There is finally a winner in the Minnesota front of the Jollof Wars. This is unlikely to settle the conflict, but for now, it is the Liberian recipe that emerged as the winner in Saturday’s battle at the Jollof Festival, the first-ever to be held in the Twin Cities.
Chefs from Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia gathered for a fierce competition...
Sunday evening an audience of over 60 people were wrapped up in the warm, embracing notes of Pierre Bensusan’s acoustic guitar and voice. This Algeria-French musician graced the Cedar Cultural Center’s stage on September 25th, holding us in rapt attention for more than two hours.
From the first notes he played, we heard something new and unique. When Bensusan played...
To say that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the way we do things would be an understatement. The coronavirus, which is still spreading, has infected nearly 620 million people globally, 6.5 million of whom have died. But as devastating has it has been, it has made health care experts and policymakers to start thinking ahead and prepare better in...
Canada will lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions for international and domestic travelers starting Oct. 1, according to that country's Public Health Agency in a press release.
Prior to the pandemic, over 2.4 million Americans crossed into Canada by car each year, according to Statistics Canada.
The regulatory changes come 2 1/2 years after Canada, like many other countries, first implemented requirements...
Gili Yalo’s life has been one of departure and arrival, leaving the familiar to seek safety in what is new. What’s never been cast-off, but has remained a security blanket that he’s carried around is his music.
While still a young child, Gili Yalo and his family fled Ethiopia to escape famine. They found themselves in Sudanese refugee camps, but...
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 brought their blistering and buoyant performance to the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday that had the initially reserved crowd clapping and hooting.
The number of Black immigrants living in Minnesota has increased 274% over the last two decades, now over 100,000, according to a Pew Research Center report. To that I say, Hallelujah because...
The 5th annual African Immigrant Professional Development Conference (AIPDC) returns to North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park on Oct. 1 to initiate conversations about employment and career growth among people from the continent who live in Minnesota.
This year’s theme is “Navigating Change,” and to provide participants with opportunities to hear from panelists working in various professional fields.
“This is...
The League of Women Voters on Tuesday decided to combine mayoral and Council candidates in Brooklyn Park in the same forum, denying voters who will in November elect their first Black mayor, a chance to scrutinize the two mayoral candidates up close. Still, the limited time the two mayoral candidates, Hollies Winston and Wynfred Russell, answered questions from the...
Lucibela said she wanted to spread Cape Verde's music to the world as did her role model Cesária Évora. Friday night, September 16th, on stage at the Cedar Cultural Center, she took another step closer to her goal.
A modest-sized, yet passionate audience danced to the warm-up DJs, Douala Soul Collective, a pair of Cameroonians who know how to groove...
As riotous summer surrenders to autumn, so too exuberant music festivals give way to intimate music performed indoors.
Acoustic guitar player, Pierre Bensusan, takes the stage at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis on Sunday evening, September 25th, working through the second half of his North American tour 2022.
Born in Colonial Algeria, Pierre Bensusan migrated to Paris, France with his...
If you think trying to figure out whether the chicken or the chicken egg came first is the most difficult task, you have not heard of the Jollof Wars. West Africans from every country between Senegal and Cameroon have gone to war with each other because they can’t agree on whose jollof rice, a staple in the region, is...
