By Alemayehu G. Mariam, 
Professor of political science at 
California State University, San Bernardino

In his epic autobiography, the great Nelson Mandela used the metaphor of the "long walk" to describe his decades-old struggle against apartheid and minority rule in South Africa. In Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela described, among other things, his labor of love trying to steer his nation away from racial and fratricidal war by using dialogue and negotiation to achieve national reconciliation and build a multiracial, multiparty system.

By Dr. Bruce Corrie

Recent news reports about Somali youth being recruited to fight in Somalia are very disturbing. By contrast, I had the opportunity recently to interact with the community, and that interaction provided an insight worth exploring.  I was responsible for the Minnesota component of a national consumer study on African immigrants. Apart from consumer preferences, we also asked participants questions about life in America and their attitudes toward a wide range of issues. The study consisted of a sample of 393 African immigrants in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and the Twin Cities. The study was conducted by New American Dimensions of Los Angeles on behalf of the U.S. African Chamber of Commerce and was funded by the Minneapolis Foundation. 

BY Kimberly Curtis

Last week the United Nations marked the 20th anniversary of the date when the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) opened for signature. Since then, the CRC has become the most ratified human rights treaty in the world. Out of the 194 member states of the UN, only two - Somalia and the United States - have not ratified the CRC. That is about to change though, because Somalia’s barely functioning and barely domestically recognized government announced that it too would ratify the treaty, leaving the US as the only hold out on a convention that protects children under the age of 18 from things like exploitation, neglect, and violence.

By Rachel M. Anderson

(Orono, Minn.) - These days you can’t seem to pick up a newspaper or watch the television news without coming across at least one story about the H1N1 virus. Between vaccine shortages and untimely deaths caused by the illness, it’s on a lot of people’s minds these days.

Especially concerned are parents of school-aged children like Susie Bazil of Orono, Minn. Her sons Sam, 9, and Jamie, 7, and daughter, Tess, 5, haven’t picked anything up at school yet this year, but she is worried that they will.

(GIN) – Shortly after the spectacular NYC marathon victory of Eritrean-born American citizen Meb Keflezighi, some grumbling could be heard about how American he really was.
 
Sports talk radio personality Darren Rovell in an article posted on cnbc.com wrote: “Nothing against Keflezighi, but he’s like a ringer you hire to work a couple hours at your office so you can win the executive softball league.” Rovell has since apologized.
 
And a headline in The New York Times read: “To Some, Winner Is Not American Enough.”

By Nekessa Opoti, TC Daily Planet

Some advocates of a public healthcare option have argued for a national system of community health clinics because in this they see a wholesome and affordable approach in providing quality healthcare. The West Side Community Health Services (WSCHS), the largest community clinic organization in Minnesota, clearly demonstrates the value of community clinics. When it began as the People’s Heahlth Center, forty years ago in a church basement, and then expanded to La Clinica, it served mostly Spanish-speaking residents. Today, WSCHS has expanded to serve Hmong and East African refugees and immigrants as well. 

By Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

Two recent news items caught my attention: Desperate to go abroad (Vanguard, October 25, 2009), and Nigerians, others top list of asylum seekers (Guardian, October 27, 2009). Quoting United Nations’ statistics, the Guardian wrote: “Pounded at home and desperate to keep hope alive, Nigerians are among the top nationalities fleeing their own country and seeking asylum in industrialized nations…by the end of the first quarter of 2008, 2,471 Nigerians had been registered, while for the same period this year, that number is now 3,793.” No numbers were given for asylum seekers in developing countries.

By Nneka Onyilofor

With five albums under his belt from “Kilimanjaro” to “Shine Africa,” his latest album, Innocent Galinoma is a pioneer of reggae music. Born and raised in Tanzania, Innocent discovered music at a young age when he heard a band playing and became inspired.

By John L. Fossum

The first war crimes case arising from Darfur, Sudan has completed the confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC).  The case against Bahr Idriss Abu Garda was heard in the ICC from October 26th through October 30th.  The court will now rule on whether or not there is sufficient evidence to have a trial for Abu Garda.
Abu Garda was the Chairman and General Coordinator of Military Operations for the United Resistance Front, he appeared voluntarily in The Hague in May of this year.  Abu Garda is accused of three counts of war crimes, murder, attacking peacekeepers and pillaging as defined by the Rome Statute, the founding document of the ICC.