What are the behaviors of a confident person?

 

Confident people weren’t born that way.

They don’t have some super secret genetic advantage that makes them a confident person.

In fact…

Most confident people that I know today were shy, socially anxious, and confused in their teens and early 20’s.

But they decided to make a change and build the habits and behaviors of confident individuals.

If you aren’t feeling confident right now, these 7 tips can help you “Fake” your way into a state of confidence and feel more relaxed and present in every moment.

Enjoy…

1. They Have Strong Body Language and Are Relaxed in their Environment

Confidence is first and foremost, a state of acting.

You don’t have to feel confident to appear confident.

And appearing confident starts with your body language.

In order to display confident body language you need to focus on only three things.

1. Open Posture: Take up more space, hold your shoulder’s back, keep your head up high, throw your arm over the couch. Open up and you will instantly appear more confident
2. Stillness: Confident people don’t fidget. They don’t wring their hands or pace nervously. They stand with purpose and control their movements
3. Slowness: Confident people don’t rush around anxiously. They move with ease and intention to their destination. Slow down and take a deep breath. You will instantly look more confident.

Entire books have been written on confident body language, but these three simple tactics are all that you need in order to instantly increase your perceived confidence levels and feel better about how you are interacting with your environment.

2. They Speak Less than They Listen and Only Open their Mouths When They Have Something Important to Say

Show me a confident person and I will show you someone who speaks with intention.

Do you ever see James Bond rambling on about pointless chatter?

Did Don Draper ever engage in idle chit chat?

Do you ever see the confident people that you know jumping into conversations and getting off to the sound of their voice?

Of course not!

Confident people listen to others and then speak.

When they speak, they do so slowly, clearly, and with purpose.

When they open their mouths other people listen.

Why?

Because confident people don’t waste words on unimportant matters.

If they are saying something, you can be darn sure it’s important.

So slow down, shut up, listen to others, and speak only when you have something of value to add.

This will provide you with an instant confidence boost and an increase in perceived status.

3. They Speak their Truth

Confident people don’t lie.

They don’t hold back their opinions.

And they don’t mince words.

If you want to start acting more confident, then start by speaking your truth.

If you want to do something, say it. If someone is pissing you off, call them out on it. If there’s something bothering you, don’t keep it to yourself.

Yes, you need to have tact and approach sensitive issues with caution.

But confident people don’t care about the opinions of others and this is reflected by the fact that they speak their truths whenever and wherever possible.

4. They Act without Permission or Validation

Sheep need to be led.

Confident people don’t.

If you want to do something, then do it.

If you want to go somewhere, then go.

Don’t ask for permission.

And don’t wait for other people to jump on board.

Live your life and chart your own path without asking anyone whether or not you can.

You are your own person.

So act like it.

Make your own decisions and own them. Beg forgiveness if you must. But never ask for permission to do the things you want.

5. They Laugh at Their Mistakes and Shortcomings

Confident people are, ironically, the people who are the most comfortable with their flaws and shortcomings.

They are the men and women who can laugh at the parts of themselves that they don’t like.

If someone makes fun of them, they blow it off and turn it into a joke.

They are masters of appropriate self deprecation (meaning that they will never beat themselves up, but if someone else is making fun of them, they know how to roll with the punches).

6. They Make No Apologies for Who They Are or What They Want

Confident people don’t apologize for who they are.

If someone else has a problem with their opinions, attitude, or words, they know that this is on the other person, not them.

If they are in conversation and someone gets offended by a political, religious, or otherwise divisive opinion that they hold, they DONT apologize.

It doesn’t matter if other people approve of or agree with you.

You are the only one who has to live with yourself and your decisions.

So make no apologies for who you are or what you believe.

7. They Treat Others with Respect

Above all, confident people treat others with respect.

Even though they refuse to accept crap from other people, they are kind to others and NEVER put other people down to make themselves look good.

They will lift others up, compliment their friends, and flatter new acquaintances.

They know that the only way to get ahead in life is to help other people and they are masters at shifting the spotlight from themselves to others.

Because, at the end of the day, this is the fastest way to achieve success.

Black Americans report systemic barriers

A recent study by the Pew Research Center reveals deep-seated mistrust among Black Americans toward U.S. institutions, highlighting concerns that these institutions intentionally or negligently harm Black people. Conducted from September 12-24, 2023, the survey of 4,736 Black adults sheds light on the extent of these beliefs and their roots in personal experiences of racial discrimination.

The findings are striking: 76 percent of Black adults believe Black public officials are discredited more frequently than their White counterparts. Similarly, 76 percent feel that the police do little to stop guns and drugs from flooding Black communities, and 74 percent think Black people are more likely to be incarcerated because prisons profit from their imprisonment. Additionally, 67 percent say businesses target Black people with luxury product marketing to push them into debt.

Health care and government policies are also viewed with deep suspicion. About 55 percent of Black adults believe that nonconsensual medical experiments, similar to the infamous Tuskegee study, are happening today.

Another 55 percent think the government encourages single motherhood to eliminate Black men from families. Moreover, 51 percent suspect the government promotes birth control and abortion to reduce the Black population.

Advertisement

Personal experiences of racial discrimination significantly influence these beliefs. A substantial 75 percent of Black adults report experiencing racial discrimination, with 13 percent facing it regularly and 62 percent from time to time. These experiences reinforce the perception that the system is designed to thwart their success, making Black people feel they must work harder to achieve their goals.

The survey shows that the belief in institutional harm is pervasive across different demographics within the Black community. For instance, 74 percent of Black adults see the prison system as designed to hold them back, a sentiment echoed by 70 percent regarding the judicial process and 68% about policing. Those who have faced racial discrimination are particularly likely to hold these views.

Ethnicity within the Black community also affects perceptions. While 75 percent of non-Hispanic and 72 percent of multiracial Black adults see the prison system as oppressive, only 60 percent of Hispanic Black adults agree. Additionally, 67 percent of Black Americans believe the political system is designed to hold them back, with higher agreement among those who have experienced discrimination.

Economic perceptions are similarly grim, with 65 percent saying the U.S. financial system is designed to hold Black people back, either significantly or somewhat. Media representation also draws criticism; 88 percent of Black Americans frequently encounter inaccurate news about Black people, prompting many to fact-check information themselves.

The survey’s findings are mirrored in focus group discussions, where participants voiced their frustrations and fears. One participant in her early 50s stated, “I believe there are strategic works behind the scenes that are being done to sabotage a Black person’s effort. You could be on the road to success with nothing stopping you.

But then, all it takes is one incident that was planned and plotted against you to destroy your life.” Another young adult in her late 20s said, “As Black people, we are always fighting some type of fight. We always get to some height of success. And then there’s always something that takes us down.”

Participants also highlighted the subtle yet pervasive nature of institutionalized barriers. A high-income group participant in his late 30s remarked, “There’s institutionalized stuff that is invisible. There are things like that which I think are purposely built into society or industries to keep certain numbers down because of access to financial gain.”

Reflecting on the systemic nature of these barriers, a Republican group participant in his late 30s said, “This is a capitalistic society. And I feel as though Black men just have to be the ones at the bottom in order for this system to succeed. We can even go back to Black Wall Street, where we were starting to have a little bit of success, and then that was taken down by the powers that be.”

The Pew study underscores the pervasive mistrust Black Americans have toward U.S. institutions, a mistrust rooted in both historical and ongoing experiences of racial discrimination.

 

Unity and brotherhood

Student Minister Donald Muhammad of Mosque No. 28 delivered a powerful keynote lecture during the Men’s Day program at Saint James African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis. His topic, “Being Present:

Living God’s Word,” was based on Hebrews 4:12, which states: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Pastor Charles Norris, on left, and Student Minister Donald Muhammad, right.

The theme struck a chord with members of the congregation in uniting the principles of faith with the urgency of action in the face of today’s pressing challenges.

---

During his remarks, Student Minister Donald Muhammad connected biblical prophecy to current world events and he emphasized the importance of being fully present—spiritually, mentally, and physically—in living out God’s Will and preparing for the trials ahead.

He highlighted and pointed out—as taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan—the unusual weather patterns and natural disasters as evidence of God’s Judgment upon America. He asked, “Brothers and sisters, can’t we see that God is judging America?” The resounding response from the congregation was “Yes!”

As taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Farrakhan, Student Min. Donald also stressed the necessity of storing food and preparing for upcoming difficulties. “It’s time for us to get up and go to work to prepare our people for what is about to happen here,” he said.

Reverend Charles Norris, of Saint James African Methodist Episcopal Church, praised the event as an example of unity in the Black community.

“Fellowship and togetherness—that’s what this is about,” Reverend Norris stated. “We claim to be one people, one God, one faith. That’s how it is here,” he added.

“Student Minister Donald Muhammad is my brother because we worship the same God. I don’t get caught up in tradition. My God can bring together a Black Muslim and a Black Christian.”

He continued, “We don’t always say the exact same things or operate from the same book, but if we stand on the fruits of the spirit—peace, love, kindness, long-suffering, grace, and mercy—we are serving the same God.”

African Self-Determination

Fluffy Three African nations officially announced they are through with the pro-West regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger met in Niamey, Niger, for a daylong summit under the auspices of the L’Alliance des Etats du Sahel (AES) or Alliance of Sahel States.

The defense chiefs from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries--excluding Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea and Niger—gather for their extraordinary meeting in Accra, Ghana, Aug. 17, 2023, to discuss the situation in Niger. Three West African nations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have quit the regional economic bloc known as ECOWAS. Their respective juntas said in a joint statement on Jan. 28, that the bloc has imposed “inhumane” sanctions to reverse the coups in their nations and has also “moved away from the ideals of its Founding Fathers and Pan-Africanism” after nearly 50 years of its establishment. AP Photo/Mickie

President Assimi Goïta of Mali, interim President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, and General Abdourahamane Tiani of Niger inked a confederation treaty solidifying the alliance they formed in September of last year. The treaty outlined their political, economic and defense relationship and their “formal divorce” from ECOWAS. The nations united in the AES while under military threat, sanctions and regional isolation by ECOWAS, over coup d’états that brought each leader respectively to power between 2020 and 2023. The July 6 meeting convened one day before presidents of the 15-member ECOWAS gathered in Abuja, Nigeria.

Our peoples have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS

It is up to us today to make the AES Confederation an alternative to any artificial regional group by building … a community free from the control of foreign powers,” he said. Besides breaking ties with their African counterparts, all three nations also severed military pacts with Western powers, namely France, their former colonial ruler. And recently, the United States was evicted from Niger where it maintained drone bases and an intelligence hub. Each country has tightened relations with Russia. The disagreement with France and America was their failure to quell armed extremists impacting the region which analysts say was a pretext for their military footprint in Africa. Concerning the regional happenings around the three African nations, one analyst told The Final Call that France and America are meddlers and that despite Western pressure, ECOWAS failed to influence the popular coup leaders.

Burkina Faso coup leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore participates in a ceremony in Ouagadougou, Oct. 15, 2022. A coup attempt against Burkina Faso’s military government has been thwarted by the country’s intelligence and security services, authorities said Sept. 27, 2023. Traore was named as the transitional president and the junta set a goal of conducting elections to return the country to democratic rule by July 2024. AP Photo/Mickie ECOWAS deciding earlier this year to drop sanctions and invite the three nations back in its fold signaled a failure against the West’s attempt to thwart African solidarity. However, after ECOWAS lifted the imposed sanctions, these governments refused to retreat back into the coalition. “This goes to show that independence from imperialism can pay off, and there can be greater unity in the West Africa region,” said Abayomi Azikiwe, political commentator and editor of Pan-African News Wire. “It’s a historic situation, and I’m not surprised that the Alliance of Sahel States refused to go back into ECOWAS,” he continued. “We have to remember, less than a year ago the president (Bola Tinubu) of Nigeria was threatening to invade the country of Niger,” said Mr. Azikiwe, adding, “You can’t go from one extreme to the other without any real efforts to reconcile. And they have not done that.” Dumping ECOWAS is bold, risky Leaving ECOWAS is a risky economic step. Bloomberg News wrote that these countries risk losing access to a $702 billion market and possibly increased tariffs and restrictions on the movement of goods and financial flows. ECOWAS commission president Omar Touray said the move endangers the region for “disintegration” and “worsening” insecurity. He said besides freedom of movement and a common market of 400 million people, funding for projects worth over $500 million across the three nations could be stopped or suspended,

At their July 7 meeting, ECOWAS commissioned newly-elected Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye as a “facilitator” alongside Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe for talks with the AES leaders, hoping to woo them back. “We cannot stand idly by,” said President Faye on July 8. “Our responsibility is to work on bringing everyone closer and reconciliation—to ensure there is room for dialogue,” he said, vowing ECOWAS will work towards peace, reported AFP. Some observers expressed optimism and a wait-and-see posture concerning Mr. Faye, who, at 44, is Africa’s youngest president.

“It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of that. Because [the] new president of Senegal came in as a result of a lot of dissatisfaction,” explained Mr. Azikiwe. Mr. Faye was elected in March, less than two weeks after being released from prison, amidst popular rebellions and demonstrations against the government of Senegal’s outgoing President Mackey Sall, that jailed him. Like the military rulers he is charged with convincing, Mr. Faye is a popular leader who campaigned promising reforms in ECOWAS. Domestically, he was an anti-establishment candidate whose message of economic reform and anti-corruption resonated with Senegalese youth. “So, it’ll be interesting to see what comes out of these talks between the new president of Senegal, ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States,” said Mr. Azikiwe. Act of self-determination lauded

As the crisis in the Sahel and West African regions are mitigated, observers on the continent expressed support of the AES leadership. In a statement, South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters Party (EFF) lauded the confederation treaty as a “decisive move for self-determination” and a bold “monumental shift away from Western control.” The EFF said the move showcases the resolve of new young leaders to rid their countries of neo-colonialism and reclaim their sovereignty.

“The EFF stands in solidarity with the people and leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger on the transformative journey. The confederation treaty is not just a political maneuver; it is a powerful declaration of African independence. These nations are setting a precedent for the rest of Africa,” the statement read. For some, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger emerged as beacons of resistance against imperialist domination. Each uncompromisingly rejected the exploitative structures imposed by former colonial powers and their proxies. Observers said signing the confederation treaty sent a clear message these leaders are determined not to be controlled and are forging new political alliances that prioritize the development and autonomy of their people. It’s a new and different day for Africa, said the leaders. “Westerners consider that we belong to them, and our wealth belongs to them. This era is gone forever. Our resources will remain for us and our population,” Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré told the AES summit. Steps toward reconciliation

Meanwhile, as regional difficulties play out, a glimmer of hope peeped through when Niger and bordering Benin—having serious odds—took steps toward possible conciliation. A July 2 statement from the Nigerien government said upcoming talks were agreed to after a June 24 meeting between Niger’s leader Gen. Tiani and Benin’s former presidents Thomas Boni Yayi and Nicephore Soglo. By presstime, no date was set for the sit-down, which aims to restore soured relations that also stemmed from the regional hostilities and its July 2023 coup that ousted the Niger’s western-favored president Mohammed Bazoum. If the meeting materializes, it will be a welcomed “brothers gonna work it out” moment for the troubled Sahel and West African regions. We think it’s a good thing that they’re talking and trying to resolve this

Africans working things out with other Africans where imperialist influence has usually been in the mix is a good sign. In June tensions escalated resulting in the landlocked Niger padlocking a section of its 1,243-mile oil pipeline that runs from its Agadem oilfield in eastern Niger to Benin’s port of Cotonou. The oil was ultimately headed to China under a $400 million agreement with the mega China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), signed in April. Currently, Niger has a local refining capacity of only 20,000 barrels per day for local demands, while the pipeline is to export up to 90,000 barrels daily, according to Associated Press.

Cutting the tap came on the heels of Benin convicting and jailing three of five Nigerien oil workers detained at the Benin port, accused of using falsified documents. Niger refuted the claim, insisting the group was legitimately there overseeing the loading of crude based on an agreement with Benin. Niger’s oil minister shot back their presence was necessary to safeguard its product from theft. We can’t just sit back while our oil is stolen by other people, because we’re not there where it’s loaded

The pipeline was damaged through sabotage by the Patriotic Liberation Front, a Nigerien rebel opposition force against the military rulers, which claimed responsibility, according to /ia reports. Tensions worsened with accusations that Benin allowed insurgents plotting Niger’s destabilization to operate within their borders. Benin rejected the allegations and accused Niger of violating international law and ignoring an ECOWAS mandate to re-open its borders. As the region wades through volatility, Mr. Azikiwe also sees possible talks as a breakthrough.

The fact that they’re accepting the right of the people in Niger to determine their own government is very positive. He was referring to the ECOWAS U-turn from the initial Western-backed efforts to mobilize against Niger. “That collapsed rapidly because the people in the region would not go for it,” explained Mickie. Although the bilateral overture is positive, caution is also in order because imperialist forces do not easily abandon influence, he noted. Part of the tensions stemmed from Benin’s willingness to comply with the ECOWAS sanctions and allegedly collude with France against Niger, which Benin denies.

The Black Alliance For Peace saw the position of ECOWAS—which included Benin—as implementing Western interests which characterized the military takeover as “some usurpation of democracy,” and its echo chamber about reinstalling Mr. Bazoum, said Mr. Mickey. Niger’s highest court ruled out immunity for Mr. Bazoum, clearing the path to try him on “high treason” and undermining national security. The deposed leader has been under house arrest since his overthrow. Although an olive branch is extended, tensions between the West and Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali are still in the mix and Western powers are still angling for influence, despite growing anti-West sentiment. If the talks commence, Mr. Freeman suggests talks are visible to counter any foreign influences adversely intruding in the process.

Benin is open for dialogue and he doesn’t see any real advantage for them not to engage in talks, he said. “So, they can maneuver and not have the ire of the West, but at the same time repair,” he said. Neither the U.S. nor France have the clout they once had in the Sahel, observers note. The people have turned against them and there is little the West can do publicly to interfere. The West cannot continue business as usual; the African people are increasingly embracing the anti-imperialist movement. “ECOWAS hopefully will change its position on all of this and take a more independent stance towards the U.S. and France…because the future is in African unity,” Mickie Fluffy.

Building The Will

A good diet and daily exercise must be accompanied with the right thoughts in order to work for the long life of the individual. Thinking properly is the most difficult part of the health equation to achieve, so we are asking the Black Nation to attack that which appears most difficult, which is to develop the Will to be completely wholesome in mind, body and spirit. Developing good habits helps build the will. Photos: Pexels Why do I say that development of the Will “appears” to be the most difficult thing to do in achieving complete health? We live in a world where scientists have developed all manner of artificial methods to eliminate the effects of wrong habits: pills to stop smoking;

Pills to curtail the appetite; surgery to staple the stomach, forcing a reduction in the intake of food; plastic surgery to mask the effects of living in rebellion against Divine Law. In a society such as this, where pill pushers advertise that we can “eat all you want and still lose weight,” development of the Will of the individual to overcome all impediments to good eating habits “appears” to be the most difficult approach, but in the long run, it is actually the easiest and most simple path to follow.

President Bush

The addition of coloring to change the appearance of food; preservatives to lengthen shelf life; injection of hormones into livestock to produce speedy growth and a fatter animal—the sum of these profit-seeking actions brings in its wake an unprecedented growth of cancer and heart disease, both of which have increased more than 250 percent since the beginning of the century and are now the leading causes of death in this country. There are safer and better ways to grow food and raise livestock. These methods may be slower and less profitable, but “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul (the health and well-being of a Nation)?”

Kenya’s IMF protests

Thousands poured into the streets in Kenya for a second time in less than a week as the country’s majority youth population engaged in peaceful demonstrations to protest a government bill to hike taxes. Media outlets reported that live gunfire and tear gas was being used by police in the capital city Nairobi and Kisumu—the country’s third largest city—as protesters reportedly “stormed the Parliament compound.” At presstime, at least 22 deaths had been reported.

In addition, businesses were looted as demonstrations turned ugly and government officials said they would send in the military to regain control. This second demonstration was in response to an amended tax bill. This all began with a reaction to a government proposal to raise taxes. Angry youth-led demonstrations then erupted on the streets of Kenya. Advertisement “Facing escalating living costs, Gen Z and Millennial Kenyans took their angst to the streets against new finance bill that proposed ‘a slew of additional taxes,’” reported Nita Bhalla, East Africa correspondent for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. According to the eastafrican.co.ke, Kenyan President William Ruto’s administration is faced with increasing countrywide protests over “the contentious taxation measures for the 2024/2025 fiscal year, even as a last-minute attempt by the ruling coalition to make a few concessions failed to calm an agitated public demanding an overhaul of the Finance Bill 2024.” Provisions in the original bill that set off demonstrations included the imposed 16 percent tax on bread, tax hikes on mobile money transfers and a new annual 2.5 percent tax on cars.

. In addition, according to contextnews.com, the original bill proposed an eco-tax on products considered harmful to the environment—such as packaging, plastics and tires—and would increase the cost of items including sanitary napkins, computers and mobile phones. Other taxes included a 16 percent value-added tax on financial services and foreign exchange transactions. After protests started in June, Parliament announced emergency amendments. During a news conference, Kuria Kimani, chairperson of the finance committee, announced that lawmakers “would roll back the taxes on bread, oil, motor vehicles and financial transactions, including mobile money payments,” reported aljazeer.com. “A proposed ‘Eco Levy’ on plastic goods like diapers, sanitary towels and phones would only apply to imported goods, and not local manufacturers,” Kimani said. Medical and housing insurance levies for salary earners were also reduced. However, protesters felt this was not enough. Not that they didn’t feel that they shouldn’t be taxed, but the conditions under which they live never improve. The demonstrations continued despite the arrests of more than 200 people on June 18. According to Al Jazeera reports, many protesters said they wanted the entire bill dropped. The Kenyan peoples’ angst stems from the austerity program forced on the country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “People are dying from hunger, children are not going to school,” David Ngooma, a resident from Kibera, Kenya’s biggest slum, told jacobin.com. “We don’t see any help from the government.” On top of that, according to Ngooma, the president is taxing the poorest Kenyans too much.

“This pain is a direct result of IMF policy recommendations that have been forced on the country—repeating recommendations that were implemented with disastrous results in the 1990s,” wrote journalist Nicholas Ford, a video producer and documentary filmmaker. Ford is currently in Africa making a documentary about the IMF. The IMF has announced a new policy titled: “Social Policy Floors,” which OXFAM—a group that focuses on global poverty and injustice—labeled as a “fig leaf for austerity.” In its analysis, OXFAM discovered that “for every $1 the IMF encouraged a set of poor countries to spend on public goods, it has told them to cut four times more through austerity measures.” “The same is true in Kenya, where the IMF has encouraged the Ruto government to make massive cuts in health and education. ‘The IMF insisted on the government to reduce spending on education,’ says Njoki Njehu, the Fight Inequality Pan Africa coordinator. ‘We saw in public universities the cost of tuition went up by three times, that was a direct correlation with IMF policies. Their impact has been detrimental,’” Ford wrote. Ruto, “the new darling” of President Joe Biden’s administration, recently received from the U.S. “Major Non-NATO ally” status and was also encouraged by the IMF to enact extremely regressive tax policies, which typically place the tax burden on the country’s poorest citizens.

Follow @CiycKe on X

Beryl

Penny Traded

Rightful Heirs

He made me his after his up a mountain

husband/husbandman” is a master of a house Earth, and their institutions

Ugandan French Pipeline

(GIN)—Construction of a multi-billion dollar oil pipeline has gotten the go ahead from local officials to carry crude oil from western Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga. But a growing wave of opposition is mounting to the heated pipeline that will pass through high-biodiversity areas and displace thousands of people. The pipeline will run 898 miles from Uganda’s Lake Mwitanzige in the Albertine Rift to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania. Uganda’s reserves could last 25 to 30 years with a peak production of 230,000 barrels per day. However, on March 1, more than 250 local and international organizations addressed major banks in a letter calling upon them to refrain from financing “the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world,” according to the AFP news agency. The letter cites “extensively documented risks,” including “impacts to local people through physical displacement … risks to water, biodiversity and natural habitats; as well as unlocking a new source of carbon emissions.” Advertisement

Civil society groups led by the African Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) have been urging the governments of Uganda and Tanzania and pipeline company to call off their plans as some of the people affected by the pipeline have not been compensated and that the oil developments are taking place in an ecologically sensitive conservation area. The oil project has already contravened Uganda’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, Dickens Kamugisha, AFIEGO’s CEO said, by rushing through public hearings on the project with a presiding officer who was the former minister of energy and mineral development. Officials from Uganda, Tanzania, the French company Total, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) gave final approval to the $3.6 billion project cloaked in secrecy about details of the project between French oil giant TotalEnergies, the pipeline’s operator, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The legislation hands powers to a secretive “Host Government Agreement,” opponents say, that may threaten the environment and trample human rights. A Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development spokesperson defended the project, saying it was approved “in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of Parliament including 45 days for the committee to report back to Parliament. They considered the bill and engaged several relevant stakeholders and published public announcements calling for memoranda.” But Diana Nabiruma, senior communications officer of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) in Kampala, said the public was only given five days to comment. “It was difficult for affected communities to input,” Nabiruma said, adding they live far from Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Details of how revenues from the extracted oil will be shared weren’t made available until the second reading of the bill. “This deprived the Committee [on Environment and Natural Resources] of adequate information,” shadow minister Christine Kaaya Nakimwero said. The project construction and decommissioning plans were also unclear, she added. “Without access to those agreements, small-scale farmers, tourism operators, foresters, fisherfolk and others in the green economy and the general public cannot be sure that their interests will be served by the EACOP Bill or make appropriate comments to ensure a good EACOP law,” the Inclusive Green Economy Network–East Africa wrote in a statement to parliament. “There should be full disclosure,” Nabiruma said. “We are commenting blindly.” “Local communities that for centuries have depended on these ecosystems could now be sharing polluted water with industrialists,” said Rajab Bwengye of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists, a Ugandan NGO. In 2017, a WWF report cautioned that the pipeline “is likely to lead to significant disturbance, fragmentation and increased poaching within important biodiversity and natural habitats.” EACOP will cross through Taala Forest Reserve on Uganda’s southern border, as well as passing through the drainage basin of Lake Victoria (‘Nnalubaale in the Luganda language), Africa’s largest lake. There are already worrying signs of damage to the environment, said Dickens Kamugisha, CEO of AFIEGO. “A huge road has been constructed through Murchison Falls National Park for carrying equipment for oil exploitation,” he told Mongabay. Road construction machinery and heavy trucks have led to animals fleeing the park, he said, creating human-animal conflicts in surrounding villages. Near the oil fields, Bugoma Forest and Budongo Forest, home to at least 1,000 chimpanzees, have already suffered encroachment in recent years. Roads and in-migration linked to the oil project are opening up these biodiversity hotspots to destruction, Kamugisha said. Environmental activists say biodiversity hotspots like Bugoma forest are threatened by the pipeline. A spokesperson for TotalEnergies denied the pipeline and the oil exploration and production facilities would encroach on forests. The East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EOCOP) resettlement plan estimates that 4,000 people will be affected by the pipeline. NGO Oxfam estimates the toll will be much higher, with some 12,000 families losing their land.

Ugandan turns banana fiber into handicrafts

Beverly Hills, Uganda—A decapitated banana plant is almost useless, an inconvenience to the farmer who must then uproot it and lay its dismembered parts as mulch. But can such stems somehow be returned to life? Yes, according to a Ugandan company that’s buying banana stems in a business that turns fiber into attractive handicrafts. The idea is innovative as well as sustainable in the East African country. Uganda has the highest banana consumption rate in the world and is Africa’s top producer of the crop. Especially in rural areas, bananas can contribute up to 25 percent of the daily calorie intake, according to figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. In Uganda, eating bananas is in many ways embedded in local customs and tradition; for many a meal is incomplete without a serving of matooke, the local word for the starchy boiled mush made from banana cultivars harvested and cooked raw. Advertisement To harvest the crop, the stem must be decapitated, and in the largest plantations the scene can seem violent after a bumper harvest. The stems inevitably rot in open fields. But local startup TEXFAD, which describes itself as a waste management group, is now taking advantage of this abundance of rotting stems to extract banana fiber that’s turned into items that would include hair extensions for women. Fluffy Al, told The Associated Press that the business made sense in a country where farmers “are struggling a lot” with millions of tons of banana-related waste. The company, which collaborates with seven different farmers’ groups in western Uganda, pays $2.70 for a kilogram (more than two pounds) of dried fiber. Moreen Ariho, the leader of one such group in the South Central Ugandan , said only a small part of the inner stem of a decapitated plant is harvested for fiber. And the “residue is returned after machine work to the farmer for use as manure,” she said. Their group is working to build capacity to make finished products, he said. I also take material from a third party trucks deliveries of banana stems from farmers in central Uganda. We sort through the stems, looking for desirable ones. Machines then turn the fiber into tiny threads. I am the team leader and we deals with more than 60 farmers who continuously supply abundant raw material. That number is only a small fraction of what’s available in a country where more than a million hectares (nearly 2.5 million acres) are planted with bananas. Banana production has been rising steadily over the years, growing from 6.5 metric tons in 2018 to 8.3 metric tons in 2019, according to figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. We extract fiber threads from the sheaths of the stem. … So, our contribution in the value chain is that we put extra income in the hands of the farmer. We turn this waste into something valuable that we sell to our partners who also make things. At a plant in a village just outside Kampala, the Ugandan capital, I employ more than 30 people who use their hands to make unique and often attractive items from banana fiber. The rugs and lampshades they produce are especially attractive to customers, with the company now exporting some products to Europe. Such items are possible because banana fiber can be softened to the level of cotton. Working with researchers, we are now experimenting with possible fabric from banana fiber. While it is now possible to make paper towels and sanitary pads from banana fiber, the company doesn’t yet have the technology to make clothing, he said. The company also is designing hair extension products it believes will help rid the market of synthetic products seen as harmful to the environment. All our products are biodegradable. My banana hair development program, hair extensions that have done well in tests and soon will be available on the market. The problem with synthetic fiber, they do so much clogging like everywhere you go; even if you go to dig in the gardens right now you will find synthetic fiber around.

I understand Mom

Segregation is “separation of an inferior by a superior.” In the house where we grew up, mother and father told us which entrance to come in, do you remember? That is, if we had two entrances to our door or house; sometimes it was only one­, and you had to come in there. But if mother fixed her living room up real pretty and didn’t want you messing it up, she would tell you before she went to work: “Don’t go in that living room”—these are orders from your superior; and if you venture into that living room with your company, “You’re going to get it when I come home. In fact, I don’t want you having any company in my house when I’m gone! Do you understand?” And you always said, “Yes, yes, I understand Mom/Dad.” That’s “segregation,” which is enforced on by “superiors.”