Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 25 August 2011 — Page 8

Page 8 • The Muncie Times • August 25,2011

UK RIOTS IN BLACK COMMUNITY STIR RESPONSE WORLDWIDE by Fungai Maboreke - The spectacle of anarchy unfolding in Britain’s low income neighborhoods of Black Africans, South Asians and others, has prompted mixed reactions of worry and concern from African, Caribbean and Asian communities around the world. Widespread riots have been viewed on the internet, with looting, burning buildings and vehicles and attacks against civilians and even the police. The disturbances were reportedly triggered by the death of a Black London man and father of 4, Mark Duggan, 29, believed to have been caught in a crossfire of police shooting in a raid called Operation Trident. A peaceful vigil in North London’s Tottenham neighborhood, led by the family of Mark Duggan, turned violent when police apparently failed to meet with the Duggan family and supporters. Now, similar incidents have been reported in Birmingham and Liverpool which forced the Metropolitan Police to deploy at least 16 000 riot police officers in riot gear to deal with it. TIME IS RIPE FOR A BLACK FRENCH PRESIDENT, SENEGALESE-BORN FRENCH CITIZEN DECLARES - Financial expert and French citizen, Yaya Lam, is exploring a bid for the presidency of this former colonial power. His slogan is "Oser la France", literally translated to mean "Dare France". Lam, 46, announced his candidacy last week for the top spot on the Socialist Party ticket. He is optimistic about his chances in the upcoming 2012 poll. The Socialist Party had been pinning its hopes on former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Khan to defeat President Nicolas Sarkozy, until the man known a£ DSK was charged in the case of attempted rape of a young hotel worker from Guinea. Ms. Nafissatou Diallo has filed a lawsuit against DSK seeking to bar him from similar acts of sexual abuse. So far, only six candidates — four men and two women — have registered for the Oct. 9-16 primaries. All the other candidates are

In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe joined a chorus of international critics of the UK saying, “Britain I understand is on fire, London especially and we hope they can extinguish their fire, pay attention to their internal problems and to that fire which is now blazing all over, and leave us alone.” Black activist Lee Jasper from Brixton said the riots could be traced to alienated youth, low paying or no jobs, lack of opportunities and “crap” housing. He accused the government of cutting youth projects and suggested re-investing millions of pounds recovered from criminal assets.

Mark Duggan

white. But in a public statement in Poitiers, France, Lam said he was confident he would make his mark. "The world has changed," he said "When (Obama) fielded his candidacy, he practically had no one behind him.” Lam has been a party member for over half a decade and says he hopes to restore French cultural values and its leadership worldwide.

Candidate Lam

HUNGER PROJECT RETHINKS AWARD TO MALAWI PREZ AFTEk DEADLY RIOTS

- The famed food charity that aims to end world hunger has quietly withdrawn an award it planned to give to Malawi President Bingu was Mutharika, now facing growing citizen demands for clean government and better living conditions. At least 19 people were killed at a pro-democracy rally on July 20, and more than 275 people were arrested across the country. The move by The Hunger Project to cancel the prize is the

latest blow to President Mutharika following the suspension of a $350 million US aid program last month over what Washington said was its "deep concern" over recent events in the southern African country. Another protest is planned for Aug. 17. The President urged people not to take part. “Tell the organizers that enough is enough. Are you going to accept that your children die on the 17th? Do not accept or you could be shot,” Mutharika said. The Hunger Project will go ahead, however, with a prize to Liberia’s minister for agriculture, Florence Chenoweth, who studied and received a doctorate at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison. She will receive the 2011 Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End to Hunger at a ceremony on Oct. 22 at New York City’s Chelsea Piers.

Malawi Protestors

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ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IS THEME OF THIS YEAR’S WOMEN’S NATIONAL DAY - Reeling under the world economic crisis and the nation’s own failure to create new jobs, the South African government dedicated this year’s Women’s National Day to economic empowerment for women. At the commemoration, held Tuesday at Polokwane’s Mokaba Stadium, the ruling African National Congress expressed "great concern" over the slow pace of empowering African women in the workplace — African women account for only 0.8% at top management level. Other speakers cited an uphill battle since apartheid was dismantled in 1990. “I want my children to know that our past violent society left permanent scars and that the future is in building social cohesion in a society

still divided on racial, sexist, ethnic, and class lines ... and where violence against the "other" is still prevalent,” wrote Thoko Mpumlwana, Deputy Chair of the Electoral Commission of South Africa, in a recent column in Gender Links. “I want my kids to ‘imagine’ and work towards a non-racial and non-sexist society. Patriarchy lives and its effect is felt by women of South Africa every day,” she observed. Women’s Day honors the 20,000 South African women who marched on the Union Buildings in Pretoria in 1956 to protest the hated pass laws of the racist apart- s heid regime. A song composed for the occasion, Wathinkt’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo! (you strike a woman, you strike a rock) has become the anthem for women in South Africa and beyond. In a related development, ANC youth league leader, Julius Malema, has paid a $7,000 fine to

a women’s group over “hate speech,” ordered by the Equality Court. Malema was sued by the Sonke Gender Justice Group for saying that a woman who charged President Jacob Zuma with rape had a “nice time” with him.

Women's Day performance

GLOOM HANGS OVER IVORY COAST MARRING INDEPENDENCE DAY FESTIVITIES - The nation’s 51st independence anniversary found many Ivorians in grief over a tragic bus accident that killed some 37 passengers two days earlier. Intended to be the first festive day since a months-long election fight which saw the incumbent president ousted by French troops and a new leader installed, officials instead cancelled most planned events including a fireworks display in Abidjan, popular parties and the soccer final of the national cup. A music concert was held in a

small square in Abidjan in tribute to victims of Friday’s bus accident. The main activity of this year's celebration was a military parade attended by a unit of Ghana’s navy. President Alassane Ouattara gave out awards to those who helped remove the former president Laurent Gbagbo. Among these were former rebel leader and now Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, the head of the UN Operation, Choi Young-jin, the French and US ambassadors in Abidjan and the president of the Electoral Commission Youssouf Bakayoko. Meanwhile, a senior United Nations official says he will meet with former President Gbagbo who has been in detention since his arrest in April. And a pro-Gbagbo

activist group has launched a postcard campaign demanding release of the former president, his wife and aides who remain jailed without charge.

Gbagbo postcard