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Putting a Social Spin on ICT with SocialTIC · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

SocialTIC
[Links are to Spanish-language pages.]
SocialTIC [Social Information and Communications Technology] is an initiative by a group of young Mexicans who combine extensive experience in a variety of fields such as citizen journalism, social media, multimedia content, and open data. SocialTIC defines itself simply as “a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and empowering social groups by helping them enhance their activities through the use of technology.”
The initiative was launched at the beginning of 2013, and since then its members have undertaken a number of activities worth highlighting. Here are a few examples, based on the fields of activity SocialTIC targets specifically.
Research into putting ICT to work to attain social objectives
Under this rubric, Juan Manuel Casanueva discusses how creating video and radio content is as an effective means of introducing children to digital media and its uses.
además de ser divertidos, la expresión multimedia desata una condición humana que culturalmente vemos que en gran parte de América Latina está dormida: la expresión individual y colectiva. Uno de los grandes retos para las nuevas generaciones de nuestro continente es ver el uso de los nuevos medios digitales como la posiblidad de que dejemos de ser consumidores de conocimiento y nos volvamos creadores de información, mensajes y conocimiento.
In addition to being fun, multimedia unleashes a human urge that, culturally speaking, is dormant in much of Latin America: individual and collective self-expression. One of the great challenges for the new generations on our continent is to see how, using new digital media, we can stop being passive consumers of knowledge and become creators of information, messages, and knowledge.
During Aldea Digital 2013 [a digital culture expo], the team from SocialTIC and a few volunteers gave themselves the goal of demonstrating how the Internet can facilitate civic engagement to people with no previous experience of social networks. Faeriedevilish recounts:
En uno de nuestros talleres, Bryan, chavo feisbuquero, le ayudó de la manera más experta y paciente a la señora Josefina, que usaba una computadora por primera vez.
In one of our workshops, Bryan, a young Facebook users, showed expert teaching and patience in helping Josephina, a senior, to use a computer for the first time.
Developing ICT skills for civil society, citizen activism and the public sector
Mexflow explains the eight good practices that ensure digital security for all. An example below describes how to backup information on your devices:
Podría parecer básico pero es común escuchar historias de personas que perdieron toda su información por una falla de algún componente de sus equipos. La mayoría de las personas no lo toma como una actividad importante, pero en un momento de falla o descompostura sabrán de su importancia. Un respaldo no tiene que ser algo complejo, realmente debe de cumplir unas reglas básicas:
It may seem obvious, but we often hear stories about people who have lost all their information because one of the components in their equipment failed. Most people do not consider it an important activity, but when equipment fails or breaks down, they soon find out just how crucial it is. A backup does not have to be complicated; there are just a few basic rules:
In the context of increasing government surveillance of communications, JM Casanueva talked to Luis Fernando García, a lawyer specializing in digital rights, about the debate over Mexico's Federal Code of Criminal Procedure (#CNPP). A few of the questions raised included:
Supporting civic groups and organizations in the use of ICT to promote and increase the impact of participatory citizenship
In a workshop given by SocialTIC on ICTs and democracy at a UN regional conference for young people, the following topic arose: What would the Web be like if you took part in it?
A pesar de que coincidimos que nuestra primera reacción ante nuestra propia curiosidad y necesidad de obtener “conocimiento” es googlear, hubo un ligero descontento en cuanto al universo de la información en Internet. La pregunta que hicimos después fue: Si ustedes compartieran su conocimiento en Internet, qué temas abarcarían? Y así se ven las respuestas del grupo:
Despite the fact that we agreed that our immediate reaction to our own curiosity and desire to acquire “knowledge” is to turn to Google, there was some dissatisfaction about the universe of information available on the Internet. The question we followed up with was: “If you shared your knowledge on the Internet, what topics would you address?” And this is what the answers looked like.
[Tag cloud includes: Rights, Art, Indigenous peoples, Internet, Culture, Rural, Expression, Dance, Peace, Technology, Values, Discrimination, Abortion, Education, Environment, Sustainability, and more]
In another post, Faeriedevilish explains a basic truth that is often overlooked when it comes to supporting online campaigns: technology itself is useless until it is efficiently directed towards an objective.
¿Qué prácticas humanas, más allá de la tecnología, hay que considerar al acompañar una campaña online? Les compartimos las enseñanzas principales de nuestras experiencias:
La importancia de los sistemas de gestión. Resulta a veces que los mayores problemas de adopción de tecnologías poco tienen que ver con código, y mucho con temas de administración. ¿Qué pasa si el community de la campaña también tiene que contestar el teléfono y pagar las nóminas? ¿Cómo logramos que todos contribuyan a la página web? Hay que pensar en estrategias para lograrlo.
What human practices, beyond technology, need to be considered in support of an online campaign? We share some key lessons from our own experiences:
The importance of management systems. It turns out that sometimes the biggest problems in adopting new technologies have little to do with source codes and much more to do with administration. What happens if the campaign's community manager also has to answer the phone and pay salaries? How do we ensure that everyone contributes to the webpage? We have to think about strategies to accomplish this.
Advocating an ICT ecosystem for social purposes
JM Casanueva writes about the increased collaboration between traditionally distinct ICT communities and those involved in social projects. The following diagram “shows the purpose of different types of technology that are required depending on the degree of technological proficiency of a civic organization and the social action it performs.”
Si bien, es complejo determinar los niveles precisos de manejo tecnológico y acción social, se identifican tres áreas tecnológicas de oportunidad:
Although it is difficult to determine the precise levels of technological proficiency and social action, three areas of opportunity can be identified:
One of the best known projects is the School of data, “an open site where all of us can contribute […] we will be sharing experiences about the use of data in different Spanish-speaking countries as well as recounting the efforts of those of us who have taken on the mantel of spreading the mystical practice of using data.”
And it was during one of these open-data events in 2013 that I was able to speak to Sergio Araiza of SocialTIC about these issues:
You can learn more about SocialTIC's publications and follow their activities on their blog, Twitter and Facebook.


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#ShamelesslyHaitian on Haiti’s Independence Day · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

January 1st is special for Haitians not only because it is the first day of the new year but also because it the date Haiti declared its independence. To commemorate Haiti's 210th anniversary of independence, Bertin Louis (@MySoulIsInHaiti) started the hashtag #ShamelesslyHaitian as a way for Haitians to express pride and educate others about their history and culture. Global Voices spoke to Louis to find out more about the hashtag and his academic work.
Global Voices (GV) : Let us know more about your background.
Bertin Louis (BL) : My name is Dr. Bertin M. Louis, Jr. and I am an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee.  I am also the son of Haitians who migrated to the United States in the mid-1960s. Growing up in Staten Island, New York I didn’t really identify with my Haitian heritage until I went to Syracuse University for my undergraduate studies. In the first semester of my junior year, I took a course called “Caribbean Society Since Independence” taught by Dr. Horace Campbell, a Political Scientist of Jamaican descent and a Pan-Africanist. The first book we read was “The Black Jacobins: Toussaint Louverture and the San Domingo Revolution” by Trinidadian labor historian C.L.R. James. The book had a deep impact on me. When something has a big impact on you, we say in Haitian Creole “Li frape m fò (literally “it hit me hard”). To know that the only successful slave revolt in human history was part of my heritage made me confident in who I was, at the time, and I became more interested in studying more about Haitian history and culture. It really put on the path that I am on today researching and studying the Haitian diaspora and Haiti.
Because the Haitian Revolution was the beginning of the modern human rights movement #ShamelesslyHaitian
— Bertin Louis, PhD (@MySoulIsInHaiti) January 1, 2014
Because I eat this every January 1 (Haitian Independence Day) #ShamelesslyHaitian pic.twitter.com/7sGXPdVbs8
— Bertin Louis, PhD (@MySoulIsInHaiti) January 1, 2014
GV:  Were you born in Haiti or are you part of the diaspora? How much of a difference do you think it makes?
BL: I am part of the diaspora who was born in the United States. This makes a big difference because I live in the Colossus of the Western Hemisphere, which has its advantages and drawbacks. For example, I currently study religion (Evangelical Protestantism) and statelessness in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas. I interviewed many Haitian migrants as well as their children, who were trying to find a way to live in the United States, where they had family and better prospects for employment and better opportunities to lead dignified lives. My American citizenship is a privilege that they don’t have. Since I am in a privileged position, as a University professor and an American citizen, I feel that it of utmost importance to use my voice, to use my privilege to speak up on the behalf of those whose voices are silenced, like Haitian migrants and their stateless children in the Bahamas, in order to draw attention to their plight. So it makes a big difference as to where I was born because if I was born in the Dominican Republic, I would be stateless and unable to take advantage of the opportunities I currently benefit from as an American citizen.
I'm #shamelesslyHaitian because I make my Epis in a pilon. Not a blender. Take the time to make it right.
— Yve (@yvethepoet) January 1, 2014
Im #ShamelesslyHaitian because when haitians were lying n saying they weren't haitian so they don't get beat up I ALWAYS stated that I was 1
— CassieLaCheri (@Cassie_Xtassy) January 1, 2014
GV: Could you please tell us something about your academic area(s) of interest?
BL: My teaching and research interests span the African diaspora and I interrogate the concept of diaspora through my transnational study of the Evangelical Protestant movement among Haitians in the Caribbean (Haiti and the Bahamas) and the United States.  Specifically, I combine multi-sited ethnographic research (in the United States, Haiti, and the Bahamas) with a transnational framework to analyze the practice and growth of Evangelical Protestantism in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas.  This research has resulted in my first book, My Soul is in Haiti: Migration and Protestantism in the Haitian Diaspora of the Bahamas,” which will be published by New York University Press in 2014.
My next research project is about stateless Bahamians of Haitian descent, sometimes referred to as “Haitian-Bahamians.” Statelessness refers to an individual who is not considered as a national by any state and affects an estimated 12 million people worldwide.  Stateless people do not have a country that they can call their own, lack access to basic political and social rights, such as the rights to vote, marry, and own property, and are also denied access to employment, educational services, and health care. My research will produce a book and articles that should advance theory in citizenship, diaspora, human rights, and statelessness studies and contribute to current Bahamian public policy debates.
#ShamelesslyHaitian  The infamous metallic silver cup. Every Haitian house has one.
— Baeroy Lindo (@KayJayFDU) January 1, 2014
The ceremony at Bois Kayiman was presided over by a woman that lit the spark for us #shamelesslyhaitian
— Josephine Baeker (@Vivaciously_Val) January 1, 2014
GV: What particularly inspired you to create this hashtag #ShamelesslyHaitian?
BL: On December 21st, I participated in a hashtag called #ShamelesslyCaribbean and people tweeted interesting and funny comments about the shared experience of being Caribbean/being of Caribbean descent. As the days drew closer to Haitian Independence Day (January 1), I thought about doing #ShamelesslyHaitian to draw attention to Haiti, which is not respected by other nations, and people of Haitian descent, who are not treated like human beings in other nations, as the Dominican Republic’s recent court ruling demonstrates.
Much of the news we learn about Haiti and Haitians is wholly negative. We learn on the news that Haiti is in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with no explanation of how it got that way in the first place. Haitians are denigrated, excluded, and, in some cases, criminalized in the Bahamas, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and the United States (remember the AIDS crisis in its early years in the U.S. and Haitians were one of the 4Hs identified by the CDC as HIV-carriers?). And I thought that there was some potential in creating and circulating a hashtag that gave people of Haitian descent, and their allies, the opportunity to present a different and informative narrative about Haiti and Haitians, that didn’t focus on natural disasters, coup d’etats, governmental instability, stark poverty, AIDS, etc.; a narrative that celebrated Haitian achievements, recuperated the importance of the Haitian Revolution to humanity, and also as a way to educate people about a place and a diaspora that has been grotesquely distorted, demonized, in some cases, in Western history and Western media.
So I floated the idea of contacting some people of Haitian descent to some Twitter friends, asked them if they would participate, and chose the 210th anniversary of Haitian independence to launch #ShamelesslyHaitian at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time.
GV: What has been the impact of social media on the issues you are most concerned about?
BL: I find that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter offer opportunities to learn about issues that are important to me. It’s also a way to be part of a larger community, albeit virtual, based on similar interests and ideas, as these Twitter hashtags demonstrate.
Check out #ShamelesslyHaitian. Lots of gems. Its time we told our own stories that do not start and end with us being the poorest nation.
— Brenda Fady (@cakeandeggs) January 1, 2014
Because without Haiti's help there would be no Louisiana Purchase. #ShamelesslyHaitian
— Sister Outsider (@FeministGriote) January 1, 2014
GV: What is your reaction to the way the hashtag took off? Were you surprised by the way it grew? What does it tell you about the Haitian Diaspora?
BL: I was hoping for some participation with the hashtag and I am glad that it took off in the way that it did. I was mildly surprised but not shocked by its popularity. Based on my research and work in the Haitian diaspora, there’s a sameness of experience, a similarity of experience among people of Haitian descent that forces them to draw on their heritage in the face of discrimination and prejudice. Many tweets dealt with being proud to be Haitian despite the discrimination and teasing kids in the Haitian diaspora experienced growing up.
I think the popularity of the hashtag demonstrates that whether it is in the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Canada, Haiti, or anywhere else we find Haitians, 210 years after Haitian independence, after the Haitian Revolution, Haitians are still trying to lead dignified lives and that they are struggling to do so.
The image in this post is courtesy of Bertin Louis.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Matthew Hunte


