(NNPA) - Brazil has long been the best kept secret of the Black Diaspora. Its population of more than 100 million Blacks (51 percent of the total population) makes it at least the second largest Black population in the world. This nation has been a sleeping giant in the global arena but is taking big steps to enter into the distinction of a First World Nation. Right now it is a leader of the emerging Second World nations and takes the leadership role with India at all global and United Nations conferences and summits. Brazil's President Lula da Silva proudly considers himself the leader of "People of Color". On the other hand, Brazil's bid via Rio de Janeiro was a super winner. It vowed to rebuild the slums of Rio and empower the masses. The infrastructure, job opportunities and contractual bidding would be thoroughly diverse and would make the Olympics Committee proud. It was a slam dunk! In the end it was Rio de Janeiro in first place, Madrid in second, Tokyo is third and the stinky Chicago bid dead last.
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - As the despair and devastation caused by the 7.0 seismic earthquake that rocked Haiti in January threatens to shift to the periphery of America's consciousness, many of the nation's most respected celebrities, activists and businessmen recently joined forces to secure long-term relief for the ravaged country. Actoractivist Danny Glover and Haitian-born actor Jimmy Jean-Louis were honored at the To Haiti with Love benefit, Sun., March 21, a gathering of Black business leaders and entertainers designed to streamline both strategic and financial relief efforts.
"These talented writers are about to embark on 14 wholly different and fascinating itineraries, from exploring ancient scrolls in Timbuktu, to the Anglican Church in Uganda, to Somaliland's elections, to name a few," says Tom Burke, the Achebe Center program manager. "It is a landmark project, and our partners - large and small - across the continent have lent enthusiasm and support. It's an exciting time to watch these pilgrimages unfold, and it will be quite something to read these books once their pages are written."
[Mireille Durocher Bertin], 24, was crowned Miss Haiti after Magali Febles, former director of Miss Puerto Rico, organized a modest Miss Haiti contest as a way to promote the beauty of the Haitian people. Bertin, who speaks four languages, lost her luggage on the way to Las Vegas, along with all her pageant gowns, shoes, accessories, but fellow contestants and supporters have loaned her replacement items.
Brazil was discovered and, claimed by the Portuguese in 1500. By 1525, the first slave ships started to arrive. It was the first Western Hemisphere nation with slavery and it was the last (ending in 1888) to have this vile practice cease. The memories are bitter and hang over the head of this nation's history. This nation has been a sleeping giant in the global arena but is taking big steps to enter into the distinction of a First World Nation. Brazil's President Lula da Silva proudly considers himself the leader of "People of Color". He has even chastised President Barack Obama for not having enough concentration in this area. On the other hand, Brazil's bid via Rio de Janeiro was a super winner. It vowed to rebuild the slums of Rio and empower the masses. The infrastructure, job opportunities and contractual bidding would be thoroughly diverse and would make the Olympics Committee proud.
"I don't want to look arrogant, especially with [Cornel West]. But I believe he sat on the side of something he doesn't actually know," [Nancy Morejon] said of the open letter West and 59 other African Americans sent to Cuban President Raul Castro late last year. In it, they accused his government of mistreating civil rights activists and a "callous disregard" for its Black population. "Yes, there is racism in Cuba," Tomas Fernandez Robaina, a prolific writer about the social condition of Black Cubans, told me. The country "engaged in romanticism" when Castro ordered an end to racial discrimination nearly a half-century ago, Fernandez said. "Now we understand it will take more than goodwill to get rid of it, something Americans should know better than Cubans."
In Message from the Grassroots, perhaps his most powerful speech, Malcolm X reminded us that "you don't catch hell because you're a Methodist or Baptist, you don't catch hell because you're a Democrat or a Republican, you don't catch hell because you're a Mason or an Elk... You catch hell because you're a black man.... All of us catch hell for the same reason." Malcolm could just as easily have said that we don't catch hell because we're Haitian or African American. A white supremacist system sees us as Black people. Abner Louima was not tortured because he was Haitian, nor was Amadou Diallo gunned down by the police because he was from Guinea. The offending officers saw no difference. In their eyes they were inferior, scorned Black men. Malcolm saw Black unity/ solidarity as the counter and corrective of racism and white supremacy.
Harriet Tubman, William Hall and Mifflin Wistar Gibbs were among those whose courage and conviction advanced our nascent society's ideals of freedom and equality. Thousands braved a perilous path to freedom through the Underground Railroad, conducted by valiant leaders like Harriet Tubman.
Due to political infighting and wrangling between 1996 and 2008, the Caribbean Cultural Festivities Association (CCFA), was served by five different presidents. The wrangling intensified in 2009 when a feud erupted between CCFA and the Montreal Carnival Development Foundation (MCDF) in order to determine the coordinator of the parade. Caught in the middle, the City salvaged the parade by offering each group a permit under two names and $10,000 each. In "A Deeper Look At The Perils Of Our Community" (26-8-10), Dr. Clarence Bayne took a more satirical look at the situation. He likened our existence to a minority who lives in a trap and those leaders in this arena are perceived as tricksters and community leeches that employ deception and treachery that help to keep us in chains. These are those, he noted whom Bob White has given the title "poverty pimps". Such personalities, he lamented behave like crabs in a bucket (barrel). In a commentary entitled "Community Must Stand Against Disunity and Disrespecf (20-5-10), [Egbert Gaye] asserts that "blame in this situation must be placed at the unwashed feet of the collection of invalids who chose not to come together to salvage the parade and a bit of our dignity".
The CIA created a covert operation called JM WAVE which was based in South Miami. It's mission was to assassinate [Fidel Castro] and repatriate this area's Cubans back to their land. This undertaking had over 15,000 exiles on it's bankroll and had a budget of over $50 million dollars, which is worth over $350 million dollars in today's market.
