EUROPE

Tens of thousands of people joined Black Lives Matter protests across Germany on Saturday (6 June) against the police murder of George Floyd on 25 May in the US city of Minneapolis. According to The African Network of Germany (TANG), more than 200,000 protesters took part at rallies, which also drew attention to racism and discrimination against people of African …

Tens of thousands of people joined Black Lives Matter protests across Germany on Saturday despite coronavirus containment measures that discourage such large gatherings. Even though many wore masks, but social distancing rules were impossible to observe as protesters rally across 26 towns and cities in Germany to protest racial discrimination and police brutality. The passion of participants about racism was …

The Zentralrat der afrikanischen Gemeinde in Deutschland (Central Council of the African Community in Germany or ZAGD) has moved its office to Berlin. The organisation, an umbrella body for African associations in Germany, has been operating from Hanover since its founding in 2012. The chairman of Zentralrat, Abayomi Bankole, said moving to the federal capital would enable the organisation to …

The Zentralrat der afrikanischen Gemeinde in Deutschland (Central Council of the African Community in Germany or ZAGD) is currently running a digital training programme for individuals and associations in the African community. The initiative, tagged ‘Setting the future right through digital empowerment’, especially seeks to equip associations with digital skills to enhance their administrative capacity. Akinola Famson, a member of …

The Federal Government has approved the draft of a law to strengthen the security of passport, ID and immigration documents. Citizens can decide whether they can be photographed by the issuing authority for a fee of six euros or have their photograph taken in a photo shop. If they choose to have their photograph taken in a photo shop, the …

Leading migrant organisations launched a campaign tagged Aktion #beiunsauch (Action #samehere) against anti-Black racism in Germany on Monday (1 June). The campaign, an initiative of The African Network of Germany (TANG), in collaboration with the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD), Each One Teach One (EOTO), German Dream, BAGIV and more than 100 other migrant organisations, was inspired by the ongoing …

AfricanTide Union traditionally holds a conference, usually attended by hundreds of participants, in the western German city of Dortmund to mark the African Union Day. The Day marks the anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) on 25 May 1963. Due to the containment measures in force as a result of the new coronavirus …

Seven is a special number. It’s said that 7 is the number of completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). It is therefore an important occasion when an organisation clocks that figure. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Organisation for African Unity, eighty representatives of African-German organisations, representing the 54 African countries, came together in Berlin on 24-25 May …

The organisers of the first online anti-Black racism demonstration in Germany have called on people of African descent in the country to make their resistance to racism and discrimination more visible. Speaking on Saturday during the digital protest action, tagged ‘Racism in the Era of Coronavirus’ and anchored on YouTube, the moderators said only in making cases of discrimination more …

The Hamburg communal politician and jurist Irene Appiah addressed a video conference on Saturday on the obligations of parents and the state when it comes to parenting in Germany. The digital event was organised by The African Network of Germany (TANG), part of its series of virtual information sessions on issues ranging from refugee rights to children upbringing in the …

Black and anti-racism organisations will on 23 May hold an online demonstration against the word “neger” (subsequently referred to as N-word in this report). The event, titled “Rassismus in Zeiten von Corona” (Racism in the Era of Corona), is the continuation of the nation-wide protest movement to draw attention to the still prevalent use of the denigrating word to describe people …

A high-level special committee set up by the German government on right-wing extremism and racism has begun work. The committee, chaired by Chancellor Angela Merkel, is expected to recommend to the federal parliament concrete measures to effectively fight right-wing extremism, racism, anti-Semitism and other phenomena of group-related discrimination in Germany. “The Cabinet Committee to Combat Right-Wing Extremism and Racism has …

Afro-German activist Katharina Oguntoye has been honoured for her life’s work against sexism, racism and homophobia with the Lesbian Visibility Award for Berlin 2020. Reacting to the award, Oguntoye (61), who is of German-Nigerian heritage, said: “I’m committed to lesbian visibility because living in hiding is not an option”. The award ceremony of the Berlin Prize for Lesbian Visibility is …

The book “Wurzeln in zwei Welten – Westafrikanische Migranten und Migrantinnen in Hamburg” (Roots in Two Worlds – West African migrants in Hamburg) thoroughly examines the African immigration experience. Although its title might suggest a particularity – West Africans or Hamburg, but the book mirrors the entire experience of the African in Germany, even in Europe – the struggle to …

In January, unknown assailants shot at the office of Senegalese-born German politician Karamba Diaby. Germany was shocked by the brazen attack. But Afro-German politicians are otherwise rarely in the spotlight. Daniel Pelz of Deutsche Welle (DW) reports Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana is used to being the first. The first Afro-German city councillor. The first Afro-German member of the European Parliament. She was …

If life were a battlefield, Emeka Okoronkwo, killed when he went to the rescue of two molested women could be said to have died a valiant soldier with a bullet in the chest and a gun in his hand. But to Okoronkwo, life was about living in peace and harmony. Okoronkwo, then 21, sought to protect two Frankfurt women who …

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament, in this opinion piece comments on the Nigerian-born clergyman, Father Dr Patrick Asomugha, who was forced to resign from his position in the Catholic parish of Queidersbach, a small town in Germany, last month. —- After months of hostilities, Nigerian-born Pastor Father Dr Patrick Asomugha was forced to resign from his position …

An umbrella organisation of Africans in Germany has called on government not to neglect racism even as it’s making strenuous efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in the country. The group made the call in a press statement, titled COVID-19: Alltagsrassismus kennt kein Ausübungsverbot! (Everyday racism doesn’t recognise official ban), issued on Thursday in Berlin. “The High …

The global Ghanaian diaspora community held a conference call on the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on Saturday, 11 April to deliberate on how to support their members. Attended by representatives of Ghanaian communities in Europe, North America and Africa, the event featured a panel of Europe-based Ghanaian medical doctors – Dr Felix Yamoah, Dr Serwa Ayi, Dr Pearl Quartey and …

Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced updated measures, some of which will remain in place “until further notice.” But what exactly is changing for residents of Germany — and what did Germany’s many state leaders want? German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday announced the next phase of the country’s plan to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus and its resulting …