The video, published on the website DailyMotion and broadcast by CNN news, shows police dragging screaming African women along the ground, including one with a baby in a sling on her back beneath her and another apparently pregnant. The local Seine-Saint-Denis police authority rejected charges of brutality and said the eviction in La Corneuve, north of Paris, was carried out “in relatively good conditions.”

Three years ago, on the night of Sunday June 17, 2007, the French police was called to Bidassoa Street, 20th district of Paris for a disturbance of the peace. On arrival, 8 police officers found Lamine Dieng. He was unarmed. Lamine was pinned to the ground by the police officers, handcuffed with one arm over his shoulder, the other bent backwards, and his ankles was tied with a leather strap. Lamine Dieng died that night. He was only 25 years old.

A family business in the business world is a commendable enterprise. If you own a family business, since it affects the livelihood of your entire family, you most likely find yourself wanting your next generation to contribute to it and to benefit from it. A prudent business wisdom fully supports the benefits of a family business. This, however, turns entirely into a negative situation when it is applied to a national political arena; “family business” and “national democracy” by default are always antonymous.

I wish there would more contemporary African art exhibitions in New York City. I wish one of them soon will feature Ouattara (pronounced wah-TARA) Watts. The two previous NYC-based exhibitions featuring Ouattara were: “Ouattara Watts: For Lily” (in 2007) and “Ouattara Watts: Works on Paper” (2005) both at Mike Weiss Gallery located on 24th St.

The social, political and ethnic complexity of Africa is staggering; the continent’s more than 53 countries and territories houses over 800 nationalities which communicates in over 2,000 languages with 50 of which have more than 1 million speakers each. The related stories, their related history and dynamics of the follow-up reality are far beyond the scope presented by large Western news organizations, such as CNN that typically limits the analysis to a buzzword- and headline-based coverage.

Recent years, and now 2010, are seen as years of great natural disasters that also in a great way unify good people all over the world that are rushing to aid those who are suffering. That occasional need involves practically all the continents including Africa. But, in recent years, we need to pay attention also to another type of aid that is being supplied in abundance. This one, however, is actually greatly capable of harming people; it is the “weapon aid”.

Asa

Asa (pronounced “Asha”) was born Bukola Elemide in Paris (France). Not much later she relocated to Nigeria where she spent her childhood and adolescence immersed in the music of the city.  In 2007 she set off to take flight with the release of her first single, Fire on the Mountain which had already received wide airplay on stations in Europe when her self-titled debut album hit stores that year. The result is a collection of provocative and savvy songs that are as personal as they are universal confirming the truth …

Their stories are numerous, some similar and others flavored by particular struggles in specific sites of discontent. Overall, their attitudes are of stubborn resilience, hope, and survival in environments desperate for their labor but resentful of their presence. Unlike their predecessors who went to European countries…