-
Interview: Alice Walker on the Mideast Conflict
Interview by Robert Zeliger Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker will join the flotilla of ships [this] week that will try to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip. She says the goal is to bring supplies and raise awareness of the situation there. Last May, during a similar attempt by activists, Israel raided six…
-
The Truth About Africom
by Robert Moeller I feel fortunate that I can say that I was present at the inception of U.S. Africa Command (Africom), the U.S. military headquarters that oversees and coordinates U.S. military activities in Africa. Starting with just a handful of people sitting around a table nearly four years ago, we built an organization dedicated…
-
The World's Worst Dictators and Their Tumultuous Rule
By George B.N. Ayittey A continent away from Kyrgyzstan, Africans like myself cheered this spring as a coalition of opposition groups ousted the country’s dictator, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. “One coconut down, 39 more to harvest!” we shouted. There are at least 40 dictators around the world today, and approximately 1.9 billion people live under the…
-
Foreign Policy: The Racial Repercussions of France's World Cup Failure
Americans cannot easily imagine the consequences of losing in the World Cup. Most of us were happy that the U.S. team managed to get past the group stage into the second round, even though we lost to Ghana. But it’s different for big soccer powers that are accustomed to winning. One of the ugliest aftermaths…
-
A Tale of Two Cities: Images of War in Mogadishu and Kandahar
By Alex Strick Van Linschoten, Felix Kuehn “We can’t let you leave.” The African Union soldiers with whom we’d thrown in our lot a few hours earlier were shocked to learn we actually planned to head back into the city of Mogadishu, abandoning the relative safety of their base on the outskirts of the Somali…
-
Soccer and South African Politics
by Nicholas Griffin Imagine an alternate reality of the United States in the 1960s, where the collective experience of the political elite had been formed in all-black baseball leagues. The country is led by President Jackie Robinson, Vice President Satchel Paige, and Secretary of State Willie Mays. Sounds crazy? Replace baseball with soccer, and you’ve…
-
Africa's Best Worst President
by Dino Mahtani MONROVIA—Drive through Liberia’s capital today and one of the first things you notice are the clusters of new construction developments dotting the city, including some extravagant-looking concrete mansions. Just seven years ago, Monrovia’s walls were riddled with bullets, parts of the town flattened in a rebel assault that forced out the country’s…
-
Walking in the Taliban's Shoes
For U.S. President Barack Obama, ruminating about the course of the war in Afghanistan from Washington, the distant provinces of Helmand and Kandahar cannot be far from his mind. Winning back Afghanistan’s critical southern heartland is the primary focus of the 46-country International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is surging its troop strength past the…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
