29 Monday Jul 2013
Posted in News, Uncategorized
It’s a few days old by now, but a Washington Post editorial arguing for (the threat of) sanctions on Rwanda as a result of their intervention in the Congo has been gaining quite a bit of attention in Africanist circles.
Perhaps the efforts of local Congolese pressure group Friends of the Congo are starting to bear fruit.
You can read the piece here.
01 Saturday Jun 2013
Posted in Events, Reviews, Uncategorized
Tags
African liberation, Amilcar Cabral, Angola, Che Guevara Africa, Che Guevara Congo, Communism in Africa, Cuba in Africa, Friends of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Victor Dreke
Post-screening Remarks. The Executive Director of Friends of the Congo is on the far right.
Friends of the Congo continues to earn accolades. Tonight at Cafe Arte they screened the Cuba: An African Odyssey film, of which snippets were shown at their Cuba to Kuba event that I reviewed last week. Due to a combination of a late start and the film’s length, the evening culminated with only a viewing of the first half of the film complete.
The documentary contains very interesting footage from the era as well as insightful interviews with prominent figures from various African countries, Cuba, the Soviet Union, and the US (European figures are significantly less prominent). It is certainly worth viewing, though I would say that it’s scope is probably too ambitious (there was an attempt to introduce viewers to Amilcar Cabral in some depth, which I felt was superficial and a bit of a flop). In particular, I would have liked to hear more about Che’s 8 country Africa tour in 1964 and his very warm reception in revolutionary Congo – Brazzaville.
The first part of the film recounts Che Guevara’s failed mission in the Congo and Cuba’s less explicit (but perhaps more successful) military assistance to Guinea-Bissau, which involved several of the same personnel who served with Che in the Congo (such as the ubiquitous Victor Dreke). The second part, to be screened by Friends of the Congo at a later date, apparently explores Cuba’s lengthier and more substantial role in Angola.
Anyone know what the Cuban – Angolan relationship is like these days?
Afterwords, I nodded my head to some African tunes for a few minutes at the nearby Bukom Cafe. I have to say that given its location, it amazes me how heavily West African the clientele is there (although similar scenarios hold true for several nearby Ethiopian establishments).
25 Saturday May 2013
Posted in Events, Uncategorized
Tags
Busboys and Poets, Cafe Arte, Che Guevara Congo, Congo - Rwanda relations, Freddy Ilunga, Friends of the Congo, Institute for Policy Studies, Kambale Musavuli, Ofunshi Oba Koso, Orisha, Patrice Lumumba, Victor Dreke
Yesterday evening, the Friends of the Congo, with support from the Institute for Policy Studies, hosted a fantastic event (From Cuba to Kuba) which explored Cuban solidarity with African anti-imperialism movements. Che Guevara’s 7 month mission in the Congo in 1965 was the background for most of the dicussion. I had previously been to a Friends of the Congo event (held in the exact same venue no less – the DC municipal center on 14th and U) and I felt at odds with the organization’s ideological approach. I no longer have such qualms.
11 Monday Mar 2013
The third and probably final film that I will attend at the New African Films Festival at the AFI theatre in Silver Spring was probably the best. War Witch, an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film, while filmed in Africa, is technically not at an African film at all, but rather the product of a Canadian film director.
I won’t go into too many details, but Rachel Mwanza, the young actress and lead character (the war witch) gave a very emotional performance. The action is not explicitly announced as being set in the Congo, although that’s just a mere technicality, as much of the dialogue is in Lingala. While the film is overwhelmingly sad, it also has comedic moments, principally a trip to an albino compound that brings to a close longstanding efforts to find a white rooster.
Representatives from Friends of the Congo spoke briefly before the film, encouraging the audience to become more involved and aware of the situation in the country. Although the violence that constituted Africa’s ‘world war’ approximately a decade ago has ended, conflict continues in the east of the country and the central government remains weak yet repressive. US policies appear to focus more on support for the Kabila administration in Kinshasha than to encourage much needed reforms.
Africa in DC 