http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_grandiose.gif comments on the apathy amongst Nigerian bloggers not writing on the elections and is particularly irritated by the response from bloggers and media using the phrase 'I am not surprised' in reaction to the violence and chaos. He goes on to say

'We can’t all fold our arms and watch some rogues make nonsense of these votes. Although the majority of Nigerian bloggers operate from the Diaspora, of the Nigeria-based blogs, very few has substantial posts on the elections.

If 70 year old men and women spent hours in the sun waiting to vote, if foreign observers dodged bullets and confronted teargas fumes to capture the “tone of the elections,” then Nigerian bloggers have no excuse!.....For the sake of those men and women that voted, the least Nigerian bloggers can do at this time is do a post on the elections - if you can’t write, link to another blog or a news site that has something relevant on the elections.'

It is disappointing that considering the number of Nigerian bloggers, so few have commented or reported on the elections. Any comment whether negative or positive is better than silence which in the Nigerian blogosphere has become very loud indeed.

More and more bloggers are writing about Uganda, both Ugandans and foreigners working in the country. Below are a couple of relatively new entries to the blogosphere.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_countryboy.gifCountry Boyi Boyi celebrates the election of Susan Abbo as guild president at Makerere Univeristy as she becomes the third female to hold this position and quotes her acceptance speech.

'I’ve come as the only organic students autonomy who will never give up in times of moral crisis', she said amid thunderous applause. 'I’ve come as an agent of transformation because our freedom has been bedevilled by agents of false propaganda, of inefficiency, and of slavery. Am going to use my strong will and dedication to make things happen.'

However all is not well with this post as the Boyi has a strange way of emphasising the need for the university authorities to work with Ms Abbo and the students – surely he could have come up with something less offensive and sexist than this:

'Can she woo the university authorities to come to bed with her so that the great power that the 84-old Makerere once wielded is rejuvenated?'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_africanminute.gifIn An African Minute is a blog by an American working on post-conflict development in Uganda. In the 'Dark Side of Mobilisation' he comments on the Ugandan governments intention to 'hand over one of the nation's most prominent tropical forest to Kakira Sugar Works, a subsidiary of a huge Asian-owned conglomerate'. The response by grassroots organisation has been to start a campaign to block the move. One of the tools they are using are SMS messaging via mobile phones. Unfortantely last week the campaign turned ugly as:

'we wondered what the results of such a massive mobilization would be. Western observers may be saddened that the results may be far from positive, and even catastrophic. A peaceful protest march in Kampala gave way to anti-Asian riots which resulted in three deaths, including one Asian who was stoned to deal in the streets.'

What is interesting is the use of mobile phone technology as a tool for activism. Using SMS for campaigning, distributing information and education is becoming more and more widespread across the continent.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_ernestbazanye.gifErnest Bazanye has a different take on the riots mentioned by 'In An African Minute'

'Ugandans don’t care about the environment. Well, you might, but that that mob doesn't. If Ugandans gave a shit, why would we still have a problem with buveeras and why would people still not be using energy saving bulbs, and why would they still be doing their laundry at the lakeside, right next to the sign that asks them not to, and what about that mess called Nakivubo channel? And why are they always encroaching on wetlands? They are encroaching on forests too! And what about all the kasasiro and rubbish heaps everywhere you go? And why is it everyone’s ambition to own a gas-guzzling smoke belching 4-wheel drive?'

I think he is being somewhat harsh on the Ugandan public. If we are honest most people in the world don’t care about the environment. Ugandans are not the only people aspiring to drive around in huge guzzling 4x4s – the same can be said of Americans who use 3 and 4 litre engine vehicles not to speak of the hummer which is basically a tank for god’s sake. The same goes for plastic soda bottles, bags and so on. Partly it is lack of information but it is also a 'don’t give a damn selfish' mentality driven for one thing by capitalist imperatives to constantly produce more for less.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_oneafrican.gifOneafrikan tried to organise a Web2 conference in South Africa but unfortunately there has so far been little interest in the idea possibly because of the marketing strategy used. The conference 'Technology for Africa 07' is due to take place in May. It reminds me of the Africa Blogging Indaba that took place last year under much controversy, although this one will cover technology in general and not just blogging. It will be interesting to see, if it does happen, who attends, who the guest speakers are and the content of the discussions especially how they address access and take up of technology in South Africa.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_sociolingo.gifSociolingo I am not sure who writes this blog except that at present s/he is living in Mali and writes about a wide range of African issues including language and in this piece he posts an interview with Senegalese Deputy Minister in charge of Basic Education and National Languages of Senegal on language policy in Senegal. I chose this piece as the issue of codification, translating and teaching African indigenous languages is essential if languages are to remain alive. In Nigeria for example where there are some 250 languages, there are still many that have not been codified and because of the movement from the rural areas to cities are in danger of dying out in the next 50 years. Sociolingo also raises the point of a “common” language or linga franca in those countries where multiple languages are spoken. This has generally been the colonial language such as English, French and Portuguese. The question

'Can languages be planned? Is it desirable to intervene in the maturing process of languages?(2)……If that quotation is put back into context, it means that, where languages are concerned, there is a need for mediation that a decree cannot resolve. This problem has come up in Senegal. It has been said that In order to achieve national unity, there must be a language of unification in Senegal. But which language should we choose? Obviously, if the government decides to choose one language rather than another, that doesn’t mean that the social process taking place in the real world will obey the decree exactly as issued. Languages have their own dynamic. There are many factors involved, such as trade, migrations, historical and social factors, that cause one language to spread more than another. If a government arbitrarily decides that a particular language must be the language of national unification instead of acknowledging these ongoing processes for what they are, it’s on the wrong track.'

It will be interesting to see how Senegal deals with this issue which affects a large number of African countries with multiple languages. Languages do not exist on their own, they are an intricate part of culture, tradition and history so choosing one over another can easily become a highly continuous issue.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks comments on the Don Imus affair in which he, a US TV journalist describes a black female basketball player as 'nappy-headed ho'. Fortunately he has since been relieved of his job but the fall out from this remains in the news.

