Author: chicagoinquirer

by Emeka ObasiHe is no Jack of all trade, this one knows his way round leadership and from the military, Jack Keonyemere Lincoln ( LKJ) Ogunewe is gradually settling into political engineering. For a man who enlisted as a teenager, his civility is infectious.Gen. Ogunewe has eyes on the Imo State Government House which I will never refer to as Douglas House because it is a huge shame that a man who dealt with Mbaise in the colonial period is celebrated in the Imo State capital.Ogunewe is an Mbaise man from Ezinihite. I do not not know how he feels…

by Corey Williams The Rev. James Stokes remembers Grand Rapids following the slaying of George Floyd, when demonstrations devolved into rioting that left businesses damaged and scores of people arrested. Stokes and other leaders in the western Michigan city desperately wanted to avoid a similar outbreak of violence when a white Grand Rapids police officer fatally shot Patrick Lyoya, a Black motorist, last April. After video of that shooting was publicly released, outrage in the community grew, and some feared a violent response. But the protests — while loud and angry — were peaceful. No buildings were burned. No shops…

by Andrew Seligma CHICAGO  — Zach LaVine scored 36 points, DeMar DeRozan added 31 and the Chicago Bulls used a huge second half to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 128-107 and overcome Ja Morant’s triple-double Sunday. The Bulls outscored the Western Conference’s second-place team 75-39 over the final two quarters after trailing by 23. They dominated the Grizzlies 40-16 in the third, ending it on a 17-0 run while taking the lead. And they responded with another big push in the fourth after Memphis pulled within three. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 31 points and made five 3-pointers for the Grizzlies, who…

CHICAGO  — A state appeals court has ordered a new trial for the man accused of gunning down a Chicago honor student days after she had performed at Barack Obama’s 2013 presidential inauguration. Micheail Ward was found guilty in connection with the death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton and sentenced to 84 years in prison in 2019. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday that the 1st District Appellate Court ruled that detectives improperly extracted a confession from Ward after he invoked his right to remain silent at least three times during a 12-hour interrogation. Ward was 18 years old at the time…

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It’s been 17 years since the African Festival of the Arts started in Chicago. Patrick Woodtor, a Liberian American was the brain behind it all along. However, last year some board members stepped down for younger generations and Joseph M. Harrington, an  assistant commissioner with the City of Chicago  becomes the first African American board chairman of the African International House.  In an interview with Adenike Oluwadare, staff writer with the Chicago Inquirer, he espoused his vision for the festival and other programs in waiting for the largest community event in the windy City. Excerpts: Inquirer: How has it been…

by Chris Megerian LUSAKA, Zambia  — Vice President Kamala Harris may have traveled halfway around the world to reach this corner of Africa, but she was welcomed as a “daughter of our own country” when she sat down with Zambia’s leader. The visit, President Hakainde Hichilema said, was “like a homecoming.” It was a reference to a childhood trip to Zambia when Harris’ grandfather worked here, but she heard similar refrains throughout her weeklong trip to Africa that ended Saturday. In Ghana, President Nana Akufo-Addo told Harris “you’re welcome home.” In Tanzania, a sign in Swahili told Harris to “feel…

by Patrick Rose CHICAGO— William Contreras hit a tiebreaking two-run single in Milwaukee’s three-run eighth inning, and the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Saturday for the team’s first win of the season. Brandon Woodruff pitched six sharp innings for Milwaukee, and Devin Williams worked a rocky ninth for the save. The Brewers lost 4-0 to the Cubs on Thursday on opening day. Dansby Swanson collected three more hits for Chicago, and Ian Happ homered. Justin Steele struck out eight in six innings. The Cubs led 1-0 before the Brewers rallied in the eighth in cold, windy conditions at…

by Mary Clare Jalonick, Colleen Long and Lindsay Whitehurst WASHINGTON  — Nine months ago, President Joe Biden signed a sweeping bipartisan gun law, the most significant legislative response to gun violence in decades. “Lives will be saved,” he said at the White House. The law has already prevented some potentially dangerous people from owning guns. Yet since that signing last summer, the tally of mass shootings in the United States has only grown. Five dead at a nightclub in Colorado. Eleven killed at a dance hall in California. And just this past week, three 9-year-olds and three adults were shot…

by Chris Megerian LUSAKA, Zambia  — Vice President Kamala Harris is pushing for $7 billion in private-sector investments to help Africa prepare for the effects of climate change. The announcement comes as she wraps up her weeklong trip to the continent on Saturday. Harris plans to visit a farm outside Lusaka where workers are using new techniques and technology to grow more produce, part of her effort to demonstrate ways to secure food supplies despite global warming. “The United States is committed to these types of innovative solutions to support climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience,” she said Friday during a…