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Posts published in “International”

Self-Taught 15-Year-Old Sierra Leone Engineer Invited to MIT (Video)

By goodblacknews on November 21, 2012

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLOLrUBRBY&w=560&h=315]

There are some pretty amazing kids out there doing the best they can with whatever circumstances were given to them.  In areas of the world where little to no technological advancement has occurred, ideas are being born without any mentors, tools, and/or resources.

PRODIGIES is a bi-weekly series on YouTube that showcases the youngest and brightest as they challenge themselves to reach new heights and the stories behind them.  Kelvin Doe is a 15-year-old Sierra Leone native who admittedly loves inventing.  He’s taught himself how to make things like batteries, FM radio transmitter, and a generator out of need for these things in his community.

He said that his community doesn’t have much electricity.  The lights come on at night in his area once per week and then they don’t have any lights for the rest of the month.  That led to his battery invention, so that his neighbors and family could use the battery to light their homes.

He’s known as DJ Focus because of a valuable radio program that he broadcasts on FM radio.  He was able to create his generator for his station by using scraps.  He chose that name because he said:

“If you can focus you can do invention perfectly.”

He started the station to give “voice to the youth.”

Kelvin was discovered by fellow Sierra Leone native, David Sengeh, who is a Ph.D. student at MIT.  Sengeh directs Summer Innovation Camp in Sierra Leone and that is where he discovered Kelvin and his talents.  When he saw what Kelvin was able to create simply using spare parts from trash in his community, he knew he was someone special.

Snoop Dogg Launches Food Initiative in Jamaica

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2012
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg is connecting with Jamaica. The music star has announced a partnership with Reed’s Ginger Brew to aid the Mind Gardens Project, his latest non-profit initiative to create sustainable, organic community gardens. The gardens will provide fresh fruits and vegetables to children in Jamaica.

“When I went to Jamaica, we took time to visit these communities in Kingston, and I was deeply affected by the poverty and lack of good food available to the children,” revealed Snoop in a written statement. “No child should go hungry. After all the inspiration Jamaica had provided me, I felt compelled to create a program to give back to the community.”

The project has already begun work in Kingston affecting two major communities, Trench Town and Tivoli Gardens. To find out more about the initiative, visit MindGardens.org or Causes.com/MindGardens.

article by Arielle Loren via bet.com

Young Entrepreneurs Behind African Lookbook Connect Artists With Consumers Online

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2012
Model poses for online shop African Lookbook (Image: African Lookbook)

A look book has the power to turn a fashion blogger into a spokesperson and an independent designer into a household name. But for entrepreneurs Aaron Kohn and Phil Sandick, starting African Lookbook in 2011 was just another way to share stories. “I was living in Botswana for a couple of years, and then it really hit me how powerful oral history is in bringing together underrepresented, or underreported, groups,” says Sandick, a law student at Northwestern University.

The online platform features exclusive interviews with leading African designers and creative entrepreneurs. The stories shared are a reflection of new and old design traditions, serving as a way to connect artistic narratives with leading universities and research institutions. But documenting oral histories is just one part of the site’s overall goal to expand the reach of African-made design products worldwide.

With African Lookbook, users are able to easily browse through a selection of carefully curated items such as a vintage crochet bag or a Merino wool sweater (often spotted on the streets of Johannesburg). BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the entrepreneurial duo to discuss the importance of African art, how they balance school with their venture, and how teamwork makes the dream work.

Ghanaian Tech Startup Wins Grand Prize In Global Competition

By goodblacknews on November 13, 2012

Ghana tech startup wins global prize in Global Tech CompetitionDropifi, a startup tech company from Ghana has taken the top spot in the 2012 Startup Open, beating 49 other competitors from around the world, including Canada.

“Each year, thousands of new startups come to life through their experiences in Global Entrepreneurship Week which officially starts today in 130 countries,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week. “By winning the Startup Open, Dropifi is at the top of that list and has a very promising future.”

Dropifi is the result of an encounter that Dropifi’s team leader David Osei had while meeting a business executive.

“I requested his business card after a meeting and the piles of cards he had to wade through was enormous. He was looking for his card amongst others” he recounted. “In 2006 I conceptualized a mobile app that will help people to share, store and organize business cards better.”

Dropifi replaces “contact us” buttons with a smart widget that allows companies to analyze and organize incoming messages more efficiently. The widget allows companies to gather analytical data about the people sending the messages and whether the messages content is positive or negative.

ARISE Magazine in Africa Celebrates 100 Dynamic Women

By goodblacknews on November 11, 2012

ARISE Magazine, Africa’s “first and foremost” fashion glossy, has released its first ever list of 100 dynamic women across the diaspora. Honoring women from business, government, entertainment, philanthropy, and fashion, ARISE’s list of 100 Dynamic women reads like a who’s who of prominent women from around the globe.

