Let’s talk about Art, contemporary African Art. AfricanColours is ‘the premier internet space for the promotion of contemporary African art since 2000. With a central office in Nairobi, its work is supported by representatives  in Africa, Europe & America.’ The Portal of contemporary African Art offers news and articles about African artists and exhibitions. AfricanColours The Power of Colours is your ultimate guide to contemporary African Art!

Below, some @AfricanColours‘ tweets we added to our list of Favorites on Twitter:

“The title of this exhibition …Matter of Record… indicates that witness is
at the core of Peterson Kamwathi’s… http://fb.me/L7METmBS

Guest Exhibition Tour: Nana Oforiatta-Ayim Leads a Tour of the
James Barnor Exhibition http://fb.me/MPBNOHNt

Beyond: Stone Sculpture Exhibition at GIBS http://fb.me/KYN5EOPD

The Grass Is Singing: By David Kaiza/Africancolours.com…
http://fb.me/Krqgq41V

In a continent such as Africa, characterized by contradictions and
important issues in the social, economic and… http://fb.me/KSeXL9Vh

Art of the African Diaspora Comes to Paris http://fb.me/JtXnkt3t

Iziko Exhibition Presented at Tate Modern http://fb.me/Gc7oxzAy

Any day now one expects the proclamation that ‘contemporary African art’ is dead.
After all, its been rumoured for… http://fb.me/xtKCQp1P

AfricanColours is a rich portal which introduces the visitors to amazing artists. We will mention some of them in a near future but meanwhile, visit the website and if you are not familiar with Contemporary African Art already (check our posts about Owen Maseko), you will undoubtedly find some art you will love.

The website, managed by a team with expertise in art, media and whose commitment goes beyond the internet, is a great resource for anyone interested in contemporary African Art and curious to know more about it. After the visit, don’t forget to follow @AfricanColours on Twitter!

Today we suggest you to follow South African band BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks) on Twitter @BLKJKS although they don’t tweet so much. But it doesn’t mean they don’t do much, on the contrary. The first time we mentioned BLK JKS on the Sama Gazette was in June 2010 in: 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa: hopes and concerns. But the first time we read about BLK JKS was on Max Dana‘s Blog with Music of Africa: BLK JKS, from South Africa.

Here are a few words from Max’s post: ‘Jules Mageba, a friend of mine first sent me an email about the South African group in late 2006, and he wrote: “You like Jazz, you like African music, you’ll love BLK JKS!“. And when I listened to their song SK 1, he was right, I loved it. The song was released on a CD compilation given away with SL Magazine earlier that year and since then, the promising group has become a real phenomenon. Not only in South Africa but all around the world, and if you didn’t hear about it yet then let me tell you you are missing something huge.’

So if you don’t know BLK JKS yet, start with following the band on Twitter @BLKJKS!

http://www.officiallyayuppie.com/2010/10/exclusive-bad-brains-intv.html

Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal Lead MOBO Nominations | Billboard.com http://t.co/zeGlXFFvia @AddThis cool BUT two places at once?best african?

brOdas and siStErs; a friend said, “South Africa has had and or has a lot of ISSUES, but this one… hOt! (as in… http://fb.me/yLDoqtXy

Yooooooo…BLK JKS “ZOL!” EP streaming now at http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/ap/ap100531blk_jks_zol…HELLO AGAIN WORLD ENJOY AFRIKA

secretlycndian BLK JKS vs TIESTO track “DREAMING” now available. facebook.com/smirnoff Go Get IT.

STUCK IN PARIS… aaAAaHh!!!! (hey, there are worse things in the world right?)

ja ne, ok: http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/music/2010/03/17/alicia-keys-john-legend-coming-for-fifa-wc-kick-off-concert/comment-page-1/

If you liked what you read and watched from BLK JKS’ tweets, then visit their official website, go to their Myspace and follow them on Facebook. And don’t miss ‘Summertime’ video, it is really, really good!

As you may already know by now, we have launched our first special section on the Sama Gazette: En Route To Sudan. Dedicated to news and resources about Sudan, this section of the site counts many visitors everyday and we hope it will help everyone to find interesting information about Sudan, and learn about the referendums, the challenges and issues.

Amongst the many links to websites and twitter pages we mention Rebecca Hamilton. She is a Special Correspondent on Sudan for The Washington Post and she is also the author of the forthcoming book, Fighting for Darfur (to be released on February 2011), a book we have already listed in ‘Books We Recommend’. You can follow Rebecca Hamilton on Twitter @bechamilton and here is a list of recent tweets she sent:

I know this is not representative of the rest of southern #Sudan but for tonight I’m enjoying the wonderment of things unimaginable in 2005

Breathtaking to be back in Juba after five years. The town is unrecognizable. Paved roads, brick buildings 4 storeys high, a KCB bank. . .

This Doesn’t Look Like Unity – my latest #Sudan piece: http://www.slate.com/id/2270076/ in @slate

My thoughts with everyone at Development Alternatives. Appreciate the Guardian’s profile of Linda: http://bit.ly/cH3qnZ #Afghanistan 

Reviewing edits on #Sudan child marriage piece coming out in @TNR tomorrow. #Darfur 2009 expulsions had a longer reach than ppl realized

Agreement is Taliban stop blowing up cell towers in exchange for population
not being able to report on Taliban movements at night #ICCM10

If you want to know more about Rebecca Hamilton, we invite you to read her bio and articles on the Pulitzer Center website. Don’t miss Hamilton’s post: A Child Bride in Sudan posted on The New Republic. Last but not least, you can also follow @bechamilton tweets through our Twitter List @SamaGazette/En Route To Sudan.

Wynton Marsalis. If you like Jazz music, you know this name. According to Wynton Marsalis’ Bio on Twitter: ‘Wynton Marsalis is an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator and a leading advocate of American culture.‘ Now you see why you must know his name. But it is nothing until you hear Marsalis play the trumpet…

In this Twitter Sunday, it is all about Jazz and musicians, as the tweets @wyntonmarsalis are dedicated to music:

Check out a photo gallery of JLCO’s first performance in Havana, Cuba,
from this past Tuesday http://on.fb.me/atrvyF

We are in Havana and I’m about to head into the studio to record
with the great Chucho Valdes

Before the dress rehearsal with the @nyphil, Dave Monette presented me
with a brand new RAJA III Bb trumpet http://bit.ly/czVZWa

Check out some photos from the Roy Haynes concert Saturday with
Danilo Perez, Kenny Garrett and Dave Holland http://bit.ly/cPy2fj

I’m rehearsing in Rose Hall with the great grand master of the drums,
Roy Haynes, for JALC’s season opener tonight.

Check out a behind the scenes video
at @jazz_in_marciac festival 2010 http://ht.ly/2Ibrb

If you are listening to Swing Symphony,
feel free to post any thoughts on my FB page

Now you know where to find Wynton Marsalis on Twitter but you can also visit Wynton Marsalis’ Website which is very complete with many sections (Gigs, Discography, Multimedia, Education…). And of course, listen and buy Marsalis’ CDs (if you can’t see him on stage) to fully enjoy the world famous jazz trumpet player!

For this new Twitter Sunday, we have selected an organization which, as you can read on its Twitter Bio, is ‘Putting a face on the numbers. Connecting communities in danger with communities that are willing and able to help’. This organization is i-ACT by Stop Genocide Now and you can read more on this page:

Interactive-ACTivism connects the surviving victims of this genocide with those who want to help, creating an interconnected community. i-ACT uses the power of the internet to put a face to the mind numbing numbers of dead, dying, and displaced. i-ACT visitors to our website see the human face of this ongoing crisis through daily field reports; get visuals of conditions in the refugee camps; make comments, ask questions, and post suggestions on our website’s interactive blog feature.