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Slim Voter Turnout, Violence Mark Bangladesh’s Opposition-Less Elections · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

An official marks a voter's finger with ink as she prepares to cast a ballot in the 10th general elections in Bangladesh. Image by Reaz Sumon. Copyight Demotix (5/1/2014)
Voting day in Bangladesh's tense 10th national parliamentary elections was marred by poor voter turnout and bursts of violence across the country, leaving more than 18 people killed and scores injured.
The country's political opposition led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had aggressively boycotted the election and their supporters had resorted to petrol bombings and other deadly protests to stop the vote. More than 100 schools turned polling stations were set on fire on the eve of the election.
Votes were suspended in more than 400 centers across the country. Counting continues and results are trickling in (live update here).
Bangladesh's Election Commission cited [bn] a mere 40 percent voter participation, low compared to the last parliamentary election in 2008, where voter turnout stood at 87 percent. Some non-governmental human rights and election monitoring agencies have offered numbers even lower than the official, putting turnout at 10 percent [bn].
Blogger Omi Rahman Pial explained on Facebook why turnout was low in this election:
সংবাদমাধ্যম খুব ফলাও করে সন্ত্রাসের খবর প্রচার করছে, আবার বলছে এই নির্বাচন একটা প্রহসনের নির্বাচন কারন মানুষ এই নির্বাচনে অংশ গ্রহন করছেনা। কিন্তু কেউ বলছেনা আসল কথা – এতো সন্ত্রাসের মধ্যে মানুষের জীবন বিপন্ন হয়ে পরেছে, জামাত-বিএনপি রাষ্ট্রযন্ত্রের উপর প্রকাশ্য ঘোষনা দিয়ে আক্রমন চালাচ্ছে। এই অবস্থায় মানুষ ভোটকেন্দ্রে যাবে কেমন করে? সাংবাদিকেরা এই সহজ জিনিসটা বুঝেনা এরকম ভাবার কোন কারন নেই।
The media were vocal in highlighting pre-election violence across the country. At the same time, they were mentioning that without the opposition, this election has become a farce, so people are not participating. But nobody is telling the truth, the daily lives of people have been disrupted due to constant blockades, violence. They are seeing that BNP-Jamaat have been attacking the government openly. How dare people go to the polling stations (risking their lives)? Don't think that the journalists don't know this.
Voter turnout was varied in different centers across the country. In some stations, there were the usual crowds, while others were deserted.
Voters surround a polling agent to collect their voting number in Dhaka-6 constituency during the elections. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (5/1/2014)
A man stands guard in front of vote center at Pilot Girls High School in Nobabgonj near Dhaka. Image by Mamunur Rashid. Copyright Demotix (5/1/2014)
The parties protesting against the election have claimed that voters have rejected this election. But journalist Naim Tarique blamed the opposition for intimidating the voters:
নির্বাচন প্রতিহত করতে আপনারা স্কুলগুলো জ্বালিয়ে দিলেন; আগুনে ঝলসে মারলেন নির্বাচনী কর্মকর্তাকে; ভোটারদের আতঙ্কিত-সন্ত্রস্ত করে বাধ্য করলেন কেন্দ্র না যেতে। তারপরও কিভাবে দাবি করবেন যে, মানুষ এই নির্বাচন প্রত্যাখ্যান করেছে? তাদের তো স্বেচ্ছায় ভোট কেন্দ্রে না যাবার সিদ্ধান্ত নিতেও দিলেন না!
You have burnt those schools to stop the elections, grilled a polling officer with fire, intimidated voters to not to go to the polling stations. And still you claim that the people have rejected the election. You did not let them freely decide.
There have been cases of attacks on voters on their way to polling booths. Shawn Ahmed (@uncultured) tweeted:
In the district where The John Green School is, Muslim extremists beat a man to death and injured a few others. The victims’ crime? Voting.
— Shawn Ahmed (@uncultured) January 5, 2014
Unlike the last election, women voter turnout was low. Amidst the uncertainty was the participation of one 85-year-old woman, reported Ononto Akash (@Ashtala):
85 years old Mrs. Sahera gave her vote for prosperous #Bangladesh! #JoyBangla pic: @banglanews24com pic.twitter.com/P2f9rAC2FG
— Ononto Akash (@Ashtala) January 5, 2014
Because of the opposition boycott, 154 contestants were elected before any votes were cast for the lack of challengers, so there were no election held in those constituencies. Many regretted this fact that they could not vote. Amiya (@amiya23) wrote on Twitter:
I was so excited to have gotten my National ID, just so I could #vote. This joke of an #election aside, God knows when I'll be able to vote.
— Amiya Atahar (@amiya23) January 5, 2014
In this opposition-less election, surprisingly there still have been allegations of rigging against the ruling party Awami League (AL). Twitter user Soldier Rojob Ali wrote:
#5January election drama ,children r giving vote to cast by #AL due to voter was not present #SAVEBANGLADESH pic.twitter.com/L33qdFoweE
— Soldier Rojob Ali (@rojob_ali) January 5, 2014
Blogger Rezaur Rahman Rizvi (@rizvi23) questioned the allegations of rigging:
একতরফা নির্বাচনেও যেহেতু ক্ষমতাসীন দলের সদস্যরাই জিতবেন, তবুও কেন সারা দেশ জুড়ে জাল ভোটের এমন মহোৎসব হলো?… http://t.co/T1jOBgBMTZ
— Rezaur Rahman Rizvi (@rizvi23) January 5, 2014
In this one-sided election we know that the chosen candidates are favored to win, so why would vote rigging be required?
The opposition led by BNP has not backed down from their protests and has announced fresh programs of 48-hour nationwide strikes along with the previously declared nationwide blockade. General people fear renewed violence across the country.
A Dhaka Tribune editorial talked about the necessity of this opposition-less election and the way forward:
The holding of today’s 10th parliamentary election in the absence of the main opposition party can only be justified on the basis of constitutional necessity. The results cannot and should not be viewed as a mandate to rule for a full term. [..]
We acknowledge that today’s elections neither resolve the political crisis nor bring an end to the issue of representative elections that are the people’s right. We call on both AL and BNP to move forward together to give the people elections acceptable to all.
Many are still looking forward to a meaningful negotiation and an inclusive election. Journalist J. E. Mamun hoped for such an election soon:
[…] নির্বাচন এদেশে ঈদের মতো ফূর্তি, আমরা সেরকম একটি ফূর্তির নির্বাচনের অপেক্ষায় রইলাম। আর শুভ কাজ যত দ্রুত হয় ততই মঙ্গল, শুভশ্য শীঘ্রম!
[…] Elections are like a celebration in this country. We are looking forward to an all-party celebratory election, the sooner the better.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


text:
The 13 Greatest Albums of 2013 That You’ve Probably Never Heard Of · Global Voices
Alfredo Richner

