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Gen Y’s Jobless Aren’t Crying in Their Martinis, They’re Networking Online

By
rndev
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SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Hutchins, 24, was a management and business
strategy consultant when he moved from New York to San Francisco last
November. One month after settling in at the San Francisco office,
Hutchins was laid off. He wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t get upset about
being jobless.

Just hours after “Bloody Monday” last week, when 65,000 people
received the axe at work, Hutchins launched LaidOffCamp, a
discussion-oriented, self-organized “unconference,” inspired by his
desire to create a positive space for the unemployed and self-employed.

“I want to change the image associated with being laid off so people realize it’s not a tragedy,” Hutchins said, “but rather an opportunity to find something better or find something you’re really passionate about.”

Hutchins represents one of the many Gen Yers who have sought refuge in the Internet since losing their jobs. These unemployed young professionals are bright, ambitious, tech-savvy, and completely unsatisfied with just queuing up to collect an unemployment check each month.

LaidOffCamp is modeled on the successful, web-organized “BarCamp,” which organizes meetings where attendees present information to each other. At LaidOffCamp, those interested in presenting will be asked to write their topic on a white board and attendees will decide which topics should be presented — from how to live on a budget to how to brand yourself. The purpose, Hutchins says, is “for community members to help steer each other in the right direction — whether that direction is looking for a new job, starting a company, finding freelance work or becoming independent consultants.”

LaidOffCamp became an Internet sensation within hours of its launch–even before an event date or time had been announced — all because of social networking sites. From Facebook to Twitter, tech blogs to Wiki pages, LaidOffCamp became the buzzword on some of the most popular social media sites last Tuesday.

On Twitter, some users informally proclaimed LaidOffCamp to be “the biggest ‘retweet’ of the day,” signifying that “tweets” about the LaidOffCamp launch were the most frequently posted and discussed topic of the day. On Facebook, LaidOffCamp San Francisco, which will be held March 3, attracted more than 100 attendees.

Since the launch last Tuesday, Hutchins has received hundreds of emails from young people who want to start regional LaidOffCamp events.

One of them was Amanda Lee Anderson of New York. She learned about LaidOffCamp from the Facebook event page. Though Anderson, 27, is employed as a freelance copy editor, many of her friends have been laid off and are “really feeling the crunch right now,” she said.

LaidOffCamp intrigued Anderson because she said she saw it as a “productive use of the Internet, especially because it will bring together people who didn’t previously know each other to make good of a bad situation.”

She emailed Hutchins, who connected her with two other New York residents who also wanted to help plan an event. LaidOffCamp New York officially launched on Friday, and young people are starting LaidOffCamps in San Diego, Detroit, Los Angeles, Fort Collins, Seattle, and Chicago.

Young people say they aren’t wary about meeting and working closely with acquaintances they met online. Waving off any reservations, Anderson explained, “I’m a blogger, so I’m use to meeting up with people from the blogger community.”

Tania Khadder, a 29-year-old laid-off producer in San Francisco, also looked to the Internet for ways to use her newfound time off to be more productive and creative. Khadder and her former colleague, John Henion, decided to start a blog about being unemployed, titled, “Unemploymentality.”

“There is so much “doom and gloom” media coverage on the economy right now that we wanted to make this blog light-hearted,” said Khadder.

The blog, which receives about 1,000 hits a day, has evolved into an “unemployment survival guide” for the young and savvy unemployed. Some pieces are farcical, such as Henion’s “The Baller’s Guide to Recession Dating,” and “I’ve been laid off – five responses and your rebuttal,” which advise jobless readers on how to maneuver through social situations while still holding their head up high. In another article, “Men: Taking Layoffs Like a Girl,” Khadder takes a jab at a New York Times article about how unemployment hurts men’s egos more than women’s; she argues that women take it better because they are more used to being slighted.

“My main motivation for Unemploymentality was to start writing again,” said Khadder. “But I also wanted to use the blog as a platform to showcase the work I did while being laid off to future potential employers.”

Producing good work doesn’t always translate into cash. Hutchins is living off his savings and a few consulting gigs. He doesn’t expect to make money from LaidOffCamp. Khadder is doing some part-time freelance work and hopes the blog will generate revenue one day.

For now, however, wired Gen Yers like Hutchins and Khadder are establishing their names and skill sets online through self-starter projects. In an age when young people are measuring each others’ worth more and more by their online presence – the number of hits your name receives on Google, the number of friends you have on Facebook, the number of professional recommendations you have on LinkedIn – Hutchins and Khadder may be positioning themselves ahead of the competitive employment curve.

Liberian-American Spoken-Word Artist is Home at Last

By
Justin Schell
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EG
Liberian-American Spoken-Word Artist is Home at Last

“This is a year of completion for me,” e.g. bailey says in the
office of Trú Rúts Endeavors, the multidisciplinary arts organization
that he runs with his wife, Sha Cage.

His struggle to fit in America is not unlike that of many African
immigrants. He attributes his success as an award-winning
multidisciplinary artist and producer to this struggle of finding a
home away from home.          

bailey who was born in Saclepea, Liberia, is the son of a white
Peace Corps volunteer and a Liberian mother. His father, bailey says,
“threw a dart, hit Liberia, and that’s where he got stationed.” His
mother gave birth to him near the end of his father’s second term; and
his parents lost touch after his father’s return to America.

Even as a child he loved music and theater: two memories stand out in particular from his life in Liberia.

“There was a record store and a movie theater,” he says. “I would spend hours in the record store listening to whatever they were playing.”

