Stories about Migration & Immigration from August, 2008
Jamaica: Racism in Sport
Following the controversy about an ad in which the Spanish Olympic basketball team is shown forcibly slanting their eyes, Can a Jamaican take Cali? is convinced that Spain “has made a sport of racism!”, while Babalu wonders whether it is simply a case of “the Spanish have their own brand...
Fiji bloggers debate role of police and churches
Fiji bloggers highlight the role of police forces and churches as the country starts discussing the government-initiated plan to revise the Constitution.
Cuba: Birthday Candles
Child of the Revolution notes that “every August 13 without fail, the official Cuban media celebrates Fidel Castro’s birthday by trying to come up with ever more ridiculous ways to describe the man who ruled his 11 million subjects with an iron fist for close to half a century.” Yoani...
Cuba: Castro Supports Russia
Child of the Revolution and The Cuban Triangle blog about Fidel Castro's reaction to the South Ossetia crisis.
Ethiopia: Haile Gerima's film in Venice
Arefe of Addis Journal reported that Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima‘s latest feature is going to be in the official competition for the 65th Venice's Film Festival, starting at the end of this month. Sean of Africa is a country also noted the participation of the film, titled Teza, in the...
Saudi Arabia: Slavery in the Gulf
Two weeks ago there were strikes and violent demonstrations by Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait, protesting low pay and poor working conditions. Following the demonstrations, more than two hundred workers were deported. In this post, two Saudi bloggers tell us what they think of modern-day ‘slavery’ in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf.
Malawi: Discussing development and the Olympics
"Development" has been exercising the minds of Malawian bloggers lately. The approach has taken the form of highlighting efforts of Malawians abroad, Malawi's much touted fertilizer subsidy program, Malawi's presence at the Olympics and Chinese presence in Malawi, and a philosophical discourse on the problems that accompany the adoption of westernization as a development paradigm at the expense of tested and effective African ways.
Jordanian Bloggers Mourn Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish
The Jordanian blogosphere has been mourning the great Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, who passed away from complications due to open-heart surgery at the age of 67 this week. For Jordanians, Darwish was more than just a master of words. He is perceived as an ambassador and champion of the Palestinian...
Anguilla: Carnival Stabbing
Corruption-free Anguilla reports on a fatal stabbing that has marred Anguilla's Carnival celebrations, while blogger Penny Legg says that the island “must clean up its act. Anguilla only has tourism…(it) needs to look critically at the problem it has with its youth.”
Guyana: Remembering Burnham
Signifyin’ Guyana notes that the motion “to give due recognition to the work and contribution of Guyana’s first Executive President” has received full backing, while Living Guyana says that Burnham “was also a despicable dictator who ran this country into utter ruins. And in these times of crisis and hopelessness...
Georgia: Armenia Über Alles
My The Caucasian Knot comments on what appears to be the prevalent view of many Armenians supporting Russia in its military action against Georgia, but which at times borders on the extreme.
Bloggers react strongly to ‘Building a Better Fiji’
A government-appointed committee in Fiji introduced an 11-point framework to augment the Pacific island nation’s constitution and “rebuild Fiji into a nonracial, culturally vibrant and united, well-governed, truly democratic nation.”
Georgia, Russia: Blogger From Poti Recounts the Bombing
Here is LJ user pepsikolka's account of what it felt like when the Russian planes were bombing Poti, her native city: "[...] Around midnight I heard some roaring, ran up to the window and saw shaft of fire, explosions at the port and heard a deafening noise. I didn't even have the time to get scared, I just knew that if a cistern with oil at the terminal gets hit, there'll be fire and an explosion, so I grabbed the phone, called Tengo, Vika answered, screaming [...]"
Arabeyes: Mourning for Mahmoud Darwish
Bloggers around the Arab world mourned the death of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish yesterday. Scores of posts appeared online in Arabic and English even before news of his death was officially confirmed.
Afghanistan: Diaspora in Iran
The Rumi tells about Afghani refugees in Iran and a girl, who blogs in English about the life of diaspora.
Haiti: Child Labour
“Child slavery in Haiti may be the ultimate symbol of a state that has failed its most vulnerable members”: jmc strategies says that “key to ending child slavery in Haiti is creating long-term economic options for parents and access to quality education for children.”
Armenia: Oil, Genocide and Obama
Voices Without Votes takes a look at why many Armenians at home and abroad support U.S. Presidential Election Democratic Party Candidate Barack Obama and how Azerbaijanis and Turks are responding to his campaign promise to recognize the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
Cuba, China: Politics & Sport
“I consider myself a fan of the Olympics…this time around, I just can't get excited about the Games”: Cuban blogger 26th Parallel thinks that the Chinese regime is “as oppressive as the smog that's covering Beijing.”
Jamaica: Presumption of Innocence
My View of Jamdown from Up So thinks that Jamaicans are not being measured in their response to the crime situation: “Truly things…have become bad when cool-headed, optimistic people are joining in the call for ‘hard policing’; if we don’t address the real disease now, the day will soon come...
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Stupid is as Stupid Does
“It’s the glorification of ignorance, the association of dimness with your degree of blackness that troubles me”: Jamaican Marlon James is troubled by the pressure put on black people to “dumb things down”.
Peru: Blogging About Food at Home and Abroad
Peruvian food has been receiving plenty of attention in the media, and bloggers are writing about their favorite dishes. Alejandro García of Peru Food provides the latest blog roundup about the subject of local cuisine found at home and in the diaspora communities.
