Global Voices

English

The world is talking, are you listening?

Afro Europe wrote a post on the appointment of a black female in UK Prime Minister David Cameron's new cabinet and gave a list of black female cabinet members in Europe [Erratum: The blog post was amended to show that Mrs Grant was the first black female Conservative member of parliament and cabinet minister. Baroness Valerie Amos was the first female black cabinet minister in 2003]:

Helen Grant MP has been made a Minister in David Cameron’s Ministerial reshuffle this September. She is now the first female black conservative cabinet Minister in the UK.

Congolese-Belgian blogger Sanza traveled to Curaçao to find the African heritage and wrote a post for Afro Europe:

Food was great and actually similar to West and Central African food. We also eat beans and rice, cornmeal (what they call fungi), cassava and plantains as well. I tasted Iguana soup in Jonchies restaurant near Westpunt.

Frederick Gore Djo Bi wrote [fr] on africavox.com about the rise of racism against black Africans in Tunisia. In his post, Bi  quotes a testimony of Fabien Siei, an Ivorian engineering student living in Tunisia since 2007 [fr]:

Not a day goes by without a black African suffering from racial abuse. The most often-used insult  is “Guira Guira,” which, according to some means in a local dialect “big monkey”. For many Tunisians, we black Africans are savages.

Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere writes on en.qantara.de:

When asked about their self-definition, the large majority said they defined themselves primarily as Turks. Only a minority saw themselves as “Turkish citizens with African roots.” And the desire to be fully assimilated in society was more important than the maintenance of their identity.

Icilome.com writes [fr] about the ongoing protests in Lomé, Togo :

The lawyer Isabelle Améganvi of the ANC [National Alliance for Change] in Togo has officially stated that “the Togolese women had decided to observe a sex strike from Monday on to compel men to push for changes in Togo. “

Francois-Xavier from Cameroon wrote: “Foreign policy in collaboration with the Fund For Peace has issued the eight annual failed states index and a joint photo essay which they titled Postcards from Hell. The report has stirred much controversy and citizens mostly from the countries topping the report have reacted negatively to it. I think I’ll join them and gather a few commentaries on the issue.”

In an article entitled “The real map of Africa hidden for 600 years“[fr], Jean-Paul Pougala, an author from Cameroon, writes that: “25 years ago I chose Giordano Bruno, philosopher of the Italian Renaissance, as my mentor. His writings helped me grow intellectually, his courage to completely take responsability for his actions convinced me to dare to go against the tide, to help Africa gain access to a more just future.. “

Kante Taliby writes on Guinée News about the plight of Guinean students in Syria [fr] : “I am a Guinean student on scholarship in Syria and I am married with one child. My wife, my child and I have not had a proper meal for almost a week now, and other Guineans are in the same predicaments. No one can leave the house and nobody can come  in as bullets fly from all sides. Last Saturday, we were able to place a call to the Embassy of Guinea in Egypt asking for help to obtain asylum in Lebanon or Turkey.”