Stories about Ethnicity & Race from June, 2007
Bahrain: The Tale of a ‘Legal Slave’
No longer a tax haven, people in Bahrain are fuming at the introduction of a one per cent tax to benefit an Unemployment Fund. Bloggers caught on the bug and are ranting and fuming on their blogs in this report by Ayesha Saldanha. In other related matters, bloggers talk about a new law which bans workers from working between noon and 4pm in the summer heat, lavish weddings and the forgotten 'martyrs' of the civil unrest which rocked Bahrain in the 90s.
Egypt: GVO Wins Praise
Global Voices Online has been cited by Baha'i Faith in Egypt for linking to it and for “reporting on several other pressing human rights issues in Egypt.”
Ukraine: Erotic Symbolism in Folk Songs Lecture
A Ukrainian Diaspora ethnologist will give a lecture in Kyiv on Aug. 25 on the erotic symbolism in Ukrainian folk songs, Nash Holos reports.
Russia: Chechen “Daimohk” to Perform in the U.S.
“Daimohk, a children’s dance group based in Grozny and trained by the former first dancer of the Chechen national theatre, will be visiting the US for their first ever tour there,” A Step At A Time reports.
Hungary: Bilingual Education
N.Irish Magyar writes about Hungary's minority languages and bilingual education.
Eastern & Central Europe: Feral's Back; Czech Lustration
Illyrian Gazette posts an update on the fate of Feral Tribune (it's back and financially secure), and writes about lustration and music in the Czech Republic.
Syrian Blogsphere: Reform, Arab Nationalism and Travel
Why was a Syrian student blogger sued in the US? What should the Syrians do in Lebanon? Where is Arab Nationalism leading us to and what do you feel when you pack five cities into 11 days? These are some of the issues Syrian bloggers were talking about in this week's review by Yazan Badran.
Egypt: Freedom of Worship, Blogs to the Press, Anti-torture Campaigns Continue and More
In this week’s round-up from the Egyptian blogosphere, I am highlighting freedom of worship from two blog posts by Big Pharaoh and Baha’i Faith in Egypt, how an Egyptian blogger has started covering blogs for a weekly newspaper in Egypt, how anti-torture campaigns by bloggers extend to one of Egypt’s coastal cities and finally a technological tip by Greendata blog for Facebook users.
Bahamas: Reinventing our Image
“People are people, and fundamentally people are all the same. The differences are superficial; underneath, we are more alike than we think.” Nicolette Bethel calls for a reinvention of “the images of savages” that have subconsciously defined the people of the Caribbean.
Croatia: Marko Perković Thompson
Illyrian Gazette and Balkan Baby write about the controversial Croatian singer Marko Perković Thompson and his recent concert in Zagreb. In the same post, Balkan Baby also writes about Tito's birthplace and football.
Dark Skinned Palestinians
There are dark skinned Palestinians, lashes out Rebellious Arab Girl, after fair-skinned countrywoman taunted her for her dark skin.
Latvia: Economy
Edward Hugh of A Fistful of Euros posts a thorough examination of Latvia's economy, complete with some policy proposals.
Serbia, Russia: “What About the Russians?”
Jasmina Tešanović guest-blogs at Boing Boing about what may appear as Serbia's misguided trust in Russia: “Back in 1999, Russians didn’t veto the bombing of Serbia. The Russians are using the Kosovo issue in order to reclaim ex-Soviet territories with Russian populations. Serbs know that the Russians have their own...
Jamaica: Personal Space
“From the beginning of slavery, there has been a war fought over black bodies and black space and because we have been victims in the past, we have conceded our space and our right to that space and it has had a debilitating effect on our self-esteem.” Jamaican Geoffrey Phlip...
Ukraine: Ukrainian Music Blog
The history of Ukrainian band Mandry and more – at Ukrainian Musical Matters blog.
Russia: Friday Night Ethnic Fight
Sean's Russia Blog reports on the fight between ethnic Russians and Caucasus natives that took place in downtown Moscow last Friday.
Latvia: The Battles of Cesis
An outstanding post by Marginalia‘s Peteris Cedrins on the history of Latvia's the Battles of Cesis – as well as some musings on the Internet vs real libraries: “Though I adore and am addicted to the Internet — I would rather my mind resembled a library than looked like cyberspace....
Europe: “Baltic” and “Nordic”
Itching for Eestimaa browses through the Time Magazine archives “to discover how those two loaded terms, Baltic and Nordic, were used in the 1920s and 1930s.”
Europe: Prominent Roma Scholar Dies
TOL's Romantic pays tribute to the recently deceased prominent Romano scholar Jan Kochanowski.
Hungary: Roma in the Government
TOL's Romantic writes about Roma representatives in the Hungarian government and parliament.
Serbia: Refugees
The nEUrosis writes about Serbia's refugees.
