African Nations Cup Tournament Begins Today

The host country is Equatorial Guinea.

The French Comedian on Trial is Cameroonian!

The French comedian on trial on terrorism charges is also a Cameroonian. It seems he is not new to racialized controversies. The garment he is wearing in the picture below is a traditional regalia from the grassfield of Cameroon.

 

Oprah Is No Longer the World's Richest Black Woman

There is a new Sheriff in town on the billionaire list. The world's richest black woman is no longer Oprah Winfrey but the Nigerian Folorunsho Alakija, pictured. Alakija is worth 7.9 billion dollars while Oprah is worth 2.9 billion dollars.

Should Racism Be Open or Masked?

Perhaps an appropriate response to the above question would be to say that there should be no racism at all rather than racism being overt or masked. That response would be about what should be rather than what is. Given that there is racism in our world, a very interesting piece in The Washington Post today seems to raise the question of whether such racism should be overt or covert. The article suggests that Eastern Europeans are openly racist thus allowing for dialogue that may lead to understanding while Americans are covertly racist, often denying racist actions even though such actions have been proven to be based in racism. The covert racism which seems prevalent in America, the author seems to suggest, makes dialogue about the issue harder thus impeding prospects for better understanding. So the question now becomes: what form of racism allows for the kind of dialogue that may lead to the overcoming of racism - the overt or the covert one?

Also, given that Africans are treated with obnoxious contempt in Ukraine, as the article also suggests, what should we make of the fact that the biggest congregation in Eastern Europe, located in Kiev, Ukraine, is a Pentecostal church that was founded, and is being led, by a Nigerian?

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all readers of Tonghou's flourishingafrica. May this new year continue to bring good things to the people of Africa, especially those who are counted among the "wretched of the earth," as Frantz Fanon called them.