African Americans celebrate 50 years of Kwanzaa

Millions of African Americans are observing a holiday that was once promoted as an alternative to Christmas. Kwanzaa began 50 years ago to help African Americans in the US reconnect with their African heritage.

Last year, to mark four centuries since the start of slavery, Ghana launched a project to encourage people of African descent from around the world to visit their motherland. As a result, some 750,000 people heeded the call and travelled to the country in 2019. But some African-Americans have gone even further and have answered the call to settle and invest on the continent, transforming their trauma into an entrepreneurial force. Our West Africa correspondents report from Togo and Benin.

The killing of George Floyd has triggered nationwide protests in the US. But they also reflect larger frustrations with policing and the disproportionate number of African Americans killed by officers.

In the US, the Covid-19 vaccine programme is being rolled out, but the shots are not getting into the arms of many people who need it most, particularly Black Americans. They make up just 13 percent of the US population, but account for more than 15 percent of Covid-19 deaths. And desite promises to increase equality in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, little has been done to improve vaccine access in disadvantaged neighbourhoods where the majority of essential workers live. Our Los Angeles correspondents Valérie Defert, Pierrick Leurent and Ryan Thompson report.