Remembering Latunde Odeku; first Black African neurosurgeon trained in the U.S.

Latunde Odeku was the first African-American neurosurgeon trained in the United States and Africa’s first neurosurgeon. Born Emmanuel Olatunde Alaba Olanrewaju Odeku on June 29, 1927, in Lagos, Nigeria, Odeku received his M.D. from the Howard University College of Medicine in 1954. The son of a Baptist deacon, Odeku obtained his preliminary education in Lagos, Nigeria, attending St. John’s School, Aroloya and later proceeded to the Methodist Boys’ High School where he took and passed the London Matriculation Examination in 1945. Odeku moved to the United States in 1947, where he would receive his undergraduate and professional medical education, graduating from Howard University with a B.S. degree in zoology in 1950.

What Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. wrote about his son’s assassination.

legendary civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., until he was fatally shot on this day in 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, was a preacher who used the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience to fight for equality and justice. At 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, April 4, 1968, King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had come to lead a peaceful march in support of striking sanitation workers. News of King’s death sparked racial violence, leading to the death of more than 40 people nationwide.

Zimbabwe approves herbal treatment for COVID-19

Could herbal treatment be the answer to the deadly coronavirus? The government of Zimbabwe believes so. In recent years, the treatments and remedies used in traditional African medicine have gained more appreciation from researchers in science. In Zimbabwe, the government has authorized herbalists to treat coronavirus patients. However, medical experts have urged the government to stick to WHO guidelines on how to contain the virus. 

Ugandan ‘Housemaids’ Flown Home After Being ‘Trafficked’ in Saudi Arabia

A group of Ugandan women were flown out of Saudi Arabia this week by their government and returned home, after being victims of human trafficking, reports the BBC. Seven women who thought they were relocating to Saudi Arabia for work as housemaids ended up in a shelter in the city of Riyadh because they lacked the funds to pay for their flights back home.

‘We’re sleeping outside’ – China evicts Africans from apartments over coronavirus

Chinese officials have started evicting hundreds of African residents and businessmen from hotels and apartments as they are being accused of having the novel coronavirus. The Africans say they are just being targeted under the guise of a testing campaign for the global pandemic also known as COVID-19. Some of them alleged that they have been placed under forced quarantine without being told about the results of their tests.