Internationally Renowned Psychiatrist, Author & Lecturer

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TRUTH & TRANSFORMATION MINISTRIES, INC. is located in College Park, GA at 3684 Howard Drive and was founded in 2006 by its spiritual director Rev. Reginald Howard.  The ministry serves the Atlanta, GA community with spiritual transformative thought and practices that empowers and motivates people to make positive changes in their lives. 

 

Truth & Transformation Ministries, Inc. conducts weekly Sundayservices at 11:00am as well as provides educational classes for spiritual growth and development, and brings world renowned scholars and lectures to the greater Atlanta area on a regular basis.  Its founder, Rev. Howard is also available for speaking engagements nationwide.

 

To join the mailing list and/or learn more about this feature program as well as others, please contact the ministry at: 404-274-4300.

 

Rev. Reginald Howard, Founder and Spiritual Director

Truth & Transformation Ministries, Inc. 

by Charles S. Mombo

Rico Gray admitted to a history of physically abusing his wife, Marrisa Alexander. In a previous incident, Alexander said he beat her so severely she ended up in the hospital and he ended up in jail. "He pushed me, choked me, pushed me so hard into the closet that I hit my head against the wall and passed out for a second," Alexander said.

It has been over four months since a Florida judge sentencedMarissa Alexander to 20-years in prison. What surprises me the most about Alexander's case is the lack of outrage or backlash from the community.

Corrine Brown, Florida's congresswoman and theSupport for Marissa Alexander are doing a damn good job in exposing this injustice; but they can not do it alone.

If you haven't been following Alexander's story, please allow me to recap the events that led to her getting slammed with a senseless and unjust mandatory twenty year sentence.

Alexander is serving “mandatory twenty year sentence,” for shooting a warning shot into the air after her abusive husband, Rico Gray, threatened to kill her. Nobody was hurt in that case. Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" as her defense, but a jury convicted her of aggravated assault after ONLY 12 minutes of deliberation.

Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old, Black American mother of three children:

On August 1, 2010, Alexander said her husband, Rico Gray, read text messages on her phone that she had written to her ex-husband. She said Gray became enraged and accused her of being unfaithful. "That's when he strangled me. He put his hands around my neck," Alexander said.

She managed to escape his grip but instead of running out the front door, she ran into the garage, she said, to get into her truck and drive away. Alexander said that in the confusion of the fight, she forgot to get her keys and the garage door wouldn't open, so she made a fateful decision. "I knew I had to protect myself," she said. "I could not fight him. He was 100 pounds more than me. I grabbed my weapon at that point."

She went back inside the house, and when Gray saw her pistol at her side, she said he threatened to kill her, so she raised the gun and fired one shot. "I believe when he threatened to kill me, that's what he was absolutely going to do. That's what he intended to do. Had I not discharged my weapon at that point, I would not be here."

Alexander, however, said she did not aim the gun at her husband. She said she fired into the air intending to scare him away, and Gray quickly left the house with his two children. No one was hurt in the incident, but Alexander sits in jail facing a 20-year sentence on three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Gray admitted to a history of physical abuse. In a previous incident, Alexander said he beat her so severely she ended up in the hospital and he ended up in jail. "He pushed me, choked me, pushed me so hard into the closet that I hit my head against the wall and passed out for a second," Alexander said.

In a deposition for the case against Alexander, Gray backed up much of his wife's story. "I told her if she ever cheated on me, I would kill her," he said during the proceeding led by a prosecutor for State Attorney Angela Corey's office and his wife's defense attorney.

"If my kids weren't there, I knew I probably would have tried to take the gun from her," Gray said. "If my kids wouldn't have been there, I probably would have put my hand on her." When Alexander's defense attorney asked him what he meant by "put my hand on her," Gray replied, "probably hit her. I got five baby mammas and I put my hands on every last one of them except for one."

Alexander's attorney filed a motion for dismissal under the stand your ground law, but at that proceeding her husband changed his story. Gray said he lied during his deposition after conspiring with his wife in an effort to protect her. At the hearing, he denied threatening to kill his wife, adding, "I begged and pleaded for my life when she had the gun." The motion was denied by the judge.

According to CNN:

In late April, Alexander spoke to CNN as an inmate in the Duval County Jail in Jacksonville, Florida. "This is my life I'm fighting for," she said while wiping away tears. "If you do everything to get on the right side of the law, and it is a law that does not apply to you, where do you go from there?"

Alexander is referring to Florida's "stand your ground" law, a law that has come under scrutiny since the killing of Trayvon Martin. Unlike the Martin case, which involved one stranger killing another, Alexander's case involved her gun and her abusive husband.

On August 1, 2010, she said her husband, Rico Gray, read text messages on her phone that she had written to her ex-husband. She said Gray became enraged and accused her of being unfaithful. "That's when he strangled me. He put his hands around my neck," Alexander said.

She managed to escape his grip but instead of running out the front door, she ran into the garage, she said, to get into her truck and drive away. Alexander said that in the confusion of the fight, she forgot to get her keys and the garage door wouldn't open, so she made a fateful decision. "I knew I had to protect myself," she said. "I could not fight him. He was 100 pounds more than me. I grabbed my weapon at that point."

She went back inside the house, and when Gray saw her pistol at her side, she said he threatened to kill her, so she raised the gun and fired one shot. "I believe when he threatened to kill me, that's what he was absolutely going to do. That's what he intended to do. Had I not discharged my weapon at that point, I would not be here."

Alexander, however, said she did not aim the gun at her husband. She said she fired into the air intending to scare him away, and Gray quickly left the house with his two children. No one was hurt in the incident, but Alexander sits in jail facing a 20-year sentence on three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Gray admitted to a history of physical abuse. In a previous incident, Alexander said he beat her so severely she ended up in the hospital and he ended up in jail. "He pushed me, choked me, pushed me so hard into the closet that I hit my head against the wall and passed out for a second," Alexander said.

In a deposition for the case against Alexander, Gray backed up much of his wife's story. "I told her if she ever cheated on me, I would kill her," he said during the proceeding led by a prosecutor for State Attorney Angela Corey's office and his wife's defense attorney.

"If my kids weren't there, I knew I probably would have tried to take the gun from her," Gray said. "If my kids wouldn't have been there, I probably would have put my hand on her." When Alexander's defense attorney asked him what he meant by "put my hand on her," Gray replied, "probably hit her. I got five baby mammas and I put my hands on every last one of them except for one."

Alexander's attorney filed a motion for dismissal under the stand your ground law, but at that proceeding her husband changed his story. Gray said he lied during his deposition after conspiring with his wife in an effort to protect her. At the hearing, he denied threatening to kill his wife, adding, "I begged and pleaded for my life when she had the gun." The motion was denied by the judge.

Alexander was offered a plea deal by Corey's office, but she opted to go to trial. A jury found Alexander guilty in 12 minutes. She is baffled why invoking the stand your ground law wasn't successful in her case.

"Other defendants have used it. What's so different about my situation that it doesn't apply to me," she asked.

The local NAACP believes race may have played a role.

"There's a double standard with stand your ground," said Isaiah Rumlin, president of the Jacksonville chapter of the NAACP. "The law is applied differently between African-Americans and whites who are involved in these types of cases," he said.

Rumlin cited two cases in Florida with white shooters: One had a successful stand your ground defense and the other has yet to be charged with a crime. Online blogs are also raising the question of race. Last week, a spokeswoman for the Rev. Al Sharpton confirmed he, too, was looking into Alexander's story. When asked about race as a factor in her case, Alexander declined to comment.

CNN requested an interview with Rico Gray for this story. He agreed but later declined through a family friend, saying he was concerned that speaking publicly would put his life in danger. On Sunday, he resumed contact with CNN, offering an interview to "anyone who would like to pay." Monetary compensation for an interview is against CNN policy.

Thursday, after the motion for a new trial was denied, State Attorney Angela Corey told CNN affiliate WJXT, "(We) offered to take 17 years off of the 20-year mandatory … I exercised that discretion and as late as the Friday before trial, before we were picking a jury on the following Monday, my two prosecutors were willing to let her take the three-year minimum mandatory," she said. "The internet is filled with contentions that she fired a warning shot as she was being choked. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Mombo, C. (2013). Marissa Alexander’s 20-years mandatory prison sentence, where’s the damn community outrage?. Chocolate City. Retrieved from http://www.chocolatecity.cc/2012/09/16/marissa-alexanders-20-years-mandatory-prison-sentence-wheres-the-damn-community-outrage/

AP Photo: Jaime Awe. A backhoe claws away at the sloping sides of one of Belize's largest Mayan pyramids.

A construction company destroyed a Mayan pyramid in Belize, using its rock in a road-building project.

BELIZE CITY, Belize — A construction company has essentially destroyed one of Belize's largest Mayan pyramids with backhoes and bulldozers to extract crushed rock for a road-building project, authorities announced on Monday.

The head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, Jaime Awe, said the destruction at the Nohmul complex in northern Belize was detected late last week. The ceremonial center dates back at least 2,300 years and is the most important site in northern Belize, near the border with Mexico.

"It's a feeling of incredible disbelief because of the ignorance and the insensitivity. ... They were using this for road fill," Awe said. "It's like being punched in the stomach, it's just so horrendous."

Nohmul sat in the middle of a privately owned sugar cane field, and lacked the even stone sides frequently seen in reconstructed or better-preserved pyramids. But Awe said the builders could not possibly have mistaken the pyramid mound, which is about 100 feet tall, for a natural hill because the ruins were well-known and the landscape there is naturally flat.

"These guys knew that this was an ancient structure. It's just bloody laziness," Awe said.

Photos from the scene showed backhoes clawing away at the pyramid's sloping sides, leaving an isolated core of limestone cobbles at the center, with what appears to be a narrow Mayan chamber dangling above one clawed-out section.

"Just to realize that the ancient Maya acquired all this building material to erect these buildings, using nothing more than stone tools and quarried the stone, and carried this material on their heads, using tump lines," said Awe. "To think that today we have modern equipment, that you can go and excavate in a quarry anywhere, but that this company would completely disregard that and completely destroyed this building. Why can't these people just go and quarry somewhere that has no cultural significance? It's mind-boggling."

Belizean police said they are conducting an investigation and criminal charges are possible. The Nohmul complex sits on private land, but Belizean law says that any pre-Hispanic ruins are under government protection.

The Belize community-action group Citizens Organized for Liberty Through Action called the destruction of the archaeological site "an obscene example of disrespect for the environment and history."

It is not the first time it's happened in Belize, a country of about 350,000 people that is largely covered in jungle and dotted with hundreds of Mayan ruin sites, though few as large as Nohmul.

Norman Hammond, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Boston University who worked in Belizean research projects in the 1980s, wrote in an email that "bulldozing Maya mounds for road fill is an endemic problem in Belize (the whole of the San Estevan center has gone, both of the major pyramids at Louisville, other structures at Nohmul, many smaller sites), but this sounds like the biggest yet."

Arlen Chase, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida, said, "Archaeologists are disturbed when such things occur, but there is only a very limited infrastructure in Belize that can be applied to cultural heritage management."

"Unfortunately, they (destruction of sites) are all too common, but not usually in the center of a large Maya site," Chase wrote.

He said there had probably still been much to learn from the site. "A great deal of archaeology was undertaken at Nohmul in the '70s and '80s, but this only sampled a small part of this large center."

Belize isn't the only place where the handiwork of the far-flung and enormously prolific Maya builders is being destroyed. The ancient Mayas spread across southeastern Mexico and through Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.

"I don't think I am exaggerating if I say that every day a Maya mound is being destroyed for construction in one of the countries where the Maya lived," wrote Francisco Estrada-Belli, a professor at Tulane University's Anthropology Department.

"Unfortunately, this destruction of our heritage is irreversible but many don't take it seriously," he added. "The only way to stop it is by showing that it is a major crime and people can and will go to jail for it."

Robert Rosenswig, an archaeologist at the State University of New York at Albany, described the difficult and heartbreaking work of trying to salvage information at the nearby site of San Estevan following similar destruction around 2005.

"Bulldozing damage at San Estevan is extensive and the site is littered with Classic period potsherds," he wrote in an academic paper describing the scene. "We spent a number of days at the beginning of the 2005 season trying to figure out the extent of the damage. ... After scratching our heads for many days, a bulldozer showed up and we realized that what appear to be mounds, when overgrown with chest-high vegetation, are actually recently bulldozed garbage piles."

However small the compensation, bulldozing pyramids is one very brutal way of revealing the inner cores of the structures, which were often built up in periodic stages of construction.

"The one advantage of this massive destruction, to the core site, is that the remains of early domestic activity are now visible on the surface," Rosenswig wrote.

Stevenson, M. and Jones, P. (2013). Workers bulldoze Mayan pyramid, use rock to build road. MSN News. Retrieved from http://news.msn.com/world/workers-bulldoze-mayan-pyramid-use-rock-to-build-road

Capital FM (Nairobi)

BY WAMBUI NDONGA, 14 MAY 2013

Kenyan civil society groups unleashed pigs and poured jerrycans of blood smack outside Parliament, as a gesture of contempt for MPs - labelled MPigs - for demanding higher pay.

Nairobi — Civil society groups on Tuesday outdid themselves as they unleashed more than 10 pigs and poured jerrycans of blood smack outside Parliament, as a symbolic gesture of the contempt they have for Members of Parliament – labelled MPigs – for demanding higher pay.

The demonstrators, who caught the country’s attention, started the protest at Freedom Corner before going down Kenyatta Avenue onto Tom Mboya and Harambee Avenues before converging at Parliament where they ‘occupied’ the main entrance.

Just when the media thought the drama was near over after some chanting, a mini-van approached Parliament where a pig and piglets were offloaded, turning the already wild crowd into a dazed frenzy. The area was soon painted red with blood ferried in jerrycans.

While the piglets squealed in panic, the demonstrators carried them in the air as if in a spell, chanting ‘haki yetu.’

“We are here because of what MPs have been demanding for. It is unfortunate that the first thing they thought about when they got to Parliament was a pay hike. That is a show of impunity because they are already making enough. Their pay should actually be reduced,” said Boniface Mwangi, the protest’s leader.

After an hour of jostling, police deployed water cannon and fired teargas canisters to disperse the daring group but the protestors remained defiant and instead continued testing the patience of the police.

This tolerance however ran thin and one of the demonstrators found himself on the receiving end when one of the policemen started clobbering him.

A courageous protestor however lunged forward and used his body to shield the activist from the unforgiving law enforcer.

Ndonga, W. (2013). Protest over MPs' pay turns into a pig deal. Capital FM. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201305141223.html

Malcolm Shabazz (shown), the grandson of the late African-American human rights activist Malcolm X

Prosecutor Rodolfo Fernando Rios Garza said on Monday that the suspects, David Hernandez Cruz and Manuel Alejandro Pérez de Jesus, worked at the bar where Malcolm Shabazz reportedly got in a violent dispute. 

Police said they are still searching for three more suspects. 

The Shabazz family said on Friday that "To all who knew him, he offered kindness, encouragement and hope for a better tomorrow." 

"Although his bright light and boundless potential are gone from this life, we are grateful that he now rests in peace in the arms of his grandparents and the safety of God." 

Malcolm Shabazz was beaten on 9 May 2013 in Plaza Garibaldi and taken to a Mexico City hospital, where he died of his injuries a day later. 

Before his demise, Shabazz was in the process of writing two books and attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. 

He had planned to visit Iran in 2013 to attend the Hollywoodism conference when he was arrested by FBI agents, sources outside the United States confirmed on February 4. 

Born in 1984, Shabazz was the son of Qubilah Shabazz, who was the second daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. 

Malcolm X, Malcolm Shabazz’s grandfather and a black power activist, was shot dead at a political rally in New York on 21 February 1965. 

IA/DB/HN

Press TV. (2013). 2 nabbed over Malcolm X grandson killing. Press TV. Retrieved from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/14/303372/2-nabbed-over-malcolm-x-grandson-killing/

AFROBEAT GOES ON!!    check the latest trend from Lagos

with LANRE EDUN's extended album 'WODIJU'

Remastered & extended album  - release date May 19, 2013

(label catalogue number 51 Lex 944)

Check below videos + remixes by Bayoz Musik

+ a full review of the album by Duro Ikujenyo, writer of Fela's Manifesto.

Afrobeat vs Afrobeats: As the discussion rages on, the musical output increases regardless. Both styles are founded on the same basic foundations blending traditional music styles such as Fuji, Apala, Juju, Shakara mixed with RnB, Funk and Jazz. Afrobeats is of course also influenced by to-day's club and urban music and the songs reflect Life, Aspiration, Love and the never ending struggle to survive and succeed, as ever.  Afrobeat is more deeply rooted in the Yoruba melodies, call-and-response chants and polyrhythms, which make it so danceable as well. It also keeps alive the fight for justice and integrity inherited from the 70's post Independence struggles that are still so topical.

Today Lanre Edun “Wodiju" album is a throwback to the past, written in the present and connected with the next generation. Moreover, it is a dive into contemporary Lagos vibrant and sweaty streets and clubs. Recorded live, it is the rough, raw and still very melodic taste of Nigerian's daily life, with a various range of subjects and tempos, vocal styles and moods, all 100% contemporary Nigerian Afrobeat.

Some would go for the track “Justice Fit Lie”. Recorded In the characteristic manner of the genre,  ‘Judge Fit Lie’ is 'live’, fiery, angry and full of attitude and the soldier spirit. A common theme in Nigeria, which deals with his pursuit of justice through the courts reinforced his belief that the judiciary was fraught with shady deals and dealers - so articulately brought to life by Fela Kuti – Afrobeats greatest exponent. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KRiDohxn7Y

Other would prefer the humoristic 'Wodiju', presented by the artist as 'an inspiration from the city of Lagos where I am based, Wodiju is actually an expose on the sensual excesses of the men folk. Simply put, in Yoruba idi is ass,Wodi is look at ass, Wodiju is ass engrossed. Are you?' www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sVqUNujjHo

One of the most acclaimed young producers of the UK scene Bayoz Musik has been inspired to produce infectious remixes of "Onidodo" and "Snatcher" the hit tracks of the album that are the most inspired by his generation's new sounds. Links below. Instrumentals are also available.

DURO IKUJENYO, the man who notably wrote Fela's manifesto, is giving us a complete review of Lanre Edun's album:

' LANRE EDUN is known to me as a great promising music talent who studied mathematics and has been able to write songs of Afro genre that have great public appeal and commercial relevance. Die Die Ni, a great dancehall mix which perpetually keeps you alert and jumping  - Gear  Zee, a  good  honest  track  with great drive and punchy lyrics, quite an appeal - Fedefo  a reminiscence of early afrobeat music that is relevant today and future - Foolish Love, right on point song ,for captivating listening and dance - Onidodo a nu afrobeat  groove that totally connects you with the future - Snatcher, captures todays  hip hop  and still retains afrobeat  content - Wodiju, a song that promises to be evergreen  in terms of content and delivery -   Iya alamala  an afrobeat  song  with  a mid tempo  nice groove and well  delivered  lyrics  to the understanding  of  Nigerian  public - Dem go Play or Judge  Fit  Lie, good  dance  music and a  satire of  Nigeria  judicial corruption  galore.'

'A Great musician, composer and arranger and a Good Singer. His music is Live recording like my recorded between 60s and now on so I like to do some recordings with  him in future.'  Dr. Orlando Julius EKEMODE, another pioneer of Afro Funk

'Never in recent times has an album not created by the legacy of Africa 70 & Egypt 80 accurately embodied the spirit, sound, style, and message of Kalakuta Republic as well as Wodiju has'. - Tenisio "DJ 5th Wurld" Seanima - United States of Rhythm.

iTunes Links: remastered and extended album          remastered album                   original Wodiju 

Remixes by Bayoz Muzik : "Snatcher" Bayoz Muzik Remix    "Onidodo" Bayoz Muzik Remix   + instrumentals available

Spotify:   http://open.spotify.com/user/wyldpytch/playlist/6SEaO6hECJD5KyGFgja6e2 

Videos: 

Justice Fit Lie:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KRiDohxn7Y

Wodiju:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sVqUNujjHo

Live Rehearsals:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjvhzxHxz0k     

Amsterdam News Staff | Posted: Thursday, May 9, 2013 4:59 pm

Amsterdam News Staff. (2013). Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, killed. New York Amsterdam News. Retrieved from http://www.amsterdamnews.com/news/national/malcolm-shabazz-grandson-of-malcolm-x-killed-in-tia-juana/article_5f2334f2-b8eb-11e2-93b2-0019bb2963f4.html?TNNoMobile

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According to an anonymous facebook member, the following screen shots are of posts Malcolm Shabazz placed on his own page to day before his murder:

On Tuesday 9:15 pm Malcolm Shabazz (Grandson of Malcolm X) posted on his Facebook page "I have some very powerful enemies. Ya'll may have won many battles, however, the war isn't over! You know who you are" 
 

16 minutes later
(Tuesday 9:31pm) he posted "I beleive my FB acount is hacked. I have been getting really weird messages from people asking me about posts I didn't make, and messages that I haven't sent"

Yesterday (Wednesday) he was "killed during a robbery".

MALCOLM X FEST 
SATURDAY MAY 18TH & SUNDAY MAY 19TH




SOUNDS OF THE WAR HORN 
SATURDAY JUNE 1ST




ORGANIC FEST 
SATURDAY JUNE 29TH



BLACK AUGUST WEEKEND/HAPPILY NATURAL DAY FESTIVAL
AUGUST 23RD-25TH 
(FOR VENDING/SPONSORSHIP BLACKAUGUSTWEEKEND@GMAIL.COM)

Click the following image to watch the brand new music video from FTP Movement's upcoming documentary, Organizing Is The New Cool.

Associated Press/Spencer Weiner, file - FILE - This April 15, 2011 file photo shows singer Lauryn Hill performing during the 12th Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Hill is facing sentencing Monday, May 6, 2013 in New Jersey on federal tax charges. Hill pleaded guilty last year to not paying federal taxes on $1.8 million earned from 2005 to 2007. A judge two weeks ago said Hill had paid only about $50,000 of more than $500,000 she owes. Hill said she has signed a recording contract with Sony that will help her pay her taxes. Citing the legal deadline, she made a song available on iTunes over the weekend. She faces up to a year in prison on each of three counts. Her attorney is seeking probation for her. (AP Photo/Spencer Weiner, file)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill stood in federal court Monday and compared her experience in the music business to the slavery her ancestors endured before a judge sentenced her to three months in prison for failing to pay about $1 million in taxes over the past decade.

"I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them," Hill said before U.S. Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo. "I had an economic system imposed on me."

Hill, who started singing with the Fugees as a teenager in the 1990s before releasing her multiplatinum 1998 album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," pleaded guilty last year to failing to pay taxes on more than $1.8 million earned from 2005 to 2007. Monday's sentencing also took into account unpaid state and federal taxes in 2008 and 2009 that brought the total earnings to about $2.3 million.

Despite having paid more than $900,000 in the past several days, Hill still owes interest and penalties, the U.S. attorney's office said.

In a forceful but controlled statement to the judge punctuated by occasional raps with her first on the podium, Hill described how she failed to pay taxes during a period when she'd dropped out of the music business to protect herself and her children, who now number six.

She said the treatment she received while she was in the entertainment business led to her decision to leave it.

"There were veiled threats, there was blacklisting," she said, without giving specifics. "I was told, 'That's how it goes, it comes with the territory.' I came to be perceived as a cash cow and not a person. When people capitalize on a persona, they forget there is a person in there."

In addition to serving three months in prison, Hill must pay a $60,000 fine. After she is released from prison, she will be under parole supervision for a year, the first three months of which will be spent under home confinement.

The 37-year-old South Orange resident had faced a maximum sentence of one year each on three counts of failing to file taxes. Her attorney had sought probation, arguing that Hill's charitable works, her family circumstances and the fact she paid back the taxes she owed should merit consideration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Moser acknowledged Hill's creative talent and work on behalf of impoverished children but called Hill's explanation for her actions "a parade of excuses centering around her feeling put upon" that don't exempt her from her responsibilities.

"She wasn't interested in all those years in paying what she owed," Moser told the judge.

At the time of her arrest last year, Hill wrote a criticism rejecting pop culture's "climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism."

"Over-commercialization and its resulting restrictions and limitations can be very damaging and distorting to the inherent nature of the individual," Hill wrote. "I did not deliberately abandon my fans, nor did I deliberately abandon any responsibilities, but I did however put my safety, health and freedom and the freedom, safety and health of my family first over all other material concerns! I also embraced my right to resist a system intentionally opposing my right to whole and integral survival."

Hill is to report to prison by July 8. It's not clear where she'll serve her sentence. She didn't comment after the sentencing.

She said in a recent post online that she has signed a recording contract with Sony.

"She is looking forward to putting her case behind her and getting back to her music and creating again," attorney Nathan Hochman said.

Porter, D. (2013). Lauryn Hill gets 3 months for failing to pay taxes. Associated Press. Retrieved from http://music.yahoo.com/news/lauryn-hill-gets-3-months-failing-pay-taxes-212157430.html

2 MAY 2013

Zambian Vice President Guy Scott.

Cape Town — Zambia's vice president Guy Scott launched an astonishing attack on President Jacob Zuma when he reportedly compared him to South Africa's last apartheid leader, FW de Klerk.

Speaking to the UK Guardian newspaper after Margaret Thatcher's funeral, Scott hinted at Zuma's arrogance on handling the political conflict in Zimbabwe. He described Zuma as "very like De Klerk" and accused the South African president of trying to monopolise the SADC facilitation by apparently saying: "You just leave Zimbabwe to me."

Scott went on to describe the South African people as arrogant. "The South Africans are very backward in terms of historical development," Scott is quoted as saying in The Guardian.

"I hate South Africans. That's not a fair thing to say because I like a lot of South Africans but they really think they're the bees' knees and actually they've been the cause of so much trouble in this part of the world.

"I dislike South Africa for the same reason that Latin Americans dislike the United States, I think. It's just too big and too unsubtle," he is quoted as saying.

In the report, he also blasted South Africa's involvement in the Brics: "Nobody would want to go in for a partnership with Brazil, China, India and South Africa for Christ's sake."

The 68-year-old vice president also made reference to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. "I'm sure any good African nationalist admires Mugabe," he pointed out.

He reportedly described Mugabe as an "articulate, funny chap" who falls asleep and "then suddenly laughs at a joke while in the middle of dozing".

Chipato, V. (2013). Vice President Scott calls South Africans 'very backward'. All Africa. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201305020823.html?aa_source=useful-column

     

Andrew McFarlane - CHI THANG

  

Crafting Bowls for Change

A Community Fundraiser 

Bowl Making 

May 9 ~ 6PM-7PM

For more information contact Chris Appleton atchris@wonderroot.org or404-376-3280.

Crafting Bowls for Change Fundraiser

May 25 ~ 11-3pm 

  

-The 7^th and Final 

African  International  Healing  Day of Mourning

6.19.13

12:01am-11:59pm

‘In the midst of our replaying the European assault against our very being, we must always remember that Afrikans did not leave their wars for freedom back in our homeland…because we  know this, we know that there was no peace on the slavers either. Europeans lived in a constant state of extreme anxiety and trepidation. That’s why we were constantly shackled one to another….That is why we are still kept mentally and physically shackled’

…Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti ‘Kebuka!’

WHAT> The 7th and Final Annual Day of Mourning to heal the pain of the Maafa

WHEN> Wednesday June 19th from 12:01AM to 11:59PM

WHO> Every Black/Afrikan Being 

WHERE> Wherever you are throughout the Afrikan Diaspora and the Continent of Afrika on June 19th

HOW> Take a personal or group moment on June 19th and:

• ·        Reflect on the pain of our Ancestors who were tortured, terrorized, brutally raped, murdered and enslaved during the Maafa (African Holocaust). This focuses our collective need for healing
• ·        Empathize with their pain, go inside them feel what they felt, see them, be them. This raises our collective love vibration
• ·        Mourn the pain they suffered and died in. Mourning is a specific heavy tone born of Love that matches the heaviness of pain so it goes to the depths where pain is and tones the painful energy into joy for the beloved. This focuses our collective love

WHY> To collectively tone/heal the pain of the Maafa into joy for our Ancestors and free those Ancestral energies still trapped in a vortex of pain and horror to finally cross over. This will refresh and re-energize the Afrikan Collective Consciousness.

o   PAIN: a state of physical/mental/spiritual agony

o   JOY: a state of physical/mental/spiritual well-being

The MAAFA caused the Afrikan Collective Consciousness to be in the effect

of PAIN

our responsibility is to cause it back to the effect of JOY

Come! Let Us Move The Village, To Higher Grounds, Comes The Storm

LET US MOURN 6.19.12 

Rudwaan at Rudwaan@bellsouth.net

BY THOMAS MöSCH, 26 APRIL 2013

One of the topics discussed at this year's Africa Business Week in Frankfurt (22-26 April, 2013) was the challenge of modernizing African agriculture so that Africans also benefit.

The number of inhabitants on the African continent is growing rapidly. To date, there are an estimated one billion people living in Africa and that number is expected to double by 2050.

Most of them will be living in urban areas. All of them will need to eat and drink . The demand for food is rising steadily and the African middle class is striving for higher living standards.

Experts attending Africa Business Week agree that Africa's agriculture is facing a daunting challenge. Investors from across the world are actively searching for fertile soil from one end of the continent to the other.

But few Africans benefit from these investments as most cereal products and vegetables are exported directly from African farms to the Arab world or Asia.

Technology reverses rural flight

Mpoko Bokanga, from the UN Industrial Development Organization UNIDO, demands that investors should support local farmers so that they generate better harvests and thus achieve higher returns.

Bokanga warns against trying to set up modern farming production centers using only foreign expertise. The key is to take modern technology out to the fields as a way of curbing rural flight.

"That will make it more attractive for the young people to work on the farm and of course it will increase productivity. So it is a win win situation," Bokanga said.

But modern technology alone cannot be the solution, Bokanga adds. UNIDO watches the entire production process, from the cultivation of the fields and harvesting the crops to the processing and marketing of agricultural products.

Soy and wheat for Zambia

Among those who pursue such a holistic approach is German entrepreneur Carl Heinrich Bruhn, head of Amatheon. The company wants to build up profitable farms in Africa, in order to generate high returns for investors.

It started its first project in Zambia by leasing 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) for 99 years. The land is located in a long-planned commercial farming area but the owners had no money for such a huge investment.

From the beginning Amatheon took care not to do anything that would lead to accusations of land grabbing, says Bruhn. Instead, he says, his company has jointly developed a concept with local farmers from which all sides can benefit.

Previously local farmers had no access to fertilizers, seeds or crop protection products. "By building a central farm , we can provide them with all these things so that the smaller farmers can start their own production cycle," Bruhn told DW.

Providing access to markets

Bruhn's company also wants to help the independent farmers market their products. Up till now Amatheon's neighbors had no access to the wholesale markets in the capital Lusaka.

"We can provide this because we buy up the farmers' produce and take it to the capital where it can be resold."

The German company is currently harvesting its first soy. After that, wheat will be sown. Neither is expected to be exported because there is a great demand for both products in Zambia.

The process is not entirely without problems. "Actually, we should have been connected to the public electricity network since January. But construction of the pipeline is taking time," the German investor complains. But he is optimistic that in a few weeks his team will be able to turn off the generators.

African soil needs care

The environmental organization WWF is watching the growing interest in African soil with skepticism.

Basically, there is a need to increase food production, says Birgit Wilhelm, who is responsible for sustainable agriculture at WWF's German branch.

She also knows that 60 percent of the world's unused agricultural land lies in Africa. But she points out that arable land in Africa is much more depleted than in other parts of the world and is low in nutrients.

"These are geologically very old soils" she explains. Investors also know this but their response is often unimaginative, Wilhelm criticizes. "They say that the soil is poor and need nutrients, that's why it should be fertilized, but they don't csare about the effect this has on the ecosystem."

When it comes to the cultivation of crops for bio-fuels, one has to watch out that investors are not only focusing on quick returns and then leave behind depleted soil, says Wilhelm.

Such investors would always need new arable land. But This vicious circle destroys biodiversity as a whole and also degrade soil fertility permanently.

MöSCH, T. (2013). Investors see great potential buried in African soil. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201304291195.html?viewall=1

BY GLENN ASHTON, 23 APRIL 2013

ANALYSIS

Ashton, G. (2013). Is Africa about to lose the right to her seed?. The South African Civil Society Information Service. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201304231046.html?viewall=1

eNCA speaks to Mufti Ismail Ibn Musa Menk, a Muslim cleric with Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, about the reports surfacing around his tweet which has linked him to the Boston Bombing suspect.

enews Channel. (2013). Zimbabwean muslim cleric linked to Boston via Twitter. enews Channel. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/view/resource/main/main/id/00061280.html

Photo: Naija

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde

Nigerian award winning actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde is being honored today to as part of the 2013 TIME 100 World's Icon List.

The sexy actress was listed as one of the most influential people in the world along with the hip hop diva, Beyonce, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Justin Timberlake, French Open winner and Chinese star, Li Na

In celebration of the honour, Omotola has been invited to New York City for the TIME 100 Gala today, April 23, Omosexy will be interacting with other honourees such Michele Obama, Beyonce and Steven Spielberg.

In a statement released by the magazine, Omotola was described as African's leading Lady of Showbiz.

Since the news broke last week, her twitter handle and facebook page have been buzzing with congratulatory messages from fans and friends.

Being noted on the TIME 100 icon list brings her to super stardom but also reinforces the African film industry as a powerhouse. Last year, she was also honoured with a BEFFTA icon award.

"Omotola epitomizes the 21st century African woman and after producing her successful reality show, Omotola: The Real Me, we congratulate her for the recognition as one of the most influential people in the world", Michael Djaba, Chief Creative Office of OH TV remarks.

Since she starred in the movie, Mortal Inheritance in 1996, Omotola has featured in about 300 movies one of which is a blockbuster, Ije which she did with Genevieve Nnaji in 2010.

She is married to an airline pilot, Captain Ekeinde and has four kids.

Abulude, S. (2013). Time magazine honours Omotola, Michelle Obama, others today. Leadership. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201304241225.html

Posted: Apr 24, 2013 1:00 PM EDTUpdated: Apr 24, 2013 1:06 PM EDT

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed proclaimed the first-ever National Mayors Day of Recognition for Volunteer Service at a downtown Atlanta garden Wednesday morning.

He made the presentation in front of several dozen volunteers who've helped build the Wheat Street Gardens during the last two years. 

"Every day they get out quietly," said Reed before the gathering. "Somewhere they go help somebody else, and help in the community, without fanfare, without praise, and without applause, so today I wanted to applaud you."

Copyright 2013 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation).  All rights reserved.

Frampton, W. (2013). Mayor Reed proclaims day of service at downtown garden. CBS Atlanta. Retrieved from http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/22066024/mayor-reed-proclaims-day-of-service-at-downtown-garden

     

Pete and Charlotte O'Neal and their kids

Pete O'Neal when he was a member of the Black Panther Party

Pete and Charlotte O'Neal

Pete and Charlotte O'Neal

Rittman, E. & McCallister, L. (2013). Former leader of KC Black Panther Party hoping for pardon to re-enter U.S.. KCTV 5 News. Retrieved from http://www.kctv5.com/story/22016160/former-leader-of-kc-black-panther-party-hoping-for-pardon-to-re-enter-us

Reneke, D. (2013). De La Soul – “Get away” f. the spirit of the wu. Potholes In My Blog. Retrieved from http://potholesinmyblog.com/de-la-soul-get-away-f-the-spirit-of-the-wu/

Dinner Movie Discussion

Sunday April 7, 2013

Garbage Warrior

Dispatch

• 05/11/2013
 
• Atlanta, GA

•  View on StoryAmp

Aruan Ortiz

CUBAN PIANIST AND COMPOSER, ARUÁN ORTIZ REPRESENTS “GENERATION NEXT” IN JAZZ, & IS SET TO HEADLINE AT THE 36TH ANNUAL ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL

Jazz | Latin

 

As technology brings us closer, a new breed of jazz musicians from around the globe are collaborating, and we’re entering a new age of jazz. New jazz can be found at this year’s 36^thAnnual Atlanta Jazz Festival, which focuses on “Generation Next” with captivating artists like headliner Cuban Pianist Aruán Ortiz. The Atlanta Jazz Festival takes place Memorial Day weekend between May 25^th-27^th in historic Piedmont Park and admission to the festival is free.

As a successful and ever-evolving young jazz artist, what sets Aruán Ortiz apart is his versatility, aesthetics, and undeniable hip and charismatic persona that intrigues his audiences. Since his arrival in the New York scene in 2008, whether it has been leading a quartet, collaborating, composing, or producing –the Cuban Wunderkind has proved time and time again to have the inherent ability to create deep, imaginative, and stimulating musical experiences.

The New York Times describes Aruán Ortiz’s recent album compilations “Orbiting” (Fresh Sound) and “Banned in London” (Whirlwind) as: “new jazz as we know it.”  BBC Radio described his collaboration in “Banned in London” with London Bassist Michael Janisch as, a “A 5-Star transatlantic group. It’s jazz as a truly global art form.” 

His other albums are also highly spoken about. “Santiarican Blues Suite” (Sunnyside) is a classical and storytelling piece to honor and preserve the history of Afro-Haitian dance. “Textures and Pulsations” (Ictus), is a collaboration with Bob Gluck, a pianist and electronic musician features partly two grand pianos transcendently locking together.

Aruán Ortiz is a global phenomenon among the new generation of musicians performing today, but he is also a cultural wonder with roots stemming back to the Cuban-Haitian Diaspora.  As he leads each of his endeavors he also interjects the blues and breaks a cultural line through Africa, Haiti, and the “Deep South” where the blues originated. In “Santiarican Blues Suite” he offers fragments of reflective, tentative joys that are sweeping with blues undertones.

 Listen broadly and discover Aruán Ortiz’s gems at the Atlanta Jazz Festival Memorial Day weekend. The critically acclaimed Cuban pianist and award-winning composer will also soon embark on a tour in Europe beginning in April 2013. The announced tour dates are:  April 3 – Lyon, France; April 4 – Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium; April 5-6 – Paris, France; April 7, 12 & 14 –Amsterdam, Netherlands; and April 24-25 Istanbul, Turkey.

 

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Press Contact: eb@emersonbranmanagement.com

     

 

 

  

    

  

  

  

 

 

 

Meda ase (Thank you) to our Sponsors: 

 

  

  

 

 

 

  

     

TLW Urban Farmer, Fred picking up vegetable scraps  

 

TLW Urban Farmer, Fred pickup up cardboard

At Truly Living Well we understand that what we return to the Earth, the Earth returns to us. For most of humankind's history, food crops grew utilizing natural fertilizers such as animal manures, dung and decomposed plant materials, otherwise called compost. Creating good soil was the focus. Crops took nutrients from the soil and all crop waste was returned to replenish the nutrients removed. Adding these natural elements back to the Earth feeds not only the plants, but also the micro-flora and micro-fauna that provide micro-nutrients for the soil, which are subsequently extracted from the soil by the plants.

 

With the support of our partners Truly Living Well is cultivating community through compost in an effort to help people eat and live well.

 

Beautiful Dianthus and Delphiniums perennials are now in bloom at Truly Living Well, so drop by either Wheat Street Garden (75 Hilliard St NE, Atlanta, GA 30312) or TLW at East Point (3353 Washington Road, East Point, GA 30344) to see the "growings on." Delphiniums (also called Larkspur) are tall and graceful garden classics, traditionally with vivid blue blooms travelling upward along a broad stalk. They can grow as tall as six feet and are staked to prevent wind damage. Note: Delphinium is NOT an edible flower!

Though carnation is the most well known, there are many varieties of dianthus. At Wheat Street Garden, see compact pink and red dianthus blooming now in The Butterfly Bed and bold red ones in The Lookout Tower Perennial Bed. At TLW at East Point, fragrant, tall "pinks" are blooming in the new front perennial garden. Dianthuses are a treat for people and pollinators with their simple, sweet scent. Yes, Dianthus petals are edible and have a tasty, clove-like flavor that is popular with trendy restaurants and chefs!

Raw Food Facilitator Carla DeRosa

The "Chefs in the Garden" series is returning to the market on Friday, April 12th. Carla DeRosa, Health Activist and Raw Food Facilitator, will be joining us at Wheat Street Garden (75 Hilliard St NE, Atlanta, GA 30312) to prepare fresh from the farm produce for sampling. In 2004, her first child was born 16 weeks premature, launching her on a personal quest to promote health through nutrition. While she had been experimenting with vegetarianism for over two decades, she truly began to focus on raw foods in 2010 in response to her own health crisis. Now, her raw and healing food events offer her the pleasure of introducing health seekers to delicious, healing foods and to groundbreaking work in the field of nutrition, holistic medicine and fitness.

 

Carla is committed to helping people expand their awareness of nutrition and health by sharing the benefits of raw and healing foods. Decades of professional experience as a speaker and facilitator have helped her develop a dynamic style and innovative training approach. She continues to touch thousands of people through her appearances at conferences, meetings, retreats and training sessions. Don't miss Carla DeRosa in the Garden!

 

Truly Living Well welcomes chefs to the Garden. If you are a chef and would like to hold a demostration at market, please contact Market Manager, Andrea Brown at andrea@trulylivingwell.com.

 

For more information about Carla DeRosa visit: www.rawxit.com.

 

Next Friday, on April 12th, ALEX GORDON HI-FI will be performing easy listening music at Wheat Street Garden (75 Hilliard St NE, Atlanta, GA 30312) on Friday, April 12th. That is, music whose creation was intended to soothe the listener, even transport the listener to another place and time. Be sure to stop by to enjoy this new market experience.

 

Alex Gordon Hi-Fi - "Escapade" (Janet Jackson)

 

The Wheat Street Gardens Farmers' Market welcomes local musicians who generously play to market crowds each week. Please be sure to support them with a donation while you shop at our market. If you are a musician and would like to perform at TLW market, please contact Market Manager, Andrea Brown atandrea@trulylivingwell.com.

 

For more information about ALEX GORDON HI-FI visit:

www.alexgordonhifi.com

http://www.youtube.com/alexgordonguitar

https://www.facebook.com/alexgordonhifi

 

  

  

Editor's Note:

This is the Bill that the "Monsanto Protection Act" comes from.  You can download the entire act at the website listed in the reference, and section 733, which highlights the applicable clause, is written below.

Press Releases

Appropriations Committee Approves the Fiscal Year 2013 Agriculture Appropriations Bill 
Legislation will support American farmers and ranchers, encourage rural economic development, and sustain food safety efforts 

Washington, Jun 19, 2012 -

The House Appropriations Committee today approved the fiscal year 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill. The legislation funds several important and necessary government programs and services, including food safety, animal and plant health, rural development and farm services, and nutrition programs. In total, the legislation includes $19.4 billion in discretionary funding – a cut of $365 million below last year’s level and a cut of $1.7 billion below the President’s budget request.

“This legislation represents a careful balance between fiscal restraint and responsible investments in programs to support an abundant and safe food and drug supply, promote US interests in the global economy, and encourage economic development in our rural communities,” House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said.

Agriculture Subcommittee Chairman Jack Kingston also commented on the bill:

“American agriculture is the envy of the world, feeding not only our country but much of the globe. This legislation supports agriculture and nutrition investments, and increases efficiency and effectiveness at the Agriculture Department and other agencies. It will help ensure a safe and abundant food and drug supply, and spur rural economic growth while checking the growth of government using common-sense reforms,” Kingston said.

The following amendments to the FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill were adopted by the full committee today:

Rep. Kingston – The manager’s amendment makes technical and non-controversial changes to the bill and report. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Rep. Flake – The amendment prohibits funding to provide farm program benefits to individuals or entities with adjusted gross incomes of more than $250,000. The amendment was adopted on voice vote.

Rep. DeLauro – The amendment requires funding for the Reagan-Udall Foundation to come from the Office of the Commissioner. The organization is a non-profit, created by Congress, to advance regulatory science related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The amendment was adopted on voice vote.

Rep. Simpson – The amendment allows white potatoes to be eligible for purchase as part of the  Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program food packages. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Rep. Moran – The amendment prohibits funding for any horse inspection activity necessary to transport and slaughter horses in the U.S. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Rep. Simpson – The amendment increases the Rural Rental Assistance Program by $1.5 million, offset by a cut to the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

 The bill was approved by the full committee on a voice vote. 

For the text of the bill please visit: http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bills-112hr-fc-ap-fy13-agriculture.pdf

For the bill report, please visit: http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hrpt-112-ap-fy13-agriculture.pdf

#####

U.S. House Of Reps Committe On Appropriations. (2012). Appropriations Committee approves the fiscal year 2013 agriculture appropriations bill.  U.S. House Of Representatives. Retrieved from http://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=299993

SEC. 733. In the event that a determination of non14

regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the

15 Plant Protection Act is or has been invalidated or vacated,

16 the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any

17 other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower,

18 farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary

19 permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to

20 necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with sec21

tion 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which

22 interim conditions shall authorize the movement, introduc23

tion, continued cultivation, commercialization and other

24 specifically enumerated activities and requirements, in25

cluding measures designed to mitigate or minimize poten-

1 tial adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the

2 Secretary’s evaluation of the petition for non-regulated

3 status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able

4 to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and

5 carry out other authorized activities in a timely manner:

6 Provided, That all such conditions shall be applicable only

7 for the interim period necessary for the Secretary to com8

plete any required analyses or consultations related to the

9 petition for non-regulated status: Provided further, That

10 nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the

11 Secretary s authority under section 411, 412 and 414 of

12 the Plant Protection Act.

Human genes engineered into experimental GMO rice being grown in Kansas

by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Unless the rice you buy is certified organic, or comes specifically from a farm that tests its rice crops for genetically modified (GM) traits, you could be eating rice tainted with actual human genes. The only known GMO with inbred human traits in cultivation today, a GM rice product made by biotechnology company Ventria Bioscience is currently being grown on 3,200 acres in Junction City, Kansas -- and possibly elsewhere -- and most people have no idea about it.

Since about 2006, Ventria has been quietly cultivating rice that has been genetically modified (GM) with genes from the human liver for the purpose of taking the artificial proteins produced by this "Frankenrice" and using them in pharmaceuticals. With approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ventria has taken one of the most widely cultivated grain crops in the world today, and essentially turned it into a catalyst for producing new drugs.

Originally, the cultivation of this GM rice, which comes in three approved varieties (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/biotech_ea_permits.html), was limited to the laboratory setting. But in 2007, Ventria decided to bring the rice outdoors. The company initially tried to plant the crops in Missouri, but met resistance from Anheuser-Busch and others, which threatened to boycott all rice from the state in the event that Ventria began planting its rice within state borders (http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com).

So Ventria's GM rice eventually ended up in Kansas, where it is presumably still being grown for the purpose of manufacturing drugs on 3,200 acres in Junction City. And while this GM rice with added human traits has never been approved for human consumption, it is now being cultivated in open fields where the potential for unrestrained contamination and spread of its unwanted, dangerous GM traits is virtually a given.

"This is not a product that everyone would want to consume," said Jane Rissler from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to the Washington Post back in 2007. "It is unwise to produce drugs in plants outdoors."

Though receiving tens of thousands of public comments of opposition, many rightly concerned about the spread of GM traits, the USDA approved open cultivation of Ventria's GM rice anyway. This, of course, occurred after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had refused approval for Ventria's GM rice back in 2003 (http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/publications/PharmaRice.pdf).

GM 'pharmaceutical' rice could cause more disease, suggests report

Besides the threat of contamination and wild spread, Ventria's GM rice, which is purportedly being grown to help third-world children overcome chronic diarrhea, may conversely cause other chronic diseases.

"These genetically engineered drugs could exacerbate certain infections, or cause dangerous allergic or immune system reactions," said Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety (CFS), who published a report back in 2007 about the dangers of Ventria's GM rice.

You can view that report here:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

Sources for this article include:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/humangene042505.cfm

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4956

http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com

Huff, E. (2012). Human genes engineered into experimental GMO rice being grown in Kansas. Natural News. Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/035745_GMO_rice_human_genes_Kansas.html

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Bill Would Ban Aborted Fetuses in Food

An Oklahoma bill that would ban the sale of food containing aborted human fetuses has some people wondering: What food currently contains aborted human fetuses?

The bill, introduced Jan. 18 by  State Sen. Ralph Shortey, prohibits the manufacture or sale of "food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients."

Shortey declined to give specific examples  but said some food manufacturers used stem cells in the research and development process.

"There is a potential that there are companies that are using aborted human babies in their research and development of basically enhancing flavor for artificial flavors," he told KRMG Radio. "I don't know if it is happening in Oklahoma, it may be, it may not be. What I am saying is that if it does happen then we are not going to allow it to manufacture here."

Shortey may be acting on claims that the San Diego-based company Semonyx used proteins derived from human embryonic kidney cells to test artificial sweeteners, NPR reported. The cell line, known as HEK 293, was created from a human embryo in 1970 and has become a staple in biochemistry labs around the world.

Some people are calling the bill a back-door attempt to ban embryonic stem cell research - a ban Shortey said he would support, KRMG reported.

Indeed, embryonic stem cell research is  controversial. Critics argue it destroys embryos, which they consider the earliest form of life. But proponents say stem cell research could cure diseases. Last week, for example,  embryonic stem cells were found to improve vision in two women who were legally blind.

If passed, the bill would take effect Nov. 1.

Moisse, K. (2012). Bill would ban aborted fetuses in food. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/26/bill-would-ban-aborted-fetuses-in-food/

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South Korea seizes capsules containing powdered flesh of dead babies

A baby in China wears a protective face mask (AP/Kin Cheung)

The South Korean government revealed Monday that it recently seized thousands of capsules filled with the powdered flesh of dead babies. Reportedly, some people believe the powder has medicinal purposes and was created in northeastern China.

South Korea has reportedly been reluctant to criticize China directly over the incident, out of fears of creating diplomatic friction with the country. But the process by which the powder is allegedly created is one of the most disturbing stories imaginable.

According to the Korea Customs Service, the bodies of dead babies are chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder. The customs officials have refused to say exactly where the babies come from or who is responsible for making the capsules.

China has already been in the spotlight over activist Chen Guangcheng, whose work involves protesting the government's sterilization and forced abortion policies. It was recently reported that China is working to "soften" its one-child policy slogans, though not the actual policy itself.

Last year, Chinese officials ordered an investigation into the manufacturing of drugs made from dead fetuses or newborn babies. Nonetheless, South Korean officials said in a statement they have discovered 35 smuggling attempts since last August, during which 17,450 capsules labeled as "stamina boosters" were discovered. Rather than containing any inherent medicinal properties, the capsules are said to contain dangerous bacteria and other harmful, unspecified ingredients.

Amazingly, none of the smugglers have been arrested in the various confiscations because the South Korean customs officials said the amounts of human flesh contained in the capsules were too small and were not intended for direct sale. The smugglers claimed to have no knowledge of the human flesh content, saying they believed the capsules were ordinary stamina-boosting pills.

Pfeiffer, E. (2012). South Korea seizes capsules containing powered flesh of dead babies. Yahoo News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/south-korea-seizes-capsules-containing-powdered-flesh-dead-190306280.html

Click HERE to purchase your tickets!

ACHEBE’S PASSING

A STATEMENT IN TRIBUTE BY LINDSAY BARRETT

 

 

CHINUA ACHEBE

Although Achebe was not a stylistic pioneer the relevance of his subject matter and the intrinsic competence of his use of the English language when linked to the period during which he wrote his seminal novels, THINGS FALL APART, NO LONGER AT EASE, and A MAN OF THE PEOPLE, combined to ensure that he emerged as one of Africa’s most enduring modern literary masters. His legacy includes a profound concern for social justice and a brilliant evocation of the communal traditions of his people. This will remain the core essence of his contribution to the universality of African creativity. Even when he expressed bitterness over political events in his homeland, which distressed him, he did so with compassion and surprising equanimity. This gave his views the cachet of mature reflection rather than personal chagrin. He was a serious and engaged, but disenchanted, patriot right to the end. His works will remain relevant for a long time to come.

 

 

 

Lindsay Barrett

Yenagoa, Bayelsa State

22 March 2013

March 22, 2013 in International

Nigeria’s literary icon and publisher of several novels, Chinua Achebe, is dead.

Report by Premium Times

Mr. Achebe, 82, died in the United States where he was said to have suffered from an undisclosed ailment.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt he died last night in a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

A source close to the family said the professor had been ill for a while and was hospitalised in an undisclosed hospital in Boston.

The source declined to provide further details, saying the family would issue a statement on the development later today.

Contacted, spokesperson for Brown University, where Mr. Achebe worked until he took ill, Darlene Trewcrist, is yet to respond to our enquiries on the professor’s condition.

Until his death, the renowned author of Things Fall Apart was the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown.

The University described him as “known the world over for having played a seminal role in the founding and development of African literature.”

“Achebe’s global significance lies not only in his talent and recognition as a writer, but also as a critical thinker and essayist who has written extensively on questions of the role of culture in Africa and the social and political significance of aesthetics and analysis of the postcolonial state in Africa,” Brown University writes of the literary icon.

Mr. Achebe was the author of Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, and considered the most widely read book in modern African Literature. The book sold over 12 million copies and has been translated to over 50 languages worldwide.

Many of his other novels, including Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease, Anthills of the Savannah, and A man of the People, were equally influential as well.

Prof Achebe was born in Ogidi, Anambra State, on November 16, 1930 and attended St Philips’ Central School at the age of six. He moved away from his family to Nekede, four kilometres from Owerri, the capital of Imo State, at the age of 12 and registered at the Central School there.

He attended Government College Umuahia for his secondary school education. He was a pioneer student of the University College, now University of Ibadan in 1948. He was first admitted to study medicine but changed to English, history and theology after his first year.

While studying at Ibadan, Mr. Achebe began to become critical of European literature about Africa. He eventually wrote his final papers in the University in 1953 and emerged with a second-class degree.

Prof Achebe taught for a while after graduation before joining the Nigeria Broadcasting Service in 1954 in Lagos.

While in Lagos with the Broadcast ing Service, Mr. Achebe met Christie Okoli, who later became his wife; they got married in 1961. The couple had four children.

He also played a major role during the Nigeria Civil War where he joined the Biafran Government as an ambassador.

His latest book, There Was a Country, was an autobiography on his experiences and views of the civil war. The book was probably the most criticised of his writings especially by Nigerians, with many arguing that the professor did not write a balanced account and wrote more as a Biafran than as a Nigerian.

Mr. Achebe was a consistent critic of various military dictators that ruled Nigeria and was a loud voice in denouncing the failure of governance in the country.

Twice, he rejected offers by the Nigerian government to grant him a national honour, citing the deplorable political situations in the country, particularly in his home state of Anambra, as reason.

Zimbabwe Independent. (2013). Prof Chinua Achebe is dead. Zimbabwe Independent. Retrieved from http://www.theindependent.co.zw/2013/03/22/breaking-prof-chinua-achebe-is-dead/

http://blackhistoryfactorfiction.com/?p=6325

A story of an estimated 15,000 children in Africa’s Niger Delta being denounced by Christian pastors as witches and wizards and then killed, tortured or abandoned by their own families.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Ellin is one such child. Found at the side of the road, her body having been severely burnt with boiling water. Nwanakwo, eight years old, had acid poured over him after being labeled a wizard, and later died.

Return to Africa’s Witch Children is a documentary that follows the work of Gary Foxcroft, an Englishman whose charity, Stepping Stones, raises funds to help care for more than 150 children accused of witchcraft, and blamed for catastrophes, death and famine. Narrated by Sophie Okonedo.

BY PETER DURU MAKURDI, 16 MARCH 2013

Photo: See-ming Lee/UN

As Benue state continues to grapple with the rising figures of HIV/AIDS in the state, Executive Secretary of the Benue State Agency for the Control of Aids (BENSACA), Mrs. Grace Wende has revealed that the agency recently discovered a 400-member homosexuals club existing in Makurdi the Benue state capital.

She said the organisation otherwise known as Men Sleeping with Men, MSM, has a large membership of male students from higher institutions in the state.

