The Cafe' [Think Tank]

President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office preparing a speech on tax revision on May 24, 1985.  Scott Stewart, file via AP When Ronald Reagan was governor of California he made racist comments in a 1971 phone call with President Richard Nixon. Reagan was angry at African delegates in the UN for siding against the US in a vote to recognize the People's Republic of China, and he described them as "monkeys." "To see those, those monkeys from those African countries — damn them, they're still uncomfortable wearing shoes!" Reagan said. Reagan's comments prompted laughter from Nixon. The release of this conversation came as President Donald Trump faces backlash over racist tweets he sent about several congresswomen of color and disparaging comments he made toward the city of Baltimore. Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories. In 1971, Ronald Reagan, then the governor of California, made racist remarks in a phone conversation with f...

The world has seen a few true geniuses over the course of time. Some of the most well-known brains are, of course, Isaac newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Could a third emerge from today’s young generation of thinkers? Clearly, a good memory is important for children to learn and retain new information, both in school and at home. In fact, according to psychologist and author  Tracy Packiam Alloway , “working memory is linked not just to learning (from kindergarten to college), but for decision making in everyday activities.” Thanks to the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world,  Mensa , it has become possible to know the IQs of many children and trust me African American kids are not left out. Support Pan-African Journalism SUBSCRIBE MORE ABOUT THIS Nigerian woman who was locked up in a dark room for two years for visiting her ex husband gains her freedom At age 17, he built Nigeria’s first locally-made drone and on a mission to bui...

Henri Christophe is revered as a hero among the Haitians and many within the African diaspora today. Born on this day in 1767 as a former slave of Bambara ethnicity in West Africa, and believed to be of Igbo descent, Christophe was a military leader in the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) that ended both slavery and French colonial rule on the Caribbean island. He later became president and king of the then young nation. History  says that he was brought to French colonial Haiti, then known as Saint Domingue most likely from the Kitts. Support Pan-African Journalism SUBSCRIBE MORE ABOUT THIS Charles Deslondes: The Haitian slave overseer who led a failed 1811 uprising in New Orleans This Haitian city is ungoverned and a trailblazer for the world’s growing cities How Haiti became the first country before Britain to abolish slavery after revolt Christine Souffrant Ntim: The Haitian entrepreneur and powerhouse who is changing the game He subsequently worked...

A Shabbat service is underway at the Ghihon Hebrew Research synagogue in the Jikwoyi suburb of Nigeria's federal capital territory. Fourteen year-old Kadmiel Izungu Abor heads there with his family. They walk alongside stray goats on a road covered in red dust and potholes, lined with open sewage. They are nearly 20 kilometers away from the modern multi-story office buildings and sprawling mansions in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja. About 50 people gather in the synagogue. They pray from the Siddur, they read from the Torah and as they chant, Abor's mellow alto begins to rise. In a country of 162 million people tensions often lead to  violent uprisings  between Christians and Muslims and being part of the religious minority can be an issue. But Abor wears his kippah and his identity with pride. "I am a Jewish Igbo," he says. The Igbo are one of Nigeria's largest ethnic groups with population estimates ranging from 20 to 50 million. Abor is convi...

The Mother of Modern Medicine" by Kadir Nelson, oil on linen (CNN) Her cells are responsible for the polio vaccine, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization to name a few. But for a long time most of the public didn't know her contribution to modern medicine. Neither did she because her cells were harvested without her consent. This week, the Smithsonian unveiled a portrait of Henrietta Lacks, the black tobacco farmer who ended up changing the world. Her cells have allowed for advances in cancer treatment, AIDS research, cloning, stem-cell studies and so much more. They traveled to the moon to test the effects of zero gravity, and scientists have sold and purchased them by the billions. The oil-on-linen work, "Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine" will hang inside one of the main entrances of the National Portrait Gallery through November. No other painted portrait of Lacks existed before this,  said Dorothy Mo ss, the curator ...

Hip hop mogul and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs released a statement Thursday in support of Entertainment Studios Network (ESN) founder Byron Allen, who is currently squaring off against the cable TV provider Comcast in  a Supreme Court case  that could seriously impact the future of racial discrimination lawsuits. Allen, head of ESN, filed a $20 billion lawsuit against Comcast in February 2015, alleging that the telecom giant refused to carry his cable channels in part because they’re black-owned. Allen, in his original complaint, alleged Comcast executives gaslit him and made racist statements during their negotiations. As  Variety  reports, Comcast rebuffed Allen’s claims, saying their decision to not run his seven lifestyle cable channels was strictly business-based: there was simply not enough audience demand for the ESN channels. Combs’ network, REVOLT TV, was also named by Comcast as evidence of the telecommunications conglomerate’s diverse and ...