African Voices Holiday Edition with Malian band Tinariwen

Tinariwen's music has often been associated with the Tuareg rebelion. In fact, they fought during many years in the southern Sahara for the rights of the Tuareg people. But now, the Malian band, which was born in 1982 in exile, in Algeria to be more specific, has changed the machine gun into the guitar and harmonic voices. Their musical creations call for political awakening and consciousness while dealing with exile issues, repression, and political claims. They mix with verve traditional and modern tones, traditional tones which are symbolized by the drums and modern tones which are symbolized by the electric guitar. Tinariwen toured Chicago recently to celebrate the release of their new album, Tassili. United African Organization’s Cheikh Diop was there to interview them in French. To listen to the podcast and/or read the English translation, visit the African Voices Podcast website.

Happy Holidays!

African Diaspora Marketplace business competition now open

The African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) was launched last year, with support from USAID and Western Union Company. The ADM encourages economic growth and employment by supporting U.S.-based African Diaspora entrepreneurs with innovating and high-impact ideas for start-up and established businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Click here for a list of previous winning projects.

ADM has just launched the next competition for Africans in the diaspora to submit their business plans and receive grants. The grants give priority to high-impact sectors in Africa, including agribusiness, renewable energy, and information and communication technology (ICT).

See the press release below:

The African Diaspora Marketplace II business plan competition portal is now open! Its now time to submit your application. You have time period of a little over a month in which to submit your application. The ADM II will be accepting application through February 3, 2012 and 5 p.m. (17:00) EST. Please click this link to submit your application: ADM II Application

For details about the ADM II business plan competition please visit: http://www.diasporamarketplace.org/. Please make sure you read and understand the guidelines. Remember the ADM will award 15-30 winning businesses with matching partnership grants approximately USD 50,000.

Please make sure you are aware of the timelines (click here: Timeline)

Competition Timeline and Key Steps

Date	Activity
December 16, 2011 –  February 3, 2012	Call for proposals closes at 5 p.m., EST (21:00 GMT)
Mid-April 2012 Announcement of Finalists	Finalists will be asked to submit a detailed business plan. The exact number of finalists will be determined by the availability of total funds.
Mid May 2012 Submission of finalists' business plans	Finalists will be invited to the 2012 African Diaspora Marketplace. Finalists must attend the ADM event in order to be eligible to receive grant funding. Finalists are also expected to cover travel costs (including the cost of accommodation) to and in Washington, DC.
June 2012: African Diaspora Marketplace Event, Washington, DC	At the ADM event, an independent jury comprised of the partners members and leading individuals in the diaspora and international business community will evaluate each proposal and conduct a face-to-face interview with each team in order to select winners.

Contact Robert Sichinga (email: rsichinga@strategicshift.net or phone: 424 4420 424 ) if you have questions, but please make sure you have read the content of the website (http://www.diasporamarketplace.org/) before you call.

Feature on local organization RefugeeOne in Chicago Tribune

Today's Chicago Tribune features an article on local non-profit, RefugeeOne. Founded in 1982 as Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries, the organization helps resettle 400-500 refugees every year. Many of the refugees RefugeeOne helps settle are from Africa - in recent times especially from Sudan and Somalia. View Tribune article on RefugeeOne.

ANC Centenary Celebrations to take place in Chicago next month

Chicago based anti-apartheid activists from the United States, South Africa and beyond have organized a program of events to celebrate the centenary of the African National Congress' (ANC) founding in January. The Chicago celebrations, January 6-January 8, coincide with centenary celebrations in South Africa and around the world. Look out for notice in the next week of a UAO event to commemorate the ANC's 100th birthdaty! The following Chicago events will be taking place:

Friday, January 6, 2012

7:00 p.m.

Lecture by Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.,

at Trinity United Church of Christ, 400 West 95th Street,

Chicago, Illinois 60628

Sunday, January 8, 2012

8:30 am

Sermon by South African Priest Fr. Thulani Magwaza

at St. Sabina Catholic Church, 1210 West 78th Place,

Chicago, Illinois

7:30 am, 11:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m.

Worship services commemoration of ANC Centenary

at Trinity United Church of Christ

3:30 p.m.

Panel Discussion on ANC Centenary

at Trinity United Church of Christ

The African National Congress (ANC) was founded in 1912 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The ANC was instrumental in charting a course of multi-racialism in South Africa, drawing into its ranks a broad spectrum of South African society, working together to dismantle apartheid and set South Africa on course for a better future. In South Africa's first real democratic elections in 1994, the ANC was elected to government and Nelson Mandela became President.

UPDATE: One DREAM-eligible student released, another in custody

Immigrants who arrived in the United States without documents but who are eligible for the DREAM Act are arrested almost everyday by ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Many of those arrested are young people who have been to school or University in the United States and who contribute much to US society. Dreamactivist.org features two of those young people on its blog today. DreamActivist is the Undocumented Students Action and Resource Network. On Friday, ICE dropped its case against Gustavo, a high-school student in Oregon. But another student, Cesar Montoya remains in immigration police custody in Michigan. To find out how you can support Cesar's release or to read about other students in a similar position to Cesar, visit Dream Activist's website.

UPDATE: Thanks to the efforts of many who lobbied for his released, Cesar is now free! Just in time to enjoy the holidays.

End your year with Chicago African Night!

LISTEN TO CHICAGO AFRICAN NIGHT COMMERCIAL

Afriches is hosting its annual Chicago African Night on Friday, December 30, 2011! Afriches is a Chicago-based non-profit that promotes African arts and culture in the United States. Chicago Africa Night is a social event organized to showcase Africa's rich diversity and to bring together people from Africa and elsewhere to celebrate the start of a new year.

Celebrate the richness of Africa through live dance, music, fashion, and Storytelling. Everyone of all walks of life is encouraged to join at this event. There will be food from all over Africa, including Ethiopia, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

Date: Friday, December 30, 2011
Time: 7pm
Venue: Irish-American Heritage Center, 4625 N. Knox Avenue, Chicago IL
Tickets: $10 (part of the proceeds go to aiding the Somali relief effort)

To get tickets, visit Afriches.org or call 708-915-0974

Keep updated on the event with the Afriches website, blog and Facebook page.

Underemployment in African community in Chicago - student video

Northwestern University journalism student Dan Tham has created a video piece highlighting underemployment in the African immigrant and refugee community in Chicago. Tham profiles Nigerian cab-driver Edwin Egbejimba, who has a degree in Psychology. Tham's video is one of several projects journalism students in Chicago have recently produced on the subject of underemployment. Columbia College journalism student, Carla Pesono, also has a video article online. Click below to watch Tham's video: