ARAB SPRING
SOMALIA / KENYA / DJIBOUTI

The Somali government has told media houses to stop referring to al-Shabab by their name which means youth in Arabic. They instead want the group to be called Ururka Gumaadka Ummadda Soomaaliyeed (Ugus), an acronym for the Somali words meaning ‘the Group that Massacres the Somali People’. Al-Shabab responded by saying the Somali government should be referred to by the same acronym, Ugus. In this case, Ugus means ‘the Group that Subjects the Somali People to Humiliation’.

However, no mention was made of the punishment for anyone who flouted the ban. The government-controlled Radio Mogadishu and SNTV have already been using the term for a while. Two suspected members of al-Shabab have been executed by firing squad after a court in Mogadishu found them guilty of killing five people, including four members of parliament. One of the MPs was the popular female singer, Saado Ali Warsame, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in July.

The European Union has announced the opening of an EU Delegation office to Somalia. The announcement was made on May 10 in Mogadishu during celebrations to mark Europe Day and follows the signing of an agreement between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the EU Head of Delegation in Somalia, Ambassador d’Urso. US Secretary of State, John Kerry on four-day tour of East Africa this week, visited Kenya, spent an afternoon in Mogadishu and paid a brief visit to Djibouti before flying on to Saudi Arabia. The main focus of his visits revolved around common issues relating to terrorism and insecurity in the region. Mr Kerry said the US had spent over $645 million in the fight against terror in Kenya and this year alone it had donated $100 million. He discussed the threatened closure of the Dadaab refugee camp with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. In the next few weeks Kenya will be hosting a summit on counter-extremism, bringing together experts from all over the world to come up with strategies for depleting the pool of future terrorists. In Somalia Mr Kerry said the US would start the process for re-establishing a US embassy in Mogadishu. Mr Kerry also visited US military personnel at Camp Lemonier, the US base in Djibouti. which hosts 4,500 US troops and aircraft as well as providing a base for drone operations in Yemen and Somalia. Just a year ago, the US renewed the lease for another ten years, with an option for a further ten year extension.

The regional parliament of the Interim Jubaland Administration, an important achievement for both the Jubaland Administration and the Somali Federal Government was formally inaugurated in Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo. The occasion, seen as a symbol of the consolidation of peace, national stability and cooperation between the Interim Jubaland Administration and the Federal Government, was attended by the country’s federal and regional state leaders, Foreign Ministers of neighbouring countries, representatives from IGAD member states, partners and the Jubaland people. Among those joining the head of the Jubaland Administration, Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe), were Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Dr Tedros Adhanom, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Puntland Vice President Abdihakim Abdullahi Haji Omar, Jubaland leaders, ambassadors and senior government officials. The inauguration of the Parliament included speeches from Government leaders, and visiting dignitaries, and a cultural parade by the peoples of Jubaland and of elsewhere in Somalia.

BURUNDI
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has said his country faces a specific threat from al-Shabab because of its role in the African Union-led peacekeeping mission in Somalia. The president said he came to his office to speak on the telephone with the leaders of Kenya and Uganda regarding a specific threat from the Islamist group al-Shabab. The president’s claims have been met with scepticism from many, who fear they could provide a pretext for the security services to crack down hard on demonstrations. He was appearing in public in the capital Bujumbura for the first time since a failed coup bid against him which came after weeks of violent protests against his decision to seek a third term in office in elections due next month. Eighteen people appeared in court on charges of helping the coup bid. The alleged ringleader, Godefroid Niyombare, is still on the run.

DR CONGO / TANZANIA
Two Tanzanian peacekeepers with the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been killed in an ambush near the city of Beni, the UN has said. Thirteen others were wounded in the attack by suspected Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces Islamist rebels. It was the second attack on UN forces in the eastern North Kivu region in 48 hours after a helicopter carrying the force’s commander came under fire. The UN peacekeeping convoy came under attack on Tuesday near the village of Kikiki, about 50km (30 miles) north of Beni. Four peacekeepers have also been reported missing following the ambush. The ADF was formed in late 1990s by a Muslim sect in the Ruwenzori mountains of western Uganda. The Congolese army launched an offensive against the group - one of many based in the mineral-rich east of DR Congo - after they were accused of hacking more than 200 villagers to death near Beni in a series of massacres late last year.

LIBYA
A group of 35 Ethiopians who had been held in Libya returned to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia said their rescue was made possible “through co-ordinated effort” with the Egyptian government, but it is unclear who was holding them. More than 20 Ethiopians were killed in April by the Libyan branch of Islamic State, which filmed the executions. There are claims by an adviser to the Libyan government Islamic State (IS) fighters are being smuggled into Europe by gangs in the Mediterranean. Abdul Basit Haroun based his claim on conversations with smugglers in parts of North Africa controlled by the militants and alleged that IS was allowing the boat owners to continue their operations in exchange for half of their income. Libya’s coastguard has admitted that they cannot handle the volume of migrant boats and will only interfere if a boat runs into trouble. Officials in Italy and Egypt have previously warned that IS militants could reach Europe by migrant boat. However, experts have cautioned that it is very difficult to verify such claims. “Egypt is particularly keen to amplify the threat of Islamic State in Libya as it is desperately seeking approval for international intervention in the country,” said Alison Pargeter, an analyst for the Royal United Services Institute.

EGYPT
The US has renewed arms shipments to Egypt supporting the clampdown on political protest and human rights under President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the general who staged a coup overthrowing the democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. US President Barack Obama announced 12 F16s, 20 Harpoon missiles and up to 125 M-1 Abrams tank upgrades were earmarked for delivery to the Egyptians in the interests of national security. One estimate has it that the US has provided Egypt with $76bn (£50bn) in foreign aid between 1948 and 2015. This includes $1.3bn a year in military aid from 1987 to the present. France has this year negotiated a $5bn arms deal with Egypt, involving the sale of fighter jets and a naval frigate. Last year, France sold Egypt four naval frigates in a deal estimated to be worth $1.3bn. In September last year, Russia announced it had reached a $3.5bn arms deal with Egypt.

The country’s jails are overflowing with political activists who are not all members of the Muslim Brotherhood which is once again outlawed and declared a terrorist organisation. Its political party, the Freedom and Justice Party, has been dissolved by court order. The Egyptian authorities have declared the Brotherhood itself a terrorist organisation. Mohammed Badie, head of the Brotherhood, has been sentenced to death.

Mohammed Morsi has just been condemned to death for his role in a jailbreak in 2011. The sentence has to be ratified by the Grand Mufti.

Separately, Morsi was given a 20-year jail sentence for ordering the arrests and torture of protesters demonstrating against his rule while President. The Egyptian authorities have seized assets of former national football star Mohamed Aboutrika, amid allegations that he helped fund banned Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood. Mr Aboutrika publicly endorsed Morsi’s successful 2012 presidential bid.

Egypt has executed six men by hanging for the killing of two officers during a gunfight in March 2014.

The men were accused of being members of militant group Sinai Province, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS). Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International argue that the court process was flawed as three of the men were in custody at that time and could not have carried out the attack in Arab Sharkas, a village north of Cairo. The execution came a day after a court handed down death sentences to Mr Morsi and more than 100 other people, over a mass prison break in 2011. Shortly after the ruling, gunmen shot dead four people, including three judges, in the northern Sinai city of al-Arish. The Sinai Province group has carried out a series of attacks against military targets in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula since the army coup that ousted President Morsi in 2013. The group has been involved in suicide bombings, drive-by shootings, assassinations and beheadings. They were previously called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Champions of Jerusalem), but announced a name change in Nov 2014 after pledging allegiance to IS.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been sentenced to three years in jail on corruption charges after a retrial in Cairo. His sons were given four years each in the same case which centres on the embezzlement of $14m (£9.3m) earmarked for renovation of presidential palaces. The original conviction was overturned on 13 Jan over legal procedures. Mubarak and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were also fined for the amount embezzled and used to renovate their private residences in Cairo and on the Red Sea coast, as well as a family farm. Egypt’s highest court is also due to decide on 4 June whether to allow an appeal against a lower court’s ruling that dropped murder charges against Mubarak. The ex-leader remains at Maadi Military Hospital in Cairo.

The trial has begun of an Egyptian policeman accused of killing an unarmed female activist. Yassin Hatem Salahedeen, a 24-year-old police lieutenant, is charged with manslaughter over the death of the poet Shaimaa al-Sabbagh. She died after appearing to be shot by a masked policeman at a peaceful protest in Cairo in January. Her final moments were caught on video and went viral online, causing outrage within Egypt.

ANTI-AFRIKAN RACISM IN ISRAEL

Ethiopian Israelis beaten by police

Israel’s Prime Minister has acknowledged the racism in the country after protests by Ethiopian Israelis against ongoing discrimination. Binyamin Netanyahu spoke after meeting Ethiopian Israeli community leaders and an Ethiopian Israeli soldier, Damas Fekade, whose beating by police has fuelled tensions. At least 46 police and seven demonstrators were hurt in the clashes in Tel Aviv. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades and officers on horseback charged the crowd to disperse protesters who tried to enter the Tel Aviv municipality building. Dozens of protesters were arrested. One of the policemen involved in Mr Fekade’s beating has been dismissed and the other suspended from the force and an investigation into the incident is under way. There are now around 135,000 Ethiopian Jews living in Israel but they have been subjected to discrimination, and similar protests in 2012 followed reports that some Israeli landlords were refusing to rent out their properties to Ethiopian Jews. Their income is considerably lower than the general population, and they are much more likely to face limited educational opportunities and to end up in prison, according to The Ethiopian National Project, a non-governmental organisation which assists Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

CRIME SCENE USA
No charges will be brought against a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Wisconsin. Announcing his decision, Dane County District Attorney Ishmael Ozanne said police officer Matt Kenny had been attacked and feared for his life. Nineteen-year-old Tony Robinson Jr, who was unarmed, was shot on 6 March in a Madison apartment. Officer Kenny drew his firearm before entering the apartment building Robinson was in and he claims he was attacked at the top of the stairs. He said he feared he would be knocked down the stairs and Robinson would take his gun, and he fired seven shots at him.

His death sparked protests in the state capitol building, one of a series of US police shootings to raise tensions. More protesters with banners saying “Black lives matter” gathered in Madison after the attorney made his announcement on Tuesday. Mr Robinson’s mother, Andrea Irwin, vowed to continue the fight as she addressed a crowd of supporters outside Grace Episcopal Church. Earlier, Mr Ozanne had said: “This tragic and unfortunate death was the result of a lawful use of deadly police force and no charges should be brought against Kenny. Officer Kenny was responding to an emergency call about a man obstructing traffic who had allegedly been involved in an assault, when he confronted Robinson.”

Officers Benjamin Deen, 34, and Liquori Tate, 25, were shot dead in Hattiesburg city, during a traffic stop said police spokesman Lt Jon Traxler. Three people have reportedly been arrested over the killings, ending a manhunt of several hours. Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said that 29-year-old Marvin Banks and 22-year-old Joanie Calloway had both been charged with the killings. Curtis Banks, the younger brother of Marvin Banks, had also been charged with being an accessory to the crimes. The number of shots and who fired them were still under investigation, he added. He did not explain why the car had been pulled over by police.

A plainclothes policeman has died two days after he was shot in the head in New York City. Brian Moore, 25, was shot on Saturday while attempting to question a suspect from an unmarked police car in the borough of Queens. Demitrius Blackwell, 36, was arrested soon after the incident and has since been charged on several counts. Moore is the fifth police officer to be shot - and the third to be killed - in New York in the past three months.

Police said Mr Moore and his partner Erik Janssen were in an unmarked car when they saw a man adjust something on his belt. Suspecting he was carrying a gun, the officers approached him. Blackwell pulled out a gun and fired several times at the vehicle, they added. Blackwell was recently paroled after serving seven years in prison for attempted murder and reportedly has a history of assaulting police officers. It comes amid heightened tensions in the US over the police’s use of force. In December, two officers were shot dead in their car in New York by a man who then committed suicide. The gunman in that case had posted anti-police messages on social media but there is no indication of a similar motive in the latest shooting.

Six police officers are facing criminal charges over the death of Freddie Gray, which has been ruled a homicide. Police have admitted that Gray, 25, was not secured in the van by a seatbelt and that his requests for medical attention while being transported were denied. Gray’s death is the latest in a series of killings of black men at the hands of police in the US which have sparked protests and national debate. The US justice department has launched investigation to determine whether Baltimore’s police department engages in routine bias or excessive force. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake requested the inquiry after Freddie Gray’s arrest and killing. The US Department of Justice is already investigating whether Gray’s civil rights were violated in the incident.

Baltimore is the latest of a series of US police departments that are being investigated by the federal government. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, also encouraged other cities to study the department’s past recommendations and see whether they can be applied in their communities. The new investigation would be similar to the one that was done in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed Afrikan-American teenager, by a white police officer in August. The wide-ranging investigations look for patterns of discrimination within the police departments being reviewed. They can involve the examination of how officers search and arrest suspects, and how they use force against them. The investigation’s results can sometimes include an agreement known as a consent decree, in which the police department in question agrees to make specific changes, while an outside monitor is appointed to ensure compliance. The justice department formed this kind of agreement with the New Orleans Police Department in 2012, and the police force there was required to make widespread reforms. In April, the justice department issued a report detailing widespread abuse at the police department in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and called for an overhaul of its internal affairs unit.

BRITISH ELECTIONS
National elections in Britain have returned the right-wing Conservative party with an increased majority allowing them to govern in their own right without a coalition. The political campaign was marked by threats to social income couched in terms of ‘austerity and racist rhetoric so bad that even the UN had to intervene and condemn the scale of the inaccuracies, lies and abuse from the British media, political parties and commentators. Pollsters had not foreseen the Tory landslide in terms of seats won as oppose to their percentage of the votes cast because they were so focussed on creating non-existent scenarios rather than reflecting and addressing the issues that people have to deal with in the real world. Afterwards, they created the term ‘shy Tory’ for people who voted for right-wing parties but would not admit it even to their closest friends and families. These voters were just continuing a deceitful, racist and imperialist tradition that is the reality of ‘British values’ rather than the much touted tolerance and belief in fair play propaganda British people like to spout and export in its deformed manner to their former colonies.

The low level of political analysis and maturity of the British electorate is reflected in the fact that for months there was public humiliation of Labour’s leader Ed Miliband, who has Yehudi heritage, over his inability to eat a bacon sandwich. Most Yehudis don’t even eat pork-related products. To focus on that instead of the party manifestoes, the proposed £12bn of social welfare cuts, abandoning of human rights legislation, constant police abuses of their powers and high rates of youth unemployment gives the lie to Britain being considered the mother of parliaments or modern democracies. Expecting Afrikans in Britain to support such a charade was - and continues to be - hopelessly naïve.

After Labour’s defeat one candidate to be the new party leader was Chuka Umunna, whose father came from Nigeria. Within three days he withdrew his candidacy because of the level of hostile press intrusion and racist abuse he received. His girlfriend’s 102-year-old grandmother was doorstepped while his own family in Nigeria were traced in a bid to dig up dirt although none was found apart from the fact that he was once a DJ and club promoter while at university. It seems the resources are available among the mainstream British media for gutter journalism but not to campaign for greater Afrikan involvement in public institutions, the full restoration of benefits to the under-25s, the scrapping of tuition fees as they have done in other parts of Britain, the scrapping of the bedroom tax and council tax payments for the unemployed and those on a low-income, a rent cap on private and social housing, government regulation or majority share in the commanding heights of the economy, an effective tax collection regime that puts the burden on those most able to pay, active support for reparations to those marginalised by British imperialism and an end to nuclear weapons as only genocidal mass murderers would consider their production or use and they are a waste of finances and resources which could be put to more social benefit.

In the part of Britain where we grew up we didn’t know anyone who voted for the racist, imperialist Conservative Party and would never keep any friends or associates of that ilk. Given how tied the majority of English people are to their ill-gotten wealth and perpetrating injustice from centuries of colonial plunder it would appear that for Afrikans in Britain to be fully recognised and empowered to play their full role in society through a fraudulent electoral system we may have to follow the dictum of our Irish Republican ‘friends’: vote early - vote often!!!

WEST AFRIKAN EBOLA UPDATE

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Liberia free of the Ebola virus, confirming that the country has had no new cases in six weeks. More than 4,700 deaths from Ebola have been recorded in Liberia, more than in any other affected country. Neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to fight the outbreak. To date 26,720 cases have been reported and 11,079 people have died from it in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mali and the US. The latest outbreak has killed five times more people than all the other known outbreaks put together. The WHO regards a country Ebola-free after a 42-day period without a new case - twice the maximum incubation period. The last confirmed death in Liberia was on 27 March. The WHO is warning against complacency. Its statement warns that there is “a high risk that infected people may cross into Liberia over the region’s exceptionally porous borders”.

Liberia’s held an official celebration of the country being declared free of Ebola. A public holiday was declared so pupils and workers could celebrate the virus being brought under control on Monday. Officials say Ebola was eventually conquered in Liberia through a collective effort. Care centres and hand-washing stations were set up to try to halt the disease, which spreads through contact with sick people. The outbreak will have a long-term impact on Liberia’s fragile economy. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said that Liberia would be celebrating a concerted effort to stem the disease: “We will celebrate our communities which have taken responsibility and participated in fighting this unknown enemy and finally we’ve crossed the Rubicon. Liberia indeed is a happy nation.”

The Ebola virus has been detected in the eye of a US doctor who had already recovered from the illness.
The medic, who caught the disease while working in Sierra Leone, had blurred eyesight and pain two months after being declared Ebola-free.

Scientists say his eye infection presents no risk to the public. But reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine they warn that research is needed to see if Ebola can also linger in other parts of the body. There have been suggestions the virus could live on in certain bodily fluids - for example in the semen of survivors some weeks after recovery.

Meanwhile, the WHO has issued an advisory for scientists and the media regarding the future naming of diseases stressing that they should be given socially acceptable names which do not stigmatise certain cultures, regions and economies or mention animals. The WHO says Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Spanish Flu are examples of what to avoid because they mention specific locations. Instead, names should contain generic terms that are easy to pronounce. Disease names which incite fear, include people’s names, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or refer to specific occupations, for example Legionnaires’ disease, should be avoided. Any acronyms for longer names should also be checked. Dr Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director General for Health Security at the WHO, said certain disease names had created a backlash against members of particular religious or ethnic communities. They had also put up barriers to travel, commerce and trade and in some cases triggered the needless slaughtering of animals. He added: “This can have serious consequences for people’s lives and livelihoods.”

IVORY COAST BANS SKIN-WHITENING CREAM
Ivory Coast has banned skin-whitening creams because of health concerns, according to their health ministry who say that cosmetic lightening and hygiene creams that de-pigment the skin are now forbidden. “The number of people with side-effects caused by these medicines is really high,” Christian Doudouko, a member of Ivory Coast’s pharmaceutical authority said.

British consultant dermatologist Justine Kluk said the major concern was over unregulated products, which may contain ingredients such as mercury or excessive amounts of steroids. The creams can cause a variety of health issues, such as “acne, thinning of the skin, glaucoma or cataracts if applied near the eyes. Or if applied liberally to the whole body, [they can] cause high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, weight gain, mood disturbance due to absorption of large amounts of steroids,” she said.

South Africa has the world’s toughest laws against skin lighteners, having prohibited the most active ingredient - hydroquinone, but a University of Cape Town study found that more than a third of South African women still buy them. The use of whitening creams in Africa is most widespread in Nigeria - where more than 75% of women buy them, according to a 2008 UN Environment Programme study.

On wider health issues a recent video we have been sent which readers may find of interest is: Anna Edwards’ “Moringa” & It’s Usages on Ben TV. Web: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3ORqBLvd5g

OBITUARY

~ RILEY B. [B.B.] KING (16 Sep 1925 – 14 May 2015), Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, Producer, Club Owner and Pilot. The Blues legend B B King passed away in his sleep from a series of small strokes caused by Type 2 diabetes. He is considered the “The King of the Blues” and according to Edward M. Komara, King “introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed.”

‘Now Father Time is catching up with me / Gone is my youth / I look in the mirror everyday / And let it tell me the truth / I’m singing the blues / Mm, I just have to sing the blues / I’ve been around a long time / Yes, yes, I’ve really paid some dues.’ - ‘Why I Sing the Blues’, BB King

Riley B. King was born on Berclair cotton plantation, Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers Albert and Nora Ella King. When he was 4 years old, his mother left his father for another man so he was raised by his maternal grandmother. He sang in the gospel choir at Elkhorn Baptist Church in Kilmichael. He was given his first guitar by Bukka White, his mother’s first cousin. In 1943, King left Kilmichael to work as a tractor driver and play guitar with the Famous St. John’s Quartet of Inverness, Mississippi, performing at area churches and on WGRM in Greenwood, Mississippi.

In 1946, King followed Bukka White to Memphis, Tennessee, and went on the road with him. In 1948 he performed on Sonny Boy Williamson‘s radio program on KWEM in West Memphis, where he began to develop an audience with regular gigs at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in the town and a ten-minute spot on the Memphis radio station WDIA. The radio spot became so popular that it was expanded and became the Sepia Swing Club. Initially he worked at WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, gaining the nickname ‘Beale Street Blues Boy’, which was later shortened to ‘Blues Boy’ and finally to B.B. It was there that he first met T-Bone Walker leading to his move to electric guitar.

In 1949, King began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles-based RPM Records. Many of King’s early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. Before his RPM contract, King had debuted on Bullet Records by issuing the single ‘Miss Martha King’ (1949), backed by the Newborn family, the house band at the Plantation Inn in West Memphis. King assembled his own band; the B.B. King Review, under the leadership of Millard Lee. The band initially consisted of Calvin Owens and Kenneth Sands (trumpet), Lawrence Burdin (alto saxophone), George Coleman (tenor saxophone), Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone), Millard Lee (piano), George Joyner (bass) and Earl Forest and Ted Curry (drums). Onzie Horne worked as an arranger to assist King with his compositions. By his own admission, King could not play chords well and always relied on improvisation. During one show in Twist, Arkansas, a brawl broke out between two men and caused a fire. He evacuated along with the rest of the crowd but went back to retrieve his guitar. He said he later found out that the two men, who died in the blaze, were fighting over a woman named Lucille. He named the guitar Lucille as a reminder not to fight over women or run into any more burning buildings.

Following his first Billboard Rhythm and Blues charts number one, a cover of Lowell Fulson’s ‘3 O’Clock Blues‘ (1952), B.B. King became one of the most important names in R&B music in the 1950s, amassing an impressive list of hits including ‘You Know I Love You’, ‘Woke Up This Morning’, ‘Please Love Me’, ‘When My Heart Beats like a Hammer’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘You Upset Me Baby’, ‘Every Day I Have the Blues‘, ‘Sneakin’ Around’, ;Ten Long Years’, ‘Bad Luck’, ‘Sweet Little Angel‘, ‘On My Word of Honor’, ‘Please Accept My Love’, ‘How Blue Can You Get?’, ‘Don’t Answer the Door’ and ‘Paying the Cost to Be the Boss’.

In 1956 he played a record-breaking 342 concerts and founded his own record label, Blues Boys Kingdom, with headquarters at Beale Street in Memphis. There, among other projects, he produced artists such as Millard Lee and Levi Seabury. In 1962, King signed to ABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed into MCA Records, and then into Geffen Records. In November 1964, King recorded the ‘Live at the Regal‘ album at the Regal Theater which King later said “is considered by some the best recording I’ve ever had...that particular day in Chicago everything came together.”

King was an opening act on the Rolling Stones‘ 1969 American Tour. He acquired further rock credibility with the 1970 album Indianola Mississippi Seeds, on which he collaborated with Carole King and Joe Walsh and scored another enduring hit with Leon Russell’s song ‘Hummingbird’. He won his first Grammy Award in 1970 for the song ‘The Thrill Is Gone‘, which is number 183 in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

He continued to record and perform at the same pace and in 1991, B.B. King’s Blues Club opened on Beale Street in Memphis, and in 1994, a second club was launched at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles. A third club in New York City’s Times Square opened in June 2000. Two further clubs opened at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in January 2002 and another in Nashville in 2003. Another club opened in Orlando in 2007. A club in West Palm Beach opened in the fall of 2009 and an additional one, based in the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, opened in the winter of 2009.

King made guest appearances in numerous popular television shows, including ‘The Cosby Show‘, ‘General Hospital‘, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘, ‘Sesame Street‘, ‘Sanford and Son‘ and ‘Touched by an Angel‘. In 1998, he appeared in ‘The Blues Brothers 2000‘, playing the part of the lead singer of the Louisiana Gator Boys, along with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor and Bo Diddley. In 2000, he and Clapton teamed up again to record ‘Riding With the King‘, which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. He was active until his passing, appearing on numerous television shows and performing 300 nights a year including a ‘farewell tour in 2006. It started in the United Kingdom, and continued with performances in the Montreux Jazz Festival and in Zürich at the Blues at Sunset. During his show in Montreux at the Stravinski Hall he jammed with Joe Sample, Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, Gladys Knight, Leela James, Andre Beeka, Earl Thomas, Stanley Clarke, John McLaughlin, Barbara Hendricks and George Duke.

In June 2006, King was present at a memorial of his first radio broadcast at the Three Deuces Building in Greenwood, Mississippi, where an official marker of the Mississippi Blues Trail was erected. The same month, a groundbreaking was held for a new museum dedicated to King in Indianola, Mississippi. The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened on 13 Sep, 2008. In late Oct 2006, King recorded a concert album and video entitled B.B. King: Live at his B.B. King Blues Clubs in Nashville and Memphis. The four-night production featured his regular B.B. King Blues Band and captured his show as he performed it nightly around the world. Released in 2008, it was his first live performance recording in over a decade.

In the summer of 2008, King played at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, where he was given a key to the city. Also in 2008, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2011, King played at the Glastonbury Music Festival, and in the Royal Albert Hall in London, where he recorded a concert video. On 21 Feb 21, 2012, King was among the performers of “In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues”, during which President Barack Obama sang part of ‘Sweet Home Chicago‘. King recorded for the debut album of rapper and producer Big K.R.I.T., who also hails from Mississippi. A feature documentary about King narrated by Morgan Freeman and directed by Jon Brewer was released on October 15, 2012.

Honors and awards
• In 1977, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music by Yale University.
• In 1980, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
• In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• In 1990, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
• In 1991, he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA.
• King was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995. This is given to recognize “the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our nation’s most prestigious artists.”
• In 2004, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music awarded him the Polar Music Prize for his “significant contributions to the blues”.
• On December 15, 2006, President George W. Bush awarded King the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• On May 27, 2007, King was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Brown University.
• On May 14, 2008, King was presented with the keys to the city of Utica, New York; and on May 18, 2008, the mayor of Portland, Maine, Edward Suslovic, declared the day “B.B. King Day” in the city. Prior to King’s performance at the Merrill Auditorium, Suslovic presented King with the keys to the city.
• In 2009, Time named B.B. King No.3 on its list of the 10 best electric guitarists.
• Each year during the first week in June, a B.B. King Homecoming Festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi.
• A Mississippi Blues Trail marker was added for B.B. King, commemorating his birthplace.
• On May 29, 2010, Sabrosa Park (at the small town of Sabrosa, north of Portugal) was renamed B.B. King Park in honor of King and the free concert he played before 20,000 people.

Grammy Awards
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy was awarded, for music released in the previous year.
• 1971: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for ‘The Thrill Is Gone‘
• 1982: Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording for ‘There Must Be a Better World Somewhere‘
• 1984: Best Traditional Blues Recording for ‘Blues ‘n Jazz’
• 1986: Best Traditional Blues Recording for ‘My Guitar Sings the Blues’
• 1991: Best Traditional Blues Recording for ‘Live at San Quentin‘
• 1992: Best Traditional Blues Album for ‘Live at the Apollo‘
• 1994: Best Traditional Blues Album for ‘Blues Summit’
• 1997: Best Rock Instrumental Performance for ‘SRV Shuffle’
• 2000: Best Traditional Blues Album for ‘Blues on the Bayou
• 2001: Best Traditional Blues Album for ‘Riding with the King‘
• 2001: Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for ‘Is You or Is You Ain’t (Baby)’
• 2003: Best Traditional Blues Album for ‘A Christmas Celebration of Hope’
• 2003: Best Pop Instrumental Performance for ‘Auld Lang Syne’
• 2006: Best Traditional Blues Album for ‘80‘
• 2009: Best Traditional Blues Album for ‘One Kind Favor’

King was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. A Grammy Hall of Fame Award was given to ‘The Thrill is Gone’ in 1998. The award is given to recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have “qualitative or historical significance”. King was an FAA certificated private pilot and learned to fly in 1963 at what was then Chicago Hammond Airport in Lansing, Illinois. He frequently flew to gigs but, under the advice of his insurance company and manager in 1995, was asked to fly only with another certified pilot and soon stopped flying.

In 2002, King signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in underprivileged public schools throughout the United States. He sat on the organization’s Honorary Board of Directors. He also gave concerts to prisoners at the Cook County jail in Chicago, Sing Sing and at San Quentin, experiences that led to his long involvement in rehabilitation programmes. He was best known for playing variants of the Gibson ES-355. In 1980, Gibson Guitar Corporation launched the B.B. King Lucille model. In 2005, Gibson made a special run of 80 Gibson Lucilles, referred to as the “80th Birthday Lucille”, the first prototype of which was given as a birthday gift to King, and which he used ever since. His biggest influence was T-Bone Walker but he would also cite earlier blues guitarists like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lonnie Johnson and the jazz players Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. He once explained that his guitar technique was partly based on his lack of skill: “I started to bend notes because I could never play in the bottleneck style, like Elmore James and Booker White. I loved that sound but just couldn’t do it.”

King was married twice, to Martha Lee Denton, 1946 to 1952, and to Sue Carol Hall, 1958 to 1966. He had 15 children, four of which pre-deceased him.

FORTHCOMING NUBIART PROFILES
NUBIART: Focus on arts, business, education, health, political developments and the media.
~ MON 8 JUN: Book review of Patricia Bamurangirwa’s ‘My Mother’s Dreams’ [Matador] and Hutu and Tutsi relationships in east Afrika.

MAY PROMOS

~ ‘BA POWER’ - Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba [Glitter Beat – Out Now] For Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba’s fourth album, ‘Ba Power’, they move to Glitterbeat Records which seems to be establishing itself as the home for many Malian acts drawing appreciative audiences. ‘Ba Power’ is rawer and more powerful than the previous releases and is testament to Bassekou Kouyate’s increasing confidence with the ngoni band concept. The album was produced in Mali by Chris Eckman (Tamikrest, Aziza Brahim) and it features a number of guests: from Mali Samba Touré, Zoumana Tereta and Adama Yalomba, from the US seminal trumpet player Jon Hassell (Brian Eno, The Talking Heads, Bjork and Peter Gabriel) and rock guitarist Chris Brokaw (Lemonheads, Come, the Thurston Moore Band etc.), and from the UK acclaimed drummer Dave Smith (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters, Fofoulah, JuJu).

Track 3 – ‘Abe Sumaya (It Will Die Out)’ – reflects on the strife and revolts that has dominated the last four years in West Afrika and in Ngoni Ba’s case most directly their Malian homeland. ‘Borongoli ma kununba (Borongoli Sleeps)’ tells of the king or great leader who it is a joy for the griots to praise and for their patrons to wake hearing the name of such an illustrious person – the perfect way to start the day. ‘Te Dunia Laba (Not Forever)’ points out that with some of the political class of leaders their great works may continue to be talked but they cannot take any material wealth they may wish to amass with them into their future life no matter how great their works. We also liked Bassekouni, a personal tribute to Bassekou himself which seals up this instalment. The influence and textural complexity of ‘Ba Power’ reveals itself with repeated listening and Bassekou Kouyate is moving from being regarded just as a ‘world music’ artist to the status of highly-respected and influential musician.

Links:
Bassekou Kouyaté
http://bassekoukouyate.com/
Twitter: @Bassekou http://twitter.com/Bassekou
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bassekou-Kouyat%C3%A9/39291943354?fref=ts
Listen to “Waati”: https://soundcloud.com/glitterbeat/waati
Listen to “Siran Fen”: https://soundcloud.com/glitterbeat/bassekou
Watch the “Siran Fen” music video: https://youtu.be/kAOSC1IQ0EI
Watch the ‘Ba Power’ album teaser video: http://youtu.be/yjI7DHjU8vA

Glitterbeat Records
http://glitterbeat.com/
Twitter: @Glitterbeat_Rec https://twitter.com/Glitterbeat_Rec
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Glitterbeat
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/glitterbeattv
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/glitterbeat

~ ‘ALONE’ – Terakaft [Outhere Records – Released 11 May] Terakaft [Caravan], the Tuareg band from Mali featuring founding members of Tinariwen return with a new album produced by Justin Adams well-known for his work with Robert Plant, Tinariwen and Juldeh Camara. ‘Alone (Ténéré)’, - Terakaft’s fifth album - was born out of a need to maintain sanity in times of broken dreams and lies following the usurpation of the Tuareg rebellion in Mali by the better funded and more blood thirsty Islamists. Instead of their hoped for state of Azawad many Tuareg found themselves in exile and refugee camps and this album reflects on the need for true friendship and tolerance.

Although there seems to be a recent trend for the Malian bands to move in a more rockier direction there is still powerful tracks here. Our favourite was ‘Karambani (Nastiness)’ – ‘Stop playing the bad guys / Stop telling stories and lies / Tell us the truth you are expecting / Dig wells and you will find water / We take a step forward, we take a step back / You’re all the same / You made a mess / All you do is consuming’ - and the contemplative final instrumental track, ‘Anabayou (Solo)’. We also liked the grooves and lyrics on ‘Itilla Ihene Dagh Aitma (To My Brothers)’, Oulhin Asnin (My Heart Suffers)’ and ‘Kal Hoggar (Kel Ahaggar)’

Weblinks:
Terakaft:
http://terakaft.bandpage.com/
Twitter: @TerakaftBand https://twitter.com/TerakaftBand
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/terakaft
PledgeMusic: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/terakaft

Outhere Records
http://www.outhere.de
http://outhere.de/outhere/terakaft-strike-back/
Twitter: @OuthereRec https://twitter.com/OuthereRec
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outhererecords
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtkJjJwPV8fMOJblvU82Jw
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/outhererecords

NUBIART LIBRARY – MAY MEDIA
We will only review books we have read and DVDs we have seen and that are available at reasonable prices online or in shops or libraries. However, given the nature and current state of Afrikan publishing and film production there may be books and films on this list that are worth the extra effort to track down.

~ ‘APNU AND THE LEGACY OF FORBES BURNHAM’ – Tom Dalgety [William Thomas Dalgety. ISBN: 978-976-95348-2-7] This pocket-sized pamphlet is the follow-up to the author’s ‘PNC Burnham and Beyond’, which was commissioned by the Guyana Institute for Historical Research in 2009. Tom Dalgety felt the need to write this as he felt that although Forbes Burnham is much maligned some of his ideas have crossed ideological and racial divides in a country where there is no majority ethnic grouping. This has not always been the case and at independence in 1966 as well as the usual party political differences Burnham faced revolts from East Indian Guyanese on the coastal belt and European-Amerindians in the Rupununi region. He would soon also face external threats with excursions from neighbouring Venezuela and Suriname.

The early ideas of Burnham that have the most resonance are the promotion of co-operatives, no seizure of industries but instead a climate for businesses both large and small to prosper without racial preference and the tax burden to be proportionate to ability to pay. Burnham was also involved in the wider geopolitics of the day and an article reprinted here is ‘Hands Off The Caribbean’ in defence of Cuba and printed in the New Nation a week after the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961. He was instrumental in the Cuban-Caribbean Heads of State Summit in defiance of the 55-year US embargo of the island.

Burnham formed the Afrikan-dominated People’s National Congress as a result of a split in the Peoples Progressive Party that was led by Dr Cheddi Jagan, leaving it as a majority East Indian party. The PNC merged with the National Democratic Party, the National Farmers and Workers Party and the United Democratic Party. Between them they had a history of struggle for trade union rights and political emancipation stretching back decades. From 1957-1961 Cheddi Jagan started pursuing ‘apan jaat’ economic policies in favour of East Indians who were heavily involved in rice cultivation to the detriment of Afrikans who were involved in cattle, ground provisions and small scale gold mining which exacerbated the racial nature of the politics.

Forbes Burnham led the PNC until his passing in 1985 when he was succeeded by Desmond Hoyte in a period that, especially after the 1992 election defeat, was to see the fracturing of the party with Hoyte accused of abandoning the co-operative ethos and pursuing neo-colonialist policies. In 2012 A Partnership of National Unity (APNU) with 26 seats allied with the Alliance for Change with seven seats formed a majority as opposed to the PPPC’s 32 seats and the book points to a belief that this will see a renewal of the progressive, pan-Afrikanist and co-operative elements of the PNC economic, political and cultural heritage.

Although Walter Rodney is mentioned in terms of inspirational activists and ancestors there is no space here for an analysis of his differences with Burnham, the role of the non-racial Workers People’s Alliance and how Rodney’s ideas which were so influential in the diaspora would have played out in the cut-and-thrust of a racialised domestic political environment if he had not been assassinated by Burnham’s agents in June 1980.

The pamphlet highlights the strong pan-Afrikan influence in Guyana with sections on the retention of traditional spiritual beliefs and emancipation revolts against enslavement. There is info on the highly-influential Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England in 1945 which was facilitated by the Guyanese Ras Makonnen with several of the major anti-colonial activists in attendance. There is a lesser known connection that took place on Guyanese soil when Eze Anyanu Ogueri II from Obibi Ezena, Owerri Province in Nigeria visited from 27 Dec 1950 until 3 Jan 1951. It was the first time that Afrikan royalty had visited Guyana and ‘Eze Day’ was marked with annual parades and dances on 27 Dec for several years afterwards not just in the capital Georgetown but in other towns and villages across the country. Several children bear the names Eze and Kwame as a result of their inspirations.

In last week’s Guyanese elections the incumbent President Donald Ramotar of the People’s Progressive Party - Civic (PPP/C) lost to David Granger, a 69-year-old retired army general representing the five-party opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) by 206,817 votes to 201,457. Donald Ramotar has requested a full recount. The PPP/C had won the previous five elections and had been in office for 23 years. President Ramotar suspended the National Assembly in November, eventually dissolving it three months later. Mr Granger campaigned on a platform of increased security and fighting drug and human trafficking. “The time has come for racial and national unity. The time has come to end winner-take-all politics, corruption, nepotism and the squandering of our resources,” he said.

