African design(er)s...

First, rubber sandals idea is gone (for those of you Africans that grew up in Africa, you know what I'm talking about). Now big named designers are using African prints?




Sade found this online.

NY: "A Celebration of Sistas in Cinema, Art and Politics"

Click image for a larger view.

african movies continues to grow...fast

Dey-dey is still addicted to African films. Apparently, so are folks in Florida. Toks sent this to me this morning...



FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—They’ve never walked along the dusty roads of Lagos, Nigeria, or set foot in an extravagant mansion in Ghana.

But fans of African movies now being sold in South Florida say they find themselves glued to their screens because in so many ways, the faraway continent feels so familiar.

“It’s everything from the drapes hanging at the entrance door in the kitchen to the way people go down on their knees before saying good morning to their elders,” said Hermante Leonard, who sees similarities to her Haitian culture in the movies.

Here's the full article.

Alek Wek's book signing...

Went to Alek's book signing. There was also a local TV interview before the signing.



Yes...I had my book signed. Anyway, stay tuned for our own interview and a book review in the next issue of Ariztos.



Yes I got my book signed :-)

Wale!!

Someone sent me this picture of Wale with Ms. Hilton at the VMAs. Dude is having some well deserved fun....I mean if your name is Wale...

Oh...and happy birthday Wale. Invite us to the party too!

Check out his latest- "Nike Boots."

NTA - 5th Public Lecture

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Chukwuma Soludo will be in attendance .

Venue:6400 Ivy LaneGreenbelt, MD 20770

@ 5pm!

Runway Africa 2007 (some pics)

Thanks to everyone that came to support Runway Africa 2007. Stay tuned for exclusive pictures and interviews in the next issue of Ariztos.

Alek Wek...Lady of the week ;-)

Ok...maybe I'm a bit obsessed...whatever!
Check out why she's my lady of the week...

Nigeria U-17 Champs

'Three is a magic number' goes the old song and FIFA U-17 World Cup Korea 2007 winners Nigeria are unlikely to disagree. The tournament has now been held three times on Asian soil and, having scaled the heights at China 1985 and Japan 1993, the Africans will now leave the continent with their third global crown. No doubt less than enamoured with the number three, opponents Spain have now reached three finals and tasted defeat in every single one.

Yemi Tella's Nigerians appeared potential candidates for the main prize right from the off, and were certainly not lacking in confidence. "We'll take the trophy back to Nigeria," announced the African champions' coach, and those words seem more than a little prophetic now. France, Japan, Haiti, Colombia, Argentina and Germany all fell by the wayside, unable to cope with tireless captain Lukman Haruna in midfield, technically-superb duo Rabiu Ibrahim and King Osanga and goal-scorer extraordinaire Macauley Chrisantus.

Read more...

P.s., Check out the Women's World Cup. Very little promotion...but the games are actually really good....and competitive.

Bill Clinton- "Giving: How each of us can change the world."

Bill Clinton's new book is out. "Giving" is an inspiring look at how each of us can change the world. First, it reveals the extraordinary and innovative efforts now being made by companies and organizations -- and by individuals -- to solve problems and save lives both "down the street and around the world." Then it urges us to seek out what each of us, "regardless of income, available time, age, and skills," can do to help, to give people a chance to live out their dreams.

Bill Clinton shares his own experiences and those of other givers, representing a global flood tide of nongovernmental, nonprofit activity. These remarkable stories demonstrate that gifts of time, skills, things, and ideas are as important and effective as contributions of money. From Bill and Melinda Gates to a six-year-old California girl named McKenzie Steiner, who organized and supervised drives to clean up the beach in her community, Clinton introduces us to both well-known and unknown heroes of giving. Among them:

Dr. Paul Farmer, who grew up living in the family bus in a trailer park, vowed to devote his life to giving high-quality medical care to the poor and has built innovative public health-care clinics first in Haiti and then in Rwanda; a New York couple, in Africa for a wedding, who visited several schools in Zimbabwe and were appalled by the absence of textbooks and school supplies. They founded their own organization to gather and ship materials to thirty-five schools. After three years, the percentage of seventh-graders who pass reading tests increased from 5 percent to 60 percent;' Oseola McCarty, who after seventy-five years of eking out a living by washing and ironing, gave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship fund for African-American students; Andre Agassi, who has created a college preparatory academy in the Las Vegas neighborhood with the city's highest percentage of at-risk kids. "Tennis was a stepping-stone for me," says Agassi. "Changing a child's life is what I always wanted to do"; Heifer International, which gave twelve goats to a Ugandan village. Within a year, Beatrice Biira's mother had earned enough money selling goat's milk to pay Beatrice's school fees and eventually to send all her children to school -- and, as required, to pass on a baby goat to another family, thus multiplying the impact of the gift.

the African "white man" rocks rebel north!

In an attempt to explain his sudden love for rock music, JJ sent me this article...

In a country which couldn't care less about rock music, Ivory Coast's "white man" is up against huge obstacles.

Kutchala Sutchi is a rock star - well, a rock musician anyway.

This summer, Ivory Coast's "white man" has been playing gigs all over the north of the country, controlled by New Forces rebels, as part of a tour organised by the Ivorian musicians' union to promote national unity.

Read more.

ALEK: From Sundanes Refugee to International Supermodel.

We all know her story by now...



Washingtonians: Just got word from our girl Jaja that she'll be at Howard's Campus bookstore on September 19th. 4:30pm-6pm. Look for our "GQ" to be stalking her during those hours :)

We have a book review in our upcoming issue.

Happy Labor Day!