The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

My friend, @Skyllie of Afroziky sent me this movie trailer today. It was for a movie called Africa United. We saw a lot of 'AfricaUnited' around the Mzansi Mundial aka FIFA World Cup in South Africa in June-July 2010. There was even some images that many people used as profile pictures on Facebook. It seemed that Ghana's Black Stars, Nigeria's Super Eagles, Cote D'Ivoire Les Elephants, Cameroun's Indomitable Lions, Algeria's Desert Warriors and South Africa's Bafana Bafana were all playing for Africa . So once the Black Stars of Ghana were left standing, it was still Africa United. Or BaGhana BaGhana if you like. So a movie about football called Africa United is easily a must-promote, must-buy and must-watch for me. Africa United is an adventure drama from first-time feature director Debs Gardner-Paterson. Young Rwandan Dudu (Eriya Ndayambaje) heads to the football World Cup in Johannesburg with his sister, Beatrice (Sanyu Joanita Kintu), and his friend...

I know the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is not over but I am not waiting till July 11, 2010 to talk about the Black Stars' tournament. It's been a week since the Black Stars crashed out of the Mzansi Mundial, after solely carrying Africa's charge through to the knockout stages. I have finished mourning. The Black Stars made Ghana and Africa proud. They knew they had a job to do when they changed the inscription on their bus to 'Hope of Africa'. You could hear it in their interviews. The Ghana flag was redesigned with the African map replacing the Black Star. The Black Stars became known as the BaGhana BaGhana of GhAfrica. Well done, Black Stars, you made us all proud. Let's recount your journey. I blogged about before the tournament - "I believed that when the boys camped together and built chemistry, they'll do well. And we saw how they made Afria proud in 2006." "The boys have been together and I know they are shiing jama at this very mome...

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about the work of Free Generation International, and their Red Card Campaign to raise awareness about Human Trafficking at the World Cup. With your support, the campaign received wide circulation and the campaign’s logo was featured in the inner back cover of the U.S Government’s 2010 Trafficking Report. As you may recall, Free Generation International (FGI) is an abolitionist organization committed to fighting human trafficking and slavery throughout Africa. It is estimated that out of the 800,000 people trafficked yearly, 450,000 of them come from Africa. FGI uses innovative and culturally relevant methods to sensitize the African public about human trafficking in the African context, and are mobilizing a Pan-African youth movement against trafficking on the continent. Their programs are crucial to the fight to end human trafficking, but they are doing it with barely any funding. This is your opportunity to help them without having to contribute...

Wow! On my way home, I was tired and the first things I was going to do when I got home were check my email, Facebook, etc and then head straight to bed. I saw a friend, Kwabena Poku , post a link from Afroklectic saying the "the weight of Africa is on the Black Stars". What I found at that link was very heartwarming. Later, still on Facebook, I stumbled upon a status of Lydia Forson's on Facebook. It said "The HEAT Is On;GHANA vrs germany.I Lydia Forson Beleive in the Black Stars of Ghana.DO YOU???" This whole World Cup season, I've been calling on all who would listen to 'believe' in the Black Stars. Earlier this week, I realised this 'belief' is even more about things bigger than the Black Stars. That, I will revisit in another blog. For now, let me tell you about what has me excited. I saw a couple of videos about the Vodafone Flashmob . These videos below will tell you everything you need to know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjt-Mu...

I just watched the Black Stars of Ghana play the Latvian national team in the team's final friendly before the start of the Mzansi Mundial, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa which starts June 11. After the news of Michael Essien missing out due to injury, Sulley Muntari being doubtful, Bra Laryea Kingston left behind at Kotoka, and the poor performance against Holland where we lost 4-1, many Black Stars fans were worried. I wasn't but I believed we had to do and prepare better. After this game against Latvia, I have great confidence. The boys are gewd! They've always been. They have to believe that "Aha yɛdɛ o, beebia awu! Ka sɛ vim, vim! I am excited for the World Cup, the Black Stars will shine and do us proud . The Black Stars played with some swagger in this game. Hey, I know it is Latvia, but this is the kind of the game they needed. They bossed the game, had some slick passing, created chances, etc. We only scored one goal, and that was by a substitute, Qui...

African musicians involved are Freshlyground , Lira , Nneka , Nameless , TKZee , Angelique Kidjo , Uju, Siphiwo, Soweto Spiritual Singers, Louise Carver, etc Listen Up! The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album is a collaboration by various artists, both local African and international. The album was be released on May 31, 2010. See the Tracklist here. Check out some of the songs # 1. R. Kelly feat. Soweto Spiritual Singers - Sign of a Victory (The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lAq1xbgCyE #2. Shakira feat. Freshlyground - Click here for Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) (The Official Song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup) #3. Nneka - Click here for Viva Africa #4. Matisyahu feat. Nameless - One Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNhpRerXfgk #5. Ternielle Nelson, Jason Hartman, UJU, Louise Carver, Aya & Deep Level - Shosholoza 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T1xV91s15c #6. J Pre, Wyclef, Jazmine Sullivan, and B Howard - Ke Nako http://www.youtu...

The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa (Mzansi Mundial) song has a new remix an the video premiered today, Thursday April 29 on MTV. The third single from K'Naan sophomore album Troubadour, "Wavin' Flag" was chosen as the Coca-Cola's promotional anthem for the Mzansi Mundial in June this year. The Waving Flag Coca Cola celebration mix is the theme song for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa and part of EA Sports FIFA 2010 World Cup soundtrack . Shakira and Freshlyground's Time for Africa seems to be the official World Cup anthem, a song which samples a very popular track from Cameroun called Zangelewa . See the lyrics for the World Cup song here and that of the original Wavin' Flag here . Versions of the single have been recorded in English, Spanish and Chinese. In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year, the song also became a charity single featuring 50 other Canadian artists under the group banner Young Artists for Haiti. Looking t...

I simply can't wait for the World Cup. See this promo that I saw on ESPN earlier in the week. Simply the best advertisement for anything ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW4TEevZysA The theme song for the World Cup in South Africa has been released and a video montage is available as well. The Mzansi Mundial anthem features South African group/band Freshlyground and Colombian singer, Shakira. The video for 'Time for Africa' shows some footage of the 2009 World Cup in Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whi3lVsxmp8 Kelly Rowland is also in the World Cup song act and this new track, Everywhere you go, features a host of African musicians. Am loving this new track! It features 2Face Idibia of Nigeria, Awadi of Senegal, Chameleone of Uganda, Samini, Cameroun's Krotal, Lebanon's Rola, Jozi, Kwesta, Slikour and Zuluboy of South Africa. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg8BK9-GRFg Here is K'Naan's Waving Flag Coca Cola celebration mix http://www.youtube.com/w...

Human trafficking is a big problem in Africa that doesn't get the publicity it deserves. Yvonne Yonas and Free Generation International are embarking on a Red Card Campaign to shed light on this issue. The symbol of the campaign, a “red card” represents cards shown to soccer players who severely violate the rules of the game, and are disqualified. By using this symbol, we are sending a simple message:“human trafficking has no place at SA 2010. Free Generation International is an abolitionist organization committed to addressing capacity gaps in the field of human trafficking and its linkages with gender-based violence. We seek to eradicate trafficking through the development of innovative and diverse prevention, protection, prosecution and victim aftercare strategies that are culturally-tailored, relevant and responsive. Recognizing that trafficking manifests in different contexts all over the world, FGI works to understand and respond to the unique and particularized trafficking p...

The Dusty Foot Philosopher and Troubadour man, @iamknaan, is the singer behind the official anthem for the Mzansi Mundial in June this year. Waving Flag , probably K'Naan's most popular song to date, is undoubtedly an African song and calls on us to "release our African rhythm all over the world". The Somalian rapper, K'Naan Warsame, is based in Toronto, Canada and Los Angeles, USA. The video is directed by Nabil Elderkin and produced by Sol Guy. There is a cameo by Damian Marley. The original lyrics for Waving Flag can be found here . Here are the lyrics for the remix. Ooooooh Wooooooh, Ooooooh Wooooooh Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud In the streets our heads are lifting, as we lose our inhibition, Celebration, its around us, every nations, all around us Singing forever young, singing songs underneath that sun Lets rejoice in the beautiful game, And together at...

Last weekend, Ghana became the first African country to qualify for the World Cup other than the host country, South Africa. It's always nice to set the pace and finish the job with two games to spare. We made our first mundial (Germany 2006) and came away as the best placed African country and doing better than many people thought we would. In fact, at one point during the World Cup, Ghana was the most searched item on Google. If Twitter was as big as it is now, Ghana would be a trending topic too. We'll love to be trendy, but we should want to be winners. We won't sneak up on anyone next time and there's no reason we can't go all the way. We just need to do our homework, prepare adequately and give it our best. Go, Ghana, go! Some critics would say we had an easy qualifying group. We earned whatever favors we got by being one of Africa's 5 best teams. We executed the job well, with four games played, we won all our games and didn't concede any goals. Mali ...

Many Africans are in love with Guinness. You can check the records, some of Guinness (Diageo's) best business is done on the continent. I will never forget the day I heard the CEO of Diageo Africa speak at the Harvard Business School African Business Conference (HBS ABC) and talk about how the company is doing brisk business in Africa. Two words I won't forget from that speech: bottles and business. Whatever speech you give, no matter how boring, great, thorough and intellectual it is, follow this guy's lead, give your audience a couple of sentences or words to remember. Guinness is also a mark of happiness in some places, which includes Ghana. Take this scenario, when Ghana played Namibia in the 2008 African Cup of Nations and won by a lone goal, many Ghanaians were down, disappointed and angry. They expected the Black Stars to annihilate the Brave Warriors. A one-nil victory was as good as a loss, and Guinness felt the losses too. The bars and spots were empty and Diageo ...