Blog Politique au Senegal thinks Dia's candidacy is hardly serious [Fr]…

…il ne cite personne, ne se fâche avec personne, ne se positionne par rapport à rien et n'a pas l'imagination débordante vu le programme qu'il se fixe.

…but neither is politics in Senegal!

Blog Politique au Senegal posts this cartoon, which reads: “When politicians are buffoons, it's only natural that entertainers become involved in politics.”

Of course, the phenomenon of entertainers, actors, rock stars, footballers, getting involved in politics is hardly unique to Senegal.  Chrisou, a reader, comments:

Je ne suis pas sénégalais… mais l'affiche et le slogan me plaisent beaucoup! On pourrait même l'adopter dans pas mal de pays…

There's not a lot about Demba Dia online, but here is one of his music videos on YouTube, posted by a member who calls Dia “the King of Mbalakh Rock.”

Q: You visited Iran recently after many years. Was it a cultural shock? Was there any difference between what you imagined, and what you came to know about Iran in reality?

A: Iran wasn't a culture shock at all. It was pretty much what I expected, culturally. I did grow up in a half-Iranian family in California, after all. Iranians are terribly hospitable people and always want to be helpful and welcoming to family members like me who have never been to Iran.

Q: You are writing a book on the Internet and its impact on society. One fourth of your book is about Iran. Can you explain this project?

A: I am writing a book about the history and effects of the Internet in four countries around the world, including Estonia, Iran, Senegal and South Korea. It explores how the political and economic histories of these countries intersect with the arrival of the Internet in their countries. It is tentatively titled “The Internet of Elsewhere” and will be published by Rutgers University Press (USA) in late 2009.

Q: Why did you choose these four countries for your book?

A: I chose these countries because they each represent vastly different experiences when it comes to the Internet.

Senegal, because it's a Sub-Saharan African country, and yet, relative to many others in the region is politically and economically stable. It should be ripe for greater Internet penetration, and yet, it's not.

Estonia, because of the rapid changes that it has gone through since its emergence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It went from barely any communication with the outside world in 1991 to having more mobile phones than citizens today.

South Korea, because it has the largest rate of Internet penetration in the world and has the highest and cheapest bandwidth in the world. How did this happen?

Iran, for personal reasons but also because it's interesting to watch how the Internet, a disruptive technology in and of itself, intersects with the theocracy and budding democratic thinkers of the early 21st century.

Q: Have you found any commonalities in these countries?

A: I have found common elements in so far as the Internet has had a dramatic effect on the contemporary histories of each country. Even in a country like Senegal, the Internet is cheap enough to the point where even the poorest kids in Dakar can pool their money between three or four of them to share access on a machine in a cybercafe for an hour fairly regularly. Each of these countries would look different without the proliferation of the Internet.

Q: Do you think blogs have any real influence in Iranian media and society?

A: I think that blogs do have an impact on Iran, but I wonder how much of an impact they can have now when so many blogs are filtered, and the bandwidth is slowed. Sure, many Iranians know how to use proxies and other tools to get around the blocks, but the simple fact that many young Iranian thinkers and writers have had to leave since 2001, makes me wonder who are the winners and losers in this case. The answers aren't obvious.

Q: Did you meet any bloggers in Iran? What challenges are there for cyber activists?

A: I didn't meet any bloggers in Iran, but I did meet with Shahram Sharif of ITIran.com and Sina Tabesh of Wikipedia Persian. I have spoken with many bloggers by phone and by IM previously, but unfortunately have not met many of them. It's hard for cyber activists, even those who live outside Iran, to at once speak out against the government and feel safe in what they say, and how they say it.

Q: How was your personal experience surfing and using internet in Iran? Slow, filtered…?

A: I stayed with my grandmother, who, despite living in North Tehran, did not have Internet access at her apartment. During the two weeks I was there, I was only to use the Internet once, from a cyber café in the Hotel Aseman in Esfahan. I was able to make a Skype call to the US with no problem. That being said, I did access a VERY limited version of the Internet on my iPhone — oddly, the only website that I was able to access with any regularity was The New York Times.

Earlier this month, five were arrested in connection with an investigation into an alleged gay marriage, according to Le Monde, and several Islamic organization denounced what they called an increase in homosexuality in Senegal. The march was in protest of the decision to release the five detainees release without trial.

Homosexuality is a crime in Senegal, punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

* * *

Senegalese blogger Naomed, who writes Blog politique au Senegal, explains that there are two kinds of protests in Senegal, “those that don't disturb the public order and are legitimately authorized, the minority, and the majority, which [are thought to] threaten the social equilibrium” [Fr].

In other words, there are protests the government likes and protests it will not tolerate. But where do officials draw the line?

Naomed offers by way of example a protest held today in Dakar against homosexuals, with the government's blessing.

Clairement haineuse, réclamant au choix : leur égorgement, leur mise sur une pirogue en direction des iles Canaries (leur famille ne refusera pas l'argent qu'ils pourraient envoyer malgré leur tare), leur bastonnade pour les plus modérés.

Une manifestation visant à refuser le droit à l'existence d'une partie de la population sénégalaise n'est clairement pas un trouble à l'ordre public. J'ai souvent parlé sur ce blog de la nécessité pour un régime aux abois de se fabriquer des ennemis afin de focaliser la haine et la frustration populaires qui risqueraient de se retourner contre le pouvoir. Les campagnes pour la pureté des moeurs font elles aussi parti de l'arsenal des pays faschisants.

Naomed goes on to offer a (satirical) sample list of a week's worth of protests in Dakar:

Aujourd'hui : manifestation contre les homosexuels du Sénégal, autorisée par le préfet.
Aujourd'hui : manifestation pour le ramassage des poubelles, refusée.
Samedi : manifestation contre la corruption, la mal gouvernance. Interdite
Samedi : manifestation contre l'esclavage des petits talibés. Interdite
Samedi : manifestation pour l'application des lois sur le mariage de mineures, forcés, arrangés… Interdite
Lundi : Manifestation pour le bon déroulement du sommet de l'Oci. Autorisée.
Mardi : Manifestation pour l'obligation de déclaration du patrimoine des hommes au pouvoir. Refusée
Mercredi : Manifestation de soutien à la génération ConCret. Autorisée
Jeudi : Manifestation pour des élections locales sincères et transparentes. Interdite.
Jeudi : manifestation pour rendre fériés tous les jours de Magal au Sénégal. Autorisée
Vendredi : ….

It's not Rama Yade's - the current French State Secretary in charge of foreign affairs and human rights - political views what made the Egyptian blogger Eastern Bird write the following post (Ar). In fact, she inspired him to write about a totally different subject which you can read about here.

He writes:

بالصدفة وخلال تصفحي لعدد من المواقع على الشبكة ، عثرت على هذه الصورة لوزيرة حقوق الإنسان في الحكومة الفرنسية راما ياد
وبعيدا عن أية إعتبارت سياسية في مقدمتها رفضي لفرنسا ساركوزي وكل ما يأتي منها ، إلا أنني أخذت أتأمل في ملامح هذه الوزيرة الجميلة بحق
وأدركت بعد فترة حقيقة تغيب عنا كثير
وهي أن الجمال لا شكل له ولا عرق ولا لون
وأننا وللأسف الشديد حصرنا مفهوم الجمال في مفهوم عنصري يختذل هذه الكلمة في الشعر الأشقر والعيون الزرقاء أو الخضراء
لعلها عقدة الخواجة التي لازالت تعيش داخلنا او لعله نظرتنا الدونية لكل ما هو أسمر
لكن المؤكد أن راما ياد لا يكمن جمالها في ملامحها فقط وإنما في قدرتها كسيدة سمراء على تخطي كافة العقبات التي تضعها العنصرية (وما أدراك ما العنصرية في بلد كفرنسا)
والوصول إلى منصب كهذا
تحياتي لك أيتها الوزيرة الجميلة ولكل الجميلات مثلك في هذا العالم

I was surfing the web, when I found by coincidence this photo of the minister of Human Rights in the French government, Rama Yade.
Away from any political considerations, and mainly my stance against Sarkozy's France and whatever comes from there, I kept looking at this really beautiful minister.
I then realized a fact that we usually miss.
It is that beauty has no face, race, or colour.
Unfortunately we limited ourselves to a racist view of beauty, which limits it to blond, and blue or green eyed babes.
Maybe it's because of our admiration to anything that comes from the west, and considering everything black inferior.
But for sure, Rama Yade's beauty is not just because of her look, but also because of her ability as a black woman to cross all obstacles made by racism and reach a position like this.
My greetings to you - pretty minister - and all the pretty ones like you in this world.