The owner of the mud-constructed movie theater, however, wasn’t particularly keen on offering free entertainment to the young movie revelers. “We would either sneak into the movie theater or we would drill holes in the side to watch the movie.” After the owner realized this, he would take blindingly-hot Liberian red peppers, soak them in water, and put the mixture in a spray bottle, and spray into the holes to temporarily prevent onlookers from watching the film without paying. “It would be this constant game of trying to outwit [him], as soon as you saw a shadow coming.”

One day, another Peace Corps volunteer came to his village and, after getting to know him, expressed interest in adopting him. Instead it was his father who ended up adopting the 10-year-old bailey after she sought out his father through the Peace Corps database.

After landing in Chicago, he was driven to his new home in Crystal Lake, an hour-and-a-half from Chicago. There was a parade the day he arrived, with money thrown from the floats.

“I thought it was a parade for me!” he says with a laugh. “The next day, I wake up, I’m like ‘Ok, when are we going to the parade and when can we get more money?’ That was the start of my life in the US.”   

Reality soon set in for bailey as he learned that life in America was not rosy for a new immigrant, “It was a struggle of trying to adapt and trying to fit in. Trying to figure out who I am and not fitting into any place, I always felt like I was running, that I couldn’t stop moving.”

Until he moved to Minneapolis, when he felt,“Ok, I can stop running now.”

bailey’s first connection to Minneapolis came not through the city itself, but through one of its most famous musicians. “I discovered Prince in [Crystal Lake’s] record store. I think it was “Little Red Corvette.” My ears just perked up, trying to find out who this person was, and I proceeded to get everything that he put out.”

After moving to Minneapolis, he started performing solo and with a number of music groups, and worked in the retail division of Prince’s famed Paisley Park complex, gaining crucial experience to navigate the shady mazes of the music industry when he formed Trú Rúts and its record label, Speakeasy Records.

He had a life-changing experience on a trip to the country of his birth after being gone for nearly 20 years. He returned to Liberia in 1999 as part of a four-month trip to Africa, the Middle East and East Asia. The trip, while crucial to his development as an artist as well as a person, was not what he expected.

“I realized that I could go back, but I could never live back home. I’d been away too long to be able to go back home and do what I’m supposed to do.”

An overwhelming and inane sense of homelessness hit him, he says, “going home displaces you. You’re no longer at home in either place. Home is what I had to create.”

Thus homelessness and travel inform all of bailey’s work, which symbolically channels his own experience through the larger histories of the African Diaspora. His album American African, scheduled for release in April, will appropriately feature a host of both American Africans and African Americans, including M.anifest, DJ Stage One, Mankwe Ndosi, IBé, and other international artists, including Germany’s Starsky and Dubai’s Abstract Collision.    

“It’s a testament to where African Americans and American Africans are,” he says, encompassing the multitude of African, African American, and American African perspectives. “I want to avoid the idea of a monolithic Africa as much as possible.”    

The first single off of American African, “America,” is a wide-ranging vision of the post-9/11 America that many immigrants find themselves in.

“America, I miss you,” bailey intones at its opening. He delivers his words atop a bed of rolling drums and cymbals, electric bass, disorienting electronic sounds, and wailing saxophone. From Katrina to Guantanamo, Hollywood to Baghdad, the poem subtly welds together the long histories of racism and murder that stain America’s past, yet without completely destroying the hope of something better. In the end, the music dies away as bailey softly, powerfully, declares “We’re waiting for your resurrection.”

bailey has an ambitious plan to release three more albums in 2009 that have been at various stages of completion throughout his work with TrúRúts. Yet completion always breeds the start of something new, whether it be the release of new albums from other artists in the Tfamily such as Quilombolas, TruthMaze, or El Guante. Or the birth of his first child with his wife Sha Cage.

Even though e.g. bailey has settled in one place after a long journey, his creative activity and poetic journeys show no signs of slowing down.

e.g bailey has produced “No Longer at Ease” (play), an adaption from the Chinua Achebe’s novel for the Pangea World Theatre in May 2001; “Village Blues” (film); and “Words Will Heal the Wound”, a spoken word radio series celebrating the diverse poetic traditions in Minnesota.

He received the Sarah Lawrence College International Film Festival (2001) Experimental Film award for Village Blues; the NFCB (National Federation of Community Broadcasters) award for Write On RaDio!; and the Worldstaff Houston International Festival (1999) Experimental Film award for Village Blues.

Visit his website for a full listing of productions, performances and awards.

Barack Obama’s Inauguration – “A Moment of Change”

By
Anna Otieno
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Editor’s Note: This article, while dated, appeared in Mshale’s inauguration print edition.

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.”

These were the words that lingered in my mind. As I listened to our
new president Barack Obama deliver his inauguration speech, I held onto
every single word as if they were instructional. I took in each
deliberate pause and every charged statement. And throughout, I thought
to myself, ‘Indeed. This is why we’ve gathered. This is what we’ve
chosen. And from this we may move forward.’

Tuesday January 21, 2009 was a day that no one will ever forget and one that was a long time coming. I made the trip to Washington DC to witness what I consider to be a full circle moment. A moment that America couldn’t fathom 150 years ago, a moment that was dreamed of 45 years ago, and a moment that has finally arrived in 2009. This moment was change. And if the word “change” felt ubiquitous or redundant before, it was clearly defined and renewed on that day; for change lived in the words of our new president and displayed its promise on the faces of all who were watching. Obama expressed …

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

A large portion of remaking America includes the countries and cultures from which it was formed and is sustained today. And it’s this diversity in people and similarity in goals that is truly initiating change. This new presidency isn’t about Democrats or Republicans – this was proven during the campaign trail. It’s about us, the people, who subscribe to more than a political party. It’s about realizing that we have more in common with each other than not.

