African women’s voices this week

Now and again, the question ‘where are African women bloggers?’ is asked by people who, despite the proliferation of African women’s blogs and the weekly updates on Global Voices, do not seem to be aware that African women are blogging and have been doing so for several years.

For people such as these and for people interested in listening to African women’s voices, Black Looks has set up the

African Women’s Reblog – an aggregator featuring African women’s blogs and which is now up and running. Congratulations, BlackLooks!

Kamundulio writes about the ‘annoying’ ’knee-jerk reactions’ by Kenyan clergy over the da Vinci Code and says that rather than pointlessly agitate for the banning of the movie, the clergy should ‘research about the issues raised in the movie and allow the discussion to take place in the church’.

Still on the religious theme, Everchange has written an entertaining post on pastors where she lists some peculiarities she finds ‘weird’. These, she says, include situations when pastors ‘can’t even speak to you like a normal human being. They don’t even know you, they just met you, and they’re already asking you about your ‘walk with the lord’ and trying to come and ‘visit’ you’. She also says her pet peeve is pastors who shout – ‘If you have to scream your message at me, I’m guessing there aint much to it in the first place’.

‘From the onset I am going to forward my own demands for your demand (in case you are a blog junkie and end up at my blogsite)’ writes Fikirte in a post addressed to the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown who has demanded an end to corruption in developing countries. Fikirte lists her own thought-provoking requirements with regard to corruption starting with a requirement that Gordon Brown’s demands are ‘followed up with some serious action’.

In a post entitled Nambrangelina: Africa in hock, where she is deeply incensed about Angelina Jolie’s and Brad Pitt’s decision to have their baby born in Nambia, W.M. writes that ‘Namibia has granted Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt the rights of ownership (or lease?) over its borders and its airspace, so that this couple….can determine who enters or flies over Namiba’. W.M. asks – ‘who is going to be deciding Namibia's foreign policy: Tom Cruise? Will Julia Roberts be in charge of Namibia's vote at the United Nations? Has there ever been a situation as wounding to the spirit of the people of Africa as this?’

Nakeel also writes about this travesty and takes issue with Namibia’s President, Sam Nujoma, whom she asks – ‘are you watching this crap?’

Last but not least, D-Shy, has written an interesting post on feminism where she states

My friends and I are all self-defined feminists but we know that if we were to stand up and honestly describe our interpretation of feminism to a room full of other feminists, we could count on having transgressed at least one dearly held tenet on someone's lists of feminism do's and don’ts and being called to account for it. My point is feminism is a flawed philosophy, but what makes up for its failings is the fact that countless women comprise the sum of its parts which is why feminism is not a movement or some sort of club but rather a personal way of empowering oneself thus the classic feminist mantra “The personal is political”. Indeed, this mantra links in with the reason why issues such as rape, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, marital rape etc have been identified, named, and fought by feminists.

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