Mshale Newspaper October 2 2023

Issue # 594

INSIDE

THE

P.4

P.6

A F R IC A N

OCTOBER 2-8, 2023

C OMM U NI T Y

www.mshale.com

N E W S PAP E R

Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter Zoleka dies at 43

President Biden taps Chiney Ogwumike for African diplomacy

Randal Quran Reid poses for a portrait at his attorney’s office, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Atlanta. Reid says the use of facial recognition technology by a sheriff’s detective in Louisiana led to his arrest for crimes he did not commit.

Photo: John Bazemore/AP

P.9

Bishop Silvester Beaman named chair of White House Council

Facial recognition technology wrongfully jails Black man

By Sudhin Thanawala Associated Press

Roots Festival P.10 Global returns to Minneapolis

ATLANTA (AP) — Randal Quran Reid was driving to his mother’s home the day after Thanksgiving last year when police pulled him over and arrested him on the side of a busy Georgia interstate.

He was wanted for crimes in Louisiana, they told him, before taking him to jail.

Reid, who prefers to be identified as Quran, would spend the next several days locked up, trying to figure out how he could be a suspect in a state he says he had never visited.

A lawsuit filed this month blames the misuse of facial recognition technology by a sheriff’s detective in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, for his ordeal.

“I was confused and I was angry because I didn’t know what was going on,” Quran told The Associated Press. “They couldn’t give me any information outside of, ‘You’ve got to wait for Louisiana to come take you,’ and there was no timeline on that.”

Quran, 29, is among at least five Black plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against law enforcement in recent years, saying

they were misidentified by facial recognition technology and then wrongly arrested.

Three of those lawsuits, including one by a woman who was eight months pregnant and accused of a carjacking, are against Detroit police.

The technology allows law enforcement agencies to feed images from video surveillance into software that can search government databases or social media for a possible match.

Critics say it results in a higher rate of misidentification of people of color than of white people. Supporters say it has been vital in catching drug dealers, solving killings and missing persons cases and identifying and rescuing human trafficking victims. They also contend the vast majority of images that are scoured are criminal mugshots, not driver’s license photos or random pictures of individuals.

Still, some states and cities have limited its use.

“The use of this technology by law enforce- ment, even if standards and protocols are in place, has grave civil liberty and privacy concerns,” said Sam Starks, a senior attorney with The Cochran Firm in

Atlanta, which is representing Quran. “And that’s to say nothing about the reliability of the technology itself.”

Quran’s lawsuit was filed Sept. 8 in federal court in Atlanta. It names Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto and detective Andrew Bartholomew as defendants.

Bartholomew, using surveillance video, relied solely on a match generated by facial recognition technology to seek an arrest warrant for Reid after a stolen credit card was used to buy two purses for more than $8,000 from a consignment store outside New Orleans in June 2022, the lawsuit said.

“Bartholomew did not conduct even a basic search into Mr. Reid, which would have revealed that Mr. Reid was in Georgia when the theft occurred,” the lawsuit said.

Reached by phone, Bartholomew said he had no comment. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office, Capt. Jason Rivarde, said the office does not comment on pending litigation.

See Facial Recognition on Pg. 8

2

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

www.mshale.com

Introducing Twin Cities artist Kprecia Ambers “The whole point of it is to be able to connect with people, and I feel like I do that through my words and my visions, or through the visuals I use.”

As part of Artist Spotlight, Kprecia hopes people will find themselves in her illustrations and feel the confidence to find their shine.

discover Kprecia Ambers’ collection

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

www.mshale.com

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

3

Guest Commentary by Kamm Howard

Biden needs a reparations commission for 2024 Mr. President, the call for justice in America is at a historic high. This current call for justice is founded squarely on the issue of Reparations. This is an American call for justice – not only has it been identified as the major issue by Black Americans via a 2021 Congressional Black Caucus poll, but in a recent USA Today poll, 83 % of Americans said racism is a problem facing the US. This explains why an array of Americans has enthusiastically joined this call for reparatory justice – allied ethnic groups, many of the largest social justice organizations in the country, a diversity of religious orders, America’s most prestigious universities, major US corporations, some of the largest philanthropies in America, and of immense importance, following Evanston, Illinois – numerous municipalities and States within the Union. This is proof that much of America wants to see this issue addressed and resolved now!

Leaders within the Democratic Party in the last Congress demonstrated their political will for a reparations commission. 217 confirmed yes votes in the House and half of the Senate Committee chairs, along with the Senate Leader, and many of their colleagues, signed on to the Senate bill.

However, as you are aware, Mr. President, the bipartisanship that is needed to pass the bill in the Senate does not exist. Thus, the only way to move this issue forward, which much of America is demanding, is through an Executive Order.

This must be done immediately as the next Presidential election is approaching. On one side of this issue are those calling for “No Reparations No Vote”, in their attempt to drive Black voters to the Republican Party. On the other side, are those of us who fully understand the significance of the Black vote for a Democratic Party win. Statistics have shown that since 1960, except for 1964, the Black vote was the deciding factor in each of the Democratic Party’s wins in presidential elections. In essence, the Black vote gave American Presidents Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, Obama, and you Mr. Biden.

Join the Mshale Text Club: Text AFRICA to 24587 or follow us onTwitter.com/Mshale Community News, updated daily on Mshale. com © 1995-2023 Mshale Communications, Inc. Mshale – The African Community Newspaper Editorial & Corporate Office: 2 E Franklin Ave., Suite 1 Minneapolis, MN 55404 Mailing Address: P.O.BOX 80071, Minneapolis, MN 55408 Tel: 612-454-5648 Email: mshale@mshale.com www.mshale.com President & Publisher: Tom Gitaa Contributing Editor: Edwin Okong’o Staff Writers: Kari Mugo, Bethel Gessesse, Cynthia Simba, Panashe Matemba-Mutasa, Milkee Bekele Contributing Writers: Susan Budig Design & Layout: Staff Photographers: Richard Ooga, Bethel Gessesse, Jasmine Webber Distribution: Bluebird

Mshale is published weekly on Monday. It is available every Monday for free at most African stores , African restaurants and metro area county libraries. Mailed subscriptions are $60 per year.

Memberships: Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC) , Pan African Business Alliance (PABA).

The editor welcomes letters, opinion pieces and commentary on issues of interest to the African community in North America. Contributions must be typed and will be edited for clarity and space. Submissions can be mailed or submitted online at www.mshale.com

A growing number of major publications have recognized this dependence of the Democratic Party on the Black vote. Immediately after your election, Vox reported – “The Black Vote is key to Democratic success”- saying you “could not have been competitive without it.” At this same time, the New York Magazine shouted, Joe Biden Owes It All to African American Voters. In April of this year, Time Magazine wrote, Black Voters Gave Biden the White House. They May Determine Whether He Stays There – the writer concluded “Put plainly: you can’t win the nomination or the White House as a Democrat without the Black vote. And finally, just last month, the Washington Post echoed the Times writer, by saying the Black vote “will be crucial in a Biden bid for reelection.”

We are 20% of your base Mr. President, more than all other people of color combined. When we come out and vote, Democrats win! Certainly, Mr. Bidden, the Republicans are fully aware of this as they have directed enormous resources to suppress the Black vote– by spending nearly $1 billion in the last election and introducing over 900 pieces of legislation, according to Marc Morial of the National Urban League. The Democratic Party needs to both counter these efforts by Republicans and address the low enthusiasm for the Democratic Party in the Black community.

This counter-offensive must be an immediate statement announcing the implementation of an HR 40-like Reparations Commission via Executive Order by the President of the United States of America. This, and only this, will generate the turnout in the Black community necessary for a Democratic Party victory in 2024. The Democratic Party can no longer waffle on this issue of reparations. We need a Reparations Commission Now! You, Mr. President, need a Reparations Commission now – for any hope of a 2024 victory.

EO40 Now!. EO 40 now! EO40 now!

Kamm Howard is executive director of Reparations United which has as its mission obtaining reparations for African Americans.

4

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

www.mshale.com

Mandela’s daughter Zoleka dies at 43

By Gerald Imray Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Zoleka Mandela, a granddaughter of Nelson Mandela whose life was tangled up in addiction, a suicide attempt, a battle with cancer and the tragedy of losing two young children before she came back from the shadows to embrace his legacy, has died. She was 43.

Her death on Monday, September 25 was announced by the Mandela family in a statement on Tuesday. The breast cancer she had fought for years had been in remission. But she was later diagnosed with cancer in her liver and lungs and it had metastasized and spread, her family said.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, which promotes the legacy of the South African statesman who died in 2013, said it mourned Zoleka Mandela’s death and offered its condolences to her family. It said she was a “beloved grandchild” to Nelson Mandela and praised her work raising awareness of cancer and her role as an inspiration to those affected by the disease and to those who had lost children.

Mandela’s early story was a series of struggles and tragedies that were almost too much for one person. They were set against her self-confessed attempt and initial failure to live up to the example of her grandfather, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, the leader of the anti-apartheid movement, the first Black president of South Africa and a powerful force for good recognized and admired across the globe.

Mandela suffered sexual abuse as a child and battled drug and alcohol addiction from her teenage years. Her 13-year-old daughter, Zenani, was killed in a car crash in 2010 on the way back from a concert that marked the opening of the soccer World Cup in South Africa.

It was caused by a drunk driver and came when Zoleka, herself, was deep in her drug and alcohol addiction and in a hospital having attempted suicide.

“I hadn’t seen my daughter for 10 days before her passing, and I hadn’t because I chose to use drugs,” Mandela said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2013. “That’s obviously a reminder that I chose my addiction over my kids and I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

The horror and guilt jarred her into seeking help and going into rehab for the good of her other child at the time, son Zwelami, and the memory of her daughter Zenani, she said. Zenani’s death brought a frail-looking Nelson Mandela out to a church for his greatgranddaughter’s funeral and one of his last public appearances.

Mandela was diagnosed with breast cancer barely a year after her daughter’s death, leading to a double mastectomy and grueling chemotherapy. Her second son was born prematurely in 2011 while she was being treated for cancer and

Author Zoleka Mandela, granddaughter of former president Nelson Mandela, answers questions at the launch of her book “When Hope Whispers,” in Johannesburg Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Zoleka Mandela died on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023 her family said. She was 43.

Photo: Denis Farrell/AP File

died days later. She had four surviving children at the time of her death.

She released an autobiography titled “When Hope Whispers” in 2013. It delved into what she called some of the “unbearable circumstances” of her life and how an abnormal childhood played its part. In the book, she recounted the realities of being a Mandela when South Africa was in some of its most violent throes under the apartheid system of racial segregation in the 1980s and her grandfather was in jail for leading the anti-apartheid movement.

Mandela was smuggled into a high-security prison on an island off Cape Town at the age of 1 so her grandfather could meet her for the first time, she said in her book. As a child, she hid a grenade in her schoolbag so her grandmother, who was part of the armed resistance to apartheid, wouldn’t be arrested by the regime.

The opening line of her autobiography set the stage for her early childhood: “By the time I was born ... my mother knew how to strip and assemble an AK47 in exactly thirty-eight seconds,” she wrote.

She was abusing alcohol by the time she was 9, and later doing lines of cocaine daily, the start of an addiction that led her, years later, away from her own children and toward the greatest of her regrets when she was an absent parent at the time her daughter was killed.

But her life changed and her story ultimately closed with a different chapter.

She became a renowned campaigner, both for cancer awareness and also for road safety, winning praise and admiration for her work in both fields, and for her courage in the latter stages of her terminal cancer.

less activist,” possibly the most fitting tribute given that as daunted as she was by the legacy of Nelson Mandela, she was ultimately inspired by it, and by him.

She once said that, above all, she hoped he approved.

“I just hope where he is with my daugh-

ter he is looking down and thinking she has gotten it right, finally,” she told the BBC in 2016.

Carley Petesch, a former AP correspondent in South Africa, contributed to this story from Chicago.

On it.

Ending racial injustice requires all of us to work together and take real action.

What can you do to help?

Educate yourself about the history of American racism, privilege and what it means to be anti-racist. Educate yourself about the history of American racism, privilege and what it means to be anti-racist.

Commit to actions that challenge injustice and make everyone feel like they belong, such as challenging biased or racist language when you hear it.

Vote in national and local elections to ensure your elected officials share your vision of public safety.

Donate to organizations, campaigns and initiatives who are committed to racial justice.

Let’s come together to take action against racism and fight for racial justice for the Black community.

Visit lovehasnolabels.com/fightforfreedom

The foundation that bears her grandfather’s name recognized her as a “tire-

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

www.mshale.com

5

Brooklyn Park now accepting applications for round two of American Rescue Plan community funding

By Mshale Staff

The city of Brooklyn Park is currently accepting applications for round two of its share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) community funding.

Applications are being accepted through Friday, October 13.

Brooklyn Park received $11 million American Rescue Funds of which the city council last year approved spending of $4.6 million in round one, which included the awarding of funds to 36 community nonprofit and businesses that proposed a variety of programs to serve city residents.

In a Request for Proposals (RFP) posted on the city’s website, the RFP states round two “will provide funds to eligible community partners; both businesses and non-profits that are delivering services in identified areas of need particularly to underserved and cultural groups.”

The cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center are accepting applications through October 13, 2023 for round two of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) community funding.

Photo: Richard Ooga/Mshale File

In this round, the city said it has $300,000 available for awards and anticipates awarding six organizations approximately $50,000 each. Activities to be funded must take place in the cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.

The City of Brooklyn Center has allocated $95,000 of its ARPA funding for joint workforce development initiatives and Brooklyn Park will award between $25,000 – $50,000 to selected applicants on behalf of Brooklyn Center.

Organizations and businesses applying “must show a demon-

strated history of programs and activities serving Brooklyn Park or Brooklyn Center residents,” according to the RFP. Visit the City of Brooklyn Park website at www.brooklynpark. org/city-finances/american-rescue-plan/ for details on the RFP and how to apply.

Fall Events

Fall Fest | October 7 & 8

Gale Woods Farm, Minnetrista

Chairlift Rides | October 7 & 8 Hyland Hills Ski Area, Bloomington

Lantern-lit Trail Nights October 19 & 26 Richardson Nature Center, Bloomington

Enchanted Forest Halloween

October 28 Lowry Nature Center, Victoria

Big Woods Halloween October 28 Eastman Nature Center, Dayton

*Payment required for food and drink at events.

ThreeRiversParks.link/Programs

6

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

www.mshale.com

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike named to President Biden’s council on African diplomacy

By Doug Feinberg Associated Press Chiney Ogwumike has always been passionate about her Nigerian heritage.

Now she’s getting a chance to help all of Africa as a member of the inaugural President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States, the White House announced Tuesday.

so that they can transform their lives the same way I experienced it,” Ogwumike said. “I had the best of both worlds, with Nigerian determination and American opportunities that are endless. It’s a pathway for youth to change their lives to empower themselves.”

The council, which was first announced by Vice President Kamala Harris at the 2022 U.S.-Africa “Best way to describe it, it feels like its a Leaders Summit, will be chaired calling of a lifetime,” Ogwumike told The

by Rev. Dr. Silvester Beaman of Associated Press in a phone interview the African Methodist Episcopal Tuesday. “It’s something so authentic to who I am and what I stand for and Church. Other council members, what I want to do for service. You can who will serve until 2025, include be exponentially impactful — calling of a Oscar-winning actress Viola lifetime for me.”

Davis.

The 31-year-old Stanford graduate and WNBA player started her Ogwumike, who is an NBA analyst public advocacy for African wom- for ESPN, is the youngest female en when she and her sister Nneka on the council. launched a UNICEF fundraiser in 2014 following the kidnapping of They will provide invaluable guidance to reinforce cultural, social, Nigerian girls by Boko Haram. political, and economic ties between the U.S. and Africa, and “It creates opportunities for kids and young people that look like m promote trade, investment, and educational exchanges between

Los Angeles Sparks forward Chiney Ogwumike (13) celebrates after a three-pointer during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Phoenix Mercury in Los Angeles, Friday, May 19, 2023. Ogwumike has always been passionate about her Nigerian heritage. Now she’s getting a chance to help all of Africa as a member of the inaugural President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States, the White House announced Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023.

Photo: Ashley Landis/AP FIle

the United States and Africa.

Ogwumike spoke at the UN General Assembly last year and heard about the council and wanted to be part of it.

“I talked about the power of sports and how it could transform the world,” she said. “I submitted my resume and had my fingers crossed.”

Insured by NCUA

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

www.mshale.com

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

Unite to Fuel Change We live in a world where divisions and poverty affect everyone but when we unite as changemakers we can create a community where all people thrive.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

VISIT GTCUW.ORG TO LEARN MORE

7

8

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

Facial Recognition from Pg. 1

In an affidavit seeking the warrant, Bartholomew cited still photographs from the surveillance footage, but did not mention the use of facial recognition technology, according to Quran’s lawsuit.

The detective said he was advised by a “credible source” that one of the suspects in the video was Quran. A Department of Motor Vehicles photograph of Quran appeared to match the description of the suspect from the surveillance video, Bartholomew said.

Starks believes the source Bartholomew cited was facial recognition technology, making the affidavit “at best misleading,” he said. A January email from Jefferson Parish Deputy Chief Dax Russo to the sheriff is further evidence of that, according to Starks.

The email explaining the events that led to Quran’s arrest said members of the force were told again that they need additional evidence or leads when using

www.mshale.com

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

facial recognition technology for an arrest warrant, according to the lawsuit.

The suit accuses Bartholomew of false arrest, malicious prosecution and negligence. Lopinto failed to implement adequate policies around the use of facial recognition technology, so he, too, should be liable, the lawsuit contends. It seeks unspecified damages.

As Quran sat in jail, his family hired an attorney in Louisiana who presented photos and videos of Quran to the sheriff’s office. The person in the surveillance footage was considerably heavier and did not have a mole like Quran’s, according to his lawsuit.

The sheriff’s office asked a judge to withdraw the warrant. Six days after his arrest, sheriff’s officials in Georgia’s DeKalb County released Quran.

His car had been towed, and the food at the jail had made him sick, he said. Quran, who works in transportation logistics, also missed work.

Nearly a year later, the experience still haunts him. He wonders

Randal Quran Reid speaks at his attorney’s office, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Atlanta. Reid says the use of facial recognition technology by a sheriff’s detective in Louisiana led to his arrest for crimes he did not commit. Photo: John Bazemore/AP

what would have happened had he not had money to hire an attorney. And he still thinks about that police stop on a Georgia interstate.

“Every time I see police in my rearview mirror, he said, “it just flashes back my mind to what could have happened even though I hadn’t done anything.”

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

www.mshale.com

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

9

Religion AME Bishop Silvester Beaman named chair of White House council on African engagement

By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service An African Methodist Episcopal bishop has been appointed chair of the new White House council that aims to increase dialogue between U.S. officials and African, Caribbean and African American communities.

Bishop Silvester Scott Beaman of Delaware was named the leader of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States, the White House announced Tuesday (Sept. 26). Beaman, 63, is the prelate of the AME district that includes South Africa, Namibia and Angola.

Eleven other inaugural council members, in fields including business, social work and government, were named as well.

“The African Diaspora in the United States, a rich and diverse community of African Americans and African immigrants, is foundational to our 21st century partnership with Africa,” the White House said. “This community, which includes descendants of enslaved Black Americans, has long advocated for the prosperity of the African continent and its people, and strengthened the unique relationship between the United States and Africa.”

Other members of the council for the 2023-2025 term include actress Viola Davis, Spelman College President Helene D. Gayle and WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike.

“They will provide invaluable guidance to reinforce cultural, social, political, and economic ties between the U.S. and Africa, and promote trade, investment, and educational exchanges between the United States and Africa,” the White House said of the 12-member council.

“Bishop Beaman’s extensive experience and deep roots in Africa will enable him to lead the Council to achieve its full potential.”

Beaman and President Joe Biden have a decadeslong friendship. The clergyman delivered the benediction at Biden’s inauguration. Before Beaman was elected a bishop in 2021, he was the pastor of a church in Wilmington, Delaware, a city that has long been the president’s home base.

“I am looking forward to serving this council with diplomacy, integrity, and respect,” Beaman said in a statement on his Facebook page. “I seek to honor all those who are a part of the African Diaspora and keep the rich heritage and

Mshale Text Club:

Text Africa to 24587 to join

Bishop Silvester Scott Beaman of Delaware was named the leader of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States, the White House announced Tuesday, Sept. 26.

Photo: Courtesy AME Church

history of the entire continent alive and relevant.”

In December 2022, Biden signed an executive order establishing the council and Vice President Kamala Harris announced the administration’s commitment to it during the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

In addition to being a confidant of Biden’s, Beaman collaborated with Beau Biden, the president’s son, when the younger Biden was Delaware’s attorney general in the mid- to late 2000s. The then-pastor also took part in the services for Beau Biden, processing in with the clergy at the funeral Mass after his death in 2015, said John Thomas III, editor of The Christian Recorder, the AME Church’s official newspaper.

When Joe Biden was a presidential candidate in 2020, Beaman welcomed him to Bethel AME Church in Wilmington in the wake of demonstrations that occurred after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. Biden decried racism at a meeting with Black leaders at the church.

Footage of that meeting, including Biden kneeling in the Black church’s sanctuary in front of Beaman and other leaders, was later used in an ad by Donald Trump’s campaign that included a slide that read “Stop Joe Biden and his rioters.”

Beaman told Religion News Service at the time that the ad was “overtly racist and offensive.” He and several AME Church denominational leaders signed a letter demanding the Trump campaign remove the ad and apologize for it.

10

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

www.mshale.com

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

Art & Entertainment

Global Roots Festival at the Cedar returns after pandemic hiatus to great success

By Susan Budig Mshale As Minnesota has shifted its immigrant population from Scandinavian-European to a broader, more colorful global immigrant citizenry, so too has the Cedar Cultural Center transitioned from its Nordic Roots Festival to Global Roots Festival.

This year, the three-day event, September 25 – 27, included acts from many countries and five of the seven continents. Hundreds of people attended, some returned every evening, others joined the audience for one specific show.

Program manager, Robert Lehmann, said the entire festival’s open to the community free of charge, funded by various sponsors and grants including the Minnesota Legacy Amendment.

It’s not a case of you get what you pay for…though the festival’s free, the music is priceless.

Ana Everling and Robert Palos were up first on Monday evening with ethereal sound that won the audience over immediately. Everling’s voice was a full range of dulcet notes and rich memories including one about her grandmother’s lullabies.

Following the Eastern European/Balkan act was House of Waters, comprised of six-stringed bassist Moto Fukushima from

Montreal-based Waahli performs on the final night of the Global Roots Festival at the Cedar in Minneapolis on Sept. 27, 2023.

Photo: Jasmine Webber/Mshale

Monday night’s crowd was modest, but appreciative. The fully-seated audience filled over 120 seats. It was the calm before the storm.

The second evening of Global Roots Festival saw the largest turn-out in attendees as well as the loudest and

to play their music, which is interspersed with whistles and yodels that the crowd, in their excitement, quickly parrot back.

With the audience’s palate prepped, Ethiocolor walked on stage enabling the Cedar to fully realize its mission: promoting intercultural appreciation through global music.

The founder of Ethiocolor, Melaku Belay, called out to the 400 people in the crowd, “Music is not only for dancing, music is healing ourselves!”

The festival’s third night began with a trio of Colombian female musicians who strictly beat out their music on drums and other percussive instruments. Many in attendance had been there the previous two nights, but many audience members were new and there to primarily hear this South American band.

The many languages that have been heard on stage over the festival— Romanian, Spanish, French, Ethiopian, English, and more—are eclipsed by the language of music. La Perla made their message known through rhythm, facial expression, and body language. The energy of Diana Sanmiguel, Karen Forero, and Giovanna Mogollón who form La Perla was high and infectious.

Colombia’s La Perla, an all-female group, acknowledges cheers from the crowd after their performance on the final night of the Global Roots Festival at the Cedar in Minneapolis on Sept. 27, 2023.

Photo: Jasmine Webber/Mshale

Japan and hammered dulcimer player Max ZT. They were joined by guest drummer Juan Chiavassa originally from Argentina, but as are the other band members, now residing in the US.

largest bands of the festival.

The Cedar’s mission to promote intercultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music and dance was fully realized even in this first night of the festival.

Madalitso, a Malawian band of two, avoided their visa problems from a previous engagement at the Cedar and opened the evening. The Cedar’s floor was filled with would-be dancers, eager for the show. Madalitso offered an appetizer, a segue from last night’s moody, soulful sound.

As House of Waters band member Max ZT said, “There’s a lot of education to be gained in non-institutional arenas. Thank the Cedar for providing that platform via Global Roots.”

Madalitso, hailing from Lilongwe, Malawi, relies on a four-string guitar and a babatone, a one-string washtub-type bass that’s neck is so long, a narwhale in the ocean comes to mind. The pair sit

This band from Ethiopia plays instruments most of the audience has never seen before: a masengo, which is a single-stringed bowed lyre, a kebero, which is a double-headed drum, and two krar, which is a bowl-shaped lyre that’s plucked.

Ethiocolor’s contribution to the festival looked and sounded like an amalgamation of rock opera, ballet, and tent-revival meeting complete with the shimmy of shoulders, eskista dancing, mimicking the tremors experienced in some religious gatherings.

Robert Lehmann had been looking forward to ending the festival with Waahli, a hip hop band out of Montreal. The founder, Waahli, shared his enthusiasm, “I’m really happy that the arts and culture is coming back live and we can create together,” he said.

Every night of the Cedar’s festival held appeal to people of many ethnicities. Also gratifying to the Cedar was the influx of both youth and elders. Waahli’s show proved true in this respect as well. Both young and old gyrated and grooved to the tunes, hanging in until their late finish after 11 pm.

Waahli alluded to the multigenerational connection to music when he said, “When you leave your home and relocate in another country, it’s hard. It takes many generations to establish yourself.”

Music offers a cohesive element to link generations and diverse people to one another.

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

www.mshale.com

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

11

12

Mshale - The African Community Newspaper

You

+ Fair Housing

October 2-8, 2023 Issue 594

www.mshale.com

A Better Community

The solution to housing discrimination starts with you. If you have been trying to buy or rent a house or apartment and you believe your rights have been violated, contact HUD or your local fair housing center. The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, familial status or disability.

Fair Housing Is Your Right. Use It. Visit www.hud.gov/fairhousing or call the HUD Hotline 1-800-669-9777 (English/Español) 1-800-927-9275 (TTY)

SCAN HERE FOR MORE INFO A public service message from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in partnership with the National Fair Housing Alliance. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. For more information, visit www.hud.gov/fairhousing.