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. 

Are you for the “PUBLIC OPTION” or the “AFRICAN OPTION” to solve Africa’s health care crises?

The health care debate in the United States has sparked fire-works and continues to rage—as Obama pushes for health care reform. This back-and forth discourse got me thinking about the state of health care in Africa.  While watching Charlie Rose interview some of the top researchers and health care experts on the recent influenza pandemic, some of the remarks made during this interview made me cringe—Unfortunately, they were spilling the TRUTH— and I just couldn’t swallow their sentiments. They were talking about the recent shortage of the swine flu vaccine in the United States.  “I am sure at the end of the day we will have enough swine-flu vaccine for the Americans” he said. “And we should later-on send whatever is left over to the developing world.” I usually point out the names I quote, but this issue is bigger than any name. This is the reality Africa and other developing nations face—amidst pandemics and other crises. The developed world seems to hold the key to our survival– analogous to how insurance companies are holding the lives of many hostage in the United States. Insurance companies deny coverage to many as a result of ‘pre-existing health conditions.’ Africa and the rest of the developing world is denied immediate coverage as a result of ‘pre-existing poverty.’

African Development Center moves to bigger home in Minneapolis

Ten years ago, just a handful of African immigrants tricklied into the Twin Cities. In 2009, conservative estimates put the number of African immigrants at about 100,000. On the West Bank and in suburbs like Brooklyn Park, they are becoming part of the fabric of their communities.

Sixteen years ago, Hussein Samatar, a refugee from Somalia, was struggling to adjust to his adopted country, and discovered that learning to navigate the American system was helpful in moving up the socio-economic ladder. When he founded the African Development Center (ADC)  in 2004, Samatar saw the need to provide resources to African immigrants. Now, he is proud of the work that he, together with his eight-person staff, have done in the community. ADC, through culturally competent interaction, offers its clients, mostly African immigrants, workshops and one-on-one training on financial literacy, business development, and information on home ownership.

Is Obama “Nobel” but not Nobel “Peace” yet ?

Like many of you I woke up this morning looking for the headlines on the “shock and awe” bombing of the moon by NASA.  However, the top headline was Obama’s nomination as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Irony in the timing of this award– was that not only is Obama President of a Nation a few hours away from Bombing the moon ( with numerous un-known alien  casualties!)—but he is also considering sending more troops to war in Afghanistan.  I was ecstatic, as a big Obama fan— and could have uttered a congratulations, if I miraculously ran into Obama in the hall-ways of the White House. But after having my breakfast, I was forced to Google “ Obama’s achievements” to make sure I haven’t missed anything in the last couple years. I don’t want to make this a political attack like many hungry-Obama haters from the Republican/Conservative wing who came out swinging—some of whom stated that Obama should turn down the award. Others suggested that the award should be given to the tea-baggers who paraded Washington speaking out against Obama’s policies (Or race according to former President Jimmy Carter). This is a global award and let’s just step out-side the box and view this event from a global perspective. Do Obama’s achievements “so far” add up to land him the Nobel peace prize?

GOOD MESSAGE BUT WRONG MESSENGER?

Many will call Gaddafi’s address to the UN general assembly today as a hopeless rant. As evidenced by many of the pundits and post-speech analysis on the news networks— some have called him a crazy man taking advantage of his debut at the UN to rant about every subject and historical event that occurred throughout his forty years in power. However, there several key points that Gadhafi touched which might be overshadowed by the conspiracy theories he outlined.

Clinton Should Tell African Big Men to Emulate Asian Dictators

by Edwin Okong’o of New American Media

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is carrying a new message of tough love to Africa. But changing the message is not enough. Africa’s leaders are used to talk. It doesn’t mean they will walk the walk.

In Ghana last month, President Barack Obama pointed out that at the beginning of the 1960s, Kenya, the country of his father’s birth, “had a per capita economy larger than South Korea’s.” Recently when Kenyans from the diaspora gathered in Boston to discuss how they can be more involved in the governance of their country, the question of why South Korea had overtaken Kenya came up. One cannot look at South Korea’s history and say that it’s too different from Kenya or many African countries. In the last 50 years, the Asian nation has had corruption, poor governance and violence and dictators – all major ingredients of the perils of the African continent.

As the conventioneers, most of who were born in the last half century, struggled to find the answer, Ali Mazrui, a renowned 76-year-old Kenyan-born professor at the State University of New York, came to the rescue. The answer, he said, was in the nature of the African dictator.

International Movie Star in Minneapolis Aug 16th

Ghanain heartthrob and much adored African actor, Van Vicker, will be back in Minnesota promoting ‘Raj, The Dancer’ which is his second movie as a producer and director.

Van Vicker gained global attention as Raj in the hit movie ‘Beyonce’, but this new Raj is not a continuation of the former one. According to Van’s official website, in Raj, The Dancer, Van plays a guy who goes on a holiday trip with a friend and gets hosted by a retired military officer, Telio. Kofi Arjololo who plays Telio maltreats his wife, Susan, and enjoys flirting. He has an alcoholic problem. Raj steps in against his friend’s will and love takes over.

No need to hear anymore from me when you can hear it from Van Vicker a.k.a ‘Raj’ himself in person at his movie premiere at the Earle Brown Center. Tickets are already selling fast so get yours before the event is sold out – and it will sell out.

Obama’s Visit Must Be About More Than Promises

by Earl Ofari Hutchinson for New America Media

President Obama’s two-day visit to Ghana is history making only in the sense that he’s the first African-American president to visit the continent. President Clinton and Bush also made extended trips to African nations during their presidency. And both former presidents made big promises to boost trade, business ties, aid dollars, and wage an aggressive battle against corruption and disease, and to promote democracy.

Though Clinton and especially Bush did substantially boost cash to fight HIV-AIDS and other diseases, the score of other promises they made were just that, promises.

Now Obama has a chance to add real body to those promises. He talks of a new partnership with Africa. This implies that the U.S. will bump Africa higher up on the White House’s radar. He must be true to his word.

Obama Ghana Speech

Good morning. It is an honour for me to be in Accra, and to speak to the representatives of the people of Ghana.

I am deeply grateful for the welcome that I’ve received, as are Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama. Ghana’s history is rich, the ties between our two countries are strong, and I am proud that this is my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as President of the United States.

I am speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia, for a Summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy, for a meeting of the world’s leading economies. And I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well.

Twin Cities World (Africa) Refugee Day Celebrations

What is today known as International or World Refugee Day was first declared as African Refugee Day by the African Union. Africa hosts the most refugees in the world and in 2001 the African Union and UN agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with the June 20th Africa Refugee Day.

Minnesota is home to many large refugee populations and has the highest proportion of refugees compared to immigrants in the US. Minnesota has the largest Somali population, 2nd largest Hmong population, one of the largest Liberian populations and pretty decent sized East African populations. In fact, the fastest growing group of immigrants in MN are from Africa. If you’d like to read more stats check out the state demographer’s center or the office of refugee resettlement website.

You can celebrate the Twin Cities diversity by at the 3rd annual Twin Cities World Refugee event at Minnehaha Park.  Here’s a snap shot of the schedule.

Saturday, June 20, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

11 a.m.-2 p.m. – Immigrant resource fair and global cultural displays

12-3 p.m. – Diverse music and dance performances

3 p.m. – Main program, featuring speakers from six prominent refugee communities, spoken word and break dancing

4:30 p.m. – Live music by Marimba Africa

For more information click here