Month: November 2019

Victory for US-born Kenyan ambassadorial nominee Mwende Mwinzi in citizenship battle

By SAM KIPLAGAT

A High Court ruled on Thursday that Mwende Mwinzi, the ambassadorial nominee to Seoul, South Korea, cannot be forced to renounce her US citizenship as it was acquired by birth.

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Minnesota singers welcome South African choir into their homes

Back in August 2018, in a South African school, a pair of sopranos sang and swayed together. Maya Tester and Thulisile Ntetha were from different choirs, different continents. But minutes into their first rehearsal, they were chatting and laughing.

“We just clicked,” said Ntetha.

More than a year later, the pair giggled as they told the story in a very different setting: Tester’s south Minneapolis kitchen.

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Hoping to apply to a US university as a foreign student?

Vital information about admissions, funding and visa applications to study at a university in the United StatesSeptember 4 2018


As an international student, there are so many different processes you’ll need to understand and navigate when applying to universities in the United States. Here’s a breakdown of the three most important aspects: admissions, funding and visas.

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Nigerian ‘unicorn’ Interswitch sells stake to Visa

By Libby GeorgeAlexis Akwagyiram

(Reuters) – Visa Inc (V.N) will buy a significant minority stake in Nigerian payments platform Interswitch, creating “an instant acceptance network across Africa” that will help drive expansion, both companies said in a statement on Tuesday.

Interswitch and Visa did not provide financial details but a source confirmed media reports that Visa would buy a 20% stake for $200 million.

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South African DJ Tira appears on Beats 1 Radio to push amapiano & gqom in America

BY MASEGO SEEMELA

DJ Tira is making major moves in the US, and it is all in the name of pushing SA music.

Makoya Bearings, as he refers to himself, made a guest appearance on Beats 1 Radio, hosted by Ebro Darden.

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How New Orleans celebrated Nigeria’s Independence Day

By C.C. Campbell-Rock

Nigerians, Nigerian-Americans, and African Americans gathered on the steps of New Orleans’ City Hall to commemorate Nigeria’s Independence Day and watch the Nigeria flag being hoisted and fly over the entrance of City Hall on October 4.

For more than 20 years, the Nigerian community in New Orleans has kept its African traditions alive, while forging alliances, in the tradition of an African village, among New Orleanians’ and others of African ancestry.

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Little Senegal: a home for West African food and culture in Harlem


Little Senegal is located just two blocks east of Morningside Park on West 116th Street.

BY NOAH SHEIDLOWER



Shop signs written in both English and French, men and women dressed in traditional boubou garments, chefs cooking up fish stew while chatting with customers in Wolof —this reminds one of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Yet, Little Senegal brings this scene to NYC—just two blocks east of Morningside Park on West 116th Street.

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HOW TO PLAN YOUR TRIP TO AFROCHELLA FESTIVAL IN ACCRA, GHANA

by SHAUNA BENI

Afrochella, now in its third year, is a one-day festival in Accra, Ghana celebrating Africa’s diverse culture, from cuisine to contemporary art, as well as the vibrant work of African creatives and entrepreneurs.

This year, it promises to be bigger than ever, with a jam-packed schedule of live music, exhibitions, and more. The programming aligns with the “Year of Return, Ghana 2019,” an initiative set forth by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to North America in 1619, and encourages those of African descent to make the journey back home

Read more from source Americans-in-Africa.com

The Lijadu Sisters: the Nigerian twins who fought the elite with funk

  • The death of Kehinde Lijadu marks the end of a wonderfully idiosyncratic partnership, where warped pop met fierce politics

One joyful evening at the Barbican, London, in April 2014, identical Nigerian twins, then aged 65, appeared on stage in matching sparkly red dresses alongside musicians including Damon Albarn, Sinkane, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark. They were there to sing the music of William Onyeabor, an elusive synth-pop oddball whose music had been rediscovered by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label and was being toured by this unlikely supergroup. But the twins were also making their return to the spotlight following their own lost years, having languished in obscurity for decades.

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Peter Nyong’o Father of Academy Award Winner Lupita Nyong’o visits Memphis and combines Movie Harriet & Kennedy, King & Obama

History happened in Memphis, Tennessee when a group of African dignitaries landed in Memphis, Tennessee headed by Professor Peter Nyong’o father Lupita Nyong’o.

