South African Musical Icon Hugh Masekela Is Coming To The Dakota Jazz Club

Bra Hugh Rampolo Masekela

by Nelima

Bra Hugh Masekela is a musical genius who plays the trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn and cornet; he is a great singer and composer as well as a master storyteller, activist and history teacher (by way of his music).

At 72 he is still going strong and will be performing two shows a day on Feb 15th and Feb 16th at The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant. You really do not want to miss this.

Especially since you get a $10.00 discount off your tickets if you use the code name ‘MinneAfrica’

We will again be running a lottery to give away 2 pairs of tickets to the 9:00pm shows. Email your full name and phone numbers to www.minneafrica@gmail.com to be entered into the lottery. We will run the lottery at 6pm Monday Feb 13th so have your info to us by then.

General info:

7pm shows are $40.00

9pm shows are $30.00

Dec 18th: Somali Entertainment Awards at The Cedar Cultural Center

by Nelima

The Blue Carpet Awards are upon us again, this time at The Cedar Cultural Center. It’s bound to be a sold out event so if you haven’t got a ticket, do so soon. Details can be found below.

World AIDS Day Thoughts And Events

I didn’t have a heartfelt World AIDS day story this time round. I couldn’t even post a tweet with alarming statistics of some sort – hence my late post. It took me a while to sort out my feelings after which I realized that I’m not any less passionate about the issue.  It’s just that after years of having lost ( and continuing to lose) friends and family to AIDS – this statement, albeit cliché, summarizes what I would want to say.

Remember the 3 ‘P’s; Precaution, Prevention, and Protection

But that’s not all I would like to say

If you can, try to attend at least one World AIDS Day event. The Minnesota Department of Health has a comprehensive list of World AIDS Day Events around the state. I have also highlighted a few that may be of particular interest to our readers (because they are either African – themed or have been put together by some good folk in our community).

African Music Ensemble Fall Concert at the UMN

African Music Ensemble

If you haven’t attended one of these you should. Watching Sowah Mensa and his protegés play an array of African instruments ranging from drums and flutes to the xylophone is a real treat! Best of all – the concert is free

Event Information

Date: 12/02/11

Time: 8:00pm – 9:30pm

Location: Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall  - Ferguson Hall

Cost: FREE

For more information click here

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.

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

Al Jazeera’s Rageh Omaar in Minneapolis

This is a short notice, I just learned about this event (scroll to the bottom of this page for details on event). Rageh Omaar is an internationally renowned reporter. He worked for the BBC for a few years where he covered the conflicts in Somalia and Iraq. However, what makes Omaar stand out and what has made him, perhaps one of the best investigative reporters on broadcast, is his work on Al Jazeera.

What happened to the $10 dollars you donated to charity last year?

by Nelima

If you are a fan of Dambisa Moyo’s Dead AID,  ’What are we doing here?’ is a documentary you may want to watch. Here’s a synposis, for more information visit their website by clicking here.

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? explores why the charity given to Africa over the last five decades has been largely ineffective and often harmful. The film tells the story of Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel and Tim Klein who travel across Africa in an attempt to understand one of the great problems of our time; the failure to end poverty.

What are YOU doing this weekend?

by Nelima

Another weekend is fast approaching. If you haven’t got any plans, perhaps we can help out with that. We’ve got a coupla suggestions;

Arts:

• There will be a tour of the African gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on Saturday at 2pm.

Causes:

• One Twin Cities will be hosting a ‘Kick It to Malaria’ soccer game fundraiser on Saturday at 7201 West 83rd Street, Bloomington. Games go from 11am – 2pm and each player pays $10 which is the cost of a bed net. For more info click here.
• Join the rally for the Invisible Children of Uganda titled ‘The Rescue’ on Saturday at 3pm and stay the night until 10am. Everyone will meet at Rice Park then walk to the Capitol Building in St. Paul. For more info email Lindsey at lmluczkowiak@gmail.com.

The Globalization of African Cities: The Case of Nairobi Kenya

by Nelima

Dr. Kefa M. Otiso of Bowling Green State University will be here April 24th giving a talk on Globalization of African Cities using Nairobi, Kenya as a case study.

When: April 25th, noon-1pm

Where: Macalester, Olin Rice 250

The globalization of African cities has grown significantly in the past two decades in responsto domestic and global economic, social, cultural and political forces. In particular, the World Bank-IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programs of the 1980s and 1990s played an important role in liberalizing the economies of many African countries to the benefit of domestic and global capital. As one of Africa’s most global cities, Nairobi has witnessed significant development and reinforcement of its global trade, transport, communications, financial, and investment linkages since the 1980s due to greater tourist flows to Kenya and the ongoing concentration of multinational corporations, international NGOs, and UN agencies in the city.