Archive for April, 2011
Linguistic Source Code
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, Culture, Politics, South Africa on April 29, 2011
By Conor Godgrey on April 29, 2011 An article recently published in the journal Science on linguistic diversity echoes an earlier article about the decline of native languages in South Africa. Linguists had long since decided that searching for a root ancestral language, the mother of all languages if you will, was either ridiculous or [...]
Why the Chinese Succeed in Africa
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, Economy, Politics on April 28, 2011
By Conor Godfrey on April 28, 2011 If you are worried that your event on some esoteric aspect of policy will not draw a big enough crowd, just add some combination of “China,” “Threat,” “Rise,” “Beijing consensus,” “US,” and/or “Decline” to the title, and the number of RSVPs is guaranteed to skyrocket. I have recently [...]
King Mswati III
Posted by jimheck in Corruption, History, Politics on April 27, 2011
By Conor Godfrey on April 27, 2011 The worst ruler on earth gets a classy invite. Up until yesterday, I had successfully avoided learning anything about the royal wedding in Great Britain. (Full disclosure—I once argued at a family dinner with several small children present that we needed to overthrow the princess culture that dominated [...]
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 [...]
“Shoot the Boer” is Hate Speech–Period
Posted by jimheck in Racism, South Africa on April 22, 2011
By Conor Godfrey on April 22, 2011 Julius Malema took the stand for the last time in Johannesburg today. It has been the most colorful of trials. Most days it seemed more like a star-studded South African concert than a trial, as cabinet members, poets, and even the controversial Winnie Mandela have all paraded through [...]
La Francophonie
By Conor Godfrey on April 21, 2011 Today was the final day of a festival for La Francophonie in Washington, DC. Story tellers-book signings-movies-wine- food-you get the idea. La nuit du Conte, or story telling night, was especially good. I enjoyed several of the events, but my time in West Africa made me struggle with [...]
Reforme.ma
By Conor Godfrey, on April 20, 2011 Oh the internet. Sometimes it helps homophobic crazy people find other homophobic crazy people; sometimes it organizes revolutions to topple dictators; and sometimes, just sometimes, it organizes an orderly, open debate on the challenges facing a rapidly changing society. For the last several centuries, Morocco has been the [...]
Mr. Jega
Posted by jimheck in Corruption, Nigeria, Politics on April 19, 2011
by Conor Godfrey on April 19, 2011 I had been waiting to write a blog about Attahiru Jega for quite some time, and over the last few days the international acclaim over Nigeria’s relatively free and relatively fair elections made it seem like I would have the chance! As I write this, however, violence is [...]
How Chewing on Fingernails Puts Rhinos on the Path to Extinction
Posted by jimheck in Corruption, Poaching, Wildlife Management on April 15, 2011
By Conor Godfrey on April 15, 2011 Rhino poaching makes me nauseous. And it has already happened more than 80 times this year in South Africa alone. It is also back in the news as the price per oz surpasses that of gold, and the infamous “Groenewald Gang “ comes back up for trial. When [...]
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 [...]
They Got Him
Posted by jimheck in Ivory Coast, Politics on April 12, 2011
By Conor Godfrey on April 12, 2011 And so it ends. Some combination of French, U.N., and Ivorian forces loyal to President Ouattara captured Laurent Gbagbo in broad daylight at his residence. The videos and pictures of the arrest show a broken man. He looks a little better than Saddam did when they pulled him [...]
Squeeze It Till It Collapses!
America’s belt tightening vied with the Masters this weekend as the best reality TV show in the world. But now that the entertainment is over, does anyone have the slightest idea what catastrophic nonsense has just occurred?! One tiny example from Africa. Here’s why I’m so incensed. One: We claim this is a budget battle. [...]
The Dark Side of Ecotourism
Posted by jimheck in Uncategorized on April 8, 2011
As indigenous people benefit from development, the majority of ecotourism projects are revealed as shams. This is because the local people get smart enough to call a spade, a spade. I regret I can’t show you verbatim many of the emails I received — offsite — about yesterday’s blog. And I won’t violate confidences other [...]
Ecotourism is Dead
Posted by jimheck in Ecology, Planning Travel, Safari Lodges on April 7, 2011
Ecotourism is dead. From the President of Tanzania, to the much more critical tourism market itself, feather beds and five gallons to flush a toilet have subsumed efficiency and sustainability. Requiescat in pace. “Community Based Tourism Projects,” “Fair Trade,” “Shared Value Pricing,” and a ton of other phrases to champion a capitalist market in control [...]
Hail To The Instigators Valiant!!
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, Politics on April 5, 2011
Loyal, middle-of-the-road Chinese and good ole Americans heartily agree on the doctrine of noninterference in local affairs. How passe. Listen instead to the New Kenyans. Yesterday in Kenya pep rallies resembling a Final Four sendoff were being held all over the country. There were bands (marching, although not intended to have been), poms poms (well, [...]