NewsOne’s Jayson McNamara returned to his home city Brisbane, Australia to report about an important but often undervalued aspect to Australian society – its Indigenous heritage. He visited the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts and Aboriginal Fine Art Gallery to give us an insight into the current condition of contemporary Indigenous culture. He filed this report:

Almost one year ago BlackPlanet and I entered into, what some would call, a risky social experiment. I, a white Australian with no prior experience in the cement jungle of New York City (home to BlackPlanet), was taken on as an intern in one of America’s most dynamic, fast-paced Black media companies.

My initial hesitation and nerves were eased in my first minutes there, that balmy New York morning when I was greeted by the loving secretary, Val. She was a taste of things to come during my 2-month internship there, chatting to me with excitement and curiosity, and with an expected interest in my comical Aussie accent, while I waited to be shown my desk.

Within days of being at the relaxed, red-brick BlackPlanet headquarters in Tribeca, I felt part of a family and a member of a team that was as eager to show me the ins-and-outs of Black culture as they were to learn about mine.

On my lunch break I was regularly taken to Pop-Eyes and, over some juicy pieces of fried chicken, the other writers and I spoke about the mistruths and stereotypes about Black America as well as about Australians (although there was no fried Kangaroo on the menu for me to prove we do actually eat it down under.) Back at the office, we often listened to old-school hip hop but I was never excluded, with a special Aussie playlist created to keep me feeling at home in my new work environment. And finally, I was always encouraged to write about Australia and some of its issues as a means of broadening the international awareness of BlackPlanet members and highlighting the marginalization of other black communities across the globe.

One of my first pieces for NewsOne.com was a report about the discrimination faced by black minorities in developed countries, where the population of black citizens was growing:

REPORT: Black Communities Abroad Grow, Struggle Against Discrimination

I briefly discussed the discrimination aimed at Black communities in Australia and the marginalization they faced as a result. But, if I have learned one thing from my travels abroad, it’s that many Americans are well aware of the reputation that mainstream Australian society has for its precarious handling of the Indigenous population, past and present.

At school I had several Aboriginal classmates and I was always drawn to them, especially their humor and their loyalty to those who treated them as equals. Nowadays, it often saddens me to see how undervalued Indigenous culture is in the broader scheme of modern Australia. Many Aboriginal children grow up feeling as though they have no right to be openly proud about their cultural heritage, and I truly believe this is my country’s greatest shame.

I returned to Brisbane recently and had always planned on reporting about some of the great cultural activities on offer in my city. So, I did.

I first met with Badi Sheidaee, Director of the Aboriginal Fine Art gallery in the center of the city. We spoke candidly about the reputation of the Aboriginal art industry, where criticisms had been aimed at some galleries about the way they procured their art. But he assured me of the mutual benefit of being able to provide isolated Indigenous communities with income as well as share their finely crafted art work with the rest of the world, including Americans.

“A lot of Aborginal art is abstract art and there a lot of reasons as to why,” he said. “American buyers tend to like the stuff that appears very modern and the newer types of works by some of the younger artists.”

A few days later I visited the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts (ACPA), which was breathtaking. I was given permission by elder, Uncle Country, to film a ancient dance that had been passed onto him by his late father. I also interviewed students and spoke with the center’s Artistic Director, Marcus Hughes.

The day I spent at ACPA was an eye-opening experience and I found myself personally excited for the company, hearing about its plans to move into improved facilities and the growth of some of its graduates including a young actor named Elsa, who will soon travel to New York City to undertake further training in acting.

Some of the center’s former pupils have also found success after ACPA. Graduate, Jesse Martin, is now contracted with Leigh-Warren dance studio in Sydney, while many other graduates have made ‘leaps and bounds’ in Australia’s premiere Indigenous dance company, the Bangarra Dance Theatre.

I spoke to current ACPA students Alicia and Travis at ACPA, both of whom feature at the end of the featured video (below.) Alicia said to me she felt her connection to her indigenous heritage had grown from almost nothing.

“I didn’t really know much before,” she said. “Now, I’ve really learned how to be proud about being Aboriginal.”

Both Alicia and Travis expressed interest in progressing into some sort of professional arena following their graduation. Travis said he had been looking for work prior to being accepted into ACPA. The artistic director, Marcus Hughes, said fittingly:

“It’s an exciting future.”

And that’s the impression I got from ACPA, of a dynamic place for self expression and growth, and hopefully an improved future for Aboriginal culture.

The rest I will leave for you, the BlackPlanet audience, to witness for yourselves in this short video I prepared about ACPA.

It’s a small token of my appreciation for having been accepted into a diverse community of people like BlackPlanet, and a way to showcase to you the beauty and potential of one of the world’s most ancient cultures.

So, enjoy!

A Day at the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts:

Photos courtesy of the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts (Brisbane, Australia)

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RELEVANT LINKS:

The Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts (ACPA)

Bengarra Dance Theatre

Leigh Warren + Dancers (Profile: Jesse Martin)

Aboriginal Fine Art (Brisbane)

If you were to liken Brazil, the country, to an individual, she would the bronzed body you saw leading a float at Rio Carnaval, flawless from afar, shaking her body with a rhythm akin to the feet of an international soccer star like Ronaldihno.

She would be the unquestionable soul of the party, and the ultimate representative of a country whose glamour, style and rigour is not that unlike the impressive image you just conjured up about a Samba Queen at Carnaval.

Indeed, since the end of the world financial crisis, Brazil’s economy has left foreign investors drooling at the mouth and Western governors scratching their bald patches in awe. The mammoth South American superpower has also begun preparations for the world’s two largest sporting events, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.

To add to its impressive list of recent achievements, the Brazilian people have decided for the first time in history, and at this time in history, that a woman should lead their country.

Dilma Rousseff, a former left wing guerrilla fighter and public official, will become President of Brazil on January 1, taking over from her colleague President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She has indicated her intention to continue his socially inclusive policies in education, health and infrastructure, and as a woman is well positioned to present Brazil to the world as a land of opportunity, fairness and social progress.

However, while having taken giant moves to eliminate poverty in recent years, Brazil continues to be a land of contrasts. Around 30 percent of the country’s population lives in poverty, with the richest two per cent possessing 13 per cent of the Brazil’s household income.

Simple demographic data also reflect some unmistakeable racial contrasts. Two thirds of the 30 per cent of Brazilians living in poverty are black, and in regions with high concentrations of black voters, such as in the Northeast, political representation is strikingly disproportionate to the number of black voters.

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Rousseff’s symbolic rise to power and her message of equality in Brazil, enhanced by her being female, are not necessarily reflective of gender in Brazilian politics either. Women continue to be underrepresented in public office like black and other minority communities such as indigenous groups.

The president-elect has promised to continue most, if not all, of the socially inclusive policies of her internationally recognized predecessor, Lula da Silva. Lula, as he is known in the region, is enjoyed widespread international support for his model.

What he leaves Rousseff, however, is far from a Brazil whose domestic conditions reflect the country’s growing GDP, and thus a marked end to the Lula era is likely to provoke some harsh analysis about the depth of social policies and the distribution of Brazil’s prosperity through education, health and infrastructure.

Brazilian economist, Edma Bachar, once referred to Brazil as ‘Belindia’ – an enormous, impoverished India living alongside a small, prosperous Belgium.

With this in mind, and come the arrival of thousands of foreign tourists and media teams for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, the country’s Belgium is set to be on full display.

However, Brazil is also likely to find itself in the precarious situation of having to deal with its own domestic demons in front of a global audience – the 30 per cent of the population considered poor, in which half are unable to read and write and two thirds of whom are black. In other words, Brazil’s internal India.

What remains to be seen is, under the leadership of a beacon of equality such as Rousseff, whether Brazil’s extensive domestic problems will leave a mark on a country that has so successfully sold its lucrative, Queen of Samba image to the rest of the world and thus had the privacy to improve particular social issues from within.

Alas, only time will tell just how well Dilma Rousseff can move her feet and whether or not equality in Brazil is a dance move we’ll also be watching.

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In a series of sermons delivered at Luhlaza High School in Khayelitsha township, Cape Town, Pastor Xola Skosana declared that Jesus Christ had “put himself in the shoes of people who experience brokenness” and had channeled the suffering of his followers by experiencing their same sickness, pain and marginalization, reports the BBC.

Local’s dismay at the content of the sermons quickly spread to the national arena following the events in Cape Town, forcing Pastor Skosana to explain his approach.

“The best gift we can give to people who are HIV-positive is to help de-stigmatize AIDS and create an environment where they know God is not against them, he’s not ashamed of them,” he said.

But while some groups praise the pastor’s metaphor as a means of reaching out to the infected and enhancing the debate about HIV prevention in South Africa, others are outraged over the connection he has made between Jesus and the precarious situations in which the virus can be contracted.

Fellow religious leaders have noted that the metaphor jeopardizes believers’ understanding of Jesus as supreme and God, ultimately rendering him part of the problem and not the solution.

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South Africa has been at the forefront of international attention in recent months with its audacious discussions and approaches to HIV prevention.

Home to the largest population of people living with the virus, in June this year the country played host to a conference focusing on the link between male circumcision and a significant reduction in the spread of HIV.

REPORT: Events In South Africa Perpetuate Male Circumcision Debate

Representatives from Johns Hopkins University and US government delegates were reported to be in attendance at the event, in which researchers, South African authorities and medical experts expressed the possibility of circumcision being able to reduce the spread of HIV by 60 per cent.

Around the same time in KwaZulu-Natal province, 800 boys and young men had been circumcised by authorized medical teams in that provincial government’s push to circumcise 186,703 boys and young men in 2010/2011.

South Africa as a whole is expected to circumcise 2 million boys in the next 5 years.

You can read more about Pastor Xola Skosana’s sermons on the BBC website.

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Yes! About you! About the American!

It won’t come as a surprise that this particular conversation tends to paint an unfavorable picture of the United States and thus you, as a member of broader American society.

In this conversation, you’ve become the axis of all evil, capitalism the new suppressor, and multinationals like Wal-Mart and McDonalds the symbolic figureheads of a sudden end to individual nations’ economic and social sovereignty.

Americans are puppets of the media and the political forces within. They are prisoners of fear, unaware of international affairs and unjustifiably patriotic.

Californians are cool, though, and it would fun to go to Miami or visit the big smoke of New York City.

People from the South are stuck in a time warp, racially divided and unwelcoming to outsiders. Northerners are fine but they’re still Americans so be cautious!

Black people are the coolest of all, especially the Denzel Washington-types or the eternal gangsters like Samuel L. Jackson. Most live in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and there are probably a few in L.A. too, because that’s where all the gangster action transpires.

On a political level Democrats are idealists, and Republicans are not to be trusted. The name Bush is accompanied by every curse and insult of every language and dialect, in every corner of every universe, and its gut-wrenchingly entertaining that all Americans think Obama is the antichrist.

Still it doesn’t matter who’s in power because Iraq is and will always be a mistake. Oil was the driving force beyond the invasion, the fuel to the fire of American greed and consumption.

But let’s not get started on the Cuban trade embargo, the CIA or, worse yet, Israel!

“Hold up! Wait!” someone tells the student in a McDonald’s cafeteria in Paris, the lady in Starbucks in Buenos Aires, the taxi driver whose cousin lives in Queens, and the member of the immigrant family living next door to you. “Aren’t you watching streamed episodes of ‘24’ right now on that iPad you got while vacationing in Manhattan?”

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A silence ensues and out pours an attempt at balance.

Of course, all of the above is said in general terms because so-and-so’s best friend happens to be American. What a fun, vivacious guy, that one! He can drink just about anyone under the table and he parties like no other.

That particular American friend is also an extremely generous person and is persistent in inviting so-and-so to stay with him, spend thanksgiving with his family, and make a cross-country road trip to see the beautiful, varied landscapes of some of the 50 states.

And what about that friend of a friend who has been living and working in the States for the past few years, pursuing her dreams and moving her way to the top slowly-but-surely?

She often talks about the American work ethic and the innovation, ambition and general passion that her colleagues employ in all aspects of life.

Her workmates come from all corners of the globe and the surface such a melting pot of cultures functions as best as is possible given the differences they share. She often wishes all this was the case back home.

The most striking situation of all, however, is that her friends and colleagues have different criticisms and perceptions of themselves than most of the foreign people she has met, leading her to believe many Americans are unaware of what is said of them abroad.

The underlying question is therefore: What do you, one of the world’s most talked about, dissected, researched, and passion-evoking people of modern times, think or know about the perceptions others have of you as an American?

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A recently released video from Australia  has caused outrage over the use of Taser guns as an alternative to the hand weaponry with which Australian policemen and women have traditionally been armed.

The video, released by the West Australian Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC), shows two policemen as they stun the inebriated man 8 times. Their coworkers, seen observing the incident, do not react to the unprovoked attack which included an additional 5 taser strikes off camera.

The two officers in question have been fined AU$1,200 and AU$750 respectively for their unjust use of Taser guns, sparking outrage in Australia about the inefficiencies of internal police investigations and, more broadly, the intersection of police brutality with the social issues faced by members of Australia’s marginalized indigenous community, namely substance abuse and violence.

Tasers are only permitted to be used by members of the West Australian Police Force in situations of danger or serious injury.

Click here for the full story.

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The bill, H.J. Res. 81, was introduced to Congress by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who has sought to recognize the achievements and importance of Madam CJ Walker in black history.

Ms Bundles spoke to NewsOne about the movement and told of how she felt a personal obligation to honor a woman whose story had helped to influence and shape her own life, including as the inspiration of Ms Bundles’ 2002 biography about Madam Walker.

“Seeing how much she inspires other women has really shaped this part of my career,” she said. “It’s become my second career.”

But she also said that it took her decades of personal experience to finally become interested in writing about her great-great-grandmother, who was responsible for creating one of the first nationally distributed lines of hair care products for black women, including some that could straighten hair.

Ms Bundles developed an ironic resistance to her great-great-grandmother’s legacy from a young age, growing a large “Angela Davis’ afro” and making sure the world knew about it.

“I wanted a big afro,” she said, laughing. “My mother took me to the Madam CJ Walker Beauty Salon and they have me a very big afro.”

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But this resistance change when a college professor insisted that Ms Bundles pursue the story of Madam CJ Walker in a course paper, which helped lead to the production and publication of Ms Bundles’ 2002 biography, ‘On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker.’

She said the biography of her great-great-grandmother was an opportunity for the world to learn of a real person whose character and life story was much more than that of simply a millionaire businesswoman.

Indeed, there was a dark side to Madam CJ Walker’s early life that few people knew about. She was orphaned at the age of 7 and widowed by age 20, becoming a single mother.

“She was a very resilient person because she had such a difficult early life,” Ms Bundles said. “I think that was also reflected in how she educated her daughter and worked hard to give her the opportunities she never had.”

The biography has also had an immense impact on the professional life of Ms Bundles.

She had previously worked for over 30 years in mainstream media, including stints in recruiting, producing and reporting at ABC and NBC.

In recent year, she been invited to deliver speeches in London and Jerusalem, and has also shared the stories of Madam CJ Walker with a diverse range of audiences, from the women of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility to the students of the Harvard Business School.

Ms Bundles said the reason why her great-great-grandmother’s legacy is applicable in these settings is because her story is “relevant and inspirational” to many types of women.

Ms Bundles is now in the process of writing another biography about her great-grandmother, the daughter of Madam CJ Walker, A’Lelia Walker. She hopes to recreate an unexplored scene from the Harlem Renaissance, a movement with which A’Leila Walker was intimately involved.

But Ms. Bundles said she also planed to continue to help increase awareness about the Congressional bill to honor her great-great-grandmother.

She recommends that if you are interested in supporting the bill you write to your Congressional representative stating your support. There is currently a Facebook page dedicated to the bill and you can also read more about it on the GovTrack website.

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Black women are again the nation’s strongest performing demographic group in this month’s official unemployment figures.

The release of today’s US Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveals that black female unemployment declined for a consecutive month in June, falling 5 per cent from a rate 12.4 per cent in May to 11.8 per cent in June.

A decrease in unemployment for a consecutive month strengthens last month’s news that unemployment for black women had decreased substantially by 10 per cent.

Black Female Unemployment Has Steepest Decline In May

If this trend were to continue through July, the official of rate of unemployment for black women would move closer to a jobless rate of 11.5 per cent, which was the case this time last year.

However, today’s data do come with a solemn reminder of the extent of unemployment in the black community.

Unemployment levels for black men increased slightly from 17.1 per cent in May to 17.4 per cent in June, making black male jobless rates the highest across all major demographic groups.

Click here to view photos:

Other figures remained flat this month, with unemployment of white Americans rising one percentage point to 8.9 per cent and joblessness in the Hispanic community shifting slightly to end the month of June at 12.4 per cent.

Observers have been critical of this recent data, claiming that the federal government’s recovery effort is moving too slow.

President Obama touched on the data today, speaking from Andrews Airforce base.

“We are headed in the right direction,” he said. But “we’re not headed there fast enough.”

Private employers this month added 83,000 jobs to the labor market, much less than anticipated.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate a reduction in hours in June and a slight decrease to hourly pay rates from $22.55 in May to $22.5 in June.

The Labor Department also delivered bleak news. Their total payroll was down 125,000 following the completion of the Census assignments of 225,000 temporary government workers.

Senate Republicans Block Jobless Benefits For Long-Term Unemployed

But on a region-by-region basis, labor data show an improvement to the unemployment situation of a majority of metropolitan areas.

On June 30, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released information that shows a decrease in unemployment in 237 of 382 of the country’s major metropolitan areas.

On a national level, the current jobless rate is at 9.5 per cent of the participating workforce.

Last month the former executive of the Council of Churches, together with academic Dr. Clara L. Small (pictured above), released a book titled, ‘Men of Color, To Arms: Manumitted Slaves and Freed Blacks from the Lower Eastern Shores of Maryland.’

It traces the lives and demographic information of 1300 freemen who volunteered or former slaves who were sold by their owners to participate in the Civil War.

Rev. Briddell said the data he discovered had not been fully pursued in any other research project.

“The book brings to the surface what only few scholars knew,” he said. “But nothing has come out that we know profiles these soldiers.”

Now a New Jersey retiree, Rev. Briddell said it was crucial to the legacy of those who fought that he discover more about black Civil War heroes.

“The role of African Americans in the War has almost perished,” he said. “And even now, if you go to a Memorial Day Service, our attention would be on World War I or World War II.”

He suggested there was also a need to inform the black community about these men so that their roles in the triumphs of the Civil War were not underestimated.

“I’m beginning to say that had it not been for these soldiers the Union would not have achieved what it did,” he said.

A few years ago, a series of events led Rev. Briddell to discover that his great, great uncle, Isaiah Fassett, had been enlisted to fight in the Civil War.

A local Maryland newspaper profiled Fassett and expressed how encouraged they were that a black man had happily fought in the War.

But Rev. Briddell corrected them, indicating that Fassett had no choice.

“He lived to be 102 so there was some consciousness of him being in the Civil War,” Rev. Briddell said. “But it was not his decision to go. He was sold by his owner for a bounty.”

This was the case for many of Maryland’s Black Civil War soldiers and so along with Isaiah Fassett, Rev. Briddell and Dr. Small profiled 1300 of the state’s most forgotten black Civil War heroes.

They used as many as 5 sources to unveil their names, places of origin, ranks, regiments, entry and exit dates, transfer dates, and bounty information.

These sources included the Formal Roster of the Civil War, muster rolls, bounty rolls, land records and the deeds that set the men free after the war.

The book also relied on data from the 1890 Census to discover information about pensions, injuries and the future prospects of Civil War veterans.

Rev. Briddell noted that upon discharge the lives of some black Civil War heroes were marred with struggle.

“It would be a difficult task given that you had just been given a life,” he said. “You didn’t have a profession, a job and there was no equity for you.”

In order to fully pay homage to their contribution to freedom in America, Rev. Briddell hopes the book will give a name to the nameless.

Along with others scholars, he estimates that around 150,000 unknowns soldiers were killed in the Civil War, never to be recognized by name or any other background information.

Rev. David Briddell and Dr. Clara L. Small’s book is available for $25 online at publisher Arcadia’s website or at the Salisbury State University Book Store in Maryland.

Click here to find the book at BuyArcadia.com.

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When the international community botches its promises to protect the world’s most vulnerable, those at the helm of our largest economies, as well as the international press and your next door neighbor, are quick to assert their steadfast commitment to ‘never allow the past to repeat itself.’

Haiti was the latest case in point of just how distant a failed former colony can become in the minds of the nations that once profited from its lands. Yet there are other regions of the world prone to the volatile attention span of the international community and none quite like ‘the heart of Africa.’

Three separate incidences this month in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo reminded us of how ingrained these countries are in our short term memories.

Rwanda, the site of the 1994 genocide of up to one million Tutsi, as well as Burundi, the site of the 1972 and 1993 Hutu genocide, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to the world’s deadliest ongoing war since World War II, seem no longer able to surprise.

In Rwanda an alleged revenge murder had taken place when the body of journalist Jean Leopold Rugambage was found outside his home, June 24.

He was acquitted of genocide in 2006 in a controversial tribal ‘gacaca’ court, which is in effect a local gathering where alleged war criminals are sentenced by community members.

In Burundi, a supposed period of national harmony has been undermined by a one-man presidential election in which the current president is expected (and destined) to win.

Voting across the country was jeopardized, June 29, when ballot boxes closed and election sites were hit with grenade attacks.

And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, prominent human rights activist Floribert Chebeya Bahizire was laid to rest June 27 following his murder earlier in the month.

Chebaya and the civil rights organization over which he presided, La Voix Des Sans Voix (The Voice Of The Voiceless), had been preparing cases against government officials. He was expected to meet with Police Chief John Numbi, the man now suspected of orchestrating the murder, but was eventually killed.

Numbi was stood down the day before the funeral to allow for a smooth start to the murder investigation.

But where next for these countries at the heart of Africa, as they are given the breathing space from intense international attention and an opportunity to move past their bloody experiences in national unity?

As the Democratic Republic of the Congo approaches its 50 years of independence from Belgium, President Joseph Kabila has vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice irrespective of the anticipated independence celebrations.

The Congolese continue to battle against the consequences of decades of civil conflict. The war is considered one of the world’s bloodiest since the World War II and has claimed 30 times as many lives as the recent natural disaster in Haiti.

Observers have seen a slight improvement in the situation, though an April study by Oxfam found that civilian rape in Eastern Congo had increased 17 fold in the past few years. Refugees from the country continue to seek protection abroad in mass numbers, which suggests that the briefly publicized events of the past few decades will continue in some capacity into the future.

STUDY: Mass Civilian Rape In Congo Continues To Skyrocket

In nearby Rwanda, home of the shocking 1994 genocide, the acting editor of Umuvigizi newspaper was recently found dead near the entrance of his home.

Jean Leopold Rugambage died Thursday, June 24.

The Rwandan government has been pressured by the opposition over the murders, but government officials have labeled accusations they were involved as “baseless.” Rugambage was acquitted of genocide in a local tribal court in 2006. Many believe his death came was a revenge attack.

Rwanda’s ‘gacaca’ community courts have put the permanent stability of Rwanda into question in recent years because they have allowed accused war criminals to walk free in an effort to reintegrate them into society and to clear up the prison system.

Witnesses and accused participants of the genocide have been the target of vigilante activity as a result.

Unofficial estimates suggest that up to one million murders were committed during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, many of which were never processed in the country’s formal legal system.

“My Neighbor, My Killer” Looks at Rwanda Genocide & Reconciliation

In Burundi a similar civil conflict unfolded in 1972 and again in 1993, this time targeted at the majority Hutu population.

Since a ceasefire with rebels Burundians have enjoyed considerable security, which makes the current political situation in the country even more alarming.

The current president, Pierre Nkurunziza, is running in a one-man poll in Burundi’s presidential campaign.

Ballot boxes closed Tuesday June 29 but the election’s end was coupled with a spate of grenade attacks. Two people were allegedly injured in the capital Bujumbura and a Tanzanian embassy vehicle was struck by a grenade, reports AAP.

In all of this, it remains to be seen if the brief period of international outrage about the events of the 1990s in the ‘Heart of Africa’ simply reinforced the notion that ‘if it bleeds [a lot] it leads.’

It comes, almost with a degree of acceptance, that an underdeveloped nation like Burundi, for example, could be holding a one-man presidential election in 2010 without at least some harsh words of disapproval from those who vowed to help guide these nations after their final ceasefires.

The situation faced in Haiti will be the next marker in history that will tell us just how much truth we can draw from the words of the powerful, as they deploy their public relations machines to the disaster zones of the world, cash in hand and full of promises for the future.

The latest legal proceedings to rely on evidence sourced from online Facebook accounts concluded June 22 in Southwark crown court in London, reports The Guardian.

A 16 year-old boy was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years behind bars for fatally stabbing former best friend, Salum Kombo.

The deceased was claimed to have challenged his friend’s credibility online by calling him a “pussy.”

A series of text tirades on Facebook then led to a physical encounter in a nearby suburb where the teen was reportedly able to redeem his “loss of face” by stabbing Kombo in the chest.

Facebook did not comment on the verdict, which is not surprising given that so long as the company has cooperated with authorities in the past, little scrutiny has been thrown its way.

What remains fascinating about a situation in which Facebook avoids criticism, is that society appears to interpret these murder cases in a similar way that it accepts social media as ‘an institution’ rather than as a collection of extremely lucrative business entities.

Take a look at our Children And Violence Gallery:

Negative attention is now more than ever directed towards the authorities that are unable to keep up with modern technology and the crimes unfolding within its parameters, because society accepts the place of new platforms for communication and conflict.

It remains to be seen amidst the anger stemming from media commentators, family groups and victims’ families, if Facebook’s responsibility to protect its users is underestimated.

As this new variety of homicide becomes increasingly recurrent and commonplace, social media platforms are gradually disappearing from the critical focus of press coverage related to such incidences of homicide.

Last year Detroit authorities reportedly ignored warnings from Youtube users concerned about some aggressive video comments targeted at fellow user, Asia McGowan.

Anthony Powell, the man behind those comments, eventually murdered McGowan and committed suicide.

In Australia, sex predators have used pseudo identities on Facebook to lure young girls.

The most notable cases included Nona Belomesoff and Ashleigh Hall who were found raped and murdered in two separate incidences of fake Facebook identities.

The latest murder case in the United States to use evidence from Facebook unfolded Father’s Day this year in Watervliet, New York, where Bryan Ashline posted a cryptic ‘status update’ before murdering his 3 month-old-son and ex girlfriend, and later committing suicide.

His final words appeared on Facebook as, “on my way to get my spirit broken.”

This year Facebook avoided the repercussions of a user backlash that opposed the changing of account privacy settings.

Its 400 million-strong user database has continued to produce huge advertising revenues for the company.

Facebook is expected to record profits of between $500 and $800 million for 2009.

Check out NewsOne’s Pics Of The Week below:

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The 2010 FIFA World Cup may have placed South Africa in the international headlines for all the right reasons, but a series of domestic events have the African nation at the forefront of a debate that goes well beyond the football field.

At the same time BBC News revealed June 18 that twenty boys in South Africa’s East Cape Province had died of complications related to male circumcision, another 800 were circumcised in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal.

In East Cape, 9 boys had died in the 24 hours before June 18 and another 11 in the twelve days prior.

Of the 60 boys that were rescued from illegal initiation camps, all were reported to be suffering from dehydration and septic wounds, and 4 faced the likelihood of having their genitals completely removed.

Reports suggest the incident involved tribal initiation practices where those performing the circumcisions were not authorized or trained in accord with South African law.

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In neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province, premier Zweli Mkhize told reporters his government was satisfied with the approach taken to reduce HIV infections and was pursuing a target of 47,055 newborn and 186,703 boys’ circumcisions throughout 2010/2011.

“So far 800 males have been circumcised as of the end of April,” said Mkhize. “We are very happy with the programme.”

The province has played host to a male circumcision conference in recent days where representatives from John Hopkins University were reported to be in attendance.

The event, held around the same time as the mass circumcision, focused on the link between HIV prevention and circumcision.

Past studies suggest that the contraction of HIV between males and females can be reduced by 60 per cent through the partial removal of the penis’ foreskin.

Opponents of male circumcision in the United States argue that the practice robs a child of particular penile functions like the protection against dryness, chafing and abrasions that can allow for the entry of STDs and other bacteria.

While criticisms of the practice have been prevalent for decades in the United States, the country continues to be the world’s largest practitioner of male circumcisions.

