The Internal Revenue Service has announced a number of new steps to
help financially distressed taxpayers maximize their refunds and speed
payments while providing additional help to people struggling to meet
their tax obligations.
Taxpayers are encouraged to take advantage of several new tax credits and deductions this filing season. Further, the IRS announced a major enhancement to the Free File program that will allow nearly all taxpayers to e-file for free and accelerate their refunds.
Help for People Who Owe Taxes
With many people facing additional financial difficulties, the IRS is taking several additional steps to help people who owe back taxes.
On a wide range of situations, IRS employees have flexibility to work with struggling taxpayers to assist them with their situation. Depending on the circumstances, taxpayers in hardship situations may be able to adjust payments for back taxes, avoid defaulting on payment agreements or possibly defer collection action.
The IRS reminds taxpayers who are behind on tax payments and need assistance to contact the phone numbers listed on their IRS correspondence. There could be additional help available for these taxpayers facing unusual hardship situations.
Among the areas where the IRS can provide assistance:
Postponement of Collection Actions: IRS employees will have greater authority to suspend collection actions in certain hardship cases where taxpayers are unable to pay. This includes instances when the taxpayer has recently lost a job, is relying solely on Social Security or welfare income or is facing devastating illness or significant medical bills. If an individual has recently encountered this type of financial problem, IRS assistors may be able to suspend collection without documentation to minimize burden on the taxpayer.
Added Flexibility for Missed Payments: The IRS is allowing more flexibility for previously compliant individuals in existing Installment Agreements who have difficulty making payments because of a job loss or other financial hardship. The IRS may allow a skipped payment or a reduced monthly payment amount without automatically suspending the Installment Agreement. Taxpayers in a difficult financial situation should contact the IRS.
Additional Review for Offers in Compromise on Home Values: An Offer in Compromise (OIC), an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s tax debt for less than the full amount owed, may be a viable option for taxpayers experiencing economic difficulties. However, the equity taxpayers have in real property can be a barrier to an OIC being accepted. With the uncertainty in the housing market, the IRS recognizes that the real-estate valuations used to assess ability to pay may not be accurate. So in instances where the accuracy of local real-estate valuations is in question or other unusual hardships exist, the IRS is creating a new second review of the information to determine if accepting an offer is appropriate.
Prevention of Offer in Compromise Defaults: Taxpayers who are unable to meet the periodic payment terms of an accepted OIC will be able to contact the IRS office handling the offer for available options to help them avoid default.
Expedited Levy Releases: The IRS will speed the delivery of levy releases by easing requirements on taxpayers who request expedited levy releases for hardship reasons. Taxpayers seeking expedited releases for levies to an employer or bank should contact the IRS number shown on the notice of levy to discuss available options. When calling, taxpayers requesting a levy release due to hardship should be prepared to provide the IRS with the fax number of the bank or employer processing the levy.
Taxpayers with financial problems who discover they can’t pay when they file their 2008 tax returns also have options available. IRS.gov has a list of What If? scenarios that deal with payment and other financial problems. These scenarios, in question-and-answer format, provide information on specific actions taxpayers can take. Taxpayers unable to pay in full can likewise contact the IRS to discuss additional options to pay.
The dream of Africa’s 53 sovereign states to form a United States of Africa as conceived by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana more than fifty years ago has received less than enthusiastic support at a recent African Union summit held in Addis Ababa.
The Nkrumah dream has lately been rekindled by none other that Libya’s strongman, Colonel Muamar Gaddafi. He spearheaded the 1999 Sirte Accord that paved the way for the transformation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) into a more union-friendly African Union (AU).
Colonel Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya for four decades, has clearly sought to be the new voice of Africa, to fill up a vacuum that has remained void since the death of Nkrumah of Ghana, Nyerere of Tanzania and Abdel Nasser of Egypt.
Following the just-ended summit, Gaddafi became the new African Union chairman, a position he will occupy for one year, during which he may choose to promote his agenda of creating a United States of Africa.
Even as he led discussions in Addis Ababa as AU chairman, dissenting voices from African leaders suggested that Africa was not ready for unity, no – not at this point in time. The meeting ended somewhat in disarray, according to inside sources, with Gaddafi walking out at the end of the meeting without “a word of hope”, while other African leaders also left the summit bringing the much-respected Assembly to a rough landing.
Many of our current African leaders clearly do not want to do away with executive privileges of flying in Presidential jets, receiving a 21-gun salute and receiving a red carpet treatment each time they visit another country. What if this matter was taken to the nearly one billion people of Africa for a referendum? I am sure our leaders would appear to be out of tune with the reality on the ground.
The on-going selfish interests of many of our leaders to remain “kings, sultans and monarchs” in their respective territories has greatly undermined efforts to forge a realistic political union of African states and trifled efforts of integrating our economies for the common good.
It is time that African youth woke up from their slumber and start a strong grass-root movement empowered by internet technology to remove current dinosaurs from power and shake up the status quo in favor of progress towards the establishment of a United States of Africa!
Already the African Union has a Pan-African Parliament composed of 265 elected representatives from all 53 member states intended to provide popular and civil-society participation in the process of democratic governance.
AU has the Assembly of heads of state, the supreme governing body that meets once a year and take decisions by consensus or by two-thirds majority.
The AU has the Union Commission consisting of ten commissioners and supporting staff in the fashion of the European Commission. Its headquarters are in Addis Ababa.
The AU has the African Court of Justice that provides for a Court of Justice to rule on disputes over interpretation of AU treaties. It is now being expanded to include a Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights.
There is the Executive Council comprising of ministers from designated states that take decisions on matters of foreign trade, social security, food, agriculture and communications. There are Permanent Representatives’ Committee, Peace and Security Council, Economic, Social and Cultural Council and Specialized Technical Committees.
