African states consider granting dual citizenship to American slave descendants News
African states consider granting dual citizenship to American slave descendants

[JURIST] African and black American leaders this week considered a proposal to grant dual citizenship to American descendants of African slaves in a bid to increase investment and interest in Africa [AllAfrica.com report]. Presidents from 12 African countries and American private sector leaders discussed the idea at a four-day summit [summit website] that concluded Friday in Abuja, Nigeria hosted by the Sullivan Foundation [foundation website]. Former US President Bill Clinton and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz also attended the event. The Sullivan Foundation is named after former US civil rights campaigner Leon Sullivan [profile].

A committee headed by California attorney Anthony Archer will consider how to award dual citizenship, but challenges of how to determine the ancestral homeland of African Americans will present a problem. The committee will consider three proposals for dual citizenship, including granting Africa-wide citizenship through the African Union [official website], granting citizenship through blocs of countries and regional organizations, and allowing individual countries to grant citizenship independently to African Americans who seek citizenship. The group will consider a more concrete proposal at its next summit in 2008. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

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On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

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