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The death of a reputed gangster exposes fault lines in Jamaican society · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Barbed wire around a prison wall in Jamaica. Photo by Christina Xu on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
At about 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of October 11, shots rang out in Elletson Flats, St. Andrew—a relatively quiet residential area on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. During the encounter, according to the police account, they intercepted a car in which 35-year-old Christopher Linton, a reputed gang leader known as “Dog Paw,” was a passenger. When directed to exit the car, Linton did so and allegedly opened fire on the officers. He was shot in the exchange and later pronounced dead at hospital.
Jamaica's Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), which says that there have been 101 extrajudicial killings by security forces up to October 12, and a total of 115 in 2020, is now looking into the killing, about which there has been much public interest.
Linton had been released from prison six months ago, after a 15-year sentence on firearm charges, imposed in 2013, was overturned by the Court of Appeal. A senior police officer reportedly said that Linton did not keep his promise to be a positive influence on his release: “He just continued on his criminal path.” As he sought to re-establish himself in the area, his criminal career faced challenges. Linton was injured in a shooting this past June, and one of his associates was shot dead by rivals in August.
Upon his own death, further details began to emerge about Linton’s life and the ways in which it intersected with the privileged uptown milieu just a mile or two from where he grew up in Tavern, St. Andrew, close to the University of the West Indies campus. Some were already known, including Linton’s relationship with Leah Tavares-Finson, the daughter of a prominent politician and a former Miss World, with whom he fathered a child, now 10 years old. The socialite, who is involved in the music scene, and is believed to have had another child with a well-known dancehall deejay, posted on her Instagram page that she would miss “her Paw Paw Bear” Linton, leaving one commentator to observe dryly on Twitter:
So this is proof that all societies of Jamaica mix and mingles in one way or their other. The Rich and the Famous, the Law and the Criminals#DogPaw
— landolegend (@landolegend_) October 12, 2021
This connection with middle and upper-class Jamaica goes much further and deeper, however. After Linton's death, environmentalist and award-winning writer Diana McCaulay spoke about him in a radio interview. Her first novel, Dog-Heart published in 2010, chronicled the struggles of an impoverished young boy and his family, and the sincere efforts by some uptown women to rescue him from a life of crime. The inspiration for that character was “Dog Paw,” whom McCaulay met when he was just eight. She helped him and his three brothers attend a prestigious preparatory school in Kingston. One of his brothers was arrested and killed during a prison fight in 2005, which McCaulay suggested may have prompted Linton to “take a different path,” and led her to conclude that society—including herself—had failed him.
Social media reaction to the radio interview was generally unsympathetic, with one Twitter user commenting that many Jamaicans from similar backgrounds had done better:
Your excuse for Dog paw Linton being failed by society is naive and myopic. What about the many young men and women coming from the same socio back ground who made successes of their lives? No body owes us a living, me must take personal responsibility.
— Norman Martin (@NormanM39798385) October 13, 2021
Another saw the interview as glamorising a criminal:
@cliffnationwide I listened in awe yesterday as you did your feature on the infamous Dog Paw.
I saw no benefit of that segment except to glorify a bad man, and badness. I can see others trying to do more “wikidness” to get a feature on @NationwideRadio when they are taken down.
— ????Steve????Manning's Blueblood?? (@steveg_mcd) October 13, 2021
Others were more compassionate. What could Linton have become—and what went wrong in his life after he had been given the opportunity to make good?
It's not about celebration imo, it's about reflection, could some intervention have changed the outcome, so he could have been someone else. There are some lovely boys out there now who may become the next dog paw. I hope we can save those boys by seeing what went wrong here.
— adrian fenton (@adrianfenton5) October 13, 2021
One journalist questioned:
How did a decent Christian young man evolve into ‘Dog Paw'? From early accounts Christopher Linton was a quiet, well-mannered, church-going young man (pre-teen), who was very obedient to his mother. What happened along the way?#DogPaw
— Owen James, OD (March 18) (@owenjamesja) October 12, 2021
While McCaulay only knew Linton as a boy with great potential, another tweeted that his life is typical of many young Jamaicans whose potential is thrown away because of societal neglect:
Seeing promising boys fall by the way side because they’re literally abandoned by society continues to be a tragedy. Often times we see only the monsters they become but never when society dims their light.
— Noel (@Leonviejo1) October 13, 2021
Was there a gentler side to Linton? One media house reported:
#StarNews: A former correctional officer said that the much-feared gangster, Christopher Linton, sometimes cried alone in his cell at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre. https://t.co/elLFjK1DE8 pic.twitter.com/27rXwcwS7f
— Jamaica Star (@jamaicastar) October 15, 2021
According to a lawyer who represented him, Linton did have a more sensitive side, writing poetry and songs while in prison.
In a heartfelt final comment on Facebook, Diana McCauley responded to the criticism by highlighting her own lack of awareness of Linton's boyhood challenges:
I know I might get further dragged for this, but given that I was born in Kingston and have lived my entire life here […] I had NO IDEA of the scale and scope of the hurdles facing a child like Christopher Linton until I witnessed them. And that's why I came away from the experience with a feeling that we – that I – had failed him and many like him. By ‘we’ – I mean his parents, his first school, NOT his prep school, his high school, the church, the police, the state in general, and the trap of my own attitudes and prejudices, which are common among my social class.
This is not to eulogize him or downplay the suffering he caused, nor say the pain of his victims does not matter, nor do I seek to remove agency from him – it is also true that he was given opportunities many have not had and still chose the criminal path. I just think there should be no rejoicing at his death and there are two truths here – that our society failed a young man of great potential AND he caused untold pain and suffering.
This is not the first time that a Jamaican gang leader has become a “celebrity” of sorts, making dramatic headlines, with heightened, almost glamorous profiles in the media. Perhaps the most famous was “Rhygin”—real name Vincent Ivanhoe Martin—who became the subject of the iconic Jimmy Cliff film The Harder They Come.
As the police keep an eye open for whoever steps into Linton's shoes, his death seems particularly poignant—despite the opportunities given to him, his situation is typical of many young men trapped in impoverished communities with little hope.

author: Emma Lewis


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Is the shutting down of Chinese LinkedIn the end of foreign big tech’s engagement with China? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Image by Oiwan Lam, used with permission
Microsoft announced on October 14 that it has decided to shut down the localized Chinese version of LinkedIn in China.
The business and employment-oriented social media platform launched its Chinese version in 2014 based on the requirements of the Chinese government about social media platforms. However, the company’s strategy is no longer able could to work in China, its “sunset” decision being motivated by “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”, as Mohaf Shroff, Senior Vice President of Engineering at LinkedIn wrote on LinkedIn’s official blog.
LinkedIn’s Chinese version has more than 50 million domestic users. It has been the only major social platform allowed to operate in China by a U.S. company. The latest decision implies that LinkedIn will soon join Google, Twitter, Facebook among others in the China list of blocked sites and its users in mainland China would have to circumvent China’s internet censorship to access LinkedIn.
Upon the shutting down of the social networking site, the Chinese branch of LinkedIn will launch a Chinese job search application, InJobs, to serve job seekers in China. But the new service will not allow users to create and share content.
Since the launch of its localized version, LinkedIn has been caught in a crossfire between Chinese government censorship requirements and its users’ criticism over its censorship practices.
Last March, the New York Times quoted sources saying that China’s Internet regulator, the State Internet Information Office, had rebuked LinkedIn over lax censorship. Two months after, the Cyberspace Administration of China listed more than 100 apps accusing them of “improper collection of data”, mentioning Microsoft’s LinkedIn and Bing on the list.
On the other hand, since 2014 human rights activists, academics and journalists have slammed company for censoring content that is sensitive inside China. In order to satisfy the Chinese government’s requirement, LinkedIn users from mainland China have been banned from posting sensitive content like photos, reports and commentaries about the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. As for overseas users, posts that contain sensitive information would be blocked in the Chinese LinkedIn network.
In recent years, LinkedIn has extended its censorship to overseas users’ profiles. Since 2019, a number of overseas journalists, academics and activists have found their profiles blocked in China.
Last month, a number of U.S journalists including Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Melissa Chan and Greg Bruno found their profiles blocked in the LinkedIn Chinese platform. When Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reached out to LinkedIn, the platform administrator advised her to “update the Summary section” of her profile. The investigative reporter mocked the company for its “free self-censorship consulting service”:
I'd like to highlight one especially disturbing part of the LinkedIn customer service email:
“We will work with you to minimize the impact and can review your profile’s accessibility within China if you update the Summary section of your profile.”
— B. Allen-Ebrahimian (@BethanyAllenEbr) September 28, 2021
After the incident Republican U.S. Senator Rick Scott, wrote to LinkedIn and the CEO of its parent company Microsoft, describing the censorship as “a gross appeasement and an act of submission to Communist China” and raised a set of difficult questions, demanding the company to explain its censorship policy in China.
Inside China, LinkedIn China’s official Weibo said that media reports about the shutting down of its service were incorrect. Its China President Lu Jian interpreted the move to terminate its social networking services as an adjustment of business strategy in a statement.
But very few Chinese netizens buy the apolitical version of this story. On Weibo, quite a few have expressed their frustrations about such news. One LinkedIn user said:
一想到领英要关闭 我就烦躁……/关注了好多学校和外企 我的唯一消息途径……/关闭社交功能 我要它干什么……
I am so frustrated about the shutting down of LinkedIn…/ I have followed so many schools and foreign companies and it was the only source of related information… / what’s the point of a platform without social media functions?
A more critical remark said (link and Chinese original quote removed for security concern):
Damn it. Now they not only block anything sensitive, but also access to job opportunities from foreign companies and overseas / so Chinese workers can only be exploited by Chinese businesses, everyone is locked in involution (development through intense internal competition),  let’s walk toward common wealth (共同富裕). The country is closing its door.
On Twitter, quite a few mainland Chinese users have used circumvention tools to leave comments on related news, and claim that LinkedIn left the Chinese market because of business failure, rather than for political reasons. Here are some examples:
Maozyer1984: 亚马逊自己竞争不过淘宝京东，领英还不如脉脉，这怪谁？
Amazon was beaten down by Taobao and Jingdong, LinkedIn is less popular than Mai Mai [a Chinese business and career matching app with more than 80 million users), who can you blame?
43a2Ef2HajK3LGu: 說真的，领英受欢迎的话就不会退市。卫生巾请不必为微软找借口了。
If LinkedIn is popular enough, it won’t leave the [China] market, WSJ saves making up excuses for LinkedIn.
Till now, Microsoft has not explained what “challenges” the company is facing in China. Paul Mozur, a journalist from New York Times believed that the newly enacted data security law in China may have contributed to LinkedIn’s departure:
A few other points on LinkedIn’s departure from China: Data security law likely a factor as LinkedIn would have to store much more data on users in China. Also, in LinkedIn’s China announcement, they make no mention of regulatory issues. So a censored exit for their censoring. https://t.co/7dojtHxpRr
— Paul Mozur 孟建國 (@paulmozur) October 14, 2021
Some Chinese bloggers on Weibo also share the same theory. A current affair commentator, Fei-Yan-Ping-Tan (飛彥評談) pointed to the fact that LinkedIn had mostly foreign users within China. As mentioned in an explainer in the South China Morning Post, tech companies will face legal action from their own country if they hand over foreign users data to the Chinese authorities upon request.
The Chinese data security law has extended its jurisdiction overseas as it seeks to prevent and sanction data activities conducted outside of China that may “harm the national security or public interests of the PRC, or the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens or entities.” Foreign internet companies have to asset their data activities, including data collection, storage, usage, processing, transmission, provision, and disclosure, by a third party to make sure their protocols won’t “damage critical information infrastructure” in China and lead to severe consequences.
Microsoft's LinkedIn and Bing would likely be subject to a third-party assessment as both apps were listed by the Cyberspace Administration for “improperly collection of data” back in May.
Another push factor is the upcoming Algorium Law, as suggested by China policy researcher Kendra Schaefer:
Second, the CAC's Guiding Opinions on Information Services algorithms, released in Sept, which make it clear that info distribution algorithms should uphold socialist core values. 8/13https://t.co/WBUJdchd8y
— Kendra Schaefer 凯娜 (@kendraschaefer) October 15, 2021
The proposed law makes it mandatory for internet companies to adjust their algorithms to spread positive energy, which means these companies would be turned into part of the Chinese propaganda machinery.
Against such a “challenging environment”, mainland Chinese Twitter user @mike56705438, used humor to comment that for LinkedIn to take root in China, it has to give up its ownership altogether to the Chinese Communist Party:
成立党支部，转让51％的股份给我党是领英的唯一出路。这和当年刚解放时，保留外资企业，但在政策上用钝刀子杀猪一模一样，毛泽东思想学的真好。
Set up a party branch and transfer 51 percent of its stock to the party is the only way out. The current situation is like during the time of China liberation [early 1950s], they [the CCP] wanted the foreign enterprises to stay, but in terms of policy, they slaughtered them one after the other. Such a good follower of Mao Zedong’s idea.
The Chinese Communist Party has started demanding domestic Internet firms to set up party branches in 2017. It has become clear that the Chinese government wants to have stronger control over the internet sector. In July, it launched a crackdown on DiDi, China’s biggest car-hailing app, accusing it of infringing users’ data security after it was listed in the U.S. One month after, reportedly it started working on a law to ban internet companies from listing in overseas stock markets, citing data security risks.
For more than two decades, foreign big techs had attempted to enter the China market. Once they believed that working with local partners and setting up a local version of their products would grant them access to the Chinese market. Hence, for example, Google launched its simplified Chinese version in 2000 and set up a Google China subsidiary in 2005, but shut down its simplified Chinese search engine in 2010.
Microsoft seems to have more patience, and LinkedIn is the last U.S owned social media to quit the Chinese market. The termination of Linked Chinese version, as many have pointed out, marks the end of an experiment for foreign Big Techs to engage with authoritative China.
LinkedIn's China operations were once a tentative model for foreign internet firms to follow. Partner with a savvy VC firm, censor content as lightly as possible, and get access to China. Seven years on, the experiment has proven a failure. https://t.co/oyO6I843Hi
— Paul Mozur 孟建國 (@paulmozur) October 14, 2021

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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Malaysian students share lessons using digital tools to promote indigenous languages · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Photo during a traditional dance in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo by Lan Rasso via Flickr, (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
A group of students from Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Perak has organized a webinar to promote Malaysia's indigenous languages. Global Voices interviewed them about how they maximized digital platforms in launching the event and spreading awareness about the need to protect the country's indigenous languages.
Indigenous people make up about 13.8 percent of the Malaysian population. There are 137 indigenous languages in the country.
The two states with the most indigenous people are Sarawak and Sabah, both located in East Malaysia. The most common indigenous languages in East Malaysia are Kadazandusun (Sabah) and Iban (Sarawak).
The students note that very few Malaysians are seeking to learn indigenous languages:
Based on observation, many indigenous groups, especially the youth, are leaving their hometown (kampung in Malay) for more urban settings, where more opportunities are available. They also are learning more commonly-used languages such as Chinese, outside of the mandatory Malay and English languages in school curriculums. However, the reverse situation of this phenomenon is almost unheard of. There are fewer Malays, Chinese or Indians who are seeking to learn indigenous languages at a conversational level.
They also pointed out the impact of the pandemic in the efforts of various groups to promote indigenous languages:
The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the progress of many of these organizations in their efforts to promote the indigenous languages of Malaysia. This is because for some, all their in-person events had to be cancelled, their source of income was cut, and they had to adapt to using digital tools to continue their efforts in the internet space.
The students hope that through the webinar themed “Promoting Indigenous Languages of Malaysia” or PILM, they can spark greater interest among fellow students about the importance of learning indigenous languages.
The webinar was held on September 18 and 19 and featured talks, educational sessions, storytelling workshops, and performances. One of the speakers was Eddie Avila, director of Rising Voices, who discussed “Indigenous Language Digital Activism and the Upcoming International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032.”
The team behind the PILM also launched poster and song competitions to generate interest and draw more people to the webinar. They received around 29 submissions before the event.
A post shared by PILM (@pilmproject)
They explained how the poster competition challenged students to reflect about the role of indigenous languages in shaping the country's culture and history:
Students have the opportunity to explore, reflect and scrutinize the functions and roles of indigenous languages in society and to the indigenous communities. For example, in various designs, students were successful in articulating the importance of indigenous languages and the fact that these languages must be preserved and conserved for a better and harmonious Malaysia.
A post shared by PILM (@pilmproject)
The group also appreciated the participation of non-indigenous students in the song competition:
It is interesting to note that most of the students who participated in this singing competition were mostly non-indigenous students who shown a deep appreciation of indigenous music and the languages. This is a positive sign that indigenous music can be appreciated, not just by indigenous speakers themselves, but by non-indigenous as well.
A post shared by PILM (@pilmproject)
Participants underscored how doing more research is crucial in strengthening the campaign to promote indigenous languages:
In the preparations for the event, we have learnt that a lot of research has to be done to ensure that the information we put out is as accurate as possible. This involved looking deep into research journals and asking those who were from the culture themselves.

author: Mong Palatino


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Tensions are escalating between Azerbaijan and Iran over border issue and Armenia · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

