Video: Esperanza Spalding - "Crowned & Kissed"

The brand new video of the song "Crowned & Kissed" from her album Radio Music Society.

Keti Koti festival 2012 - Commemoration abolition of slavery on July 1st in Amsterdam

Keti Koti (Breaking the Chains) is the annual celebration and commemoration of the abolition of slavery in 1863 in the former Dutch colonies on July 1st. It will be celebrated in the City of Amsterdam in the Oosterpark on Sunday July 1st.

VIDEO: Hip Hop on trial: Hip-hop doesn't enhance society, it degrades it (London)

Is Hip Hop the authentic voice of the oppressed that turns anger into poetry and political action? Or is it a glorification of all that holds back oppressed minorities and hinders them from mainstream assimilation?

Video: Sherry Davis from London - "Aint That Love"

UK songstress Sherry Davis from East London will release her debut single "Ain't That Love" in July, but here is the brand new video.

Hardly any minorities in new French parliament

Seybah Dagoma is one of the few "minority" MP's

AFP - The new French parliament following Sunday's election will have only 10 MPs from minorities in the 577-seat chamber, a number deemed inadequate by a rights group.

Robert Glasper Experiment - Afro Blue (Feat. Erykah Badu)

Covering Mongo Santamaría classic "Afro Blue" (made famous by John Coltrane), Robert Glasper teams up with Erykah Badu to recreate it on his album Black Radio.

Video: People of African Descent fellowship program of the UN

Although the International Year for People of African Descent is closed, the UN still has a special Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent. In 2011 the happy few shared their ideas and plans in a small video presentation.

EURO 2012: Black football players representing their home country.

Black Italian players Ogbonna & Balotelli

The EURO 2012 (short for the UEFA Euro Championship 2012), the greatest European football (soccer) competition, is taking place in Ukraine and Poland this year. Although football in Europe is one of the most culturally and racially diverse environments, racism is widespread among football fans, especially in Eastern Europe. This is a paradox but hearing racist chants or monkey like sounds each time a black player of the opposite team is touching the ball is rather common in a European football stadium. However, I will not discuss racism here.

Brazilian TV drama: Black boy in love with white girl who despises him

Scene with actor Jean Paulo Campos (right) who playes Cirilo

Brazilian journalist and activist Daniela Gomes of Afroatitudes recently wrote an interesting piece on race, interracial relationships and about what she defines as "Cirilo’s Syndrome". Cirilo is a character in the new remake of the television soap “Carrossel”, a drama about the daily life in a elementary school.

Book: "Imagine if Black Artists Actually Mattered" - In Germany?

Black artists in Germany find themselves – necessarily – in a position in which double-consciousness; subversiveness and resistance – implicit and explicit – become essential strategies to be used in their work if they wish to survive in this predominantly white context.

“Imagine if Black Artists Actually Mattered?”, the first edition of the Witnessed series, answers the questions of how a society which has achieved true equality could look and what the central role of the artist is in shaping or creating these visions? What would Black artistic practices in the context of such a visionary society look like? What actions are possible beyond reaction and resistance?

Euro 2012: Holland Black players subjected to racist abuse at training session

Dutch players Nigel de Jong and Gregory van der Wiel

Guardian: Monkey chants aimed at Dutch squad in Krakow. Captain Van Bommel anger as Uefa denies racial motivation

Holland's Mark van Bommel is thought to be unhappy about Uefa's response to racist abuse at his team's training camp.

Kanye West Turned Down at Restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium

Kanye West and Jay Z are touring Europe with their Watsch the Throne show. On the 3rd June they had a phenomenal concert in Antwerp and played before an audience of nearly 20.000.

Kanye West planned to have dinner in downtown Antwerp and had arranged a reservation at Brasserie Appelmans, close to the main square. When Kanye and his entourage arrived at the restaurant the manager had no idea who he was would and did not let him in. He explained the kitchen was closed and advised them to go to a restaurant on the opposite side of the street, Da Giovanni.

Ivy Quainoo wins "Voice of Germany" contest

H/T Blackgermans
Ivy Quainoo, the 19-year-old from Berlin, won the first “Voice of Germany” contest in February 2012.  She won the contest with the song "Do you like what you see". Quainoo, whose family is originally from Ghana, triumphed over American Kim Sanders, 43, who lives in Darmstadt and Max Giesinger, 23 and Michael Schulte 21, according to The Local

Makode Linde's "black faces" project in the Royal park in Stockholm – Jun 8 - 9

Makode Linde and Kamen Zlatev - Photo: Paula Slav

Swedish artist Makode Linde, know for his controversial "blackface cake", continues to work with his high-profile art project "Afromantics". Right now the artist is looking for 13 volunteers for a performance in the Royal park in Stockholm on 8 and 9 June. Participants will sit at a table, eating good food and drinking wine.

Germany (after the reunification) elects its first Black Mayor

Photo: Allvoices

The title of this post was Germany elects its first Black Mayor. It appears that Der Spiegel made a mistake and corrected the story. John Ehret is not the first black Mayor in Germany. But the previous mayors were installed in former East-Germany, so Ehret is the first black mayor after the Reunification.

Germany has its first black mayor. The 40-year-old John Ehret, whose father was an African-American soldier and mother a native German, won the local elections in the small village of Mauer near Heidelberg on June 1st, Der Spiegel reported. With the election Germany has joined the ranks of other European countries.

French Basics - 105 minutes to learn French

French fashion, culture and arts blogger Les 100 mondes de Solange posted a video on how to learn basic French in 105 minutes. Apparently she felt that non-Francophones should learn her language. And she is right.

BLACK! - Life Style Magazine from Germany

BLACK! Life Style Magazine is a German magazine that focuses directly on a broad range of afro related lifestyle topics.

As the title suggests BLACK! addresses everyone who can identify themselves with afro- culture and considers it to be a vital part of their lifestyle. However, BLACK! also speaks to everyone who is interested in afro culture and would like to learn more about it.

BLACK! was founded by German editor Heike Kankam-Boadu, whose parents are from Ghana in West Africa and was first and foremost a pilot project which started as an internet platform in early 2011, featuring video interviews on BLACK! TV, articles and picture shows around fashion, beauty and many more.