Yaa Asantewaa was an influential Ashanti queen at the beginning of the twentieth century who remains a powerful symbol today. Her birthdate is contested; she is generally believed to be born between the 1840s to 1860s in the Ashanti Confederacy in present-day Ghana. She was a skilled farmer before ascending to the title Queen Mother in the 1880s. It is believed that she was chosen for this title due to the matrilineal aspect of the Ashanti culture and that her elder brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpase, who was a powerful ruler at the time, appointed her to the role.

As the Queen Mother, Asantewaa held many responsibilities, including being the Gatekeeper of the Golden Stool. The Golden Stool is an emblem of the Ashanti kingdom, cultural system, and power. Since the Queen Mother is elected to be the mother of the reigning king, she present candidates for when the occupant of the Stool (the chiefdom) becomes vacant, in turn protecting the establishment of authority. Additionally, since the Queen Mother is the main adviser for the King, and thus is the second highest position within the empire, she fulfills the role of guarding the Golden Stool.

In 1896, the Ashanti peoples began to rebel against the British presence in their lands and the British attempt to construct the “Gold Coast” colony. To retaliate, the British captured and exiled Asantehene Prempeh I, King of the Ashanti, and Asantewaa’s grandson Kofi Tene, who was also a powerful leader. The British removed the king and other Ashanti leaders to the Seychelles Islands in an effort to acquire the Golden Stool.

While remaining leaders within the community debated on how to best respond to the British threat, Asantewaa held her ground and rallied the troops. Her leadership and passion led to her role as Commander in Chief of the Ashanti army. In turn, the Anglo-Ashanti wars’ fifth and final war against the British became known as the Yaa Asantewaa War of Independence (or the War of the Golden Stool), which began on March 28, 1900.

That conflict began when British representative Sr. Frederick Mitchell Hodgson sat on the Golden Stool.  Since the Stool was not a throne, when Hodgson’s act became known, Yaa Asantewaa led the rebellion which resulted in the death of 1,000 British and allied African soldiers and 2,000 Ashanti.  Both totals were higher that the deaths from all previous wars between the Ashanti and the British combined.

To inspire the leaders of her community, Asantewaa proclaimed that if the men of the kingdom would not defend the people, then the women would rise to the challenge. This both invigorated the men and challenged traditional gender roles. She led the rebellion and became an image of strength and resistance. Unfortunately, she was captured during the rebellion and exiled to Seychelles, where she died in 1921.

Yaa Asantewaa remains a powerful reminder due to her impactful actions in both empowering her people and in tactics against the British army. In August 2000, to commemorate her influence, a museum was opened in her honor in the Ejisu-Juaben District of Ghana. Similarly, there is an achievement award titled the “Nana Yaa Asantewaa Awards” (NYA) which honors women who uphold the values and leadership of Asantewaa.

SOURCE   blackpast.org

Nigeria’s Super Falcons qualified for the last 16 rounds of the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup on Thursday night, without kicking a ball. However, the 11-time African champions claimed the last third- best placed team after Chile could only beat Thailand 2-0, a result that saw the South American nation bow out of the tournament

SOURCE  legit.ng

The Igbo Festival of Arts and Culture have been running for 6 years in the UK and it is a free event for the British community to appreciate the rich culture and tradition of the Igbo people of West Africa. This event is organised yearly to build synergy and community coexistence.

The Igbo Festival of Arts and Culture London (IFAC) is most attended festival African festival in Europe. The highlights is the festival includes cultural plays, dance and drama, masquerades, traditional dances, traditional artists, art exhibitions of contemporary Igbo conceptual painting, sculpture, carving and craft, displays of historical and traditional artefacts showcased in splendour to the British community and friends of Africa.

IGBO FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND CULTURE (IFAC)

This festival is part of our annual cultural integration program, aimed at bringing together all Igbo people, Africans in Diaspora in the UK and Ireland to a festival that will take our audience through a journey back to the times of Igbo Civilizations

The Igbo people of West Africa are one of the largest, progressive, self-determined, cultural and most influential ethnic group in Africa; spread across all parts of world; making significant impact in all spheres of life.

This festival is intended to afford the British community the rare opportunity to witness Igbo culture and tradition in its original form. The highlights of the event will include but not limited to Igbo cultural plays, traditional dances, performances by traditional artists, dance and drama, masquerades display, historical and traditional artefacts showcased in splendor.

Venue: Lee Valley Athletics Centre

Address: 61 Meridian Way,

Edmonton, London N9 0AR

Date And Time

Sat, 13 July 2019

11:00 – 19:00 BST

Add to Calendar

Location

Lee Valley Athletics Centre

London N9 0AR

61 Meridian Way, Edmonton.

London

N9 0AR

Robert Pyles, a successful entrepreneur that owns 12 McDonald’s franchises in Wisconsin, would have never thought that he would be as successful as he is now when he was a child growing up with 9 siblings being raised by a single mother. But now, he is one of the largest African-American employers in Wisconsin and he is using his past experiences as his motivation.

Started from the bottom

Pyles started in the service industry as a part-time employee at a McDonald’s in Wyoming to earn extra income while serving at the Air Force. Since then, he realized that he loved serving customers and that’s what he wanted to do.

He completed a McDonald’s ownership training program within two and a half years. He then took the opportunity to open a McDonald’s location in Milwaukee, as suggested by the former CEO of McDonald’s Corp., Don Thompson.

He opened his first McDonald’s on February 14, 1998. He admitted that it wasn’t easy at first with all the demands of fast service. But stopping isn’t one of his options. “I told myself ‘never let ’em see you sweat.’ I knew I had to hold true to what I believed,” he told Black Enterprise.

Prepared for growth

From one location, he opened another one in the next year and it continued growing over the years to up to 12 locations now. Despite that, Pyles believes that success in business isn’t measured by growth.

“You must be prepared for growth and pay close attention to profitability. You can have less stores and be more profitable,” he said. “My goal wasn’t necessarily to keep adding stores. I wanted to create a training center environment to let people see that an African American operator can operate at a certain level.”

With about 45 employees in each location, he employs around 600 people all in all. Aside from providing jobs to the community, he wanted to ease the burden of his employees in finding affordable housing near work. So he partnered with a friend who has a construction business and started Magnolia Realty, wherein they purchase foreclosed properties near his McDonald’s stores, rebuild it, and sells it to them at a reasonable price.

Inspiring others

From his rough childhood as one of the nine children raised by a single mother, Pyles now lives comfortably with his wife and three children who work with him in the business. And he wants to inspire others to achieve what he has achieved as well.

“I think it’s really important to be both visible and accessible in the community,” he said. “It’s not enough for me alone to be successful. My goal is to help others get approved for McDonald’s ownership. I started with my wife because there’s no inherited ownership in the event that an owner passes away. Now I’m working on getting others approved.”

Mga etiketa:

SOURCE BLACKBUSINESS.COM

Lorraine Chademunhu is a very talented Comedian, Writer and DJ with a profound passion for Life.

This lyricist and poet fell in love with music from a very young age and for her music is freedom .

Feel free to check out her youtube channel at

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9bCiEn5MlyxXXQwkK3hTrA

34-year old Amari Ruff had a rough start growing up. As a teenager, he had to balance studies and work to help his mother make ends meet while moving between homeless shelters. But now, he owns a multi-million dollar trucking company called Sudu that connects underserved entrepreneurs to giant companies such as Walmart and UPS.

Humble beginnings

At the age of 16, his military father left his mother to raise him and his two siblings. They lived in homeless shelters, and Amari at one point, had to commute over four hours a day to continue attending high school while also working.

He eventually landed a job with a company where he negotiated significant enterprise contracts. He helped the business grow to annual revenues of $4.5 million, but was let go from a higher rank that he was promised. He said he didn’t expect it and it was really a low time in his life, but this inspired him to become a successful entrepreneur.

