Mariana Sanchez reports for the Al Jazeera network about  how a racist campaign message highlights the problems Afro Ecuadorians face. 

Roberto Lovato writes on his Of América blog about the disappointment Black activists are feeling about the fact that the administration of President Barack Obama did not attend the Durban Review conference in Geneva, Switzerland. "Regardless of country, creed or political orientation, all of the members of the African diaspora I interviewed hailed the election of U.S President Barack Obama as a great global milestone.

"But, after inhaling and closing their eyes at the thought of the first black President to occupy the most powerful seat on earth, many of these same African-descended participants then opened their eyes, gazed at the empty Conference chairs behind the sign saying 'Etat Unis' (United States) and let out any number of thoughts and concerns about such issues as racial profiling, political participation, reparations, xenophobia, media racism, defining the transatlantic slaver trade as crime against humanity and the discrimination of migrant workers."

Natasha G. posts a story on the care2.com website about how the affirmative action system in Brazil is having problems determining who fits its requirements:

"Tatiana Oliveira, a 22 year old student, has stirred up controversy in Brazil for being admitted to the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) under its quota system for Afro-Brazilians, and then dropped soon after.

"The quota system requires 11 percent of admitted students to be black or pardo (roughly translated as mixed). Oliveira applied and was admitted to UFSM under this quota, as the daughter of a white woman and pardo man, and granddaughter of a black woman.

"However one week into her studies, she was taken in for an interview with the director and the school's affirmative action commission due to doubts about her qualifications. She was asked about her race and whether she had ever been discriminated against."

Hidden kingdom of the Afro-Bolivians

"It is a three-hour journey on a winding route known as the Death Road from La Paz to the region of Los Yungas, a patch of rainforest in the Andes Mountains," writes Andres Schipani for the BBC News.

"...Afro-Bolivians are traditionally farmers, growing citrus, coffee and banana trees. But today many grow coca.

"Los Yungas is one of the two places in Bolivia where coca - cocaine's raw material - can be grown legally, albeit in limited amounts."