gobez-blog

[gobez-blog]

YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT! Chimamanda Adichie has “re-launched” Ifemelu’s blog (yup, Ifemelu from her novel Americanah)

[gobez-blog]

Black Rage (sketch)

An old sketch of Black Rage, done in my living room. Strange, the course of things. Peace for MO.

- MLH

[gobez-blog]

Dakarai Molokomme, a 15-year-old starving child from a small village in Zimbabwe, has just told Madonna, one of the most famous pop stars in the world, to go and f*** herself, the local media are reporting exclusively.

“Yes, it’s true, I told Madonna to go f*** herself. Do you want to know why?” Dakarai asked. “It’s the same thing every time with these snobby rich Americans. Every once in a while they come to show us their support for the so-called eradication of poverty by adopting a child from a starving family, but they actually do more harm than good. Transracial international adoptions are part of the white savior industrial complex,” Dakarai explained.

In further discussions with journalists from the media, the kid stated that “none of the children here actually want to be taken away from their family and friends so they can be displayed as some kind of trophy in the homes of self-righteous singers or actors who want to score some points with the media and Oprah.”

“If they really want to help us, they should get Big Pharma to ship us some anti-retroviral drugs for the AIDS epidemic, or build schools and hospitals. If they don’t want to do that, then they can all go f** themselves!” the child told reporters.

The 15-year-old also stated that he would say the same thing to any one of those American or European “faux humanitarian posers”, except for Bono, whom he said he would also kick in the groin.

“Bono’s efforts to save the African savage from itself prove that the colonial imperative is alive and well,” Dakarai said as he walked with other village children collecting sticks to build a tree fort.

[gobez-blog]

Ethiopian state broadcaster's alleged dismissal of reporters prompts questions over press freedom.

[gobez-blog]

David Smith: It's 30 years since Ethiopia's famine came to attention in the UK. Now, a farmer plans to sue Britain for human rights abuses, claiming its aid has funded a government programme of torture and beatings as villagers have been removed from their homes

[gobez-blog]

What is the outlook for the world's newest nation?

[gobez-blog]

Photo by Jacob Simkin/MSF

South Sudan: Since fighting erupted in Bor, Jonglei State, people have been fleeing to the town of Awerial, in neighboring Lakes State, seeking safety. The area does not have the capacity to absorb all of the new arrivals, and living conditions are near catastrophic. More medical and humanitarian assistance is urgently needed. See a slideshow: http://bit.ly/1bWgOuq

[gobez-blog]

TEDtalk: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

[gobez-blog]

Studio of Colours

Photography by Ofoe Amegavie, 2013

Model: Anita Anang

Made up & Styling: Netty Anang

[gobez-blog]

French male models Maël & Francis in an african vintage setting for FASHIZBLACK Magazine’s november 2013 issue. Shot by Ernest Collins.

Issue currently available: 

[gobez-blog]

'Hello Hello Kitty', the come-back video for South

Africa’s premiere MC Tumi is here!

During the past year Tanzanian-born, South African poet/MC Tumi

Molekane has been travelling around Africa performing festivals and

shooting a documentary film with director Vincent Moloi, tracing

back his childhood in exile and re-establishing musical relationships

he has cultivated over his career. This expedition has come to inform

his forth-coming album Rob the Church, his first since parting ways

with his ground-breaking band Tumi and the Volume.

For the lead single Hello Hello Kitty, Tumi drafts in another visual

creative leading light, award-winning Kenyan filmmaker and afro-

futurism champion Wanuri Kahiu. Mutual admirers of each other’s

work, their exchanges online eventually led to their first meeting on

the video set in Nairobi. The result, Kahiu says, “pokes holes at the

idea of this uber-bubble gum life we are being swept up in. Without

making judgement about our observations of the world, the video

attempts to complement the song that marveled at the mix of social

consciousness and commercialization.”

  So while sonically, Hello Hello Kitty showcases yet another new

direction in Tumi’s repertoire (Sowetan producer Al The 3rd and

Switzerland’s Fred Hirsch handle the production), the compelling

social commentary typical of him remains constant.

Following a rousing performance at Malawi’s City of Stars festival

and select shows in France, Tumi will present for the first time in

South Africa a set of entirely brand new material from Rob The Church

at the Johannesburg Market Theatre on Thursday 21st November.

Tumi’s fans in Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda can look

forward to his second scheduled joint performance with Nigerian

alternative Soul singer Bez Idakula this weekend on Coke Studio

Africa, a hugely successful music television series whose premise is

to pit African artists from different countries and generations in the

same collaborative space.

Find Tumi online here:

https://soundcloud.com/tumimolekane

www.facebook.com/TUMI

www.twitter.com/tumimolekane www.tumipoetmc.com

[gobez-blog]

Brian Nyongesa is a Belgium-based Kenya-born photographer who creates captivating, emotive images. Thanks to Dynamic Africa for putting us on, read that post for some great commentary too.

INSTAGRAM | TUMBLR

[gobez-blog]

When the Cameroonian president disappears just a few days before the elections after 42 years in power, the country’s media go into overdrive, speculating on what happened. Meanwhile, the president’s kidnappers, who remain unnamed, are taking him on a tour of the country, forcing him to interact with the people that he has so wistfully ignored all this years. The president is forced to answer for what he has done – which is not much. A controversial “mockumentary” that mixes fiction and reality, THE PRESIDENT questions the phenomenon of Africa’s “president-for-life” and the threat that the incertitude over their succession poses to their countries’ stability.

[gobez-blog]

Over the last few years, the waves of sexual assault and harassment on the streets of Egypt have been in the news perpetually: Initially as a disheartening stain on the euphoria generated from the ...

[gobez-blog]

These heartless acts against defenseless civilians, including innocent children, are beyond the pale and cannot be tolerated. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Kenya in its time of grief for these lives lost and the many injured.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud • Condemning the Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday. The situation is still fluid, with reports suggesting that as many as 36 people remain as hostages of the attackers, who are tied to the Somali terror faction al-Shabab, which controls part of that country. In a statement, the attackers said they would not negotiate. (via shortformblog)