South Africa: Largest Trade Union in Platinum Sector on Strike

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January 23, 2014

Ghanaian journalist Komla Dumor who was instrumental to bringing balanced news coverage of Africa has died at 41. (Photo Credit: BBC) — Ghanaian journalist Komla Dumor who was instrumental to bringing balanced news coverage of Africa has died at 41.
(Photo Credit: BBC)

Referred to as the ‘face and voice of Africa,’ BBC presenter Komla Dumor has died of a heart attack. In an effort to rebuff the stereotypical views of Africa in the news, Dumor pioneered and championed the Africa Business Report on the BBC World News.

The author writes:

“Komla Dumor was the face and the voice of Africa – a new young, enterprising, internationally connected, ambitious Africa, with a can-do attitude.”

Dumor was respected for his willingness to bring balance to coverage of African nations instead of over correcting the proliferation of damaging images by presenting only glowing or sanitized images. “There must be balance or please, don’t patronise me,” he used to say.

The accidental journalist was born in Ghana to a family of academics. Dumor intended to become a doctor and set off to attend Nigeria’s University of Jos. Deciding that medicine wasn’t for him, Dumor returned to Ghana and took a class in sociology and psychology. Affectionately referred to by classmates as KD, Dumor responded to an ad for a traffic reporter during the 1998 strike at the University of Ghana. As they say in the U.S., the rest was history.

His mother, a media scholar that passed away in 2008, is credited with being central to his development as a journalist, helped to guide his career. His father was a professor of sociology. Dumor’s grandfather Philip Gbeho, a renowned musician, was asked by the country’s founding father Kwame Nkrumah to compose Ghana’s national anthem following independence from the UK in 1957. Dumor was destined for greatness.

The author reports:

“After his success at Africa Business Report, Komla was the natural choice to host the BBC’s flagship Focus on Africa TV programme in 2012 – its first TV news programme for the continent.

Once Komla was asked what he loved about Africa: ‘Its resilience. After all, we have been through, we are still here.'”

A graduate of Harvard University with an MA in Public Administration, Komla leaves behind a wife, lawyer Kwansema and three children. He was 41.

Africa: CAR Appoints Catherine Samba-Panza Interim President

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January 23, 2014

Catherine Samba-Panza has been appointed interim president of the Central African Republic. (Photo Credit: Google Images) — Catherine Samba-Panza has been appointed interim president of the Central African Republic.
(Photo Credit: Google Images)

AlJazeera is reporting that the Central African Republic (CAR) has appointed the mayor of Bangui Catherine Samba-Panza to be interim president, as the European Union agreed to send 500 soldiers to help stabilize the country. Nearly one million people have fled CAR, which has been mired in violence since March 2013. The author writes:

“Catherine Samba-Panza, one of eight candidates, was elected by members of the National Transitional Council about a week after former rebel leader Michel Djotodia resigned as president under international pressure over his failure to end the bloodshed.

‘I am the president of all Central Africans, without exception,’ said Samba-Panza. ‘I appeal to my anti-balaka and Seleka children to listen to me and together lay down your weapons.’

Last March, rebel groups known as Seleka came together to overthrow President François Bozizé and there have been widespread reports of killings, rape and looting since then. Attacks and counter-attacks between Muslims and Christians have intensified the levels of bloodshed and brutality.

To qualify, the eight candidates had to show they had no link to the Muslim Seleka rebels which brought Djotodia to power, or the forces behind the mainly Christian ‘anti-balaka’ militia.”

President Samba-Panza is the first woman president to lead the African nation.

Africa: Kenyan Author Binyavanga Wainaina Comes Out

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January 23, 2014

Celebrated Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina has come out as gay in response to anti-gay legislation in Nigeria and Uganda. (Photo Credit: Google Images) — Celebrated Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina has come out as gay in response to anti-gay legislation in Nigeria and Uganda.
(Photo Credit: Google Images)

Tristan McConnell of Globalpost.com is reporting that Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina has come out as a gay man amid the increasing anti-gay legislation (Uganda and Nigeria) and persecution happening throughout the continent of Africa. Binyavanga, who is considered to be one of Africa’s most powerful contemporary voices, recently published an article entitled, ‘I am a homosexual Mum.’ McConnell writes:

“On a continent where secrecy defines the gay experience and where a majority of countries outlaw homosexuality, coming out is a rare step for a public figure. Wainana’s piece, first published on Saturday, is being shared widely across social networks. “My dear @BinyavangaW writes a piece that springs open the prison doors of the heart,” tweeted Nigerian-born writer Teju Cole.

The timing of Wainaina’s coming out was a mixture of the personal and the political, and anything but accidental.

“Of course my friends knew, but I had been toying with how useful it would be to make a public statement for close to eight months,” Wainaina told GlobalPost on Monday, as his declaration of homosexuality picked up traffic on Africa Is A Country and Chimurenga Chronic, the two African websites where it was first published.”

Having returned to Kenya after living a “nomadic” life, Wainaina tired of living a life that was “false.”

McConnell continues:

“Wainaina struggled with the relative ease of being clandestinely gay while surrounded by his artist friends in cosmopolitan Nairobi, while elsewhere in Africa homosexuals faced increasing oppression.

Last month he went to a close gay friend’s memorial in the western town of Kisumu and learned that the friend’s Christian family had been rejected by the church due to their son’s sexual orientation. Yet the young man’s parents had accepted their son’s homosexuality and even welcomed ‘half the queens in Kisumu’ into their home to celebrate his life, Wainaina said.

Added to that were oppressive new anti-gay laws in Uganda and Nigeria. Ugandan parliamentarians passed a law in late December making ‘aggravated homosexuality’ punishable by life imprisonment [Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has refused to sign the bill into law]. An early draft proposed the death sentence. Nigeria’s president last week signed a law imposing 14-year jail terms for homosexual acts. ‘There was the anti-gay bill in Uganda first, but the Nigeria one! Nigeria is a country I go to — I was there three times last year — it is a place I love, it’s like a second home to me,” said Wainaina. “It’s hard to imagine any more repressive law of any kind anywhere in the world. It’s just the most terrible thing,’ he said.”

Black Florida GOP House Candidate Calls for Obama to be Hanged

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January 21, 2014

Florida GOP hopeful Joshua Black calls for President Obama to be hanged. (Photo Credit: Twitter) — Florida GOP hopeful Joshua Black calls for President Obama to be hanged.
(Photo Credit: Twitter)

Stephen A. Crockett of The Root is reporting that on the national day of reflection for Martin Luther King’s birthday, an African-American Republican candidate for Florida House District 68 took to Twitter to demand that the president be hanged for war crimes, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Joshua Black, a former street preacher, wrote the following:

“I’m past impeachment,” and then “It’s time to arrest and hang him high,” on Twitter.

Crockett writes:

“‘You aren’t seriously calling for the killing of Obama are you?’ Chris Latvala, a Republican candidate for House District 67, asked Black on Twitter. ‘I know you are crazy but good heavens. U R an embarrassment.’

Hours after the tweet, Black was standing firm on his statement and he doubled-down on his social media message defending his comment on both Twitter and Facebook.”

MLK Day: Find A Community Service Event Near You

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January 20, 2014

Today marks the celebration of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Photo Credit: Google Images) — Today marks the celebration of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Photo Credit: Google Images)

Today marks the day where many honor and celebrate the legacy of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Nobel Peace Prize winner lead the fight in the United States for civil rights for blacks, who faced legalized and rampant discrimination throughout the country. The activist/preacher was assassinated on April 4, 1968 because of his work with many civil rights and world leaders to end segregation here in the United States.

The bill to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday was first introduced by United States Representative John Conyers (a Democrat from Michigan) and United States Senator Edward Brooke (a Republican from Massachusetts) in 1979. After a long struggle with obstinate politicians like Arizona Senator John McCain and North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, legislation was signed in 1983 creating a federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort.

Taking place each year on the third Monday in January, the MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.”

The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President’s national call to service initiative. Many choose to spend this “day on” by participating in community service activities in local communities. Find an MLK Day community service activity near you by visiting MLKDay.gov.

Find out more about MLK Day at MLKDay.gov.

This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder and editor-in-chief of the award-winning news site The Burton Wire. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual.

Like The Burton Wire on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @TheBurtonWire.

