Mshale

On March 22, 2007, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL-4) introduced the STRIVE Act of 2007, “Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007.” The STRIVE Act is a piece of legislation created to provide comprehensive immigration reform.

Opening night can't happen soon enough for some of the actors in SteppingStone Theater's new production of A Lion's Tale: Somali Folktales. But no matter how long they hold their breath, May 4th won't arrive any faster.
  
On that Friday evening the theater premiers new work by Said Salah Ahmed who, working with Christina Ham, drew upon Ahmed's book of a Somali folktale, The Lion's Share written and published for children, to produce an play for young and old alike.  The play is directed by Taous Khazem.

Dr. Shem Ochuodho is this year’s winner of the prestigious Kenya Community Abroad (KCA) Award for Excellence. Ochuodho has been honored for his exemplary efforts in the Information, Communication and Technology industry (ICT). His work as an IT professional was significant in ushering in the current wave of information technology in Kenya. Kenya Community Abroad is a group that represents, as the name implies, Kenyans residing overseas. It was a leading voice among those who called for the opening up of the political space in Kenya under then president Daniel Arap Moi. KCA president, Mkawasi Mcharo, made the announcemnt in a press release on Tuesday from Washington, DC where she is based.

Faustin Linyekula will travel from his home in Kinshasa, Congo, visiting Minneapolis for the first time to give us a taste of his expertise in contemporary African dance this coming May 17th at 7 pm at the Walker Art Institute. 

 

On that Thursday evening, his thirty-minute performance piece will present ideas related to displacement and circulation with respect to the history of his homeland, it's colonization, independence, and internal strife.

All indications are that Elom International School will open as scheduled next fall. You will remember Mshale first wrote about the planned opening last February. The charter school will have longer school days and “a full day kindergarten”, said its founder, Mrs. Comfort Ofori.
 
Last Friday, the school's founder, Ghanaian-born Comfort Ofori, announced that a location has been secured at the Open Door Church in the affluent Maple Grove suburb.

Update!
As Minnesota prepares itself for perhaps one of its largest multicultural fairs, Mshale had a chat with Nathan White who first had the dream of Afrifest. Afrifest is borne from the idea of the African Festival of Arts, a festival in Chicago that celebrates the African culture and its influence in different communities and aspects of life in Africa.

Liberia’s Consul General, the Honorable Alexander P. Gbayee, was in St. Paul yesterday, as a guest speaker at an annual fundraising luncheon for Books for Africa (BFA). Since its inception, almost twenty years ago, BFA has grown to become the largest shipper of donated books to Africa.

At a time when Liberia is recovering from the effects of a long civil war that has stripped the country of all its physical resources, the role of BFA in providing books for this generation of Liberians cannot be more pivotal.

Jack Brass Band, a seven-piece New Orleans-style crew playing outside in the Cedar's courtyard could be heard from the parking lot where I'd left my car.  Their familiar honky-tonk and Dixieland tunes cued my curiosity as I wondered how the Cedar Cultural Center's starring show, the Gangbé Brass Band from Benin, would mesh their homeland's music with such American fare.

South African Consul General in Chicago, His Excellency Yusuf Omar, was in the Twin Cities yesterday to address the Minnesota Business Community and Africans in the Diaspora before attending an award ceremony later in the day. The Chicago Consulate covers the entire Midwest region of the United States.

Former US Vice President, Walter Mondale and his wife Joan Mondale were awarded the International Citizen Award by the International Leadership Institute (ILI) in Minneapolis yesterday.

 

The annual award ceremony recognizes members of the Minnesota community who have made tremendous impact on communities across the world in the three categories. The awards encompass not only Minnesotans, but also corporations and foreign-born Minnesotans who have endeavored to make positive in-roads in achieving global equity in areas as varied as global economy, human rights and empowering individuals.

WASHINGTON - In the United States, state and local government groups, universities, nongovernmental organizations and others helped raise awareness April 25 - Malaria Awareness Day - about the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than 1 million people each year. April 25 has been recognized since 2000 in some parts of the world as Africa Malaria Day.

At a White House "Challenge of Malaria in Africa" summit in December 2006, President Bush designated April 25, 2007, Malaria Awareness Day to highlight the U.S. commitment to global health and the fight against malaria