The charred remains of the building that burned down on New Year's day 2014. A benefit concert for the Somali-American victims that lived there will be held a few feet away at The Cedar on January 24. Photo: Kate Purdy via TC Daily Planet
The charred remains of the building that burned down on New Year's day 2014. A benefit concert for the Somali-American victims that lived there will be held a few feet away at The Cedar on January 24. Photo: Kate Purdy via TC Daily PlanetThe charred remains of the building that burned down on New Year's day 2014. A benefit concert for the Somali-American victims that lived there will be held a few feet away at The Cedar on January 24. Photo: Kate Purdy via TC Daily Planet
The Cedar Cultural Center, Augsburg College and KFAI radio will host a benefit concert on Friday, January 24th to raise funds for the Somali-American victims and their families of the New Year’s Day fire on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. The fire took the lives of three residents of the apartments above 516 Cedar Ave S, destroyed the Otanga Grocery Store on the ground level of the building and displaced tenants in the ten residential units.
The burnt building is a few feet from The Cedar, renowned for its presentation of top musicians from around the world including Africa.
The benefit concert will feature musicians that represent the cultural past of the West Bank neighborhood as well as its present. Already scheduled to perform are Spider John Koerner (of legendary West Bank folk trio Koerner Ray and Glover), The Brass Messengers, Martin Devaney, Southside Desire, Augsburg JIVE (Augsburg student ensemble), DJ Go Getta with SYAV (Somali Youth Against Violence), with more artists to be announced soon.
“This event is about the joining together of some of the community groups which call Cedar-Riverside (or “The West Bank”) home to help our neighbors who have suffered such great and tragic loss. Our neighborhood is known best for both its immigrant history and history of arts and culture, so we feel it’s only appropriate to assemble a wide diversity of musical artists for this benefit concert, ” Cedar executive director, Rob Simonds said in a statement.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, January 10 at noon on the Cedar website.
Cedar Ave Fire Benefit
Friday, January 24th 2014
The Cedar Cultural Center
416 Cedar Ave South, Mpls 55454
6:00pm doors / 7:00pm show / All-Ages
Tickets on-sale online Friday January 10th @ noon $20.00 admission
Donna Brazile, Campaign Manager of the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign will keynote the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast in Minneapolis on January 20,2014.
Donna Brazile, Campaign Manager of the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign will keynote the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast in Minneapolis on January 20,2014.Donna Brazile, Campaign Manager of the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign will keynote the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast in Minneapolis on January 20,2014.
Donna Brazile, the first African-American to manage a presidential campaign when she was campaign manager for Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election, will keynote this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast at the Minneapolis Convention Center on January 20.
The Breakfast will bring together an estimated 2,000 supporters and will be an opportunity to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy of service and create an imperative to live out his legacy in homes, communities and world according to organizers.
This will be the 24th anniversary of the annual Breakfast. It starts at 7:00am and concludes at 9:00am.
This year’s breakfast theme is “Reimagine the Future.”
Brazile is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and has lectured at over 125 colleges and universities around the country. The author of Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics is a regular commentator on CNN and ABC News.
The General Mills Foundation is back again this year as the sponsor alongside the United Negro College Fund.
Also planned for the breakfast will be musical performances from Darnell Davis & The Remnant as well as the MacPhail Community Youth Choir, and the presentation of the Local Legend community service awards.
Your child has been home from school for three days with a cough, runny nose, and fever. You’ve had to miss work to take care of him and are worried that you’ll have to miss a couple more days. This is a common situation that families experience during influenza (flu) season because influenza can make people feel miserable for several days or weeks.
Influenza is an illness that affects people of all ages worldwide. Symptoms range from mild to severe, and it is a major health issue around the world. Both children and adults can help fight the spread of influenza each year by getting vaccinated. Vaccination is also one of the best ways to reduce your chance of getting ill.
What is influenza?
Influenza is an illness caused by viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs. Most people get the flu during the colder months, beginning in October and lasting through the spring. Influenza can be spread in the air when people with the virus cough or sneeze, or a person can become infected by touching a surface with the virus on it and then touching their mouth or eyes.
Who gets influenza?
Anybody can get influenza! But, some people are more likely to become very sick with influenza. Those at highest risk include: young children, people 65 years of age and older, pregnant women, and people who are already sick with diseases like pneumonia, asthma, chronic lung disease, HIV, heart disease and diabetes.
What are the signs and symptoms of influenza?
Influenza symptoms include a sore throat, runny nose, and cough. People with influenza also feel very tired and may have a fever, chills, and body aches. Children who have influenza may have different symptoms than adults, like diarrhea and vomiting in addition to the other symptoms. Influenza symptoms usually come on very suddenly.
How is influenza treated?
Most of the time, influenza can be treated at home. It is important to rest and to drink plenty of water. Stay home while you are sick and for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone so you do not spread the flu to others. Sometimes influenza can be severe. If a person is having trouble breathing, feeling dizzy or confused or having chest or abdominal pain they should go to the hospital. In some cases doctors may also give medications to help your body fight the virus.
How can I prevent influenza?
The most important way to prevent influenza is to get vaccinated! Everyone 6 months of age and older should get the influenza vaccine every year. The influenza vaccine reduces the chances of getting sick. The vaccine may be given as a shot in the arm or as a spray in the nose. Talk with your doctor if you have an egg allergy or if you have had a reaction to the vaccine in the past. As the influenza season is approaching, it is important to get vaccinated now!
Other ways to avoid getting sick are:
Clean your hands often with soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick, if possible.
You can search for a location to get influenza vaccine at www.mdhflu.com and click on “Vaccine Clinic Look-Up.” This site also includes information on clinics in Minnesota that offer free or low-cost vaccines for children and adults who do not have insurance or whose insurance does not cover immunizations.
Despite a landmark comprehensive immigration reform bill that cleared the Senate in June, a corresponding bill that addresses the 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States has yet to come to a vote in the House. In fact, the only immigration-related bill that House members brought to a floor vote was a measure to pave the way for deporting undocumented immigrants between the ages of 16 and 31. But although the year ended without a victory on the greatest potential avenue for reform through a bill in Congress, the immigration reform movement achieved other crucial victories in 2013. Here are eight:
1. Driver’s licenses and state tuition: In 2012, only three states granted driver’s licenses to the undocumented. Now, 11 states — California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Maryland, Vermont, Colorado, and Connecticut — and the District of Columbia have passed legislation that allows the undocumented to legally drive.Studies show that giving driver’s licenses to unlicensed drivers, a category that includes many undocumented immigrants, would vastly improve public safety because drivers would have to pass a test before they obtain a license and buy auto insurance. This year, Colorado, Minnesota, and Oregon also passed laws that permit in-state tuition for undocumented students.
2. Key anti-immigrant research discredited: The Heritage Foundation published a report in April that reform opponents hoped to use against the Senate bill. The paper, which argued that immigration reform would be a $6.3 trillion burden on the economy, was immediately slammedby Republicans, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, American Action Forum, and the libertarian CATO Institute for its dishonest methodology. Soon after, co-author Jason Richwine resigned from Heritage over his controversial Harvard University thesis that argued Hispanics are less intelligent. A report that once was the opponents’ powerful weapon during debates on reform was now seen as widely discredited.
3. Local and state anti-immigrant laws blocked: In Arizona, the Ninth Circuit of Appeals upheld a district court’s preliminary injunction on a key provision of the state’s controversial anti-immigrant law which would have made it illegal to give rides or provide shelter to undocumented immigrants. The opinion called the statute “incomprehensible to a person of ordinary intelligence and is therefore void for vagueness.”
Alabama passed the nation’s strictest immigration law in 2011, modeled after ALEC’s “No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act.” Key provisions of HB 56 designed to encourage racial profiling and make immigrants’ daily lives difficult to impossible, have been permanently blocked. The final legal settlement this fall with the Justice Department, civil rights groups, and plaintiffs prevents the worst of the law, which barred school enrollment, business, and daily interaction with undocumented immigrants.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down a Texas town’s ordinance that prohibitedlandlords from renting to undocumented residents. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia also ruled that anti-immigration city ordinances in Hazleton, PA infringed on federal immigration policies and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals similarly issued decisions against an anti-immigration South Carolina law that would have among other violations of federal immigration policies, criminalized undocumented immigrants seeking “shelter.”
4. Obama used administrative measures to ease restrictions on undocumented immigrants: One year after the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was implemented, at least 455,455 undocumented immigrants under the age of 31 got a taste of what it would feel like to have legal status, when they were granted work authorization and temporary relief from deportation. The President also issued a few “prosecutorial discretion” memos, advising federal immigration officials to avoid deporting people who are parents of U.S. citizens or if they areimmediate family members of military personnel. Still, neither the work authorization nor the temporary deportation reprieve is permanent and many immigrants who would otherwise qualify for discretion are still flagged for deportation.
5. CA and CT limited deportations of non-violent immigrants: The TRUST Act rebukes federal policy by limiting local law enforcement’s compliance in screening and detaining undocumented nonviolent immigrants. The new law in California, a state with 2.45 million undocumented immigrants, should ease community fears of reporting crime because of deportation threats.
6. Republicans joined the call for citizenship: Within the span of one week in November, three House Republicans — Reps. Jeff Denham (R-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and David Valadao (R-CA) — signed onto a comprehensive immigration bill introduced by House Democrats. They pressed House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to allow the bill to come to a vote on the House floor before the end of the Congressional year. That plan nevertranspired, but Boehner’s choice to hire Rebecca Tallent to lead immigration efforts renewed hope that House Republican would act on the issue in 2014.
7. People are limiting their use of the term “illegal immigrant”: A Pew research study released in June found that the use of the phrase “illegal alien” declined in 2013 and that the term “undocumented immigrant” rose (especially among immigrant advocates). Not coincidentally, immigration advocates have campaigned hard to make people understand that the phrase is derogatory because “no human is illegal.” Newspapers like the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times have all limited their use of the phrase “illegal immigrant.” And after a college conservative group was set to hold a “Catch An Illegal Immigrant” game on the University of Texas at Austin campus, the event sparked a protest held by hundreds of solidarity activists and the actress America Ferrera.
8. Majority of Americans support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a citizenship provision: The final g”immigration win” involves the strong backing of the American public. A November 2013 poll found that 63 percent of American voters support allowing undocumented immigrants to become citizens as long as they meet certain requirements (like paying back taxes and fines, learning English, and passing a background check). Even voters living in 17 key Congressional districts represented by House Republicans opposed to immigration reform similarly support reform legislation when the details of the bill are fleshed out.
Cover of the Niko na Imani debut Cd by Minneapolis First SDA Church elder Jacob Okioma. It was launched at the Kenya Community Church, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Cover of the Niko na Imani debut Cd by Minneapolis First SDA Church elder Jacob Okioma. It was launched at the Kenya Community Church, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.Jacob Okioma released his debut CD Niko na Imani at the Kenya Community Church in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Photo: Tom Gitaa/MshaleCover of the Niko na Imani debut Cd by Minneapolis First SDA Church elder Jacob Okioma. It was launched at the Kenya Community Church, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.Jacob Okioma was joined onstage by youth from the Kenya Community Church during his debut CD release. Photo: Tom Gitaa/MshalePastor Munene Mwangi of Faith SDA Church exhorted attendees at the Okioma CD launch to resist music piracy.Kenya Community Church youth with Jacob Okioma at his CD launch. Photo: Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Jacob Okioma gospel CD release for his debut CD, Niko na Imani (Swahili for I Have Faith), at the Kenya Community Church in Brooklyn Center brought out friends, family and members of the wider Kenyan church faithful in Minnesota to hear the local church elder. It was a capacity crowd with the 350-seat capacity sanctuary full and an overflow crowd on the aisles and lobby.
Having braved 18 degree (negative 8 centigrade) weather to come witness the launch, the audience was rewarded by part church service and a stirring musical presentation.
Okioma, originally from Kenya, has worked in the medical sciences field since graduating from Minnesota State University-Mankato in 2012 and the affable 24-year old is very much intent on making a mark on the gospel scene as well.
The event gave the talented young Okioma the opportunity to showcase his gospel repertoire. A half dozen church choirs from other tightly knit and predominantly Kenyan-American congregations and the Oromo Church were present to give their support. The choirs sung musical selections in between Jacob’s singing.
Active as an elder (Elders at SDA churches are ordained) at the First SDA Church in Minneapolis, his inspiration into the ministry was through his older brother Buda Boaz. “He played a critical role in influencing me to get into the church and start singing with a choir before I started doing solo music.” That was nine years ago when the young Okioma started singing. Since then he has enjoyed singing in the choir and performing for family and friends.
It was during one such performance by early this year as a guest at the Kenya community SDA church that some were blown away and encouraged him to get his music recorded.
Inspired by the faith and the support of family and friends, he set out to record an album. A local studio in Minneapolis offered the perfect setting and venue.
The CD, sung exclusively in Kiswahili which is spoken throughout East and Central Africa, has eight tracks with titles gospel lovers are bound to love such as Ninakuhitaji (I Need Thee), Roho Inakutamani (My Heart Wants You) and Niko na Imani (I Have Faith). It is the first volume with a second one to follow in 2015 “But I am currently working on the DVD for Vol. 1 which I am planning to launch in 2014,” Okioma said.
At the CD launch, he sang all eight tracks plus some at one time being joined by youngsters from the host church’s Dance Ministry who showcased their dancing skills. Okioma said he hoped the CD, out on time for Christmas, will be a blessing to many.
Pastor Munene Mwangi of Faith SDA Church speaking from the stage asked everyone to resist the temptation to pirate the CD, “Let us support this young man by buying the CD and you will be blessed,” he thundered from the pulpit. Brisk sales of the CD followed the launch with most families present buying a copy.
Copies of the CD can be purchased by calling 651-332-6293.
Dr. Rita Wallace-Reed has joined Crown Medical Center at its Brooklyn Park Clinic where she will be seeing patients. The Ghanaian-born doctor's career spans 20 years.
Dr. Rita Wallace-Reed has joined Crown Medical Center at its Brooklyn Park Clinic where she will be seeing patients. The Ghanaian-born doctor's career spans 20 years.Dr. Rita Wallace-Reed has joined Crown Medical Center at its Brooklyn Park Clinic where she will be seeing patients. The Ghanaian-born doctor's career spans 20 years.
The rapidly growing Crown Medical Center with clinics in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park has added a 20 year veteran of medicine, Dr. Rita Wallace-Reed to its roster of physicians.
Dr. Reed, originally from Ghana, is a graduate of the University of the Ghana Medical School which she followed with an internship in Surgery and Internal Medicine. She spent part of her childhood in Liberia. She completed her residency at Howard University hospital and a Masters of Public Health (MPH) at George Washington University. She further completed a residency in Occupational Medicine at the University of Minnesota and Health Partners in 2002.
Dr. Chike Onyekaba, Programs Director at the clinic said he is excited to have Wallace-Reed on board as she has a reputation for being “a compassionate and caring physician.”
Dr. Wallace-Reed is also a Civil Surgeon, where she conducts US immigration medical exams for those seeking green cards and citizenship related medical requirements. She also treats opiates addiction.
She will be seeing patients at Crown Medical Center’s Brooklyn Park Clinic.
Crown Medical Center, Brooklyn Park Clinic
7001 78th Avenue N
Suite 500
Brooklyn Park MN 55445
Phone: 763-566-4535
Crown Medical Center, Minneapolis Clinic
1925 1st Ave. S.
Minneapolis MN 55403
Phone: 612-871-4354
Kenya marked 50 years of independence yesterday (December 12). Jambo Africa Restaurant in Brooklyn Center is hosting a buffet of Kenyan dishes for both Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 14 and 15) to mark the occasion, according to the proprietors, Simone Acolatse and George (Jojo) Ndege.
There will be a lunch and dinner buffet on both days with lunch starting at noon to 3pm with dinner starting a minute after 3pm. Lunch will cost $10 and $15 for the dinner buffet.
The restaurant specializes in Kenyan and Liberian dishes and has won rave reviews from patrons since its grand opening in March for their tasty fish dishes and the popular Kenyan delicacy of ugali na sukuma wiki with nyama choma. Samosas have been a hit as well according to Jojo.
A Saturday evening party will follow after the buffet at the Blue Nile located at 2027 E. Franklin Ave. Minneapolis 10:00 pm-2:00 am. Cover charge is $10.00.
Jambo Africa Restaurant
6000 Shingle Creek Parkway
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
Telephone: 763-561-0211
Web: www.jamboafricadining.com
Minnesota will hold a public memorial to honor Nelson Mandela at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on Saturday, December 14 starting at 1:00 P.M.
Minnesota will hold a public memorial to honor Nelson Mandela at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on Saturday, December 14 starting at 1:00 P.M.Minnesota will hold a public memorial to honor Nelson Mandela at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on Saturday, December 14 starting at 1:00 P.M.
A public memorial service for the late President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela will be held by Minnesotans on Saturday, December 14, at 1:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in the state’s capital city of Saint Paul.
The memorial service will feature remarks from elected leaders including US Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Congressman Keith Ellison, the mayors of the state’s two largest cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis and Minneapolis Mayor-elect Betsy Hodges.
Among members of the local Minnesota diplomatic community slated to give remarks include Kjell Bergh, Honorary Consul of the United Republic of Tanzania for the State of Minnesota.
