Africa

Photo: After the release of Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP) leaders from prison in 1951. From left to Right: Kojo Botsio, Kwame Nkrumah, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah and Kofi Baako. NB: The PG symbol written on their cap stands for Prison Graduates. It was a popular title for these freedom fighters. Credit: Ghanaian Museum, Sep 8, 2021

Nkrumah’s Prison Cap Left an Indelible Memory With 'MLK'

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in anguish over the extreme violence displayed at the aftermath of the legendary Montgomery bus boycott, found solace in Ghana which he visited with his wife Coretta Scott King at the invitation of the newly installed Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah.

Alongside African American leaders including A. Philip Randolph, Adam Clayton Powell and Ralph Bunch, MLK was there to observe Ghana’s independence ceremony. It was March of 1957.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 January 2022

Photo: Some family members had to be carried out of the service after being overcome with grief. Credit: Dean Moses.

Growing Calls for Investigation into Bronx Fire That Took Over a Dozen African Lives

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A smoky building fire that raced through a 19-story building on an early Sunday this month took 17 lives—adults and children, many from the African nation of The Gambia—is raising questions about the building’s reported insufficient heat and automatic doors that should have been shut but weren’t working.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 18 January 2022

Photo: Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu. Source: The Guardian Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Police Force Appears to Be Adding Self-Destruction to Its List of Woes

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, would like to close the case of the suspicious death of Sylvester Omoroni Jr., and simply move on to something else. He’s surprised there's pushback and can’t understand why.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 13 January 2022

Photo: First Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in October 2019. Credit: kremlin.ru

Russia Chooses St. Petersburg for Second African Leaders Summit

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) — With high optimism and high desire to strengthen its geopolitical influence, Russian authorities are gearing up to hold the second African leaders' summit in St. Petersburg scheduled early November 2022. The gathering, as expected, will focus on enhancing further constructive cooperation and advancing integration processes within the framework of the African Union and a number of sub-regional structures.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 12 January 2022

Photo: Kwasi Wiredu. Source: Globe Echo.

Distinguished Philosopher Kwasi Wiredu Passes At 90

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Distinguished philosopher, writer, and teacher Kwasi Wiredu, born in Ghana and recognized on three continents, has passed away at the age of 90.

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy cites Wiredu for his decades-long study of “conceptual decolonization” in contemporary African systems of thought.

: Global Information Network; ARTS & CULTURE; 11 January 2022

Photo: Actor Sydney Poitier Meets Mandela. Source: AP Archive (18 May 1996).

Recollecting Poitier’s Brush with Africa in Early American Films

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Not long ago, movies made in Hollywood filmed in major cities in Africa displayed an unapologetic ignorance of even minimal facts about the continent.

Cities named Lagos, Nairobi or Johannesburg became “somewhere in Africa”, anti-colonial sentiments became a “coloured struggle”, and the continent became a “setting and backdrop which eliminates the African as a human factor.”

: Global Information Network; ARTS & CULTURE; 11 January 2022

Photo: Clerics carry the coffin after the funeral for Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, on Jan 1. (Jaco Marais/Pool/AP).

'Even In Death, Tutu Remains a Vigilant Protector of The Environment'

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Over the course of his 90 years, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu gave voice to his beloved nation in its struggle for change and reconciliation under Black majority rule. His last wishes for a green burial have sparked a tweetstorm on the mostly unfamiliar practice among devoted followers of “the Arch”.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 January 2022

Photo: Workers at Ethiopia Indistrial Park. Source: Addis Standard

Three African Countries Lose U.S. Trade Benefits Over Rights Violations

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Biden administration has cracked down on three African countries accused of serious rights violations, expelling them from AGOA, a duty-free trade program worth millions in benefits.

The three countries—Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea—had been warned in November of the threatened action which affects imports and exports of their products to the U.S.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 04 January 2022

Photo: In this file photo taken on 27 June 2018 Head of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Richard Leakey speaks during an interview with AFP in Nairobi, Kenya. Picture: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP

Controversial Kenyan Conservationist Dies Aged 77

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — World-famous Kenyan conservationist and fossil hunter Richard Leakey, cited for “great contributions to human origins and wildlife conservation”, has passed away in Nairobi. He was 77 years of age.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed “deep sorrow” at the news of Leakey’s death.

His will and ego made him the most powerful, respected man in African conservation. In the end, they’re what brought him down.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 January 2022

Photo: Ambassador Chowdhury with 1984 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu at the Church of the Epiphany at Gramercy Park in New York City in 1985.

Homage to the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN

Following is the text of a brief homage on December 26 for the Culture of Peace global network.

Dear co-activists! Today the world has lost a precious treasure of humanity with the demise of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, globally respected and loved as Bishop Tutu. To the South Africans, he was the Arch.