Sean Jacobs's Blog, page 492

The Next Pope: Another African?

The spiritual Rottweiler, Pope Benedict XVI, is knackered. Just short of eight years into his papacy, the “R” bomb has been dropped on the Holy See; resurrecting a tradition established by Pope Gregory XII in 1415. Citing a deterioration of “strength [in] mind and body,” our man Benny will stand down at the end of February, passing down the velvet slippers to the next Supreme Pontiff. At Africa is a Country, we rarely concern ourselves with the arcane intrigue of St. Peter’s, where men dressed as wizards claim special channels of communication with God. It’s not really our business to tread where others are so demonstrably better suited. But speculation has it that the reeling Conclave of Cardinals may select from among their brethren a black to lead the Church into the light.

A black star rises in the South in the form of Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson (who has some good politics; he’s a critic of the IMF, neoliberalism and promote an overhaul of the global finance system). If selected, the Cardinal of Cape Coast will in fact be Africa’s fourth Pope, following in the footsteps of Victor I (AD 189-199), Miltiades (311-314), and Gelasius (492-496).

Given the Church’s decline in its European heartlands, it makes some PR sense to take on a man from the global South, where catholic dogma remains comparatively relevant. Just under half of all Catholics now hail from Latin America (30%) and Africa (15%).

Let’s just hope that unlike another of Ghana’s sons, he isn’t welcomed to Italy as another “family nigger”.

(For the record, if Africa is a Country is invited to join the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel cum clave, we’ll strongly counsel for the empopement of Stephen Keshi, who resigned as coach of Nigeria’s national football team yesterday. Don’t be deceived by his lack of ecclesiastical experience: Keshi would plainly be the best pick as the next Vicar of Christ. Having brought Nigeria together, a billion or so Roman Catholics would be a walk in the park for Big Boss, and he’d also be the first man ever to achieve Sainthood before becoming pontiff — only a miracle worker could win the Nations Cup with the Super Eagles these days.)

Watching the African Nations Cup Final at The Shrine in Harlem

By Braden Ruddy, Owen Dodd, and Rob Navarro

10 February 2013, 1:30 pm. The Burkinabe and Nigerian expatriate communities were out in force for the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday afternoon in Harlem at the Burkinabe-owned music venue, The Shrine.

The Shrine was having a viewing party for the match, which couldn’t have been more appropriate for the West African dominated CAF final. The walls are festooned with Burkinabe traditional masks along with 1970s American Afro-centric LPs, which seemed to celebrate and exchange of not only music styles, but also American-African culture.

Despite preliminary worries about the viability of their Ghanaian satellite feed, The Shrine ended up drawing over a hundred fans that crowded around the packed, standing room-only bar to get a glimpse of the continent’s showpiece game on a large screen.

Nigeria came out very strong in the first half, going close on three occasions. Later, Burkina Faso found their rhythm through the omnipresent trickery and velcro-like first touch of player-of-the-tournament Jonathan Pitroipa.

In the 39th minute, a bit of magic from local boy Sunday Mba, who drilled home a golaso after flicking it up to himself on the run, broke the deadlock at Soccer City Stadium and ignited a chorus of cheers from the Super Eagles’ fans in Harlem. Two green-clad supporters even began taunting a dejected Burkina Faso fan by waving their scarves in his sad direction.

At halftime, a small stand near the front of the bar was doing brisk business hawking Burkina Faso football t-shirts as fans stocked up on beers for the final 45.

A Nigerian music promoter also took the opportunity to hop on stage and inform the crowd of an upcoming live performance by Naija artist 9ice at Buka Restaurant in Fort Greene.

After the break, Nigeria’s conservative lead-protectionist tactics gave Burkina Faso an opening as they pressed forward through some neat interplay between Pitroipa and Djakaridja Kone but Les Étalons’ final ball lacked the necessary quality.

Victor Moses’s strong hold-up play and runs for the Super Eagles were a constant threat on the counter, but Burkina Faso maintained their pressure — forcing a few fine saves from Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama.

Burkina Faso’s late forays into the Nigerian box continued to prove fruitless in the dying minutes as frustrated Burkinabe waiters and bartenders in Les Étalons kits cursed the screen under their breath in French while taking last-minute beer orders.

As the final whistle blew, the Nigerian fans began jumping up and down and waving green scarves, joyously yelling at the player celebrations on TV, and even hoisting small children up into the air:

Though, a win by the underdog Burkina Faso would have been appropriate for their Cinderella-like ascension in the Cup, they have created a lasting name for themselves as strong competitors on the continent.

Instead, it was the Nigerians’ moment to bask in the glory. The Shrine even put on some carefully curated bass-heavy Naija hip-pop music over the very capable speakers and the crowd broke out into spontaneous dance to celebrate the Super Eagles’ third Afcon title and the long-awaited return of the trophy to West Africa for the first time in eleven years.

New York City certainly knows how to do the Africa Cup of Nations.

Cross-posted to Global Soccer, Global NYC.

Why would Stephen Keshi resign one day after winning the Africa Nations Cup for Nigeria?

Post by Cheta Nwanze*

In 1989, an unknown Dutch manager, Clemens Westerhof happened upon the job of managing the Nigerian National Team, known at the time, as the Green Eagles. A year later, the team was meant to compete in the African Nations Cup, hosted by Algeria. Before the tournament, all hell broke loose as the usual issues of “fights to the finish”, “match bonuses”, “player power”, came to the fore. As a result, the senior players in the team, led by a certain Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, led a boycott of sorts by making outrageous sounding demands before playing for the country in Algeria 90. Westerhof called their bluff, and led the team consisting almost entirely of home-based players (Andrew Uwe, Rashidi Yekini and Friday Elahor being the exceptions) to the silver at the tournament. Bear in mind that this second place finish came after a 5-1 loss to the hosts in the opening game. The hosts, Algeria, were the eventual winners of the competition.

When the team arrived home, they were received as heroes, and Nigeria’s then Vice President, Augustus Aikhomu, in the reception said, “You did us proud you Green Eagles, you are my Super Eagles.” Thus the team became the Super Eagles. Thereafter, and until he left power, Aikhomu, and his eventual successor, Mike Akhigbe, took a personal interest in what was happening with the team, and for the subsequent five years, the Nigerian national team had zero issues concerning player palaver, match bonuses, and the usual brouhaha that have always bedevilled the Eagles.

What Westerhof’s “victory” in Algeria did for him and for the team, was to give him direct access to the highest levels of power in Nigeria, much to the chagrin of Alex Akinyele, the Sports Minister at the time.

If the stories are to be believed, (and they come principally from Robert Marawa, a highly respected South African broadcaster) then Nigeria’s current, Nations Cup winning coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, has just resigned. According to Keshi, his resignation is because of undue interference and a lack of faith in him by his employers, the Nigerian Football Federation. Speaking on a television/radio show in South Africa (the team is due back tomorrow), Keshi claimed that he was in actual fact sacked before the quarter final match against the Ivory Coast, an allegation borne out by the fact that it emerged last Tuesday that the NFF had actually booked return tickets for the squad to depart South Africa immediately after that quarter final.

Keshi’s move, then, is an astute interpretation of the current political climate in Nigeria. The fact is this, the current government is under attack from all quarters in the country, over a lot of non-football related issues. Yesterday’s Cup of Nations win, is HUGE political capital, which any Nigerian government would be foolish not to exploit. By resigning at this point in time, what Keshi would have done would be to bring the personal attention of one of the powerful state governors (who are all football fans), or the President himself, to the interference in his job. That move, would give him direct access to the corridors of power, and would enable him to do his job without looking over his shoulders. On the other hand, if his resignation is accepted, the next coach would have extremely HUGE boots to fill.

For Keshi, this move is a win-win.

Cheta was one of the few Nigerians who believed in the Super Eagles ahead of the tournament. His predictions for the team proved remarkably astute: on Keshi, on Mikel Obi, on the quality of the locally based players, on the team’s wealth of attacking options when others were lamenting the omission of Osaze Odemwingie and Obafemi Martins. The preview he wrote for Africa is a Country is well worth revisiting.

Dama do Bling, Mozambique’s Queen of Hip-Hop

“A young person with a university degree can’t sing, but a minister with a 6th grade education can legislate?,” Dama do Bling sang in her 2007 song “Sai,” a musical response to inquiries why, in spite of her law degree, she chose a career in the music industry. This statement is exemplary of Dama do Bling’s provocative personality that has sparked much debate, at least in the early years of her music career in her native Mozambique, where she’s a big star.

Called a lusophone Queen Latifah and Mozambican Lil Kim, Dama do Bling (“lady of bling”) has become the Queen of Mozambican hip-hop, and through her collaboration with Pan-African superstars like Nigeria’s Sasha P, Kenya’s Yvonne, and Bleksem from South Africa she has become well-known all over the continent. Currently recording her fifth studio album and writing her third book, she is “one of the female voices to watch in 2013.” Her latest music video “Bad Girl” features her own fashion designs, some of which she presented at Mozambique’s fashion week in December last year.

Dama do Bling, born as Ivannea Mudanisse in 1979, started her career featuring on two tracks of the second album of Mozambique’s Queen of Reggae, Lizha James, in 2005. In 2006, she launched her first self-titled album, produced by Bang Entretenimento, with participation of other Mozambican stars, including Lizha James. Her first big hit was “Dança do Remexe,” which won two of South Africa’s Channel O Music Video Awards in the category “Best Female Video” and “Best African Southern” in 2007.

Before she became Mozambique’s queen of hip-hop, though, Dama do Bling was the queen of scandal. Standing for a new, younger generation of Mozambican musicians, she offended the “old guard” in several ways. Her sexy clothing and provocative moves on stage became the target of fierce critique, in particular when, despite being pregnant and starting to show, she continued to perform. One commentator in the country’s independent newspaper O País called Dama do Bling’s shows an “attack on moral decency and a crime” since she disrespected moral values of proper female public conduct and violated the dignity of the child in her womb. In another article, the same journalist called Dama do Bling’s way of exposing her body “anti-African” and a consequence of non-African influences that don’t value the female body. He called on the government to devise rules for musicians’ proper behavior on stage.

Dama do Bling’s law degree from Mozambique’s national university in Maputo, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), made some commentators ask why she preferred appearing scantily clad in public, if she could help solve the country’s problems. Her music was accused of lacking a message. The need for well-educated people in Mozambican society and the fact that Dama do Bling received her education at a publicly financed institution made people strongly criticize her choice of pursuing a career in the music industry.

Although this debate didn’t go as far as the debate on Lady Gaga in the US, Dama do Bling challenged previous views on the role of women in society. It was clear that this critique was especially about Mozambican women, since (as far as I know) there was no criticism of the fact that you could watch South African music channels featuring similar performances to Dama do Bling’s in many of Maputo’s restaurants and bars.

Maputo-based sociologists therefore discussed the “phenomenon Dama do Bling” widely as a symptom of change in Mozambican society (e.g., Carlos Serra from UEM on his blog). The sociologist Patricio Langa spoke of a “silent revolution”—a change of social values, disguised in a debate about what Mozambican music should look like. Carlos Serra, sociologist at the UEM’s African Studies Center, ridiculed the debate about Dama do Bling’s “untraditional” style by posting pictures of traditional dances featuring women in short skirts with uncovered breasts. Serra argued that behind the discourse on what is (and should be) Mozambican was a deep concern over men’s loss of control over the female body. Langa called out for diversity in Mozambican music: “Just let people be!”

This was also Dama do Bling’s reaction to the whole polemic. Asked for her response to the wide-spread accusations, she pointed out that she wasn’t scandalous, but “irreverent” and just said and did whatever she liked. “People tend not to receive new things well since it’s something that they have never seen,” she explained in response to the public outcry. Justifying doing things differently, she said: “We the young can’t build on those things from 20 years ago, because [if we did so], we would die.” Her first book, hence, was an autobiography with the title O Diário de Uma Irreverente (The diary of an irreverent woman). Beyond acting as she likes and defending the young’s inventiveness, though, her attitude didn’t seem to have much of a political or feminist message.

But all this seems forgotten now. Dama do Bling’s comparison to Lil Kim belongs to the past: “That was when I was young heheheheh. I’m a grown woman now… I must behave,” she said in an interview in 2010. And other Mozambican artists, like Ziqo, have taken over as targets of moral outrage. However, this doesn’t mean that Dama do Bling said goodbye to sexy moves or stopped standing up for herself. In a recent interview with Afroziky she explained the idea behind her newest video, “Bad Girl,” “A bad girl is a woman who fights for her ideas, a woman who is not intimidated by the opinion of other people. She does what her heart tells her to do. A bad girl owns her life.” And that is what many Mozambicans have become to admire her for. For her daughter (the first baby she lost in a miscarriage), with whom she was featured on the cover of the April/May 2012 edition of the journal MozCeleb she wishes that “she will be as irreverent as I am.”

When ‘Africa’ at the Theatre Goes Wrong

Imagine you are a person in the Netherlands interested in African events or at least cultural events where Africa is (supposedly to be) prominently featured and you pick up a flyer of an event saying in Dutch: ‘Afrika! Het Oude en Nieuwe Afrika’ (Africa! The Old and New Africa). Your curiosity has been triggered and you glance over the names of those who will be attending and performing. A closer look reveals that of those forty odd names, about four are African. Still ten percent an optimist would say.

Well imagine you’re that optimist and you think this might be some artistic thing you don’t understand. There must be an explanation as to why a respected institute such as the Stadsschouwburg of Amsterdam (Municipal Theatre of Amsterdam) would organize this event. As you open the flyer to know more about the event you read the following:

Africa fascinates, calls and scares. The Western man can barely get hold of this continent. Its history is murky, the gap between rich and poor big, the natural resources immense. The developments are rapid. It seems that the role of the European has played out, while the Chinese have arrived. Time to put the spotlight on Africa.

Your optimism is fading — you are stunned. It is, as the title of an article in Dutch newspaper Trouw, by journalist Seada Nourhussen says “Africa through the eyes of the Westerner”. Nourhussen perfectly pinpoints the amazed reaction to the event.

She questions whether the promotional text was meant to be ironic. But no, according to the lead programmer of the Stadsschouwburg this week is about ‘Dark Africa’, by which he apparently means the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding countries.

Five days of different art forms dedicated not to the African continent or dark Africa as the Stadsschouwburg wants the public to believe, but to celebrate the slightly (you’re still an optimist) wrongful promotion of a continent at an event. Three plays on the relationship between Belgium and its former colony Congo, all played, written and directed by white men. A theatrical adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. All interesting plays. But African?

The focal point (and opening night) of the festival was the book launch of Goodbye Africa by Marcia Luyten, a journalist who lived in Africa for over a decade and like any respected former correspondent she looks back at her period abroad by publishing a book. In it she concludes: “If we still want to be of any meaning on the youngest continent then we should accept Africa the way it is. We should stand on its red earth and try to understand Africa’s nature.”

And as the optimist stands with the flyer in his hands, he concludes that events like these are evidence of the misunderstanding of ‘Africa’s nature’.

* Image: “Africa”, a play by NTGent.

Nigeria: Kings of Africa for a third time

By Cheta Nwanze*

Make una no vex, I’m running on less than 2 hours of sleep, and for good reason. Scratch that, FOR GREAT REASON. Thirteen years of sorrow, hurt and pain were wiped out in an instant a few hours ago as I watched Joseph Yobo lift that golden goblet over his head to proclaim Nigeria the number one football side on the African continent. UP EAGLES!!!

Okay, let’s get serious. I don’t know what to write. Sorry Sean, sorry Elliot, should this be a match review? Or should it be a celebration piece? It doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that I’m over the moon. Scratch that, I’M OVER THE SUN!!!

When the teams began lining out, a bit of fear gripped me. Irrational fear. I had been invited for a late lunch with some rich kids, and for some reason, I began to think back to the 2000 final match when for the first (and only time in my life as it will never happen again), I took a ticket (it was given to me free) to sit among celebrities. That was for Nigeria’s final against Cameroon in Lagos, a moment when I abandoned the area boys for the comforts of the big life, and sat beside the then Senate President, watching Rigobert Song steal the trophy from us.

As has become the habit in final matches recently, the opening few minutes were cagey, but Victor Moses decided to go against that script and ran at the Burkinabe defence. Sadly, Ike Uche, though in Jo’burg, had somehow not made it to the stadium. Earlier in the day, a friend of mine had predicted that if Nigeria failed to score in the opening thirty minutes, Burkina Faso would win. As the thirty minute mark slowly came upon us, that prediction began to dance around my head and I don’t think I have been that depressed, or nervous, in a very long time. Layi, e no go better for you.

Then, on forty minutes, the moment of magic. Brown Ideye won a sixes and sevens clash with Koulibaly his opposite number, then the absent Ike Uche, for a brief moment remembering what he had come to South Africa to do, seized on the loose ball, laid it square to the brilliant Moses, who parted the Burkinabe defence like the Red Sea and took a shot. Blocked by the platinum blonde Djakaridja Koné. As providence would have it, the ball fell to the on-rushing Sunday Mba, who said “Mba”, and measured the height of Mohammed Kofi with his right foot, dinked through Panandétiguiri and Bakary Koné before the ball had come down and then took a brilliant shot with his left foot. Diakite could only watch in admiration as the ball settled in the left hand corner of his net. At that moment, for me, thirteen years of hurt ever since that Rigobert Song penalty left me walking dazed on the streets of Surulere, were erased. It was a goal. And what a goal!

The second half began with the Super Eagles dictating play, and the Stallions still on the back foot, slowly, as was to be expected in a final, beginning to crank up the pressure. A few heart stopping moments as Victor Moses contrived to miss an open goal, and Vinnie Enyeama with the second most important touch of the tournament, saved Fair play to the Burkinabe, they showed that they were no push overs, but the day belonged to Nigeria. For the records, during half time, I left the elitist enclave of the rich kids, and drove to the more habitable hole of a friend so I could watch the game in as unrestrained a manner as possible.

Great moment of the game: when the referee ended proceedings and confirmed us as African champions. Goalie, Vincent Enyeama ran over and attempted to lift the referee sky high. Bros Vinnie, we are still waiting for you to redeem your promise. Prior to the tournament, Enyeama had promised that if Nigeria won it, he would dance naked. I want to see his ding-dong dinging on my television screen.

Great moment after the game. Calling up ALL of my Ghanaian friends at an ungodly hour to remind them who is boss. UP EAGLES!!!

*”Mba” in the Igbo language means “No”.

Cheta was one of the few Nigerians who believed in the Super Eagles ahead of the tournament. His predictions for the team proved remarkably astute: on Keshi, on Mikel Obi, on the quality of the locally based players, on the team’s wealth of attacking options when others were lamenting the omission of Osaze Odemwingie and Obafemi Martins. The preview he wrote for Africa is a Country is well worth revisiting.

Addendum: As you’d expect Twitter was on fire yesterday. Here’s a bunch of our favourite tweets sent during the big game:

Just seen a Nigeria fan wearing a loaf on his head, bearing the message "Eat them like bread."—
Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) February 10, 2013

Let's go #Burkina!!

youtu.be/XnFLRMFBnvk fb.me/2k3mkMmT5—
Fulgence Ouedraogo (@FufuOuedraogo) February 10, 2013

Dangote calls manservant. Adds a zero to the cheque.—
  (@jeremyweate) February 10, 2013

GOAL NIGERIA! Sunday Mba puts #SuperEagles in front! Tidy finish. Local player. Keshi knows.—
Africa is a Country (@AfricasaCountry) February 10, 2013

I wonder if Boko Haram are secretly watching haram DSTV and thinking- go Victor…—
  (@jeremyweate) February 10, 2013

Last time I saw Sunday Mba's club, Warri Wolves, they were involved in the most outrageous fix. Great guys though.—
Steve Bloomfield (@BloomfieldSJ) February 10, 2013

Very, very, very happy Nigerians. #AFCON—
Laurent Dubois (@Soccerpolitics) February 10, 2013

This is what happens when you pick a strong local coach who's willing to drop the big names. Top work Stephen Keshi #afcon—
Steve Bloomfield (@BloomfieldSJ) February 10, 2013

Yet another case made for African coaches for African teams. #Afcon2013. Put the rivalry aside and at least celebrate that. #Nigeria—
M.anifest (@manifestive) February 10, 2013

He is Stephen Keshi. He does what he wants, drops who he wants and wins what he wants—
Acheru (@ikwerreman) February 10, 2013

Which rural American county will be the beneficiary of "Burkina Faso: Champions of Africa" t-shirts?—
MissBwalya (@missbwalya) February 10, 2013

Afcon Final Preview: Will it be Keshi’s time or can the Burkinabé shock the world in Soweto?

Nineteen years ago, a Super Eagles team captained by one Stephen Okechukwu Keshi won the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunis. Will it be Keshi’s time again in Soweto today?

We leave the serious predictions to the professionals. Check out the latest from BBC reporter Peter Okwoche (we love him) who staged a pre-final prediction match between a bunch of kids. The video is cute, but we’re suspicious that  Team Nigeria seemed to get all the bigger kids. Where was the Sowetan Burkinabés version of Dagano? Anyway, the game ends with an assured 3-1 victory for Nigeria, but then what would you expect from a game set up by a reporter named Okwoche?

Others aren’t so sure about the Super Eagles chances. Top football analyst Michael Cox has detailed tactical analysis (well worth reading to get a sense of where today’s game will be won and lost) of both teams’ semi-final victories, Burkina’s over Ghana and Nigeria’s over Mali. Cox likes Nigeria, but on the strength of what he saw in the semis, he reckons Burkina may be the better side: “if they play with the same level of cohesion and fluidity [as they did vs Ghana], Burkina Faso will defeat Nigeria on Sunday evening.”

Cox reserves his strongest praise for Aristide Bancé, one of this blog’s favourite players at Afcon:

“This was as good a centre-forward display as you’ll see in international football. Bancé was involved in everything – he sprinted in behind for chances on the counter, he had a header saved on the goal-line from a corner, he could drop deep and encourage the wide players beyond him. He even showed great defensive ability – at one point rushing back to stop a Ghana counter-attack himself, when most other forwards would have left that to the midfielders.”

So look out for Burkina, and watch out for Bancé.

We’re just hearing Emmanuel Emenike won’t start the final, a big blow for the Nigerians. That man has been playing like he’s a cross between Wayne Rooney and a rhinocerous. Still, the Nigerians are confident (is anyone surprised?)

Requiem for Les Éléphants d’Or: a playlist for Côte d’Ivoire’s golden generation

By John James*

Defeat to Stephen Keshi’s forceful young Super Eagles in the quarter finals turned the dreams of Ivorians to ashes, and everywhere high-flown tributes are being read out to the golden generation of Ivorian footballers who never quite made it on the big international stage. Côte d’Ivoire can look forward to more Nations Cups with Yaya Touré but Didier Drogbas don’t come along too often (he’s pictured above winning his first cap for Les Elephants against Bafana back in 2002). Here, then, is our musical tribute to the fallen Elephants, 2013 edition. We won’t be watching the Ivorians this weekend, but we can at least enjoy their tunes.

As even Ivorians remark, ‘Ivorian a bouche d’eh’ (Ivorians can be arrogant!). One of the hottest coupe decale artists at the moment, DJ Kedjevera, says “Elephants, this year it’s for us”. Drogba says he’s angry, Yaya says he’s angry, the minister of sport is angry, the auntie at the market is angry… so watch out.

DJ Tsunami – the key message – everyone in the squad is ‘dangerous’:

Last year there was a huge number of Afcon related hits. This was my personal favourite from Bebi Philippe, ‘In orange for the victory’, an artist with a bit more musical talent than most in his generation.

Other songs from last year: DJ Jacob, and comedian Le Magnific.

Special mention to former Ivorian football star, Gadji Celi, who was a leading member of the 1992 Afcon winning squad and then later turned into a very successful singer.

Finally, let’s go back to 2006 and Côte d’Ivoire’s first qualification for the World Cup finals, far closer to the worst moments of the civil war. The Ivorian squad teamed up with the nation’s biggest group, Magic System, to record one of football’s better squad anthems, in the zouglou style, despite the obvious lack of singing talent in the squad. This really captures the spirit of the times…and of course a lot of these stars are still in the team.

By the way – this is a nice interview with Drogba, Kalou, Kolo, Yaya, Gervinho – find out who is the best dancer, spends the longest in the shower.

* Anglo-Ivorian John James was the BBC correspondent in Côte d’Ivoire from 2007-2012 and set-up the Elephantsonline.com website.

When MediaStorm went to Angola to make a short film about de-mining

Earlier this week, the award-winning production studio/marketing group MediaStorm launched their short film Surviving the Peace, to promote Mines Advisory Group’s de-mining operations in Angola. Mines Advisory Group (MAG) launched with a premier in DC and a fundraiser in Angola (go figure, but hey, attendees in Luanda got free copies of the film). This is not a critique of mine removal work. We’re just not that hard-hearted. De-mining work in Angola is critical to the economic livelihood of rural populations and the free circulation of people and goods throughout the country. Right now Angola has the third largest number of in-the-ground mines and UXO (unexploded ordnances) in the world — after Afghanistan and Cambodia.

Numerous NGOs have been working in Angola since the first elections in 1992 and with renewed and consistent effort and support since the real end of the war in 2002. MAG has been there since 1994.

MAG does good work. But we do have some thoughts about MediaStorm’s filmmaking. Hired to make a short film to serve as part of the fundraising campaign, filmmakers Nathan Golon and Rick Gershon had 10 days to find the perfect people to drive their narrative and shoot the film. The film’s website presents it as reality TV adventure — new equipment, a blur of foreign tongues, and a local civil war history with Cold War entanglements that just needed to be explained in plain language.

The result? Watch and tell us what you think:

Here’s our list of things to look out for:

* Billed as a “story about Angolans, told by Angolans” the film tightly embraces the fantasy of transparent media by disappearing the cameras, filmmakers, and technology of production with the same vigor that the production notes fetishize (and advertise) technology.

* Listen as much as you watch.

* The MPLA was “Communist”, UNITA was “non-Communist” — huh?

* The inter-galatic presentation of facts and figures — so slick, clean, and other-worldly (is this supposed to make us trust their sense of order? Will they set the universe right?)

* How much do you think it cost to produce this film?

* And what fraction of the $100,000 fundraising target is to fund this film?

* Plus did you know MediaStorm does image control for Starbucks? How similar do you think their media strategy is when they report on the native harvesters? (Now compare these two project descriptions to their campaign to “Create Jobs for the USA”).

According to Halo Trust, another de-mining NGO that works in Angola, their work depends on charitable funding and it was tough going in the heat of the financial crisis in 2008-2009. The effects of landmines victimize innocent men, women, and children decades after they are laid. The US and Russia bear serious responsibility for the current landmine situation in Angola. So, by all means, let’s support de-mining operations. Let’s have another fundraiser, in DC, where the USA [diplomats?] refuse to sign the convention banning the use of landmines.

* Megan Eardley contributed to this post.

Philosophy and Dancing Outside the European Tradition

A Sudanese sufi dances during Mawlid celebrations. Phil Moore, 2012.

A couple of weeks ago Hamid Dabashi’s article “Can Non-Europeans Think?” was making the usual hype motions on the web. The New York-based Iranian professor took righteous offense at Santiago Zambala’s list of the “important and active philosophers today,” which failed to name any thinker thinking outside Europe (except for Judith Butler [does New York count as Europe?]), and used the opportunity to reflect on the geography of Philosophy’s exclusions:

They are the inheritors of multiple (now defunct) empires and they still carry within them the phantom hubris of those empires and they think their particular philosophy is “philosophy” and their particular thinking is “thinking”, and everything else is – as the great European philosopher Immanuel Levinas was wont of saying – “dancing”.

The ‘Eurocentrism’ which Dabashi finds in Zambala’s list of good philosophers merits the analogy with Levinas (more on him here), whose dancing remark is intended to emphasise the history of this exclusion of non-European thinkers. Thought conversely, the task and activity of philosophy is not so different from that of dancing. But I’m thinking of different philosophers.

In an early work, Karl Marx defined the task of his criticism in terms of dancing: ‘these petrified social conditions must be made to dance by singing their own melody to them. The people must be taught to be terrified of itself, in order to give it courage.’ This philosophy would not, according to Dabashi’s marriage of Zambala and Levinas, be considered “important and active”; perhaps then it is only these unimportant philosophers – Marx and the non-Europeans – who are able to see how the best forms of thinking, speaking and writing are always already a kind of dancing.

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Sufis beat drums during the Dhikr at Mawlid celebrations. Phil Moore, 2012.

Phil Moore is a photojournalist currently working in Islamabad but mostly based in East Africa. These images are from his 2012 series Sufism in Sudan. The following text is his own.

“If there is a family in Sudan that does not have at least one Sufi member, it is not Sudanese.”

Sufism is the mystical element of Islam, with sufis first coming to Sudan in the sixteenth century.

Every Friday at the Hamid el-Nil mosque in Omdurman, groups of sufis come together to engage in the dhikr. Come Mawlid, the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed (and a celebration which is seen as haram in certain groups of Muslims), thousands of sufis come together across the capital to hear stories about the prophet, pray and dance together.

Sufis sit during a recital of stories of the life of the Prophet Mohamed during Mawlid celebrations.

Mawlid celebrations, Omdurman.

Mawlid celebrations in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman.

A Sudanese lady fries doughnuts during celebrations for Mawlid.

Sufis celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohamed for Mawlid in Omdurman.

A Sudanese man threads Islamic prayer beads to sell during Mawlid celebrations.

Sweets sold during Mawlid celebrations.