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Dr. Chakwera Seeks to Unite Malawi and African Diaspora

NNPA NEWSWIRE — A longtime religious leader who has played a prominent role in helping to change the self-perceptions of his countrymen, Dr. Chakwera said that the past history of corruption in Africa is ending through more democracy and participation by all the people of Africa for a better more sustainable economic, social and political future.

Published

6 years ago

May 13, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

On May 21, 2019 the national elections in Malawi will mark a quarter of a century of multi-party democracy in this developing sub-Saharan African nation.

Prior to that, most published reports in the western news media negatively defined the nation as a democratic “dictatorship.”

When all of the votes are counted this month, Rev. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, a top contender for the presidency, hopes to unify and provide strategic progressive leadership for this landlocked African nation of nearly 19 million citizens.

“We are winding up what’s been a wonderful campaign by going all over this country and talking to people,” Dr. Chakwera told NNPA Newswire in an exclusive interview where he also noted the global importance of the America’s Black Press.

“We have a message of super high-five servant leadership that’s uniting this country and making sure everyone prospers alongside everyone else,” Dr. Chakwera said.

A longtime religious leader who has played a prominent role in helping to change the self-perceptions of his countrymen, Dr. Chakwera said that the past history of corruption in Africa is ending through more democracy and participation by all the people of Africa for a better more sustainable economic, social and political future.

“We need to follow the rule of law because a whole lot of impunity is going on, and for Malawians everywhere, we promise to start building a new Malawi at the end of this month,” he said.

Prior to running for the presidency, Dr. Chakwera helmed the Malawi Assemblies of God for more than 25 years – a position that he was democratically elected to seven consecutive times.

A renowned author, mentor and administrator, Dr. Chakwera also chaired the Board for Pan African Theological Seminary; All Nations Theological Seminary, and he has served as board member for Global University in Springfield, Missouri.

Born on April 5, 1955, Dr. Chakwera once chaired the Association for Pentecostal Theological Education in Africa and he served as a member for the Public Universities Working Committee of Malawi.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chancellor College of the University of Malawi and a Bachelor of Theology with Honors from the University of the North in South Africa, Dr. Chakwera also earned a Masters of Theology from the University of South Africa in Pretoria and a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois.

“I tell you what, we’re really talking about issues of character, about issues to do with a vision and what I’m offering is somewhat different from what is usually the case,” Dr. Chakwera said.

“We want to really have the developmental state that is able to protect our citizens and make sure that each one has a chance to prosper so no one is left behind,” he said.

Malawi is small enough that if “you did something consistently and well enough within a couple of years, it should show something has changed,” Dr. Chakwera said.

“What we’re doing now is to make sure we get everyone on board so that we do exactly that. Most people come here and look at what we have, and they will not fault so much in the policies and the laws, but it is just the implementation that really needs to improve,” he said.

“We want to have the political will which is what everybody says we have a shortage of. So, this is why it’s the issue of character that we want to follow through on.”

Growing up, the presidency wasn’t exactly what Dr. Chakwera aspired to attain, but he said his decision to run really came from a much higher source.

“Sometimes, when you look back and you piece things together, you see how God was leading you,” said Dr. Chakwera, who’s now 64.

Dr. Chakwera’s personal epiphany occurred in 2012.

“That’s when things came to a head. I had thought about serving the nation in many ways and I thought what I was already doing was sufficient,” Dr. Chakwera said.

He enjoyed hosting a weekly and national radio talk show and then did likewise on television where he said some of the more encouraging results manifested itself when of his countrymen began building homes and feeling more empowered.

Attitudes improved and self-esteem rose in the country based on what Dr. Chakwera had accomplished through his church, he said.

“I believe it’s extremely important for the Black Press of America to have a relationship with Africa. It brings the kind of linkage that should always be there but that hasn’t been manifested,” Dr. Chakwera said.

“We need to link up because surprisingly we have a kindred spirit and I believe all of us coming together and putting everything on the table will be helpful to our African American friends and all of Africa and to realize that we’re meant to be better than we are,” Dr. Chakwera said.

The presidential hopeful also reflected on the 400th anniversary of the infamous Transatlantic Slave Trade.

“Right now, we need to say what lessons can we learn. Four hundred years is a long time, but it’s theologically possible that God’s providence permitted for us to come to this stage where we can now take control of our future and destiny. We can’t change the past, but let’s get ahold of our future and shape it the way we want to shape it,” Dr. Chakwera said.

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#NNPA BlackPress

Fighting to Keep Blackness

BlackPressUSA NEWSWIRE — Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 7, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

As this nation observes the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, the words of President Trump reverberate. “This country will be WOKE no longer”, an emboldened Trump offered during his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Since then, Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter this morning that “Elon Musk and his DOGE bros have ordered GSA to sell off the site of the historic Freedom Riders Museum in Montgomery.” Her post of little words went on to say, “This is outrageous and we will not let it stand! I am demanding an immediate reversal. Our civil rights history is not for sale!” DOGE trying to sell Freedom Rider Museum

Also, in the news today, the Associated Press is reporting they have a file of names and descriptions of more than 26,000 military images flagged for removal because of connections to women, minorities, culture, or DEI. In more attempts to downplay Blackness, a word that is interchanged with woke, Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C. Mayor Morial Bowser is allowing the name change to keep millions of federal dollars flowing there. Black Lives Matter Plaza was named in 2020 after a tense exchange between President Trump and George Floyd protesters in front of the White House. There are more reports about cuts to equity initiatives that impact HBCU students. Programs that recruited top HBCU students into the military and the pipeline for Department of Defense contracts have been canceled.

Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing back against this second-term Trump administration’s anti-DEI and Anti-woke message. In the wake of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, several Congressional Black Caucus leaders are reintroducing the Voting Rights Act. South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn and Alabama Congresswoman Terry Sewell are sponsoring H.R. 14, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Six decades ago, Lewis was hit with a billy club by police as he marched for the right to vote for African Americans. The right for Black people to vote became law with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has since been gutted, leaving the nation to vote without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Reflecting on the late Congressman Lewis, March 1, 2020, a few months before his death, Lewis said, “We need more than ever in these times many more someones to make good trouble- to make their own dent in the wall of injustice.”

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Rep. Al Green is Censured by The U.S. House After Protesting Trump on Medicaid

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

In one of the quickest punishments of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the modern era, Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was censured by a 224-198 vote today in the House. His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question. Of the last three censures of members of the U.S. House, two have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus under GOP control. In 2023, Rep. Jamal Bowman was censured.

On the night of March 4, as President Trump delivered a Joint Address to Congress, Rep. Green interrupted him twice. Rep. Green shouted, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicare, and you need to raise the cap on social security,” to President Trump. In another rare event, Rep. Green was escorted off the House floor by security shortly after yelling at the President by order of GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson. Over the last four years, members of Congress have yelled at President Biden during the State of the Union. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Greene was joined by Republican Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-CO) in 2022 in yelling at President Biden. In 2023, Rep. Greene, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) yelled at Biden, interrupting his speech. In 2024, wearing a red MAGA hat, a violation of the rules of the U.S. House, Greene interrupted Biden again. She was never censured for her behavior. Rep. Green voted “present” on his censure and was joined by freshman Democrat Congressman Shomari Figures of Alabama who also voted “present”.

All other members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against censuring Green. Republicans hold a four-seat advantage in the U.S. House after the death of Texas Democrat and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner yesterday. Ten Democrats voted along with Republicans to censure Rep. Green, including Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is in the leadership as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I respect them but, I would do it again,” and “it is a matter of conscience,” Rep. Green told Black Press USA’s April Ryan in an exclusive interview on March 5. After the vote, a group of Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” in the well at the front of the House chamber. Several Republican members attempted to shout down the singing. House Speaker Mike Johnson gaveled the House out of session and into a recess. During the brief recess members moved back to their seats and out of the well of the House. Shortly after the vote to censor Rep. Green, Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee quickly filed legislation to punish members who participated in the singing of “We Shall Overcome.” Earlier this year, Rep. Ogles filed legislation to allow President Donald Trump to serve a third term, which is currently unconstitutional. As the debate started, the stock market dove down over one-point hours from close. The jobs report will be made public tomorrow.

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Trump Moves to Dismantle Education Department

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The Trump administration is preparing to issue an executive order directing newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education. While the president lacks the authority to unilaterally shut down the agency—requiring congressional approval—McMahon has been tasked with taking “all necessary steps” to reduce its role “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The administration justifies the move by claiming the department has spent over $1 trillion since its 1979 founding without improving student achievement. However, data from The Nation’s Report Card shows math scores have improved significantly since the 1990s, though reading levels have remained stagnant. The pandemic further widened achievement gaps, leaving many students behind.

The Education Department provides about 10% of public-school funding, primarily targeting low-income students, rural districts, and children with disabilities. A recent Data for Progress poll found that 61% of voters oppose Trump’s efforts to abolish the agency, while just 34% support it. In Washington, D.C., where student proficiency rates remain low—22% in math and 34% in English—federal funding is crucial. Serenity Brooker, an elementary education major, warned that cutting the department would worsen conditions in underfunded schools.

“D.C. testing scores aren’t very high right now, so cutting the Department of Education isn’t going to help that at all,” she told Hilltop News. A report from the Education Trust found that low-income schools in D.C. receive $2,200 less per student than wealthier districts, leading to shortages in essential classroom materials. The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

The Office for Civil Rights also plays a key role in enforcing laws that protect students from discrimination. Moving it to the Department of Justice, as proposed in Project 2025, would make it harder for families to file complaints, leaving vulnerable students with fewer protections. Federal student aid programs, including Pell Grants and loan repayment plans, could face disruption if the department is dismantled. Experts warn this could worsen the student debt crisis, pushing more borrowers into default. “With funding cuts, they don’t have the materials they need, like books or things to help with math,” Brooker said. “It makes learning less fun for them.”