I was twelve years old when Stephen Lawrence was brutally murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, South London. I remember watching the news about the case at the time, in April of 1993, and reading the various newspaper reports.

I also remember the fear I felt. I'm...

In 2011, it's shameful that any of England's citizens feel that violence is the best way in which to express frustration. Watching live online footage of yesterday's rioting in Tottenham from America, I was thrown back to yesteryear.

This is what happened in Tottenham in 1985. Then, it was...

Viva Riva is set to be the movie out of Africa this summer. Having won an MTV Movie Award for Best African Movie this week, people will be flocking to the theaters to catch this gritty movie which opens Friday June 10th in New York.

In the movie, gorgeous...

African movies -- as we Africans know -- are big business; the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, is the 3rd largest in the world after Hollywood and Bollywood. However, most non-Africans have no idea about our films. Mostly because they never get to see our movies.

This is starting to...

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" - Martin Luther King. Jr.

This is the quote that I put up on my Facebook page this afternoon in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. About an hour ago, I received a wall post, with...

34 days after the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, people are starting to wonder if this disaster - described by the White House today as the worst in US history - will be to President Obama what Hurricane Katrina was for George Bush.

Oil continues...

Was it insensitive at best and racist at worst for a teacher in Georgia to have allowed students to dress up as Ku Klux Klan members in order to re-enact history? Or is the controversy over the issue an example of how people have become over-sensitive to anything race-related? These...

Kentucky Senatorial candidate Rand Paul's comments about the Civil Rights Act refuse to go away. And it's actually a good thing. It is important that we know exactly what people in positions of power think about such issues.

Paul has since said that the controversy over his views are...

Over the past few months, black women and their relationships - or should I say, lack thereof - have been getting a lot of attention. The Washington Post has done a couple of features on it. Then ABC's Nightline did a show asking why there are...

Birthers - those who believe that President Obama isn't a natural born US citizen and have been demanding to see a physical copy of his birth certificate for the past three years - refuse to go away. For a while they appear to disappear, only to rear their...

Dr. Dorothy Height, the matriarch of the civil rights movement, died today at the age of 98. Dr. Height stood with Dr Martin Luther King during his "I have a dream speech" and worked tirelessly as an activist until her last days.

Her contribution was invaluable in...

Should there be a "black agenda" in America? And if the answer to that question is 'yes,' what is the black agenda?

These are the questions that black leaders and black people have been discussing more and more since President Obama took office. Last week, Reverend Al...

Al Sharpton said it best: "Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color. Way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama, Michael did with music what they later did in sports, in politics and in television."

If there is such a thing as 'post-racial', Jackson...

As I write, I am enraged... Enraged at the Pope who, while on his current trip to Africa has made a pronouncement that condoms could make the HIV/Aids situation in Africa worse. He claims that: "[AIDS] cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, they increase the...

Chris Brown has withdrawn his name as a Nickelodeon Kid's Choice award nominee after 10,000 people signed an online petition criticizing Nickelodeon for keeping him on the nominees list despite charges against him for assaulting Rihanna. Perhaps unfortunately for Brown, the public is speaking out, and saying that they will...

On Saturday, I'm off to Washington DC -- along with millions of others -- to watch Barack Obama inaugurated as America's first African-American president. The gravity of such an occasion is not lost on any of us, regardless of race or nationality and we are all looking forward to seeing...

During the presidential campaign and since his election, Obama has shown himself to be a reflective and contemplative type. He is certainly not one prone to hasty judgments or reactionary behavior.

At many times during the campaign when he was called on to respond to a comment made by...

Whilst marking their ballot boxes in favour of Barack Obama last Tuesday, 70% of African American voters in California -- just one of the states that have passed Proposition 8 -- also marked their ballot boxes against gay marriage.

With African-Americans turning out in record numbers last week to...

Whilst Americans wait with baited breath to see how Sarah Palin will perform against Joe Biden in the vice presidential debate tonight, I'm in no doubt that she'll do just fine.

For a start, the debates here are more akin to Q&A sessions. I say that coming from the impressive...

Since last week when Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican Party's Vice Presidential candidate, a thick fog has descended upon all of us. This disorientating and distracting haze has had us all discussing Palin's family, her daughter's pregnancy, her credentials and the various scandals she may and may not...