Items by Sokari

Black Looks

  • Literary Nigeria: Saraba Magazine

    Posted: September 2, 2010, 1:00 pm by Sokari
    Saraba is an online literary magazine created and published by Emmanuel Iduma and Damilola Ajayi, two Nigerian students of the University of Ife. Saraba has just published its 6th edition in just 18 months and has gone from strength to strength. There are a number of Nigerian run literary blogs such [...]

  • James Baldwin “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”

    Posted: August 31, 2010, 6:35 pm by Sokari
    “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” – I learned a great deal from James Baldwin and haven’t written as much as I had planned. But I read and read. On my bedside table I have copies of Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time. I randomly opened the latter with [...]

  • James Baldwin 8 : Who is the Nigger? or Reclaiming the Dream 2010

    Posted: August 31, 2010, 8:21 am by Sokari
    A short clip from “Take This Hammer” in which Baldwin throws the “nigger” back at whiteness who invented him in the first place. Very pertinent in these moments of escalating right wing anti-Muslim hatred – a hatred invented to fill a void of hate that must always be full. Without hate there is [...]

  • Reclaiming the bones: The African Cemetery on Higgs Beach, Key West

    Posted: August 30, 2010, 5:00 pm by Sokari
    Last week I went to Key West – the southern most tip of the US and part of the Florida Keys.   The Keys are a series of small islands joined together by bridges and causeways.   I had heard nothing but good things about them especially Key West which was home to Tenneesee Williams [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: August 28, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    Went 2 #memorial 4 some of these young #Africans who died after bing rescued off #KeyWest #AfricanCemetary #Slavery http://bit.ly/9CsLWG # The Press Institute hiring women frm 22 counries for #journalism training http://bit.ly/bOoL0q # Burning of #Koran has 1 purpose which is 2 provoke acts of violence. These ppl are vile full of hate # Please [...]

  • James Baldwin 7: In search of the self

    Posted: August 27, 2010, 7:14 pm by Sokari
    After spending the past few weeks reading and listening to snippets of James Baldwin I have come to the conclusion that much of his writing was concerned with the search for himself and his people. By trying to understand himself, who he is he would be able to understand the core of America [...]

  • LGBTI activism in Kenya & strategies of intervention

    Posted: August 26, 2010, 7:47 pm by Sokari
    Keguro Macharia provides an historical overview of LGBTI activism in Kenya which he states has taken place through “a strategy of association rather than an articulation of identity” specifically through health work and activism around HIV/AIDs. However as he points out this strategy has it’s problems… By allying themselves to health work and activism around [...]

  • All Africa bishops in Entebbe

    Posted: August 25, 2010, 5:17 pm by Sokari
    The meeting of African Bishops in Entebbe, Uganda has not surprisingly, been used to reaffirm the church’s homophobic stance. The bishops spoke about “African Values” and “alien beliefs”. Since the rights of LGBTI people are being denied this implies that the notion of ‘human rights’ is not part of [...]

  • Charissa Granger and the musical possibilities of the steelpan

    Posted: August 23, 2010, 8:11 pm by Sokari
    I first heard Charissa Granger on a short video someone had posted on FaceBook. She was playing a soft haunting melody called Raindrops which was made even more interesting because she was playing the tune on the steel pan. The steel pan is an instrument we associate with the Caribbean and the sounds of Calypso [...]

  • Music on Sunday 3: James Baldwin loves Freddie Freeloader

    Posted: August 22, 2010, 8:06 pm by Sokari
    Baldwin mentioned he loved music and somehow I can imagine him listening to this version of “Freddie Freedloader” played here by: Miles davis – Trumpet Julian “Cannonball” Adderley – Alto Saxophone John Coltrane – Tenor Saxophone Wynton Kelly – Piano Bill Evans – Piano Paul Chambers – Bass Jimmy Cobb – Drums

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: August 21, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    At some point you have to take what you've got and make the best of that. #MacyGray #Sellout love this song love this voice # #Macy_Gray on #sexism and ageism in the music industry # #Itsekiri women protest at #Escravos #Chevron #Warri #NigerDelta http://bit.ly/cCnM68 # #AfroPermedHairWhoTheHeckReallyCares #IamPanAfrikan #JillScott # #Nigeria classified http://bit.ly/9qcWAi [...]

  • Thematic axes for WSF 2010 in Dakar

    Posted: August 20, 2010, 10:02 pm by Sokari
    The Organizing Committee of Dakar 2011 has launched a public consultation on the thematic axes for the WSF 2011. The idea is to finalize the axes that have been constructed since 2005 and proposed after the preparatory seminar held in Dakar from 27-29 July 2010. PLEASE CIRCULATE AND RETWEET The main goals of the axes are [...]

  • Sappho Islands: LGBTI bar opens in Kampala

    Posted: August 19, 2010, 4:36 pm by Sokari
    Strength comes out of struggle and Uganda’s Kuchu community now have an open space where they can gather together and just share their lives. Val Kalende of FARUG explains the importance of Sappho Islands to the community in Kampala….. I have lived among LGBT communities for the past eight years and I know how much having [...]

  • James Baldwin 5: Mysterious Circumstances

    Posted: August 17, 2010, 11:51 pm by Sokari
    ARRIVAL OF JAMES BALDWIN; MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES by Claire Burch Ever since I was eighteen, James Baldwin had been giving me orders. While still alive he came as Skyboss. Since he has died he is just himself. Now he is ordering me to read some of my variations on the Gettysburg Address. Foursore and many tears ago our forefathers brought forth on this incontinent a [...]

  • “Gay” rights around the world – Somaliland’s gay president

    Posted: August 17, 2010, 5:37 pm by Sokari
    A short film on LGBTI rights [I wish the media would stop conflating LGBTI / Queer rights/ people into "Gay" a single one gay identity] Post on Somaliland president removed as it turns out its not true.

  • South African HIV Prevention Gel may put Black lives at risk

    Posted: August 17, 2010, 4:03 pm by Sokari
    How safe is the “miracle HIV Prevention Gel” announced at the recent World AIDS conference in Vienna? The vaginal gel produced in South Africa is supposed to reduce a woman’s chances of HIV contraction by as much as 39% and reduce chances of Herpes infection by 51%. Quite staggering claims. However [...]

  • Conference on African Same-Sex Sexualities & Gender Diversity

    Posted: August 16, 2010, 2:07 pm by Sokari
    CALL FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS FOR THE CONFERENCE:AFRICAN SAME-SEX SEXUALITIES AND GENDER DIVERSITY: PRACTICES, IDENTITIES AND COMMUNITIES. Pretoria, South Africa, February 13-16, 2011 Conference objectives: • To promote understanding and further study of male and female same-sex sexual practices, identities and communities, including expressions of gender diversity, in Sub-Saharan Africa. • To promote understanding of social [...]

  • Death of a Jazz Singer: Abbey Lincoln

    Posted: August 15, 2010, 9:52 pm by Sokari
    Just found this and felt it deserved more than a Tweet to be lost forever in Twitter-spheres short term memory. Abbey Lincoln, Jazz Singer and Writer, Dies at 80 Abbey Lincoln, a singer whose dramatic vocal command and tersely poetic songs made her a singular figure in jazz, died on Saturday in Manhattan. She was 80 and lived on [...]

