Featured stories about History
Stories about History
6 July 2020
COVID-19 leads to closure of popular bookshops in Bangladesh
"There are so many second-hand books with probably no more copies in the world… many valuable documents of Bengali literary culture will be lost like this."
2 July 2020
Milan Kundera's first Czech biography: Another public dressing-down in his homeland?
"An optimist can still hope there will be a time when the debate around Milan Kundera will overcome its long-lasting neurotic phase."
1 July 2020
Remembering the heartbreaking words of Yugoslavia's war-struck ‘Lost Generation’
"Never in my life [did I imagine] I would shoot at someone or that someone would shoot at me. How can this be? It's not right."
30 June 2020
In the Czech Republic, controversy over a newly re-erected Catholic monument ends in flames
The reinstatement of a Catholic monument in the middle of Prague historical center brings back a passionate debate about Czech identity and opposing views on historical heroes and villains
29 June 2020
Milada Horáková: 70 years after her sham trial and execution, Czechs reflect on their communist past
A creative visual campaign reopens old wounds as Czech society reflects on their communist past and the victims of Stalinist sham trials, including the feminist Milada Horáková.
27 June 2020
Taking down statues: France confronts its colonial and slave trade past
Amid global action against racism, France has been divided for several weeks over what to do about statues of historical figures that are connected to slavery and colonialism.
25 June 2020
History repeats itself: Chinese state terror and the dismantling of Uyghur neo-Jadidism
One of the many casualties of the Chinese state's assault on Uyghurs is the climate of progressive and education and culture fostered and funded by Uyghur entrepreneurs.
Afro-Czechs on visibility, racism and life in the Czech Republic (Part II)
"For Czech society, accepting that a non-white person can be Czech is too unusual and often not digestible."
24 June 2020
Afro-Czechs on visibility, racism and life in the Czech Republic (Part I)
The Czech society started discussing ethnic discrimination and diversity after the fall of Communism, which had erroneously claimed to have eradicated racism.
Old statues, new maps
"It's not an action that Columbus' local devotees ever imagined enacting: for them, the old map not only rules, but should always rule, no matter how much blood drenches it."
20 June 2020
Viktor Tsoi: The undying icon of Soviet dissident rock
Fans of Soviet rock star Viktor Tsoi mark his birthday, June 21, remembering his freedom-loving songs that still resonate three decades after his death in 1990.
18 June 2020
No medicine, no healing: Sudan’s pharmaceutical crisis
Since 2016, medicine prices in Sudan have risen exponentially. To make matters worse, the government’s central bank lacks the foreign currency necessary to import essential drugs from abroad.
16 June 2020
How can Nepal's literary tradition make its mark on the global scene?
Director of Global Literature in Libraries Initiatives shares insights into how Nepali literature can reach wider audiences.
‘Where is the center of the story?': Revisiting the traditional view of Russia's Muslim communities
Global Voices spoke to academic Danielle Ross about her challenging view of the history of Islam and Islamic reform in Russia.
13 June 2020
Between Kolkata, Saint-Petersburg and Paris: An interview with novelist Shumona Sinha
"Literature does not pretend it can change the world, but it can unveil the human condition, plant seeds of hope, of dreams of a better world...."
11 June 2020
War in Darfur: Wanted by the ICC, militia leader Ali Kushayb surrenders
Ali Kushayb, a renowned war criminal wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan, finally surrendered himself after years in hiding to the courts on June 9,...
Amid Black Lives Matter protests, fresh calls to remove statuary that hijacks the Caribbean's historical narrative
BLM protests have inspired the denigration and defacement of symbols of black oppression. The Caribbean, with its long history of occupation, has its own symbols of oppression to reconsider.
10 June 2020
How Kazakhstan's youth are forging their own national identity
A feud between a lesbian activist and a boxer has galvanised a new generation's interest in pushing at the boundaries of Kazakh national identity
9 June 2020
Actually, anti-Blackness has everything to do with Sri Lanka
"As long as colonial legacies continue to govern our sense of identity, politics, and society. . . we will continue to be complicit in anti-Blackness."
8 June 2020
The rise of artemisia in Cameroon in the fight against COVID-19
As COVID-19 cases continue to soar in Cameroon, many who believe in local herbs have turned to the potent artemisia plant as the government reopens the economy in the country.
