Impactivism

Nigerian becomes first black mayor in Ireland

Rotimi Adebari, a Nigerian man who arrived in Ireland as an asylum seeker seven years ago has become the country's first black mayor.

The 43-year-old fled from Nigeria in 2000 because of religious persecution, according to BBC News. After a few weeks, he and his family settled in Portlaoise (pronounced "port leash"), a town of about 18,000 in the Irish midlands. He was elected to the Portlaoise town council in 2004.

His election was publicly challenged in 2005, when local resident Tom Duffy went on a live broadcast on Midlands Radio 3 to speak out against non-Irish people. Following a discussion on the deportation of over 35 non-nationals from Ireland, Duffy boasted, "I am a racist, my views represent about 50% of people."

In an interview with the Laois Nationalist Duffy said Councillor Adebari should not hold a position in the town council due to his nationality.

"He is not Irish, he should not be in the council," Duffy said. "Irish blocklayers can’t get jobs because of them working for nothing," he continued, and added that he hopes to stand in the next local election.

"These foreign immigrants driving around in cars, getting cars from the Government, while single Irish mothers don’t get the same is wrong. If I thought I'd get enough votes, I'd represent the Irish people. I'd look after our own," Duffy said.

(Just for the record, a Department of Justice official later clarified that the Irish government does not, in fact, buy cars for asylum seekers. And while immigrants to Ireland are not known to work for nothing, their low-wage exploitation has been documented.)

Adebari started Optimum Point, a consultancy that trains companies and educational institutions in cross-cultural awareness. He has a Masters in Intercultural Studies from Dublin City University and works for Laois County Council coordinating an integration project for local immigrants.

I wrote on the irony of some Irish people's xenophobia and racism towards immigrants for the Los Angeles Times about six years ago.

But perhaps this latest electoral pact which resulted in Adebari's mayorship represents some progress?

Is that the proper way to treat a man?

Today marks the 34th anniversary of New York's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, which provided the model for America's longest running war: the war on drugs. Under the Rockefeller Drug Laws and the failed drug war, the United States addresses drug use and abuse as a criminal issue, not a public health issue.

As the Drug Policy Alliance points out, the results include: Harsh mandatory minimum sentences. Extreme racial disparities. Mass incarceration. Lack of affordable drug treatment. Loss of civil liberties. Destruction of families. Waste of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Music by Jim Jones from the forthcoming documentary, "Lockdown USA."