Guest Post by Zachary Rosen
Perched high above South Africa, Lesotho usually does not receive much international media attention. The little coverage it does garner often assumes readers are completely ignorant and takes great pains to emphasize dismal statistics about rates of HIV/AIDS and poverty. Of course since the last time you heard a story about Lesotho, you’ve surely forgotten how dire it is and must be reminded. In embodying banal, perfunctory reporting, some articles about Lesotho have tried to draw readers in by focusing on the recent visit to the country by the illustrious Archbishop Desmond Tutu, while others have stressed the risk of political violence during and after today’s elections. The Economist deserves special recognition for going to print with the wrong name for the political party of the incumbent Prime Minister. Kind of makes you question their expertise in intelligence. Overall, few articles have attempted to move beyond superficialities and actually delve into the complexities of the local political atmosphere and the implications of the election outcome.
Lesotho votes today
This is not about art
Between the relentless media coverage, the twitter deluge, the pronouncement by a South African judge (“This is a matter of great national importance”), and declarations by the South African President’s daughters about “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” you might be forgiven for thinking that–finally–some urgency about South Africa’s big issues was making national news. Were we talking about how to deal with the persistent racial and class inequality, joblessness, and a lack of government accountability? Not so much.
Akin Omotoso’s Country
A recurring theme in director Akin Omotoso’s films is the fraught postapartheid relationship between Nigerian migrants and their South African hosts. Part of the reason is autobiographical: Akin is the son of Kole, the literary professor, who moved his young family, including his then teenage son, to South Africa in the early 1990s from Nigeria. The result is that Omotoso is as much Nigerian as he is South African.
Pinkwashing South Africa
Guest Post by T.J. Tallie and Maria Hengeveld
This week BBC News reported on the rise in Cape Town’s status as a premiere international gay tourist destination. The article itself went on to report at length from gay South African hoteliers and organizers, many of whom lavished praise on the progressivism enshrined in the country’s constitution, and the comparative sense of freedom that South Africa in general (and Cape Town in particular) provided for LGBT-identified people. While it is undeniable that South Africa can boast one of the most inclusive constitutions in the world, particularly in regard to protecting the rights of those with different sexual orientations, the BBC article and much of the rhetoric surrounding ‘Cape Town as gay paradise’ obscures far more complex realities.
My favorite photographs N°3: Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann
Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann, a photographer and filmmaker working in her hometown, Nairobi, is our latest guest for our series where we ask photographers to pick their favorite shots from their own portfolio . She was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1985 with German and Kenyan parents. In April 2011, The Sundance Institute exhibited a selection of her work at MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art) in New York City. Philippa has recently begun a new documentary project, “We Want Development,” and is working towards her first feature film, “Two Princes.” First up she explains her approach to photography:
War and peace in Côte d’Ivoire
By the end of 2004, Côte d’Ivoire’s civil war had cooled to a simmer, but the country remained split, with a rebel-held north and a government-held south. What do these divisions mean to people on the move, late for christenings, doctor’s appointments, and dinners with friends? In an essay that will be published in the forthcoming issue of Transition, Siddhartha Mitter recalls a slow road trip to Korhogo:
The loneliness of the Kenyan long distance runner
Xan Rice, the West Africa correspondent for Financial Times, has a piece in the most recent issue of The New Yorker (unfortunately you need a subscription) about the sensational, but short, career of the late Kenyan marathon runner, Samuel Wanjiru. The article tells of Wanjiru’s sensational career as a distance runner, his tragically scandalous personal life, and the uncertain circumstances of his death. For those who may not know, on May 15, 2011 Wanjiru fell from a balcony at his home in Nyahururu, Kenya following a dispute with his first wife (who had allegedly come home to find him in bed with another woman) and died. He was 24 years old.
Drogbacite
Guest Post by Laurent Dubois
There are some matches that end up seeming primarily the vehicle for one person to somehow attain mythical status. The Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern was written, it seems now, purely to allow Didier Drogba a form of poetic catharsis worthy of fiction or film. The fact that Chelsea won was itself a kind of oddity, for throughout the game it seemed the most unlikely of outcomes. But as he had against Barcelona, Drogba became the master of the unruly and the absurd: none of what the other team did, not of the great passing and possession and continual shots on goal, mattered in the end. Just Drogba did, his head and then his foot.
Egypt after Edward Said
Last December, when the Institut d’Egypte was burned down, I thought immediately of Edward Said. Napoleon’s expedition to Europe is described at the beginning of Orientalism, where it is a classic example of how academic and scientific discoveries anticipate and enable imperial conquest. The Institut was established shortly after Napoleon’s invasion, and remained a powerful reminder of that episode until it was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail thrown during protests between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and anti-SCAF protesters.
Joyce Banda and Gay Rights
Post by Travis Ferland
Malawi’s new president, Joyce Banda, has said that she will push for the repeal of her country’s anti-homosexuality laws. Of course this depends on her ability to secure popular support in parliament. Even if these laws are repealed, will public animosity towards gays and lesbians change? Will protective laws be created in their place? Will life be any different for Malawi’s sexual minorities?