Religious leaders will also play a prominent role according to details released by the planning committee led by Judge LaJune Thomas Lange (Retired), Honorary Consul for South Africa for the State of Minnesota. Among them being Abdisalam Adam of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Civic Center, Mythili Chari of Hindu Temple of Minnesota and Steve Hunegs from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Others include Bishop Peter Rogness, Saint Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and immediate past President of the Minnesota Council of Churches, Rev. Billy G. Russell, Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman of Temple Israel in Minneapolis and Father Kevin McDonough, Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Civil rights icon, Josie Johnson, will also give remarks.
David Billingsley, the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church Choir, the St. Peter Claver Cameroon Choir, the Saint Olaf African International Choir, and the African Harmony Choir will provide the music.
Mandela served as South Africa’s first democratically elected President from 1994 until 1999. He was imprisoned in South Africa for his struggle against racial oppression from 1963 until his release on February 11, 1990.
Cathedral of St. Paul 239 Selby Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55102 Time: 1:00 P.M. Free and open to the public
Minnesota will hold a public memorial to honor Nelson Mandela at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on Saturday, December 14 starting at 1:00 P.M.
Minnesota will hold a public memorial to honor Nelson Mandela at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on Saturday, December 14 starting at 1:00 P.M.
Clyde Bellecourt, left, a founder of the American Indian Movement, shakes hands with Nelson Mandela, right, and gets a smile from Sheila Sisulu, South African Ambassador to the United States at a news conference in Minneapolis, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000. Bellecourt asked Mandela, the former president of South Africa, to call upon President Clinton to pardon Leonard Peltier, who is in prison for the deaths of two FBI agents in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota 25 years ago. Photo: Courtesy Mike Zerby
July 18, 1918 Born
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is born in the Umtata district of Transkei, the son of a tribal chief.
1942 Education
Mandela receives his law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, located in Johannesburg, South Africa.
1944 ANC Youth League
Helps form the ANC Youth League with Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu. Marries Evelyn Mase, Sisulu’s cousin.
1948 Apartheid
The National Party comes to power in South Africa and implements a policy of apartheid – an Afrikaans word meaning “apartness.”
1952 Defiance campaign
Leads the Defiance Campaign, encouraging people to break racial separation laws. Convicted under Suppression of Communism Act, banned from attending gatherings and leaving Johannesburg. With Tambo, forms the first black law partnership in South Africa.
1956 Charged with treason
Mandela is one of 156 South Africans charged with treason for supporting the Freedom Charter, which called for a non-racial democracy and a socialist-based economy. All are acquitted in 1961.
1958 Marriage
Marries social worker Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela after divorcing Eveyln.
1960 Deadly protests
Sixty-nine black protesters are killed by police in Sharpeville. A state of emergency is declared, and the ANC is outlawed.
1961 ANC guerrilla wing formed
Helps establish ANC guerrilla wing called Umkhonto we Sizwe, or “Spear of the Nation.”
1962 First sentence
Charged with illegally leaving the country and incitement to strike and sentenced to five years’ hard labor. Government declares Winnie Mandela a banned person and restricts her to the Soweto black township outside Johannesburg.
June 12, 1964 Sentenced to life imprisonment
Mandela is one of eight people found guilty of sabotage after police seized ANC documents that outlined a planned guerrilla campaign. Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment. He is taken to Robben Island Prison off Cape Town.
June 16, 1976 Hundreds dead in protest
Police fire on a protest in Soweto against an edict requiring blacks to be taught in Afrikaans. Violence spreads across South Africa, leaving hundreds dead. The Soweto Uprising galvanizes the anti-apartheid movement around the world.
1985 Offer of release
South African President P.W. Botha offers to release Mandela if he will renounce violence. In a fiery statement read by his daughter Zindzi at a rally, Mandela says the burden is on the government to dismantle apartheid and grant full political rights to blacks.
1989 De Klerk elected president
F.W. de Klerk becomes president and launches a series of reforms. He releases Sisulu and four other of Mandela’s co-defendants. Leading anti-apartheid groups repudiate Winnie Mandela, accusing her of complicity in the abduction and assault of a 14-year-old black activist.
February 2, 1990 ANC legalized
De Klerk legalizes the ANC.
February 11, 1990 Released
Mandela is released after spending 27 years in prison.
August 6, 1990 Violence denounced
The ANC renounces violence in return for a government agreement to free political prisoners.
1991 ANC election
Mandela is elected president of the ANC. The last major apartheid laws are repealed.
1993 Election, Nobel Peace Prize
A draft constitution is adopted, opening the way to South Africa’s first all-race election. Mandela and de Klerk receive the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to apartheid.
May 10, 1994 Mr. President
Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.
June 24, 1995 Rugby World Cup
In a well-chosen gesture of forgiveness, Mandela appears wearing South African colors at
the Rugby World Cup final in Johannesburg to congratulate the victorious home team, bringing the overwhelmingly white crowd of 63,000 to its feet chanting “Nelson! Nelson! Nelson!”
May 29, 1996 Divorce
Granted a divorce from Winnie Mandela. The couple had been separated since 1992.
July 18, 1998 Third marriage
Weds Graca Machel, the widowed former first lady of neighboring Mozambique, on his 80th birthday.
June 16, 1999 Retirement
Mandela retires after one term as president. Turns his attention to peacemaking in other parts of Africa and the world and to fighting AIDS.
2005 Son’s death
When his son, Makgatho, dies, Mandela says publicly that the cause was AIDS – a powerful show of openness in a country where the disease is largely kept a shameful secret.
July 18, 2009 91st birthday – International Mandela Day
His 91st birthday is declared international Mandela Day, which organizers hope will become an annual event devoted to community service.
July 11, 2010 Johannesburg hosts World Cup
Mandela attended the World Cup at the Soccer City stadium at the World Cup, whose staging in South Africa allowed the country to shine internationally. It was the last public appearance for the former president.
December 5, 2013 Mandela dies
Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95 after battling a recurring lung infection. In the days before his death, his daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, told SABC television news that he was still “teaching us lessons; lessons in patience, in love, lessons of tolerance.”
I’m writing to express my concern and raise awareness about the forceful evictions that happened on 10 May 2013 to the people living at the City Carton informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. No one should be evicted against their will, no matter their geographical location. Involuntary evictions are illegal under international and regional human rights law. Individuals living in informal settlements have the same rights to basic necessities (shelter, food, sanitation, education,) like most of us.
Having come from Kenya, I am familiar with the despair and frustration of individuals struggling to survive in an environment replete with various social and economic struggles. Because of my passion in improving the lives of women and children, I have been deeply involved in sensitizing the local in this case Minnesota about the challenges and experiences especially of African women living in the US and Africa. I believe women living in these settlement areas that are characterized by lack of socio-economic development and infrastructure, as well as lack of opportunities for employment should not be made to suffer another day.
It is in this light that I ask you to join the call and sign the petition asking Hon Ngilu (Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Housing and Urban Development- Kenya) to end all forced evictions in Kenya, and implement a law that disallows forced evictions and one that sets guidelines if an eviction is to be carried out.
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. Photo: B.Hamilton/UN
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. Photo: B.Hamilton/UNUNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. Photo: B.Hamilton/UN
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomed today a $12 billion commitment by international partners to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at its fourth replenishment meeting in Washington, DC.
“Support for the Global Fund comes at a crucial point – in many parts of the world we are entering into a ‘make or break’ point in progressing towards our goals,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, applauding the commitments made at the meeting, which comes on the heels of Sunday’s commemoration of World AIDS Day.
“These pledges are a demonstration of global solidarity and trust to move towards ending the three diseases,” he said.
Echoing that sentiment was Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund, who said in closing remarks: “The 21st century ideals that led to the founding of the Global Fund are now stronger than ever: partnership, shared responsibility, and mutual accountability. In many ways, this is a replenishment of hope. It is a lifting up of the human spirit.”
“We’ve had a terrific beginning,” said Dr. Nafsiah Mboi, Chair of the Board of the Global Fund, who led the pledging session, which aimed to generate funds for the next three years. “I offer heartfelt thanks for the generosity of all partners in this effort. Now let’s go to work.”
Delivering remarks on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mr. Sidibé said that while ongoing support has led to many advances in the response, AIDS, TB and malaria financing from the international community remains a lifeline for millions of people.
“We must act with resolve to preserve these gains, which remain fragile. If bed nets and anti-malarials are not delivered and used in time, malaria will continue to spread. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is on the increase, he said, adding that an AIDS-free world is in sight, but success depends on our unwavering resolve to bring treatment to the nearly three in 10 children and adults who still do not have access to it.
“We need to work smarter and better to truly end these infectious diseases.”
Opened by United States President Barack Obama, the meeting was also an opportunity for world leaders and partners to review progress and look to the future. According to UNAIDS, the new commitments represent a sharp increase compared to pledges made at the previous replenishment conference of $9.2 billion.
Shared responsibility by countries has also grown. Domestic spending on HIV has increased, accounting for approximately of 53 per cent of global HIV resources in 2012. The total global resources available for HIV in 2012 were estimated at $18.9 billion.
