May 15, 2012
- On the 28th 26th April, Zanele returned home from Seoul, South Korea to discover that all her work between 2008 and 2012 stored on 20 hard drives and including backups had been stolen on the 20th. The thieves also stole her cameras, lens, memory sticks and laptops. There are no words to describe Zanele’s feelings [...]
- Do not forgive me, I am nuanced. For to write a short review of a friend/publisher/editor/colleague’s book is to traffic in subjective subtleties; the kind that, incidentally, populates City of Memories, Richard Ali’s new novel and first book. I am thinking of courage. “Some books are acts of courage,” writes the Washington Post in response [...]
May 14, 2012
- Following the recent guilty verdict delivered to Charles Taylor [read my commentary here] I conducted a number of interviews in the Hague immediately following the verdict. To listen to the interviews, visit SOAS Radio
May 1, 2012
- Much has changed since I covered the first day of Charles Taylor’s trial for Pambazuka News on June 4, 2007. That day, he failed to show up to court, calling the case against him a “farce.” Today, he was in full view, stoic, resolute and somber. As I sat in the public gallery of the [...]
April 20, 2012
- Shailja Patel writing in Pambazuka News responds to the shockingly brutalisation of African women’s bodies by the Swedish Artists Organisation – Lets be clear this action and the response by the artists in question does not stand alone. It should be studied closely in itself AND along with the growing acceptance of racism and racist [...]
- April 12, 1980 is often described as the beginning of Liberia’s end. I think of it as the preface to Liberia’s long, complicated biography, the beginning of our awakening. It was a day when our pomp and circumstance left a deafening echo; when we were all exposed, laid bear by the realization that being the [...]
April 17, 2012
- The fundamental principle underlying the right to a fair trial is that every individual is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Hence no one individual should be treated like a criminal until a court of law has passed a decision declaring them so. Even if the circumstantial evidence points to the guilt of the [...]
April 12, 2012
- Military governments found their most marked expression on the African continent recording an unprecedented eighty-five violent coups and rebellions from the time of the Egyptian revolution in 1952 until 1998.Seventy-eight of these took place between 1961 and 1997. Undoubtedly, West Africa was the worst affected region and it continues to experience more coups, rebellions and [...]
April 8, 2012
- Reality Check: Sexy Chocolate – M.I.A. While in retrospect, the films of the Blaxploitation era provided us with many cringe-worthy moments, they did contribute two things that can be viewed as positive. Black actors got work. And it was abundantly clear not only that Black was beautiful, but it was damn sexy to boot!Many a [...]
April 2, 2012
- Did you just cringe from this direct affront of a title? Then that might be the hypocrite in you, the sappy morality you probably incurred from a decent upbringing and/or religious beliefs. I am of a modest upbringing too: a good childhood, a roof over my head and parental censorship, one of which included my mother [...]