Stories about Ethnicity & Race from April, 2012
Australian Broadcaster Wins First Indigenous Journalism Award
The winner of the first journalism award for indigenous broadcasters hosted by the World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network (WITBN) in Norway on March 29, 2012 was National Indigenous Television from Australia. The winning video and other finalists can be viewed on the WITBN website.
French Presidential Candidate's Video to Attract Minorities
François Hollande, the left wing candidate in the French presidential elections recently posted a video on youTube showing him walking in the French suburbs surrounded by minorities to the music of “Niggas in Paris” by Jay-Z and Kanye West. Commenting the video, AfroEurope writes: “After appearing on YouTube on Tuesday,...
Armenia: The mob rules
Unzipped again comments on last week's cancelled festival of Azerbaijani films in Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri. The blog concludes that the campaign and demonstration against local peace activist Georgi Vanyan illustrated that the ‘mob rules’ and “state structures in Armenia failed to protect constitutional rights and freedom of...
Sweden: Visiting Rinkeby, Stockholm's Immigrant Ghetto
The Rinkeby district of Stockholm, Sweden is famous for its high concentration of immigrants. Curious outsiders have documented their visits.
China: The Uyghur Question
China Matter has an article discussing the best strategy for political groups to save the Uyghur identity, culture and spirit. The blogger believes that violence is not the way.
Armenia: Support for Georgi Vanyan
Following the cancellation last week of a festival of Azerbaijani films in Armenia amid threats of violence, alternative voices online comment on the campaign targeting the organizer, peace activist Georgi Vanyan.
Pakistan: Incessant Violence in Karachi
The bloodshed in Karachi, which has killed more than 300 people in the last three months, hasn't come to a halt. The common people of the city are extremely dejected by the present conditions of the city. The million dollar question is, ‘why does violence always returns in Karachi?'
Armenia: Nationalist Threats Against Local Activist
Just weeks after one example of censorship in Armenia comes another with local peace activist Georgi Vanyan receiving abuse and death threats from nationalists opposed to screening Azerbaijani films in the country.
Argentina: Documentary on Urban Natives Looking for Subtitles
The previously featured Creative Commons documentary Runa Kuti on the identity of urban dwelling indigenous descendants in the city of Buenos Aires is looking for volunteers to help them subtitle the documentary into indigenous languages found in Argentina such Quechua, Aymara, Mapuche and Guaraní as well as into English.
The Balkans: Remembering the Bosnian War, 20 Years On
A red plastic chair for each of the 11,541 people killed in Sarajevo in the 1990s: on April 6, thousands of people came to this stunning makeshift memorial stretching along Sarajevo's main street, in order to honor the memory of the victims of the war that began 20 years ago.
Mali: Silence of the Local Blogosphere
While the internet is inundated with blogs, tweets and videos from other countries, Malian internet users remain silent. The capital, Bamako, is still affected by serious power cuts as the fuel required for power stations runs out. Under these circumstances, the priority is not sending messages, but finding information about the new leaders of the north.
China: The Uyghur Human Rights Project
A new blog Xianjiang Source interviewed Henryk Szadziewski about the Uyghur Human Rights Project, which aims at promoting human rights and democracy for Uyghurs and others living in East Turkestan.
Mali: A War, a Declaration of Independence and Conflicting Objectives
Things have been moving rapidly in the civil war that is tearing Mali apart. On Friday, April 6, Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) proclaimed the “Independence of Azawad.” In this crisis that threatens to sweep across the entire Sahel region, several actors with conflicting objectives are playing a dominant role.
Argentina: Interviews from the Mapuche Nation's Meeting on Environmental Conflicts
Deep Dish Waves of Change shares a video of interviews [es] recorded during the first encounter of the indigenous Mapuche group regarding environmental conflicts during February 2012 in Argentina.
Is Basketball's Jeremy Lin the Light of Taiwan?
From a benchwarmer to an NBA player who led the New York Knicks to seven consecutive victories, Jeremy Lin's inspiring Cinderella story has incited “Linsanity” in Taiwan. All major newspapers have extravagantly portrayed him as "the light of Taiwan." However, many Taiwanese bloggers are wary of this kind of blind idolatry.
Russia: Blogger Dmitri Shipilov Convicted of “Insulting a State Official”
Earlier this week, on April 3, 2012, a Kemerovo court convicted blogger Dmitri Shipilov of violating Article 319 of the Criminal Code, “insulting a state official in public.” What did he say to so anger the local authorities, and what does it mean for the future of satirical blogging in Russia?
Mali: An Introduction to the Tuareg Population
The blog of the Tuareg movement Temoust Survie publishes a post (via information from l'Express [fr]) that provides [fr] a brief introduction to the Tuareg culture : “we are a nomadic people living from farming and trade. The Tuaregs are estimated to be about 1.5 million in a region that spans across Mali,...
Mauritania: Complex Problem of Slavery
Erin Pettigrew discusses the complex problem of slavery in Mauritania: “I’ve been working in Mauritania on and off for the past eight years and this issue of ‘slavery’ is still one I am struggling to fully understand. I certainly cringe every time I see a young black child working in...
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Asking for Justice in Martin Killing
Of the “Wild Wild West” killing of Trayvon Martin, Abeng News Magazine says: “When stories like these emerge from the streets of cities in the Middle East and other countries in the developing world, Western political leaders and ‘rights’ agencies lambast the nations as lawless and prepare to depose their...
Brazil: Indigenous Rights and the Suspension of the Teles Pires Dam
Brazilian blogger Sonia Martuscelli reproduces [pt] an open letter on the suspension of the license for the construction of the controversial Teles Pires Dam, in an area of the Amazon forest inhabited by the indigenous peoples of Kayabi, Apiaka and Mundukuru ethnicities. The natives require measures to ensure their rights...
Afghanistan: RAWA, a Female Taliban
Mohammad Amin Wahidi writes about a women group called RAWA in Afghanistan that is reportedly miusing the funds of international donors, while operating as the Taliban's aide in promotion of fundamentalism and ethnic discrimination.
