'Before We Set Sail' is about the eventful journey of an eleven year old African slave boy within the deep interiors of West Africa in the years 1755-56. Written by 'himself' as a freed slave resident in London in 1796, the narrative focuses on the thrilling adventures he encountered during the time he spent as a boy slave in West Africa prior to being sold to British slave merchants.

REDRESS, an award-winning organisation that helps torture survivors seek justice, will be marking its 20th anniversary with a Literary Evening and a drinks reception on 24 April. The Literary Evening will take place at The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, and will feature readings from prominent writers that have canvassed the topic of torture and human rights in their work. Roma Tearne, Haifa Zangana and Patricio Pron will be among the authors participating and Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News Intern...read more

The Democratic Left Front (DLF) is supporting the call by the Ad-Hoc Defence Committee of the Zimbabwean six for a protest against the unfair trial and possible heavy conviction of six political activists who are facing trumped-up charges ('conspiring against the state') in Zimbabwe. The protest will take place on Tuesday, 20 March 2012 in front of the Zimbabwean Consulate and Visa Office in Johannesburg.

Khayelitsha NGO Equal Education has announced it will take basic education minister Angie Motshekga, finance minister Pravin Gordhan and the nine provincial MECs to court for their collective failures on school infrastructure. EE claims it’ll be the most far-reaching case about basic education in post-apartheid South Africa. In its 582-page founding affidavit, Equal Education, a movement made up of pupils, teachers and parents, says Motshekga has failed to exercise the powers section 5A of th...read more

Submission of the Unemployed People’s Movement to the SAHRC public hearings on the right to sanitation and basic services.

Land Grabs in Africa: Economic Growth or Re-colonization?

Students in Swaziland will have their scholarships revoked if they engage in political activity, if the Swazi Government has its way. New rules for students presently being drafted state that ‘at its discretion’, the Scholarship Selection Board can terminate a scholarship ‘when a student is a member, supports or furthers the activities of a banned entity’. In Swaziland all political parties are banned, as are a number of pro-democracy organisations, including the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWA...read more

Civil Society Organisations in Malawi have called on the government to withdraw threats targeted at the media and civil rights groups. Led by Council for Non Governmental Organisations Chairperson Voice Mhone, the NGOs have again denied they are party to any plans to topple Bingu wa Mutharika regime. President Mutharika has accused CSOs of organising a meeting to demand a referendum and/or nationwide protests to unseat the government.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS) and the Institut des études africaines (IEA) of Université Mohammed V-Souissi, Rabat (Morocco) are pleased to announce the launching of the Advanced Institute on Afro-Arab Relations. The inaugural session will be held on 12-23 March 2012 and will be directed by Professor Shamil Jeppie of the University of Capetown (South Africa).

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Liberian authorities to ensure the safety of journalists who have been repeatedly threatened for exposing the practice of female genital mutilation in the country. Mae Azango, a reporter for the daily FrontPage Africa and the news website New Narratives, told CPJ she had gone into hiding after receiving several threats for an article she published about Liberian tribes practicing female genital mutilation on as many as two out of every three ...read more

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