2014 SAG Awards: Lupita Nyong’o Wins Best Actress Award

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January 20, 2014

Lupita Nyong'o wins the best supporting actress award at the 2014 Screen Actors Guild awards. (Photo Credit: Google Images) — Lupita Nyong’o wins the best supporting actress award at the 2014 Screen Actors Guild awards. (Photo Credit: Google Images)

Jevon Phillips of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Lupita Nyong’o won the Screen Actors Guild award for female actor in a supporting role Saturday night for her role as Patsey, a favored but abused slave in Steve McQueen‘s “12 Years a Slave.”

It was the first nomination for the Mexico City-born, Kenyan-raised actress. Nyong’o was three weeks shy of graduating from the Yale School of Drama when she was cast by McQueen in her breakout role.

Nyong’o defeated Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the unstable wife of a con artist in “American Hustle”; Julia Roberts as the daughter of a domineering matriarch in “August: Osage County”; June Squibb as the reluctantly supportive wife in “Nebraska”; and Oprah Winfrey as Gloria Gaines, the wife of a presidential butler, in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”

Nyong’o is believed to be the frontrunner for the 2014 Academy Awards, in which she is nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Uganda President Refuses to Sign Anti-Gay Law? Says Gays Are ‘Sick’

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January 20, 2014

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has blocked anti-gay legislation which would imprison members of the LGBTQ community for life. (Photo Credit: Google Images) — Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has blocked anti-gay legislation which would imprison members of the LGBTQ community for life.
(Photo Credit: Google Images)

Faith Karimi of CNN International is reporting that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has refused to sign a bill that would punish certain homosexual acts with life in prison. Museveni’s shocking move was not made out of the desire to protect the civil rights of gays and lesbians or even benevolence; it was made because Museveni believes that gays and lesbians are ‘sick people who need help,’ his spokesman said.

The anti-gay legislation was initially proposed in 2009 where “aggravated homosexuality” would be punishable by death. This bill was tabled after European countries threatened to pull their aid from Uganda.

Karimi says that President Museveni refused to sign the bill because there was no quorum present and the president believes that homosexuals are ‘sick’ and that this behavior is not a priority for Uganda. Lawmakers wrote this policy because they believe that the culture of the Western world, where same-sex marriage is widely legalised and there are sites like lesbianpornhd where homosexuals can freely explore their sexuality, is influencing their ‘lifestyle’ in Uganda.

Karimi reports:

“According to Amnesty International, the bill’s definition of ‘aggravated homosexuality’ includes acts in which a person is infected with HIV, ‘serial offenders’ and sex with minors.

The bill also proposed years in prison for anyone who counsels or reaches out to gays and lesbians, a provision that would ensnare rights groups and others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries, where sodomy laws were introduced during colonialism. In Uganda, homosexual acts are punishable by 14 years to life in prison, according to rights activists.

But lawmakers in the conservative nation sought tougher legislation, saying the influence of Western lifestyles risks destroying family units.”

The bill can become law if the President vetoes the bill twice. It then goes back to Parliament whose vote overrides the President’s veto.

Somalia: Al Shabab Bans Use of the Internet; Citizens Outraged

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January 16, 2014

Islamist extremist al-Qaeda linked group Al Shabab has banned the use of the internet in Somalia. (Photo Credit: Google Images)

Sabahionline.com is reporting that Islamist extremist rebels Al-Shabab has banned use of the Internet. Abdi Moalim writes:

“In a statement published January 8th on the Somalimemo website, al-Shabaab announced its internet ban, ordering telecommunications companies to stop providing internet services within 15 days.

The statement also warned that companies and individuals that do not follow the directive will be viewed as enemies and punished under sharia law.

Al-Shabab justified its ban by saying Western intelligence agencies, especially US and British agencies, use the internet to gather information on the mujahideen.”

Al-Shabab believes that the Internet is a danger to Muslims and goes against the laws of Islam. Somali citizens and human rights groups are outraged by this mandate. In November, Liquid Telecommunications announced the first fibre-optic link into Somalia. The link crosses the Kenya-Somalia border, and then connects to the network of Hormuud Telecom, boosting connectivity speeds across southern and central Somalia.

There are seven more days before the al-Qaeda linked group begins enforcing the ban. This story is developing.

2014 Oscar Nominations: Barkhad, Chewitel, Lupita and McQueen Nominated

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January 16, 2014