Nubiart Diary

We welcome feedback on any event you have attended that was listed in Nubiart Diary. It helps us with the selection of future listings and is also info we can pass on to the event organisers where appropriate.

~ THE GEORGE PADMORE INSTITUTE IN ASSOCIATION WITH ISLINGTON MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES PRESENTS ‘DREAM TO CHANGE THE WORLD: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JOHN LA ROSE’. John La Rose (1927-2006) was a poet, essayist, publisher, film maker, trade unionist, cultural and political activist. He belonged to a Caribbean tradition of radical and revolutionary activism whose input has reverberated across continents. The exhibition includes photographs, leaflets, posters, letters, recordings and film clips plus a reconstruction of John’s kitchen table around which so much discussion and planning went on. John La Rose was passionately committed to racial and political justice, not just in Britain but internationally. The exhibition aims to draw out the lessons of John La Rose’s life - his methods and principles - both to tell visitors what he achieved but also to give them the inspiration and power to dream and achieve themselves. His truly was a Dream to Change the World. From Fri 22 May until 29 Aug at Islington Museum, 245 Saint John Street, London, EC1V 4NB. E-mail: info@georgepadmoreinstitute.org / islington.museum@islington.gov.uk Web: www.georgepadmoreinstitute.org

~ TIWANI CONTEMPORARY PRESENTS ‘The View From Here’. A photography exhibition with work by Andrew Esiebo, Délio Jasse, Lebohang Kganye, Namsa Leuba, Mimi Cherono Ng’ok, Abraham Oghobase and Dawit L. Petros that will open during Photo London. The works gathered in the exhibition openly challenge the status of the photograph as a document, preferring to explore its endless potential for subjective, fictional and poetic musings. ‘The View From Here’ therefore showcases a diversity of attitudes towards the camera, underpinned by a probing of its limitations and possibilities. Shared interests lie in the overlap between personal narratives and collective history, and the tension between memory and the present. Participating artists meet in the crafting of a photographic language that reflects the complex and syncretic nature of being in the 21st century, here and elsewhere. From Fri 22 May-27 June on Tues-Fri at 11am- 6pm and Sat at 12-5pm at Tiwani Contemporary, 16 Little Portland Street, W1. E-mail: info@tiwani.co.uk Web: www.tiwani.co.uk
- ‘Art Connect Artist Talk: Dawit L. Petros in Conversation with Osei Bonsu. On Sat 6 June at 3pm. Adm: Free. E-mail: rsvp: info@tiwani.co.uk

- Mary Evans presents ‘Towards Intersections’
On 21 May-27 June at University of South Africa (UNISA) Art Gallery, Pretoria
On 29 May-30 June at Museum Africa, Newtown, Johannesburg

~ ORGANISATION OF BLACK UNITY PRESENTS THE ‘MALCOLM X YOUTH CONFERENCE’. OBU has dubbed 2015 as Year X, 90 years after Malcolm’s birth and 50 years since his assassination. To mark these historic anniversaries they have organised an afternoon event aimed at young people aged 13 and over that will explore the importance of his legacy. Speakers: Dr Kehinde Andrews on ‘Malcolm’s legacy’; Dionne Taylor on ‘music videos and self-esteem’; Tamar ‘Kush Francis on ‘Blonde haired, blue eyed Black girl’; Dr Martin Glynn on the ‘Importance of self-education’; and Craig Pinkney on ‘Real Action UK’. On Sat 23 May at 12-5pm at Birmingham City University, Parkside, Birmingham. Adm: Free. E-mail: info@blackunity.org.uk Web: www.blackunity.org.uk

~ HERNE HILL FREE FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS ‘MCCULLIN’. Dir: David Morris, Jacqui Morris. Now based in Somerset and an accomplished landscape photographer his career began in North London 1959, taking him all round the world to the frontline of the 20th Century, photographing places as far reaching Cyprus, the Congo, Biafra, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, El Salvador, the Middle East and Northern Ireland. In this award winning film by Jacqui and David Morris not only does ‘McCullin’ speak candidly about his three-decade career, but the filmmakers also explore how journalism itself has changed over the same time. It’s a commentary on the history of photojournalism, told through the lens of one of its most acclaimed photographers. On Sun 24 May at 8pm at The Prince Regent Pub, Dulwich Road, London, SE24 0NJ. Adm: Free.

~ BRITISH MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS

Wukun Wanambi (b. 1962),
Wetjwitj (detail). Earth pigment
on hollow tree trunk, 2013.
© the artist, courtesy
Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre.

- ‘Larrakitj: Aboriginal Memorial Poles by Wukun Wanambi’. Until 25 May at Room 3. Adm: Free. This contemporary art installation by Aboriginal Australian artist Wukun Wanambi addresses a series of important ideas about ancestral power, the significance of land and the search for meaning. Aboriginal Australian memorial poles – known as larrakitj – are hollow coffins created to hold the bones of the dead in secondary burial. Placed in groups on significant sites and painted with clan symbols, they are left to deteriorate with wind and weather. Contemporary artist Wukun Wanambi (b. 1962) belongs to the Yolngu people of northern Arnhem Land and has worked innovatively with this longstanding art form for over a decade. Art is used by the Yolngu people in ceremonial performances, but also as legal documents and as a way to map the landscape and the relationships between people.

- ‘The Prince and the Pir: Dervishes and Mysticism In Iran and India’. Until 8 July 2015 at Room 34. Adm: Free. This small display explores depictions and attributes of Sufi dervishes from the 16th to the 19th centuries. In the Persian-speaking contexts of Iran and India, a holy man known as apir or shaykh often provided spiritual guidance. After the 12th century, many of these practised Sufism, a form of Islamic mysticism, whose devotees believe that the best way to know God is through the wisdom of one’s heart. Sufis are known for their renunciation of material things. However, they did not necessarily withdraw from the world, and many were connected to social and political institutions. This display presents diverse images of Sufis, from begging, wandering dervishes to legitimisers of princes’ reigns.

Hula dancers from the Hālau Nā
Kipuʻupuʻu group, Kaʻauea, Hawaiʻi,
Hawaiian Islands, 2011.
Photography: Dino Morrow.

- ‘Shifting Patterns: Pacific Barkcloth Clothing’. Until 6 Dec 2015 at Room 91. Adm: Free. A selection of textiles from the Pacific used to wrap, drape and adorn the body in a myriad of styles and designs, these garments demonstrate the long history of barkcloth, and its ongoing relevance today. In the islands of the Pacific, cloth made from the inner bark of trees is a distinctive art tradition its designs reflect the histories of each island group and the creativity of the makers. Spanning the region from New Guinea in the west to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the east, the exhibition will show a selection of 77 garments, headdresses, masks and body adornments from the Museum’s collection dating from the 1700s to 2014, including those worn as everyday items and ceremonial costumes linked to key life cycle events such as initiation and marriage. Barkcloth is generally made and decorated by women, but garments intended for ritual purposes may be made by men.

- ‘The New Black’ screenings. On Sat 23 May at 2-3.30pm at Stevenson Lecture Theatre. Adm: £3 / £2 (Members / Concs). This collection of seven short films showcases the rising stars of Indigenous filmmaking in Australia. Beautifully crafted by Indigenous Australian writers and directors, the films (each about 10 minutes) celebrate diverse storytelling and share intimate depictions of Indigenous life. Featuring ‘Nia’s Melancholy’, ‘Bourke Boy’, ‘The Farm’, ‘Auntie Maggie and the Womba Wagkun’, ‘The Party Shoes’ and ‘Jacob and Ralph’.

- ‘Languages of Indigenous Australia’ Lecture. On Fri 5 Jun at 1.30-2.30pm at Stevenson Lecture Theatre. Adm: Free, booking essential. It is estimated that in the late 18th century there were about 350 languages spoken on mainland Australia. At the start of the 21st century, fewer than 150 Indigenous languages remain in use, and almost all are highly endangered. Peter K Austin, SOAS, examines whether Indigenous Australian languages have elements in common, and how concepts of ‘country’ and Dreamtime are represented in the languages, songs and oral literature of the continent.

- ‘Creating a digital (Coptic) Old Testament’ Lecture. On Fri 5 Jun at 6.30-8.30pm at BP Lecture Theatre. Adm: £5 / £3 (Members / Concs). The translation of the Old and New Testaments into the classical literary language of Christian Egypt, Sahidic Coptic, from the 3rd to the 5th centuries, can be considered one of the most important translation projects of Late Antiquity. The Coptic Bible is a unique monument to the intellectual, religious and cultural history of the Eastern Mediterranean as well as being a document central to the culture and heritage of the Coptic Church. Professor Heike Behlmer, University of Göttingen, speaks on a new project to create a complete digital edition of the Sahidic Old Testament, making use of a virtual research environment to facilitate cooperation with other international projects and scholars. In conjunction with the 3rd International Symposium on Coptic Culture, at the Coptic Orthodox Church Centre on 5–7 June 2015.

All events at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC2. Tel: 020 7323 8181.

~ PACM 40th ANNIVERSARY AFRIKAN LIBERATION DAY. Speakers: Prof James Small, Umar Johnson, Prof Gus John, Bini Brown, Robin Walker, Sis Nzingha Assata. On Sun 24–Mon 25 May at St George’s Community Hub, Great Hampton Row, Birmingham, B19 3JG. 0121 554 2747 / 07940 709 311 (Birmingham) / 0208 801 0205 / 07871 534 084 (London) / 07577 057 960 (Manchester) / 07952 369 112 (Nottingham). Web: www.black/gold.biz

~ NANA ASANTE, IN ASSOCIATION WITH TAOBQ (THE AFRICAN OR BLACK QUESTION) AND BBM/BMC (BRITISHBLACKMUSIC.COM/BLACK MUSIC CONGRESS) XTRA HISTORY & REASONING SESSION - ‘PUTTING MARCUS GARVEY / UNIA WORDS TO MUSIC’. Speaker is Keith Waithe). On Mon 25 May at 6.30-8.30pm at Harrow MENCAP, 3 Jardine House, Harrovian Business Village, Bessborough Road, Harrow, London, HA1 3EX. Adm: Free. Booking: Eventbrite or e-mail: harrowBHM@hotmail.com

~ KAIMO AND THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON AFRICAN CARIBBEAN SOCIETY PRESENT ‘DIVERSITY AND THE MEDIA: WHERE IS THE ‘BLACK’ IN BRITISH MUSIC?’ Ahead of British Black Music Month (BBMM2015) and the June 4 formal launch of RE:IMI (Race Equality: In Music Industry), join Kwaku from BBM/BMC & RE:IMI for a timely debate. Panel includes: Ruby Mulraine, a former BBC executive producer and founder of the Black Music Canteen; Remel London, a young TV and radio presenter, and BBC 1xtra DJ Ace. On Tues 26 May 26, 6-8.30pm at London College Of Communication (LCC), Podium Theatre, London SE1 6SB. Adm: Free.

~ ROYAL AFRICAN SOCIETY PRESENTS ‘INSURGENT MARGINS’. In recent years, violent insurgency has gripped Kenya, Mali and Nigeria. Islamist groups have attacked civilians, state security personnel and political-administrative officials, spreading insecurity across large areas. Organised in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex (IDS), this event follows the publication of an IDS Rapid Response Briefing which argues for more concerted actions to address long-standing political grievances. On Wed 27 May at 6.30-8.30pm at Brunei Suite, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG. Adm: Free.

~ ‘THE SUPREME PRICE’ SCREENINGS. Dir: Joanna Lipper. ‘The Supreme Price’ is a feature length documentary film that traces the evolution of the Pro-Democracy Movement in Nigeria and efforts to increase the participation of women in leadership roles. Following the annulment of her father’s victory in Nigeria’s Presidential Election and her mother’s assassination by agents of the military dictatorship, Hafsat Abiola faces the challenge of transforming a corrupt culture of governance into a democracy capable of serving Nigeria’s most marginalized population: women. Winner of the Gucci Tribeca Spotlighting Women Documentary Award (2014), Best Documentary - Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) (2014) and received special mention at the Luxor African Film Festival (2014).

Screening Dates, Times and Locations
- Until 28 May at Curzon Bloomsbury, The Bertha DocHouse Screen, The Brunswick, London, WC1N 1AW. Tel: 0330 500 1331.

- On Sat 30 May at Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street, Cork, Ireland. Tel: 0353 21 427 2022. Web: http://triskelartscentre.ie/

- On Fri 12 Jun at Belfast Queen’s Theatre, 20 University Square, Belfast, BT7 1PA. Tel: 028 9097 1097. Web: www.queensfilmtheatre.com

- On Sun 14 Jun at 2pm (+ Q&A with Nadia Denton) at Phoenix Cinema, 52 High Road, East Finchley, London, N2 9PJ. Tel: 020 8444 6789. Web: www.phoenixcinema.co.uk/

- On Wed 17 Jun at 8:30pm at Arthouse Crouch End, 159A Tottenham Lane, London, N8 9BT. Tel: 020 8245 3099. Web: www.arthousecrouchend.co.uk/

~ THE EQUIANO SOCIETY PRESENT DR RUNOKO RASHIDI LECTURE SERIES

- ‘African Civilisations – The Life and Works of Yosef Ben Jochannan’. On Wed 27 May at 7.15pm.

- ‘The Genius of Historian Ivan van Sertima – His Life and Works’. On Fri 29 May at 7.15pm.

- ‘Distinguished African Women in the Ancient World’. On Sat 30 May at 7.15pm.

All events at the Karibu Education Centre, 7 Gresham Road, London, SW9 7PH. Adm: £9. E-mail: equianosociety@gmail.com

~ BLACK CULTURAL ARCHIVES PRESENT ‘DARCUS HOWE, RACE TODAY AND BLACK POWER IN BRITAIN’. This tribute to Black activism welcomes Darcus Howe, broadcaster, former British Black Panther and ex editor of ‘Race Today’ and Leila Hassan, former member of Black Unity and Freedom Party and ex editor of Race Today - both of whom are featured in the Look... racism DVD. Joining them will be Paul Field and Robin Bunce, co-authors of ‘Darcus Howe: A Political Biography’, and Arnie Hill of London Black Revolutionaries. The event includes a book signing of Howe’s biography, and a screening of Franco Rosso’s 1973 documentary ‘Mangrove Nine’. On Sat 30 May at 1pm-4pm at Room 8, Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, London SW2 1RW. Adm: £7. Web: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk

~ SOUNDCRASH PRESENT BASSEKOU KOUYATE ‘BA POWER’ LONDON ALBUM LAUNCH GIG. On Sun 31 May at 7.30pm at Scala London, 275 Pentonville Road, King’s Cross, London, N1 9NL. Adm: £18 / £16. Web: http://www.scala-london.co.uk/scala/ http://www.soundcrashmusic.com/bassekou-kouyate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/315265232005518/

~ SOUTH LONDON GALLERY PRESENTS ‘KINJIKETILE SUITE’. What we identify as history is shaped by a mixture of elements, frequently less bound to sanctioned facts than to other more intangible belief systems. This inquiry stands at the core of the work of Canadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga whose practice interweaves a research-based investigation influenced by her earlier training in social sciences, with a more subjective and fictional observation of culture. For her first UK solo exhibition, Kiwanga continues her research into the legacy of the 1905-1907 Maji Maji uprising against German colonial rule in what was then Tanganyika, German East Africa. According to oral history, the rebellion was fuelled by the prophecies of the spiritual medium Kinjiketile, who galvanised the Maji Maji fighters against the colonial rulers with his belief in a sacred water, which would make anyone who consumed it invincible to the German bullets. Kiwanga uses this event, and its adaptation in folklore and popular culture, as a starting point from which to trace how historical accounts linger in consciousness and weigh on a nation’s identity long after their occurrence. Interspersed throughout the exhibition space is a sequence of short audio vignettes delivered by Kiwanga herself. Live performances will take place in the main gallery every Saturday between 12-4pm for the duration of the exhibition. Until Sun 7 Jun in the Main Gallery, South London Gallery, 65-67 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UH. Adm: Free. Tel; 020 7703 6120. E-mail: mail@southlondongallery.org Web: southlondongallery.org Twitter: @SLG_artupdates
Instagram@: southlondongallery

