modem slavery

Hey, watch this:  http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery?language=en

Do They Know its Christmas? Just say'n?

The article I am posting this week highlights the negative impact the the most well meaning act of self-perceived altruism can have on people. The story highlights the fact that the two hit songs from the eighties, ":Do they know its Christmas": and "we are the world" were actually deleterious to the very situations they set out to help in the first place. perhaps Americans and Westerns should keep a mindfulness of unintended consequences when it comes to their typical heavy handed approaches.Just my two cents. Here ya' go: Maybe We Aren't The World

Modern Gold In South Africa

       The article I am posting this week is about the modern day gold mining that is going on in the recently shut down mines that pock the landscape all over the region of South Africa. The gold in the area is very hard to get out of the ground without expensive equipment but the article follows "illegal miners" as they live under the ground sometimes for months at times risking their lives for a few specs of gold in hopes of sustaining their families. You can access the article here: African Gold

"Chocolate City"

The article I am posting this week is about African immigrants to China, which I didn't even know was a thing. The wave of African immigrates to China started around the 90's and has more or less continued unabated since. The majority of the immigrants live in a very small concentrated residential area in the city of Guangzhou, Chinas third largest city.Check out the article here at: China

African Colonialism and HIV

The article I found this week is about the spread of HIV through the colonization of Africa. The source and consequent spread of HIV has long been sought so that scientist and doctors may be able to isolate the exact strain that jumped from chimpanzee to human, ultimately in hopes of creating a vaccine or at the very least some new treatments. The article highlights the evolution of the virus and effect that colonization had on its spread. The most interesting thing that it points out is that had it not been for African colonization the virus could have and most likely would have died in the jungles of Cameroon long ago. You can acsess the artical here: African Colonization

Fighting To Protect Ancient Manuscripts

The article that I have found this week is about the city of Timbuktu and its ancient manuscripts. The locals there have a very rich written history and are very proud of the written texts which they have. The average people in the city are in fact so fond of these works that they have for years buried them in the floors of their houses and plastered them into the walls, all in an attempt to protect them from which ever army has decided to invade them this week.Timbuktu is in the country of Mali which is in civil war and being divided up into the north and the south of the country. The article talks about how a librarian and a security guard smuggled thousands of these ancient texts out of the library in burlap sacks loaded into donkey carts before the invading jihadist could collect and burn them. From there they brought them by boat down the Niger river to safety. This is truly an incredible story and is sure to make any bibliophile smile. You can access the article here: Timbuktu

modern immigration from Africa

This week we discussed the slave trade and it's impact on Africa.  The article I am posting states a curious title.  More Africans have immigrated to the United States in the recent years than came over as a result of the slave trade. The most interesting point the article makes is that the group of immigrantsnow being admitted is being selected for by ambition. The recent immigrants from Africa collectively had a higher percentage of college degrees than did their American born counterparts. You can access the article here at: http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/09/more_africans_immigrated_to_the_us_from_2000_2010_than_came_by_slaveship.html?wpisrc=burger