[All links lead to Spanish language web pages, except where otherwise noted]
Difficult for you and difficult for me was what Orquesta El Macabeo told us three years ago on their now classic track, “Se pone difícil” [It ain’t easy]. And who can say now that they were wrong?
But music has the power to unite and heal us. And despite all of the adversity that conspires to make life impossible for independent artists in Puerto Rico, still they continue to write, sing, record and produce their art. And from the numerous works that we had been anticipating throughout 2013, it is clear that it was an exceptional year. Even so, it ain’t easy.
We hope that with this list, alongside other efforts to document and recognize the music that has emerged in recent years, will help to alleviate some of the day to day stresses and strains– not only for the person whose body and soul is rejuvenated by the music of a new artist, but also for the independent artist whose pocket is also rejuvenated by the support of a new listener.
“…a feel good, melodic techno-pop journey with tropical hues which, according to the duo, is guaranteed to get you dancing”. Download | Interview
“La Ira Secreta [Secret Wrath] presents MoreIra as a cross between electro DJ and singer-songwriter with these six tracks taking us from chiptune [en] to intimate acoustic, the contemplative landscapes of ambient to hyperactive beats, plus a smattering of trip-hop“. Download | Review
Two main points of view can be gleaned from our review of La Ira Secreta. Firstly, the debut of soloist José Iván Lebrón Moreira (also of Las Abejas) as a composer of electronic music is both varied and demonstrative of his ability to create and inhabit various sounds. Secondly, and more importantly, with the track “Pao”, MoreIra has presented us with one of the best songs of the year – one that inspires us and fills us with hope for the future.
“Throughout Épico [Epic] we felt an undulating energy, as if floating on the waves at our favorite beach: light and refreshing but replete with a false security and unpredictability.”  Download | Review
Un.real are veterans on the indie scene but still manage to mix it with the kids and the experience gained as pioneers of shoegaze on the island is felt on Épico. On each of the six tracks Gardy Pérez, Saúl Robles, Héctor Caolo and Samuel Díaz convince us that we can both soar and crash in the same dream – and continue dreaming.
“Los Niños Estelares further distance themselves from their comedic origins, putting greater emphasis on social consciousness“. Download | Review
Los Niños Estelares (LNE) made their name after creating some of the funniest, catchy and bizarre songs “in the era of the Internet”, however, underneath their unique humor existed harsh criticisms of contemporary society, of the invisible hands that control us, and of ourselves. Much of their original humor is omitted from their most recent – and rumored to be last – album in which Fernando and Darío present themselves as beaten but not quite down yet. Yet if amid all of the melancholy of Entre ruinas [Among ruins] a faint hope emerges, it is that the track “Satya yuga está por comenzar” has surely cemented LNE’s legendary status
“Samalot creates a more meditative sound than that of Tachdé, maintaining the feeling of experimentation that defined the band”. Download | Interview
The debut solo from Fernando Samalot, with its ambient compositions and references to the indie movement, at first invite comparisons to his last work with Tachdé (the incredible Deluge, our favorite disc of 2012). But as the title implies, with i n n e r the journey is not towards distant lands but rather within ourselves. The music created by Samalot to guide us towards introspection is powerful and emanates a strength and beauty that few of this year’s albums achieve.
“Versus is perhaps the most compelling and ambitious project that Recluso has offered up until now. The album is a musical reinvention of the indie panorama in Puerto Rico as it currently stands…”  Download | Review
One of the most polarizing figures on the local hip-hop scene, Recluso is, at the same time, one of the most hard-working. His mask has become a symbol for creativity, commitment and ambition that goes straight to the heart of the DIY movement. Of all the projects released by Recluso in previous months, Versus best reflects these qualities and sees him collaborate with some of the most recognized musicians on the scene such as Mima, Fantasmes and Alegría Rampante.
“In a symbolic way the Iguaca [en] functions as our guide and through a process of suffering and deprived freedom presents us with a vision of hope.” Download | Interview
Iguacas is much more than just Ikol Santiago’s debut album – it is a personal triumph (“Parto”), a letter of introduction (“Nocturnos”) and a diary in rhyme (“Mili”, “Mio”), all of which are impeccably produced. However, in its most impassioned moments it is a call to common sense (“Tampoco Tanto”) and the hope derived from true wisdom (“Hoy”). Or perhaps it’s hope that makes us wise
“With this trilogy of albums – Salsa Macabra, El entierro and Lluvia con sol – they have exceeded all expectations and transcended our coastlines that so often feel more like walls“. Get the LP/CD | Review
The hardcore third album from Orquesta El Macabeo wants to make you dance despite your depression, but doesn't necessarily intend to relieve you of it. And although “Lluvia con sol” [Sunshower] plays the role of promotional single (and what a single it is!), imposing the group’s personality in one of its most powerful songs… the skies cloud over for the rest of the album. But while the Macabeos were exploring their dark side on tracks such as “Me repito”, “Boda” and “Macacoa”, away from the album they were achieving new professional heights after a brilliant concert at the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art and appearances at festivals from New York to France.
Download
In 1973 Puerto Rican pop legend, Wilkins, released his eponymous album, produced by the equally legendary Tito Puente. Forty years later, Fabián Wilkins (vliot), has paid tribute to his father with one of the most ingenious and captivating projects of 2013. TRIBUTO [Tribute] features some of Puerto Rico’s most recognised rappers – Sietenueve, EA Flow, Vico-C, Chyno Nyno and Tek-One – who rhyme on tracks comprising original material by Wilkins from the 60s and 70s. A couple of months after the release of TRIBUTO, Wilkins made a triumphant comeback to the stage after recovering from a life-threatening illness.
“If “Guys & Gals” and “Runnin’ and Drivin’” left you gasping for breath, no doubt this latest installment will blow your mind.” Download | Review
Without doubt the most exciting and explosive rock album of 2013. Las Abejas [The Bees] have not only changed their name (previously they were known as The Bee’s Knees), but also transformed themselves into one of the most daring and exhilarating bands on the indie scene, experimenting with various styles and influences that go far beyond those of Sonic Youth.
“…basically I’m saying: Hey, thanks for saving my family back then.”  Listen | Review
In his eighth edition as Harry Rag, Kristian Prieto (Alegría Rampante, Piegrande) constructs a complete dreamscape over the course of 12 homemade recordings (instrumentals in their majority) that together total little over 20 minutes. The characteristic conciseness of Harry Rag’s work invites us to engage with his musical landscapes time and time again and Lorraine Rodríguez’s wonderful cover art only makes us hope even more that they release a hard copy.
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La Tortuga China [Chinese Turtle] is the pet project of soloist Francis Pérez, whose band Superaquello are one of the groups responsible for laying the foundations of the Puerto Rican independent scene. Bio-Lento is his first album since the dissolution of that influential and much loved band. Nevertheless, Bio-Lento was released without the fanfare and ceremony that you might expect and only came to our attention thanks to a secret link sent by text late at night (no doubt by someone who couldn’t contain their excitement) informing us of its existence just a few hours before its official launch. And who can blame them? Because Bio-Lento is a rarity. A concept album jam-packed with symbols and meanings, all to the beat of Caribbean drums. This is a story that deserves to be experienced in its entirety, fully immersing oneself in its many mysteries.
“…it’s difficult to resist the suspicion that with their debut album Fofé y Los Fetiches have made an instant classic“. Download | Review
No other album of 2013 was loaded with so many pearls of pure pop perfection as Lujo Eterno from Fofé y Los Fetiches. This is a grown-up yet compelling work full of charisma that gets listeners singing along to the choruses at the top of their voice, be it in the car, bar or club. And no other figure in 2013 has shone so much light on the Puerto Rican indie scene than Fofé Arbeu who, giving himself the task of explaining the concept of the independent artist to any media outlet that would give him the time of day, would explain with a mischievous smile that he had released this album by himself. Having Fofé as one of the ambassadors of the island’s indie scene is nothing short of an honor, and although he won’t be around forever, tracks such as “La mañana blanca” and “Barquito de papel” just might be.

author: Alfredo Richner


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A Call for African Leaders to Stand with the Central African Republic · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

As the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) drastically worsens [fr] (935 000 IDPs as of today), Thione Niang, the Senegalese head of the GIVE1Project and Mehdi Bensaid, a Moroccan MP, calls from the African continent to stand up and show support to the victims of the  conflict in CAR [fr]:
Nous ne pouvons plus accepter que des frères s'entretuent sur le sol africain [..] Ainsi doit émerger une nouvelle génération de politiques inquiets pour l'avenir du continent et qui comprennent que servir l'intérêt général est l'unique solution pour résoudre les problématiques de développement en Afrique [..] Nous appelons l'ensemble des parlementaires africains à se préoccuper de la situation en Centrafrique, à inviter leurs gouvernements à s'impliquer davantage dans ses problématiques sécuritaires, à la construction d'une Afrique stable, seule solution possible à une croissance globale et sereine.
We can no longer accept that our brothers are killing each others on African soil [..]  A new generation of politicians worried about the future of the continent must emerge, politicians who understand that serving the general interest of all is the unique solution to development issues in Africa [..] We call on all African parliamentarians to address the situation in the Central African Republic and we urge their governments to get more involved in its security issues and build a more stable Africa. This is the only solution to foster a sustainable and peaceful growth across the continent.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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A Russian Sex Slave’s Suicide in Astrakhan · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Galia Borisenko before her disappearance and suicide. Text reads, “Not the last victim…” alluding to rumors that North Caucasians operate a sex slave ring in downtown Astrakhan. (Image circulated anonymously online.)
Galia Borisenko disappeared in mid-July last year on her way to a doctor’s visit. She was three-months-pregnant, 23-years-old, and it was the day after her wedding. No one would see Borisenko again until January 1, 2014, when she suddenly turned up at her grandmother’s apartment, gaunt, childless, and disoriented, and claiming to have survived almost six months as a sex slave, chained to a radiator in someone’s basement. Borisenko said the men who kidnapped her were from the Russian North Caucasus, and some reports [ru] identify a nameless “50-year-old Dagestani man” as the owner of the home in which she says she was imprisoned.
Police told [ru] the newspaper Komsomolskaia Pravda that narcotics use had impaired Borisenko’s mental state. (Indeed, she was unable to lead them to the basement where she was held, though investigators did accompany her to several different suspected locations.) According to Borisenko, her captors forced her to inject drugs to keep her incapacitated.
In what proved to be a dreadful mistake, Borisenko’s relatives decided not to admit her to a hospital, following her return. Subsequently, in the middle of the night on January 5, Galia Borisenko leapt to her death from the fifth story of her apartment building. It remains unclear whether she had a psychotic episode or consciously decided to kill herself. She did not leave a note.
Borisenko’s disappearance and now suicide have become the center of a tense debate about kidnappings in Astrakhan, which many locals blame on North Caucasian immigrants. Groups like the Nationalist Socialist Initiative and the Movement Against Illegal Immigration have picked up the story, citing Borisenko’s demise as the latest example of race crimes against white Russians and the authorities’ refusal to respond. (Borisenko was half-Tatar, half-Ukrainian, by blood.)
Astrakhan investigators seem to have only aggravated ethnic tensions with a January 6 press release [ru] refuting Borisenko’s claim that she’d been abducted. Investigators now say they have witnesses and security camera footage verifying that she walked Astrakhan’s city streets freely during her supposed imprisonment. Without going into any detail, the press release explains that Borisenko’s long disappearance from home was the result of “the circumstances of her personal life,” implying presumably that she fled her family either out of fear or in search of drugs.
Astrakhan bloggers have received the Investigative Committee’s version of events with great skepticism. According to local activist Alexandr Alymov, certain city officials contacted him [ru] within hours after he first blogged about Borisenko’s suicide and kidnapping, asking him to remove the story from his LiveJournal. Other bloggers have mocked Astrakhan’s Governor, Aleksandr Zhilkin, for calling on citizens to avoid fomenting ethnic hatred. “Let’s continue to practice tolerance, fellow citizens,” LiveJournal user Andrei Egorov wrote [ru] facetiously on January 6, before offering a link to investigators’ press release and adding, “Here’s the Investigative Committee’s tolerant version [sic]. Personally, I don’t believe it.”
The National Socialist Initiative (a right-wing group, if you didn’t guess) claims that the police’s refusal to acknowledge Borisenko’s story is part of a larger trend [ru] to conceal North Caucasians’ ethnic crimes against Russians. According to NSI, Russian law enforcement often “blames the victim” in order to hide news about crimes committed by certain ethnic minorities. NSI says police and journalists have been involved in defaming individual Russians and entire Russian communities victimized by North Caucasians, dating back as far as the 2007 race riots in Kondopoga.
Of course, not everyone sees in Borisenko’s tragedy a conspiracy to oppress whites. LiveJournal user and Astrakhan resident hren_morjov was willing to entertain investigators’ conclusion that no kidnapping ever took place. He calls attention to several inconsistencies [ru] in Borisenko’s story. For instance, why did she reappear at her grandmother’s in Rastopulovka, “the asshole of the world” (a village some distance outside Astrakhan), rather than walk home to her parents and husband (who were only two hours from downtown)? hren_morjov also finds it puzzling that Borisenko’s family elected to keep her out of the hospital after she supposedly endured more than five months being drugged, beaten, and starved. “Any normal husband and parents,” he argues, “would have carried his wife or their daughter to the hospital, and waited outside the door until everything had been checked out.”
As recently as autumn last year, Astrakhan’s Investigative Committee has cautioned against the online dissemination of horror stories about North Caucasian kidnappers. In an August 3, 2013, press report [ru], investigators even warned against attributing Borisenko’s disappearance to a secret sex slavery ring. At the time, investigators attributed the rumors to “teenage girls who don’t possess reliable information,” who “create a panic” in the process of trying to warn Astrakhan’s women about monsters from the south.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Bibles Seized in Malaysia for Using ‘Allah’ to Refer to God · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

