Stories from Quick Reads and Angola
Three Portuguese Language States Ignore UN Convention Against Torture
Three Portuguese language countries are part of a short list of states which have not ratified the UN Convention against Torture: São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Guinea Bissau. Fábio Pereira, Communications Officer and Assistant Editor of Torture Journal, shares an open letter [pt, pdf] he has sent to the Portuguese Language...
Searching for Bissau-Guinean Journalist who Disappeared in Angola
Journalist and university professor Milocas Pereira, from Guinea-Bissau, disappeared from Luanda, Angola, where she lived, more than six months ago. Celina Spencer, President of Guinea-Bissau Community Association of Immigrants in the U.S.A, has recently launched a petition asking for assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in...
Angola: Comedic Complaints About Stereotypes, Cost of Living
Delvino Funetii, Angola's young video blogger who has been entertaining people for a year on Youtube, posted his first video in English. He first complains about stereotypes of African men as repair superheroes, and goes into a diatribe about the sudden price increase of his neighbor's cakes by four times....
Africa: The Challenges of Building African Platforms
John Karanja discusses the challenges of building African platforms: What is an African platform? What does it look like? and perhaps more importantly what does it do? Will it address a Need or a Want? What exactly will make it African? Will it work elsewhere in the World?
Angola: War Remnants Become Toys
“Soberano” Canhanga on his blog Mesu Ma Jikuka writes a short post [pt] on children playing in old war tanks in Angola.
Angola: Police Puts End to Protest
The Angolan collective @Central7311 informed on Twitter that some of its members were detained on September 20, 2012, “for holding a peaceful demonstration” which intended to “pressure the opposition not to take their place in parliament after clearly fraudulent elections”. The demonstrators were released six hours after the detention, Maka Angola...
Angola: From the Highlands to the Coast
See more photos on Buala.org.
Angola: Brazilian firm's electoral advice to ruling party leaked
Club-K leaked a study conducted by Brazilian firm SENSUS in July [Pt] which significantly informed the ruling party's electoral strategy. It warns Angolans are dissatisfied with inequality with young people using Facebook and mobile to organize, and of the charisma of Abel Chivukuvuku (CASA-CE). It also suggested the best margin for...
Portuguese, a Global Language?
A community page on Facebook, Língua Portuguesa: Uma Língua Global? (Portuguese Language: A Global Language?) [pt], provides a diversity of materials to promote the debate about the expansion of Portuguese language and its consequences. Several critical issues on the policies of this language of around 200 million speakers are addressed,...
Angola: Citizens Report Electoral Irregularities
The website EleicoesAngola2012.com [pt] receives and shares denouncements of irregularities concerned with the preparation for Angola's general elections that will take place on August 31. Any citizen can submit reports via SMS.
Angolan and Mozambican Politicians Among Most Influential Africans
Brazilian blogger Marcio Pessoa comments [pt] on personalities from Portuguese language countries who have been featured on the list of the world's most influential Africans of the magazine The Africa Report: the Angolan Manuel Vicente, former president of the state oil company (Sonangol), and the Mozambican Daviz Simango, the founder and...
Angola: Citizens Demand Transparent Electoral Campaign
Angola's civil society is urging more transparency [pt] on the preparation of the coming general elections scheduled for August 31, 2012. One of the initiatives recently launched is an online petition [pt] demanding the parties leaders to take part of live debates on TV.
Africa: African Perspectives Online
African Perspectives is an online platform for Africans on the continent or in the Diaspora – that is People of African Descent – to showcase their very own perspective on a given situation, a cultural event in their region, talk and discuss approaches of investments in their country or how...
Africa: Young Farmers Idea Contest
Through the Young Farmers Idea Contest, the African diaspora and volunteers alike are invited to share their ideas on new ways to engage youths in sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 18 through educational projects, community-building initiatives, and social programs, all centered around agriculture and farming.
Angola: Angola's Sweet Success
Mark and Jana blogs about Angola's sweet success: “Around 70% of Biocom’s sugar cane is turned into sugar. The remaining 30% is used for ethanol and the production of electricity. Electric power is produced by burning sugar cane waste. The vapour released during the process is channelled into a high-pressure...
Africa: Review: The Chicken Thief
Nana reviews The Chicken Thief by Fiona Leonard: “The Chicken Thief (2011; 340) by Fiona Leonard has been described as a political thriller of sorts. Set in an unnamed African country, it provides a different take on the struggle for independence in a southern Africa country.”
Angola: Loss of a Human Rights Advocate
Megan Eardley, from Africa is a Country, published a translation of the condolences statement from Angolan human rights group OMUNGA [pt], on the assassination of one of their volunteers, Júlio Kussema. Eardley writes about OMUNGA's work and adds that “protesters (…) face police intimidation and alarming levels of state violence this...
Guinea-Bissau: International Reactions to the Military Coup
Following the military coup in Guinea-Bissau, on April 12, Angolan Foreign Policy Professor Belarmino Van-Dúnem wrote an analysis [pt] on the roles of the Armed Forces and the international community. ECOWAS talks to restore civilian rule during the weekend resulted on the decision to impose sanctions on the military junta....
Africa: African Photography Blog
Visit Kilele, an African photography blog: “Firstly, it’s a personal blog so the majority of photos appeal to me in some way. Otherwise the blog has enabled me to discover emerging African photographers as well as see different images of Africa.”
Angola: Youth Demonstration Against Alcoholism Violently Repressed
According to Facebook reports, today's youth demonstration against alcoholism, prostitution and domestic violence (April 28), was violently repressed, informed [pt] the blog Angola Resistente. On April 23, an opinion article [pt] from Makuta Nkondo stated that in a year of elections, the ruling party since 1975, MPLA, organizes “food and drinks...
Angola/Mozambique: Emerging Platforms for Artistic Production
Blog of African contemporary culture Dá Fala shared a call for proposals on Emerging Platforms for Artistic Production in Angola and Mozambique, to be published on an issue of Critical Interventions that will explore “recent scenarios of art platforms as extensions and articulations of state, private, and individual power”, and...