Wende who made this disclosure yesterday at a one day Training of Media Practioners on HIV/AIDS in Makurdi, said the existence of the gay club in the state was not helping the state government's efforts at curbing the spread of the HIV virus in the state.

According to her, "the club was discovered during an Epidermic appraisal carried out by our Canadian partners in colloboration with BENSACA following the state government's resolve to fight the increasing trend of HIV/AIDs in the state as shown in 2011 survey.

"In fact my office is already interacting with the group of young men who are mostly undergraduates in various higher institution of learning located in the state." She stressed that the idea of identifying with the MSM which usually holds their meetings in December in Makurdi was meant to reduce the spread of HIV virus commonly found among them.

Mrs Wende further urged all stakeholders to join the fight against the virus in the state, stressing, "there is a heightened need for scale-up of effective and efficient HIV prevention efforts in the state if we must all win this war against the virus."

Makurdi, P.D. (2013). 400-Member homosexual club found in Benue State. Vanguard. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201303181898.html

27 FEBRUARY 2013

Photo: Edward Echwalu

Nairobi — Government doctors amputated a man's right hand and left foot by court order in Khartoum on 14 February, violating international laws prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishments, rights groups said Wednesday.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), Human Rights Watch (HRW), REDRESS and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) called on Sudanese leaders and the international community to condemn the practice and to urge swift reform of Sudanese laws in line with the country's international human rights commitments.

According to reliable sources, medical doctors at the Sudanese ministry of interior's Al-Rebat Hospital in Khartoum carried out what is called cross-amputation on 30-year-old Adam Al-Muthna, carrying out a sentence for an armed robbery conviction.

"Cross amputation is a form of state-sponsored torture," said Dr Vincent Iacopino, a senior medical advisor at PHR. "The complicity of medical personnel in such practices represents a gross contravention of the UN principles of medical ethics for health personnel, particularly medical doctors who engage, actively or passively, in acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", he added.

The al-Sudani daily reported that Muthna was convicted of firing on a car with an assault rifle between North Kordofan and East Darfur in March 2006 and stealing SDG 1,000 (US$228) from its passengers.

The Sudanese Penal Code provides cross amputation as a penalty for armed robbery when it results in grievous injury or involves theft of property with a value exceeding SDG 1,500 or about $340.

HIGHEST STANDARDS:

The statement said physicians and other health professionals must hold themselves to the highest professional standards of commitment to human rights, even under threat of harm.

ACJPS executive director Osman Hummaida has reiterated calls for amputations and other inhumane punishments to be abandoned, saying such practices had "no place in any criminal justice system".

Amputation as a form of corporal punishment was incorporated into Sudanese law in 1983 when then-president Gaffar Nimeiry introduced Islamic reforms known as the "September laws".

Although sentences imposing amputations have been handed down under those laws, there are no known cases since 2001 in which such sentences have been carried out, with human rights groups hoping this had signalled a de facto moratorium on the practice.

HRW's Africa director, Daniel Bekele, said Sudan also routinely practiced other forms of corporal punishment, including stoning and flogging, usually carried out for drinking alcohol.

Both penalties are forms of corporal punishment justified under the country's Islamic Shari'a law.

In 2012, two sentences of death by stoning for adultery were imposed on women but were later overturned following international outcry.

"The practice of corporal punishment in Sudan is frequently used as an instrument of repression against those who do not conform to the state's conception of moral order", said Dr Lutz Oette, counsel at REDRESS.

As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Sudan has made a commitment to an absolute ban on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Sudan is also a party to the charter of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR). In a separate case concerning the use of flogging as a punishment in Sudan, the commission found: "There is no right for the government of a country to apply physical violence to individuals for offences. Such a right would be tantamount to sanctioning state sponsored torture". Sudan also signed, but has yet to ratify, the UN Convention against Torture.

Sudan Tribune. (2013). Sudan doctors carry out court ordered amputation sentence. Sudan Tribune. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201302280888.html?viewall=1

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Sudan's Deputy Chief Justice Says Judges May Be Trained On Carrying Out Amputations

11 MARCH 2013

Khartoum — Sudanese judges may receive special training on performing amputation on convicts should doctors refuse to carry them out, the country's deputy chief judge said today.

Last month doctors at al-Ribat hospital in Khartoum executed a court order against the 30-year old Adam al-Muthna who had his right hand and left foot severed as punishment after he was found guilty of armed robbery on a truck carrying passengers between North Kordofan and East Darfur in March 2006 and stealing SDG 1,000 (US$228) from its passengers.

After several years of appeal which reached the constitutional court, the ruling against al-Muthna was upheld.

The sentence drew strong rebuke and condemnation from several human right groups inside Sudan and abroad as well as the governments of Canada and France.

But the Sudanese Deputy Chief Justice, Abdul Rahman Sharfi speaking at a press briefing on Monday defended the sentence emphasizing that it is part of Islamic Shar'ia law.

Sharfi disclosed that more than 16 cases involving similar punishments had been carried out since 2001 and underscored that they have no shame in the implementation Shar'ia law.

"We cherish the book of Allah [Quran] and not the Hippocratic Oath [required by doctors]," the deputy chief justice said.

Sharfi warned that any doctors who refuse to carry out court-ordered amputations which he described as "the rule of Allah" will be prosecuted and that judges could be trained on the process if needed.

"If doctors refuse to carry out Hudud [Islamic] penalties then we are prepared to train and qualify some judges on the medical process of how to do the amputations" Sharfi said.

He affirmed the independence of the Sudanese judiciary and denied it falling under influence by external parties that may attempt intervene in the court rulings.

The judicial figure gave an example of him handing down 36 death sentences against members of the military who committed crimes, including one last February involving four members of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and People's Defense Forces (PDF).

"The executive authorities thought that this ruling would negatively impact the morale of the Mujahideen [holy fighters], but we in the judiciary, believe that any person who commits an offense should receive the right punishment" Sharfi said.

He said that following the corroboration of the death sentence by Constitutional Court, a military officer filed a motion claiming the emergence of new evidence in the form of a ministerial decision declaring the western region as a military operations zone deeming re-trials necessary for the four indicted fighters.

"Although the memorandum concurred with the condemnation it opposed the penalty. At the same time the Constitutional Court rejected a petition filed by the defense to halt the implementation of the death penalty. In its decision the Constitutional Court said that the petition is nothing but tempering with the law and, hence, rejected the request to halt execution of the penalty. The case was sent back to the head of the judiciary" he recounted.

"I ruled that the case has exhausted all stages of litigation and punishment must be enforced without accepting further requests for suspending execution" Sharfi said.

Sharfi also asserted the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to examine decrees issued by the president to check for its legality and not its appropriateness.

He also stressed that any person who is brought before the judiciary for charges of embezzling public funds is subject to the law and shall be tried without courtesy and according to the standards of justice.

'SOUTH SUDANESE PRESENCE CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASED CRIME RATE'

Sharfi expressed concern about the implementation of the "Four Freedoms" agreement with South Sudan noting that the southern presence in the north after the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) had a significant impact on the level of crimes related to adultery and alcohol consumption.

He said that court rulings on adultery at the Omdurman Judicial division in 2005 amounted to 31 compared to 142 rulings in 2009.

This he attributed to the influx of Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) supporters and southerners who arrived in the north in the wake of the CPA.

The secession of mostly non-Muslim South Sudan in mid-July 2011 sparked predictions that Sudan, which hosted former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, would start implementing Islamic law more strictly.

The Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir has said he wants to adopt a "100 percent" Islamic constitution now that the South has split off.

Most southerners have moved south since the birth of their country but some 350,000 are estimated to remain in Khartoum.

Last year the two countries signed the Four Freedom Agreement which grants its citizens the right of employment, residency, employment and movement on their territories.

However, its implementation has been placed on hold as Khartoum insisted on finalizing security arrangements first.

Sudan Tribune. (2013). Sudan's Deputy Chief Justice says judges may be trained on carrying out amputations. Sudan Tribune. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201303120283.html?viewall=1

 

Click Here to See This Assault in Progress!

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 December 2011 08.37 EST

Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez suggested that a US plot may be behind a spate of cancer among leftwing South American leaders. Photograph: Reuters

He has called George W Bush the devil and described Barack Obama as a clown.

But Hugo Chávez's customary jabs at his neighbours to the north took an unusual turn this week, when the Venezuelan president suggested that Washington might be behind a wave of cancer among Latin American heads of state.

"Would it be so strange that they've invented the technology to spread cancer and we won't know about it for 50 years?" Chávez pondered, one day after Argentina's president Cristina Fernández de Kirchnerannounced she had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and would undergo surgery in January.

Speaking on Wednesday during an end-of-year address to the armed forces, Chávez hinted that a spate of cancer among the region's leaders could be a US plot – although he conceded he had no proof and did not want to make "reckless" accusations.

"I repeat: I am not accusing anyone. I am simply taking advantage of my freedom to reflect and air my opinions faced with some very strange and hard to explain goings-on," he said at the event, broadcast live on state television.

Recent years have seen a series of leftwing Latin America leaders diagnosed with cancer including Brazil's current president, Dilma Rousseff, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, and the former Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

In late June Chávez admitted he was also being treated for cancer, telling Venezuelans that doctors had removed "cancerous cells" from his body.

"I don't know but … it is very odd than we have seen Lugo affected by cancer, Dilma when she was [presidential] candidate, me, going into an election year, not long ago Lula and now Cristina," Chávez said this week.

"It is very hard to explain, even with the law of probabilities, what has been happening to some leaders in Latin America. It's at the very least strange, very strange," the Venezuelan president said, according to government radio Radio Nacional de Venezuela.

Despite his lack of evidence Chávez hinted that other Latin American leaders should watch out – and recalled how US doctors could have infected 2,500 Guatemalans with STDs during the 1940s.

"Evo take care of yourself. Correa, be careful. We just don't know," he said, referring to Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, and Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador.

Chávez said he had received words of warning from Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro, reputedly the target of dozens of failed and often bizarre assassination plots including a fungus-infected diving suit and an exploding cigar.

"Fidel always told me, 'Chávez take care. These people have developed technology. You are very careless. Take care what you eat, what they give you to eat … a little needle and they inject you with I don't know what,'" he said.

While Venezuela's economy remains closely bound to the United States– the South American country exports more than 800,000 barrels of oil there each day – Chávez's colourful attacks on the Washington have been a regular fixture of his presidency.

Apart from the regular insults hurled at its leaders, Chávez has also accused the US of plotting to invade his country and involvement in a 2002 coup attempt that briefly toppled him from power.

In July this year Evo Morales floated a conspiracy theory of his own, suggesting the CIA might deliberately plant drugs on Bolivia's presidential plane in order to discredit his government.

"Do you know what? I think they have to be preparing something," he said. "So much [so] that I'm afraid to go with our airplane to the United States."

Phillips, T. (2011). Hugo Chávez hints at US cancer plot. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/29/hugo-chavez-us-cancer-plot

The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of U.S.R. Press League.

The Associated Press reports that Hugo Chávez, who led a leftist revolution and served as Venezuela's president for nearly 14 years, has died at 58 years old.

More from AP:

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crusaded against U.S. influence and championed a leftist revival across Latin America, died Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro, surrounded by other government officials, announced the death in a national television broadcast. He said Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time.

During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor.

Chavez repeatedly proved himself a political survivor. As an army paratroop commander, he led a failed coup in 1992, then was pardoned and elected president in 1998. He survived a coup against his own presidency in 2002 and won re-election two more times.

The burly president electrified crowds with his booming voice, often wearing the bright red of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela or the fatigues and red beret of his army days. Before his struggle with cancer, he appeared on television almost daily, talking for hours at a time and often breaking into song of philosophical discourse.

Chavez used his country's vast oil wealth to launch social programs that include state-run food markets, new public housing, free health clinics and education programs. Poverty declined during Chavez's presidency amid a historic boom in oil earnings, but critics said he failed to use the windfall of hundreds of billions of dollars to develop the country's economy.

Inflation soared and the homicide rate rose to among the highest in the world.

Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba in June 2011 to remove what he said was a baseball-size tumor from his pelvic region, and the cancer returned repeatedly over the next 18 months despite more surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He kept secret key details of his illness, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors.

"El Comandante," as he was known, stayed in touch with the Venezuelan people during his treatment via Twitter and phone calls broadcast on television, but even those messages dropped off as his health deteriorated.

Two months after his last re-election in October, Chavez returned to Cuba again for cancer surgery, blowing a kiss to his country as he boarded the plane. He was never seen again in public.

After a 10-week absence marked by opposition protests over the lack of information about the president's health and growing unease among the president's "Chavista" supporters, the government released photographs of Chavez on Feb. 15 and three days later announced that the president had returned to Venezuela to be treated at a military hospital in Caracas.

Throughout his presidency, Chavez said he hoped to fulfill Bolivar's unrealized dream of uniting South America.

He was also inspired by Cuban leader Fidel Castro and took on the aging revolutionary's role as Washington's chief antagonist in the Western Hemisphere after Castro relinquished the presidency to his brother Raul in 2006.

Supporters saw Chavez as the latest in a colorful line of revolutionary legends, from Castro to Argentine-born Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Chavez nurtured that cult of personality, and even as he stayed out of sight for long stretches fighting cancer, his out-sized image appeared on buildings and billboard throughout Venezuela. The airwaves boomed with his baritone mantra: "I am a nation." Supporters carried posters and wore masks of his eyes, chanting, "I am Chavez."

Chavez saw himself as a revolutionary and savior of the poor.

"A revolution has arrived here," he declared in a 2009 speech. "No one can stop this revolution."

Chavez's social programs won him enduring support: Poverty rates declined from 50 percent at the beginning of his term in 1999 to 32 percent in the second half of 2011. But he also charmed his audience with sheer charisma and a flair for drama that played well for the cameras.

He ordered the sword of South American independence leader Simon Bolivar removed from Argentina's Central Bank to unsheathe at key moments. On television, he would lambast his opponents as "oligarchs," announce expropriations of companies and lecture Venezuelans about the glories of socialism. His performances included renditions of folk songs and impromptu odes to Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong and 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Chavez carried his in-your-face style to the world stage as well. In a 2006 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, he called President George W. Bush the devil, saying the podium reeked of sulfur after Bush's address.

Critics saw Chavez as a typical Latin American caudillo, a strongman who ruled through force of personality and showed disdain for democratic rules. Chavez concentrated power in his hands with allies who dominated the congress and justices who controlled the Supreme Court.

He insisted all the while that Venezuela remained a vibrant democracy and denied trying to restrict free speech. But some opponents faced criminal charges and were driven into exile.

While Chavez trumpeted plans for communes and an egalitarian society, his soaring rhetoric regularly conflicted with reality. Despite government seizures of companies and farmland, the balance between Venezuela's public and private sectors changed little during his presidency.

And even as the poor saw their incomes rise, those gains were blunted while the country's currency weakened amid economic controls.

Nonetheless, Chavez maintained a core of supporters who stayed loyal to their "comandante" until the end.

"Chavez masterfully exploits the disenchantment of people who feel excluded ... and he feeds on controversy whenever he can," Cristina Marcano and Alberto Barrera Tyszka wrote in their book "Hugo Chavez: The Definitive Biography of Venezuela's Controversial President."

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias was born on July 28, 1954, in the rural town of Sabaneta in Venezuela's western plains. He was the son of schoolteacher parents and the second of six brothers.

Chavez was a fine baseball player and hoped he might one day pitch in the U.S. major leagues. When he joined the military at age 17, he aimed to keep honing his baseball skills in the capital.

But the young soldier immersed himself in the history of Bolivar and other Venezuelan heroes who had overthrown Spanish rule, and his political ideas began to take shape.

Chavez burst into public view in 1992 as a paratroop commander leading a military rebellion that brought tanks to the presidential palace. When the coup collapsed, Chavez was allowed to make a televised statement in which he declared that his movement had failed "for now." The speech, and those two defiant words, launched his career, searing his image into the memory of Venezuelans.

He and other coup prisoners were released in 1994, and President Rafael Caldera dropped the charges against them.

Chavez then organized a new political party and ran for president four years later, vowing to shatter Venezuela's traditional two-party system. At age 44, he became the country's youngest president in four decades of democracy with 56 percent of the vote.

Chavez was re-elected in 2000 in an election called under a new constitution drafted by his allies. His increasingly confrontational style and close ties to Cuba, however, disenchanted many of the middle-class supporters who had voted for him. The next several years saw bold but failed attempts by opponents to dislodge him from power.

In 2002, he survived a short-lived coup, which began after a large anti-Chavez street protest ended in deadly shootings. Dissident military officers detained the president and announced he had resigned. But within two days, he returned to power with the help of military loyalists while his supporters rallied in the streets.

Chavez emerged a stronger president. He defeated a subsequent opposition-led strike that paralyzed the country's oil industry, and he fired thousands of state oil company employees.

The coup also turned Chavez more decidedly against the U.S. government, which had swiftly recognized the provisional leader who had briefly replaced him. He created political and trade alliances that excluded the U.S., and he cozied up to Iran and Syria in large part, it seemed, due to their shared antagonism toward the U.S. government.

Despite the souring relationship, Chavez sold the bulk of Venezuela's oil to the United States.

He easily won re-election in 2006, and then said it was his destiny to lead Venezuela until 2021 or even 2031.

"I'm still a subversive," Chavez said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press. "I think the entire world has to be subverted."

Playing such a larger-than-life public figure ultimately left little time for a personal life.

His second marriage, to journalist Marisabel Rodriguez, deteriorated in the early years of his presidency, and they divorced in 2004. In addition to their one daughter, Rosines, Chavez had three children from his first marriage, which ended before Chavez ran for office.

Chavez acknowledged after he was diagnosed with cancer that he had been recklessly neglecting his health. He had taken to staying up late and drinking as many as 40 cups of coffee a day. He regularly summoned his Cabinet ministers to the presidential palace late at night.

He often said he believed Venezuela was on its way down a long road toward socialism, and that there was no turning back. After winning re-election in 2012, he vowed to deepen his push to transform Venezuela.

His political movement, however, was mostly a one-man show. Only three days before his final surgery, Chavez named Maduro as his chosen successor.

Now, it will be up to Venezuelans to determine whether the Chavismo movement can survive, and how it will evolve, without the leader who inspired it.

---

Biographical information for this report was contributed by former Caracas bureau chief Ian James.

Associated Press. (2013). Hugo Chavez dead: Venezuela's President dies At 58. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead_n_2296423.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

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Chavez's cancer was "attack" by enemies:  Venezuela VP

Reuters – 6 hrs ago

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday the cancer afflictingHugo Chavez was an "attack" by enemies among a barrage of conspiracies against him throughout his 14-year rule.

Maduro, in a live address to the nation, added that Venezuela was preparing "special measures" to counter an upsurge in plotting against the government during Chavez's battle against cancer.

A U.S. diplomat had been expelled for trying to stir up a military plot against Chavez, he added.

