Bob Marley's granddaughter Donisha Prendergast in India
Since the 1960‟s, journalists, scholars and filmmakers have been examining the Rastafarian movement in an attempt to explain its origins and its core beliefs. Today, there is a growing collection of literature and films about Rastafari and now, RasTa: A Soul‟s Journey is a welcome addition to this expanding body of work.
RasTa: A Soul‟s Journey, tells the story of the journey of Rita and Bob Marley’s granddaughter‟s, Donisha Prendergast, to eight countries — United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, India, Israel, Canada and Jamaica and Ethiopia — to explore the roots, evolution and impact of Rastafari.
Donisha acts as the irrepressible and charming guide, educating viewers about a way of life that many know little about beyond the dreadlocks, ganja, and the red, gold, and green. Along the way, she encounters Rastafarian elders, musicians, poets, professors and individuals who share personal stories of the influence of Donisha‟s iconic grandfather, Bob Marley, on their lives.
Moving away from the standing approaches to Rastafari and Jamaica, RasTa: A Soul’s Journey focuses on the international presence of Rastafari and the friendly people and places where the uplifting spirit of the movement can be found. In wanting to carry the torch of her famous family, Donisha uses this film to re-affirm the classic statement of her grandfather that indeed „Rasta is the future‟. At its heart, RasTa: A Soul‟s Journey, is a film that follows and celebrates a young
woman‟s quest as she comes into her own as a Rasta Empress.
With appearances by Rita Marley, Damien Marley, Dr. Benjamin Zephaniah, Ras Levi Roots, RasTa: A Soul’s Journey is a contemporary examination of this fascinating movement. This documentary was Executive Produced and Produced by Patricia Scarlett, Produced by Marilyn Gray, and Directed by Stuart Samuels, along with the help of a team committed to the project and the support of family and friends. This film is now ready for the world to see.
The Film has screened in Canada and the US and will premiere in the UK in October during Black History Month. For Sweden, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the The Netherlands there are no firm dates as yet.
The Swedish artist who made the blackface cake that has caused an international firestorm is himself a black man and says he created the Swedish racist cake to critique Western ideas of blackness. In a video interview with Al Jazeera, Makode Linde also said Sweden’s Minister of Culture, whose laughter at the cake angered many, had nothing to do with his decision to present it. ”She wasn’t aware of how the cakes would look,” Linde said. “And when she saw the cake and found out that it was partly alive, she got quite surprised.”
Linde was invited with other artists to create a cake for the 75th anniversary of the Swedish picture artists professional organisation, KRO. The celebration coincided with World Art Day and was held at Stockholm’s Modern Museum. Linde chose to present a cake that would fit into his ongoing art series Afromantics, a series in which he uses black face.
“I’ve been working since 2004 with the image of blackness and criticising different ideas of black identity within my art,” Linde told Al Jazeera. I’ve been doing this by revamping the blackface into different forms and thereby critiquing it.”
The cake represents a woman receiving female circumcision. Linde says he created it to critique the Western tendency to point fingers at oppression in Africa, without examining its own racism, sexism and homophobia. ”Racism, oppression against woman, or homophobia can take place in Africa, in Europe, in Sweden, in anywhere,” Linde says. “By then labelling oppression to only be female circumcision or taking a certain form, I think that’s putting on blindfolds for seeing what oppression really is.”
Afroswedes, a civil rights organisation promoting equal rights for Swedes of African descent, has denounced the cake and called for the resignation of the minister of culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth. ”According to the Modern Museum, the ‘cake party’ was meant to raise problems regarding female circumcision. But how that could be done with a cake representing a racist caricature of a black woman in ‘blackface’ is unclear,” says Afroswedes spokesperson Kitimba Sabuni and continues: ”A museum can obviously do what is allowed by the law, but for Sweden’s highest responsible politician for culture, we can demand more. To participate in a racist manifestation masked as art is to clearly exceed limits and can only be interpreted as backing the Modern Museum’s venture, or that she has extremely poor understanding of questions regarding racism. Regardless, the Afroswedes no longer have confidence in her as culture minister and demand that she takes responsibility and resigns.”
Linde told Al Jazeera those who are angry and at him and the minister took the work out of its context and misunderstood his agenda as an artist. “I think a lot of people saw some images taken during the performance, saw the pictures online and took the images out of its context. And they accused me and the cultural minister of being racists,” he said. “So I think the people who have been upset about the art piece, about the images, have seen have misunderstood the intention or the agenda of me as an artist.”
Liljeroth is known as a staunch anti-racist, who changed press subsidy laws to block funding for a nationalist newspaper. She said she didn’t understand the message behind the cake until Linde explained it. But she defended him and said she won’t accede to the Afroswede demand that she step down. “I understand that they are upset. I don’t know if they had any representative in place. If only a picture goes around it creates very strong reactions, my job is to defend freedom of the art.”
Also defending Linde is KRO, which commissioned Linde’s work. KRO’s president Karin Willen released a statement saying: “Those who have followed Makode Linde’s artistic career know that he starts from racism, xenophobia and slavery. In the work Afromantics, of which the cake artwork builds upon and continues, Makode places contemporary western ideas of the African paradise, its safety and The Wonderful Life in contrast to historical reality: a reality that deals in slavery, apartheid, and oppression.”
Willen added: “Freedom of expression is something we always have to protect and safeguard. In a free society, we must be able to handle art that criticises, questions and scrapes.”
Linde said in an interview on a Swedish radio station that the cake accomplished his artistic goal: “I think when people get an opportunity for themselves to get into the work and have a discussion, then I achieve what I wanted, to have people talk about these things.”
Gunilla Starkey researched and translated the Swedish quotes and article excerpts cited here.
Several higher education institutions in Finland have stopped allowing people from developing nations to take their entrance exams, as they fear they will face financial difficulties in Europe. According the country’s Immigration Service, students from places like Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal cannot afford to live in Finland.
Non-EU students are not eligible for state-sponsored financial aid and must show the government that they have at least EUR 6,000 in assets before they can come to the country. According to the immigration services, however, the system is being abused by foreigners who circulate money around their accounts.
“If students don’t have the money, there’s a risk they’ll be abused working for their own countrymen,” says Pentti Sorsa, a senior advisor at the Finnish Immigration Service.
Sandip Ranjit is from Nepal, where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. He is studying property management at Laurea polytechnic in Espoo and hands out newspapers at Helsinki’s Vuosaari metro station in order to get by.
“Accommodation is quite expensive and so is food. What I earn goes toward my living,” he said in a report by YLE.
Shishir Mani Pant, also from Nepal’s, studies biotechnology at Helsinki University. He told YLE that although the Finnish capital is pricey, studying here has advantages. “It’s quite expensive, but I would say if I don’t have to pay tuition fees then it’s manageable,” he said.
Hello Afrocosmopolitan fashion lovers, come in here and take a look at this purple dress Alexandra Burke wore to the just concluded BRIT Awards. The event took place in February 2012 and was attended by many Celebrities such as Alexandra Burke, Rihanna, Tinie Tempah, Emelie Sande, and many more.
The British celebrity wore the flowing purple gown with a cutout to the side and the back and orange blouse at the top. She completed the look with a pair of long dangling earring and was all smiles as she pose for the camera.
The BRIT Awards, which is an annual event, took place at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. Alexander completed the look by styling her hail into a very long ponytail that she braided and gave her face a well-toned look. She added some accessories like a ring on both of her fingers.
What do you think of Alexandra Burke’s purple dress to the BRIT Awards? Do you think that she looked amazing in the attire and that it is the right outfit for the kind of red carpet event that she wore it to? Is this an outfit that you too would not hesitate to add to your wardrobe and also wear to a red carpet event and other glamorous celebrations and occasions? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.
If you are an Ankara African print addict looking for the latest Ankara styles to add to your wardrobe, as well as those being worn by your favourite celebrities and fashionistas, please take a tour around the site and you will find loads of styles to add to your wardrobe or use as a source of inspiration to create new pieces for yourself.
Take a peep at the Afrocosmopolitan Youtube channel and subscribe to it so you can get our video updates as soon as they are uploaded. You can also follow and like our Facebook Page. We are also on Twitter, on Pinterest, as well as on YouTube. We cannot wait to connect with you and start interacting on another level. In the meantime, feed your eyes with various African celebrity styles and update your wardrobe with some of the looks.
Genevieve Nnaji announced today that she has secured a role in the film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‘s best selling Novel “Half of A Yellow Sun“.
Genevieve Nnaji
The star actress who was named one of Forbes “Most Powerful African Celebrities” joins the star-studded cast of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anika Noni Rose and Thandie Newton in the highly anticipated movie. Genny will play the role of Ms Adebayo, another professor who develops a flirtatious relationship with her colleague Mr Odenigbo, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor.
The movie will be produced by Andrea Calderwood, the BAFTA winning producer of The Last King of Scotland and Gail Egan whose The Constant Gardener drew Oscar claim. Nigerian playwright Biyi Bandele, who has had a number of successful features on the London stage, including his adaptation of seminal post-colonial novel “Things Fall Apart” is making his directorial debut with this project. Yewande Sadiku and Muhtar Bakare of Shareman Media are both executive producers of the movie. Filming will commence next month and is currently scheduled for general release in 2013.
This is the second major role landed by Genevieve who recently confirmed a role in the Tony Abulu produced movie “Doctor Bello”, which will see her feature alongside US actor Isaiah Washington, Vivica A Fox and Jimmy Jean-Louis and is set for a summer 2012 release.
The novel, which won the Orange Prize for fiction is set during the Nigerian-Biafran War of 1967 – 1970 and explores the impact of this conflict through the twisting story of a University Professor (Ejiofor) and his lover (Newton) her sister, a British ex-pat and a young houseboy.
Fingers crossed people, this movie could be Africa’s first ever Oscar nominated movie. We patiently wait in anticipation!
Nigerian teenager, Victoria Osoteku, the only female member of a gang that hunted down and killed a schoolboy in front of hundreds of commuters at Victoria station in London has been jailed for 12 years.
Victoria Osoteku
Victoria Osoteku had helped set up the confrontation on Facebook the night before 15-year-old Sofyen Belamouadden’s death in an attack which was captured by CCTV cameras in the station.
Osoteku, 18 at the time of the killing, is the 13th teenager to be sentenced in what is one of the most high-profile teenage gang killings of recent times. Her jail term brings the total sentences handed down to those responsible to 124 years.
Osoteku was convicted of manslaughter after a four-month trial in which she gave evidence for 21 days – the longest testimony at the Old Bailey in recent years. She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.
Sentencing her on Thursday to 12 years in a young offender institution, Judge Christopher Moss QC told her: “You played a pivotal role in the events of and leading up to that day and must take a substantial share of the responsibility for that.”
The attack was the result of “simmering tensions” between students at a sixth-form college in Ladbroke Grove, west London, and Sofyen’s fellow pupils at Henry Compton school in Fulham, which exploded in the violent attack on 25 March 2010. The day before, the two groups had confronted each other at the station and one youth was left with a bloody nose.
Determined to get revenge, the Ladbroke Grove group used Facebook that night to recruit “troops and weapons”, the Old Bailey heard during a series of trials.
Osoteku, who was taken into care at the age of eight, was at the centre of the conversations and agreed to buy a £3.99 set of kitchen knives from Argos as part of the plan.
The following day her group arrived at Victoria on two number 52 buses at 5.14pm to confront their rivals. Armed with a samurai sword, knives, sharpening steels and metal bars, they charged the group of which Sofyen was a part.
Witnesses said they saw “knives glinting in the air” as the teenager was chased down the escalator into the underground station.
He was pushed or fell down the steps to the ticket hall and was set upon by several youths as he lay defenceless on the floor, all of which was caught on camera. Sofyen was kicked, punched, beaten and stabbed repeatedly in front of dozens of commuters including a priest. His blood was found on at least three knives and a sharpening steel.
Osetoku was caught on CCTV running down the escalator and landing a kick on Sofyen’s prone body. She claimed in court that she had just nudged the boy “to see if he was OK”.
Three other Nigerian teenagers, Samson Odegbune and Christopher Omoregie, both 18, and Obi Nwokeh, 19, were convicted of murder during a series of trials last year and jailed for 18 years each last week.
Femi Oderinwale and Adonis Akra, both 18, and Samuel Roberts, 19, were each given 12 years after they were convicted of manslaughter.
Enoch Amoah, 19, and Tyrone Richards, 17, were jailed for seven years after they were found guilty of violent disorder.
Lewis Sinclair, Olawale Olaribigbe and Melvin Mensah, all 18, along with Selassie Ahiaku, 19, received two years each after they pleaded guilty to violent disorder before their trial got underway last September.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC described Sofyen’s murder as “brutal and merciless”.
“Such was their arrogance they carried out that kind of attack in the heart of the capital in a public place,” he said.
“That confidence and arrogance came no doubt from the security of acting together as a group in sufficient numbers and with a common purpose.
“It came too from the security of knowing that between them they were so heavily armed as a group that no one individual, small group, police officer or member of station staff could withstand them or stop them or detain them in the course of what they were doing.
“It explains why they did something so truly terrible that many will not, even now, acknowledge that they had any real part to play in it at all.
“It explains why for a trivial slight, they executed a truly terrible revenge.”
Osoteku was the last of the attacking group to leave the scene and the prosecution claimed that she had “very great” responsibility for Sofyen’s death.
Heywood said: “Victoria Osoteku was one of those who set up and organised the confrontation that led to the death.”
Osoteku admitted she was at the scene of the attack but denied being involved. She told the jury she was just following her friends and was shocked to see Sofyen being stabbed.
“I just froze there,” she said. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
The Netherlands charges non-EU nationals too much money for a residency permit, the European Court of Justice said on Thursday. The case was brought by the European Commission.
While legislation allows member states to set their own fees, the cost should not be so high that applicants cannot afford a residency permit and therefore don’t apply, the court said
It described the Dutch fees – currently between €188 and €830 – as ‘excessive and disproportionate’, pointing out that even the cheapest permit is seven times the price of a Dutch id card.
The Netherlands must now take action to meet the Commission’s objections or face a fine, a statement from the European Court said.
Italy will launch Europe’s first private high-speed train service Saturday, as the country moves towards a more liberal economy. The move could lead other European countries to follow Italy’s example of privatising rail transport and creating new jobs and competition in the marketplace.
The new bullet-shaped “Italo” trains can travel at a top speed of 360 kilometres per hour. They are run by NTV, a company headed by Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo, which invested $1.3 billion.
He says the real achievement was having brought about liberalisation in Italian rail transportation.
“At last, Italian citizens and foreign travellers will be able to choose, and one of the longest monopolies in our country has come to an end,” said Montezemolo.
Montezemolo says passengers would benefit from the competition. He adds that the aim is to take a quarter of the market from the state rail network Trenitalia, the biggest employer in the country, by 2014.
Transport experts say despite the difficult economic times, the new train could be a positive development.
“We are still the second manufacturing system in Europe after Germany and I think what is happening in the railway system is an example of the strength of the industrial system,” noted Professor Matteo Caroli at LUISS university in Rome. “We have basically financial problems, like other European countries, but the competitiveness of our companies is strong.”
The project is one example of the new ambitions for Italy’s economy, the eurozone’s third largest, under Prime Minister Mario Monti. Monti has been working to shake up a sluggish economy heavily influenced by protectionist traditions.
NTV’s fleet will consist of 25 trains that are being supplied by French multinational Alstom.
“This train is the fourth generation of trains for Alstom. So, it’s really at the top, and there is no other technology in the world like this one,” said Alstom Managing Director Pierre-Louis Bertina.
The trains boast sleek interiors with leather seats, large panoramic windows and a cinema car. There will be three different classes of travel allowing passengers to choose what best suits their needs and how much they want to spend. NTV’s Giuseppe Bonollo says the quality of the service is the real distinguishing point.
“High technology inside, Wi-Fi connectivity to the Internet, free for all travellers and on top of that – this really is a world premiere – the possibility through the laptop to access to satellite direct TV connection,” Bonollo explained.
At Rome’s Termini station, many travellers were looking forward to the launch of the new high-speed train.
Italo is adopting an aggressive pricing policy, with discounted fares for advance reservations. In the meantime, the state-owned rail network has already lowered its ticket prices and improved its service.
Other European nations will be watching carefully to see whether it is in their interest to follow the Italian example.
A professor at a Swiss university on Tuesday unveiled a mind-controlled robot that can be manipulated by the brainwaves of a paraplegic person wearing an electrode-fitted cap, news agency ATS reported.
Mind-Controlled Robot
A paralyzed man at a hospital in the town of Sion demonstrated the device, sending a mental command to a computer in his room, which transmitted it to another computer that moved a small robot 60 kilometres away in Lausanne.
The system was developed by Jose Millan, a professor at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne who specializes in non-invasive interfaces between machines and the brain.
The same technology can be used to drive a wheelchair, Millan said.
“Once the movement has begun, the brain can relax, otherwise the person would soon be exhausted,” he said.
But the technology has its limits, he added. The brain signals can be scrambled if too many people are gathered around a wheelchair, for example.
Besides making paraplegics mobile, neuroprosthetics could be used to help patients recover lost senses, researchers said.
Professor Stephanie Lacour and her team are working on an “electric skin” for amputees, a glove fitted with tiny sensors that would send information directly to the user’s nervous system.
Eventually, researchers say they hope to create mechanized prosthetics that are as mobile and sensitive as a natural hand, Lacour said.
Other researchers at Lausanne are working on enabling paraplegics to walk again with electrodes implanted in their spinal cords.
“The goal is that after a year of training with a robotic aide, the patient will be able to walk without a robot. The electrodes would stay implanted for life,” said Professor Gregoire Courtine.
He said he is currently setting up clinical trials and hopes to run tests at Zurich’s university hospital within a year.
A 43 year old British resident of Mijas, named with the initials J.S. has been arrested by Local Police in connection with the stabbing of a 52 year old Senegalese man, named with the initials M.N. The Senegalese man was stabbed with a sharp object in the Sitio de Calahonda urbanisation.It happened just after midnight on Saturday night, and the injury is the lumber region. Police called the emergency services who took the injured man to the Costa del Sol Hospital, after he had given them a detailed description of his attacker.A search was started by the patrol which saw how a man tried to flee when the police were seen. Finally the police managed to catch the Briton who refused to identify himself and who also attacked one of the police. He had to be forced to the ground and suffered the fracture of his left shoulder as a result.Both the Local Police and the Guardia Civil, and private security guards who operate in the estate inspected the scene of the aggression to try and find the weapon used and they found a broken bottle which has been taken into evidence.
