17 October 2011

Stories from 17 October 2011

Uruguay's Candombe

Eva Blair Smith from Ola Uruguay blogs about candombe music in a post titled “The Heartbreat of Uruguay: A History of Candombe Drumming.”

17 October 2011

Poetry Slam Activism in Francophone Africa

Poetry slam is a well-known channel of expression for many activists in North America but the rest of the world has now embraced this unique blend of poetry and rhythmic oral story telling. Here are some examples from Francophone Africa and the context in which they arose.

17 October 2011

Cuba: Mourning the Loss of Laura Pollan

Cuban bloggers are in mourning over the death of Laura Pollan, the former leader of the opposition group Las Damas de Blanco. The sad news made its way across the blogosphere with lightning speed and bloggers, both within Cuba and throughout the diaspora, were soon posting their remembrances of the late human rights activist online.

17 October 2011

Malaysia: #cleanbefore13 hashtag

The twitter hashtag #cleanbefore13 refers to the campaign to pressure the Malaysian government to implement immediate electoral reforms before the 2013 general elections.

17 October 2011

Portugal: Photos and Videos of October 15 Protests

The October 15 protests in Portugal, calling for “participatory democracy, transparency in policy and the end of the precariousness of life”, gathered around 80,000 in the main squares of the country. Citizen reporters used online platforms to share photo and video reports of events.

17 October 2011

Brazil: Creating Opportunities for Life After Jail

While serving time in jail, Ronaldo Monteiro kickstarted a project with fellow detainees and turned his life around. Years later, released on parole, Monteiro now coordinates an NGO that offers opportunities of social reintegration for young offenders, detainees and former detainees in Brazil.

17 October 2011

Anti-Malaysianism in Indonesia?

Farish A Noor discusses the perceived anti-Malaysianism sentiment in Indonesia. The author hopes for better relations between the two neighbors in the Southeast Asian region

17 October 2011

Barbados: FIFA & Ethics

Barbados Free Press is keeping its eyes on the unfolding controversy with former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and other regional football officials.

17 October 2011

Malaysia: Proposed Electoral Reforms

Bersih 2.0 is pressing the Malaysian government to implement eight electoral reforms in preparation for the next general elections. Bersih organized a massive demonstration last July which evolved into a formidable political reform movement.

17 October 2011