Bookeristas In The News

USA/South Africa: Lecture Remembers The Life Of John Langalibalele Dube

An event sponsored by the African Studies Institute, the Institute of African American Studies and the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Georgia, called the King/Mandela Lecture, will remember the life of South African activist John L. Dube (1871-1946). Dr. Cherif Keita, a French professor at Carleton College, will present his documentary, "Oberlin-Inanda: The Life and Times of John L. Dube", and guest lecture.

Mr. Dube, a revered conservative educator, pro-capitalist entrepreneur and anti-apartheid politician who co-founded the African National Congress and was its founding president, had some influence on Mr. Mandela. "When South Africa was freed, the first thing Mandela did was go to Inanda, cast his vote [in the 1994 elections] and say 'Mr. President, I have come to report to you that South Africa is today free,'" Traore said of the activist. That polling station was Olange High School (formerly the Zulu Christian Industrial School), an institution founded by Mr. Dube in 1900 and modeled after Tuskegee Institute.

"Dube was the Booker T. Washington of South Africa," said Dr. Karim Traore, Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Institute of African Studies. "He believed that the key to emancipation and independence is education."

USA: Michael Steele: "GM's $1.2 Billion Loss Is Further Proof That President Obama's Economic Experiments Are Wrong For America"

While General Motors yesterday said its $1.2 billion third-quarter loss hinted toward future gains, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele focused on what he described as past failures. "Today’s release of General Motors’ financial results is further proof that President Obama’s economic experiments are wrong for America,” the moderate-conservative Republican said yesterday in a statement. "Sadly, GM has not only failed to turn a profit since the president poured $50 billion of the taxpayers’ dollars into GM’s bankruptcy restructuring, but it has actually lost $1.2 billion.”

Ghana: Isaac Osei Cautions NPP Against "Moneycracy"

Mr. Isaac Osei, Member of Parliament for Subin and a leading contender in the opposition center-right New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential race, has cautioned the party against "moneycracy". The legislator says the practice is dangerous, and would not help build the loyalty of its members, as the party strives to regain power. Mr. Osei said in rebuilding the party for the next elections, "we need to engage the people and not influence them with money," which practice, he said, was not the answer to the woes of the party. MP Osei said it was very important that party structures are strengthened at the polling station and constituency levels, since elections are won because political parties are organized at the grassroots, to avoid rigging. Mr. Osei indicated that at best, money oils the wheel of politics, but does not buy loyalty, hence the need to use money to build the party structures, and not buy people.

Last year, the then-ruling NPP lost the presidential election by less than 1% of the total vote to the center-left National Democratic Congress.