· November, 2011

Stories about Ethnicity & Race from November, 2011

Jamaica: Sabina Park & Lawrence Rowe

  29 November 2011

Active Voice gives a Twitter follower a tour of Jamaica's famous Sabina Park, and makes a plea for the powers-that-be to bring back the Lawrence Rowe Players Pavilion.

Guyana: Election Day

  28 November 2011

Guyana: Freedom Under The Law asks his compatriots to “VOTE intelligently on issues and right reason NOT RACE” in today's elections, while Guyana-Gyal explains why, despite the “thin thread o’ fear been tightening ‘round town since election date announce”, she isn't scared.

Video: Plural+ 2011 Awards Young Filmmakers

  26 November 2011

Youth from around the globe were awarded in New York for their thought-provoking short films showing their proposals for making society more peaceful and multicultural by addressing the topics of diversity, migration and social inclusion.

Ecuador: Preserving and Protecting Natural Medicines

  25 November 2011

Ecuador's indigenous communities hold traditional knowledge of natural medicines and therapeutic use of plants. This documentary by iosphera shows the importance of preserving this knowledge from biopiracy for the future of these communities. (via cinealoido)

Russia: Nationalist slogans get spread

  20 November 2011

Fergananews writes [ru] on popularity of Russian nationalist slogans against immigrants from Central Asia amidst the looming parliamentary elections: “25 percent of high school students approve of nationalist actions of their classmates.”

Brazil: Real State Speculation Threatens Sacred Ground

  18 November 2011

Sagrada Terra Especulada (Sacred Speculated Ground), a Brazilian collective that advocates for indigenous land rights, is promoting a documentary [pt] and a petition [pt] in defense of the Pajé Sanctuary, close to Brasilia´s Pilot Plan. Real estate speculation [pt] threatens this area of savannah with the construction of a so-called...

Brazil: Toxic Documentary on the Amazon

  17 November 2011

Brazilian journalist Felipe Milanez (@felipedjeguaka) published [pt, en] a documentary about the Amazon in the series Toxic – “the various ways in which we detonate our planet” – of the Vice website. The documentary features the environmental activist Zé Claudio Ribeiro da Silva who was killed in May 2011.

Cameroon: 5th International Festival of Fulani Arts and Tradition

  17 November 2011

The Bilitol fulfude association is organizing the 5th international festival of Fulani arts and tradition [fr] from December 8th to December 11th 2011. The festival will take place at Yagoua, a region of the far east Cameroon. The program has scheduled the following events: “educational discussions, […] traditional games, traditional...

Russia: Official List of Extremist (Forbidden) Materials Grows Over 1000 Items

RuNet Echo  16 November 2011

Sova center publishes [ru] another update of the list [ru] of extremist materials (run by the Ministry of Justice). After the update, which includes 1 YouTube video, kavkazcenter.com (radical separatist website), 2 videos dedicated to Tatar nationalism at tawba.info, and radical leftist limonka.nbp-info.ru, the list consists of more than 1,000 items (articles, videos, newspapers,...

Bermuda, St. Lucia: Slavery Footprint & Slave Trade Memorial

  14 November 2011

Breezeblog links to “a website that tracks the forced and unpaid labour that goes into producing the things we take for granted” and makes the point that “being aware of the impression left by your slavery footprint may be the most important of all”, while Caribbean Book Blog notes that...

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Facebook Diplomacy

  14 November 2011

In an attempt to initiate a mature discussion on resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, The South Caucasus Diary asks a Facebook Question to solicit responses on possible solutions and explains why. In a separate post, Global Voices’ Caucasus Editor comments...

Cuba: Athlete Forgotten

  11 November 2011

“The [glorification of] the standing of our athletes in the medal count and categoris[ing] this ‘as an achievement of the revolution’” gets Ricardo Medina thinking about “Rauler Castellanos Moreno, a black youth from Pinar del Rio who, despite his victory [in the 2007 Special Olympics] now lives in inhuman conditions.”

Caribbean: the meaning of identity

  7 November 2011

Creative Commess hosts a blog symposium “about Caribbean people, about West Indian people, about our contemporary experiences … ranging through race & identity to culture, mental health to constructs of beauty and more,” with contributions from seven Caribbean bloggers.

Armenia: Impressions and reflections on Turkey

  5 November 2011

Back in Armenia from his motorcycle ride through Turkey, Areg Harutyunyan reflects on the journey and shares his impressions of the country. Despite its political and historical problems with Armenia, the motorcyclist and blogger says Turkey is fascinating, hospitable, complex, and diverse.