text:
Powerful Quake Leaves Several Dead and Scores Injured Across India and Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Earthquake location 29km west of Imphal, Manipur, India. Screenshot of map from USGS website.
A powerful 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit Imphal, the capital of the northeast Indian state of Manipur, in the early morning of 4 January 2015, followed by several aftershocks. The earthquake was felt strongly from many locations in India's east as well as parts of neighboring Bangladesh, which lies west of the quake’s epicenter. Neighbouring Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan were also touched by the tremor.
Many buildings in Imphal and surrounding places experienced structural damage, and mud houses were destroyed in nearby villages.
At the time of writing, at least six people were killed and 90 injured in India. In Bangladesh, so far four people were killed in earthquake-related incidents and a number of buildings were damaged.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake was caused by sections of the earth rubbing alongside each other at vertical, or nearly vertical, fracture points in what is known as a strike-slip fault.
The earthquake hit at 4:35 in the morning local time at a depth of 17 kilometres below the ground level. People who felt the shaking took to Twitter to update the world.
Aaman Wadud tweeted from Guwahati, about 300 kilometres from the epicentre:
Just experienced the strongest #earthquake of my life. Guwahati is shaken. It's 4:41AM and my entire neighbourhood is out on street.
— Aman Wadud (@AmanWadud) January 3, 2016
Sorokhaibam Akee posted an image of a damaged building:
Building collapse at Dewlaland, Imphal #Manipur #Earthquake. It were 6 floor. Photos by Deepak Shija pic.twitter.com/vquRIexD4S
— Sorokhaibam Akee (@ahaiyoh) January 4, 2016
Amy Devich tweeted:
Patients are told to stay outside as Imphal Hospital suffered huge cracks in the building. pic.twitter.com/qrtqvYGpKu
— †aмy devιcн† (@avidchyme) January 4, 2016
Facebook activated its safety check tool for Manipur earthquake.
YouTube user Storm Chaser uploaded a video of further quake damage:
The mainstream media soon were updating:
WATCH: Building collapsed in Imphal after #earthquake hit the region https://t.co/fGV8uD9cKP
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2016
Walls of building collapsed in Imphal after earthquake hit the region pic.twitter.com/wNZZ4AU4bs
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 4, 2016
Nine aftershocks follow main earthquake in northeast India https://t.co/Rtaip9TkVn pic.twitter.com/zgfbAkVOYi
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) January 4, 2016
Data Scientist K Rahul Dev Sharma stayed on the story throughout the day:
Frustrating to see slow response from local authorities in #Manipur #ManipurEarthquake
— K Rahul Dev Sharma (@KRahulDevSharma) January 4, 2016
#ManipurEarthquake Total blackout. No power supply for hours. Internet on smartphones remains the only source of information. @NDRFHQ
— K Rahul Dev Sharma (@KRahulDevSharma) January 4, 2016
Chitra Ahanthem reported on various issues surrounding the earthquake, such as the need for donated blankets and criticism of the integrity of local structures:
The seismic centre at Manipur Univ puts epicentre in Tamenglong.major cracks reported from area #earthquake
— Chitra Ahanthem (@ChitraAhanthem) January 4, 2016
Women protesting poor quality of construction that led to Ima Keithel damages pic.twitter.com/LdiKL75pee
— Chitra Ahanthem (@ChitraAhanthem) January 4, 2016
those wanting to help for #earthquake in Imphal:extent of damage and casualties not high.but folks need blankets
— Chitra Ahanthem (@ChitraAhanthem) January 4, 2016
Imphal’s iconic Ima Market, presumably the world’s only market where all the traders are women, has been damaged.
Ima keithel.. The famous ima market suffered some structural damages #manipur #earthquake pic.twitter.com/a2wheI7rkl
— Яonald Thangeo (@RonaldThangeo) January 4, 2016
Crowdsourced images on the Facebook page of website Finding The Voice showed scenes of destruction. A commenter, Luwang Laiva wrote:
As of today, the safety within the premises of Ema market cannot be guaranteed… after shockwaves are likely to hit anytime soon.. I hope the authorities do the necessary asap to avoid any casualties…
When the quake hit Bangladesh, thousands of people rushed into the streets of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, about 350 kilometres from the epicentre. Most of the deaths in Bangladesh were due to panic rush. At least 29 people were taken to hospital with injuries.
Bangladeshis were tweeting about the quake.
The earthquake was like alarm…woke everyone up, here in Bangladesh. Waiting for the aftershocks of this quake now. Be safe, everyone.
— Osman Gani (@Poet_Osman) January 4, 2016
Earth Quake in Bangladesh at about 05.05 hrs pic.twitter.com/8JOG12uc8Z
— Md Shafiul Islam (@shafiulislam5) January 3, 2016
This earthquake has raised many questions about preparedness in Bangladesh. A Daily Star report today quoting the Ministry of Relief and Disaster Management revealed that there are over 72,000 risky buildings in Dhaka city prone to earthquakes.

author: Rezwan


text:
Social Media Users Get Creative in Response to Ukrainian President’s Fake Magazine Cover · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gets image editing help from the RuNet. Original image by WEF on Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
Shortly after New Year, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeted a photo of a cover of The Economist magazine featuring his face among many other international leaders. The magazine cover turned out to be fake and resulted in a perfect storm of parodies and memes on the Russian-speaking Internet.
On January 3, Poroshenko posted a photo of the magazine to Twitter (cached archival copy) and added a cryptic caption:
Screencap of the viral Poroshenko tweet, now deleted.
Some gifts I take not as a compliment, but as a personal responsibility. Adding this to my agenda for the holidays.
Eagle-eyed social media users quickly noticed that Poroshenko's image of the magazine cover was doctored. The real issue of The Economist is titled “The World in 2016″ (not 2017) and includes the face of Vladimir Putin (replaced by Poroshenko's image in the edited version).
The real The Economist cover (left) and its edited version courtesy of Poroshenko's press staff (right). Image from Twitter.
It is unclear why Poroshenko and his social media team decided to publish it on his official Twitter feed. After the photo caused mass mirth and started going viral, the tweet was deleted. The Presidential Administration's press service defended the feat on Facebook, writing that it was their idea to edit the title and images on the cover, and that the whole thing was nothing more than a holiday joke.
Russian officials were among those who reacted critically to the doctored image. Aleksei Pushkov, head of the Russian State Duma's foreign affairs committee, was especially vitriolic about Poroshenko's “daydreams” of replacing Putin on the global political arena.
Хроники Нарнии: Порошенко всерьез воспринял себя на обложке The Есоnomist рядом с лидерами ФРГ,США,Индии,Китая..Грезы, далекие от реальности
— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) January 3, 2016
The Narnia Chronicles: Poroshenko seriously sees himself on The Economist cover next to leaders of Germany, US, India, China.. Daydreams far removed from reality.
In return, Poroshenko's press staff lamented the “lack of humor” their idea had met with in official circles and on social media.
Окрім маси позитивних поширень з офіційних сторінок цей пост викликав також не новорічну бурхливу реакцію окремих підписників та російських змі. Останні без жодної краплини гумору, сприйняли цю обкладинку як цілком реальну перспективу втрати Росією місця серед світових лідерів.
Але з огляду на те, що це був наш подарунок Президенту до Нового року, ми б хотіли, щоб подібні святкові ідеї сприймались з часткою жарту, і обов'язково через призму пошуку Україною свого місця в світі.
Besides a slew of positive shares from the official pages, this post also caused an entirely non-New Year violent reaction of some subscribers and the Russian media. The latter, without a single drop of humor, took the cover as an entirely real possibility of Russia losing its place among the world leaders.
But since this was our New Year's gift to the President, we'd like such festive ideas to be taken with a grain of humor, and always through the lens of Ukraine searching for its place in the world.
However, no one can get away with accusing the Internet of a “lack of humor.” The social media meme machine had already been set in motion, with RuNet users mocking Poroshenko's image editing skills and suggesting other magazine covers Poroshenko could grace, Rolling Stone and Vogue among them.
Порошенко освоил фотошоп! pic.twitter.com/JyRQgX8p6i
— Dru (@nikalies) January 4, 2016
Poroshenko has mastered Photoshop!
Suggested covers featuring “shopped-in” Poroshenko included this Playboy gem. Image from Twitter.
А чего Порошенко твит то удалил? Дальше бы фотошопил свою рожу на обложки журналов pic.twitter.com/UYireYOrJG
— Мюсли Лаврова (@LavrovMuesli) January 4, 2016
Why did Poroshenko delete the tweet? He could have kept on photoshopping his mug onto magazine covers.
Pro-Kremlin media weren't far behind, with outlets like Vesti and Ministry of Defense channel TV Zvezda quickly catching onto the trending story and gathering some of the photoshopped covers.
#Порошенко стал героем фотожаб из-за фейковой обложки The Economist https://t.co/1eh4GAMNpU Фото: соцсети #фотожабы pic.twitter.com/PMnnf86uBC
— Телеканал ЗВЕЗДА (@zvezdanews) January 4, 2016
Poroshenko has become the hero of photoshoops because of a fake The Economist cover.
Photos from social networks
Playboy Порошенко: президент Украины наконец-то пришел к успеху https://t.co/hRSzBQSEGZ
— Вести.Ru (@vesti_news) January 4, 2016
Playboy Poroshenko: Ukraine's President finally achieves success.
In turn, some enterprising users offered their alternatives to what the “World in 2016″ would look like, basing their creations on the current RuNet memes. Unlike Putin, it seems, Poroshenko did not get a feature in this particular forecast.
Долучайте до порядку денного pic.twitter.com/VvIvAvgN71
— таня (@kotanya) January 3, 2016
Add this to your agendas.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Tanya Lokot


text:
An Indigenous Toddler Was Murdered in Cold Blood, but Brazil Barely Took Notice · Global Voices
Fernanda Canofre