More than 300 bibles were seized in the office of the Bible Society of Malaysia during a raid conducted by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department or Jais which wanted to enforce a law that prohibits non-Muslims from using the word Allah in their religious publications. Allah is used to refer to God in the Bahasa translation of the bible.
The Non-Islamic Religious (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 listed 25 words and phrases which non-Muslims cannot use.  A few months ago, Malaysia’s Court of Appeals ruled that a Catholic paper cannot use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God because it might create confusion among Muslims.
The issue sparked an intense debate in Malaysia which is a Muslim-majority country. About 10 percent of the population are Christians who have been using the term Allah to refer to God in their religious publications and rituals for many years already.
Despite the court ruling, a Catholic priest declared that he will still use ‘Allah’ in the church service which enraged some Muslim groups. The Klang Muslim Solidarity Secretariat, a coalition of Muslim NGOs, have been holding street protests to denounce the use of Allah by non-Muslims.
The Twitter photo below shows some progressive Muslims showing solidarity to Christians after Muslim groups vowed to hold bigger protests.
Muslims showing support to the Church for peace and harmony. Well done the thru Malaysians Muslim moderates. pic.twitter.com/RzoG6SFoXW
— JeraldJoseph (@jeraldjoseph2) January 5, 2014
Meanwhile, the National Unity Consultative Council has been working on a proposed 10-point solution to settle the issue peacefully. One of the proposals is to put a ‘Christian publication’ label on bibles and a cross sign so as to not confuse Muslims.
June H.L. Wong thinks that an international panel can help Malaysia resolve this controversial matter:
…if we can’t resolve this internally by ourselves, perhaps we should seek an international panel of eminent experts to act as mediators to help us get out of this impasse rationally and equitably.
There is no shame in seeking outside help in times of crisis and if this isn’t a crisis, I don’t know what is.
Several Chinese youth organizations urged all parties to be tolerant and respectful:
In a pluralistic country like ours, all parties need to continue being tolerant and respectful of and appreciate each other. We also call on both sides to actively contribute to talks to work towards finding a solution to this problem on the basis of fairness and harmony.
Melati Timur does not support the argument that the use of Allah by Christians would weaken the faith of Muslims:
Why is the Muslim faith deemed the more fragile, more in need of protection? Aren’t we told all the time how superior this faith is, this faith of the majority and political elites? If it is so superior, why is it that our confusion is considered so inevitable compared to people of other faiths? Are you saying there is actually something wrong with our faith, something so close to the surface that the mere use of an Arabic word that means God by Christians will reveal all and thus turn us away from Islam in droves?
Lucia Lai also doesn’t believe that Muslims will be confused if Christians would use the term Allah:
no. 1: does muslim goes to sunday church to listen to their sermons? if no, how will they get confused?
no. 2: even if muslim does hear sermons with ‘allah’ in it, why you think they can get confused? simple! it is because you don't trust your own muslim brethren – you think their faith is so weak that just listening to it, they will get confused or get converted
Marina Mahathir, the daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, expressed solidarity to Christians by visiting a church service:
At the Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Klang to show what 'Islam is a religion of peace' really means..
— Marina Mahathir (@netraKL) January 5, 2014
anas zubedy tries to probe deeper as to why some Muslims are not comfortable with Christians using the word Allah:
Their apprehension is in a sense understandable, given the attempts by some Christian missionaries during the colonial epoch to impose their religion upon Muslims and people of other faiths. Even in the post-colonial period this has continued albeit in different forms and through different channels.
Thumbnail used is from @fzdotcom

author: Mong Palatino


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Dreams of Yemen  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Yemeni blogger Noon Arabia shares her dreams of Yemen in this post. She writes:
I dream of a Yemen where everyone has a roof on top of their head
I dream of a Yemen where everyone has a meal on their table
I dream of a Yemen where poverty is addressed and managed

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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“Social Media for Journalists”, a New Massive Online Course · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is offering a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): “Social Media for Journalists: The Basics.” The free course in English starts February 3 and ends March 9, 2014.
The MOOC will give students an overview of the use of social media in journalism and best practices in finding and distributing news with these tools. Students will learn about the best journalistic uses of professional Facebook and Twitter accounts, where to find sources and story ideas on social media, how to verify information and other ethical considerations, how to cultivate an audience and a brand, developing a content strategy, and measuring success on social media.
Click here to register.

author: Silvia Viñas


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The Challenges of Daily Life in Conakry, Guinea · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Conakry from above, via Wikipedia CC-license-BY
For many outsiders across the world, the buoyant capital city of Conakry in the West African country of Guinea probably recalls September 29, 2009, a date that saw the rape and massacre of at least 157 people who protested the attempt by Junta head Dadis Camara to become president.
But for better or for worse, there is much to this port city of 1.5 million people beyond that grisly headline. BAH Mamadou Lamine is a contributor for the Guinean weekly magazine Lynx [fr]. On the blog Konakry Express, BAH shares his point of view on the challenges of everyday life in Conakry and explains the gloomy reality of the city that has yet to fully recover from the recent tragedy. His analysis goes in-depth into three main themes: criminality, lack of structure and public health and sanitation.
Criminality
Crime is a daily concern in this dynamic urban center. BAH explains why [fr]:
Dès que la nuit tombe, les Conakrykas sont bercés par les tirs d’armes de guerre effectués par les bandits, des bandits souvent en tenue militaire. Ces mêmes individus sèment la terreur dans les rues partout en opérant des car-jackings brutaux et sanglants. Tous les jours des magasins sont dévalisés, des essenceries pillées, des citoyens tués.
When night falls, the residents of Conakry are rocked by gunfire at the hand of bandits, bandits often dressed in military uniforms. These same individuals spread terror in the streets with brutal and bloody car-jackings. Everyday stores are robbed, gas stations are looted, citizens are killed.
The army is often accused of contributing to the lack of safety felt in the city. Increasing mistrust of the regular armed forces has roots in Guinean history: During his mandate from 1958 to 1984, President Sekou Touré kept much of the armed forces in poverty. This situation has not changed much since so a few soldiers are often caught racketeering citizens  because they are poorly compensated.
The International Crisis Group reported that:
conditions of service were deplorable, even for officers. The senior officer corps lived on meager rations and saw its privileges and family allowances curtailed over time. Soldiers of all ranks had to find ways to supplement their rations
In the following French-language video, one can see the trial of gang members who were accused of manslaughter during a robbery at an Asian supermarket:
Traffic
BAH argues that the lack of structure [fr] is also an important factor in the daily uncertainty of the city:
Tout est sens dessus-dessous ; les sens interdits sont autorisés et/ou négociables; nos flics lorsqu’il y en a sont pour le dialogue, surtout tarifé. Très souvent ces flics-ripoux sont aidés dans les carrefours compliqués par des citoyens sans tenue. C’est une première mondiale.
Everything is topsy-turvy here; one-way streets are negotiable and our cops are open to discussion on enforcing them, especially if you are willing to sweeten the pot. These so-called cops are often assisted in the regulation of cross-roads by regular citizens pacing traffic. This is only in Guinea.
Public health and sanitation
Yet, the most worrisome aspect of life in Conakry seems to be public health and sanitation [fr]:
Trash on the streets of Conakry via Konakry Express. Republished with the author's permission
Les générations d’ordures accumulées depuis des temps immémoriaux dégagent des odeurs pestilentielles renforcées par celles des immondices brûlées à même les rues. Ajoutons à cette savoureuse mixture, les eaux évacuées des fosses sceptiques surannées […] La poussière aussi est omniprésente, obsédante, irrespirable, morbide. [Pour réparer les voies routières] une société industrielle riveraine a versé de la latérite sur la chaussée. C’était au cours de la dernière saison sèche. La boue d’alors s’est transformée en poussière.
The accumulation of waste since it seems, the beginning of times, emits pestilential odors that are only reinforced by the waste that is burned directly on the streets. Added to that “delicious” mixture of smells is the one coming from sewage discharged in obsolete septic tanks […] Dust is also ubiquitous, haunting, unbreathable, morbid. [To repair roadways] an industrial company paved the main road with mud. That was during the dry season. Now the mud has turned to dust.
Possible solutions
Despite these conditions, as BAH points out, the city and the nation are filled with potential for economic growth, mostly from mining resources. The endemic poverty (ranked 178th out of 187 on the Human Development Index) that has held back Guinea could be solved by assertive economic planning and clear management of the military forces. Doing Business, part of the World Bank, highlights some positive economic reforms:
Guinea made starting a business easier by enabling the one-stop shop to publish incorporation notices and by reducing the notary fees. Guinea also put up a one-stop shop for company incorporation and by replacing the requirement for a copy of the founders’ criminal records with one for a sworn declaration at the time of the company’s registration.
The armed forces are also still a potential source of instability that could trample Guinea's quest for recovery and growth. NGO International Crisis Group recommends the following actions to reform the army:
building civilian oversight capacity by a training program for members of the key oversight institutions and improving conditions of service, so as to tackle the army’s widespread malaise and corruption.


