Norman (Otis) Richmond

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is attempting to position himself as a champion of the downtrodden. Martin talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk. He put on quite a show at the United Nations 2005 World Summit. “Canada cannot conceive of a world succeeding without the United Nations,” said Martin. “But, make no mistake,…

History will record two Bandung conferences. The one recently concluded, marking the golden jubilee of the first, and the one held in April 1955 at which 29 African and Asian nations met in Bandung, Indonesia to promote economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose colonialism. The idea of the Bandung Conference came from Ahmed Sukarno…

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was assassinated 40 years ago, on February 21, 1965, because of his attempt to internationalize the AfricanAmerican liberation struggle. Malcolm was born 80 years ago on May 19, 1925. While it is unlikely that U.S. President George W. Bush will acknowledge these facts, people from Cape Town to Nova Scotia…

This article first appeared in Share newspaper, serving the Black and Caribbean population of greater Toronto, Canada. Black History Month must be updated for the 21st century. February should be the month that we re-double our struggle against imperialism and White supremacy, and for reparations for slavery, the slave trade and colonialism. This was the…

The late Sam Cooke was a groundbreaking singer/songwriter/producer and entrepreneur. Forty years after his death, Cooke is still getting his props. His DVD, Legend, won a Grammy this year for the Best Long Form Music Video. James Taylor recently sang Cooke’s classic, “A Change is Gonna Come,” on Episode 5 of the hit television series,…

This commentary originally appeared on the web site of CKLN Radio, Toronto, Canada. When Ray Charles first performed in Paris in the 60s, the Algerians sent him a message that he was safe despite the fact that they were fighting a war against French colonialism. It’s the kind of ambiguous tale that looms large in…