Last week hip hop commentator Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur of AllHipHop.com was calling for Hip Hop to apologise to Black women for it’s misogyny and sexism. This week an American sports commentator was openly dissing Black women 'nappy head ho' - how bad can it get? Where did this white man get to speak this language - well he got some of it from this same Black Hip Hop and street language. So before we rush and condemn the white man and hey on that side I have learned to have little expectations but lets speak the truth - and the truth is that this is Black man talk. Not just in US but also in Britain and here in Africa as local youth get off on using this same kind of misogynist language.

• Sokari Ekine is the Onlne News Editor of Pambazuka News and produces the blog Black Looks, http://www.blacklooks.org

• Please send comments to [email protected]

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_ghanageek.gif reports on an ICT project for secondary school children in Ghana called the I2CAP competition.

'The I2CAP program is a secondary school level programming competition. We train the teachers who go back and train the students. Then we have regional competitions and finally the nationals. At the moment their tutors are taught in the Ruby programming language…They are given a bunch of problems of varying difficulty and graded on how well they can create a working solution…Its only been going on for almost 2 years and we finally got teachers in every region trained. The first nationals will be in september. The plan is to eventually be able to assemble a national team for the International Programming Olympiad'

100 kids took part in the project however Geek has some criticisms such as the age of the computers – its about time Africa stopped being the dumping ground of ancient computers – a 5 year old computer is about 30 years old in reality if not more.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_naija.gifMusings of a Naijaman comments on his adventures in London seeking out Nigerian food and newspapers and ends up at the Bukka in Kilburn High Road. And on the continuing drama that is the Nigerian elections he points to a piece in This Day on how to prevent Rigging.

'Over in Naija, the drama continues as the elections draw nearer with court cases and counter suits and sudden deaths and the rearing of violence - Simon Kolawole of Thisday had some useful pointers on how to prevent rigging (or at least stop PDP from rigging too much)'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_subzero.gifSubzero Blue comments on an article on the “so called “Seven Pillars of Middle East Reality” that stand in the way of peace with Israel. Subzero takes each “pillar” which he generally describes as [un]reality apart such as placing the onus of peace on Arab leaders

'This can't be more wrong; the Arab leaders wouldn't want anything more than to have the whole Israel-Palestine problem solved, a peace established, the ability to move on and leave the whole thing behind them. In fact, a number of the Arab regimes, if not most of them, already have secret ties with Israel, and are just waiting for the chance to make them public and announce normalization and all minorities living in the Arab world are under siege.'

'This is very very wrong, and a trip to any country in the Arab world where a religious minority exists can show that; Jews in countries like Tunisia and Morocco, Christians in countries like Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, and the list continues; These people enjoy all their rights and freedoms, and live in peace alongside Muslims.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_matubamurphy.gifMy Haven a blog by South African gay couple, Matuba and Murphy comment on an editorial in Behind the Mask (South African LHBT news site) titled “The Only Gay Jesus Christ” stating that Jesus was in fact bi-sexual. Haven’s response to the piece is that it is completely unfounded and baseless statement.

'Conduct your research or perhaps use acceptable quotes that shows insight and initiative! Behind the Mask should know better than everyone else not publish such bigotry. They advocate for the existence of homosexuals. They fight for the rights of those who are violated - yet they bash Christianity with unfounded lies! As far as I am concerned it is all lies because there is no basis!'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_eshun.gifeshuneutics continues with the Easter theme and Jesus Christ in his post on Indulgence – chocolate crucifixes and Easter eggs – the 80 million sold and the sheer waste of the packaging – 4,500 tonnes altogether!

'It was Ezra Pound who once said “We have the press for wafer”. And sadly, we do: and its views are about as intellectually chewy as a chocolate box. Nowhere has the press tied all perspectives together and suggested that it is the continual commercialisation of religion that has caused this wastage of natural resources. Probably, that would be a crusade too far.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_model.gifBella Naija is one of Nigeria’s most popular blogs. Bella blogs on Nigeria popular culture: fashion, celebrities and Nollywood. This week the focus is on “Nigeria’s Next Top Model”…which is an event that will take place in London this month. Apparently there are “Top Model” events worldwide but this is a first for Nigeria

'I think it’s a good idea although I really wish this would have been more like the American Top Model reality show format with the whole thing taking place in Nigeria but I guess this is a start. I understand that subsequent ‘seasons/cycles’ will attempt to follow US Top Model format.'

There are rich pickings to be had for the winners – TV, advertising deals and the chance to become the 'face of Nigeria' – what better reward could any woman wish for!

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_thinker.gifSudanese Thinker goes on yet another anti-gay rant with the proviso that “he doesn’t mean to offend anyone”. Of course ST is entitled to his own opinion but the whole piece is full of misinformation and plain bigotry. He ends up telling us of an encounter with “2 gay dues and a transsexual” and concludes that you cant judge people on the basis of their sexuality. And he even has some friends who are atheist as well! God what a relief on both counts.

'I was extremely uncomfortable in the beginning and felt like cursing my friend but I convinced myself to remain respectful since I was a guest. At first, I conversed with everyone except the transsexual. After a while, the party got going when the host started blasting some really good old school hip hop music. Eventually we all conversed, laughed and joked around until I completely forgot the fact that 2 of the guys were gay and one was a transsexual. It didn’t bother me much anymore. Unlike previous cases, they didn’t try to hit on me and they didn’t make any flirtatious moves which was obviously a very good thing. As a result, I learned three new fashion words. Cetour, retro and bohemian (did I spell them right?). Moreover I started thinking and I gained a new perspective.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_otherafrica.gif is a new blog from Senegal by Ndeyefatou. Her latest post “Discover Dakar, she posts a photo essay showing places and monuments in the city – one of my favourites is a piece of modern art depicting “Mother Africa”

“The Millenium Door. This was constructed in 2000 on the Corniche of Dakar. It has a door in its middle thats known as the Millenieum door . This door symbolizes the entry to a new century or millenium. At the top of the door there is a statue of a woman named Yaye Boye= Mother in wolof. She symbolizes mother Africa watching over its children.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_khanya.gifKhanya is another new blog this time from South Africa. Referring to the new South African blog aggregator, Amatomu, produced by the Mail & Guardian, Khanya asks “where are all the African bloggers”. Yet again that same question we have heard so many times before both referring to African men and women bloggers.

“Look at South African blog aggregator sites like Amatomu, and the vast majority of the bloggers there are white. And this in spite of the fact that it is run by the Mail & Guardian newspaper, which has several black journalists. So if there are black bloggers out there, why aren’t they showing up on Amatomu?............The disparity not confined to blogging, but is seen in other parts of the Web and in electronic communications generally. In Usenet newsgroups, for example, most of the South African newsgroups are dominated by whites, with a high proportion of whinging whenwes. The soc.culture.south-africa newsgroup did have one very articulate black poster a few years ago, but he was not one to suffer fools gladly, and went off to play golf instead.”

I don’t know why Black bloggers are not showing up on Amatomu but I do know that issues of access to technology exist for the not white population who make up the majority of the poorer sections of SA. With most Black people still living in townships and a further 20% living in shacks it is not surprising that blogging and technology in general is not being taken up. Most Black and people of colour complain about the cost of internet connection at home and lets face it if you have just spent 2 hours struggling to get home the last thing you want to do is go and find an internet café and start blogging.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_sotho.gifSotho is possibly the only blogger to write about the recent elections in Lesotho. Knowing so little about Lesotho and Lesotho politics I welcome this short piece especially as he raises the question will the prime minister, Mosisili be taking after Mugabe?

“On Sunday elections were held in Lesotho. The small southern African “kingdom in the sky” was the continent’s first country to use a mixed-member proportional (MMP) system, in 2002. Sunday’s election was Lesotho’s second under MMP, and as I am not aware of any other African countries having opted for MMP (as opposed to MMM/parallel, which is used by several countries*), it must have been only the second African MMP election……………Lesotho politics is fraught with fallacies. There are even suggestions that the tiny mountain kingdom should be incorporated into South Africa before its tool late. In fact the only hope for the poor country is its big neighbour where there are more than 50 000 Basotho employed in the gold mines. Lately, its educated citizens are leaving in droves for greener pastures in the SA provinces. Is Lesotho becoming the next Zimbabwe? Is prime minister Mosisili taking after pres Mugabe?”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_altmuslim.gif

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_squatter.gifSquatter City reports on a court ruling in Joburg that will allow the government to evict squatters.

“The Supreme Court of Appeal decision allows the government to evict approximately 300 people from six buildings in the inner city that it argues are unsafe and unhealthy. The court ruling does, however, require the city to provide temporary relocation housing for the people it evicts”

What Squatter City is reporting on is the move by the Johannesburg government to gentrify downtown Joburg and in the process remove the last remaining black population so that it may refurbish and construct new high rise expensive apartments for wealthy people.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_ekwuruke.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_blacklooks.gifIn Black Looks Kameelah questions the way in which we speak about the highly complex situation in Zimbabwe and asks that we do not assume the MDC as the given and best alternative to Mugabe.

“This delicacy in speaking about Zimbabwe does not mean we stay silent—engaging in the quiet diplomacy that South African president Thabo Mbeki has seemed to master; it means that we develop the strategies to speak about Zimbabwe in productive ways.”…………. Granted–any words uttered about the negligence and brutality of specific African governments will be an invitation for the West. If it is not a formal invitation, then it is an instigation of the desire for greater Western involvement in Zimbabwe (and by extension Africa)—a desire that lingered below the surface awaiting the opportunity to exploit—and at the moment Africa has many crisis opportunities to exploit. It is a desire for involvement that can only be staged as legitimate when certain people speak in certain ways. With that said, how do we speak? When? Where? And to whom? Or, do we stay silent? Do we pussy-foot around the crisis at hand to preserve the sanctity of African political leadership? If we choose to speak, how do we speak in a way that does not invite neocolonial intervention, or mimic Western neo-con and neo-liberal narratives?”

Kameelah raises an important point in asking how do we speak of Zimbabwe. We need to be very careful of the kind of language we use and avoid language that is racially loaded and feeds into the West’s vision of Africa as opposed to a progressive vision which seeks a new form of African leadership.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_acacias.gif reports on a return to traditional building materials and methods in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso. The sad thing is that these methods were lost in the first place as obviously people built using local materials and in a way that suited the environment and climate.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_politics.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_afromusing.gif The answer I reckon would be the good fuzzy gooey touchy feely collective altruistic feelings that will wash over us when we realise that China will get… “cash”. How does that make you feel? huh? does it affirm your belief that nations have an underlying sense of caring and exhibit random acts of extreme kindness, preferably dispensing with oil exploration rights to later be sold off? Makes you feel all nice and happy doesn’t it.'

Looks to me like the only thing Kenya has got out of this is the rug pulled from under their feet or possibly they have been taken for a ride along the Great Wall of China.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_bankelele.gifBankelele has a rant about bad driving in Nairobi and comes up with the 'bad driver index'.

'While the most aggressive drivers appear to be matatus, taxis, citi hoppas, we are all to blame as regular motorists because we are equally bad drivers. Driving along the roadside, changing or creating extra lanes, doing u-turns etc.'

Apparently you can report matatus (kombi taxi) by sending an SMS to the Ministry of Transport – a great idea – but you cannot do that for regular motorists. Imagine the chaos if there was a sms number to report bad motorists in Nairobi, Cairo, Lagos, Joburg etc – the whole scheme would probably combust in a day from sheer overload of complaints!

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_uglybetty.gifWordsbody writes about the 'Ugly Betty' series which she is watching only to see a blast from the past in the form of 'Funmi Desalu's on Ugly Betty!!!' and even managed to catch a screen shot of her momentary passing. Apparently Wordsbody (Molara Wood) and Funmi were part of a London set known as the 'North West Set' – a glamorous group of Nigerians in London!

'In this episode of Ugly Betty (starring producer Salma Hayek and Vanessa Williams, who is astonishing as Wilhemina Slater), Funmi is credited for a non-speaking role, playing an assistant in a conference scene with Ugly Betty star America Ferrara. And in the following week's episode, it was a game of 'Spot Funmi' as she could be seen as one of the extras in the elaborate choreography of background office workers walking back and forth behind the main players. My curiousity piqued, I googled Funmi only to find that she's credited for a string of small roles as "Fumi Desalu" (somebody please put the 'n' back into that name! At least Ugly Betty got the spelling right). As a result, I'm now paying better attention to episodes of 'How I Met Your Mother' in case my old friend turns up one day as a 'bar waitress'.'

So if you get the chance to see any Ugly Betty repeats look out for Funmi Desalu.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_koranteng.gifKoranteng’s Toli is one of the few blogs I love to read but never quite understand what exactly he is trying to say. In this post he writes about what must be one of the most undesirable areas of London anyone has the misfortune to live in (I await a blasting from Catford livers) – Catford Bridge. Just the mere name leaves me with a murky grey run down feeling. I used to drive through it years ago on the way to well down South. Koli has a nasty experience on his arrival in Catford…

'The fight that I stepped into right as I walked out of Catford Bridge station… As I took my first 3 steps into Catford, this was the scene… On the left: 15 or so drunk black (Jamaican?) youths. To my right: 20 white guys (football yobs?) - Liverpool had won the Champions Cup the day before beating AC Milan. I can't believe I missed that match, but that's what happens when you leave your packing and shopping to the last minute. In the middle: 10 or so policemen trying to calm things down and keep things from spiraling out of control… The dozen or so women standing outside the pub egging the fight on.

As I looked up, I saw the first punch being thrown. Thus I walked straight into a melee of about 30 people yelling at each other and exchanging furious blows… A bunch of them almost knocked my suitcase off as they fell on me in one of those pub brawl tangled scuffles. Exciting introduction to South London. 6 or so police cars began streaming into the place. Flashing lights, sirens, tangled limbs, dirty streets. Screams of women. The fighters were more methodical and mostly kept quiet as they went about inflicting damage on each other.'

I do concede that this experience could have happened anyway in the big city – nonetheless the whole thing is made worse by the sheer nonentity of Catford. One of those 'nowhere' kind of places. Someone recently told me that it was in fact the cheapest place to buy a property in London – well that explains a lot – no one wants to live there.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks Rethabile writing on Black Looks asks if there should be reparations for slavery.

'It comes as a bit of a surprise to some that an organisation as benign as the Church of England might have to consider such a question…But its leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, thinks it must.' So, what do you think? What kind of apology should slave drivers make? Should there be reparations? Financial reparations? If so, why?…

Based on the comments (only 5) 4 say yes and 1 comes up with all sorts of deflective reasons why there shouldn’t be? My response to his comment:

'Ryan@ you completely side step the question posed by Rethablile. Your deflection of his point to that of modern day slavery and slavery that existed in traditional African societies pre the Trans Atlantic slave trade is typical of those who wish to negate the Trans Atlantic Slavery as merely a continuation of something that had been taking place around the world since ad infinitum. Your reference to Arab slavery is another method of deflecting the role played by England (a primary role I might add) in the slave trade and speaks of childish reasoning “well we weren’t the only ones” which is not what is being discussed here. These are typical examples of selective reality whereby white people cannot see Black people, because they cannot see themselves in relationship to Black people and are incapable of reflecting upon their own racist realities.'

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_shirts.gif - comments on global warming and what he as an individual is prepared to do to 'save his own skin'. – 'Stop flying, stop driving, stop tumble drying?'

Flying is a particularly pollution filled activity but nonetheless Nkem states he is not prepared to give it up and I have to agree with him to some extent. How else can you travel from Spain to South Africa? by boat - how many weeks? By road – the cost of a specialised vehicle will be 10 times if not more the cost of a flight not to talk of the dangers involved. One of the comments though makes a good point.

'I don't think that the intention is to ban you from flying. I think the idea is to make you think about whether you really need to fly or not - perhaps it would be better to take a holiday where you live rather than flying half-way across the world? Or perhaps that meeting is best held via videoconferencing facilities?'

We do have the technologies available now that can reduce the amount of business travel and conference hopping and yes we can all take holidays nearer our homes and travel by train or bus or if you are really fit by cycle.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_blackstar.gifBlack Star Journal - writes that Europeans are becoming more conscisous of the issue of climate change and the need to make changes in their behaviour such as buy local goods and holiday closer to home and Euro governments have made a commitment to reduce green house gases.

However despite the fact that Africa is the continent most affected by climate change, some people are complaining about the European campaign harming Africa’s tourist industry. As BSJ states some people will whine about everything.

'Some people will whine about whatever's done or not done. The west is blasted for contributing to climate change that hurts Africa, but when Europe tries to take actions to mitigate this problem, it's blasted for that too...Maybe the populist whiners can figure out what they want the west to do. But I guess it's easier to instead of criticizing everything instead of coming up with constructive solutions.'

I completely agree – you cannot have your cake and eat it. Africa like the rest of the world will have to make some serious and sometimes uncomfortable decisions around the issue of climate change which will require innovative thinking and as BSJ states “constructive solutions”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_unchained.gifAfrica Unchained - posts on an organisation called “Self Help” whose

'philosophy is to help:...people to help themselves. Innovative and appropriate technologies and techniques are employed by Self Help's staff, who work in partnership with beneficiary communities and government agencies to create a real and lasting change'.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_grandiose.gifGrandiose Parlor - receives an email alerting him to a website for the presidential candidate and VP, Governors Umar Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan . GP comments that it is a

'Great idea, but with about one month to the elections, this is a bit too late!'

He also provides a useful list of websites by other Presidential candidates as well as Gubernatorial ones. I note that Goodluck Jonathon did set up a blog some time ago when he was hoping to be a Presidential candidate himself but I have not been able to find it so I am not sure whether it is still running.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_thysdrus.gifThysdrus - comments on an article written by an American woman visiting Tunisia asking 'is she aware of her platitudes?' She writes:

'As an independent American woman, I have never felt inferior because of my gender. I have never been treated as less of a person than the man standing next to me, until I went on vacation to Northern Africa. As a tourist in Tunisia, I was exposed to much more than beautiful beaches, warm weather, and bustling markets. The male-dominated, largely Muslim population opened my eyes to gender inequality we have all heard so much about...'

She continues in this vein stating 'The deeper we went into the culture of the country, the more we noticed about the gender inequality' and ends up by saying how wonderful it is to be free to walk the streets (presumably in the US) and be free – of course we all know that the US and the West women don’t get sexually harassed on the streets, in their offices, in shops, parks and son on – this is something that only happens in the lands of the 'OTHER' .

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_congogirl.gifAdventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller - Congo Girl - comments on the $128 million just allocated to rebuild Kinshasa by the World Bank.

'I am curious to find out who gets the contracts on this one. Halliburton just moved to Dubai, is it? Are there connections between Cheney and Wolfowitz that we don't know about yet? Or will most of the funds be channelled through contracts to companies based in other northern (previously colonizing) countries? ...Millions of people live in Kinshasa (estimates are as high as 9 million), and roads, medical facilities, water infrastructure are sorely needed. But what about the rest of the country? This situation vaguely reminds me of New Orleans - post Hurricane Katrina, the first spots to get attention were not the most populous or needy, but the most likely to be on a parade route or downtown where the conventioneers go. Is the World Bank considering the dense population as a primary weight, or the idea that refurbishing the capital will lead to more (perceived) stability, and therefore a better presentation and (perceived) environment for investors?'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks - comments on a beauty pageant in Angola to highlight survivors of landmines called Miss Landmine 2007.

'my gut reaction to this is that it is highly offensive, disgusting exploitation of African women. In the background of some of the photos there are these white people smiling and glowing as they make up and dress the women - like mannequins. Putting the issue of beauty pageants aside and the patronising comments on Western opinions and African cultural traditions etc, it is still an inappropriate tool which objectifies women beside landmine survivors are men as well as women. Even the use of the words Miss Landmine is horrible. And who the hell is going to be buying these glossy magazines and wearing these fancy clothes? Certainly not the women survivors who are poor unemployed women?'

* Sokari Ekine is author of Black Looks blog and Editor of Pambazuka News

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

This passed week has seen the government of Mugabe reach an all time low in the violence committed against Zimbabwean citizens. Following the murder of the MDC activist, Gift Tandare, and the arrest and torture of senior MDC officials, including leader Morgan Tsvangirai, one begins to wonder whether this is the final push of Mugabe before he falls over the abyss and the people of Zimbabwe can begin finally to rebuild the country he has devastated economically and morally.

A message from some of the activists beaten last Sunday reads.

'The assaults on Sunday were so terrible and surreal. Like watching a movie except that one was part of the characters. Strangely if it were to happen again many of us would love to be in the front line again. They were hitting us but they were the ones afraid. Our wounds will heal but the scars on their souls are permanent and they will take them to hell.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_thisiszim.gif - presents a photo essay of the arrest of Mogan Tsvangirai and writes a list of atrocities committed by the government.

'Gift Tandere murdered by the police; MDC faction leader beaten and seriously injured; Activists shot while attending a vigil; Arrests continuing two days after the rally; Police searching for ’subversive material’; Evidence of widespread use of torture against high profile civil rights activists; Senior opposition figures ‘missing; Denial of legal representation; Ongoing police intimidation of civilians in Highfields, including possible use of violence; Scores of activists arrested.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_enough.gif
Enough is Enough - reports that all of the 48 activists who were injured by the police were kept waiting for medical attention.

'Silence gripped the courtroom as the 46 arrested activists found their place among the chairs. It looked more of a hospital ward that a courtroom. In fact, the whole bruised lot deserved to be in hospital and not in a courtroom. ….Those who were seriously injured included Tsvangirai, the National Constitutional Assembly chairman Lovemore Madhuku, the MDC’s deputy national treasurer, Elton Mangoma and deputy secretary for international affairs Grace Kwinje.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_finalpush.gif
Final Push - has a report from SABC on how the Zimbabwean government justifies it’s violent actions against opposition leaders - Nathan Shamuyarira, secretary for information and publicity Zanu (PF), says Morgan Tsvangirai, has been 'asking for trouble for a long time'.

'Tsvangirai has been provoking violence in urban townships. "If you ask for that kind of trouble you'll get it," he said, referring to Tsvangirai. Morning Live's Vuyo Mbuli asked: "Was Tsvangirai beaten because he asked for it?" and Shamuyarira replied, "Yes he asked for it!"…………The Zanu (PF) representative maintains that the meeting held on Sunday was unlawful and all the people who attended it ignored government's call to ban mass meetings. He says all meetings, including those of the ruling party, have been barred. "The MDC is always playing to the gallery of the international community. They want to demonstrate to Britain and America that there is violation of human rights in Zimbabwe. So they provoke action with the purpose of impressing their overseas bosses.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_coltart.gif
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_cryzim.gif
Cry Beloved Zimbabwe - comments on the what he sees as the complicity of the South African government in the violence committed by Mugabe against the Zimbabwean people….

'The fact that South Africans cannot see nothing wrong even with surmounting evidence that MDC leaders have been tortured in custody means two things, they are complicit with the human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and they are also heading the same way. Mandela once said it "the greatest question one has to ask is what did I do to help another human being in need" when he was invited to the British Labour Party in 2000 South Africans are intellectually challenged its no secret, most of them South African politicians waffle, there is little substance to what they say, most of the times its not their waffle which surprises me but the amount of waffle they are capable of producing. While the whole world over condemns the unlawful arrest, detention and torture of Zimbabwean political figures such MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_southafrica.gif
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_blacklooks.gif
Black Looks - publishes at obituary to murdered activists, Gift Tandare. Zorora Murugare by Zimbabwean feminist, Isabella Matambanadzo.

'His death is the result of repression. His grave will be a marker of how rights denied, end.In Zimbabwe, we live in a country where police run riot. Where our rights to lawyers and doctors are denied because certain elements of the state want to hold on to a kind of power that they can see they no longer have.'

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at pambazuka.org

8 March is International Women’s Day. So the focus this week will be on blogs by African women. There are probably hundreds of blogs by African women on the continent and in the diaspora. Therefore selecting six was not an easy task. I have chosen the following because they are either consistent and have been publishing for over a year (keeping a blog consistently is no easy task) or they are exceptional in content or style.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_wordsbody.gif - a literary and arts blog by Molara Wood for those who want know what is happening in the literary and arts scene in London and Lagos.

Recently she posted an interview with Nigerian writer, Mohammed Sule who recently passed away on the 12th February – on reading in Nigeria….

'Given our reading culture in this country, where those who are creating these problems have little or no time to read, how could the writers really change the ills? ......The people who are causing the ills are in the minority while those who are reading are in the majority. So if you are able to reach the majority, if you are able to reach about a million people, they may have different perspectives about the book, but your preaching will get through. And then we are moving forward. Of course, I’m also aware of the poor reaching culture. When I was in primary school, we had a library where we could read. It was the same in secondary school. And we read a lot. But these days, even some university graduates hardly read. So it is a fundamental problem. But I don’t believe the problem cannot be solve if all those concerned wake up to their responsibilities.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_mshairi.gif
Mshairi - Kenyan blogger who writes on women’s issues, human rights as well as some of the best poetry online. Mshairi has also been involved with me in setting up the African Women’s blog. On the night of the lunar eclipse she wrote

'As night deepens, thrilled we stand in wonder
in awe, a crystalline sky a mantle of stars.
Spectacularly ascending over the surface
the moon regally glides over earth’s shade
little by little, once a crescent then engulfed
we marvel at moonlight’s luminosity loss. A
lingering darkening an effervescent cerise glow
vivid hues of gray and orange.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_freedom.gif
Freedom for Egyptians - “Freedom and Democracy are the only guarantees for human dignity, self-respect and human rights – an important statement if you are an Egyptian – one of the few countries that has imprisoned bloggers. Her comment on the sentencing of Egyptian blogger, Abdel kareem Nabil Soliman Amer.

'It is really sad! Egypt is setting a dangerous precedent for trying and sentencing internet writers and bloggers when other countries are working on raising the ceiling of freedom of expression………….And the biggest disaster is that it is not the issue to agree or disagree with Kareem Amer's blog, but the real disappointment is that many people are supporting jailing Kareem, including his family. They do not know that regardless where do they stand on politics or religion, their turn is coming......I am not shocked but sad.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_oresnotes.gif
Ore’s Notes - I was privileged to work with Ore on the BAWo project last year, supporting and encouraging young Nigerian girls in a blogging project. Without Ore’s hard and determined work the project would not have gotten off the ground. This year Ore has single headedly taken the idea further by applying and receiving funding from Hamrambee. Ore writes about life in Lagos, literature, feminism and technology. On Nigerian newspapers, not an easy decision as there are so many but she goes for…..…..

'My paper of choice then was This Day, mostly because it appeared to be so highly regarded. After trying it out for a few weeks, I realized how much I did not like that paper. So much of the news in This Day (and this is common to a lot of Nigerian newspapers) is focused almost exclusively on politics. Yes, politics affects virtually every sphere of our lives, but there is surely more to report than that. Not being very interested in politics myself, I had to admit to myself that This Day was not the paper for me. I recently tried The Guardian and while I enjoyed that, I remembered that I had read an issue of Business Day sometime last year on a flight to Abuja and actually read it cover to cover.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_afromusing.gif
Afromusing - Afromusing blogs on alternative technology especially solar power, renewable energy and technology in general as well as the occasional dip into music and film. Recently she ran a test on an I-pod solar charger...

'Ok: It works well, there are preliminary indications that it functions as designed, marketed and as expected…………I am afraid i did not realise that my schedule today did not afford me more than 2 hrs of direct sunlight, i learnt that next time i promise to test something like this…make sure i have a way of positioning said gadget in direct sunlight for the ideal amount of time to make for a true test……..If you arent stopping….I have attempted to charge it twice today. In the morning i got abt 30 minutes of direct sunlight (I got swamped and forgot to set it up earlier). I started out with a completely dead battery, when the charger was in direct sunlight after 30 seconds the ipod turned on to indicate that it is charging, needless to say, i was excited. After 30 min or so i did not have direct sunlight so it stopped charging. At this point i could turn the ipod on and even play a song, but decided not to, attempting to keep the ‘integrity’ of the experiment he he, so i turned the ipod off.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_ekosso.gif
R. E Ekosso’s Blog - Rosemary from the Cameroon and blogs from the Netherlands on race, literature, feminism and just about anything that catches her eye. Recently she wrote two posts about Chinua Achebe’s famous essay on Joseph Conrad’s “In the Heart of Darkness” ….some of her thoughts.

'The white man knows all the plant species in my world, and can tell where oil will be discovered even before the organic matter has finished rotting. He has complete mastery of the extent of my resources, and can describe my diseases in great detail. If he is particularly knowledgeable, he might even be able to produce small, potted and sometimes wildly inaccurate histories of some of my people……But he does not know who I am. I do not think he wants to know, because there is no money or superiority or power in knowing me…..However, I know him better than he knows me. He studies my vital statistics, and I study his soul'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_nubiansoul.gif
Soul Searching - one of the older blogs by African women and one of the first I read, Soul does not have an RSS feed, google ads or any other signs of publicity on her blog. She very rarely uses links but just writes and writes – poetry, stories, thoughts. Nubian has been viciously attacked time and time again by, in particular, male members of the Nigerian community of bloggers, but has never let this intimidate her or prevent her from speaking her mind. The thing I love about Soul are her postings on her everyday experiences in London – on the tube, on the street, at work, in a club. Generally I don’t read journal type blogs because to be honest I find them boring but Soul is different – she can tell a story…. Here’s a post on loss – I feel for her on this one as I am sure most of us have experienced it at some time or the other.

'It hurts cos I was gonna back the pics up that evening. (damn you.. bloody jetlag and procrastination)
All the pics I took when I was out of town - Gone
All the pics of 'I' - Gone
All pics of eating at my fav. chicken shack by 'the cage'- Gone
All artistic shots of 'the 7 tracks' - Gone
All pics of 'I and co', 'O', 'A and co', 'K and co' - Gone
All 'artistic' images in various stages of undress - Gone (lol, just kidding)
not again!.
My heart is literally breaking right now. I need a camera for work but dang, buying the same camera again...
I think I'm going to cry. again.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_latifah.gif
My Realities Latifah - Blogging from Soweto in adverse conditions, Latifah’s poems are stories about her life as a lesbian victim of hate crime and living with HIV. She now has her own computer thanks to a generous soul, so hopefully she will be able to post more frequently as she can write her pieces at home and only needs to spend a minimum of time at the internet café. But working nights 6 days a week is a hard additional struggle so anything she writes is a bonus – a brave heart…..For her mother…………………..

'Thank you for being there for me
Thank you for the best mom to me
You’ve shown me that no matter what
You’ll always be by my side
Even though what the world may think about me
You still remain there for me
You have always told me things will work out fine one day and I love you for that
I have not always seen what you meant by showing me right and wrong but now i know.
Thank you for your patience and faith in me
Thank you for not judging me when others find joy in doing so everyday
Thank you for your ongoing support and courage
Akekho ofana futhi ozofana nawe!'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_kameelah.gif
Kameelah Writes - On Why I write…….

'why i write-speak//* because i am not supposed to. because prophet muhammad (pbuh) said the 'ink of a scholar is worth more than the blood of a martyr.' because cheryl wright said 'i like fighting with my words. my words whoop people's asses many a day before i have to use my fists.' and audre lorde said 'what are the words you don't yet have? what do you need to say? what are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, in silence? because me'shell ndego'ocello asked 'after a half a century of post-colonialism and swallowing the bullshit that we have been fed, the question is: how are we gonna spit it out?' because swallowing & consuming bullshit all your life is a bad for your health. because this is the real spit or swallow question. because jayne cortez asks us 'to imagine somewhere in the advance of nowhere.' because this pen is pressed for revolution.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_dogonland.gif
Dogonland - The newest blog / journal, my friend Del has finally joined the blogosphere. I remember only a year ago her saying she could not understand this thing with blogging and Wikis……..Ok she is my friend but Dogonland is a serious and excellent project as you will see. Del has just returned from the Pan African film festival so she should be writing a lots about that in the next few days… meanwhile here is a tribute to Toni Morrison on her birthday…

'You've given black Americans a fictionalized reclamation of that traumatic memory..........racial history. Shifting back and forth in time has made some uncomfortable with your work because it's not an easy read but like Jorge Amado, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ben Okri, Gayle Jones, Maryse Conde, Pedro Almodovar, Ousmane Sembene, Isabel Allende, Chris Abani, James Baldwin, Zadie Smith, etc. you love "language" and bring the lives, deaths, births, smells, shifting perspectives, ancestral connection, earth/landscape to life. Your stories are sweeping, interwoven tales of how really good and how really heartbreaking life can be...'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/blacklooks.gifBlack Looks - Do I read my own blog? Well yes, now that Annie Quarcoopome is writing regularly on colonialism / neo-colonialism and literature, plus Rethabile from Sotho blog (the only man on the blog) but a beautiful one and a poet too, Kym from Askthisblackwoman and Kameelah (see above). So yes I do read my own blog.

Blogging is not easy and to blog consistently week after week and month after month moving into years requires a special kind of commitment and so I would like to honour all those women mentioned here and the many many more that I have not included but which can be found at the African Women Blogs Aggregator - African Women's Blogs

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at pambazuka.org

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/africanpainters.gif - is a blog on contemporary African art. In this post he features Ugandan artist, Eria Sane Nsubuga and his latest exhibition 'A piece of Sane art'.

'The jovial Nsubuga began commercial art in 1999 at the age of 20. Nsubuga's work isn't the abstract art that is hard to understand...' He says he's inspired by nature and human activity and most of his paintings and sculptures are of flora and fauna. 'People here want to buy art pieces that are overtly explainable. It's European customers that want the complicated art work. That's why my art is plain and simple.'

The post includes a slide show of some of Nsubuga’s works which may be plain and simple but is full of the vibrancy and colours of Africa.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/blackhistory4schools.gifBlack History for Schools - is yes a blog about Black History but not just for schools. It mainly focuses on black British history and the Caribbean and also has a resource section and an excellent set of links related to African and black diasporan history. For those readers in London, he alongside Dr Hakim Adi will be at the Institute of Education, discussing ways in which teachers in the UK can mainstream black and Asian history.

'Some of the areas for discussion will stimulate a lot of debate:

How are empire and the struggle for emancipation and reconciliation represented in our teaching and learning about African and Caribbean history and heritage?
What is "black and Asian history" and should it be mainstreamed?
What are the resources and politics involved in moving the subject forward?
How is the legacy of slavery implicated in contemporary constructions of British identity and citizenship?'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/squattercity.gif
Squatter City - has a report on the local 'fish smoking' industry in one of Lagos’s shanty towns, Makoko. Although Makoko is itself located in one of the many rivers that run through to the lagoons and Atlantic ocean, the fish that is being smoked is imported from Europe.

'50-year-old Ogun Dairo tells me that she's been smoking fish for better than 30 years. She purchases the fish from a local refrigerated warehouse that's also in Makoko, but on dry land. For all of the 30 years she's been in the business, she reports, the fish has been imported from Europe. She buys between five and seven large boxes of fish every day, then she smokes the catch.'

The question is: why is a local fishing community buying frozen imported fish from Europe, smoking it and in some cases exporting it back to the markets of London and other European cities for Nigerian consumers. One of the reasons is that small fisherman and women have been pushed out of business by the commercial fishing trawlers that scoop up huge quantities of sea life (for every 20 tons of fish, 1 ton is dumped dead back into the sea). Another reason is pollution of the rivers from oil from ships and tankers as well as garbage human and animal faeces and other waste that is dumped in the rivers.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/thinkersroom.gif
Kenyan Blogger, Thinkers Room - who blogs anonymously under the pseudonym 'M' has a hilarious post on the reported demise of one 'M' reported in a Kenyan newspaper.

