Accusations are flying about African writers and intellectuals telling lies about the continent to their Western audiences, thus confirming age-old racist stereotypes. There are claims of plagiarism as well.

What is really disturbing about Invisible Children is, if a group of Africans had made the Kony2012 film would it have got the publicity from around the world? Would they have been able to raise the funds to make the video in the first place?

The young journalist was not only devoted to his work but also to the community and the whole nation of Haiti. Those who were close to him remember Jean Ristil as courageous, humble and socially conscious.

From Uganda to Liberia, religious extremists are hijacking the law to drive the obsession with anti-homosexuality legislation rather than addressing the multitude of social and economic issues faced by 99 percent of Africa’s citizens.

African awakenings have been sporadic, with short-lived moments of intensity followed by exhaustion. But there has to be a starting point and now many people know that ‘We can’.

It may appear like business as usual but people do not experience such an outpouring of solidarity and power and remain unchanged. The apathy barrier has been broken and there has been a shift in consciousness.

Most of the country supports not just the strikes but also the Occupy Nigeria movement which seeks to seriously challenge the status quo and once and for all end the rule by kleptocracy.

Nigerians are applauding the resuscitation of an anti-homosexual bill which began back in 2006, yet they remains quiet about this week’s COP17 negotiations. Why isn’t there more outrage on the blogosphere about ‘the real, and not imaginary danger’ of climate change and its impacts on the country, asks Sokari Ekine.

Eight months after the removal of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian protestors have returned to Tahrir Square. Sokari Ekine looks at bloggers’ reflections on the latest developments.

Returning to Haiti a year later, Sokari Ekine hopes to see ‘some positive change in the lives of people’, but instead she finds a ‘continuation of the slow and aggressive violence against the 99 per cent.’

Sokari Ekine takes a look at what ‘African bloggers had to say about Gaddafi’s demise and Libya’s freedom celebrations.’

In the space of a fortnight, Africa lost one Nobel Prize winner, Kenya’s Wangari Maathai and gained two more – Liberia’s Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. But as we celebrate their achievements, we should be mindful that ‘womanhood is not synonymous with sainthood’, cautions Sokari Ekine.

Over the past month, Kenya lost ‘two of its most formidable freedom fighters and justice seekers’ – feminist and political activist Wambui Otieno and environmental activist Wangari Maathai. Sokari Ekine looks at reactions to the passing away of these women across the continent, and to the execution of Troy Davis by the US State of Georgia a week ago.

The storming of the Israeli embassy by Egyptian protestors and a selection of stories on Nigeria, including bomb attacks, Boko Haram and a campaign to rebrand the country are the focus of this week’s review of the African blogosphere, by Sokari Ekine.

‘Four months on, Egypt’s euphoria of 11 February has turned to anger and frustration against the military rulers who are proving to be as ruthless as the former regime,’ writes Sokari Ekine.

Newly discovered Nigerian-Ghanaian writer Taiye Selasi, Kenya’s Binyavanga Wainaina and Congolese filmmaker Léandre-Alain Baker are among the artists whose work is discussed in this week’s review of African blogs, compiled by Sokari Ekine.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/537/dakar_protest_tmb.jpgThe people of Senegal are out in protest over President Abdoulaye Wade’s efforts to manipulate the country’s constitution, writes Sokari Ekine in this week’s round-up of African uprisings. Ekine also discusses the continuing public sector strikes in Botswana and the creation of an online collective of activists opposed to Equatoguinean President Obiang Nguema’s rule.

The situation in Egypt is increasingly complex writes Sokari Ekine, where power still lies with the remnants of the state and military, and the old mechanisms of repression are starting to reappear.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram bombings, militants in the Niger Delta, attitudes towards homosexuality in Ghana, the censorship of internet pornography in Tunisia and a Canadian couple’s decision not to gender their child all feature in this week’s review of African blogs, compiled by Sokari Ekine.

Following the death by self-immolation of 41-year-old Mauritanian Yacoub Ould Dahoud in January, Sokari Ekine revisits his demands for change in the country. In the wake of the revelations around Gay Girl in Damascus’s true identity, she also explores the outrage and severe criticism directed at the site from those in the LGBTI and Middle Eastern blogosphere.