Black Looks

• Of course; they have a lot to hide!

  Posted: November 29, 2011, 12:50 pm by Rumbidzai Dube

  
  
  

  When I first heard this piece of news I was shocked, then I became angry and then I turned defiant and decided that I would chart my own destiny. The piece of news is that out of the 192 member states of the United Nations, Zimbabwe has decided to declare itself so special, setting itself apart by changing the theme on the Commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence to suit its own ‘context.’

  The official United Nations and global theme for this year’s commemorations is supposed to be:

  “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!”

  The new (Indigenous) Zimbabwean theme now reads:

  “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge All Forms of Gender-based Violence.”

  To back-step a little bit let me start from the beginning…
  
  The 16 days of Activism against gender based violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. The 16 days begin every year on the 25th of November which is earmarked as the International Day for the elimination of violence against women to the 10th of December celebrated as International Human Rights Day.

  This year’s commemorations cover five (5) sub- themes namely;
   Bringing together women, peace, and human rights movements to challenge militarism
   Proliferation of small arms and their role in domestic violence
   Sexual violence in and after conflict
   Political violence against women, including Pre/During/Post-election violence
   Sexual and gender-based violence committed by state agents, particularly the police or military

  The 16 days’ campaign is a time to educate one-self; to spread the word; share knowledge, to organise events and activities, to engage with the media; celebrate women human rights defenders and activists, advocate for women’s human rights, and lobby the government. Usually these things are done with the particular theme for the year in mind. What this means is that during this year’s commemorations we must educate ourselves on militarism, spread the word about it, share the knowledge we have on it, celebrate the women who have been subjected to it and lobby the government to end it.

  Is anyone wondering why the Zimbabwean government changed the theme?

  Maybe this should bring us to the question of what militarism is, in the context of gender based violence. It is an ideology. That ideology creates a culture of fear. It condones violence and induces fear by cultivating a culture of terror among populations through the use of military warfare, aggression or other forms of violence.

  Why must we reject it?

  Militarism has grave consequences. It is coercive, intrusive on the dignity of people and poses a huge challenge to human security. Since it is a way of looking at the world; it influences how we perceive those who surround us; family, neighbours, the general public and the rest of humanity. If we embrace militarism then we are condoning a culture that perceives every individual as the enemy and embracing violence as the only effective way to resolve disputes. That is unacceptable!

  Why is it important for Zimbabweans to discuss militarism?

  If there ever was a more appropriate for Zimbabweans to talk about this issue, then this is the moment we should seize. Our past experiences with politically motivated violence in the context of elections need to be aired. Militarism has been used to suppress dissenting voices and those who think that they have an inherent right to take this country to its purported historic destiny feel the need to rid it of any contrary views and positions. Violence has become an instrument for these people to achieve their grandiose end.

  In 2008 when Zimbabwe had its combined municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections, violence was used to force people to vote for certain political parties. Such violence wrought havoc on the lives of many. The killing, maiming and scarring of children, women and men, traumatising and shattering their lives was never accounted for. The women who contracted HIV/AIDS from the rape now have to live with the disease and the wounds on their hearts remain fresh to date. Mothers bore children whose fathers they do not know consequent of gang rapes during elections. Homes were burnt and destroyed. The memories of the insertion of sharp objects and hot substances such as ash and chillies into the private parts of women remain vivid yet no one wants to talk about it loudly.

  Elections are in the pipeline. Probably the campaign plan is to do in 2012 as was done in 2008. Why am I not surprised that the theme for the 16 days of gender activism has been distorted. Of course talking about militarism will bring the dirty linen into the public (as if we already don’t know it all). What is in play is the realisation that talking about it will lead to calls for action to end it, and address its past occurrences, something that those who hold our nation by the horns do not want to see happening. Without militarism they lose their political stranglehold.

  So no, there shall not be discussions of militarism in Zimbabwe these 16 days.’ Before we have started speaking to this theme, the government of Zimbabwe has hijacked the process and has distorted the theme to prevent the concept of militarism from being fully explored in the discussions taking place. Of course, there is a lot they have to hide.

  Join me in rejecting this blatant abuse of power by speaking as loudly as you can against militarism in Zimbabwe.

• Excuse me while I die

  Posted: November 28, 2011, 11:13 pm by Sokari

  
  
  

  We are 4 days into the 16 Days of Activist Against Violence Against Women which dates back to 1999. Fourteen years of days and weeks where the world supposedly focuses on violence against women will end on Human Rights Day, the 10th December. In Durban the 17th UN Climate Change conference begins today and continues until 9th December. So much activity!

  The campaign to end violence against women hardly mentions [here I think I am being generous] the violence unleashed by changes in climate and environmental degradation; land grab by investment bankers in New York and London; the purchase of large tracks of land by governments such as Saudi Arabia Kuwait; gentrification or rather ethnic and class cleansing of urban spaces. Is it really that difficult to make the connections by providing a broader more realistic interpretation of violence against women? Abahlali baseMjondolo go some way to doing this
  

  We are in the middle of the Sixteen Days of Activism to end violence against women and children. Many conferences are being held. There are many discussions on television. Yet who will stand with the poor, with poor women and their children, when the state or private landowners send out the police or security guards to evict them, demolish their homes and steal their building materials? We do not see or hear from all these NGOs that are talking about the rights of women and children when the state and private landowners use violence to deny poor women and their children the right to a home.

  and speaking to the Climate Change gathering..

  Last night after heavy rain some of our shack settlements were flooded leaving shack dwellers, stranded, hopeless and with all their belonging swept away through floods. We have had enough shack fires already. We have had enough rat bites. We have had enough electricity disconnection. We have had enough of being excluded from the rest of our society and today the storm, the full force of what extreme weather does to the poor, proves itself to the world during the first day of the Conference of the Parties.

  Whose interests will this Conference of the Parties serve if the poor are outside busy dealing with effect of the floods which are the direct result of our vulnerability to bad weather in the shacks? How can the world begin these talks without going and experiencing the effect and the reality of how the change in climate will affect the people in Durban whose lives are already most precarious? This morning the rich woke up in their houses dry and safe while many poor people faced more disaster. Today it is clear that these talks will take us no where if they ignores the reality that those who will suffer the consequences of the change in climate the most are the poor. So, excluding the poor in these talks will not help any of us.

  Worth reading on environment and violence is a Social Text interview with Rob Nixon on his book “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor”.

  There are other voices excluded from the 16 Days and Climate Change – lesbian voices, queer voices, gender non-conforming voices, transgender voices. The 16 Days is turning out to having very normative notions of gender mixed with mainstreaming of particular types of violence now normalised violence. So here we sit / stand with on the one side violence normalised and on the other a violence that is invisible.

  My dear friend Mia who contributes regularly to this blog is at this very moment hiding in the hell hole that is East London [West, North, South London, its all a hell hole if you dont walk the acceptable face of gayness, blackness or any other 'ness' you care to come up with] imprisoned in her home – well its not a home since a home is supposed to be a place of safety and sanctuary. The daily assault of transphobia as it intersects with misogyny and racism, have infiltrated her private space to the point where it is not safe to turn off the lights and snuggle in a duvet to try and get some much needed sleep after the transphobic racist violence of London bus journeys. On top of this betrayals by people [I wont refer to them as friends] who dont dont want to be involved. So why are you even there if you are incapable of speaking? Mia writes that silence speaks a different language in this case a language of lies and betrayal. Do you think your silence will protect you when I’m gone? Dont you realise on that day they will come for you too? The next step is the madness diagnosis and being clamped in a racialised transphobic straightjacket with a direct route to the Maudsley, and dont think you are immune from this ending either.

• Normalisation of violence against women

  Posted: November 28, 2011, 6:02 pm by Sokari

  
  
  

  From Witness – how militarism, masculinity and the media contribute and facilitate the normalization of violence against women..

  Images of masculinity and militarism pervade mass media across the world, with aggressive male behavior, sexually exploited feminine bodies, and pictures of conflict saturating visual culture. These images contribute to the normalization of violence in our everyday lives. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign seeks to highlight the links between the culture of militarism and gender-based violence through our 2011 Campaign theme, “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!”
  
  This theme emerged from a strategic conversation on militarism and violence against women among thirty feminist activists, academics, and experts, hosted by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, the home of the 16 Days Campaign. The participants identified five key areas of intersection between gender-based violence and militarism, which are priority areas for this year’s theme: (i) political violence against women; (ii) the proliferation of small arms and their role in domestic violence; (iii) sexual violence during and post-conflict; (iv) the role of state actors as perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence; and (v) the roles of women, peace, and human rights movements in challenging the links between militarism and violence against women. Learn more about these priority areas by reading our report. Watch this video from our campaign last year for some insight into these priorities: …..Continued

• Imagine Futures: Egyptian Body Politic – Remix Tahrir

  Posted: November 27, 2011, 6:41 pm by Sokari

  
  
  

  AN ANIMATED ADAPTATION OF “The Dream” by Alaa Abd El-Fattah,translated by Lina Attalah, 2011. Voice narration by VJ Um Amel.

  A SOUNDTRACK REMIX OF “Immortal Egypt Revolution Dub” by DJ Zhao, “Amble ambience” by VJ Um Amel, KPCC radio interview of VJ Um Amel on November 23, 2011, and voice overs.

  A VISUAL REMIX OF YouTube videos, Twitter data R-Shief’s visualizations of 1.25 million tweets on #Tahrir over 23 days in November, and 1.23 million tweets on #NOSCAF over the same date range. Cartoon by Carlos Latuff, “in honour of martyr Shehab Ahmed, killed by SCAF forces in #Nov20″

  This is the first in a series of cinematic media that will be used in an upcoming, performative installation.

  Egyptian Body Politic: a 2-min remix adaptation #Tahrir from VJ Um Amel on Vimeo.

  Via @Kawlture AND Veilotics

• Bleeding in progress – making public the violence of rape

  Posted: November 25, 2011, 6:39 pm by Sokari

  
  
  

  Visual activist, Zanele Muholi discusses her most recent photographic installation “Isilumo Siyaluma”

• Proudly Transgender in Turkey.

  Posted: November 24, 2011, 6:39 pm by Sokari

  
  
  

  Portrait: Ebru Kırancı by Gabrielle Le Roux
  quote: “Hayatı seviyoruz, Bizi öldürmeyin” – “We love life, Dont kill us”

  Proudly Transgender in Turkey is a social justice project and cultural intervention designed by South African artist Gabrielle Le Roux. The aim of the project is to draw attention to the human rights violations faced by transgender people and transgender activists in Turkey. The project is a collaboration between Gabrielle Le Roux, Amnesty Turkey, and two Turkish trans orgs LGBTT Istanbul and Pembe Hayat. It includes portraits and interviews with participants some of which are presented in the video below.

  As in many other parts in the world, transgender, intersex and gender variant people in Turkey face high levels of discrimination and violence. In 2010 the number of hate crimes rose and Turkey had a striking number in trans murders. Meanwhile a strong trans movement is emerging with courageous activists putting their lives on the line. These are the people who have chosen to collaborate with South African artist and activist for social justice, Gabrielle Le Roux, in the creation of the multimedia exhibition “Proudly Transgender in Turkey”.

  “Proudly Transgender in Turkey” is a project of portraits and stories. The portraits are drawn from life by Gabrielle Le Roux, and each person writes directly onto their own portrait whatever they wish to say.

  The participants in this cultural intervention want their faces to be seen and their voices heard around the world.

  How Old Are You? – Trans, Onurlu ve Türkiyeli Sergisi from Amnesty International Turkey on Vimeo.

  The project opened in Istanbul on the 11th November 2011 and in Ankara on

• When will we learn?

  Posted: November 24, 2011, 1:12 pm by Rumbidzai Dube

  
  
  

  *Disclaimer*
  [This article does not mean in any way to trivialise the struggle by sexual minorities for their rights, neither does it seek to force the writers’ own views on sexual minority rights on the reader. Rather it is a call on a nation blinded by intolerance and hate to see how political leaders are manipulating that intolerance to drive their own agenda to derail meaningful constitutional reforms]

  “Where after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home-so close and so small that they can not be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the nighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world” [Eleanor Roosevelt on the Universal declaration of human rights]

  Our children are starving...

  This quote speaks to the essence of what Zimbabweans, as a people need right now, a concerted popular effort to demand human dignity and all that comes with it. We need food on our tables; decent wages and employment; a good education for our children; proper healthcare including affordable medication when we need it; roofs over our heads; reliable electricity supply; running and clean water; and proper working sewer systems. These are things we should be demanding to see in a new constitution and as Eleanor Roosevelt said, without concerted citizen action, as Zimbabweans we will continue to look to ‘donors’ to assist us, yet we could solve our problems ourselves.

  ...we now use candles for light and firewood for cooking...

  Yet, overnight, we have stopped deliberating over these fundamental issues. Suddenly, the discussion on a constitution that carries all fundamental rights has been overtaken by the debate on whether gays and lesbians’ rights should be put in the constitution. People’s focus has been shifted from socio-economic guarantees and political freedoms to one issue-homosexuality. So, will Zimbabweans blindly accept a constitution that has no guarantees for either economic, social and cultural rights or basic freedoms simply because it does not contain gays and lesbians’ rights? Will we also blindly reject a constitutional framework that has all these guarantees simply because it also contains gays and lesbians’ rights?

  ...we find rubbish at our doorsteps...