Unknown to most Americans and Kenyans if it was not for a 26 year old African by the name of Tom Mboya who came from then “British East Africa” coming to America on August 15, 1956 there might not have been a Kenya, President Kennedy, President Obama and a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as we know him. Dr. King mention Nairobi, Kenya in his last speech in Memphis.

At Home with Oprah with Lupita Nyong’o Star of the Black Panther and Cynthia Erivo Star of the Harriet Tubman movie “Harriet.”
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Egyptian star Yousra honored by America Abroad Media

By Mira Maged


America Abroad Media (AAM) honored Egypt’s acclaimed star Yousra at its seventh edition during its annual dinner that took place in Washington, DC, celebrating the star’s artistic contributions that have presented Americans with remarkable representations of Egyptian history, according to the press release.

The statement applauded Yousra’s significant role in lifting taboos in Egyptian society and generating fruitful social dialogue. The award celebrates Yousra’s entire career.

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It’s now faster for immigrants to help their relatives become U.S. residents. Here’s how

Immigrants who obtain legal permanent resident status in the United States and those who, later, become naturalized U.S. citizens, often long for their close relatives — both abroad and inside the country — to follow their successful immigration journey.

There are several ways to help an eligible family member to immigrate to the U.S., but almost always this complex process begins with the submission of an essential form to establish the relationship between the applicant and the beneficiary.

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Bostwana-Born artist, Meleko Mokgosi, makes it big in America

The artist shows a series of works in all of Jack Shainman’s New York spaces that are simultaneously timeless and urgent.

By SIDDHARTHA MITTER

The Botswana-born painter, whose depictions of daily life in Southern Africa are underpinned by political history and critical theory, has exploded on the U.S. museum scene. He’s had recent solo shows at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles, the Smart Museum in Chicago, and has another, beginning next February, at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.

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The Misperception Of A People.

Most Nigerians are over-achievers in foreign lands and that should be highlighted much more than the bad apples that are spoiling the bunch. It is dangerous and anemic to the progress of all hardworking Nigerians by painting everyone with the same brush.

By Uju Obii-Obioha



Nigerians are a strong people with so much vibrancy and excitement about life. We are very driven, passionate, resilient and pretty much have a desire to achieve and enjoy life. As a result of the myriad of challenges we have had as a nation, the country’s economy has not been vibrant enough to sustain its nearly 200 million citizens and as a people that are driven we naturally migrate to other countries in search of greener pastures. After all, one of the primary reasons for immigration for people all over the world is the search for better economic opportunities.

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An Oscars ban for a Nigerian film shows the Academy still doesn’t get it on race

By Afua Hirsch

The penny about the US’s worldview dropped for me when I recently interviewed a highly educated, accomplished, politically and racially literate American. I mentioned something about the British empire and he looked at me blankly. “What is that exactly?” he asked.#OscarsSoWhite: a 10-point plan for change by the hashtag’s creator

Excluding Lionheart for using English shows Africans are still expected to satisfy American ideas of authenticity.

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Academy Disqualifies Nigeria’s Oscar Entry ‘Lionheart’

Nigeria’s first-ever submission in the Best International Feature Film category, is largely in English, which makes it ineligible to compete

By Steve Pond 


The Academy has disqualified Nigeria’s “Lionheart” from the Oscar race in the Best International Feature Film category, dropping the number of films competing for the award to 92 from what had been a record 93 entries.

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Ghanaian chemical scientist, Professor Kwasi Adomako Ohemeng, receives American Society’s highest honour

Professor Kwasi Adomako Ohemeng, the Dean of the School of Pharmacy, Central University, has been honoured by the American Chemical Society for his contributions to the development of industrial chemistry and for discoveries of medicines that impact the welfare of society.

He is among a team of 16 scientists from Paratek Pharmaceuticals whose work for the development of the FDA-approved antibiotic drugs Nuzyra (omadacycline) and Seysara (sarecycline) was recognised and adorned with the Heroes of Chemistry award.

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U.S. Treasury Calls Ethiopia, Egypt and World Bank to Nile Talks

By Nizar Manek

The U.S. Treasury invited Ethiopia and Egypt for talks, part of growing international efforts to quell a dispute over a giant dam that’s being built on the Nile River.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is convening the meeting in Washington, which the World Bank’s president will attend if the two African countries and mutual neighbor Sudan also participate, a spokesperson for the lender said Thursday. Ethiopia and Egypt’s foreign ministries have both said they’d accepted U.S. invitations for Nov. 6 talks.

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