In the 20th century over 120 million American boys went under the knife to receive what is now regarded as a ‘cultural surgery.’

Yet since the 1970s the American Academy of Pediatrics has upheld the claim that the amount of circumcision-related complications is unknown.

Male circumcision opponent NOHARMM estimates that the rate of complications range between 2 and 10 per cent of all circumcisions performed in the US.

Author and doctor, Robert Baker M.D, said in 1979 that, “Circumcision, the most widely performed surgery on males in this country, has the least scientific justification of any surgical procedure.”

NOHARMM claims the surgical procedure has continued since then at a rate of around 60 per cent of all male births.

Domestic criticisms aside, the issue remains that Africans continue to suffer the consequences of rampant HIV.

South Africa is home to world’s largest population of people living with the virus.

The country is expected to circumcise 2 million boys in the next 5 years.

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The State of Utah’s June 18 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner broke ground in American history as the first execution by firing squad in 14 years and as the first to be ‘tweeted’ across the world by the attorney general who approved the final stage of death.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff used his Apple iPhone to confirm that he had given permission to execute the two-time convicted murderer by publishing a live update on the Twitter account, #MarkShurtleff:

“I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner’s execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims.”

The decision to publish the ‘tweets’ online has evoked some staunch criticism of both Shurtleff and the practice of capital punishment in general.

Twitter users and online news consumers have compared America to third world dictatorships, where executions by firing squad would be permitted under elements of the law.

One online commentator claimed, “The death penalty is the greatest blot on the world’s greatest nation.”

Others have directed their disgust at Attorney General Shurtleff, referring to him as “repulsive” and “perverse.”

Shurtleff posted another two tweets before the execution:

“We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I’m told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html.”

And, “A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justice.”

He is not the first political figure to be criticized for the questionable use of a Twitter account.

A Republican Party Operative in South Carolina posted in June 2009: “JUST HEARD OBAMA IS GOING TO IMPOSE A 40% TAX ON ASPIRIN BECAUSE IT’S WHITE AND IT WORKS.”

Republican Senator Mike Parry, tweeted during his campaign for the Minnesota Senate seat in late 2009: “read the exclusive on Mr O in Newsweek. He is a Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man.”

But perhaps the most shocking Twitter moment in recent year was the decision by Rocky Mountain News in Colorado to post almost two dozen live feeds from the funeral of a three-year-old boy.

Some of those tweets included: “family members shovel earth into grave”, “coffin lowered into ground” and “people again are sobbing.”

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In a world where visual indicators are prone to dictate social status, access to friendship circles and the overall social cohesion of minority communities, certain nations are proving just how reactive their societies are to the presence of growing minority populations.

As globalization tends to be to the world’s societies what a turbulent flight is to someone who’s afraid to fly, black minority populations have become particularly controversial.

In countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, many of the interactions between mainstream society and black minority culture have been limited to the influence of imported urban music and American cinema.

The exponential growth of black populations in Australia in recent years has closely paralleled the instability of regions in Africa where civil war, famine and violence have forced many groups into exile.

In 2008-2009, Australia received over 13,000 humanitarian settlers. This was accompanied with a major policy shift towards African refugees that resulted in the continent becoming the equal largest source area of successful applications for refugee status in Australia.

The result has conjured some unfortunate memories of Australia’s past dealings with the black indigenous population, which was suppressed in the early and mid twentieth century with social practices such as the ‘Stolen Generation’ and the ‘White Australia Policy’.

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Africans in Australia are currently prone to higher levels of underemployment and unemployment and have been grossly misrepresented in the media as a result of isolated incidences of violence between members of the same African communities.

The Sudanese population had benefited most from increased African immigration trends. In the ten years to 2009, Sudanese arrivals to Australia grew from 4,900 to 19,502.

In 2007 Sudanese immigration was reduced as the then-Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, responded to claims in the press that Sudanese youth were a threat to ‘social cohesion’ in their respective localities.

Intake levels were subsequently capped for Sudanese refugee applicants awaiting approval abroad.

And in May 2010, refugee leaders and police in the northern Australian city of Darwin claimed that unacceptable levels of poverty were engendering interracial violence between the indigenous and African communities of the region.

Earlier in the year a group of indigenous youth, armed with baseball bats and chains, attacked a group of African teens playing soccer.

Day-to-day survival for Africans living in New Zealand is also awash with problems.

In Immigration New Zealand’s Refugee Voices report it was revealed that in 2004 there were approximately 1.7 recently arrived refugees per bedroom in homes occupied by refugee families. The general population can expect to live in homes with 0.88 people per bedroom – almost half that of their refugee counterparts. Unemployment is also prevalent within the growing black population of New Zealand.

In Canada black American immigration had been purposely restricted by provisions in the nation’s early immigration policies, wherein blacks were deemed ‘unfavorable.’