(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Reuters. (2013). Chavez's cancer was "attack" by enemies:  Venezuela VP. Reuters. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/chavezs-cancer-attack-enemies-venezuela-vp-182622254.html

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Chavez's health worsens; Venezuelan Vice President Maduro addresses nation

AP  |  Posted: 03/05/2013 1:18 pm EST  |  Updated: 03/05/2013 8:03 pm EST

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's vice president, Nicolas Maduro, says the government of President Hugo Chavez plans to expel a U.S. Embassy official for meeting with military officers and planning to destabilize the country.

Maduro identified the American as the Air Force attache and said he had been spying on the military.

He said the official has 24 hours to leave the country.

Embassy spokesman Greg Adams identified the attache as David Delmonaco.

Adams had no immediate comment.

"I'm sure we will be formulating some sort of response from Washington," he said.

He said he did not immediately know Delmonaco's rank.

Maduro spoke hours after the government said Chavez was in "very delicate" health after undergoing cancer surgery in December.

Associated Press. (2013). Chavez's health worsens; Venezuelan Vice President Maduro addresses nation. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/chavezs-health-worsens-ve_n_2812381.html?ir=Politics&ref=topbar

BY DAVID NJAGI, 28 FEBRUARY 2013

Photo: David Njagi

MOLO, Kenya — Fear of violence surrounding the upcoming general elections next week has raised anxiety among many Kenyans, but less so for Nyokabi Wamuyu. She is counting on a new initiative in communal agriculture to help unite communities that might otherwise be divided.

At the same time, this initiative could save the lives of some of the 700,000 Kenyans who would otherwise die over the next two decades from lack of adequate nutrition.

The late 2007 and early 2008 violence following Kenya's last national elections was the worst the mother of four from Kenya's Rift Valley region had seen in the 43 years she has lived in Molo, a farming village on the fringes of the forest in west-central Kenya.

"Some people say they are fighting for land while others do it to take political sides," Wamuyu says. "It is very difficult for us women and children. My family was spared because my husband comes from the dominant tribe in Rift Valley. Others were not that lucky."

The unrest claimed some 1,500 lives nationwide, while thousands more were displaced from their homes.

Traditional Bonds

Communal agriculture used to help hold communities together. Wamuyu recalls that when she was growing up her parents would often help their neighbors with farming, and vice versa. "And so we lived in peace," she said.

But climate change that made crop outcomes unpredictable, and subsequent economic pressures, drove more and more people to urban areas to find work, and the village bonds weakened.

"This is when hostilities between ethnic communities who were previously living together in harmony started showing up," said Molo District Commissioner Julius Kavita. "Rising poverty also escalated the struggle for scarce resources in rural areas."

Now some Kenyans, especially women, are seeking traditional solutions to help their communities thrive and live in peace. The international organization Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood (Groots) last August initiated a project that aims to build peace networks by engaging rural women - those who traditionally nurture communal bonds - in income-generating agriculture.

When households engage in shared activities they learn to live together and this creates an opportunity to solve any differences that may emerge, Groots officials say.

"Communities used to live together in traditional African societies by having regular communal events," says Cyrus Kahiga, a district development officer in Rift Valley. "I am certain such tested benchmarks will work through this project, because it also gives women [the chance] to take charge of society's resources."

Esther Mwaura, Groots Kenya national coordinator, said the project targets 3,400 women farmers in the Rift Valley and eastern regions of Kenya for the next three years with the support of an initial grant of U.S.$3 million from Japan, through the World Bank. The aim is to equip the women with skills to make income-generating farming more attractive than subsistence agriculture.

"We are training women on how to bond through shared activities," Mwaura said. "For this project they are learning how to negotiate for prices and using mobile phones to access agriculture markets."

Building Skills

Kenya's Central Bureau of Statistics lists households in lower eastern Kenya and Rift Valley among those living in absolute poverty. In lower eastern Kenya about 64 percent struggle below the poverty line, while almost half of the population in Rift Valley is considered poor.

Over a third of Kenya's children - 2.1 million - are stunted, a condition that occurs when children lack necessary nutrients in the womb and through their first 1,000 days. They are more likely to die as infants, and, if they survive, to have irreversible cognitive and physical damage, including reduced resistance to infection and diminished intellectual potential.

Transform Nutrition is an international coalition to push the issue of nutrition higher on the global agenda through research, evidence and policy discussions. The group says that after improvements in Kenya's infant mortality rate between 2003 and 2009, the rate has been rising again in recent years, as has the prevalence of stunting. Almost half of children between 18 and 23 months of age are stunted.

The estimated cost of stunting to Kenya's economy in 2010 was over US$1 billion. But more nutritious food - especially for breast-feeding mothers and their young children - can save both money and lives. Civil peace would be an additional benefit.

Alice Chekemboi, a neighbor of Nyokabi Wamuyu's, is one of the farmers who have tried their hand at horticulture since Groots Kenya reached out to them. On her farm - a little over an acre - she has been growing cabbage and kale and other vegetables, as well as tomatoes. She hopes to diversify into poultry farming through the Groots Accelerating Rural Women's Access to Agricultural Markets and Trade project.

Sometimes when she needs new skills, she said, she often stops at neighbor Wamuyu's home for a few tips, and, of course, the occasional village gossip.

"Our shared interest in horticulture allows us to visit each other and sometimes work together on the farm," said Chekemboi. "My husband has no problem with me being in charge of the farm since the vegetables I have been growing bring revenue into the family."

Empowering Women

Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) officials say at least 85 percent of projects led by women usually succeed, and if they had greater leadership in agriculture some of the conflicts that have scarred the country would have been averted.

"Women are by nature more careful when it comes to supporting livelihoods," says Mabel Jendeka Mahasi, KARI center director in Molo.

"This is why they are regarded as the family anchor in most African societies."

Agriculture contributes about 26 percent of Kenya's GDP directly and 60 percent of export earnings, and also employs nearly 75 percent of the population, according to KARI.

However, gender inequality is prevalent among the rural poor, and most women are denied the right to own land.

"This could undermine efforts such as the Groots Kenya initiative," says Mary Kamau, the Rift Valley director of agriculture extension. "

The new Kenyan Constitution, however, gives women equal rights to land and property. Transform Nutrition points out that the Constitution also "recognises the right quality and quantity of food as a basic right for children" - one of several recent developments it calls "encouraging", including the development of a National Nutrition Action Plan.

As Kenyans prepare to vote on Monday, with a mixture of fear and hope, the women of Molo know the stakes are high. They hope their efforts, combined with those of many others, will contribute to both peace and prosperity for their communities and their families.

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AllAfrica and the Institute of Development Studies in the UK are collaborating on a research-driven reporting series that looks at how evidence-based innovations can save lives, transform communities and promote equitable economic development in Africa. AllAfrica's development reporting is supported by a major grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and funding from the Rockefeller Foundationand the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Njagi. D. (2013). Women-led farm initiative aims for peace, prosperity. All Africa. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201302281534.html?viewall=1

   

on the

Royal Caribbean 

Enchantment of the Seas

 Sept.20-Sept.23,2013

Nassau & Cococay, Bahamas

Departing from Port Canaveral, (Orlando)FL

   

featuring our Sacred Community Warriors:

Queen Afua, Mwalimu & Ena Yaa Baruti, Dick Gregory, Baba "Yoga" Bey, Tim Merriweather and more.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Kari Rea | ABC OTUS News – 19 hrs ago

In his first interview since returning to the U.S. from an unprecedented visit to North Korea last week, former NBA star Dennis Rodman said he bears a message for President Obama from the country's oppressive leader, Kim Jong Un.

"He wants Obama to do one thing: Call him," Rodman told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week." "He said, 'If you can, Dennis - I don't want [to] do war. I don't want to do war.' He said that to me."

The athlete also offered Kim some diplomatic advice for potential future talks with President Obama.

"[Kim] loves basketball. And I said the same thing, I said, 'Obama loves basketball.' Let's start there," Rodman said.

Rodman's comments come just days after the basketball star shocked the world with an unexpected trip to Pyongyang, North Korea, becoming the first known American to publicly meet with the mysterious Kim since he assumed command of the totalitarian nation after the death of his father,Kim Jong-Il in 2011.

The young leader has defied U.N. sanctions by continuing to develop North Korea's nuclear arms and missile program, which he says is aimed at the U.S.

Kim is often regarded as one of the world's most oppressive leaders, presiding over prison camps and allowing millions of his own people to starve.

Rodman likely now has more firsthand impressions of Kim than any other American. He offered some insight to Kim's personality this morning.

"He loves power. He loves control," Rodman said, of his new "friend." "But guess what? He doesn't want war. That's one thing he doesn't want."

In a bizarre display of basketball diplomacy, Rodman went on the record to offer highest praise for Kim Thursday, telling reporters, "I love him. He's awesome." Today on "This Week," Rodman didn't backtrack on those comments.

"No, I'm not apologiz[ing] for him," Rodman said. "You know, he's a good guy to me. Guess what? He's my friend. I don't condone what he does … [but] as a person to person - he's my friend."

Rodman traveled through Pyongyang with members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and a camera crew from the upcoming HBO series, "VICE." Kim warmly welcomed the Americans, with an itinerary that included ice skating, an aquarium visit and a long dinner and drinks.

During his visit, Rodman sat court side with Kim as they took in an exhibition basketball face-off with the Globetrotters and North Korean players. Kim, like his late father, is said to be a devoted basketball fan - especially for the 1990's-era Chicago Bulls championship teams, which included Rodman. Rodman stood up to give a speech to the basketball crowd, at one point telling Kim, "You have a friend for life."

Rodman also raised eyebrows back home when he complimented Kim's infamous family legacy, adding, "his grandfather and his father were great leaders."

But when Stephanopoulous pressed him on "This Week," Rodman clarified those controversial remarks.

"What I saw in that country … I saw people respect him and his family. That's what I mean about that," he said on "This Week." "They're great leaders there."

Rodman drew a distinction between Kim and his predecessors.

"The kid is only 28 years old. Twenty eight," he said. "He's not his dad. Not his grandpa. He's 28 years old."

Despite the unlikely pairing, Rodman said he has something in common with Kim and the North Korean people: a love of basketball.

"I'm not a politician. Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans," he tweeted. "I love everyone. Period. End of story."

The U.S. State Department had no involvement in the visit, and officials say they have no plans to debrief Rodman after his meeting with one of the world's most mysterious leaders. Col. Steve Ganyard, USMC (Ret.), a former deputy assistant secretary of state and ABC News consultant, told ABC's Martha Raddatz the State Department's decision is "ridiculous."

"There is nobody at the CIA who can tell you more personally about Kim Jong Un than Dennis Rodman, and that in itself is scary," Ganyard said.

Rodman told Stephanopoulos there are more trips to North Korea in his future.

"I'm not like a diplomat," Rodman said. "I'm [going to] go back, do one thing and find out more, what's going on. Find out more."

Stephanopoulos offered Rodman the latest report from the Human Rights Watch, which outlines North Korea's "dire human rights record" under Kim, to share with him during their next visit.

Rodman accepted the report, adding, "don't hate me. Don't hate me. Guess what? Don't hate me."

Rea, K. (2013). Dennis Rodman: Kim Jong Un wants President Obama to 'call him'. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/dennis-rodman-kim-jong-un-wants-president-obama-144009192--abc-news-politics.html

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The Huffington Post  |  By Julee Wilson

Posted: 02/25/2013 5:45 pm EST  |  Updated: 02/26/2013 6:01 pm EST

It was bad enough we had to report on TMagazine's glaring lack of diversity in its relaunch issue, which was followed with an apology from its Editor-in-Chief Deborah Needleman.

Now comes this racially-insensitive gem. Jezebel's Laura Beck has pointed outNuméro magazine's use of a highly bronzed white model in one of its fashion editorials entitled "African Queen."

We'll give you a moment to process that information and pick up your jaws.

PHOTO: 

Moment over. The young lady in the spread is 16-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyedOndria Hardin, who is seen with her skin darkened and striking a pose for the French glossy. To start, we know there are plenty of white people living in Africa -- butOndria is from North Carolina and we're pretty sure white people in Africa don't walk around in what could be considered a light application of blackface.

With that said, the editorial serves as another sad example of how the fashion industry continually ignores or exploits ethnic diversity rather than celebrating it. And to think how easy it would have been for Numéro to select one of the countless beautiful black models (see slideshow below) and avoid this justifiable backlash and contribution to an unrelenting problem.

In Needleman's apology concerinng the lack of color in T, she stated: "a majority of fashion models are still unfortunately mostly white ..." This may be true -- Jezebel found that over 82 percent of the models used during New York Fashion Week were white -- but that doesn't mean there weren't any black models available to pose as an "African Queen."

Perhaps we're supposed to be flattered by the images, basking in the fact that our skin is so beautiful and style so sensational that even white women want to emulate it. Was that Numéro's point? Doubt it. But if so, we're not buying it.

Beck summed it up best, writing:

It's impossible to look at this and not ache for young women of color who want to pursue careers in modeling (and arguably, fashion by extension). When they don't see themselves on the runway or in magazines, it could be very easy for them to think, "huh, I guess modeling isn't for me." Then the status quo remains, and the runways remain monotone. If jobs for "African Queen" photo spreads aren't going to black women, what hope is there?

And we'd like to note that Beck is a white woman, which is important to point out for the simple fact that black people aren't the only ones outraged by this issue. We're not being overly sensitive or playing the race card. Not only does this specific instance illustrate the absence of opportunity for models of color, but it's a clear message from the industry saying "we don't care."

What do you think about Numéro's "African Queen" editorial? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

Wilson, J. (2013). Numéro magazine 'african queen' editorial uses white model Ondria Hardin (PHOTO). Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/numero-magazine-african-queen_n_2761374.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Posted on: 9:18 am, February 19, 2013, by Ben Brumfield

(CNN) – A nurse is suing a hospital, claiming it agreed to man’s request that no African-Americans care for his baby.

The lawsuit accuses managers at Hurley Medical Center in Flint of reassigning Tonya Battle, who has worked at the facility for 25 years, based on the color of her skin.

The man approached Battle, while she was caring for his child in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, asking to speak to her supervisor, according to the complaint filed in January by Battle’s attorney.

She pointed the charge nurse in his direction.

The man, who is not named in the filing, allegedly showed her a tattoo that may have been “a swastika of some kind” and told her that he didn’t want African-Americans involved in his baby’s care.

The request, according to the lawsuit, made its way through management ranks, and was granted. Battle’s manager called her at home to tell her she would be reassigned — and why, the suit says.

She was shocked and in disbelief, her attorney Julie Gafkay told CNN affiliate WNEM. “She was very upset. She was very offended.”

The hospital did not immediately respond late Friday to a CNN request for comment.

A note made its way onto prominent spot on the baby’s medical chart, according to the suit: “Please, no African-American nurses to care for … baby per dad’s request.”

The hospital’s lawyer then objected to the decision, and the note was removed. The staff then told the father that they could no long honor his request, according to the complaint.

Even so, the lawsuits alleges, for more than a month no African American nurses were assigned to care of the child.

CNN’s Marlena Baldacci contributed to this report.

By Ben Brumfield

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Brumfield, B. & Baldacci, M. (2013). No black nurses lawsuit for minority free child care. CNN. Retrieved from http://fox2now.com/2013/02/19/no-black-nurses-lawsuit-for-minority-free-child-care/

Marquardt, A. (2013). Sniper posts pic of child in crosshairs. ABC News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-sniper-posts-photo-child-crosshairs-163924256--abc-news-topstories.html

Peep the scenario.

Sheila gets a call from Mike. Mike is her ex-boyfriend. The breakup is recent and fresh and Sheila is trying her best to mend and move on.  Mike just calls to see how Sheila is doing and report on himself as well.  After the conversation, Sheila hangs up the phone and feels a surge of emotion.  She’s at work. People will notice if she’s crying. So Sheila, gets up from her desk and walks to the break room, inserts quarters into the machine, unwraps the candy bar and  takes the first bite.  With each bite, Sheila releases a little bit of anxiety until finally the candy is gone and she can now return unnoticed and less nerved to the sea of work at her desk.

Sound familiar?

I’m raising my hand too and I wrote it.  No one is immune to emotional eating.  We are all emotional eaters of some sort.  We can fall into one of two types. The first type is the most commonly known and that is the person who eats food as a result of an emotional feeling rather than a physical hunger, such as Sheila in the above scenario.

The second is the type who engages in an overconsumption of emotions themselves.  Examples would be that girl who is always happy and manages to see that the grass is green on both sides. Or that man who is always grumpy and grunts at your happy.  Both of them are constantly consuming a state of emotion no matter what end of the spectrum.

Emotional eating isn’t about “bad feelings”. . . it’s about feelings period.

So now let’s go back to our girl Sheila. We can’t just leave her behind in the land of “LonelySnackMachineDom”. In her case, she has several variables preventing her from dealing with her emotions head on.  The first is she doesn’t feel safe.  She’s at work and probably surrounded by people that she doesn’t trust and thus doesn’t want to expose herself.  Secondly, she’s also probably told herself to be strong, so that she doesn’t appear weak in front of Mike on the phone, thus she takes the call despite every part of her not really wanting to.  Lastly she fails to listen to her Inner Heffa.

The Inner Heffa is that sometimes brazenly, ignorant loud voice inside of you. At times she can come as a sweet, gentle voice full of wisdom. But typically in scenarios like Sheila’s she’s just there cursing out out. Reminding you how much of a failure you think you are. Telling you things like you’re never going to make it. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Does this sound familiar? You and Sheila may have different names and different scenarios but one thing is the same.

You are blocking your Inner Heffas voice.  She needs to be heard.

The next time she speaks and you hear her. Write her down. Record her. Listen to what she’s saying, every last word. Grasp her. Engage her. Ask her questions. Challenge her because everything she says isn’t the truth. Some of those beliefs that she brings up about yourself really aren’t yours to begin with. Beliefs like “I’m ugly”, “I’m unable to find a man”, “I’m poor”, “I’m a bad person” and “I’m not worthy” aren’t the truth of who you really are. It’s time. I dare you to challenge your Inner Heffa and those beliefs.

The EatRelateLove community is here to support you. Share the beliefs that you’re ready to challenge below in the comments section. Myself and the readers of this blog, will support you in enlisting new thoughts and desires that truly show the world how beautiful you really are.

Chapman, S. (2013). What to do when your feelings cause you to eat. Eat Relate Love. Retrieved from http://eatrelatelove.com/blog/when-feelings-cause-you-to-eat/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EatRelateLoveBlog+%28EatRelateLove%29

Redpilllife. (2013). The top 4 reasons holding you back from a healthier lifestyle are…. Red Pill. Retrieved from http://www.redpilllife.com/blog/the-top-4-reasons-holding-you-back-from-a-healthier-lifestyle-are/

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. 02/15/13 10:38 AM ET EST

ATLANTA -- Stevie Wonder is not happy with Lil Wayne's vulgar lyrics that reference Emmett Till, a black teen who was killed in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman.

The R&B legend says the rapper's disturbing verse should not have made it beyond the recording studio for the world to hear.

"You can't equate that to Emmett Till," Wonder said. "You just cannot do that. ... I think you got to have someone around you that – even if they are the same age or older – is wiser to say, `Yo, that's not happening. Don't do that.'"

Wonder, who says he is a fan and friend of Lil Wayne, made the comments when asked what he thought of Lil Wayne's controversial lyrics in an interview Thursday.

On a remix to Future's song "Karate Chop," Lil Wayne compared a rough sex act to the tortuous death of 14-year-old Till in Mississippi, an incident that ultimately helped change the national conversation on race. Following a crude reference to rough sex, Lil Wayne indicates that he wanted to do as much damage as had been done to Till [...I beat the p*$$y up like Emmett Till].

Till's family has asked the rapper for an apology, and Epic Records, Future's label, said the official song will not feature the vulgar words and is employing "great efforts" to pull it down.

Wonder, 62, hopes the 30-year-old Grammy winner understands the perspective of the Till family and chooses his words wisely in the future.

"Sometimes people have to put themselves in the place of people who they are talking about," Wonder said. "Imagine if that happened to your mother, brother, daughter or your son. How would you feel? Have some discernment before we say certain things. That goes for me or any other (song)writer."

Landrum, J. (2013). Stevie Wonder offended by Lil Wayne's Emmett Till lyric. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/stevie-wonder-offended-lil-waynes-emmett-till-lyric_n_2695057.html

1. Follow this link: https://handsonatlanta.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/HandsOnAtlantaDonations/MakeaDonation/tabid/276041/Default.aspx
2. Enter donation amount in space provided: suggested $10.00
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February 11, 2013 RSS Feed Print

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is spending up to $50 million from the Pentagon's budget to assist Chad and France in their efforts to combat militants in Mali in North Africa.

The United States has been supporting the French military's operations in northern Mali by providing refueling services for French forces and airlift support for French and Chadian forces.

Obama issued a memorandum to the State and Defense departments Monday advising them of his directive to use the $50 million. The State Department already had notified Congress of Obama's intent to tap Pentagon funds.

A White House national security official said France is reimbursing the U.S. for fuel.

The U.S. has supported French efforts to knock out terrorist sanctuaries in Mali, but has avoided direct involvement.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Associated Press. (2013). Obama OKs $50 million to assist France in Mali. U.S.News & World Report. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2013/02/11/obama-oks-50-million-to-assist-france-in-mali

SAVE THE DATE 6-19-13 SAVE OUR SOULS

THE FINAL AND 7TH YEAR

THE AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL HEALING DAY OF MOURNING
... 
IT IS NOT AN EVENT NOR IS IT A SHOW

THIS IS AN ACTIVITY

IN WHICH EVERY AFRICAN EVERYWHERE

IS CALLED UPON TO DO 3 THINGS ON THAT DAY

BEGINNING 12:01AM ENDING 11:59PM

WHEREVER YOU ARE WHATEVER YOUR TIME ZONE

1) REFLECT 

on the pain our ancestors endured and suffered during the MAAFA

(Black Holocaust erroneously termed The Slave Trade)

2) EMPATHIZE

With their pain, feel them and so heal them

unlike sympathy empathy is putting yourself in the other persons skin,

feeling what they felt, it is like sucking the poison from a snake bite

out of the bloodstream of your loved one

3) MOURN

the painful energy,

mourning is not crying, nor is it a sign of weakness,

mourning your loved ones is akin to the drummer tuning his drum,

it puts the energy (which can neither be created nor destroyed) back

into a resonance of joy, the MAAFA in effect toned that same energy into a state of pain which still resonates in our collective bloodstream,

like the poison from that shake bite,

we are our ancestors come again 

This activity can take place in groups or by oneself,

it can take place by the waters

or it can take place on your jobs

wherever you are

this is where

'IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS'

really counts

it can take 5 minutes or it can take an hour

it is up to you

you can do specific rituals learnt

or you can go with your spirit

it’s THE INTENT TO TONE THE PAIN

that when deliberately collected within a predetermined time-span

will have the effect that we ASE...

THE DAY SERVES AS THE BUCKET

INTO WHICH OUR INDIVIDUAL INTENT TO TONE THE PAIN

IS POURED AND COLLECTED AS ONE

THIS IS NOT A SHOW, THIS IS NOT AN EVENT,

THERE ARE NO STARS HERE, NO ONE IS MAKING A DOLLAR HERE

CAN YOU/ WILL YOU SAVE OUR SOULS??

 

  

    

  

  

  

 

 

 

Meda ase (Thank you) to our Sponsors: 

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

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BY LORDRICK MAYABI, 7 FEBRUARY 2013

Photo: Tami Hultman/AllAfrica

Nairobi — US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson appeared to contradict the stand taken by President Barrack Obama on Kenya's March 4 polls, with a caution on Thursday that the choice of president 'would have global consequences."

Speaking from Washington via video link with reporters at the United States embassy in Nairobi, Carson warned that as much as the general election was a Kenyan affair, its outcome will have implications since a president "must work with the international community."

"Individuals have reputations; individuals have images, histories and reputations. When they are selected to lead their countries those reputations do not go away from them, they are not separated," Carson cautioned.

"We as the United States do not have a candidate or a choice in the elections; however, choices have consequences, we live in an interconnected world and people should be thoughtful about the impact their choices have on their nation, economy region and the world in which they live," he advised.

On Tuesday, Obama issued a statement from the White House saying the US was prepared to accept and respect whatever choice the Kenyan electorate make on March 4.

Obama also urged Kenyans to reject incitement which could lead to violence which was witnessed in the country after the disputed election of 2007.

"The choice of who will lead Kenya is up to the Kenyan people. The United States does not endorse any candidate for office, but we do support an election that is peaceful and reflects the will of the people," Obama said on Tuesday.

Carson repeated Obama's plea that the election be free and fair and without intimidation. The envoy said that the country's leaders had to be held responsible for their actions before during and after the election.

He said that a peaceful and successful election will guarantee the nation's stability and continue to attract foreign investment and to fuel the country's economic growth.

"Accountability for electoral violence including that experienced in 2007/8 is an important part of building a peaceful and prosperous county," added Carson highlighting the drop in economic growth experienced after the 2007 general election.

Obama's message on Tuesday was welcomed by presidential candidates Uhuru Kenyatta of the Jubilee Alliance and a day later by Raila Odinga of the Coalition for Reform and Democracy.

Mayabi, L. (2013).  U.S. now cautions over choice of President. Capitol FM. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201302071662.html

February 1, 2013 | Posted by Kevin Webb 

Friday night’s 44th annual NAACP Image Awards will bring together the nation’s prominent black artists in film, literature, music and television, but a group of African-American pro-life protestors have pledged they will also be in attendance. A coalition of organizations upset with the NAACP’s stance on abortion plans to protest the event in Los Angeles during its live broadcast. The activists include the Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN), the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO), and Rev. Alveda King.

The coalition’s Twitter account, @NAACP_WATCHDOGS, was suspended on Thursday for its attacks against the NAACP. The final tweet was a quote from LEARN national director Johnny Hunter, condemning Planned Parenthood as a form of racial oppression.

“Racist elitists no longer need the Ku Klux Klan to control blacks; they have Planned Parenthood. And Planned Parenthood has the NAACP on a leash,” read Hunter’s quote. “The NAACP must quit endorsing destructive and unfruitful behavior.” Less than five minutes later the account was suspended.

Though no official reason for the suspension has been released, the National Black Pro-life Coalition said that it was suspended after Image Award officials complained to Twitter administrators. Inflammatory accounts are grounds for suspension on Twitter, and the use of the “NAACP” in the username likely expedited the process.

The coalition views abortion as the No. 1 killer of African-Americans, and believes the NAACP is out of touch with the black community. The NAACP views abortion as a matter of women’s rights, and has opposed legislation that would pull funding from Planned Parenthood. The rights group has also sought a ban on abortions based on race. The latter issue has also been a point of contention, as groups like the National Black Pro-life coalition view abortion as targeted eugenics.

“The only word that can define the gross negligence of the NAACP is ‘betrayal,’ ” the coalition posted on Twitter, quoting Dallas pastor Stephen Broden. “They have abandoned our community’s morality, our economic and educational needs for thirty pieces of silver; they are drunk with the wine of the world and the power elite and their eugenic agenda against black folk.”

Webb, K. (2013). Black pro-life groups to protest at NAACP Image Awards show. Atlanta Blackstar. Retrieved from http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/02/01/black-pro-life-groups-to-protest-naacp-image-awards/

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By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 1 hr 28 mins ago

A tribesman walks near a building damaged last year by a U.S. drone airstrike targeting suspected al-Qaida militants …

Does President Barack Obama have the right to order the assassination of an American anywhere in the world—without any oversight from Congress or the courts, and even if that U.S. citizen is not actively plotting a specific terrorist attack? His administration, in a stunning Justice Department memo laying out a broad legal rationale for the country's ever-expanding drone war, says yes.

The 16-page document, obtained by NBC News, emerged days before John Brennan, Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser and the foremost architect of America’s hugely controversial unmanned aerial vehicle war, goes before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a Thursday hearing on his confirmation as CIA director.

Obama campaigned in 2008 as a fierce critic of George W. Bush’s national security policies, but he has apparently learned to stop worrying and love nearly unfettered executive power—the literal power of life and death over fellow U.S. citizens overseas thought to be consorting with extremists groups that may be targeting America. So, under what circumstances does he have the right to act?

The memo says “an informed, high-level official of the U.S. government” must decide that the target is a "senior operational leader" of al-Qaida or "associated forces," “poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States,” and that an attempt to capture that individual is “infeasible.”

“Targeting a member of an enemy force who poses an imminent threat of violent attack to the United States is not unlawful. It is a lawful act of self-defense,” the document asserts.

"Imminent threat"? That seems reasonable and is a traditional standard for military action. Except that, as NBC investigative reporter Michael Isikoff notes, the memo adds that “the condition that an operational leader present an ‘imminent’ threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future.”

Instead, that previously mentioned "high-level official" can determine that the potential target was “recently” involved in “activities” posing a threat of an attack and that “there is no evidence suggesting that he has renounced or abandoned such activities.”

Isikoff notes the memo does not define "activities" or "recently," leaving that up to the administration to determine on a case-by-case basis.

The memo notes that the president can order a strike against al-Qaida far beyond the battlefield of Afghanistan, and it makes clear that he will not be constrained by national sovereignty. Either a country will give the green light to drone strikes on its territory, or America will strike if that country is "unable or willing" to do so.

This is no surprise. Obama famously said in the 2008 campaign that he would order an attack inside Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden, whether or not Islamabad signed off. He made made good on that promise, ordering the raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 1, 2011, which killed the terrorist leader.

The memo is sure to trigger another round of questions from Congress about the drone war, which has been shrouded in secrecy. And it comes at a time when that campaign is powerfully unpopular overseas, according to a June 2012 Pew Research poll. While 62 percent of Americans approve of the approach, 44 percent of respondents in staunch ally Britain do. And the numbers plummet in countries with large Muslim populations: 6 percent in Egypt, for instance, and 9 percent in NATO ally Turkey.

That's in part the reflection of anger over civilian casualties from such attacks. Obama has grappled with that problem ever since the very first drone strike on his watch, a Jan. 23, 2009, attack that reportedly claimed the life of "an innocent tribal elder" in Pakistan. A May 2012 New York Times report said that the administration minimizes civilian casualties by counting "all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants."

The memo drew a withering response from the American Civil Liberties Union.

“This is a profoundly disturbing document, and it’s hard to believe that it was produced in a democracy built on a system of checks and balances,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. “It summarizes in cold legal terms a stunning overreach of executive authority—the claimed power to declare Americans a threat and kill them far from a recognized battlefield and without any judicial involvement before or after the fact.”

Knox, O. (2013). Obama memo justifies drone-war killing of Americans. Yahoo News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-memo-justifies-drone-war-killing-americans-164123578--politics.html

BY MUSTAPHA SULEIMAN, 3 FEBRUARY 2013

It is no longer news that many Nigerian artifacts are in Europe and America held by both public institutions such as Museums, Universities and Galleries as well as by private individuals, but what is new is the collaborative efforts being made by the Nigerian government and the countries where these artifacts are taken in the first place to repatriate them back to the country where they rightly belong.

One of these collaborative diplomatic efforts yielded a positive result yesterday when the French Embassy in Nigeria handed over five Nok Terracotta figures seized by the French Customs service in Paris.

Nok arts came to light in 1928, when Co. J. Dent Young found a small terracotta head amongst the gravel from tin mining operations near the village of Nok in Jos Plateau of central Nigeria and since then these cultural materials were named after the village where the finds were made.

It is indeed unfortunate that so much Nok materials have been looted over time to supply the international art market which is supposed to be the exclusive cultural artifacts of the Nigerian people.

So when the French Ambassador to Nigeria Jacques Champagne de Labriolle handed over 5 stolen artifacts of Nok origin to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCCM) last Tuesday many stakeholders in the art sector landed the move, describing it as a right step in the right direction.

While presenting the artifacts to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, the French ambassador said that the returning of the artifacts is made in accordance with international laws, and within the fame work of a French policy aiming at fighting illegal imports of cultural goods.

He said that the statuettes were seized in France, by the French Customs in Paris in August 2010, as part of the French Customs watch and fight against illegal transportation of cultural goods.

Explaining how the artifacts were recovered before being repatriated to Nigeria, he said, "they were found in the personal luggage of a traveler coming back from Africa. It was quickly established that these art works had been illegally taken away from Nigerian territory. At the time of the seizure, nobody knew where the statuettes exactly came from. They were later analyzed by several French experts, coming from a famous museum (Musee du Quai Branly), from the French Museums Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, and from the Research and Restoration Laboratory of the also famous Louvre Museum. These experts were eventually able to determine their origin."

Ambassador Champagne stressed that the five statuettes are very old; the oldest one dates back between 1400 BC and some 700 BC which according to him may be more than 3000 years now.

"These fine statuettes belong to the famous Nok civilization, whose terracotta art works are the oldest ones known in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Within the frame work of the above mentioned French policy against illegal imports, the French Customs and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs have worked together so that the seized items be returned to Nigeria, as the country of origin of the seized goods, in a move aiming at reinforcing cooperation with the country of origin in the common fight against trafficking."

The Ambassador extended his country's willingness to help Nigeria in the field of protection, restoration and development cultural heritage as well as in the field of conception and management of museums.

He expressed optimism that the return of the seized artifacts will further cement the excellent relations which exist between the two countries and that it will help in preventing further illegal trafficking of items which are part of the Nigerian heritage.

Suleiman, M. (2013). France hands over stolen Nigerian artifacts. Daily Trust. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201302030190.html

YAHOO! NEWS

View Photo

Associated Press/ Sgt Ruper Frere - Undated image released by the British Army Monday Feb 4 2013 of Sergeant Scott Weaver, of The Queens Royal Lancers launching a newly issued Black Hornet miniature surveillance

Associated Press – 13 hrs ago 

LONDON (AP) — British soldiers in Afghanistan have been issued with surveillance drones so small they can fit in the palm 

of a man's hand. 

The Scandinavian-designed Black Hornet Nano weighs as little as 16 grams (roughly half an ounce) — the same as a finch. 

The 4-inch (10-centimeter) -long helicopter is fitted with a tiny camera which relays still images and video to a remote 

terminal. 

"We used it to look for insurgent firing points and check out exposed areas of the ground before crossing, which is a real 

asset," said Sgt. Christopher Petherbridge, with Britain's Brigade Reconnaissance Force. In a statement, he called the Hornet 

easy to operate and said it offered "amazing capability to the guys on the ground." 

The military said Sunday that the toy-like Hornet is capable of flying even in windy conditions. 

It said the Hornet was developed by Norway's Prox Dynamics AS as part of a 20 million-pound ($31 million) contract for 160 

units with southern England's Marlborough Communications Ltd. 

Drones of all shapes and sizes have rapidly become a mainstay of U.S., British and other nations' military operations around 

the world. Late last year the U.K. said it was doubling the size of its armed drone fleet in Afghanistan to 10 with the purchase 

of a new batch of Reapers. 

Associated Press. (2013). UK sends hand-held helicopter drones to war zone. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/uk-sends-hand-held-helicopter-drones-war-zone-101428321--finance.html

Evolve! Artists Live, Inc., presents the highly anticipated unveiling of “Ministers Of Sound”, a photography exhibit and installation. This exhibition will initiate a creative installation of art fusion that celebrates and identifies with DJs and DJ culture. The installation features a photographic art exhibition intended to inspire the Atlanta community by integrating a creative parallel and contrast, further examining the role of the “deejay”, hence its title, Ministers Of Sound. 

WHEN: Sunday, February 24, 2013 :: WHERE: The Sound Table, 483 Edgewood Ave SE  Atlanta, GA 30312 :: TIME: 5pm – 8pm :: ADMISSION:  FREE 

OMENALA GRIOT AFROCENTRIC TEACHING MUSEUM

337 Dargan Place, Atlanta, GA 30312

REQUEST YOU TO 

SAVE THE DATE 

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

PLEASE PLAN TO JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE THE

MUSEUM'S 21TH ANNIVERSARY

AND THE 

REBIRTH OF THE VISION

EXTRAVAGANZA AND FUND RAISER 

 IN MEMORY OF OUR FOUNDER DR. NARVIE H. PULS, PhD

(April 25,1933-January 28, 2009)

 

For more information please call Dawn 404 505-1962 or Kevin 404 406-4353 or email us at menalagriot337@gmail.com">omenalagriot337@gmail.com.

Waldron, B. (2013). 7-year-old handcuffed over $5, says suit. ABC News. Retrieved from http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/7-old-handcuffed-over-5-says-suit-232812597--abc-news-topstories.html

By Ivana Sekularac and Anthony Deutsch

Environmental damage from an oil spill in Kegbara-Dere in the Ogoni district of the Niger Delta.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was responsible for a case of oil pollution in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay damages in a decision that could open the door to further litigation.

The district court in The Hague said Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC), a wholly-owned subsidiary, must compensate one farmer, but dismissed four other claims filed against the Dutch parent company.

Four Nigerians and campaign group Friends of the Earth filed suits in 2008 in The Hague, where Shell has its global headquarters, seeking reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the Niger Delta region, the heart of the Nigerian oil industry.

The case was seen by environmental activists as a test for holding multinationals responsible for offences at foreign subsidiaries, and legal experts said other Nigerians affected by pollution might now be able to sue in the Netherlands.

Shell said the case would not set a precedent because its parent company was not held responsible.

The farmer who won compensation, 52-year-old father of 12 Friday Akpan, said he was very happy with the judgment because it would allow him to repay his debts.

"I am not surprised at the decision because there was divine intervention in the court. The spill damaged 47 fishing ponds, killed all the fish and rendered the ponds useless," he told Reuters in the Niger Delta city of Port Harcourt.

"Since then I have been living by God's grace and on the help of good Samaritans. I think this will be a lesson for Shell and they will know not to damage people's livelihoods."

NEW AVENUES

A legal expert said the ruling could make it possible for other Nigerians who say they also suffered losses due to Shell's activities to file lawsuits in the Netherlands.

"The fact that a subsidiary has been held responsible by a Dutch court is new and opens new avenues," said Menno Kamminga, professor of international law at Maastricht University.

The court did not just examine the role of the parent company, but also looked "at abuses committed by Shell Nigeria, where the link with the Netherlands is extremely limited," he said. "That's a real breakthrough."

Friends of the Earth spokesman Geert Ritsema said they would appeal against the acquittals "because there is still a lot of oil lying around. These sites need to be cleaned."

Ritsema said hundreds of other Nigerians in the village of Icot Ada Udo, where farmer Friday Akpan lives, can now take similar legal action.

The court backed Shell's argument that the spills were caused by sabotage and not poor maintenance of its facilities, as had been argued by the Nigerians.

Ritsema said it was also new that an oil company was being held responsible for failing to prevent sabotage.

There were 198 oil spills at Shell facilities in the Niger Delta last year, releasing around 26,000 barrels of oil, according to data from the company. The firm says 161 of these spills were caused by sabotage or theft, while 37 incidents were caused by operational failure. Local communities say Shell under reports the amount of barrels spilled.

People who live in the Niger Delta say their land, water and fisheries have been blighted for years by oil pollution and activists have called for oil companies in Nigeria to be held to the same standard as elsewhere in the world.

Shell is facing ongoing legal action brought in a UK court on behalf of 11,000 members of the Niger Delta Bodo community, who say the company is responsible for spilling 500,000 barrels in 2008. Shell has admitted liability for two spills in the Bodo region but estimates the amount spilled is far lower. Bodo's case could be heard in the High Court in London next year.

A United Nations report in 2011 on the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta criticized Shell and other multinationals, and the Nigerian government, for 50 years of oil pollution.

It said Ogoniland, where Shell no longer operates, needed the world's biggest-ever oil clean-up, which would take 25 years and cost an initial $1 billion.

A decade of militancy by armed groups in the Niger Delta, which had its origins in local anger over oil pollution, shut down nearly half of Nigeria's oil output until an amnesty in 2009. The Niger Delta is home to about 31 million people.

COMPENSATION TO BE NEGOTIATED

"We will pay compensation. We didn't lose the case. It was not operational failure. The leak was the consequence of sabotage," Royal Dutch Shell's vice president for environment, Allard Castelein, said in comments after the verdict was read.

"Shell Nigeria should and could have prevented this sabotage in an easy way," the court ruling said. "This is why the district court has sentenced Shell Nigeria to pay damages to the Nigerian plaintiff."

Castelein said Shell would negotiate the amount of damages with the farmer, but that an appeal could postpone the outcome of those talks.

The Nigerians - fishermen and farmers - said they could no longer feed their families because the region had been polluted by oil from Shell's pipelines and production facilities.

The pollution is a result of oil spills in 2004, 2005 and 2007, they said.

It is the first time a Dutch-registered company has been sued in a domestic court for offences alleged to have been carried out by a foreign subsidiary.

The suit targeted Shell's parent company in the Netherlands and its Nigerian subsidiary, which operates a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Shell, Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited.

Shell Nigeria is the largest oil and gas company in Nigeria, Africa's top energy producer, with an output of more than 1 million barrels of oil or equivalent per day.

In October, Shell lawyers said the company has played its part in cleaning up the Delta, which accounts for more than 50 percent of Nigeria's oil exports.

(Additional reporting by Joe Brock in Abuja, Tife Owolabi in Port Harcourt, Thomas Escritt in Amsterdam and Andrew Callus in London; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Sekularac, I. & Deutsch, A. (2013). Dutch court says Shell responsible for Nigeria spills. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/30/us-shell-nigeria-lawsuit-idUSBRE90S16X20130130

DAWN WILLIAMS BOYD x 3

February 2013

(c) Dawn A. Williams Boyd's   La Croix de Guerre   mixed media 70x46  $10,000

Artist reception -THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7 from 5:30 - 7:30 PM

FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOP

A group exhibition with African Americans for the Arts (AAFTA) at the Atlanta - Fulton Central Library at One Margaret Mitchell Square Atlanta, GA 30303. Exhibition Dates: January 27 - February24.

Call 404 720-1745 for more information.

__________________________________________________________

(c) Dawn A. Williams Boyd's Uncle Dipper acrylics on corrugated cardboard $500.00

Artist reception - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8 from 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM 

BLACK MEN I HAVE KNOWN AND LOVED

A one woman exhibition of mixed media work on corrugated cardboard created during the artist's year-long intensive at the Rocky Mountain Womens' Institute. Omenala Griot Afrocentric Teaching Museum 337 Dargan Place, Atlanta, GA 30312. Exhibition dates: February 1 -28, 2013. Call 404 505-1962 for more information.

__________________________________________________________

(c) Dawn A. Williams Boyd's  Center, TX 1920  acrylics on plywood 20x36 $600.00

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9 from 3:30 pm - 6:00pm

SINS OF THE FATHERS

Excerpts from the artist's on-going series of quilts and acrylic paintings, which explore incidences of racial violence against Black Americans in the U.S. during the 20th century. Adamsville - Collier Heights Branch of the Atlanta - Fulton Library System, 3424 Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr., Atlanta, GA 30331. Exhibition date February 1 - 28, 2013. Call 404 699-4206 for more information.

Dawn A. Williams Boyd    Atlanta, GA    404 505-1962

The following flyer is a direct rip-off from FTP Movement's (FTP) flyer for its 7th year anniversary celebration in 2011.  The image in question was not only altered via a stolen image from the internet but also uses promotional techniques that contradict the mission of FTP, such as the inclusion of a sacred adinkra symbol (gye nyame) on a flyer that conversely promotes non-sacred activities.  The sources who produced this flyer have been traced, contacted, and asked to cease using this material, which is the intellectual property of FTP and its affiliates.  

FTP strongly encouraes its supportors to use caution if deciding to attend this event, for it is not a FTP affair.

BY MARGARET WAHITO, 23 JANUARY 2013

Nairobi — The much awaited historic Konza Technology City, which is equated to the famous Silicon Valley in the United States of America, is now a reality after the official launch by President Mwai Kibaki on Wednesday.

This now opens gates for the developers and investors to start construction at the new city dubbed Silicon Savannah, which is expected to brand the country as a global destination of choice for technology innovations.

The Kenya Silicon Valley, on the border of Makueni and Machakos counties, where the city will be constructed on a 5,000 acres piece of land, is located 60 kilometres from Nairobi.

Once completed, the Sh850 billion project being driven by the Ministry of Information and Communications is expected to attract sufficient investments to create over 20,000 direct jobs by the end of the year.

The components of the city include a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) park, science park, mega malls, convention centre, data schools, world class hotels, international schools, world class hospitals, championship golf course, financial district, high speed mass transport system, residential housing among other high class developments.

"I have directed that mushrooming of unplanned developments must stop and controlled developed should only be allowed in Konza City. Also in areas adjacent the city and along Mombasa road. Konza city cannot stand alone but should start and go with excellence and standards," said President Kibaki during the ground breaking ceremony.

The government will facilitate the construction of both onsite and offsite infrastructure including roads, water and sewerage systems, energy and high-speed rail in order to make the city more attractive, productive and habitable.

The private sector on the other hand is expected to raise funds for developing the actual city.

Konza city is to be built in four phases over a span of 20 years with phase one to be completed by 2017 at a cost of Sh209 billion.

"Convention centre park will be the first, so that people can be able to even have meetings when they come here. This may be on a about 200 acre piece of land," said Todd Sigaty, Event Director at Shop Architects, a New York based firm which has done the Konza City design.

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications Bitange Ndemo assured the residents of full benefits of the city amid fears that the new classic development would largely benefit foreigners and sideline locals.

"We have created enabling environment to invest in the project and we have also developed legal institution framework," Ndemo said.

Residents who spoke to Capital FM Business were optimistic that Konza City will bring positive change in their lives.

"I live in Machakos and I am happy that Konza City will create over 200,000 jobs as our president has said. That is great. We are waiting to see how this big land will look like. We thought it was a joke, but now we believe it's a reality," said Jimmy Nzioka, who had attended the historic event.

The city will be managed by Konza City Development Authority.

Wahito, M. (2012). Konza ICT City finally wired up. Capital FM. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201301231469.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Anana Harris Parris

Director of Operations and Community Affairs

Davis Bozeman Law Firm, P.C.

4153-B Flat Shoals Pkwy Suite 204

Decatur, GA 30034

Phone: (404) 244-2004

Fax: (404) 244-2020

www.davisbozeman.com

ATTORNEY MAWULI MEL DAVIS OF THE DAVIS BOZEMAN LAW FIRM PRESENTS “THE CONSEQUENCES OF THUG LIFE: TO BE A THUG OR TO BE BRAVE” AT THE AUBURN AVENUE RESEARCH LIBRARY ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2013 AT 6:00 PM

JANUARY 15, 2013, ATLANTA, GEORGIA — The Davis Bozeman Law Firm, in collaboration with the Auburn Avenue Research Library, hosts “The Consequences of Thug Life: To Be A Thug Or To Be Brave”, facilitated by Criminal Defense/Trial Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 6:00pm at the Auburn Avenue Research Library at 101 Auburn Avenue, NE in Atlanta, Georgia.

The “Consequences of Thug Life: To Be A Thug Or To Be Brave” presentation was developed after Attorney Davis witnessed the increase in youth that come from “good families” going to prison because they have bought into the glamorization of being a “thug”.

This multimedia presentation uses Hip-Hop music, images, and clips to engage youth in a thought-provoking discussion.  This solution based workshop provides attendees a strong sense of self-identity, self-worth, and responsibility to the community.  This dynamic and energetic workshop uses positive affirmations and creative teaching tools to inspire young people to be “brave enough” to be themselves.  This discussion is a penetrating examination of what manhood has been “reduced to” in many communities of color.

"As a community based firm it is our responsibility to do our part to try to prevent our young people from embracing a culture of criminality. We must honor the legacy of those who came before us. We are fighting for our future" Robert Bozeman, Managing Partner Davis Bozeman Law Firm

About the Davis Bozeman Law Firm

Committed to social responsibility, the Davis Bozeman Law Firm is a community based law firm that offers legal services in the area of personal injury, civil rights, criminal defense and wrongful death. The firm is active in community affairs through its Liberation Law Model^TM which provides educational programming, pro bono legal services, and financial contributions to neighborhood based initiatives. The “Consequences of Thug Life,” is the firm’s flagship community presentation focuses on empowering young men of color and their families with the knowledge and tools to cultivate values anchored by a strong sense of purpose to self and community. 

To learn more about Davis Bozeman Law Firm, P.C. please visit www.davisbozeman.com or call (404) 244-2004. ### 

The Great

Prof. Tony Martin

Joins the Ancestors

21^st February 1942 - 17^th January 2012

TENDAI MWARI

It is with great shock and deep sadness that the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement receive the news of the passing of Baba Prof. Tony Martin, the foremost scholar on the life and legacy of the Most Eminent Prophet and King - His Excellency: Marcus Mosiah Garvey and official UNIA historian.

According to various sources, he departed while being hospitalised at the West Shore Medical Hospital, in Trinidad and Tobago. Although to date we have seen no reports on the circumstances.

Baba Tony Martin, the man upon whom this Movement bestowed the title of The Apostle of The Prophet (Papa Garvey), is most renowned for his life long devotion to and monumental research on the life and legacy of The Prophet. From this wellspring of information, flowed his prolific authorship and publication of numerous books, including: Race First, Marcus Garvey Hero, Message to the People - A Course in African Philosophy, Literary Garveyism, the Poetic works of Marcus Garvey, African Fundamentalism and The Pan-Afrikan Connection among others. Such works span the breath and depth of this colossal legacy, placing Baba Martin, without a doubt, at the forefront of the fight to rescue Papa Garvey from the evil designs of those who would seek to distort the truth about the man and his Race 1^st, Nationalist Pan-Afrikanist message.

In addition, the professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, Boston Massachusetts, USA, has traversed the globe lecturing on the phenomenal works of the man he regarded as "The most outstanding Pan-Afrikanist of the 20^th century."This included several trips to the UK, where he lived and studied in the 1960s. In 1987, he joined us in commemorating the centenary of the birth of Papa Garvey addressing several events. In 1995 he was in Britain again participating in the commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the fifth Pan-Afrikan Congress, in Manchester. He has also been the guest of the Pan-Afrikan Congress Movement (PACM) on several occasions and has on occasions been the special guest speaker at their annual Afrika Liberation Day.

In 2003, Baba Tony Martin became the centre of a controversy which gave rise to one of the most powerful events in the history of pan-Afrikan activism in the UK. Having invited Baba Martin to speak at the 'First Voice Conference,' ostensibly marking Black History Month (October), Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, ventured to dis-invite him, on the pretext that he had shared platforms with a certain 'holocaust denier' from the US. Of Course the real issue was that the US-Jewry was up in arms against Baba Martin, calling for his dismissal from Wellesley College and even for his death, for introducing into the curriculum the Nation of Islam's book, 'The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews,' chronicling the disproportionate Jewish involvement in Afrikan enslavement. True to his spirit, this warrior scholar remained resolute in defence of the integrity of Afrikan scholarship and right to tell our own story.

It thus transpired that Livingstone was bowing to pressure from the UK Jewish lobby, acting in tandem with its US kith and kin. This sparked a massive public outrage from the Afrikan community-UK. More importantly, we 'The People' led by a coalition of Pan-Afrikan organisations (ARM, PACM, AAPRP, APLO, EWF, NBPP, etc) mobilised and organised the pooling of our resources to bring and host Baba Martin ourselves. To crown this decisive act of self-determination, over 1,000 people turned out to hear Prof Martin and stood in book signing queues for more than two hours, registering two resoundingly successful event: a celebrated moment for Pan-Afrikan unity, procuring a small but significant victory over a powerful international Jewish lobby. (see: www.blacksandjew.com/TMLondon [London Disinvitation]).

In Mosiah (August) 2007, Baba Martin was back in the UK as a guest of The Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement's (ARM) Mosiah celebration, themed 'The Afrkan Empire Strikes Back' - a resistance to the UK government's sinister bicentenary of the 'Slave Trade Act,' celebrations. On Umoja-day (Sunday), 19/08/2007, ARM paid tribute to Baba Martin by awarding him an 'Order of Distinction,' on behalf of the Afrikan Community-UK. In addition to an OoD trophy, Baba Martin was gifted a Mosiah plaque and gold chain with a custom built Soul Force logo-pendant (combining Afrika, the Ankh, and the sun). At this event he spoke on 'Slavery, Abolition-Deceit and the Garvey Movement,' exposing British government hypocrisy around the fictitious Abolition of slavery and its fiendish efforts to destroy Papa Garvey and the Garvey Movement.

This privileged proximity to the Apostle enabled us to get to know him beyond the platform a bit more, thus acquainting ourselves with a man whom for all his academic brilliance, professorial status and international renown, was humble and devoted to maintaining meaningful connections with the grass-roots, whom he greatly valued. In the tradition of the Afrikan Griot, this living library allowed us to tap him for hours, and patiently oblige us with reams of historical information.

Last Mosiah (August, 2012), we were blessed to have The Apostle of The Prophet on our show, Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan, on Voice Of Afrika Radio (94fm; www.voiceofafricaradio.com; every Monday 8:00pm-10:00pm). In this interview he informed listeners of his newly completed book 'Caribbean History - From Pre-Colonial Origins to the present'and that the long awaited 'Global Garveyism' - an anticipated masterpiece - was near completion. The possibility of 2013 was mooted, in hope of a UK launch. Alas, this was not to be. The predictable celebration of the centenary of the UNIA 2014 was also alluded to, without a thought that the man whose gigantic contributions, served so well to vindicate the sacrifices of its founder might not be with us.

Baba Tony Martin was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He received a B.Sc. honours degree in economics at the University of Hull (UK) and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in history from Michigan State University. He began lecturing at Wellesley in 1973, was tenured in 1975, became a full professor in 1979 and retired in 2007. He is also a barrister-at-law from Gray's Inn, London. He is the author of many scholarly articles on Afrikan History and the recipient of various awards and honours, one of the most important being from the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC).

The news of the sudden departure of this warrior scholar in the heat of battle has rocked the homes and pierced the hearts of the ARM members, as it will have done throughout Afrika-UK and the entire Afrikan world-community. Naturally, we are inclined, nay, duty bound, as freedom fighters to enquire beyond what might seem plausible; knowing the nature of an enemy that is notoriously unforgiving, relentless, ubiquitous and stealthy. We note that Baba Martin's birthday is on the anniversary of Papa Omowale Malcolm X's assassination and that he passed on the anniversary of Papa Patrice Lumumba's assassination .

Notwithstanding our deep sense of loss, there is cause for celebration. The celebration of the return of a vigorous, victorious and liberated spirit to the realms of the Ancestors - 70 years young - to continue to empower our liberation fight.

We celebrate a life well lived worthy of our honour and praise, on earth and beyond the grave. Ceremonial drums should therefore be pulsating throughout the Afrikan world in honour and memory of this consummate Garveyite. In context, it is fitting that Afrika-UK should gather for this purpose at the soonest possible date.

Updates to follow.

We remember at this time his family, especially his wife, Sis Paloma and his son Prince Shabaka (aged 6yrs) and send them our love and condolence.

Long live the unconquered spirit of Baba Prof. Tony Matin. And:

May he rise on the wings of Maat, After a favourable judgement in the council of Asar: Ase! Amen-Ra! It is done!

Unite, Organise Now or Perish!

Rise, You Mighty People!

TENDAI MWARI

Bro Ldr Mbandaka

(Spititual Leader - Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement)

Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement

Freedom Begins with the Freeing of the Mind and Soul

c/o 282 High Road, Leyton, London E10 5PW

Tel: 020 8539 2154; 07908 814 152

The Blacklist eNewsletter. (2012). Tribute to professor Tony Martin by the alkebu-lan revivalist movement. The Blacklist eNewsletter. Retrieved from http://theblacklistpub.ning.com/group/obituaries/forum/topics/tribute-to-professor-tony-martin-by-the-alkebu-lan-revivalist

We Welcome You to Come and Share in the Experience of Healing Our Community!!!

Atlanta's African Centered Schools have created an opportunity for the youth in our community to become more scientifically engaged while developing the critical thinking skills necessary to address health challenges that African- descendants suffer from disproportionately. 

Cultivating a new generation of healers for our community

JAN 18, 2013 02:38 PM ET // BY JESSE EMSPAK

Emspak, J. (2012). Stealth hoodie hides wearer from drones. Discovery News. Retrieved from http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/stealth-hoodie-hides-wearer-drones-130118.htm

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

70 years (1790 to 1860 period only)

X

2 million slaves (average number in the period used)

X

365 days per year (OK, maybe I should exclude one day off per week?)

