When LGBTQ activist Edafe Okporo arrived at JFK airport, he didn’t know anyone in the US. Now he runs RDJ Refugee Shelter, providing homeless asylum seekers with temporary housing. And on World Refugee Day he’s telling his story.
Continue reading “I fled Nigeria to come to America as a refugee. Now I welcome other LGBTQ asylum seekers.”
By Omar Kallon
Growing up as the son of a Sierra Leonean refugee in Egypt during the 1990s wasn’t easy. My father couldn’t return to his homeland because of a brutal civil war, and although my mother was an Egyptian citizen, Egypt’s patrilineal citizenship laws meant my father and my sister and I were never considered Egyptian.
Continue reading “Refugees and the spirit of America –”
By Cora Jackson-Fossett
The government of Ethiopia is rolling out the welcome mat to African Americans to explore the business opportunities and tourist destinations throughout the historic nation.
By Aline Barros
Sylvester Owino is a small business owner in San Diego, California. His family owns Rafikiz Foodz — an authentic African food vendor offering “Kenyan food for your soul,” using fresh ingredients from the local farmers market. Those who encounter Owino’s welcoming personality are not aware what happens once he is done working for the day. A convicted felon who robbed a shop, Owino is fighting to stay in the United States through an asylum case that has lasted nearly a decade.
Continue reading “Kenyan Immigrant Spends a Decade Fighting Deportation”
The 17th annual African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) will run from June 21 to 27 at Chicago’s Facets Cinematheque (1517 W. Fullerton Ave.) Established in 1993, the ADIFF is a minority-led, not-for profit international gala that presents, interprets and educates about films that explore the human experience of people of color all over the world. Along the way, it inspires imaginations, disrupt stereotypes, and help transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice.
Continue reading “The African Diaspora International Film Festival plays at Facets Chicago June 21 – 27”
Norah Chelagat Borus, a Kenyan-born computer science student at Stanford University has been found dead at her residence at the university under unclear circumstances.
Continue reading “Kenyan-born Stanford University student found dead at her university residence”
By Nick Schroeder
PORTLAND (BDN) — As of Friday afternoon, a total of 177 migrants have arrived in Portland. Thursday night, 157 stayed at the Portland Expo, and 20 more arrived on buses from San Antonio Friday morning. Since arriving on Sunday, 41 have also left, according to the city of Portland, possibly headed for Canada.
Continue reading “Here’s a look at the process of seeking asylum and why it’s different this time”
By Valerie Russ
After the Odunde Festival, Philadelphia hosted the Peace in the East festival to celebrate young East African Americans who were born or raised in the United States with parents from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan.
Continue reading “Peace in the East Festival aims to unify millennials whose parents emigrated from East Africa”
By Brandon Stahl
Cabduqaadir Mayow fled Somalia in 2014 and asked the United States for asylum, saying the terrorist group al-Shabab was threatening to kill him. A judge, finding no credible evidence to support the claim, ordered him deported. But with no functioning government in Somalia, the Department of Homeland Security let Mayow go.
He moved to Minnesota, married a U.S. citizen in 2015 and hoped they could start a life in the country. During a check-in on June 10, 2017, ICE arrested him and told him he would be deported to Somalia. For nearly two years he sat in jail, despite never being charged with a crime.
Continue reading “As length of immigrant detentions grows in Minnesota, so do petitions for relief”
By Adeel Hassan
One of our best-read stories this month followed the journey of a white college dropout who was drawn to the alt-right after watching thousands of videos of far-right YouTube personalities.
Continue reading “A Vivid Tale of Father and Son”
By Judith Mbuya
Continue reading “African Catholics celebrate their heritage of saints in Maryland”
Black & Abroad, an online travel and lifestyle platform, encourages African Americans to visit such ancestral countries as Senegal through a new project called “Go Back to Africa.”
By Andrea Sachs
Eric Martin and Kent Johnson found inspiration in the offensive. Four years ago, the pair launched Black & Abroad, an online travel and lifestyle platform for African Americans.
Continue reading “Black & Abroad founders encourage African Americans to visit their ancestral continent”
The Egyptian movie “Between Two Seas” directed by Anas Tolba won the prize for the best narrative film and the Mariam Naoum Art Achievement Award at the end of the 22nd edition of the Brooklyn Film Festival, which ran from May 31 to June 9 in United States of America.
Continue reading “Egyptian movie wins 2 awards at Brooklyn Film Festival”
Always Another Country,” by Sisonke Msimang (World Editions/World Editions)
Msimang’s stories teach readers about race and racism, how one’s political ideology shifts, and about contemporary South African political history
Continue reading “This gripping memoir tells the story of a girl — and South Africa — coming of age”
By Chris Bengel
The Toronto Raptors are fresh off of winning their first NBA title in franchise history after defeating the Golden State Warriors. However, with that type of success, a team’s assets are coveted by the rest of the league.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Washington Wizards are “preparing” a massive $10 million per year offer for Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and are expected to seek permission from Toronto to speak with him about their vacancy in the coming days.
