AllAfrica News: West Africa

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday broke his silence on the raging controversy over the proposed Niger Delta Stakeholders' Summit, insisting that it must hold in the interest of peace and security and for the development of the oil-producing region.

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AllAfrica News: West Africa

The House of Representatives Committee on Information and National Orientation has warned that DSTV Multichoice would not be allowed to broadcast its planned third series of Big Brother Africa (BBA) to Nigeria unless it gave adequate guarantees to abide with the country's broadcasting codes.

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IPS Inter Press Service - Caribbean

ST JOHN'S, Antigua, Jun 30 (IPS) - Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders are gearing up for their annual summit in Antigua early next month amid worrying signs that after 35 years, the regional integration movement has not progressed beyond a "community of sovereign states".

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IPS Inter Press Service - Caribbean

HAVANA, Jun 26 (IPS) - Months have gone by and he still receives suspicious calls on his cell-phone. Memories of a woman who became obsessed with him are triggered every time Chucho sees a popular prime time Brazilian TV "telenovela".

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Feature Articles

African Ancestry – Building a Family Legacy

MyAfricanDiaspora.com started because of dream fulfilled. The vision was that after discovering our own ancestry, we could use technology to connect not only with our new ancestral homes, but with the larger community – the African Diaspora. One of the first things we wanted to do with the site was to pass along this gift, this thing that changed our lives, on to another person who would understand its weight, its value and the responsibility.

We found that person in Carmen Lane. Fittingly, at the end of Black History Month, she became the first of what we envision will be many winners of an African Ancestry trace. The contest was sponsored by African Ancestry. Founded by Ms. Gina Paige and Rick Kittles, PhD., the company uses a DNA swab to compare your results with samples obtained from the continent, in order to match ancestry to locations in modern day Africa. Read more

The African Presence In Panama - From The Canal To Colon City

by Runoko Rashidi

Between the Spring and Summer of 2003, I had the good fortune of visiting Central America on four occasions. During this period I went to Belize (twice), Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica (for the fifth time) and Panama. All of these countries have African communities, generally depressed and most often to be found along the Atlantic coastal periphery. Read more

Congo: How Rich Whites Caused Five Million Blacks to Die

A Black Agenda Radio Commentary by Glen Ford

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Racism in Colombia: From Chocó to Chicó

by César Rodríguez

How unexpected: Colombia’s northwest department (province) of Chocó is suddenly in vogue. After the scandalous death of 49 children from hunger in the last three months—adding to countless others we’ve never heard about—everyone seems to have an opinion about Chocó. Some say the department is simply unviable and that it should be absorbed and divided up between neighboring departments. Others say the problem is not a lack of funds, but rather that politicians steal all the money. Still others say the issue is about management, and that the government is just too distracted with things elsewhere. Read more

Heroic Resistance: The Black Presence In Australia

by Runoko Rashidi

Australia is officially the world's smallest continent. Unofficially it is one of the most racist nations on earth. Australia was settled at least 100,000 years ago by Black people usually referred to as Australian Aborigines. Physically, the Aborigines are distinguished by straight to wavy hair textures and dark to near black complexions. In January 1788, when Britain began using Australia as a prison colony, an estimated 300,000 Black people were spread across the continent in about 600 small-scale communities.

The dumping of British convicts into Australia proved catastrophic for the Blacks. The Blacks were butchered and murdered like animals. They were the victims of deliberate poisonings and systematic slaughters, decimated by tuberculosis and syphilis, and swept away by infectious epidemics. With their community structures and moral fibers shredded, the Blacks, by the 1930s, had been reduced to a pathetic remnant of about 30,000 people and perhaps twice that number of mixed descent. Until the 1960s, the Blacks were not officially considered human beings. Read more

Smoke Signals - Rwanda - Amahoro-Africa Report

Native American pastor, Richard Twiss

Hau Kola’s

Greetings from Kigali, Rwanda. Here’s a short first report. Hope you are well by the way.

The Amahoro-Africa Gathering was a beautiful time of friendship making with some really fun and amazing people from around the world. Many of them are deeply engaged in local and global endeavors addressing situations of injustice, human rights, AIDS, micro-financing and community development as followers of Jesus. I now have friends who are actively involved in peace-making efforts in the conflicts in Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. The story of the past twenty years of Rwanda was heartbreaking, tragic beyond comprehension, confusing and inspiring. Full Story

Survey: Blacks in France Say They Face Racial Discrimination

by Lisa Bryant

More than half of blacks living in France say they face racial discrimination, according to the first-ever survey on the country's black population. The findings are troubling for a country that has long prided itself on its human rights record, and its ostensibly color-blind integration model.

According to a survey conducted by the TNS-Sofres polling agency, 61 percent of blacks living in France say they have experienced at least one racist incident within the past year. Read more