Stories about Ethnicity & Race from June, 2011
Kyrgyzstan: CIS counterparts ready to intervene
Joshua Foust updates on the situation in Kyrgyzstan following the one-year anniversary of the 2010 inter-ethnic violence in Southwestern Kyrgyzstan, as the nation's external counterparts are closely monitoring the situation and the “elements of aggravation”.
Featured Translator: Fabienne Der Hagopian
Fabienne Der Hagopian is a volunteer translator for Global Voices in French. Being of Armenian descent, she has translated into French many posts about the Caucasus, but is also passionate about the world at large. Fabienne reflects on her experience as a volunteer translator.
Venezuela: Debates on Laws and Identities
May, the month of "Afro-Venezuelan" culture, ended this year with a new law against racial discrimination and a proposal to create a ministry for African descent. The news shot up largely in the Venezuelan blogosphere, as some shared opinions regarding one of the most complex and confusing aspects of the country: identity.
Russia: Yuri Budanov Shot to Death in Moscow
On GlobalPost, Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) reports on the killing of the former Russian colonel Yuri Budanov in Moscow today.
Macedonia: Reminders of Unresolved Killings
Human rights activists have been spurred by the scandalous attempt to cover up the killing of Martin Neshkovski, which occured at the post-election celebration in Skopje, to remind about other cases of abuse of power by all recent rulers of Macedonia, such as torture by the system [mk], including police...
Jamaica: Garvey's Reach
“Garvey's ideas, whether accepted or rejected, have played an important role in shaping our modern world”: Geoffrey Philp blogs about Marcus Garvey's influence.
Puerto Rico: Poverty & Choices
Gil the Jenius deconstructs the argument by political conservatives that “Poverty is a choice”.
Russia: Life Of Central Asian Labor Migrants in Moscow
Photoblogger dervishrv posts pictures [ru] of Central Asian migrants’ living conditions in Moscow. Gastarbeiters, as they're called by Muscovites, live in abandoned houses, basements, often illegally.
Bahamas: Beyond Naipaul
In response to Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul's comment to a British journalist that he considers no female writer his equal, Womanish Words writes: “We do not wish to be equal to you. We are far more ambitious than that.”
Bermuda: Why the Homophobia?
“While I understand that some people…find the thought of gay relationships and physical sex abhorrent, I don’t understand the level of hatred that they express”: Breezeblog thinks that Bermuda's current attitude to gay rights “is a sad and unacceptable state of affairs.”
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Garvey's Crime
In his effort to have Marcus Garvey's name cleared through an online petition to US President Barack Obama, diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp explains Garvey's crime: “[His] arrest and eventual conviction on charges of mail fraud had less to do with a criminal enterprise and more to do with J. Edgar...
Moldova: Liga Islamica and the (Limited) Religious Tolerance
The official registration of the Islamic League early this spring in Moldova has led to negative reactions and protests from the local politicians, the Orthodox Christian clergy and the public. Diana Lungu translates some Moldovan bloggers' responses.
Mexico: Afro-Mexicans Protest After Death of Nigerian Immigrant
Daniel Hernandez in La Plaza explains the case of Nigerian immigrant Isaac Chinedu that “has led to demonstrations among Mexico City's African and Afro-Mexican communities, which are laying blame on the police officers who allegedly beat the 29-year-old before he apparently ran into traffic on a busy highway.”
Cuba: Female Dissidents
Without Evasion explains why credibility is such an important asset to dissident bloggers, while Pedazos de la Isla profiles the plight of female dissidents, here and here.
Greece: Another victim of police brutality
Greek journalist and blogger Modestos Siotos on Protagon recounts being roughly accosted by police [el] when he tried to defend an immigrant they were beating. “Be more careful with your democratic sensitivities next time, you fake revolutionary rich kid!” they said, and threatened him with arrest for obstruction. Amnesty International...
