...::So You Think Break-Dancing Is New...

Wanna see the connection between break-dancing, voguing, tap dance and traditional Afrikan dance? Look here.



Only thing missing is sisters whooping in church...

...::You Think The Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad

The rupture of this oil pipeline in Nigeria in 2008 killed more than 100 people. In the Gulf of Mexico tragedy, 11 died.

In Nigeria, "oil companies have acted with such impunity and recklessness that much of the region has been devastated by leaks."

"In fact, more oil is spilled from the delta's network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico..."

The Gulf of Mexico disaster "has made headlines round the world. By contrast, little information has emerged about the damage inflicted on the Niger delta. Yet the destruction there provides us with a far more accurate picture of the price we have to pay for drilling oil today."

More >>> Guardian newspaper of London

“We don’t have an international media to cover us, so nobody cares about it,” said Emman Mbong, a Nigeria official. “Whatever cry we cry is not heard outside of here.”

More >>> New York Times

...::Wrap It Up, South Africa Style

A great commercial from South Africa about condoms...

...::Black Man In The Black Land

President Obama in Afrika at the Great Pyramid on Thu.04.Jun.2009. The structure was built around 2500 BC in what is now Egypt. At 481 feet high, it is about as tall as a 50-story building. It was the world's tallest human-made structure for more than 3,800 years. It reveals the most advanced use of construction, mathematics, geometry and astronomy in the world. More than 3,000 years later, a British scientific group wrote: "Now all of these measures, angles and levels are accurate, not as an ordinary surveyor or builder could make them, but to such a degree as requires the best modern instruments and all the refinements of geodetical science to discover any error at all."

...::Saving The Continent-- Through Stories...

A funny, frightening, profound short talk by a Nigerian brother about how language and literature can help sustain our humanity...



and see below--

...::And Through Science

A profile of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, which seeks to train African men-- and women!-- in scientific fields in Africa--

...::Another View of the Somalia Story

You don't hear about Somalia's "pirates" in the same breath with nuclear waste, do you? What do they have to do with each other? Well, look away from the mainstream media and listen for a minute to K'Naan, a musician from Somalia.



According to a British journalist, Somalia was a nuclear dumping ground before the "piracy" started--

As soon as the Somali government collapsed in 1991, "... mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies... hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness... This is the context in which the 'pirates' have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers..."

...::The Reach of Art

The headline in the NYTimes article was: "Mission From Africa." The story was about a Nigerian missionary in the U.S. But before I could read the article, I was struck by the story's photo--



I haven't even finished reading the article, yet this photo stood out for me--
-- The preacher is in a pose like you would find in a video game
-- Did you notice the "heavenly" light on the right and the extra shadow on the back wall? They give the picture a mystical quality
-- The woman is so deep in prayer; I wonder if she knows she has come out of her heels
-- Attendance sure isn't overflowing; but the preacher is passionate nonetheless

Let me know what you notice-- yemitoure@gmail.com. In the meantime, back to the article. Interestingly, it is about the explosive growth in Africa of conservative Christianity, with African missionaries coming to the U.S. to save souls. How's that for a reversal ...