Category: Communities

Ugandans in USA Pool Funds to Support Impressive ‘Young Engineers’ Team at World Robotics Championship

BY JAVIRA SSEBWAMI | PML DAILY STAFF WRITER

DALLAS — Ugandans living in the United States, particularly in Dallas, Texas, have come together and pooled resources to support the Ugandan team representing the country at the ongoing Vex World Robotics Championships in Dallas.

Mobilized by the President of UNAA – Dallas/Fort Worth chapter, Ms. Florence Bazanye, the Ugandans, numbering about 40, have pooled about $2,500 so far, groceries, and free guided tours around the city during their breaks from the competition.

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Minnesota Africans United lobbies African Summit in support of Minnesota’s Expo 2027 Bid

By Al McFarlane | News Insight

Minnesota Africans United (MAU), behalf of Minnesota’s Expo 2027 bid, last week lobbied African leaders who were in Washington, DC attending President Biden’s US Africa Leaders’ Summit.

The United States is seeking to host the 2027 World Expo in Minnesota with the theme “Healthy People, Healthy Planet – Wellness and Well Being for All.”  If Minnesota is selected, this would be the first expo in the U.S. in nearly 40 years.

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How Asantehene rounded off activities marking 44th Memphis in May festival

BY: Kwame Asare Boadu | Graphic Online

The rich culture of Asante was in full display in Memphis, USA on Saturday, May 7, when a durbar of Asanteman was held to round off activities marking the 44th Memphis in May International Festival.

The durbar featured the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who sat in state to receive homage from Ghanaians including his subjects and other well wishers.

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Kenneth Anga elected Chairman of Ijaw National Congress in North America.

By Ebimo Amungo

Mr Kenneth Ibiene Anga, a longtime resident of Houston, Texas, has been elected Chairman of the Ijaw National Congress in North America. The Ijaw National Congress is the premier socio-cultural organization of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in Nigeria. Mr Anga was elected by delegates from across America in an election that was held over zoom on Saturday 7th May 2022.

Mr. Anga would lead a new Executive Committee that is tasked with the responsibilities of directing the affairs of the organization in America and Canada for the next four years.

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The University of Minnesota is conducting research to increase cervical cancer screenings among Somali women


By Ava Kian | MinnPost

Screening rates for cervical cancer are low for first-generation American Somali women in Minnesota, with only about 25 percent to 30 percent of Somali patients participating in cervical cancer screenings in most urban clinics. That’s significantly lower than the national average of 79.9 percent. 

These low human papillomavirus (HPV) screening rates make Somali women at high risk for cervical cancer. Rebekah Pratt, an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota, is working on an HPV self-sampling method to address the low rates. She is collaborating with certified nursing midwife Nimo Ahmed. 

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Galls’ English classes give Congolese refugees confidence on the job

By Evelyn Schultz | Lex18

Inside a conference room sit 12 employees who collectively speak many languages fluently, including French, Lingala, Swahili, and Portuguese.

Now, they’re adding English to that list through new language classes offered as a partnership with Bluegrass Community and Technical College. The classes, which started in February, run for an hour each week until May, and are funded through a grant from the Kentucky Workforce Development Agency.

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Rwandan community in US celebrate Women’s Day

By Bertrand Byishimo | The New Times

Hundreds of Rwandans and friends of Rwanda convened in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, March 12 for the celebration of the International Women’s Day which is marked globally on March 8.

The event was organised to celebrate efforts made by women in every sector of the society including governance, business, science and technology among others.

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African Catholics in NYC find community at French Mass

By KWASI GYAMFI ASIEDU | Associated Press  

When Landry Felix Uwamungu Ganza moved to New York from Rwanda last August, the Columbia University freshman searched for sanctuary, a sacred place to carry out his Sunday morning rituals just as he had back home.

He ventured into the nearest Catholic parish, the Church of Notre Dame in his new city’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, and to his surprise, he found the familiar rhythms of Mass being celebrated in French — a language he grew up hearing from the pulpit.

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Africa in the spotlight | Afrohouse is connecting platform for Africans in Springfield, Illinois

By Tiffani Jackson | State Journal-Register

When Olric Manthelot moved to Springfield in 2015, he was a victim of cultural stereotypes. As an African who immigrated from Congo-Brazzaville he said the language barrier and stigmas motivated ignorant assumptions about his people.

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‘We do have a connection to our hair’: The art of African-style braiding

By Marney Blunt  | Global News

For Nadia Wera, African-style braiding is a passion that developed into a career over the years.

“I’ve been braiding hair since I was in high school, it was sort of like my side hustle,” Wera laughed.

Wera moved to Canada from Kenya in her early high school years. She said options for African-style braiding in Winnipeg were limited.

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New Jersey’s American Ethiopian Community to Protest Outside Congressman Malinowski’s Office

By Insider NJ

Over a hundred American Ethiopian residents of New Jersey will protest outside Congressman Tom Malinowski’s office on Thursday. Coordinated by AEPAC, its New jersey and New York State Campaign Elections Committees and AEPAC’s partner New York/New Jersey Tristate Hope 4 Ethiopia, the protestors will call on the Congressman to withdraw legislation he sponsors that would damage the long-time US-Ethiopia relationship, devastate Ethiopia’s economy, provide support to an internationally recognized terrorist group called the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and put the lives of millions of people in East Africa at risk.

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They escaped war in Somalia and came to Kansas City seeking peace. Instead, they found gun violence

BY HUMERA LODHI | Kansascity star

As a child in Somalia, Abdinajib Dirir was used to the carnage of war: falling buildings, fighting armies and gunshots became so routine he forced himself to stop being scared. After escaping with his mother and sister to Kenya in 1992 where they lived in a tent in a refugee camp, he landed in Kansas City at age 14.

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Nigerian community celebrates outgoing UN ambassador

 by Hassan Muaz | The Eagle

Members of the Nigerian community in the US have celebrated Ambassador Samson Itegboje, who just rounded off his duty tour as Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations. Itegboje was honoured with a farewell reception hosted by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, US chapter in collaboration with Nigerian professional bodies based in the country.

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Colorado’s Ethiopian communities split on political conflict

By Associated Press | TheGrio

Denver area resident Mohammed Warid is monitoring the political conflict in Ethiopia — at least, as much as he can with a communication blackout in parts of the country. The chairman of the Oromo Community of Colorado is worried about his family, and for him, that includes all those living in the Oromia region in Ethiopia. He’s at least been able to speak to loved ones, unlike those struggling to reach their families and get news about the northern Tigray region. Under the latest political regime, people are suffering; they’re living in fear; they’re being imprisoned for their ideologies; they’re being tortured and killed, he said.

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Business Corridor in Washington DC Named Little Ethiopia

By Ethiopian News Agency

The 9th and U-Street business corridor located in the Shaw neighborhood in Washington DC is named after “Little Ethiopia,” according to the Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington DC. The Washington DC Council decided to name the 9th and U-Street business corridor “Little Ethiopia” after tireless efforts by members of Ethiopian community for over two decades.

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Family missing in Ethiopian civil war, Denver woman says her ‘mind is the hardest place to be’

By Susan Greene |  Sentinel Colorado

Millete Birhanemaskel, a refugee, long-time Denver resident and businesswoman, grappled with 2020 as many others have: She tried to protect her family, her employees, her tenants from COVID’s reach. She worried about the presidential election. And she managed to keep her coffee shop, the Whittier Cafe, from going under.

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DC’s Ethiopian Community Fears For Family Amid Civil War

By Mike Haack| DCist

With tears gathering on the upper rim of her mask and two young children in her arms, Bitsom explains how it’s felt not being able to contact her family in the Tigray region of Ethiopia since the war there began.

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Rocky Mountain Welcome Center and East African Restaurants Team Up to Help Immigrants in Need


By MARK ANTONATION | Westword

Jennifer Gueddiche, chief operating officer for the Welcome Center, says it wasn’t enough to count on food banks and pantry donations to get food for the organization’s clients, since many of them come from cultures where American staples are either unfamiliar or unsuitable for their religious and cultural requirements. Orthodox Christians and Muslims from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea form a large part of the Welcome Center’s clientele, so ensuring that halal meats, vegetarian meals and traditional ingredients made it to those in need played a critical role in temporarily switching from an education-based mission to focusing on food distribution.

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Seattle Ethiopian community fears for loved ones impacted by country’s unrest

By Sebastian Robertson | king5.com

SEATTLE — Members of Seattle’s large Ethiopian community say they’re desperate to hear from loved ones impacted by an ongoing civil war in their native country.  Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa with nearly 115 million people, and at the northern most portion is the Tigray Region. For the past two years, tensions have been rising between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Federal Government.

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‘You can’t be president for life’ | Disputed Houston election splinters Nigerian women’s club

By Gabrielle Banks | HoustonChronicle.com

The clash between two factions of an elite women’s club happened weeks before the pandemic took hold, at a rice and greens restaurant on Gessner. Gracie Gboliwe Chukwu, who summoned police on the day everything went awry, says the dream of fulfilling her late mother’s legacy shattered when the Houston chapter of a group she established splintered after a disputed election.

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Mainers fear for loved ones in embattled Tigray region of Ethiopia

BY KELLEY BOUCHARD | Portland Press Herald

Mainers with ties to the embattled Tigray region of Ethiopia are growing increasingly worried about family members they haven’t heard from in weeks and are calling for help from U.S. officials here and overseas.

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Las Vegas Ethiopian community protests war on Tigray region

By Mya Constantino  | Las Vegas Review-Journal

The Las Vegas Ethiopian community is speaking out after the prime minister of Ethiopia declared war on Tigray, the country’s northernmost region, on Nov. 4.

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Seattle’s African immigrants, refugees confront what it means to be Black in America

by | king5

King County has a large East African population. They are learning that America’s Black Lives Matter movement is for them, too: “We need to be visible.”

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What makes Nigerians in diaspora so successful

By Ima Jackson-Obot | Financial Times

Anthony Joshua, world heavyweight boxing champion; John Boyega, Hollywood actor; Pearlena Igbokwe, Universal Studios group chair and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space scientist. These are just a few names in a long list of Nigerians in diaspora who have achieved success on an international scale in a wide range of fields.

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‘They need our backing’: Ontario’s Nigerian community reflects on #EndSARS police protests

By Nick Westoll | Globalnews.ca

With thousands of residents across Nigeria demonstrating against police brutality and the widely condemned Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) over the past few weeks, expats and community members who live in Canada are rallying to support friends and loved ones who are protesting overseas.

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‘End SARS’ Protestors Rally at Dallas City Hall

By Meredith Yeomans | NBCDFW

There is growing outrage over the shooting deaths of peaceful protestors in Nigeria. Nearly 70 people have died during two weeks of demonstrations against police brutality. The unrest set off protests in Dallas last Saturday in a show of solidarity with those fighting a battle they say transcends borders.

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#EndSARS | first-generation Nigerian Americans speak out and protest in Houston

By Re’Chelle Turner | Click2Houston

HOUSTON – More than 50 people have been killed, along with at least 18 security forces, in another deadly day in Nigeria. The violence erupted during peaceful protests that were meant to bring to light rampant abuses at the hands of police. There have been marches and rallies in solidarity with the Nigerian people worldwide.

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Nigerians in Toronto worry for the safety of relatives as police, protesters clash back home

By CBC News 

The Nigerian community in Toronto is watching with growing worry and anger as violent clashes between police and protesters continue to escalate in Africa’s most populous nation.

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Council of Ewe Associations of North America holds virtual annual Convention

By GhanaWeb

The Council of Ewe Associations of North America (CEANA) held its 27th Annual Convention from September 4th to September 6th, 2020, virtually for the first time under the theme: “Resolve to Continue the Socio-economic Development of Eweland”. The event was watched by over 45,000 people on YouTube and Facebook around the world.

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