Five for the weekend. I haven’t done this in a while. First up Philadelphians Chill Moody (rapper) and Cody Kahmar with the music video for “My Eyes”:
Tomorrow’s Marching Band
March 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In the DRC, city life isn’t foremost defined by the image of the child soldier (contrary to what some campaigns would have you believe) but rather by that of the street child. Seen by many as a superfluous presence, a residue or a waste, street children become easy victims of gossip and accusations while at the same time, as a relatively new phenomenon, they are also hard to explain (children weren’t always used as scapegoats for families falling apart let alone considered as the cause of personal illnesses), ultimately turning into something of a danger and a threat that, according to all too many citizens, needs to be dealt with and ideally removed from the stuttering and improvisational city logics. [Read more...]
Independence Day in Namibia
March 21, 2012 By 2 Comments
Not only is it Human Rights Day in South Africa today (read up on its meaning by searching our archive for ‘Sharpeville’), this day 22 years ago also saw Namibia wrestle itself officially free from the same Apartheid claws that were responsible for the massacre in Sharpeville. Which makes it a day both to remember and to celebrate. I’m picking up the Independence Day meme of popular music we started last year. 5 Namibian tunes. First up, Overitje group Ondarata’s ‘Tuvare Tuakapanda’:
New films roundup N°1
March 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Here’s my latest list of new films with African topics. From now on I’ll number them. So this is N°1. My plan is to become more systematic and regular about it and drop a list of 10 at a time. I also hope to do it once a week. (If I can’t, I am hoping Basia will pick up the slack.) First up, is “The Ambassador” classed as a documentary film by Danish comedian/film director Mads Brügger as a fake European ambassador in central Africa. I recently watched his last film, “The Red Chapel”, on Netflix. It is a rambling trickster movie where Brügger and two disabled actors of South Korean descent (adopted by Danish parents) travel to North Korea in an attempt to outwit his hosts’ censors. The result is tedium, driven by his droll delivery style. In the end, I was less interested in Brügger’s antics (even his two co-conspirators tire of him), so I am not sure what to make of this new project. Here’s the trailer:
Africa @ SXSW: What can we learn from #Kony2012?
March 17, 2012 By 2 Comments
What people think about #Kony2012 is now somewhat colored by the public meltdown of one of its co-leaders Jason Russell (he was arrested yesterday in San Diego for exposing himself, and hospitalized). Nevertheless, Invisible Children’s methods of organizing and use of social media still needs to be debated (though written before Russell’s meltdown, here’s a good take on the organizational model of Invisible Children and its implications by researcher Dana Boyd). So #Kony2012 was definitely going to be on the agenda at this year’s SXSW. Posters were already up on walls and somebody even painted Joseph Kony’s picture on the streets of Austin. The festival added two last minute panel discussions to the program. AIAC was there for the second one, but unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to speak with someone from Invisible Children. Instead, however, we had a chat with Uganda-born panelist and co-founder of Project Diaspora, Teddy Ruge, and with Sam Gregory, program director at Witness. (During the discussion a Google document was created and it is open for everyone to read and edit.)
Africa @ SXSW: filmmaker Idriss Kpange
March 17, 2012 By 1 Comment
Idriss Kpange is a filmmaker from Sierra Leone. AIAC met him at SXSW earlier this week to chat about making film in Sierra Leone, the constraints he and other filmmakers face, and about a new humanitarian film festival called ‘Open Your Eyes’ in the capital city Freetown, which Kpange is organizing.
Friday Music Bonus Edition
March 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Five for the weekend. First up, via AfriPOP!, Nomswa Mazwai’s new video for her song ‘Nguwe.’ (The video comes with a translation.) Then, Vox Sambou (below) and The Narcicyst tell how they read ‘Article 14′ and its relation to Haiti’s recent history (channeling Noam Chomsky).
#Kony2012 the musical
March 15, 2012 By 12 Comments
We want to step off #Kony2012 (we promise to lay off them by this weekend), but we could not let this one pass. We know that Jason wants a career in musical theater. The writers of British broadcaster and satirist Charlie Brooker’s nightlyweekly commentary on Channel 4′s weekly satire show ’10 O’Clock Live’ spent some time looking at Invisible Children’s videos on Vimeo and Youtube and found plenty musical theater among the 274 videos (at last count) the group has posted online.
Arise Fashion Week
March 14, 2012 By 1 Comment
Pillbox hats are back! What else, besides a nouvelle variation of the old-school “Turkish” headgear, is in style at Arise Magazine’s 2012 fashion week in Lagos? After a drive through Victoria Island to get there, passing massive signs advertising “JESUS”, golden highrises and tattler headlines blaring “BOKO HARAM’S PLOT TO ATTACK SOUTH UNCOVERED,” we’re treated to waterfalls of fabric accentuating the lively flows of a woman’s walk, necklines wider (and going deeper) than a duck’s wake, and enough flash to invite comments about how ‘colorful’ Africans can be. Even from a distance, we can see the cut and construction is far superior to anything Gwen Stefani might attempt with “African” fabric. Here’s hoping that one day, AIAC is invited to the front row!
#Kony2012 is a Parody
March 14, 2012 By 7 Comments
#Kony2012 is no joke (millions of people still send money to Invisible Children and one of its first public critics, a Canadian student who runs a tumblr blog called Visible Children, has received death treatsthreats), but it hasn’t stopped the comedians from coming out. Here’s a few floating around in our inboxes, or passed around on Facebook and Twitter. First up is “Tony 2012: Stop the Tiger,” by a comedy group, who seem to specialize in frat boy humor. Of course they have merchandise.