Continue reading “Wizards to dangle $10M Per-Year Contract Offer to Lure Raptors’ Masai Ujiri to Washington”
There has been wild celebrations all over Canada as Toronto Raptors became the first team from the country to win the NBA finals. Three Africans were pivotal in helping Raptors beat Golden State Warriors in Game 6 to to win the championship for the first time in their history.
Raptors President, Masai Ujiri from Nigeria, Pascal Siakem from Cameroon and Serge Ibaka from Congo DR are among the African contingent that have brought joy to Canada.
If the United States imports its low-value goods from Africa, rather than producing them domestically, then the U.S. economy can focus on what it best produces: high-value specialized goods and services.
By Alexander C. R. Hammond
Africa is about to lend a hand to the United States. Last week, Africa implemented the world’s largest free-trade area, and that’s great news for American foreign policy.
Continue reading “Africa’s New Free-Trade Area is Great News for America”
By John Wanjohi
Ethiopian Airlines has launched three weekly flights to New York’s John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. The airline said the new flights to New York will make stopovers in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (West Africa).
Ethiopian currently operates four other weekly flights to Newark, via Lome (Togo).
Continue reading “Ethiopian Airlines Launches Three Weekly Flights to New York’s JFK Airport”
Professor Niara Sudarkasa, first female president of Lincoln University of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost scholars of Yoruba culture and language has died at the age of 80 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Continue reading “Niara Sudarkasa, renowned anthropologist and Yoruba scholar takes a bow”By Nick Westcott
Does President Donald Trump have a policy on Africa, and if so what? The answer to this question is both interesting and revealing.
President Trump does not seem to pay much attention to Africa. Apart from his well-publicised comments to a group of senators in January 2018 dismissing the whole of Africa as “shithole countries,” he has not said much about the continent.
Continue reading “The Trump administration’s Africa policy”
By Liane Faulder
A local home cook with a flair for Nigerian street food has created a pop-up, summer dinner series called Travelling Dishes From Aunty Dupe’s Buka.
It’s a veritable travelling street food show, specializing in snacks and dishes that the creator, Dupe Adedeji, used to eat as a child when on a road trip with her family.
Continue reading “Aunty Dupe’s Buka shares Nigerian street food in pop-up dining series”
The city of Alexandria, Virginia, held its official “Morocco Day” at the Market Square on Saturday, June 9.
“This is monumental because Alexandria, one of America’s oldest cities, is home to 10,000 Moroccans; it is a great place for entrepreneurship and tourism,” said Justin Wilson, Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia.
Continue reading “US city of Alexandria Celebrates Morocco Day,”
By PK Semler
Aliaune “Akon” Thiam and Stanley Enow –the Senegalese-American and Cameroonian hip-hop stars – are joining forces to promote major African energy projects such as a 350 MW hydroelectric power plant in the strategically vital West-Central African nation of Cameroon.
Continue reading “Hip-hop stars Akon and Enow join forces to promote power projects in Africa”
By Olumide Oyekunle
Corporate Council on Africa, in conjunction with the government of Mozambique, will host the 12th US-Africa Business Summit this year in Maputo with at least 12 African presidents expected to grace the event. The event will take place from June 18 to 21.
Organizers hope to bring more than 1,000 American and African private sector executives, international investors, senior government officials, and multilateral stakeholders.
By Nathaniel Crabbe
Eight year old Ghanaian, Nicholas Buamah, author of the book ”Kayla & Kyle The Walking Dictionaries: Election Day”, paid a courtesy visit to Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency (H.E) Dr. Barfour Adjei Barwuah, which saw the budding author become an ambassador for a few minutes.
Continue reading “8 year old Nicholas Buamah is a bestselling author on Amazon and he was Ghana’s Ambassador to USA for a day”
By Samuel Getachewl
Last week’s Women Deliver conference in Vancouver announced boosts to Canadian foreign aid for maternal and child health, but the news was bittersweet for the many invitees from African countries, including Ethiopia, who said they could not attend because their visas were denied by Ottawa with little explanation.
Continue reading “African invitees to women’s rights conference denied visas by Ottawa without explanation”
By John Wanjohi
Outgoing Kenyan Ambassador to the United States Robinson Githae has urged Kenyans in the diaspora to join Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (Saccos).
Speaking during the 6th Annual General Meeting of the Kenya and USA Diaspora Sacco members in Boston, Githae said Kenyans living and working abroad can contribute more to the country’s economy by joining societies.
Continue reading “Kenyan Ambassador to US, Robinson Githae, Urges Kenyan Diaspora to join Saccos”
By Selim Bulut
On a Saturday night in Black Flamingo, a cramped basement venue in Brooklyn, New York City, Kampire is blasting out a set of body-shaking, high energy African electronic music. The DJ, who grew up in Zambia before moving to Kampala in Uganda, has built a reputation for her energetic DJ gigs, which are filled with the most innovative sounds from Africa and beyond: Afro-house, Latin bass, St Lucian soca, Congolese soukous, baile funk, kudoro, gqom, and other, currently nameless and undefinable genres coming out of studios in Kampala.
Continue reading “Meet Kampire, the Ugandan DJ bringing new rhythms to dance music”
