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THE AFRICAN PROMISE

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:35:46 -0500

The African PROMISE
RENNAISANT, SPICY, UPBEAT & EFFERVESCENT
Vol. 1. No:3 February/March 2008
N400.00/U$3.50

WORD OF THE MONTH: Philanthropy- voluntary giving of time, assistance, substance; charity, compassion, humanity, benevolence, clemency, goodwill.

- OPRAH The Art of Giving
- JOACHIM CHISSANO -Leadership Rewarded
- BARAK OBAMA - US Presidential Candidate
- SOUTH AFRICA wins World Rugby World Cup
- NIGERIA'S World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
- REMEMBERING AFRICA'S VAGABONDS IN POWER
- RUSSIA'S BLACK ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF
- THE JOY OF GRADUATION

"Attitude is everything! You're not what you think you are, what you think, you are" (One line) A TOUCHE PUBLICATION ISSN:1597-9962

Luxury cars for all ministers

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:58:35 -0500

Robert Mugabe has splashed out on a fleet of luxury cars for each of his 34 ministers at a state-funded cost of around 3 million pounds (Dh22 million).

Each top-of-the-range Mercedes S350s is fitted with a powerful V6 engine, infrared cameras, seat massagers and doors that suck themselves shut.

Critics expressed disbelief at such purchases amid the growing economic crisis.

Mugabe himself is believed have a modified version of the Mercedes S600L, described by one reviewer as "the car of choice for up-and-coming dictators of small African countries".

It boasts a 12-cylinder engine which can accelerate from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 4.6 seconds and, with armour and modifications, costs around 700,000 pounds.

Minneapolis' booming immigrant community will take center stage at the first-ever Afrifest, and you're all invited.

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:41:59 -0500

By Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune Opening party: 9 p.m. today, Club Afrika, 9510 West River Rd., Brooklyn Park. $15. With DJs. Gala event: 6 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls. $10.

Music by Cyril Paul & Calypso Monarchs, Maria Isa, Munnah, Quilombolas, Wegegta. Festival: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun., Currie Park, 1419 S. 5th St., Mpls. Free.

Music by Miriam Chemmoss, Ras Kwame & Anase Band, Innocent & Les Exodus, Blade Brown, Motto Chao, plus dance groups, fashion show, DJs, vendors and exhibits. Closing party: 8 p.m. Mon., First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls. $18-$20.

With South African reggae star Lucky Dube. Info: www.afrifest.org or 612-281-6318.

Concert review: Manson plus Slayer: A match made in hell? From the patio of the Cedar Cultural Center, Nathan White looked up at the Riverside Plaza housing towers that loom over the West Bank in Minneapolis. A smile as big as the Nile crossed his face as he talked about the confluence of his past and this weekend, when he tries to pull off the first-ever Afrifest in his old neighborhood.

"I used to live up there on the 27th floor, after my mom moved here," said White, whose family immigrated from Liberia and landed on the West Bank in 1993. "It's very symbolic having Afrifest here. This is where the new immigrant populations come, whether it's Liberians and West Africans 15 years ago or Somalians today. It's the heart of the African community." White hopes that heart beats faster and louder during Afrifest than it ever has before.

An events planner and promoter, he dreamed up the idea after attending Chicago's successful African Festival of the Arts. "I came home saying, 'We have even more Africans here than in Chicago, so why can't we do it?'" Afrifest's inaugural year includes a Saturday night concert at the Cedar, an all-day outdoor festival Sunday at neighboring Currie Park, plus a closing-night party Monday with South African reggae legend Lucky Dube at First Avenue.

First and foremost, Afrifest is meant to be simply a great party. But it has more relevant intentions, too. It's a rare chance for the various (and sometimes splintered) African immigrant communities to come together, and for their children to get a taste of the culture. "My kids are all 100 percent American, and I'm proud of that, but I want them to know their roots, too," said Edna Stevens Talton, another Liberian immigrant whose dance company, Universal Dance Destiny, performs Sunday.

Afrifest is also meant to be a showcase for native Minnesotans, especially the ones who only know Africa from movies like "Blood Diamond," or from the fleeting moments when CNN squeezes in a report from there between Paris Hilton updates. "Most Americans only see Africa through war, famine and stereotypes," said Kristel Porter, a Jamaican American who sings in the reggae-fied Jarija Band [also performing Sunday]. "Minnesotans especially need to be more open to [African] culture. It's part of their community now."

At the crossroads Afrifest's co-founding partner, Rachel Joyce, is an ideal person to show Minnesotans how to get acclimated to African culture. Where White is coming to the event as an immigrant, Joyce was just another Midwest girl listening to punk rock in her late teens when she got her mind blown listening to a record by Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti. "I didn't understand it, but I knew I had to find out more," said Joyce, who went on to travel in Africa and earn a degree in international relations.

Now a publicist for the Walker Art Center, a club DJ and co-host of KFAI-FM's "Shake and Bake Show," Joyce sees Afrifest as an update of the West Bank's last great outdoor bash, Cedar Fest. Where Cedar Fest represented the neighborhood's history as a haven for the Minneapolis blues and folk scene, Afrifest is more reflective of the here and now. "The hippies don't rule the West Bank anymore," said Joyce. "It's the crossroads of so many different African communities.

Holding it there was key, I think." Currently, Somalians and Ethiopians are most prevalent among the African immigrants on the West Bank (also called the Cedar-Riverside area). Out of respect for the Muslim beliefs of those populations, Afrifest organizers decided to not sell alcohol at the festival. Minnesota is behind only California in the number of East African immigrants such as Somalians, according to U.S. census data.

Somalis numbered about 26,000 for the last census in 2000, while the state's overall African immigrant population grew sevenfold over the previous decade. "Africans like Minnesota because of its social and economic opportunities -- not because of its weather," said Joseph Mbele, a St. Olaf College professor from Tanzania who is putting together a historical and cultural exhibit for Afrifest.

South Africa: Fair Trade in Tourism Says Children May Be Sex Target for 2010 Visitors

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:40:25 -0500

Poppie Mphuthing Johannesburg THE 2010 Soccer World Cup was likely to lead to an increase in incidents of child sex in SA, which would have huge social consequences for society, Fair Trade in Tourism SA warned yesterday. The executive director of the nonprofit organisation, Jennifer Seif, said yesterday at a media briefing in Johannesburg that "the mega sporting events have a certain footprint of attracting mostly male foreigners" who often wanted to engage in sex with children or younger people. Seif said SA was a "watch spot" for child-sex tourism. The body describes child-sex tourism as "the commercial sexual exploitation of children by men or women who travel from one place to another, usually from a richer country to one that is less developed, and there engage in sexual acts with children, defined as anyone aged under 18". "Tourism is a key economic growth sector in developing countries such as SA. The social consequence is that tourism enables child-sex tourism." Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth were "potential hot spots" for child sex tourists as they offered cheap commodities, including children. Seif said the problem was part of a wider phenomenon where people from the developed north often came to developing countries in the south with big purses and were able to afford things that they often could not pay for at home. They were then able to "pay for sex", she said. According to the Police Child Protection Unit in Johannesburg, about 28000 children are engaged in prostitution and 15 new girls between the ages of 15 and 18 are arrested every month. End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (Ecpat) estimates that a quarter of Cape Town's street children are involved in sex work. Globally, children as young as eight are targets for child-sex tourists. Since the introduction of the Ecpat network in Thailand more than a decade ago, countries in affected regions have launched national campaigns in a bid to fight the scourge. Countries in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have introduced a code of conduct -- a voluntary global initiative for tourism and hospitality companies to actively stamp out child-sex tourism. At least 21 countries have signed the code. In Africa, only Kenya has signed the code, but other global signatories represented at the workshop have made a commitment to improve the situation. This included hospitality industry players such as Hotel Group Accor and the Radisson Group, which are the only global signatories to the code in SA . Accor Southern Africa spokesman Laurence Heddar-Mnqali said the tourism and hospitality sector had to train staff to implement the code to prevent the escalation of child-sex tourism. "It is important for big business to be proactive. For Africa, Accor has started with a prevention campaign, training employees and partners. We will start with tour operators next." Relevant Links Southern Africa Children and Youth South Africa Travel and Tourism Seif said that in SA factors such as HIV/Aids and poverty were fuelling the problem. "Structural factors increase the vulnerability of children. The chances of children doing sex work is higher." She said responsible tourism involved people who would not have a negative effect on local people, and SA needed to provide the leadership in Africa.

Black Power: History's Greatest Black Achievers

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:32:58 -0500

The International Slavery Museum opens its doors in Liverpool next week with an exhibition naming history's greatest black achievers. Some are household names, others barely known. All are extraordinary. Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah introduces the list in full I first visited Liverpool in the summer of 1989, and I've never forgotten how alien I felt walking through its city centre. The looks, the energy; hard to quantify nearly 20 years later, but it seemed the antithesis of the welcome I received in Liverpool's black district � Toxteth L8. When I enquired as to why I felt so odd, an "L8onian" told me that "we are not welcome in the city, that's why we have Toxteth".

It soon become evident that many black Liverpudlians felt the same way; a seething anger that this town � one almost in denial that its wealth was directly founded on the accumulated profits of the transatlantic slave trade � had almost swept them under the carpet, far away from the eyes hearts and minds of the nation. Over and over again I heard where, in a city awash with images and tributes to those that benefited from the trade, were the monuments to those Africans that died in it � a cry not dissimilar to those I would hear in Bristol, Manchester or London.

Almost 20 years on, post-Lawrence inquiry Britain has changed. Not enough, I wager, but the overt side of racism, the one easily detected by the human eye, can in my opinion almost be confined to history. But what of Liverpool? Is denial of its slave roots also a thing of the past? Well, it was the first city council to unreservedly apologise for the role the city played.

And now, next Thursday, Slavery Remembrance Day 2007, a day that commemorates the uprising of enslaved Africans on the island of St Domingo (modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Liverpool will open the doors of the new International Slavery Museum, at the heart of National Museums Liverpool. At last, a serious tribute to the tens of millions of lives affected by this barbaric trade; an interactive monument that says that we can talk about this, study this subject � intelligently, artistically, truthfully, without guilt, without denial, without fear.

I'm told there will be thought-provoking displays about the origins of the trade, its operations, its economic contribution to the Industrial Revolution and so forth, but what really excites me is a venture that has already opened its doors � the Centre for the Study of International Slavery, a joint research centre the museum has started with the University of Liverpool. It will organise interdisciplinary academic conferences, seminars and workshops; build up a slavery research network with scholars in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the USA; and offer an MA in Atlantic History: Slavery, Race, and Colonialism and postgraduate research programmes. Wow!

When I first became interested in black history and the transatlantic slave trade, one had to search hard to find a small local black book-shop that stocked such work, invariably imported from America. But now, in Liverpool, for this and generations to come, there is an institution dedicated to scholarly research � and it's right on our doorsteps.

