Writing about Africa

I was on a studio panel discussion on radio this week discussing western perceptions of Africa and one of my fellow panellists (via the phone) happened to be Binyavanga Wainaina, the Kenyan author, journalist and winner of the Caine Prize. This reminded me of his thought provoking satirical piece on the strereotypical western coverage of Africa. If you haven’t already come across How to Write about Africa, I would certainly recommend it, especially for its sarcastic wit.

Africa Day in Ireland

Having been on a two-year self-imposed hiatus from any sort of public engagements, I decided that this year I would foist myself on an unsuspecting public. The first opportunity that presented itself is the Irish Aid sponsored Africa Day celebrations in Ireland which kicked off in Limerick on May, 17 and moved on to Dublin on May, 24.

Thanks to the wise counsel of the good folks at DHR (who have superbly organized the celebrations for the second successive year) it was deemed that I was incongruously suitable for a return behind the microphone and also in a fit state to provoke and stimulate a bit of debate about the perceptions of Africa in the Ireland.

Despite the typical intermittent mid-western downpours, I enjoyed being back in Limerick (I once lived in the city and worked for the local newspaper) and had a great time in what was a great venue and great atmosphere and great craic was had by all. More of the same and better weather in Dublin would be swell.

Ah yes, is that quizzical eyebrow I see? Yes, you may wonder how it came about that Africa Day is celebrated in Ireland with such zest and effort.

Well, Irish Aid, which is the Irish government’s programme of assistance to developing countries, particularly in Africa (Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, Lesotho, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and through bilateral aid for specific projects in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Liberia) decided last year to mark the official day of the African Union by celebrating African diversity and success (a rare thing in this hemisphere).

Most importantly and highly commendable, was Irish Aid’s quick realization that they could tap into the vibrant African community in Ireland and help highlight all that was good about the continent. Fair play to them, as the saying goes here!

So if you happen to be in these parts, make sure you make a beeline for the Iveagh Gardens on Sunday.

South Africa Votes 2009

When I wrote back in September last year that a split in the ANC would not be a bad thing at all for democracy in South Africa, I had not realized what form or guise the split would take. Seeing as I was writing before the formation of Congress of the People (COPE) I could not see how the opposition led by the Democratic Alliance could whittle away at the ANC’s two-thirds majority in parliament in tomorrow's elections.

With one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, the fear has always been that there could come a point in the future when the ANC would wield this majority to alter the constitution, if they were so inclined.

So as millions of South Africans go to the polls to vote for a new president and parliament, it is perhaps worth noting that without a strong and robust opposition, South Africa may regrettably tread the path taken by other African countries where liberation war movements have morphed into tyrannical dictatorships.

So with most commentators seemingly in agreement that the only question is on the size of the margin by which the ANC will trounce the opposition, one does hope that for the sake of democracy, the combined opposition parties can muster enough votes to keep the ruling party in check. If between them, the Democratic Alliance, COPE, Inkhatha Freedom Party, the United Democratic Movement, the Independent Democrats and the rest of motley crew can at least get more than 35 percent of the vote, that would be a good election for those interested in maintaining South Africa’s strong and young democracy.

Of course, my thinking on this is largely influenced by what has happened in the rest of Africa and it may be tad bit unfair to assume that South Africa will go the same way. Who knows, perhaps Jacob Zuma - for all his many transgressions - may turn out be an inspired leader who feels he has a (whole) lot of people to prove wrong. Already some pundits are saying that compared to the aloof and distant Thabo Mbeki, he does have that common touch and dare I say, charisma that most successful leaders in history seemed to possess. Not sure about his judgement though and indeed surrounding himself with a bunch of nutcases.

Let's wait and see.

The Viriri Fraternity

With my brother in Washington DC

Home of hopeful and land of the bitter

I suppose I should announce my return by expressing a heartfelt and groveling apology to this blog’s two loyal followers and their pet cockatoo for the lack of activity and updates of late. My excuse …? Well, the completion of my latest academic thesis coupled with two extended jaunts to two continents could not have helped. Anyway, to authenticate the excuse, this entry summarizes how I got on in one of those trips.

Visiting the United States, so soon after the inauguration of President Barack Obama, was always going to be an interesting undertaking. Perhaps it is not fair to make any real comparisons, not having been to that country prior to this trip, but there was certainly a palpable sense that this was a nation trying to forget and rid itself of any vestiges of the last administration and welcome the new dispensation that promised hope and change. A tad bit clichéd perhaps, but that is certainly the sense I got from the moment I disembarked at Newark airport en route to Boston. Whoever you talked to (unless of course, they were GOP diehards or from Pluto), there was this sense of unbridled optimism that this was a country ready for something different and hopefully, this time, something positive. Even after considering the prevailing economic and financial gloom all around. Again, with no prior experience to make any accurate comparison, some of my travelling companions who had been to US during the Bush II era, also seemed to think that even the reception from the Homeland Security border agents was certainly a bit more welcoming (albeit still stern) than on previous visits.

Judging by how well the trip turned out, it was certainly a perfect coincidence that my first visit to the US, in February and March 2009, was at the pleasure of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, who sponsored my hosts Boston College to run the Inclusive Politics fellowship programme at its Centre for Irish Programmes.

As for the programme itself, it provided us (14 participants from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) with an insight into the democratic political system as it exists in the United States, especially in relation to expanding participation in that system. Through its extensive and diverse itinerary, the programme explored techniques for making political discourse more responsive to cultural and ethnic minorities and to populations traditionally less likely to take part in the democratic process. In fact, to summarise that preceding mouthful, the trip was certainly well thought and amply supported, providing us with the kind of access to the American political and civic establishment that would normally not be possible to regular tourists.

Some key highlights of the programme included meetings with senior officials in the US State Department (including the Ireland and Europe desks); a meeting with Senator John Kerry’s senior foreign policy advisory team (particularly relevant since Sen. Kerry is currently chairing the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee); meetings with prominent Massachusetts Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (her late husband, former Senator Paul Tsongas, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination against Bill Clinton in 1992) and two Massachusetts state legislators who are second generation Americans. Other highlights were the tours of the Capitol Hill complex in Washington DC and of both chambers of the Massachusetts state legislature in Boston and of course all the major monuments that are synonymous with American capital.

We also visited prominent non-profit organisations such as the Irish Immigration Center, the National Organization for Women (NOW), MassVOTE, the Chinese Progressive Association, and Roca which works with the most disenfranchised and disengaged young people (mainly gang members). Also of particular interest, were the meetings with the progressive/liberal think-tanks such as the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Center for American Progress.

I suppose it would have been amiss if all we visited were progressive/liberal/ Democratic leaning organizations, so to balance things somewhat, on the conservative side of the political divide we visited the National Center for Public Policy’s Project 21 and the Family Research Council. Both unfortunately turned out to be grotesque caricatures of the Republican movement. Basically, Project 21 promotes the views of those African-Americans whose ‘entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to family and commitment to individual responsibility has not traditionally been echoed by the nation's civil rights establishment’.

The meeting with the African-American chairman of the Project 21 advisory board turned into study of polemics, which included the outright dismissal of the election of President Barack Obama as a non-event. The gentleman’s party trick throughout the meeting was to pointedly avoid referring to President Barack Obama but rather dismissively as ‘that gentleman now in the White House’. When asked why, the man who prefers not be referred to as an African American (perfectly his right), basically rolled out the right’s anti-Obama grievance list; pro-choice, pro gun control, liberal opportunist who had achieved nothing so on and so forth.

As for the meeting with a senior official of the Family Research Council, some of his stridently homophobic and rather antiquated and outlandish views on divorce were quite startling to say the least. In fact, the meetings with Project 21 and the Family Research Council very much highlighted how bitterly aggrieved the Republicans were of the new political dispensation in Washington DC and how much they could still not countenance the resounding defeats they received from the Democrats in the November ‘08 elections.
Generally, having been largely indifferent about the visiting the US, particularly during Dubya's administration, I must say I enjoyed this inaugural trip which also included spending a couple of afternoons in Harvard and MIT, where I had luncheon in this cozy, quirky, (healthy?) burger joint full of delightfully stereotypical academic types (jacket patches and all) and some pretty rad students. Nirvana!

Of course, seeing my brother after such long while was the cherry on top, but more on that later.