08 March 2023

The solution to a headache is not to cut off the head
BBC Africa Live 08 March 2023. Proverb of the day. A Yoruba proverb from Nigeria sent by Olatunde Oluwabumuyi in Chatham, the UK.

South Africans and Sex 100 Years ago: As Christians considered premarital sex, polygamy and ilobolo (bride price) as sinful, black South Africans could no longer “pursue trouble-free intimate lives” in the traditional sense. The article’s author gives some insights into the book she has published on changes that occurred in the early 20th century: Natasha Erlank, Convening Black Intimacy. Christianity, Gender, and Tradition in Early Twentieth-Century South Africa.
https://theconversation.com/sex-intimacy-and-black-middle-class-christianity-in-south-africa-a-difficult-history-201207

Sudan: In her new novel “River Spirit”, well-known Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela retells the story of Charles Gordon, the British general who was killed by the Mahdi’s troops in 1885, and she does so from a Sudanese instead of a British point of view. And she also includes women in the story.
BBC Africa Live 08 March 2023. 12:16

Somaliland: According to the UN, 100,000 or more have fled to Ethiopia from Somaliland over the past month because of fighting in Las Anod that left more than 200 dead and many more have been internally displaced. The Doolo region of Ethiopia where the fugitives went to is very difficult to reach for aid workers.
BBC Africa Live 08 March 2023. 6:24

Photography: The article shows a selection of stunning pictures from “African Studies”, Edward Burtynsky’s latest collection of photographs from Africa, most of them taken from above.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64862607




07 March 2023

Johannesburg: The cooperation between photographer Mark Lewis and urban planner/writer Tanya Zack produced the “ethnographic” book “Wake Up, This is Joburg“. The article, written by Tanya Zack, presents six photographs from the book and briefly tells their stories, all set in a city “where excess, waste and cosmopolitanism collide”.
https://theconversation.com/the-real-johannesburg-6-powerful-photos-from-a-gritty-new-book-on-the-city-200842

Rosetta stone content: Around 200 before the common era, there was an Egyptian revolt against Hellenistic imperialism which was eventually put down by the Ptolemaic dynasty. The Memphis Decree proclaimed Ptolemy V’s victory against the rebels. Copies of the decree, inscribed in hard stone, were placed in all temples – they were “written in hieroglyphs, Demotic and Greek so that all could read it.” The Rosetta stone found in 1799 was one of them – and it finally helped understand hieroglyphs.
https://theconversation.com/i-dug-for-evidence-of-the-rosetta-stones-ancient-egyptian-rebellion-heres-what-i-found-200318

Bipolar disorder/Ghana: The bipolar disorder (‘normal’ periods interspersed with manic episodes and depressive episodes) often carries stigma. The article tries to educate, also about available treatments (in mainstream modern medicine) and create awareness.
https://theconversation.com/bipolar-disorder-is-poorly-understood-in-ghana-knowing-the-facts-can-help-prevent-suffering-200106

UK/Rwanda: While we are waiting for London to announce new plans how to legally stop migrants from entering Great Britain, its Prime minister Sunak has over the telephone convened with Rwandan president Kagame to continue working together concerning London’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
BBC Africa Live 07 March 2023. 8:02

UK/Migration: Those reaching the UK illegally will be arrested and “swiftly deported”. They’ll be able to ask for asylum once back home – or from Rwanda. The new law to that effect could criminalise thousands of “genuine refugees” – and it may well break human rights laws as the British Interior Minister herself admitted.
BBC Africa Live 07 March 2023. 15:56