Security camera footage shows suspect approaching mother and child. Screenshot image.
In the afternoon of December 30, a Kaingang mother was breastfeeding her 2-year-old son while sitting on the sidewalk outside a bus station in the city of Imbituba, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. They had been sleeping there for a few days together with a group of other indigenous people, who had made the the eight-hour journey by bus from the city of Chapecó to Imbituba in order to sell their handcrafted art.
In Santa Catarina, a state located in the south of Brazil, the end of the year is when its famous beaches are flooded with tourists coming from other states and neighboring countries such Uruguay and Argentina. Many indigenous people see the influx of visitors as an opportunity to make some money by selling their art, so, it’s common to see groups staying in bus stations to be closer to their potential customers.
The young mother was holding her baby while resting her back against the wall when a stranger approached them. Security camera footage showed that the man first touched the baby’s face and then cut his throat with a small blade. As he ran away, the mother yelled for help, but 2-year-old Vitor Pinto was soon dead.
This brazen murder of a toddler, killed in his mother’s arms in broad daylight, didn’t make headlines in Brazil. Few media bothered to report what happened. As expressed by journalist Eliane Brum, writing in her column for Spanish newspaper El País:
Se fosse meu filho, ou de qualquer mulher branca de classe média, assassinado nessas circunstâncias, haveria manchetes, haveria especialistas analisando a violência, haveria choro e haveria solidariedade. E talvez houvesse até velas e flores no chão da estação rodoviária, como nas vítimas de terrorismo em Paris. Mas Vitor era um índio. Um bebê, mas indígena. Pequeno, mas indígena. Vítima, mas indígena. Assassinado, mas indígena. Perfurado, mas indígena. Esse “mas” é o assassino oculto. Esse “mas” é serial killer.
If it had been my son, or any other white middle-class woman’s child, murdered under those circumstances, there would be headlines, there would be specialists analyzing violence, there would be crying and there would be solidarity. And maybe there would be candles and flowers at the bus station’s floor, as the ones’ laid out for the victims of terrorism in Paris. But Vitor was indigenous. A baby, but indigenous. Small, but indigenous. A victim, but indigenous. Murdered, but indigenous. Perforated, but indigenous. This “but” is the hidden murderer. This “but” is a serial killer.
Illustration of a fight between indigenous people and militias during Brazil's Colonial era, by Johann Moritz Rugendas. Public domain
Ever since Latin America became a “European business” — as journalist Eduardo Galeano used to say — indigenous lives have always been the cheapest ones on the continent. That's not news. “Racism against indigenous people is historical,” as Brazilian historian Waldir Rampinelli pointed out during an interview with Radio Campeche after Vitor’s murder:
Assim que a gente se tornou indepente, para os indígenas nada mudou […] Esse preconceito contra os indígenas chega até os dias de hoje. Tanto é que matar um indígena na rodoviária de Imbituba, aparentemente, é um crime muito menor do que matar uma criança branca numa rodoviária de Florianópolis.
As soon as [Brazil] became independent, nothing changed for the indigenous peoples […] This prejudice against indigenous peoples prevails today. So much so that killing an indigenous individual at Imbituba’s bus station is apparently a much smaller crime than killing a white child in a Florianópolis [state capital] bus station.
Elaine Tavares, a journalist based in Santa Catarina where Vitor was killed, notes that when Spanish and Portuguese explorers arrived in Latin America, indigenous people were branded “non-humans, second-class citizens, unfaithful, useless”:
Ao longo de todos esses séculos foi sendo construída uma imagem negativa do indígena, justamente para que pudesse ser justificada a invasão e o roubo de suas terras e riquezas. Os índios são vistos como um atrapalho, uma lembrança desconfortável do massacre. Por isso que o melhor acaba sendo confiná-los em alguma “reserva” longe dos olhos das gentes. Mas, se eles decidem sair e dividir a vida no mundo branco, aí a coisa fica feia.
Through all these centuries, a negative image of indigenous peoples has been built, only to justify the invasion, the robbery of their lands and riches. Indigenous peoples are seen as something standing in the way, an uncomfortable remembrance of the massacre. That is why the best solution ends up being to confine them in some “reserve,” away from other people's eyes. But if they decide to go out and share the white world’s life, then the thing becomes ugly.
There is the gruesome reality of Brazil. In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, for example, at least 300 indigenous individuals have been killed in land disputes in the recent past. Many indigenous leaders have been trying to call attention to what they call a genocide happening in the country, in which organized militias have killed indigenous people. Still, little to no debate has been created on the matter. Some of the victims have been Guarani-Kaiowá, the ethnicity that leads in suicides in Brazil. According to a New York Times article, suicides among the tribe are 12 times higher than the national average.
Indigenous people protest outside Brazil's Supreme Court. Image: Wilson Dias/AgênciaBrasil/CC 3.0
Throughout the entire country, with some differences in the regional context from state to state, Brazil's indigenous struggle to get their lands recognised and demarcated. While waiting, many have to live on the side of highways or on the streets. President Dilma Roussef’s government has the worst record of demarcation in 30 years.
Congress is about to vote on a constitutional amendment to change how the land demarcation process is done. If approved, PEC 215 will transfer the final decision on indigenous land demarcation and property from the executive branch to the legislative. In effective, that would put the final word on traditional indigenous lands into the hands of Congress and its farmer lobby — the ruralistas.
Meanwhile, more fuel is being added to land disputes. In November, a reserve in Florianópolis was invaded by the former owner who did not accepted the amount paid to return the lands to the indigenous people. A month prior to the invasion, a judge had ruled against the man, on the basis that he knew those were indigenous lands when he first purchased the property. The tribe chief Eunice Antunes, also known as Kerexu Yxapyry, had already reported receiving death and persecution threats before the invasion, but no action was taken.
Two days after Vitor's murder, the 23-year-old suspect turned himself to the police confessing to killing the toddler. He decided to come forward because he said he feared for his life, though he hasn't given a motive. Some have speculated that he may be psychologically disturbed.
But if there's not much to say about his killer yet, Vitor's death speaks volumes about how Brazil treats its native peoples. In the words of Eliane Brum:
Quem continua morrendo de assassinato no Brasil, em sua maioria, são os negros, os pobres e os índios. […] Estamos nus. E nossa imagem é horrenda. Ela suja de sangue o pequeno corpo de Vitor por quem tão poucos choraram.
Those who continue to die by murder in Brazil, in their majority, are black people, poor people and indigenous people. […] We are naked. And our image is horrendous. It stains with blood the small body of Vitor for who so little have cried.

author: Fernanda Canofre


text:
Venezuela’s Constitutionally Protected Healthcare Not Reaching Indigenous Warao Community · Global Voices
Minerva Vitti

Despite their ever-present status in Venezuelan governmental politics, indigenous communities like the Warao find themselves in extreme poverty—very far from being able to access basic rights, such as healthcare. Photos by the author.
The original version of this article is from a study carried out by Minerva Vitti and was published by SIC magazine, Venezuela.
“Indigenous peoples have the right to comprehensive healthcare that takes into account their practices and cultures,” reads Chapter VIII of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. “The State shall recognize their traditional medicine and its complementary therapies, subject to bioethical principles.”
The above implies that health services must be adapted to the cultural particularities and necessities of each indigenous people. It's not the only place where this promise appears. It also figures in some form within the constitution's preamble and the Fundamental Law of Indigenous Peoples and Communities, as well as in Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization's Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, which Venezuela ratified in 2002.
Nevertheless, the right to indigenous healthcare is being compromised by authorities in light of the multiple failures presented by the clinics in the 345 communities that cling to the distributaries of the Orinoco Delta, located in the eastern part of the country.
Within this region lies San Francisco de Guayo, located in the municipality of Antonio Díaz in the state of Delta Amacuro. This is where Venezuela's second largest indigenous population, the Warao people, can be found, who make up 7 percent of Venezuela's native peoples, after the 58 percent who belong to the Wayuu people in Zulia State, located in the western part of the country.
This population of approximately 3,000 inhabitants relies on the “Hermana Isabel López” rural hospital, where the crisis in indigenous communities healthcare is plainly obvious. The hospital's electric generators broke down months ago and responses to requests to repair them cannot be fulfilled in Venezuela due to the import crisis for various types of electrical equipment. This makes the area dependent upon town staff, who provide very irregular service.
About 20 days ago, one of the zone's inhabitants reported that they had gone 20 days without electricity. Doctors must attend to emergencies by candlelight, and more than one child has died, due particularly to meconium aspiration syndrome, where newborns die because they inhale their first feces during childbirth. Also, the lights have gone out at the hospital many times during deliveries.
Limitations on resources reaching hospitals has translated into the death of many indigenous people in the Warao community. One of these resources is the Guayo river ambulance, the only way to carry emergency patients from the state to the capital for treatment. Photo by author and used with permission.
The hospital's water ambulance is also damaged. On one occasion, a six-month-old baby with a severe case of diarrhea had to be taken to Tucupita hospital, a five-hour boat ride (depending upon the motor's horsepower and the strength of the current). The transfer was impossible and the doctor and family members had to give up. Another case involved a Warao boy with tuberculosis, who died when he could not be transferred to Tucupita, the state capital.
The Hermana Isabel López Hospital has also experienced medical supply shortages. Among the numerous medical supplies which are lacking are pediatric Yelco's, a type of catheter that is introduced into the tissue or vein to extract blood, inject pharmaceuticals, or drain liquids. As an alternative, doctors must use adult-sized Yelcos, causing children great pain or even piercing their bones. Nevertheless, there is no other alternative in cases of dehydration, where the result would be fatal. Another scarce medication is sulphur cream, which is important in controlling Norwegian scabies or mange — something very common in the region.
In addition to all this, the refrigerator to keep vaccines cool broke down in October 2014, resulting in children no longer being immunized. According to a resident of San Francisco de Guayo:
Aquí ni siquiera donan medicinas, pero sí vienen a buscar su voto […]. Ni siquiera tenemos luz para conservar nuestra comida, pero estoy segura que habrá luz [durante] las elecciones y [no] después. La gobernadora prometió dar una ambulancia fluvial y un transporte para la comunidad y aún no ha llegado nada […] Si a nuestros mismos líderes indígenas no les duelen nuestros hermanos, qué van a sentir los demás hacia nosotros.
They don't even give out medicines here, but they do come for your vote […]. We don't even have electricity to keep our food, though I'm sure it will come on [during] the elections but [not] afterwards.The governor promised to get a river ambulance and community transportation but nothing has shown up yet […] If even our own indigenous leaders don't care about our brothers, how will others care about us?
The same situation is repeated at the Dr. Luis Gómez Health Center, located in the Nabasanuka community (also in the Amacuro Delta), where the lack of medical supplies and the absence of a river ambulance have led to increased deaths among the Warao. What medicines there are have been brought by rural doctors and medical interns who have worked at obtaining them through donations: “If they didn't come here there would be nothing,” said one of the nurses.
According to the community's leader and representative, Mr. Conrado Moraleda, the latest case involved an indigenous mother in an advanced state of pregnancy. An immediate transfer was not possible, as there was no ambulance service available. The result was the death of both the mother and the baby.
In the long term, the suffering of these communities can be seen as a grave but silent threat. The lack of effective public policies concerning healthcare puts these peoples and their ancestral knowledge at permanent risk of disappearance. In the same way, the limitations experienced by these communities are also connected to other problems with a common source, creating a shameful characteristic common to the other indigenous communities of Latin America.
The original version of this article is from a study carried out by Minerva Vitti and was published by SIC magazine, Venezuela.

