Travel | Beauty | Culture

The timeline of events that have occurred concerning the Congo, Sudan, Eritrea, Palestine and many other countries can’t be measured in a single news article or documentary. Congo, Sudan and Eritrea have been experiencing wars for over 2 decades with constant conflict. The West which includes the UK, French, Italy, Spain, Portugal, as well as the Jewish community of Israel, have continued their colonial efforts existing from the transatlantic slave trade throughout various parts of Africa. For many territories in Africa, slavery and genocide has been a consistent devastation as countries fight for independence. One thing Congo, Sudan, Eritrea and Palestine have in common is the fight for land. The West feels aggressively entitled to land masses for various reasons of resources to the extent that the West builds military personnel in occupied countries to monitor their resources against the native Africans. Another factor all four countries have in common is their connection to the concept of holy land or ancestral land. The effects of slavery and genocide cause displacement amongst many natives but the severity in which the West inflicts upon native people should be named as pure evil. Lastly, there is a religious factor that plays a role in how people view land rights and superiority.

Columbia University has made headlines as they disallow student organizations from protesting in support of Palestine. Threatening that students will face conduct fines and charges for their participation in protesting. Columbia University amongst other universities are hubs for student protests especially for global movements considering the population of students who are first generation and the immigrant societies that surround many academic institutions. Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine are the two organizations that were banned by Columbia University.

The University of Southern California, USC, also reached headline news due to a Director of Graduate Studies making disparaging remarks towards a group of student protestors. According to students of USC, email correspondence from the University seems to be in favor of Israel and using the word terrorist to describe the retaliation attacks against Israel. 

The FDA along with beauty companies L'Oreal, Revlon and others are a part of a court suit created by thousands of Black women. Thanks to many academic writers and beauty professionals who have advocated for the chemical production of cosmetic products to be changed due to its cancer causing effects. Many PhD dissertations have dissected the intensity of chemical hair relaxers and the danger it causes to Black women who are the main demographic for the product. Hair relaxers unlike other hair products was made for the only purpose of straightening and taming Black Negro hair. 

PLENTY O!

Davido, Asake, Burna Boy, Olamide, Tyla, Ayra Star & Amaarae show up in the recent Grammy nomination announcements. Ghanaian-American singer, Amaarae receives her nomination through her feature on Janelle Monae's album, The Age of Pleasure. 

South African singer, Tyla, is only 21 years old reaching her first grammy nomination. 

Nigerian artists, Burna Boy, Davido, Sake and Olamide reach their first grammy nomination also as they all compete in the Best African Music Performance category. 

This is the Grammy's first year with the category of Best African Music Performance and hopefully next year there are more musical categories to satisfy the continent.