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Users Jeer at North Korean Death-by-Dog Story  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A major US media outlet, NBC made one of the most sensational international reports which claimed the North Korean young dictator might have had his uncle devoured by 120 ravenous dogs. Unsurprisingly, the report went viral online, but was later found out to be a confusion caused by social media satire. Numerous jeers and jokes have been made about Western media's speculative reports on the world’s most reclusive nations. Ask A Korean blog founder via Twitter (@AskAKorean) reminded people of the fake voiceover fiasco back in the spring of 2013 when the inter-Korean tension was dangerously heightened.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Why Elders Protect Doves in Rural Mali  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Doves in rural Mali via Fasokan with his permission
Fasokan explains why elders in rural Mali pay special attention to the protection of doves [fr] :
Les vieilles personnes font tout pour protéger ces oiseaux contre la tuerie des enfants pendant leurs chasses avec des lance-pierres. Si par hasard il arrive qu’un groupe de jeunes garçons attrape une tourterelle vivante, une vieilles personne du village rachète l’oiseau et le libère. Cet achat a pour but de mettre les enfants dans leur droit parce qu’ils ont fourni de l’effort pour l’attraper.[..] les tourterelles sont considérées comme annonciatrices d’évènements futurs selon leurs chants, comme l’arrivée d’un étranger ou d’une étrangère. De village en village pour les commissions des parents, les tourterelles informaient les jeunes envoyés en cours de route, sur la position de celui ou celle qu’ils devaient aller voir dans un autre village.
Elders would do everything in their power to protect doves when children go for a hunt with their slingshots. If a group of young boys happen catch a live dove, an old person from the village would buy the dove from them and then release it. The purchase aims not only to protect the dove but also to not punish the kids because it took some effort and ingenuity to make the catch [The reason why Doves are protected is because] they are considered harbingers of future events based on their songs of the moment. For instance  it could announce the arrival of a guest. When children run errands for their parents from village to village, doves would inform children whether the people they were looking for were at home.


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A Mobile Phone Based Virtual School System In Pakistan · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rehan School: Now everybody can learn for free
Sri Lankan blogger Nandasiri Wanninayaka writes:
Rehan School is a mobile phone based virtual school system that allows anyone who has a mobile phone access the prerecorded video lessons free of charge. With expanding mobile coverage in Pakistan, this will be an exciting way to reach the rural illiterate communities. Since this is a free service, millions of Pakistanis can benefit. [..]
The price of this content is free, but the mobile shop keeper may charge a small fee of 50 rupees to transfer the content in the required format on the mobile phone’s memory card. Later on, this video content can be given by that phone user to anyone else, using Bluetooth for free.

author: Rezwan


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Brazil’s ‘Silent Revolution’ in Education, Inspired by Portugal  · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Show in celebration of Circus Day
Eighteen years ago a true revolution in the Brazilian educational system was started when Project Âncora launched in the town of Cotia, São Paulo. It took the form of a space for learning, practising and enhancing principles of citizenship with the aim of developing and transforming the reality of the local community. Since 1995 this non-profit project has catered to over 6,000 children, teenagers and their families through extracurricular activities such as music classes, theatre-circus, crafts and professional courses.
In 2012 an old dream was accomplished with the opening of the Project Âncora School of Infant and Primary Education (pdf). Following the methods of Escola da Ponte from Portugal, which challenges the traditional concept of education and the world’s prevalent standard model of schooling, the Project Âncora School follows an “educational philosophy which proposes that self-knowledge and experience are the key tools for learning, centred around the learner, his or her particularities and his or her transition from heteronomy to autonomy”.
Around 300 children and teenagers attend the school, which is structured round three parallel curricula: the individual, the social and the communal. This innovative model was inspired on democratic education and has been implemented in Brazil with the help of Portuguese language teacher José Pacheco, who has been known worldwide for having created the Escola da Ponte (School of the Bridge) in Portugal by making use of a revolutionary methodology (pdf). Marusia Meneguin, author of the blog Mãe Perfeita, has been enthralled by the original proposal:
Imagine uma escola sem classes, horários, provas. Um currículo que é decidido pelas crianças, em consenso, e inclui matérias como circo e meditação. Não há lista de chamada nem ponto, mas estudantes e professores não faltam. Tudo de graça. Agora imagine que esses estudantes provêm de lugares violentos, e já foram expulsos de diversas escolas. Pode parecer utopia. Até o dia em que você conhece a proposta da Escola da Ponte.
Imagine a school without classrooms, schedules or exams. A curriculum which is decided upon by the children, through consensus, and which includes subjects such as circus and meditation. There is neither roll call nor punching the clock, and yet no absences on the part of pupils or teachers. Everything is free of charge. Now, imagine that these students come from violent environments and have been expelled from several schools. It may seem like utopia. Until the day when you get to know the proposal for the Escola da Ponte.
In an interview with G1, Pacheco states that education in Brazil, whose model ignores the contribution given by Paulo Freire and other great educators from the country, squanders resources and produces 30 million illiterate people. The results achieved by means of the alternative model, on the other hand, become visible within the community itself:
Os ex-alunos da Ponte – alguns já com mais de 50 anos de idade – são a prova da boa qualidade do projeto. São seres humanos plenamente realizados, com elevado nível de consciência cívica, éticos, empreendedores, solidários. Deverei acrescentar que a Ponte recebe alunos que as outras escolas jogam fora, e os recupera. Aluno que não aprende em outra escola, ou aluno que põe professor em estado de coma em outra escola, vai para a Ponte.
The former pupils from the School of the Bridge – some who are now over 50 years old – are living proof of the good quality of the project. They are fulfilled human beings who display a high level of civic awareness, are ethical, entrepreneurial, supportive of others. I should add that the Bridge welcomes pupils who are discarded by other schools, and recovers them. Pupils who do not learn in another school or pupils who put teachers in a state of shock in other schools, they come to the Bridge.
Fundraising campaign for Project Âncora
Whereas School of the Bridge has been in existence for nearly 40 years, the results of Project Âncora School in Brazil, which is just over a year old, will take a bit longer to become obvious. Nevertheless, the project has already attracted attention and has inspired other schools, receiving visits from educators from different parts of the country. After one of these visits, Talita Morais described the differences she finds in this utopic educational model:
O grande diferencial do Projeto Âncora, assim como na Escola da Ponte em Portugal, é que as crianças são conscientizadas a trabalhar o coletivo, o respeito e o amor ao próximo, e a autonomia em seu processo de estudo. Dessa forma, passando pelos níveis – na Escola não há divisão por salas ou séries – os alunos vão se tornando cada vez mais autônomos na sua aprendizagem, escolhendo o quê, como e a que momento deve aprender determinado conteúdo, tudo com o auxílio e orientação de professores e tutores, que vão desde funcionários até voluntários da própria comunidade. Além dessa autonomia na escolha do estudo, eles também participam ativamente das decisões e gerenciamento da escola, por meio das assembleias semanais, que re-definem as regras da instituição.
The big difference of Project Âncora, as well as of the School of the Bridge in Portugal, is that the children are made conscious of the collective perspective, of respect and love for others, and of the value of autonomy in the pursuit of his or her studies. This way, going through the different levels – since there is no division by classes or grades in the school – the pupils gradually become more autonomous in their learning process, choosing what, how and at which moment they learn a certain subject, all done with the aid and orientation of teachers and tutors, who are made up of the schools personnel as well as volunteers from the community itself. Besides such autonomy surrounding the choice of study, they also take an active part in the decisions and management of the school by means of weekly assemblies which redefine the rules that guide the institution.
Teacher Fernanda Rodrigues compared the Âncora with other traditional schools:
Lá, fomos recebidos por uma menina de 11 anos, super esperta e comunicativa! Ela nos contou que estuda lá desde que nasceu e foi nítido o quanto ela era sentia um verdadeiro orgulho de fazer parte do dia a dia do Âncora. Os olhos dela brilhavam e era nítido o profundo sentimento de pertencimento que a educanda tem em relação a tudo o que ali acontece.
Aproveitando, vale dizer que é impossível não se encantar com o espaço, que além de amplo, inspira a Educação em sua magnitude. Pudemos presenciar diversas cenas não muito comuns em escolas tradicionais como garotos zelando pelo espaço, bolsas penduradas na entrada da escola, mural com a pauta da assembleia e muitas pessoas conversando sem aquela típica gritaria que é comum nos ambientes escolares.
There, we were welcomed by a very lively and talkative 11-year-old girl! She told us that she had been studying there since she was born and it became clear how truly proud she was for being part of the day-to-day life of Âncora. Her eyes shone and it became clear there was a deep feeling of belonging that the student holds in relation to everything that happens there.
It is worth saying as well that it is impossible not to become enchanted by the place, which is not only broad, but also inspires education in its greatness. We could witness several episodes which are not very common to find in traditional schools, such as boys taking care of the place, bags hanging on the entrance of the school, notice board displaying the agenda for the assembly and many people talking without giving way to that sort of screaming which is so commonly found in school environments.
Communities of learning from Project Ancora in Cotia, São Paulo.
The next step of the project is to expand this experience beyond the walls of the institution and reach the whole town by integrating the pupils into “learning communities”. Once a week, the pupils must visit communal places, such as public health clinics and churches, in order to study local issues and talk directly with the residents. Following Pacheco's formula, called “MC² – change enhanced by contamination and context”, the pupils must grab hold of the reality of the place where they live and seek solutions for the issues that they confront:
Comunidades de aprendizagem são práxis comunitárias baseadas em um modelo educacional gerador de desenvolvimento sustentável. É a expansão da prática educacional do Projeto Âncora para além de seus muros, envolvendo ativamente a comunidade na consolidação de uma sociedade participativa.
Learning communities are communal praxis based on an educational model that generates sustainable development. It is the expansion of the educational practices of Project Âncora beyond its walls, and which actively involves the community in the consolidation of a participative society.
When Project Ãncora turned 18 years old in October 2013, João Carlos, from the blog Soliarte, declared that a dream that has become reality “reached adulthood a long time ago”:
Um novo Brasil que nasce. Viva! Viva!
Obrigado Pacheco pela revolução silenciosa que ocorre na educação do Brasil.
A new Brazil is born. Hail! Hail!
Thank you Pacheco for the silent revolution which is taking place in Brazilian education.
Not only the children benefit from this revolutionary model of education. As she recalled the anniversary celebrations, volunteer educator Johana Barreneche-Corrales pondered the importance of the playful and the emotional ties between the teacher:
Finalmente podemos pensar que para que um projetovingue, é preciso que um grupo seja construído, e o grupo é grupo, não pela quantidade de pessoas que dele fazem parte, mas pela força com que os laços entre eles são tecidos.
Lastly, we may think that for a project to be successful, there is the need for a team to be put together, and that the team be truly a team, not by the number of people who join it, but by the strength of the ties between its members.
Project Âncora was one of the alternative education schools in Brazil that were visited by the documentary team Quando Sinto Que já Sei, a film made financially possible by means of crowdfunding through the website Catarse and which shall be launched in the beginning of 2014. The objective is to start a discussion about the present state of education in Brazil by exploring new ways of learning based on children's participation and autonomy, values which are emerging and being put into practice throughout the country.
“Everything is solved with two simple propositions: replace “to” with “with”. With “to” there is a transference, with “with” there is a search for understanding.” José Pacheco on the banner of the film Quando Sinto que Já Sei (When I feel I already know) on Catarse website.

author: Paula Góes


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Chinese President’s Bun Shop Now Hub for Protestors · Global Voices
Abby Liu

After Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to a local restaurant last week that received massive media attention, petitioners in Beijing think it's a good place for protest. Last weekend they showed up outside of the restaurant hanging banners calling out the government for corruption.
Photo from Sina Weibo

author: Abby Liu


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Dakar Rally Coming to Tupiza, Bolivia · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Many Bolivians are excited that the Dakar Rally off-road race will pass through their national territory. On her personal blog, journalist Fabiola Chambi showcases what tourists that may arrive to her hometown of Tupiza would want to see, as well as some of the prime watching spots along the route [es].

author: Eduardo Avila


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Happy New Year from Philadelphia’s “Drunk Racist Clown Parade” · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

A comic brigade at the 2014 Mummers Parade. Photo by Brian Lin via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Imagine scores of people festooned in a dizzying array of bright colors, sequins, feathers and face paint, dancing in unison up a city boulevard. They're playing instruments and performing clown routines, poking fun at everything from political controversies to zoo animals to historical events. If they have a spare hand, it's usually holding a beer. Tens of thousands gather to watch the event and join in the fun.
This is not Mardi Gras. It is not Carnival. It is the Mummers Parade, a New Year's Day tradition in Philadelphia that many historians believe to be the longest-running folk festival in the United States.
Performers number in the thousands and spend months developing and rehearsing routines, building costumes and scenery, and perfecting their “strut”, an official dance move that most Philadelphians can at least mimic if asked. They line up at 6am, often in below-freezing temperatures, and prepare for an entire day of strutting and clowning their way up Broad Street, the city's central boulevard.
Fancies at the 2009 Mummers Parade with penguin character. Photo by Brian Lin via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
“Day drinking” is a hallmark of the event — ubiquitous on the street and easy to spot on Twitter:
I'm so giddy to day drink and lick some strangers (and friends!) teeth today!!!! Wooooooooohhhoooo #Mummers
— Molly Mullen (@goodgolly_missM) January 1, 2014
While some parade goers make a point of getting a good night's rest on New Year's Eve, others choose to “go the distance” and simply keep refilling their glasses through the night and into the morning:
Feel like I was hit with a tractor trailer that stopped, reversed, went side to side then jumped on me but it's all good #MUMMERS
— Tracie (@IWASLIKEYOTRAYY) January 1, 2014
With car traffic blocked for miles, people come to the parade by train, bike, and on foot, donning crazy hats and glasses on top of their winter gear, lugging thermoses of wassail and cases of beer. From a distance, it looks like a goofy, unpretentious, all-around good time.
As a child, I was enticed by the Mummers and very much wanted to see them up close. But my dad informally decreed that we would not go to the parade because it was a racist tradition. He had a point.
Like other carnivalesque rituals in the Americas, the Mummers often embody, or at least dress like, a person or thing they are not. But along with mythical creatures and colorful animals, each year some performers—who are almost all white men—present simplistic, cartoon-like depictions of foreign cultures, “wenches” (see below), and Civil War-era minstrel shows. This is the part of the parade that I, like most Philly natives, can't really get down with.
A fancy brigade depicting Native Americans at the 2007 Mummers Parade. Photo by Valkrye131 via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The parade's signature song dates back to popular 19th-century folk or “minstrel” shows in which white performers depicted slaves of African origin performing slapstick routines, and playing instruments in plantation-like settings. For many Americans (I'd like to think most, but one can't be sure), minstrelsy is a cringe-inducing symbol of the period.
This aspect of the tradition has deep roots. Driven by Irish, Swedish, and German fraternal organizations (then and now), the parade began as a celebration of working-class immigrant culture and a rejection of classist and racial discrimination that pushed these groups to the social and economic margins of the city in the 19th century.
It's no surprise that minstrelsy was originally a part of the Mummers’ tradition. After the Civil War, free blacks came to the city seeking work and competed for jobs with poor ethnic minorities like the Irish. One can imagine why these groups might have romanticized the pre-war past at the turn of the century.
A wench brigade at the 2010 Mummer Parade. Photo by Kevin Burkett via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
As the parade tradition evolved, some things changed, but not without a fight. In the 1960s, “blackface” paint was officially banned in response to protests by black Philadelphians who argued that the city should not support an event that denigrated its own taxpayers. But old habits die hard—I've been to the last three parades and seen performers wearing something akin to blackface paint at each and every edition, like the man in the photograph at right. In a city that is nearly half African-American and where immigrants from China, Vietnam, the Caribbean, and a range of  East African countries make up a sizable chunk of the population, this does not feel okay.
Social media has made it easier to see exactly how Philadelphians feel about this strange celebration — a parallel tradition has evolved in which fiery online debates over representations of race, gender, and social class at the parade light up local blogs and Twitter feeds.
This year, one Twitter user called the parade an “ignorant, cringe-inducing display of stereotypes of people of color.” Another tweeted:
Dancing Racist Clown Parade! Who's going to see The #Mummers?!!! #notme
— Jonene (@JTADDEIFLIX) January 1, 2014
Mummers typically justify their continued attachment to these rituals by saying it's “just a joke.” But for many Philadelphians, it's just not funny. In a blistering article on last year's parade, which featured two of the more offensive performances in recent memory, local blogger Joey Sweeney described the parade as “100% backward bullshit, an annual celebration of the white man and his famous burden that has no place in the modern, better iteration of this city.” Readers like Milagros Lopez did not take kindly to Sweeney's diatribe.
“I am a black hispanic female and I do not find any of it offensive,” Lopez responded. “If anything it is silly, inaccurate and a little strange….Let them look like fools. It is only hurting their image and not ours.”
But others felt differently. “You know how upset you are by this article?” wrote Erica Matos. “How targeted and wronged you feel? How misunderstood?…Now, imagine hundreds of people parading these opinions around the streets and rubbing your face in it. That's how people like me, who are of an ethnic minority, feel when we see antics such as these in the Mummers Parade.”
Wench brigade at the 2009 Mummers Parade. Photo by Melody Kramer via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
I find myself siding with Matos, and with Twitter users who criticized local government for supporting parade organization, traffic patrol and clean-up. In a city that is too bankrupt to fully support public schools and transit, and where nearly a quarter of the population lives below the national poverty line, you'd think there would be no funding available for this sort of thing. But you'd be wrong.
Fallen clown at 2014 Mummers Parade. Photo by Carlykbad via Instagram.
In the end, after a few years of witnessing the revelry and excess, I feel about the same as my dad does. Should I reject the tradition full out, as I was raised to do? Maybe.
But I'm torn. The truth is that I love the essence of the event — waking up on New Year's Day to a city transformed into a strange world of wild colors and costumes is a magical thing. Being free to take on an imaginary identity for a day and starting the year off with a fantastical escape from reality, rather than a hungover look at the road ahead, feels like a gift. I just don't like the way the Mummers do it. For 2015, I think the solution will be to start my own tradition. A small costume party at my apartment, with lots of music and dancing. And plenty of selfies for my GV friends around the world.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Honduran Journalists Use Sensationalised Crime Reporting as a Safety Measure · Global Voices
Fundacion MEPI

