The Bantu languages, technically the Narrow Bantu languages, constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages. Bantu languages are spoken largely east and south of the present day country of Cameroon; i.e., in the regions commonly known as central Africa, east Africa, and southern Africa. Parts of the Bantu area include languages from other language families (see map).

The Bantu language with the largest total number of speakers is Swahili. It has over 80 million speakers across eight countries and this number is growing.^{[citation needed]} But most of its speakers use it as a second language; Swahili is the mother tongue of only five million people.^{[citation needed]} According to Ethnologue, Shona is the most widely spoken as a first language; there are 11 to 15 million speakers, depending on definition. Zulu comes second with 10 million.

The Somali Bantu (also called Jareer, Gosha or Mushunguli) are an ethnic minority group in Somalia who primarily reside in the southern part of the country, near the Juba and Shabelle rivers. They are descendants of people from various Bantu ethnic groups, most of whom were captured from Southeast Africa and sold into slavery in Somalia and other areas in Northeast Africa and Asia as part of the 19th century Arab slave trade. Bantus are ethnically, physically, and culturally distinct from Somalis, and they have remained marginalized ever since their arrival in Somalia.

These Bantu are not to be confused with the members of Swahili society in coastal towns, such as the Bajuni, who speak dialects of the Bantu Swahili language.

All in all, the number of Bantu inhabitants in Somalia before the civil war is thought to have been about 80,000 (1970 estimate), with most concentrated between the Juba and Shabelle rivers in the south. However, recent estimates place the figure as high as 900,000 persons.

Richard Twiss (b. June 1954 Rosebud Lakota/Sioux Reservation in South Dakota) is a Native American educator and author. He is a member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate from the Rosebud Lakota Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. He is the Co-Founder and President of Wiconi International (Wee-choe'-nee is Lakota for "life") .

In 1972, Twiss was a participant in the forced occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building in Washington, D.C., with the radical political group, the American Indian Movement or "AIM." Twiss later became a Christian minister, author, and public speaker.

His vision is, "Serve as a bridge builder and consultant, nationally and internationally, to develop understanding, respect and mutual appreciation for one another, especially among Native American/First Nations people."

He and his wife Katherine (married 1976), have four grown sons, and they currently have been residing in Vancouver, Washington since 1981.

Richard's father, Franklin "Buster" Twiss was an enrolled member of the Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. He was a SFC Army veteran, was born on May 7, 1927. He died on August 17, 1999 in Hot Springs and was buried on August 23, 1999 at Black Hills National Cemetery.