radio by http://www.flickr.com/photos/roycostello/

In Guatemala, Proyecto Suri [es] has been giving a community radio workshop to the CUC, the Peasant Unity Committee [es], so they can train different members of indigenous communities in the techniques to produce radio shows geared specifically to their needs of information. In a country where there are 54 living languages [en], there are places where Spanish, the official language in Guatemala, is not spoken, or when it is, it is spoken as a second language. Proyecto Suri writes about how community radios have assisted in keeping these languages alive:

Desde 1997 que el Concejo lucha por el derecho de las comunidades indígenas de comunicarse en su propios idiomas y a traves de sus propios medios de comunicación. Es por esto que en Guatemala las radios comunitarias cumplen uno de los roles mas importantes para lograr la recuperación de nuestras culturas originarias.

The following video [es] was uploaded by ProyectoSuri and explains the work of CUC and their efforts in community radio.

In Chad, Internews [en] is living up to their mission by creating a series of community radio stations in refugee camps from scratch: from building the stations, the radio towers and training internally displaced Chadians and Sudanese journalists to produce informational programming on topics such as women's issues, humanitarian relief as well as news relevant to the interests of those who now call the refugee camps their home. The following video [en] shows us how the community radios have improved the quality of life for those who produce it as well as the audience:

In India, Our Voice (Namma Dhwani) is the organization who has jumped over hurdles and discovered how to make sure that their community radio reaches the desired populations. Following, a bit about the Namma Dhwani community radio:

In total, eight community workers run the Namma Dhwani audio production centre. They regularly produce and “narrowcast” programmes on a range of issues from organic farming, to rain water harvesting, HIV/AIDS, drip irrigation, and many other local development issues. (”Narrowcast” is a term coined by the producers to indicate the fact that they have, as yet, been denied the right “broadcast” their own programmes). In the absence of this right, the workers have designed a process where audio cassettes are played to relevant community groups at various village centres.

Every Tuesday evening for about an hour, the Namma Dhwani programme is transmitted over a loudspeaker as part of the village santhe/mandi (market) place just outside the production centre. Information about goods being sold and crop prices are included in the “narrowcasts”, along with social messages and even birthday greetings.

Their video, also produced by them, shows us how the programming is selected and how the community is benefiting from this effort:

Usnico´s other video stories are interesting and well done: one video tells the plight of African flood refugees, and another, well, it´s title tells it all: Fighting leaves Chad in Gruesome State.On LookingGlassLand, a varied sample of videos selected from the Internet Movie Archives can be found, including a Cameroonian storyteller at Yaoundé [FR], a promotional video for a Ugandan beauty pageant contestant [EN], and Italian photographer Carla Cinelli tells of her experience photographing woman in Burkina Faso [IT].

Nigerian VCDs at kwakoe by Paul Keller.

In many African countries, there are thriving movie industries. Such is the case with Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry. Kulture Klash International presents the following video of the Nigerian Film industry organization convention, where US distribution of Nollywood films is discussed. If you are interested in knowing more about Nollywood and its videos, journeymanpictures has a documentary from 2005 where the unique and low-budget movie-making process is explained.

YouTube user rippleat uploaded the following 2 part documentary on artist Issa Nyaphaga from Cameroon. The film by Chris Hill lets the artist himself tell the story of how he learned to paint in a rural village in the traditional style, how he became a political cartoonist and was prosecuted for ignoring censors and then how he found asylum in France, where he later spoke in front of the French parliament for the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on behalf of refugees.

Le blog du Prési!, written by a French-Cameroonian blogger, comments on a recent scandal involving a French NGO that tried to rescue 103 children from the Chadian-Sudanese border–supposedly Darfurian refugees–from “certain death” by adopting them to France.

Six members of the charity L’Arche de Zoé (Zoe's Arc) were arrested in Chad and charged with “abducting minors for the purpose of changing their civil status,” i.e. giving them new parents. The punishment is five to 20 years of forced labor.

Zoe's Arc has denied wrongdoing, saying that the children were orphans from Sudan. But according to reports, UN officials and French diplomats said that many of the children had parents and were Chadian, not Sudanese. Neither country allows international adoption.

To make matters worse, Chad's president Idriss Déby has been speculating that the charity, which was charging a 2,400 euro adoption fee, planned to sell these children to pedophiles or harvest their organs.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is not pleased. This incident has raised tensions in the two country's relations just before the planned deployment of a French-led EU peacekeeping force in eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic.

Le blog du Prési! comments: on the Zoe affair, celebrity adoption, and a love that chokes, whatever its good intentions:

…pour sauver quelques malheureux petits africains de la mort, l'Arche de Zoé (AdZ) a flotté dans les airs, roulé dans le désert pour leur venir au secours, au Tchad. Objectif, ramener un 103 d'enfants et surtout les remettre à destination à des familles en attente. Coût de l'opération, 2400 euros par famille d'adoption en France.

Tout était si bien reglé, jusqu'à ce vol retour, mais voilà, les autorités Tchadiennes s'en mêlent, en découvrant le pot-aux-roses et le debut des poursuites pour “enlèvement de mineurs tendant à compromettre leur état civil et escroquerie”. Et bien sur l'indignation des membres de l'ADZ, eux qui voulaient sauver le monde, sauver ces enfants de la mort. Et on apprend que ce n'étaient pas des orphelins, que ce n'étaient pas des ressortissants du Darfour, supercherie sur toute la ligne.

What's the difference between a humanitarian abduction and a for-cash adoption?

Il y a quelques mois, c'était Madonna qui à grand renfort de dollars adoptait -pour ne pas utiliser un autre verbe- des petits Nigerians. J'ai beau cherché, mais je n'arrive pas à trouver de différence entre un enlèvement humanitaire et une adoption bradée. Et donc j'attends, des gens et médias, la même indignation qu'il y a quelques mois. Et ce serait au tour de la très médiatique Paris Hilton d'en faire autant avec des petits rwandais. Que ca se fasse, je suis pour! Au moins comme ca, l'état de délabrement sera vraiment bien établi et on pourra dire “on fait le bordel et on le fait bien!”.

Deux méthodes, le même resultat, peut-être pas les mêmes buts, mais que d'interrogation! Les familles d'origines ont-elles vraiment besoin de cet humanisme forcé? Et meme cet eldorado promis à ces enfants, est-il si important au point de justifier le mérpris de toutes les structures familiales, d'origine et de destination?

Et si une fois arrivé en France, ca se passait mal en terme de procédure d'adoption, ou pire de vie de famille, on aurait peut-être vu déversés dans la rue 103 tchadiens, comme 101 dalmatiens, livrés à la merci de l'Intérieur.

Zoé, ton arche avec, ton amour m'étouffe!

Nearly a month has passed since Sarkozy's speech, but its effects are still reverberating through the francophone blogosphere. From his policy on illegal immigration to his apparent friendliness with African dictators to his controversial statements about French minorities, Sarkozy seems to draw passionate reactions from the francophone bloggers. His Dakar speech surely didn't do much to change this perception.

Raharimanana's letter was co-signed by several African writers and bloggers and published in the newspaper “Liberation”. The letter was also re-posted on Congolese writer Alain Manbanckou's blog and two other Malagasy blogs, Mialy and Za Gasy.

Mialy introduces the letter to Sarkozy as follows:

“Plusieurs écrivains africains se joignent à Raharimanana pour répondre à la petite “leçon de français” du président Sarkozy, à Dakar”

“Several African writers join Raharimanana to respond to the little “French lesson” by president Sarkozy in Dakar”

Alain Manbanckou pushes the humor envelop a little further as he illustrates the open letter with a cartoon in which Sarkozy is depicted as telling an african child:

“La France tu l'aimes mais tu vas la quitter quand meme”

“France, you may like it but you still have to leave it”

Harinjaka also reacted in jest to Sarkozy's patronizing speech.

Here are some highlights from the open letter to Sarkozy:

“[…] Car quand vous dites que l’homme africain n’est pas assez entré dans l’histoire, vous avez tort. Nous étions au cœur de l’histoire quand l’esclavage a changé la face du monde. Nous étions au cœur de l’histoire quand l’Europe s’est partagé notre continent. Nous étions au cœur de l’histoire quand la colonisation a dessiné la configuration actuelle du monde. Le monde moderne doit tout au sort de l’Afrique, et quand je dis monde moderne, je n’en exclus pas l’homme africain que vous semblez reléguer dans les traditions et je ne sais quel autre mythe et contemplation béate de la nature. Qu’entendez-vous par histoire ? N’y comptent que ceux qui y sont entrés comme vainqueurs ? Laissez-nous vous raconter un peu cette histoire que vous semblez fort mal connaître. Nos pères, par leurs luttes sont entrés dans l’histoire en résistant à l’esclavage, nos pères par leurs révoltes, ont contraint les pays esclavagistes à ratifier l’abolition de l’esclavage, nos pères par leurs insurrections — connaissez-vous Sétif 1945, connaissez-vous Madagascar 1947 ? ont poussé les pays colonialistes à abandonner la colonisation…[…] Vous avez tort de mettre sur le même pied d’égalité la responsabilité des Africains et les crimes de l’esclavage et de la colonisation, car s’il y avait des complices de notre côté, ils ne sont que les émanations de ces entreprises totalitaires initiées par l’Europe, depuis quand les systèmes totalitaires n’ont-ils pas leurs collaborateurs locaux ? Car oui, l’esclavage et la colonisation sont des systèmes totalitaires, et vous avez tort de tenter de les justifier en évoquant nos responsabilités et ce bon côté de la colonisation. Vous appelez à une «renaissance africaine», venez d’abord parler à vos véritables interlocuteurs, de ceux qui veulent sincèrement et franchement cette renaissance, nous la jeunesse africaine, savons qu’ils ne se nomment pas Omar Bongo, Muammar al-Kadhafi, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Ravalomanana ou bien d’autres chefs d’Etat autoproclamés démocrates.

Nous vous invitons au débat, nous vous invitons à l’échange. Par cette lettre ouverte, nous vous prenons au mot, cessez donc de côtoyer les fossoyeurs de nos espérances et venez parler avec nous[..]
Sincèrement et franchement à vous.

Antananarivo, le 3 août 2007
Raharimanana et les écrivains

Boubacar Boris Diop (Sénégal),

Abderrahman Beggar (Maroc, Canada),

Patrice Nganang (Cameroun, Etats-Unis) Koulsy Lamko (Tchad),

Kangni Alem (université de Lomé),

et l’éditrice Jutta Hepke (Vents d’ailleurs).”

…indeed, when you assert that the African man/woman did not sufficiently “enter History”, you are wrong. We were right in the middle of History when slavery changed the face of the world. We were right in the middle of History when Europe divided our continent. We were right in the middle of History when colonization drew the current configuration of the world. The modern world owes everything to the fate of Africa, and when I say modern world, I do not exclude the African man/woman who you seem to relegate to his/her traditions or whatever other myth of him/her satisfied with contemplating nature. What do you mean by History ? Or only the history reported by the winners ? Let us tell you a little bit about this History that you seem to not know at all. Our fathers entered History with their fights to resist slavery; our fathers, thanks to their battles, forced the abolition of slavery; our fathers by their insurrections - Have you ever heard of the insurrections in Sétif in 1945 or Madagascar in 1947?- pushed countries to abandon colonization… […] You are wrong to put on an equal footing the faults of Africans and the crimes of slavery and colonization. Because if there were accomplices on our side, they were only the results of these totalitarian enterprises initiated in Europe. Indeed since when do totalitarian system not have their local collaborators? Indeed, slavery and colonization are totalitarian systems, and you are wrong to try to justify them by evoking our responsibilities and the good side of colonization. You call for an “African rebirth”; you should come speak with your true interlocutors first, those who sincerely want this rebirth, the African youth, we know they do not include Omar Bongo, Muammar Al-Kadhafi, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Ravalomanana or other auto-proclaimed democratic heads of State.