Man sitting in a park in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, reading a newspaper with the headline “Gunmen kill husband of President's secretary”. June 9, 2007. Photo by Gabriel Vallecillo on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
This article was written by Ana Arana and Daniela Guazo for Fundación MEPI. We will publish the whole article in a series of three posts. This is the first post in the series.
San Pedro Sula: Colon is prime farming and cattle territory in the Honduran Caribbean coast. Its geography extends across eight thousand plus kilometers through mountains, rivers and thick vegetation. It is a strategic territory and middle transit point for drug transshipments from South America to Mexico and the United States. At the helm of these operations are Mexican and Colombian traffickers, according to Colombian and Honduran police reports. Plantations of African Palm conceal clandestine landing strips, which were previously used by crop fumigation planes and where today small planes laden with cocaine land unrestricted, according to the Honduran Armed Forces.
The local chieftains are Javier and Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, brothers and former cattle rustlers who today oversee a multimillion-dollar empire. Their organized crime group is called Los Cachiros, which allegedly picks political candidates and has close links to local police, according to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Access Control, OFAC.
Until recently, few Hondurans knew about Los Cachiros. Journalists did not dare write about their activities. In fact, few reporters visit Colon, their territory, or other northern territories in this Central American country, where dozens of narco chieftains have built profitable drug trafficking networks with little scrutiny from the local press.
In June of this year, Hondurans finally read in the local press about the Maradiaga brothers and their organization. Something similar occurred with José Handal Pérez, a prominent businessman in San Pedro Sula, owner of a retail empire, which includes clothing stores, auto part shops and restaurants. Local media wrote about Handal Pérez in April, following the release of another report by the OFAC, which identified him as a drug transporter and money launderer.
“We published (the story) because the United States gave us information,” explained without hesitation a local newspaper editor who asked not to be identified in this article. “To investigate such matters in this country is very difficult. We can't take the risk. Also no local authority would provide us with such evidence.”
Honduras has become the ideal transit spot for international drug traffickers. The country and its government institutions are mired with government corruption and ineffective or compromised public security forces, according to a September 2012 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “Transnational Organized Crime in Central America and the Caribbean.” In the last four years since President Manuel Zelaya was deposed and President Porfirio Lobo was selected, an institutional crisis has hit the country, creating a power vacuum that has been exploited by local and international organized crimes groups, according to UNODC. Today Honduras has the highest per capita murder rate in the world with 91 murders per 100 thousand inhabitants. The crime statistics are higher in northern territories, where drug trafficking networks operate. The country also has one of the highest numbers of journalists killed, or attacked, in a country not at war.
The Mexican cartels—Zetas, Sinaloa and Gulf—have had a presence in Honduras for quite some time. Two Colombian criminal bands, The Rastrojos, who have a working relationship with Los Cachiros, and the Urabeños, have a presence in the country. Maras or organized youth gangs—MS13 and Mara 18, which originated in the nineties with deported gang members who grew up in low-income barrios in California—control barrios in some of the country's most important cities. In La Ceiba, a Caribbean resort town that has a reputation as an important drug trafficking corridor, and where civil society is desperately trying to rebuild its tourist flow, youth gangs have proliferated and even determine who can live in their areas of control. Youth gangs throughout the country work as low-level level drug distributors and are sometimes subcontracted by the cartels as foot soldiers or enforcers, according to Honduran police and the UNODC.
However, when reading most Honduran newspapers, readers go away with little understanding of what is occurring in the country. Most crime stories are written without context or explanation and are accompanied by bloody, gory pictures. In the next post in this series we will look at how news media reports about crime in Honduras.

author: Fundacion MEPI


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PHOTOS: Honor the Treaties With Native Indians · Global Voices
Gerda

Honor The Treaties, a film by director Eric Becker, documents photographer Aaron Huey‘s mission to portray poverty and the struggles of the Native Lakota people of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the United States. Huey's original photographs are collected in the book Mitakuye Okasin, which was described by Mother Jones as “page after page of visual poetry,” and a “work [that] makes you care about the people and the place.”
Honor the Treaties is also the name of an organization – of which Huey is a member – that supports Native Indian art and rights.

author: Gerda


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Prominent Russian Actor Asks Putin to Recriminalize Sodomy · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Ivan Okhlobystin, interview from June 2013, screenshot from YouTube.
A prominent Russian actor, Ivan Okhlobystin, is making headlines for his latest homophobic act: a public letter [ru] addressed to Vladimir Putin, asking the President to recriminalize sodomy in Russia. Okhlobystin, whose resume includes acting, directing, writing, and even a decade served as an Orthodox priest, is notorious [ru] for making shocking, often anti-gay, public declarations. For instance, just last month, in December 2013, Okhlobystin told a crowd in Novosibirsk that he advocates burning gay people in ovens [ru], along with the Moscow press corps, whom he accused of sympathizing “unprofessionally” with gays.
Okhlobystin has also called [ru] for the banning of surrogate motherhood (comparing it to prostitution), likened [ru] gay marriage to necrophilia and zoophilia, and promised to murder any of his daughters if they ever fell in love with an African man. (While he’s never apologized for any of his anti-gay remarks, Okhlobystin did attempt to clarify [ru] his racism in a blog post for Snob.ru, which he later quit, blaming [ru] chief editor Masha Gessen for “propagandizing homosexuality and lesbian love.”)
While Okhlobystin’s bigotry may seem so extreme as to be a performance, many on the RuNet are expressing concerns [ru] that the actor is genuinely dangerous. In a Facebook post [ru] that’s attracted over 500 “likes,” theater producer Eduard Boyakov wrote that he’s stopped considering Okhlobystin a “fool” and a “jester,” and grown to see him instead as a true fascist. Likewise, journalist Ksenia Larina echoed this sentiment in a different Facebook post [ru], attracting almost 400 likes.
Others online have been content to joke about Okhlobystin’s letter to Putin. Comparing it to the Novosibirsk comments, Aleksandr Zaborovsky quipped:
Охлобыстин попросил Путина вернуть уголовное наказание за мужеложество. А всего месяц назад Иван предлагал сжигать геев в печах. Смягчился.
— Алекс Заборовский (@sazam) January 7, 2014
Okhlobystin has asked Putin to restore criminal punishment for sodomy. But just a month ago, Ivan suggested burning gays in ovens. He’s gone soft.
Okhlobystin (center) and the cast of “Interns,” the hospital comedy television show that's made Okhlobystin a household name in Russia. Screenshot from YouTube.
For all his outlandishness, Okhlobystin remains an ordained Orthodox priest, albeit on indefinite hiatus, following a decision [ru] by Patriarch Kirill in February 2010, when the Church’s leader granted Okhlobystin’s request to return to the entertainment world. While he is no longer permitted to hold services or wear a cassock and other priestly vestments, Okhlobystin is welcome to reenter the clergy when he wishes.
In September 2011, he demonstrated his enduring commitment to the Church when he suddenly abandoned a presidential campaign [ru], following an announcement [ru] by the Church’s Press Secretary that clergy are banned from serving in political bodies. (The prohibition, in fact, is almost 14 years old, codified in the Church’s “Social Concept Foundations” in 2000.)
Outside the Church, Okhlobystin has other friends in high places. Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Oblast government, Andrei Ilnitsky, tweeted in support of the letter to Putin, writing:
Охлобыстин открыто сказал то, что большинство давно думает,но почему-то уже боится произнести: http://t.co/BYo9JCRDbS http://t.co/Su0QRN9P8C
— Андрей Ильницкий (@amicableru) January 7, 2014
Okhlobystin said openly what the majority of people have long been thinking, but for some reason are afraid to say.
Additionally, Okhlobystin’s call to “push gays into ovens” bears a striking resemblance to Dmitry Kiselyov’s April 2012 speech on television, where he argued that the hearts of gays who die in car accidents should be burned or buried in the road. Days before Okhlobystin’s remarks in Novosibirsk, Vladimir Putin named Kisleyov head of an entirely new media organization charged with improving Russia’s image abroad.
The ongoing assault against homosexuals in Russia hasn’t done the country’s foreign reputation any favors, however. On January 5, 2014, for example (still three days before Okhlobystin called for the re-criminalization of sodomy), twenty different LGBT rights groups published their own open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, urging the corporation that invented the iPhone to reconsider its collaboration with the Russian retailer Euroset, where Okhlobystin serves as creative director.


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Reason for President of Central African Republic Djotodia Imminent Resignation · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Multiple sources report [fr] that Michel Djotodia, Interim President of Central African Republic (CAR) will step down tomorrow (January 9) as his country is rocked by violent inter-community conflicts. Although the minister of Communication denied [fr] the president's resignation earlier, Simon Koitoua in Bangui, CAR opines that it was bound to happen because of the president's recent ill-advised decisions regarding weaponry [fr]:
Le chef de la transition aurait approuvé et validé un montage financier colossal lié à l’achat d’armes via le Soudan et Tchad malgré l’embargo imposé sur les armes en destination de la Centrafrique
The head of the transition allegedly approved a financial package that green lighted the purchase of heavy weaponry via Sudan and Chad. The purchase was validated in spite of the embargo on weaponry in the Central African Republic


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El Salvador Prepares for Upcoming Presidential Election · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Salvadorans will go to the polls on February 2, 2014, to elect a new president. Jorge Kawas in PulsAmerica explains:
Polls show that the election will be a close call between the left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional – FMLN) and the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista – ARENA).
[…]
The FMLN’s presidential ticket, headed by current vice-president Salvador Sánchez Cerén, is expected to attract the majority of the votes in comparison to the opposition, but not to garner more than the 50% needed to avoid a runoff election.


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‘Hafu’ Film Explores Mixed Race Japanese Identity · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Determining our own identity and how we fit into the puzzle around us goes far deeper than a label or definition. In September 2013 Megumi Nishikura, a documentary filmmaker, talked at TEDx Kyoto about explorations into being hafu/haafu (ハーフ hāfu), a term used in Japanese to refer to somebody who is biracial, or ethnically half Japanese.
Upon returning to Japan in 2006, after having lived in the United States for 11 years, Nishikura found herself facing identity issues that she had thought she had put behind her. Then she met others who, like herself, were “hafu”, including the founder of Hafu project, an exploration of the experiences and identities of mixed-Japanese people through portrait photographs and in-depth interviews launched in London in 2008.
By social researcher Marcia Yumi Lise and photographer Natalie Maya Willer, the Hafu Project probes the half-Japanese experience by asking what it means to be half-Japanese inside and outside of Japan. To date, the project has collected 130 portraits and 65 extensive interviews, exploring topics ranging from background and upbringing to personal identity and sense of belonging.
Inspired by the Hafu Project, what began as a personal quest for Nishikura has grown into an exploration of identity and expanded into “Hafu the Film”, co-produced with Lara Perez Takagi:
Narrated by the hafus themselves, along with candid interviews and cinéma vérité footage, the viewer is guided through a myriad of hafu experiences that are influenced by upbringing, family relationships, education, and even physical appearance. As the film interweaves five unique life stories, audiences discover the depth and diversity of hafu personal identities.
Notions about and the conditions of hafu among Japanese do not necessarily coincide with what each hafu person feels about themselves. Sociology student Fujisaka Shunsuke at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto wrote what he learned about hafu:
Hafu – the mixed-race experience in Japan. For more about the film, view the press release here [pdf]
I learned about hafu in this class and I learned the situation of hafu. My opinion was changing gradually. After I read a first reading, I leaned how hafu people think. Then I saw the opinions from classmates and I thought hafu people faced more difficult situation than I thought
Another student, Kanami Hirokawa wrote about the tendency of Japanese to exclude people who standout:
Japanese tend to ask hafu questions like “where are you from?” even if they grow up in Japan and have Japanese values and Japanese culture. Japanese must know that people who have different looks with Japanese live in Japan as Japanese. Moreover, Japanese should accept hafu as a member of Japan and should not make borders between Japanese and hafu because they grow up in Japan and have same identity with Japanese. In order that hafu become Japanese completely, not only Japanese accept hafu as a member of Japanese in Japanese society but also Japanese government should begin the approach to make Japan a ‘true’ multicultural country. Japan is based on the idea of jus sanguinis and conservative to foreigners. Today, in the world, globalization is developing now and Japan should review their principle.
While the film captured under the label of “hafu” may not intend to speak for all the mixed race people living in Japan, it touches millions who seek the answer to the question “Who am I?” Check out the latest screening information and more about the film here.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Hindus Attacked in Bangladesh for ‘Crime’ of Voting · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

People from various cultural and social platforms mounted a demonstration in Dhaka against attacks on religious minorities after the 10th national elections. Image by Rahat Khan. Copyright Demotix (8/1/2014)
Minority groups in Bangladesh, especially Hindus, have become easy targets for anti-vote activists following the country's tense 10 national parliamentary elections. Homes and other properties have been attacked, torched or vandalized, and many have been forced to live under open sky in the meantime.
The elections on January 5, 2014 were met with violence in some areas; many opposition parties led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have boycotted the polls, leaving ruling party candidates unchallenged. They continue to protest against them.
Some victims said they were attacked because they voted in the elections. Shah Ali Farhad (@shah_farhad) wrote in Twitter:
Voting was Anita's only crime. Her house burnt & looted by BNP Jamaat in Jessore #Bangladesh http://t.co/Ook50cPy14 pic.twitter.com/RCES1gU4ml
— Shah Ali Farhad (@shah_farhad) January 6, 2014
Shahbag Wordwide (@Projonmo13) highlighted the reported tally of violence against minorities in Jessore in the south of the country:
[STATISTICS] Attack on #Minorities at #Jessore by Pro #Jamaat forces! #SaveBangladesh #shahbag pic.twitter.com/f6cwJcTmMI
— Shahbag Worldwide! (@Projonmo13) January 6, 2014
The government has come under fire for not being able to provide enough security for the people. But the son of the Prime Minister Sajeeb Wazed promised swift justice:
গতকালের নির্বাচনে ভোট দেয়ার কারণে বিএনপি-জামায়াতের ক্যাডাররা যশোর ও দিনাজপুরে সংখ্যালঘু সম্প্রদায়ের উপর হামলা চালিয়েছে। যশোরে ১৫০ জন হিন্দুর বাড়ি জামায়াতের সন্ত্রাসীরা সম্পূর্ণ তছনছ করেছে, লুট করেছে এবং জ্বালিয়ে দিয়েছে। দিনাজপুরে ১০০ এর উপর হিন্দু বাড়ি এবং দোকান বিএনপি জামায়াতের ক্যাডাররা ভাংচুর করেছে এবং পুড়িয়ে দিয়েছে। আমাদের সরকারের স্থানীয় কর্মকর্তারা ভুক্তভোগীদের সহায়তা করছেন। এই ঘটনায় দায়ীদের আমরা চিহ্নিত করার চেস্টা করছি এবং তাদের অবশ্যই আমরা বিচারের মুখোমুখি করবো।
The BNP-Jamaat protesters attacked minorities in Jessore and Dinajpur because they voted in the recent elections. In Jessore 150 houses were looted by Jamaat miscreants and burnt. In Dinajpurmore than 100 Hindu shops and houses were attacked by BNP-Jamaat goons. Our government is trying to help the victims. We are trying to identify the culprits and place them under trial as soon as possible.
However, BNP's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir blamed the government instead for the attacks, and said:
The planned attacks on minorities are an attempt to divert attention from the voters’ absence and enthusiastic boycott of the farcical elections amid criticism from national-international organisations.
In Bangladesh, it isn't unusual for these types of attacks to happen after elections. Writer Joydeep Dey Shaplu requested on Facebook to relieve Hindus of the responsibility to vote:
২০০১ এ প্রথম আলোয় লিখেছিলাম ভোট দেয়ার পাপ থেকে আমাদের মুক্তি দিন। আজ তাই মনে হচ্ছে আবার।
In 2001 I wrote an article in the Daily Prothom Alo that [being a minority] please relieve us of the crime committed by voting. I feel like that again.
Audity Falguni also chimed in that Hindus should not vote:
নির্বাচনে মানুষ ভোট দেয় নি, তবে হিন্দুদের উপর নির্যাতন করা হচ্ছে কেন? নাকি খালি হিন্দুরাই দিছে? তাহলে কি নিজের ইচ্ছামত কিছু করার অধিকার হিন্দুদের নাই? যদি তাই হয়ে থাকে, তবে আইন করে হিন্দুদের ভোট দেয়ার অধিকার রহিত করা উচিত : Ruma Modak.
Wasn't the election for everybody? So why are Hindus being targeted? Or did only Hindus vote? So are they not free to exercise their rights? If not, please make a law barring them to vote.
Ripon Chakraborty detailed the plights of the victims:
2001 সালে নিজে #আক্রান্ত হয়ে বুঝেছি #সাম্প্রদায়ীক নির্যাতনের #জ্বালা কি। #রাজগঞ্জে দেখেছি- নির্যাতিত #হিন্দুদের সহায়- সম্বল হারিয়ে খোলা আকাশের নীচে রাত্রী যাপন। কী যে কষ্টের এই দুঃসহ যন্ত্রনা– নির্যাতিত ছাড়া কেউ কোনদিন বুঝতেই পারবেনা। সহ্য করতে না পেরে বাপ দাদার ভিটে মাটি ফেলে কেউ কেউ দেশত্যাগী হয়। হয়তো তারা ভালোই থাকে- হয়তো গিয়ে বেঁচে যায়। কিন্তু আমি যে পারিনা- আমি যে এই দেশটা ছেড়ে যেতে চাইনা— আমার কি হবে- আমার “ছোট বাপী”টার কি হবে— কেউ বলতে পারেন???
In 2001 I was a victim of post-electoral violence. I have seen in #Rajgonj how Hindus lost everything and lived under the open sky. If you are not a victim, you can never know that pain. Some of them migrate leaving their ancestral home. Some of them do better, save their lives by escaping. But I cannot. I don't want to leave my country. What will happen to me or my child… Can anyone tell?
The Daily Prothom Alo, a leading daily of the country, has been accused [bn] of instigating violence against the Hindus by publishing an image of minorities waiting to vote, making their Hindu identity prominent by doctoring the photo. In response, Kulada Roy wrote on Facebook:
ভয়ঙ্কর সন্ত্রাসের মধ্যে দিয়ে নির্বাচন হয়েছে। ভোট বর্জনের ডাক দিয়েছিল বিএনপি-জামায়াত। নির্বাচনের খবর হিসেবে প্রথম আলো প্রথম পাতায় একটি ছবি ছেপেছে। সেখানে দেখা যাচ্ছে– হিন্দুরা ভোট দেওয়ার জন্য লাইনে দাঁড়িয়ে রয়েছে। প্রথম আলো এই ছবিটির মাধ্যমে প্রমাণের চেষ্টা করছে যে দশম নির্বাচনে কেবল হিন্দুরা ভোট দিতে এসেছে। আর কেউ নয়।
প্রথম আলো এই ছবির মাধ্যমে সারা দেশে হিন্দু সম্প্রদায়ের উপর বিএনপি-জামায়াতের আক্রমণের উস্কানী দিচ্ছে। এই খবর প্রকাশের পরপরই যশোরের অভয়নগরে, দিনাজপুরে , ঠাকুরগাঁয়ে সংখ্যালঘু হিন্দুদের ঘরবাড়ি পুড়িয়ে দেওয়া হয়েছে। […]
The election has ended with much violence. BNP-Jamaat boycotted the polls. The daily Prothom Alo published a big picture with their main election news on the front page. There it is shown that Hindu women were standing in queue to vote. Prothom Alo with this photo tried to imply that in a low-turnout election, mostly minorities voted. Not people from the majority Muslim population.
Prothom Alo with this picture is provoking the BNP-Jamaat protesters to retaliate against the Hindu communities [as they did not listen to their call to boycott the polls]. After the news was published, we have seen attacks on Hindu houses in Avoynagar of Jessore, Dinajpur and Thakurgaon.
The newspaper, however, denied [bn] that no published photo was photoshopped. But netizens still accused [bn] the paper of selectively highlighting minorities and publishing hate-filled comments in the comments section of the article.
Many people from Hindu communities have migrated to other countries in the past decades. Blogger Avijit Roy provided some statistics:
বাংলাদেশে ১৯৪১ সালে হিন্দু জনসংখ্যা ছিল শতকরা ২৮ ভাগ। ১৯৪৭ সালে ভারত ভাগের অব্যবহিত পরে তা শতকরা ২২ ভাগে এসে দাঁড়ায়। এরপর থেকেই সংখ্যালঘুদের উপর ক্রমাগত অত্যাচার এবং নিপীড়নের ধারাবাহিকতায় দেশটিতে ক্রমশ হিন্দুদের সংখ্যা কমতে থাকে। ১৯৬১ সালে ১৮.৫%, ১৯৭৪ সালে কমে দাঁড়ায় ১৩.৫%, ১৯৮১ সালে ১২.১%, এবং ১৯৯১ সালে ১০% এ এসে দাঁড়ায়। সাম্প্রতিক সময়গুলোতে হিন্দুদের শতকরা হার কমে ৮ ভগের নিচে নেমে এসেছে বলে অনুমিত হয়।
In 1941 the ratio of Hindus in present day Bangladesh was 28 percent. In 1947 after the partition of India the figure dropped to 22 percent when the mass migration started. The following decades saw an increase of attacks on minorities and the continuation of migration. The figures dropped further in 1961 to 18.5 percent, in 1974 to 13.5 percent, in 1981 to 12.1 percent and in 1991 to 10 percent. In recent times, it is assumed that the figure has dropped further to 8 percent.
These continuous attacks on minorities have disgraced the nation, wrote Zahid Newaz Khan:
বারবারই সংখ্যালঘুদের উপর আক্রমণ জাতি হিসেবে আমাদের সভ্যতার মান ও নির্লিপ্ততার প্রমাণ।
— zahid newaz khan (@znewaz) January 6, 2014
These repeated attacks on minorities and our silence show the quality of civilization in our nation.
Different protests have been arranged across the country, like this
Facebook event, which featured a protest rally in front of the National Museum in Shahbag on 8 January 2014.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)