The creation of Ushahidi - a interpreted in Swahili as “testimony” or “witness” - was spurred by the bloody political crisis that engulfed Kenya after the general elections this year. Ushahidi is the latest effort to “crowd-source” news gathering on unfolding crises in remote areas via e-mail and mobile phones”, writes Forbes magazine, the latest mainstream media to profile the African-designed, award-winning software that has now gone open-source. Ushahidi, an impressive display of African ingenuity, is a collaborative venture started by four Africans - three bloggers and one web developer. “For us to be featured in Forbes magazine is a big deal for many reasons - it speaks to our entrepreneurial approach to social problems, it speaks to the incredible talent we have in Africa that often doesn’t receive the recognition it deserves in the international media, and it says to me that we are on to something.” - Ory, Ushahidi co-founders. Ushahidi has been used in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
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Many people world-wide have definitely not heard about the following African Scientists and their works: Charles Drew, Garrett Morgan, George Washington Carver, Benjamin Banneker, Elijah McCoy, Lewis Latimer, Jan Matzeliger, Granville Woods, Fred Jones, Otis Boykin and others. Their names and contributions are so important to science and humanity but long years of institutionalised discrimination and parochial ethnocentrism have made their names appear obscure in our often, monoculturally-focused history. Indisputably, Africans have made significant contributions to various areas of science. In the field of chemistry, Africans have developed synthetic drugs for the treatment of chronic ailments. In the field of physics, Africans have helped to invent laser devices for the treatment of cancer patients. 
This book gives the historian, reader, researcher, students, teachers and friends of Africa the opportunity to discover inventors from a world hitherto unknown to many westerners. It is an invaluable book that discloses information on inventors who, until now have remained obscure and unknown. Black Inventors, Crafting Over 200 Years of Success, clearly outlines Black inventors from over seventy countries. 
