‘The Old Man is Being Crazy Now’: NED Democracy Fellow Thiat on Hip-Hop and Activism in Senegal

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Abdoulaye Wade, African conscious hip-hop, Angola, Cheikh Niang, DOs Santos, Gambia, Kaolack, Keur Gui, Mugabe, Senegal, Thiat, West Africa integration, Zimbabwe

Thiat (R)

I recently heard Charles Mangongera, NED Democracy Fellow, deliver remarks on Zimbabwe.  Yesterday, I heard his colleague, Thiat, speak on Y’en a Marre: Youth and Social Engagement in Senegal in the same room.  Thiat provided a brief history of the emergence of Y’en a Marre, its opposition to President Wade’s unconstitutional efforts to seek a third term, and his future aims and objectives.

Wole Soyinka at Howard University: In Praise of Rwanda’s Kagame and in Defiance of Gambia’s Jammeh, Or Tearing a New one for African Leaders

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Abdoulaye Wade, Boko Haram, Congo, Gambia, Howard University, Laurent Gbagbo, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, Wole Soyinka, Yahya jammeh

At Howard University last evening (only my second time there for an event), Wole Soyinka ostensibly spoke on the theme of ‘Rwanda: Paradigm for a Continent.’  The scene was set by a call and response between the Howard administrator presiding over the event and the predominantly student audience, something that was a far cry from the staid environment at events at the New England liberal arts school I attended.

The Nigerian Wole Soyinka, one of the continent’s undisputed intellectual giants gave an extremely hard hitting talk, which was as much about Gambia being a blight on Africa’s image than Rwanda being its savior.  Keep reading for Soyinka’s thoughts and why his handling of a Q&A made me lose all respect for him, after a pretty good set of prepared remarks.

Town Hall Meeting on Corruption in Liberia in Silver Spring; African Political Parties in the US

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CDC, Coalition of Concerned Liberians, Front Page Africa, Gambia, Hunter College, Liberian civil war, Liberty Party, Rodney Sieh, Unity Party

I read this article on Front Page Africa (FPA) with great interest.  For those who don’t know, FPA has been ordered closed by the government of Liberia following the inability of its editor to pay 1.5 million USD to a former minister who successfully sued for libel and its editor has been arrested.  Read about the situation in the words of Rodney Sieh, the editor, here.  It’s certainly not his first brush with West African governments, he ended up fleeing the Gambia after escaping Liberia’s civil war when the new government of Jammeh became displeased with his coverage.

Sieh, who was educated at Hunter College in New York, lived in the US during Liberia’s war and FPA has solid coverage of the Liberian Diaspora in the US, in which the DC area figures strongly.

The article I mention to open this post speaks of a meeting to discuss corruption in Silver Spring, MD, convened by the Coalition of Concerned Liberians.  It’s fascinating to see that three of the country’s main political parties (the ruling Unity Party, the CDC, and the Liberty Party) had the Chairs (or in one case a senior adviser) of their US branches present to deliver remarks.

The phenomenon of US branches of African political parties is not something I have read much about.  Hopefully in the not too distant future, that is an issue I can examine on these pages.  I have covered it once before, very briefly.