African bloggers find their voice | My reflections

As the end of the year 2005 rapidly approaches I want to write about something today that has been on my mind for months. It is an act of Thanksgiving, not exactly the kind of *Thanksgiving we celebrate as a holiday back in my home country the United States of America, but another kind of thanksgiving.

I was thinking overnight about my post from yesterday re: the BBC News article by Andrew Heavens titled “African bloggers find their voice”. Andrew did a fair job of bringing attention via his article to African bloggers and international blog authors who write about Africa, but in reality it was just that, a fair job. It just skims the surface of an ocean like a seagull going after a small minnow, missing everything that is swimming down in the depths of the Africa Sector of the Blogosphere. Those waters are very deep (like an ocean), the currents (dynamics) are fast moving like a wild river, and the landscape is as breathtaking as that of the deep blue sea.

I personally cannot give enough praise to the skills, imagination, diversity, passion, information and entertainment value shown and shared by just the small fraction of Africa bloggers I have followed in 2005. As I told my friend Bill Ainashe some months ago at his blog, I am humbled by these beautiful minds.

I think it may have been said best by The Zimbabwean Pundit in the August 15, 2005 post “The State of the African Blogosphere”. Here is an excerpt from that great post from the very fine African blogger The Zimbabwean Pundit:

“The African blogosphere is a heterogeneous amalgam of blogs not only by Africans and people on the continent as much as it is comprised of blogs that write about the continent. There are many people around the world that write about Africa. This miracle of cyberspace—that it allows for cheap communication unfettered by geopolitical boundaries—has made it possible for the African odyssey to share center stage alongside the big issues in the west, thanks in part to Africa’s bloggers. The latest news from Africa is available to anyone in the world with access to the internet.

Like the continent itself, content from Africa’s bloggers is vast and varied; from personal to politics, sports to short stories, and poverty to development economics. This wealth of information in the African blogosphere is categorized in many different ways. Most blogs are grouped according to their country of concentration. Many times this is the blogger’s country of origin or residence, other times the writers are expatriates.

The hallmark of African bloggers is authenticity. African bloggers are retelling the African story from their authentic perspective with an avid passion for their countries and continent to boot. It is impossible to read the posts on any of the blogs in the African blogosphere and come away without a sense of the writer’s deep connection to the country and continent. “

Ethan Zuckerman of Global Voices Online recently addressed misconceptions about Africa held by some journalists and other media professionals in his postings “And now, a rant from our listeners” and “Chris Tenove responds!”.

Therefore I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to not only the thousands of readers who have visited Jewels in the Jungle this year, but I would also like to say a special Thank You to the hundreds and hundreds of excellent citizen journalists who write about Africa in the Blogosphere. You are the real Heroes of Africa 2005 in my mind. I have learned so much about the people, places, and natural wonders of Africa from your work online this year.

I have been especially entertained and informed by the work of some very special people listed below who write regularly about Africa and African affairs. Like Andrew Heaven’s article, my list just skims the surface of a vast ocean of interesting blog authors who have emerged to write about Africa today.

Congo Crew & Co. (Democratic Republic of Congo)
007 in Africa by J. Bond (Canada, D.R.C.)
Breaking Hearts in the Heart of Darkness by Sahara Sarah (U.S.A., D.R.C.)
Tangawazi and Mundele by Lulu on the Bridge (Argentina, D.R.C.)
The Salon of News and Thought by The Malau (D.R.C., U.S.A.)
Exiled Soul by Carine (D.R.C., U.K.) (new blog, original blog is offline)
Telegraphe Congolais by Louis Ableman (U.S.A.)

Ethiopia
Ethiopundit by ethiopundit (Ethiopia, U.S.A.)
Meskel Square by Andrew Heavens (U.K., Ethiopia)

Kenya
Kenyan Pundit by Ory Okolloh (Kenya, U.S.A.)
Mshairi (The Poet) by Mshairi (Kenya, U.K.)
Kenya Unlimited (Kenyan blog community)
African Bullets & Honey by MMK and Akinyi Arunga (Kenya, U.K.)

Nigeria
Chippla’s Weblog by Chippla Vandu (Nigeria, The Netherlands)
Grandiose Parlor by Imnakoya (Nigeria, U.S.A.)
Black Looks by Sokari Ekine (Nigeria, Spain)
Timbuktu Chronicles, Africa Unchained by Emeka Okafor (Nigeria, U.S.A.)

Rwanda
On Safari with El Jorgito by George Conrad (U.S.A., Rwanda, Uganda)

Somalia and Somaliland
Inside Somaliland by Yvette Lopez (Phillipines, Somaliland)
Ainashe.net by Bill Ainashe (Somalia, U.S.A.)

Sudan
Sudan Watch by Ingrid Jones (England)

U.S.A.
…My Hearts in Accra by Ethan Zuckerman (U.S.A.)
Black Star Journal by Brian (U.S.A.)
The Head Heeb by Jonathan Edelstein (U.S.A.)
Booker Rising by Shay (U.S.A.)


*An aside:
Owukori, my blogger buddy over at Black Looks, likes to tease Americans about how much we like to “EAT-EAT-EAT” during our traditional holiday festivities Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Well honey, let me tell you. My European friends here in Germany are no better. I made the mistake of roasting a fresh Tom Turkey with a side of candied sweet potatoes for a dinner party we threw for friends this past November and you should of seen ‘em. Not only did our guests rave about the turkey with stuffing and the baked candied sweet potatoes (recipes from my dear grandmothers and Mom), some guests attacked me afterwards as I was trying to discard the turkey carcass to the trash bin, snatching the poor bird out of my hands so that they could pick at the little bits of meat that was left hanging on the bones. Heathens. Worst than any behavior I’ve ever seen at a feast or banquet back home. Right out of the Middle Ages these people. Professionals too, managers and lawyers!

Wishing a Very Happy Holidays 2005 to all of my readers and friends. Worldwide.

Technorati: Africa News Blogging Christmas