Now that we are only 2 days away from the worldwide Live8 Concerts for Africa, the online global dialogues are really heating up both in the Blogosphere and in the mainstream media (MSM). Global Voices Online has a new posting about African and African-American (i.e. yours truly) bloggers writing about the concerts and debt relief and the upcoming G8 Summit. Checkout GV’s June 29th post “Roundup: Africans on Live8” for some very interesting insights.
The International Herald Tribune online has a June 30th feature article titled “As Live8 pushes G 8, who benefits” written by Alan Cowell of the New York Times. The article points out some of the same worries and concerns voiced by none other than certain bloggers featured in the Global Voices article. Go figure that one out. Me? I’m positive and delighted about the whole deal because I’ve seen how these types of events can help to bring about real change. Worked back in ’69, didn’t it? Did you see that Moscow is now on board? Here is the Wikipedia link to the Live8 events in case you haven’t bookmarked it yet and of course one should bookmark the official Live8 The Long Walk to Justice homepage too.
The Live8 Project blog over at Technorati is just pumping away and is a great introduction into how far global blogging has come. As of this writing there are more than 9500 posts (using Technorati tags) on the Live8 events and the G8 summit, which is about 1500 more posts than 2 days ago. People from all over the world have something to say (write) and I am proud to see so many German language blogs present there. I knew that the Germans would catch up with the rest of us here in the Blogosphere…eventually. Jo Deutschland!! You can also signup on the Live8 e-list that will be forwarded to the G8 leaders attending the Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland next week. Just in case they still don’t get it.
For all of you here in Europe who continue to complain that there has not been enough participation by African musicians and performers in the Live8 events, I would recommend that you run your little butts over to Cornwall for the weekend and checkout the Africa Calling – Live8 at the Eden Project concert. The lineup of performers at Eden is einfach Geil! (Deutsch = simply unfreakin'believable) and if there will be a DVD release of Live8 I would buy a copy just for this concert alone. Unlike the Live8 Berlin concert the folks over in Cornwall didn’t have any big problems with finding sponsors. Just what is the Eden in Africa Project? Thanks to Peter Gabriel and the folks over in Cornwall for putting such a great show together so fast. Of course, the music fans down in South Africa will not have any problems in being entertained by an all-star lineup of African musicians. Johannesburg kicks off the Africa Standing Tall Against Poverty campaign with Live8 Johannesburg. How’s that for Black Performer Power on Stage?!
And last but not least, CNN is featuring a week long special titled “Africa at Risk” that will tie in with their special coverage of the G8 Summit 2005 at Gleneagles. Unfortunately the CNN web team has again failed to publish timely information about the program other than a stupid banner ad, but the CNNI TV spots say that Christiane Amanpour will be reporting direct out of Ethiopia and that Sorious Samura’s riveting documentary Living with Refugees will be shown again next week as well. Fireworks on CNNI start Saturday morning CET July 2nd with the first screaming and crying guitars out of Tokyo (or Moscow)?
Ron McCullagh of Insight News TV (where Samura presently works) wrote a very good background article about the award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker and here is a link to an essay written by Sorious Samura titled “Who Stole Reality?”. The openDemocracy project site has two features (subscription required) written back in February 2004 about the Sierra Leone born Samura and here is a link to my April 11th posting on his documentary video about life for refugees fleeing the atrocities in Darfur and living in camps near the Sudan/Chad border. If you missed it the first time, then please don’t miss it again.
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Mandela, Mobutu & Me
4 years ago
3 comments:
I suspected the media never mentions the truth about Ethiopia what is happening right now. This is one of the biggest challenges we have in Ethiopia as well as the rest of Africa. I live in Tennessee but Africa’s cry is not food aid, money or material support-Africans lack governments and the rule of law. Ethiopians got the best opportunity to exercise to vote on May 15, 2005. It went well until the Election Day but quickly the ruling party turned to his gun to shoot so many and people still live under gunpoint. I cannot explain the while process but you can dig it yourself from the http://ethiopianreview.com/ including letter from US congress to PM Meles of Ethiopia and his response.
That is, only if the media in the west is interested in reporting the truth. Do you know that the country does not have a single free press except few in the capital, Addis Ababa? Read how of the few journalist are jailed as recently as this week.
I beg you to report the existing reality as the lack of good governance is the top problem in Africa. I am originally Ethiopia and I am involved in developmental projects there. I must say that how corrupt the government is and nobody reports it because no one is there to report. Those foreign journalists who report anything of the bad side of the government were kicked out of the country as it happened VOA and German Radio reporters. All we ask is tell the world the truth about the corrupt and merciless dictators in Africa particularly in Ethiopia. Foreign subsidy is going towards the pockets of the few government elite and they cheat the world. Why do we keep financing them? Let us have stringent attachment to the aid we give. Also, in the case of Ethiopia, let us safeguard the votes of the people who demonstrated their desire for their democratic rights. They stayed at the polls for 12 hours where more 90% turn out to do so. The final tallies are not done because the election was rigged in many parts of the country where there were foreign observers. I wonder if there is some of you journalist have the courage to uncover the truth and make a difference in the lives of 72 million in Ethiopia’s case while hundreds of millions in the rest of Africa.
One of the best posts I've seen. Finally. I made my own too. I support the need for help in Africa. It is imperative however that the right form of help is provided.
I'll spend more time on your links now. Some good info here, as well as the commenter ahead of me.
Thanks to both of my above visitors (Ethiopian in Tennessee & EchoMaus) for stopping by and leaving your thoughts and encouragement.
I would recommend to my Ethiopian visitor to check out the excellent writing of bloggers Ethiopundit and Meskel Square as much of what you are saying is also being covered on these great blogs. Thanks for the link to Ethiopian Review out of Washington D.C.
I'm not a journalist by the way, just another citizen of the world using the internet to express myself and listen to others...:-)
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