'You can imagine my acute consternation! To date no one has had the decency to tell me to my face that I had been shot dead in Athi-River! So I have been happily going around my business alive and kicking!'

He goes on to report by the Kibaki government on their achievements. Under 'women empowerment' they list that women are 'guaranteed at least a third of all public employment opportunities' and that 'mothers and children are recognised as key players in development'.

So, all women and children of Kenya in case you did not know it, you are now empowered and recognised as KEY members of society! Why because Kibaki says so and if he says so then it must be true.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/whatanafricanwomanthinks.gifWhat An African Women Wants - posts on the pitfalls of being a single woman traveller in Kenya and trying to get a hotel.

'Eventually, after a great deal of drama which I choose not to go into here, I found myself a decent place to stay at a price I was willing to pay. But the trials of a single woman are far from over.

At the reception, as I sign in:

Guy at the reception: Will your husband be joining you?

Me: No, just me.

Guy: Oh.

Guy creases brow and thinks.

Guy: Who will be paying your bills. (seriously, he asks me this. Yes I know this is Watamum but seriously, he asks me this.)

Me: (trying to be calm. My feet are aching, the rucksack on my back feels like a sack of potatoes.) Me.

And so it continued. But all is not lost as now in 2007 women of Kenya (remember they are now empowered and a Key part of society – see above) hotels are finally beginning to take the single woman traveller seriously!

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/lelatensae.gif
Ethiopian blog, Lela-Tensae-ETA Moonlight - celebrates Black History month by posting some “hidden facts about African Americans” – inventors amongst the community.

'They made their way over to the car, and found that it just wouldn’t go. You see, Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift and Joseph Gammel invented the supercharge system for internal combustion engines. They noticed that the few cars that were moving were running into each other and having wrecks because there were no traffic signals. You see, Garrett A. Morgan, a black man invented the traffic light.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/blacklooks.gif
Black Looks - comments on the difficultities for Africans wanting to get visas to visit the West.

'Queues! Waking up at the crack of dawn countless times, to get to the American embassy in the capital, to be subjected to hunger, to rain and wind and abusive Ghanaian security guards who can only bully to relieve their sense of powerlessness. But again, I always had at least one of my parents with me…they would miss work for this. And I didn’t have to hustle with public transport, we had a driver........I’m thinking about visas because I wanted to go to London this spring break. My friends are all jetting off to exotic places but I have to get a visa for many of these places. I let slip to my friend that I can’t go to London with her because the British require me to have a visa, although they didn’t need one when they were coming to colonize my country. She asked me if I was bitter. Ha! Do I sound bitter?'

A friend of mine from Nigeria recently visited me in Spain and had to go through a similar scenario with the addition of being told to produce photos of Granada and bring them back to the Spanish embassy on her return as if not she would never be allowed to enter Spain again – work that one out? Needless to say, she has not and will not be taking the photos to the embassy.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at pambazuka.org

The 20th FESPACO (Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou) takes place between 24th February and the 3rd March in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The name means 'Land of honest men' and was changed from Upper Volta by the late revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara.

Every two years, the desert city of Ouagadougou becomes the centre of Africa film from the continent and diaspora. The festival has grown from its inauguration in 1969 when only five countries were represented (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger and Cameroon) to this year with films from almost every country and the diaspora being represented. Every two years, the desert city of Ouagadougou becomes home to African film from the continent and the diaspora.

In 2005 the South African film DRUM (set around the famous South African magazine Drum, the film is about the forced removals of black people from Sophia Town) took the grand prize. 2005 was also the year when two Hollywood productions were shown, Hotel Rwanda, and the much better Sometimes in April. Both dealt with the Rwandan genocide. Commenting on the 2005 film festival and the lack of availability of African films to both local and the wider global community I wrote:

'The unfortunate thing is that very few of these films will be available to a wider audience outside of the film festival circuit. African films to do not bring in millions of dollars to cinema houses around the world and Africa itself has very few cinemas where films can be viewed by a large number of people. Some of the films may be transferred into video or DVD format but even these are so expensive that only organisations could afford to buy them.

So why are African films so expensive that local African TV stations cannot afford to screen then and individuals like you and I cannot afford to buy them on DVD or videos? That’s if we can find them in the first place. The answer lies with California Newsreel. They own the distribution rights to many African films enabling them charge exorbitant prices to institutions and individuals for screenings and DVDs. Distribution takes place through their Library of African Cinema. For example check their restrictions on the cheapest option 'home videos'.

On a positive note these issues will be addressed this year as part of the thematic discussion 'African Cinema and Culture and Diversity' which will include topics such as the state of African cinema and the issue of distribution.

This year’s talk of the festival is the film Bamako by Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako. The film takes a critical look at the World Bank/IMF and their impact on grass roots communities in Africa by putting the institutions on trial with two ordinary people as witnesses.

The film tells the story of Melé—a bar singer—and her unemployed husband Chaka. Their marriage is coming apart. In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial is under way with the World Bank and the IMF, accused of the woes of Africa. American actor Danny Glover, who helped fund the film, has a bit part.

I also looked at the contribution by African women to the festival, starting with Cape Verdian film maker, Claire Andrade’s film Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican? (A Cape Verdean American story) which has been selected to compete for the Paul Robeson Diaspora Prize.

SKFPR? is the largely unknown story about immigrants from the Cape Verde islands in the Fox Point neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, the second oldest and largest Cape Verdean community in America. The film opened theatrically in the UStates in January 2006 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, to a sold out house. The documentary continued throughout 2006 to receive critical and popular acclaim at theatres, festivals, universities and select venue screenings.

Other African women showing at the festival are Zimbabwean writer, Tsitsi Dangaremgba (Growing Stronger); Rwandan, Jacqueline Kalimunda (Homeland); Algerian, Fatma Zorha Zamoum (Short LA PELOTE DE LAINE).