A wonderful example of this newfound freedom is the huge wall dedicated to 70 key black achievers past and present. As expected, Muhammad Ali, Sojourner Truth, Wole Soyinka, Olaudah Equiano, Derek Walcott and so on are all there � and some names I didn't know, such as Gaspar Yanga, the Afro-Mexican slave rebellion leader who established a Maroon colony that lasted 30 years in the 16th century. But what really caught my eye is the inclusion for the first time in my experience of so many black Britons � role models young people can still access, still converse with. Viv Anderson, the first black England international footballer � how many of us remember how huge that was? Benjamin Zephaniah, the wonderful poet, and a man of stature and integrity. John Conteh; I remember watching him fight as a child. Archbishop John Sentamu, a magnificent, fearless man at the forefront of the fight for social justice, here and now. The writer and academic Caryl Phillips, whose plays and novels I would read with awe and fascination while at college. The list, gladly, goes on and on.

The museum admits that the list is incomplete, and names will be added. Let me offer a few: Baroness Amos, the first black Leader of the House of Lords; the mighty three MPs Bernie Grant, Diane Abbott and Paul Boateng, and the new wave of David Lammy, Adam Afriyie and Dawn Butler, and not forgetting Oona King. If there's anything to be learnt from the pain of our ancestors, is that power lies with the people � and their representatives.

But I'm just nit-picking. If just one young person can be inspired by the achievements of any of the people on this wall, the International Slavery Museum can call itself a roaring success. Only one thing would make this joyous opening better; to be met at the entrance to this new world of knowledge by a young black Liverpudlian giving me a welcome that, 20 years ago, his father felt he could only give me in Toxteth.

The International Slavery Museum, Liverpool, opens on 23 August (0151-478 4499; http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism

Muhammad Ali - Boxer, born 1942
Widely considered to be the greatest athlete of all time. Not only did Ali dominate the world of boxing (the BBC and Sports Illustrated hailed him "Sportsman of the Century" in 1999), he was also a key figure in the civil-rights movement after refusing to fight in Vietnam because of how blacks were treated in America.

Shirley Bassey - Singer, born 1937
Arguably the greatest Welsh singer of all time, Bassey is the only artist to perform three James Bond themes. The Cardiff-born diva has recently made a popular revival (she was made a Dame in 2000) and can apparently count the Queen as a fan.

Steve Biko - Activist, 1946-77
A leading campaigner against apartheid in South Africa and co-founder of the Black People's Convention, Biko suffered a fatal head injury while in policy custody. Richard Attenborough turned Biko's struggle for equality into the feature film Cry Freedom.

Stokely Carmichael - Civil rights activist, 1941-98
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Carmichael moved to Harlem at 11. He was leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, bringing black students together to protest against segregation. One of the first activists to use the term " Black Power".

George Washington Carver - Botanist, 1864-1943
Dubbed a " black Leonardo" by Time magazine, Carver � born into slavery himself � developed revolutionary farming techniques that helped former slaves in Alabama become self-sufficient. His methods helped to restore the South after the Civil War.

Fred D'Aguiar - Writer, born 1960
Poet, novelist and playwright, regarded as one of the great British writers of his generation. He focuses on the role of the immigrant in Britain, slavery, colonisation and his Guyanese and British heritage. His works have been translated into 12 languages.

Oscar D'Leon - Musician, born 1943
Performing and recording for 30 years, D'Leon is a superstar in the world of salsa. Born in Venezuela, he started singing and performing while earning a living driving taxis. Partly due to his underprivileged background, he is an idol in his home country.

Viv Anderson - Footballer, born 1956
Anderson went down in the history books in 1978 as the first black player to appear in a full international for England. He won the European Cup twice with Nottingham Forest as well as domestic titles. In 1999, he was appointed MBE for services to football.

Maurice Rupert Bishop - Politician, revolutionary, 1944-83
Creator of the People's Revolutionary Government in Grenada, leader of a bloodless coup against the government and inspired by figures such as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. He was overthrown and assassinated by members of his own government.

Maya Angelou - Author, poet, playwright, born 1928
A great voice of black literature. Angelou's memoirs expose the difficulties of growing up as a black woman in St Louis. Her achievements are many and varied, and she was the first African-American woman admitted to the Directors Guild of America.

Aim� C�saire - Writer, born 1913
Born in Martinique, the co-founder of the literary and political movement N�gritude is one of the Caribbean's most popular writers. A campaigner against African colonies, C�saire also published Une Temp�te in 1968, a radical adaptation of The Tempest.

Susana Baca de la Colina - Singer, born 1944
Baca has played a major role in the resurgence of Afro-Peruvian music. Inspired by the music she heard as a child, she has founded the Centro Experimental de Musica Negrocontinuo (Institute of the Black Continuum), dedicated to the genre.

Learie Constantine - Cricketer, politician, lawyer, 1901-71
One of the finest all-rounders in cricket, Constantine moved to England from the West Indies to play professionally. He became involved in politics, fighting discrimination. He was the first black Governor of the BBC and the first black life peer.

Benedita da Silva - Politician, born 1942
Born in a Brazilian shantytown, Benedita Souza da Silva Sampaio is a key political figure, fighting for the rights of the underprivileged. In 1994, she became Brazil's first black woman Federal Senator, and she has served as Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Frederick Douglass - Abolitionist, writer, statesman, 1818-95
A former slave, Douglass became one of the primary abolitionists in America. His books and speeches focused on his experiences. He started The North Star, a newspaper edited and written by black people. He later campaigned for the rights of women.

Kofi Annan - Diplomat, born 1938
Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations. His role in working for global peace was recognised when he and the UN were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. He helped to reform the UN and strengthen its peacekeeping abilities.

John Archer - Campaigner, 1863-1923
In 1913, John Archer was elected Mayor of Battersea, the first person of African descent to reach such a position in the UK. An equality campaigner, he chaired the Pan-African Congress in London in 1921 and was president of the African Progress Union.

Paul Bogle - Cleric, 1822-65
A hero in Jamaica, Bogle was a Baptist deacon who used his education and wealth to help the black community. He led the Morant Bay Rebellion, in which many were killed by British troops sent to quell the uprising. He was hung by the British.

John Conteh - Boxer, born 1951
Boasting a record of 34 wins, one draw and four losses, John Conteh is considered one of the greatest ever English boxers. Born in Merseyside, he won the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship in 1974 and a gold medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.

William Cuffey - Activist, 1788-1870
Cuffey was the son of a former slave and a leading figure in the Chartist movement that opposed the imbalance of the distribution of wealth in Britain. The reformist movement is considered the first major working-class movement in the world.

Charles Drew - Scientist, 1904-50
An African-American physician, he revolutionised the science � and politics � of blood transfusions. Along with developing blood storage techniques and improved means of transfusing, Drew opposed the practice of racial segregation in blood donation.

WEB Du Bois - Sociologist, activist, 1868-1963
The first African American to gain a PhD from Harvard, Du Bois wrote several studies on American black society. He later became a key figure in the civil rights movement and co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Bussa - Slave leader, died 1816
A national hero of Barbados, Bussa led around 400 slaves in a revolt against slave owners in 1816. Although Bussa was killed in battle and the revolt failed, he is remembered as one of the key figures in the emancipation of the slaves.

Quince Duncan - Writer, born 1940
The West Indian grew up under racial oppression in the Costa Rican city of San Jos�. His fiction highlights the experiences of the black African in South America, and gained an international reputation as a human-rights leader promoting tolerance.

Gilberto Gil - Musician, born 1942
A Grammy-award winning musician who sings about social activism, Gil is also Brazil's current minister of culture. He founded the Tropicalia movement in the 1960s and was treated as a political threat by the Brazilian government of the time.

F�lix Ebou� - Politician, 1884-1944
Ebou� became the first black man to be appointed governor in the French colonies, in Guadeloupe; as governor of Chad, he joined the Free French in their struggle against the Nazis and persuaded other French-African countries to follow.

Pastor G Daniel Ekarte - Minister, social activist, 1896-1964
Pastor Ekarte founded the African Churches Mission in Liverpool which, from 1945-1949, looked after "brown babies": the unwanted offspring of black American GIs and the city's white women. Hundreds of residents lined the streets for his funeral.

Nicol�s Guill�* - Poet, 1902-89
A leading figure of " poesia *�gra" ("black poetry"), the Afro-Cuban poet, writer and journalist was also an influential campaigner for social justice. His work examines what it was like to be poor and black in Cuba.

Roi Ankhkara Kwabena - Cultural anthropologist, born 1956
Born in Trinidad, Kwabena � who calls himself a "cultural activist" � produces art on a variety of platforms, addressing issues such as racism and immigration. He is a poet, musician, storyteller, historian and publisher, and has performed around the world.

Lewis Howard Latimer - Inventor, 1848-1928
The son of escaped slaves, Latimer is considered one of the greatest black inventors, notably due to his improvement of carbon filaments in light bulbs. He worked with Thomas Edison and Alexander Bell and secured many different patents.

Sir William Arthur Lewis - Economist, 1915-91
In 1979, Sir Arthur Lewis became the first black person to win the Nobel Prize for Economics. He advised major nations around the world while his research on economic development in emerging countries was pioneering.

Toussaint-L'Ouverture - Rebel slave leader, 1743-1803
Born a slave in Haiti (then the French colony of St Dominique), Toussaint successfully led a slave rebellion against the colonisers. A brilliant general, he went on to help France drive out the British and Spanish from the country.

Patrice Lumumba - Politician, activist, 1925-1961
An African anti-colonial activist, Lumumba played a major role in gaining the Democratic Republic of the Congo's independence from Belgium, and was elected its first Prime Minister. He was assassinated after an army-supported coup.

Toni Morrison - Author, born 1931
In 1988, Morrison's fifth novel, Beloved, won the Pulitzer Prize; five years later, she became the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. She acts as a mentor for many writers and is on the editorial board of The Nation magazine.

Nanny - Maroon leader, active 1720-34
A national heroine of Jamaica, Queen Nanny was a famous Maroon leader who frequently attacked British troops and is believed to have freed hundreds of slaves. A symbol of Maroon resistance, she is thought to have been killed by British forces.

Kwame Nkrumah - Politician, 1909-72
The first President of Ghana, Nkrumah led the movement that gained independence from Britain in 1957. An influential Pan-Africanist, he believed in uniting Africa under one government. He died in exile after his government was overthrown in 1966.

Jesse Owens - Athlete, 1913-80
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Owens defied Nazi propaganda and won four gold medals on the track. When he died, the US President Jimmy Carter said: "Perhaps no athlete better symbolised the human struggle against tyranny, poverty and racial bigotry."

George Padmore - Scholar, activist, 1902-59
Padmore is seen as one of the 20th century's greatest social theorists and played a large role in the decolonisation of the Caribbean and Africa. A prominent Pan-Africanist, he inspired many black leaders and established the Internatio nal African Service Bureau.

Philip Emeagwali - Scientist, born 1954
A winner of the Gordon Bell prize in 1989, the Nigerian-born computer scientist and geologist is a symbol of African achievement. Emeagwali, voted the 35th greatest African of all time in The New African, played a role in the birth of the internet.

Olaudah Equiano - Writer, explorer, 1745-97
Equiano's autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, is one of the most important works to address abolition. A former slave who bought his freedom, he toured the UK talking about his experiences.

Frantz Fanon - Writer, psychiatrist, 1925-61
Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon's writing highlights violence as the only method by which colonial repression can be overturned. His work had a great influence across America and Europe and inspired numerous civil rights activists.

Marcus Garvey - Civil rights activist, 1887-1940
Garvey became an inspiration for future civil rights activists by travelling across America urging African-Americans to be proud of their heritage and to return to the continent. He founded the Black Star Shipping Line and United Negro Improvement Association.

Howard Gayle - Footballer, born 1958
When he became the first black footballer to play for Liverpool in 1977, Gayle was seen as a trailblazer in a sport that was almost all white. His pride in his background led him to being labelled as a troublemaker; today he campaigns against racism in football.

Kelly Holmes - Athlete, born 1970
Holmes became the first British woman to win two gold medals after winning both the 800m and 1,500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2004 and made a dame in 2005.

Jaime Hurtado - Politician, died 1999
Hurtado founded Ecuador's Democratic Popular Movement, a political party that fought for the welfare of the working classes. He was the first Afro-Ecuadorian to be elected to Congress and the first to run for President. He was assassinated in 1999.

CLR James - Writer, socialist theorist, 1901-89
James is famous for seminal writings both on cricket and colonialism, most notably his book The Black Jacobins. He campaigned for African and West Indian independence, and wrote the first novel by a Caribbean author to be published in the UK.

Jamaica Kincaid - Writer, born 1949
The celebrated African-American author also teaches creative writing at Harvard University. She left Antigua to escape her family's lack of ambition for her, and often writes about the country's narrow-minded nature and the effects of British colonialism.

Martin Luther King - Civil rights activist, 1929-68
The figurehead of the American Civil Rights Movement, King became a national hero after leading the successful Montgomery bus boycott. In 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work. He was assassinated on 4 April 1968.

Miriam Makeba - Musician, activist, born 1932
Known as " Mama Africa", Makeba became one of the first musicians to bring African music to the rest of the world. She was exiled by the South African government in 1960 after speaking out against apartheid in an address at the United Nations.

Nelson Mandela - Political activist, born 1918
A key anti-apartheid figure in South Africa, Mandela spent 27 years in prison for the cause. After his release, he became the country's first fully democratically elected president and leader of the African National Congress. In 1993 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Bob Marley - Musician, 1945-81
Bob Marley brought reggae to a worldwide audience, and is a hero in Jamaica as well as being seen by many Rastafarians as a prophet. His albums and shows with his band, The Wailers, were legendary. In 1978 he was awarded the United Nations' Medal of Peace.

Trevor McDonald - Journalist, born 1939
The first black news anchor in the UK, Trinidad-born McDonald is one of the most popular figures on TV. Starting his career on the BBC World Service, in 1999 he was given the Bafta Richard Dimbleby Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television.

Vicente Ferreira Pastinha - Martial arts master, 1889-1981
Pastinha is a mestre, or master, of Capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art. Capoeira was brought to Brazil by African slaves and was illegal in the country from 1888 to the 1930s. Pastinha opened the first Capoeira Angola school in the Brazil in 1942.

Rosa Parks - Activist, 1913-2005
Parks's refusal to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955 became a symbolic moment in the American civil rights movement. The fallout launched Martin Luther King Jr to fame. The incident sparked a mass boycott of the transport system by the black community.

Pel� - Footballer, born 1940
Christened Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pel�, he is regarded as the world's greatest footballer. Playing for his native Brazil, Pel� won the World Cup three times. In 1999 the BBC named him the second greatest sportsperson of the millennium.

Caryl Phillips - Author, born 1958
A novelist and writer for TV, radio, theatre and cinema, Phillips has often focused on the slave trade, and in 2004 he was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Born in St Kitts and brought up in Leeds, he is now a professor of English at Yale.

Walter Rodney - Academic, political leader, 1942-80
Born in Guyana, Rodney was a leading Pan-Africanist and Black Power leader. When he became a member of the Working People's Alliance in Guyana, he became a major figure in the resistance against the repressive government and was assassinated by a bomb.

Ignatius Sancho - Writer, composer, 1729-80
Perhaps most notable for being the first black Briton to vote in a UK election, he was also the first African author to have his work published in this country. Sancho wrote poetry, plays, composed music and became friends with the writer Samuel Johnson.

Haile Selassie - World leader, 1892-1975
Accepted by Rastafarians as a symbol of God incarnate, the former emperor of Ethiopia became a worldwide anti-Fascist figure after appealing to the United Nations for help against Mussolini's invading armies. An ally of the west and opponent of colonisation.

L�opold S�dar Senghor - Politician, poet, 1906-2001
A poet as well as a leading figure in African politics, Senghor is one of the greatest African intellectuals of the 20th century. The first president of Senegal, he was also the co-founder of N�gritude and has been credited with the relative political stability of Senegal.

John Sentamu - Religious leader, born 1949
The 97th Archbishop of York � and the first black man to serve as an Anglican archbishop � Sentamu has often spoken out on many topical issues and chaired the inquiry into how the police handled the death of Damilola Taylor.