author: Minerva Vitti


text:
Inside Ethiopia’s Self-Defeating Crackdown on Oromo Musicians · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Oromo singer Hawi Tezera. Photo from her official Facebook page.
While journalists and bloggers remain the primary targets of state repression in Ethiopia, musicians that don't jive with state propaganda also take the heat.
Hawi Tezera, an ethnic Oromo singer, was reportedly beaten, arrested, released and then rearrested in the space of just seven days by government security forces in connection with her song about ongoing protests in Oromia, a southern administrative region that is Ethiopia’s largest.
Two other Oromo singers, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told this author over Facebook chat that they have been under intense surveillance since anti-government protests began in the region in November.
According to some estimates, over a hundred demonstrators have died in unrest that began after the government made plans for the expansion of the capital Addis Ababa into land inhabited by the Oromo ethnic group, which accounts for almost a third of Ethiopia's population.
In the last two decades, Oromo singers who gravitate towards political and social activism have been subjected to intimidation, abductions and torture.
There are also more musicians-in-exiles among the culturally distinct Oromo group than any of Ethiopia's other major groups.
One of the most recognisable victims of this slow purge was iconoclastic Oromo singer, Ebisa Adugna, who civic activists believe was killed by Ethiopian government forces in 1996.
Dawite Mekonen, widely known for streamlining Oromo traditional music with more contemporary styles in the 1990s, went into exile after refusing to perform for soldiers at war front during Ethio-Eritrean war in 1998.
Elefenesh Keno, arguably the most important female vocalist of Oromo language of all time was forced into exile in Norway around the same time, while vocalist Hirpa Ganfure also releases songs from the Scandanavian country having been forced to leave Ethiopia the same year as Dawite.
These are just few of the better-known examples of Ethiopia’s repression of Oromo musicians.
Musicians of all backgrounds that go against the government line find it difficult to get a gig or airtime on Ethiopia's radio stations.
One example of this trend is the last-minute cancellation last year of two concerts featuring Teddy Afro, a prominent Amharic singer and song writer.Teddy has a great popular appeal and is widely known as the most successful musician in Ethiopia.
Teddy, who was released from imprisonment on hit and run charges he always denied in 2009, said his team was refused permission to hold the concerts scheduled for last September, without speculating as to why.
It seems most likely the cancellations are part of a continuing government campaign against the musician since his release of songs critical of the regime in 2005, three years before he was imprisoned.
However, censorship is noticeably harsher as  regards the Oromo, Ethiopia's single largest ethnic group, which is viewed as a threat by a government packed with politicians from the northern Tigray minority.
According to reports at least 17 Oromo singers whose lyrics show “nationalistic tendencies” were banned from air waves in December 2015 by the Ethiopian Broadcast Authority.
Oromo singers often produce music that articulates strong pride in their national and cultural heritage, whether through lyrics or the incorporation of traditional instruments and melodies.
The latest ban has encompassed songs that appear to be far from overtly nationalistic, including the songs of the two musicians the author interviewed for this piece.
This signifies a clampdown on even moderate forms of cultural self-expression.
According to academic Michael Shawn Mollenhauer, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the topic of censorship of Oromo culture in Ethiopia, the current government uses Oromo musicians  to present a facade of cultural diversity while systematically imprisoning and intimidating independent singers.
Hawi Tezera's story is an indicator that the state's grip on any form of freedom of expression is getting ever-tighter, with controls over music reaching a new low.
However, the crackdown is not having the desired effect.
In fact, Oromo songs with political undertones are actually seeing a resurgence, with this author tallying over 300+ songs on YouTube and Facebook alone since 2014, as the Internet provides an alternative space for musicians to defy the blanket of state censorship.
If anything, music censorship has helped strengthen Oromo nationalism.
The overwhelming majority of Oromos already felt that their identity was being attacked unjustly, and the intensification of state harassment against a background of growing political unrest is tipping them over the edge.
This story was commissioned by Freemuse, the leading defender of musicians worldwide, and Global Voices for Artsfreedom.org. The article may be republished by non-commercial media, crediting the author Endalk, Freemuse and Global Voices and linking to the origin.

author: Endalkachew Chala


text:
Inspired by Ancient Traditions, Women in Latin America Embrace Natural Gynecology · Global Voices
Rhea Page

Femme black body. Image taken from the Flickr account of Franck Réthoré under Creative Commons license.
In today's society, we are faced with a growing social and cultural tendency for women to disconnect themselves from their bodies. Rather than learning to understand for themselves what is going on ‘down there’, women prefer to listen to doctors and pharmacists, unaware that the remedies they seek may be in the plants and earth around them.
In Latin America, a renaissance has begun in the form of ‘natural gynecology’. Women are incorporating ancient teachings of self-care into their modern day lives. These women are not only reclaiming their bodies, but also reclaiming their ancestral traditions as they embrace the teachings passed down from generation to generation.
Using social media as a platform to spread the word, the concept of natural gynecology is steadily gathering interest from all corners of the world. Enthusiasts have taken to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with pages such as Mulheres da Terra (Women of the Earth), Ginecologia Natural (Natural Gynecology) and Parir con Placer (Give Birth With Pleasure) to build online communities encouraging women to embrace ancient traditions, share their experiences with others and discuss the female anatomy in an endeavor to dissolve the taboo surrounding vaginas.
This movement offers an alternative to the medicalization of the human condition and encourages women instead to explore the relationship between mind, body and earth. From using plants and roots to cure infections, to learning about the connection between lunar and menstrual cycles, these pages inspire women to take our bodies back into our own hands.
Perez's Introductory Manual to Natural Gynecology. Image used under the Creative Commons license.
Pabla Pérez San Martín is the Chilean woman at the roots of one of these communities, the Ginecología Naural project. She recently released a book entitled ‘Manual Introductorio a la Ginecología Natural’ (Introductory Manual to Natural Gynecology). Growing up in the countryside of Valparaíso, Chile, Pabla was taught by her grandmother from a young age about the earth and its natural remedies. As she grew up, Pabla began an exploration around Latin America where she met groups of indigenous women who shared their knowledge and experiences through word of mouth.
Pabla's blog features articles such as “Menstruation increases my libido“, “From the body to the roots” and “Vaginal fluids: Silent guardians“. She explains that the project isn't about encouraging people to abandon medical professionals, but rather being aware of all the options available and having a basic understanding of the subject.
El poder del autoconocimiento es fortísimo; nos entrega herramientas y saberes que antes permanecían ocultos o más bien olvidados. Vernos, sentirnos y comprendernos a nosotras mismas desde una óptica propia, fuera de la estandarización social, nos ayudará en la conexión, valoración y disfrute de nuestra sexualidad.
Self-awareness is so powerful; it provides us with tools and knowledge which have in the past remained hidden or even forgotten. To see ourselves, touch ourselves and understand ourselves through our own eyes, outside of social norms, will help us to connect, value and enjoy our sexuality.
While many women might run to the chemist at the first sign of a yeast infection, Pabla recommends using garlic or natural yoghurt to cure the infection and goldenseal root for any itchiness. Rather than washing with harsh soaps, how about using an infusion made from raspberry leaf, fresh root of ginger and flowers and leaves from the yarrow plant? One invention she talks about which has become popular worldwide is the menstrual cup, described as ‘a healthy, hygienic, comfortable and ecological alternative to tampons and sanitary towels’. She even offers instructions on how to make your own eco-friendly sanitary towel.
‘We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn’. Image used under the Creative Commons license
Taking sexual health back to its roots, the communities offer much more than lessons on the advantages of natural gynecology — there is also a sense of sisterhood in the passing on of wisdom from generation to generation, enlightening and empowering women.
A post on the Ginecología Naural blog explains:
Nunca jamás la mujer necesito un/a médico para desarrollarse sexualmente, procrear, vivir libre, y sanamente … Es la realidad que se vivió y se continúa viviendo en muchas partes del mundo …[tal como en las] comunidades Quichua y Shuar de la selva del Amazonas en Ecuador, en donde las mujeres suelen parir solas, en la mayoría de los casos sin parteras, sin dolor, sin miedo, sin cesáreas, sin muertes
Women do not need medical help for their sexual health, for procreation, for living a life that is free and healthy. This has been, and continues to be now the reality for women in many parts of the world, such as in the Quichua and Shuar communities of the Amazon jungle, where women often give birth alone, in the majority of cases without midwives, without pain, without fear, without caesareans, without death

author: Rhea Page


text:
Online Cultural Hub ‘Voces Étnicas’ Seeks to Revitalize Indigenous Customs in Mexico · Global Voices
Giovanna Salazar