Inauguration week I witnessed what it really means to come together. Who knew that so many organizations even existed? African Diaspora for Change held an inaugural ball, SNMA [Student National Medical Association] observed our MLK National Day of Service, university alumni associations held social gatherings, and congressional and senatorial leaders welcomed their constituents – just to name a few. Washington DC was filled to the brim with people who strongly support the change that we need – whether they joined the cause at the beginning or embarked recently. The feeling in the air was more than optimism. It was activism. Words are encouraging but actions are firm. And inauguration attendees knew that the words that so many of us hold onto are already coming to life. President Obama continued …

“We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.”

The morning of inauguration was cold and chaotic, but seeing the faces of so many different people made the journey worthwhile. I saw children anxiously grasping the hands of their parents and elders crying with a remembrance of history in their eyes. I heard the voices of hope and excitement in languages that I could not understand. And while the words were foreign to my ear, the translation was certainly native … change. 

America is that promise that we truly are created equal. And America is the notion that toleration is nice, but celebration is even better. Inauguration day we were celebrating who we are individually and who we can be collectively. It was the day that America realized its true potential as a nation and responsibility as a global leader.

And perhaps what is most significant is the reach of these sentiments. While these ideals are rooted in America, they extend like branches internationally. Americans weren’t the only ones watching the inauguration. The world was watching. And they are just as eager to witness the change that’s been discussed for so long.

“For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.”

President Obama reiterated the importance of “being the change.” An estimated 1.8 million people attended inauguration, and undoubtedly millions more watched from their TVs at home, the office, the community center or the local restaurant. As much as we look to Barack Obama, his family and his administration to be the change that this country so very needs, we must also do our part.

These words may seem idealistic but in all honesty, they are realistic. But it’s truly up to all of us to make it so. Inauguration was a time of hope and anticipation, but today is the time for change and action. So what are you going to do?

“Don’t Hate, Inaugurate!”

By
Nelima Kerre - Mshale Staff Writer
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 Editor’s Note: This article, while dated, appeared in Mshale’s inauguration print edition.

Washington, DC– ‘Obama-mania’ and ‘Obama-phoria’ easily describe the
atmosphere in Washington DC during the week of President Barack Obama’s
Inauguration. 

But after my five-day visit ‘pilgrimage’ seemed most apt to describe
the huge presence of attendees of African descent. There were African
Americans from Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, Texas and elsewhere, as
well as people from the Caribbean Islands, as well as Africans from all
over the US and the continent. 

Washington, DC– ‘Obama-mania’ and ‘Obama-phoria’ easily describe the atmosphere in Washington DC during the week of President Barack Obama’s Inauguration. 

But after my five-day visit ‘pilgrimage’ seemed most apt to describe the huge presence of attendees of African descent. There were African Americans from Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, Texas and elsewhere, as well as people from the Caribbean Islands, as well as Africans from all over the US and the continent. 

For Africans, President Obama brought a renewed sense of hope for their continent. Their expectations of the ‘The Son of Our Soil’ were high: Obama’s presidency is expected to change the hearts and minds of African leaders; his administration is also expected to pay more attention to the needs of the continent, to have better policies than those of his predecessors.

The DC area was party central as different communities gathered for inaugural dinners, concerts and parties.  The Kenyan community, it seemed, had the most parties; they had two sets of parties running from Thursday through Monday in Maryland, including one hosted by the Kenyan embassy); there was a general West African party on Saturday and a Ghanaian party on Sunday.

On Saturday night I went to a jam-packed Kenyan party at the Gallery in Maryland where everyone seemed to be dancing with an extra gallon of vigor. The mix of Kenyan Djs from all over the US and Kenya made it impossible for anyone to leave the dance floor.

Every once in a while, over the music, the MC would shout, “This one is dedicated to the Obama victory!

Ndio Tuliweza! (Yes We Did!),” the crowd would scream.

Many Kenyans admitted disappointment in their country’s politicians, and hoped that Obama would urge them to take proper leadership.

“He has inspired me, maybe he will inspire our leaders,” said Jennifer Kuria, a student in Maryland.

On Sunday, I made my way to the Hilton in Silver Spring, Maryland, to a party hosted by the African Foundation. Everyone came out in their ‘Obama-Best’ and the mood was extremely jovial.

Stand-up comedian and journalist Edwin Okong’o ‘Obama-s Cousin’ coined the phrase, “Don’t Hate, Inaugurate!”

He poked fun at stereotypical African cultures; and his jokes kept the crowd laughing.

“People say that Obama is Kenyan. We will only be sure that he is Kenyan if after serving two terms he changes the constitution to serve another,” he joked.

Among the great line up of diverse artists performing that night was Baltimore resident Ikeme from Zimbabwe who played the Mbira; Malian griot, Balla Tounkara, played the Kora and Nigerian musician, Emma Ik Agu, performed his song ‘Obama: The Wind of Change’. African dancers from Nova Scotia, Canada brought the crowd to their feet with their performances as did Jamaican ‘Queen of Reggae’ Marcia Griffiths when she led everyone in the electric slide as she sang her international hit song ‘Electric Boogie’.

The governor of Maryland delivered a message to the crowd via the state’s Assistant Secretary of Higher Education and issued a certificate to Eyobong Ita, the president of the African Foundation in recognition of the organization’s work in the African community in Maryland.

‘A Celebration of Change for the World’, was the last event of a 3-day inauguration celebration. It was co-sponsored by a group of African of professionals called Africa Aspire and the Smithsonian Museum of African Art. Elegantly dressed patrons danced to deejayed African music. For many it was an opportunity to network. For others it was a chance to enjoy Art housed in the three-storied building, the only museum in the United States to exclusively display traditional arts of sub-Sahara Africa.

Multi award-winning American actor, Jeffrey Wright remembered his travels to Africa to shoot Ali when he met a gentleman who lived in Sierra Leone.

“I found it ironic that as the bling culture was escalating here in America among Black Americans, the war in Sierra Leone was escalating in the same young black boys on both sides of the water. We’re not making the connection about their destinies,” he stated.

Wright is known for his roles in movies like Shaft, Ali, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

Grammy award-winning musician Youssou N’dour was a no-show, however, Senegalese-born hip-hop sensation Akon gave a speech eliciting cheers when he said, “The same way that (Obama) is motivating the world to move in the right direction; we have to motivate each other to take Africa to the next level.”

On the insistence of the crowd he did an impromptu performance paving way for the Grammy – nominated duo Les Nubians, who enchanted the crowd with old hits and new songs from their upcoming album called ‘Liberte’ until the end of the night. 

How African is Obama?

By
Swallehe Msuya
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dreamsbarack
How African is Obama?

In his 457 page autobiographical book “Dreams from My Father”, Barack Obama exposes a great mind destined to greatness.

As Shakespeare once wrote in his philosophical discourse – “some (men) are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” To be fair to Barack Hussein Obama, America’s 44th President and the first African American to occupy the White House, he has earned his greatness.

He literally worked his way up from scratch – from a mere statistic to the most powerful man on the face of the earth! Yes, a remarkable young man!

His father, a Kenyan from the Luo tribe came to America in search of an education. He met Obama’s mom from Kansas (then a teenage girl) and became an absentee father to little Barack. The task of raising the funny-looking child with a strange name lay squarely in this single mother of Caucasian descent with support from her family.

Obama’s autobiography begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father – “a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man – has been killed in a car accident in Kenya.” He struggles in an emotional journey to Kansas, retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, then to Indonesia before reconnecting withy his African side of the family in Kenya.

His story is one of self-rediscovery. A story that in many ways accomplishes the impossible, that is to connect the dots of the intricate racial relations that have bedeviled mankind for centuries. He puts race where it belongs, a pigment of the skin and calls for humanity to be color-blind.

Barack fits in the pattern of a global citizen who is best suited to unite mankind across racial, religious and ethnic lines. If it works here in America, a vast country that symbolizes the melting pot of all races; it can work everywhere.

His mission to humanity and its vision came to him early in his life. He explains: “The opportunity to write (this book) first arose while I was still in law school, after my election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.”

At the conceptual genesis of his book, his mind sailed through such topics as “the limits of civil rights litigation in bringing about racial equality, thoughts on the meaning of community and the restoration of public life through grassroots organizing, musings on affirmative action and Afro-centrism etc ……..”

In the process of writing about his past, he had to struggle with his own cynicism, “a past that left (him) feeling exposed, even ashamed.”  Obama looks back in his narrative on his first professional days as a lawyer in Chicago, “a town that is accustomed to its racial wounds and prides itself on a certain lack of sentiment.”

He recalls his wife’s six year old cousin reporting to his family “that his first grade classmates refused to play with him because of his dark, unblemished skin.”

As a young man, Obama was conscious of what people thought about him. His mixed blood, a divided soul, or as he picturesquely put it “the ghostly image of the tragic mulatto trapped between two worlds.”

“The tragedy is not mine alone”, he explains, “it is yours, sons and daughters of Plymouth Rock and Ellis Island, it is yours, children of Africa. I sound like I am trying to hide from myself.”

Then Obama made that remarkable trip to Kenya. This is how he saw his transformational visit to the land of his ancestors. In his own words: “for a span of weeks or months, you could experience the freedom that comes from not feeling watched, the freedom of believing that your hair grows as it’s supposed to grow and that your rump sways the way a rump is supposed to sway.

“Here the world was black, and so you were just you, you could discover all those things that were unique to your life without living a lie or committing betrayal.”

He captures a bit of Kenya’s history when he wrote: “….the Mau Mau lay in Kenya’s past. Kimathi had been captured and executed. Kenyatta had been released from prison and inaugurated Kenya’s first president. He had immediately assured whites who were busy packing their bags that business would not be nationalized, that landholdings would be kept intact, so long as black man controlled the apparatus of government.”

Barack Obama’s remote understanding of the complex land question and tribal friction in Kenya is excusable, given his historical background.  You cannot blame him when he sums up the Westerners’ views on Kenya in these words:

“Kenya became the West’s most stalwart pupil in Africa, a model of stability, a useful contrast to the chaos of Uganda, the failed socialism of Tanzania. Former freedom fighters returned to their villages or joined the civil service or ran for a seat in Parliament. Kimathi became a name on a street sign, thoroughly tamed for tourists.”

Obama’s connection to Africa must have revitalized him in many ways. He discovered an inner circle of a people where love was constant and claims unquestioned. Then a second circle, a realm of negotiated love, commitments freely chosen. It moves to a new level “until the circle (of friends) widens to embrace a nation or a race, or a particular moral course, and the commitments were no longer tied to a face or a name but were actually commitments (that people chose to embrace for the good of all).”

In Africa, he concludes, “family seemed to be everywhere, in stores, at the post office, on streets and in the parks, all of them fussing and fretting over Obama’s long-lost son.”

Barack Obama is a self-made man. He has been an architect of his own life. He works hard, has a positive attitude, believes in people, especially the youth who he inspired and motivated them to take part in community activities. He believes in the power of Information Technology and through it has created a powerful movement for change.

He does not only provide hope for his two lovely daughters Malia and Sasha, no he transcends family, tribe, religion, nation and shatters all boundaries to unite all people as a viable entity bent on achieving maximum good for all of humanity.

He provides hope for the wretched of the earth. He has inspired millions, a people who not long ago felt condemned to endless failure. He preached a positive message of change from the status quo of greed and self-centeredness for a few, to broad opportunities for the many.

He articulated that with a firm commitment and through a relentless effort to move forward to a desired destination for the common good, the ultimate honorable goal is achievable. He becomes the role model for underprivileged people all over the world.

Africans look upon Obama in the same way that they sized Nelson Mandela when he triumphed over apartheid. They see him as part of the realization of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of forty plus years. This is a sure landmark of good eclipsing evil.

Obama is seen as the benchmark of new possibilities amidst a skewed world where social strata and age-old prejudices defined who you were supposed to be and kept you there. Most of all, they see him as a liberator, the black Moses who delivered the enslaved children of God from 400 years of slavery into a brand new world of freedoms.

Africa and Africans in the Diaspora, see Obama as a fresh ray of hope into the realms of possibilities and opportunities hitherto only dreamt about by those who thought they were condemned by a generational irreversible curse. A curse that led to loss of hope for millions of people, multiplied fear among them, spread despair, apathy, neglect and a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness in their ranks.

In a short span of time, he has transformed that feeling of “we cannot do it” for the many, to one in which the writing is now crystal clear on the wall – YES WE CAN DO IT.      

Immigration Debate Still Simmers Amid Economic Crisis

By
Igbanugo Partners International Law Firm
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Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, and his new administration face a multitude of extraordinary challenges that demand unified, nonpartisan solutions. The soaring unemployment rate, plummeting stock markets, mortgage crisis, and financial sector chaos make the current economic crisis the top concern for the Obama administration. The two unfinished wars are high priorities as well, with Obama promising to withdraw U.S. troops from the war in Iraq within 16 months and shift the emphasis to the Afghanistan conflict.


While the President and several legislators have vowed to make immigration a “top priority” immigration reform is on the backburner as the country focuses on cleaning up the economic mess and resolving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.


Nevertheless, the immigration debate continues to simmer. Worksite raids and deportation of illegal immigrants are not sufficient to fix the broken immigration system and address the presence of an estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the United States. 


Critics argue that immigration reform is inappropriate during this economic downturn, when foreign workers are less welcome, and instead call for heightened border security and reduced immigration to protect American workers. Meanwhile, supporters of broad reform want Obama to address immigration early, noting that it is a top-tier issue that intersects with the economy, health care, education and other primary concerns.


“Comprehensive immigration reform is part of the solution, not the problem, with respect to our economic difficulties today,” said Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.


On the campaign trail, in a July 2008 speech at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) annual conference in San Diego, Obama vowed to tackle immigration reform and stated “it is time” to “finally bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows.”


On Election Day, Latino voters nationwide chose Obama over John McCain by 67 percent to 31 percent, helping him win traditionally Republican states such as Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada. Political experts noted that immigration reform was a deciding factor for Latino voters.


“Obama’s going to have people in one ear who say, ‘Wait wait, it’s too controversial,’” said Frank Sharry, executive director of pro-reform group, America’s Voice. “And in the other, people will be saying, ‘But this is why you got elected.’”  Despite two failed Congressional attempts at immigration reform in 2006 and 2007, Sharry said, “We are confident and very optimistic that there’s likely to be a big window of opportunity between September 2009 and March 2010.”


Key Immigration Issues Facing the Obama Administration


When Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform in 2006 and 2007, the Bush administration established several initiatives to secure the country’s borders and crack down on illegal immigration. Several of those efforts are now subject to either congressional reauthorization or action by federal courts. Obama also faces pressure to review several administrative rules aimed at reducing unauthorized employment and illegal immigration. The key immigration issues facing the Obama administration are as follows:


Employment Eligibility Verification. A proposed rule will require approximately 200,000 public and private federal government contractors and their 4 million employees to use E-Verify, an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration to confirm the work eligibility of new hires. Most federal contractors already use E-Verify and several states, including Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma, require all employers to use it. Business groups argue that the system is onerous and civil liberties groups say it is error-prone and will penalize legal workers. Obama has said that employers need to be more involved in verifying the legal status of their workers. He favors making E-Verify mandatory for all employers but wants it to include higher accuracy and privacy standards. 


Worksite raids and enforcement. During the Bush administration, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 40,000 people in 2008 and 36,000 in 2007 through worksite raids and investigations targeting immigrant fugitives. Immigrant-rights groups say the raids have disproportionately hurt workers rather than abusive employers. While Obama has condemned the human toll of the raids, he has warned that he would not tolerate employers’ use of undocumented immigrants for profit. Although Obama will face pressure from immigrant advocates, worksite enforcement is expected to continue under his administration as he seeks to remove incentives to enter the country illegally.


Border security: While Obama believes border security is “only one side of the equation,” he supported the September 2006 bill authorizing the construction of a 700-mile border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. He wants additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at U.S. ports of entry.


Earned legalization: Obama has said, “For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must encourage them to come out of hiding and get right with the law.” He supports legalization of otherwise law-abiding undocumented workers if they pay a fine and back taxes, learn English, and then go “to the back of the line” to apply for citizenship. 


Immigration reform. The Obama administration wants to pass comprehensive immigration reform to fix the broken system. Obama supported the 2007 comprehensive bill that would have established a “guest-worker” program, provided a path to citizenship for the majority of undocumented immigrants, emphasized worker skills for visas instead of family ties, and enhanced border security. The bill did not come up for a vote, but Obama voted for a similar bill in 2006.