We invite you to a debate, we invite you to an exchange. With this open letter, we take you to your word, quit hanging around the grave-diggers of our hopes and come to speak to us [.]Sincerely, frankly yours.

Antananarivo, on August 3, 2007
Raharimanana and authors,

Boubacar Boris Diop (Senegal),

Abderrahman Beggar (Morocco, Canada),

Patrice Nganang (Cameroon, United States) Koulsy Lamko (Chad),

Kangni Alem (University dof Lomé),

and editor Jutta Hepke (Vents d’ailleurs)

The letter in its entirety is available here.

A commenter on Mabanckou' s post appreciates the author's anger:

” Ce que j’aime bien chez Raharimanana, c’est la colère. Il y en a que le sort de l’Afrique n’empêche pas de dormir. Lui, on sent souvent chez lui la meurtrissure, le tourment que lui cause les vicissitudes connotées au sort de l’Afrique.”

What I like about Raharimanana is his anger. There are still people who cannot sleep thinking about Africa's fate. With him, one feels the hurt, the torment that the misery that is Africa's fate inflict upon him.

Sarkozy's speech about France's relationship with the African continent was discussed in the newspaper Le monde:

“il a rappelé son refus d'entrer dans un exercice de repentance, parce que “nul ne peut demander aux fils de se repentir des fautes de leurs pères”.Certes, le président n'a “pas nié les fautes ni les crimes, car il y a eu des fautes et il y a eu des crimes”. Avec des mots plus forts que jamais, il a qualifié “la traite négrière et l'esclavage” de “crimes contre l'homme, crimes contre l'humanité.

Pour le président français, c'est au sein même de l'identité africaine qu'il semble falloir chercher les freins au développement du continent : “Le drame de l'Afrique, c'est que l'homme africain n'est pas assez entré dans l'Histoire (…). Jamais il ne s'élance vers l'avenir (…). Dans cet univers où la nature commande tout, l'homme reste immobile au milieu d'un ordre immuable où tout est écrit d'avance. (…) Il n'y a de place ni pour l'aventure humaine, ni pour l'idée de progrès.”

He reiterated his refusal to start an exercise in repentance, because “no one cannot ask sons to apologize for the faults of their fathers”. Admittedly, the president “did not deny the faults nor the crimes, because indeed there were faults and there were crimes”. With words stronger than ever, he qualified “ the negro trade and slavery” of “crimes against mankind, crimes against humanity.
For the French president, it is within the African identity that one ought to look for the barriers to the development of the continent: “The tragedy in Africa is that the African man did not sufficiently enter History (…). He never ran towards his future (…). In this universe where nature orders all, the man remains motionless in the middle of an immutable order where all is written in advance. (…) There is of place neither for the human adventure, nor for the idea of progress.”

At the moment, African Path has 24 bloggers writing articles on various topics such as politics, music, gender, history, popular culture, social activism, and identity politics.

Joshua Wanyama, a Kenyan entrepreneur based in the US, is the co-founder of African Path. In 2003, after finishing his B.S in Architecture, he started Interactive Spectrum, a technology firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In January 1st, 2007 he officially launched African Path. A digital path of woven tales of Africa's past, present, and future.

Recently, Joshua Wanyama spoke with Global Voices Online about the project.

Ndesanjo Macha: Tell us about yourself and how/why you started blogging

Joshua Wanyama: At the heart of all things, I am an entrepreneur. I seize the opportunities presented to me and try to make something of them. My partner and I had done a blog before to highlight the services our company, Spectrum Interactive, offered. I didn’t do much on that site. There were too many other things that I needed to accomplish and I couldn’t keep up with the blogging. I started blogging again once we decided to create African Path. It was a lot easier with content on Africa since I didn’t need to do a lot of research to understand the audience. I have been observing and participating in African culture since I was born.

I have felt that knowledge is a key source of growth for humans in general and a necessary ingredient in the development of Africa. I felt a site like African Path would help the people who had experienced success and failure, want and excess to tell their stories. And those who were looking for such content could find it at a central point. The beauty of providing a working solution in Lesotho since it is already being executed in Chad is helpful in developing not just one country or ethnic group, but the knowledge can be shared and used in all countries thus fueling economic growth that we all seek in Africa.

NM: What is African Path?

JW: African Path is really a network of different knowledge bases that provide human connections and interactions. These knowledge bases cover as many fields as we could provide content for. The platform is online and the providers of content are bloggers, specialists, readers and artists who weave tales of our past, present and future. Hopefully what is put up influences someone to think further than what they have thought before, to network with people who share their vision or to create the ideal connection to enable one to elevate their living standards and give them a sense of dignity.

NM: How did the idea and the name come about?

JW: I have been working with newspaper clients for more than twenty months. Spectrum Interactive developed an online newspaper template (News Portal) that enables upstart and expanding news and blogging organizations to scale their services online. That meant the basic infrastructure for African Path was in place.

In December of 2006, my partner and I decided to create our own news and blog aggregator site for Africa. We had tried getting partners who would edit such a site while we provided the marketing, brand and technology expertise but to no avail. We therefore restructured the company so I could dedicate my time on the development of African Path while he kept our other business interests going.

I have always had a love for Africa and wanted to develop something with the abilities I had in order to have a positive impact on the continent. I think African Path is on the way to achieving that goal. Media coverage in Africa is predominantly biased and western based. We need an African perspective on the world stage so we can tell our own stories. My goal is to develop African Path into this vehicle.

While searching for an appropriate name, I knew the name had to reflect an ever changing, ever growing perspective of African development. While one might be down today, tomorrow they would have moved forward. So African Path wants to be part of that move. We want to provide some of the things that one would use to make this move. Information is the greatest tool to empower a people. Africans need a source of information that makes it easier for them to be empowered. Yesterday’s mistakes should stay in the past. We need information to make the right decisions that help us move forward today.

NM: Who are the people behind African Path?

JW: My partner Charles Baarsch and I. Charles is a programmer by expertise and a visionary in how he sees the world especially business. He has been in business for many years so he provides me with valuable knowledge of what to do and what not to do to avoid the pitfalls that can bring a business down. On the other hand I’m a designer, marketer and entrepreneur.

NM: How does African Path operate?

JW: We work with bloggers from all over Africa. We are always recruiting new ones especially for the countries we are yet to represent. They can provide content as regular African Path bloggers or sign up as guest bloggers and post whenever they feel like it. We also work with musicians and their agents in creating a database and profile of the continent’s musicians. We feel this will be an important vehicle in telling Africa’s story. If you are searching for artists in Mozambique or Togo for that matter or a kwaito artist versus soukous, we want to be able to provide such information for our readers.

I also serve as the editor, marketer, and sales representative for African Path. I have a part-time employee who assists in marketing the site. We want to grow the site so that it can become self-sustaining and provide employment for people especially those back in Africa.

NM: How do you see the future of blogging and citizen media in general in Africa?

JW: I anticipate a rise of blogging. Citizen media will continually grow. I think we will start seeing a more concerted effort to provide expertise in an area or a model that can allow for bloggers to earn an income by sharing their knowledge. More than that, blogging allows anyone to leverage their knowledge and potentially create a reputation that can give them a better chance at landing a prime job, improving your business or creating a following that can lead to political positions.

I also think a move to mobile technologies will improve the offerings for bloggers. Cell phones are really the access points for information in Africa. There exists some opportunity for entrepreneurs who can develop systems to serve content from news and blogging software to mobile phones in a package. I think we will keep seeing pilot programs and finally real products that will offer such services.

NM: Should Africans care about blogs and blogging?

JW: Africans should really care about blogging. Other than localized newspapers, one can’t access news generated by Africans featuring issues specific to them. We need that. Blogging provides access to alternative sources of news and stories that are important to Africans.

The need for African news generated by Africans goes back to creating our own identity and stories. When a western media house reports, on Africa, it is all blood, gore, famine, crime and other negative images. For them, a positive image is tourism. Africans have a lot more than just these issues. We need to hear about a farmer who has created a better way of tilling the land that has enabled the village to have a surplus of maize, or the lady who built a company employing 20 people from good fiscal management and hard work. These are the stories that make Africa wonderful. The hope that all Africans have in abundance is lost in the media and this leads to a negative connotation and identity for Africans. We have to take back our stories for future generations will love to hear what we had to say and actually see it as our own perspective and none other. The examples I have mentioned above transcend borders. I think any pan-African vehicle has to offer solutions that work across borders otherwise they will be irrelevant in most markets.

NM: Considering the socio-political realities in Africa, can African bloggers bring about concrete social change? Do you know of any success stories so far? Any negatives?

JW: I think African bloggers can affect how their countries are run. Whenever you have a group of people sitting together discussing politics and economic growth, everyone has a heated discussion based on their reality. Blogs capture this spirit. The effectiveness of blogs though is reserved on how many people read these stories. We need to come up with ways to deliver the same content from other sources. This is the way to affect the socio-political situation in Africa through blogging. While the percentage of people with access to the Internet keeps growing in Africa, most of the people who can effect change through voting do not have access to the net. This makes cell phones a better option in disseminating information. Strikes have been carried out in Zimbabwe through sending SMS messages.

The biggest negative I see is the lack of regulation. Both good and bad content makes it onto blogs. Stories that highlight human achievement and those that destroy the human psyche are part of blogging. Depending on what one reads regularly, you can influence one’s thought to the detriment of a community. Bloggers have to remember that the moment you have more than yourself reading your content, then you have an audience and you have to be responsible for what you do.

NM: What value does African Path add to the African blogosphere?

JW: The main value is creating a vehicle to carry out these stories. More than that, most African blogs sit in obscurity due to poor marketing and positioning that affects site traffic. African Path’s job is to connect bloggers and artists to an audience that is predominantly African or those with an interest in the continent.

We also want to become an organization that is able to create employment for Africans and be part of the economic development of the continent. Through how we work and interact with bloggers and other entrepreneurs, I see an opportunity to help strengthen and develop each other so we can maximize our potential. I get comments from bloggers I interact with on how to improve our site and vice versa. I have been asked for suggestions on ways of monetizing blogs and other ideas. If we can be able to create networks that provide access to funds or ideas that can generate positive growth in each other, then I think we will be facilitating economic, social and political growth of Africa.

NM: What kind of future do you see for your project, African Path?

JW: I want African Path to become a destination point on material in Africa. Through relationships with other companies and media houses, we want to provide relevant content to African readers. I look at the Yahoo! model where they have news, music, images, search, directories and other community content in one branded vehicle. We have such a rich community of blogs, music, film, theater, experts in various fields and businesses.

We want to create a consistent voice that rings true in the Ivory Coast just as much as Tanzania, information that is relevant to a Libyan or Namibian. This will take work but it is possible. We have already proved the model works and we are providing an important service to Africans. We now want to strengthen that, create a solid brand that is relevant to Africa and recruit as many bloggers from all the African countries as we can.

NM: Corruption, economic mismanagement, and the lack of rule of law are some of the main problems facing Africa today, what role can African Path and other African bloggers play in addressing them?

JW: First off, we can highlight where injustice exists. This exposure should enable others to join in demanding change, accountability and better management from our leaders. Special blogs such as Mzalendo cover African leaders and track their performance. We need to have such programs whether within African Path or as relationship within the blogging community. One big issue is the right of a blogger either as a journalist or private citizen in voicing their concerns. The recent arrest and jailing of Soliman in Egypt is a sign of how much we have to progress before we are on good ground. If countries block access to the net or certain blogs, we then are toothless tigers in our attempts to speak out against injustice. We have to find a way for people on the ground in Africa to read our stories just as much as those in the Diaspora.

Another issue is, some might just complain but never do anything. We need solutions to get Africa past the position it occupies in the world. Bloggers have to start looking for solutions, partnering with entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and media houses. Let us find a way to improve the lives of all Africans. You can’t change anything by trying it yourself. Let us share the knowledge and opportunities available to us to effect change.

NM: What role could African Path and African bloggers play in providing a more balanced coverage of Africa?

JW: While the bias is there as I have already stated above, we can change how the world perceives us by controlling our own destiny. An example would be when a site visitor runs into a story or web site that shows a positive view of Africa, that would be user generated content facilitated by what the blogger has in place on their site.

A common standard or operation model of bloggers with like interests will probably help in pushing this common perspective. The South African, Nigerian or Kenya blog rings act as such a body. I have turned down bloggers who I felt they would provide a biased view such as what mainstream media does and that wasn’t part of African Path’s vision. The stories of corruption, mismanagement, famine, war and bad governance need to be told but this is only a fraction of what constitutes Africa.

If we fail to provide a balanced view, we fail our children. The heritage and mistakes of past generations do not have to extend to future generations. We have a lot of knowledgeable Africans who work in unified settings regardless of race, ethnic and clan associations. We need to continually emphasize our oneness instead of promoting our differences.

In closing, I would like to state that I believe in Africa. I believe the solutions to Africa’s problems lie within the continent. There are people who are working day and night to improve lives and change the continent. It might be a parent teaching a child to respect the sanctity of life or a school teacher spending a few extra minutes with her students so that they might have a better future. The pulse of all these people, leaders who are both educated and illiterate, is reflected in each and every blog on Africa. Whether social or political, economic or cultural, the variety within African blogs and the knowledge spread throughout is enough to make a positive impact in Africa. All we need to do is harness it and apply it in the relevant areas. While farmers in Rwanda might have searched for a solution within their community thirty years ago, they now have a chance to talk to someone implementing the said solution in Equatorial Guinea. That is the power of globalization. Bloggers are the vehicles to spread this wealth of information.

“Paris, le 20 mars 2007
Répression et chasse aux étrangers : un pas a été franchi.
Hier et ce soir, des incidents graves se sont produits lors de rafles
effectuées dans nos quartiers à Paris.
Lundi 19 mars en fin de journée, nous avons assisté, révoltés, à une
tentative d'arrestation devant l'école maternelle Rampal d'une dame venue
chercher une petite fille à la sortie de l'école.
Malgré l'intervention des parents présents, et celle d'enseignants, les
policiers ont fouillé et interrogé cette femme, prenant de haut les
protestations, devant les enfants et parents traumatisés. Ils l'ont ensuite
emmené pour une destination qu'ils n'ont pas voulu préciser, laissant la
petite fille désemparée…
Suivis et à nouveau “interpellés” par des parents de façon véhémente, les
forces de l'ordre ont fini par relâcher leur proie plutôt que de provoquer
une émeute. Cet incident a eu lieu lors d'une énième rafle dans le quartier
de Belleville.
Ce soir, mardi 20 mars, au même endroit, après plusieurs allers-retours dans
le quartier, les policiers ont finalement assiégé un café (situé à l'angle
de 4 écoles, les écoles Lasalle et Rampal), et y arrêtant, notamment, un
grand-père de 2 enfants scolarisés aux écoles Piver et 77, bld de
Belleville.
Après l'avoir maintenu dans le café pendant plus d'une heure, la police
décidait d'embarquer ce grand-père juste avant la sortie d'école de 18h. Les
parents d'élèves, des enseignants, les militants de RESF et les habitants
du quartier tentaient d'intervenir. La réaction des policiers fut immédiate
: ils cherchaient violemment à disperser la mobilisation, n'hésitant pas
utiliser la violence physique et un peu plus tard à asperger la rue de gaz
lacrymogène. Les parents présents aux sorties d'écoles, avec leurs enfants
et leurs poussettes, atteints par les puissants gaz lacrymogènes, se
réfugiaient dans l'école élémentaire Lasalle pour fuir cette scène
particulièrement traumatisante.
Le grand-père a finalement été emmené dans un commissariat du 2ème
arrondissement.
Quelque temps après, les rafles se poursuivaient à Goncourt et à la rotonde
de Stalingrad.
Non contents d'augmenter la cadence des contrôles au faciès, parfois en
dehors de tout cadre judiciaire, les fonctionnaires de police ont donc
choisi cette fois de violer le dernier refuge des valeurs de la République,
à savoir l'école.
Le Préfet de Police de Paris aurait tort de sous-estimer la colère
grandissante que provoquent ces procédés iniques et circonstanciels dans les
quartiers dits “populaires”. La peur cède peu à peu à la détermination d'y
mettre fin, on l'a vu ce soir.
Nous partageons cette détermination. Le procédé de rafle est en lui-même
odieux parce qu'il bafoue l'ensemble des droits fondamentaux des personnes
humaines. Et doublement insupportable quand les institutions de la
République sont elles-mêmes visées.
Nous rappelons aussi les garanties données à RESF à deux reprises pendant
l'été 2006 (le 5 juillet et le 27 juillet) par la Préfecture de Police :
qu'il n'y aurait pas d'interpellations dans et aux abords des
établissements scolaires.
Désormais, devons-nous tenir pour caducs ces engagements ?”

Blog de primtemps also reports other exactions by the police involving arrests and deaths of various people from Guinee, Sri Lanka, Chad and Cameroon and ask when will the madness stop ?:

“Qui s’intéresse au sort des sans-papiers en France n’arrive plus à suivre. Les informations tombent, l’une après l’autre à une cadence inégalée. Toujours plus loin dans la violence et dans l’humiliation, toujours plus bas dans l’échelle des droits humains.
Extraits.
« Lille – Jeudi 15 mars - Un jeune Guinéen, étudiant en physique-chimie, est emmené au poste parce qu'il n'a pas ses papiers sur lui. Il en ressort le lendemain porté par ses amis, marchant avec difficultés, des empreintes de chaussures au dos de son tee-shirt blanc et, sur le devant, des traînées de sang mêlées de salive…”
Plus près de chez nous :
Mardi 20 mars, à Lournand, petit village de Saône-et-Loire. Une jeune camerounaise, conjointe d’un français, est arrêtée, tandis que son mari et le maire du village se rendent à une convocation en gendarmerie. La jeune femme est envoyée en centre de rétention, pour être expulsée, sans que son mari ne puisse la revoir »
Au-delà de ces actions de répression, les expulsions conduisent parfois au pire :
- Issa, jeune tchadien expulsé le 6 mars 2007 est retenu dans un commissariat de N’Djamena depuis sa descente d’avion. Il a subi un interrogatoire « musclé » ; les dernières nouvelles datent du 13 mars : il était très affaibli et privé de nourriture. Il n’a plus donné de nouvelles depuis lors…
- Elanchelvan Rajendram – 30 ans - a été expulsé vers le Sri Lanka en août 2005 ; il a été exécuté chez lui ce 28 février par l’armée sri-lankaise » lien
Depuis l’affaire d’Outreau, la responsabilité des magistrats est devenue une question récurrente. Les ministres, préfets, magistrats… impliqués dans ces affaires devront-ils s'expliquer et assumer leurs propres responsabilités ?