Photograph taken with permission from the official website of Voces Étnicas (Ethnic Voices). Taken from the article “Our world and our words,” by Sergio Abraham Barrera.
In Mexico, indigenous traditions and customs that are in danger of disappearing have found refuge in the cultural association Voces Étnicas (Ethnic Voices, in Spanish), which is playing a key role in their regeneration by recognizing and promoting them online.
Voces Étnicas was born with the goal of:
[…] rescatar y difundir, mediante la aplicación de diversas técnicas de investigación las tradiciones y costumbres de las comunidades indígenas de México, a través de una visión humanística y perceptiva, con el fin de informar y sensibilizar a la sociedad sobre estos temas de arraigo nacional.
[…] restoring and broadcasting, through the application of various research techniques, the traditions and customs of indigenous communities in Mexico, with a humanist and perceptive vision, in order to inform and raise awareness in society around these issues of our national roots.
Their website provides a platform for a multitude of legends, tales, stories, fables, myths, epics, poems and indigenous codices that show part of the worldview of the different ethnic groups who call Mexico home.
Take the “Legend of the Creation of the Hummingbird,” for example:
Cuentan que los Dioses mayas crearon todas las cosas en la Tierra; cada animal, cada árbol y cada piedra. Pero cuando ya habían terminado, notaron que no había nadie encargado de llevar sus deseos y pensamientos de un lugar a otro.
Como ya no tenían barro ni maíz para hacer otro animal, tomaron una piedra de jade y con ella tallaron una flecha muy pequeña, y cuando estuvo lista, soplaron sobre ella y la pequeña flecha salió volando. Ya no era más una simple flecha, ahora tenía vida, los dioses habían creado al X ts’unu’um. […]
They say that the Mayan Gods created all things on Earth; every animal, every tree and every stone. But when they had finished, they noticed that there was no one in charge of carrying their wishes and thoughts from one place to another.
Since they didn't have any more mud or corn to make another animal, they took a stone of jade and with it they carved out a very small arrow, and when it was ready, they blew on it and the little arrow lifted up in flight. It was no longer a simple arrow, now it had life, the Gods had created the X ts’unu’um (hummingbird).
Traditional art, music and dance all have a place in the platform's multimedia category. In particular, their Vimeo channel showcases short videos that revitalize and teach native languages. In the video below, several people pronounce the phrase “Venerable Mother Earth of mine, listen to our hearts” in the Nahuatl language:
Many of their outreach efforts are through social media, particularly their Facebook page, where they provide daily fun facts, photographs, downloadable books and digital documents with meaningful information, working with and for the indigenous peoples and communities of the region.
Image taken with permission from the Voces Étnicas Facebook page. Image reads: “If only you knew how much I love you” first in the Zapotec language, then in Spanish.
Far from promoting the stereotypes and other dominant narratives that end up tearing apart the rights of indigenous nations, Voces Étnicas is dedicated precisely to giving a voice to the members of different indigenous communities. It allows them to produce and reproduce information in their own interest, which, upon making it publicly accessible, provides constructive cultural exchanges and benefits that foster emerging “voicers” (voceros in Spanish), as they are called, from indigenous cultures. The platform's significance as a digital medium for restoration and revitalization stems from this idea.
Follow their work mainly through their official website and their profile on Facebook. They are also found on Vimeo, YouTube and Twitter.

author: Giovanna Salazar


text:
Starving to Death: Images from Madaya, Syria, You Don’t Want to See · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Forty thousand people live in this Syria town, Madaya, where they have been starving to death and surrounded by landmines for the past six months. Photo credit: Madaya page on Facebook
Forty thousand people, living in the Syrian town of Madaya, in the Qalamoun mountain range, are reportedly dying from starvation as the world watches in silence, activists say. The small mountainous town, 1,400 metres above sea level, is located 40 kilometres north of Damascus in the governorate of Rif Dimashq, alongside the Lebanese border, and has been besieged by Syrian government forces backed by Hizbulla militia, who are preventing food and aid from reaching it since July.
It is at the centre of a struggle between different factions embroiled in fighting across Syria, and its people are paying the price.
In a report published yesterday, along with harrowing photographs of starving Syrians and Madaya residents who have died from starvation, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) explained what was happening (Editor's note: Global Voices has chosen to not republish the photos because of their graphic nature):
People of Madaya city are still starving to death since 174 days due to the strict siege by regime forces and Hezbollah, the city contains 40,000 people including 20,000 civilians who fled their houses in Zabdani which witnessed violent clashes and heavy bombardment by regime forces and air forces.
SOHR observed hundreds of landmines planted by Hezbollah and al-Assad forces around Madaya city in addition to cutting the city off the surrounding areas by barbed wires and high wires to prevent any stealing in or out operations, the city contains 1200 chronic medical conditions, and 300 children suffering malnutrition and different medical conditions, amid sharp lack of medical and food supplies what caused a dramatic rise in the prices of food supplies, 1 kg of sugar or rice costs 3600 SP which is about 90 USD, SOHR documented the death of 17 civilians including women and children due to the lack of food and medicine, or by landmines, and snipers during attempts to gather food around the town.
News reports say the people of Madaya have been eating leaves from plants, insects, and even cats, after their food has run out. On its Facebook page, Hand in Hand for Syria paints a more horrid picture:
Most of the photos coming out of the small town of Madaya (in the suburbs of Damascus) are too graphic to share. Shocking images depict the true face of human desperation; people reduced to mere skeletons – with sunken eyes and protruding rib-cages, waiting for death to claim their name next.
For the past 6 months, the people of Madaya have been living under siege. Crops and food supplies have dwindled, leaving nothing but desperation behind. The remaining food in the town has become so expensive that most people simply cannot afford to buy food to eat.
They started by boiling crops. When the crops finished, they would boil grass and plants…then insects. When the malnutrition became unbearable, people began to resort to eating cats.
Cats.
To date, starvation has claimed the lives of more than 50 people in the town. Malnutrition is rife, and with the cold winter weather starting to set in, thousands of people are at an increased risk of developing hypothermia.
But the world is not flinching, according to blogger BSyria, who notes:
Assad is starving Madaya. Children, women and men are starving to death. The world is just watching.
— BSyria (@BSyria) January 4, 2016
According to Raed Bourhan, a Syrian fixer who is based in Beirut, Lebanon, winter setting in is further exacerbating an already dire situation in Madaya:
1000s are living in harsh conditions freezing in -5° winter fuel and wood are rarely available. #Madaya_is_starving pic.twitter.com/oAvcVJgmyP
— Raed Bourhan (@raedbrh) January 2, 2016
In another tweet, he shares photographs of children “robbed of their rights” as the war continues in Syria:
#children lost their basic rights of happiness education warmth and hope #Madaya_is_starving #Madaya #Syria pic.twitter.com/q4G8FyR0uD
— Raed Bourhan (@raedbrh) January 2, 2016
And a third tweet explains how prices of food have skyrocketed in the besieged areas, which are surrounded by landmines and snipers who prohibit residents from leaving:
Food prices have hit the records 1kg of cereals and rice cost at least 100$ #Madaya_is_starving #Madaya #Syria pic.twitter.com/uWYgLvzDPg
— Raed Bourhan (@raedbrh) January 2, 2016
Madaya's own Facebook page has launched an appeal calling on activists to protest in solidarity with Madaya in front of Russian embassies (Russia has undertaken airstrikes in Syria) and United Nations offices:
An invitation to activists and human rights and humanitarian organizations around the world, and a protest in solidarity with the besieged Madaya in front of the Russian embassys and UN offices.
#save_madaya
#respond_to_us
Another post pleads with the world to save the children of Madaya:
A Syrian child from Madaya, besieged for the past six months. Photo credit: Madaya page on Facebook
On Facebook, Syrian Kenan Rahbani shares the photographs of starving Madaya residents and notes:
Sorry to post these graphic images, but I must.
These people aren't starving because they are poor, or because there is no food. Hezbollah and the Assad regime are starving the town of Madaya to death. It has been completely besieged and no food, medicine, or water is allowed to enter. The UN is right there but they can't get into the town because Hezbollah and the Assad regime won't let them in.
This is happening in the year 2016 in Syria. And ISIS has nothing to do with it.
And Syrian activist Rafif Joueati wonders how many more people need to die before the world acts:
#Madaya isn't 1st to suffer #starvation siege, not last. Question is, how many more 10s of thousands will die before int'l action? #Syria
— Rafif Jouejati (@RafifJ) January 4, 2016
She also asks:
What happens when there are no more leaves to eat? #Madaya #Syria
— Rafif Jouejati (@RafifJ) January 5, 2016
And wonders:
L3ama. If we said 40,000 puppies were starving to death the whole world would march in protest. Humans? Not so much. #Madaya #Syria
— Rafif Jouejati (@RafifJ) January 5, 2016