~ BORDER CROSSINGS ORIGINS FESTIVAL 2015 ‘THE ROAD TO HOME: BENNY WENDA’ SCREENING WITH NOBEL PRIZE NOMINEE BENNY WENDA. This incredible film follows Wenda, a West Papuan independence leader, in his ongoing struggle to free his people from Indonesian colonial rule. In 2011, after escaping prison whilst on trial, [following a crackdown, by the Indonesian authorities, on pro-independence figures] he was smuggled across the border to Papua New Guinea where he was later reunited with his wife at a refugee camp. Several months after this he travelled to the UK where he was granted political asylum, and from where he now lives leading the campaign to being freedom to his homeland. ‘The Road To Home’ follows Benny Wenda in his life as a leader in exile. On Sat 13 June at 6.30pm at Art House Crouch End, 159A Tottenham Lane, London, N8 9BT. Adm: £11. Web: www.bordercrossings.org.uk

~ BLACK CULTURAL ARCHIVES PRESENT ‘STAYING POWER: PHOTOGRAPHS OF BLACK BRITISH EXPERIENCE, 1950S – 1990S’. Inspired by Peter Fryer’s seminal text ‘Staying Power, The History of Black People in Britain’, this exhibition focuses on a period of time when photography served as an archival tool to capture historical moments. From documentary to portraiture to staged allegorical photographs, Staying Power documents experiences from post-World War II through to the 1990s, covering topics from mass migration to hip hop fashions of south London. Contemplate the narratives behind the iconic work of Dennis Morris, Charlie Philips’ visual record of city life and local heroes, and Neil Kenlock’s photographic journalism. Discover the work of acclaimed photographer James Barnor who captured many greats during the ‘swinging sixties’, self-taught Colin Jones and his infamous images of youth alienation, the powerful images of uprisings and protest captured by Pogus Caesar, and allegorical portraits by Ingrid Pollard. Through the lens of the photographers celebrate the moment of ‘The Specials Fans’ by Syd Shelton and Gavin Watson’s insight into the ska youth sub-culture. Explore representations of beauty and aesthetics through the work of Armet Francis, Jennie Baptiste, Al Vandenberg and Raphael Albert. The photographs are complimented by previously unheard oral history testimonies from the photographers and contributors. Exhibition runs until 30 June at Black Cultural Archives, Windrush Square, Brixton, London, SW2. Adm: Free. Also until 24 May at 10am-5.45pm at V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Adm: Free. Tel: 020 7942 2211. Web: www.vam.ac.uk

~ V&A SOUTH KENSINGTON PRESENT ‘IN BLACK AND WHITE: PRINTS FROM AFRICA AND THE DIASPORA’. Essential exhibition covering four decades of campaigning and cultural printwork from some of the best exponents many of whom have had their own solo exhibitions in London in the last year: Faisal Abdu’Allah; Frank Bowling; Sonia Boyce; Nils Burwitz; William Cole; Emory Douglas, the Black Panther designer; Uzo Egonu; Ellen Gallagher; Joy Gregory; Margo Humphrey; Kerry James Marshall; Gavin Jantjes; Isaac Julien; William Kentridge; Atta Kwami; Glenn Ligon; John Lyons; the Santeria art of Manuel Mendive; the tender melancholy of the late John Ndevasia Muafangejo’s Biblical and political observations; Chris Ofili’s tributes to Stephen Lawrence; the New York collective PESTS challenging Afrikan representation in the art world; four of Tony Phillips etchings on the British theft of the Benin Bronzes; Adrian Piper; Tayo Quaye; the San artist Thomas Setshogo; Yinka Shonibare with his Afrikan material designs; Kara Walker’s pop-ups riffing on the Black image in America; Carrie Mae Weems; Sue Williamson redressing the lack of representation of Afrikans during apartheid South Africa; Diane Vitt’s charcoal drawings using Greek mythological themes transferred to Afrika; and Llewellyn Xavier’s tributes to George Jackson and the Soledad Brothers. Exhibition runs until 6 July 2015. At 10am-5.45pm at Rms 88a & 90, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Adm: Free. Tel: 020 7942 2211. Web: www.vam.ac.uk

~ SHANTI-CHI PRESENTS ‘NNE AGWU AFRAKAN STORYTELLING FESTIVAL’ Come and experience the unique Nne Agwu (Mother of all Wisdom) Afrakan Storytelling Festival, a weekend camp retreat in the ancient woodland of Epping Forest. Storytelling at its finest! This festival is set up to promote, preserve and celebration the oral tradition of storytelling by creating a unique vibrant storytelling village on the landscape of Britain. With Griot Chinyere, Eli Anderson, Sandra Agard, Angie Amra, Usifu Jalloh, Amantha and Ashanti. Embrace this experience! From Fri 31 July at 2pm-Sun 2 Aug at 6pm at Debden Campsite and Centre, Green Lane, Loughton, IG10 2NZ. E-mail: info@shanti-chi.com Web: www.shanti-chi.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Africanstorytellingfestival.

Ronald Moody
Midonz 1937
~ BP SPOTLIGHT EXHIBITION ‘SPACES OF BLACK MODERNISM: LONDON 1919–39’. In the inter-war period cosmopolitan networks of artists, activists, writers and artists’ models in London helped shape the cultural and political identity of the city. The studios, art colleges and social clubs of Chelsea, Bloomsbury and Soho became places of trans-national exchange. ‘Spaces of Black Modernism’ draws together paintings, sculpture, photographs and archival material from Tate’s collection with others loaned from public and private collections. It follows the interactions between artists such as John Banting, Edward Burra, Jacob Epstein, Barbara Ker-Seymer, Ronald Moody, Glyn Philpot and Matthew Smith with others including the writers Claude McKay and Una Marson, the poet and political activist Nancy Cunard, the model ‘Sunita’ (Amina Peerbhoy) and the singer Elisabeth Welch. The display is a collaboration between Tate Britain and the Equiano Centre at University College London and builds on research from the Arts & Humanities Research Council-funded project, ‘Drawing Over the Colour Line’.
Exhibition runs until 4 Oct 2015 at Tate Britain, Millbank, London, SW1. Adm: Free.

~ BUNDU DIA KONGO (BDK). Afrikan cultural and spiritual group working towards the spiritual and psychological growth and development of Afrikans all over the world. Let us make a positive change now. Learn about Afrikan prophets, Afrikan history and Afrikan spiritual practices at our weekly Zikua.

- Sun at 1.30–4.30pm at PSCC, 1 Othello Close, Kennington, London, SE11 4RE. Tel: Makaba - 07951 059 853. E-mail: moyomakaba9@gmail.com

- Sun at 12.30–3.15pm at Malika House, 81 George Street, Lozells, Birmingham, B19 1Sl. Tel: Mbuta Mayala – 07404 789 329.

~ THE AUSAR AUSET SOCIETY GI GONG CLASSES. Every Monday at 7.30–9pm at Hazel Road Community Centre, Hazel Road, Kensal Green, London, NW10 5PP. Adm: £5 per class. Tel: 07951- 252-427. E-mail: Tauinetwork.europe@gmail.com

Contact: Kubara Zamani, Afrikan Quest International, PO Box 35165, London, SE5 8WU. Tel: 07811 494 969. E-mail: afrikanquest1@hotmail.com NB: Nubiart Diary can also be read at www.ligali.org