A screenshot from the video report “Long-running Tensions Mount Between Iran, Azerbaijan” from TRT World.
Tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran have reached a boiling point in recent weeks. There are three main reasons behind the strained relationship, including perceptions that Azerbaijan has been strengthening ties with Israel amid the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict. Azerbaijan also launched a joint military exercise with Pakistan and Turkey — a country competing with Iran in Middle East leadership — on September 1. Additionally, in mid-September, Azerbaijan imposed a road tax on Iranian trucks traveling through Azerbaijani territories.
Iran and Azerbaijan are divided by a 700-kilometer border. Parts of this territory and the entry roads were long under Armenia's control, following the first Karabakh war that ended with the 1994 ceasefire. In 2020, after the 44-day second Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan regained control over large swathes of this territory, including entry roads and land on the Iranian border.
Azerbaijan also resented perceptions that Tehran backed Armenia during the recent conflict. Despite this, the relations were somewhat normal until Azerbaijan decided in September 2021 to impose road tax on Iranian trucks using roadways that are now under the control of Azerbaijan. When Armenia controlled those roads, vehicles could pass freely without having to pay any tax.
Two Iranian truck drivers were arrested on September 15, 2021, further escalating tensions. Baku officials said the two are still being detained and have been charged with smuggling and illegally crossing the Azerbaijani state border.
Northern Iran is populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis who make up the largest non-Persian minority in Iran. During the war last year, ethnic Azerbaijanis organized protests in support of the war in several cities in Iran. “Iran has traditionally stayed neutral in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But as tensions have risen, the narrative in Azerbaijan has shifted toward portraying Iran as purely and actively pro-Armenian,” wrote journalist Joshua Kuchera in his overview of tensions on October 12.  Not all agree with this view, though, as political analyst Eldar Mamedov: explained in an interview with Eurasianet, “Iran has repeatedly supported Azerbaijan's territorial integrity on the level of political and religious leadership.”
Iran repeated its support for Azerbaijan during the 44-day war when President Hassan Rohani's chief of staff Mahmud Vaezi told Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev that, “The stance of the Islamic republic on Azerbaijan has always been clear and transparent as it has always recognized the neighboring country's territorial integrity and respected it.”
Others, like Touraj Atabaki, professor emeritus of the social history of the Middle East and Central Asia at Leiden University in the Netherlands, believe Iran is concerned about being politically sidelined. In an interview with Radio Liberty, Atabaki said, “Turkey has the second-largest NATO army, and Pakistan is a nuclear power in the region. When these two countries join Azerbaijan in military maneuvers, it worries Russia and Iran — and the Islamic republic's military maneuver [reflects] its concern.”
In addition, Iran views Azerbaijan as Israel's proxy, explained Abbas Qaidari, a researcher on international security and defense policy. Israel and Azerbaijan share a military alliance, and Azerbaijan has received Israeli military and surveillance equipment. “That relationship has been strong for years, although it has been newly visible since last year's war, in which Azerbaijan used Israeli weaponry to significant effect,” wrote journalist Joshua Kuchera on September 30.
To understand a rapidly changing situation, here is a timeline of the most recent events:
August 26 — Azerbaijan blocked the Goris-Kapan road, Armenia's only highway to Iran, for nearly 48 hours. Goris and Kapan are the two main towns of southern Armenia. In addition to connecting these two towns, the road includes a 21 kilometer-long segment that passes through Azerbaijan's newly regained territory.
The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan summoned Iran's ambassador to Baku to share a diplomatic note expressing Azerbaijan's dissatisfaction with Iranian trucks illegally entering parts of Karabakh now controlled by Azerbaijan.
September 12 — Azerbaijan launched a joint military exercise with Turkey and Pakistan.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry asked the Russian Defense Ministry that Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Karabakh prevent “illegal crossing of third-country vehicles into the territories of Azerbaijan.”
September 13 — Azerbaijan confirmed it set up checkpoints and was collecting customs payments at the Goris-Kapan road.
September 23 — Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
September 27 — President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with the Turkish Anadolu Agency that Iranian trucks were using that route “illegally” prior to the second Karabakh war.
He also criticized the Iranian military exercises, saying to Turkey's Anadolu Agency: “Every country can carry out any military drill on its own territory. It's their sovereign right. But why now, and why on our border?”
September 30 — Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, at a meeting with Azerbaijan's new ambassador to Tehran, said Iran wouldn't “tolerate the presence and activity” of Israel against the country's national security and the country will take actions if such need arises.
The country also announced it would hold large-scale military exercises near the Azerbaijani border, following another set of drills in the same region reported Eurasianet.
October 1 — Tehran launched military drills near its northwestern border with Azerbaijan.
October 3 — Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted in Azerbaijani, “those who dig pits for their brothers will fall into those pits themselves.”
In response, Azerbaijan held another joint drill with Turkey, this time in its Nakhchivan enclave on October 5.
3'üncü Ordu Komutanlığımız ile Azerbaycan Nahçıvan Ordu Komutanlığı unsurlarının katılımıyla Nahçıvan’da gerçekleşecek olan Sarsılmaz Kardeşlik-2021 Tatbikatı’nın provaları başarıyla icra edildi. pic.twitter.com/N0q1OTF5dm
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) October 5, 2021
The rehearsals of the Unwavering Brotherhood-2021 exercise, which will be held in Nakhchivan with the participation of our 3rd Army Command and Azerbaijan Nakhchivan Army Command, were carried out successfully.
October 4 — Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry dismissed Iran's claims of a third-party presence, calling them baseless.
October 5 — President Ilham Aliyev dismissed Tehran's allegation of an unofficial Israeli presence in the country. “Let them open their eyes and look. Where do they see Israel here? Not a single person lives here. There is not a single building here. Is there proof? No,” Aliyev told reporters speaking to them from Jabrail, just a few miles from the border with Iran. The president asserted that baseless allegations wouldn't go unanswered.
The same day, Azerbaijani media reported that Iran cut off its airspace to Azerbaijani military flights, while Azerbaijani authorities shut down a mosque and an office of Seyyed Ali Akbar Ojaghnejad, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, citing a spike in COVID infections at the mosque.
October 6 — Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said Tehran was “deeply concerned by Israel's presence in the Caucasus.”
October 13 — Questions over what triggered the tensions remain. However, both Iran and Azerbaijan expressed interest in resolving the current diplomatic crisis through dialogue on October 13. Following a phone call with his counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, the two officials announced the de-escalation effort.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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Basque separatist group ETA lowered its weapons 10 years ago. Has reconciliation truly happened? · Global Voices
Koldo Casla

Screenshot of YouTube/BBC video depicting footage of ETA members putting ‘arms beyond use’ in October 2011.
Ten years ago, on October 20, 2011, the Basque armed group ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, “Basque Country and Freedom”) finally declared “a definitive cessation of its armed activity.” This was what Basque and Spanish societies had long been waiting for.
It would take them until 2018 to formalise their dissolution, but October 20 is marked in the calendar as a day of liberation, especially for those whose lives were at risk. The Basque Country was finally going to have the chance to become a free and “normal” society like any other.
Jesús Eguiguren, one of the tallest figures in Basque politics in recent decades, was also relieved. Days after ETA’s much-awaited declaration, when asked what normality would mean to him, he said: “For me, it means the freedom to eat pintxos in the Old Town” of Donostia-San Sebastian, my hometown. Because of being directly threatened by ETA for his political opposition to Basque independence, the old town had been a no-go area for Eguiguren, but also for thousands more.
ETA was formed in 1959, during the Franco era, with the goal of seeking self-determination and independence for the Basque Country. Since the late 1960s, ETA was responsible for more than 850 deaths in the Basque Country and other parts of Spain. This figure underestimates the pervasive sense of fear caused by ETA and its supporters. In the last 15 years of their existence, ETA, through extortion and threats, specifically targeted politicians, academics, police officers, journalists, and civil servants who disagreed with their totalitarian agenda. Approximately 3,300 men and women were forced to live with police escorts.
The Basque Country is a region with a strong national identity divided between the north of Spain and the southwest of France. With fewer than three million inhabitants, it’s hard not to have known someone who paid a high price for being who they were, sometimes the highest of all prices—their life. In my case, this included a primary schoolmate, whose father—a police officer—was killed by the armed group; a teacher in the same primary school whose husband, a journalist, was murdered; a sport's teammate’s father, who reluctantly moved to Madrid after receiving serious threats; one of my university professors, and my friend and former boss, the Basque parliament’s high commissioner for human rights between 2004 and 2014, Iñigo Lamarca, whose name appeared in one of ETA’s hit lists.
A lot has changed in the Basque Country in the past 10 years. Nobody’s life is at risk as a result of their politics, and that is no mean feat. My nephew and nieces, who are 11 years old, are blissfully unaware of the environment of low-intensity violence that permeated society up to a decade ago.
Basque society is still working out a public memory about that time. Victims of ETA’s violence have received recognition from public institutions, but social recognition has been much slower, and more timid. In towns and communities where Basque independence was the preferred political choice, ETA suspects were often treated like heroes. At the same time, credible reports of police torture were systematically dismissed by the Spanish government, tarnishing the public image of the State and its institutions. Despite multiple reports from independent investigators and international human rights bodies, the official line was, and largely remains, that the torture allegations against the police were simply lies spread by terrorists—ETA members.
Spanish public authorities and a sizeable majority in Spanish society have a long way to go to recognise that torture and ill-treatment were an obnoxious part of the anti-terrorist strategy in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. As I explain in my new book Spain and its Achilles’ Heels: The Strong Foundations of a Country’s Weaknesses, these practices harmed the credibility of the police as a fully democratic institution and made life even more difficult for the officers who respected the rule of law.
In the 2000s, ETA was being cornered by the police, but the decline in popular support was a key reason why the group stopped their violence for good in 2011. In previous decades, ETA benefited from long periods of silence of large parts of Basque society who believed their discretion would keep them away from the attention of ETA and their informers. Outstanding exceptions must be noted, including the case of “Gesto Por la Paz” (“Gesture for Peace”), an organisation that convened silent rallies the day after each murder and on a weekly basis for 25 years, starting in 1986. It was a modest gesture that, nonetheless, required a large dose of bravery.
Over time, Basque society empowered itself to make it clear that ETA did not represent them. The sociological statistical survey of the Basque Country shows that fewer than 25 per cent of people totally rejected ETA in 1981, but that number went up to 60 per cent by 2000 and remained at that level for 10 more years, while ideological support for ETA was minimal in the 2000s (around 1-3 per cent).
The Basque Country has changed substantially for the better in a new spirit of calm, peace and rediscovered freedom. More time will be needed, however, to strengthen bridges and walk decisively towards reconciliation. Police officers, bodyguards, journalists and politicians were unjustly killed, and for too long the Basque society remained petrified.
In shifting public perception in Spain, a new film can potentially make a difference: Maixabel dramatizes the true story of Maixabel Lasa, a brave activist for peace, memory and reconciliation, whose husband was killed by ETA in 2000. A few years ago, Maixabel met face-to-face with the man who killed her husband. The killer had distanced himself from ETA in a difficult process of atonement.
Maixabel Lasa’s testimony is one of a handful of conversations during the last decade between ETA victims and repentant ETA members. Most of these meetings were held in private, but some of the participants are talking about their experience in schools, and conveying their emotions at other public events.
Other events have brought together victims of ETA, victims of GAL (state-sponsored terrorism of the 1980s), as well as victims of police torture. Also, pro-independence politicians have apologised for the damage they caused through their decades-long complicit silence.
Working out the past in a plural, inclusive and respectful way will take time, and the Basque Country only recently got rid of ETA’s yoke. Historical memory is a powerful reminder that freedom should not be taken for granted.
As my mum once said to me when talking about Basque peace and reconciliation, it’s shocking how quickly one gets used to normality, when people are not killed for their ideas.

author: Koldo Casla


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Chile rejects the migrants it once welcomed · Global Voices
Connectas

Image by CONNECTAS used with permission
This article is an excerpt from “Migrants, Ignored” published by CONNECTAS, and edited and republished by Global Voices.
Manuel, his wife, and their three children emigrated to Chile from a rural area of Carabobo, Venezuela, sometime during 2018. They can't remember the exact time of their arrival nor all the cities in which they have lived. They only remember that in Colombia they worked in a small town near their route, where they raised enough money to get to Ecuador by bus. They also remember that in Peru they got into a truck with vegetables because no one would stop to take them. They remember that in Chile they walked in the desert 25 kilometers every day for three days. It was such a strenuous journey that one of their 11-year-old twin daughters, Maria, says she has more calluses than feet.
The roads of Latin America have witnessed thousands of stories like this. The media reports some of these stories, but most of them are ignored. Every day, around 800 migrants, almost all Venezuelans, cross into Chile from Bolivia after passing through the continent in search of economic stability. Most travel as a family. Maria and her siblings have been raised on the route for the past three years. Although they miss their home, their father warns them that the place where they were born is already a ghost town. They told CONNECTAS that they will try to stay in Chile where they think there is an opportunity for them to make a living.
The children believe that in Chile their father will finally find a stable job and have a home, and — most importantly — that they will stop walking all day and sleeping wherever the night catches them. They have not yet found out that just a week ago, in northern Chilean port city Iquique, which they already passed through, some locals marched against the migrants, burned their tents and even chased some of them through the streets.
Radicales queman pertenencias de #MigrantesVenezolanos #Chile
Unas 5.000 personas participaron el sábado en una marcha antiinmigración en #iquique
Quemaron las pocas pertenencias de los #migrantes y acusaron al gobierno chileno por no hacerse cargo de la #crisis migratoria /cc pic.twitter.com/ID4mEgAX4U
— DW Español (@dw_espanol) September 28, 2021
Extremists burn belongings of #VenezuelanMigrants #Chile
Some 5,000 people took part in an anti-immigration march in #iquique on Saturday
They burned the few belongings of the #migrants and accused the Chilean government of not controlling the migration #crisis / cc
pic.twitter.com/ID4mEgAX4U
- DW Español (@dw_espanol) September 28, 2021
According to data from the Jesuit Service for Migrants (SJM) based on reports from the Department of Foreigners and Migration of Chile and the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the number of foreigners in Chile increased from 305,000 in 2010 to almost 1,500,000 in 2020, which represents 7.5 percent of the country's general population.
The political and economic crisis in several countries in the region has triggered this spike in migration, and in Chile, it has led President Sebastián Piñera to take more restrictive measures. The new Migration Law, which came into force in October 2021, gives legal status only to those migrants who have entered the country on a permit granted before March 18, 2020, when the authorities closed the borders for the first time due to the pandemic. This law also states that those who cross clandestinely through unauthorized routes will have only 180 days to leave the country without sanction. To enforce this law, the Chilean government rented planes to expel immigrants. Only the Courts of Appeal can stop these expulsions in which migrants travel alongside convicted felons.
The position of the Chilean government has evolved in recent years. In March 2018, Piñera stated: “We will continue to receive Venezuelans in Chile, because we have a duty of solidarity and I never forget that when Chile lost its democracy, Venezuela was very generous with Chileans looking for new opportunities.” But this year, in the midst of the migration crisis, he justified the expulsions saying that: “We do not want organized crime, smuggling, drug trafficking and those who do not respect our laws to enter our country.”
Human Rights organizations have spoken out in support of stopping mass expulsions and analyzing cases in accordance with international standards and respect for human rights.
#Chile
Expertos #ONU pidieron al gobierno detener sin demora los planes de expulsiones colectivas de migrantes, quienes tienen derecho a permanecer en el país mientras se valora su situación de acuerdo a las normas de #DDHH
https://t.co/XUGO7Kn1hB @UNSR_Migration @ONUChile https://t.co/gruV66dUIv
— ONU Derechos Humanos – América del Sur (@ONU_derechos) May 20, 2021
Even in this context, Chile remains an attractive destination for those who do not have much to lose, particularly Haitians. The Chilean government estimates that by December 2020 there were more than 182,000 Haitians in the country, without including the undocumented ones whose presence is not acknowledged by authorities. In total, Haitians are the third largest migrant population in Chile, after Venezuelans and Peruvians.
In 2017, Chile's National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) conducted its most recent study on the population's perceptions of immigrants and Indigenous peoples and warned that racial discrimination is taking root in public opinion. A striking fact is that Chileans consider themselves mostly “whiter” than other Latin Americans and consider migrants “dirtier.”
Moreover, there is also the abuse committed against migrants at border crossings. For example, the so-called “coyotes” and “pirates” ask exorbitant prices to move them from city to city, though this does not prevent them from often leaving the migrants on the road. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a Venezuelan migrant usually spends $1,500 on fares and payments to coyotes from Venezuela to the Chilean-Bolivian border.
In Chile, each 200-kilometer stretch can cost $35 per person on transportation by a “pirate”. In fact, the buses of formal companies avoid carrying migrants because they do not have health documents. This situation is best summed up by what an immigrant told IOM when she was asked about her expenses during her journey: “Venezuelans have become a business.”
In this context, organizations such as the Jesuit Service for Migrants and Migr-Acción Chile call for more international cooperation and shared responsibility between South American countries, as well as cooperation between the police, authorities of affected municipalities, and central governments. The Colombian journalist José Guarnizo considers that a response must also involve the United States, the country that many migrants want to go to but where major barriers exist to legal migration.
Sergio Micco, director of the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI), says that immigration policies and attitudes are related. “If Chileans only talk about migrants in terms of expulsions and evictions, this only favors xenophobia and racism,” he said.

author: Connectas


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Community care during the pandemic in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A community pantry in Manila. Photo by Karapatan Metro Manila, used with permission.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption and poverty, but it also inspired many to organize campaigns aimed at supporting those in need. From community pantries in the Philippines to the White Flag movement in Malaysia and the “citizens helping citizens” initiative in Indonesia, this pandemic has spurred communities to mobilize and provide aid during this public health emergency.
These movements were all conceptualized in response to inadequate and slow governmental assistance in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Yet they also highlighted, that if governments would not properly perform their duties, ordinary citizens would step up to ease the burden of their fellow community members.
Amid a flurry of depressing pandemic stories, we were uplifted by these organic, inspirational stories of support that exemplify hope, solidarity, and community care.
In May 2021, Global Voices reported how a single community pantry in Quezon City in the Philippines’ National Capital Region sparked a nationwide movement that saw volunteers setting up pantries to provide food and other necessities to hungry citizens. The government said it monitored 6,700 pantries which offered assistance while communities were placed under COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
Patreng Non, who organized a community pantry in April, talked about the relevance of this movement:
Minsan, maliit na hakbang lang pala ang kailangan para marating natin ang ating mga pangarap. Sa kaso ng Community Pantries sama-samang maliliit na hakbang ng mga pumipila, organizers, volunteers, patungo sa food security na naging movement hindi lang pang-pagkain, pati na din sa community building (nagkabati-bati pa nga daw ang mga magkakapitbahay) at naging din outlet na din para sa lungkot at uncertainty na dala ng pandemya. Nagkaroon ng community sa mga Community Pantries.
Sometimes, it only takes a small step to achieve our dreams. In the case of Community Pantries, these are collective small steps of those who are queuing for relief, organizers, and volunteers to promote food security; but it also became not just a movement to distribute food because it led to community building (even neighbors patched up their differences) and gave outlet during a time of misery and uncertainty. A community was built through the Community Pantries.
In another post on Facebook, Non asserted that unless the government recalibrates its militarized pandemic response, the pantries could not adequately address the newfound hunger and deprivation:
Maski anong gawin nating tulungan at pagsunod sa guidelines magiging cycle lang ang lockdowns hangga't hindi scientific ang approach natin sa Covid-19. Tama na yung pag enforce ng pananakot sa mga tao sana mag-focus na tayo sa expertise ng ating health workers at frontliners. Pakinggan at supportahan natin sila.
Our pantries and efforts to adhere to (COVID-19) guidelines will not end the cycle of lockdowns If our approach to the pandemic will remain unscientific. It’s time to stop terrorizing our people and instead focus on the expertise given by our health workers and frontliners. Let us listen to them and support them.
Some researchers estimate that Indonesia's poverty rate has increased 12.4 percent during this pandemic, underscoring the need for expanded social welfare programs. However, due to a shrinking economy and loss of income from tourism, the Indonesian government has struggled to meet this increased demand for assistance. Luckily, in many parts of the country, community members have stepped up to fill the gap.
In March and June 2021, the nation went into unofficial “lockdowns” known as PPKM (Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat — community activities restrictions enforcement), meaning all restaurants, shopping malls, and non-essential services were forced to restrict services or close. During this period, many citizens struggled to find sources of income and pay their bills — particularly vulnerable gig workers and workers in the informal sector.
The hashtags #wargabantuwarga (citizens helping citizens) and #Salingjaga (take care of each other) went viral earlier this year as citizens all over the nation stepped up to care for each other, using social media to arrange monetary, food, and supply donations. Some groups even found creative ways to support the community while also addressing deep-rooted societal issues, such as I Made Janur Yasa's Bali-based Plastic Exchange Program, which allows citizens to trade plastic for rice. The group describes itself as “A sustainability movement that empowers communities to change their waste behavior through dignity-based exchange systems that result in cleaner, healthier environments.” In recent years, Bali — one of the top tourist destinations in Southeast Asia — has become infamous for its widespread plastic pollution. Yasa envisioned the initiative as a way to simultaneously provide for impoverished communities while cleaning up the environment and preserving citizens’ pride and dignity.
Grassroots efforts have also been essential in helping to track and trace COVID-19 in Indonesia. In Bali, Jackie Pomeroy, an economist and data specialist who has lived in Indonesia for 15 years, created the Facebook page “Bali Covid-19 Update” and has been releasing daily information about COVID-19 infection rates, COVID deaths, COVID news, vaccination rates, vaccine locations, and data trends since April 7, 2020 — 559 consecutive days (as of publication). The page has over 41,000 members and has been a crucial source of information for many on the island. Alternative data tracking services have sprung up on other corners of the internet like KawalCovid19, a volunteer organization that releases daily statistics about Indonesia's COVID-19 cases to its nearly 140,000 Twitter followers.
In late June, a group of young Malaysians in Kuantan were devastated by the untimely death of a friend who had difficulties coping with the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. They launched a White Flag (Bendera Putih) campaign in their community which encourages residents to hang a white flag or cloth outside their house if they require food or financial aid.
It soon became a popular movement known as Kita jaga kita (we take care of us) which promotes this message:
Raise the white flag if you need help, there is no need to beg or feel ashamed.
Don’t take actions that may harm yourself and your loved ones.
The campaign garnered support from civic groups and local businesses which dispatched aid to houses where white flags had been posted.
Crowdsourcing websites and apps like kitajaga.co, Sambal SOS, and MyBendera became useful to locate households in need of assistance.
The campaign confirmed the widespread hunger, poverty, and public frustration in Malaysia caused by frequent COVID-19 lockdowns.
Serina Rahman of the Yusof Ishak Institute wrote about the importance of the White Flag campaign:
While some have described the #BenderaPutih campaign as the epitome of surrender and desperation, it is a clear indication of how Malaysians will take action to help each other when in need rather than wait for government assistance. Malaysia’s youth, especially, are proving how they can pave the way to make a real difference.
In Malaysia, the #benderaputih (white flag) campaign has gained momentum on social media in a bid to encourage people to help others in distress during a prolonged lockdown. https://t.co/bgTfTcT9xG
— Yenni Kwok (@yennikwok) July 31, 2021


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Malaysian rapper Namewee breaks the hearts of mainland Chinese ‘little pinks’ · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A screenshot from “Fragile” via Namewee's YouTube channel.
Malaysian-Chinese bad boy rapper and music producer Wee Meng Chee, aka Namewee, has broken the hearts of mainland Chinese online patriots, commonly known as little pinks, with “Fragile” (玻璃心 or Glass Heart), his latest music collaboration with Australian singer Kimberly Chen. Both artists were blocked from most mainland Chinese social media and streaming platforms within 24 hours of the song's release.
The music video, released on October 15, 2021, has been viewed more than 5.5 million times so far on Namewee's YouTube channel.
Distinct from Namewee's other rap songs, the cute, pink music video is packaged as a love song, with both artists pouring out their frustration about their unreasonable partners. They say their partners have fragile hearts but also pick fights with others by claiming that everything belongs to them.
The political satire is rather obvious. The video begins with a warning:
警告：玻璃心患者慎入
Please be cautious if you are a fragile pink. Warning: viewers with a glass heart should be cautious.
The term “glass heart” is often used to describe mainland Chinese online patriots who often accuse others of “hurting their feelings.”
Images of cotton and the slang phrase “nmsl” (meaning “your mom is dead”) evoke memories of national incidents like the Xinjiang cotton campaign and the feud with Thailand netizens in 2020.
The lyrics mock the fragile pinky lover for being fond of eating “dogs, cats, bats and civets” and “climbing over the wall” (which means circumventing censorship) and the country's ruling elites for “harvesting garlic chives or leeks” (slang for rent-seeking).
The leek, cotton, panda, winnie the pooh, common prosperity, re-education, pineapples – damn Namewee is hitting all the talking points. My default reply to nmsl from now on https://t.co/uJeWaj2NqM
— Linda Lew 刘凌达 (@Lindadalew) October 18, 2021
As expected, both artists were banned from major mainland Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo, Douyin (Chinese version of Tiktok), Tencent and QQ Music, etc. But they were prepared for the “break-up,” Kimberly Chen parodied the lyrics of “Fragile” on her Instagram account in response to the ban:
對一不起我傷害了你，微博刪了沒關係，我聽著有個聲音是玻璃心碎一地，沒關係我還有IG，也還有FB…
I am sorry for hurting you. It’s okay to delete Weibo, Oh, I hear a sound, is fragile heart broken into pieces on the ground. It’s Okay I still have IG and I still have FB…
“Don't be afraid to be yourself!” She encourages her fans with the same Instagram message.
This is not the first time Namewee poked fun at mainland Chinese online patriots. In August, after the Chinese government praised the Taliban for becoming more rational, he posted a list of eight recommendations to the Afghanistan Taliban under the title, “Measures that the Taliban have to take to stabilize Afghanistan” on Weibo:
1.封鎖臉書、YouTube、Google這些邪惡的網路媒體，不讓國民跟外界有任何交流。
2.成立自己的官方新聞網站，製作自己的通訊軟體和社交Apps，長期播放官方新聞，告訴人民那些批評他們不好的外國媒體都是邪惡的境外勢力，都是假新聞不要看。
3.打造塔利班領袖的巨型雕像，放在總統府門口。在街上到處貼標語，在學校給學生洗腦教育，告訴人民塔利班領袖有多偉大。
4.鼓吹國民翻牆到外網出征別人，只要有人批評他們的政府哪裡不好，就去留言說別人是「辱阿分子」、「反阿青蛙」、「NMSL」。
5.國慶日的時候，花大錢請一堆外國人到他們的慶典上演唱「我的阿國」和「沒有阿國就沒有新阿富汗」等等愛國歌曲。
6.國民只要對政府有任何不滿，就馬上蓋一棟類似監獄（但不能對外說是監獄）的地方，把那些有自主思想的人，都關進去再教育。然後請境外媒體來拍攝，再逼囚犯們演得很開心的樣子，平時就逼這些囚犯們種西瓜，把西瓜出口到外國掙外匯。
7.開拍一堆「愛國電影」給國民看，比如「戰阿」、「戰阿2」，讓阿富汗人民認為自己很強，外國人都是王八蛋。
8.花錢請網紅拍一些「美國人驚呆了！」、「俄羅斯坐不住了！」和「此生不悔入阿富汗」之類的影片給自己人民看，也順便轉載到外網進行大外宣……。
As all these recommendations are implemented in China, many mainland Chinese netizens interpreted his comments as shaming the country's policies. Namewee's Weibo has been banned ever since.
But outside the Chinese Great Firewall, Namewee and Kimberly Chen have won much applause for their courage to cut ties with the world's biggest market for Chinese artists. For example, on Twitter, @Lindell_Lucy said:
Hahahahahaha. Buy the album! Support these musicians! Almost everyone in the entertainment industry has sold out in order to earn money in China, but not these two! https://t.co/IyYrMKASW7
— Lindell Lucy (@Lindell_Lucy) October 17, 2021
On Namewee's YouTube channel, a majority of comments praise the music video. One said:
我觉得你比中国歌手还要了解自己的国家，他们很多可能也是小粉红，一个这么有深度的歌曲用这么轻松可爱的方式表达，大陆没有一个人可以做到。非常感谢你，这歌一定会在中国历史上有重要的一笔
I think you understand the country more than other mainland Chinese singers, many of whom are also little pinks. There are so many meaning embedded in the song, yet the presentation is so cute. I don't think anyone from mainland China is capable of doing this. Thank you so much. I believe this song will be remembered.
Many from mainland China also expressed their appreciation:
作为大陆西北小城的一员，看到这个视频第一感觉是好听，且真实，黄明志是有骨气的人，值得尊敬。但是又想到，自己作为大陆人，被少数的网络上无知的小粉红们代表，伤悲呐。深深爱脚下这篇土地，看着一帮自以为是的祸国殃民的东西这样把大家拉下水，心里流泪哭泣。在里面，只选择做沉默的大多数，因为条件限制，只能闭嘴
As someone coming from a small town in northwestern China, my first impression is that the music is really great and it reflects the reality. Wee Ming Chee is a courageous person and deserve our respect. However, as a mainland Chinese, I feel sad that I am being represented by a minority of ignorant little pinks. I love this country, and when seeing a brunch of gongs drag us down, we can only sob in our hearts. Inside [China], we can only remain the silent majority, the environment does not allow us to speak…
Namewee has been rather controversial in Malaysia due to his rebellious rap style. He had been arrested several times and charged twice for insulting the national anthem in 2007 and insulting Malaysia utility company TNB in 2009.  Earlier in March, the Malaysian police issued a warrant for his arrest because he released the film Babi (which translates to pig), which allegedly contains elements of racism as “pig” is an insult in Malay. The film depicts ethnic tension within Malaysian schools and was nominated for several international film festivals. Eventually, Wee issued a video apology, and the police did not press the charge.
With the success of “Fragile,” Namewee has established himself outside Malaysia and will likely become a popular icon against authoritarianism in Asia.


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On National Heroes Day, Jamaicans at home and abroad pay their respects to ‘son of the soil,’ General Colin Powell · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

General Colin Powell, after reading the Gettysburg Address at the grand reopening of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Photo by Scott Ableman on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
On National Heroes Day, Jamaicans awoke to the news that General Colin Powell, a decorated military man and the first African-American U.S. Secretary of State, had passed away at the age of 84 from complications of COVID-19.
The Jamaica Gleaner put together a fitting tribute of his life in a slideshow:
PICTURE THIS: Jamaican elected and community leaders in the United States have described late former US Secretary of State #ColinPowell as an icon and a man of excellence. Powell died on Monday, October 18, 2021, from COVID-19 complications. He was 84. pic.twitter.com/mCgpKLGeD9
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) October 18, 2021
Commentator Wayne Chen immediately acknowledged Powell's Jamaican roots. Though born in Harlem, New York City, in 1937, his parents were Jamaican immigrants:
R.I.P. Colin Powell (5 Apr 1937 – 18 Oct 2021), son of Jamaican parents, Luther and Maud Powell, accomplished and esteemed four-star general who became the first Black U.S. secretary of State.https://t.co/VU4LX2xpwp pic.twitter.com/5qhj2to96e
— Wayne Chen (@wcchen) October 18, 2021
A Vietnam War veteran, Powell became the United States’ first Black national security adviser in 1987. Two years later, President George H.W. Bush appointed him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; at age 52, Powell was both the youngest and the first Black person to hold the position. In 2000, President George W. Bush appointed Powell as secretary of state. Despite being a Republican—and having served in two Republican administrations—Powell endorsed Barack Obama, Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2008.
Jamaicans’ holiday weekend had already been rocked by drama—the bizarre deaths of participants in a cult ritual at a church in Montego Bay, and the search for two abducted girls, both found alive—so reactions to Powell's passing were comparatively low key. However, Prime Minister Andrew Holness tweeted his condolences:
(1/3) On behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, I extend heartfelt condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, as well as the people of the United States.
General Powell passed away this morning. pic.twitter.com/xPjMaj4Dks
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) October 18, 2021
General Powell’s death prompted a rare tweet from former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who shared her sympathies:
I am saddened to learn of the passing former Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and son of Jamaica, Colin Powell.
He was an outstanding Soldier and Diplomat.
Condolences to his widow Alma, his children and extended family.
Rest in peace good and faithful servant. pic.twitter.com/o6N6I4Zlif
— Portia SimpsonMiller (@PSimpsonMiller) October 18, 2021
Retired Jamaican Defence Force Colonel Allan Douglas also shared heartfelt condolences, quoting from his own memoir:
Saddened by the passing of one of the finest military leaders I had the privilege and honour of meeting, General Colin Powell. I share below my recollections of that meeting (written 2001). RIP General! pic.twitter.com/5aggicvmjr
— Col Allan Douglas (@allandouglas41) October 18, 2021
Jamaican filmmaker Justine Henzell recalled her meeting with Powell during the filming of One People: A Celebration, a documentary celebrating Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of Independence:
I had the honour of interviewing General Colin Powell for the documentary “One People – The Celebration” for Jamaica 50 in 2012 and heard 1st hand how proud he was of his Jamaican ??heritage and how it shaped him. #RestinPower #AnOfficerandaGentleman @zacharding27 pic.twitter.com/Nf4mTs1YVv
— Justine Henzell (@JustineHenzell) October 18, 2021
Several Jamaicans and Americans shared memories of General Powell's visit to Jamaica on this occasion. A Nation of Islam member recalled Powell’s shared Jamaican heritage with Louis Farrakhan (who had a Jamaican father), and their meeting in Jamaica with then Minister of Culture Lisa Hanna, at the Independence Day celebrations:
Jamaica Marks 50th Anniversary of Independence (August 2014)
Colin Powell and Louis Farrakhan confer with Jamaica's Minister of Culture, Lisa Hanna. Powell and Farrakhan, both of whom have parents hailing from the island…
_#colinpowell #louisfarrakhan #Lisahanna #world pic.twitter.com/z8VAHuMQkf
— Bro. Marcus (@BroMarcusW) October 18, 2021
A U.S.-based journalist also recalled the joyful occasion:
One of the highlights of my career was interviewing the great Colin Powell in 2012. @WPLGLocal10 sent me to Jamaica to cover the country’s 50th Independence Celebration where we ran in to Powell at a ceremony. RIP General Powell. Thank you for your service to our country. ???? pic.twitter.com/ehIuDVbDDh
— Jason Martinez (@JasonFox29) October 18, 2021
One Jamaican scientist recalled:
I remember when he visted his family homeland in Jamaica. RIP Colin Powell https://t.co/9ItzohiHBD
— Roosters_World (@Roosters_World) October 18, 2021
In 1997, Powell and his wife, Alma, had visited the small cottage in Top Hill, St. Elizabeth where his parents lived before migrating to the United States. He was serving as an election observer in Jamaica at the time.
Both the Jamaican diaspora in the United States and the country's African-American community flooded Twitter with messages. One diaspora magazine shared a video made by General Powell in June, in which he paid tribute to the political achievements of Vice President Kamala Harris (whose father is Jamaican), and Shirley Chisholm (whose parents were from Barbados). Harris's father, a Stanford University Professor Emeritus, received an Order of Merit in Jamaica's National Heroes Day National Awards.
General Powell was the first person with Jamaican roots to serve in the White House, preceding Vice President Kamala Harris, who commented on his passing and his trailblazing career on CNN.
Another American with Caribbean roots (her mother is Guyanese), MSNBC’s Joy Reid, summed up General Powell’s legacy:
General Colin Powell’s death is so shocking and heartbreaking. He had some tough moments around our wars, but was a fundamentally good and decent man and a great American we could all be proud of. I know my Caribbean-American fam certainly are. Wishing peace to his soul & family. pic.twitter.com/5A6KZzjkFF
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid ? (@JoyAnnReid) October 18, 2021
However, not all Jamaicans shared those warm feelings. Despite his reputation for decency and integrity, Jamaicans—and the Caribbean in general—had qualms about General Powell’s involvement in the Iraq War.
One Jamaican expressed his disapproval of General Powell's role in the conflict:
He was Secretary of State under the Bush administration.
He was the one who made the case for an invasion of Iraq, and straight up presented false evidence to the UN to try to justify it.
He was also proud of his time as a US soldier in Viet Nam.
He deserves no respect.
— ?? Capybara Comrade ☭ (@SiggonKristov) October 18, 2021
There was a COVID-19 postscript to General Powell's passing. Powell was fully vaccinated but was being treated for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. This sparked some discussion among Jamaicans regarding the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines—a contentious issue, in light of Jamaicans’ continued vaccine hesitancy.
Whether feeling pride at this son of Jamaican immigrants’ remarkable rise from Harlem to the heights of U.S. politics or harbouring doubts about his role in a highly controversial war, there is no doubt that Jamaicans continue to celebrate the achievements of their countrymen.
One member of the Jamaican diaspora summed it up this way:
Colin Powell always mentioned his Jamaican ancestry because it shaped him. He also repped Kelly street and the Bronx. Such a wonderful immigrant story. RIP General Colin Powell. #jamaica #ColinPowell #jamaican
— Jamaican Royal???? (@KGPatrice) October 18, 2021
Although American-born, General Colin Powell, with his deep connection to his rural roots, was one of Jamaica's highest achievers.


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Film festival documents stories of sustainable development in Africa · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

A poster of the NGO International Film Festival. Image provided by Taye Balogun and used with his permission.
Films that unpack the global Sustainable Development Agenda (SDA) will be featured and screened in the first virtual NGO International Film Festival (NGOIFF) from Oct. 20 to 22, 2021.
The NGOIFF, the first of its kind aimed at an African audience, intends to forge a platform for storytellers, filmmakers, development experts, and other stakeholders to learn and share experiences on documenting and telling stories on sustainable development.
Apart from the film screening, the festival will also feature workshops that facilitate conversations and actions among a diverse mix of creatives, innovators, activists, and campaigners working on the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDG, propelled by the United Nations, hopes to increase attention and action on poverty, women and girls empowerment, and the climate emergency. This cross-pollination of ideas at the virtual film festival will aid in knowledge and skills transfer among the participating activists. The film festival will make these films available to five universities which will use them as teaching tools.
Nigerian-born and Nairobi-based Taye Balogun, NGOIFF festival director, emphasized that “films have the power to unpack complex concepts in a way that people can easily understand.”
Balogun, who spoke to Global Voices via Zoom, stated that many films by developmental NGOs, produced yearly “are not usually screened in mainstream film festivals,” which is why there is a need for this festival.
“Over the years NGOs have been documenting their stories and experiences but most of these films are not widely distributed for other people to learn from,” he said. “The film festival is created purposely to showcase these films and create opportunities for dialogue.”
With such a limited audience, the knowledge from NGO films rarely reaches a wide audience and the lessons documented don't spread, according to Balogun.
“How do we learn from the tested and trusted techniques deployed by the farmers in Malawi to fight climate change?” Balogun asked. This is just one example of useful information that can appear in some of these films. But since the audience of these films is limited, the knowledge generated from these NGO films is neither widely shared nor replicated. This is a core gap that this festival wishes to bridge.
The film festival attracted a total of 90 films from 150 organizations on 4 continents. Only 40 films were shortlisted, out of which 20 films will be screened at the festival. This selection was carried out by a jury of eight reputable global experts in sustainable development goals, including Nigeria's anti-corruption activist Hamzat Lawal, Kenyan film producer Sarika Lakhani, and the CEO of a Myanmar-based EdTech social enterprise Hla Hla Win.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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I was invited to celebrate ‘Columbus Day.’ This is what I answered · Global Voices
Carlos Lara

‘Day of the Indigenous, Black and Popular Resistance.’ Illustration by Carlos Lara
On October 5, I received an invitation from the Embassy of Spain in my country, El Salvador, to celebrate the National Day of Spain on October 12. I was invited to a concert by the El Salvador Symphony Orchestra at the Teatro de San Salvador, an event that was also organized by the Ministry of Culture. But for me, there is nothing to celebrate on this day.
For years, October 12 has been celebrated in Spain and Latin America as the “Día de la Raza” (Day of the Race), known over time as “Hispanic Day” or, since 1987, the “National Day of Spain” and, in the United States, Columbus Day. On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus first sighted land and arrived on the Caribbean island of Guanahaní. Some celebrate the so-called “discovery” of the Americas and the “exchange” of cultures, languages and religion, rather than acknowledging their imposition. For us, the Indigenous, Black and Afro-descendant people who have been massacred and enslaved, and who continue to resist the consequences of neo-colonization, the arrival of Christopher Columbus is nothing to celebrate.
Thus, in several countries, the day of celebrating the invasion has changed to the Day of Black, Indigenous and Popular Resistance. As members of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Salvadoran organizations, we join this commemoration and the adoption of this name, as it conveys the meaning this date has for us, reflecting on what the arrival of Europeans in the territory currently called America has caused and the consequences which continue to plague our populations.
This is the response I sent to the Embassy, detailing my position, supported also by the AFROOS (Salvadoran Afro-Descendants Organization) and many other people who feel the same as I do:
San Salvador, 8 de octubre de 2021
Señor embajador y representantes del gobierno de España en El Salvador.
He recibido la invitación de parte de ustedes para asistir a la celebración del ‘Día Nacional de España’ este próximo 12 de octubre en el Teatro Nacional de San Salvador.
Al recibirla fue inevitable sentir incomodidad y deseo de expresar una respuesta que espero sea tomada con respeto y seriedad de parte de ustedes.
Soy una persona que está en el proceso de reconocimiento y rescate del legado africano e indígena tanto a nivel personal como a nivel colectivo y cultural. Desde la organización a la que pertenezco trabajamos por erradicar el racismo que se manifiesta día a día en nuestro país resultado de siglos de institucionalización e interiorización, y que comenzó su proceso desde el 12 de octubre de 1492, fecha que celebran orgullosamente cada año y que ha tenido diferentes nombres con el pasar del tiempo tales como: “Día de la Hispanidad”, “Día de la raza” y que desde 1987 es llamado “Día Nacional de España”, algo que resulta ser una burla y ofensa para nuestros pueblos originarios del actual territorio llamado América y para los pueblos africanos que fueron esclavizados desde inicios del siglo XVI. Por ello, varios países han cambiado el nombre y el sentido de dicha fecha, para reivindicar la dignidad de nuestros pueblos originarios.
Dejo claro que no estoy expresando ni odio ni rechazo hacia ustedes, tampoco significa que deje de reconocer los aportes culturales hechos por su pueblo y que son parte de la vida cotidiana actual de nuestro país. Sin embargo, reconozco que la celebración de tal fecha, y conociendo su motivo, es parte de ese racismo que nuestras poblaciones indígenas y afrodescendientes siguen viviendo. Pasar esta hoja de la historia sin hacer una crítica hacia ello no abona a la solución del problema, al contrario lo sigue manteniendo vivo.
Sueño con el día en que remuevan del Palacio Nacional las figuras de Colón, Isabel y Carlos V, como muestra de respeto hacia nuestras poblaciones originarias y afrodescendientes, que si bien es cierto no repara el daño causado, es parte de la construcción de una nueva historia que dé dignidad a quienes por siglos se les ha sido arrebata.
No admito respuesta de parte de ustedes, a menos que sea la noticia que dicha celebración ya no será realizada de aquí en adelante en nuestro país.
Me despido sin más que agregar, sinceramente:
Carlos Lara
San Salvador, October 8, 2021
Mr. Ambassador and representatives of the government of Spain in El Salvador.
I have received your invitation to attend the celebration of the ‘National Day of Spain’ this coming October 12 at the National Theater of San Salvador.
Upon receiving it, it was inevitable for me to feel discomfort and a desire to express an answer that I hope you will receive with respect and seriousness.
I am a person in the process of recognizing and rescuing the African and Indigenous legacy, personally, collectively and culturally. I belong to an organization working to eradicate the racism that manifests itself every day in our country as a result of centuries of institutionalization and internalization/assimilation, since October 12, 1492. This date has been proudly celebrated every year and has had different names, such as: “Hispanic Day”, “Day of the Race” and, since 1987, “National Day of Spain”—which is a mockery and offense to our Indigenous peoples of the territory currently called America and to the African peoples who were enslaved since the early 16th century. Therefore, several countries have changed the name and meaning of that date, to claim the dignity of our Indigenous peoples.
I want to make it clear that I am not expressing hatred or rejection towards you, nor does it mean to stop recognizing the cultural contributions made by your people that are part of the current daily life of our country. However, I recognize that the celebration of such a date, and knowing its motive, is part of that racism that our indigenous and Afro-descendant populations continue to experience.  Marking this day in history without critiquing it does not contribute to the solution of the problem, on the contrary, it perpetuates it.
I dream of the day when the statues of Columbus, Isabella and Charles V are removed from the National Palace, as a sign of respect for our original and Afro-descendant populations. And, although it is true that this does not repair the damage caused, it is part of building a new history that gives dignity to those who have been deprived for centuries.
I do not accept a response from you, unless it is news that such a celebration will no longer be held in our country.
I conclude without further ado,
Sincerely,
Carlos Lara

author: Carlos Lara


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Decoding the ‘Saakashvili effect’ with two experts in Georgian politics · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

A screenshot from AFP YouTube video channel showing Saakashvili being detained on October 1, 2021,
Georgia is currently experiencing a major and public health and political crisis. Adding to the tensions was controversial and long-exiled politician Mikheil Saakashvili's illegal return to the country on October 1. Saakashvili, who served as Georgia's president from 2004–2013, was immediately arrested on charges of abusing his role in office and is now on hunger strike while awaiting trial. His return inspired major street demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi. Global Voices talked to two political analysts familiar with contemporary Georgian history to try to decode the narratives at play in a rather volatile situation.
The pandemic has hit Georgians hard, not only because of high numbers of infections and deaths — mostly due to scarce access to vaccines — but also because the country relies heavily on foreign tourism that has dwindled significantly since spring 2020. Georgia is also facing a significant democratic decline. The past year marred with political crisis culminated in violent clashes in July, when police violently dispersed the country's queer community and its supporters who rallied in support of the Tbilisi Pride march. Several journalists covering the protests were battered, and one reportedly died of injuries sustained as a result of police violence. Most recently, on October 2, the controversial ruling Georgian Dream party secured victory in the local elections. Although the voters will be headed back to the polls on October 30 for reruns across several major cities, the chances of changing the initial election results are slim.
The challenging political landscape does not end here. Part of Georgia's northern territory, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have been under Russian occupation since the 2008 war with Moscow. Under the heavy support from Russia, both have declared de-facto independence.
In this context of instability, former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who left Georgia in 2013, smuggled his way back to the country and is now in prison while starting his third week of hunger strike.
Global Voices talked with Thornike Gordadze, a French-Georgian expert who served as Deputy Foreign Minister for relations with the European Union and as Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration from 2010–2012 under the Saakashvili government. He now works as an independent researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Speaking to Global Voices, Gordadze shed some light on the possible motivations behind Saakashvili's dramatic come-back and what might happen next:
C'est un véritable retour en politique géorgienne, il a voulu prouver qu'il était prêt à s'engager totalement pour ce pays. Il risque beaucoup car personne ne peut garantir sa sécurité en prison: la Géorgie est mal protégée des interventions russes de tout niveau, y compris des services secrets. On ne peut pas exclure qu'il lui arrive quelque chose en prison. Saakachvili veut donc se réhabiliter auprès de l'opinion publique géorgienne car les gens commençaient à douter de son retour qu'il avait annoncé plusieurs fois. A ce titre, il a réussi, comme en témoigne la manifestation du 14 octobre à Tbilissi qui a mobilisé non seulement les membres de son parti, mais aussi des membres d'autres partis d'opposition, qui par ailleurs le critiquent fortement dans leurs discours officiels mais aujourd'hui reconnaissent que le rétablissement de la démocratie en Géorgie passe par sa libération. Saakachvili ne laisse personne indifférent, soit on l'adore, soit on le déteste, mais aujourd'hui il est le seul instrument qui est capable de défier le Rêve Géorgien.
It is real come-back to Georgian politics, he wanted to prove he could be fully engaged for his country. He is taking huge risks because no one can guarantee his security in prison: Georgia is badly protected from Russian interventions of all sorts, including from Russian secret services. We cannot exclude the fact that something could happen to him while in prison. Saakashvili wants to regain his reputation with the Georgian audience because people started to doubt he would ever return, something he had announced several times. In this regard, he has succeeded, as the October 14 demonstration in Tbilisi shows: it gathered his party's members, but also members of other opposition parties that criticize him heavily in their official discourse, but do recognize the fact that democracy can only return to Georgia if he is freed. Saakashvili leaves no one indifferent: he is either beloved or hated, yet today he is the only instrument able to challenge the [ruling] Georgian Dream Party.
Global Voices also spoke to Régis Genté, a French journalist who has been based in Georgia for over 20 years:
Il est bien sûr quasi impossible de faire des pronostics quant à la façon dont Saakachvili pourrait affecter aujourd’hui la politique géorgienne et revenir au pouvoir d’une façon ou d’une autre. Mais il a créé une sorte d’électrochoc: il incarne un rejet du gouvernement « Rêve Géorgien », le parti de l’oligarque Bidzina Ivanichvili. Chaque élection montre que les électeurs géorgiens veulent changer. Lors de la présidentielle de 2018, ils avaient clairement voté contre la candidate soutenue par le « Rêve Géorgien », Salomé Zourabichvili. Elle accusait 10 points de retard sur le candidat du Mouvement National Uni. Il a fallu que M. Ivanichvili promette dans l’entre-deux tours le rachat de 600.000 prêts pour faire basculer le vote. Le scénario le plus réaliste est que la « présence » de M. Saakachvili pèse sur le vote du 30 octobre, le 2nd tour des élections municipales. Cela peut renforcer les chances de l’opposition de remporter nombre de mairies importantes dans le pays.
It is of course almost impossible to predict in which ways Saakashvili can influence Georgian politics, or return to power, one way or the other. But he created an electroshock: he embodies a rejection of the Georgian Dream party of the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili. Each election shows Georgian voters want a change: during the 2018 presidential election, they voted clearly against Salome Zurabishvili, the Georgian Dream candidate, who had a 10 percent lower vote than Saakashvili's National United Movement. Ivanishvili had to promise between the first and second tour of the election to cancel 600,000 loans to change the outcome of the vote. The most realistic scenario is that Saakashvili's presence will weigh on the second tour of the municipal elections on October 30. This could strengthen the opposition and increase its chances to win important cities.
Ivanishvili is a key figure in Georgian politics: a successful millionaire who made part of his fortune in Russia in the 90s, he founded the Georgian Dream party in 2012 and then served as Georgia's Prime Minister in 2012 and 2013. Though he announced that he was leaving politics in early 2021, including stepping down as chairmanship of the Georgian Dream party, he remains a key player. At this point of heightened tension, the party is in a tough spot — any move regarding the fate of Saakashvili seems to be a bad decision, as both experts explain. According to Genté:
Beaucoup en Géorgie disent que le gouvernement est embarrassé par la présence de Saakachvili dans le pays, qu’il préférerait l’extrader en Ukraine ou ailleurs. J’ai l’impression que depuis 2012 Ivanichvili veut garder son meilleur ennemi derrière les barreaux pour très longtemps. Aujourd’hui le soutien à Saakachvili n’est pas négligeable probablement, mais nous n’avons à peu près aucun moyen de le mesurer.
Many say in Georgia that the government is embarrassed by Saakashvili's presence in the country, and would rather extradite him to Ukraine or elsewhere. I have the impression that since 2012, Ivanishvili would rather keep him behind bars for a very long period of time. Today Saakashvili's support should probably not be underestimated, but there is no way to measure it.
Gordadze explains that the issue is also an international headache for the ruling party:
Saakachvili, mort ou vivant représente un danger: les autorités ne peuvent pas le relâcher car elles ont bâti leur légitimité sur une idéologie anti-Saakachvili et risqueraient de perdre le soutien de leurs électeurs dont certains sont lui farouchement opposés car ils ont perdu leur pouvoir, leur influence, leur business, leur source de corruption sous son gouvernement.
En prison il est aussi un problème interne mais aussi international car il est citoyen ukrainien. Les diplomates le mentionnent dans toutes les rencontres. L'idéal serait de l'expulser vers l'Ukraine mais pas tout de suite; car il a été condamné par contumace pour six ans. Il veut rencontrer ses juges mais on ne lui donne pas ce droit car ce serait sa tribune.
Dead or alive, Saakashvili represents a danger: the authorities cannot release him as they built their legitimacy on an anti-Saakashvili ideology and would lose the support of their voters, some of whom are strongly opposed to him because they lost their power, influence, business, and source of corruption under his government. While in prison, he is an internal but also international issue since he is now a Ukrainian citizen. To expel him would be ideal, but not right away, since he was sentenced in absentia for six years. He wants to meet his judges now but he is not given that opportunity because he would use that as his tribune.
And indeed, Saakashvili is a polarizing issue outside the borders of Georgia: many Russian and Western diplomats blame him for initiating the war with Russia in 2008. Thus his return to Georgian politics also adds tensions to relations between Moscow and Brussels or Washington, as Gordadze points out:
Saakachvili est totalement pro-occidental mais peut-être plus que les Occidentaux eux-mêmes et ceci est un problème: Saakachvili est la personne qui symbolise le conflit russo-géorgien, donc son retour va raviver ce conflit, Moscou ne va pas tolérer une telle personnalité, donc de nombreux diplomates pensent qu'il vaut mieux avoir le Rêve Géorgien au pouvoir car c'est un parti qui négocie avec Moscou et qui ne veut pas faire de vagues. L'Europe ne veut pas se confronter à la Russie, donc le dossier géorgien est gênant.
Saakashvili is totally pro-Western but perhaps even more so than Westerners, and that is a problem: he symbolizes the Russian-Georgian conflict, thus his return will bring back the conflict as Moscow would not tolerate him. Thus many diplomats think it is better to have the Georgian Dream in power, because they negotiate with Moscow and do not want to rock the boat. Europe does not want a confrontation with Russia, hence the Georgian issue is a hindrance.
Genté echoes those views, but adds that for average Georgians, the first concern today might be poverty:
Pour la population, la question me semble d’abord : comment mieux vivre ? Quand l’Allemagne propose au printemps dernier un quota de 5.000 personnes pour des emplois saisonniers, près de 100.000 Géorgiens ont postulé à ces emplois. Cela a beaucoup étonné ici et montré l’état de désespoir des gens face au marché de l’emploi. Cela dit, ce sentiment que le pouvoir ne satisfait par leurs exigences est renforcé par effectivement une série d’évidences que le « Rêve Géorgien » nourrit une relation pour le moins ambiguë avec Moscou. La crise de juin 2019, lorsqu’un député communiste russe s’est assis sur le fauteuil du président du Parlement dans le cadre, a été marquante à cet égard. Les manifestations qui ont ensuivi ont duré des semaines, mobilisant bien au-delà des partis d’opposition.
For Georgians the question is first: how to live better? When Germany offered last spring a quota of 5,000 positions for seasonal jobs, almost 100,000 Georgians applied. This was a surprise and shows the level of desperation of people seeking jobs. This feeling of not being listened to is reinforced by a series of facts showing the Georgian Dream party has a rather ambiguous relationship with Moscow. In June 2019, a Russian deputy from the Communist Party sat in the seat of the president of the Georgian Parliament. Demonstrations that followed this incident lasted for weeks and mobilized not just the opposition parties but average citizens.
As Georgia prepares for its second municipal elections on October 30, and Saakashvili remains on hunger strike, stability seems but an empty dream in a country deeply divided over political and economic lines.
Editorial note: To clarify Gordadze's position on the matter of Russian-Georgian relations, the newsroom added the following clarification: “Thus many diplomats think it is better to have the Georgian Dream in power, because they negotiate with Moscow.”

