South Africa expresses outrage at Israeli bombings
Protests against Israel's atrocities in Middle East abound (FCN, 08-31-2006)Israeli massacre in Qana, Lebanan (Warning: Graphic images)UN Secretary Gen. Annan ‘shocked' by deadly Israeli attack on UN post (FCN, 07-26-2006) CAPE TOWN, South Africa (PANA) - South African President Thabo Mbeki has joined world leaders in expressing his country's outrage at the bombings of the Lebanese town of Qana...
Zuma loses bid to stay out of jail, in latest top court ruling
(GIN)—Former South African President Jacob Zuma has lost his latest bid to remain out of jail after refusing to respond to a corruption inquiry. “The application for rescission is dismissed,” Justice Sisi Khampepe said as she read the majority decision, which included an order for Mr. Zuma to pay court costs. It was the latest legal setback for the 79-year-old anti-apartheid...
Proclaiming the history and legacy of Blacks in Islam
Islam’s history in Africa predates its spread in Arabia, let alone the neighboring countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, sent dozens of his companions to Abyssinia, now called Ethiopia, before the beginning of the Muslim calendar. During the first century of the Muslim calendar, Islam spread from Egypt through the Red Sea and the East...
Thousands of African workers kept in appalling conditions
Hoping to escape the war, death and destitution rampant in their home countries, thousands of African workers embark every year on a grueling journey to the affluent Persian Gulf countries looking for employment. The more fortunate ones will end up doing backbreaking manual labor earning a pittance, barely enough to make ends meet. Should they be unlucky, a fate worse than...
U.S. entertainment, music industry exploits South African musicians
Copyright is the most important type of protection available to musicians. It has even been boldly asserted that “the recording industry is built on copyrights.” Without copyright, wrote Stellenbosch University professor Owen Henry Dean in a 2015 study, “there is very little protection available to musicians and producers.” Taking music without compensating the original creator is at the heart of a fight...
South African land redistribution is a ticking time bomb
(FinalCall.com) - With the “stroke” of a pen, passage of the June 19, 1913 Native Land Act legalized atrocities committed against South Africa's indigenous population. Forced off of land Blacks had lived on since time immemorial, the new law gave substance to what Blacks already realized, the majority of South African land was now reserved for Whites. Not only that,...
Serious questions about politics in Sudan and North Africa
Seccession or Destabilization? President Obama's recently released Sudan strategy that tries to be all things to all people gives America and her interest groups needed instant gratification, but fails in addressing instability that a divided Sudan would engender and the possible destabilization of an entire region. Is this the process towards peace that Obama is trying to use to justify...
Is ‘real talk’ by African leaders a sign of the times?
Many world leaders mounted the speakers’ platform during the recent high-level general debate week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly. However, the tone of some African leaders was eye-opening and worth noting. The annual UNGA 78 gathering at UN headquarters in New York City is where the majority of member states give their input on pressing global issues....
‘Resist them until we are victorious or they rule an empty country after they have killed us all’
The Monday designated a federal holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was the day the United Nations, as the result of horrific violence perpetrated by Sudan security forces, cited seven people killed and dozens injured “when security forces brutally dispersed demonstrators in the capital, Khartoum.” On that same day my activist wife, Zakia Sadeeg, was filming on her cell...
The spread of Islam across the African continent
In early April, Muslims around the globe began Islam’s Holy Month of Ramadan, including East Africa’s Kenya where 10 percent of the population are adherents to the faith. Many worshipers gathered, in large numbers, right before Ramadan at the Jamia Mosque. Though Islam represents only 10 percent of Kenya’s population of 56.2 million, according to Ustadh Hassan Ali Amin, chairman...