In the 1960s however these provisions were outlawed and the black population began to flourish once again.

Currently in Canada the black minority accounts for 2.2 per cent of nation’s total population. Approximately 784,000 blacks live across the country, mostly in Toronto.

Yet blacks are still considered to be marginalized because of subtle discrimination in Canada.

A 2007 report by Statistics Canada revealed that of the 785 hate crimes in Canada that year, 154 were targeted at blacks. This was the largest figure for any particular racial group.

In addition, the 2001 census in Canada showed that black children were more likely than any others to be raised in single-parent families, with 46 per cent of black children with single parents compared to the 18 per cent average.

In other regions of the world, black communities continue to grow.

Brazil already has a significant black population as a result of it’s slave trade – the last in history to be abolished.

In addition to the black community that recognizes itself as strictly ‘Brazilian’, there are currently around 4 million people living in Brazil who consider themselves to be African.

Europe’s black minority groups have also been prevalent in population and the press in recent times. The 2005 racial conflict in the suburbs of Paris revealed some unfortunate truths about France’s melting pot of cultures.

And still, all across the world, black communities continue to pioneer the development of their cultures in societies that remain largely unfamiliar with black minority groups.

Certain problems are bound to persist heeding the success of black minorities’ integration into their new home societies.

These, as per the examples of countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, include issues relating to family, teen delinquency, social exclusion and poorer socio-economic outcomes.

The coming years will tell just how persistent these issues truly are.

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If the Tea Party were anything to go by this year, there wouldn’t be much more in a name than irony. There is of course a lot to say about the concepts and catchphrases thrown about in their rhetoric, including those related to the revival of the time-honored debate about socialism and capitalism.

But are Americans responding as expected? Possibly not.

The results of a Political Rhetoric Test, released May 4 by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, suggest that for Americans the concept of ‘socialism’ is “not so negative” while the idea of ‘capitalism’ is “not so positive”.

As tradition would dictate, socialism continues to be held in a negative light by a majority of Americans while capitalism is regarded positively by most. Almost 60 per cent of respondents reacted negatively to ‘socialism’ compared to 37 per cent with ‘capitalism’.

The partisan divide was also present in the results. Independents and Republicans reacted negatively to ‘socialism’ with 64 and 77 per cent respectively. Democrats were split on the same concept, with 44 per cent reacting positively and 43 reacting negatively.

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Twice as many blacks reacted in a positive way to ‘socialism’ than whites with 53 and 24 per cent respectively.

However young people could be the strongest indication of changing times in America. To both ‘socialism’ and ‘capitalism’, 43 per cent of respondents under 30 responded with positive reactions. People over 65 in general were most notably negative towards ‘socialism’, with 73 per cent reacting negatively.

The Pew Research Center’s April research tested the reactions of over 1,500 adults to nine concepts of importance in modern America. ‘Family values’ and ‘civil rights’ came in first and second, with 89 and 87 per cent of respondents stating a positive reaction to those phrases. ‘Militia’ was the concept with least positive reactions, the largest being 36 per cent of male republicans.

There has been a revival in recent times of the debate about the influence of socialism in modern America. Republican candidates have led sweeping victories over Democrats across the country, largely in connection with anti-health-care campaigning and constant referral to the  ‘-isms’.

Republican Rick Scott is the latest contender for Governor to surge in the polls behind a well-funded campaign against the Obama administration’s health-care ambitions. He’s currently leading his party primary in Florida, where he is expected to compete against Democrat Alex Sink for Governor.

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Black women have emerged triumphant in May’s official unemployment data, with a decrease of 10 per cent in unemployment from 13.7 per cent in April to 12.4 per cent in May.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics positioned black women as the strongest performing demographic in the decline of unemployment across race and gender categories.

There was no change to the rate of unemployment of white women, which might suggest a reduction to the large unemployment gap between black and white women.

However, since February  the unemployment rate of white women has decreased one percentage point to 7.4 per cent, while that of black women has fluctuated around a rate of 13 per cent. This represents a difference of approximately 65 per cent.

Additional data compared across the twelve months from May 2009 to May 2010 indicate that the amount of black women in employment fell almost 1 percentage point from 56.5 to 55.6.

Education was also a factor in last month’s data, as unemployment levels for those without a high school diploma remained three times higher than those who had graduated.

The 52 per cent gap between the unemployment rates of black and white teenagers however remained largely unchanged.

White teenagers suffer an unemployment rate of 24.4 per cent, while 37.3 per cent of black teenagers are currently without work.

US economic data has been positive in recent times. A survey by Manpower Inc. suggested that of the 18,000 employer participants, 18 per cent were considering increasing their staff in the third quarter.

Some areas of the country however are particularly unfavourable for black workers.

Economic Policy Institute, based in Washington, released a study Tuesday highlighting total black unemployment rates of 20.9 per cent, 20.4 per cent and 13.3 for Detroit, Minneapolis and St. Louis respectively.

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