---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pambazuka Editor <[email protected]> Date: Thu, May 5, 2011 at 8:17 PM Subject: Pambazuka News 527: Popular organising: The victory of dignity over fear To: pambazuka-news <[email protected]>
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 527: POPULAR ORGANISING: THE VICTORY OF DIGNITY OVER FEAR The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839 CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Announcements, 3. Comment & analysis, 4. Advocacy & campaigns, 5. Pan-African Postcard, 6. Books & arts, 7. Letters & Opinions, 8. African Writers’ Corner, 9. Highlights French edition, 10. Cartoons /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1 Features 'WALK TO WORK' AND LESSONS OF SOWETO AND TAHRIR SQUARE Mahmood Mamdani In this presentation to the Rotary International District Conference in Munyonyo, Mahmood Mamdani links events in Tahrir Square to the 1976 Soweto uprisings in South Africa. This is a the full text of the speech. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72940 ****** GLIMPSES OF THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: THE VICTORY OF DIGNITY OVER FEAR Part one Giuseppe Caruso In the wake of Tunisia’s inspiring revolution, Giuseppe Caruso offers reflections on his involvement in a recent ‘solidarity caravan’ to the country. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72930 ****** GLIMPSES OF THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: CHALLENGES, TRANSFORMATION AND POLITICS Part two Giuseppe Caruso Following on from part one of his article ( http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72930 ) on the Tunisian revolution, Giuseppe Caruso continues his reflections on a recent ‘solidarity caravan’ in the country. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72931 ****** TUNISIA: ANOTHER COUNTRY Amanda Sebestyen In Tunisia, the makers of the first Arab democratic revolution are organising for elections. It is not a passive process. Protests are called almost daily and have kept up momentum towards transforming a country rather than 'just' evicting a dictator who ruled for 23 years. On the sidelines, the old regime and its angry secret policeman are waiting; on the other side, well-financed religious parties will rise if the hopes of a generation are disappointed. Participating in a solidarity tour to Tunisia, Amanda Sebestyen finds a country of dedicated organisers, heights of suffering and generosity, and a dangerous neglect of the deprived heartlands where the uprising was born. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72973 ****** SOUTH SUDAN: RETHINKING CITIZENSHIP, SOVEREIGNTY AND SELF-DETERMINATION Mahmood Mamdani Reflecting on the context behind South Sudan's exercise in self-determination and the potential sources of political violence following the country’s independence, Mahmood Mamdani explores Sudan's longer-term historical experience – the role of imposed administrative identities under the colonial system, migration, religion, slavery and the emergence of a politicised Islam – and the contemporary challenges around rethinking political citizenship. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72924 ****** ORIENTALISING THE EGYPTIAN UPRISING Rabab El-Mahdi The narrative of the Egyptian revolution is being distorted by old, Western ways of seeing the Arab world. Rabab El-Mahdi suggests a different narrative. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72938 ****** UPRISING IN BURKINA FASO: WHY NO CAMERAS? Tendai Marima Commenting on the Western media’s preference towards coverage of particular uprisings across North Africa, Tendai Marima asks ‘what makes Burkina Faso's crisis so un-newsworthy that it is easily swept under the news pile?' http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72927 ****** HUMAN TSUNAMIS AND THE WORLD REFUGEE SYSTEM Tricia Redeker Hepner The dictatorship in Eritrea results in large numbers of people feeling the country. But once they enter the international refugee system their problems are only just beginning, writes Tricia Redeker Hepner. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72941 ****** POSADA CARRILES: ‘THE BIN LADEN OF THE AMERICAS’ Horace Campbell ‘As quiet as it is kept, international terrorism did not begin on 11 September 2001.’ Before Osama bin Laden, there was Luis Posada Carriles, writes Horace Campbell. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72972 ****** BIN LADEN AND NAKBA Mazin Qumsiyeh Mazin Qumsiyeh discusses the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in the light of the continued oppression of the Palestinian people. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72937 ****** FRANCE MUST NOW LEAVE CÔTE D’IVOIRE Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe In scenes redolent of the kidnapping of Patrice Lumumba and storming of Salvador Allende’s presidential palace, France’s recent activities in Côte d’Ivoire have been purely about establishing self-interested ‘regime change’, argues Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72912 ****** SOUTH AFRICA: NOT YET UHURU Ayanda Kota Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) 'We have no freedom to celebrate today. We live in a radically unjust society…Until everyone’s voice counts equally we cannot say that we are free’, the Unemployed People’s Movement writes from Grahamstown, in a statement to mark South Africa’s ‘Freedom Day’ on 27 April. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72946 ****** RACE IS SKIN DEEP, HUMANITY IS NOT Neville Alexander In the wake of the ‘furore about the racist remarks attributed to Mr Jimmy Manyi’, Neville Alexander discusses the challenges around creating a ‘raceless society’ in post-apartheid South Africa. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72911 ****** GODZUMA AND BLACK THEOLOGY Pedro Alexis Tabensky ‘Few things are more hateful’ than the ‘deliberate manipulation of the minds of the broken and destitute in the name of liberation,’ writes Pedro Alexis Tabensky, as the ANC attempts to win support from South Africa’s poorest communities by portraying the party as ‘the representatives of God on earth’. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72945 ****** OSAMA IS DEAD BUT… Mphutlane wa Bofelo I’m no supporter of Osama bin Laden but the assertion that his killing ‘marks the triumph against global terrorism’ is ‘laughable and absurd’, writes Mphutlane wa Bofelo. Why won’t the West recognise that it is its own disregard for the lives and worldviews of people in the Global South that fuels rage and resistance against it? http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72947 ****** CLIMATE FINANCE LEADERSHIP RISKS GLOBAL BANKRUPTCY Patrick Bond The Climate Justice lobby is already ‘furious’ about the involvement of the World Bank as an interim trustee of the UN’s Green Climate Fund. But appointing ‘South Africa’s most vocal neoliberal politician’, Trevor Manuel, as co-chair of the fund could be ‘fatal to climate change mitigation and adaptation’, warns Patrick Bond. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72949 ****** PATRICE LUMUMBA THE POET Cameron Duodu Reflecting on discussions with the audience at the screening of a documentary about the assassination of Congo’s first prime minister Patrice Lumumba, Cameron Duodu shares a less known fact that ‘the fiery politician was also as very good poet.’ http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72975 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2 Announcements IKAMVAYOUTH: URGENT APPEAL FOR DONATIONS AND HELP IkamvaYouth's head office in Makhaza, Khayelitsha was petrol-bombed on 27 April and the organisation is appealing for donations and help. IkamvaYouth is a non-partisan, non-governmental organisation that was established in 2003 in Makhaza, Khayelitsha with the objective of enabling disadvantaged youth to pull themselves out of poverty and into university and employment through peer-to-peer learning and support. The programme's success (87-100 per cent matric pass rate since 2005 and over 70 per cent of learners accessing tertiary for the past three years) has led to the model's replication in five townships in three provinces, and numerous accolades include winning the Mail and Guardian / Southern Africa Trust Drivers of Change award in 2010. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/72939 ****** ESSAY COMPETITION: WHY THE PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA IS IMPORTANT TO YOUTH SOAWR coalition In Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, this June, African heads of state and government will gather at a summit with the theme, ‘Youth empowerment for sustainable development’. Youth action is critical to the continent’s development, and more specifically, in ensuring that girls and women can make equally valued contributions to this development. As such, the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) coalition would like to invite youth to reflect on the importance of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Contestants are asked to respond to the question (in French or in English), ‘Why is the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa important to you?’ in an essay of a maximum of 2000 words. The competition is open to citizens of all African countries aged between 18 and 25. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/72976 ****** SAMIR AMIN AWARD - DEADLINE EXTENDED Following requests from a number of individuals, the deadline for the submission of essays has been extended until Monday 9 May. If you haven't already submitted your essay, please do so now. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/72971 ****** AFRICAN AWAKENINGS AND NEW VISIONS OF SOLIDARITY Pambazuka and the Carleton University Institute of African Studies invite you to a talk to celebrate Africa Liberation Day with Firoze Manji and Molly Kane, Pambazuka News. It takes place on Wednesday, 25 May at 6pm at the Arts Lounge, 1025 Dunton Tower, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/72965 ****** FAHAMU REFUGEE LEGAL AID NEWSLETTER - MAY ISSUE Fahamu’s Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the May issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter ( http://bit.ly/jLZJuI ) , a monthly publication that provides a forum for providers of refugee legal aid. With a focus on the global South, it aims to serve the needs of legal aid providers as well as raise awareness of refugee concerns among the wider readership of Pambazuka News. You can also read the newsletter on our new blog ( http://frlan.tumblr.com ) and Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fahamu-Refugee-Legal-Aid-Newsletter ) . ****** AFRICA AND THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY CODESRIA The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, CODESRIA, will hold its 13th General Assembly on 5-9 December 2011, in Rabat, Morocco. The triennial General Assembly is one of the most important scientific events of the African continent. It provides the African social science research community with a unique opportunity to reflect on some of the key issues facing the social sciences in particular, and Africa and the world at large. The theme of the scientific conference of the 13th CODESRIA General Assembly is ‘Africa and the challenges of the 21st century’. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/72909 ****** LAW IN DEVELOPMENT: WORK IN PROGRESS This workshop will provide an opportunity for postgraduate students in the broad field of law and development to reflect on its themes, progress and future. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/72908 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3 Comment & analysis ETHIOPIA: WE WENT, WE SAW, WE GOT CHASED OUT… Alemayehu G. Mariam Government officials on a tour of the US failed in their attempts to build diaspora support for Ethiopia’s five-year economic programme, thanks to ‘Zenawi’s tenacious, resolute and dogged opponents’, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. ‘The diaspora may be divided but not when it comes to Zenawi’s regime.’ http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72951 ****** MALAWI DEMOCRACY IN A TEST TUBE Akwete Sande How healthy is Malawi's leader for democracy in that country? Akwete Sande analyses the political situation in Malawi. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72942 ****** USING FORCE WON'T BUILD PEACE Stephen Musau Negotiation, not military intervention, is the best solution for resolving conflict argues Stephen Musau, as the international community’s attempts to quell the unrest in Libya take their toll on innocent civilians. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72950 ****** WE ARE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE: THE LABOUR OF OUR HEROES PRESENT Tunde Oyateru While Nigeria has always had a problem with insecurity, the recent spate of bombings in the country ‘have remained largely faceless, with no one claiming responsibility or offering an agenda’, argues Tunde Oyateru. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72910 ****** WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? Minister Louis Farrakhan warns Barack Obama about the US's intervention in Libya and CIA activity ( http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27933.htm ) [Information Clearing House video], while Cornel West discusses the failure of the Obama administration to tackle the root causes of injustice in the US and beyond ( http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2011/03/201132863311584728.html ) [Al Jazeera video]. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72906 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4 Advocacy & campaigns THE KENNEDY 12 RETURN TO COURT FOR PART TWO OF THEIR TRIAL Abahlali baseMjondolo ‘It is one thing to be attacked by the police or securities. It is another thing to be attacked by other poor people that have been mobilised, on an ethnic basis, against an independent movement by the ruling party and given the support of the police to attack, to threaten, to demolish homes and to drive all the leading members of a movement out of a community,’ writes South African shackdwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/72955 ****** U.S. COURT OF APPEALS AFFIRMS OVERTURNING OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL'S DEATH SENTENCE Prison Radio The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has again declared Mumia Abu-Jamal’s death sentence unconstitutional, on the basis that members of the jury during his trial were given unclear sentencing instructions. The award-winning journalist has been on Pennsylvania’s death row for 29 years. His 1982 murder trial and subsequent conviction has been the subject of great debate. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/72956 ****** UN SECURITY COUNCIL ACCUSED OF DOUBLE STANDARDS IN WESTERN SAHARA ‘TRAVESTY’ Western Sahara Campaign The failure to establish a mechanism around Western Sahara to monitor human rights comes in sharp contrast to the UK and French position on human rights in other recent resolutions, such as 1970 on Libya, stress the Western Sahara Campaign. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/72904 ****** IN TRIBUTE: NOXOLO NOGWAZA'S FUNERAL These are images from the funeral of Noxolo Nogwaza ( http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.2072605374419.2125437.1223456677 ) , the 24-year-old lesbian activist raped and murdered in Gauteng, South Africa. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/72902 ****** UGANDAN GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST AWARDED HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE Martin Ennals Award The Jury of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA), meeting in Geneva, selects Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera as the Laureate for her work for LGBT rights and marginalised people in Uganda. Nabagesera is the founder and executive director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, a lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights organisation. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/72970 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5 Pan-African Postcard KEEPING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE H. Nanjala Nyabola 'Bin Laden's death is perhaps the ultimate act of retribution, and no one can fault anyone for seeking that out. But there's a difference between justice and retribution,' writes H. Nanjala Nyabola. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/72953 ****** IN MEMORIAM: KAREN HARRISON H. Nanjala Nyabola Following the death of Karen Harrison, an activist from Glasgow, Scotland, and a mature student at the University of Oxford, H. Nanjala Nyabola pays tribute to ‘one of those special people who dedicated their whole lives to fighting battles that the rest of us are relatively comfortable looking away from’. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/72898 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6 Books & arts CULTURE IN POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND RESISTANCE Martina Keilbach ‘What are the conditions under which cultural expressions, used as a means for resistance, can become accessible to an international community?’ Martina Keilbach reflects on the work of Kenyan poet and political activist Abdilatif Abdalla. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/72954 ****** ANALYSING SOMALIA: PAST AND PRESENT Review of ‘Milk and Peace, Drought and War’ Nilani Ljunggren De Silva In a review of ‘Milk and Peace, Drought and War: Somali Culture, Society and Politics’, edited by Markus Hoehne and Virginia Luling, Nilani Ljunggren De Silva highlights an ‘important work for all who wish to understand Somalia and its beleaguered and courageous people’. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/72899 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7 Letters & Opinions KIBAKI AND RAILA LEADERSHIP RESPONSE TO RUNAWAY COMMODITY PRICES HURTING POOR KENYANS George Nyongesa ‘As workers and taxpayers of this country, we were shocked and disgusted yesterday that President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga refused to attend the Uhuru Park workers' day celebrations, writes George Nyongesa, national coordinator of Kenya’s Bunge la Mwananchi (People’s Parliament). http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/72977 ****** MAMDANI BRINGS HOPE FOR CHANGE IN PALESTINE Rahela Mizrahi Could the ideas in Mahmood Mamdani’s article ’The importance of research in a university’ ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72782 ) be applied in the Arab world too, asks Rahela Mizrahi. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/72967 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8 African Writers’ Corner OUR SACRED SOUVENIR: TO WANGARI MAATHAI Natty Mark Samuels There is mud under your toenails, your feet camouflaged by dust… http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/72900 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 9 Highlights French edition PAMBAZUKA NEWS 187: CÔTE D'IVOIRE : DE LA FAILLITE DE L'ETHNISME AU JOUG DE L’IMPÉRIALISME Côte d’Ivoire : Les significations du 11 avril 2011 ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/72867 ) Marice Fahé La croisade contre la Libye : une recolonisation impérialiste de l’Afrique ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/72875 ) Ley-Ngardigal Djimadoum Révoltes sociales et démocratie en Afrique ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/72874 ) Ley-Ngardigal Djimadoum ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 10 Cartoons FUEL OUT OF STOCK Gado Wonder whose fault it is this time? http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/72960 ****** HOLLYWOOD AND OSAMA Plans to bring bin Laden back to life? http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/72961 ****** IF YOUNG MUSEVENI RAN INTO OLD MUSEVENI Gado What a difference the decades make! http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/72959 ****** MARY WAMBUI: PUBLIC NOTICE Gado Mary Wambui, the wife of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, is considered an impostor, says Gado. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/72897 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ Fahamu - Networks For Social Justice http://www.fahamu.org Pambazuka News is published by Fahamu Ltd. © Unless otherwise indicated, all materials published are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. 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