Liberty Hall celebrates the 124th anniversary of the birth of Marcus Garvey August 17 2011

Change and Challenges

“What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.” -Buddha


I am in a transitioning phase and this quote expresses exactly where I am. 
I have been thinking about what I want and doing a lot of what I would do this if...


And now its time to start doing. 


In terms of  writing literary work I wrote a story in May and sent it in to Small Axe journal   I entered their Literary Competition so I can't share it here. But it felt good to write something and complete a piece and to actual share it and have it critiqued. I am looking forward to the outcome of that. 


I am also writing something else but the idea keeps shifting I have been writing since December 31 2010 I want to complete it and share it with you by the end of this September. 


This is a challenge to myself I have publicly stated what I am doing and my intention and so it is up to me to deliver on my commitments.   


I also want or rather I will at the end of September create a separate space/blog to share my stories and other forms of creative expressions as they come to me. 


Tomorrow I am back to being a Researcher and I happy and grateful for that. I enjoyed my three month stint in broadcast journalism but news writing is simply not for me. 


So my challenge to myself is to complete and share my story by the end of September and to complete my  academic research paper "Positioning Grandy Nanny as a Proponent of Black Power" by December 2011. 


And Happy Emancipation Day!

UN Declares Famine in Somalia

This is according to the Agence France Presse-the  APF News Agency

The UN officially declared famine in two parts of southern Somalia Wednesday as the world slowly mobilised to save the 12 million people battling hunger in the region's worst drought in 60 years.

More than 10 million people in the Horn of Africa have been affected by the drought 

The United States urged the Al Qaeda-inspired rebels controlling the area to allow the return of the relief groups they expelled two years ago while aid groups warned many would die without urgent action and funding.

Somalia, which has been affected by almost uninterrupted conflict for 20 years and become a by-word for "failed state", is the worst affected nation but parts of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti are also hit.

The Horn of Africa 

The United States urged neighbouring Eritrea, one of the most secretive countries in the world, to reveal the scope of its own food situation.

Famine implies that at least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition in over 30 percent of people, and two deaths per 10,000 people every day, according to UN definition.

The Shebab expelled foreign aid groups two years ago, accusing them of being Western spies and Christian crusaders.

However, the UN last week airlifted in the first supplies since the group said it would lift restrictions on aid.

For further information on the issue visit the BBC page on the Horn of Africa drought. 

BBC's Drought in the Horn of Africa