It would be very interesting to find out which hidden agendas "ART" is pursuing with its lopsided coverage of Angola's success in Venice

Adichie appears to be trying to demonstrate that all novels are full of lies but that readers prefer delightful lies to inconvenient truths. That is why novels sell millions of copies while boring scholarly tomes manage a few hundred copies in sales

With the release of his latest poetry book, entitled ‘Today na Today’, an anthology of poems written in Naija langwej (pidgin English), a waning subsector of Nigerian literature gains a vent

‘His detailed plot summaries of the movies in the book are so well written that readers may no longer need to see the films after reading his book’

Neither money nor political power can earn you lines in English cricket literature that say, ‘He was a mercurial skipper’ who was ‘elected a vice-president of the Nomads’; ‘He was a leading personality in the club’

The question of rape has not received adequate attention in Nigeria. It must be emphasized that women have a right to their own bodies and sexualities

The collection of poems tells a story on many levels. It is an autobiographical account of a black child growing up within the private fostering system. But the story extends back to the lives of the poet’s African grandparents and outwards to the experiences of other immigrants to the UK

On April 14, 2013 at around 17.00hrs, a police officer by the name Martin Kiteu alias 'Kin'gei' attached to Kasarani Police Station, Nairobi, confronted one Kenneth Mwangi, a footballer with Mathare United FC, over an alleged theft of a mobile phone at the Githurai stage. The officer pushed Mr. Mwangi to the ground and shot him fatally and at point blank range three or four times on the jaw, throat and head. This incident was witnessed by several people who were at the scene.

Rights Promotion and Protection Centre (RPP) is deeply disturbed by the level of impunity exhibited by the police and in particular the continuation of the activities of death squads within the Kenya Police. While great strides have been made in creating the necessary legislation to reform the police, there is little reflection of this on the ground and police continue to engage in unlawful killings.

Kasarani Police Station, in particular remains, a major host of the police death squads. The police station also plays host to another policeman known by the nickname ‘Denno’. RPP believes Denno was involved in unlawful shootings in the Kondele area in Kisumu during the 2007/8 post election violence. Other members of this death squad , known by their single names are:- Marel, Maiyo, Fielo and Mutisya.

RPP calls upon all concerned to send a petition to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority to investigate this incident and the continuing operations of death squads in Kasarani and other areas.

CONTACT

Odhiambo Oyoko
Executive Coordinator Rights Promotion and Protection Centre (RPP) Upperhill Gardens, Block D-14, Third Ngong Avenue off Ngong Avenue. P.O Box 4636-00200 Nairobi. Tel: 020 2692071 Cell: 0717 431 738 E-mail: [email][email protected]/[email protected] Website: www.rpprights.org

The poems treat a broad range of contemporary social issues in Nigeria. The author has certainly enriched the literary world

Lamnyam’s book of poems is a tribute to penmanship. She contends that poets are not dead wood, and attributes much leverage to the weight of her pen

Upon the death of an artist society loses sorely. But their works provide a continuing reflection on how to refine ourselves

Setting up a music project in the Saharawi refugee camps in south-west Algeria may not seem to some an obvious priority for a population that relies largely on humanitarian aid for its survival. Yet that is precisely what London-based arts and human rights charity Sandblast has been hard at work doing since early 2010.

Morocco, which militarily controls Western Sahara since its occupation in 1975, is trying to present a false image of the situation in Western Sahara, taking advantage of the military siege and the media blockade imposed on the region.

Music and poetry have been key elements in Saharawi culture since nomadic times, when they were efficient ways of transmitting news and stories, providing entertainment and establishing links among the tribes. After Spain abandoned Western Sahara and Morocco and Mauritania invaded the territory in 1975, music became the voice of the revolution. It played an essential role in the formation and establishment of the new Saharawi Republic and the reshaping of the society. Music, thus, was used by the Saharawis to foster social change.

Until the ranks of the head coaches and upper management in the US National Football League have been thoroughly integrated, Dr. King’s dream will remain a work in progress

The undoubted merit of this book is in its providing of historical depth to understanding the drug menace. But readers should beware of the danger of substituting one’s irritation with some of the awkward policies of western governments with concern for the African predicament.

This book makes a tremendous contribution to the literature on left, feminist and Pan-African struggles during the 20th century

Audiences cheering the exploits of the Django fictional character do so in part because they mistakenly believe that this work of fiction has no historical basis in it at all

The heartbeat of Africa cloned to the Caribbean;

A nation of defiant and valiant freedom fighters who dared to rise up

Against the French, Spanish and British colonial overlords against the chains of slavery;

Who desired freedom and were prepared to wage a 13-year-long guerrilla war against

European overlords who did not believe in ‘liberté, fraternité, equalité’ for blacks;

A nation of half a million Africans who cherished their African-ness in the Vodun religion

Against the caricatures and demonization of this religion by Hollywood;

A people who believed their freedom was worth paying the French 150 million francs –

Yet were to be squeezed and punished in other ways by American occupation

And deathly neo-liberalism that fails to trickle down growth;

A people who know the meaning of struggle, pain, suffering, tragedy –

But remain in spite of hurricanes and tornadoes that cannot quench their spirits and hopes for a dignified life

A people who profoundly know the meaning of dictatorship lived during the Duvalier era

That ‘disappeared’ thousands, killed many who spoke out against kleptocracy, corruption, and inequality;

A people who know the meaning of neo-colonialism; that house negroes remain in the land;

A people who know that uncle toms and aunt jemimas are a powerful minority in collusion

With Uncle Sam wearing a black face and their neo-colonial brothers and sisters across in the neo-colonial Dominican Republic;

A people who know that colorism remains in the land and the ruling elite are not safe

Under a genuine democracy but with their US supplied automatic rifles

The presence of the Tonton Macoutes that they support and the various military attachés Uncle Sam funds to allow the rich to sleep easily at night;

It is a people who have recovered their agency and voted for a radical priest in two genuine elections

Only for the US and their detractors to deny this electoral victory on account that they did not like what the radical priest represented;

It is the masses who see the rich minority seated at a ‘vast table covered with white damask and overflowing with good food’ whilst the people are ‘hunched over in the dirt and starving’ [1] – waiting once more to knock down that table and construct a new one in which all will equitably eat.

ENDNOTE
1. Words of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide.

This new film exposes the truth behind President Robert Mugabe’s troubles with the West. But it lacks the nuances, complexities and critical questions (other than ‘the land question’) that are key to understanding Mugabe’s legacy