Pambazuka: A newsletter with attitude

In preparing to write this short piece I went back to the beginning of Pambazuka and found that the first online edition was ‘Kabissa-Fahamu Newsletter No. 14’ published on 19 March 2001. There was just a short feature with a few links to other news sites which made the newsletter seem curiously empty. A reader, David Waller of ACORD in London, had responded to a survey of the newsletter sent out by email. He described Pambazuka as ‘a newsletter with attitude’. He also mentioned that it was only in English. Today Pambazuka is published in French and Portuguese with an Arabic version on its way. I wonder if Mr David Waller of London is still reading this ‘newsletter with attitude’? In another letter someone complained that the newsletter was too long for email, to which the editor, Firoze Manji, had replied:

‘Most of you responded that the value of the newsletter is in the broad range of issues covered. The problem, of course, is that the pace of events on the continent is so great that even a newsletter twice the size would leave many gaps.’

Now Pambazuka is probably four or five times its original size and is published twice a week and still there is much that is not covered in the newsletter. It’s easy to talk of Pambazuka’s achievements, the range of opinions and news covered, the ever-increasing categories in Links & Resources, podcasts, radio series, petitions and campaigns. But what is singularly most significant and which differentiates Pambazuka from other publications is its Pan-African coverage and perspective, along with its willingness to accommodate all our voices – activists, scholars, journalists, bloggers, on so many issues. I was talking to a fellow blogger the other day about censorship, not just censorship by governments and news media but self-censorship when we are afraid that if we tell the truth people may not like it and may find ways to attack us and, worse, attack us personally. But just as we have the right to write, we also have a duty to be honest and to speak the truth no matter how it might be received. I believe Pambazuka strives to do that.

In browsing through some of the early editions of Pambazuka, I was surprised too to find an article written by me in 2002 of which I had no memory. Still, I felt quite elated to discover I had contributed such a long time ago. I first met Firoze Manji in August of 2000 at a job interview for Fahamu. About two weeks after being offered a job at Fahamu, I discovered I had cancer and had to turn the job down. It was a particularly bad prognosis so I wasn't sure whether I would be alive, let alone find my way back into the Pambazuka family. But five years later Firoze invited me to write the weekly Africa blogging column, and in 2007 I took up the job of online editor. One of my fondest memories of that period was Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s Pan-African Postcard – which was always late. We used to joke about this but he never failed to submit his weekly column and Firoze would stay late just to upload it himself. Now I would like to thank everyone at Pambazuka, especially Firoze, for the continued opportunity to contribute on a regular basis.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.