“The more I thought about this idea of the Grand African race I began to see how we can bring the African diaspora and friends of Africa together, to promote our togetherness, to promote that which binds us and to promote all the wonderful accomplishments and the amazing things that are getting ready to come to Africa,” said Her Excellency, Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, the Ambassador of the African Union Mission. ... read more »

Thus, we self-consciously called our Movement, the Black Freedom Movementand demanded “FreedomNow,” not civil rights now. We composed and sang freedomsongs, not civil rights songs. And we built freedomschools, not civil rights schools, and we risked our lives on freedomrides, not civil rights rides. You can always say there was indeed a fight for civil rights. But although civil rights were an important concern of the Black Freedom Movement, the Black Freedom struggle was committed to freedom as a more expansive concept, practice and goal. In a word, it was concerned about freedom from oppression and freedom to grow, develop and come into the fullness of ourselves. ... read more »

“In this context, new organizations such as ADOS (American Descendants of Slavery) also emerged and certainly contributed to the visibility of the debate on reparations,” Dr. Araujo said. “Unlike previous movements, ADOS gained more visibility through the presence of its founders on social media that helped disseminating the #ADOS hashtag,” said Dr. Ana Lucia Araujo, who authored the groundbreaking 2017 book, “Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Transnational and Comparative History.”  ... read more »

“I’m excited that this is by us, for us and there’s going to be a lot of great content that reflects our lifestyle,” said Michelle Rice, the general manager at Cleo TV, who joined cast members from various Cleo TV shows, executives from Comcast Afro and others to celebrate the launch of the new channels at the Newseum on Thursday, March 14.  ... read more »

In this era of political madness, mean-spiritedness, racial and religious scapegoating, continued and expanding police violence, obscene inequities in wealth and power, mass incarceration, extensive and needless poverty and proposals for mass deportations, immigration bans, an apartheid wall and national registries of suspected and stigmatized peoples, there is an urgent need for an African American communal voice of  moral courage, political reason, and expanded righteous and relentless resistance. In a word, there is a pressing need for an African American ethical agenda speaking to the critical issues of our times. ... read more »

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first week of March as Women’s History Week.  Seven years later, Congress declared the entire month of March as Women’s History Month. I find it sadly ironic that we need legislative reminders to celebrate and remember the accomplishments of various people and communities.  However, I am grateful that the work of women is being celebrated nonetheless! Across the country, March 8thhas been designated as, “International Women’s Day” where people celebrate and honor women worldwide. ... read more »

The new slave voyages website counts as the product of three years of development by a multi-disciplinary team of historians, librarians, curriculum specialists, cartographers, computer programmers, and web designers, in consultation with scholars of the slave trade from universities in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America. ... read more »

President Muhammadu Buhari , having just left the mosque in his hometown Daura, wanted no part of the drama and was not going to appear as if he had been forewarned.  “I have given the military and the police instructions to be ruthless.  We are not going to be blamed for the bad conduct of the election," he told senior members of his All Progressives Congress (APC). ... read more »

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The NBA is bringing a pro league to Africa. The Basketball Africa League, a new collaboration between the NBA and the sport’s global governing body FIBA, ... read more »

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was elected to chair the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. Upon her appointment, she issued the following statement: ... read more »

For movies opening January 25, 2019: ... read more »

Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao knows that the world has long mistreated and neglected Africans – particularly the African woman. “We are the original people and we have every reason to stand up in the tallest mountains to proclaim who we are,” the ambassador says unapologetically. ... read more »

“I think the time for NCNW to build good, positive, relationships with the press is now. Not when there’s some issue, some crisis, some unfortunate situation… Now, so that we can always call on you and if you need us, and we will respond to you.” ... read more »

As Kwanzaa draws to an end and the old year meets and merges with the new, we are, as always, obligated and urged by ancient custom and ongoing current concerns to sit down and seriously engage in righteous reflection on being African in the world. To speak of righteous reflection is, in an Ebonics sense of the word righteous, to talk of thought that is real, ethical and excellent. That is to say, thought that is free from the artificial, false and formulaic and comes from the heart as well as from the head. What is aimed at here is thought which is informed by an ethical sensitivity to the subject under consideration. And this holds true whether in our concern for each other or for the health and wholeness of the world; for the loss of human life or the mutilation of historical memory; and for the deprivation of material needs or the denial of dignity and rights due everyone. ... read more »

The experts estimate that up to 90 percent of African art is outside the continent, including statues, thrones and manuscripts. Thousands of works are held by just one museum, the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, opened in 2006 to showcase non-European art — much of it from former French colonies. The museum wouldn’t immediately comment on the report. ... read more »