Starting at the bottom

Amari decided to started a telecommunications company in 2010 with just $300 and a 1990 Ford Ranger. However, before long, he managed to grow it to almost 200 trucks and to 5 U.S. locations. While at it, he also realized that there were bigger opportunities to create a tech company to connect underserved entrepreneurs (minorities, women, and veterans) with larger corporations. He then built his own business to fill the void.

In 2015, he launched Sudu, an online marketplace that leverages technology to connect small and medium-sized trucking companies (which make up 90% or the trucking market) to major corporations that ship goods. He chose the name Sudu, which is a Chinese word that means speed and tempo, because he says he believes it speaks well to the speed and efficiency they provide the industry through their technology which is considered as the “Uber” for truckers.

The recognition finally came

Because of his genius, Amari became in demand to speak at international tech and entrepreneurial conferences. He was invited to address the Nelson Mandela Fellows Panel and the Build Your Own Brand conference and retreat.

He also started winning major awards such as the 2016 NMTA Minority Business of the Year, the 2017 Georgia Trend Magazine Trendsetter, and the 2018 Atlanta Business Chronicle InnoVenture Award. He has even been included in the Venture Atlanta Top 10 Startups to Watch list.

SOURCE – blackbusiness.com

HOW TO COOK EDIKAIKONG BY STEVEN FERNANDEZ

1.Boil the cow tail, oxtail, goat meat, or any meat of your choice in a pressure cooker with little water till it soft, juicy and tender, if you are using cowteal and beef, it is advisable to add the cow tail before the beef.

2. Pour the boiled meat after you add the stock fish in another pot then let the water dry up after 5 to 10 minutes , also  add maggi cubes  , yellow scotch bonnet cut up and Cray fish

3. Add shredded water leafs let it drys up

4. Add ugwu leafs   and after a short while, add some palm oil

HOW TO COOK EDIKA IKONG

1.Boil the cowtail or oxtaik goat meat, or any meat of your choicein a pressure cooker with little water till it soft it advisable to add cow tail first before the meat.

2. Pour the boiled meat after you add the stock fish in another pot then let the water dry up after 5 to 10 minutes , add maggi cube , yellow scotch bonnet cut up and Cray fish

3. Add shredded water leaf let it dry up

4. Add ugwu lead wait and then your palm oil
wait for some time before you put it off

STEVEN FERNANDEZ

A brilliant goal by former Liverpool forward Asisat Oshoala helped earn Nigeria a first win at the 2019 Women’s World Cup – and all but end South Korea’s hopes of reaching the last-16.

Nigeria went ahead when defender Kim Do-yeon volleyed past her own keeper.

Ex-Arsenal player Oshoala held off a defender before rounding the keeper to score Nigeria’s second goal.

South Korea, who face Norway in their third and final group match on Monday, have yet to score or earn a point.

SOURCE BBC

Ibom Air owned by Akwa Ibom Government on Friday conducted its maiden flight from Uyo to Ikeja, Lagos State.

The airline’s Bombardier CRJ-900LR aircraft, which took off from the Obong Victor Attah International Airport in Uyo, landed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, Lagos at 1.15 p.m.

It was welcomed with water canon salutation by officers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Fire Services.

Gov. Udom Emmanuel said that the airline was a project designed to enhance the economy and create employment opportunities for Nigerians.

The governor, who was represented by the deputy governor, Moses Ekpo, said the project was a testament to the vision of rapid industrialisation based on three gateways of land, sea and air into the state.

He, however, called on all Akwa Ibom indegenes to support the project regardless of their political affiliations.

“Finally, let me use this opportunity to appeal to some of our people in the opposition; it is not everything about us that should be coloured by, or be seen through the prism of politics.

“We should learn to separate development from politics. Ibom Air is a huge achievement for us all.

“When we board these aircraft to either Lagos or Abuja and back to Uyo, the cabin crew will not ask you whether you are a PDP or APC card-carrying member.

Source   the Nigerian voice