  • Music on Sunday 2: Lena Horne

    Posted: August 15, 2010, 7:28 pm by Sokari
    Lena Horne was a friend to James Baldwin – here she is on the Rosie O’Donnell show celebrating her 80th birthday – she lived for another 12 years. I hope I look this good on my 80th

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: August 14, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    A mango adventure by one woman and 3 kids http://twitpic.com/2egcg2 # Christine Ehlers reinstated and given compensation #SouthAfrica #Transwoman #LGBTI http://bit.ly/95S4ja # Victory for #SouthAfrican #transwoman http://bit.ly/cLxMvr & # #FF best in jazz @elementsofJazz – #nigeria @freetalkblog @uzoagu documenting #HIV in US @livingquilt, @owlasylum @ungaro @ @mobileactive # ♥ The Music Inside by Chuck Loeb #lastfm [...]

  • Haiti: Bwa Kayiman – the night of the revolution

    Posted: August 14, 2010, 6:18 pm by Sokari
    On the night of 13/14th August 1791 a meeting and voudou ceremony took place at the foot of the mountains just outside what is now Cap Haitian. The purpose of the ceremony was a call for action, a call for the revolution which would lead to Haiti becoming the first Black Republic. One [...]

  • Sexual violence at the Limpopo River

    Posted: August 13, 2010, 9:59 pm by Sokari
    Armed gangs operating on the South African side of the Zimbabwe/SA borders are terrorizing women young girls and men. If there are men crossing they are forced to rape other members of the group. After raping the women are stripped and tied up on the side of the road. So far this year [...]

  • Hope: Nigeria at Independence

    Posted: August 13, 2010, 6:56 pm by Sokari

  • Remembering Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine

    Posted: August 12, 2010, 6:04 pm by Sokari
    Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine is an internationally respected Haitian human rights activist who disappeared on the evening of 12 August 2007 after meeting a US-Canadian human rights delegation in Port-au-Prince. We are acutely aware of the suffering, hardship and heartbreak Lovinsky’s disappearance has meant for his family and other loved ones, as well as of the anger [...]

  • We need to shine the light in the dark corners of our cultures

    Posted: August 11, 2010, 10:30 pm by Sokari
    I always find that when it comes to romanticising African traditions, it is generally men who are at the forefront of calls to return to the “old ways” whilst women and young girls are the ones who suffer the brutality of some practices such as forced marriage, child marriage and female circumcision. South African [...]

  • James Baldwin 4: Freedom & Choice

    Posted: August 10, 2010, 7:00 pm by Sokari
    I asked a few of my blogger friends to write something on James Baldwin – so far only Keguro has responded and I thank him dearly for writing this piece. Keguro speaks of Baldwin’s clarity and ability to “see into us” a “Too-frightening clarity”. I have watched him over and over and [...]

  • Halfcast, half white, half black for fucks sake I’m Nigerian –

    Posted: August 9, 2010, 4:57 pm by Sokari

  • Chosen Few @ Gay Games 2010

    Posted: August 8, 2010, 12:00 pm by Sokari
    // PLEASE CHANGE DEFAULT EXCERPT HANDLING TO CLEAN OR FULL (go to your Wordpress Dashboard/Settings/Cincopa Options ... cp_load_widget("%5Bcincopa+10700226%5D", "_cp_widget_4c68125662c98"); Click here to open the gallery.Powered by Cincopa wp content plugins solution for your website and Cincopa MediaSend for file transfer. Photographs by Zanele Muholi ©

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: August 7, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    #Afghans are so stupid they dont know how important their country is & cannot help themselves- http://bit.ly/b6Z5bX # Guardian reports on #Afghanistan show how pointless this war is http://bit.ly/b6Z5bX # RT @UzoAgu Is China exporting prisoners to poor countries?: Yes. According to (cont) http://tl.gd/2... Is there proof? # how did #obama come about calling Black people [...]

  • James Baldwin “My entry into America is a bill of sale”

    Posted: August 6, 2010, 4:13 pm by Sokari
    I’ve been watching videos of James Baldwin to the point where I find myself reading in his unique voice. The film, “Baldwn’s Nigger”, is a powerful film shot in London at the West Indian Student center in 1969 by Horace Ove. Again Baldwin refers to the concept of distance. In this instance [...]

  • “Colonial Sodomy”: Homophobic laws in historical context

    Posted: August 5, 2010, 7:06 pm by Sokari
    “Colonial Sodomy: Homophobic threat within common law” provides a detailed explanation of the origin of colonial “anti-sodomy” legislation and the ways in which these were incorporated and reshaped into the post-independence penal codes. Significant differences in the colonial laws of the former British colonies and Francophone countries are due to the absence of [...]

  • Oni Ise Owo: Animated short by Kenneth Coker:

    Posted: August 5, 2010, 5:52 pm by Sokari
    Video produced by Kenneth Coker “Oni Ise Owo” [I am told this means "artisan" in Yoruba] and set to music by Tinariwen. I’ve watched it over and over and I am still trying to understand what is being said. Definitely there is a tension and a crisis possibly between the city where the [...]

  • James Baldwin “There are no moral distances”

    Posted: August 3, 2010, 2:40 pm by Sokari
    “Take This Hammer” is a documentary following James Baldwin on a visit to San Francisco in 1963. The film begins with a group of young men being interviewed on racism in the city. Here the white man is not taking you down in public like in the south but he is nonetheless [...]

  • Football Afrika

    Posted: August 2, 2010, 12:28 am by Sokari
    The World Cup has ended and Sepp Blatter has disappeared with FIFA’s billions nicely tucked away somewhere in Europe. The debt to South Africa remains to be calculated but I imagine it to be a huge one. I wonder how much of FIFA’s money will go to grassroots football or even Africa’s league [...]

  • James Baldwin: Black Queer Genius / Genius Queer Black

    Posted: August 2, 2010, 4:16 am by Sokari
    I have been thinking of James Baldwin for a while now and am just waiting for  a copy of “The Price of the Ticket“.  I decided to spend August immersed in  Baldwin.  Today is his birthday [August 2nd 1924 - November 30th 1987] and to honour this beautiful Queer Black Man and Genius whose words [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: July 31, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    #FF #Egypt @alaa #Queer @spectraspeaks #Nigeria @eggheader # #FF #US @hystericalblkns @public_archive, @Cocacy, @neogriot, @blacklooks, @SPBVIP, @wardellfranklin #Caribbean @georgiap £ # Thousands fast for #libraries in #SA via @writingrights # #mPedigree #SMS against fake drugs in #Nigeria http://bit.ly/atpKJs # #Obama to seize African leaders stolen millions – who will seize US stolen millions? http://bit.ly/aIzJJY # 100s refugees [...]

  • Africa, their Africa and who can name themselves

    Posted: July 27, 2010, 11:52 pm by Sokari
    I loved this piece by Tolu Ogunlesi [via Naijablog]  titled “5 things you didnt know about Africa“.       I somehow feel this  might end up as the third in the triology of breaking down that grand narrative known to all of us as “Africa”.   The person who started the ‘unDoing” of the [...]

  • Faces & Phases, Proudly African & Transgender: Exhibitions in Amsterdam

    Posted: July 25, 2010, 5:15 pm by Sokari
    Two of my favorite people, Zanele Muholi [Faces and Phases] and Gabrielle Le Roux [Proudly African and Transgender] have a joint exhibition over the next 3 months in Amsterdam – July 29 – October 20.

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: July 24, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    RT @KarlJeanJeune: Today is going to be a greaaaaaaattttt day. Even of ther is no sun to be seen in P-au-P this morning… I am going to… # RT @Solomon Sydelle Nigeria's ECOMOG soldiers fathered [how many rapes] 250000 children in Liberia? http://ow.ly/2f4jM # RT @johannhari101: Oooh I just saw I have 10,000 followers. Shall we form [...]

  • Mami – Chicana – Woman of Color

    Posted: July 24, 2010, 9:34 pm by Sokari
    Drawing by Adam Dwight he’s my friend, he is sweet and beautiful and what an artist too – and I am so proud. Sometimes – if I am honest it is getting to be more often than just “sometimes” – I feel fuck, to hell with this blogging thing……………….. From Flip Flopping Joy.………… [...]

  • The constitutionality of criminalising homosexuality in Nigeria

    Posted: July 22, 2010, 7:38 pm by Sokari
    The Director of Strategic Alliance for Minority Equality Nigeria, Gbenga Asawaj, presents the argument that contrary to popular opinion based on notions of morality, the Nigerian constitution did not make any provision for “banning homosexuality” The Nigerian state is founded on the ideal of freedom, equality and justice. The right to freedom from discrimination is expressly [...]

  • Two interviews: African sexualities & gay imperialism – Queer activism in Germany & Europe

    Posted: July 22, 2010, 12:00 pm by Sokari
    Tags:   
    Below are two interviews me speaking on [African Perspectives] and Jin Haritaworn – on the [Women's Magazine]. Mine focuses on Africa whilst Jin’s centers on Europe, specifically Germany. What is interesting to me is that listening to both interviews shows the many connections between the two continents – in Europe / [...]

  • Here comes the judge

    Posted: July 20, 2010, 4:00 pm by Sokari
    “Dont even try to mess with me- I may look like I am about to fall asleep but its just my look!” “Courting Justice ” is a film about the experiences of female [Black] judges in South Africa’s highest courts Courting Justice” features seven South African women judges, all of whom were New Democracy appointments. They serve on the [...]

  • The other oil spill – the one in Nigeria

    Posted: July 19, 2010, 4:31 pm by Sokari
    Sahara Reporters founder, Omoyele Sowore writing in the Huffington Post on Exxon Mobil’s 30 year record of oil spills in the Niger Delta. Contrary to Nigeria’s new finance Olusegun Aganga [aka Minister of Financial Double Speak] who claimed in a recent BBC Business interview that there was no problem with oil spills in Nigeria and the [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: July 17, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    #Nigeria #Music Follow #SeunKuti #iampanafrikan http://mysp.ac/dpZPgk # RT @Kawdess: "Rape as Weapon of War in the Congo Becomes Rape as Cultural Norm" http://bit.ly/97TGNH bring myself to read this cc: # whiten your skin via #fb app #vaseline http://ht.ly/2coYM # Making fear *What If* #oilspill http://ht.ly/2coQa # RT @AlertNet: #Uganda ready to send [...]

  • Christine Ehlers, Transphobia on trial

    Posted: July 16, 2010, 7:27 pm by Sokari
    Christine Ehlers, who was fired as a sales assistant after her employers, Multinational steel retailer, Bohler Uddeholm Africa, found out she was going through a series of sex change procedures, is now taking them to the South African Labour Court. Constitutionally Speaking has an excellent commentary on the case which highlights the attempt to [...]

  • Nigerian conversations: who is responsible for policing corruption

    Posted: July 16, 2010, 4:12 pm by Sokari
    Nigerian Curiosity and I talk a great deal about Nigeria on the phone and we thought it a good idea to, from time to time ,extend these conversations to our blogs.  I wrote this as part of that conversation. A recent post on the Nigerian blog, Nigerian Curiosity  [NC] is a stark reminder of how the [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: July 10, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    Dont get too close – #Obama warning on #Jonathan #Nigeria @solomonsydelle http://bit.ly/cAy1FN # RT @saratu: Via @solomonsydelle Ugandan blame Nigerian cinema for high crime rates. These mofos have lost their damn minds… # RT @BlowTheTrumpet: @AmakaWho @elamar @blacklooks @happybrowngirl “we aren’t protected by black men” what does that mean – i dont get it? # RT @alaa: [...]

  • Beheaded Ugandan NOT an LGBT Activist

    Posted: July 7, 2010, 9:18 pm by Sokari
    Yesterday the US Gay media site, Box Turtle published a report claiming an Ugandan gay activist had been beheaded. Sexual Minorities Uganda [SMUG] has issued a statement nullifying and distancing itself from this distorted report. This is yet another example of the irresponsibility and misinterpretation of facts and context by [...]

  • The “other / unreported oil spill”

    Posted: July 7, 2010, 8:42 pm by Sokari
    As we all continue to watch the daily reports on the Gulf oil spill, Riz Khan interviews aide to President Jonathan, Oronto Douglas, marine biologist Rick Steiner and Friends of the Earth lawyer, Geert Risema on the Niger Delta oil spills. Oronto states that the Niger Delta is third in priority in [...]

  • Seduced by Koroga

    Posted: July 6, 2010, 7:08 pm by Sokari
    Gukira [Keguro Macharia] and Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman [Wambui Mwangi] have a kind of duet of Koroga on their respective blogs. DMKW explains Koroga [A Kenyan collaboration] as An invitation and a provocation. Koroga is another African story, a story of what we see and how we see, of meetings and transformations, of looking [...]

  • Phishing attack on Tunisian Gmail accounts – more censorship?

    Posted: July 5, 2010, 8:46 pm by Sokari
    Tunisia is turning out to be the most repressive country in Africa when earlier this year the government began a wave of censorship of online sites. Tunisia is carrying out one of the most massive wave of online censorship targeting major social websites, video-sharing websites, blogs aggregators, blogs, facebook pages and profiles. The most recent victim [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: July 3, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    Defining Rape Culture – http://bit.ly/a8gP8e #Rape # Mapping #LGBTI criminalisation in #Africa http://bit.ly/alyUNf # #Palestinian #Queers for Boycott Divestment Sanctions [BDS} against #Israel http://bit.ly/doHfS2 # Naomi Klein to police: "Don't play PR do your goddamned job!" AND Get your damn hands out of cookie jarhttp://bit.ly/bVjDpZ # #Israeli #Gay propaganda http://bit.ly/9xZeVk #queers Against Apartheid # Its not [...]

  • Kimpa Vita – a profile of courage

    Posted: July 2, 2010, 8:32 pm by Sokari
    Today is the anniversary of the death of Kimpa Vita who together with her baby (Kembo Dianzenza va Kintete) and her boyfriend, were burned to death on July 2nd 1706 by the Catholic church. I only just found out about Kimpa Vita – there is so much of our African and Diaspora history that is unknown [...]

  • Racist World Cup Ad by German car rental SIXT: No Waving Flags

    Posted: July 1, 2010, 6:33 pm by Sokari
    The above advert was sent to me by a friend from Germany which she explains as follows It is playing various eurocentric, afro-pessimism clichés in relation to the coming Ghana/Germany soccer play. Showing a white Mercedes Benz in confrontation with an old, rusty truck, overloaded with black people and cargo, this advert is visually playing with typical anti-immigration [...]

  • Sustainable Linking

    Posted: June 28, 2010, 7:09 pm by Sokari
    I made this decision some time ago that whenever I needed to link to a news story I would first search African online sources and only use western media when there was no alternative. Sometimes I forget and need to remind myself but its working slowly.     I found this post on [...]

  • Cleansing 3: Resident at Heart by Chinwe Azubuike

    Posted: June 27, 2010, 6:55 pm by Sokari
    We humans on earth are all faced with different issues and problems in our lives. At some point we have the urge to hide away from the world to nurse our wounds or heal them. When this happens, there’s some sort of transformation where by our ‘inner self’ is transported to another realm…a private space, [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: June 26, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    #Nigeria needs to speak up against oil companies – http://bit.ly/ddh1qW # RT @Saharareporters President Jonathan’s 140-strong Delegation To Canada: SR Stands By Its Story http://fb.me/Bt3Yjfur SPEND SPEND SPEND # Excellent resource on #Homonationalism http://bit.ly/cUg5uF # #Queers against #Israeli #Apartheid win battle against censorship http://bit.ly/ct0WQ6 # #Queer blogger – #Egypt to table anti-homosexuality resolution at the #AU meeting @alaa [...]

  • Angela Davis on Judith Butler’s refusal of the CSD Civil Courage Prize

    Posted: June 25, 2010, 4:53 pm by Sokari
    Angela Davis on solidarity with queers of colour against gay racism in Berlin. “I hope Judith Butler’s refusal of the award will act as a catalyst for more discussion about the impact of racism even within groups which are considered progressive”….”that somehow people from the global south, people of colour are more homophobic [...]

  • ‘I must distance myself from this racist complicity” Judith Butler turns down Berlin Pride award

    Posted: June 20, 2010, 6:54 pm by Sokari
    Press statement by SUSPECT on Judith Butler’s refusal to accept the Civil Courage Award from Berlin Pride last night. As Berlin Queer and Trans Activists of Colour and Allies we welcome Judith Butler’s decision to turn down the Zivilcourage Prize awarded by Berlin Pride. We are delighted that a renowned theorist has used her celebrity status [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: June 19, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    if you speak portuguese this is a piece on #nigeria #football from brazillian blogger Guiherme Freitas http://bit.ly/a2eBKh # The sea as woman http://bit.ly/cOSDBw # #Wikileaks questions around the safety of Julian Assange http://bit.ly/9BNzL0 # Gorging on #TrueBlood # #Worldcupwatch #FIFA demands http://bit.ly/alE6kq # #ZiggyMarley & #AngeliqueKidjo “Africa Land” http://bit.ly/bXKEQm download #Africa #Music #wavingflags # #NigerDelta top of the world [...]

  • Our children and your children are not the same – deporting kids back to war zones

    Posted: June 18, 2010, 4:15 pm by Sokari
    The British government’s latest actions in a long line of anti-immigration / anti-refugee policy and legislation is to send unaccompanied minors back to Afghanistan. In the early 1990s, I worked with unaccompanied children [under 16] who had mainly arrived from Somalia. Many had been sent to safety by family, many had [...]

  • “World Cup” by Nomadic Wax, DJ Magee & DJ Nio

    Posted: June 15, 2010, 5:25 pm by Sokari
    World Cup is a global hip-hop collaboration featuring rappers from Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the US and Europe. Thumbs down to the drink Coca-Cola, Wave Flags and you will be happy crowd! World Cup by Nomadic Wax “World Cup” is the first of it’s kind and explores the complexities and controversies of [...]

  • Bashing the poor

    Posted: June 14, 2010, 7:38 pm by Sokari
    Raj Patel on Democracy Now “How South Africa has cracked down on the poor and shackdweller movement.”

  • Revising baba go-slow & speaking good of the dead: Adeniyi on Yar’Adua

    Posted: June 14, 2010, 5:25 pm by Sokari
    Just over a month since the invisible President Yar’Adua died of unknown causes, some obituaries are being used to revise history, rewrite reality. One such is this one by his former media advisor and PR man, Segun Adeniyi. According to Adeniyi, Yar”Adua’s greatest attributes were ” humility, integrity and humanity”. Though interrelated, these [...]

  • Poor people’s world cup kicks off

    Posted: June 13, 2010, 7:37 pm by Sokari
    Abahlali  baseMjondolo and the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign have been at the forefront of  South Africa and FIFA’s World Cup displacement and exclusion of shackdwellers, low income people and street traders from the tournament. The affected communities have therefore created their own World Cup which is accessible to everyone…. This Poor People’s World Cup [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: June 12, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    Rooooting for Africa in Europe #Whyisthierryhenryonthebench #thisiswrong @ibster # Mexico goal – me 2 son Y r u cheering #mexico goal? son 2 me because the Aztecs were #African #iampanafrikan # Damn have to work – # Watching THE GAME -love football with commentary in Spanish Gooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaal forever #WC2010 if i am nervous then its [...]

  • Niger Delta Amnesty – 9 months on

    Posted: June 11, 2010, 9:28 pm by Sokari
    It is impossible to disentangle the actions of Shell and other multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta from the actions of the Nigerian Federal and State governments. The two are in inextricably tied together in an alliance which has led to the militarisation of commerce and the exclusion of indigenous communities at the source [...]

  • Deportation Story: From Kampala to London and back

    Posted: June 9, 2010, 4:16 pm by Sokari
    Fighting deportation is one of the hardest legal battles you could face and fighting to return AFTER deportation is near impossible.    In 2007, 12,525 failed asylum seekers  people were deported from Britain and 63,140 in total.  Of the 24, 550 asylum claims in 2009 73% were turned down one of whom was a young woman from [...]

  • Love Football: Rap Against #FIFA 2010

    Posted: June 8, 2010, 4:25 pm by Sokari
    The People’s Justice Center will be running a Fan Center and mixing up loving football with discussions on forthcoming “Apartheid Lawsuist” and other social justice issues. The Khulumani Support group is currently undertaking the prosecution of 5 major corporations complicit in supporting the Apartheid Government of South Africa during the struggle. These same companies [...]

  • Chomsky Allstars – ‘The Beautiful Gain’ WC2010 Anthem

    Posted: June 7, 2010, 4:24 pm by Sokari
    Instead of the banal rainbow “we are all happy bunnies” lyrics of Waving Flags[ sung by formerly conscious rapper K'naan], The Chomsky Allstars, “The Beautiful Gain” spotlights the disruption and displacement caused by The World Cup across South Africa Tin Town – The story Behind The Beautiful Gain – Tin Town – V.2 from Barefoot [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: June 5, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    “Tweets of the Week” are a way of me keeping a handle on all my Tweets previously lost in the super fast cyberland of real time tweets. RT @negrita: RT @kenyanpundit: Tanzania NGO to launch an "adopt an Italian child" campaign…hehehehe http://is.gd/cCLBs # RT @eggheader: RT @jongambrellAP: #Nigeria More than 160 ppl, mostly children, [...]

  • The Way of the Feminist Revolution

    Posted: June 5, 2010, 5:36 pm by Sokari
    Trinidadian feminist activist and performance poet, Gabrielle Jamela Hosein on feminism and the struggle for justice – an ongoing revolution – a collective revolution to liberate women and men, girls and boys – .

  • The prophets have abandoned us to our lies

    Posted: June 4, 2010, 8:08 pm by Sokari
    “The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.” Revelation 16:3 Estimated Prophet – © Geoffrey Philp The prophets have abandoned us to our lies. They’ve packed spare clothes, retreated to the Mojave Where they can still bless wild, untamed spaces Praise the [...]

  • How I laughed whilst googling my great great grandfather – King Jaja

    Posted: June 4, 2010, 2:21 pm by Sokari
    As a Nigerian I guess I should be happy at UK TV’s recent airing of three programmes on Nigeria – Blood and Oil, Welcome to Lagos which caused a furoe in Nigeria and resulted in the government demanding an apology from the BBC and now New Kings of Nigeria. According to the [...]

  • “Gay Uganda”: Blackmail & Extortion

    Posted: June 3, 2010, 3:40 pm by Sokari
    Blogger Gay Uganda publishes this email received by someone presumed to be gay. The blackmailer has his/her email address and detailed knowledge about the person. A truly frightening experience. The name of the extortionist and his email address are published – however GU has protected the victim’s identity and changed all the details. [...]

  • It’s not all waving flags at the World Cup 2010

    Posted: June 2, 2010, 8:18 pm by Sokari
    The Center for Civil Society World Cup watch on the “Political Economy of the 2010 World Cup” Six red cards for World Cup elites: Trevor Phillips, former director of the South African Premier Soccer League: “What the hell are we going to do with a 70,000- seater football stadium in Durban once the World Cup is over? Durban [...]

  • Cleansing: Two – Aging

    Posted: June 2, 2010, 7:33 pm by Sokari
    The beauty of imperfection – I just want to touch you! Via Gukira independence ii there are hollows on my body where your fingers left their mark as your taste smell touch recedes like memory waves from shores & i am left to merge alone with deep clear oceans mirrors of our divine self independence ii By Bernadette Muthien ©

  • Laws that criminalise same sex intimacy are making a mockery of our democracies.

    Posted: May 31, 2010, 3:00 pm by Sokari
    Like many others around the world, I was elated when I heard that Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were to be released from their 14 year prison sentence following a pardon by Malawian President, wa Mutharika.   According to most reports, the President was finally persuaded to pardon the couple after a “conversation” with UN Secretary [...]

  • Niger Delta: Oil spills in perspective

    Posted: May 30, 2010, 9:11 pm by Sokari
    Last week environmental activists from across the world including Nigeria, Ecuador and Burma were prevented by Chevron from entering the shareholders meeting despite having legal shareholding proxies. Below activist Niger Delta Emem Okon spoke to Democracy Now! on the actions of Chevron and other oil companies operating in Nigeria – Shell, Mobil, Elf [...]

  • Tweets of the Week

    Posted: May 29, 2010, 11:00 pm by Sokari
    #Malawi gov releases Steven Monjeza, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, BRILLIANT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10190653.stm # #Shut down deepwater platform #Atlantis #BPoilspill http://www.spillthetruth.org # Chad film ‘A Screaming Man’ scoops jury prize at Cannes http://bit.ly/ax9tW2 # #Resistance has consequences # #FF #Rights @sharifkouddous @writingrights @danwibg # #FF @liveunchained Black women in the Disapora @MalawiDave – #Malawi @avinunu #Palestine & #MidEast # #Haiti http://huff.to/98TnIN women [...]

  • Steven and Tiwonge PARDONED

    Posted: May 29, 2010, 6:58 pm by Sokari
    In a massive turn around  the President of Malawi has pardoned Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20 and ordered their immediate release no doubt that he has submitted to pressure from within Africa and internationally.  A real snub to the likes of Obasanjo and Bahati etc. Mr Mutharika, speaking as UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited [...]

  • Uganda promises not to support Anti-Homosexuality Bill

    Posted: May 29, 2010, 5:40 pm by Sokari
    The Ugandan government has promised Germany it will not support any  further expansion  of homosexuality laws including the Bahati led Anti-Homosexuality Bill.   The pledge was made in exchange for E120 million in aid from Germany.   This is the best news yet and now it seems very unlikely that the Bill will  suceed at least not under [...]

  • Single story homophobia and gay imperialism revisted

    Posted: May 28, 2010, 1:31 pm by Sokari
    Two excellent articles by Keguro Macharia [Gukira]. The First was published on  Kenya Imagine and is a response to an article on homophobia in Africa by Madeline Bunting in which she attempts to explain “African Homophobia”.. Keguro’s criticism first points to her claim that the West should “rightly” be concerned and hugely angry [...]

  • Zuma’s condemnation of Malawi – where is it?

    Posted: May 27, 2010, 9:37 pm by Sokari
    President Jacob Zuma responds to calls for him to condemn the sentencing of Malawian couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza.  Apparently we must have missed the SA government statement which cannot be located but was said!    He needs to do more than condemn the sentence and he knows this – this is shallow and unconvincing. South [...]

  • Cleansing: One

    Posted: May 27, 2010, 6:04 pm by Sokari
    The last couple of weeks have been filled with so much chaos, hate and violence – on the continent and elsewhere. I am in the US at the moment and have been watching the Gulf oil spill and the reaction of the American people, the media and the overall outrage at BP, the regulators [...]

  • Missionaries of Hate: US evangelicals in Uganda – recycled homophobia

    Posted: May 26, 2010, 12:11 am by Sokari
    Harvey Milk goes to Uganda is an hour length Current TV documentary which investigates the role of Christian fundamentalists in Uganda and the United States in the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill. What is interesting about the film are the similarities in the arguments put forward by Ugandans and those put forward in the [...]

  • How can we speak about an African Renaissance when some people are being excluded from what it means to be an African

    Posted: May 25, 2010, 4:19 pm by Sokari
    The Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth League statement on AFRICA DAY includes a statement on the conviction and sentencing of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga for 14 years hard labour. So far Abahali baseMjondolo are the only non-LGBTI / HIV/AIDS specific movement / organisation to issue a solidarity statement against the conviction of [...]

  • Khayelitsha: Moving beyond soccer & breaking down homophobia

    Posted: May 24, 2010, 9:03 pm by Sokari
    BEING a lesbian can be a death wish in Khayelitsha, where a gay woman is seen as an affront to masculinity – a way of telling a man she is not for the taking – and so it’s safest not to let it show. But when two lesbian soccer teams met in Khayelitsha on [...]

  • Protest Against Conviction of Malawi “gay” couple

    Posted: May 24, 2010, 5:57 pm by Sokari
    Gender DynamiX activists join other protesters in Cape Town urging SA government to negotiate the release of Transgender Woman and her partner.

  • Two GALZ staff members detained by Zimbabwe police

    Posted: May 23, 2010, 11:51 pm by Sokari
    Two employees of Gay and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)—Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Mhambi— have been detained since Friday evening. They were arrested after a raid of the GALZ office by the Central Intelligence Department. The officers came with a search warrant looking for evidence that GALZ was dealing in hard drugs and/or were [...]

  • Botswana makes positive moves towards LGBTI and Sexworkers

    Posted: May 22, 2010, 7:45 pm by Sokari
    Amidst the awful news from Malawi a small light of positiveness from Botswana as the government makes an unprecedented move to meet with activists from the LGBTI movement and sexworkers which might lead to the “offical acceptance of the existence of these groups” In a coup for NACA and the advocacy group [...]

  • Homophobia divides, working class solidarity unites: SAMWU statement of solidarity with Malawian LGBTI

    Posted: May 22, 2010, 7:27 pm by Sokari
    Homophobia divides, working class solidarity unites -South African Municipal Workers Union calls on SADC to act. STILL why the silence from academics, womens movements, landrights movements particularly those in the SADC region? This is a disgrace on their behalf – people who call themseloves progressives and feminists but remain silent on the verdict and sentencing [...]

  • A T-shirt for Freedom

    Posted: May 21, 2010, 6:59 pm by Sokari
    HT Mark Weinberg – Amandla

  • The closet maybe safer but its dark and claustrophobic & not the way to have to live a life

    Posted: May 21, 2010, 5:45 pm by Sokari
    Plus News published a country by country list of human rights violations against African LGBTI over the past three years. Malawi – On 28 December 2009, soon after a traditional engagement ceremony, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were arrested and charged with “unnatural offenses”, which carries a maximum prison term of 14 [...]

  • Act against the conviction of Malawian gay couple, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga

    Posted: May 21, 2010, 4:59 am by Sokari
    On Tuesday, 18th of May 2010, a court in Blantyre, Malawi Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were convicted of gross indecency and unnatural acts. The couple were arrested in December 2009 after celebrating their engagement and had their bail applications denied. They have been in jail ever since and have been [...]

  • My Son & Malcolm – a good day to be born

    Posted: May 19, 2010, 5:42 pm by Sokari
    Today is Malcolm X’s birthday. It’s an easy day for me to remember as it’s also my son’s birthday and since this year I am far away it’s also a little sad. But I give thanks and praises for the wonderful son he is and in knowing, in his consciousness, [...]

  • Occupation of Haiti consolidated

    Posted: May 17, 2010, 6:06 pm by Sokari
    Beverley Bell explains that in “ceding it’s independence”, the Haitian government and the US led [re]construction has allowed the Haitian earthquake to be used to consolidate the foreign occupation of Haiti which is led by the “Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (CIRH). The CIRH’s mandate is to direct the post-earthquake reconstruction of [...]

  • Soweto Blues –

    Posted: May 15, 2010, 9:23 pm by Sokari
    Sometimes you miss home and your stomach gets twisted in nostalgia so much so it hurts but its never the same in reality – thats how home is in the heart in the stomach but in the head there is exile.

  • Badilisha Poetry Xchange

    Posted: May 14, 2010, 10:24 pm by Sokari
    Badilisha Radio was launched at the beginning of May as a home to a collection of live recordings of poets from Africa and the Diaspora. The site launches with 25 podcasts of astounding calibre, including: Zena Edwards (UK), Michael Mabwe (Zim), Mojisola Adeyabo (UK), Omekongo Wa Dibinga (USA/DRC), Gabeba Baderoon (SA), Breyten Breytenbach [...]

  • Remembering Khewzi: No always means NO NO NO

    Posted: May 11, 2010, 1:15 am by Sokari
    ONE IN NINE campaign Showing solidarity with Khwezi – The campaign, established in 2006 at the start of the Zuma rape trial, organised a picket outside the high court on Tuesday as a sign of solidarity with Khwezi, and other women who have reported rape. Dressed in purple T-shirts, with the words “Stop the war [...]

  • In /humanitarian aid

    Posted: May 10, 2010, 4:57 pm by Sokari
    This afternoon I got soaked in a  torrential down pour in South Florida.  First thing I thought about was all the people living outside or in tents in Haiti.  After I got myself nicely showered and dry I sat down and read this post from Carole DeVilliers on her second trip to Haiti in which [...]

  • Womanist words

    Posted: May 8, 2010, 5:00 pm by Sokari
    Words: Heterocetera Used in a sentence. “I sat with the three other African women and we exchanged chitchat for 5 1/2 hours about our respective children, about our ex-old men, all very, very heterocetera.” –Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider Via Gukira I am not a feminist and there is no BUT Womanist Musings on why she turned from feminism to [...]

  • Uganda: Cabinet committee wants the Anti-Homosexuality Bill reviewed

    Posted: May 8, 2010, 3:00 am by Sokari
    The Cabinet Committee reviewing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is to make recommendations to the Ugandan Parliament saying the  Bill had “technical defects in form and content”. The result left the draft legislation almost bare, as nearly all of the clauses were found either redundant, repetitive of existing laws, or even useless. In fact, the [...]

  • Bati o bati! Special issue on women’s writings from Liberia

    Posted: May 7, 2010, 6:56 pm by Sokari
    This month’s Sea Breeze is a Women’s special issue with interviews, short stories, essays and poems from Liberian women.  This really is an inspiring collection of work edited by  Liberian feminist and poet, Korto Williams - Bati o bati! We are the Ones! Creative Agency and Activism for Women’s Rights in Liberia! I lost the fire [...]

  • The man died – R.I.P Yar’Adua

    Posted: May 6, 2010, 3:09 pm by Sokari
    It almost feels like an anti-climax.  The disappeared President finally disappears for real.  I feel like I am writing this out of “duty” rather than any real sense of sadness, loss but we are not supposed to speak ill of the dead unless they were seriously wicked.      So RIP Umaru Yar”Adua. But it isnt over [...]

  • Free movement of Jah people

    Posted: May 5, 2010, 5:18 pm by Sokari
    Sometimes I cross post on Flip Flopping Joy written by BFP.  I’ve known BFP in Blogland for years now and we met in person during the 2007 US Social Forum in Atlanta. BFP’s work is phenomenal and though she has changed her blog a number of times and in a sense re-invented herself her [...]

  • Reports from The Call rally Uganda

    Posted: May 4, 2010, 3:22 pm by Sokari
    Various sources have published reports on the Call Uganda prayer meetings held in Kampala on Sunday.  The rhetoric was as expected and The Call founder, Lou Engles’  press release last week that he was not  anti-homosexual were simply untrue.  Behind the Mask reported on  Engle’s  who claimed the West were using “Ugandan NGO’s to promote [...]

  • World Press Freedom Day, Nigeria: 3 journalists murdered

    Posted: May 3, 2010, 4:33 pm by Sokari
    Over the past 15 years 1,500 journalists have been killed whilst working.  Some of these have been Nigerians and though more than 24 years ago we should still remember  Dele Giwa who was killed by a parcel bomb in October 1986. The three latest journalist murdered are : Edo Ugbagwu, Nathan Dabak and [...]

  • US figures on aid to Haiti dont add up

    Posted: May 2, 2010, 5:27 pm by Sokari
    I made a serious error on the title of this post – it should read UN and not US. The UN’s claim that three months after the earthquake it has reached most of the one and half million displaced is misleading…..

  • CISLAC: Supend Senator Yerima from the Senate

    Posted: April 30, 2010, 1:39 am by Sokari
    CISLAC [Civil Society Legislature Nexus] CALLS FOR THE SUSPENSION OF SENATOR AHMED SANI YERIMA FROM THE NIGERIA SENATE The CISLAC hereby calls on the Senate leadership to activate the relevant rules of the upper chamber to immediately suspend Ahmed Sani Yerima, Senator representing Zamfara West senatorial zone from participating in its proceedings. This is [...]

  • Visual activism to inform and educate on the issues of gender and sexuality in South Africa.

    Posted: April 29, 2010, 5:50 pm by Sokari
    The following review of Zanele’s work currently on exhibit at Monash University, Australia, was written by Alicia Renew – Manager of the Faculty Gallery and Charlotte Lamont. The photographs are Zanele’s own. Monash University’s South African artist in residence, Zanele Muholi, uses photography and artistic experimentation to explore issues of lesbian gender and sexuality [...]

  • Petition: Yerima marriage to 13yr old child

    Posted: April 29, 2010, 1:52 pm by Sokari
    A coalition of Nigerian women’s groups, activists and academics signed and delivered a Petition to the Senate calling for an investigation into the marriage of Senator Yerima to a 13 year old Egyptian girl. They also asked for Yerima to be suspended. Whilst the Nigerian government is busy complaining to the BBC [...]

  • Unlocking the stalemate on homophobia

    Posted: April 27, 2010, 2:40 pm by Sokari
    With so much negativity and homophobic voices, we forget there are positive voices in the midst of all the hate talk. This one day workshop on LGBTI held in Kenya calls for the celebration of “human diversity” and addressing homosexuality in an affirmative manner. Rebecca Masibayi PFLAG coordinator for RUWEPO said that [...]

  • Toxicgas – Shell’s new gas flare

    Posted: April 27, 2010, 2:11 pm by Sokari
    In May 2009, the Nigerian government once again extended the deadline to end gas flaring…Gas flaring is the burning of the natural gas that is produced on the surface during the production process. The flares are either blown off in the sky or in giant sized low level pits on [...]

  • Nigeria: Forced marriages and the age of consent.

    Posted: April 26, 2010, 3:15 pm by Sokari
    Update : Petition to remove Yerima to be delivered today at the National Assembly -  Will Yerima end up in jail? The former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima has married a 13 year old Egyptian girl for whom he paid her family $100,000. The “marriage” is being discussed in the news but [...]

  • “Some Europeans who love Africa love it for exoticism”

    Posted: April 25, 2010, 7:00 pm by Sokari
    Malian singer, Rokia Traore comments on the response to her decision to move from traditional Malian music to a more contemporary mix of African and European music. “Some Europeans who love Africa love it for exoticism,” “Anything modern doesn’t interest them. I don’t know why they don’t realise that the traditional and the modern [...]

  • I did not choose to be heterosexual

    Posted: April 24, 2010, 4:26 pm by Sokari
    A refreshingly different voice coming out of Zimbabwe which challenges the historical revisionism of a pre-colonial Africa without homosexuality. We are all used to and tiring of hearing the mantra that homosexuality is “unAfrican” from the religious and political leaders despite the evidence to the contrary. In his article, [...]

  • “The Call” radical anti-gay movement to preach in Uganda

    Posted: April 23, 2010, 4:00 pm by Sokari
    Just as doubts have been raised on the passing of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill, US evangelical preacher, Lou Engle who is the founder and leader of The Call Movement together with The Call Uganda, are planning a prayer meeting in Kampala on the 2nd May. Engle and The Call are radical anti-gay [...]

  • “The Most Important Event in the Struggle Against Climate Change”

    Posted: April 22, 2010, 3:30 pm by Sokari
    Nigerian environmental justice activist, Nnimmo Bassey speaking at the World Peoples’ Climate Conference in Tiquipaya Bolivia

  • Anti-homosexuality Bill disagreeable

    Posted: April 22, 2010, 11:33 am by Sokari
    Nearly 9 months after Ugandan MP David Bahati tabled theprivate members Anti-Homosexuality Bill, it just might get shelved. The Bill is presently being discussed by the Parliamentary and Legal Committee which has criticised Bahati for not anticipating the international response and condemnation of the Bill. The recommendations mean that the [...]

  • Breaking silences

    Posted: April 20, 2010, 6:57 pm by Sokari
    Amanda Mutamba Muhunde’s poem is dedicated to raising awareness of survivors of rape in conflict zones in parts of Africa and breaking the silence. Amanda pulls no punches in raising your conscious a notch or two as she lyrically details a woman’s account of her own rape, and her unfulfilled wish to no longer [...]

  • One tyranny is the spawn of a hundred more

    Posted: April 19, 2010, 5:41 pm by Sokari
    Kali Akuno critiques the notion of ‘humanitarian interventionism” which he describes as an ideological and strategic tool of neoliberalism….. a tool developed through the auspices of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), under the guiding hand of the US government, to be executed through the UN to allow the imperialist powers to legally and morally [...]

  • Zanele Muholi: Australia where the walls are too white

    Posted: April 13, 2010, 8:25 pm by Sokari
    Photographer and performance artist, Zanele Muholi has three new exhibitions which will be showcased on Black Looks over the next few weeks. This is the first time a Black woman from South Africa Zanele is having her work exhibited at the Monash Faculty Gallery. Fellow South Afri can Anthea Moys is also [...]

  • Police killings in Ajegunle

    Posted: April 12, 2010, 4:08 pm by Sokari
    On April 1st last week Charles Okorafor was shot in the head by police in Ajegunle following a raid on a viewing center which was showing a football match. The next day furious residents gathered at the Ajeromi Police station to protest against the killing. Four more people were killed including [...]

  • Niger Delta Activists assaulted and illegally detained by Nigerian police

    Posted: April 9, 2010, 10:02 pm by Sokari
    Amnesty International today called on the Nigerian authorities to launch immediate investigations into the assault and detention of three human rights activists by police in the city of Port Harcourt. Isaac Asume Osuoka, AkpoBari Celestine and Ken Henshaw from non-governmental organisation Social Action, which campaigns for environmental justice and human rights in Nigeria, were stopped [...]

  • AMSHeR: Addressing vulnerability of MSM and M2F Trans Women to HIV

    Posted: April 8, 2010, 7:46 pm by Sokari
    AMSHeR is the regional coalition of MSM/LGBT led organizations and other organizations (Mainstream HIV and Human Rights Organizations) that work to address the vulnerability of MSM and Male-to-female transgender women to HIV. AMSHeR is currently made up of 15 organizations from 13 Countries (Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, [...]

  • No bail for the man accused of beating and repeatedly raping Millicent Gaika

    Posted: April 7, 2010, 1:24 am by Sokari
    U strike LBT Womyn, U strike the Nation No bail for the man accused of beating and repeatedly raping Millicent Gaika for five hours because she is a lesbian. This was the demand made by Luleki Sizwe LBT Womyn’s Project when they turned up in full force at the Magistrates Court Tuesday, 6 April [...]

  • The Imams Came! The Bishops Saw! The President “grunt” and he said “amen”

    Posted: April 7, 2010, 7:44 pm by Sokari
    In this brilliant deconstruction of the farcical comedy called Nigeria, Kayode Ogundamisi of Nigeria Liberty Forum looks back at the last five months of the saga of the Nigerian President and subsequent sightings and non-sightings of the “Invisible Man” aka President Umaru Yar’Adua. In this Photo: President Olusegun Obasanjo, Governor Gbenga [...]

  • Jon Qwelane sneaks into Uganda

    Posted: April 6, 2010, 5:11 pm by Sokari
    Jon Qwelane who was appointed South African ambassador to Uganda sneaked into the country during Jacob Zuma’s recent visit. Qwelane was appointed ambassador despite facing charges in the SA Equality Court for an article in the Sun written in July 2008 – “Call me Names But Gay Is [...]

  • This is Lagos – the bigger part of the city

    Posted: April 5, 2010, 10:14 pm by Sokari
    Nigeria is suddenly on everyone’s radar. Over the past couple of weeks we have seen the Shell Sorry campaign launched in The Hague; the BBC2 drama “Blood and Oil” set in the Niger Delta; the Channel 4 Unreported World documentary on the aftermath of the Jos violence; and now another documentary on the “ingenuity” [...]

  • The making of Sembène: Reclaiming stories

    Posted: April 5, 2010, 1:36 pm by Sokari
    Reclaiming our stories: An animated film by Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman on the late Senegalese filmmaker Sembène Ousmane. An eight-part animated film about not only Sembène, but also about the importance of reclaiming African stories. Combining animation and archival footage, this film shows the making of Sembène as an influential African [...]

  • Sexuality discourses in Africa

    Posted: April 2, 2010, 1:03 pm by Sokari
    Kavinya Makau and Zawadi Nyong’o, discuss some of the issues raised at the recent Conference on Sexual Health and Rights held in Addis Ababa. Mention sex in most places on the African continent and you are likely to be met with questioning glances. Most quietly wonder ‘What is this person up to?’ Venture into speaking [...]

  • African clergy, lawyers & CSOs call on Uganda to stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bil

    Posted: April 1, 2010, 2:18 pm by Sokari
    The following press statement was issued by leading African clergy and prominent individuals, as well as more than 60 civil society and human rights groups from 10 sub-Saharan African countries have endorsed a statement calling on the President, Government and Parliament of Uganda to reject the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in its entirety. The statement has been endorsed [...]

  • Criminalising homosexuality: a threat to human rights

    Posted: March 31, 2010, 9:25 pm by Sokari
    My review of “Urgency Required: Gay and Lesbian Rights are Human Rights” published by HIVOS. Originally posted on Pambazuka News – 4th March 2010 Urgency is required at this very moment as the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 is pending before the Ugandan parliament. Same-sex relationships are already illegal in the country under sections [...]

  • A few dollars and you can adopt an African woman’s clitoris by Save Africa Missionaries

    Posted: March 30, 2010, 1:54 pm by Sokari
    Africa is full of these predatory religious movements preying on poverty, lack of access to education and health. The Save Africa Missionaries behind this outrageous misguided approach to what otherwise, if carried out without the religious imperialism, racist language, sanctimonious music and tone, is a worthwhile practice are the Rael [...]

  • Ai – On Being 1/2 Japanese, 1/8 Choctaw, 1/4 Black, and 1/16 Irish

    Posted: March 29, 2010, 5:57 pm by Sokari
    I feel sad and that I never heard of Ai until I read about her death in the New York Times. Like so many of our heroes – Fannie Lou Hammer, Lorraine Hansberry, Audrey Lorde, June Jordan, Minnie Ripperton, Ruby Dee to name just a few, Ai died as a result of [...]

  • Homophobic epithets

    Posted: March 29, 2010, 2:13 pm by Sokari
    Last week the new Archbishop of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh who replaces Peter Akinola, restated the church’s disapproval of “homosexual lifestyle and same sex marriages” – first lesson homosexuality is not a lifestyle. This article by Nigerian, Paul I. Adujie, asks why the focus on sexuality and same sex desire when the continent is [...]

  • Lagos: 1970s Rare Funk

    Posted: March 28, 2010, 5:23 pm by Sokari
    This is a gem from the past – a compilation of rare 1970s disco music from Nigeria put together by Frank Gossner of Voodoofunk “It was the era of sheer ecstasy. The music not only represents the vibrancy of youthful expressionism of the time but is also deeply rooted in African rhythm though not traditional [...]

  • Shell “Sorry” to the people of the Niger Delta

    Posted: March 27, 2010, 6:53 pm by Sokari
    This was a spoof by the Yes Men to try and get Shell to retract an apology they never made. Unfortunately it didn’t work – they tried, we tried but it fell flat as a bloody pancake on a wet rainy day in London! Finally a multinational corporation which has systematically abused and [...]

  • Report on U.S. Christian Right & Attack on LGBTI people in Africa

    Posted: March 26, 2010, 5:46 pm by Sokari
    Political Research Associates have published an in depth report on the role played by right wing US religious organisations in encouraging homophobia in Uganda. The report “Globalizing the Culture Wars: US Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia.” was written by pastor Kapya Kaoma of Zambia. The story starts with a meeting [...]

  • Racing from Africa to Europe

    Posted: March 24, 2010, 4:37 pm by Sokari
    Sierra Leone / British journalist, Sorious Samura becomes an illegal immigrant traveling from Morocco to Europe with a group of African migrants. Three of the men decide to make the crossing by swimming to the European enclave of Ceuta in Morocco – one makes it three are caught. The journey is [...]

  • Tribute to Fatima Meer by Pumla Gqola

    Posted: March 23, 2010, 2:56 am by Sokari
    Feminist and Anti-Apartheid activist Fatima Meer passed away on the 12th March. Although I posted on Twitter, Fatima Meer deserved more than a fleeting 140 characters as an obituary. Others were not so careless with someone who stands out in South African history and the Anti-Apartheid movement. There is much [...]

  • African writers: Wole Soyinka & Zukiswa Wanner

    Posted: March 20, 2010, 4:09 pm by Sokari
    Nigerian writer and political activist Professors Wole Soyinka has been at the forefront of Nigeria’s pro-democracy movement over the past 10 years. He lost his way during the Babangida regime in the 1980s when he agreed to Chair the Federal Road Safety Commission [1988-1991] and in doing so compromised the principles he presented [...]

  • South African soccer fields

    Posted: March 19, 2010, 9:19 pm by Sokari
    Via Books SA

  • F-Word interview with Senzeni Marasela

    Posted: March 19, 2010, 2:03 pm by Sokari
    South African political artist Senzeni Marasela uses art to examine her personal and collective memory. In this interview with the director of Deveron Arts, Claudia Zeiske, Marasela discusses her work on women’s self-perception and insecurities about their bodies and how these differ between women of colour and white women. Women have insecurities about their [...]

  • “They would not help me before the quake. Why would I bother to ask them now?

    Posted: March 18, 2010, 4:31 pm by Sokari
    Haitian community activist Rea Dol talks about SOPUDEP the school she started in 2000, the struggles to keep it going and surviving the earthquake… without the help of the “Republic of NGO’s”. This is what happened to Rea and thousands of other Haitians who acted to help themselves. They knew that from [...]

  • #Nigeria: Abuja – the world: Enough is Enough. Where is Yar’Adua?

    Posted: March 16, 2010, 2:10 pm by Sokari
    At 11am TODAY young Nigerians will march to the National Assembly in Abuja to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and DEMAND: 1) President Yar’Adua should resume, resign or be removed 2) The promise of 6000megawatts must be fulfilled 3) The 5-month fuel crisis needs to end now. Nigerians: March, Blog, Tweet, Talk, Print the leaflet and put in [...]

  • A doctor in Nigeria: 1948

    Posted: March 13, 2010, 5:58 pm by Sokari
    Via Heal Nigeria

  • Senegalese film director, Mahaman Johnson Traore: – RIP

    Posted: March 13, 2010, 3:46 pm by Sokari
    Senegalese film director and one of the founders of the Pan-African Film festival [FESPACO], Mahaman Johnson Traore, died last Monday. Mark Coles talks to Keith Shire on the work of Johnson Traore, particularly his films which addressed “the politics of women’s position in their societies”. Listen to the interview below. Via Bombastic Element

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes

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