Below are the Tweets from @iact we added to our Favorites on Twitter:

Please take quick action for peace in Sudan. Join 100 Days of Action
- for peace, protection, and justice. http://bit.ly/bZ0KpV

Obama’s 100 Day Sudan Countdown by @SusanMorgan  http://huff.to/a7ygI0
It’s also YOUR #Sudan countdown, with actions you can take.

Take part in 100 Days of Action for #Sudan, an all-out press for peace, protection,
and justice http://bit.ly/bZ0KpV@WhiteHouse pls RT

Hard work ahead: “We applaud President Obama and his Sudan policy team
for making #Sudan a top priority.” http://bit.ly/99wIUg

Rwanda won’t pull troops out of Darfur-UN official
Top News | Reuters http://bit.ly/cdvpFH

Over 3,477 villages have been attacked in Darfur since 2003. Please sign and
be 1 of 3,477 people asking for peace, now http://bit.ly/cSwFRV

“The international actors need to press the Sudanese government to
immediately end attacks on civilians” -@hrw http://bit.ly/dmWq3B

This Twitter Friday is also about the 100 Days of Action for Sudan: The Referenda Countdown :

There’s no time to lose. In 100 short days, Sudan will decide whether or not to divide itself in two. Preparations are woefully behind, and civilians are at real risk of escalating violence and a potential return to war. In Darfur, nearly three million civilians are living in camps and facing violence, rape and critical shortages of water and medical aid. The country’s president remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Please join with Sudan advocates around the country in an effort to ensure that the Obama Administration does all it can to ensure peace, protection, accountability and justice before, during and after the vote.

Starting October 2, 2010, and through January 9, 2011, check in regularly for actions that can have an impact on the future of millions of lives.

We support i-ACT/Stop Genocide Now actions (we added the 100 Days of Action for Sudan logo the list of the campaigns/actions we support) and we invite you to do the same by visiting i-ACT website as well as 100 Days of Action for Sudan. You can also send a letter to Barack Obama from this page.

We will closely follow the news from Sudan as the referendum in the South is quickly approaching.

John Legend is Grammy award-winning artist and philanthropist; two good reasons for us to share with you our Favorites Tweets @johnlegend. We liked his two albums Get Lifted (‘Stay With You’) and Evolver (‘Take Me Away’), and we are very excited about his new one: Wake Up! which will be released on September 21, 2010.

John Legend is also a philanthropist, he founded the Show Me Campaign:

Created by Grammy award-winning artist John Legend, the Show Me Campaign is a nonprofit organization that fights poverty using proven solutions. Believing that equal access to quality education is the civil rights issue of our time, the Show Me Campaign fights for education reform in the United States. In Africa, Show Me works with Millennium Promise to provide clean water, health care, education and other basic tools that break the cycle of poverty.

Our Favorites Tweets @johnlegend!

NYTimes editorial on yesterday’s Prop 8 decision: http://nyti.ms/dcFZ4M

“Shine” is featured in and was inspired by the education documentary @WaitingSuperman

RT @chrissyteigen: If any of u think its not obamas bday and he was born in Kenya u can go ahead and shoot yourself please thank you

See, I don’t have to beat my nephew’s ass… RT @TheGRAMMYs Don’t worry, we can send a replacement GRAMMY Award to you!

Proud that NYC is strong enough to uphold the constitutional right to freedom of religion: http://nyti.ms/aLz9uV

Funny how many of y’all told me to beat his ass. Haha. It was truly an accident. I’m just gonna have to nephew-proof my apt a little better

Casualty of the nephews staying with me. I hope they send replacement grammys! http://tweetphoto.com/36778088

RT @kanyewest: they put my tweets w/NewYorker cartoons! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/03/kanye-west-new-yorker_n_668894.html#s121961

Note that you can follow the Show Me Campaign on Twitter @showmecampaign. And if you appreciate John Legendfor his excellent music, you can pre-order Wake Up! (Deluxe Version) on iTunes. And of course visit his official website for more information.

Mapendo International was founded to protect and care for at-risk refugees in Africa and we want to introduce you to the organization if you don’t know it already. According to Wikipedia, Mapendo was founded in 2003 by Sasha Chanoff and Dr. John Wagacha Burton. While conducting refugee rescue operations with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Sasha became aware of the unseen and therefore unmet needs of the many refugees living in urban settings.

Sasha’s encounter with a refugee named Rose Mapendo was the catalyst to the creation of the organization… Max Dana mentioned Rose Mapendo in her post: International Women’s Day: Extraordinary Women, and you can read all about Rose Mapendo’s story on this page. 

Mapendo – Mission Statement (read more here):

Mapendo International works to fill the critical and unmet needs of people affected by war and conflict who have fallen through the net of humanitarian assistance. This commitment is expressed through targeting individuals, families and groups of people overlooked by existing aid programs. Mapendo strives to alleviate human suffering, to protect life and health, and to raise awareness for these vulnerable people.

Our Favorites Tweets @mapendo:

No way out: Inside the world’s biggest refugee camp http://bit.ly/9eMJCy

South Africa: “Attacking foreigners with impunity is not going to happen this time around.” http://bit.ly/aq7xAl

DRC-RWANDA: Land rows complicate refugees’ return http://bit.ly/dCHPzW

Mapendo’s own Victoria Yang talks about her experiences as a refugee, and how the US 1980 Refugee Act changed her life http://bit.ly/dtflTD

Heart-breaking photos of urban refugees in TIME magazine http://bit.ly/bOg6lE

Pls RT – Today, join Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, and @mapendo to help rescue forgotten #refugees! http://bit.ly/ddu2ac #wrd10

Mapendo International works on many projects such as The Clinic, Rescue and Protection, Awareness Programs. The Boston-based non-profit organization is doing a lot for Africa and you should definitely visit Mapenda International Website and follow the organization @mapendo.

Emmanuel Jal is a Sudanese musician and former child soldier. We know him since the release of his third album Warchild two years ago and we are following him on Twitter @EmmanuelJAL. If you don’t know him already, his quick bio on Twitter already tells a lot: ‘I do not know how to start or end this bio,but just to put it short, I am an ex child soldier turned into a recording artist.’

Emmanuel Jal is a great singer and he is also an activist. He founded GUA Africa (pronounced gwaah, means peace in Nuer, a tribal language of Southern Sudan) which mission is to work with individuals, families and communities to help them overcome the effects of war and poverty. Each of our projects focus on providing an education to children and young adults who would otherwise be denied such opportunity.

Here are our Favorites Tweets @EmmanuelJAL:

Since 2003 the civil war in Darfur has killed at least 300k people and left 2.7M homeless-Al-Bashir should face justice-http://ow.ly/2fbJH

am now 30 and i have been a refugee for 27 years since 1983 2,2M people
died as a direct result of the war in sudan,

Being biter and ploting revenge is different then fighting for freedom

i forgave the people who destroyed my home but i will never
stop fighting for the freedom

even though i know the price is death. we need the support from our friends
but peace in Sudan will be the Sudanese to Make it happen

Day 579 in missing meals. We can make this happen! Spread the word.
Only $20,000 to win this lose to win challenge http://ow.ly/2czeQ

The fate of Sudan is now in the Hands of Obama – Only 6 months away from
Disaster or peace and prosperity– http://ow.ly/2bwck

Thank you Brazil for watching the War Child doc. & taking the time to support it.
The movie is also available online: http://ow.ly/2aUDV

We invite you to follow Emmanuel Jal on Twitter @EmmanuelJAL but also to visit his official website as well as GUA Africa website to learn more about him and his work. Listen to his music: Stronger, Many Rivers to Cross, Forced to Sin. And let us know what you think

Today we want to share with you our ‘Favorites Tweets’ @CIVICUSalliance. Last year, Max Dana mentioned their amazing work in her post: Darfur, Congo, Burma: is ‘good will’ enough?, and in May we published an article about CIVICUS 2010 World Assembly in Montreal -Register now! in which we mentioned the connection between Max Dana and CIVICUS: the artwork from the  ‘60 Signers for the 60th Anniversary’ Initiative launched by Max in 2008 to support the Every Human Has Rights Campaign (The Elders), was delivered to Ingrid Srinath, Secretary General of CIVICUS.