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Three Australian Government Ministers Fail Texting 101 · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets the public at Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2015. Photo by Richard Milnes. Copyright @Demotix (8 November 2015)
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Australian government has experienced a series of setbacks since Christmas 2015. Special Minister of State Mal Brough stepped down due to his being investigated by the police. This happened the same day as the forced resignation of Cities Minister Jamie Briggs following an indiscretion at a Hong Kong bar involving a female Australian public servant. Subsequently, the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton committed an embarrassing gaffe by misdirecting an offensive comment.
All three cases involve text messages sent by the politicians that betray a phenomenal lack of judgment or skill.
Brough is alleged to have exchanged text messages illegally soliciting information to discredit a political opponent. Briggs compounded his “inappropriate behaviour” by texting images of the woman concerned to colleagues. And Dutton mistakenly sent an offensive text to the person referred to in the message.
The Brough affair is an ongoing saga dating back to 2012. He is accused of asking James Ashby, a staffer of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives Peter Slipper, to steal extracts from his private official diary.
Part of the evidence against Brough involved text messages exchanged with James Ashby:
Brough's @60Mins admission & texts prove he procured Slipper diary: judgement extract via @BowlerBarrister #Ashbygate pic.twitter.com/ivDc4uny78
— Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) September 23, 2015
Brough is also in the gun for allegedly misleading parliament over the matter. The melodrama can be followed at the #Ashbygate Twitter hashtag.
However, it was the recent behaviour of Briggs and colleague Immigration Minister Peter Dutton that has captured most of the public attention. The first media reports of what happened in Hong Kong with Briggs and the female public servant that led her to make an official complaint against him mentioned an arm around the shoulder, a kiss on the cheek and a remark about piercing eyes.
The scandal has been blazing on several fronts. Firstly, a storm has erupted over the leaking of a photo of the woman to the media. A pixelated version of the image was published on the front page of The Australian newspaper, a Rupert Murdoch publication. Briggs admitted to texting the image to colleagues before and after she made her complaint against him. The vexed issue of the right to privacy quickly sprang to life:
Leaked photo of public servant a disgraceful #privacy breach: union says of Jamie Briggs case https://t.co/TDxBy93GSm via @ABCNews
— QUT IP (@QUT_IP) January 4, 2016
A former Premier of the State of New South Wales questioned Briggs’ mental prowess:
Just when you thought Jamie Briggs couldn't be a bigger idiot: Briggs admits sharing photo of public servant https://t.co/Lf5GD3svo5
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) January 2, 2016
As the cliché goes, you couldn't make this stuff up. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton added farce to the fire when he attempted to send a text message to his besieged colleague Briggs. Instead, he mistakenly sent the following to journalist Samantha Maiden, who had written an opinion piece suggesting Briggs was “booted for being fool“:
mad fucking witch
Maiden accepted the apology and has treated the message with humour:
13 Most Badass Witches of All Time https://t.co/eli5qwyoSZ
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) January 3, 2016
Twitter user Destroy the Joint, whose mission is ‘a call to arms for Australians seeking gender equality & civil discourse’, joked:
I am a #MadWitch and I vote. #feminism #auspol pic.twitter.com/tZ4nmUo9RM
— Destroy The Joint (@JointDestroyer) January 3, 2016
Roland had no doubt about which blunder was the worst:
it's not leaking the photo #briggs nor @PeterDutton_MP attacking @samanthamaiden but @BriggsJamie sending the photo in the first place
— Roland (@_rolandm) January 4, 2016
To add insult to ignominy, prominent blogger Peter Wicks started a Twitter hashtag #JamieBriggsPlaylist:
Touch Too Much #JamieBriggsPlaylist #auspol
— Peter Wicks (@madwixxy) January 3, 2016
Within a couple of hours, the hashtag was top of the Australia trends and received over 1,200 posts in 24 hours.
This suggestion was a popular one:
#jamiebriggsplaylist Don't stand so close to me
— A Citizen of Goldie (@PhilWaren) January 3, 2016
Inevitably, a #PeterDuttonPlaylist sprang to life despite this plea:
Please do not create the #PeterDuttonPlaylist ! https://t.co/HrrRwdp1zj
— Cr Hullabaloo (@Cr_Hull) January 3, 2016
Chairman of Australian Republican Movement and well-known media commentator Peter Fitzsimon expected political consequences:
Not sure that Dutton can hold on, after this. Could be the third scalp in two weeks #auspol https://t.co/Di2WQ3lzU0
— OzRepublic FitzSimon (@Peter_Fitz) January 3, 2016
He may be disappointed. The prime minister has been being accused of weakness over his lack of a decisive response to the latest fiascos:
Hi @TurnbullMalcolm, Just how many times does @PeterDutton_MP need to demonstrate his ineptitude for high office before you act? #AusPol
— Kiera (@KieraGorden) January 3, 2016
Hugh Murdoch applied the 1960s term of male chauvinist pigs (MCP) in his comment on the scandals:
https://t.co/8SPQUuzzZ5 Dutton's language: “clearly inappropriate”? HELLO? Symptomatic of this whole MCP #LNP Govt's attitude to women!
— Hugh Murdoch (@HughMurdoch2) January 4, 2016
Writer and academic Anita Heiss recommended a piece that explores the wider implications of “the way men treat women in the workplace in general”:
Everyone should read @JennaPrice on why Jamie Briggs, and so many men like him, fail to get it https://t.co/MJ2FylmBCE via @theage
— Dr Anita Heiss (@AnitaHeiss) January 4, 2016
Malcolm Turnbull's long honeymoon with voters since he toppled Tony Abbott as prime minister in September 2015 may finally be over:
There's got to be a morning after #PeterDuttonPlaylist #JamieBriggsPlaylist
— Chrisy (@ChrisysPlace) January 3, 2016
Perhaps all members of his ministry need a course in Texting 101.

author: Kevin Rennie


text:
Was Caribbean Cricketer Chris Gayle’s Come-On Sexist or Silly? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica-born West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle. Photo by NAPARAZZI. CC 2.0.
West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle has landed himself in a firestorm of criticism after he hit on Australian sports reporter Melanie McLaughlin during a live television interview. McLaughlin was keen to talk to Gayle about his batting performance — he had just made 41 runs off a mere 15 balls during his innings for the T20 (limited overs) cricket team, Melbourne Renegades, in their Big Bash League match against Hobart Hurricanes — but in response to her question about how he approached the innings, Gayle replied:
I mean…I wanted to come and have an interview with you as well…that's the reason why I'm here, so…just to see your eyes for the first time…it's nice, so hopefully we'll win this game and we can have a drink after…don't blush, baby!
McLaughlin was adamant that she was not blushing — in fact, she looked quite uncomfortable during Gayle's advances — and quickly changed the subject to whether the cricketer had experienced any injuries.
Online disapproval of Gayle's behaviour — and support for McLaughlin — was swift and prounounced, particularly on Twitter:
Well played @Mel_Mclaughlin in flat batting Chris Gayle. Unprofessional & inappropriate from him. #ChrisGayle
— Bedit Banerjee (@bedit) January 4, 2016
That was not harmless fun Chris Gayle It was unrelenting, disrespectful and sordid behaviour on live TV #ChrisGayle #BigBash
— Manish Singh, CFA (@Manish_05Singh) January 4, 2016
#ChrisGayle Chris Gayle teaching all men how not to treat a woman. #trustmeshewasntblushing
— MyNameIsURL (@wrigglyrodger) January 4, 2016
#ChrisGayle took advantage of position. “That's Chris for you” not an excuse. Credit to @Mel_Mclaughlin for how she handled herself. #BBL05
— James Maasdorp (@MaasdorpJR) January 4, 2016
One Twitter user lamented that women often have to deal with these kinds of remarks at work, no matter what profession they choose:
Don't blush baby. The tamer end of what women hear everyday at work. #chrisgayle
— Sophia Cannon (@UndercoverMutha) January 4, 2016
Another added:
It's just a shame it undermines her as a sports presenter. #chrisgayle #BBL05
— maddoxcat (@maddoxxxcat) January 4, 2016
Some Twitter users were so offended that they got personal, bringing the West Indies team into the fray:
If he approached test cricket in the same venom then maybe his country wouldn't have to rely on rain to save their arses #ChrisGayle
— Craig2010✨ (@Craigsta9010) January 4, 2016
Others chose to see the humourous side of the situation:
The most disappointing part of the #ChrisGayle interview is…there actually is nowhere to go out for a drink in Hobart on a Monday night
— Dunc McKenzie McHarg (@duncanmcmc) January 4, 2016
On the other hand, quite a few Internet users thought that the whole fiasco was “much ado about nothing”:
Less Twitter outrage when Isis stones someone to death for ‘crime’ of homosexuality than when #chrisgayle gives 20sec interview. Mental. 🏏
— Tom Heddon (@tommyheddon) January 4, 2016
Too many people get offended too easily, whinge about anything. Chris Gayle is the man #DontBlushBaby #ChrisGayle
— Igor J (@igzzz84) January 4, 2016
feminism has turned into the prohibition of complimenting a female person's eyes and asking her out. #BBL05 #ChrisGayle @BBL
— Rocky [Sammie] Fair (@sammielFair) January 4, 2016
Some Twitter users actually predicted that there would be a huge “gale” over Gayle's comments:
Was clearly a bit of fun but just wait for the outcry. #BBL05 #chrisgayle
— Elkinator1 (@Elkinator1) January 4, 2016
The feminists are going to absolutely launch tomorrow #BBL05 #chrisgayle #boss
— James Schmidt (@schmitty5173) January 4, 2016
On the Trinidad and Tobago news station C News Live's Facebook page, commenters said they expected nothing less (or rather nothing more) of Gayle:
Steups. Lighten up people. Everything is such an issue. Its Gayle. If you follow cricket and know the character of this man you know he's a joker, always making people laugh. Aussies and their Hitler style of cricket. OMG
Duane Rosicky replied:
It's Gayle ??? That's your reasoning. You can't make women feel uncomfortable in the spot light like that doing their job. It comes off negatively. You can see she wanted to leave immediately, why do women that, wrong place wrong timing…
Trinidad-based satirical website Wired868's Mr. Live Wire admitted that Gayle was a bit of a wild card, but said that he misread the play entirely in this case:
It was hard to tell whether Gayle—who is 36 years old going on 15—was channelling his inner-Tiger or bootlegging Austin Powers. Either way, his swipe outside the off stump hit only air.
At the same time, he maintained that:
Gayle did not insult, grope, or intimidate McLaughlin. He was simply childish, cocky, and stupid. So perhaps the penalty should match the crime.
Not everyone was quite as forgiving. On Wired's Facebook page, Vernal Damion Cadogan shared a link of the interview and said:
This is considered sexual harassment in professional environments in the civilized world.
She's a working professional on the job, not a female patron at Aria night club on ladies night, he's a working professional on the job, not a male revelers on carnival day.
His behavior clearly clearly created for her a hostile work environment.
Rose-Marie Ingrid Lemessy-Forde added:
Gayle went too far. It looked unprofessional and school-boyish. Like he never saw a beautiful woman before or he figure because he's Chris Gayle she must be a groupie for him. Hearing the Aussie commentary was enough. He stepped out of line with those crass pick up lines. If it was after the interview it would not be an issue but not during!
At the time of this writing, McLaughlin had not mentioned the incident on her Twitter feed, but Gayle, who may have already been feeling the heat, retweeted this comment by Piers Morgan:
I'm absolutely outraged that everyone's so absolutely outraged by @henrygayle being a bit cheeky to a female TV reporter. #BBL05
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 4, 2016
Whatever side people may be on, Twitter user Kelly Franco succinctly summed up netizens’ reaction to the interview:
Did that really just happen ? #chrisgayle #BBL05
— Kelly franco (@kellyfranco0) January 4, 2016
Gayle has since apologised for his comments. Nevertheless, he will be fined by his team for his “inappropriate” remarks.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Ethiopia Protest Videos Show State Brutality, Despite Tech Barriers · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Students mourning at Haromaya University. Photo shared widely on social media.
Since student protests erupted in Ethiopia last November, numerous mobile phone videos have gone viral on social media, giving a glimpse of the government's brutal and deadly crackdown on demonstrators.
Students in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest regional state, have been demonstrating against the government's so-called developmental “Master Plan” to expand the area of the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia. Students and other citizens, along with many Ethiopians living abroad, believe the move will result in direct persecution of the Oromo ethnic group, which has been systematically marginalized by the government over the last two decades, despite representing Ethiopia's largest ethnic group.
…over the last few days, a picture showing a police officer standing beside a dead body hanging from a tree has been circulating on Facebook. There is no caption or explanation attached to the photo.
Reports indicate that security forces are using violence, including live ammunition, to disperse crowds of peaceful demonstrators at universities in Oromia. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 75 people have been killed by Ethiopian security forces since the protests began. The Horn of Africa Human Rights Council is reporting slightly higher numbers and estimated a death toll of 122 on December 28, 2015.
Although less than four percent of Ethiopians have access to the Internet, activists in the country are using online platforms as a means of articulating protests, networking and presenting news for international readership. Advocates both in and outside of the country upload these videos, usually on their Facebook pages, to show what the Ethiopian government is attempting to hide.
Given the scarcity of reporting by professional photojournalists or correspondents based in Ethiopia, these videos are filling a critical void. But the majority of the images lack necessary context.
A little over 200 videos have been uploaded on different online platforms since the first round of Oromo protests that began around April of 2014. The videos run from seconds to three minutes. The vast majority of them are shot on low-quality mobile phone cameras, and they usually appear out of focus and shaky. Most of the videos show peaceful demonstrations with the protesters holding their arms crossed in the air, chanting slogans of solidarity in the Oromo language. Other videos and pictures show instances of police beatings, use of live ammunition on protesters, and dead and injured people.
Photo published on EthioTube page titled “Pictures from Oromo Protest – Winter 2015″. No attribution or further context for the photo appears on the site.
Most of these materials are initially shared on the Facebook pages of prominent activists. They are routinely rebroadcasted into Ethiopia via diaspora based satellite TV channels ESAT and OMN. They are also frequently uploaded on Ethiopian online platforms such as EthioTube, a video platform run by Ethiopians living abroad. Most of the materials are too gruesome to be shown here. For instance, over the last few days, a picture showing a police officer standing beside a dead body hanging from a tree has been circulating on Facebook. There is no caption or explanation attached to the photo.
Most videos that show police beatings and torture have been captured from a distance. Presumably, those taking footage are attempting to avoid being caught or captured by authorities. This limits the efficacy of the video as evidence — even though the materials show human rights violations, most of the time they do not tell individualized stories that could offer more insight into the ongoing protests.
It also points to critical questions about state monitoring of demonstrators. Anonymity is essential for demonstrators, as government forces are actively searching for dissidents. Although there is significant awareness of this issue among students, many citizen journalists have been publishing their materials online without erasing the easily identifiable metadata and other information on the videos.
In order discredit these messages and other online content, the Ethiopian government has launched a powerful propaganda campaign against the use of the social media. Over the last two weeks, state-owned media organizations broadcasted multiple television and radio programs about how the Internet, and social media in particular, is being used by so-called “forces of harm” to instigate violence and tarnish the image of the country.
On the weekly state television program, “Overview of the Media“, host Fetehawek and pro-government commentators Dawit Kebede and Tadesse Mizane discussed the role of social media in Oromo student protests.
‘‘In relation to the recent Oromo protest some diaspora-based activists are spreading fake images of protests and human atrocities on social media to make it look like it has happened in Ethiopia,” Fetehawek said. He then showed a series of dubious images — some appeared doctored, others looked altogether fake — that the activists allegedly shared on Facebook. He went on to suggest that all materials about Oromo Protest on Facebook are false.
It may be that some protesters have shared fake images on social media. But the volume of images being shared along with corroboration from sources in the country suggests that the many of them are real.
Photo published on EthioTube page titled “Pictures from Oromo Protest – Winter 2015″. No attribution or further context appears on the site.
The program continued with pundit Tadesse Mizane noting that “leading Republican presidential candidate Mr. Donald Trump suggested that closing sections of the Internet is a solution for this.” Dawit Kebede, a producer of Awaramba Times, took this line of thinking even further, arguing that the “Government should arrest people who press the ‘like’ button or ‘share’ such materials.”
The ubiquity of these decontextualized raw images and videos makes it difficult for viewers to see the bigger picture. There are complex stories behind the images, as well as legal implications of using the images against the perpetrators, concerns for victims’ privacy and for the safety of the citizens who are recording the protest using their phones.
Although many of these stories can only be told by the people who are capturing these images and their subjects, various NGOs and Internet companies offer ways to seek further information about these digital files using online tools (see guides from Amnesty International and WITNESS.) There are also simple steps that eye witness reporters can take in order to make a video easy to verify. Including a recognizable landmark in an image or video (this could be anything from a building to a street sign) can help verify the location of the footage. Showing a current newspaper with the date clearly displayed can help verify the date it was captured.


text:
Israel Strikes Lebanese Town Following Roadside Bombing Claimed by Hezbollah · Global Voices
Salma Essam

Tel Faher, mine fields surrounding the former Syrian outpost, in the background part of the Shebaa farms. Photo by Chaver83 via Wikipedia.
Israeli forces have shelled the southern Lebanese town of Al-Wazzani near the border between the two countries in a retaliatory attack against the political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah. Local media reported there were injuries.
The firing came in response to a roadside bombing of Israeli military vehicles in the Shebaa farms area, for which Hezbollah took responsibility. While the group claimed its actions had injured soldiers inside a Hummer vehicle, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Peter Lernet affirmed that there were no casualties in the incident.
Hello @Brian_Rohan @AP there we no casualties in the incident.
— Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) January 4, 2016
In a televised speech on December 21, 2015, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah vowed his group would avenge the death of commander Samir Kuntar, killed in an airstrike in Damascus for which the group blamed Israel. “It’s possible that the Israeli enemy misinterpreted…And this Israeli thought Kuntars wasn’t that important to Hezbollah and didn't imagine that we would adopt his martyrdom and his revenge,” Nasrallah said.
Kuntar rose to prominence within Hezbollah, which is fighting in Syria to support Bashar al-Assad as his regime clings to power against forces that would see his ouster, after his release from Israeli prison as part of a prisoner swap in 2008. He had been convicted of murder in the kidnapping and killing of an Israeli father and his 4-year-old daughter in 1979 while a member of the Palestine Liberation Front. The mother accidentally smothered their other child, 2 years old, while hiding from the intruders. Kuntar was 16 years old at the time.
Kuntar, who was shot in the ensuing shootout with police, initially accepted responsibility for the deaths, but later maintained he had nothing to do with them. He claimed he and his team had intended to only take hostages and that Israeli fire had in fact killed the father; he said he didn't know how the little girl had been bludgeoned to death.
He was particularly despised in Israel, but received ceremonial honors from leaders in Lebanon, Syria and Iran upon his release. He had reportedly been working around the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to liberate the area, which Israel captured in 1967 from Syria and annexed in 1981 despite condemnation from the United Nations Security Council.
The group that Hezbollah said carried out the roadside bombing was named after Kuntar.
It's not the first time that Israeli and Hezbollah forces have come to blows along the border. In 2006, more than a thousand Lebanese and about 150 Israelis were killed in the 34-day July War. The United Nations brokered a deal to end the fighting at the time.
Activist and journalist Joe Carton reported on the renewed back-and-forth attacks and condemned Israel's actions:
#Hezbollah strikes back following Israel's assassination of Samir Kuntar in Damascus on December 19. pic.twitter.com/kQ7TNwD47k
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) January 4, 2016
Only Israel could occupy parts of two countries, bomb one, shell another, then play victim. Expect weeping shortly. https://t.co/briARCPo1j
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) January 4, 2016
A number of users tweeted using the Shebaa farms hashtag to show support for the actions taken by Hezbollah:
#مزارع_شبعا مقبرة الكيان الصهيوني
— Mohammed Abbas (@MohAbbas313) January 4, 2016
The graveyard of the Zionist entity #ShebaaFarms
على الجبال، خلف التلال، وفي الوديان ستهزمون ستهزمون #مزارع_شبعا
— Maryam Zeineh (@MaryamZeineh) January 4, 2016
On mountains, behind hills, you will be defeated, you will be defeated #ShebaaFarms
يا وعد الله يا نصر الله #مزارع_شبعا
— nemes bond (@6580cf72b3c846e) January 4, 2016
Oh God's promise, Oh God's victory #ShebaaFarms
المجد ل#حزب_الله #مزارع_شبعا pic.twitter.com/BiwvWyRg2P
— ♌M@|\|@|_♌ (@manalbagh) January 4, 2016
Glory to Hezbollah #ShebaaFarms
International lawyer and Middle East analyst Arsen Otrovsky criticized the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL):
How about #UNIFIL do their job and stop #hezbollah from firing at #Israel in first place? https://t.co/3YlGVIonzJ
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) January 4, 2016
Founded in 1982, with backing from Iran, after the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, Hezbollah is today stronger than the Lebanese army and is often described as a “state within a state.”

author: Salma Essam


text:
Netizens Smell Arson in ‘Convenient’ Fire at Trinidad & Tobago’s Water Authority · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Fire” — Photo by Robbie Shade, used under a CC BY 2.0 license.
During the evening of January 5, a fire broke out at the head office of Trinidad and Tobago's Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), a state enterprise that is facing a forensic audit after its board, appointed by the newly elected People's National Movement (PNM) government, found “irregularities” in the company's operations, reportedly to do with the award of multi-million dollar contracts.
#Fire at #WASA head quarters in st Joseph @i955fm @red967tt @W107fm pic.twitter.com/fL0hhG23ze
— Nicole Romany (@1Nicoleromany) January 5, 2016
Despite statements from WASA's communications manager, Daniel Plenty, that making any link between the fire and the audit is unfair, many netizens find the timing suspicious. Plenty was confident that the audit would not be adversely affected by the blaze, confirming that all records were backed up in both hard and soft copy.
The departments that were affected by the fire include Health, Safety and Equipment, Corporate Communications and — most disturbingly to netizens — Records.
Facebook user Rhoda Bharath said:
The Fire at WASA is in the archives section which happens to be between the Purchasing and IT depts.
In short…the fire in Archives can destroy ALL of WASA's most important data.
#DeViceCyahDone
Netizens’ concerns over alleged corrupt practices at the water authority are not new. In June 2015, Facebook user Kurt Alleyne publicly posted a status update that questioned, among other things, whether “the resources of government contractors, and state enterprises such as Petrotrin [a state energy company], WASA, T&TEC [the country's electricity commission], NGC [National Gas Company] [were] being used to support the Government's election campaign” and if “the WASA Beetham Water Treatment plant was over-budgeted by some $400 million”.
Once news of the fire hit, netizens became hard-hitting with their accusations. Facebook user and lawyer Justin Phelps, referring to recent, high-profile firings in the public sector, posted a searing status update that was widely shared:
Opposition by Press Conference, acquittal by fire. Government fire Jerlean and Jawala, Opposition fire WASA
Cathyan Townsend, alluding to the fact that Jearlean John, the managing director of the Housing Development Corporation, was sent on leave while a forensic audit is being conducted, publicly quipped on Facebook:
We have to look out for the HDC building on South Quay now.
Facebook user Anderson Goddard posted a photo of the burning building, saying:
So WASA on fire, hmmmm something don't smell right, I hope that's not the records section and contracts
But of course, it was. On the Facebook page Triniscene.com, Simone Tomio commented:
How convenient!!
Just when they were about to be audited .
People are not asses !!
Indeed, even the police are saying they suspect arson:
Investigations into yesterday’s fire at WASA are continuing, Police suspect arson [Express] https://t.co/7f6ZgIQOgf pic.twitter.com/8RzgmPtnbL
— Clydeen McDonald (@ClydeenMcDonald) January 6, 2016
Once Facebook commenter couldn't get over the irony:
Wait, but shouldn't there be an automatic water hose that comes on in the building. Its WASA for crying out loud
Predictably, the memes soon followed:
Breaking: WASA Made Potholes Stop Firefighters From Putting Out FIre At WASA HQ pic.twitter.com/RJQs4p7JXT
— TheLate O'Clock News (@lateoclock_news) January 5, 2016
The Water and Sewerage Authority is notorious for digging up roadways to fix broken pipes and neglecting to repair the potholes they created.
In another jab at the organisation, Facebook user Christian Hume shared a video of a popular calypso, “Bun Dem” (Burn Them), in which the singer, Black Stalin, pleads with St. Peter at the gates of heaven to burn wrongdoers like Cecil Rhodes, Ian Smith and P.W. Botha. Hume, however, took the liberty of re-writing some of the tune's lyrics:
“Peter wait, Peter wait, Peter look WASA reach by de gate…. Peter ah jus’ doh care whey yuh do, but Ganga goin’ in de fire tooooooo!!” *runs*
Ganga Singh was the Chief Executive Officer of WASA under the former Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration.
While humour may be Trinbagonians’ signature way of dealing with tough issues or disturbing events, most realise that what happened at WASA is no laughing matter.


text:
Pakistanis Weigh In on Saudi Arabia and Iran’s Diplomatic Break-Up · Global Voices
Sheema Khan

Shiite Muslims rally to protest against the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arab, in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Image by Rajput Yasir. Copyright Demotix (3/1/2016)
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with its decades-long rival, Iran, after Saudi Arabia executed 47 people on terrorism charges, including 56-year-old top Shia leader Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. He had supported anti-government protests in the Qatif region of Saudi Arabia, home to a large Shia population that has have long complained of being sidelined by the conservative Sunni royal family.
Iran is a Shia majority country, and in response to the execution, Iranian protesters took to the streets of Tehran and stormed the Saudi embassy. Before all these events, the two theocracies weren't exactly the best of friends, backing opposing forces in wars and political conflicts across Middle East.
So what do Pakistanis have to say about all this?
Thousands of Shia Muslims protested peacefully throughout Pakistan on January 3 to condemn Saudi Arabia’s execution of Nimr al-Nimr. In Quetta, the capital of Pakistani province Balochistan, as well as Lahore and Karachi, demonstrators held placards bearing anti-Saudi slogans and called Nimr’s execution a “gross human rights violation.”
Pakistan's religious make-up is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim with a significant Shia minority, similar to Saudi Arabia, though a fundamentalist branch of Sunni Islam called Wahhabism is dominant in Saudi Arabia, unlike Pakistan. Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia is severely limited, and the country has jailed a number of Shia activists for calling for equal rights.
On social media, many Pakistanis were wondering if their country would take a side in the dispute, play the role of mediator or stay out of the problem entirely. Pakistan has had a long, friendly relationship with Saudi Arabia, and it is also on good terms with Iran.
Curious days ahead for Pakistan: between the Scylla of sugah-daddy Saudi Arabia and the Charybdis of neighbour Iran
— Omar Waraich (@OmarWaraich) January 4, 2016
In the Iran vs Saudi debate we should side with New Zealand. Be as far away from it as possible. — asad (@AsNr80) January 4, 2016
Bad start to 2016 https://t.co/KOpAWlsAax
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) January 3, 2016
On Monday, Pakistan condemned the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and termed the incident “unfortunate.” Pakistan, in a statement issued by its Foreign Office, called for a “peaceful resolution” of the issues, although it should be noted they said nothing against Saudi Arabia's move to execute nearly 47 people.
Pakistan itself lifted a seven-year moratorium on the death penalty after a Taliban attack at an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 left 140 dead, most of them children. Since then, more than 300 people have been executed.
On January 5, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said in parliament that Pakistan is “concerned” over the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. He was of the view that Pakistan will “try to bridge the divide” and improve the relationship between the two countries.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia conducted at least 157 executions. Iran’s figures for 2015 are set to be even larger: between January and mid-July last year, Amnesty recorded 694 executions (compared with the official total of 246). According to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia has exceeded its highest level of executions since 1995, when 192 executions were recorded.
The diplomatic bad blood between the two led to a resurgence of the #BoycottHajj on Pakistani social media, first used in September 2015 after more than 2,000 people were killed in a stampede during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Some on Twitter theorized that the hashtag was given the spotlight by Iranians, but it should be remembered that Twitter, Facebook and many more social media sites are blocked in Iran.
#BoycottHajj. Also start praying in direction of North Pole.
— Murtaza Hussain (@MazMHussain) January 3, 2016
Muslims of all stripes (not just Shias) started hashtag #boycotthajj & now it has tons of Wahhabis making apologetics & shaming them.
— Kiran Opal (@KiranOpal) January 3, 2016
Hajj, being one of the five pillars of Islam, is of a lot of importance in Islam. The boycott hashtag created a lot of anger in people, after which the following hashtag started trending in Pakistan: #لبیک_اللھم_لبیک (Labaik Allahuma Labaik – “Here I am at Your service O Allah, here I am” – recited during Hajj and Umrah).
Every Muslim wants to visit Holy Place #لبیک_اللھم_لبیک Only Shaitan can say #BycottHajj — Sadaf Abbas (@Sadafabbas25) January 4, 2016
“Shaitan” means the devil.
The tweets not only showed support to Muslims, but also Shia and Sunni, forgetting the differences between them.
Hajj is a pilgrimage which shows we are one nation, bound by religion. (Hajj 5th pillar of Islam) #لبیک_اللھم_لبیک pic.twitter.com/2j1fydrdfo
— R. Nadeem Yousuf (@RNYousuf) January 4, 2016

author: Sheema Khan


text:
The Finer Details of Trinidad & Tobago’s Whistleblower Bill Could Use Some Work · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Whistle-Blower” — Image by Neil Moralee, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
The fact that Afra Raymond has recently resigned from his post — amidst much controversy — as President of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC), the body that serves as a watchdog for Trinidad's multibillion dollar construction industry, has not deterred him from being as outspoken as ever on matters of transparency and good governance in procurement and public office.
In his most recent blog post, he tackled The Whistleblower Protection Bill 2015 — proposed legislation that would theoretically offer protection to citizens who report wrongdoing in both state and private bodies. The country's attorney general explained:
The purpose of this Bill is to combat corruption and other wrongdoings by encouraging and facilitating disclosures of improper conduct in the public and private sector, to protect persons making those disclosures from detrimental action, to provide for the matters disclosed to be investigated and dealt with and to provide for other matters connected therewith…
By writing about it, Raymond wanted to raise public awareness of the bill, since the Joint Select Committee that has been assigned to examine the proposal is scheduled to report its findings to Parliament by January 22, 2016. According to Raymond, now is therefore “the time to consider these and make formal comments.”
There has been a real push — much of it led by the JCC under Raymond's leadership — for civil society to step forward and make its voice heard in order to keep politicians and other stewards of the public purse in check. In 2014, the JCC and other civil society groups helped to broker the independent assessment that brought environmental activist Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh's first hunger strike over the construction of a contentious section of highway to an end.
There were a few provisions in the proposed bill that were noteworthy to Raymond. He pointed out the term “unfair discrimination”, for instance, which led him to wonder “if the inclusion of that one word will open up a zone of uncertainty and even suggest that certain acts of discrimination are in fact ‘fair’”. He wondered about the definition of “improper conduct”, given that “the failure of some of the largest State Enterprises to produce audited accounts for years on end place them squarely within this class”.
He also highlighted a line which states:
Nothing in this Act authorises a person to disclose information protected by legal professional privilege and a disclosure of such information is not a protected disclosure.
Referring to a court case dealing with a similar issue, which the JCC won in 2014 (the state later had the judgement reversed on appeal), Raymond explained:
This is unsatisfactory in my view since it is precisely in such documents that evidence of a wrongdoer having been advised of the illegality of their improper and illegal actions can be found […] it seems to me that [this section of the proposed bill] is a significantly retrograde step on this important issue.
Another point of contention for Raymond was rewards for whistleblowers:
There are whistleblowers who were participating in the crimes and there are those who were merely observing. How do these proposals deal with those different species of whistleblowers?
Perhaps the most important issue, however — for Raymond and other citizens who may be interested in the proposed bill and the effect it may have on policing corruption — was prosecution. Trinidad and Tobago has an abysmally poor track record of convicting white collar crime:
We return to the age-old question of just when are we going to seriously investigate, prosecute and [convict] the white collar criminals who operate with impunity in our country? Without an effective process to take these criminals to prison and recover stolen monies we will be only be ‘spinning top in mud’.
Read the proposed bill in its entirety here.


text:
What Are the Challenges Facing Latin America in 2016? · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

A visual artists group organized an event including Indian motifs body painting in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, as part of the October 12 celebrations, known today as the Day of Indigenous Resistance. Photo Sergio Alvarez. Copyright © Demotix. 10/14/2015.
2015 was certainly a year of accomplishments, changes and disputes in Latin America. From elections resulting in ideological changes to protests promoting citizens’ initiatives, the region showed a strong tendency to question the establishment and accepted social structures.
Argentina and Venezuela took a political step away from the left wing that has characterized the region over the last decade. Chile joined other countries in Latin America in recognizing same-sex civil marriage, Venezuela elected its first transgender deputy and Argentina saw massive mobilization in the fight against gender-based violence.
Human rights and freedom of expression remain complex challenges. However, important activists and analysts were recognized for putting a spotlight on basic rights violations that are so often difficult to recognize and fight against.
Indigenous rights organizations were also intensively active. From protests challenging how we view history on October 12 to demands for improved living conditions for various ethnic groups throughout the continent, indigenous communities made their strength known in their countries.
All of this was told through citizen reporting online, local and alternative media coverage and those interested in giving a space to stories that are often hidden or rarely seen in mainstream media. It is these sources of information that makes the Global Voices Latin America team's invaluable work possible.
As 2015 came to a close, several questions remained answered, and there were still many stories demanding more visibility: migration challenges within and outside the Spanish-speaking world, various cultural and sub-cultural movements, the scourge of violence that continues to cast a shadow over the progress of Latin American communities and their collective efforts. However, citizen movements and challenges to power carry on, as well.
Global Voices wants to continue to shed light on initiatives like these and help those who want to understand the region's issues from a comprehensive perspective. With that in mind, we want to ask the following:
Write to us on our Twitter account or in the comments section of this post. Or even better: If you have more than one answer or lots of ideas, become a Global Voices author. Global Voices Latin America is always looking for new contributors who want to tell the world stories about Latin America from a perspective based on people's voices.
We look forward to your answers!

author: Laura Vidal


text:
A Revolution of Music and Poetry From Behind the Computer Screens of Nicaragua · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

A child at a trash dump in La Chureca in Managua, Nicaragua, looking for toys and other objects of interest. The workers at these facilities lead difficult lives in the biggest open-air dumps in Central America. Photograph taken by Misha Tulek. Copyright © Demotix. October 13, 2009.
Heydi Hortega's Monologue of Nicaraguan Youth in the 21st Century came a year ago, at the beginning of 2015, but her words are just as relevant now as they were then. In the monologue, an open letter published on the website Conexiones (an online space dedicated to young bloggers), Heydi discussed what defines her generation, explaining how today's youth seeks both local and foreign connections, as well as a role in the social movements taking place on the streets and on the Web:
Nuestros abuelos y nuestros padres incansablemente nos repiten “en mis tiempos” aquí, “en mis tiempos” allá todo es relacionado a sus tiempos, aunque eso moleste a la actual juventud. Hasta cierto punto tienen razón. En sus tiempos los jóvenes eran más dedicados a los estudios, no obstante a los impedimentos de una educación pública en los 50´s y 60´s y enfocados en los aspectos socio-políticos de la nación y la cultura.
Our parents and grandparents are constantly telling us, “in my day” this, “in my day” that. They compare everything to in their day, which is frustrating for the youth of today. And they're right—up to a certain point. In their day, young people were more dedicated to their studies, despite the restrictions in public education of the 1950s and 60s. And they cared about culture and the socio-politics of the nation.
Hay que recordar que los tiempos de los cuales hablan estuvieron marcados por dictaduras, guerras e intervenciones, por ello, el orgullo patriótico y la efervescencia de la juventud los encaminaron a buscar una solución al caos que vivía el país. Músicos, revolucionarios, poetas, artistas, maestros, periodistas y un sin número de hombres y mujeres determinadas/os fueron el resultado de las luchas y son quienes ahora nos dicen que mal gastamos nuestras energías en cosas insignificantes.
You have to remember that the times they are talking about were characterized by dictators, wars, and interventions. National pride and the effervescence of youth spurred them to find a solution to the chaos prevalent in the country. Musicians, revolutionaries, poets, artists, masters, journalists, and countless determined men and women were born from conflict and are the same people who now tell us that we waste our energy on meaningless things.
Heydi underlined the generational differences and the way in which the consequences of Nicaraguan history mark her youth today, as she sees herself surrounded by difficult economic and social challenges. She also explained how her generation wants to be part of a global society linked with other social movements, while at the same time remaining connected with national realities.
Sí. Nos creemos socialmente proactivos porque hemos decidido escuchar las canciones de los Mejía Godoy para entender la historia de las cuales nos hablan, los textos de historia nos parecen aburridos –la música es una salida fácil–, hemos decidido hablar de Rubén Darío [el poeta más reconocido del país] porque en Nicaragua, prácticamente lo veneran y no queremos parecer ignorantes aunque no conozcamos más de cinco de sus escritos. Por supuesto no podemos dejar de odiar a la dictadura Somocista [de Anastasio Somoza, presidente de Nicaragua en los años 50] aunque ni siquiera conozcamos el orden de gobierno de los Somozas.
Yes, we tell ourselves we're socially proactive because we choose to listen to the Mejía Godoys and we learn about our history from their songs, we find history textbooks boring, and music is an easy way out. We choose to talk about Ruben Dario [the country's best known poet] because in Nicaragua our country practically worships him and we don't want to seem ignorant, even if we don't know more than five of his works. Of course, we can't help but hate the Somocista dictatorship [of Anastasio Somoza, president of Nicaragua in the 1950s], even if we weren't around in the Somoza era.
Obviar el contexto mundial sería un desastre, por eso somos fieles fanáticos de los Beatles, los Rollings Stones, Guns´s and Roses, Nirvana, Pin Floyd, Fito Páez, Mercedes Sosa, Bob Marley, por supuesto Silvio Rodríguez y el Che, sosteniendo fielmente que [el Che] es cubano.  Los grandes representantes de la literatura no pueden quedar fuera. Amamos los escritos de Gabriel García Márquez y Mario Benedetti, aunque no distingamos quién es quién. Sí, los amamos, son lo más “in”.
Being unaware of the global context would be a disaster, and that is why we are fanatically loyal to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Guns n Roses, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Fito Páez, Mercedes Sosa, Bob Marley, Silvio Rodriguez, of course, and Che, who we proudly insist is Cuban. Not forgetting the literary masters, we love the works of Gabriel Garcia Márquez and Mario Bendetti, although we couldn't distinguish between the two. Yes, we love them. They are so “in.”
Heydi's writing is a mixture of self-defense and self-deprecation. It's an attempt to account for the part of youth that shows no interest in the world, while also throwing a spotlight on the part that does:
Hacemos revolución, poesía y música desde los monitores de nuestras computadoras, en las pistas de las discotecas y expresamos lo que sentimos en las “selfies”. Ignoramos la realidad y por ello le echamos la culpa a todos, al gobierno por ejemplo, menos a nosotros mismos.
We are starting a revolution, making poetry and music from behind our computer screens, or on the dancefloors at nightclubs; we are expressing our feelings through our “selfies.” We ignore reality and instead we cast the blame on everyone else—the government, for example. Anyone but ourselves.
The debate, which was followed and discussed on the platform Disqus, brought to light many issues that are common ground for young people from the rest of the region. The way the Internet is used for participation and building identity, the responsibility in the use of information, and the role of the media (and the values it promotes) were resounding issues in the debate and triggered observations that could well be adapted to numerous realities over the rest of the continent, and even to many societies outside the Americas. According to Israel Hernández, who took part in the debate:
Solo pensar en con la juventud de ahora es muy “revolucionaria” sin siquiera saber el significado de la palabra y sus orígenes, muchos jóvenes de ahora han vivido alrededor de una sociedad opresora (sin necesidad de armas), la cual con estereotipos e información innecesaria (libros, películas, la [telenovela] de las 6 y así hasta las 10 que termina la tanda, series televisivas la cual promueve la promiscuidad y sobre todo la presión social de “estar a la moda”) ha generado un simulacro de la “realidad” que no se vive.
Just think about how “revolutionary” the youth of today is without even really knowing the significance of the word or its origins. Many young people nowadays have lived in or around an oppressed society (not necessarily one with weapons), one that uses stereotypes and dispensable information (books, films, the soap operas we watch from 6 until 10, television series promoting promiscuity, and worst of all the social pressure of “being in fashion”) to generate a simulation of being in a “reality” that isn't really being lived.
Mucho se ha perdido, pero aún así ha quedado un remanente de jóvenes y personas interesadas por la cultura… y aunque pocos son los que saben que realmente el che es argentino y que Somoza ayudo al país en grandes cosas, el correr la voz a través de los medios y luchar por ser libres del “simulacro social” es muy necesario para que nuestra nación cambie.
A lot has been lost, but there is still a remnant of young people interested in culture… While there are few that know that Che is in fact Argentinian and that Somoza actually helped the country in many ways, we can bring about change for our nation by using media to spread the word and by fighting to be free of this “social simulation.”