"Constitutional rule over Autocracy"-Obama

Excerpt from President Barack Obama's address to the Ghanaian Parliament: Time and again, Ghanaians have chosen Constitutional rule over autocracy, and shown a democratic spirit that allows the energy of your people to break through. We see that in leaders who accept defeat graciously, and victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition. We see that spirit in courageous

Bisi Silver's Centre for Contemporary Art

In 234Next Obidike Okafor reports on Bisi Silva's Art PlaceIn trying to break uncharted areas in the art world, the curator felt that there were few avenues for critical discourse. So, like a scientist experiments, discovers and develops, Silva set out to create a space that like a laboratory will allow artists to develop themselves, experiment on new ideas and interact with colleagues from

The PanAfrican Cultural Festival

Via the VOA:Algeria is preparing to host the second Pan-African Culture Festival, and the first in 40 years. The event hopes to draw hundreds of thousands of people to Algiers this July to celebrate Africa's artistic renaissance...[continue reading]Bande annonce du festival panafricain 2009 version anglaiseby eljazairpanaf

New rules for Rebuilding a Broken Nation

Paul Collier at TED@State:

Not Caring about Our Women

Juliette Tuakli of Child and Associates in the Stimulist:If we don’t start systemically supporting African mothers and re-conceiving the role and relevance of African women, we simply will not enjoy sustained economic development in Africa. Full stop. As things stand, the continent’s considerable “female resources” — agricultural skills, negotiation, commitment to infrastructure development and,

Democracy Attitudes

In a paper M. Bratton and R. Mattes report on attitudes to democracy building:The good news is that democratic attitudes are generally on the rise among the African populations we have surveyed. If sustained, this up-tick– measured prior to the onset of the global financial crisis in late 2008 – is a promising portent forfurther democratization. But the bad news is that fewer than half of all

Agahozo Shalom Youth Village

The Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) aims to create a safe and structured residential community for orphaned children in Rwanda. The village will be a place of hope, where traumatized youth can "dry their tears" (Agahozo) and "live in peace" (Shalom).-website

Reza Fazeli

Reza Fazeli passed away today after having struggled with an illness for some time.

Mr Fazeli was the target of an assasination attempt by the Islamic Republic occupying Iran in the late 80's/early 90's. Mr Fazeli survived the assasination attempt however his son who was with him during the attack died from the injuries he had sustained. Having buried both his son and later on his daughter, these events only lead to Mr Fazeli's convictions being further strengthend and kept him going stronger than before - his main message which he conveyed through his television programmes/documentaries was to teach Iranians to use their own brains and think for themselves rather than following others like sheep. Mr Fazeli was a vocal educator on Islam to a population who for 1400 years have been indoctrinated never to question or second-guess this backward ideology and furthermore brainwashed with lies and exaggerations about Islam. Along other notable individuals who have mustered the courage to stand up and speak up against the taboo topic of Islam, Mr Fazeli helped educate many Iranians in regards to the backward and downright anti-human/anti-Iranian teachings of the Arab ideology of Islam. His service to the Iranian nation will not be forgotten and his presence will be direly missed.



Homer Abramian at memorial of Reza Fazeli: