Black Looks

• Corporate committee of shitheads

  Posted: June 30, 2009, 2:04 pm by Sokari

  Current TV – Sahara Reporters

• Gratitude 2

  Posted: June 29, 2009, 12:49 pm by Sokari

  “My mother would Say, ‘those gay people Are unnatural…’ just a Product of her time”. My Attention asked of her Thoughts hidden behind Unspoken present angst: yalo -the masculine woman, Ito -the Transgender man, Julio -The transman, the sworn Fag hag armed with his Perky breasts to boot Are examples to us all Who do or who do not Inhabit gender variant Space. Normative gender In it’s paranoid Restriction aims to rob [...]

• Amnesty – real progress, or yet more purposed inertia.

  Posted: June 28, 2009, 7:58 pm by Sokari

  Wole Soyinka makes a public statement on the Niger Delta.  Particularly pertinent is his emphasis on making a distinction between genuine militants seeking justice and opportunistic mercenaries s seeking to destroy. “The attempt in some quarters to confuse issues by refusing to separate the principled militants, such as members of MEND and its affiliates, from the [...]

• Gratitude 1

  Posted: June 28, 2009, 12:49 pm by Mia Nikasimo

  Here with gratitude to All transgender, gender -Queer & gendered Alike, Listen up people: nobody Knows anything they do Not acknowlegde out of Fear. Do not judge Anything from a position Of fear. There is always Something new beneath The face of heaven, Always, always, always. Here with gratitude to Say what we have all Long suspected but darn’t Openly or outwardly Speak lest we are found Wanting & undesirably so. Under the [...]

• The downtrodden are the future: remembering Father Gerry

  Posted: June 27, 2009, 9:47 pm by Sokari

  Memorial for Father Jean-Juste Saturday, June 27, 7 p.m., at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison, Berkeley Pierre Labossiere with his daughter Malaika glow in the presence of Father Gerry Jean-Juste when he spoke on Sept. 9, 2006, at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley. This historic interview by Minister of Information JR for Block [...]

• Interactive map of Niger Delta

  Posted: June 27, 2009, 12:15 pm by Sokari

  An interactive map of the Niger Delta by the Financial Times showing  oil fields and conflict zones -See MAP // 0){if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length>= paraNum){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[paraNum]);}else {if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length == 3){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[2]);}else {nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[0]);}}}} // ]]> Umaru Yar’Adua, Nigeria’s president, offered an amnesty to militants in the Niger Delta on Friday as part of his strategy for ending attacks on Africa’s biggest oil [...]

• Ma Island by Be

  Posted: June 26, 2009, 9:10 pm by Sokari

  Be Spot

• “Dis-Leur”, by Ernest Pépin

  Posted: June 26, 2009, 10:27 am by Rethabile

  Un oiseau passe éclair de plumes dans le courrier du crépuscule VA VOLE ET DIS-LEUR Dis-leur que tu viens d’un pays formé dans une poignée de main un pays simple comme bonjour où les nuits chantent pour conjurer la peur des lendemains dis-leur que nous sommes une bouchée répartie sur sept îles comme les sept couleurs de la semaine mais que jamais ne vient le dimanche de nous-mêmes VA VOLE ET DIS-LEUR Dis-leur que les [...]

• Living Ancestors

  Posted: June 25, 2009, 6:31 pm by Mia Nikasimo

  Gabrielle’s centenarians Brings our ancestors to us What can I say? wow I think of growth and hope Dignity wisdom and love I feel the forays In road from the Impasse Of youth caught up In stuff, caught up in stuff I thought about folk, my Grandparents, ancestors I heard all the unvoiced calls in our minds as we revelled in their sharing If only we can [...]

• call for submissions “Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens”

  Posted: June 25, 2009, 12:55 pm by Sokari

  OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens”, a collection of poems, prayers, affirmations and stories for the Person Living with HIV/AIDS.” Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens is inspirational stories, poems and affirmations that opens the heart, supports the soul and uplifts the spirit of People Living with HIV/AIDS. Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens stories [...]

• 3 gay men arrested and paraded on TV

  Posted: June 24, 2009, 1:13 am by Sokari

  Three homosexuals were arrested today by the Edo State police command in Benin City, Nigeria.They were paraded like common criminals and displayed on television. The command Public Relations officer has said they would be charged to court as homosexuality is a criminal offence in Nigeria. No more information yet….

• African women being sterilized without their consent

  Posted: June 24, 2009, 12:35 pm by Sokari

  Something many have suspected has now come to light as the International Community of Women Living with HIV\Aids (ICW) prepares to sue the Namibian government over 15 cases for the forced sterilization of women. Forced sterilizations have also taken place in the DRC, Zambia, South Africa. In South Africa there are cases of [...]

• In solidarity with the green people of Iran

  Posted: June 23, 2009, 3:56 pm by Sokari

  Show your solidarity with the green people of Iran If you think that the election in Iran wasn’t free and fair, or that there was swindling and fraud, and if you can, say something green on your blog, or turn it green temporarily, in solidarity with the masses doing the streets in Tehran, demanding freedoms. [...]

• Gang rape in London

  Posted: June 23, 2009, 2:23 pm by Sokari

  A couple of days ago I published a brief post from South Africa which reported that one in 4 males admitted to being rapists. But rape in the city is not just happening on a large scale in South Africa. Here in London a recent Channel 4 Dispatches documentary highlighted the prevalence of [...]

• Same sex marriage in Igboland

  Posted: June 22, 2009, 7:44 pm by Sokari

  An excellent article from the executive secretary of the Nigerian Humanist Movement, Leo Igwe, on the tradition of same sex marriage in Igboland which speaks to the untruth that same sex relationships are “unAfrican”. One of the contentious issues in the debate over homosexuality and same sex marriage is whether a marriage [...]

• Two poems: Gender…. Mirrored….

  Posted: June 21, 2009, 11:27 pm by Mia Nikasimo

  Gender… A single beer was all It took the throbs set in. Pounding headache. Gender is not sexuality Paranoid community Leaders hide behind a finger. It is always, always nice To meet old friends after Moments of idle asides Perhaps I should pipe Down in insipid isolation. Barking, backing up Not wanting out, stay put Ride the tidal wave of Vituperative avalanches Run, run, run for dear life Isn’t that trying [...]

• Nairobi staged reading of Shailja Patel’s Bwagamoyo: Part II of Migritude

  Posted: June 21, 2009, 6:14 pm by Sokari

  NAIROBI STAGED READING OF SHAILJA PATEL’S BWAGAMOYO (THE FATHER): PART II OF MIGRITUDE PEN International Kenya Chapter and Wasanii Literary Nights Present: SHAILJA PATEL Award-winning poet, playwright, theatre artist, and activist in a staged reading of: BWAGAMOYO (The Father) : Part II of MIGRITUDE Special Guest Actor: MUSIRA What do Samuel Kivuitu’s neck, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s ribcage, William Ruto’s abdomen, and the [...]

• New Blog Design

  Posted: June 21, 2009, 1:38 pm by Sokari

  A big thanks to Oluniyi David Ajao for fixing my blog. After numerous attempts of trying to sort things out, changing themes and head banging, Oluniyi came to the rescue and the result is a happy blogger!

• Remembering Soweto: “rich materially but poor in spirit”

  Posted: June 19, 2009, 4:42 pm by Sokari

  Remembering the Soweto uprisings 33 years ago remains important as the dreams of equity and justice in a new post-apartheid South Africa remains elusive for the majority. Pambazuka News has two features this week on the importance of the uprisings in today’s South Africa. Blackwash [a new initiative committed to black consciousness in post-1994 [...]

• SA working class in hard economic times

  Posted: June 19, 2009, 12:22 pm by Vuyo

  The only news we seem to hear about in South Africa, after the elections, are about the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the recession and worker strikes. On one hand things are looking up, the elections are over and the democracy is still going strong after 14 years. FIFA 2010 World Cup preparations seem [...]

• SA rape survey: One in 4 men are rapists

  Posted: June 18, 2009, 10:17 pm by Sokari

  A survey by the South African Medical Research Council found that one in 4 men have raped a woman and half admitted they had attacked more than one woman. Many of the rapists started in their late teens. One in 20 had raped in the past 12 months. A further one in 10 said they [...]

• Nigeria government launches attack against bloggers

  Posted: June 17, 2009, 1:48 pm by Sokari

  The Nigerian government has just launched a “$5 million war” against bloggers and online news media such as Sahara Reporters. Three security sources, who are privy to the plan, revealed that Yar’adua last week approved the covert operation to stop websites and bloggers from influencing public opinion in Nigeria. The president’s Chief Economic Adviser, Tanimu Kurfi [...]

• Execution by JTF

  Posted: June 15, 2009, 3:00 pm by Sokari

• Maseru by night

  Posted: June 15, 2009, 2:34 pm by Rethabile

  When time has come, and I’m alive still, after toil has dripped the glycerine of my black face, pocket-happy now with pay on this week’s last day, braai-vleis fires giving incense, I wonder what to do with thoughts that bloom in me from love’s innocence. At night, when I walk down Kingsway lined with men smelling of soap, the same blood that [...]

• HRW: Organizing around Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

  Posted: June 12, 2009, 1:49 pm by Sokari

  Human Rights Watch publishes the results of a qualitative survey of 100 sexual rights activists from 50 countries on issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. From an African perspective the findings of “Together Apart”are predictable but it is helpful and supportive to know that activists face similar challenges across the world. [...]

• Ogoni 9 – Shell settlement: Victory, but justice deferred?

  Posted: June 11, 2009, 12:00 am by Sokari

  The following article is published in Pambazuka News and is written by Sokari Ekine and Firoze Manji “And as I was going, I was just thinking how the war have spoiled my town Dukana, uselessed many people, killed many others, killed my mama and my wife, Agnes, my beautiful young wife with J.J.C and now [...]

• Changing Faces- a view on female sexual offenders

  Posted: June 9, 2009, 9:00 pm by Vuyo

  South Africa is portrayed as a liberated country, as a result of it’s history, there are humanitarian organisations dedicated to eliminating/reducing all forms of violence against women, children, gays and lesbians, etc. we are always given a sense of protection from things that might harm us. We even take a few extra measures to protect [...]

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes