Stories about History from October, 2009
Haiti: National Anthem Singing Contest
Sammuel from Thanks for loving Haiti has launched [En/Fr/Fr Cr] a video contest for the best Haitian National Anthem singer. The best video will be chosen by the readers and the winner will probably be announced on January 1st 2010, National Independance day in Haiti.
Martinique: Free your mind, free your hair
Blogger Imaniyé from Martinique reports the creation of a Facebook group [Fr] by people who are eager to defend the rights of Martinicans to comb their hair as they want and above all to twist it into dreadlocks, without being discriminated against.
The Balkans: Open Letter to Amnesty International
Samaha posts Ed Vulliamy's open letter to Amnesty International regarding the invitation to Professor Noam Chomsky to lecture in Northern Ireland – as well as background info on the campaign.
Japan: Animated stereoviews of old Japan
Pink Tentacle picked up enigmatic photographer T. Enami (1859-1929)'s photos of old Japan and represented the stereoviews through gif animation.
Russia: Khodorkovsky's Case, 6 Years On
In The Huffington Post, Robert Amsterdam writes about Mikhail Khodorkovsky's case, six years on.
The Balkans: Karadzic's Trial; Plavsic’s Release
Americans for Bosnia writes about the trial of Radovan Karadzic. Samaha writes about Biljana Plavsic’s release.
Albania: Robert Elsie's “Albanian Dialects”
Albanian Blogger recommends scholar Robert Elsie's work to those interested in the Albanian language and literature.
Hungary: Budapest
Marietta Le of Remainder of Budapest comments on Budapest Business Region's campaign video and on the discussion raging on YouTube and elsewhere – here and here. She also links to a site that lists seven tour routes for those interested in Budapest's contemporary architecture, and posts pictures from a walk...
Hungary: 1956
Hungarian Spectrum writes about an online collection of testimony (HUN) on the events of 1956, which “helped the western powers understand the Hungarian situation, not just events that occurred during the revolution but more importantly the reasons for the outbreak of the uprising.” Remainder of Budapest wrote this on the...
Indonesia: Youth Pledge Day 2009
Breaking Tweets gathers twitter posts on the commemoration of Indonesia's Youth Pledge Day. The historic day, October 28, 1928, is recognized as an important date for Indonesia's aspiration to become a free and independent republic.
South Korea: Jeju Olle routes
Jean Min from Ohmynews! told the story of the restoration of “Olle”, a walking path, in Jeju island.
Bahamas: Effects of Colonialism
“There’s an affliction that strikes countries whose histories come out of colonialism. It’s the sense that what happens in your space of the world…is not quite real. It isn’t really happening to proper people”: Nicolette Bethel explores one of the effects of the Bahamas’ colonial past, while Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Happy Independence
“We still have far to go but I live in hope that the generations to come will get it right”: Abeni wishes St. Vincent & the Grenadines a happy Independence Day.
Palestine: A Student's Tour Of Gaza
Lina Al Sharif, blogging at 360 km2 of Chaos, describes the trip around Gaza that she made with her university friends, and shows us a video of some of the places visited.
Germany and China: Berlin Twitter Wall
berlintwitterwall is a project organized by the city of Berlin to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of Berlin wall. The wall is now filled up with messages from Chinese twitterers against the Chinese Great Fire Wall which blocks Chinese Internet user from connecting with the outside world.
Bangladesh: Conference On 1971 Genocide
Mash attended the 2nd conference on the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide organized by the Human Rights Institute and the Bangladesh Genocide Study Group at Kean University and posted about it in his blog Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying. “The focus was on eyewitness accounts, documentation and memorialization of the...
Kazakhstan: Atomic Lake
Michael Forster Rothbart offers a photo-essay about the Semipalatinsk Polygon in Kazakhstan, where the Soviet Union was testing its nuclear bombs.
China: Relics of the Old Summer Palace
Back in the news again is Beijing’s Old Summer Palace, whose destruction still remains a sensitive topic in China. Built during the Qing Dynasty, it was later sacked by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War. Countless works of art were also looted from the palace...
Russia: Soviet Legacy and Street Names
A few weeks ago, it seemed as if every single Russian blogger took the time to write something about the re-naming of Anti-Soviet Shish Kebab Restaurant in Moscow, a dissident journalist's protest article and a pro-Kremlin youth movement's counter-protest activities. One blogger alluded to the scandal in a post about street names that kept on preserving the questionable Soviet legacy.
Trinidad & Tobago: No Hope?
As a legendary Trinidadian artist's sculpture is given a coat of paint to “spruce it up”, Nicholas Laughlin says: “This…is a telling symptom. It tells me how unaware we are, as citizens, of the civic spaces we live and work in, and how irresponsibly we behave towards them. It tells...
Russia: Stalin's Grandson vs Novaya Gazeta
Foreign Policy's Passport reports on a lawsuit brought against Novaya Gazeta by Josef Stalin's grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili.
