Arts and Culture Archive
Elephant in a Texas Circus
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Big Game, Ecology, Poaching on May 7, 2013
It’s likely there is a greater percentage of Chinese who wish to end the ivory trade and save elephants than there are Texans who believe in evolution. Think about that, please. Yesterday, the Chinese actress Li Bingbing – who has 20 million followers and counting on her social media – made a highly public visit [...]
President’s Day
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Politics on February 18, 2013
The Presidents’ Day Holiday in America, today, is perhaps the least celebrated of the year, and it shows how America like much of Africa is moving away from a powerful executive. The exceptions validate the rule, so the dozen or so African dictators still in power in places like Uganda, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Chad, among [...]
Numbers! Atta Boy!
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture on February 7, 2013
Facts, truth, numbers matter and so sad that public television and radio doesn’t seem to care. Yesterday’s Richard Attenborough’s production on Nature and today’s NPR report on the war in Somalia should both flunk journalism class. For my news on Somalia I go to sources in Somali and Kenya, and to the diaspora of Somalians [...]
Elephant Friends or Human Foes?
The Times article about escalating elephant poaching rebroadcast by NPR this morning needs more discussion, especially if you’re a sympathetic American. Jeffrey Gettleman described in exquisite detail typical of his outstanding reporting the rapid increase in elephant poaching in remote places like The Congo. It was an excellent piece of journalism, mainly because Gettleman pulled [...]
Presidents’ Day Holiday
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Politics on February 20, 2012
The Presidents’ Day Holiday in America, today, is perhaps the least celebrated of the year, and it shows how America like much of Africa is moving away from a powerful executive. The exceptions validate the rule, so the dozen or so African dictators still in power in places like Uganda, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Chad, among [...]
Dictators Don’t Tweet
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, Arts and Culture, Twevolution on February 9, 2012
Twitter and African Hiphop websites are today the main source of news about Africa’s trouble spots. And they’re better than CNN! Like so much in Africa today where economies and cultures are developing faster than anyone could have imagined, traditional news reporting is dying and being replaced by faster information facilitated by today’s hi tech. [...]
Way South of Scott Pelley
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Environment, Great Migration, Mara, Serengeti on January 24, 2012
Sixty Minutes rebroadcast of “Into the Wild” Sunday night caused many of us experts serious angst. Basically three wonderfully short thumbnails of things wild in East Africa were riveted with inaccuracy. I’m sure that when a professor of dentistry speeds past a billboard for toothpaste he winces. Nothing wrong really with telling people they need [...]
Top Ten 2011 Africa Stories
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, African Awakening, Arts and Culture, Big Game, Botswana, Congo, Culture, Economy, Egypt, Environment, Nairobi, Perceptions of Africa, Poaching, Politics, Poverty, Refugees, Safety, Serengeti, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, Tourism Trends, Twevolution, Uganda, War, Weather, Wildlife Management, Zimbabwe on December 31, 2011
Twevolution, the Arab Spring [by Twitter] is universally considered the most important story of the year, much less just in Africa. But I believe the Kenyan invasion of Somalia will have as lasting an effect on Africa, so I’ve considered them both Number One. 1A: KENYA INVADES SOMALIA On October 18 Kenya invaded Somalia, where [...]
Guided by a Child’s Remembrance
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Rwanda, War on November 17, 2011
Clemantine Wamariya, a 23-year old Yale student and Tutsi who lived through the Rwandan genocide when she was 6 years old, has been appointed by President Obama to the board of the Holocaust Museum. Is this wise? Ms. Wamariya’s life is a fairy tale story, and I mean her no ill will. In time she [...]
Arusha’s Getty
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, OnSafari on September 26, 2011
Even Arusha has its J. Paul Getty. As we ended the Tanzanian portion of our safari, we visited Cultural Heritage, a tourist landmark that may have done more for northern Tanzanian tourism than the paved road to Manyara. Initially a curio shop, Cultural Heritage has finally fully embraced its name. Yes, you can buy most [...]
Brainwashing U.S. & Nigerian Kids
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Nigeria, Politics on May 12, 2011
The first job I got fired from was after I reported to my Yugoslavian boss (during the Cold War) that UNESCO’s proposal for funding Sesame Street for Cuban National Television could be used for political, not only educational purposes. Guess what? USAid is now funding it for Nigerian State television. And guess what else? Besides [...]
Fela!
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Music on April 25, 2011
By Conor Godfrey on April 25, 2011 Before we talk about Fela! I feel like its only right that you put on some music from the larger-than-life band leader Fela Anikulapo Kuti. If you don’t like that—try “Water Don’t Get No Enemy.” On April 21st, the musical “Fela!” brought the Lagos crowd to tears during [...]
Acoustic Africa
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Music on April 14, 2011
By Conor Godfrey on April 14, 2011 Last week I rounded up a few friends and saw a tremendous concert put on by Acoustic Africa at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium. The show featured three African music powerhouses—Habib Koite, from Mali, whom I have written about before, Afel Bocoum also from Mali, and Oliver Mtukudzi [...]
Winners in Burkina
Posted by jimheck in African Films, Arts and Culture, Economy on March 12, 2011
by Conor Godfrey on March 8, 2011 I have led everyone astray by failing to warn you that the bi-annual, Pan African Film Festival in Ouagadougou (FESPACO) opened Saturday, February 24th, and ended this past weekend. FESPACO is the most important film festival in Africa, and I would go even further and say that the [...]