Yearly Archives: 2007

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. – Kerper A. Dwanyen’s rivals in the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota’s presidential elections must have know very early that he was the man to beat. Perhaps that is why, a few weeks before the Dec. 2 elections, some of his opponents renewed accusations that as the leader of the Nimba Redemption Council, during Liberia’s civil war, Dwanyen had been involved in atrocities against innocent civilians.

The Internet Society has awarded pioneering Internet engineer Nii Quaynor the prestigious Jonathan B. Postel Service Award for 2007 for his leadership in advancing Internet technology in Africa and galvanizing technologists to improve Internet access and capabilities throughout the continent.

The Internet Society presented the award, including a $20,000 [USD] honorarium, during the 70th meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Dr. Quaynor has selflessly pioneered Internet development and expansion throughout Africa for nearly two decades, enabling profound advances in information access, education, healthcare and commerce for African countries and their citizens, said Internet Society president Lynn St. Amour.

It's Saturday night and I've just walked into Blue Nile Restaurant. Bebe Cool, Uganda's talented Ragga artist will be performing later tonight, and I have no notion of what to expect. At the moment, DJ Kevo from Kenya is at the turntables enticing the crowd to the dance floor.
   

MINNEAPOLIS – A top University of Minnesota official in charge of reaching out to underrepresented communities said today that the institution was far from achieving its goal of a diverse student body, faculty and staff, and appealed to ethnic media to help.

MINNEAPOLIS – The wife of Democratic presidential aspirant Barack Obama urged a group of community organizers in Minneapolis Wednesday to step up their campaign to educate people on the importance of participating in the political process.

While at a Christian retreat, in Kenya in 1988, Christian Mungai, Harry Mwaura Kiiru, Kanjii Mbugua and Kaima Mwiti met and struck a friendship. Unbeknownst to them, ten years later in California, this friendship would lead to the birth of "Milele" (Swahili for Forever), a gospel singing group and set them on a journey of performing and ministering around the world.

MINNEAPOLIS – It is obvious when listening to Yohannes Tona’s compositions that he draws his music from everywhere. Born into a gospel musical family in Shashamane, 150 miles from Addis Ababa, Yohannes has wanted to play the guitar for as long as he can remember. His late father was an organist, while his mother was a renowned gospel vocalist. Apart from gospel music, his other influences growing up were traditional Ethiopian music, reggae and beats from West Africa.

Yawo Attivor is a name Minnesotans and, more importantly, Africans residing in Minnesota, should be familiar with. He has been based in our very own backward for the better part of a decade, and has been known to pull off some of the most vivacious musical displays the Twin Cities has heard or seen. Therefore, it was with a heightened sense of anticpation that I entered The Cabooze on Thursday the Oct. 12.

MINNEAPOLIS – After the superlative introduction by Minneapolis’s Dakota Jazz Club’s owner, Lowell Pickett, I expected a rich, preeminent performance by Dee Dee Bridgewater, surpassing anything I’d experienced before.

Abdurahman Ali Osman, a peace-activist and businessman in Minnesota, has announced plans to go back to his native Somalia to vie for the vacant post of Prime Minister following the resignation of Ali Mohamed Gedi at the end of October.

MINNEAPOLIS – A group aspiring to take up the leadership of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM) in the forthcoming elections has called for the immediate amendment of the association’s constitution to allow it operate as a non-profit body.