My name is Alice Backer. I am founder and former team leader of GV Lingua, which amplifies Global Voices in languages other than English. I used to be Francophonia Editor. I was once an editor of New York University School of Law's Review of Law & Social Change. I have been blogging about Haiti, Haitian-Americans and the Caribbean for 5 years at kiskeácity and I tweet from @kiskeacity. I am also a lawyer and campaign consultant.
Latest posts by Alice Backer from March, 2006
DRC: Priest Describes 3/22 Protest
Le Blog du Congolais posts (FR) a Le Phare interview with a priest, Rev. Blaise Kanda, who attended UDPS’ March 22 protest. Rev. Kanda reports that even though UDPS leadership may not be ready to take up arms, rank-and-file demonstrators shouted slogans that indicated they were. He was also surprised...
DRC: Malu Malu Announces Delay in Communal Elections
UDPS Liege blogger ngstephane comments (FR) on electoral council President Appolinaire Malu Malu's appearance on a Belgian talk show yesterday. Blogger is especially disappointed with Malu Malu's announcement that communal elections will have to take place later than the constitutionally mandated June 30, 2006 deadline and predicts that Malu Malu...
DRC: UDPS’ Latest Demands
Doubting that elections can and will take place June 30 as planned, UDPS Liege posts(FR) the UDPS’ latest demands to the international community and the Congolese government. Demands include the reopening of voter and candidate registration, a realistic electoral calendar, the inclusion of the Congolese diaspora in the electoral process...
Cote d'Ivoire: UN Operation Chief Leaves
Rewmi Abidjan announces (FR) the departure April 3 of ONUCI [UN Ivory Coast Operation] chief , senegalese General Abdoulaye Fall, whose 2-year term has come to an end. His replacement has not yet been designated.
DRC: A Chat with Blogger Tony Katombe
Anthony Mica Katombe (Tony for short) is a blogger from the DRC who’ll “turn 39 April 13”. He has a degree in English and African Cultural Studies Education from a Congolese University. He owns Le Blog du Congolais and co-edits Le Prince du Fleuve Congo, a group blog. On the...
DRC: Kabila's Rwandan Ties Questioned
Renouveau Congolais posts (FR) a picture in which DRC transitional president and presidential candidate Joseph Kabila allegedly stands to the right of Rwandan General Paul Kagame during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Kabila was allegedly General Kagame's bodyguard during the genocide. Blogger Dr. Francois Thsipamba Mpuila and several readers debate whether...
Chad: Peace and Mika Yondoloum
Le Pangolin posts (FR) a reader's comment about the potential for Liberal Party presidential candidate Mika Lelita Yondoloum to bring peace to Chad. The reader, Citoyen Lambda, feels strongly that Yondoloum has what it takes to forge a government of national unity. Lambda also nominates Yondoloum for the Nobel Peace...
Africa: We Can't Blame Everything on the West
Le Pangolin writes (FR): “So long as we fail to entertain critiques of our destructive ways, we will always be dominated by the West. Imagine for a moment all Africans living in Europe creating investment funds; they could then purchase on [various] stock markets the very companies that determine the...
Haiti: You Know You're Haitian When…
AyitiCheriConnexion posts (FR) an english language 35-point list of things that make one Haitian sent to her by a Haitian born outside of Haiti. AyitiCheri tacks on seven slides of staples of Haitian culture including the inevitable djondjon and griot.
DRC: How Many Take Part in Opposition Protests?
At UDPS Liege, Raphael Doly Tshipamba questions (FR) European journalist Marie-France Cross’ assertion that less than 400 attended opposition party UDPS’ March 10 and 22 protests. Says Tshipamba: “That is a terrible lie contradicted by AFP and local reports on the one hand and TV5 Monde images on the other.”
DRC: Elections and “Rwandanization”
For Musengeshi Katata from Forum Realisance (FR) a victory for Joseph Kabila in the upcoming election would only prolong the “rwandanization” of the Congo. The “rwandanization” of the Congo started when Laurent Kabila, Joseph's predecessor and father began hiring rwandan and ugandan mercenaries to keep himself in power, says Katata....
DRC: Saving UDPS
UDPS Liege publishes a reader's plea (FR) that Etienne Tshisekedi-led opposition party UDPS learn the art of political negotiation and to make concessions rather than maintain a purist principled stance on key issues.
DRC: “I Have a Dream”
Blogger Tony Katombe of Le Blog du Congolais publishes (FR) an eloquent email received from a Belgian reader who thanks him for shedding light on Belgium's past and present entanglements with the DRC. Katombe then embarks on his version of “I Have a Dream” in which through his blog he...
DRC at a Boiling Point
Over at UDPS Liege, blogger J. Kayembe Tshipamba lists (FR) all the reasons why he believes the DRC is headed towards an era reminiscent of the Mobutu years: free speech issues as evidenced by the repressed March 10 opposition protest; the presence of Rwandan mercenaries; the parcelling of the DRC...
Haiti: Pros and Cons on Resurrecting the Army
While President Preval wishes to dissolve the Haitian army for good, a recent commission would like to resurrect it. AyitiCherieConnexion weighs in (FR) with an analysis of the Haitian army's historical role as a repressive tool for presidents. AyitiCherie concludes however that since Haiti's neighbor the Dominican Rep. has an...
Panel on DRC Civil Society held in Belgium
At UDPS Liege, Damien Twambilangana questions (FR) Patient Bagenda's mobilization of his NGO Anti-Bwaki in favor of the DRC's new constitution. (The constitution was voted in by referendum last December. ) Twambilangana who is a member of Debout pour le Congo [Stand Up for Congo]confronted Bagenda with his questions at...
Buying In, Selling Out or Scraping By: Francophone African Bloggers on Social Mobility and Education
School on Hold While Mom Scrapes By Carine. Courtesy Tony Katombe. Le Blog du Congolais shares (FR) the touching story of Carine, a 22 year-old from the DRC with an infectious smile who sells omelettes and doughnuts during school hours: Today I don't feel like eating Carine's omelettes. I can't...
DRC Diasporas Organize to Vote in June Election
Renouveau Congolais lauds (FR) efforts by Congolese diasporas in the United Kingdom and the United States to pressure the DRC's electoral commission for voting centers in host countries and encourages Congolese the world over to launch similar efforts. Despite the electoral commission's decision not to allow diaspora voting, the UDPS’...
DRC: Missing Opposition Party Members
UDPS Liege, the blog of the Liege chapter of opposition party UDPS reports (FR) that some UDPS members have been missing since a peaceful demonstration the party held Friday in Kinshasa. The missing members are: Asimbu Pierre, Olivier Mushita, Johnny Tshiamalenga and Emmanuel Luboya. The latter two members are law...
DRC: Philippe Liondjo Urges UDPS Leader to Officialize Candidacy
Renouveau Congolaisand Le Blog du Congolais post (FR) letters by Banacongo member Philippe Liondjo urging opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi to register his presidential candidacy by the March 23 deadline. The letters also ask that Tshisekedi abandon his demand that voter registration be reopened.
DRC: Shots of Kinshasa and East Kasai
Renouveau Congolais posts (FR) pictures of the poorly maintained streets of Kinshasa, the DRC's capital. Poster wonders whether the current transitional government will deliver on its promise to turn Kinshasa into a modern city if permanently elected. Mostly, poster asks why international aid money has not been used on improving...
