African Pop - up festival 2020 is just coming up with big surprises as we are celebrating “Black History Month.” Let’s our mind be etched by a unique day: Saturday February 22, 2020 in Harlem, we will enjoy “the sight, the sounds, and the taste of Africa.” This is a panoramic view of what you will expect if you just come out: ” Food tastings by chefs and restaurants, chef’s competition, special Afrobeats, and musical performances. Vendors offering special prices in honor of Black History Month. Business panel empowering up and coming entrepreneurs…” Let’s put it in a simple and easy way: We are “gonna” shop, eat, listen to music, and dance !!! Shopping: “Over 20 vendors/entrepreneurs across Fashion” will be there. Besides that, organizers will welcome “wellness, art, design, ad beauty - with vendors offering special prices in honor of Black History Month.” Eating: There will be “ over 12... Read more
President Trump wants to end immigration benefits, and a judge says no
A federal judge’s ruling blocking a Trump administration order to end immigration benefits for nearly 300,000 foreign nationals is the latest in a series of judicial setbacks for the Trump administration's immigration policies. Federal District Judge Edward Chen late Wednesday blocked the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) order to end temporary protected status (TPS) that allows citizens of Sudan, El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua to live and work in the United States, raising hopes for activists who have fought to make the program permanent. The preliminary injunction granted by Chen, an appointee of former President Obama, follows a trend of court reversals that have slowed the administration's proposed overhaul of American immigration laws. The administration's first judicial setbacks on immigration came weeks into Trump's presidency, as a New York court stopped in January of 2017 the application of the first version of a travel ban that blocked immigrants and visitors from seven majority-Muslim countries. After... Read more
Islamist terrorist groups are turning their attention to West Africa
By : Washington Post
DAKAR, Senegal — The epicenter of jihadism in Africa has long been the Sahel, the region that skirts the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert. Islamist groups such as Boko Haram have used the vast and relatively empty area to hide, recruit and organize. Now the threat is increasingly spilling over into nearby countries. Terrorist attacks struck Ivory Coast in 2016 and have occurred in Burkina Faso repeatedly since then. Multiple suspected terrorists have been arrested recently in the West African nations of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. The latter, historically one of West Africa's most stable nations, is now holding its largest-ever terrorism trial, with 29 people accused of trying to create an Islamic State-style caliphate in the region. Al-Qaeda affiliates in the area have also issued a new wave of threats against Western interests in West Africa, with one group identifying Senegal and Guinea, which have soldiers in a U.N. peacekeeping mission... Read more
World Refugee Day, African Communities Together has mobilized hundreds of protesters
By : Bazona Barnabé Bado
World Refugee Day, which is held every year on June 20th was celebrated in New York in a particular way as many organizations took the streets to express solidarity and show support to families forced to flee their countries because of wars, and other catastrophes, and to denounce the Trump administration’s policies on immigration. African Communities Together, which initiated the march along with other organizations was able to mobilize hundreds of people who marched from Bryant Park – 42nd street and 5th avenue to Trump World Tower, which is build face to the United Nations, and then to Dag Hammarskjold plaza, on 47th street and 1st avenue, to express their outrage. “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here,” the crowd sang as they marched brandishing placards, which displayed words that support immigrants or refugees.The particularity of World Refugee Day this year was that it was celebrated in... Read more
Mohamed Koanda makes history in the United States of America
By : Bazona Barnabe Bado
A Burkina Faso ( West Africa ) young man has made history as he received an award for the highest Cumulative GPA for the Educational Opportunity program ( EOP) as a senior at The State University of New York University (SUNY) / Buffalo. Mohamed Koanda 23, majored in computer information system, with mathematics as minor, graduated with a GPA of 3.92 at SUNY Buffalo State College, has made his native country, Burkina Faso proud of him. “Congratulations to Mohamed Koanda, our fellow citizens who is a computer system engineer, and who graduated as honor student at State University of New York (SUNY) / Buffalo. I am immensely proud of him,” Rock Marc Christian Kabore, president of Burkina Faso said in a tweet. [caption id="attachment_1020" align="alignleft" width="640"] Mohamed Koanda[/caption] Mohamed who was born in Burkina Faso in West Africa, arrives in New York in 2011. He was 16 years – old... Read more
American Dream “is a nameless destiny.”
By : Bazona Barnabé Bado
New York City’s West African immigrants have crossed borders and oceans with a dream etched in their minds. After landing in the United States of America, many of them have realized they may have to adjust their expectations. As few have achieved their dreams, many still gazes at the horizon with hope and courage as they survive hardships and overcome hurdles. They have to go for the “Promise Land” to fulfill a dream no matter what as that Cape Verdean (West Africa) song depicts it: “Here I am, in the middle of the ocean on my way to America. Going to a distant land is a man’s destiny. It is a nameless destiny that we must fulfill.” Sitting comfortably in a chair, seat belt entirely buckled, Imam Souleymane Konate opens his eyes after one hour of flying and sighs. He is optimistic that his dream to study communications in New... Read more
The African Journal
The sun is risen on the horizon as a new outlet, which is called “The African Journal” is born. It is an independent newspaper and envisioned to serve African’s diaspora not only in the United States of America but also across the world by providing them with accurate and reliable information they need to live as citizens in an unrest society. The African Journal positions itself as a federated tool, a link or a bridge that bounds communities between themselves first, and secondly with their native countries. It has its headquarters in New York. It is a dream comes true for two immigrants who come from Burkina Faso in West Africa and who think that American dream goes beyond the materialistic aspect of the life. They agree with James Truslow Adams an American who was a writer and historian, and who coined in 1931 the term “American Dream” in his... Read more