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Ebun Olaloye and Domenick Cucinotta the innovators of the Live Breathe Futbol, LBF clothing line have expanded their online brand to a be brick and mortar establishment in the town of Media, Pennsylvania. (more…)

“We, the people of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:
That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people.”
— Opening words of the Freedom Charter

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, his middle name is an isiXhosa name which means “pulling the branch of a tree”; colloquially it means “troublemaker”, his father gave him this name. The former president of the nation, the Republic of South Africa, will forever be remembered as the man who unified a nation of diverse races. He was the country’s first black African president. His election as president marked the beginning of the end of the tyrannical period of apartheid. After nearly thirty years of  being confined to a tiny Robben Island Prison cell, Nelson Mandela’s successful campaign for office marked the beginning of a new era for South Africa, and for the world.

On December 5, 2013 at the age of ninety-five years-old, Madiba,  the name of the clan from which the late African statesman comes, succumbed to natural causes. A clan name is much more important than a surname as it refers to the ancestor from which a person is descended. Madiba was the name of a Thembu chief who ruled in the Transkei in the 18th century.

It is considered courteous to use someone’s clan name. In this case it is also an expression of deep respect and affection for the former president of a country that had previously been seemingly incommensurable until he was elected as the nation’s first black South African president. (more…)

To us, this incident is as hilarious as a scene from a 1930s Marx Brothers’ comedy movie featuring Harpo Marx. Finally, an  interpreter who tells the truth. Many people are outraged by the actions of Thamsanqa Jantjie. People, deaf people in particular, are signing, or saying, he is a fake and a phony. We think Thamsanqa Jantjie was the only honest person on the podium in the Soweto stadium!

 

 

“Perhaps Mr. Jantjie does have some form of genuine mental infirmity. Reports say he says he suffers from schizophrenia. He sees BS all around him. Clearly he’s not alone. “

In case you missed the controversy it surrounds one Thamsanqa Jantjie, a sign language interpreter hired by the South African government to interpret the speeches presented by the various South African and international dignitaries who delivered remarks at the memorial held in the stadium near Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa for the late Nelson Mandela.

Nelson R. Mandela, after spending more than twenty years in prison, jailed as a terrorist, following his release from confinement, Mandela became the first democratically elected black South African president. He died earlier in December 2013 at the age of 95 years.

It seems, according to the thus far official explanation provided by a female South African deputy Cabinet minister,  Mr. Jantjie was hired through a cut-rate, “lie-by-day/fly-by-night” temporary employment agency; it seems one specializing in supplying personnel to interpret for the hearing impaired. Or, this is the cover story. (more…)