Stories from Quick Reads and Sao Tome and Principe
The Africanized Experience of Lisbon
The media and racial stereotypes [pt], through the perspective and experience of two specialists in the area of the study of race, both Afroportuguese, born in Lisbon, Portugal. is the topic of a new podcast. An interview with Grada Kilomba, academic of Santomean origin at the Humboldt University Berlin, translated into...
Understanding Human Rights in Portuguese-Speaking Countries
[All links lead to Portuguese language pages, except where otherwise stated] The Portuguese language version of the educational manual for human rights “Understanding Human Rights” is available online. The website provides the complete manual in pdf format or divided into chapters, as well as training material, bibliographical references and institutional information specifically aimed at...
Glimpses Into São Tomé and Príncipe's Art and Culture Biennial
[All links lead to Portuguese language pages] Giving a voice to the seventh edition of the Art & Culture Biennial of São Tomé and Principe, which started on November 28, artists, journalists and visitors have been commenting on the event that is scheduled to run until February 28, 2014. Some of the ideas behind this...
Re-Imagining Lusophony and Decolonizing the Mind
The Fourth International Congress in Cultural Studies – Colonialisms, Post-colonialisms and Lusophonies has a call for paper submissions open until October 15, 2013 November 15, 2013 [deadline has been extended]: To demystify, to dehierarchize, to establish a policy of difference, to allow a multiplicity of voices, to constitute so many projects of possible modernities/rationalities...
Female Rapper to Speak at TEDxSão Tomé
Marlene Bandeira, or as she is better known Nely Strong [pt], has been added to the TEDxSão Tomé [en] speaker line up. Rapper, she uses local slangs to portray São Tomé and Príncipe [en] society in her lyrics. Recently, Nely released the song ‘Mordomia’ – a hit in the islands...
TEDxSão Tomé: More speakers confirmed
Another two speakers [pt] have been confirmed for the event TEDxSão Tomé, in the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, in 20 June. Mark Richard Shuttleworth [en], a South African founder of the company Canonical Ltd, which develops free software like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu and Lubuntu and Guilherme Alves...
TEDXSão Tomé: Event arrives in São Tomé and Príncipe
TEDXSão Tomé pre-registration is opened. The event has “Islands Connected : São Tomé + Príncipe = África Connected to the World” as a theme and is going to take place on 20 June. Speakers already confirmed include: Dynka Amorim, Ismael Sequeira, Professor Robert Drewes e Aoaní d'Alva. Tickets cost €...
São Tomé and Príncipe: Petition Against Deforestation
Raul Jorge, a Santomean citizen, launched a petition [fr] against deforestation in São Tomé and Príncipe, addressed to the current Prime Minister Gabriel Costa. The petition has already gathered more than 700 signatures. In October 2012, Global Voices reported about the situation; in response netizens published videos and a Facebook...
São Tomé and Príncipe: 12 Reasons to Return
Carmen Alvarez Vilas, founder of the NGO Cooperación Bierzo Sur, posted on her Facebook page an album titled “12 Reasons to go back to Sao Tome and Principe”. Each image selected – from a set of photos taken when she and her team volunteered in the country in the summer of...
Unstable State of Justice in São Tomé and Príncipe
The judicial system of Sao Tome and Principe has been in tumultuous tides. Elsa Pinto's appointment to Attorney General's Office raised objections about her judicial past and lasted no more than fifteen days [pt]. Humbah Aguiar analyzed the situation in a video [pt], Danilo Salvaterra shared on Facebook a reflection...
Grievance of a Young Indignant Santomean
Danilo Salvaterra published [pt] a video on Facebook that shows a young boy from São Tomé and Príncipe complaining about the general lack of basic infrastructures not only in Diogo Vaz (where the teenager lives and the video was recorded), but also in the rest of the country. He mentions...
São Tomé and Príncipe's Youth Skeptical of Government Promises
On March 6, 2013, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Sao Tome and Principe, Albertino Fernandes, presented the government's intention to train three thousand athletes, to create one thousand jobs and to build four hundred houses for young people until 2014. People present at the press conference, such as...
Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe Make Music
Until March 1, 2013, Pantalassa, a cultural association working with Portuguese language countries, is organizing a multidisciplinary program of artistic residences in the “marvelous islands” of São Tomé and Príncipe, together with CACAU. The mutual sharing of experiences and affections is presented in a photo-album, which is being updated throughout the...
All Side by Side for the Future of São Tomé and Príncipe
Originally inspired by the style of the song “We Are the World“, renowned musicians from Sao Tome and Principe unite singing a theme by Kalú Mendes, titled “All Side by Side for the Future of Our Country.” The music covers all creole languages from the islands in order to enforce...
Three Portuguese Language States Ignore UN Convention Against Torture
Three Portuguese language countries are part of a short list of states which have not ratified the UN Convention against Torture: São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Guinea Bissau. Fábio Pereira, Communications Officer and Assistant Editor of Torture Journal, shares an open letter [pt, pdf] he has sent to the Portuguese Language...
São Tomé & Príncipe Accedes to the New York Convention
In February 2013, São Tomé and Príncipe will become the fourth Portuguese language country undersigning the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, announced the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. Last June, Law Professor at the University of Macau, Fernando Simões, recommended the...
Concern over Subterranean Water in the Sahel
We are told that miners do everything to waterproof the soil and ensure that waste does not contaminate subterranean water. But it must be recognized that there is always a risk, as they can never be completely sure that they are not contaminating subterranean pools. Moreover, with the impact of...
Portuguese, a Global Language?
A community page on Facebook, Língua Portuguesa: Uma Língua Global? (Portuguese Language: A Global Language?) [pt], provides a diversity of materials to promote the debate about the expansion of Portuguese language and its consequences. Several critical issues on the policies of this language of around 200 million speakers are addressed,...
Sao Tome and Principe: Deforestation of an Area of Unique Biodiversity
“In the distance a bulldozer was relentlessly doing its work while the whole landscape seemed to be mourning the destruction.” denounced [pt] João Pedro Pio, a biologist living in Sao Tome and Principe, after visiting a former forest known for its unique biodiversity. The area – mapped on his photopost –...
Sao Tome and Principe: Memories of a Lonely Navigator
Follow the blog Odisseia nos Mares (Odysseys in the Seas) [pt] and navigate through the stories of Jorge Trabulo Marques – a retired Portuguese journalist and photographer who lived in São Tomé and Príncipe for 13 years during colonial times. Trabulo blogs on his memories of São Tomé, including lonesome...
Sao Tome and Principe: Series on Education, Genre, Arts & Culture in Video
Brazilian journalist Dani Moura, from Jornal Futura, published on her Youtube channel a series of short pieces on Sao Tome and Principe: she reported on education and children feeding in schools, on capoeira for social inclusion, and women entrepreneurship. She also interviewed the artists Kwame Sousa and Tomé Coelho [all...
