Wed, May 9, 2012 || 6:35 pm
Bane of my existence. Seriously, who pays $14,000 for a plane ticket??? Looking forward to 47 hours of planes and airports. Pit stop in Casablanca?
Wed, May 9, 2012 || 5:52 pm
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Senegal revokes licences of foreign fishing trawlers
The new government of Senegal has cancelled the licences of 29 foreign fishing trawlers, demanding that they offload their catches in the capital Dakar before leaving the west African country’s territorial waters.
The dramatic move on Tuesday by fisheries minister Pape Diouf follows growing resentment at overfishing and alleged corruption of the previous government’s licencing system. It is expected to defuse threats by Senegal’s 52,000 small-scale inshore fishermen to take direct action against the owners of foreign trawlers.
In 2006, Senegal cancelled its licencing agreements with the heavily subsidised EU fleet in an attempt to protect its industry from foreign vessels. But dozens of giant 10,000-tonne factory ships registered in Russia, Lithuania, Morocco, Ukraine, Mauritius, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, China, Belize and elsewhere were able to acquire new licences. Using satellite technology and often working together, they have been able to take hundreds of tonnes of fish a day.
This is in stark contrast to local fishermen, whose small 30-foot “pirogues” are able to catch only a few tonnes of fish a year from waters near the shore. Because of the widespread decline in the amount of fish available – in part a knock-on effect front the industrial fishing further out – they are forced to fish further and further out to sea.
Wed, May 9, 2012 || 5:16 pm
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I was shopping today and I found Kente print skirts at American Apparel. I’m on the fence when it comes to traditional prints being sold commercially.
On the one hand, exposing the world to these beautiful colours and textures can certainly lead to greater engagement and learning about the cultures which produce them. Whenever I wear the prints that I brought back from Ghana, I always do my best to talk about where they came from and what they mean with my friends. I’m also very careful about wearing them casually; I think I’ve worn my clothing from Ghana twice since I returned eight months ago.
On the other hand, the hipster girl who buys this skirt and wears it all summer probably doesn’t know that each of those squares has a different meaning (let alone what the meanings are). She also probably won’t know that the print she’s wearing is distinct from other kente prints because it was produced by a different tribe. She will be taking part in the commodification of a complex and rich culture about which she knows nothing. That’s the basis of cultural appropriation. Make no mistake: it’s a form of exploitation.
I don’t even know if I can comment on the designing of this skirt. I’m going to assume that it was created by an American (AA is all about sourcing stuff in the states, right?). If that assumption is correct, then this skirt is doubly exploitative, because it represents the use of someone else’s culture to produce money for North Americans. How screwed up is that?
This is why I can’t get too excited about seeing beautiful prints from African cultures in the mall in downtown Ottawa. Just because they’re pretty doesn’t mean you should forget about the people(s) who created and produced them.
Cultural appropriation, trivialization and profiteering by big Western clothing brands/firms is unstoppable, I think. Think about the Palestinian scarves, hipster culture, Native American accessories, Eskimo patterns….
I think the closest we will get to acknowledgement of West African fabrics or dutch wax-print is going to be the stupid terminology “tribal print”
This also amuses me because I had so many skirts like this made for ~$10 in Ghana and girls will be buying them for probably ~$70. Oh well.
Sun, Apr 29, 2012 || 1:18 am
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Tubaab Bi: Cheikh Bethio Thioune
He’s this big religious leader here. He is not a prophet, in all honesty he is just a guy who says he has a special relationship with God and sacrifices tons of cows for public consumption on Saturdays (really - and camels too - they block off a main road of Dakar for it every week). But people follow him ardently, and truly believe in his words. He is a leader for the Mourides - a big Muslim brotherhood here.
So recently, it was discovered that he ordered the murders of two of his followers, and later buried their bodies in the woods outside of Thies, a city not far from Dakar. The followers had gotten a little too into Bethio Thioune and called him God. He didn’t like that, and so he ordered some of his other followers to beat the origional two to death. This happened at his house. Then he, with others, drove their bodies to Thies.
He is in jail in Thies now, awiting trial, and his followers are going nuts and hanging out outside the jail in Thies, supporting him.
But really, I don’t get it. Cheikh Bethio Thioune is a person. He is not God, he is not a prophet, he is just a really rich and really religious guy. He committed a double murder (and I can’t help but think that these are not the first murders he has ordered). He deserves to go to jail.
What or who do his followers think he is? Because they have clearly elevated him far, far above just a man who has lots of religious insights.
I find this whole situation scary. People worshipping people to this extent is scary.
What? This is crazy to think about.
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 || 5:04 am
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That African Kid: Performance art or Bad Taste?
Kola Boof’s Story (read the rest here):
I was vaginally infibulated in Omdurman, Sudan soon after my birth. Infibulation in my region of Africa in 1969 meant that the muscles inside the vagina were cut loose and reconfigured ‘tighter’ (supposedly to incur ‘purity’ as the Mullahs claimed…
WOW. This is one of the most honest and powerful pieces I’ve read about FGM and about race AND gender. I highly recommend.
(Source: thatafricankid)
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 || 4:36 am
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Did you know the scale of Africa on most maps is misleading? Africa is massive son.
ha, I am pretty sure that my grandparents still think Africa is the size of ohio or something. When I was over there, the would make comments about how I should go from uganda to egypt for a “weekend trip.”
love this.
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 || 4:18 am
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Sat, Apr 28, 2012 || 3:43 am
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Activists Continue Campaign Against European Fishing Trawlers
Nouadhibou — The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise continues its protest against European factory trawlers that are overfishing West African waters and putting at risk the future of local coastal communities. Today’s protest is happening as West African politicians become more outspoken against the risk of foreign fishing vessels fishing away African fish.
With a huge 10 by 30 meter traffic sign reading “dead end” and hanging down from a helicopter dwarfed by the 143 meter long super trawler Willem van der Zwan, Greenpeace protests against the lack of progress in Europe to effectively tackle the bloated and way too efficient European fishing fleet
Rather than decommissioning it’s excess of fishing vessels, the EU allows some of the biggest vessels to plunder the waters of poor countries.
Earlier in March, European ministers met in Brussels to address the impact of industrial trawlers like the Willem van der Zwan in foreign waters, but they failed to recognize that the root of the problem is the fleet’s excessive size and capacity to catch large quantities of fish that cannot naturally be replenished (1).
“Ministers meeting in Brussels in March once again dodged the problem of fleet capacity. Unless this issue is tackled head on, European trawlers will be allowed to suck the life out of every corner of the ocean, affecting the livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries.” said Pavel Klinckhamers, oceans campaigner onboard the Arctic Sunrise. “Super-sized European trawlers like the Willem van der Zwan will continue to plunder the world’s oceans and European governments have so far been blind to the critical imbalance between the bloated size of the fleet and dwindling stocks” added Klinckhamers.
The EU fishing fleet catches about 1.2 million tonnes of fish per year outside European waters - almost one quarter of its total catch. There are about 300 vessels from 14 EU countries with fishing interests in foreign countries. Increasingly, EU fishing vessels compete with local fishermen of foreign coastal states in developing countries.
While European ministers fail to address the problem of overcapacity, newly elected Senegalese president Macky Sall used his first official message to the nation to address the poor state of the Senegalese fishing sector and the urgency to act. One of the main concerns he mentioned, was the authorization of fishing licenses to foreign vessels. Although the EU has terminated the fishing agreement with Senegal in 2006, Greenpeace has been able to spot several European vessels fishing in Senegalese waters operating under dodgy arrangements.
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 || 3:05 am
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Sat, Apr 28, 2012 || 2:59 am
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Life in Words: African Women Poets
Often we see the dominance of men in literary writing; anywhere from poetry to novels. Strong women writers can many times be seen as a rare commodity or something that does not happen all the time. When it comes to women of color, and specifically African women, such writers and their skills are downplayed or not recognized. Even writings concerning the history of literary do their job in leaving out the importance and influence of women writers. Many times we see works which men give their perspectives and criticisms of women.
Although there are many insightful writings out there which men have written on African women, no one can tell an African women’s story better than an African woman herself. Women poets especially, African women, have often been demoted and ignored. Even many African poetry compilations have done a poor job of showcasing the many different talents of our women by including only a couple poets in them, creating an imbalance and false representation.
trying to collect inspiring literature stories as I start my honors thesis…
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