LIVING IN GERMANY

A rally was held in memory of William Tonou-Mbobda* on 30 August in Hamburg, Germany. Organised by the Black Community’s Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, the event was to demand for justice for the deceased Cameroonian who died following a scuffle with the security personnel of an Hamburg hospital where he was being treated. Here's the speech of Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament and Co-President of the EU Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup, that was delivered at the rally

On 13 September, elections for Lord Mayors, Mayors, Councillors and the Integration Councils will be held in towns and cities across the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Integration Councils are for many people with a migration background the only opportunity for political participation through elections. Many Africans are vying for seats on the Integration Councils (Integrationsrat), the only …

Carlo Bansah, the son of König Cephas Bansah, has assumed office as the managing director of DRK Vorderpfalz gGmbH. DRK (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz) is the synonym of the German Red Cross and Vorderpfalz is a region in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.   The IT specialist who also studied business management, aged 40, took over the management of the welfare service …

For the first time, a government financed pilot project for the reappraisal of German colonial history has been launched in Berlin

Numerous legal changes enter into force in Germany in September.  For example, the corona children’s bonus will be paid out, compulsory masks on trains will be more strictly controlled and the new training year starts while lottery players have to dig deeper into their pockets. An overview of all new legal changes in September 2020: ——- Payment of Corona children’s …

On 13 September, elections for Lord Mayors, Mayors, Councillors and the Integration Councils will be held in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. AfricanTide Union e.V. is calling on members of the African community to participate in the elections. “Your opinion counts, because it is about you, your family and our community!” the organisation said in a public message …

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of government of the federal states (Laender) have agreed on further measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Germany. At the meeting held in Berlin on Thursday, the following directives were issued to people living in Germany:

Perhaps no other phrase uttered during Angela Merkel's long chancellorship has made such an impact. The words "Wir schaffen das" ("We can do it") were meant to express confidence in the face of a huge, self-imposed task. How has Germany and those who came to seek asylum in the country managed since then?

The renaming of streets in Berlin should be made easier if the name heroicises or trivialises colonial injustice. That is the objective of a draft resolution submitted by Regine Günther to the Senate of Berlin, the executive body governing the city that is also a federal state, on 18 August. According to the resolution, the Berlin street law is to …

"In addition to individual spectacular outbreaks that have become known nationwide, there are transmissions in the family and domestic environment that do not necessarily lead to many secondary cases and only show a few cases per outbreak, but apparently occur very frequently"

In what could be described as a major victory for the Black community’s long struggle for the renaming of streets bearing names derogatory or disrespectful of Africans in the federal capital, the District Assembly (Bezirksversammlung) of Berlin-Mitte has approved the name change of the Mohrenstrasse (Moor Street). On Thursday evening, the assembly decided to rename Mohrenstrasse. In the future, the …

Hundreds of participants will gather on 22-23 August in the German city of Cologne to take part in activities marking the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The night of 22 to 23 August 1791, in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) marked the beginning of the uprising that would play a …

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn has decided to make corona testing mandatory for people entering Germany. It will apply to all travellers entering Germany from high-risk areas from Saturday, 8 August. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s centre for disease control, lists the countries that are classified as high-risk areas on its website. The list of high-risk areas currently …

The new month begins with a number of legislative changes that you should be aware of. From August 2020, not only corona tests will be mandatory for people returning to Germany from some countries, but there will also be more financial support for pupils, students and employees in further education and training. Moreover, there will be changes affecting government assistance …

The Nigerian community in the southern German state of Bavaria has elected a new executive committee to pilot the affairs of the association for the next two years. At the event, which took place in Munich on Saturday, 25 July, Kazeem Ojoye was elected the new chairman of the Nigerian Community Germany Bayern (NCBG) e.V. Mr Ojoye, a former Financial …

The FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin e.V.  is offering a free digital empowerment training program to improve the media competence of women migrants and refugees in the city. The course, which begins on 12 August, aims at improving the computer and language skills of the participants, who will learn how the Internet, computer and smartphone work and how they can use these technologies independently …

Racism in different forms and places is a common experience for the more than one million people of African descent in Germany. Black people are often subjected to police identity control more than other groups. Also, they experience discrimination in public offices, at the workplace, while accessing healthcare, looking for apartment, in schools, in the justice system, in their neighbourhoods …

Estimates of the number of Ghanaians living outside their homeland range from one to three million out of a general population of about 30 million. Ghanaians in Germany are reputed to form the second largest of the country’s diaspora populations in Europe, after the United Kingdom. Journalist, translator and community activist Sam Atsu Nove*, who first arrived in Germany in …

The decision of the Federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer, to call off an investigation into racial profiling in the police is drawing anger and criticisms not only of migrant associations but also political parties, including the junior governing coalition partner SPD. Following the Black Lives Matter protests in Germany, questions are being raised about racism in the country’s …

The Zentralrat der afrikanischen Gemeinde in Deutschland (Central Council of the African Community in Germany or ZAGD) has relaunched its website and introduced a new logo on Tuesday. The move by the organisation, an umbrella body for African associations in Germany, is part of its efforts to increase its visibility in the country. The relaunch ceremony, held by video conference …