Africans

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Oct 6 2011

Increasing evidence points to an earlier arrival

Through DNA testing, a Danish scientist has determined that at least two of Christopher Columbus’ shipmates were Africans. From these findings, he deduced that they were the first Africans to set foot in the New World.

The findings give us something to ponder on this Columbus Day, which is Monday.

Fungai Maborke  |   OW Guest Contributor
Oct 6 2011

She chose cremation in order to save a tree

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Wangari Wanjiku Maathai was recently cremated and her ashes interred per her request at a Kenyan educational institution dedicated to peace and the environment.

She joins a small handful of Kenyans whose bodies are cremated, in a tradition that is fairly rare among Africans. It was her wish to avoid chopping down another tree for a casket.

Instead, more than 5,000 seedlings will be planted countrywide in a program sponsored by the Green Belt Movement and the government.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Aug 25 2011

Practical Politics

It is hard to keep the importance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in perspective in the midst of the relentless reports of end-game, American-assisted bombing assaults on Libya, an African country, and as I ponder the deaths of another dear friend and fellow warrior in the struggle—Nzingha Heru, [head of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC)], Nick Ashford, and way too many others. But in 2009, right after the death of Michael Jackson, President Obama made his first trip to Africa as the president of the United States.

Jul 7 2011

Taxation purposes

On July 12, 1787, the United States Congress passed the Three-fifths Compromise, which mandated that each enslaved African would be counted as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes.

Before the compromise was passed, southerners wanted Congress to count enslaved Africans in order to have more representation, but did not want them to be counted for taxation. And it was just the opposite desire for the northerners.

Terri Schichenmeyer  |   OW Contributor
May 26 2011

Author: Bathseba Opini and Richard B. Lee

How many things can your favorite blanket be?

Count ‘em up: put it over a chair and it becomes a tent. Wrap it around your shoulders and it’s a cape. Pull it over your head and you’re a ghost. Run with it behind you and your blanket becomes wings. Fold it and it’s a mattress; snuggle with it and you feel better on a bad day.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.