Liberian leader announces year-long bicentennial to begin January, 2022
GIN)—On Feb. 5, 1820, the first organized group of emigrating freed slaves departed from New York to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. Next year, Liberia will mark the date with a bicentennial celebration beginning January, 2022 and running through December, 2022, according to a recent announcement by President George Manneh Weah. A steering committee constituted by President Weah will plan...
Libya: Tensions as armed groups mobilize in Tripoli
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) expressed concern over the unfolding security situation in the capital, Tripoli, where forces affiliated with different armed groups have been deploying. The development came as Libyans awaited news about the postponement of long-promised landmark elections, which was announced Dec. 23. Appeal for dialogue The current mobilization “creates tensions and increases the risk of clashes...
Facebook sued in Kenya over work conditions for moderators
KAMPALA, Uganda—A man who says he is “destroyed” after working as a content moderator for Facebook has filed a lawsuit accusing the company of human trafficking Africans to work in an exploitative and unsafe facility in Kenya. The case against Meta Platforms, the Menlo Park, Calif. company that owns Facebook, and Sama, a San Francisco subcontractor, was lodged May 10...
The importance of exploring the cultural history of Islam in the Motherland
In W.E.B. DuBois’ 1939 book, “Black Folks Then and Now,” the prolific author, scholar, and convener of Pan African Congresses explains the substance of the continent of Africa during pre-colonial times and during the heyday of global imperialism. While on my many trips to Egypt and Sudan, my last time in 2021 having spent two months living in the capital...
An advocate for Africa
Economist Redge Nkosi expressed appreciation and admiration to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan for championing issues plaguing Africa. The Pretoria-based founder and executive director of First Source Money and Public Banking of South Africa spoke about the Muslim leader’s impact on the continent. “Minister (Louis) Farrakhan like many other African leaders including Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King...
A Ugandan business turns banana fiber into sustainable handicrafts
MUKONO, Uganda—A decapitated banana plant is almost useless, an inconvenience to the farmer who must then uproot it and lay its dismembered parts as mulch. But can such stems somehow be returned to life? Yes, according to a Ugandan company that’s buying banana stems in a business that turns fiber into attractive handicrafts. The idea is innovative as well as sustainable...
A Dubai company’s staggering land deals in Africa raise fears about risks to Indigenous livelihoods
ABUJA, Nigeria—Matthew Walley’s eyes sweep over the large forest that has sustained his Indigenous community in Liberia for generations. Even as the morning sun casts a golden hue over the canopy, a sense of unease lingers. Their use of the land is being threatened, and they have organized to resist the possibility of losing their livelihood. In the past year,...
Famine threat returns to Yemen, amid upsurge in fighting
The specter of famine has returned to Yemen as donor countries fail to make good on their 2020 pledges, amidst an upsurge in fighting, fresh hurdles for aid deliveries, and ongoing efforts to nail down a nationwide ceasefire, the Security Council heard on Sept. 15. Increased funding was the main reason that famine was prevented two years ago, but this year only...
Journalists see Zimbabwe’s land crisis up close
Doctors: Will of Zimbabweans can conquer AIDS, food problemsMugabe: Zimbabwe will not be a colony againAre White Farmers reaping what they have sown?MDC says it has a better wayVisit to war memorial a blessed moment HARARE (FinalCall.com)–When Lorenzo Martin, publisher of the Chicago Standard newspaper, arrived at the international airport here, he expected to see soldiers all over the...
UN Report – UN members feeling heat from U.S. on Iraq war
UN launches inquiry into American spying (UK Guardian)American Corporate Media Dodging U.N. Surveillance Story (FAIR) UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com)–A London-based activist group, citing outrage over reports that the African country Angola is moving toward supporting the United States/United Kingdom resolution now being debated in the United Nations Security Council to declare war on Iraq, has called for world-wide demonstrations against Angolan...