  Have we forgotten our fight for dignity, equality, freedom and justice which began with the liberation struggle and cost the lives of many? Is this what our liberators died for; a nation of hypocrites who fornicate, commit adultery, lie, steal, murder, oppress the poor and yet find themselves better ‘sinners’ than others?
  
  Who are we to judge gays and lesbians? Who are we to condemn them to the extent of segregating and ostracising them? What makes us think they are worse-off sinners than we are? From a Christian standpoint, if we find their behavior sinful are we then being Christ-like when we shun them? Should we not be drawing them into our circles as disciples of Christ and evangelists so they may know the truth we purport to know? Tolerance which Christ preaches demands that we take standpoints against their behavior not individuals, deeds not the doers, choices not the choosers and hence be our brothers’ keepers; are we doing that when we remove them from our circles and call them trash, filth, pigs and dogs? Who and what give us the moral standpoint to consider our own sins less “sinful” than their perceived sins? Why have we all become God- to be the judge and condemn and even kill (in the case of Uganda and David Kato) and rape (corrective rape in South Africa)and deem that they deserve to “be punished severely for their behaviour which is inconsistent with African and Christian values” in our case? [Excerpt from the Herald 24/11/11]

  ...yet we betray our struggle out of hate!!!

  As for Zimbabweans one thing stands clear to me, we have been waylaid!!!

  We must always remember that politicians have an agenda and will play on our emotional and moral senses to manipulate circumstances to their own advantage. We are being manipulated and most of us do not even see it. Our oh-so-upright population (my foot) is up in arms against gays and lesbians and has been brainwashed to reject a constitution that so much as mentions that,
  “every person has the right to marry a person of their choice.”

  The individuals leading this campaign because they find gays and lesbians ‘morally reprehensible’ have committed or instigated the murder, disappearance, torture, abduction, rape, sodomisation, and grave assault of men, women and children to remain in power. Why has the nation suddenly become so blind to their sinfulness? Do these leaders really care about this issue or are they not merely using the question of homosexuality to derail the constitution-making process by diverting our attention from issues they never want to see contained in the constitution?

  I think we need to wake up and smell the coffee. Let us leave God to judge His people as He commands. Our priority should be to challenge issues that shape our day to day lives. Whether or not gays and lesbians’ rights are part of our constitution will not bring food to our tables nor guarantee water in our homes. It will neither stop the incessant power cuts nor will it guarantee the nation’s political freedoms. This I believe we need to learn.

• Journey to Afikpo (Ebonyi State, Nigeria) : Day 1.

  Posted: November 9, 2011, 1:09 pm by Emmanuel Iduma

  
  
  

  Preface

  Between 19 and 29 August 2011, I travelled to Afikpo (Ebonyi State, Nigeria) as the first of a series of travels and questionings I will be undertaking over a period of one year. I had just finished my studies at the Nigerian Law School, and was in search of solace, solitude and definition. The series was originally posted on Saraba Blog and encouraged by the initial response I received, I now hope more people will find the posts useful and interesting.

  Although Adebiyi Olusolape, my dear friend, has edited some of the posts, the posts retain most of their originality. I ask the kind reader to forgive any unintentional error.

  Please feel free to share.

  Day 1 – 19.08.2011

  There is so much to say, and hopefully, so much will be remembered.

  It happens that I am travelling to Afikpo, my hometown (my Dad’s birthplace) on a motorcycle. I am not good with measuring distances, but my guess is that it is about 10 to 15 km. I am, at first, angry that there is no easier means of transportation. There is, actually. The Church (my Dad’s official) driver tells me that to travel by car to Afikpo from Ohafia I will have to wait for an indeterminable period. I am not good with waiting, so I opt for a bike ride. My anger calcifies into exhilaration, because the ride turns out to be adventurous – considering it in retrospect, that is.

  But I am worried about the Police. Two months ago, I had a painful encounter – they siezed my laptop and took all my money. It is disturbing that to travel by road in Nigeria, the Police emerges as a necessary evil. Well, not ‘necessary.’ A word like ‘venal’ will suffice. And it is even more horrendous that it is difficult to tell what might come out of such encounters.

  Each time we come to them, and the often needless checkpoints they create (more needless when one considers the psychological import of a boundary), I fix my gaze at the distance, ensuring that even if they talk to me, they will see my anger, and machismo. This works, perhaps, because we are never stopped or searched.

  We make three stops because of the rain. It is surprising that the rain is not a nuisance to me. The motorcyclist asks me if we should go on. I say yes. This is before our second stop. We continued the journey but the rain increased soon after. There is no point in stopping, we are already drenched. He stops, saying it is not worth our trouble.

  I think it is the promise of independence that makes the rain welcome, for me. Afikpo holds an empty house as a promise.

  During one of our stops, the motorcyclist shows me a house he says belongs to a politician. It is in Edda. (Now, Edda had been the setting for a novel I completed early 2010 – a story of how Female Genital Mutilation was abolished in the town. I feel foolish now that I am experiencing the town at close range. It is an assemblage of several smaller towns, villages, hamlets – whichever of the trio is better suited) The politician, I am told, did nothing for his people during his term – Obasanjo’s era. And he failed, twice, in his bid to recapture their interests and vote. The motorcyclist says this assertively, as though he played a part in ensuring bad leadership does not continue – and it seems, thinking over this, that we are all part of a larger scheme of things, whether or not we live in Edda.

  Our stops make the journey longer. At some point, I begin to question my reasons. I am just out of the Law School, and everywhere people are asking, What Next? I tell them NYSC; but that is very doubtful, and I am sorry for telling a lie. I believe in Bohemia (although I am yet to map out the parameters of that kingdom), and in exploration, as the conscious terrains a writer must determine. In essence, if NYSC is the idea of being a conformist, I am keen to abuse tradition. I will take my time; I will be a corper when I want.

  And so, Afikpo holds the promise of reflection, of walled-out spaces. This is why I am heading to this land which I know barely, and for the first time I will live in Afikpo alone.

  When we get to Afikpo, I exhale ‘finally.’ We agreed on 750 naira, but the bike-driver says he does not have enough change when I give him 1,000 naira, and so gives me 200 naira. This is funny because I am waiting for him to say ‘please’ so that it does not seem I am taken for granted. But I indulge him – haven’t we had enough travails together?

  Uncle Otu’s house is just the way I have known it. It is poorly-lit because the doors are always shut (and it is a misfortune that there is no electricity throughout the night, which makes my plans fall through, gives me a bad night, keeps me hungry). I go out, after unpacking, to buy food things and provisions that I believe will last me for 10 days.

  There is, I remember, a man who, just before I entered Uncle Otu’s house, recognized me as my father’s son. He said he had never seen me, but I looked so much like my Dad. I do not consider this an incursion into my space; but later I do not pick my cousin’s calls.

  So that this solitude, envisioned and absolute, will not be breached.

  First published in daily instalments on www.sarabamag.com between 19 – 29 August 2011
  All rights reserved.

  © Emmanuel Iduma, 2011

• Egypt: More on the Free Alaa & no military trials campaign

  Posted: November 8, 2011, 6:13 pm by Sokari

  
  
  

  The Free Alaa campaign which works side by side with the No Military Trials for Civilians campaign [Alaa has refused to recognise the military court and continues to insist on being questioned and or tried by a civilian court] are organizing a day of action on Wednesday 9th November “Global Online Protest Against Military Trials in Egypt” [there are various actions taking place and suggestions on what to do so please visit the website].

  “A letter from Cairo to the Occupy/Decolonize movements & other solidarity movements” gives detail background information on the Egyptian movement since January, the removal of Mubarak and the take over by the military Junta – since then at least 12,000 people have been tried by military courts including minors serving time in adult prisons [see Alaa's description of the horrific conditions in prison].

  On October 9th, the Army massacred 28 of us at Maspero; they ran us over with tanks and shot us down in the street while manipulating state media to try and incite sectarian violence. The story has been censored. The military is investigating itself. They are systematically targeting those of us who speak out. This Sunday, our comrade and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah was imprisoned on trumped-up charges. He spends another night in an unlit cell tonight.

  All this from the military that supposedly will ensure a transition to democracy, that claimed to defend the revolution, and seemingly convinced many within Egypt and internationally that it was doing so. The official line has been one of ensuring “stability”, with empty assurances that the Army is only creating a proper environment for the upcoming elections. But even once a new parliament is elected, we will still live under a junta that holds legislative, executive, and judicial authority, with no guarantee that this will end. Those who challenge this scheme are harassed, arrested, and tortured; military trials of civilians are the primary tool of this repression. The prisons are full of casualties of this “transition”.

  We now refuse to co-operate with military trials and prosecutions. We will not hand ourselves in, we will not submit ourselves to questioning. If they want us, they can take us from our homes and workplaces.

  Nine months into our new military repression, we are still fighting for our revolution. We are marching, occupying, striking, shutting things down. And you, too, are marching, occupying, striking, shutting things down. We know from the outpouring of support we received in January that the world was watching us closely and even inspired by our revolution. We felt closer to you than ever before. And now, it’s your turn to inspire us as we watch the struggles of your movements. We marched to the US Embassy in Cairo to protest the violent eviction of the occupation in Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland. Our strength is in our shared struggle. If they stifle our resistance, the 1% will win – in Cairo, New York, London, Rome – everywhere. But while the revolution lives our imaginations knows no bounds. We can still create a world worth living.

