Minority Businesses Shut Out of Stimulus Loans

By Aaron Glantz

Loans handed out to struggling small businesses as part of President Barack Obama’s stimulus package have largely shut out minority businesses — especially those owned by Blacks and Latinos — according to data provided by the federal government’s Small Business Administration (SBA) to New America Media (NAM).

Hollywood’s casting of the Mandelas. What’s your take?

 Members of South Africa’s Creative Workers Union (as well as some of my facebook friends) are seething with anger over the casting of Jennifer Hudson to play Winnie Mandela in an upcoming biopic of the South Africa’s former first lady. According this article  production for the film is to begin in May, but the union has threatened to delay shooting in South Africa.

 Oupa Lebogo, general secretary of the CWU, said of Hudson’s casting, announced last month: “This decision must be reversed, it must be stopped now. If the matter doesn’t come up for discussion, we will push for a moratorium to be placed on the film being cast in South Africa. We are being undermined, there is no respect at all.”

At last, the Minnesota Oromo share their secret

Who knows the Minnesota Oromo?

Who knows their dark secret?

Fifteen thousand Oromo live in Minnesota but they blend in almost invisibly, like a stealthy, anonymous population in the state.
They are teachers, doctors and lawyers; they run retail shops and corporations; they attend Viking games, relax at coffee shops and stroll at malls. They are sometimes called “Ethiopian immigrants” because they are indeed from Ethiopia.

But among friends and family, or if you ask them specifically, they carefully call themselves “Oromo.”

Who are the Oromo?

They are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, numbering 31 million, and they are the subject of a new report, “Human Rights in Ethiopia: Through the Eyes of the Oromo Diaspora,” prepared by The Advocates for Human Rights, based in Minneapolis.

Time for Africa to talk Sex and Sexuality

Sex has always been a taboo word in Africa—and most of us were raised in families where sex and sexuality was a self taught subject. It has been stated that you can only take a horse to the river; you cannot force it to drink. In this case many of us were told the river never existed and once we stumbled on it, we hardly knew how to drink like a Tiger.  HIV/AIDS was a reality check—simply put, it was similar to the American Indians being wiped out by infectious diseases after contact with Europeans. There immune system was not equipped with the antibodies to stem off the foreign pathogens and neither was African society equipped with the straight talk needed to create awareness and impede the spread of HIV/AIDS. The list of shame includes leaders such as Mbeki who denied the existence of AIDS and his fellow country man Jacob Zuma– while being tried on charges of raping an HIV-positive family friend mentioned in his testimony that he took a shower after sex to lower the risk of AIDS.

Four years ago, I wrote an article about the need for Africans to tackle our last Taboo—of openly talking about sex. This was following events in which the Uganda Media Council banned a women’s group from featuring the Play entitled ‘Vagina Monologues’—  on grounds that  the play promoted illegal, unnatural sexual acts, homosexuality and prostitution. Once again Uganda is in the news for the wrong reasons and drawing worldwide criticism for proposed legislation to impose a death penalty for gay Ugandans—and up to seven years in jail for family and friends for failing to report individuals who display gay-like behavior. As an African, I feel concerned about the state of human rights and the incompetence of the leadership hierarchy. However, it is not a surprise because whenever you see the symptoms, there is likely a disease. Uganda’s President Museveni has targeted the gay community with tough rhetoric over the years. In some of his speeches, he continues to urge youth to reject advances from Europe, suggesting that ‘European homosexuals’ had launched a recruitment drive in Africa. With the crusade of politicians and church clergy openly critical of homosexuality, it was only a matter of time before the rhetoric turned into legislation.

Mandatory health insurance for international students not comprehensive

I recently wrote about international student health insurance (below). What has your experience been? What do you do when you have to see a dentist? Or when insurance doesn’t cover your ailment? Please share in comments below.

When the twenty-two-year-old student’s heart started racing, she figured that she was just fatigued after a long day at school. A visit to the Boynton Clinic at the University of Minnesota convinced her that she was just having anxiety attacks. A second visit, an EKG and several blood tests later, she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, a condition where one’s thyroid gland produces more hormones than it should. Her doctor then put her on medication and monitored her heart for about a year. The Eastern European student at a Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU) school, was dismayed when she received a $1500 medical bill, even though she was insured.  even though she was insured. Her insurer, United Healthcare Student Resources, is an insurance company that specifically covers college and university students, but it only covered one EKG a year.

When Africans perpetuate their single story

“The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete…”

 

In “The danger of a single story”, Chimamanda Adichie eloquently describes the ways in which her life has been shaped and affected by stereotypes about Africans. Her message is not new, Binyavanga Wanaina’s “How not to write about Africa”  was hot when it was first written and is still doing the rounds.  

“too big for your skin”

I love this video by Desdamona. I have been meaning to post it here, but keep forgetting. So here goes.

My momma never told a lie, she couldn’t when the truth was clear
Through stretch marks and crow’s feet, the truth is what she told me
Not through words, but through the curve of her hips
The gleam in her eyes… the memories on her lips

Africa’s Media Explosion

Charles Muigai is concerned that two years after violence broke out in Kenya following disputed elections, Kenyans have done little to avoid a repeat in the 2012 elections. Muigai said Kenyans are not having in-depth discussions about what happened.

“Post-election violence has been the hardest topic to discuss,” Muigai said. “A lot of Kenyans do not read beyond the headlines.”

Even in the diaspora, Kenyans still distrust each other. Mingling across ethnic groups is rare. Muigai said he wants to change that. He spent $5,000 of his own money to build an Internet radio station in Dallas, Texas, to give Kenyans a medium they can use to discuss various issues.

Black women and young women most affected by new breast cancer guidelines

The Black Women’s Health Imperative, a health advocacy group, has called the new recommendations for delaying the start of mammograms until age 50 a death sentence to black women. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), published a report this month detailing new recommendations for breast cancer. In its assessment the taskforce found insufficient evidence to support previous recommendations, made by the same body, that advised women to have biannual mammograms at 40. USPSTF also recommends against teaching breast self-examination.

Murphy’s law sheds light on recent events at the African Union summit in Kampala (Uganda)

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” This adage which many have dubbed Murphy’s Law is in full effect at the African Union.  Events this past week reflect the gloom and doom of what has become the same old failure of the African Union. There was a glimmer of hope when we changed the name from the Organization of African Union (OAU) to the African Union (AU). However, this development fell on the same barren soil and we are yet to ripe any fruit. It can be categorized in the same class of ‘hall of shame’ name changes– as one suggested by former President of Uganda Idi Amin to change the name of the currency of  Uganda from the Uganda schilling to the Uganda dollar hoping that it will boost in value. When you hope things can’t get any worse—they do.

At the recent AU summit in Kampala (Uganda) aimed at addressing the refugee and internally displaced people (IDP) crisis in Africa—the current chair of the African Union Mummar Gaddafi was no show. To further demonstrate how bizarre this turn of events was, there was no official statement from Tripoli explaining the reason for this absence.