· April, 2007

Stories about Citizen Media from April, 2007

France: Expelling Illegal Immigrants

  30 April 2007

Continuing the debate on expelling illegal immigrants living in France, SEMEtt ou l'étincelle noire (Fr) writes about a political asylee who was shipped back to Liberia, a group of long-term illegal immigrants who decided to form an organization to publicly demand naturalization, and how the mass explusions are eroding civil...

Why is adultery illegal in Senegal?

  30 April 2007

Why is adultery illegal in Senegal? (Fr) Women are still considered the property of men and religion a justification for law, whether or not you are a believer, the Blog politique du Senegal writes.

Cameroonian Videogame

  27 April 2007

At Le Blog de L'Afrique, Nino writes about Play Detective, a video game developed by a Cameroonian programmer (Fr) named Sila Kayo. A reader comments, “I have always wondered if there were video game developers in Cameroon…It's great to know that there are people interested in this kind of development,...

Martinique: Happy Anniversary Le Blog de [Moi]

  27 April 2007

Le Blog de [Moi], written by a (self-described) petite, black lesbian from Martinique, celebrates its first anniversary. “I blog therefore I am? No? I blog because it makes me more comfortable with who I am…and so paradoxically, the biggest difficulty becomes being myself and not who or what you want...

“What Kind of Lebanon Do We Want?”

As Lebanon's political leaders offer up their usual litany of what he says is useless rhetoric, French-Lebanese blogger Frencheagle asks his readers to remember one question: “What kind of Lebanon do we want?” (Fr). The problem of coexistence, he says, is one that an international tribunal on the civil war...

Republic of the Congo: Biometric Identity Cards

  27 April 2007

Demain Le Congo Brazzaville thinks President Sassou won't stand a chance winning the upcoming election unless he manages to rig it. Sassou plans to create biometric identity cards, but DCB warns against putting too much faith in an electronic voting system (Fr), which may simply encourage a different kind of...

France: What You May Not Have Read About Voltaire

  27 April 2007

Racisme et Histoire: Le Tabou posts a collection of quotes from some of France's most famous philosophers, writers, and politicians (e.g., Voltaire, Ferry, De Gaulle) you might not read in history books. “I repeat, the super races have a right, because they have only one duty. They have the duty...

France: Rapper Imagines Life as a White Man

  27 April 2007

Regardailleurs blogs screenshots from an hilarious music video (Fr) called “J'suis blanc” (“I'm White”), the latest from French-Congolese hip hop artist Kamini. God comes to Kamini and makes him white for nine and a half weeks and suddenly dealing with “argent, logement, les flics, les gens” (money, housing, cops, people)...

Papua New Guinea: Remembering The Veterans

  27 April 2007

On ANZAC day, Islandbaby remembers the unacknowledged veterans who fought the Japanese in the Second World War. “And this year I Remember. I remember those who fought with the ANZACs and remain unacknowledged by many. Specifically the Australian Aboriginal veterans and from my corner of the world, the 55,000 fuzzy...

Lucien Millard Interview

  26 April 2007

Roots and Culture presents an interview with Lucien Millard. Millard, who hails from Martinique, says “music is my backbone, the air I breathe, my reason for living.” (Fr)

African Journalists on Franco-African Relations

  26 April 2007

African journalists working in France are calling on the two remaining French presidential candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal, to begin a new chapter in Franco-African relations (Fr), according to the blog of the Alliance for Democratic Progress. “We have to reconsider everything, make a fresh start, a sort of...

DRC: Opposition Ends Boycott of Parliament

  26 April 2007

The Congo's largest opposition party, allied to Jean-Pierre Bemba, President Kabila's main rival in the last presidential election, has ended its boycott of the Congolese parliament. UDPS Liege lays out the main issues that led to the boycott and their demands: security garanties, real freedom of expression, and a permanent...

Bolivia: Interview With El Alto Blogger Mario Duran

  23 April 2007

The city of El Alto is not known for blogging. For starters, internet access is scarce and expensive, while citizens seem to have different priorities. Many who do have internet access have yet to discover the value of expressing themselves via blogs. Mario Duran is a blogger that wants to set out to change all that. In this recent interview, he discusses his entry to the Bolivian blogosphere and his plans to reach out to others.

Myanmar: Helping Hand Blogs

  23 April 2007

DrCMPeople of Myanmar are well known for their gentle nature, kind heart, sincerity, generosity and a great helping hand. In Myanmar, various type of non profitable groups and non governmental organizations are formed to help out physical, educational and well being of the country men especially youth and children. These days, many such organizations are starting to use blogs to announce and publish their organizations’ activities. Among them:

Bangladesh: Remembering Madhabi

  20 April 2007

Morris the pen revisits Madhabi. “Remember Madhabi Majhi? She was the girl who was allegedly thrown from a balcony in Dhanmondi last year and narrowly escaped with her life. Her story was charted here in the magazine, and the last we saw of her, she was safe at the BNWLA...

Sarkozy on French Minorities

  19 April 2007

Patrick Lozès looks back at French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy's history of controversial public statements about Africans and Berbers (Fr). He wonders if, given unprecedented levels of voter registration among French minorities, Sarkozy's strategy of playing to the far right will backfire.