Black Looks

• Negrillon: young voices from Haiti

  Posted: February 28, 2010, 7:17 pm by Sokari

  Music from Camp Guatemala, Haiti

• Walter Riley report back on the 1000s left out of humanitarian aid

  Posted: February 28, 2010, 5:38 pm by Sokari

  Human Rights lawyer, Walter Riley speaks of about his experience of the earthquake and Haitian activist Pierre Labossiere explains that the emergency relief system put in place by President Aristide was destroyed after the 2004 US/France back coup and the trained volunteers jailed or kicked out of Haiti. Haiti from New America Media on Vimeo.

• Homophobia in Uganda preventing HIV/AIDs access & treatment

  Posted: February 27, 2010, 2:26 pm by Sokari

  Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) explains how homophobia and the denial that MSM exist, plus criminalisation is preventing access to HIV/AIDs treatment.

• Proudly African & Transgender: A cultural intervention for social justice

  Posted: February 24, 2010, 1:16 am by Sokari

  Portraits and narratives of ten transgendered Africans from seven countries in East and Southern Africa by Gabrielle Le Roux in partnership with IGLHRC exhibited for the first time by Amnesty International – Amsterdam.

• Proudly African & Transgender: Portraits

  Posted: February 24, 2010, 12:28 am by Sokari

  Portraits and narratives of ten transgendered Africans from seven countries in East and Southern Africa by Gabrielle Le Roux in partnership with IGLHRC exhibited for the first time by Amnesty International – Amsterdam. Zimbabwe: Amanda Uganda: Julius South Africa: Bongi Burundi: Flavia Uganda: Victor Mukasa Namibia: Madam Jholerina Kenya: Marsha Uganda: Salongo Namibia: Silva Botswana: Skipper Mogapi

• Video tour of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill

  Posted: February 18, 2010, 4:48 pm by Sokari

  Excellent video spelling out the life and Death details of the Ugandan Bill presently under discussion. Please circulate. Via Waking Up Now

• Multinationals on trial

  Posted: February 17, 2010, 5:35 pm by Sokari

  Shell, Chevron in the Niger Delta, Texaco/ Chevron in the Ecuadoran Amazon – both examples of militarisation of commerce and corporate theft and violence against communities. In 1993 the communities of Lago Agrio in Ecuador sued Chevron / Texaco for $27 billion [Aguinda v. Texaco] for environmental damage. Judgment on the case [...]

• “A Word for Haiti”

  Posted: February 17, 2010, 4:18 pm by Sokari

  Blacklondoners Appeal, a London based group are calling on all writers for contribution of short stories, poems and lyrics to a collection of works to be published in May 2010. The book, A Word for Haiti, will be part of BlackLondoners year long appeal to raise funds for Haiti. BlackLondoners Appeal is about grassroots organizations and [...]

• Solange

  Posted: February 16, 2010, 5:09 pm by Annie Quarcoopome

  Sol Ange Earth Angel Deep brown eyes set in khol innocent despair cast in stone Your high arched brow asks sweet questions of hard life Sol-ange with feet that cannot fly tread softly on master’s heart while the others run Pounding the red earth smooth beneath the soles of soldiers’ boots beneath The souls of fighting folk Solange of the delicate thighs and soft [...]

• “Kill gay people” march through Kampala today

  Posted: February 15, 2010, 5:56 pm by Sokari

  Rainbow Uganda activist Andrew Waiswa just published this report by followers of “Evil Postor Ssempa” in Kampala – I think it is from this morning.   Video of march on Facebook “As i write now, there is a big demonstrating taking place in the main of Jinja town. I followed them from Kampala to cover every detail. [...]

• Dont feed the Haitians – they already get one meal a day

  Posted: February 15, 2010, 5:20 pm by Sokari

  A month after the Haitian earthquake and still thousands are without water, food, medical care and shelter.  The white washing by the media around the distribution of humanitarian aid continues the latest was a visit by Brangelina Jolie with an insipid interview and some whitewashed photo shots in tented hospitals – No she has not [...]

• Clifton, honored poet from Buffalo, dies

  Posted: February 15, 2010, 11:46 am by Rethabile

  By Jay Rey NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: February 14, 2010, 12:14 Lucille Clifton, born and raised in the Buffalo area before going on to achieve some of the literary world’s highest honors as a major American poet, died Saturday morning at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore at age 73, her sister told The Buffalo News. Clifton [...]

• Happy Valentines Day from WOZA, MOZA

  Posted: February 14, 2010, 1:07 am by Sokari

  700 members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise – WOZA and MOZA marched through Harare with Valentine cards, roses and copies of the WOZA report on the state of democracy in Zimbabwe In typical WOZA fashion, six protests started separately and converged on the offices of the Herald. The peaceful groups sang as they [...]

• Comments: Why Africa is poor

  Posted: February 13, 2010, 8:06 pm by Rethabile

  25 Comments http://sotho.blogsome.com/2006/06/20/why-is-africa-poor/trackback/ (This link leads to the original blog post generating the buzz below) 1. I most heartily agree with all of that, only I missed the point about the number of African countries: surely with all the European-encouraged tribalism a finer division could (not necessarily, of course!) end up in a lot of poorer countries [...]

• The trees no longer hide the wood as Nolly arrives in Holly

  Posted: February 12, 2010, 6:02 pm by Sokari

  Nigerian actress Hilda Dokubo has been nominated for best actress in this year’s Oscars for her portrayal of Queen Amina of Zaria. Ms Dokubo [pictured below with her close friends and sistas, the mischievious peace activists Sokari Ekine and Emem Okon] is the first Nigerian to be nominated for the Oscars. On Tuesday, thousands of Nigerian [...]

• Howls of protest at Dennis Brutus concert

  Posted: February 9, 2010, 12:34 pm by Rethabile

  Written by John Chimunhu, Monday, 08 February 2010 10:53 HARARE – A memorial concert for the late Zimbabwe-born South African poet, academic and social activist, Dennis Brutus, turned into a howl of protest against President Robert Mugabe’s social policies. The event on January 29 was organised by Zimcodd, Magamba Cultural Activist Network and SAPSN at the Book [...]

• Interview with Haitian activist Rea Dol

  Posted: February 8, 2010, 8:24 pm by Sokari

  Rea Dol is grassroots community organiser and founder of SOPUDEP school in Port-au-Prince. Shortly after the earthquake they had to abandon the school which was being used as a shelter due to the stench of dead bodies and sturtural damage which made the building unsafe. For the school to continue it will [...]

• Henrietta Lacks: Stolen cells

  Posted: February 7, 2010, 7:27 pm by Sokari

  I never heard of Henrietta Lacks until a few days ago. But I have heard of the Tuskeegee Experiment in which 399 Black men were used as clinical samples for studying the late stages of syphilis. The men who were poor sharecroppers from Alabama, where never told they had syphilis and [...]

• Seun on Fela

  Posted: February 6, 2010, 9:23 pm by Sokari

  After intensive pressure from members of the National Assembly, the media, trade unions, political activists and the Nigerian people, President Yar’Adua has agreed to hand over the Presidency to his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan. I think Fela would have loved this – the beginnings of “people power” in Nigeria – here Seun talks [...]

• Death of a language & invasions of the mind

  Posted: February 5, 2010, 5:55 pm by Sokari

  Boa Sr, the last speaker of Bo’, “one of the ten Great Andamanese languages has died”. The death of Boa Sr and the language she spoke is the end of 65,000 years of linguistic heritage and culture. It is estimated that a language dies every two weeks and by 2100 90% of languages of the [...]

• Kampala – Uganda – “Desperate. Distraught”

  Posted: February 3, 2010, 6:00 pm by Sokari

  From Uganda, Gay Uganda reports on continuing police harassment and roundups of LGBT people – “knock on the door” Desperate. Distraught. Now, the knock early morning on the door. We say we shall run. But, what if we cannot run? We have family, jobs, businesses. We are normal human beings. Common Ugandans. What of when we [...]

• Kampala – Uganda – “Desperate. Distraught”

  Posted: February 3, 2010, 6:00 pm by Sokari

  From Uganda, Gay Uganda reports on continuing police harassment and roundups of LGBT people – “knock on the door” Desperate. Distraught. Now, the knock early morning on the door. We say we shall run. But, what if we cannot run? We have family, jobs, businesses. We are normal human beings. Common Ugandans. What of when we [...]

• Nigerian soldiers killing civilians

  Posted: February 2, 2010, 12:50 am by Sokari

  Nigeria soldiers shooting defenseless civilians Jos, Plateau State one year ago. Viewer Discretion is Advised – Sahara Reporters. By late tomorrow dozens of Nigerian asylum seekers will be deported from the UK Why do people flee Nigeria? In its 2009 World Report, Human Rights Watch maintained that Nigerian state security forces “continued to commit extrajudicial [...]

• Nigerian soldiers killing civilians

  Posted: February 2, 2010, 12:50 am by Sokari

  Nigeria soldiers shooting defenseless civilians Jos, Plateau State one year ago. Viewer Discretion is Advised – Sahara Reporters. By late tomorrow dozens of Nigerian asylum seekers will be deported from the UK Why do people flee Nigeria? In its 2009 World Report, Human Rights Watch maintained that Nigerian state security forces “continued to commit extrajudicial [...]

• Poem for Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

  Posted: February 2, 2010, 7:17 pm by Rethabile

  The Weapon for Nelson Mandela As you took up arms, ntate, we stood by and admired your guns and your uniform, while you prepared to mount the country to kill railways and post-offices, we nodded agreement, we acknowledged how the continent was a pistol facing earthward, with the trigger right at Nigeria’s oily wars of religion between once-peaceful regions, the left hand now hacking and being [...]

• UN: Human Rights Violations Against LGBTI People

  Posted: February 1, 2010, 9:07 pm by Sokari

  Victor Mukasa’s presentation to the UN on “Grave Human Rights Violations Against LGBT People in Africa”

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes