tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76981675166864099992024-03-08T08:14:31.930+00:00A Passion to UnderstandA passionate view of world events and a desire to understand whyMandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.comBlogger278125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-76241054620419605282023-08-19T09:58:00.001+01:002023-08-19T09:58:35.861+01:00Graphic Novel Review: The Photographer of Mauthausen by Salva Rubio, Pedro J Colombo & Aintzane Landa ★★★★★<p>Most online accounts of Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Albert Speer mention that they were convicted at the Nuremberg trials but few accounts mention the testimony and evidence provided by Francisco Boix that enabled those convictions. Nor do they mention the bravery and sacrifices of the people involved in preserving and delivering that evidence to the outside world.</p>
<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZxSG8Z47zl3eHz4B3swRIpgra5irhvZm6rwKyouDRH_B1KK7GTvPAPQ4ZcTGzcBYunwdilYXyO0EdhPYh7AbpHhbKpoq2xBiVDQXdmuemzC1ubBFcj_bURJP0z7a0PdmAqReBqllfkUWDLENPOcCeQi82oBVOoS7Ji3T6w0QcgmGL0smiWS5lsSTcLk2/s1600/gallery_export_1692434460_1692434478.jpeg" ><img style="border:3px solid black;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZxSG8Z47zl3eHz4B3swRIpgra5irhvZm6rwKyouDRH_B1KK7GTvPAPQ4ZcTGzcBYunwdilYXyO0EdhPYh7AbpHhbKpoq2xBiVDQXdmuemzC1ubBFcj_bURJP0z7a0PdmAqReBqllfkUWDLENPOcCeQi82oBVOoS7Ji3T6w0QcgmGL0smiWS5lsSTcLk2/s1600/gallery_export_1692434460_1692434478.jpeg" alt="Graphic Novel Review | The Photographer of Mauthausen | cover and author photograph" title="Graphic Novel Review | The Photographer of Mauthausen | cover and author photograph" /></a></p>
<p><em>The Photographer of Mauthausen</em> by Salva Rubio (writer), Pedro J Colombo (illustrator) and Aintzane Landa (colourist) tells the story of Boix, a Spanish photographer and veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Following his part in the civil war, Boix was exiled to France and joined the French army before being captured by the Germans. <em>The Photographer of Mauthausen</em> starts with Boix's arrival at Mauthausen in 1941.</p>
<p>Boix starts off his internment as a translator but soon finds a position in the photography lab. Somehow, inexplicably, SS-Hauptscharführer Paul Ricken takes a liking to to Boix and recruits him as assistant to his macabre photography project. In this role, Boix is exposed to the many atrocities being committed at Mauthausen (in addition to the ones he had already witnessed).</p>
<p>Boix realises initially that this evidence needs to be preserved and several prisoners get involved in making this happen. However, as news reaches camp of an impending Russian victory, Boix realises that he needs to get proof of the atrocities to people on the outside of the camp.</p>
<p>Boix was successful and both his testimony and the photographic evidence proved that Nazis such as Kaltenbrunner and Speer were not only aware of what was happening at Mauthausen but they were complicit in the atrocities too.</p>
<p>The value of <em>The Photographer of Mauthausen</em> is in the questions that it raises about justice and remembrance. At the time of the Nuremberg trials, the photos were used to obtain convictions but Boix expresses frustration on page in the graphic novel about why people weren't more concerned about what happened at Mauthausen and the atrocities committed.</p>
<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7avb7o8c8T1TsAqxPceU_llareFwOd7l8b6qC23zpRLdFcdr5-Q2R79i5EBjXvlZ8b2d0JWHVcsnMBvVdZw3eEJacPRHM5zDkydtlC-IipB-V_CeTiiFC50KoQW2TYbXUVebQINoWdLNMHjKTfU75jnOvNJJYx8YH3IvN_CI0XBOs48FQ0rUbdN5UAx6/s1600/gallery_export_1692434493_1692434509.jpeg" ><img style="border:3px solid black;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7avb7o8c8T1TsAqxPceU_llareFwOd7l8b6qC23zpRLdFcdr5-Q2R79i5EBjXvlZ8b2d0JWHVcsnMBvVdZw3eEJacPRHM5zDkydtlC-IipB-V_CeTiiFC50KoQW2TYbXUVebQINoWdLNMHjKTfU75jnOvNJJYx8YH3IvN_CI0XBOs48FQ0rUbdN5UAx6/s1600/gallery_export_1692434493_1692434509.jpeg" alt="Graphic Novel Review | The Photographer of Mauthausen | Page from graphic novel depicting the photographer capturing various Nazi officers" title="Graphic Novel Review | The Photographer of Mauthausen | Page from graphic novel depicting the photographer capturing various Nazi officers" /></a></p>
<p><em>The Photographer of Mauthausen</em> is an excellent graphic novel that tells, in an accessible format, an important story in the annals of Holocaust history while serving as an educational source on both Nazi atrocities and the trials following the war. </p>
<p itemtype="https://schema.org/Book" itemscope="itemscope" itemprop="review">I give <em itemprop="name itemreviewed">The Photographer of Mauthausen</em> a superb five out of five stars. The graphic novel is extremely well illustrated and written and recommended for those interested in history, graphic novels and the Holocaust. <span itemprop="REVIEWRATING"><meta content="5" itemprop="ratingValue"><meta content="5" itemprop="bestRating"></span></p>
<p><font size="4">★★★★★</font></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-35801972947764966422022-03-09T19:02:00.002+00:002022-03-09T19:02:34.560+00:00Film Review: Dying to Divorce (2021) | The fight to obtain justice for violence against women in Turkey ★★★★★<p>More than one in three Turkish women have been domestically abused in their lifetime. Femicides are rising and in 2020, 409 women in Turkey died as a result of domestic violence. It is rare that a woman will survive a case of extreme violence, rarer still that she will see justice. BAFTA-nominated director Chloë Fairweather and CPH:DOX F:ACT-award-winning producer Sinead Kirwan have teamed together on <em>Dying to Divorce</em>, a feature-length film on the fight of one courageous lawyer and two brave survivors for justice.</p>
<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiPnbrCOJliJJ8yCwzEXQz08lC8JfXpQsXvPt37Se_AD6ELPB8Ienpmcmrqwm-PTVT1UN9HCSgBRNjTnkSBgimlXBbJmnt2isQYIXpRrnwlbBwMeSVTnH9pT-aVKDX5VUyqE4WNp5C-uLILUQX6VLmsbZX53077fBaZbD1KbrfrGGFEKeQSe8AvyXHGQ" ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiPnbrCOJliJJ8yCwzEXQz08lC8JfXpQsXvPt37Se_AD6ELPB8Ienpmcmrqwm-PTVT1UN9HCSgBRNjTnkSBgimlXBbJmnt2isQYIXpRrnwlbBwMeSVTnH9pT-aVKDX5VUyqE4WNp5C-uLILUQX6VLmsbZX53077fBaZbD1KbrfrGGFEKeQSe8AvyXHGQ" alt="Dying to Divorce | Film Review | Film Poster" title="Dying to Divorce | Film Review | Film Poster" /></a></p>
<p>Kubra was a world famous television presenter known for her work on Bloomberg Turkey. She was attacked by her husband two days after she gave birth to their daughter. She lost the ability to speak and walk and required extensive speech therapy to testify against her husband in court.</p>
<p>Arzu was fourteen when she was married off to a farmer ten years her senior. He fired seven shot gun shells into her at close range when she asked for a divorce; she lost both her legs and the use of her arms as a result of the attack.</p>
<p>Both women need the help of Ipek Bozkurt to fight their cases in court and obtain custody of their children.</p>
<p>Filmed over five years, <em>Dying to Divorce</em> received recognition from the Academy Awards, BIFA Awards, Rose d’Or Awards, and received a BAFTA longlist nomination. It is a shocking film that delves into the systemic violence against women in Turkey and how their abuse is perpetuated by the court and Erdogan himself. </p>
<p>In one case, a husband was given a reduced sentence for killing his wife because she'd allegedly swore at him and provoked him.</p>
<p>As recently as March 2021, President Erdogan signed a presidential decree withdrawing Turkey from the Istanbul Convention. This Council of Europe treaty seeks to end violence against women and to set legally binding standards for the punishment of perpetrators. By withdrawing from the treaty, Erdogan signals that to men in Turkey that they may continue to abuse women with impunity.</p>
<p><em>Dying to Divorce</em> could be framed as an edge-of-the-seat legal thriller were it not for the fact that it is devastatingly not fictional.</p>
<p itemtype="https://schema.org/Movie" itemscope="itemscope" itemprop="review"><img itemprop="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiMQQWk7jS3aSUUN8oWptaM5uUTB862EbZzJkRAs9e6P81SnTMJUrMQln6eboFHClXneeSGcBgrIEnul1PO4DuFoCqycJiO-oXxJHkGhQdSI8ZeA_Y7FPipGgO1uGhA9brOIeo6X2guuP4z92QafoV3dxm6GvGfni979NmMi9AQOlhGhNr8h_am_8qdw" alt="Still of Ipek Bozkurt in Dying to Divorce | Film Review" title="Still of Ipek Bozkurt in Dying to Divorce | Film Review"/></br><span itemprop="headline"></span>I give <em itemprop="name itemreviewed">Dying to Divorce</em> an excellent five out of five stars. Not only is his feature length <span itemprop="genre">documentary</span> chilling and eye opening but <b itemprop="director" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name">Chloë Fairweather</span></b> does an excellent job in keeping the viewer engaged in over five years of footage and developments.</br><span itemprop="REVIEWRATING"><font size="4">★★★★★</font><meta content="5" itemprop="ratingValue"><meta content="5" itemprop="bestRating"></p>
<h3>Trailer: <em>Dying to Divorce</em> (2021) - directed by Chloë Fairweather</h3>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ee4dcki_oGc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><b><em>Dying to Divorce</em> will be broadcast on Sky Documentaries on Wednesday 9 March at 9:00pm.</b></p>
<p><a href="https://dyingtodivorce.com">dyingtodivorce.com</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-30267120491037453362021-09-18T15:31:00.002+01:002021-09-18T15:34:16.233+01:00Srebrenica Genocide Survivor Nedžad Advić Speaks About His Experience<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPvieIsULaI/YUXzjKQkt0I/AAAAAAAAdqE/BAKT9Itso0wkctiUxZIrboCQFg9P8hO2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/5E4966FA-4461-490F-A758-84262484454D.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPvieIsULaI/YUXzjKQkt0I/AAAAAAAAdqE/BAKT9Itso0wkctiUxZIrboCQFg9P8hO2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/5E4966FA-4461-490F-A758-84262484454D.jpeg"/></a></p>
<p>I'm reading Ann Petrila and Hasan Hasanović's <em>Voices from Srebrenica: Survivor Narratives of the Bosnian Genocide</em>. The book is a series of oral histories from survivors of the Srebrenica genocide in July 1995; I've only made it through the section on execution site survivors so far. It is slow-going. Each story deserves pause and consideration, a moment of reflection on the gravity of loss and the miracle of survival.</p>
<p>Nedžad Advić's story was particularly powerful. Advić is the same age as my 'baby' brother and thus, in the eyes of an older sister, a child when the events of Srebrenica took place. At the age of 17, he was amongst the men and boys separated from their families at Srebrenica and taken to execution sites to be massacred. He survived despite being shot four times and left to die. Advić and the man who saved his life were the only two survivors from the Petkovci Dam execution site.</p>
<p>So touched was I by Advić's account, I went out in search of other media relating to his story. Advić gave the interview below on the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.</p>
<h3>25 years on: Srebrenica massacre survivor Nedzad Avdic recalls how he escaped death in 1995</h3>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JAFuNAjdASU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<hr /><iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpwwwmissus-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon®ion=GB&placement=B08N3J18PS&asins=B08N3J18PS&linkId=3e0864c93783936d2f205b675aad167c&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>
<p>(note: this post contains affiliate links; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using these links at no extra cost to you).</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-14477674183499798892021-05-28T15:52:00.004+01:002021-05-28T15:52:46.756+01:00'Letters from Diaspora' by Arnesa Buljusmic-Kustura | Book Review<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J5h2jIfmTCE/YLEBsASRA2I/AAAAAAAAdkc/_FIBp9lw0sIzC5FPdEAAMBpThYBTg-LwACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/786DCF3F-8BBC-45A9-9CA7-C79A021CD125.jpeg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J5h2jIfmTCE/YLEBsASRA2I/AAAAAAAAdkc/_FIBp9lw0sIzC5FPdEAAMBpThYBTg-LwACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/786DCF3F-8BBC-45A9-9CA7-C79A021CD125.jpeg" alt="Letters from Diaspora by Arnesa Buljusmic-Kustura | Book Review" title="Letters from Diaspora by Arnesa Buljusmic-Kustura | Book Review"/></a></p>
<p>If you've ever contemplated how people 'get over' war and genocide, Arnesa Buljušmić-Kustura has the answer in her debut novel <em>Letters from Diaspora: Stories of War and its Aftermath</em>: they don't. The war follows them everywhere, their trauma never leaves them and it simply gets quieter. </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">To deal with my grief, I have been writing a lot about it and on one particularly grief wrenched day I wrote this: <br><br>“Everyone says it will get better with time, but I have been in mourning my entire life. It’s a lie we want to believe but it never gets better, it gets quieter.”</p>— Arnesa Buljušmić-Kustura (@Rrrrnessa) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rrrrnessa/status/1384191482685366288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Letters from Diaspora: Stories of War and its Aftermath</em> reads like an oral history and it's written in a very similar voice to that used by Svetlana Alexievitch. Alexievitch's <a href="https://passiontounderstand.blogspot.com/2016/12/voices-from-chernobyl-by-svetlana.html"><em>Voices From Chernobyl</em></a> was one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read and I very much enjoyed both the style and content of the book, however grim.</p>
<p><em>Letters from Diaspora</em> is not a book that is enjoyed. It's fiction, short at 98 pages and is twelve stories about twelve survivors of war and genocide in Bosnia. All of the subjects are living in the diaspora and speak about rage, loss, grief and being told to move on.</p>
<p><b>There is no moving on</b>.</p>
<p>I finished <em>Letters from Diaspora</em> in one sitting; not surprising perhaps, given the length. It's an incredibly difficult subject matter to read but is a necessary and beautifully written book. I'd highly recommend this book, especially to teens. The short, accessible stories would be an ideal starting point for exploration and discussion.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-6428280998020540202021-01-30T18:42:00.001+00:002021-01-30T18:50:49.668+00:00Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper | Book Review<p>Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma was once home to a thriving African American community. On May 31st and June 1st 1921, a mob of armed white Tulsans attacked the community, killing as many as 300 African Americans and displacing 8,000 more. 2021 will mark the 100th anniversary of what became known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre"><b>Tulsa Race Massacre</b></a>, the history of which was suppressed for seventy-five years. </p>
<p>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qkmNFZVwr8o/YBWlddCzDgI/AAAAAAAAdXI/aI0g-7yhN2YIbHMIR2NExweeFcsx3cDPwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/A4FD3821-A515-4D47-8045-6F5F5BA41CA4.jpeg" ><img width="650" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qkmNFZVwr8o/YBWlddCzDgI/AAAAAAAAdXI/aI0g-7yhN2YIbHMIR2NExweeFcsx3cDPwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/A4FD3821-A515-4D47-8045-6F5F5BA41CA4.jpeg" alt="Unspeakable The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper | Book Review" title="Unspeakable The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper | Book Review" /></a></p>
<p>
<em>Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre</em> is a picture book by author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper. It's short at 32 pages but aims to help young readers understand these terrible events so that "we can move toward a better future for all". It's aimed at the 8-12 years age group.</p>
<p>Reading <em>Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre</em> was physically painful. In the beginning, the book describes the thriving community of Greenwood District and the high street that became known as the "Black Wall Street". The descriptions of culture, fashion and community reminded me so much of what I've read about Sophiatown and District Six in South Africa, communities with vibrant cultures that were similarly razed to the ground.</p>
<p>Weatherford has done a fine job of simplifying the events for young readers, but presenting sufficient detail to draw older readers into healthy debate and discussion. It would be a good platform to stimulate further research and self-study too. The author's and illustrator's notes were particularly interesting, detailing their personal reasons for being involved in this work. Of particular note is the author's comment that the event was not even taught in Oklahoma schools until the twenty-first century. </p>
<p>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GksFLE5sov8/YBWjUhT1alI/AAAAAAAAdW8/05Dt_jlkLJ868kx319ry4EAwI6SP5utxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/0353B103-0B67-4EDE-A457-491C3DB8A204.jpeg" ><img width="650" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GksFLE5sov8/YBWjUhT1alI/AAAAAAAAdW8/05Dt_jlkLJ868kx319ry4EAwI6SP5utxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/0353B103-0B67-4EDE-A457-491C3DB8A204.jpeg" alt="Unspeakable The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper | Book Review" title="Unspeakable The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper | Book Review" /></a></p>
<p>
The illustrations by Floyd Cooper are exquisite, showcasing the fashions and vibrancy of Greenwood District, and ultimately the violence and devastation. The illustrations do a great job of bringing the events and people to life, ensuring that the reader relates to them and to the injustice of the events.</p>
<p><em>Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre</em> is published by Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group</p>
<p>
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book and am pleased to note that it's being released in both the US and UK (and presumably around the world). </p>
<p>
<em>An advance, electronic copy of this book was provided by Netgalley for the purposes of this review. </em>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-87498427002148781952020-10-04T15:57:00.001+01:002020-10-04T15:57:44.142+01:00Book Review: West of Jim Crow: The Fight Against California's Color Line by Lynn Hudson ★★★★☆<p>I know very little about American civil rights history from the late 19th to early 20th century. This is not surprising; my focus has primarily been on Africa (especially South Africa) and on genocides in the 20th century. It has been interesting to learn that anti-miscegenation laws and job-colour bars weren't the invention of Apartheid South Africa but originated in North America. Specifically, a set of so-called Jim Crow laws emerged in America from about 1880 that sought to enforce racial segregation and these laws would be a highly influential on laws adopted by South Africa.</p>
<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h1plp8aVBX4/X3neAMucIbI/AAAAAAAAdFI/CsE40SE6e2IjVuVTlmIhoj0qMEdJvqp1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/D71E5C89-4259-4F7B-AABF-9D1454DD30C1.jpeg" ><img width="650" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h1plp8aVBX4/X3neAMucIbI/AAAAAAAAdFI/CsE40SE6e2IjVuVTlmIhoj0qMEdJvqp1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/D71E5C89-4259-4F7B-AABF-9D1454DD30C1.jpeg" alt="West of Jim Crow: The Fight Against California's Color Line by Lynn M. Hudson | Book Review" title="West of Jim Crow: The Fight Against California's Color Line by Lynn M. Hudson | Book Review" /></a></p>
<p>In <em>West of Jim Crow: The Fight Against California's Color Line</em>, Lynn M Hudson focuses on the African Americans who moved to California to escape Jim Crow, expecting freedom and the benefits of full citizenship but instead realising that Jim Crow and racial segregation were all too present in the west.</p>
<p>This is not simply a recounting of the racism, fear-mongering and obsession with eugenics that featured so prominently in white society for the century after the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction">Reconstruction Era</a> (although these are mentioned in some detail throughout the book). <em>West of Jim Crow</em> is about the tireless efforts of Black Americans to assert their citizen rights, establish respectability, secure equal opportunities and protect their men and women from the scourge of lynching and the rise of the KKK.</p>
<p>It is also notably about the role of Black women, their agency and the significant roles they took in journalism, activism and other roles to secure their rights both as women and as human beings. As Lynn M Hudson remarks on many occasions, just because there is little in the written records about Black women's struggles for freedom and activism, does not mean there wasn't significant agency and activism present.</p>
<p><em>West of Jim Crow</em> is structured around six chapters, each concentrating on a specific event in Californian history:</p>
<ul><li>Reconstruction: the initial gains and setbacks in the period following the Civil War, with the rise of Jim Crow and associated Jim Crow entertainments and minstrelsy</li><li>The Panama Pacific International Exposition: a look at the systematic erasure of civil rights gains, the emergence of the NAACP, the popularity of Birth of a Nation and the rise of eugenics</li><li>The Rise and Fall of Allensworth: the town founded by and for African Americans, doomed to fail because of misrepresentation, geographical and environmental issues</li><li>On Lynching: an account of the events that divided a country into those who supported lynching and those who were appalled by it; eerily prescient of Trump, tiki-torch marches and the gun lobby</li><li>On the Ku Klux Klan: fighting arson and intimidation while the KKK infiltrated law enforcement and local government in California </li><li>The Fight to Desegregate Pasadena's Municipal Swimming Pools: how activists began to use the damages of Jim Crow to argue for civil rights, winning the Pasadena pool case and later the Brown v Board of Education case </li></ul>
<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOr9voS542c/X3neDhd9N5I/AAAAAAAAdFM/Vo6nK3MuhkIqNrJBaDhYA8vEk0TUPr6rgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/B1186EF3-B905-43F7-AB2B-D5124214D28B.jpeg" ><img width="25%" align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 15px; border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOr9voS542c/X3neDhd9N5I/AAAAAAAAdFM/Vo6nK3MuhkIqNrJBaDhYA8vEk0TUPr6rgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/B1186EF3-B905-43F7-AB2B-D5124214D28B.jpeg" alt="West of Jim Crow: The Fight Against California's Color Line by Lynn M. Hudson | Book Review" title="West of Jim Crow: The Fight Against California's Color Line by Lynn M. Hudson | Book Review" /></a><em>West of Jim Crow</em> covers an incredible wealth of information and provides an interesting, readable account of African American history in California. Initially I felt a bit exhausted by the repetitive, circular mode of writing, featuring titbits and breadcrumbs followed by elaboration and exposition. I've noticed that this form of writing is favoured by many historians and while it can be taxing to read, the truth is it is preferable to a dry, linear account and also aids significantly in the reader's retention and comprehension of historical information.</p>
<p itemtype="https://schema.org/Review" itemscope="itemscope" itemprop="review"><meta content="Mandy Southgate" itemprop="author">Despite this small reservation, I give <em itemprop="itemreviewed">West of Jim Crow</em> an excellent four out of five stars and highly recommend to those wishing to know about this particular area of Black history.</p>
<p itemtype="https://schema.org/Rating" itemscope="itemscope" itemprop="REVIEWRATING"><font size="4">★★★★☆</font><meta content="4" itemprop="ratingValue"><meta content="5" itemprop="bestRating"></p>
<p><em>West of Jim Crow: The Fight Against California's Color Line</em> is available to purchase from <a href="https://amzn.to/30vbbXw">Amazon.com</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/3ldp4S2">Amazon.co.uk</a> (disclosure: affiliate links. I will earn a small amount if you purchase using these links, at no additional cost to you).</p>
<p><em>My thanks to University of Illinois Press and Netgalley for advance, electronic copy of this book.</em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-23011315339654258032020-09-03T08:00:00.000+01:002020-09-03T08:00:05.338+01:00Alfred Birney’s ‘The Interpreter from Java’ - Blog Tour and Guest Post<p>I’ve previously covered the <a href="https://passiontounderstand.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-suppressed-history-of-dutch.html">suppressed history of Dutch atrocities in post-war Indonesia</a> on this blog in 2012 and I was very interested to hear about Alfred Birney’s novel about a man named Alan Nolan who discovers his father’s memoirs about the atrocities he committed in the Dutch East Indies during the war with Japan – his life as an assassin, the murder of Indonesians in the service of the Dutch and his escape to the Netherlands to avoid execution. Today I’m taking part in the blog tour for the English-language release of <em>The Interpreter from Java </em>and thank Alfred Birney for the guest post below.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a style="padding: 1em 0px; display: block;" href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3LeDvpWGMs/X0_owNBPZLI/AAAAAAAAdC4/qFqsI3c1ckwh_qXEhgTWNnF7XeB7k1RggCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/The%2BInterpreter%2BFrom%2BJava%2BBlog%2BTour.png"><img style="margin: 5px 0px 0px;" border="0" alt="" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3LeDvpWGMs/X0_owNBPZLI/AAAAAAAAdC4/qFqsI3c1ckwh_qXEhgTWNnF7XeB7k1RggCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/The%2BInterpreter%2BFrom%2BJava%2BBlog%2BTour.png" data-original-width="1920" data-original-height="1080" /></a></div> <hr /> <h3>Colonial Shame by Alfred Birney</h3> <p>The Netherlands’ colonial past has been resurfacing regularly in the national media since 2016, spurred on in part by the success of my novel <em>The Interpreter from Java</em>. Slavery has also become a staple of public debate, though activists often face a barrage of criticism for asking the Dutch to take a broader look at their own history.</p> <p>Colonial history has never been top of mind in the Netherlands, but things took a dramatic turn for the worse with the introduction of a new education system in the 1970s: secondary school students were allowed to pick and choose much of their own curriculum and history lost its status as a compulsory subject. And so we set about producing entire generations with the historical awareness of your average mollusc. Grist to the mill of a nation that was all too eager to sweep its own colonial history aside while pointing the finger at Germany, a country more inclined to shoulder the burden of guilt and apologise for its wartime atrocities. That same finger was pointed at Japan for having the temerity to invade the Dutch East Indies. But what about the troops – over 100,000 of them – dispatched from the Netherlands to reassert Dutch colonial rule after the war by mowing down Indonesian freedom fighters? No British-style Round Table Conferences preceded Indonesia’s independence.</p> <p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IVwBxFpwq2o/X0_ovlSD_4I/AAAAAAAAdCw/R5QEoOJ-1dYBmSRLZd-L0ytJC7Ym-4e7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Birney_Alfred_credit_Eddo%2BHartmann_RV_grayscale.jpg"><img title="Alfred Birney portrait - credit Eddo Hartmann" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; float: right; display: inline;" alt="Alfred Birney portrait - credit Eddo Hartmann" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IVwBxFpwq2o/X0_ovlSD_4I/AAAAAAAAdCw/R5QEoOJ-1dYBmSRLZd-L0ytJC7Ym-4e7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Birney_Alfred_credit_Eddo%2BHartmann_RV_grayscale.jpg" width="25%" align="right" /></a>Unsurprisingly, the Dutch were happy to join in the worldwide protests against the US bombing of Vietnam. If there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s railing against abuses that occur far from our own little patch of mud. But many Americans now look back with a profound sense of what was done in their name. Countless movies and songs about that wretched Asian war have seen the light of day. A ten-part series on the Vietnam War, complete with blunders and atrocities, is now available on Netflix. And what have Dutch post-colonial sensibilities produced? Little more than small-screen adaptations of books from before 1900.</p> <p>The Dutch government is spending over four million euros on an ‘independent study’ into war crimes committed during our great colonial war, a war we lost. This is a farce. Everything of note has already been recorded and filed away, nothing new will surface. These millions are earmarked for the Royal Netherlands Institute for South East Asian and Caribbean Studies, the Netherlands Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Netherlands Institute for Military History.</p> <p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VMY8GpzEYBw/X0_ov8BroMI/AAAAAAAAdC0/Krfb0t1OPMkfSDzvuu_5N7tLbK1tUmJ0gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Birney_THE%2BINTERPRETER%2BFROM%2BJAVA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; float: left; display: inline;" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VMY8GpzEYBw/X0_ov8BroMI/AAAAAAAAdC0/Krfb0t1OPMkfSDzvuu_5N7tLbK1tUmJ0gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Birney_THE%2BINTERPRETER%2BFROM%2BJAVA.jpg" width="25%" align="left" /></a>A study conducted by three government-funded institutes – how independent is that? The men in charge say they welcome cooperation with Indonesia, yet failed to invite a single Indonesian to their obligatory kick-off event. They are eager to talk to Indonesian eyewitnesses from the colonial war of independence, all of whom are long dead.</p> <p>While the stated aim of this study is to analyse the violence on both sides, the Netherlands refuses to simply translate the work of Indonesian historians. Every effort will be made to explain Dutch violence in the broader context of post-war decolonisation, a framework of international political, administrative, judicial and military justifications. International, eh? They’ll be blaming the Allies next!</p> <p>But there is hope. Truly independent researchers in the United States and Flanders are sifting through the facts and taking up their pens. Free from that peculiar mix of colonial shame and arrogance that inflicts the Dutch, they will one day rap us on the knuckles as firmly as we have done with other nations.</p> <hr /> <p><em>The Interpreter from Java</em> is translated by David Doherty, published by Head of Zeus and available in hardcover from today.</p> <p><em>Photo credit portrait of Alfred Birney © Eddo Hartmann</em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-77346706582468889552020-06-14T12:12:00.000+01:002020-06-20T12:14:07.802+01:00Survivors Speak: RLTM and the Role of the Media in the Tutsi Genocide<p>The media played a critical role in the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda in 1994. There is still <a href="https://theconversation.com/debate-continues-about-the-medias-role-in-driving-rwandas-genocide-114512">debate about the nature of that role</a>; while it is unlikely that the media played a direct role in influencing Hutus to kill, it certainly played a secondary role in inciting and prolonging the genocide.</p>
<p>Almost four years before the genocide began, the pro-Hutu, anti-Tutsi newspaper <em>Kangura </em>published the <a href="https://passiontounderstand.blogspot.com/2011/08/rwandan-genocide-hutu-ten-commandments.html"><strong>Hutu Ten Commandments</strong></a> which explicitly called for an end to inter-ethnic relationships and business partnerships between Tutsis and Hutus; an exclusion of Tutsis from public office,  the military and education sector; and an end to so-called Hutu ‘mercy’ on Tutsis.</p>
<p>The Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM, translates as “Thousand Hills Free Radio and Television”) specifically targeted the younger Hutu generation, playing popular music from neighbouring countries and referring to Tutsis as ‘cockroaches’ during anti-Tutsi, pro-Hutu broadcasts. During the genocide, government forces used RTLM to promote violence, going so far as to broadcast specific instructions for carrying out the killings (including the names and whereabouts of Tutsis).</p>
<p>Link: <a href="https://unictr.irmct.org/en/cases/ictr-99-52">ICTR ‘Media Case’: sentencing of Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, Ferdinand Nahimana and Hassan Ngeze</a> </p>
<p>The Hutu Ten Commandments were attributed to the editor of <em>Kangura,</em> Hassan Ngeze. In 2003, in a judgement pertaining to the ICTR ‘Media Case’, Ngeze was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity along with RTLM co-founder Ferdinand Nahimana and RTLM executive Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Genocide Survivors' Recollections of RTLM </h3>
<p>Link: <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/kill-rwandan-genocide-survivors-remember-rtlm-200524092634842.html">'Music to kill to': Rwandan genocide survivors remember RTLM</a> (Al Jazeera, June 2020)</p>
<p><img title="RTLM office Rwanda" style="margin: 5px 0px 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="RTLM office Rwanda" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T56HpfT-deA/Xu3uuuQDoWI/AAAAAAAAc4E/-1H04804zEoUOxjAPKxo9T4ouHaqrZxiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/15D46AB9-6B7B-4CD6-93EB-A99E7EB927BD.jpeg" width="656" height="369" /> <br /><small><em><font color="#666666">The office from which RTLM was broadcast during the genocide against the Tutsi [Source: Kigali Wire/Flickr]</font></em></small></p>
<p>84-year-old Félicien Kabuga was a former businessman in Rwanda and was arrested in Paris, France on 16 May in relation to his role as founder and financier of both RTLM and <em>Kangura</em> magazine.</p>
<blockquote> <p>"[In 2011] Kabuga was charged before the ICTR with genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity, committed in Rwanda between 6 April and 17 July 1994"</p> <p align="right">- <a href="https://www.irmct.org/en/cases/mict-13-38">Case File: Félicien Kabuga</a> [IRMCT.org]</p> </blockquote>
<p>Following the arrest of Kabuga, Al Jazeera have published an excellent in-depth report on the recollections of three genocide survivors about RTLM. Read the full report by Mia Swart on Al Jazeera.</p>
<h4>Claver Irakoze</h4>
<blockquote> <p>"I remember RTLM broadcasting songs conveying hatred and demonising the Tutsi. The songs would openly call for our extermination. Political slogans were translated into song and young people were mobilised into youth movements. These youth movements were key to executing the genocide"</p> <p align="right">- <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/kill-rwandan-genocide-survivors-remember-rtlm-200524092634842.html">'Music to kill to': Rwandan genocide survivors remember RTLM</a> [Al Jazeera, June 2020]</p> </blockquote>
<h4>Honore Gatera</h4>
<blockquote> <p>"Before April 1994, RTLM sent messages about how the Hutus must protect themselves against the "snakes" and the "cockroaches", meaning the Tutsis. There were already some killings taking place. People my family knew in another region of Rwanda were killed. "</p> <p align="right">- <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/kill-rwandan-genocide-survivors-remember-rtlm-200524092634842.html">'Music to kill to': Rwandan genocide survivors remember RTLM</a> [Al Jazeera, June 2020]</p> </blockquote>
<h4>Beatrice Uwera</h4>
<blockquote> <p>"More than 200 people in my own family had been killed. In my mother's family, there were eight siblings. Only one survived. We had to begin again from zero. . "</p> <p align="right">- <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/kill-rwandan-genocide-survivors-remember-rtlm-200524092634842.html">'Music to kill to': Rwandan genocide survivors remember RTLM</a> [Al Jazeera, June 2020]</p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-9269524558587397942020-06-09T21:17:00.000+01:002020-06-09T21:17:02.718+01:00CST Research Briefing on Jack Renshaw<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qZl4923L7fg/Xt_rGOyg_mI/AAAAAAAAc2E/Y25pOdXmK8gZU7yByewIHziR8VuK4yCPgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/65187315-B97F-48E6-A757-74EBD7DE608B.jpeg"><img width="650" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qZl4923L7fg/Xt_rGOyg_mI/AAAAAAAAc2E/Y25pOdXmK8gZU7yByewIHziR8VuK4yCPgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/65187315-B97F-48E6-A757-74EBD7DE608B.jpeg" alt="CST report of Jack Renshaw" title="CST report of Jack Renshaw" /></a></p>
<p>The news broke today that four members of banned far-right terrorist group National Action were convicted and sentenced to between 18 months and five-and-a-half years in prison. Typically, news reports dedicate very little time to what National Action represented and the crimes its members committed, focusing instead on the sensational aspects of the case.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>"National Action, founded in 2013, was outlawed in 2016 after it celebrated the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox"</em></p><p align="right"> - <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-52965672">National Action: 'Miss Hitler' hopeful among four jailed</a> [BBC News]</p> </blockquote>
<p>It is vital that the public are made aware of the greater extent of this group's anti-Semitic leanings and their explicit calls for genocide and violence against Jews.
<p>Link: <a href="https://cst.org.uk">CST.org.uk</a></p>
<p>CST is Community Security Trust, a charity that protects British Jews from antisemitism and related threats. In response to today's news, CST have shared their briefing on Jack Renshaw, the student activist and would-be terrorist who was imprisoned in 2019.</p>
<p>The briefing is comprehensive and eye opening, tracking Jack's far right activity from his membership of BNP Youth at age fifteen to his trial for planning to murder a policewoman and a Labour MP. Over sixteen pages the briefing details the violent rhetoric that permeates Britain’s far right, giving far more detail than news reports can usually dedicate.</p>
<p>Download the report at the CST website: <a href="https://cst.org.uk/public/data/file/6/0/Jack%20Renshaw%20-%20White%20Jihad.pdf?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=&utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=">'White Jihad': Jack Renshaw's journey from a far right student to would-be terrorist</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-80167634571855346982020-04-19T16:02:00.000+01:002020-04-19T16:02:00.999+01:00COVID-19: State of Disaster in South Africa<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8AO9nX7NMLM/XpxmNKj-85I/AAAAAAAAcrk/PKJ8S9u2Y5ALVDH1qC9F4cNP_6Ang-WWACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/627E9A7F-5DD3-4E19-978F-3CF28B408C24.jpeg" ><img width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8AO9nX7NMLM/XpxmNKj-85I/AAAAAAAAcrk/PKJ8S9u2Y5ALVDH1qC9F4cNP_6Ang-WWACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/627E9A7F-5DD3-4E19-978F-3CF28B408C24.jpeg" /></a> </p><p>I was very impressed with the South Africa response to the COVID-19 situation and the choice of President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare of a State of Disaster, not a State of Emergency as early as 15 March 2020 when there had not yet been any fatalities in South Africa. This article, written by Melodie Labuschaigne and Ciara Staunton, addresses this decision and the Constitutional ramifications thereof. </p>
<p>This article was first published on <a href="https://verfassungsblog.de/covid-19-state-of-disaster-in-south-africa/">Verfassungsblog</a> and is reproduced here under the Creative Commons license (CC BY NC ND) with due credit given to the original authors, Melodie Labuschaigne and Ciara Staunton.</p>
<hr>
<p>As COVID-19 spread across the world, the first reported case in Africa was not until 27 February 2020 in Nigeria; six days later the South African National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed the first case in South Africa. Since then, cases have <a href="https://www.nicd.ac.za/">increased steadily</a> and the first death in South Africa was recorded on 27 March 2020. COVID-19 has shown its potential devastating impact elsewhere, but it is a particular cause for concern in South Africa.</p>
<p>First, while public health strategies such as social distancing and regular hand washing are encouraged, such strategies are a privilege many cannot afford in the crowded informal settlements that accounted for 13% of all households in <a href="http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NT-30-06-2016-RELEASE-for-CS-2016-_Statistical-releas_1-July-2016.pdf" >2016</a>, many of which may not have <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/khayelitsha-residents-picket-for-water-as-national-covid-19-lockdown-looms-45580644" >access to running water</a>. Second, the high rate of TB and HIV among the population, in addition to the number of those not on treatment for HIV, have led to concerns that this could impact the <a href="https://theconversation.com/tb-hiv-and-covid-19-urgent-questions-as-three-epidemics-collide-134554" >severity</a> of COVID-19 in South Africa and make its population more susceptible to the virus. Third, while health systems in high income countries (HICs) are being stretched, most South Africans rely on the public health care system that is under-resourced and will struggle to meet the demand of the epidemic. While the virus does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex or borders, it is likely that it will disproportionately affect the poor and those suffering from other co-morbidities. Although the number of cases as of 15 March 2020 in South Africa remained relatively low in comparison to the rest of the world (61 confirmed cases; 0 deaths) President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that ‘<a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/statement-president-cyril-ramaphosa-measures-combat-covid-19-epidemic-15-mar-2020-0000" >urgent and drastic</a>’ measures were necessary to limit the spread of the virus and address this ‘<a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/statement-president-cyril-ramaphosa-measures-combat-covid-19-epidemic-15-mar-2020-0000" >medical emergency’</a>. As such, a State of Disaster was declared by the President on 15 March thereby giving Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs power to limit certain rights and freedoms within South Africa.</p>
<h2 >State of Disaster</h2>
<p >A “State of Disaster” is distinct from a “State of Emergency” that can be declared by the President section 37 of the Constitution of South Africa and in terms of the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a64-97.pdf" >State of Emergency Act 1997</a>. In a State of Emergency, derogations from civil liberties protections under the Bill of Rights such as freedom of assembly are permitted, with some exceptions that include the rights to dignity, life and the right to a fair trial. The courts and parliament retain a supervisory role as the courts have the power to declare a State of Emergency invalid, and any extension of a State of Emergency beyond 21 days must be approved by parliament. A State of Disaster is a temporary measure in which certain rights (such as the rights discussed below) are limited and it may be declared invalid if the requirements for a declaration in s 27(1) of the Constitution are not met. The declaration of a State of Emergency must be necessary to restore peace and order, and as such, may not be the first step in addressing a health emergency, such as the spreading of a virus. Should the emergency escalate and lead to civil unrest, declaring a State of Emergency may be justified and it <a href="https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-implement-state-emergency-only-last-resort" >has not been ruled out</a>.</p>
<p >The CEO of the South African Human Rights Commission, Tseliso Thipanyane, has <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-03-23-human-rights-suspended-in-face-of-covid-19-disaster/" >argued</a> that the measures introduced in fact amounts to a State of Emergency (a point echoed by <a href="https://mg.co.za/coronavirus-essentials/2020-03-29-the-rule-of-law-in-times-of-crisis-covid-19-and-the-state-of-disaster/" >others</a>), but President Ramaphosa did not want to use that term due to its association with the days of apartheid. The <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a57-020.pdf" >Disaster Management Act 2002</a> also specifically includes a natural or human occurrence that causes or threatens to cause “death, injury or disease” within its definition of disaster, which would clearly apply to COVID-19, and this may also be why the President opted for a State of Disaster. Whatever the reason, for now the current situation has been designated a <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202003/43096gon313.pdf" >National State of Disaster</a>.</p>
<p >Unlike a State of Emergency, the power to declare a State of Disaster is not expressly derived from the Constitution but rather under the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a57-020.pdf" >Disaster Management Act 2002</a>. Under the Act a National Disaster Management Centre must be established (in this case within the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) which, amongst other duties, makes recommendations on draft legislation. The exercise of its powers and duties is subject to the direction of the Minister. It is however the national executive (i.e. the Cabinet) that is primarily responsible for coordination and management of the disaster. Regulations can only be made that assist and protect the public, provide relief to the public, protect property, prevent or combat disruption, or deal with disruptive or other effects of the disaster. Under this Act, a series of regulations restricting, amongst other things, the movement of persons, goods and the dissemination of information, were promulgated. These regulations include prohibiting foreign nationals from high risk countries (as defined by the WHO) from entering South Africa from 18 March 2020 and restricting gatherings to 100 individuals. A further series of restrictions, including a “lockdown” on the movement of its citizens from midnight on 26 March were announced on 23 March 2020.</p>
<p >In announcing these further restrictions, President Ramaphosa noted that COVID-19 is particularly dangerous for South Africa in light of the <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-escalation-measures-combat-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-23-mar" >high levels of poverty, malnutrition and high rates of HIV and TB</a>. At the time of the announcements South Africa had the highest number of cases in Africa albeit a low number relative to countries worldwide. The restrictions introduced were at that time the most stringent in Africa, as South Africa was then the only country on the African continent to require all of its citizens to remain at home. The measures announced on 15 March and 26 March represent the most comprehensive limitation on the freedom of movement and assembly of all South Africans since apartheid. A failure to adhere to these measures may result in a <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202003/43107gon318.pdf" >fine (unspecified), imprisonment of up to 6 months or both.</a></p>
<p >A State of Disaster lasts for 3 months (unless terminated by the Minister) and can be extended by the Minister one month at a time. There is, thus, no role for Parliament in the declaration, extension or termination of a State of Disaster. However, the Constitutional Court can set aside the declaration of a State of Disaster and it was <a href="https://m.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/ngo-challenges-constitutionality-of-lockdown-files-constitutional-court-papers-20200329" >challenged</a> (<a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/concourt-kicks-out-ngos-legal-challenge-against-21-day-coronavirus-lockdown-45768339" >and subsequently dismissed</a>) on the grounds that the regulations are violating the rights of South Africans to human dignity, freedom of movement, freedom of trade, occupation and profession, and access to healthcare, food and water. Furthermore, unlike a State of Emergency, the regulations must conform to the Bill of Rights and a court can set aside any regulations that are considered to be an unjustified limitation on these rights under section 36(1) of the Constitution. Under the 2002 Act, parliament is not prohibited from meeting, but the COVID-19 regulations restricting gatherings in effect prevent parliament from meeting.</p>
<p >The <a href="https://www.gov.za/coronavirus/guidelines" >COVID-19 regulations</a> cover any array of measures considered to be necessary to prevent the spread of the virus, but the following are main limitations on the rights and freedoms:</p>
<h2 >1. Freedom of movement and assembly</h2>
<p >The initial restrictions on movement pertained to entry into South Africa and the limitation of gatherings. Initially gatherings of no more than 100 individuals were permitted, but as of midnight 26 March, all gatherings including congregating for prayer is prohibited, with the exception of funerals that are restricted to 50 people. Foreign nationals from high risk countries were prevented from entering South Africa from 18 March. As of midnight on 26 March, all but essential movement is prohibited. The leaving of a residence is only permitted to buy essential goods, seek medical attention, buy medical products, collect social grants, attend a funeral of no more than 50 people, or access public transport for essential services during specified times. Leaving a house for exercise or to walk a dog is not permitted. Movement between provinces and districts is prohibited. Cumulatively, these measures go further than any restrictions on movement under the apartheid government.</p>
<p >Any individual who is suspected of having COVID-19 or has been in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 cannot refuse to consent to be tested. If the test is confirmed positive, they cannot refuse to submit to treatment, isolation or quarantine. Arguably, such measures are unnecessary as the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201706/40945gon604.pdf" >Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions</a>gazetted in June 2017 under the National Health Act 2003 already make provision for the mandatory examination, treatment, isolation and quarantine. Under the 2017 regulations, such an application must be made to the High Court by the Head of a provincial department. The COVID-19 regulations, however, go further as a person who refuses to consent to testing or isolation can be quarantined for 48 hours while a warrant is sought. Section 36(1) of the Constitution requires a limitation of rights to be proportionate. The powers granted under the 2017 regulations appear to be suitable for COVID 19 and it is unclear why an extension of the powers was deemed necessary. Considering there have been no reported cases or indication that people will refuse testing, it is questionable whether this extension of powers is indeed a proportionate response.</p>
<h2 >2. Restrictions on movement of goods</h2>
<p >As of midnight on 26 March, only essential goods may be sold. This includes any food and animal food products; cleaning and hygiene products; medical and hospital supplies; fuel, coal and gas, and basic goods, including airtime and electricity. The selling of alcohol and cigarettes are expressly prohibited. Price controls on certain goods have also been introduced, including toilet paper, hand sanitiser and some food products. Failure to comply can result in a fine, imprisonment of up to 6 months, or both.</p>
<h2 >3. Censorship</h2>
<p >The South African Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and this includes “freedom of the press and other media” and “freedom to receive or impart information or ideas”, which are derogable rights. The COVID-19 regulations criminalise the intentional misrepresentation or publishing of a statement that a person or persons has/have COVID-19. The regulations also criminalise the publishing of a statement (including via social media) that intends to deceive another person about any measure taken by the government to address COVID-19. The focus is on disinformation and is aimed at preventing the spread of <a href="https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12910-019-0348-z" >false cures</a> that have been seen in the context of HIV. However, concerns have been expressed by the <a href="https://cpj.org/2020/03/south-africa-enacts-regulations-criminalizing-disi.php" >Committee to Protect Journalists</a> that this may prompt other jurisdictions to adopt more oppressive press censorship. The risk of censorship that does not observe standards of necessity and proportionality in this time is that it may have the opposite effect and limit access to valuable and reliable information for public health. There is evidence within South Africa that this has already occurred as the Ministry of Health has <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/information-squeeze-covid-19-scientists-experts-in-sa-silenced-as-government-centralises-communication-20200318" >stated</a> that the dissemination of information is centralised to government, information requests by the press should be directed to the NICD and has it instructed other experts in South Africa not to talk to the press. Considering the NICD is currently overwhelmed, this has led to concerns that access to information has already been limited.</p>
<h2 >Enforcement of regulations</h2>
<p >Under the 2002 Act, financial, human and other resources may be released and during his 23 March address, President Ramaphosa announced that he had directed the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to be deployed to support the South African Police Service (SAPS). The SANDF are now patrolling the streets enforcing the lockdown. Already there have been allegations of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/south-africa-police-rubber-bullets-shoppers-covid-19-lockdown" >use of rubber bullets</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-03-30-da-calls-for-investigation-into-gross-violations-by-soldiers-policing-lockdown/" >abuse</a>, that have already led to calls for investigation.</p>
<h2 >Conclusion</h2>
<p >This is the first time since the post-apartheid “New South Africa” that these basic freedoms have been limited. The limitations on rights are considerable and while recourse to the courts remains open, there is <a href="https://verfassungsblog.de/fighting-covid-19-supportive-measures-for-businesses-and-workers-in-south-africa/">no compensation for loss or damage suffered as a results of these regulations</a>. While these regulations apply to the COVID-19 crisis only, it is unclear when this epidemic will be deemed to have passed, and whether they may be used as a template for other public health emergencies which include the current TB and HIV epidemics. While such restrictions, particularly restrictions on movement, are harsh and can be followed in other HICs, it remains to be seen whether these restrictions will ultimately be a near impossible balance between restricting the spread of COVID-19, and depriving many in South Africa of their access to food, water and basic hygiene</p>
<p><em>SUGGESTED CITATION Labuschaigne, Melodie; Staunton, Ciara: COVID-19: State of Disaster in South Africa, VerfBlog, 2020/4/11, https://verfassungsblog.de/covid-19-state-of-disaster-in-south-africa/</em>. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-51668731140512468442017-01-22T18:20:00.003+00:002017-01-22T18:20:46.493+00:00The Longest Road (2016): A Journey To Help Yazidi Refugees<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uHO2wiwv3V4/WIT3L-PX7AI/AAAAAAAAQME/jVMiyzx7pAA/s1600-h/The%252520Longest%252520Road%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img width="100%" title="The Longest Road" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="The Longest Road" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t4EaDyemPdA/WIT3M90OKEI/AAAAAAAAQMI/ZBNCHtPPnZo/The%252520Longest%252520Road_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p>
<p>In a world completely desensitised to images of violence and suffering, I suddenly realise that despite knowing about it, I haven’t <em>seen</em> much of what is actually going on in ISIS controlled territories. I’m watching <em>The Longest Road</em>, a documentary by Matthew Charles Hall and Jennifer Salcido, and a painter is showing his artwork to the camera. He has created incredibly detailed scenes of unimaginable horror and violence and somehow, perhaps because it has come from his memory and not a camera lens, it is all the more horrifying with the removal of that artificial barrier.</p>
<p><em>The Longest Road</em> details the project that Matthew Charles Hall and Jennifer Salcido embarked on with a group of American veterans living on the other side of the world. Iraq War veteran Richard Campos had served in Iraq, trusting that he was working for the greater good without actually being able to see the fruits of his work. Now retired, he has committed himself to returning to Iraq and actually making a visible difference.</p>
<p>Gold Star father Kevin Graves joined him on his mission. Head of <a href="Some Gave All: The Joey Graves Foundation">Some Gave All: The Joey Graves Foundation</a>, he lost his son on a mission just outside of Baghdad. Desperate to see the land where his son paid the ultimate sacrifice, Kevin agreed to join Richard on his project.</p>
<p>What started as a basic mission to fund a hospital in Iraq turned into so much more when the team travelled to the frontlines and were able to witness the atrocities committed by ISIS. There they meet a Catholic nun and Dr Nemam Ghafouri, a Muslim heart surgeon, as well as scores of Kurdish and Yazidi refugees.</p>
<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mWuTyZ-aiQg/WIT3Nlsm08I/AAAAAAAAQMM/6wogcVOEbt0/s1600-h/DSC_9486%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="640" height="426" title="DSC_9486" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="DSC_9486" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kEaMMMZBrRw/WIT3OoTzprI/AAAAAAAAQMQ/IhlL3vuf6KY/DSC_9486_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p>
<p>Filmed over a period of three years, on two continents and in four languages, <em>The Longest Road</em> documents encounters and conversations with individuals who have stared evil in the face and the efforts of the team to make the smallest difference in their lives. We witness the transformation that the team went through and the manner in which their project grew into a major humanitarian effort.</p>
<p><em>The Longest Road</em> is incredibly powerful. For so long, politicians have hijacked the refugee crisis for their own means and the continuing atrocities in Syria and ISIS-controlled territories somewhat distract us from the fact that human beings, men, women and children, are suffering under appalling conditions in Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria. This documentary breaks through the disaster-fatigue to remind us that why we need to continue fighting. It couldn’t have come at a better time.</p>
<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Bt4P8NPQdec/WIT3PvSJcJI/AAAAAAAAQMU/j5hisN_jcbI/s1600-h/SJR_9835%252520%2525282%252529%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="640" height="427" title="SJR_9835 (2)" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="SJR_9835 (2)" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h8txZBMV4dk/WIT3QU8DKRI/AAAAAAAAQMY/EbMH8uu3oS8/SJR_9835%252520%2525282%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p>
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<h3><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HkqxNoe5ol0/WIT3RYZ2DCI/AAAAAAAAQMc/aUL9pS0NR-E/s1600-h/The%252520Longest%252520Road%252520poster%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="25%" title="The Longest Road poster" align="right" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="The Longest Road poster" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4y-5Lhl-P9k/WIT3SdFMTfI/AAAAAAAAQMg/lOPp8r-R9R8/The%252520Longest%252520Road%252520poster_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>Screening</h3>
<p><em>The Longest Road</em> will have its UK and Europe premiere at the Dalston Rio in London on <strong>Saturday 18th February</strong> at noon. There will also be a Q&A afterwards with the directors and Dr Nemam Ghafouri, a medic who helped the American veterans in their mission to aid the two million refugees trapped in camps in Kurdistan and who is featured heavily in the film.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/275042549576942/">Facebook event</a> – <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-longest-road-european-premiere-live-qa-with-team-tickets-30920512084">Eventbrite</a> – <a href="http://longestroadmovie.com/">Website</a><br clear="all"></p>
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<h3>Trailer</h3><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2NVtZnncRec" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-77998643396108167032017-01-01T10:57:00.000+00:002017-01-01T11:00:41.658+00:00Book Review: Islam and Democracy After the Arab Spring by John Esposito, Tamara Sonn & John Voll<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pZtasy5513Q/WGjf4s5k8tI/AAAAAAAAPqE/G0NxEYQ-Tec/s1600-h/Islam%252520and%252520Democracy%252520-%252520John%252520Esposito%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img width="640" height="411" title="Islam and Democracy - John Esposito" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Islam and Democracy - John Esposito" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i2_I7W5-sRw/WGjf5T5YrQI/AAAAAAAAPqI/bJ2VYDHMikQ/Islam%252520and%252520Democracy%252520-%252520John%252520Esposito_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>
<p>In the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the descent into war in Syria, one question that arises time and again is this: is Islam compatible with democracy? It is a question that John Esposito, Tamara Sonn and John Voll promise to answer in their book <i>Islam and Democracy After the Arab Spring</i>. <p>It is difficult to review a book and to rate it when it clearly doesn't do what it promises to do on the cover and while this book has a lot to do with Islam and democracy, it has little to do with the Arab Spring (with the exception of the final two chapters). One of the questions that most interests me is the events leading up to the Arab Spring, some of which I attempted to explore in the series <a href="http://passiontounderstand.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/a-decade-of-conflict-leading-up-to-arab.html">Before the Spring</a>. <p>Events such as the Iraq war and the Second Intifada were pivotal in the development of a shared Arab consciousness that transcended national borders as was the rise of Al Jazeera and social media. <p>In focusing on countries such as Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Senegal, I was hoping that <i>Islam and Democracy After the Arab Spring </i>would continue in a similar vein - picking up those similarities and exploring whether those countries were also ripe for a Spring-like uprising. Or at least exploring similar factors in the various countries that so emboldened the Arab Spring protestors to take action and topple governments. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HWmTJoCo1i8/WGjf6JjdoaI/AAAAAAAAPqM/Eii6NaRN6Lw/s1600-h/Islam%252520and%252520Democracy%252520After%252520the%252520Arab%252520Spring%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="25%" title="Islam and Democracy After the Arab Spring" align="right" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Islam and Democracy After the Arab Spring" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lNS4dkpu4QM/WGjf6-q64OI/AAAAAAAAPqQ/CWZ6ifcK44Y/Islam%252520and%252520Democracy%252520After%252520the%252520Arab%252520Spring_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>It doesn't quite manage that but what this book does do is take an in-depth look at the rise of Islamic governments in seven countries and how issues such as equality, democratic participation and the economy were shaped by world events and the relationship of each country to outside forces. <p>The book includes a fascinating profile of Iran and the lasting impacts of US interference, such as in the 1953 coup. Likewise, the chapter on Turkey provides an insight into current political events and gives some background to Erdogan's political motives. <p>As a series of essays on the rise of Islamic governments, it would have been more accurate had the book been titled <i>A Political History of Islam in the 20th Century</i>. Judging it on that basis, it's quite interesting and the difference in writing styles between the various authors keeps it so. <p>As a resource further exploring the roots and enduring consequences of the Arab Spring, there are better volumes, such as Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren's <em>The Battle for the Arab Spring</em>.
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-70572702758512190892016-12-18T20:41:00.000+00:002016-12-19T10:10:57.535+00:00Book Review: Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievitch<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FsoVa2rREdw/WFbzvl4keKI/AAAAAAAAPSY/nvBm3-E95eQ/s1600-h/Voices%252520from%252520Chernobyl%252520by%252520Svetlana%252520Alexievitch%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img width="646" height="418" title="Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievitch" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievitch" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NsAX_whI1DA/WFbzxeyXoDI/AAAAAAAAPSc/XEmVyBtwLRw/Voices%252520from%252520Chernobyl%252520by%252520Svetlana%252520Alexievitch_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p>
<p>I was 12 years old when the Chernobyl disaster happened and I remember being quite aware of the dangers of nuclear events - I'd learned about <a href="http://passiontounderstand.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/this-day-in-history-6-9-august-1945.html">Hiroshima</a> and Nagasaki and the enduring impact of the atomic bomb. Chernobyl was something else. It was a catastrophic and unprecedented disaster; we didn’t immediately know what the lasting effect would be but we knew that they were in trouble.</p>
<p>It was little surprise then when the years passed and we learned that Pripyat and surrounding areas had become ghost towns, areas that would be unfit for human habitation for another 10,000 years (or so estimates go).</p>
<p>But people do live there. They cut through fences and snuck past military patrols to resettle in their homes or to make new homes, surrounded only by the ghosts of the tens of thousands of people that once lived in those towns and the ever-present spectre of radiation. </p>
<p>Svetlana Alexievitch, Belarusian investigative journalist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015, spoke to those people and indeed, to people from all walks of life who were effected by Chernobyl. She spoke to widows and survivors, liquidators, contractors and military reservists who were called to Chernobyl in the days after the disaster. She spoke to families who had been evacuated from Pripyat and surrounding areas, to those who returned and to those who fled the war in Tajikistan to settle there because they had nowhere else to go.</p>
<p><em>Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster</em> reads like a dystopian novel, or perhaps a post-apocalyptic survival story. First published in Russian in 1997 and expertly translated by Keith Gessen, <em>Voices from Chernobyl</em> is the fruit of hundreds of interviews that Alexievitch obtained over a three year period. It is an incredible and page-turning volume with accounts as fascinating as they are obscene.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to put into words how much of an impact this book has on the reader and any attempt will be nowhere near as eloquent as the accounts themselves. The lack of understanding of the dangers that people faced, coupled with a massive campaign of disinformation is perhaps most notable. In the aftermath of Chernobyl, they sent cranes from East Germany and robots intended for the Russian Mars exploration. Even robots from Japan made it to the site but the radiation interfered with all their workings and so they resorted to sending human beings in rubber suits instead. </p>
<p>There were 340,000 personnel despatched to Chernobyl but those working on the roof of the reactor got it the worst. They were wearing lead vests but the radiation came through their boots.</p>
<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MzCJBXn1uu8/WFbz082b3zI/AAAAAAAAPSg/_ecHFI1pJ2M/s1600-h/Voices%252520from%252520Chernobyl%252520-%252520Svetlana%252520Alexievitch%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="20%" title="Voices from Chernobyl - Svetlana Alexievitch" align="right" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Voices from Chernobyl - Svetlana Alexievitch" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nZrIErOjI4E/WFbz2FtdvkI/AAAAAAAAPSk/eu0bCy5e7vo/Voices%252520from%252520Chernobyl%252520-%252520Svetlana%252520Alexievitch_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>Despite the massive loss of life and how many disaster personnel succumbed to radiation poisoning or ‘Chernobyl cancer’ that took years to emerge and yet more years to eventually kill them, many of the interviewees displayed a nostalgia for the Soviet era and for the heroism of a bygone era. Time after time, interviewees would explain that they did not know the danger but they would have responded in the same way even if they had. It was their duty and they would have fulfilled it.</p>
<p>And then, throughout the book is the ever-present reminder that the Chernobyl disaster happened to a population less than 50 years after the Second World War.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Gulag, Auschwitz, Chernobyl. One generation saw it all.</p></blockquote>
<p>What impressed me the most is that many of these people survived the Leningrad blockade only to suffer devastation again in Chernobyl. They spoke of the terrible winters during the blockade where people froze to death on the streets and one man mentioned, perhaps in jest, burning his belt so that the smell could stay his hunger.
<p><em>Voices of Chernobyl</em> is a study in the various shades of trauma. Some interviewees expressed that they couldn’t talk about the blockade, it was too traumatic, but Chernobyl they could talk about. Despite the catastrophic loss of life and livelihood, the events of Chernobyl still felt less traumatic to many of them than the blockade.
<p>I cannot recommend <em><a href="http://amzn.to/2gPCFxC">Voices from Chernobyl</a></em> enough and was so impressed that I have ordered Alexievitch’s latest book <em>Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets</em> which was <a href="http://thebailliegiffordprize.co.uk/books?title=&author=&prizes=1951">shortlisted</a> for the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37998113">2016 Bailie Gifford prize for non-fiction</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-78142283295424348332016-12-11T16:20:00.000+00:002016-12-11T16:20:53.172+00:00Book Review: The Chibok Girls by Helon Habila <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--PF_7oktTe4/WE18ZSLw0dI/AAAAAAAAPJE/Fsejyait3YA/s1600-h/Helon%252520Habila%252520author%252520of%252520Chibok%252520Girls%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img width="646" height="431" title="Helon Habila author of Chibok Girls" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Helon Habila author of Chibok Girls" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dGy-z94Wwuc/WE18aJyqrmI/AAAAAAAAPJI/uP3cK4yHpE4/Helon%252520Habila%252520author%252520of%252520Chibok%252520Girls_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p>
<p>On the evening of 14-15 April 2014, Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 female students from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria. The girls became known the world over as the 'Chibok Girls' yet surprisingly little is known about who they are, what their families are going through or the context in which this crime occurred. To date, in December 2016, almost 200 of the original abductees remains missing and the little that we do know is that their lives with Boko Haram are ones of untold horror, violence and sexual slavery.</p>
<p>Helon Habila is a Nigerian born author and professor of creative writing at George Mason University, Washington, D.C. In early 2016, he returned to Nigeria to take a road trip to Maiduguri and Chibok to speak to people not only about the events on that fateful evening in 2014, but about the long wait for the girls to return home and the present climate of war and strife in the region.</p>
<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I2YhlkIgv60/WE18a9cDxlI/AAAAAAAAPJM/I6lVPwLrh2Y/s1600-h/The%252520Chibok%252520Girls%252520by%252520Helon%252520Habila%252520-%252520cover%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img width="25%" title="The Chibok Girls by Helon Habila - cover" align="right" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px 15px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="The Chibok Girls by Helon Habila - cover" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eEnqpXjsvCU/WE18cL-E72I/AAAAAAAAPJQ/AS094tlsJ6I/The%252520Chibok%252520Girls%252520by%252520Helon%252520Habila%252520-%252520cover_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>Habila has produced a chronicle of his time in Nigeria in the short but incredibly insightful <em>The Chibok Girls: The Boko Haram Kidnappings and Islamist Militancy in Nigeria</em>. </p>
<p>The book begins with accounts of the events of 14 April 2014 from parents and relatives of the girls who were taken and those that escaped. The residents of Chibok had received warnings that the town would be targeted that day and they had every reason to believe it. Massacres, assassinations and terrorist attacks have become ever more prevalent in what locals have begun to call the war with Boko Haram.</p>
<p>Just 9 months before the abduction of the girls from Chibok, Boko Haram militants entered a secondary school in Mamudo, Yobe State and killed 42 people, most of them students. </p>
<p>After spending time in Chibok, Habila moves on to Maiduguri and the heart of Boko Haram territory. He speaks of the effects of the civil war and how a divide was created between Christians and Muslims as successive governments misused state resources, culminating in the declaration of Sharia law in the area in 1999. Perhaps most chilling is the description of the rise of Boko Haram from a modest force to one to be reckoned with following the Boko Haram uprising in June / July 2009. </p>
<p>Moving back to Chibok, Habila collects yet more first-hand accounts of the fears and devastation of a community who have lost their daughters, sisters and friends. </p>
<p>Woven throughout the book is the story of the girls and the accounts of those who have escaped. Perhaps to be expected with the youth of the girls and the horrors that they experienced, there is very little in the book about their time with Boko Haram. Indeed, with so few escapees (and being that the book was in production at the time 21 girls were released in October 2016), we are but depending on the narratives of a handful of very traumatised girls. </p>
<p>Confronted with their reticence in the face on ongoing questions about their experiences, Habila notes the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hauwa, Ladi, and Juliana were ordinary girls, young enough to be my daughter, who had been raised to almost mythic status by their extraordinary experience – Helon Habila, <em>The Chibok Girls</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Insightful, powerful and intimate, <em><a href="http://amzn.to/2hiSktz">The Chibok Girls: The Boko Haram Kidnappings and Islamist Militancy in Nigeria</a></em> is highly recommended for those interested in gaining a more in-depth perspective of the lives and people effected by Boko Haram activities.</p>
<p>The book is out in the States and will be released in the UK on 15 December 2016.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-13471281632395927252015-12-29T14:13:00.000+00:002017-01-01T10:57:28.130+00:00Review: My War Gone By, I Miss It So by Anthony Loyd (2015 edition)<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c_JNiyzuU6s/Vn6eyVv9weI/AAAAAAAANww/BEl5b43SS0U/s1600-h/Sarajevo%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Sarajevo" border="0" alt="Sarajevo" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jguOl_G-47M/Vn6ezHflH4I/AAAAAAAANw0/GZqkmD4iSy4/Sarajevo_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="606" height="406"></a> <p> <p>During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, most press correspondents huddled in the safety of the distinctive yellow Holiday Inn in Sarajevo, sending out second-hand dispatches to news outlets back home. Anthony Loyd was never going to do that. In his memoir <em>My War Gone By, I Miss It So</em> Loyd travelled across Bosnia and Herzegovnia during the war of 1992-1995 and spent time in Grozny at the height of the First Chechen War. Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Agreement, a new edition of Loyd’s memoir has been released with an updated foreword. <p>The prologue of <i>My War Gone By, I Miss It So</i> begins at the end of the Bosnian war, in the hills near Srebrenica. Withdrawing from drugs and newly clean, Loyd stumbles through a landscape peppered with corpses, witness to the aftermath of the Srebrenica genocide. It is an interesting place to begin, at the very end of the war, but by the end of the memoir we will see that this was not the most disturbing thing that Loyd saw in his time there. Moreover, by the end of the war, we will see that Loyd has come full circle in his life. <p>Armed with just a camera and pen, Loyd travelled over to Bosnia during the war after a stint in the military. Landing first in Sarajevo, he befriended a local family and spent his days dodging sniper bullets and trying to overcome the relentless boredom of war. Eager to see the frontlines, Loyd later travelled to various towns and villages in central and northern Bosnia where he met up with other members of the press corps and began to eke out a living as a war correspondent. <p>Loyd’s writing is brutally honest and in many passages he describes scenes and photographs that many of us would look away from or avoid. That is not to say that I don’t want to know, I really do, but at times his descriptions were so intimate and graphic that I felt somehow wrong reading the passages, as if I had somehow violated someone’s privacy. Such is the power of Loyd’s writing. <p>At many times in the memoir, Loyd mentions his eagerness to support the Bosniak cause on a moral level, to view them as the underdogs, but even this explicit bias is tested from time to time by the atrocities he sees. The saying goes that all is fair in love and war but that is utter rubbish, and what Loyd witnesses proves that all is twisted and futile in war instead. <p>It was the scenes in Grozny that were perhaps the most shocking. I’ve read a fair amount about the wars in the former Yugoslavia and felt somehow familiar with the subject matter when Loyd described his time in Bosnia and Herzegovnia. The chapter on the conflict on the ground in Grozny was disturbing to say the least. Loyd travels to the Chechen capital days before the fall of Grozny in February 1995 and what he witnesses is the utter meaningless and futility of war. It is especially moving in light of the way that history ultimately played out for the Chechens. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015ZXGBE0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B015ZXGBE0&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwmissus-21" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: inline; float: right" border="0" align="right" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B015ZXGBE0&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpwwwmissus-21"></a><img style="border-bottom-style: none !important; margin: 0px; border-left-style: none !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important" border="0" alt="" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpwwwmissus-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B015ZXGBE0" width="1" height="1"> <p>Again, my view of events in Bosnia might be influenced by all that I have read about the war and history of the region in the past but the only aspect of Loyd’s memoir that concerned me was his tendency to takes sides in the conflict. It is true that history and the subsequent trials have pretty much confirmed what he wrote almost 20 years ago but throughout the memoir I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would have been preferable if he had maintained a slightly more objective position. <p>In the foreword to the new edition, Loyd remarks how young and angry he was at the time of writing. It is interesting because while I might fault his objectivity, I never would have faulted his perspective which was infinitely more nuanced than anything I would have written back in the mid-90s when I was roughly the same age as him. <p>Nevertheless, I was riveted by the book from cover to cover and would highly recommend it to those interested in accounts of war or in the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina in particular. Like the timeless photographs to which Loyd refers in his memoir, his book provides a unique glimpse into one of the most disturbing conflicts of the 20th century.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-19051311713971180212015-12-22T16:07:00.001+00:002017-01-01T10:57:28.133+00:00Chief Prosecutor of ICC Gives Damning Statement on Darfur to UNSC
<p>Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, made a statement to the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Darfur last week. In her speech she gives a damning indictment of the lack of international response to the ongoing situation in Darfur. </p>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PJ3BVovt47s/Vnlzyw5MiNI/AAAAAAAANvk/ro8eiphyxaI/s1600/image.jpeg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PJ3BVovt47s/Vnlzyw5MiNI/AAAAAAAANvk/ro8eiphyxaI/s1600/image.jpeg" width="100%"/></a>
<p>Link: <a href="http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/index.php?id=13423">ICC: Twenty-second Report of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to the UN Security Council pursuant to the UNSC 1593 (2005)</a> [Hague Justice Portal, 15 December 2015]</p>
<blockquote>I observe with great regret that the adoption of each Resolution has, in practical terms, amounted to no more than an empty promise. Year after year, victims' hopes and aspirations for justice and a durable peace have been dashed</blockquote>
<p>Despite the overall negative tone of her statement, she reiterates the determination of her office to tackle these crimes but notes that the victims require action not words. </p>
<blockquote>The victims of Darfur will no longer find solace in our words. They deserve tangible justice, and they deserve to see justice is being done. What is required is concrete and joint action by this Council, the States and the Court to achieve real progress.</blockquote>
<p>Bensouda noted that justice has been served in the case of Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone and in those situations, peace and reconciliation is only possible once perpetrators of atrocities are held accountable for their crimes. She insists that the same is true of Darfur. </p>
<p>In her closing, Bensouda calls for a commitment by both individual states and the United Nations Security Council to act for Darfur. </p>
<blockquote>Ending impunity for the world's most destabilising and gravest crimes is not the prerogative of one single institution. It is a collective responsibility with humanity as a whole as its beneficiary.</blockquote>
Read the full statement on <a href="http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/index.php?id=13423">Hague Justice Portal</a>. <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-12822428915205939002015-12-16T21:20:00.000+00:002015-12-16T21:20:05.865+00:00#ZumaMustFall, White Privilege and the South African Spring<div>The 16th of December is a public holiday in South Africa. It used to be a racist Apartheid holiday marking the Day of the Vow when Afrikaners swore to God that they would forever commemorate it if He allowed them victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838.</div><div><br></div><div>Today the 16th of December is the Day of Reconciliation, a day dedicated to healing South Africa's fractured past. Or to sitting in the sun and drinking in the hot African summer. </div><div><br></div><div>Today, the 16th of December was marked by protests around the country for the #ZumaMustFall movement. It was a day that made me proud to be South African and which I thought might finally be the start of South Africa's Spring. I don't expect the crime to suddenly end but I do live in hope of an end to the poverty and corruption (which I see linked). More on that later. </div><div><br></div><div>There was a very good article in the RDM today.</div><div><br></div><div>Link: <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2015/12/14/zumamustfall-a-reconstellation-of-racist-myths-whites-tell-themselves">#ZumaMustFall: A reconstellation of racist myths whites tell themselves</a> [RDM.co.za, 16 December 2015]</span></div><div><br></div>This is an interesting article. In many ways he is right - we expats have all had awkward moments when we've had to explain to other South Africans that we don't share their racist views. You will not believe the racism amongst South African expats and the white middle classes. Or maybe you will. <div><br></div><div> And he's not wrong when he observes that "[i]n focusing singly on Zuma, white South Africans expediently ignore the role of unsurpassed privilege — and their refusal to relinquish those alienable components of it — in explicitly marginalising black South Africans". </div><div><br></div><div>The problem is that he is ignoring that Zuma is hugely flawed, that he laughs in the faces of his corruption. And he is ignoring that something is seriously wrong in a country that hasn't begun to tackle abject poverty twenty years after the installation of 'democracy'. Compare Britain in 1965 and South Africa in 2015 and tell me again that it's impossible to put a roof over people's heads in the aftermath of devastation. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JFtob8m_ens/VLLEHJALyNI/AAAAAAAAKIw/OeY3rAt9mQI/Mzimhlophe%252520Hostel%252520-%252520front%252520door%25255B3%25255D.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JFtob8m_ens/VLLEHJALyNI/AAAAAAAAKIw/OeY3rAt9mQI/Mzimhlophe%252520Hostel%252520-%252520front%252520door%25255B3%25255D.jpg" alt="Mzimhlophe Hostel, Front Door" width="100%"></a><br></div><div>Every day South Africans of all colours land up on the streets but a vast majority of black South Africans still live in shanty towns and slums with no running water, no sanitation and communal washing facilities (if they are lucky). In December 2014, I visited Mzimhlophe Hostel in Soweto where some of the worst violence took place in the 1990s. After all this time there was no running water or sewerage and one set of latrines and washing facilities for every six to eight families. There were also no plans to improve the lives of the residents there.</div><div><br></div><div>In October, a friend of mine died, leaving his wife and child in utter poverty. They have nothing now that the breadwinner has gone and there is no safety net, no social security and nothing to stop them landing up on the streets. There are so many South Africans in need that there is simply no charity that will take on their case. That falls to their friends and employers. </div><div><br></div><div>Compare this to a R246b upgrade on the President's private residence. Move beyond the corruption, nepotism and cronyism to the wealthy elite who drive past homeless people in cars worth more than they will earn in a lifetime. Heck, some of those cars are worth more than I'll earn in a lifetime. </div><div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Uaz7SmEYEM/VLLED_Fx0fI/AAAAAAAAKH8/p_kDdExUmG8/Mzimhlophe%252520Hostel%25255B3%25255D.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Uaz7SmEYEM/VLLED_Fx0fI/AAAAAAAAKH8/p_kDdExUmG8/Mzimhlophe%252520Hostel%25255B3%25255D.jpg" alt="Mzimhlophe Hostel Soweto" width="100%"></a><br></div><div>There is something very rotten in South Africa, a seemingly insurmountable discrepancy between rich and poor and I don't see anything being done about that. </div><div><br></div><div>Apartheid caused what is happening in South Africa today but South Africa today is sustaining that legacy. </div><div><br></div><div>So is the #ZumaMustFall movement solely the domain of white privilege and racism? Today I didn't witness my fear-mongering, often racist Facebook pals at the #ZumaMustFall marches, but the most liberal, forward-thinking and genuine of people. I know that smacks of "not all whites" but the truth is that South Africa cannot be free until all South Africans are free and if the movement does smack of privilege then it needs to move beyond that. </div><div><br></div><div>Three years ago, I was reading <i>The Battle for the Arab Spring</i> by Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren and I was blown away by the similarities by the situation in Egypt prior to the Spring and that in South Africa. Massive youth unemployment and poverty were paired with massive state corruption, embezzlement, cronyism, nepotism and gerrymandering. I remember remarking to myself that the <i>only</i> factor that set Egypt apart from South Africa was that the latter had not moved electoral borders. Yet. </div><div><br></div><div>Is the time right for a South African Spring? Yes, I think it is. I think that a massively popular movement needs to be played out across social media and in the streets and that South Africans need to demand housing, education, jobs, adequate healthcare and poverty alleviation. Those were the basic promises of the ANC in 1994 after all. It's one thing to support a party that liberated the country but if the ruling party has lost their way then the population needs to guide it back on track. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-73200042765486904222015-11-08T17:11:00.001+00:002016-01-21T18:49:50.427+00:00Warriors (2015): Maasai Cricket Warriors Take on FGM and HIV/AIDS<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7s85y-3od_s/Vj-CNBFDyuI/AAAAAAAANeM/99YzEqU5gC0/s1600-h/Warriors%252520film%252520-%252520Sonyanga%252520standing%252520by%252520river%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Warriors film - Sonyanga standing by river" border="0" alt="Warriors film - Sonyanga standing by river" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4lbaOwytkL0/Vj-CN8LGgCI/AAAAAAAANeQ/tS_BdTTi0OI/Warriors%252520film%252520-%252520Sonyanga%252520standing%252520by%252520river_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="407"></a></p> <p>Hunters. Warriors. Cricket players. Maasai culture is fiercely guarded, beautiful and distinctive from the outside yet like many cultures, rigid and opposed to change on the inside. In a world of change, the Maasai adopt a strong cultural identity and adhere to age-old traditions, beliefs and values. Recently, a wave of change has moved through a remote region of Kenya and at its centre is the Maasai Cricket Warriors team. </p> <p>With an estimated one million cricket teams in over 106 countries, there is but one team made of Maasai warriors. <em>Warriors</em> is their story. Directed and produced by Barney Douglas and produced by Michael Elson, <em>Warriors</em> is a powerful documentary that tells not only the story of this group of young Maasai warriors, the formation of their team and negotiation with tribal elders for a patch of training ground, but also the astounding way in which they challenged beliefs about female genital mutilation (FGM) and HIV/AIDS.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tQ5rUxMOd4c/Vj-COWV-gxI/AAAAAAAANeY/N6cRiqMQgaI/s1600-h/Warriors%252520film%252520-%252520Daniel%252520batting%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Warriors film - Daniel batting" border="0" alt="Warriors film - Daniel batting" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w83nBT5FRC0/Vj-CO1nbznI/AAAAAAAANeg/QXbi4mNK9Ew/Warriors%252520film%252520-%252520Daniel%252520batting_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="407"></a></p> <p>Illustrated by sequences of brilliant animation, we learn that the principles of hunting and fighting are not all that different to cricket and so it is that the Maasai Cricket Warriors play in their warrior clothes and connect their sport and culture. This is a team that emerged out of nothing yet somehow convinced tribal elders to donate a patch of land which the British Army helped level and develop into a cricket training ground. For these young men, nothing can stand in the way of their dreams.</p> <blockquote> <p>If you try to awake the lion sleeping in you then you can do whatever you have ever dreamt of doing.</p></blockquote> <p>If young Maasai men can smash through cultural boundaries and realise their dreams, it is another story altogether for young Maasai girls. Circumcised and married off from as young as 8, 9 or 10 years old, young Maasai girls have little access to secondary education and even less say in their own lives. Even worse are the prospects for girls who conceive before FGM – they are considered disposable and worthless to their fathers, incapable of earning them a dowry.</p> <p>While many cultures would see boys triumph on the repression of girls, the Maasai Cricket Warriors are different. Determined to include girls in their sport and spread the word about both the dangers of FGM and its links in the transmission of HIV / AIDS, the team is one cog in the wheel of progress that is bringing change to this remote region. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iR1IgG2Rm0M/Vj-CP8tyxoI/AAAAAAAANeo/MP-AfbmGo-M/s1600-h/Warriors%252520film%252520-%252520Francis%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Warriors film - Francis" border="0" alt="Warriors film - Francis" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JUhpbmyBXPQ/Vj-CQZcmIYI/AAAAAAAANe0/8VyYtNFYxfc/Warriors%252520film%252520-%252520Francis_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="343"></a></p> <p>In an incredible tale that sees the team visit London to participate in the <a href="http://www.lastmanstands.com/">Last Man Stands</a> cricket finals we get to see Maasai warriors on the Tube, in Trafalgar Square and on the London Eye. Their performance in the tournament isn’t as successful as they’d hoped but their experience helps to open the eyes of tribal elders and earns them a new found respect.</p> <blockquote> <p>The Maasai are very skilled people and there are a lot of things that white people have seen us do. But there are some things that spoil us, like circumcision of girls.</p></blockquote> <p><em>Warriors</em> is a visually stunning film captured primarily in the dusty plains of Kenya. It is a tale of hope and determination and the power of dialogue in bringing change. The film is accompanied by an energetic and eclectic soundtrack featuring “Falling Down” by Oasis, “Heaven, How Long” by Mercury Prize nominated East India Youth and “Neon Citied Sea” by Cosmo (the solo project of Felix White from UK number one band The Maccabees). Kenyan artists Jimi Mawi & Afro 70 are also featured. The animation in the film forms a powerful connection between the mysticism of the Maasai warrior and the achievements of the team – my favourite sequence was the soaring of the eagle as the team’s plane embarked for London.</p> <p>Powerful and inspirational, I have no hesitation in recommending <em>Warriors</em> to crickets fans, activists and other interested human beings. </p> <p>Warriors is available on DVD and iTunes from 25 January 2016.</p> <p><a href="http://www.warriorsfilm.co.uk">Warriors Film Website</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/warriorsfilm">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/warriorsfilm">Facebook</a> | #WakeTheLion <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-15369283009552063042015-10-10T14:38:00.001+01:002015-12-29T17:58:12.386+00:00Malala Retells Her Story in New Teen Edition<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C4v_wiJ2JIw/VhkU39bT2wI/AAAAAAAANaM/6XhIWtyabGQ/s1600-h/I%252520Am%252520Malala%252520-%252520Teen%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="I Am Malala - Teen" border="0" alt="I Am Malala - Teen" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-brvJg3fy0_g/VhkU49BKH2I/AAAAAAAANaU/JrRkgxTQx8Y/I%252520Am%252520Malala%252520-%252520Teen_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="560" height="360"></a></p> <p>It was a story that resonated around the world. In October 2012, 15-year-old Pakistani blogger and activist Malala Yousafzai was targeted for assassination by the Taliban for her work in re-opening local schools for girls. She was flown to Birmingham, England for treatment and on recovery, went on to work tirelessly for the rights of women and girls. She worked with Christina Lamb on her memoir <em>I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban</em>, notable for its rich insight into the Taliban and Pakistani treatment of women and girls. In 2014, Malala was joint recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in defending the right of all children to an education.</p> <p>What people often forget is that Malala is still just a teenager and now she has retold her story for her peers. <em>I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World </em>begins with those fateful words:</p> <blockquote> <p>After 15 January, no girl, whether big or little, shall go to school. Otherwise, you know what we can do. And the parents and the school principal will be responsible. </p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1780622163/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1780622163&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwmissus-21"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="I Am Malala (Teen Edition)" border="0" alt="I Am Malala (Teen Edition)" align="right" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zjgyFusbXcw/VhkU5nVZpCI/AAAAAAAANak/JvqPMsGurIs/I%252520Am%252520Malala%252520%252528Teen%252520Edition%252529%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="152" height="232"></a>Working with National Book Award finalist Patricia McCormick, Malala takes us from the very first Taliban announcement regarding girls’ schooling, through to her activism, assassination attempt and recovery in the United Kingdom. Targeted at young people Malala’s own age, this retelling is less rich in detail and background but gives the reader more insight into the events as they unfolded, from the public’s initial disbelief at the Taliban’s pronouncement to the dawning realisation of their deadly intentions.</p> <p>Malala talks about girls being banned from school, of seeing explosions, fear and repression in her homeland and she speaks about it in a format that will be more easily accessible by middle-graders and early teens. We learn that Malala is a teen just like any other. She loves cricket and gossiping with her friends. On the day of the shooting, Malala notes how normal everything seemed. </p> <blockquote> <p>I was late, as usual, because I’d slept in, as usual. I’d stayed up extra late after talking to Moniba, studying for my year-end exam in Pakistani studies.</p></blockquote> <p>The last thing Malala remembered that was was thinking about her exams then darkness.</p> <p><em>I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World</em><img style="border-bottom-style: none !important; margin: 0px; border-left-style: none !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important" border="0" alt="" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpwwwmissus-21&l=as2&o=2&a=1780622163" width="1" height="1"> is available to buy on paperback in the UK from <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1780622163/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1780622163&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwmissus-21">Amazon.co.uk</a> from October 2015. The book is currently available on hardcover in the US but will be released in paperback on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316327913/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316327913&linkCode=as2&tag=additomedi-20&linkId=NLHZFP3RYEXVNNLR">Amazon.com</a> in March 2016. i would highly recommend this edition to younger readers who might have found the initial memoir too advanced to read.</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-47561491933357402452015-07-24T14:51:00.000+01:002015-07-24T14:51:35.184+01:00From Lynchings to Police Brutality: The Words of W.C. Handy ResonateToday<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mXNlSBsvy7M/VbI2UgT6BgI/AAAAAAAAMUc/GqMyP2Ss_zM/s640/blogger-image--2068287376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mXNlSBsvy7M/VbI2UgT6BgI/AAAAAAAAMUc/GqMyP2Ss_zM/s640/blogger-image--2068287376.jpg"></a></div><p>I'm reading a book called <i>Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales That Inspired "Stagolee", "John Henry" and Other Traditional American Folk Songs</i>.
</p><p>In the book, author Richard Polenberg describes the effect of a particularly brutal lynching on American composer W.C. Handy and his subsequent decision to leave the South. </p><p></p><blockquote>Handy reported his reaction, a mixture of horror, anger and depression: "All the savor had gone out of life. For the moment only a sensation of ashes in the mouth remained." - Richard Polenberg, <i>Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales That Inspired "Stagolee", "John Henry" and Other Traditional American Folk Songs</i></blockquote>
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In a later incident, recounted by Polenberg in the book, Handy recalled appealing to a law enforcement authority for protection, whereby he was scoffed at and his attacker was assisted instead.
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Handy moved to New York in 1918, almost a century ago, but I'm struck by the significance of these events today and the similarities to the Sandra Bland case. Black and brown people in America, the UK and around the world are still being subjected to racial violence; they continue to witness these attacks on fellow citizens (through the medium of film and social media, if not in person); and they continue to suffer a form of post-traumatic stress due to the relentless nature of these attacks.
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Just as Handy described his devastation, so people today are overcome by the pervasive, racist and violent attacks in our society today. </p><p><i>Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales That Inspired "Stagolee", "John Henry" and Other Traditional American Folk Songs</i> is published by Cornell University Press and will be released in November 2015.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-91002028081732628102015-07-07T22:10:00.001+01:002015-07-07T22:10:19.063+01:00Living the Lessons of Srebrenica (Event at Wiener Library)<p>Tonight we attended the "Living the Lessons of Srebrenica" event at the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide in London. It was one of hundreds of events taking place across the UK this week to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide in July 1995. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1nPs0_u5PPc/VZxAIBZmZhI/AAAAAAAAL3E/2yRoqUZbVuY/s1600-h/Munira%252520Subasic%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Munira Subasic" border="0" alt="Munira Subasic" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hp5ow1bpr7o/VZxAJPM_-aI/AAAAAAAAL3I/HcowMV2kzdM/Munira%252520Subasic_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="543" height="407"></a> <p>We first heard from Munira Subasic, president of Mothers of Srebrenica. Ms Subasic spoke through a translator but I'd like to record some of what she said. <p>On the continuing struggle to locate, identify and bury the remains of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide: <p>If a human being doesn't have a place to show where they lived, it doesn't show that they existed. <p>Ms Subasic talked about reaching out to other mothers' organisations but those who did it won't admit it, won't admit there was a genocide. Without admission, there can be no reconciliation. <p>"Many women who were abused are not able to have their own children or have relationships with men. A whole generation is disappearing". <p>Ms Subasic mentioned that the people who committed the crimes are still there, still abusing them. <p>"People say things are moving forward but Mothers of Srebrenica wish they had two lives: one for waiting and one for enjoying our lives". <p>When asked whether it would help if lower level perpetrators admitted their guilt, Ms Subasic explained that after the Holocaust, it was accepted that it happened. With Srebrenica, they are dealing with such total denial that no one is admitting it happened. <p>"They found only two bones of my son. It is very difficult to move on not knowing how he died. They dragged him from my arms". <p>"Those who committed genocide think they are national heroes. I am very happy with who I am today. I'd rather be a victim than a war criminal". <p>The next speaker was Dr Gill Wigglesworth who spoke about the lessons from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She gave a fascinating overview of the legal situation and the different levels of proof required by the ICTY and ICJ when hearing genocide cases. <p>Dr Wigglesworth mentioned a different level of justice, restorative justice if you will, whereby Serbia or Croatia issues an apology for the crimes. Serbia has done so but that was only because they want EU membership whereas Republika Srpska have no such impetus and therefore there is very little chance of an acknowledgement or apology. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-slsHOMlUVCo/VZxAJyDX0xI/AAAAAAAAL3U/r_unkG1uCWw/s1600-h/Alex%252520Buskie%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Alex Buskie" border="0" alt="Alex Buskie" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Bse46UGo1cs/VZxAM0lSkKI/AAAAAAAAL3c/2Nr9424HlvY/Alex%252520Buskie_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="543" height="407"></a> <p>Alex Buskie of the United Nations Association UK spoke next on the responsibility to protect. <p>She examined how the United Nations learned from their mistakes in the 90s and 00s and how the Responsibility to Protect doctrine came to be adopted in 2005. <p>She mentioned that failures in the past stemmed from inattention, indifference and misjudgment or a perceived contradiction between the desire to protect a population vs the desire to protect a group of individuals. One concept that Ms Buskie reiterated several times was that the UN is a meeting of nation states, that they have no specific power as an organisation and they can only go so far as their members allow them. <p>Ms Buskie then took us through the three pillars of responsibility to protect and what we are protecting against (ethnic cleaning, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity) <p>Finally, Ms Buskie admitted that the UN is struggling and that the R2P has only recently been adopted. Having watched the UN reaction to Syria and the continued yet fruitless motions, I found this especially frustrating. Ms Buskie dis highlight how the security council should have briefings earlier on in future and how the organisation needs to adopt a company-wide commitment to upholding human rights but they have a long way to go. <p>Finally, Jasvir Singh of City Sikhs UK spoke about his own visit to Sarajevo and Srebrenica and how moving the experience was for him. <p>He spoke of the parallels to be drawn with the Sikh genocide and how friends and neighbours turned on each other. Mr Singh had an important message about how easily a situation can deteriorate and he hinted that such a situation is not impossible even in the UK. He highlighted the role of interfaith organisations in establishing commonality and ensuring that communities can maintain their faith while living in peace with those of other faiths. <p>The event was then wound up with a very interesting discussion. I was most impressed with how we tackled some controversial topics with respect and consideration. <p>This event was organised by <a href="http://www.srebrenica.org.uk/">Remembering Srebrenica</a>, <a href="http://www.citysikhs.org.uk/">City Sikhs</a> and the <a href="http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk">Wiener Library</a>. We received a copy of the excellent “Remembering Srebrenica” publication which I was very pleased about. <p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mL69kxNAJ7s/VZxANh-fhYI/AAAAAAAAL3k/oiAk1INmjcM/s1600-h/Remembering%252520Srebrenica%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Remembering Srebrenica" border="0" alt="Remembering Srebrenica" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ks5LDyVA6oI/VZxAOVjvI-I/AAAAAAAAL3o/MZA1IsgNDNs/Remembering%252520Srebrenica_thumb%25255B10%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="351" height="353"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-22979614387176410592015-07-04T21:41:00.001+01:002015-12-29T17:57:32.429+00:00A discussion with Stephanie Hepburn, author of Conversation With My Daughter About Human Trafficking<p>The reality of human trafficking is often so horrific that it remains one of the most difficult subjects to discuss with children. How does one get into a conversation with children about how individuals are tricked, extorted and enslaved without exposing them to ideas that may be too mature for them, such as sexual exploitation, rape and the murder of their loved ones? How do we impress upon them that this is not just something that is happening in a far away country but something that is happening in our own city?</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mt-nwY5sh5c/VZhE1JtSVcI/AAAAAAAAL1E/sJsTSLuccuk/s1600-h/Conversationwithdaughter%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 4px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Conversationwithdaughter" border="0" alt="Conversationwithdaughter" align="right" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LqGut3t1N8o/VZhE2BXdWqI/AAAAAAAAL1M/c233E-DP_OM/Conversationwithdaughter_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="150" height="239"></a>These are questions that Stephanie Hepburn was confronted with. After a decade of working in the realm of human trafficking and releasing the book <em>Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight</em>,<em> </em>Stephanie had a conversation with her daughter about human trafficking and realised that other parents would no doubt have this conversation too.</p> <p>In <i>Conversation With My Daughter About Human Trafficking</i>, beautifully illustrated by James Guthman, Stephanie takes us through some of the questions that her daughter asked and the answers that she gave. The book is an excellent starting point for discussions on this difficult topic and will be of great use in classrooms and homes to get children talking and thinking about human trafficking and how they can identify, understand and prevent this phenomenon in their own environments. </p> <p>We caught up with Stephanie to discuss the book and her experience in the field of human trafficking.</p> <h4><strong>How did you become interested in human trafficking?</strong></h4> <p>The impetus was my move to New Orleans in February 2006, not long after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and Gulf Coast region. The infrastructure was destroyed and there was a sudden demand for low cost labor, which allowed opportunity for unscrupulous people to step in. This was compounded by the decrease in law enforcement in the city and also federal under-enforcement of temporary work visas. <p>I saw red flags of exploitation and human trafficking all over the city and it made me realize that it can happen anywhere, not just somewhere far away. I began digging deeper and adding more nations as I went along. I ended up compiling my findings in <em>Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight</em>, which was published by Columbia University Press in 2013. <h4>How did the idea for your book Conversation With My Daughter About Human Trafficking evolve?</h4> <p>After pulling my head out of the research world and talking to people about my book, I was able to learn what everyday people think about the issue of human trafficking. Adults are often wary of looking uninformed so these conversations, while useful, often seemed indirect. Eventually, I would figure out the piece (or pieces) of the puzzle they were missing and I could address it, but it took a while to get there. <p>Children are the opposite. They are unabashed in their curiosity and they say what they think and aren't overly concerned about seeming informed, so misunderstandings and areas of confusion are easier to identify. Kids are also awesome little people who are our future, so figuring out how to talk to them is essential for the future of humanity. Getting them to understand what to look out for and what red flags to identify in traffickers and victims creates an entire generation of eyes and ears that are way ahead of where we are now. <h4><strong>In your experience, which aspect of human trafficking is the most difficult for children to comprehend?</strong></h4> <p>I think for my daughter the challenge is understanding why someone wouldn't just run away. Physical chains are something she can understand but the concept of psychological chains is more difficult. <h4>How do you envisage that the book should be used?</h4> <p>I hope that parents read it and, when they think it's right, share the topic with their children. It's a difficult topic and my objective was to create an easy how-to guide on how to talk about it. The language is written in a way that parents can read it to their children. The graphics were created for that reason as well. That way parents can use it in multiple ways, whether as a tool for ideas on how to approach the topic or as a book to read with their children. <h4>What feedback have you received so far?</h4> <p>The feedback has been overwhelming and positive. I have come to a point where preaching to the choir (advocates and others involved in the anti-trafficking realm) just isn't enough. Real impact will happen when your average person has a greater understanding on the topic. That said, reaching your audience is always the challenge. In this case it has worked and people are reading it and passing it along. I feel extremely happy about that. <h4>The book is beautifully illustrated by James Guthman. Can you tell us a little bit more about his illustrations and how you came to work with James?</h4> <p>A colleague recommended him and sent a few pictures of his paintings and illustrations. He's very versatile and was able to capture the look I wanted for the book. It was important to me that the book contains a universal feel to it since human trafficking happens everywhere. So often this issue is unintentionally represented as happening to people in only a few parts of the world, based on the visuals used in tandem when the issue is reported. As a result, we chose a color pallet that does not indicate a specific race or region of the world, and to create vignettes when people are depicted in the story. The color pallet also had to mirror the tone of the book without being too visually depressing. It's a hard subject, so striking the tonal balance was important, and he did a really great job with it. You can check him out on Instagram at <a href="http://www.instagram.com/jamesguthmanart">www.instagram.com/jamesguthmanart</a> <h4><strong>Are there plans to release the book in paperback or hardcover or will it remain an ebook?</strong></h4> <p>For now it will just be an ebook. I don't know what the future holds. Paperback would be fantastic! <h4><strong>Together with Rita J. Simon, you've written another book about human trafficking <em>Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight</em>. Can you tell us a bit more about that?</strong></h4> <p>I talked a bit about the impetus above. The book took exhaustive research and time. In many ways it was my education on how to get one-step closer to communicating with the mainstream population on this topic. It contains narratives, which I find essential because people relate to stories. It also contains meaty statistics, which help to create perspective on the prevalence of human trafficking. It really is a great book for those who have been introduced to the topic and want to know more. I would say it's step two in reading after <em>Conversation With My Daughter About Human Trafficking</em>. <h4>This was actually your second book with Rita, the first being <em>Women's Roles and Statuses the World Over (Global Perspectives on Social Issues)</em>. That sounds really interesting. Can you tell us a bit about the issues you covered in that book?</h4> <p>This book was a turning point for me. I was in law school at the time and sick of my female peers having a negative knee-jerk reaction to the term feminism. Many of my friends would start off a conversation with "I'm not a feminist or anything but..." They worried they wouldn't be taken seriously if they were thought to be a feminist, which somehow has become synonymous with extremism. It isn't. It just means that the person believes women and men to be equal. That's it. Anyhow, I decided to write a paper, for one of my law school classes, that was just based on law and empirical data to illustrate where women actually stand in the U.S. My professor Rita J. Simon asked me if I wanted to turn it into a book. I did and I added on 25 other nations. It was eye-opening for me as I hope it was for readers. We have a long way to go. <h4>What are you up to next?</h4> <p>My objective to bring awareness on labor exploitation and human trafficking to the mainstream world triggered me to open <a href="http://shopgoodcloth.com/">Good Cloth</a>, an online ethical clothing shop, this past October. During the media junket of <em>Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight</em> I quickly realized that people wanted to know how to purchase ethically and to ensure that no one was harmed in the process. They, in essence, wanted to vote with their dollars for ethical change and corporate responsibility. Fashion is an ideal arena for informing people about human exploitation and positive changes they can make. People don't like feeling helpless, which is easy to feel when you hear about the horrors of human trafficking. This is a way for people to make positive decisions in their day-to-day life that actually make an impact. It makes the customer feel great and does a great deal for starting the dialogue about corporate responsibility and spotlighting designers who are taking excellent measures to protect workers and the environment. <p>Through the shop and my journalistic pursuits I will continue to try to reach the mainstream audience about this important topic. <h3></h3> <h3>About Stephanie Hepburn</h3> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ERSrOMpbHME/VZhE3eS3b1I/AAAAAAAAL1U/QdxvffOVIJg/s1600-h/Stephanie%252520Hepburn%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 20px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Stephanie Hepburn" border="0" alt="Stephanie Hepburn" align="left" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dDy-rUgHZ6s/VZhE4TLwplI/AAAAAAAAL1c/E5Wj4T-hpXg/Stephanie%252520Hepburn_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="150" height="100"></a>Stephanie Hepburn is an independent journalist whose work has been published in the Guardian, Huffington Post, Americas Quarterly and the journal Gender Issues. She is a weekly and monthly contributing writer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the Washington College of Law at American University, she integrates her legal and journalism backgrounds to create pieces that are highly informative and have a human tone. Her book with Rita J. Simon, Women's Roles and Statuses the World Over, was named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice. Her second book <em>Human Trafficking Around The World: Hidden in Plain Sight</em> was published by Columbia University Press in 2013. </p> <p><i>Conversation With My Daughter About Human Trafficking </i>is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ZVCLGTQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00ZVCLGTQ&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwmissus-21&linkId=WDTTE2ICFEZUXDHL">Amazon.co.uk</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZVCLGTQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00ZVCLGTQ&linkCode=as2&tag=additomedi-20&linkId=3TYGO3VZXS34Z2D2">Amazon.com</a>. </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-89949646301469426372015-06-28T14:18:00.001+01:002015-12-29T17:57:32.455+00:00Book Review: Letters to Palestine: Writers Respond to War and Occupation (edited by Vijay Prashad)<p><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Letters to Palestine cover - Vijay Prashad - banner" border="0" alt="Letters to Palestine cover - Vijay Prashad - banner" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--NQyZOoo5S4/VY_zah1dQKI/AAAAAAAALsA/kv4KpIEBjWk/Letters%252520to%252520Palestine%252520cover%252520-%252520Vijay%252520Prashad%252520-%252520banner%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="407"></p> <p>Gaza, 2014. Following the kidnap and murder of three Israeli youths, the IDF embarked on a seven week campaign against Gaza. In that time, over 2,000 Gazans were killed, most of them civilians and most of them children, while tens of thousands were injured. Hospitals, schools and houses were demolished and half a million Gazans were displaced. </p> <p>The Gazan conflict divided people like no other conflict. Across social media, timelines were filled with people trying to draw attention to the devastation and destruction in Gaza while pro-Zionists asked what else they could do in the face of continuing Hamas aggression. </p> <p>With access to Gaza notoriously controlled and restricted, there was limited reporting on the ground, scant consideration of everyday Palestinians who were living in a state of terror. </p> <p>Edited by Vijay Prashad and featuring a host of writers, poets, essayists and activists, <i>Letters to Palestine: Writers Respond to War and Occupation </i>attempts to give a human face to that struggle. </p> <p>Reading this collection with a desire to learn more about the conflict from a Palestinian point of view, one might expect little more than anti-Israeli propaganda and rhetoric. <i>Letters to Palestine </i>is nothing of the sort. It is an earnest collection of essays, poems and diary excerpts that seeks to understand both the conflict and history of Palestine. </p> <p>In his essay 'Bad Laws', Teju Cole talks about how what he terms 'cold violence' is exacted through a series of laws, by-laws and regulations that are all perfectly legal under Israeli law. Based as they are in restrictions on freedom and movement, he notes that these laws are in contravention with international standards and conventions. He mentions Sheikh Jarrah where Palestinians are slowly losing their permanent residency in East Jerusalem, where the right of return applies to Jews in East Jerusalem but not Palestinians. </p> <blockquote> <p>"The historical suffering of Jewish people is real, but is no less real than, and does not in any way justify, the present oppression of Palestinians by Israeli Jews" – Teju Cole, ‘Bad Laws’, <i>Letters to Palestine</i></p></blockquote> <p>In an excerpt from her 'Travel Diary' Noura Erakat begins by describing her anger and anti-Israeli sentiment but over the course of her journey to Palestine begins to develop a more nuanced position. She brings up the subject of privileged Palestinians, those who have done very well out of occupation and observes that not all Palestinians are good-hearted, not all Israelis 'evil'. While capturing the atmosphere in Palestine during her visit, Erakat mentions the work of Zochrot, an Israeli non-profit organisation whose aim is to raise awareness of the Palestinian Nakba and of New Profit who work towards the demilitarisation of Israel. Spanning over eleven days in May 2013, the diaries give a unique snapshot of a moment in Palestinian time.</p> <blockquote> <p>"Israeli settler colonialism, apartheid and occupation should not cease because Palestinians are good and Israelis are bad"- Noura Erakat, ‘Travel Diary’, <i>Letters to Palestine</i></p></blockquote> <p>Nalja Said shares her 'Diary of a Gaza War, 2014' as a Palestinian living in America during the conflict. Intimate and painfully honest, Said's entries show her worry and despair for her loved ones in Gaza. </p> <blockquote> <p>"If you think that Palestinians all hate Jews and are rejoicing in the deaths of those three boys (Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, Eyal Yifrah), then you are a racist. That's all I have to say. As my dad used to say, ‘No one has a monopoly on suffering’" – Nalja Said, 'Diary of a Gaza War, 2014', <i>Letters to Palestine</i></p></blockquote> <blockquote> <p>"The boy who was killed was a cousin of my dear friends... You who are reading this are now two degrees from the murdered Palestinian - a child killed in revenge" – Nalja Said, 'Diary of a Gaza War, 2014', <i>Letters to Palestine</i></p></blockquote> <p>In 'Below Zero: In Gaza Before the Latest War', Ben Ehrenreich reminds us of the appalling conditions of loss, devastation, poverty and wretchedness in Gaza even before the war. </p> <p>Interspersed throughout the collection is a series of heart-breaking, eye-opening poetry. Poems tell of Kafkaesque experiences of denied entry and the soul-destroying set up of the checkpoints. Notable entries include 'Until It Isn't' by Remi Kanazi, 'Afterwords' by Sinan Antoon and 'Running Orders' by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. </p> <blockquote> <p>"Prove you're human/ prove you stand on two legs/ Run" - Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, 'Running Orders', <i>Letters to Palestine</i></p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1784780677/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1784780677&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwmissus-21&linkId=B5SBCY3DJHIFII32"><img style="margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; display: inline; float: left" border="0" align="left" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1784780677&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpwwwmissus-21"></a>The last part of the collection is dedicated to an examination of the Palestinian liberation movement in America and its links to the civil rights movement. For the most part, this was too US-centric to be of specific interest to foreign readers but there were some interesting parallels to be drawn to the South African and worldwide anti-Apartheid movement. </p> <p>In 'Yes, I Said, "National Liberation"', Robin D G Kelly notes the intersection with Black rights and Ferguson, how the black civil rights movement moved from supporting Israel to recognising the injustices there. </p>It would be impossible to capture the scope of this collection here. Vijay Prashad has done an excellent job in curating a collection of short, powerful pieces that is each powerful in its own right. I would highly recommend this collection to anyone seeking to know more about the situation in Gaza both before and during the conflict last year. <p><i>Letters to Palestine: Writers Respond to War and Occupation </i>is published by <a href="http://www.versobooks.com/books/1825-letters-to-palestine">Verso Books</a> who currently have a sale of 40% off on paperbacks and 50% off on eBooks. The book is also available to purchase from <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1784780677/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1784780677&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwmissus-21&linkId=2GOIQYF4UYZJT5T5">Amazon.co.uk</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1784780677/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1784780677&linkCode=as2&tag=additomedi-20&linkId=FUPGONLLP6N5X3GQ">Amazon.com</a>.</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-48557110575193395192015-06-11T11:55:00.000+01:002015-12-29T17:57:32.444+00:00Film Review: Regarding Susan Sontag (2014)<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VQ6PdzYngdo/VXQi1jAXdEI/AAAAAAAALKI/EZbZb7M5yRo/s1600-h/Susan%252520Sontag%25255B2%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Susan Sontag" border="0" alt="Susan Sontag" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bgELnKgLI60/VXQi2Z6JXHI/AAAAAAAALKQ/15rdkQHDr1M/Susan%252520Sontag_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="610" height="343"></a> <p>Susan Sontag was iconic but she was an icon who warned against the entitlement of the observer and the assumption of a right to observe. She was renowned for being brilliant yet confoundingly difficult. One of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Sontag refused to be pigeon-holed as a female or feminist writer. <p>Directed by Nancy Kates, <i>Regarding Susan Sontag</i> tells the story of Susan's life from her childhood to her last days and death from cancer. The film received the Special Jury Mention for Best Documentary Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014 and was nominated for Documentary of the Year at the 2015 Dorian Awards. <p><i><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eFotv0GnaiE/VXQi3Xn-mmI/AAAAAAAALKY/v9Jr6p35Lzc/s1600-h/Regarding%252520Susan%252520Sontag%252520poster%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 15px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Regarding Susan Sontag poster" border="0" alt="Regarding Susan Sontag poster" align="left" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nkcFD2uGLQQ/VXQi4Ck_UUI/AAAAAAAALKc/ChbRCfPnuXw/Regarding%252520Susan%252520Sontag%252520poster_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="200" height="296"></a>Regarding Susan Sontag </i>is first and foremost a biography. It is a film about Susan Sontag, not about her works. Director Kates remarks that it would be impossible to attempt a critique of Susan's writings through the medium of film but the truth is you can only gain an intense familiarity with a body of printed works by actually reading it. <p>In a viewing at the Frontline Club in London, the question was asked of Kates why she chose to focus so closely on Sontag's sexuality to the detriment of her works. I think it is rather a question of why the Frontline Club chose to screen the documentary - in a meeting of journalists regarding a woman who commented so poignantly on the role of the media and photography, it was only to be expected that viewers would want a greater insight into Susan's thoughts. The film does not provide an in depth critique of Susan’s thoughts and opinions nor does it delve too deeply into her major works. <p>Nevertheless, the film does not focus only on Sontag's sexuality and the film made use of an impressive series of montages and techniques to blend together archive photography, film footage and interviews with voice overs from Patricia Clarkson who narrated Susan's diaries. <p>Nancy Kates remarks that Susan's own son David Rieff wanted nothing to do with the documentary and all footage of him in the documentary was archive footage. It is hardly surprising given that Susan chose not to inform her direct family of the terminal nature of her illness. Once he made his decision, Kates had to consider whether to carry on with the film at all. She decided to go ahead on the basis that there was no shortage of archive footage of Susan and her papers and diaries were released into the public domain after her death. <p>When I went to see the film, I anticipated an insight into Sontag's works and the situations she wrote about but I didn't demand it. <i>Regarding Susan Sontag</i> made want to be a better me, a better activist but it also reminded me not to make the same mistakes that she did, to connect with people and to dive right in to human relationships. It demystified the icon for me and reminded me that while talented, Susan Sontag was fallible and human. The film certainly made me want to go out and read all her works in one sleepless, caffeine-fuelled sitting. <p>Would I recommend <em>Regarding Susan Sontag</em>? Absolutely. From a film-making point of view, the documentary is superb in its use of archive footage and montage techniques. The narration of Susan’s diaries provides an insight into what she was thinking and feeling in a way that she never publicly revealed during her lifetime. I would recommend the film for people interested in the human being behind the brilliant public facade but do feel that viewers seeking to connect to Susan on a critical, intellectual level might be left feeling a little disappointed. <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698167516686409999.post-64734244586314167962015-06-07T11:13:00.002+01:002015-12-29T17:57:32.447+00:00Theatre: Guillem Clua's Skin in Flames at the Park Theatre, London<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nQwV8ICQwZs/VXQYeYTfjtI/AAAAAAAALIQ/-ewXwdh5Uao/s1600-h/Skin%252520In%252520Flames%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Skin In Flames" border="0" alt="Skin In Flames" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fugz6zN1lSg/VXQYe1QHmHI/AAAAAAAALIU/TgFwHrUaKY8/Skin%252520In%252520Flames_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="273"></a></p> <p>Last night we caught the final performance of Guillem Clua’s <em>Skin in Flames</em> at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. We sat in the smaller Park 90, an intimate setting with seats on three sides of a tiny stage. On the stage, two parallel stories play out in a hotel room in a post-conflict society.</p> <p>In the first, a local reporter interviews a foreign photojournalist who is in the country to receive a peace award. Twenty years earlier, in the depths of the conflict, he took the photo that would launch his career. It is of a young schoolgirl flying through the air after a bomb explosion, her body engulfed in flames. Photojournalist Frederick Salomon (Almiro Andrade) never did find out the girl’s name but then again, neither did he stop to find out whether she had lived or not. As the conversation continues, the audience gets the unsettling feeling that reporter Hanna (Bea Segura) knows more about the incident than was reported in the papers.</p> <p>In the next room, a young mother meets with a UN doctor to enquire about the health of her child. With her child desperately ill and in need of medication, it emerges that the mother has been trading sexual favours with Dr Brown (David Lee-Jones) for months to secure the necessary medication for her child. Not happy with with how the events of the day have played out, the doctor steps up his manipulation of Ida (Laya Martí) and subjects her to the ultimate betrayal.</p> <p><em>Skin in Flames</em> is harrowing yet excellent. Catalan playwright Guillem Clua wrote the play <em>La Pell en Flames</em> in 2004 and the English version of the play has been performed across America before making its UK première during this run at the Park Theatre. The most notable achievement of the play is Clua’s use of one physical space to bring together several overlapping stories. Ultimately we learn that it is just one one story that began during the bloody conflict twenty years earlier and continues to this day.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wbdzCHbHixc/VXQYfgzX5qI/AAAAAAAALIg/0VoG68qfduw/s1600-h/Laya%252520Marti%252520%252528Skin%252520in%252520Flames%252529%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px auto 4px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Laya Marti (Skin in Flames)" border="0" alt="Laya Marti (Skin in Flames)" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pJi3g7LTlLk/VXQYgcINVEI/AAAAAAAALIo/Qvh9JePa1wY/Laya%252520Marti%252520%252528Skin%252520in%252520Flames%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="407" height="407"></a></p><em></em> <p>The cast of <em>Skin in Flames</em> was superb. It was quite something to watch four people occupying the same small space, telling two, three stories at once and somehow managing to deliver one powerful, coherent message. Spanish actress Laya Martí was superb as Ida and her reading of the child’s tale of the pig and the snake will haunt me for some time (as will the unspeakable horrors which happen on and off the stage). Likewise, David Lee-Jones was so convincing in his portrayal of the manipulative doctor that I felt quite physically revolted at times and could not bear to look at him. </p> <p><em><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XePHSD8nnPs/VXQYgyMVolI/AAAAAAAALIw/ZD7hoBAJjTg/s1600-h/Bea%252520Segura%252520%252528Skin%252520in%252520Flames%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Bea Segura (Skin in Flames)" border="0" alt="Bea Segura (Skin in Flames)" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nGoYbl4QE5s/VXQYhiM2NuI/AAAAAAAALI0/3iFE1GhMgIQ/Bea%252520Segura%252520%252528Skin%252520in%252520Flames%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="406"></a></em></p> <p>It was fellow Spaniard Bea Segura that held the cast together in her role as Hanna, taking the story deeper and deeper into the murky past of the country’s civil war and the terrible events of that day. Finally, Almiro Andrade was utterly convincing in his role as Frederick Salomon, a sad figure who has made a living out of telling himself he did enough that day, he told the world what happened and that was enough.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1W2jXAsKbe4/VXQYiHH6uaI/AAAAAAAALJA/hfDVH0E6fVw/s1600-h/David%252520Lee%252520Jones%252520and%252520Almiro%252520Andrade%252520%252528Skin%252520in%252520Flames%252529%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 4px 4px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="David Lee Jones and Almiro Andrade (Skin in Flames)" border="0" alt="David Lee Jones and Almiro Andrade (Skin in Flames)" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-02xcqPx81_k/VXQYjKD2DtI/AAAAAAAALJI/M1Gx-zm5gEw/David%252520Lee%252520Jones%252520and%252520Almiro%252520Andrade%252520%252528Skin%252520in%252520Flames%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="396"></a></p> <p>I’m almost sad that I only saw this play on the last night. My friend Liz was so impressed with it that she came to see it again with us last night and I can see that I might have been tempted to see it again too. You can read Liz’s review at <a href="https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/107033/skin-in-flames-is-a-gripping-political-thriller-park90/">London Theatre 1</a><em>. </em>I would highly recommend that you see the play if ever it is on at a theatre near you.</p> <p><em>Photo Credits: Andrew H Williams</em></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Copyright 2008-2022 Mandy Southgate | A Passion to Understand</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com0