X

10 hours of work per day (again a minimum)

X

$7.25 per hour

=

$ 3.7 trillion

$ 3.7 trillion

X

(1.02)^140 (or 16, if you prefer)

=

$ 59.2 trillion

Rancourt, D. (2012). Calculated minimum reparation due to slave descendants: $1.5 million to each black citizen of the USA. Activist Teacher. Retrieved from http://activistteacher.blogspot.ca/2013/01/calculated-minimum-reparation-due-to.html

ONE FOUNDATION IS A FUNDRAISER FOR:

Waking Times. (2012). Soursop fruit 100 fold stronger at killing cancer than chemotherapy. Waking Times. Retrieved from http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/01/05/soursop-fruit-100-fold-stronger-at-killing-cancer-than-chemotherapy/

 

 

www.lifecyclebuildingcenter.org

Life Chef - Sauteed Kale & Cannellini Beans

 

If you're looking to make positive change in the health of you and your family, don't miss this opportunity to learn to cook real food for real life.  Join Chef Asata Reid who teaches beyond the basics of healthy cooking to include planning, shopping and food preparation. Known also as Life Chef, she works to fill the information gap between what you SHOULD eat and HOW to accomplish those healthy goals with cooking classes that will enlighten and empower you. Let Chef Asata show you how delicious, nutritious and FUN healthy cooking and eating can be. Visit http://www.lifechef.net/ for more information.

The three participating Whole Foods stores are West Paces Ferry, Ponce de Leon, and Briarcliff. This is a tremendous opportunity. There is the potential to raise over $20,000 for WWG! Join us for chef demonstrations, sommelier led wine tastings, and more. SNAP recipients receive double the dollar value at TLW Markets through the Wholesome Wave Georgia program.  TLW staff will be at the Briarcliff store between 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM.  Stop by our display table or visit any Whole Food Store to support Wholesome Wave  on Wednesday. 

I AM TRULY LIVING WELL... ARE YOU?

  

  

RAPE/CHILD ABDUCTION-SEX SLAVE TRADE/PEDOPHILES!!!!

 
Sunday January 20, 2013
3pm-6pm
Doors Open at 2:20pm  
(AFRIKANS BE ON TIME!)   
Omenala Griot Museum
337 Dargan Place SW
Atlanta, GA 30310

$5 Per Adult, 17 and under FREE
**PLEASE BRING YOUTH & YOUNG ADULTS TO EDUCATE & SAVE THEIR AFRIKAN LIVES!!!!!!. 
*Childcare activities will be provided for $5 per family  *Food will be sold for a reasonable fee  
*MEDIA PROVIDED BY DJ 5TH WURLD


For Further Inquiries, Call 678.368.0834 or678.368.8593  

               

                  

                   

                  

                   

                      

                 

             

Dinner Movie Discussion

Sunday January 20, 2013

Predator in Our Midst

PLOT: Child molestation is a very difficult topic for Afrikan people to discuss. The last thing we want to think about is innocent Black children being violated by wicked sexual predators. Many of us believe child molestation is wrong; but very few of us recognize the scope of this evil. The truth is that child molestation has been and continues to be one of the most diabolical epidemics in the Black community; worse than obesity, drugs, and alcohol combined. According to a recently published study, approximately 6 in 10 girls and 1 in 5 boys in the Black community are sexually assaulted before the age of 18 years old. The only reason we have not solved this evil is that New Afrikans have not taken on the responsibility of enforcing 'Black Law' in our community. This video takes an in-depth look at the epidemic of child molestation in the Black community and its impact on the Black race.

This is our most important lecture. Please come out and bring your children.  Let's save our youth.

• Frank Nance, from Atlanta, Georgia, allegedly shot Atlanta Police Department officer Reginald Robinson on Friday night
• He is charged with nine criminal counts, including aggravated assault, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, having a gun while committing a crime and cocaine possession
• Robinson was listed in stable condition on Saturday
• Suspect appeared bruised and bloodied in his mug shot though officers wouldn't say how he sustained the injuries

By Helen Pow

PUBLISHED: 18:21 EST, 12 January 2013 | UPDATED: 07:02 EST, 13 January 2013

Charged: Frank Nance, from Atlanta, Georgia, allegedly shot Atlanta Police Department officer Reginald Robinson on Friday during a drug-related chase.

A 20-year-old convicted felon has been charged with shooting a rookie police officer in the face.

Frank Nance, from Atlanta, Georgia, allegedly shot Atlanta Police Department officer Reginald Robinson on Friday during a drug-related chase. 

Investigators charged the suspect with nine criminal counts, including aggravated assault, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, having a gun while committing a crime and cocaine possession.

He was taken to Fulton County jail where he appeared bruised and bloodied in his mug shot.

He remained in custody today. 

Robinson was listed in stable condition today at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Police said Robinson was questioning Nance over a suspected drug deal in southwest Atlanta at around 6:30 p.m. when the man fled. 

The suspect shot the policeman once in the face near the intersection of Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard and Lee Street during the foot pursuit, according to department spokesman officer John Chafee.

Additional officers arriving in the area detained the 20-year-old and recovered a weapon.

The area around West End Mall and Ralph David Abernathy was shut down on Friday evening, as investigators combed through the crime scene.

The 35-year-old officer graduated from Atlanta's police academy in November.

Crime scene: The area around West End Mall and Ralph David Abernathy in Atlanta, pictured, was shut down on Friday evening after the shooting

Support: Police officers waited for news of their colleague Reginald Robinson outside the Grady Memorial Hospital

Initial reports suggested that the bullet that hit officer Robinson may have been fired accidentally, but the police report refutes that.

Records show Nance has a long history of arrests.

The 20-year-old has been in and out of the Fulton County Jail several times over the last four years, including an arrest in April on assault and battery charges. 

Custody: Frank Nance is being held at Fulton County Jail, pictured

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he waived his first court appearance on Saturday morning and was ordered held without bond until his preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for January 25.

Police would not comment to the newspaper on how Nance sustained the injuries to his face that are evident in his mug shot, which was taken on Friday night. 

APD spokesman Gregory Lyon said the department's internal review board will investigate all aspects of the shooting - as they do any time an officer is involved in a shooting - to ensure all policies and procedures were followed.

USA-UK Online. (2012). Frank Nance arrest: Man, 20, 'shot rookie police officer Reginald Robinson in the face' after Atlanta drug bust. USA-UK Online. Retrieved from http://www.usaukonline.com/latest-news/4916-frank-nance-arrest-man-20-shot-rookie-police-officer-reginald-robinson-in-the-face-after-atlanta-drug-bust.html

Greetings!

 
  

Chagos Islanders Lose the European Court Battle but Struggle Continues

BY JAMES WAN, 20 DECEMBER 2012

Former residents of the Chagos Islands have lost their latest legal bid for the right to return following a European ruling. What next for the islanders?

Former residents of the Chagos Islands, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, have lost their latest legal bid for their right to return home.

The islanders' fight to go back to the archipelago - from which they were brutally and illegally deported by the British government in the late-1960s - has been long and Sisyphean. Following battles in the UK High Court - which the islanders won - and the House of Lords - which they lost - the latest chapter saw the appeal go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Many Chagossians and campaigners expected the ruling to go in their favour, but today the ECHR in Strasbourg declared that the islanders' case is inadmissible on the grounds that the applicants previously received compensation from the British government, and that in accepting it had "effectively renounced" their right to bring any further claims. The court thus claimed it had no jurisdiction to try to case.

The news was understandably met with disappointment and dismay by the islanders and their supporters. The UK Chagos Support Association said that they were "saddened and shocked". Bernadette Dugasse, who was a young girl when her family were forced off the islands to the Seychelles, commented "I did not receive a penny".

A shameful past

The Chagos islanders' grievances began in the 1960s when the UK, which owns the territory, made a deal with the US. The UK offered to lease Diego Garcia, the biggest of the Chagos Islands, to the Americans who were looking to build a strategic military base in the Indian Ocean. In return, the UK would get a $14 million subsidy on Polaris missiles.

But there was a problem. Living on the islands were nearly 2,000 residents who were part of community that had been there for several generations, in which time they had built up villages, schools, churches and stores - a living, working and, according to community recollections, happy society.

The US, however, needed the islands cleared. And so, in what has been referred to as one of the most shameful episodes of Britain's colonial past, the UK government lied to deceive the international community and illegally exiled the entire population. While this was happening, UK diplomats and civil servants sent each other messages explaining the need "to maintain the pretence there were no permanent inhabitants" lest they be recognised as a people "whose democratic rights have to be safeguarded", and wrote internal documents with subtitles such as "Maintaining the Fiction".

The Chagos islanders were dumped with virtually nothing in the Seychelles and Mauritius. Many committed suicide shortly after and many continue to live in poverty today. The campaign for recognition and the right to return, however, has remained strong over the years, and after being recognised as legally British, many have since moved to Britain.

A questionable ruling

In the ECHR's ruling, the court acknowledged the "callous and shameful treatment" suffered in the past, but claimed a compensation package paid 30 years ago had put the issue to bed.

Indeed, in 1982, after pressure from Chagossian campaigners, the UK government authorised money to be distributed to the islanders in exchange for them renouncing their right to return to the islands.

"These proceedings were settled in 1982 on payment of £4 million [$6 million] by the United Kingdom and provision of land worth £1 million [$1.5 million] by Mauritius", read the judges' decision. "In so settling, the islanders agreed to give up their claims".

This seems to be what the ECHR's decision hinged on. But there are, arguably, a number of problems with this argument.

To begin with, many Chagossians never received compensation. The European judges pre-empt this critique, saying "any other islanders - not part of the 471 islanders involved in the settlement - had to have been aware of the proceedings, which were widely known, and could have made claims and thus taken advantage of the settlement offer put forward or, if they preferred, pursued their claims in the domestic court proceedings".

But this too is questionable. Firstly, the argument does not hold for the several hundreds of islanders deported to the Seychelles rather than Mauritius where the compensation was paid. "We were completely excluded from compensation", Bernadette Dugasse told Think Africa Press earlier this year. "Chagossians from Seychelles were not even given half a penny, not even a teaspoonful of land." The full ruling barely acknowledges this.

Secondly, the suggestion that the exiled Chagossians could have pursued the matter in the courts had they "preferred" is dubious at best. According to Mark Lattimer, executive director of Minority Rights Group, "it is frankly ridiculous to expect that a people from the Indian Ocean, some of who were illiterate, and who have been thrown into abject poverty, to have the means and the wherewithal to pursue the British government in the English court".

In fact, even the notion that Chagossians who did get compensation renounced their right to return rests on shaky ground. Putting aside the fact that the compensation was derisory, it is notable that the documents were in English, which most Chagossians did not speak, and that many were illiterate and had to sign with thumbprints. Although the UK government claims that lawyers were present to explain the documents, many islanders have long insisted they had no idea they were signing away their right to return, and that had they known they would never have accepted the compensation.

A set-back in a long struggle

The ECHR ruling is undoubtedly a significant set-back for the Chagossian community who wish to return to the islands. But their fight is not over.

As Jeremy Corbyn, MP and chairperson of the Chagos All Party Parliamentary Group, commented to Think Africa Press, "When they were dumped in Mauritius and Seychelles, they could have just gone to the four winds but they didn't. They stayed together as a community and they fought together as a community." Traditionally led by strong, outspoken women - one of whom, Charlezia Alexia, passed away just earlier this week - it does not seem to be in the DNA of the campaigners to give up or waver in their struggle.

But sadly for them, the same can be said of the UK government which has now spent millions of taxpayers' money on expensive legal battles over the last 12 years.

The case only reached the ECHR because all British avenues were exhausted. In 2000, the UK High Court ruled that the removal of the Chagossians had been illegal and granted the islanders the right to resettle. In 2004, however, the UK government employed a rarely used royal prerogative called an Order in Council, which bypasses all democratic institutions, to ban the right to return.

In 2006, the UK High Court overturned the Order in Council deeming it to have been illegal, and then rejected the government's appeal of the decision a year later in 2007. In its next throw of the dice, however, the government brought the case to the House of Lords in 2008, which in a 3:2 ruling voted against the islanders.

Bring it on

Following today's defeat at the ECHR, campaigners will be looking forwards to next year and another legal challenge - this one in UK courts and against the establishment of a controversial marine protection area around the islands, which a leaked cable suggests may have been set up with the intention of preventing the islanders to return.

As Lattimer pointed out, "The legal fight hasn't finished. One major avenue may have come to an end, but the legal fight continues."

And as Dugasse said following the ECHR ruling: "I will fight on until I die".

James Wan is the News Editor for Think Africa Press. He is a British-born Mauritian and has particular interests in China-Africa relations, human rights and social theory. He holds an MSc in Sociology from the London School of Economics and a BA in Social & Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge. You can contact him at james.wan@thinkafricapress.com and follow him on Twitter @jamesjwan.

Wan, J. (2012). Chagos islanders lose the European court battle but struggle continues. Think Africa Press. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201212210423.html?viewall=1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diego Garcia - The base, sovereignty, & right of return

BY ALAIN AH-VEE, 18 JUNE 2012

DOCUMENT

Ah-Vee, A. (2012). Diego Garcia - The base, sovereignty, & right of return. Lexpress.mu. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201206190906.html?viewall=1

BY FRANCIS KAGOLO, 9 JANUARY 2013

Photo: New Vision

The Ugandan Government has commended Victoria University management for rejecting orders from UK-based University of Buckingham (UB) to embrace homosexuality.

The two universities have been collaborating for over a year, with majority of Victoria University students offering University of Buckingham courses.

They, however, parted ways early this week after UB asked Victoria to include a clause in its statue stating that "no person will be discriminated on the basis of sex orientation", among others.

As a result, Victoria suspended all UB courses and remained with only the Bachelors of Public Health and Nursing.

Ethics and integrity minister, the Rev. Fr. Sam Lokodo applauded Victoria University for staying their ground and respecting the law.

"We enjoy autonomy and independence as a country. We follow our laws and nobody should intimidate us to promote a certain culture," said Lokodo on Wednesday.

"I express profound regrets for the action taken by the University of Buckingham just on the basis that Victoria University was not ready to include this adopt clause."

Higher education State minister, Dr. Chrysostom Muyingo, also observed that it was shocking for a university like Buckingham to relent on the key academic goal and instead focus on promoting a practice that is detested in Uganda.

Faridah Bukirwa Shamilah, the spokesperson of the national council for higher education also explained that Victoria University had freedom to reject any clause that would be deemed illegal in Uganda.

The problem, according to sources, emanated from anti-gay comments made by a guest speaker during a conference at Victoria University about a month ago.

Meanwhile, Victoria University vice-chancellor, Dr. David Young, has also clarified that the 150 affected students would continue with their studies from UB or be transferred to Middlesex University in Dubai.

He said consultations on who would meet which costs were ongoing and asked students and parents to stay calm.

"Each of the affected students will be issued with a partial transcript to enable them join other universities if they are unwilling to go where we are planning to take them," Young said.

He was noncommittal on whether the university would admit new students to pursue local programmes.

"The focus of our attention at the moment is on catering for the current students. Any other questions will be addressed later," he stated.

Kagolo, F. (2012). Uganda hails Victoria University on recent move. The New Vision. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201301091285.html?viewall=1

aa kwanzaa FAC dec2012.jpeg

KWANZAA CELEBRATION

and DMD One Year Anniversary!

Dinner Lecture Discussion

Sunday December 30, 2012

The New Jim Crow

PLOT: This is a lecture done by Michelle Alexander talking about the subject of her book The New Jim Crow. She does a very candid, fact based delve into the subject of racism in America, how it's overlooked or said to be a resolved thing of the past. She not only speaks from a fact based perspective concerning the existence of racism in today's society, she explains how it exists in indisputable terms.

We feel this is an ideal Lecture to show on our anniversary and that it will pave the way to a great discussion!

Doors open at 5:30 pm

Since this is a special occasion and is part of Atlanta's 2012 Kwanzaa Celebration, and the fact that space is  very limited, it is extremely important to get your tickets in advanced.

\

25 DECEMBER 2012

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has called on the international community to act urgently to protect Mali's cultural heritage after the latest wave of destruction at Timbuktu.

"I am profoundly shocked by the ferocity that has marked the latest round of destruction of Timbuktu's mausoleums," said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

At least three mausoleums in Mali were reportedly destroyed on 23 December, including that of the Al Hassan and Al Houseyni twins, the agency said in a news release.

Ms. Bokova reiterated UNESCO's commitment to stand by the people of Mali, made after the first wave of destruction last July, when the mausoleums of Sidi Mahmoud, Sidi Mokhtar and Alpha Moya in Timbuktu were attacked.

Two emergency missions were subsequently carried out to assess damage, and the UN World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution to create an emergency fund for the rehabilitation and safeguarding of Mali's cultural heritage.

"I call on the whole of the international community to act, as a matter of urgency, and take the measures necessary to guarantee the protection of this heritage, which is such an important part of Mali's cultural identity, and of humanity's history," said Ms. Bokova.

"Such wanton destruction on these inestimable treasures is a crime against the people of Mali, who have always shown great tolerance towards different religious and spiritual beliefs and practices."

According to UNESCO, Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Northern Mali has been occupied by radical Islamists after fighting broke out in January between Government forces and Tuareg rebels - just one of several security, political and humanitarian problems the West African nation has been dealing with this year.

The renewed clashes in the north, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a military coup d'état in March have uprooted hundreds of thousands of civilians this year. Over 412,000 people have been forced to flee northern Mali, and an estimated five million people have been affected by the conflict.

U.N. News Service. (2012). Mali: Unesco chief deplores new destruction of Timbuktu mausoleums. U.N. News Service. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201212260007.html?aa_source=mf-hdlns

As If You Didn't Know...

Organizing Is The New Cool!

What's the dealings?!

We have exciting new news for you.  Our film, Oganizing is the New Cool is an exciting project that we hope will inspire and educate while highlighting need for action through the lens of profiles of the brave contingent of leaders currently reinventing the perception of "Organizing".  As the culmination of years of collective work by our team of filmmakers, this film has been a labor of love and one of our most fulfilling projects.  Now as we prepare to finalize Organizing is the New Cool and bring it to audiences worldwide, we need your help.

We launched a campaign seeking collective co-investment in this effort on RaiseitUp.com, a new crowdfunding website based in Atlanta.  Raise it Up harnesses the power of collective action to generate organic community improvement, connecting change agents around the world to bring innovative ideas and needed resources together. Given that our film highlights the stories of individuals seeking to improve their community, we are happy to partner with Raise it Up to complete, promote and gain co-investment in this dynamic film.

To learn more about the film, and to co-invest in exchange for rewards visit www.raiseitup.com/OITNC

MEET THE PRODUCERS

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