  Links: Banners and stickers

  US citizens can sign petition here

  TWITTER:
  ———
  Please use the hashtags #NoMilTrials and/or #FreeAlaa and mention
  @manal @monasosh so that we can help spread your action, post or event.

• Nature aint rigid

  Posted: November 8, 2011, 4:36 pm by Mia Nikasimo

  
  
  

  Spanning the world
  From Africa to Asia;
  From Europe to utopit
  Anywhere you go
  In gender identity
  There are no absolutes
  In gender identity
  There are only relatives
  Forcing absolutes
  Upsets the balance
  Of nature – relativity
  Brings equilibrium

  this is…

  Its natural from birth i was told
  Botherwise; only aged three or four

  Frontier identity gender the is this -
  One are genderqueer + transgender
  You be to fought be to have wars if
  Knot a to up adds this all

  I was a man
  I am now a woman
  I was a woman
  I am now a man
  I was seen as both
  I am neither…
  You are a man, a mob says
  You are a woman, a mob says
  I am a woman, i insist
  I am not a man but some insist
  Now both I am
  Now neither am i
  I am everybody
  I am not everybody
  I stand at the cusp
  Of both and neither
  And so when you
  Say you know all
  All you know is
  Y o u r s e l v e s

  Y o u r s e l v e s
  Is know you all
  Know you say you when
  So and neither and both of
  Cusp the at i
  Everybody not am i
  Everybody am i
  Neither am i
  Now both am i
  Man a not am i
  Woman a am i
  Neither am i
  Both now am i
  Woman a am i
  Man a not am i

  Four or three aged only
  Botherwise; told was i
  Birth from natural its

  So you told me?
  Man a not am i
  Woman a are you
  Woman a not am i
  Man a are you
  Woman a am i
  Man a are you
  Woman a am i

  Equilibrum brings
  Relativity -nature of
  Balance the upsets
  Absolutes forcing
  Relatives only are there
  Identity gender in
  Absolutes no are there
  Identity gender in
  Go you anywhere
  (?) Utopia to Europe from
  Asia to Africa from
  all this adds up to a
  Knot if wars have to
  Be fought to be you
  Transgender + genderqueer
  Are one – this is the gender
  Identity frontier

  Is this

  Cos

  Nature aint rigid

  Mia Nikasimo (c) October 2011

• Of bloggers, activists, expectant mothers and military rulers: Free Alaa!!!

  Posted: November 5, 2011, 11:56 am by Rumbidzai Dube

  
  
  

  In better days...April 2011

  Throughout the time I spent in Egypt, one recurrent question from people outside Egypt struck me the most: Had the Revolution brought about any meaningful change? My very first impressions upon arriving in Egypt were that indeed the Revolution had changed many things. I had read about the Mubarak regime which sounded pretty much like my own government. The Egypt of Mubarak was one of violent repression of dissenting opinions, arbitrary arrests, bloody dispersions of any forms of protest, strict censorship of the media, demonisation of non governmental organisations and the general suppression of the masses’ freedoms and rights. Indeed Mubarak was famous for being a ruthless dictator who would not stop at anything to consolidate his reign on power.

  So when I found Egyptians able to demonstrate and camp in Tahrir Square in the aftermath of the Revolution I thought things had changed. When one of my friends asked me whether the January 25 movement in Egypt was in effect a Revolution I answered yes and based my judgement on the characteristics of the movement. I argue that it was an initiative by the masses (1), which grew out of disaffection with the governing authority (2); it overthrew a government (3) and brought about change (4). Now I look back at that response and wonder if my assessment may have been premature. Was there a real overthrow of a government and has there been any real change in Egypt? Mubarakism persists even after Mubarak has gone.

  I witnessed the smear campaign against the NGOs as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces discredited them as agents of the West the same way Mubarak denounced and harassed them. That rang an alarm bell in my head because in my country, NGOs are also called stooges of the West. I witnessed the death of 26 protestors at the hands of the military as it exercised disproportionate force against unarmed civilians and again the alarm bells went off and I could smell doom coming.

  I witnessed the political space closing up again and the ability to speak freely, assemble freely and associate freely that had characterised the period immediately after the revolution dissipated. Maikel Nabil an activist and blogger was subjected to military trial for writing a blog refuting the belief that was prevalent during the Revolution that the military and the people were one. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison and an additional fine of 200 Egyptian Pounds. He subsequently went on a hunger strike and has since been moved to a psychiatric hospital.
  
  What I had not envisaged was that my very own dear friend and one of Egypt’s most prominent younger generation bloggers and human rights activists, Alaa Abd El Fattah ,would become a victim of the system just as he had done under Mubarak. I had also not anticipated that his arrest would come at a time when his dear wife Manal Bahey El Din Hassan is due to deliver their very first child/son Semsem.

  In 2006 Alaa was arrested on spurious charges and spent 45 days in detention. On October 30 2011, just 6 days ago Alaa was summoned by the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces at their C4 headquarters for investigations. Alaa stands accused of inciting violence among the protestors who were expressing their anger at the burning of a church in Aswan on 9 October. The clashes between the military and the protestors that followed hose protests now famously known as the Maspero attacks (named after the state television building in front of which they took place) resulted in the death of 26 people.

  It is then quite ironical for the military to charge Alaa with inciting violence when they are on record for calling people to come and defend the oh-so-vulnerable army from uncontrollable and rowdy Christians on state television. It is also ironic coming from the military which according to most video footage and eyewitnesses is clearly responsible for the death of the 26 protestors. To add insult to injury the same indictment investigating Alaa also contains the name of Mina Daniel, one of the protestors who died during the clashes.

  Alaa refused to answer to the charges by the military for many reasons. First, exercising his right to remain silent and not give any evidence that could incriminate him. Second, challenging the legitimacy of the military to investigate him given that they are also an accused in the matter and therefore placing questions on the independence and impartiality of the investigations. Third, questioning the legitimacy of the military to investigate civilians in a civilian matter when the ordinary channels and ordinary courts are there to exercise this function.

  For refusing to answer, Alaa was thrown into a jail cell at the notorious Bab El Khalq prison where he later explained in a letter addressed to the press was a tiny 6 x 12 feet roach infested cell which he shared with 8 other detainees. Today marks the 6th of the 15 days that he has been ordered to remain in detention. It appears this period may be extended in order to force Alaa to cooperate with the military prosecutors.

  Alaa’s arrest and detention is a tragic occurrence bringing to light the reality that the Revolution in Egypt is far from accomplished. It is clear that the real reason for his arrest is that he denounced the SCAF and unequivocally placed blame on their shoulders for the Maspero massacres. It is also his vocal stance against the SCAF stating that the military rulers are doing all they can to erode the gains of the revolution. Alaa is among 12 000 other individuals, many of them human rights defenders and activists that are being subjected to military trials a culture that is not only a clear violation of their right to a fair and transparent trial but also a gross travesty to justice in itself.

  Taking advantage of my proximity to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights I filed a complaint regarding Alaa’s detention with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa. The Special Rapporteur has since sent a letter of allegations to the Egyptian Head of State with regard to the arrest and detention of Alaa Abd El Fattah and Bahaa Saber by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. I await the result of that enquiry and hope Alaa is released before SemSem (Alaa’s unborn son) comes into the world lest that little boy also grows up thinking it is normal for his father to be a political detainee the way Alaa did with his own father.

• Egypt: Alaa Abdel Fattah blogs from detention

  Posted: November 5, 2011, 11:47 am by Sokari

  
  
  

  Last Sunday 30th October, one of Egypt’s most prominent activists and blogger, Alaa Abdel Fattah was detained by the Egyptian military for 15 day. Alaa refused to recognise the military court taking the brave stand of insisting on a civilian prosecutor – arguing civilians cannot be tried in military courts. He was called by the military investigators to answer to charges of “inciting violence” during the 9th October Maspero clashes between Coptic-Christian protesters and the military which led to 26 deaths and in which he had consistently maintained the army were involved in the violence. This is the second time Alaa has been arrested and detained – ironically the first was under Hosni Mubarak in 2006 when he spent 45 days in prison.

  Rumbidzai who has recently spent 6 months in Egypt and is a friend of Alaa and his wife Manal will be writing a more detailed post on Alaa. However I wanted to re post the following moving and courageous blog post was published by his wife Manal Hassan in Arabic and translated by Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi . Here Alaa speaks of horrors of sleeping with cockroaches crawling over his body, the filth and not being able to cope with the toilets. He chastises himself for not being strong enough to deal with the conditions and having to make a request to move to a “softer” prison. In doing so he swaps the “youthful convicts” and their stories for the embezzlers and boredom. Alaa takes this as a weakness and even dismisses the courage of the stand to refuse to be tried in a military court. I and I am sure everyone of his family and friends and anyone who has met him has no doubt of his courage. We all have our limits and we must not chastise ourselves for not being able to move beyond those limits. His stand is without doubt courageous as is his wife’s and his family.

  Writing in colloquial Egyptian Arabic from detention Alaa Abdel Fattah:

  I am writing this blog while being ashamed of myself, I was moved to Tora Investigative [jail] on my insistence and nagging because I could not take the difficult circumstances of the appeal detention, the darkness, the filth, the cockroaches that crawl over my body day and night, there is no break and we don’t see the sun, darkness again, but the issue that bothered me most was the toilet, I don’t know how to handle the filth of the toilets and the absence of doors and stayed five days fasting, binded binded binded.

  I was confounded by Nawarah (Negm)’s article in which she spoke of my manliness, but Naglaa Budeir’s article reminded me of my previous detention where the blog was my refuge and where I was honest with myself.

  I didn’t know how to man-up and take (the conditions), even though thousands are bearing such conditions and worse, even though I haven’t experienced the agonies of a military jail and wasn’t tortured like other colleagues of military trials.

  I have let down my colleagues of the Maspero (incident) detention and that of the Ministry of Defense along with other politicians, I have let down the convicts who were moved by the commotion that was created for me and decided to tell me about the atrocities of the Interior (Ministry) so I can tell the people, they were happy that someone could tell of the baltagiya (thugs) and the organized gangs, and yet I fled for the toilets.
  
  I have exchanged the youthful company of the convicts that was filled with happiness & joy with that of the (ones accused of embezzling) public funds that is full of geezers, depression and boredom. During the appeal (prison time) I was daily discovering stories of those who were wronged and (other) important cases, the low ranked police officers who were detained after their first protest and were accused of burning the ministry. I didn’t believe that there was something genuine amongst their ranks until I had met them. Tamer Rashwan, whose case is very ambiguous makes us doubt that the State Security is developing new discreet tools instead of detention, torture and neglect that I have witnessed in front of my eyes that I was memorizing so I can tell you about them when I get out.

  It’s not the convicts only who felt that I can play a role from the inside, the detectives were also harassing and inspecting whoever was conversing with me and the large number of informants and all what I said found its way to the administration.

  I left all that for a more spacious, cleaner and brighter cell, and because I couldn’t man up and withstand the toilets of the appeal (prison). This is my capability, these are my limits and this is my weakness.

  Even the decision of rejecting being investigated in front of a military prosecution that you are celebrating has an element of cowardice, the day we gathered to take the decision I did not have any courage to listen to (my wife) Manal’s opinion whom I will leave alone in the last days of her pregnancy and will leave her alone to oversee the workers who are preparing Khaled’s room, I who shall be detained and she who shall be burdened while she is running around for my demands, my sustenance and my visitation permits as well as the campaign that was founded for my case.

  I took the decision in a meeting with colleagues from the revolution and got her stuck and didn’t listen to my wife and depended only on the certainty that she will back me up in all my choices.

  And yet I am proud, it’s true I am not the macho that Nawara (Negm) thinks I am but I am not a coward either, I was offered by an important person from the revolution a plea that allows me a swift exit, get out but refrain from insulting the General (Tantawi), only that, a small sacrifice was asked but I rejected it, how would I have faced my family if I had accepted?

  Let’s begin from the start: How are you? I am Alaa, a foot soldier in the revolution, there are those who sacrificed more than me, those who are much more courageous than me, and those whose role is much more important than mine.

  I am Alaa, proud that I am doing what I can and sometimes surprise myself with what I am capable of. And I know myself and what I am not capable of. I try never to fail my commitments, I try to overcome fear always and I constantly try to be in the front lines at all times.

  If you see in me any magnanimity, courage or bravery know that I draw them from my mom, my younger sisters and my wife (who being separated from is the hardest part of detention).

  The Fifth Day and the First Night in Cell 1/6, Ward 4, Tora Investigative (Prison)
  3-November-2011
  Alaa Abdel Fattah
  @Alaa

  Translation by Mina Naguib in Stockholm, Sweden and Sultan Al Qassemi in Sharjah, UAE. Original Arabic post can be found here.

  For more on Alaa see the following:

  You Tube – Technology and Human Rights

  Alaa’s letter from prison published in the Guardian

  Reuters report

  Protests on behalf of Alaa

• Normalisation of oil pollution and violence in the Niger Delta

  Posted: November 4, 2011, 8:36 pm by Sokari

  
  
  

  A new series of photos from Nigerian photo activist George Osodi presented at Bamako 2011. The series shows “the duality of life” in the Niger Delta where oil pollution and violence have become a normalised everyday part of life

  
   

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes