News: Black Leadership

USA: King Daughter To Run Civil Rights Group

Well, yesterday's news report said that the results were getting announced next week but clearly not. The daughter of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been elected president of a civil rights group co-founded by her father. Bernice King will be the first woman to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which her father headed until his murder in 1968.

After its foundation in 1957, the SCLC was for years one of the country's most influential civil rights groups with a reputation for organizing effective non-violent direct-action protests. Under Dr. King's leadership, the group played a key role in the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which banned racial segregation. In recent years, the organization has suffered from infighting - with some members in Florida threatening to secede - and controversy brewing over the president of a branch in California backing gay marriage.

Ms. King, a motivational speaker and Baptist minister, said her bid was "a destiny call" and that the hand of God was leading her. She will be the third member of the King family to preside over the SCLC. Her brother, Martin Luther King III, was president from 1998 to 2003.

African Union Imposes Sanctions On Guinea Junta

The African Union is imposing immediate sanctions against the leaders of Guinea's ruling military junta, which took power in a coup last December after the death of veteran leader Lansana Conte. According to Lamamra Ramtane, AU commissioner for peace and security, the sanctions would include such measures as the freezing of bank accounts and travel visas rather than trade sanctions against the country. He said the measures would be directed against the leadership of the CNDD, the ruling junta in the West African country led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara (pictured left). International pressure and internal dissent have grown in Guinea since live ammunition was used against anti-government protesters in a stadium a month ago, killing 157 people.

Haitian Senate Fires Prime Minister

Haiti's Senate voted 18-0 just after 12am today to dismiss Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis, following almost 10 hours of debate (hat tip: BlackElectorate.com). A number of senators who opposed the move to fire Prime Minister Pierre-Louis had left the Senate floor shortly before the vote, believing that they had successfully filibustered the attempt when the clock struck midnight. Senate President Kely Bastien, who is not allowed to cast a vote under Senate rules, said a letter will be sent to President René Préval notifying him of the Senate's decision. "There is nothing illegal about the vote,'' said Bastien, adding that Haiti "could have a new prime minister as early as today or Saturday.''

Senators have accused Prime Minister Pierre-Louis, a favorite of the international community, of not moving quickly to solve Haiti's crucial problems: high unemployment, lack of significant foreign investments and environmental deterioration. In office for a year, Prime Minister Pierre-Louis said she has spent much of her tenure getting international support for Haiti after four back-to-back storms devastated the country last year, and it is too soon to see the results of her work. Senators were not swayed.

French Court Stops African Embezzlement Probe

A French appeals court has stopped an investigation into claims three African leaders embezzled millions of dollars from their countries to buy luxury property and cars and open bank accounts in France. The plaintiffs say they will appeal the ruling. The embezzlement complaint targets President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea (pictured left), Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Republic (pictured center), and the late Omar Bongo of Gabon (pictured right), and their relatives. It was lodged by the French chapter of corruption watchdog group Transparency International, along with another rights group called Sherpa. The groups will lodge an appeal to Cassation Curt, France's highest judicial body. If that is rejected, they may take their case to the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, France. All three leaders and/or their relatives deny the charges.