While tackling broad immigration reform might not be possible in the early part of his first term, Obama is expected to make several key decisions on immigration issues during his first few months in office. 


“We are not forgetting about our promise with regard to the immigrant community,” Melody Barnes, Obama’s top domestic policy adviser, stated recently. “We will start making down payments on that agenda,” Barnes added.


 


Nothing in this article should be taken as legal advice for an individual case or situation. The information is intended to be general and should not be relied upon for any specific situation. For legal advice, consult an attorney experienced in immigration law.

Rita Apaloo gets African women to network (and bowl)

By
lisa
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0
Rita
Rita Apaloo gets African women to network (and bowl)

Like most kids, Rita Apaloo’s daughter has watched her mother
closely. She sees enough value in her mother’s monthly African Women
Connect meetings to give her parents some advice.

“Dad should start an African Men Connect group,” she told them.

“No, no,” her father laughed. “I don’t need to connect with other men. Let mom do all the connecting.”

Rita Apaloo has done her fair share of connecting. She coordinates a
leadership program for minority entrepreneurs at the Metropolitan
Economic Development Association’s. Outside her job she has developed a
passion for bringing together African women professionals. She spoke
here about creating community for these women, her transition from
Liberia to Minnesota, the impact of September 11th on her, and the
challenges facing the Liberian Community

Why did you start African Women Connect?

When my husband and I moved out to Brooklyn Park I thought, “I have this nice big basement and I can invite people here.” First I just told friends I knew. Now we have about 15 to 20 women each month.

I call it a relationship building organization for African women to create friendships, business, and community. I’ve always been interested in community and women’s issues. Being a new immigrant to America you tend to feel isolated and alone. When you have a career or you’re in corporate America there’s not a whole lot of people who look like you.

We talk about different things each month. Sometimes we’ll talk about just the stresses of working in corporate America. We just read Skinners Drift by a South African writer. We had a Breast Cancer survivor come and talk to the group.

We’ll also do fundraisers. One of our ladies has a non-profit organization Nibakure Children’s Village, so we helped her raise funds to build a compound in Rwanda. Another time we did an “Ethnic food items” drive to donate to the CEAP in Brooklyn Park.

I came up with the ethnic food drive because, years back, I had signed up for a food share program in order to make ends meet. I was very disappointed to find that all the food were things I didn’t know how to cook. I tried to make that work, but it’s very hard if you didn’t know what to do with it. Thankfully now the United Way has a list of ethnic food items you can donate.

We also do fun things as a group. We went to a play at the Walker and went bowling once. Now maybe you think, yeah, well everybody goes bowling.

No. Nuh-uh. This group does not bowl!

Well, most of the balls went in the gutter. We laughed so hard and we had all our neighbors looking at us.

What is your professional background?

In Liberia I had just started university when the civil war reached Monrovia. This was 1990. My family and I were fortunate enough to get out and we went next door. We actually had to walk on foot from Monrovia to the Sierra Leon [approximately 60 miles] where we were for a while. And of course it was a very difficult traumatizing time. It’s difficult to talk about.

When I finally made it to the States I was in shock and I’m sure had Post-Traumatic disorder and all that. In high school I had been very vocal, the typical activist. I used to write short stories, poetry, whatever. I just stopped writing.

I had had a dream of being a journalist and had been studying mass communications. All of a sudden I didn’t want to do that. I tried a couple of times to get back in school in the US, but didn’t really have the desire.

Then 9/11 happened and a surprising thing happened to me. It shocked me out of what I was going through. It was then that I had my nightmares and I revisited this feeling of fear. But oddly, after 9/11 I started shedding this rigid box that I had been in for a few years.

I woke up from this sleep and thought, “oh my God what have I been doing?”

What role does family play in your life?

When I was growing up my mother worked in an administrative office. My dad really wanted her to be a stay at home mom, but it was important for her to socialize, use her skills and talents, and contribute to the world. So her struggle and her life have always been inspiring to her kids.

I now have three kids who are 11, 7, and 2. It’s not always easy to balance it all. But kids learn how to make things work if you just show them how.

I mentor a Liberian teenager through the Liberian Women Initiative of Minnesota. I take my kids with me sometimes when I’m doing volunteer work and I let them know that they can help the community. They think it’s cool.

What are some of the challenges facing the Liberian community in Minnesota today?

The Civil War has made our challenges unique from other African communities. Family life was disrupted during the war and you had people moving around to stay safe. That disruption—in terms of “how do you raise a child, get a basic education, have role models for careers and parents”—all of that was completely gone. And then you come to the United State and how do you get back on track?

I’d like to have a large enough network to help address some of these issues in the community. You have PTOs and school boards where you don’t necessarily have people representing the Liberian community. So let’s look at a professional women to see how we can address this. I think the group of women I see has a better chance of telling their story in a way that the larger community understands.

Some say the Liberian community has not been as successful as other African communities in building support institutions in Minnesota. What is your response to that?

Well, there is some truth to that, but I also encourage people to look at the specific characteristics of the Liberian community. The Somali community—I believe—has clans within the community that really lend themselves to helping each other out.

The Liberian community is different. First of all there’s the English language. That puts you way ahead when you can kind of adjust better. Second, we don’t live close together. We’re all over the place. We’re so dispersed and so independent that in some ways we don’t need each other to find our way. Like any group, though, there are people who are doing well and people who aren’t.

But we haven’t done a very good job at coming together to find solutions. We need to support these smaller nonprofit communities, and collaborate with the larger ones. And we need to get social services to hire professionals from within the Liberian community and give them the reigns.

What does it mean to you personally to have a support network in African Women Connect?

I was hoping to connect with more women like myself, so I came up with this idea and move outside of the comfort zone of the bubble of the people you know. At our December meeting we had women from 11 African countries. I have expanded my network. I’ve learned to go beyond my own community of just Liberians. I’ve gained a lot of good friendships.

I’m not always sure I have the energy to keep it up because it’s a lot of work. But after one meeting this woman just said to me, “you know I’ve been looking for this for a long time and I’ve finally found it.”

When I get comments like that I know that I’m doing the right thing to keep it going. 

Mshale’s coverage on one of African Women Connect’s Meetings here.

Award-winning Malian Singer, Traoré, in Minneapolis

By
Susan Budig
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0
Taore12

Rokia Traoré says she’s not a traditional Malian singer.  Listening to her album, Bowmboi, it’s clear she’s not contemporary rock-n-roll either.  While difficult to pigeonhole, her music is easy to appreciate.  BBC Radio endorsed Traoré’s music when they nominated her—three times—for a World Music award.

With Traoré’s new album “Tchamantché”, released in 2008, she adds another sound to her repertoire.  The languages of the songs are still Bambara and French, but introduced with this recording, Traoré plays a Gretsch guitar.  These vintage guitars were often used by classic rockers such as the Beatle’s George Harrison and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. 

Traoré’s website touts her latest release as dramatically different from previous work however I find that she can’t escape her decisively feminine voice with its precision and seductive undertones.  She continues to use a wide mélange of instruments, but always includes traditional African sounds such as the n’goni. 

Traoré plays at the Cedar Cultural Center on February 6th.  Doors open at 7:00, show time is 8:00.  For ticket information:  http://www.thecedar.org

Encouragement for Wisdom

By
pastorrandy
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0

The wisdom of God flows through each of us, including our leaders.  Once this wisdom is realized and activated, problems will begin to diminish.  We need to continually pray that His wisdom is drawn on each and every day by our leaders and by each of us individually.   

If the results we get aren’t answering our problems, we aren’t solving the problem at the level He expects us to operate.   We need to solve issues at a higher level than the problem was originally created.   

The highest level of knowledge available to us is His knowledge – we gain this by constantly going to the word to seek out Kingdom principles for life.   If you aren’t getting what you want, search out what is holding you back.

The knowledge and wisdom needed for today must begin from the inside before it is manifested on the outside. We need to turn the light of wisdom on by standing on His word. Let’s come together -let’s come into agreement that His wisdom will guide us into a bright future.
   
Remember:  God is all wisdom.  He knows what will happen before it happens.  His knowledge can tell the end from the beginning.

Obama’s ‘Friends’ Strategy Should Include New Americans

By
noneqrwr
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0

One of the multiple ways President Barack Obama’s journey to the White
House made history was its ability to awaken a new breed of the
American voter: foreign-born U.S. citizens. Before Obama’s candidacy,
most of these new Americans – an estimated 15 million strong – shied
away from U.S. politics although, like their fellow citizens, they held
jobs, ran businesses and contributed to the building of America.

A 2008 U.S. Census report analyzing data from 1996 to 2006 shows that in every election year, more native citizens than naturalized Americans registered and went out to vote. For instance, in the 2006 election, 54 percent of naturalized citizens registered to vote, compared to 69 percent of American-born citizens. In the same year, 49 percent of native citizens reported voting, as opposed to 37 percent of foreign-born citizens, according to the report.

As an immigrant from Kenya, I can testify that before Obama, most new Americans from my home continent saw themselves as having neither the need, nor the ability to change anything in the United States. They were more involved in the politics of Africa, mainly because they still had families there.

What Obama’s candidacy did was remind naturalized citizens that what happens in the United States affects them and their homelands directly. A declining economy, for instance, means that the new Americans, too, risk losing jobs, hence fewer remittances to the families they left behind. Obama’s message – coupled with becoming the first son of an immigrant to be elected to the White House – resonated across the nation, and sent droves of foreign-born citizens who had never before voted to the polls.

President Obama now has an opportunity to make sure that these new Americans do not sink back into obscurity, that they continue to participate in the remaking of America. On Jan. 21, the president’s first full day in office, he directed members of his administration to “find new ways of tapping the knowledge and experience of ordinary Americans – scientists and civic leaders, educators and entrepreneurs – because the way to solve the problems of our time, as one nation, is by involving the American people in shaping the policies that affect their lives.” That effort should include tapping the talent and expertise of foreign-born American citizens, many of whom, according to census data, are highly educated and qualified.

One specific area where foreign-born citizens can help effectively is in America’s renewed quest to once again become “a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity,” as the president promised during his inauguration speech.

Some of the mistakes America has made in the last half century are a consequence of appointing envoys and other diplomatic representatives who know very little about the cultures of the countries where they are deployed. Such diplomats often rely on stereotypes and go in with the sole intention of dictating and advancing what they claim to be American interests – rather than building relationships based on mutual respect. What follows are unnecessary conflicts, leading to the many coups the United States has orchestrated abroad through the Central Intelligence Agency.

In many cases, ill-informed U.S. representatives abroad have earned America enemies by helping to depose democratically elected leaders and replace them with dictators. For example, in 1953, the CIA led the ousting of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran and replaced him with the Shah, who, for 25 years, ruled that country with an iron fist. That coup was the root of the current U.S. conflict with Iran.

Even in coups that managed to depose autocratic leaders like Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, the United States has become an enemy of the people it “liberated” because of its failure to distinguish between dictators and the people they oppressed.

Having President Obama at the helm now presents America with a chance to redeem itself. America needs to move away from the aggressive policies of the last half-century, which were based on the false belief that America could single-handedly solve the world’s problems. Here, at last, is an opportunity for America to learn that people of other countries are capable of governing themselves and that among them are extremely intelligent people – “scientists and civic leaders, educators and entrepreneurs” – who can partner to create a more peaceful world. There is no shortage of such intellectuals among new Americans, and having them in all levels of U.S. diplomatic corps will be a signal that indeed America is serious about making every nation a friend.

Foreign-born citizens often spend decades both in their countries of birth and in America. Their ability to speak multiple languages, combined with their understanding of the cultures of both countries, can be an unmatched tool in enhancing America’s relationships. They can use these exceptional skills to persuade Americans and people of other nations to dispel myths about each other, which, in my view, are the source of many of the conflicts.

The new Americans can help move the country away from the flawed notion that people from other countries want Americans to “apologize for our way of life,” as the president stated in his inaugural speech. They can assure America that, in truth, millions of people abroad envy the American way of life – that, like Americans, they want to dwell in peaceful neighborhoods and be able to feed, clothe and educate their children. And, like Americans, they want to live with dignity, free from oppression – foreign or domestic. From the new Americans, American-born citizens can also learn that what people of other nations hate are the exploitative government policies that collectively condemn people, wage unprovoked wars, and nurture corporate greed.

As much as people abroad complain about Americans stereotyping them, they too have misconceptions about America. People in many parts of the world still think that every American is extremely wealthy and that all Americans support the exploitation of people abroad to maintain that status. Naturalized citizens can correct this myth too by informing their relatives abroad that most Americans are good people whose hospitality has made it possible for the new Americans to pick up where the corrupt governments of their birthplaces have failed. From foreign-born citizens, the world can also learn that millions of Americans, too, often become victims of the same vices that have wreaked havoc across the world.

Through President Obama, America now has a chance to lead the world toward restoring security, equality and respect for human rights. If the president fails to include new Americans in the process, it is highly likely that his efforts will be in vain, and that this rare opportunity will never arise again.

Opinions expressed here are the author’s and do not represent those of Mshale.

Immigration Reform: Yes we Can?

By
Noorani
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0
IMG 6502

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

With these powerful words, President Barack Obama signaled to the millions of people standing before him at his Inauguration, that a change in discourse is coming to America, away from the politics of fear and towards the politics of hope. This renewed promise to pursue genuine solutions to the problems facing the American people must include broad change to our dysfunctional immigration system.

President Barack Obama has advocated for comprehensive immigration reform that will increase opportunities for people to come to this country legally to reunite with their families and to work within rational limits. He realizes that reforming our immigration system includes encouraging undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and get into the system and right with the law.

The 2008 elections changed the political landscape and created a clear mandate to change our immigration system so that all immigrants can once again embrace America as a land of fairness and opportunity. The makeup of Congress has changed: Hardliners on immigration in both the House and Senate have been replaced by politicians who favor immigration reform that ensures the economic security of all Americans. Responding to the negative rhetoric of the immigration debate, immigrant and Latino voters turned out in record numbers to vote for change. Latino voters helped turn Florida, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Virginia from red to blue, and are the fastest growing segment of the electorate.

More broadly, the American people—whites, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, independents, young people—have elected an African American to lead this country. We are becoming more diverse and more tolerant of that diversity. This tolerance shows up in opinion polls that test voter attitudes towards immigration reform. Over the past few years, voters have consistently favored comprehensive immigration reform over enforcement-only approaches that would require all undocumented immigrants to leave.

The Obama administration has the opportunity to provide the leadership to mend our broken immigration system, legalize undocumented immigrants, unite families, protect workers, and restore the rule of law.

If we want to fix the immigration system in any meaningful way, we need a change from the last two decades of enforcement-only approaches to immigration policy. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security has come down hard on undocumented immigrant workers. The agency has separated immigrant families and terrorized whole communities in random raids, which may remove a few hundred of the 12 million or so undocumented immigrants in this country, but can do little to restore order to our immigration system. The methods used by the agency to enforce our broken laws have degraded the due process rights upon which this country was founded and have been an ineffective solution to our immigration troubles.

With the stroke of a pen, President Obama can dial back the greatest excesses and wasteful spending of Bush administration enforcement practices and focus on sensible enforcement measures targeting persons who might be a threat to America, not those who are integral to our economy. News reports on the first day of the Obama administration putting federal regulations under scrutiny and placing a hold on Bush’s midnight policy changes is encouraging.

But real reform will establish a system that rational immigrants and employers will choose to use, rather than circumvent. It will include a remedy for the hundreds of thousands of close family members seeking legal admission, but who are caught in immigration backlogs. Real reform will mean taking the pressure off of the border so that scarce resources can be deployed to identify and counteract legitimate threats with less time wasted on interdicting economic migrants who will become productive workers and taxpayers, particularly if they are allowed to come with vetting and a visa rather than in the dead of night with a smuggler.

Real reform will recognize that millions of immigrants are here illegally, working, paying taxes, and raising families. A large population of workers and families existing outside the system is unacceptable. We need to get these undocumented individuals into the system so that we ensure they pay their fair share and have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else. Only through a controlled legalization of those who meet certain criteria can we hope to isolate those few immigrants hiding under the radar that may wish to do us harm or take unfair advantage of our generosity.

This is how we regain control, create an even playing field for all workers in the economy, and ensure that workers and employers who play by the rules will be rewarded rather than undercut.

The American people want real solutions, not divisive rhetoric. The new administration and new Congress hold great promise for progress on immigration reform. Now it is up to people of conscience to hold our elected representatives accountable and demand immigration reform that benefits the American people, America’s economic and homeland security, and moves us towards a new era of recognizing that immigration is not a source of weakness for America, it is a sign of our strength.

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