Month: June 2020

Burna Boy Wins Best International Act At BET Awards 2020

By Josh | Jaitrends

Nigeria’s Burna Boy was celebrated by Naomi Campbell as he won the 2020 BET awards for Best International Act for the second consecutive year, while Zimbabwe’s sha sha  won the Best New International Act award

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5 Facts About Bone Breakers: The African Quartet Taking ‘America’s Got Talent’ By Storm

By SAMANTHA AGATE | Talent Recap

America’s Got Talent has always had impressive contortion acts but the Bonebreakers are truly unlike any other. The group consists of four men from Conakry, Guinea in West Africa and they came all the way to ‘AGT’ to show off their tremendous talents whether it’s bending, twisting and having your stomach churning with the amazing things their bodies can do.

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African Consuls General hold dialogue with Diaspora leaders, U.S. officials

By Vanguard

A dialogue between African Consuls General in the United States and diaspora leaders on issues of common interest was held alongside some elected public officers of the host country through Zoom. The engagement was first of its kind and it came four months after the formation of the African Consuls General (ACG) forum in February.

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Jessica Sutton: South African actress says playing the role of a witch in Fantasy series is her ‘dream job’

By Sam Spiller  | iol

Imagine a world where witches took up arms in service of their country. That is the premise of the new fantasy TV series Motherland: Fort Salem. South African-born actress Jessica Sutton plays witch cadet Tally Craven. She stars alongside Taylor Hickson and Ashley Nicole Williams.

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Adeyemi Ajao: He is half Nigerian and half Spanish and he is Co-Founder of World’s Largest Black-Led Venture Capital Firm

By crunchbase

Adeyemi (“Ade”) is co-founder & Managing Partner at Base10 Partners. Before Base10, Ade had a successful career as an entrepreneur and investor.

Continue reading “Adeyemi Ajao: He is half Nigerian and half Spanish and he is Co-Founder of World’s Largest Black-Led Venture Capital Firm”

World’s Largest Black-Led VC Firm Doubles Size of Latest Fund

Adeyemi Ajao, co-founder and managing partner of Base10, said the equality movement sparked by the death of George Floyd demanded an urgent response.

By Lizette Chapman | Bloomberg

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Stella Damasus’ daughter bags Columbia varsity scholarship

By Kehinde Ajose  | News Guru

Angelica, daughter of popular Nigerian actress, Stella Damasus, has bagged a scholarship to study at Columbia University after graduating as a valedictorian at a high school in the US.

Continue reading “Stella Damasus’ daughter bags Columbia varsity scholarship”

Nigerian kids ‘Ikorodu Bois’ get Hollywood invite after recreating movie trailer

By Anita Patrick |CNN

The Nigerian kids famous for remaking multimillion-dollar music videos and movie trailers with household items may be heading to Hollywood.Members of Ikorodu Bois nabbed the opportunity Wednesday after the group shared on social media their homemade remake of the trailer for the Netflix movie, “Extraction.”

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Ibrahim Diallo : “My experience of getting a job as a software developer in America is filled with unfair treatment.”

Guinean-born Ibrahim Diallo got his first computer when he was five, which triggered a lifelong passion for programming. He has worked as a software engineer in the US for 12 years and in 2018 wrote a much-read blog about how he was fired by a machine. 

Now, as race issues once again take centre stage in America and beyond, he has shared with the BBC his experience of being a black programmer.

By Ibrahim Diallo | BBC

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Titi Cole: Citigroup names Nigerian-born Wells Fargo executive to senior post in global consumer bank

By Laura Alix | American Banker

Citigroup has hired an executive away from Wells Fargo to serve in a top operations and fraud prevention role for its consumer banking business, the company announced Thursday. Titi Cole will join Citi’s global consumer banking leadership team in mid-August as head of global operations and fraud prevention.

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Richie Laryea: Powerful Ghanaian-Canadian defender signs new deal with Toronto FC

Richie Laryea, a Canadian with Ghanaian heritage, has extended his contract with Toronto FC after a fruitful negotiations.  The 25-year-old signed a fresh contract with the Red and White lads following his exploits at the club in his debut season.

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Zimbabwe’s Cook Off: How an $8,000 romcom made it to Netflix

By Steve Vickers | BBC News

Zimbabwe’s first film to feature on streaming service Netflix is a romantic comedy about a struggling single mother who finds love and good fortune in a TV cooking show contest.

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How a Somali community took on a Minnesota meatpacking plant to contain a Covid-19 outbreak

By Chidinma Irene Nwoye | Quartz Africa

Six years ago, then 27-year-old Nimo Ibrahim started her new job deboning chickens at Pilgrim’s Pride in Cold Spring, Minnesota. For the young Somali refugee and single mother of three, the job was a lifeline as she had no other skills.

Continue reading “How a Somali community took on a Minnesota meatpacking plant to contain a Covid-19 outbreak”

Why Emeka Izeze, a Nigerian editor, loves the Department of Motor Vehicles in America

By Paul Glader  | The Island Now

Emeka Izeze was sharing highlights about his time as a visiting scholar at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University as we drove along Highway 1 in Southern California on our way to a non-profit board meeting.

“I obtained my driver’s license in Cambridge,” said Izeze, the former editor-in-chief of The Guardian newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria. “And I have to tell you what was extremely impressive: the Department of Motor Vehicles!”

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Hani Garabyare: President Trump Told Me to Go Back to Somalia. So, I Did

By Hani Garabyare | The Root

Last July, President Trump made headlines by lashing out at a group of progressive congresswomen—among them Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the first Somali elected to Congress—and told them to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.” Days later, crowds at a Trump rally were crying out Ilhan Omar’s name and chanting “send her back.”

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Horn of Africa politics come to Minneapolis

BY MICHAEL RUBIN | The Hill

The death of George Floyd during a botched arrest propelled Minneapolis into the headlines as the city became the centerpiece in a debate about persistent, if not systematic, racism in the United States as well as the nature of policing today. In politics, however, Minneapolis has become ground zero in a different conflict originating more than 8,000 miles away.

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Tacko Fall: The Senegalese who is the tallest player in the NBA, talks about representing his country in the USA

By Oluwatosin Michael | Deythere.com

Senegal’s Elhadji Tacko Sereigne Diop is the tallest basketball player in the NBA. Tacko Fall who was born in Dakar, Senegal on 10th December 1995 is 24-years-old. He stands at 2.26 m and in an interview with NBA Africa talks about how he is representing his country and family in the United States of America.

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Study shows African immigrants in U.S. do well, despite differences among them

By University of Kansas

President Donald Trump may have nearly ended the flow of refugees and other African immigrants to the United States, but a new study shows that at least those from Nigeria are well-educated, hardworking and contribute more to society than they cost the American social security system. The paper contrasts Nigerian newcomers with those from Somalia, whose work ethic is similarly strong, but whose lack of education hurts their employment prospects here.

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Jesse Iwuji: Nigerian-American NASCAR Driver condemns attacks on Bubba Wallace

By Ebimo Amungo

Jesse Iwuji, the Nigerian-American US Naval Officer who is one of two black drivers in the top 3 tier of NASCAR has condemned the racial attack on fellow driver Bubba Wallace, describing it as “sickening”.

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American Film Institute hosts global premiere of Kenyan Film THE LETTER

By Ebimo Amungo

A Kenyan produced film, “The Letter” has had its Virtual World Premiere after it was aired online at an event hosted by the American Film Institute on June 21. The coronavirus pandemic upended earlier plans to show the film in cinemas. The Letter was produced over the course of six years by Maia Lekow and Christopher King, a husband and wife team who live in Nairobi, Kenya.

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Ada Osakwe: Nigerian becomes first African to Deliver a Commencement Address at the Kellogg School of Management

by Kemi Ajumobi  | Businessday

Ada Osakwe has become the first African to give a speech at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. The event took place on Friday, 19th June, 2020. The topic of her speech was titled ‘Finding your voice in extraordinary times’. She is also the fourth black woman to do so, following in the footsteps of outstanding Black-Americans that include Edith Cooper (Kellogg ’86), Global Head of Human Capital at Goldman Sachs in 2017, Roslyn Brock, Chairman Emeritus of the NAACP in 2012 and media titan Oprah Winfrey, in 2011.

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Netflix renews South African ‘Blood & Water’ for a second season

by Herman Eloff | Channel 24

It’s official. The South African Netflix series Blood & Water has been renewed for a second season.

According to a statement released by Netflix the second season will see Puleng and Fikile deal with the consequences of their explosive confrontation as more mystery and drama unfolds.

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Not all black people are African American. Here’s the difference

BY CYDNEY ADAMS | CBS

Black Lives Matter protests have opened up conversations about the history of privilege, racism, and the lived experiences and identities of black people in America. Now, the distinction between “black” and “African American” has become a prominent conversation on social media.

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Namwali Serpell: Her first novel took fifteen years to write but this Zambian-born writer has won $175, 000 from two major awards one year later.

By Ebimo Amungo

It took Namwali Serpell fifteen years to complete her first novel, The Old Drift, but already the book has won two major awards worth $175, 000 only one year after its release in March, 2019.

Continue reading “Namwali Serpell: Her first novel took fifteen years to write but this Zambian-born writer has won $175, 000 from two major awards one year later.”

Zozibini Tunzi: South Africa’s first black Miss Universe joins Black Lives Matter Protest in New York to fight racism

By Kim Harrisberg | IOL

When Zozibini Tunzi marched in the Black Lives Matter protests in New York City, the latest Miss Universe kept thinking how young people in her native South Africa died fighting for the same cause 44 years ago.

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Chipper Cash: African payment startup founded by Ghanaian and Ugandan raises $13.8M in San Francisco

By Jake Bright | TechCrunch

African cross-border fintech startup Chipper Cash has closed a $13.8 million Series A funding round led by Deciens Capital and plans to hire 30 new staff globally. The raise caps an event-filled run for the San Francisco-based payments company, founded two years ago by Ugandan Ham Serunjogi and Ghanaian Maijid Moujaled.

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Going far together: The East African diaspora steps up to address COVID-19 in their home region

by Azan Virji | Global Voices

As COVID-19 threatens the lives of millions around the world, the East African community has not been immune to this threat. The region has reported over 7,000 cases as of June 14. When COVID-19 cases began to rise in my home country of Tanzania, I became very concerned for my family members, all of whom have severe health issues that make them vulnerable to the virus.

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Ilhan Omar’s Father Dies From Complications of Covid-19

By Christine Hauser | The New York Times

Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, said late Monday that her father had died from complications of Covid-19.

“It is with tremendous sadness and pain to say goodbye to my father, Nur Omar Mohamed,” she said on Twitter. “No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew and loved him.”

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