Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Registration Forms Available!


Calling all Africans!

The steering committee of the Inaugural Pan-African Youth Summit announce the release of the registration form for the week's activities.

We are calling all:
Elders, youth, scholars, activists, and political leaders of African ancestry!

Again, the dates are February 23-28, 2009.
To register click here

Thursday, January 15, 2009

THE BATTLE FOR SOMALIA'S FUTURE BEGINS

Global Change Inspired By Obama Campaign: A Historical Movement In The African Diaspora??

Below is an article I found quite interesting. What do you think about Obama's election having created a new movement in the African diaspora?
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SPONSOR WIRE

Washington, D.C. — President-Elect Barack Obama has inspired the world to believe in and to work for change. This vision of change began during the Obama Campaign and continues with vigor, enthusiasm and dedication by a group of volunteers known as African Diaspora for Change (formerly African Diaspora for Obama). This movement is an example of how grassroots efforts can stimulate change on a global continuum. African Diaspora for Change (ADC) has formed an alliance of prominent African Diaspora voices with the intent of affecting change locally, nationally and internationally. The group’s success in is largely attributable to the tremendous efforts of many of its young leaders, most of whom are African immigrants themselves or were raised by immigrant families. ADC will host The African Diaspora Inaugural Ball on Sunday January 18, 2009 at the Harman Center for the Arts with the theme, “I Am the Change: Educating, Empowering and Engaging the Next Generation of Leaders.”

This historical event will bring to the dais an eclectic group of "change agents" who are poised to assist in a global change agenda. Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) chairs the Honorary Host Committee which also includes Baroness Valerie Amos, former leader of the House of Lords and the first Black woman cabinet secretary in the history of Great Britain; Dr. Witney Schneidman, Co-Chair, Africa Experts Group, Obama-Biden Campaign for the President; Ambassador Amina Salum Ali of the African Union Mission to the United States; Camilla Barungi, Ugandan supermodel and entrepreneur featured on Project Runway, and others. The Mistress of Ceremonies is none other than the illustrious Tracey Neale, nine-time Emmy award winning former Channel 9 and Fox 5 News Anchor, and now mother of two adopted twin boys from Ethiopia.

This celebration marks the victory of President-Elect Barack Obama with the performance of Grammy-nominated artists, Les Nubians, a special guest appearance by Grammy Award-winning artist, Angelique Kidjo, and BéLO, Haitian performing artist and winner of the 2006 Radio France International Award. The celebration will also feature some of the brightest stars in DC including Batala, an all women's Brazilian drumming troupe, Lesoles Dance Project, a South African performing group, and Mbuutu, an energetic East African dance troupe.

The theme of the event focuses on the importance of investing in the education and empowerment of America's and Africa's next generation of leaders—a key message of the Obama administration. The Inaugural Ball will benefit two organizations that focus on education. The beneficiaries are the Batonga Foundation, an organization founded by Angelique Kidjo which gives girls a secondary and higher education so they can take the lead in changing Africa; and First Book, a nonprofit which distributes new books to children in low-income communities throughout the United States and Canada. First Book will partner with ADC to donate and distribute 44,000 books (in honor of the 44th President of the United States) to support literacy in Africa and America.

First Book and African Diaspora for Change (www.AD4change.org) are currently accepting requests from local organizations that would benefit from book donations and can submit requests to info@ad4change.org . To quailify, recipient organizations must be registered as a 501 (c)(3) or related organization serving children in need.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200901150680.html

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Africa Eyes Own Investment Bank by End of Year


ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Libya's central bank governor said on Wednesday that an African Investment Bank (AIB) with total capital of $25 billion would be up and running by the end of the year if the plan is approved by African leaders.


Farhat Bin Guidara told Reuters the bank would have its headquarters in Tripoli and would aim to funnel support to development projects across the world's poorest continent.
"It is the anticipation of the bank to provide finance to enhance developments in Africa for projects with guarantees and feasible studies," Bin Guidara told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of African finance officials in Addis Ababa.


The Ethiopia-based African Union, which hosted Wednesday's discussions, is also studying the possibilities of setting up an African central bank and an African monetary bank, he added.
There are also plans for a Pan-African bourse, but the officials meeting in Ethiopia's capital said this should be done by first consolidating stock markets at a regional level.


"Achieving intermediary objectives, such as the harmonisation of the legal and fiscal framework, the liberalisation of exchange rates and the movement of capital, will have to be determined first," they said in a report.


Monday, January 12, 2009

Ethiopia: Freedom and Justice Rally, WED. JAN. 14

By Tedla Asfaw

Ethiopians are starting the new year by coming together on Wednesday January 14 in ten major cities of the world to denounce the TPLF regime in Ethiopia that is throwing the opposition UDJP party chair the honorable Judge Birtukan Medeksa who is now on her tenth day hunger strike in prison in Ethiopia. Amnesty International categorized her as prisoner of conscience.

No one is spared on this crackdown. The famous singer Teddy Afro and many Oromo professionals are among them. The coincidence of this crackdown with the defeat in Somalia is not accidental. The regime invasion of Somalia in Christmas 2006 was then to divert attention from ongoing internal crisis following the 2005 stolen election.

The current crackdown is also to exploit the window of opportunity during power transfer in USA. This is the warning for the coming Obama administration. "Do not get involved on our internal affairs on sovereign Ethiopia, and we know you have your own economic problem, Iraq, Afghanistan etc and leave us alone".

Hopefully this message will be delivered to Obama by the Clinton's people who are now surrounding Obama, Ms. Clinton, Susan Rice etc. who supported and financed the TPLF regime amid continuous protest by the Diaspora exposing the tyrannical behavior of the regime.

The regime in power in Ethiopia exploited the 9/11 incidence on the last Bush Administration and came as the number one fighter of terrorism in East Africa. The invasion of Somalia two years ago was with the direct financial and logistical support from USA. If you ask the members of Meles' Parliament/Club who pays for the two years adventure in Somalia the answer is they do not know. The war book is with Meles and Pentagon.

Somalia is now where it was before the invasion after thousands of innocent lives lost. It is shameful to hear " Mission Accomplished " by the regime cadres and go to their business of destroying opponents that was temporarily on hold during the invasion to get political support. To their dismay no one supported this adventurous war and opposition parties all exposed the consequence of this war, bringing future instability. As the world witnessed, Ogaden has been the main victim of this Somalia adventure. The war in Ogaden is well documented and the time for those who perpetuated this war crime is not going to be far.

The coming Wed. 14 protest is one of the many that is going to be carried throughout the world this year. The dimension of the crisis needs all Ethiopians to come out and voice their anger. This is not a rally for political organizations. Calling this protest is no more than taking the initiative and we should not exploit such gatherings for our own limited political goal.

The banners we carry on this coming protest calls for justice in Ogaden and the release of all political prisoners. Parties that do not take the initiative of organizing this coming rally should join and voice their anger too. From our experience of the last eighteen years protest in the Diaspora throughout the world we learned that all the successful protests were those organized by concerned Ethiopians without any political affiliation.

We all have common enemy and this rally is not a political solidarity with any group, ours should be with the voiceless Ethiopians. The coming rally is by all Ethiopians for Ethiopia and all are well come. I call especially our Somali and Oromo brothers and sisters to join us because it is only when we stand together we will make difference.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Why Pan-Africanism?

A 1981 publication of Ujima, the voice of the Howard University Student Association of the year, poised this poignant question. This is a question that still must be answered 27 years later.

In order to effectively answer the question of the necessity of a Pan-Africanist political social and economic orientation, we must first define the term. P. Olisanwuche Esedebe, in his seminal work, Pan-Africanism: The Idea and the Movement, offers a definition that describes Pan-Africanism as “a political and cultural phenomenon which regards Africa, Africans and African descendants aboard as a unit. It seeks to regenerate and unify Africa and promote a feeling of oneness among the people of Africa among the people of the African world. It glorifies the African past and inculcates pride in Africa.” One of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, W.E.B. Dubois in a 1933 Crisis article puts it this way, “the Pan-African movement aimed at an intellectual understanding and co-operation among all groups of African descent in order to bring about the industrial and spiritual emancipation of the Negro people.” Simply put, a Pan-Africanist-oriented agenda is aimed at politically, socially, and economically unifying an already culturally unified African people.

“Africa Must Unite!” was the rallying cry of the father of African Nationalism, Kwame Nkrumah. Across the Diaspora, those who trace their cultural heritage to the African continent must come together to bring about the liberation of each other. As Nkrumah later would say, the fates of African descendants and continental Africans are “inextricably tied.” How can we as African-Americans be liberated, when neo-colonialist and aggressive foreign policy with regards to Africa still exists? The same ideology that contributes to the underdevelopment of Africa contributes to the poverty of African-Americans. We must fight these ills together from a united front. For African-Americans, Pan-Africanism means opposing Africom since we are in a strategic position to do so. For continental Africans, Pan-Africanism means using their international leverage to control resources, assuring that their counterparts in other parts of the world are taken care of. In other parts of the world, Pan-Africanism means providing resources and support across the Diaspora to ensure that all Africans are provided for. We cannot reclaim our humanity as African-American people without reclaiming it for continental Africans, Afro-Caribbeans, and Afro-Latinos and vice versa.

Before we were interrupted by the maafa, the unity of African people created the earliest forms of modern democracy and governance. Preceding this, the unity of ancient Africans allowed them to create the first and greatest civilizations. Marcus Garvey famously stated, “What we have done, we can do.” White supremacist dominion in our lives, make Pan-African unity a powerful alternative.

Africans across the world face many challenges, brought about through the aforementioned maafa. The root causes of these problems are centered on factors and agendas that come from the same source, white supremacy. Therefore to combat this, a unified agenda of African unity must first occur. This is what we as an African people must do to return to ma’at. We must utilize the teachings of sankofa across the Diaspora to return to where we were before we were so rudely interrupted.

Dubois also stated in Darkwater, “that a belief in the humanity is a belief in colored men.” Every organization of individuals of African descent, interested in the humanity of African people, must be oriented towards a Pan-African agenda