Mijiza's Blog

ScienceDaily (May 3, 2012) — The common occurrence of blond hair among the dark-skinned indigenous people of the Solomon Islands is due to a homegrown genetic variant distinct from the gene that leads to blond hair in Europeans, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study identifying the gene responsible for blond hair in the Solomon Islands, a nation in the South Pacific, represents a rare case of simple genetics determining human appearance, and shows... 

(Think Africa Press) Across the continent, music is being used to express popular sentiments, protest and bring people together. “Music doesn’t change the world. People do. But music can be a powerful tool of communication”, says Peter Gabriel. Indeed, it’s the slippery, foot-tappingly elusive nature of music that confounds, confuses, and confirms, that inspires, invigorates, and interrogates. Certainly Wyclef Jean agrees. He tried to run for Haitian presidency in 2010 using his single... 

The Minister Malcolm X started with Nationalism and religion; after he learned to love himself, and to love our people he broaden his scope and his teachings. He then spread the word of unity. Despite our religious, educational, economical, or social differences, the greatest weapon used against us is the ability  to divide and conquer. We are a diverse people. Historically our diversity has been used against us. To this day, black on black crime is higher than crime by our people on anyone else.... 

In 1969, Indonesia and the Dutch signed an agreement for the Dutch to turn over West Papua to Indonesia and to allow African descends to determine if they wanted to be part of Indonesia or independent Indonesia hoodwinked the UN into believing a staged vote determining the people of West Papua’s sovereignty. The UN has turned a blind eye to the oppression, tortured, and environmental destruction that has followed. The UN has turned a blind eye to Indonesia’s violation to West Papua’s right... 

In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) sought to describe Nazi policies of systematic murder, including the destruction of the European Jews. He formed the word “genocide” by combining geno-, from the Greek word for race or tribe, with -cide, from the Latin word for killing. In proposing this new term, Lemkin had in mind “a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the... 

We use to say, “Shot while black”. Sadly, that might be the only progress reflected in this story. Young Trayvon Martin was shot in a gated community in Florida by none other than the very person who was responsible for keeping the community safe. Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman shot the teenager on February 26 and has not been charged with anything. Zimmerman claims the teen was carrying a weapon, but in truth all the teen carried was a pack of Skittles Florida’s ‘Stand Your... 

(Think Africa Press)Charles Okwir was abducted by the LRA. He offers his take on ‘Kony 2012′ and how he escaped his certain fate. As someone who was ambushed and abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) twenty years ago, I realise that I am not the main target of the Kony 2012 video campaign to make the LRA and their leader Joseph Kony famous. Thousands of young men and women have been abducted by the LRA and conscripted into its rebel ranks over the course of the several decade-long...