Sam Sharpe - Preacher, 1801-32
Sharpe, a Jamaican national hero, was born a slave in Montego Bay and became a Baptist preacher. In 1931 he led the Christmas Rebellion, the last major uprising in Jamaica before slavery was abolished, for which he was executed by British forces.

Bessie Smith - Singer, 1892-1937
"The Empress of the Blues" was the first blues singer to achieve success as a recording artist. She has influenced countless artists, including Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, and played alongside such greats as Louis Armstrong.

Mary Seacole - Nurse, 1805-81
Seacole rose to prominence during the Crimean War when she funded her own journey to Turkey after British authorities refused her offers of help. There she opened a hospital, and became a popular figure in Britain, receiving various awards for bravery.

Wole Soyinka - Poet, writer, playwright, born 1934
One of the leading writers in Africa, Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. His work often concentrates on oppression and tyranny. He has also played a huge role in Nigerian politics and was imprisoned in 1967 during the country's civil war.

Ali Ibrahim 'Farka' Tour� - Musician, 1939-2006
Dubbed " the African John Lee Hooker", Tour� lived in Mali until his death from cancer. Winner of two Grammies, he was one of Africa's most famous musicians and always insisted that the blues was an authentically African genre.

Sojourner Truth - Civil rights campaigner, 1797-1883
Born into slavery in New York, Truth became a prominent abolitionist. Alongside memorable speeches such as "Ain't I a Woman?" she released an autobiography of her time as a slave. She also campaigned for woman's rights and against capital punishment.

Harriet Tubman - Abolitionist, 1820-1913
A runaway slave, Tubman went on to aid the escape of hundreds of slaves via the Underground Railroad, a network of houses willing to help those on their way to freedom in Canada. Nicknamed "Moses", she later served in the Civil War.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu - Cleric, campaigner, born 1931
A key figure in the overthrow of apartheid in South Africa, Tutu was chosen by President Mandela to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 1975 he became the first black Anglican Dean of Johannesburg, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

Derek Walcott - Playwright, author, artist, born 1930
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992, Walcott's poems and plays are largely influenced by growing up in the former British colony of St Lucia. Dividing his time between America and the Caribbean, much of his work addresses cultural differences. between two cultures.

Arthur Wharton - Footballer, 1865-1930
Best known as the first professional black footballer in the English League, Wharton also excelled at cycling, cricket and running. In 1886 he became the fastest man in Britain. In 2004 he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.

Phillis Wheatley - Poet, 1753-1784
Captured by slave traders in Senegal as a child, Wheatley became the first black female author to have a book of poetry published in America. Supported by members of the Boston gentry, she became a literary sensation and appeared before George Washington.

Oprah Winfrey - Media tycoon, born 1954
A living American institution, she is seen by some as the most influential woman in the world. At the centre of her various projects is her TV chat show which is syndicated around the world. In 2006 Winfrey became the world's first black woman billionaire.

Malcolm X - Civil rights activist, 1925-65
Malcolm X was a major campaigner for black power and opposed the idea of racial equality. A believer in militant protest, he was assassinated not long after leaving the Nation of Islam and creating the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

Gaspar Yanga - Rebel slave leader, 1570-1609
The leader of a slave revolt in Mexico that led to the creation of a slave colony in the mountains which, with a population of around 500, existed for more than 30 years. After violent clashes, Yanga obtained a treaty that gave the slaves their freedom.

Benjamin Zephaniah - Poet, born 1958
Zephaniah decided to become a poet after being sent to prison, aged 14. He is now one of Britain's top contemporary poets and has also written novels. He publicly rejected an OBE in 2003 because the award reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality".

Have your say

The Greatest Black Achievers list was compiled by a committee from the International Slavery Museum chaired by its head, Dr Richard Benjamin.

A long list was compiled from names proposed by committee members, who are all curators at the museum, and who nominated individuals from their own areas of expertise.

"Our main criterion was to make sure we got a real mix," Benjamin says. "We want the exhibition to give a real idea of how wide the area of black achievers is. We believe the people we have chosen are a good indicator."

The list now has 76 names, but it will change over time with the help of museum visitors and Independent readers. "We are hoping that visitors will make suggestions. We could have someone like [Grand Prix driver] Lewis Hamilton up there soon.

"Part of the idea is that visitors will learn about people they don't recognise. We believe the museum and the list will fight racism and challenge stereotypical views. We want it to highlight the resistance of the African people and show that they weren't passive in the slave trade."

Do you agree with the list? Who's missing? Email your nominations for Greatest Black Achievers to theindependent@ independent.co.uk and we'll print a selection of responses.

Africa: investment wilderness or the next emerging market?

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:29:33 -0500

A Friend Africa seems to be the catch-word of the investment world over the last few months with the launch of a series of �frontier market� products aiming to tap into investor interest in the region. Once seen as the preserve of corrupt governments and fledgling markets offering little risk-adjusted return, Africa seems to have found its place in the limelight. it escaped much of the volatility affecting emerging markets over the past year and is increasingly seen itself as a new emerging market in the making. A number of investment houses have been keen to capitalise on this. Wealth manager Helvetica is working on an Isle of Man-domiciled, AIM-listed company called the PME African Infrastructure Opportunities fund, which will focus on a range of sectors in 10 African countries, six of them more business-friendly than Greece, it points out. Five of them have investment-grade status from Standard & Poor�s, among them A-rated Botswana, it adds. Johannesburg-based asset management group STANLIB two Ucits III compliant African equity funds back in July, while Progressive Developing Markets launched the Advance Frontier Markets fund of funds in June, which will focus on Africa and Asia. Lastly, New Star Asset Management has announced plans to launch a Heart of Africa fund for Citywire AA-rated Jamie Allsopp, which will invest in central African countries including Nigeria and Ghana. This isn�t a case of providers flying kites to see if the market will adopt these vehicles however; it seems these vehicles will be serving established demand as there is a keen interest among investors for the African continent. For example, Investec Asset Management will limit the size of its Africa ex-South Africa mandates when they reach $1 billion (�500 million) due to high inflows into the funds. It currently has approximately $500 million invested across two Guernsey-domiciled vehicles, one Africa-domiciled fund and a series of segregated mandates. Do you agree that Africa will emerge from the wilderness of �frontier markets� to become the premier emerging market of tomorrow? Or is the current flood of products playing on market hype and general investor saturation in the Chinese and Indian markets?

Africa: Daily HIV/Aids Report

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:26:52 -0500

Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC) U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Mataka Urges SADC Members To Commit 15% of National Budgets to Health Care United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka on Wednesday ahead of a two-day conference in Lusaka, Zambia, called on leaders from Southern African Development Community member nations to ensure that their commitment of allocating 15% of their national budgets to the health care sector is realized, APA/Afrique en ligne reports (APA/Afrique en ligne, 8/16). Leaders during an African Union summit in Abuja, Nigeria, in April 2001 pledged to commit more resources to health care and set a target of allocating 15% of their national budgets toward improving the sector, Xinhua News Agency reports. Out of the 53 A.U. member states, only two countries have met the 15% target, and only one member nation of the SADC has done so, according to Xinhua News Agency. According to Mataka, the SADC region has the greatest burden of HIV/AIDS prevalence and has a large share of new HIV cases -- a trend that has led to a reversal in developmental gains that the region has accomplished during the last few decades. "The 15% pledge should be highest on the agenda" of the Lusaka SADC 2007 Summit of Heads of State and Government, she said, adding, "SADC leaders and all AU leaders should be accountable to their people." She called on the "distinguished heads of state meeting in Lusaka at this time to look at AIDS, TB, malaria in the context of a broader picture of poverty, underdevelopment and inequality" (Xinhua News Agency, 8/15). Improving the health sector and HIV/AIDS services would build confidence, demonstrate political commitment, and attract additional international support and funding, Mataka said (APA/Afrique en ligne, 8/16).

Nigeria: Intel Drives Mobile E-Learning in Africa

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:25:01 -0500

In a bid to bridge the existing digital divide in Africa, Intel is gradually enabling an educational revolution that will ensure that Africans enjoy the benefits of a mobile e-learning environment. After a successful launch of the Intel powered classmate PC in Nigeria last year, and a commitment to train over 150,000 Nigerian educators this year, Intel has further taken a similar bold step in driving e-learning in South Africa. According to a statement made available to THISDAY, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka joined by the Gauteng Department of Education MEC Angie Motshekga will usher an innovative world of mobile e-learning and at the same time plot the course for the future of corporate social investment in South Africa. The sttaement disclosed that a township school in Mabopane ,Gauteng ,South Africa will take the first tentative steps into this programme. The Abel T Motshoane High School in Mabopane is the site of a pilot project for the Intel-powered classmate PC mobile e-learning solution, a collaborative initiative between the Gauteng Department of Education and key industry players. This will be the first deployment of a mobile e-learning environment in South Africa using the classmate PC as well as the first school in the country to make use of the new WiMAX wireless broadband access technology. Two Grade 8 classes of the school, which serves a total of about 1000 students, will receive specially designed classmate PCs, providing students and teachers with access to technology in an effort to improve the education process and enhance the skills of learners. The classmate PCs are completely mobile units that that are capable of networking wirelessly both with the school's network infrastructure as well as with the Internet via WiMAX, providing students and teachers with access to a rich set of tools for enhanced learning. It will be recalled that Nigeria had emerged as the first point of call for the unveiling of Intel's pilot project geared at making ICT available for Nigerian students with the provision of a fully-functional electronic classroom by Intel. The project which took off in Abuja featured the newly developed Intel Classmate PC helping Nigerian pupils to benefit from an e-learning environment which is both collaborative and affordable. The project was considered so important by Nigerian authorities that it received the support of the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Capital Territory Authority which decided to collaborate with Intel on the project. At the launch of the project back then , the Ministry of Education had described the Classroom PC project as an opportunity to be cultivated and encouraged to assist the country in bridging the digital divide in Nigeria . Relevant Links West Africa Economy, Business and Finance ICT and Telecom Industry and Infrastructure Nigeria Urban Issues and Habitation The Classmate PC is designed by Intel's Platform Definition Centre. A complete solution with integrated software and hardware delivers an end-to-end solution for education involving students, parents, teachers and schools in a student-friendly form that will enhance learning with minimal IT infrastructure and at an affordable price. Key to the Classmate PC is Teacher Control which allows teachers to assemble and take control of a wireless virtual classroom. Features of the classmate PCs include rugged design, teacher and parent control to monitor the students' activities and theft control which render the units unusable should they be removed from the school's network environment. The units are powered by Intel processors, full networking capabilities, Microsoft Windows XP operating system and access to rich educational content. The Gauteng Department of Education will appoint and place up to 1000 Learners and Interns over a three-year period. Fifty young IT people across the Province have been given an opportunity to be part of this ground breaking programme by being offered internships up to now. These young people will provide IT support to Abel T Motshoane High School, already seven of them have been allocated to the school. Says Devan Naidoo, Intel South Africa Country Manager, "What is particularly unique with this project is not only the fact that it is the first time that the classmate PC pilot has been launched in this country but also that it is the first collaborative corporate social investment (CSI) project in South Africa." In the case of Abel T Motshoane High School, the Gauteng Department of Education partnered with D-Link, EMS Industrial, IBM, Intel, LearnThings Africa, Microsoft, Mindset, Pinnacle Micro and Telkom Foundation to roll-out a complete end-to-end solution that encompasses all aspects of ICT and education from the hardware, connectivity and educational content all the way to providing teachers with the training to gain the most benefit from the solution. The Country Manager of Intel Nigeria , David Ibhawoh, noted that the Intel World Ahead Programme, is "accelerating access to uncompromised technology for many people in Nigeria and indeed the entire African continent. We are holding hands with Government to integrate technology into the classrooms.

Zimbabwe: Eyes for Africa to Hold Fundraising Concert Today

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:18:19 -0500

The Herald (Harare)
A FUND-RAISING concert, dubbed "Romantic Winter Soir�e of Classical Music" and organised by Eyes for Africa, will be held today in Borrowdale at Dr Solomon Guramatunhu's residence.

Eyes for Africa is an initiative that provides free treatment to cataract-affected people in the rural areas and the concert, which is being sponsored by Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited and Cairns Holdings, is for raising money for transporting the doctors.

An American group, Music for People, which is into classical music, will perform. The group has three classical music students -- cellist Ryn Murphy, flutist Sarah Frisof and Dawn Smith, who plays the violin - from the Julliard School of Music in Manhattan, New York.

"All the proceeds go towards the Eyes for Africa for its Restore Africa's Vision programme that offers free cataract surgery to blind rural people.

"We are also grateful to our sponsors Dairibord and Cairns who have always made our fund-raising a success and they will make guests taste their variety of products, which include cheese and biscuits," Dr Guramatunhu said.

William Harvey, who is the director of Music for People, and Eyes for Africa chairman Dr Guramatunhu launched the fund-raising exercise last year.

Yesterday the group donated an assortment of musical instruments to schoolchildren in Marondera.

The group is currently holding a classical music composition workshop for pupils from Marondera Urban at Godfrey Huggins Primary School.

The Americans donated five beginners' xylophone recorders, classical wind instruments and five percussion shakers, valued at more than US$500.

They also pledged a computer gift for the organisers of the show, Onias Horiwa and Ronald Badza of the Marondera Arts and Culture Club.

Guest of honour at the function, Marondera Executive Mayor Alderman Ralph Chimanikire said he had observed that the workshop was vibrant and full of potential.

"Some of these children are less privileged but can be the next Oliver Mtukudzi, Alick Macheso, R Kelly or even Celine Dion. Even though they know that they don't have facilities and resources, their love for music would compels them to fulfil their dreams," he said.

Alderman Chimanikire said music had become a major employer and source of sustainable livelihood, with many school leavers being going into the industry.

Music for the People has been rehearsing with the Marondera-based Rovambira Group fusing the mbira (thumb piano) and with the cello, violin and flute to create a distinct rhythm.

Horiwa confirmed that a live video compact disc would be recorded before the American trio departs next week.

Effective Agricultural Investment Key to a Prosperous Africa

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:14:50 -0500

Report on Agricultural Investment in Africa mp3 - download
Listen to Report on Agricultural Investment in Africa mp3
Report on Agricultural Investment in Africa, ra - download
Listen to Report on Agricultural Investment in Africa, ra

A member of Malawi�s Parliament says in the past, a lack of leadership has hindered progress in economic development: �If you do not have a leader who is well focused and [will] provide the type of leadership which can move the country from poverty to prosperity, then you cannot achieve.� Parliamentarian George Chaponda is also a minister of local government and rural development. He was one of the speakers at the Summit on Trade and Investment, sponsored by the World Agricultural Forum. The mission of the 10-year-old non-profit group is �to be a catalyst in developing action plans that meet the growing need for food, fiber, fuel and water.�

In this 1st of a 5 part series on agriculture in Africa, VOA English to Africa reporter Cole Mallard spoke with Chaponda about the role agricultural investment plays in creating prosperity in emerging African economies. Speaking from Blantyre, he said the top investment priorities are to develop food security, water and irrigation, energy, transport and infrastructure, and rural integration, and to manage HIV/AIDS.

Chaponda also says corruption is a problem: �You�ll find in many cases the question of leadership is affected where there is a corrupt regime.� He adds that corruption is tied to the issue of bad governance.

GOOD LEADERSHIP

The Malawi parliamentarian says the issue of African leadership looks promising for the future, particularly where agricultural development is concerned: �We have now a new set of leaders who are emerging and these leaders are committed to remove poverty, and they are also fighting against corruption.� He says these leaders are the ones who are going to make a difference.

Another concern Chaponda mentions as a barrier to development is civil strife: �You find that many times, as much as you have brilliant development goals, once there is civil strife or conflict in the country, again that is an attribute to a lack of progress.� He says that the new emerging leadership is making every effort to settle issues amicably.

THE RIGHT PATH

The government official says the positive effect of new leadership applies to Malawi as well as other African countries. He mentions that Malawi�s president has worked for the World Bank, the IMF, and an African economic commission and says now that he�s in charge, �he�s put us on the right path.� As an example he mentions that last year Malawi had a bumper crop of maize; the surplus is being exported to neighboring countries. And this year, he says, is revealing similar success.

But Chaponda says despite the new direction of economic progress,one ironic twist is that when one fights corruption in order to make progress, one also makes enemies, and they try to stifle what�s being accomplished. But on a hopeful note, he says, �With God�s help we�ll succeed.