The inaugural honorees include Nkosazana DlaminiZuma, the chairwoman of the African Union; philanthropist Melinda Gates; media mogul Oprah Winfrey; singer and campaigner Angélique Kidjo; actress Sophie Okonedo; Diezani Alison-Madueke, Minister of Paterolem Reserves in Nigeria; and many more.

Pick up the latest issue of ARISE or head on over to their website to read the entire list of their 100 Dynamic women of 2012.

article by Britni Danielle via clutchmagonline.com

Nigerian Sculptor Nnenna Okore Impresses at Contemporary African Art Gallery

By goodblacknews on November 8, 2012

Raised in Nigeria, now living in the United States, the young sculptor Nnenna Okore makes a strong impression in this solo show of new work in New York’s Contemorary African Art Gallery. Her primary materials are organic recyclables — burlap, jute rope, paper — along with small, cylindrical, fingerlike ceramic forms. In several cases she attaches the ceramic pieces to sheets of burlap that have been stiffened with resin and molded into undulating curves. The effect is decorative, the basic format a reminder that she spent an apprentice year working in El Anatsui’s studio in Nigeria around the time he was developing his pieced-together and draped metal “fabrics.”

More interesting, because more her own, are wall sculptures that take her closer to abstract natural forms. Some are open, seemingly fragile networks made from dye-soaked jute threads that twist and intertwine, like tendrils or root systems.

Other pieces, shaped from handmade paper, have the furrowed texture of tree bark or leathery skin. One extraordinary paper piece, dyed pink and brown, seems to burst from the gallery wall like a giant dried and withered rose. Like all of Ms. Okore’s best work, this is a tough, unlovely image, about when recycling passes into disintegration.

article by Holland Cotter via nytimes.com

Malawi Suspends Anti-Gay Laws As Parliament Debates Repeal

By goodblacknews on November 7, 2012
Malawi’s President Joyce Banda

Malawi has suspended anti-gay laws and ordered police not to arrest people who commit homosexual acts pending a debate on whether to repeal the legislation.  President Joyce Banda’s government announced on Monday that it had imposed a moratorium on the laws until the 193-member parliament could decide on the highly contentious issue.

Microsoft To Open $100 Million Tech Center in Brazil; Create Jobs

By goodblacknews on November 7, 2012
(Credit: Jim Kerstetter/CNET)
Microsoft is spreading its reach to South America with plans to invest roughly $100 million in a technology center based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, according to Agencia Estado.

The center will have support from the Brazilian government, but the lion’s share of funding will come from Microsoft. It’s unclear exactly what the center will do, such as develop products, train Brazilians, act as a research hub, or something else.

According to The Next Web, Microsoft also invested $5 million in its Sao Paulo outpost earlier this year but the Rio de Janeiro center is a far bigger project. The software giant also has tech centers in Germany, Israel, and Egypt.

 Microsoft has been involved with Brazil for years. In 2008, it initiated a project that helped expand Internet cafes across the country giving more people access to the Web.  It also added educational and job-training components to that project.

According to Agencia Estado, several other tech companies also have plans to open centers in Brazil, including a new research hub from Intel.

Tate Modern Gallery Opens the Door to Africa

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2012

Meschac Gaba's Museum of Contemporary African Art

Meschac Gaba’s Museum of Contemporary African Art. Photograph: Nils Klinger

Since the building of the great modern art museums in New York, Paris and London, the narrative of 20th-century and contemporary art has been told, by and large, through the stories of the great European and North American cities.  But the Tate has announced it is time to look further afield. “There is not a crisis in British or European art,” said the Tate director, Sir Nicholas Serota, “but we are conscious art is being made across the world and those areas outside Europe and North America cannot be regarded as the periphery.”

artist Otobong Nkanga

Tate will reflect its new international focus through a two-year programme of activities focused on Africa, beginning on 24 November. Events will include performance works in the new Tate Tanks by Nigerian artist Otobong Nkanga and Angolan Nástio Mosquito. Next year, Tate Modern will show an extensive work that it has recently acquired by the artist Meschac Gaba, from Benin. Titled Museum of Contemporary African Art 1997-2002, and in 12 sections or “rooms”, it acts as a playful, questioning museum – while highlighting that there is, in fact, no such thing as a museum of contemporary African art.

Serena and Venus Williams Inspire Local Kids in Nigeria

By goodblacknews on November 4, 2012
U.S. Tennis player Serena Williams, right, in action as she plays tennis with a school child, during a clinic session in Lagos, Nigeria. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams say they eagerly await playing in the 2016 Olympics after their third doubles gold this year. The two sisters made the comments Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, during their first visit to the country. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)U.S. Tennis player Serena Williams, right, in action as she plays tennis with a school child, during a clinic session in Lagos, Nigeria. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — On their first visit to Nigeria, Serena and Venus Williams want to inspire local kids to set their goals high. “We were really able to break the mold and win a lot of Grand Slams and a lot of tournaments and not only that, but kind of change the face of tennis,” Serena said Wednesday before an exhibition match against her sister in Lagos on Friday.