uganda Heart Institute (UHI), has been recognized by the American College of Cardiology for advancing the field of Rheumatic heart disease and interventional cardiology in Uganda.

Continue reading “Ugandan cardiologist scoops top US award” →

African Politics, Politics

Algerians In Diaspora Celebrate Bouteflika’s Resignation With Movement
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For weeks, expat Algerians have been streaming home, some just for the weekend, to play their part in the historic changes sweeping the country.

“I took unpaid leave to come and march in Algeria, to be here physically,” said Chahrazade Kaci, who arrived back from London just days before president Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned in the face of huge protests.

Continue reading “Algerians In Diaspora Celebrate Bouteflika’s Resignation With Movement” →

Communities

Egyptian community in U.S. endorses constitutional amendments, calls for participation in polls
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The Egyptian Cultural Club in the United States and the Coptic Association held a seminar in New Jersey on Saturday for the Egyptian community to discuss the constitutional amendments.

At the beginning of the seminar, President of the Coptic Association Adel Agibsaid that Egypt is and will remain a great country, stressing his support to the proposed constitutional amendments.

Continue reading “Egyptian community in U.S. endorses constitutional amendments, calls for participation in polls” →

Movies

‘The Burial Of Kojo’ Ghanaian director Blitz Bazawule isn’t here to give you “normal” filmmaking
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In his feature film debut The Burial of Kojo, Blitz Bazawule tells a story of two brothers through the gaze of a gifted girl who travels between gorgeous lands that exist in life and death.

It’s not your ordinary narrative film, but a cinematic fable that is surreal, magical and infused with Afrofuturistic elements. Yes, it is complex and yes, it will probably make your brain bleed with its visual prowess, but Bazawule isn’t here to give you normal. He’s here to change the game while rattling your senses with a dose of global and inclusive storytelling. As Bazawule said, “Nobody cares about normal, right?”

Continue reading “‘The Burial Of Kojo’ Ghanaian director Blitz Bazawule isn’t here to give you “normal” filmmaking” →

Movies

African culture comes alive in ‘The Burial of Kojo’ by Ghanaian, Blitz the Ambassador
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By Glenn Kenny

When musicians turn to film directing, it doesn’t always work out. Ask anyone who’s seen Bob Dylan’s nearly-five-hour musical romance “Renaldo and Clara” (although that oddity does have its wary admirers).

But it more than works out with “The Burial of Kojo,” written, directed and scored by Blitz Bazawule, a Ghana-born musician now based in New York who traveled back to his birth country to make this dazzling modern fable.

Continue reading “African culture comes alive in ‘The Burial of Kojo’ by Ghanaian, Blitz the Ambassador” →

Education, Sports

Long journey for American International College runner from Kenya
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By Garry Brown

Leakey Kipkosgei, who came to American International College from Kenya, has had quite a career as a long-distance runner on coach Leo Mayo’s track and field team.

As a junior in 2018, he placed third in the steeplechase at the NCAA Division II nationals, and made the All-America first team.

Prior to that, he received male track athlete of the year honors after winning the 1,500 and steeplechase in the Northeast-10 meet.

Continue reading “Long journey for American International College runner from Kenya” →

Movies

Kris Mokwunye takes Nigerian short films to America
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Kris Mokwunye, 25, is a Nigerian filmmaker, content creator and a lover of creative works generally. All his life, from secondary school to university education, he has been doing creative works.

An award-winning short filmmaker, his showbiz career started with organising an event, Chill with a Star, before branching into filmmaking, which saw him garlanded at the Abuja International Film Festival in 2017.

So far, he has done and directed eight short films, for himself and for others.

Continue reading “Kris Mokwunye takes Nigerian short films to America” →

News

US court struggles with the case of Jean Leonard Teganya 25 years after the Rwandan Genocide
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by Clement Habimana

In 1994, Jean Leonard Teganya was a 22-year-old Rwandan medical student, a hard worker whose peers describe him as smart and kind to everyone. He was in his third year of medical school, in the Faculty of Medicine at the National University of Rwanda in Butare.

Now he is in Boston’s Federal District Court, nearing the end of his trial for immigration fraud and perjury about his role in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. If convicted, he will be imprisoned in the U.S. and then deported to Rwanda, a totalitarian military dictatorship likely to kill or imprison him for life.

Continue reading “US court struggles with the case of Jean Leonard Teganya 25 years after the Rwandan Genocide” →

Communities

2000 Ugandans to attend UNAA convention in Chicago
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By John Semakula

Over 2000 Ugandans are expected to attend the 31st Uganda North American Association (UNAA) convention slated for August 29 to September 1 in Chicago.

According to the organisers, over 500 Ugandans have so far registered for the conference.  

Julius Kabugu, the director of communication at UNAA told the New Vision that this year’s event will run on the theme, “Cultural Diversity & Economic Empowerment: Creating a Stronger Diaspora Community.”

Continue reading “2000 Ugandans to attend UNAA convention in Chicago” →

Culture

Africa Salon festival in Yale University to celebrate arts and culture of the diaspora
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By Adam Gaberapril

Africa Salon, Yale’s celebration of contemporary African arts and culture, returns to New Haven Friday-Saturday, April 12-13.

The fifth annual festival will bring poets, writers, filmmakers, comedians, and musical artists to Yale and New Haven to showcase the diversity of art and culture throughout the African diaspora.

According to the organizers, at a time when contemporary African art is drawing more eyes than ever, the salon invites audiences to rethink their conceptions of the continent and diaspora — to watch, listen, and respond — and to celebrate the creation and complexity of contemporary African narratives.  

Continue reading “Africa Salon festival in Yale University to celebrate arts and culture of the diaspora” →

Communities

Kenyans in Toronto ‘feeling devastated’ by Ethiopian Airways crash
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By Denis Bedoya

Toronto’s Kenyan community is reacting to the tragic news of an Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 on board, including 18 Canadians, on last Month.

Many Kenyans and Kenyan-Canadians living in the Greater Toronto Area were impacted by the news as they await official information about those killed in the crash.

Continue reading “Kenyans in Toronto ‘feeling devastated’ by Ethiopian Airways crash” →

Sports

Efe Obada: The Nigerian NFL star abandoned on London’s streets at age of 10
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By Tom Reynolds BBC Sport

“Apparently if you want to book it you have to say: ‘The Efe Obada room please.’ That’s really cool.

“If someone’s in there, I’ll just kick them out…”

Efe Obada is joking about the meeting room we are about to enter at the NFL’s UK headquarters in central London.

Continue reading “Efe Obada: The Nigerian NFL star abandoned on London’s streets at age of 10” →

Education

U.S. Urges Nigerian students to explore its Education Funding Program
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Mathew Washburn, Programme Officer, Education USA Department of State, has urged Nigeria students to explore the department’s education Opportunity Funds Programme (OFP) to advance their studies in America.

Washburn spoke at the Foreign Press Centre International Reporting Tour of the U.S. Community Colleges and Workforce Development programme in Washington D.C.

Continue reading “U.S. Urges Nigerian students to explore its Education Funding Program” →

Movies

Why is Lupita Nyong’o making Chimamanda’s Americanah?
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By Ernest Bazanye

Ms Lupita Nyong’o pleased news magazines when she announced that she is in works to produce a TV miniseries based on Americanah, the award-winning bestselling novel from Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie.

This news, from the star of Us, has made Africa ecstatic. If you feel left out, here is the simple explanation.

Continue reading “Why is Lupita Nyong’o making Chimamanda’s Americanah?” →

Uncategorized

U.S. slaps visa ban on ICC prosecutor, Gambia’s Fatou Bensouda
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By Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, ICC, Gambian Fatou Bensouda has been hit by a visa ban by the United States government over her office’s decision to probe alleged war crimes by Americans.

She has been investigating U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan, a move that United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned last month could lead to sanctions on ICC officials.

Continue reading “U.S. slaps visa ban on ICC prosecutor, Gambia’s Fatou Bensouda” →