So it has been a while since we are following the organization news and actions. Today is Mandela Day, we published a post this week: Mandela Day: Give 67 minutes to change the world!, and CIVICUS also mentioned it on the Every Human Has Rights website. Two good reasons to select CIVICUS in this new Twitter Sunday and to introduce you to the organization if you don’t know it already!

About CIVICUS (read more here):

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is an international alliance of members and partners which constitute an influential network of organisations at the local, national, regional and international levels, and span the spectrum of civil society including: civil society networks and organisations; trade unions; faith-based networks; professional associations; NGO capacity development organisations; philanthropic foundations and other funding bodies; businesses; and social responsibility programmes.

Below our ‘Favorites Tweets’ @CIVICUSalliance:

Sunday is Nelson Mandela Day. What are you doing for 67 minutes of
giving back to the community? http://ow.ly/2cit1

CIVICUS asks Aquino to free ‘Morong 43′ in the Philipinnes http://bit.ly/a9FI2e

Remember 1000s men/boys killed in Srebrenica 15 years ago today +
reflect on our resp. 2 protect the vulnerable http://ow.ly/29bEz

Every Human Has Rights + education is 1 of them! Tell world leaders you demand
education 4 all b4 meeting on Sunday http://ow.ly/295oM

Initial programme for CIVICUS World Assembly (20-23 Aug in Montreal)
now available. http://ow.ly/21A8Y#CivWA

Difference between what we do & what we are capable of doing would suffice
to solve most of the world’s problems – CIVICUS’ Ingrid Srinath

Note that you can read our Favorites Tweets @TheElders. We of course invite you to follow The Elders, Every Human Has Rights and CIVICUS on Twitter, to visit their website and to support the organizations and their campaigns. We will mention them again on the Sama Gazette, so you definitely should learn more about them!

Save the children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. We follow the organization on Twitter for a while and we mentioned it several times on the Sama Gazette : Mother’s Day: Gifts, articles and mothers over the world; This is World Kids Coloring Day!; Valentine’s Day: (RED)Kisses & products, eCards… Today we decided to share with you our Favorites Tweets @savethechildren!

About Save the children (more on the Official Website):

Our mission is to create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need in the U.S. and around the world. Our priorities are to ensure that children in need grow up protected and safe, educated, healthy and well-nourished, and  able to thrive in economically secure households [...] In 2009, our Rewrite the Future campaign has reached more than 12 million children in conflict-affected countries with access to improved education. U.S. programs in literacy, early childhood development and nutrition, and physical activity are reaching 18,000 children in 13 states. Save the Children responded to more than 25 emergencies in 2009, providing food, shelter and medical care to families, as well as protection for children.

Check our Favorites Tweets @savethechildren:

Plz RT & Vote 4 @SavetheChildren 2 get $200K thru AmericanExpress TakePart proj.
50+ org’s r competing, ur vote=vital! http://bit.ly/aMOVOj

@Intel employees worked with @SavetheChildren in Bangladesh to train teachers
& students on Intel-powered PC’s http://bit.ly/ab1Hla

@SavetheChildren trained 12yr Sa’adah girl 2 avoid Amran mines & now
she raises awareness about the issue in her camp: http://bit.ly/aI1Tf2

@SavetheChildren empowers youth by holding advocacy training in Aden,
Yemen http://bit.ly/96TB5s

If u live in the US, see how your state is spreading fairness to make sure
every kid gets a fair chance: http://bit.ly/bYrBiD

Food delivery in Guatemala in aftermath of storm Agatha: http://bit.ly/aw9IKv
More on @SavetheChildren’s response: http://bit.ly/bXhjP0

Save the children does an amazing work with children, if you don’t follow them already on Twitter please do so you will know everything about their latest news and campaigns!