As the tension between China and Japan over the disputed Diaoyu Islands (also known as the Senkaku Islands) has elevated, large scale anti-Japan protests have taken place all over China in more than 50 cities over the weekend. Free More News’s video shows how protesters in Changsha attacked and mobbed a Japanese shopping center in September 15.
But what lies behind the scenes of the weekend’s demonstrations?
As Ghana is experiencing a new gold rush, widespread corruption is allowing illegal mining to flourish.
Al Jazeera chronicles this growing issue as part of their ‘Africa Investigates’ series.
Iyanya -Kukere
This song makes me want to both practice my azonto and etighi. Next saturday i will be turnt the fuck up.
Sure like u were two weeks back. kmt.
(via haphazardcoordination)
Etighi - Omo Calabar
Sisteh in purple doe….
(via haphazardcoordination)
Al Jazeera spoke to Moussa Ag Al Sarid, the Communications Director of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).
He says their fight for Mali’s north is not over.
The rebel’s decision to rertreat from the northern cities was to “avoid a bloodbath”, and a way to confront the armed groups away from civilians, says al Sarid. He maintains Tuareg forces still hold the five borders of the northern province Azawad.
Al Sarid says that allies of the Malinese government are trying to crush the MNLA’s goal of an independent Azawad, and may be supporting the armed Islamist forces, though he could not specify who.
After the northern territory was captured by Tuareg separatists following a March 22 coup, al Qaeda linked groups managed to expell the rebels from their self-declared rule, suspending Tuareg plans for statehood. With large parts of the country left unstable and disconnected from central rule, Tuareg rebels try to regroup, without the resources or funds enjoyed by their rivals.
Sudan: Breaking the barrier of fear
As the Sudanese government intensifies its crackdown on anti-government protests that have been going on for almost two weeks, activists have called for a massive demonstration against the government’s austerity measures.
The protesters defiantly dubbed their anti-government rallies “licking elbows” after officials issued a statement telling people who are dissatisfied with the government to do just that.
The protests that were sparked by austerity measures have spread from the capital Khartoum to other areas of the country, with people now openly calling for an end to the 23-year-old rule of Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s president.
my name is lola, I’m 2 years old…I’m turning 3 tomorrow(5/23) hope u guys will like this one
Algeria: The revolution that never was
Does ‘progressive leadership’ or something more complex and sinister explain why Algeria’s ‘Spring’ never materialised?
Jameson Whiskey & Kevin Spacey present: “Spirit of A Denture” - A short film by Alan Shelley
Backed by well-known global whiskey brand Jameson Whiskey, US actor Kevin Spacey recently ran a worldwide talent search where budding filmmakers were invited to submit a script that would be selected by the actor to both star in and produce.
One of the scripts selected was that of the above film written by 26-year-old Capetonian writer and director Alan Shelley, a comedic film about a highly dedicated dentist who gets an odd visit from a sailor suffering from multiple dental-related maladies.
The film was shot in South Africa and Spacey was in the country on Saturday to promote and attend the premiere of this film in Johannesburg where he spoke about the potential of the fast-growing movie-making industry in South Africa.
Meet Nigerian writer Chuma Nwokolo as he talks about his latest book ‘The Ghost of Sani Abacha’
Released in January 2012, The Ghost of Sani Abacha is a collection of 26 stories by Nigerian writer Chuma Nwokolo and has its setting in Nigeria. Seventeen of the stories are published here for the first time. Contrary to its title, the book is not about Sani Abacha (the late president/military dictator of the country) but rather it’s a witty and satirical look at everyday human life in Nigeria as echoes of an oppressive time.
(Source: africabookclub.com, via dynamicafrica)
African hair threading w/ American twist
(via hi-imcurrentlyobsessed)
Golden Sounds - Zangalewa (edited version)
Tsamina or Zangaléwa is a 1986 hit song, originally sung by a makossa group from Cameroon called Golden Sounds who were beloved throughout the continent for the dances and costumes.
The song was such a hit for Golden Sounds that they eventually changed their name to Zangaléwa, too.
The song pays tribute to African skirmishers (a.k.a tirailleurs) during World War II. Most of the band members were in the Cameroonian Army themselves and used make up, fake bellies, and fake butts for comic relief.
The song was used extensively in the frontlines by the Nigerian Army during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970). It was also popular in some Nigerian schools as a marching song in the 1970s and 1980s. The Nigerian Army Band, The Mercuries, based in Kaduna also did a cover of this song in the 1970s on live television appearances.
The song is still used today almost everywhere in Africa by soldiers, policemen, boy scouts, sportsmen, and their supporters, usually during training or for rallying. It is also widely used in schools throughout the continent especially in Cameroon as a marching song and almost everyone in the country knows the chorus of the song by heart. The song was also popular in Colombia where it was known as “The Military” and brought to the country by West African DJs in Cartagena.
The men in the group often dressed in military uniforms, wearing pith helmets and stuffing their clothes with pillows to appear like they had swollen butts from riding the train and fat stomachs from eating too much. The song, music historianssay, is a criticism of black military officers who were in league with whites to oppress their own people. The rest is Cameroonian slang and jargon from the soldiers during the war.
According to Jean Paul Zé Bella, the lead singer of Golden Sounds, the chorus came from Cameroonian “sharpshooters who had created a slang for better communication between them during the Second World War”. They copied this fast pace in the first arrangements of the song. They sang the song together for freedom in Africa.
The lyrics, which are in a Central African language called Fang, read like this:
Tsa mina mina eh eh, Waka waka eh eh, Tsa mina mina zangalewa Ana wam ah ah
Zambo eh eh, Zambo eh eh
Tsa mina mina zangalewa
Wana wa ah ah
(source)
And then FIFA and Shakira’s camp though it would be a great idea to adapt this tribute song and turn it into a frightening pop sensation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted, for the first time in Africa, in South Africa.
(via orobolicious)
FEATURED DOCUMENTARY: “Dolce Vita Africana”
A documentary portrait of the Malian photographer Malick Sidibe, and a journey through Malian history inspired by his iconic images.
Sidibe’s snapshots from the late 50s through to the early 70s capture the carefree spirit of a youth asserting their freedom from colonialism in the early days of Malian independence - until a coup ushered in decades of austere military dictatorship.
If the video is unavailable for viewing in your area, watch the trailer here, a sneak peek here and a seven minute clip from the film here.
FEATURED DOCUMENTARY: Triumph of Evil - 1998 documentary film about the actions - or inaction, rather - of the United Nations and the west during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
On April 6th 1994, through mid-July of the same year, an estimated number of between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people (roughly around 20% of the population at the time) were killed over a 100 day period in what is now known as the Rwandan Genocide.
During this time, the historical tension between the Tutsi minority that had, before colonialism, controlled much of the country through their monarchy (and continued to do so under colonialism), and the Hutu minority that had suffered many grievances under the corvee labour scheme implemented by King Rwabugiri, and even more so under Belgian colonialism that was especially brutal in maintaining and intesifying the divide between the two groups - even after the handing of power to the Tutsi’s once Rwanda gained independence in the 1960s.
Black is Beautiful.