To date, Africa has eight Regional Economic Communities spread all over the continent that may be considered the building blocs of the envisaged United States of Africa. These communities that serve as common markets for their respective regions are recognized by the AU and are established under separate regional treaties. They include: the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), East African Community (EAC), Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD).
To create greater momentum on the way forward, the AU has been working on modalities to rationalize the regional communities to avoid overlaps and harmonize policies that are in tune with the Abuja Treaty and Lagos Plan of Action.
The most crucial debate on the formation of the United States of Africa took place in Accra, Ghana in July 2007, marking 50 years of Ghana’s independence. At the end of a conversation that led to a heated debate, the Assembly (summit) agreed to accelerate the economic and political integration of the African continent and to audit AU institutions, review Regional Economic Communities and work for a timetable to establish a Union Government.
What emerged from the Ghana summit was the realization of the need to involve the peoples of Africa, including Africans in the Diaspora in the process leading to the formation of the United States of Africa government.
There is power in numbers. The combined AU Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is in the tune of $500 billion. The ultimate goal is to create a free trade area, a customs union, a single market, a central bank and a common currency (the Afro?)
The projected target is to have an African Economic Community with a single currency by 2023. The project aims that Africa will have one army, a common foreign and trade policy, and will work towards a concerted effort to bring its people together to fight poverty, end internal wars, establish the rule of law and good governance, democracy and uphold the dignity of the people by observing universally accepted standards of human rights.
Africa, through unity will reap the benefits of its vast resources for the well-being of its people, fight for a level-playing field in international trade and avoid marginalization and exploitation by others nations.
With political unity and economic integration, Africa will qualify to have a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council with a veto power that will end her curse of centuries of being the underdog in global relations.
Current African leaders have nothing to fear if we decide to embark on continental unity now. By borrowing from the United States of America federal system, our present heads of state and government will be retained as governors of their current states, and a federal structure with two chambers – a Congress and Senate – are put in place to guarantee fair play and equitable representation for all states.
This is surely a win-win situation for all. As and when Africa decides to speak with one voice, we shall be able to set the agenda of the global economy and set straight the politics of a world now in disarray given the current economic meltdown and political chaos. For, let it be said, without Africa, the world has no future! Let us not squander this opportunity that will transform our circumstances for the better.
The fear among some of our myopic leaders that if we move on with the speed of creating unity in the continent as articulated by Colonel Gaddafi of Libya is tantamount to giving the “unpredictable” Bedouin leader more than his share of a lasting legacy in African history is simply outlandish!
While Gaddafi may not meet the criteria of what others consider to be the splendid face of Africa, what if his ideas are workable and his positioning and timing is on the right side of history? Whether we like it or not, African unity will come through our grass-roots organizing and by the efforts of intellectual vanguards like the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his dream; and revolutionaries of our time (however you view him) like Colonel Gaddafi!
Opinions expressed here are the author’s and do not represent those of Mshale.
After US Tournament, Kenya and South Africa Eye World Cup
Kenya and South Africa fought hard but came up short in their quest for the cup at the USA Sevens rugby tournament in San Diego, California. The tournament held on February 14th-15th, 2009 drew thousands of fans to picturesque San Diego, many in support of their home country teams.
The rugby seven-a-side game has been steadily gaining popularity in the US and around the world because of its high scores and exciting style of play, where speed and skill are emphasized. The Sevens game is a shorter version of a standard rugby game but with the same rules and is played for 15 minutes by seven player teams instead of the fifteen players of a standard rugby match.
The USA Sevens is the fourth leg of the annual International Rugby Board (IRB) sevens circuit and the largest rugby event in North America. The USA tour was introduced in 2004 in Carson, California but moved to San Diego in 2007 where the IRB has a contract with the city through 2011. The location was chosen for its ideal weather in the month of February while most of the US is still in winter.
The San Diego tournament drew over 35,000 attendees for both days.
South Africa’s Springboks were unbeaten on day one of the tournament sailing through matches with Australia, Georgia and a close 15-14 call against the much improved USA Eagles, to qualify for the cup competition. The Springboks had already tasted glory, winning the cup in the first two legs of the 2008-2009 IRB circuit in Dubai and South Africa. The experienced Springboks with speed, hard nosed defense and a history of Sevens success were among the early front runners. However, it was the show stealing Kenyans that were the crowd favorites on the first day.
Kenya, after being caught flat footed in their first match against Uruguay and losing 14-12, pulled off a stunning comeback. They first beat Wales, then the 2008 USA sevens cup winners New Zealand 24- 7 for the first time in fourteen meetings, staying in the cup competition to the delight of the thousands of cheering Kenyan fans.
“Yes we can, yes we can!” they chanted.
“The Kenyans were amazing, that they could pull of such a victory means they could go all the way,” said Peter Welt, a South African fan who had been cheering on the Kenyan team.
On the final day, Kenya bowed out of the cup competition after a 14-7 loss to USA but beat Samoa to set up a New Zealand rematch for the Plate final. New Zealand was able to over come the Kenyans with a 22-7 victory for the Plate trophy. The South Africans who had earlier beat New Zealand lost to England in the Cup semi-final.
Argentina beat England 19-14 in the Cup final to win the US Sevens for the second time.
“The victory was good for our side, especially for the confidence of younger guys,” Benjamin Ayimba told Mshale on the day one victory against New Zealand. Ayimba, who is the coach of the Kenya team is proud of his team’s performance, “Our next goal is the World Cup.”
The Rugby World Cup Sevens, scheduled for March 5th-7th, 2009 in Dubai, will feature African teams from South Africa, Kenya, Tunisia and Zimbabwe and promises to be the most exciting Rugby Sevens world cup yet.
The rebels fought for resources. Charles Taylor fought to stay in
power. Young boys were recruited to fight in a war they barely
understood. And the women of Liberia, they fought for survival, theirs
and Liberia’s.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a gripping, tear-jerking, yet
empowering story of the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity
of our survival instinct to triumph over the greatest challenges.
The film’s early scenes are set in 2003 when a group of Liberian women begin organizing themselves to get an audience with President Charles Taylor. Taylor was disinterested: his full attention lay in proving his military prowess as he fought rebels across the country. The women persisted: dressed in white dresses and white headscarves they gathered in hundreds and waited by the roadside for Taylor to pass by and notice them. For days, they continued meeting, until he finally relented.
Leymah Gbowee was one of these women. She says she was exhausted by war’s sorrows and destruction and yearned for a return of normalcy. Together with other women groups she formed the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, a coalition of women’s groups that included both a Christian and a Muslim women’s association. They were up against men who were not afraid of raping or killing women in their community. Their religious conviction was not unique however. As Gbowee says of Taylor, who would later be charged in an international court on actions committed during those violent times, “he could pray the devil back to hell.” Taylor like many Liberians went to church and prayed.
So these women took courage, prayed for peace and believed their prayers answered when Taylor finally agreed to meet with African leaders in Ghana for peace talks. Gbowee and hundreds of other women followed him there in eager anticipation.
To their dismay however, Taylor and the other warlords were not interested in ending the war. Resolving never to quit, the women decided to press on in faith, and thus began the sit-ins.
In a telephone interview with Mshale, the film’s award-winning director Gini Reticker says, “the role of women is often neglected when telling history.” For years, international journalists covered the Liberian war, yet Reticker found very little footage on the struggle of the women of Liberia to end the war; this in spite of their very open and significant. It was not difficult to find them, they sat in market places, called on the president and even traveled to Ghana for peace talks. They were central to the peace effort, and it would be difficult to overstate their importance to the peace effort, and to compelling progress at the peace talks.
Reticker says she “made a point not to include violent images… its almost pornographic.” Instead through five women, of different vocations and backgrounds, the story of Liberia is told, or told anew. This retelling is different from the story most people know, for as Reticker says, the traditional approach has been informed by the fact that “the sight of a young Liberian man holding a gun is a more compelling story than that of a woman organizing for peace.”
In times of increasing global tensions, and endless news of strife and crises within countries, conflict and the potential for conflict threaten to disrupt more lives than they have in several decades. The example of this group of women in Liberia, determinedly waging peace against great odds gives many communities around the world, besieged by the trauma of war, the hope that they too can prevail.
For this reason, the film has among other places been shown in the Congo, in Iraq and in Darfur. Following the film’s screening women in Kurdistan and Georgia have written peace agendas for the future of their communities.
Here in Minnesota, the film’s showing will undoubtedly take several Liberians back to those traumatic times, opening up old wounds, but perhaps also uniting and emboldening them and the rest of society in common resolve in their present struggles. These empowering stories, and the accounting of a lengthy healing process, are a testament to how far Liberia and the survivors of its civil war has come.
And for non-Liberians the film will offer courage, hope and a determination that no struggle is too big to overcome.
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Pray the Devil Back to Hell will play at the Lagoon Cinema, 1320
Lagoon Avenue in Minneapolis from Friday, February 27th through
Thursday, March 5th. Click here for screenings.
Update: The film’s screening has been extended to Sunday, March 15th, 2009.
Visit the film’s website here for screenings in other cities.
Minneapolis, Mn-Neighbors and friends; reporters, local politicians and law enforcement streamed through the doors of Abubakar As-Sadique Mosque to interact with the Somali Community. The response to an open house invitation by the mosque was overwhelming. Media reports connecting the Minneapolis mosque to the Somali men alleged to have gone back to Somalia to fight Jihad, a holy war, have created new misconceptions about the community. For many guests that evening, learning about Islam and Muslims was refreshing for their knowledge of Islam was limited, and the little they knew was based on stereotypes.
The last several months have proved particularly difficult for the Somali community as they have fought rumors that their largest mosque-the Abubakar As-Sadique Mosque- has been indoctrinating and recruiting young Somali men to be terrorists.The open house is a move by the mosque’s leaders to dispel notions that the mosque is a “terrorist training ground”.
That evening, as guests walked into the mosque they were greeted by a warm “Welcome to our mosque,” and shown around by volunteers who encouraged them to ask many questions. There was a table with literature on Islam as well as English-translated Qurans, the Muslim holy book. Volunteers made sure that none of their guests were left unattended.
“This idea that Somalis refuse to talk to anyone is wrong,” lamented mosque board member, Abdirashid Abdi. He was responding to comments by reporters that members of the Somali community were hesitant to talk to the press. Abdi says that the mosque hopes to hold at least two community open houses every year.
Itasska Johnson, a Minneapolis Community Technical College student, was invited to the open house by a classmate. “I have been trying to get an insight into the community. My classmate emailed me one of their newsletters and invited me to this event,” she explained. Johnson had not heard about the missing Somali men, however, her sister on learning that Johnson was at a mosque was quick to inform her: “She asked me why I would come here when the news says that Somalis are bombing people.”
Toni Newborn, who was sharing a table with her, engaged her in a conversation on the recent news reports. Newborn works with the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights, investigations unit and has given presentations at mosques. She has firsthand knowledge on the consequences of the negative media on the Somali community and was at the open house to show her support for the community.
Richfield High School teachers Dave Clark, Lindsay Peak and Laura Harris were invited to the open house by their students. “I want to be more informed,” said Peak who is a world studies teacher. About 50% of the schools ESL students are Somali and the teachers estimate that roughly 6 – 7% of the school’s population is Muslim. This was the first time all three had been to a mosque.
Social Science teacher, Laura Harris, had Muslim friends in college and teaches Muslim students, but thought she wasn’t allowed to go to the mosque. “This kind of interaction gives a better understanding than what is taught in class,” she remarked.
At 6:00pm the guests accompanied their hosts in the prayer hall for Islam sunset prayers know as Magharib. Volunteers explained the proceedings to the groups of people seated around them.
After the prayers, which lasted about 10 minutes, everyone headed for dinner and enjoyed an East African feast that included rice, chapatis, beef stew and samosas, all courtesy of Casablanca Restaurant.
Abubakar As-Sadique Mosque is more than a place of worship; it is also a community center. It has a wedding hall and runs social programs like elder arbitration to settle family and community disputes and has seasonal youth programs for education and fitness (done through the YMCA and YWCA). A school is under construction on the second floor.
Following dinner, the guests moved into the packed wedding hall to listen to community leaders address them.
“We are part of the Minnesota community, we are taxpayers, we are working for the good of the Minnesota society,” said Sheikh Abdirahman Ahmed, who is Abubakar’s Imam. He has lived in Minnesota for over ten years, was a counselor at Higher Ground Academy as well as a teacher at South Central High School. “We don’t want to harm anybody, we know what harm means, we came from a country with civil war,” he added.
“The mosque and this center are only for the service of Muslims in Minnesota,’ said mosque director Omar Hurre.
“Minnesota has been unique for Somalis. We have blended in over the last 10 years and built businesses, we are good citizens,” commented Axis Medical Center director, Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed.
“The great thing about America is that unless proven otherwise you are not guilty.” Dr. Mohamed has been highly critical of press reports that have branded the mosque as a terrorist training ground.
The Civil Rights Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Minnesota (CAIR-MN) Taneeza Islam passionately urged Somalis and other Muslims to exercise their freedom as Americans, “I want all of you here today to think of what’s happening in the Somali community as an American civil rights issue, as a Minnesota civil rights issue. Let’s empower each other and do it the American way.”
Africa is the hardest hit as the turmoil engulfing Western financial markets is forcing most companies on the continent to shut down mines and factories.
Governments have devalued currencies while the financial sector is reeling from massive capital flight.
The raging global financial crisis has forced commodity prices to nose-dive dealing major blow to mining-based African economies which had registered some positive growth in the last few years. Mining companies in mineral dependent economies in Africa are scaling down operations resulting in massive retrenchments and lay –offs.
Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe were some of the hardest hit countries in the southern Africa region.
These countries have registered significant cuts in their export receipts severely affecting revenue flows for the governments.
A sharp decline in commodity prices in the past three months for minerals such as platinum, copper, nickel and gold have slowed down in economic growth and decline in government revenues. Mineral revenue forms the bulk of government’s total revenues and in Botswana mineral revenue accounted for about 35-50% of the total government revenues over the past five years.
Africa boasts of holding 30 percent of the world’s mineral resources including 40 percent of gold, 60 percent cobalt, 90 percent platinum, 72 percent chromium and approximately 65 percent of the world’s diamonds.
In South Africa, Africa’s largest economy, Diamond mining giant De Beers has implemented an extended leave period for workers as a result of the economic downturn, which has seen diamond prices fall by 30 percent in the past three months.
This has negatively affected the world’s biggest diamond producer, Botswana, where the gem accounts for more than one third of GDP and 70 – 80 percent of export earnings.
According to media reports, some 32, 000 workers are facing redundancy on top of another 32, 000 retrenched in the third quarter in South Africa.
Zambia is also reeling from changes to the copper price, which slid from $8, 000 per metric ton to about $3,100 in less than six months. Economics Association of Zambia economist Chibamba Kanyama was quoted saying the international crisis was making it difficult for mines to source capital for further exploration.
“The mining companies are really failing to source working capital, their shareholders are apprehensive about further investment in mining companies,” he said. “The reduction in growth in China has significantly affected demand for both base metals and the platinum family of metals.”
Analysts say the economic downturn and its impact on commodity prices pose a possible disaster for Zambia and other countries that have failed to diversify beyond the mineral wealth that has been a cash cow for governments over the years.
Africa is carrying the heavy burden of this unmitigated disaster with more countries on the continent producing oil, coffee, cocoa, flowers and other agricultural products and others relying on tourism reeling from the effects of the self-made financial crisis.
Across the continent, lack of credit and long-term investment funds has slowed down growth in consumer spending, reduced employment and incomes, as well as causing capital losses on personal savings and other assets.
In Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Ltd closed its open cast mine due to falling metal prices since July last year. It was costing Zimplats approximately double to mine a tonne of ore from the open pit than from its underground mines.
Platinum prices plummeted from US$2, 200 per ounce in mid July last year to around US$800 per ounce late last year.
Third quarter earnings for Zimplats, the country’s largest platinum producer fell by 83 percent down from the previous quarter.
European leaders have outlined a battery of measures to bail out their economies backed by a $3,000 billion package to inject capital, purchase banks’ toxic assets and loans, guarantees for savers deposits and guarantees for unsecured bank loans.
The US also unveiled a similar plan, a US$1 trillion to bail out the motor industry, banks, insurance companies and mortgage agencies.
On the contrary, Western countries and their multilateral financial lending institutions are telling African governments not to extend funds to save their companies and banks showing the West’s naked double standards in dealing with the financial meltdown.
“Recent actions of Western countries to counter both the financial crisis and the strong recessionary trends have in many cases gone against their predominant free-market non-interventionist ideology,” said Martin Khor, the renowned Third World Network economic analyst.
“Even more interestingly, their recent policies contrast sharply with the advice which they and the International Monetary Fund that they control gave to Asian countries during their financial crisis a decade ago, revealing clear double standards.”
African countries and most other developing countries in Asia and Latin America have been ordered not to come to the assistance of their ailing local banks and companies on the pretext that this is a waste of public funds that would lead to inefficiency and corruption.
Developing countries are being told to press on with financial liberalization policies which have brought untold hardships in the past two decades in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In a rare and ‘extraordinary admission,’ the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) admitted recently that market-driven policies had failed in Africa.
Unctad’s report on economic development in Africa clearly stated that market-driven reform under World Bank structural adjustment programmes had messed things up in Africa, particularly in the continent’s most strategic sector, agriculture.
It was reported that reforms have left the industry in tatters – changing the continent from a net food producer before reforms to a net importing region after – and poor African countries increasingly reliant on expensive imports to feed their populations.
Both developed and developing nations need to address what went wrong and caused this global financial crisis that has threatened global prosperity.
African countries need a new international initiative to solve the problem through calls for stronger systems of multinational consultations and surveillance as well as applying ethical dimensions to the global financial system.
Other economists say that tough economic times require resilience, efficiency, diversity and dynamism. They say the crisis should challenge African countries to diversify their economies and increase its internal efficiency and dynamism.
But as the world ponders on the way forward, the crisis, it seems, will for now continue to wreck havoc on African economies pushing more into the depths of poverty.
It is unfair for Africa to bear the brunt of global crisis generated by the rich countries.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva aptly summed it up at the third annual India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) conference when he said: “It is unfair that poorer nations have to pay for the irresponsibility of speculators who have transformed the world into a gigantic casino.”
Part of the mission of the nation’s historically Black institutions (HBI) is to provide a college education for a disproportionate number of students who can’t afford to go to most traditionally White institutions (TWI).
Now, many of those Black schools that have provided sanctuary for low-income students are stumbling under the weight of the country’s economic crisis.
Enrollments at Black schools are down while endowments are in decline and fundraising sources have dried up.
The fact is resources are scarce at most U.S. colleges and universities,
but students at HBI’s often need more financial aid to stay in school. ‘What’s most difficult for our institutions is that they are tuition-driven,’ said Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund to the Associated Press.
‘They don’t have the large endowments and even the ones who do, have seen a large reduction in the value of those endowments.’
Most U.S. colleges are reeling from economic woes. A recent survey of 791 American public and private colleges indicates endowments fell 3 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30. A smaller group of schools reported a 23 percent drop in the first five months of fiscal year 2009, which began in July.
Only three Black colleges—Howard University in Washington, D.C., Spelman College in Atlanta and Hampton University in Virginia—had endowments in the top 300 included in the survey.
But, even venerable Spelman announced it will cut 35 positions due to the faltering U.S. economy.
Recently the all women’s institution said it will reduce next year’s budget by $4.8 million. Enrollment at the school is also down 3 percent this year.
Spelman will cut 12 vacant positions and 23 existing positions. One of Spelman’s Atlanta neighbors, Clark Atlanta University cut about 100 workers last week because of plummeting enrollment.
Jennifer Jiles, a spokeswoman for the school said 70 faculty members and up to 40 staff learned that Friday was their last work day. She said no more cuts are expected and denies the school, which is the largest of United Negro College Fund institutions, is in any financial distress.
‘There is absolutely no financial emergency and the university is not a cash marginal institution,’ Jiles told the Associated Press. She said students have been having difficulty getting loans for school.
‘We were getting some indication by mid-fall and certainly by December, that we would have a number of students that would not be returning for the spring semester,’ Jiles said. She estimates about 98 percent of Clark Atlanta students get financial aid.
At Morehouse, also in Atlanta, enrollment is down about 8 percent from last year and the school’s endowment is down to about $110 million from a high of $150 million. But, there is a bright spot in the midst of the school’s economic woes—an increase in alumni donors, especially first-time givers.
‘They feel a greater responsibility for the health of the college,’ said Morehouse president Robert Franklin.
21-year-old Dabney Zanders, a senior finance major at Morehouse set to graduate in May says he is more worried about the future of the school than his own future.
‘They’re just spread very thin,’ he said. ‘At a certain point you have to wonder, when is my education starting to fall off?’
The U.S./U.K. Roles In Congo's Blood Diamonds Industry
Since Rwanda and Uganda invaded the Congo in 1996, these countries
have pursued a plan to appropriate the wealth of Eastern Congo either
directly or through proxy forces.
The December 2008 United Nations report is the latest in a series of
U.N. reports dating from 2001 that clearly documents the systematic
looting and appropriation of Congolese resources by Rwanda and Uganda,
two of Washington and London’s staunchest allies in Africa.
However, in the wake of the December 2008 report, which clearly documents Rwanda’s support of destabilizing proxy forces inside the Congo, a series of stunning proposals and actions have been presented which all appear to be an attempt to cover up or bury the damning U.N. report on the latest expression of Rwanda’s aggression against the Congolese people.
The earliest proposal came from Herman Cohen, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs under George H. W. Bush. He proposed that Rwanda be rewarded for its well documented looting of Congo’s wealth by being a part of a Central and East African free trade zone whereby Rwanda would keep its ill-gotten gains.
French President Nicholas Sarkozy would not be outdone; he also brought his proposal off the shelf, which argues for essentially the same scheme of rewarding Rwanda for its 12-year war booty from the Congo. Two elements are at the core of both proposals.
One is the legitimization of the economic annexation of the Congo by Rwanda, which for all intents and purposes represents the status quo. Second—basically the laying of the foundation for the balkanization of the Congo or the outright political annexation of Eastern Congo by Rwanda. Both Sarkozy and Cohen have moved with lightning speed past the Dec. 12, 2008, United Nations report to make proposals that avoid the core issues revealed in the report.
The U.N. report reaffirms what Congolese intellectuals, scholars and victims have been saying for over a decade in regard to Rwanda’s role as the main catalyst for the biblical scale death and misery in the Congo. The Ugandan and Rwandan invasions of 1996 and 1998 have triggered the deaths of nearly 6 million Congolese. The United Nations says it is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War II.
The report “found evidence that the Rwandan authorities have been complicit in the recruitment of soldiers, including children, have facilitated the supply of military equipment, and have sent officers and units from the Rwandan Defense Forces” to the DRC. The support is for the National Congress for the Defense of the People, or CNDP, formerly led by a self-proclaimed general, Laurent Nkunda.
The report also shows that the CNDP is sheltering a war criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Gen. Jean Bosco Ntaganda, who was Nkunda’s chief of staff. The CNDP has used Rwanda as a rear base for fundraising meetings and bank accounts, and Uganda is once more implicated as Nkunda has met regularly with embassies in both Kigali and Kampala.
Also, Uganda is accepting illegal CNDP immigration papers. Earlier U.N. reports said that Kagame and Museveni are the mafia dons of Congo’s exploitation. This has not changed in any substantive way.
The report implicates Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa, a close advisor to Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda. Rujugiro is the founder of the Rwandan Investment Group. This is not the first time he has been named by the United Nations as one of the individuals contributing to the conflict in the Congo.
In April 2001, he was identified as Tibere Rujigiro in the U.N. Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as one of the figures illegally exploiting Congo’s wealth. His implication this time comes in financial contributions to CNDP and appropriation of land.
This brings to light the organizations he is a part of, which include but are not limited to the Rwanda Development Board, the Rwandan Investment Group, of which he is the founder, and Kagame’s Presidential Advisory Council. They have members as notable as Rev. Rick Warren, business tycoon Joe Ritchie, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Scott Ford of Alltell, Dr. Clet Niyikiza of GlaxoSmithKline, former U.S. president Bill Clinton and many more.
These connections provide some insight into why Rwanda has been able to commit and support remarkable atrocities in the Congo without receiving even a reprimand in spite of the fact that two European courts have charged their top leadership with war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is only recently that two European nations, Sweden and the Netherlands, have decided to withhold aid from Rwanda as a result of their aggression against the Congolese people.
The United Nations report shows that the Congolese soldiers have also given support to the FDLR and other armed groups to fight against the aggression of Rwanda’s CNDP proxy. One important distinction must be made in this regard. It appears that the FDLR support comes more from individual Congolese soldiers as opposed to overall government support.
The Congolese government is not supporting the FDLR in incursions into Rwanda; however, the Rwandan government is in fact supporting rebel groups inside Congo. The Congolese population is the victim of the CNDP, FDLR and the Congolese military.
The United Nations report is a predictable outgrowth of previous reports produced by the U.N. since 2001. It reflects the continued appropriation of the land, theft of Congo’s resources, and continuous human rights abuses caused by Rwanda and Uganda. An apparent aim of these spasms is to create facts on the ground – land appropriation, theft of cattle and other assets – to consolidate CNDP-Rwandan economic integration into Rwanda.
Herman Cohen’s “Can Africa Trade Its Way to Peace?” in the New York Times reflects the disastrous policies that favor profits over people. In his article, the former lobbyist for Mobutu Sese Seko and Kabila’s government in the United States and former assistant secretary of state for Africa from 1989 to 1993 argues, “Having controlled the Kivu provinces for 12 years, Rwanda will not relinquish access to resources that constitute a significant percentage of its gross national product.”
He adds, “The normal flow of trade from eastern Congo is to Indian Ocean ports rather than the Atlantic Ocean, which is more than a thousand miles away.” Continuing his argument, he believes that “the free movement of people would empty the refugee camps and would allow the densely populated countries of Rwanda and Burundi to supply needed labor to Congo and Tanzania.”
Cohen’s first mistake in providing solutions to the conflict is to look at the conflict as a humanitarian crisis that can be solved by economic means. Uganda and Rwanda are the aggressors. Aggressors should not define for the Congo what is best, but rather it is for the Congo to define what it has to offer to its neighbor.
A lasting solution is to stop the silent annexation of Eastern Congo. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has already weighed in on this matter when it ruled in 2005 that Congo is entitled to $10 billion in reparations due to Uganda’s looting of Congo’s natural resources and the commission of human rights abuses in the Congo. It would have in all likelihood ruled in the same fashion against Rwanda; however, Rwanda claimed to be outside the jurisdiction of the court.
The United States and Great Britain’s implication is becoming very clear. These two great powers consider Rwanda and Uganda their staunch allies and, some would argue, client states. These two countries have received millions of dollars of military aid, which in turn they use in Congo to cause destruction and death.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame is a former student at the U.S. military training base, Fort Leavenworth, and Uganda President Yoweri Museveni’s son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, graduated from the same U.S. military college in the summer of 2008.
The United States and Great Britain should follow the lead of the Dutch and Swedish governments who have suspended their financial support to Rwanda. U.S. and British taxpayers’ support has enabled the invasions and occupations that resulted in an estimated 6 million people dead in Congo; hundreds of thousands of women have been systematically raped as an instrument of war and millions displaced.
Pressure on Rwanda is required in spite of the Kigali government’s recent so-called “house arrest” of Laurent Nkunda. African institutions such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union are primed to be more engaged in the Congo issue. Considering Congo’s importance to Africa, it is remarkable that they have been so anemic in regard to the Congo crisis for so long.
Rwanda’s leader, Kagame, cannot feel as secure or be as arrogant as he has been in the past. One of his top aides was arrested in Germany as a result of warrants issued by a French court in connection with the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana –which sparked the 1994 horrors—and there is almost global consensus that pressure must be put on Kagame to cease his support for the forces destabilizing Congo and the resultant humanitarian catastrophe.
In addition to pressure on Kagame, the global community should support the following policies:
(1). Initiate an international tribunal on the Congo; (2). Work with the Congolese to implement a national reconciliation process; this could be a part of the international tribunal; (3). Work with the Congolese to assure that those who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity are brought to justice; (4). Hold accountable corporations that are benefiting from the suffering and deaths in the Congo; and, (5). Make the resolution of the Congo crisis a top international priority.
The right to life is not a privilege, and Congolese deaths must be honored by due process of the law. As the implication of the many parties in this conflict becomes clear, we should start firmly acknowledging that the conflict is a resource war waged through U.S. and British allies.
Congolese deserve people of goodwill to advocate for the measures I have outlined to end the conflict and start the new path to peace, harmony and an end to the exploitation of Congo’s wealth and the devastation of its peoples.
Somali, Muslim Leaders Denounce Accusations Against Islamic Center
Minneapolis, Mn–Leaders of the Somali and Muslim communities came
out in a united front to address what they called “the inaccurate and
unfair portrayal of our mosques and Imams”.
Mid last year, about 20 Somali men were reported to have been
recruited from Minneapolis to fight a holy war in Somalia. The Abubakar
As-Saddique Islamic Center was rumored to be connected to their
disappearance. “It is unfortunate that some individuals in the Somali
community unfairly accused the Abubakar Center to have links to the
disappearance of the young Somali men. We strongly deny these
unsubstantiated allegations. Abubakar Center didn’t recruit, finance or
otherwise facilitate in any way shape or form the travel of those
youth,” said Adbirashid Abdi, a member of the board of directors of the
Abubakar Center . (Full press statement here)
“This is a trying time for not only the Somali community, but the Islamic community. We need to show our solidarity,” said Imam Makram El-Amin of the Masjid An-Nur mosque.
The leaders accused the media of reporting statements from individuals with personal biases against the mosque presenting many problems for the Somali community. They called for the investigation of those who have an interest in destroying the mosque. According to Abdi, the mosque had to recuse itself from assisting the affected families, and let law enforcement step in, as they did not want to be further implicated. The mosque feared that reaching out to help these families would make it seem like they were trying to intimidate the families or silence them
Travel plans for many Somalis have since been frustrating. Speaking for the first time in public since being barred from getting on a flight last year, Abubakar Center youth coordinator Abdullah Farah complained about his experience. “I was denied boarding a flight to do my religious duties without any answers to this day. Our community is overwhelmed as confused and want to solve this as much as you do,” he admonished.
President of S.Y.N.C (Somali Youth Network Council), Osman Mukhtar, was held up at the Chicago airport for two and a half hours on a trip back to Minnesota from Europe where he was visiting his family. “The media needs to listen to all sides of the story,” he insisted. Mukhtar was friends with two of the missing men, “I knew them by different names, so I was shocked to see their pictures in the paper.” One of the men, whom he knew as Abdi Salam, gave him a ride to the Brian Coyle Center just a few days before his ‘disappearance’. “Our conversation was regular talk, he asked me how I was doing and I asked him how he was doing,” he remarked.
Mukhtar admits that there had been a change in his friend’s character right after Ramadhan, “He listened to the Quran all the time.” Mukhtar explains the dilemma facing many young Somali men, “They can’t get a job, they are confused and have been kicked out by parents for being in gangs. Some say to themselves, I did these bad things in the past, how do I cleanse myself? Maybe that’s why they would go back to fight a holy war.”
But that’s not the story for all troubled Somali youth. Farah Mohamed had a dark past, but now works with at the Abubakar Center with the youth. “Abubakar means the world to me,” he expressed. “I used to be in gangs and even went to prison. Abubakar helps us grow,” he said drawing cheers from the crowd.
Some complained that the negative press has resulted in repeated FBI interrogations. Samiya Ahmed, Rukia Mohamed and Sarah Qaxiya were Facebook friends with some of the missing. The authorities went to Ahmed’s house with photos of the missing men asking her if she knew any of them. “When they came to my house it took me by shock. I have never had any encounters with the law,” said the Normandale Community College student. “I even received a phone call the day before inauguration day asking if I know anyone who is going to bomb the inauguration,” she added.
“We are American citizens and we love this country. This is the president we elected. They think they are helping, but they are pushing us away,” said Mohamed who went to high school with one of the missing kids. “The FBI has to find a different way to do this,” said Qaxiya.
This article first appeared in the TC Daily Planet.
AutoTune and automatic weapons: K'naan, top Somali MC, coming to the Varsity
This Wednesday night marks the return of the quickly-rising Somali
MC K’naan to Minneapolis. After closing the Pan-African Festival last
summer, he is coming to the Varsity Theater in support of his new
album, Troubadour.
K’naan’s performance here has more significance than most of his
tour stops, given the large number of Somalis living in Minnesota.
K’naan himself used to live in Minneapolis, and at the Varsity you can
expect an enthusiastic crowd waving Somali flags. K’naan is one of the
few Somali MCs to achieve the adoration of Somalis under 30 as well as
the respect of older members of the community, those most often
suspicious of rap’s effects on young Somalis.
Like many of the diasporic, refugee, and immigrant artists who draw on their experiences as fodder for their art, K’naan tells the story of his own journey but raps about a wide range of subjects—he’s a Somali MC, but he can’t be pigeonholed as only a Somali MC. There are references to Somalia on nearly every song on Troubadour. For example, “Fifteen Minutes Away” is an ode to money order remittances, and “Somalia” not only addresses K’naan’s own life growing up in Mogadishu, but also media representations of Somalia that center only around spectacles of violence and piracy.
K’naan has a compelling story of emerging from war and the law of the gun on the streets of Mogadishu, and like the best MCs he tells it with a keen ear for nimble and inventive rhymes. On the Lennon-channeling “Dreamer” (with its chorus of “I’m a dreamer / but I ain’t the only one”), he spits “We from the only place worse than Kandahar / and that’s kinda hard / but we still like to party and hardy-har.”
Still, musically and lyrically, Troubadour attempts to speak to listeners who have never been to Somalia. Sometimes this combination of musical styles happens all within the space of a single song. The first ten seconds of the album’s opener, “ABCs,” feature a short sample from “Kasalèfkut Hulu,” one of the best-known songs from Ethiopian popular music legend Mulatu Astatqé; the sample is then overlaid with a bouncing synth line and vocals from Chubb Rock. In the chorus, a group of children (echoing Pink Floyd) intone “all we got is life on the streets”—a reference to K’naan’s childhood. On somber and introspective “People Like Me,” the artist gives voice to a number of different characters, including an American soldier in Iraq and a single mom struggling to make ends meet after the loss of her job.
The song where this attempt at crossover is most evident, yet least successful, is on “If Rap Gets Jealous,” a new version of a song that was also on his last record, The Dusty Foot Philosopher. Featuring the guitar of Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, the song is the most over-produced track on the album; Hammett’s guitar draws far too much attention away from K’naan’s vivid storytelling. At the same time, K’naan is definitely aware about his own place within today’s hip-hop. He takes a few jabs at mainstream rap on “Does It Really Matter,” as he cycles through the various American rap scenes as well as lyrical and instrumental clichés such as octave drops and AutoTune (the effect Kanye West used on his polarizing last album).
From AutoTune to automatic weapons, from Western Union to warlords, K’naan’s music reveals the multifaceted experiences of someone not just living, but thriving between worlds. His Varsity Theater show, featuring support from Muja Messiah and M.anifest, should provide another installment of inspiration not only for his fellow Somalis and other members of the African diaspora, but also new fans with roots in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Robbinsdale, Minnesota–Their faces somber they milled into a church in Robbinsdale, a few miles from Brooklyn Park where many Liberians live.
There was tension and fear in their voices as they chat among
themselves.
These approximately three hundred Liberians were gathered on a
chilly Sunday evening to learn how they could petition US legislators,
to extend the temporary immigration status (TPS) for about 1000
Liberians in Minnesota. They hope that they will eventually be granted
US residency. With about two months before the TPS expiration, an
immediate extension is preferred as it would take immigration officials
longer to process the paperwork needed for residency.
In October 2008, President Bush granted an extension to this same group of Liberians. The extension runs to the first of April. An immigrant under TPS is required to re-register annually with the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), and to pay an annual fee for a work permit.
*Sarah Smith was one of these people. She handed out fliers with instructions on calling legislators. “Make sure you call them, “she told one person after the next.
Smith is more than a little distressed. What happens to her family, when on March 31st, her TPS status expires?
“My family will be broken.”
Smith has lived in Minnesota for nine years. For each of those years, she has paid a fee to maintain this temporary status.
When she moved here, her daughter was only a year old and the two of them were granted this temporary immigration status. Her son, through his father, has a green card, so he will not be deported. She could move back to Liberia with him, but with no formal training Smith is at pains to see how she can support herself and her children in a country whose unemployment rate is over eighty per cent.
Liberia is recovering from a civil war that started in 1980, and just ended in 2003. A broken, but recovering infrastructure is ill-equipped to support a sudden influx of deportees from the US.
Kerper Dwanyen, the President of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM) has been working tirelessly to engage his community in finding a permanent immigration solution. Dwanyen warns that, “the emerging democracy of Liberia faces a period of critical rebuilding.”
“Forced repatriation,” he says, “threatens the stability of Liberia and the West Africa region.”
Liberians in the US send thousands of dollars in remittances that are instrumental in the country’s rebuilding.
Dr. Bruce Corrie, a Professor of Economics at Concordia University in Saint Paul argues that the healthcare sector in Minnesota will suffer profoundly should this group of Liberians are deported come March. “4,000 people who identify as Liberian work in the healthcare sector.” His research on this community resulted in a finding that shows an enormous financial contribution to the Minnesotan economy. “The Liberian buying power is an estimated $157 million dollars which is almost as large as the 2007-2008 Liberian national budget of $199 million dollars.”
Corrie argues that while Liberians are a minority in the healthcare sector, their employment in the healthcare field has created over 12,000 jobs and should the 300 Liberians on TPS be deported then Minnesota should expect loss in earnings of about 300 million dollars.
A thirty-five year old woman, on condition of anonymity told Mshale, that she has little job security. An accountant by trade, she now works in a nursing home because no one else was willing to hire her on a temporary status. Her living expenses are enormous because her parents, who she lives with, are ailing. While one of them receives state healthcare, the other is on TPS and has to pay for medical expenses out of pocket.
She laments her financial situation, “It’s as if the hole is getting deeper and deeper.”
The Advocates, a Minnesota-based human rights organization with a global lens, and the Jewish Community Action are working closely with the Liberian community to put pressure on legislative change.
Vic Rosenthal, the executive director of JCA spoke at Sunday’s gathering where he urged the Liberian community to create alliances with other immigrant groups who are on TPS. These groups include: Burundi, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan.
Michelle Garret-McKenzie, from the Advocates, warned about the ‘new face” of immigration.
“Minnesota has hundreds more immigration officers on the ground than they did two years ago. They are ready to deport you come April 1st.” McKenzi urged the Liberian community to increase their efforts in getting their voices heard,”Call Congress. Contact the White House!”
Congressman Erik Paulsen amid cheers from the audience promised to work tirelessly in Congress to push for an extension of TPS.
Wynfred Russell, a Liberian community activist and the Director of the Center for Multicultural Studies at Normandale College is “cautiously optimistic that something will be done before March 31st.”
In a telephone interview with the Mshale Russell says, “Since the 18-month extension by President Bush, grassroots organizations have been working with Minnesota legislator keep the issue alive.” He explained that changing the immigration status for a whole group of people is “a long and complicated political process”.
In a letter to Congress in December last year, Rep Keith Ellison wrote a letter to then President-elect, now President Barack Obama urging him to extend the Liberian TPS. In the letter Ellison said that Liberians after fleeing the war in Liberia have established careers, pay taxes, are raising American-born children, and have firmly established themselves in their local US communities.
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The Avocates, a human rights organization working with Liberians on TPS, estimates that there are between 4,000 and 10,000 Liberians under temporary protected Status in the United States.
An estimated 25,000 Liberians live in Minnesota, one of the largest Liberian communities outside of West Africa.
This article was written for both Mshale, and the TC Daily Planet.