author: Filip Noubel


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How Dave Chappelle’s new comedy special went over in the Caribbean · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Posters advertising a Dave Chappelle comedy special on Netflix. Photo taken near 7th Ave. in New York City, April 4, 2017, by Brecht Bug on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
U.S. comedian Dave Chappelle, who has earned the moniker the “Greatest of All Time” (GOAT) for his ability to deftly shine a spotlight on uncomfortable truths through his unique brand of no-holds-barred humour that leaves audiences agape, is in hot water—as he predicted he would be–thanks to some of the things he said about the LGBTQ+ community in his latest Netflix special, “The Closer”—including the manner in which he referred to transgender people's genitals, and his contention that “gender is a fact.”
The show, which began to stream on October 5, has angered the global LGBTQ+ community. Activists have been pressuring Netflix to drop the programme; so far, the company has remained resolute in its support for the comedian, with CEO Ted Sarandos noting in a company email:
Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long standing deal with him. […] As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom – even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful […]
We don’t allow titles on Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe The Closer crosses that line. I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries. […] These are hard and uncomfortable issues.
After a subsequent protest by employees and others, however, Sarandos acknowledged that he “screwed up” in the way he spoke to staff about Chapelle's special.
In the Caribbean, long deemed a homophobic region, thanks to everything from anti-gay sentiments in dancehall lyrics and political rhetoric, to violence—some of it fatal—against gay and trans people, the reception to Chappelle's show has been mixed, with some social media users taking offence and others not understanding how his message could be interpreted in the way that it has.
If you find Dave Chappelle's stand up, or DaBaby's comments, offensive… you're going to have a hard time in Jamaica #thatisall
— The Council – Trilogy OUT NOW! (@FiveSteez) October 9, 2021
Trinidad-based Facebook user Timothy Christopher P Nokio was exuberant with his praise. Brenda Cozier agreed, saying that Chappelle “speaks truth with comedy,” while Roger Anthony DeCaires admired “the way he deals with social issues.” Gigi Fanale, meanwhile, covered both extremes:
I laughed soo loud..and cringed so hard.
That is the essence of Chappelle's craft. He wants to make people consider uncomfortable issues, some of which will have them shifting in their seats—but was the show high-level comedy, or did he cross a line? On Facebook, Rhoda Bharath explained:
When you examine The Closer properly you realize that what Chapelle did last night was present the final chapter in the book that was his Netflix series.
Every single routine was linked by themes and even recurrent characters.
Dave Chapelle, a stand up comedian, employed leitmotif and major and minor characters in his satire.
Over the course of each episode he built his deconstruction of the importance of comedy to the human condition using the various gender and LGBTQ movements of this century as his prisms.
Life is not a zero-sum game.
There has to be give and take.
G.O.A.T. does not begin to capture this man's talent.
In a Facebook Messenger conversation with Global Voices, Bharath continued:
Dave wanted us to grasp that HE is READY to have the uncomfortable conversation. The one most of us shying away from. And that conversation is that oppressed groups can also do oppressive things and that needs to be discussed and called out just as much as their right to exist and have space in which to exist must be respected.
Chappelle's discomfort with transgender people aside, a core issue of his special focused on the fact that Black people, who have endured centuries of injustice and continue to face active and institutionalised discrimination, have got much less further in the fight for equal rights than the LGBTQ+ community has.
He mentioned this several times in the show via different mechanisms, including his reference to Da Baby, a rapper who has said offensive things against the LGBTQ+ community—over which there was public outcry—but whose career appeared to be under no threat of cancellation after he killed a Black man in Walmart. (The rapper was eventually only charged with carrying a concealed weapon.) Chappelle said:
The kid made a very egregious mistake […] He once shot a n****—and killed him—in Walmart […] and nothing bad happened to his career. Do you see where I'm going with this? In our country, you can shoot and kill a n****, but you better not hurt a gay person's feelings—and this is precisely the disparity I wish to discuss.
Many international LGBTQ+ activists, however, felt that Chappelle's Black rights versus trans rights stance was tantamount to the erasure of Black trans people.
Except he didn't say ‘white gay people’. He said ‘gay people’ as if there are no black gay people. It is an extremely reductive thing to say.
— Nida Kirmani (@NidaKirmani) October 12, 2021
One Trinidadian netizen, Brigette R. Joseph, could not reconcile Chappelle's approach with the everyday realities the Caribbean LGBTQ+ community faces. In a private Facebook update which she has given permission to quote from, she said:
I am finally up to date with Mr.Chappelle’s BS.
Do people just not understand how irresponsible and damaging it is for ANY media, to allow for transphobic comments to be made, even in the slightest? Even just a little bit?
We need to do better. It’s not funny ever.
And you can argue with yourself, when you have very close friends who are trans and who you worry about on a blasted daily basis you [could] check me back.
Writer Amanda Choo Quan (also in a private post with permission to republish) had a similar perspective:
Supporting trans people would really be edgy, since Chappelle has his fame and they have nothing. (If you think the Internet is ‘something’, consider how many trans folk are still dying even though you feel like cancel culture threatens YOU).
On Joseph's thread, again quoted with permission, Zico Cozier suggested:
[…] we need to be honest in our response to what he's doing. You can point out that the jokes are transphobic in nature while also highlighting the truth about his message and its possible impact on its target audience.
Via WhatsApp, Global Voices spoke with Xoe Sazzle, a Caribbean trans activist, who said that she hadn't watched “The Closer,” nor did she plan to, adding:
If [we] put half of the attention that they're pouring into Dave Chappelle and into dicing apart his comedy special, and clamouring and boycotting Netflix […] into the real systems of oppression and the real points of change—which do not lie in the entertainment industry and do not lie in capitalist organisations such as Netflix—then we'd be able to experience some real change, and we'd be able to really benefit from those conversations.
[…] I think a lot of the anger, angst, roaring, etc. is quite misdirected, but that's how popular culture works. […] Pop culture, capitalism…designed to sell…and it's selling! Netflix is making so much money. I think from that perspective, both Dave Chappelle and Netflix have been successful and effective.
Meanwhile, comedian Simmy the Trini said she was “offended”:
I'm offended that people didn't listen to him to try to understand the points he made. […]
Dave Chappelle is a black man, African American, a Muslim and a global comedic icon known for taking strong positions for his beliefs even if that means walking away from millions of dollars or rubbing people the wrong way.
Against that backdrop, he has weighed the LGBTQ community and feminism and found a glaring truth. Cancel culture is often pushed as a narrative by people who don't support their own kind.
As a society and arguably in defense of a better society, we are quick to silence people who have ‘offensive’ views. We shouldn't, theoretically speaking, encourage racism, sexism, sizeism or homophobia. The idea is to work toward harmony and a level of respectful acceptance of the wide spectrum of people experiencing life differently.
Dave points this out brilliantly. A person can have empathy for another group without sharing their beliefs or participating in their ideologies. Respect can be shown and tolerance extended without forcing people to subscribe to beliefs that are in conflict with their own.
She was also careful to listen to dissenting voices:
I've seen the arguments from the other side and I listened with keen ears to establish if Dave Chappelle said anything that was irresponsible […] scrutinizing his words in search of reasons to be outraged or offended. I found nothing he said that warranted the backlash or calls for the removal of his special.
As a comedian, I found his set well-composed and brilliantly delivered. […]
You don't have to agree with him or mirror his views. They are his opinions and you are entitled and free to have yours. There is no right or wrong here – just a wonderful opportunity to understand a different perspective.
As is often the case with Dave Chappelle's comedy, people may just have to agree to disagree.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco