Stories from Quick Reads from October, 2013
How Women Can Stay Safe In India
The crimes against women are on the rise in India. Writer and blogger Shilpa Garg provides some tips on how women can stay alert and safe.
VIDEO: Angola's Kuduro as an Urban Phenomenon
A new film on Angola's frenetic music genre and dance, Kuduro (literally ‘hard ass’), follows the steps of some of the key figures that have helped this popular style turn into an urban cultural movement: Created in the discos and raves in downtown Luanda through a fusion between House and Techno beats...
What Has Nairobi Tech Hub Achieved?
Erik Hersmann explains what iHub, a technology hub in Nairobi, has achieved in its three and a half years of existence: [T]he iHub started in March 2010, so it’s been about 3.5 years and a lot has happened here in the intervening years. Many people ask me, “so, what has...
Portugal Says “Thank You Troika”, Really?
Subverting the discourse of austerity, a protest was held in Lisbon earlier this week to “thank” the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission for the ongoing measures to tackle the economic crisis in Portugal. The protest took place on October 21, 2013, and gained the attention of mainstream...
VIDEO: “Myths and Murals” of East Timor
East Timorese and Australian artists have come together to reflect and create around Myths and Murals, “promoting a common sense of national identity through art and story and collaborative strategies for engagement”. The cross-cultural public art and literacy project, between artists from Melbourne and the East Timorese free art school Arte Moris, takes...
Madagascar Goes to the Polls, Four Years after the Coup
Tomorrow, Madagascar is set to hold elections, four years after a coup plunged the country into political, economical and social turmoil: Thirty-three candidates are competing tomorrow to replace Rajoelina, who deposed President Marc Ravalomanana almost five years ago, causing the African Union to suspend the country and donors including the...
One Month Until Honduras’ General Election
Mike Allison from the blog Central American Politics shares links to English-language posts on the November 2013 elections in Honduras. Mike recommends blogger Hermano Juancito's post “about the breakdown of the two-party system”; a post from the blog Honduras Culture and Politics on the newest poll results; and a post...
Future Places: Digital Media Tools for Citizenship
Future Places, a former digital media festival that is turning into a “media lab for citizenship” for its sixth edition, will take place in Porto, Portugal, from October 28 to November 2, 2013. “A festival without an audience, where everyone who is present participates and discovers in real time ways of collaborating”,...
Online Campaign for Peace in Mozambique
The blog Mozmaniacos [pt] has launched an online campaign for peace in Mozambique, after recent threats to over 20 years of peace. With the hashtag #MozQuerPaz (#MozWantsPeace), Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram users are starting to contribute their photos and personalized messages to the effort.
USA: Elevating Young Asian Voices in Immigration Reform Debate
The Youth Leadership Council of the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center created an inspiring video to help young Asian voices heard in the immigration reform debate. Blogger Angry Asian Man briefly comments on this video featuring local youth's thought-provoking spoken word performances.
Overwhelmed by Syrian Refugees, Bulgaria Seeks EU Aid
Bulgaria, as the closest EU country to Syria, is seeing more than its fair share of the average 5,000 refugees that are fleeing Syria every day. Unprepared and inexperienced in dealing with this influx of refugees seeking shelter, food and protection, Bulgaria has requested assistance and financial aid from the...
Kazakhstan's Soviet Mosaics: “Ghosts of an Epoch Gone By”
In a post titled “The Walls Are Crying”, a blogger reflects [ru] on Kazakhstan's slowly disappearing Soviet artistic mosaics that once adorned housing blocks and industrial facilities across the country: Many of these works of art died along with the buildings which they adorned. Some are being destroyed. But many mosaics...
Tajik Official Plagiarizes Story Extolling President
Social media users in Tajikistan have caught an education official-cum-ardent supporter of the incumbent president plagiarizing. In his recent article “Why I Am Voting for [President] Emomali Rahmon” [ru] Ilkhomjon Khamidov extolled the country's veteran president who is seeking to secure a re-election in the November 6 vote. After the article...
South Korea: Labor Worker's Posthumous Victory Over Samsung
South Korean conglomerate Samsung has come under fire for their notorious labor violations. ‘International Campaign for Health and Labour Rights of Samsung Electronics Workers‘ explains about South Korean Court's recent ruling that orders industrial-accident payouts to the bereaved family of a former Samsung employee who died of leukemia.
16 Books on Latin American Street Art
In Latin America, street art is of major cultural relevance. The region’s traditions of social movements and revolution have allowed the form to give voice to otherwise unheard sectors of the population. Of course, not all street art is politically or socially-oriented in content, but it does often provide insight...
Gulf Cities: Cultural Capitals of the Arab World?
UAE commentator Sultan Al Qassemi argues that “some of the cities of the Gulf were transforming into cultural capitals of the Arab world as the traditional capitals of Baghdad, Cairo, Beirut and Damascus continue to suffer from civil strife.” He posts arguments in support and against this notion on his...
Three Lessons on Dating in China
Jocelyn Eikenburg from Speaking of China shared her experience in cross-cultural dating in China. The three lessons she had learned are: 1. Actions matter more than words; 2. Keep that past relationship in the past; and 3. It takes a lot longer to meet the parents.
Slovakia's Roma Communities Significantly Bypassed by Development
Despite Slovakia's economic growth and integration into the European Union, the majority of the country's Roma population continues to live in abject poverty, receiving little to no education.
Saudi Clerics Protest Women Driving
‘A group of more than 100 conservative Saudi clerics gathered Tuesday at the Royal Court in Riyadh to protest against what they called “the conspiracy of women driving.”’ writes Ahmed Al Omran at Riyadh Bureau. Saudi women are planning to defy a ban on women driving in the absolute monarchy...
Tajiks Note that “Moscow Has Changed”
As Russians try to make sense of ethnic riots rocking Moscow, these developments are also carefully watched in Tajikistan where more than half of the population depends on money that their relatives working in Russia send home. Halil Qayumzod who lived in Moscow in the 1990s suggests [tj] that over...
