Sean Jacobs's Blog, page 644

Arthur Goldreich

Hamba Kahle Umkhonto.

Africa Day

The Very Best–a collaboration of Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit–has a new mixtape. It came out a few weeks ago. It is still good for Africa Day.

Download it here.

The Julius Malema Project

Hein Marais assesses last week's election results in South Africa:

The election outcome presents the ANC with little more than temporary respite. Disgruntlement and community protests will continue, and the party's authority will be tested, not least by its own supporters.

These are not teething problems. They are anchored in deeper economic and social crises that date back to the 1970s, and which the ANC government has not yet been able to resolve. It has worked to improve the lives of the black majority, yet close to half the population lives in poverty; jobs are scarce, the country is more unequal than ever, and insecurity is rife.

These realities will keep generating insubordination and eventually will spark instability. With the scope for material change seemingly cramped, other ways of bolstering authority and building consent have to be found.

One tried and trusted way of defusing uproar is to affirm and valorise bonds that can muffle discord, or channel it in diversionary, more manageable directions.

Exclusionary interpretations of belonging, entitlement and rights might soon prove to be politically rewarding – even, or perhaps especially, in a society that was split asunder by apartheid.

There is a real danger of a recourse to rousing affirmations of identity and entitlement, and to populist discourses of authenticity – who is a "real" South African, who is a "real" African, who is black, what is a man, and where women fit into all this.

These manoeuvres might be accompanied by ever more "narrow and exacting" interpretations of culture and tradition. Antipathy toward the "alien luxuries" of liberal constitutionalism might gain support; indeed, heartfelt misgivings about "hollow rights" and a "paper constitution" already circulate.

Left unchallenged, this might well develop into a form of populist nationalism. Some in the ANC seem willing to risk such an experiment, in which social conservatism can be combined with licence for acquisitiveness and immoderation, with targeted largesse serving as a lubricant. Some recognise in the Julius Malema spectacle the prototype of such a "project".

The outcomes are difficult to predict. No doubt such moves will be hotly contested, from both inside and outside the ANC. But it would be foolish to assume a progressive outcome.

Too many coarse tendencies and brazen interests now rub shoulders with power.

Read the rest of the article.

Stakes is High*

I struggled to make sense of Jane Dutton's underwhelming performance this morning on Al Jazeera English trying to discuss what's happening in Sudan's disputed, oil producing region, Abyei. She could not contain two party hacks (from the North and South respectively) as well as an expert in Beirut. In contrast, I found this fact sheet by Andrew Heaven and David Cutler of Reuters, way more helpful:

* WHY ABYEI?

– Abyei sits on Sudan's ill-defined north-south border and is claimed by both halves of the country. In many ways it is a microcosm of all the conflicts that have split Sudan for decades — an explosive mix of ethnic tension, ambiguous boundaries, oil and age-old suspicion and resentment.

– Northerners and southerners fought hard over it during decades of civil war and have continued to clash there even after the 2005 peace deal that ended the war and set up the referendum.

– Abyei contains rich pastureland, water and, after a recent re-drawing of its boundary, one significant oilfield — Defra, part of a block run by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), a consortium led by China's CNPC.

– It also has emotional, symbolic and strategic significance. A number of leading figures from the south's dominant party the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) hail from the area. Many southerners see the fight for Abyei as an emblem of their long struggle against perceived oppression.

– For several months a year, Abyei is also used by Arab Misseriya nomads — a well-armed group that provided proxy militias for Khartoum during the north-south war.

– The Misseriya claim centuries-old rights to use the land for their livestock and Khartoum will have to back them to the hilt if it wants to keep them as allies. Abyei's Dinka Ngok tribe, with its ethnic links to the south, also claims its own historical ownership rights.

* CURRENT STATUS:

– Under the 2005 peace deal, Abyei had a special administrative status, governed by an administration made up of officials from the SPLM and President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's northern National Congress Party (NCP). On Saturday, state media reported Bashir had removed the two heads of the Abyei administration and dissolved the administrative council, without giving further explanation.

– Abyei was also supposed to be watched over by Joint Integrated Units made up of northern and southern troops and police. In reality those units remain far from integrated and soldiers from both sides have been caught up in the fighting.

* SETTLEMENT EFFORTS:

– Abyei proved so intractable that it was left unresolved in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the north- south civil war.

– The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague came closest to solving the first in 2009 by re-drawing Abyei's boundaries, ceding several other key oilfields to the north. The SPLM and the NCP accepted the ruling but the Misseriya rejected it saying it still put too much of their pastureland inside Abyei. They have resisted official efforts to demarcate the new border.

– The Dinka Ngok and Misseriya also remain at loggerheads over who gets to vote. The Dinka have said only that a handful of settled Misseriya tradespeople count as residents. The Misseriya were demanding equal voting rights to the Dinka.

* FIGHTING RESUMES:

– South Sudan voted to become independent in the January 2011 referendum agreed to under the 2005 peace deal but tensions have built up in the oil-producing Abyei region where both sides have built up forces. However President Omar Hassan al-Bashir had said last month that Abyei would remain part of the north after the south secedes in July.

– Last week North and south Sudan's armies accused each other of launching attacks in the contested region, marking an escalation of tensions in the countdown to the south's independence in July.

– Khartoum sent tanks into Abyei town on Saturday, the United Nations said and the next day seized control. North Sudan said it had sent in the troops to clear out southern soldiers that it said had entered the area, breaking the terms of earlier agreements.

Source

* With apologies to De La Soul.

What's At Stake in Sudan's Abyei Region

I struggled to make sense of Jane Dutton's underwhelming performance this morning on Al Jazeera English trying to discuss what's happening in Sudan's disputed, oil producing region, Abyei. She could not contain two party hacks (from the North and South respectively) as well as an expert in Beirut. In contrast, I found this fact sheet by Andrew Heaven and David Cutler of Reuters, way more helpful:

* WHY ABYEI?

– Abyei sits on Sudan's ill-defined north-south border and is claimed by both halves of the country. In many ways it is a microcosm of all the conflicts that have split Sudan for decades — an explosive mix of ethnic tension, ambiguous boundaries, oil and age-old suspicion and resentment.

– Northerners and southerners fought hard over it during decades of civil war and have continued to clash there even after the 2005 peace deal that ended the war and set up the referendum.

– Abyei contains rich pastureland, water and, after a recent re-drawing of its boundary, one significant oilfield — Defra, part of a block run by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), a consortium led by China's CNPC.

– It also has emotional, symbolic and strategic significance. A number of leading figures from the south's dominant party the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) hail from the area. Many southerners see the fight for Abyei as an emblem of their long struggle against perceived oppression.

– For several months a year, Abyei is also used by Arab Misseriya nomads — a well-armed group that provided proxy militias for Khartoum during the north-south war.

– The Misseriya claim centuries-old rights to use the land for their livestock and Khartoum will have to back them to the hilt if it wants to keep them as allies. Abyei's Dinka Ngok tribe, with its ethnic links to the south, also claims its own historical ownership rights.

* CURRENT STATUS:

– Under the 2005 peace deal, Abyei had a special administrative status, governed by an administration made up of officials from the SPLM and President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's northern National Congress Party (NCP). On Saturday, state media reported Bashir had removed the two heads of the Abyei administration and dissolved the administrative council, without giving further explanation.

– Abyei was also supposed to be watched over by Joint Integrated Units made up of northern and southern troops and police. In reality those units remain far from integrated and soldiers from both sides have been caught up in the fighting.

* SETTLEMENT EFFORTS:

– Abyei proved so intractable that it was left unresolved in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the north- south civil war.

– The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague came closest to solving the first in 2009 by re-drawing Abyei's boundaries, ceding several other key oilfields to the north. The SPLM and the NCP accepted the ruling but the Misseriya rejected it saying it still put too much of their pastureland inside Abyei. They have resisted official efforts to demarcate the new border.

– The Dinka Ngok and Misseriya also remain at loggerheads over who gets to vote. The Dinka have said only that a handful of settled Misseriya tradespeople count as residents. The Misseriya were demanding equal voting rights to the Dinka.

* FIGHTING RESUMES:

– South Sudan voted to become independent in the January 2011 referendum agreed to under the 2005 peace deal but tensions have built up in the oil-producing Abyei region where both sides have built up forces. However President Omar Hassan al-Bashir had said last month that Abyei would remain part of the north after the south secedes in July.

– Last week North and south Sudan's armies accused each other of launching attacks in the contested region, marking an escalation of tensions in the countdown to the south's independence in July.

– Khartoum sent tanks into Abyei town on Saturday, the United Nations said and the next day seized control. North Sudan said it had sent in the troops to clear out southern soldiers that it said had entered the area, breaking the terms of earlier agreements.

Source

Music Break

Via the excellent Matsuli Music:

I've been hunting down a copy of this LP for many moons when out of the blue I saw one of my favourite stores (Honest Jon's in London) advertising a new vinyl reissue from Rhino. It's a lesser known sixties recording featuring Dollar Brand that I was first alerted to by Rashid Vally and came just a year before Dollar returned to South Africa to "clean out". The album features a stellar cast including: Elvin Jones (drums), Thad Jones (trumpet), Hank Mobley (tenor), Dollar Brand (piano), Donald Moore (bass), Steve James (electric piano) and George Abend (percussion). The track I'm sharing today has been recorded many times over the years by Abdullah Ibrahim. If you're interested in Abdullah Ibrahims' collaborations then be sure to look out for his sets with Don Cherry, Carlos Ward, Bea Benjamin, Gato Barbieri, Kippie Moeketsi, Archie Shepp, Buddy Tate, Max Roach and Johnny Dyani. A shortened discography is published at flat international here.

Listen.

Tofo Tofo

So about those pantsula references in Beyonce's latest video: Beyonce and her choreographer, Frank Gatson Jr, had seen a Mozambican group, Tofo Tofo, on Youtube. This is Gatson talking to MTV about Tofo Tofo, above in someone's wedding video:

We prepared a lot for it. We had seen something on YouTube; we had seen these three guys from Africa, this Mozambique African dance troupe … we were like, 'Wow, this is an amazing movement,' " B's longtime choreographer, Frank Gatson Jr., told us about the Francis Lawrence-directed video. "And that movement has always been in the back of our head for the last year. From there, we talked about a lot of concepts … I feel like we really nailed it and, again, my hats off to the Tofo Tofo guys [from Africa], 'cause none of us could imitate that," he said. "We had to bring them around to learn that [move], which is really, really interesting. They had such a great vocabulary of movement." Those two dancers not only helped shape the moves in the video, but also moved Beyoncé. "That was probably one of the most beautiful experiences for Beyoncé. They were so humbled," he said. "It was hard finding them. They were really in a remote area; we had to get the embassy people involved. That was a process that took about two months or more. Beyoncé really loved them and I'm pretty sure we'll see them again. It was magical."

Oh, meanwhile in Georgia, featured in the "Run the World (Girls)" video (about the 1:49 mark and then again at 1:55)

No More Fulbright-Hays?

Laura J. Mitchell

Guest Blogger

As interdisciplinary units and departments close in universities around the US, the impending closure of the African Studies Centre at the University of Cape Town—which claims for itself the position of a flagship institution for the continent—and news that the Africa Centre plans to  in London, one more piece of bad news about Africa-based scholarship hardly seems like news. But the quiet Friday afternoon web post on the US Department of Education's website that the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad program  is cancelled for 2011 merits our attention. (The Fulbright program is named for the US Senator, William Fulbright, above in the photo with President Lyndon Johnson.)

According to a post on H-Asia , the Ohio State University is collecting statements from faculty that will be passed on through the University's government affairs office. In private emails and on Facebook, established scholars and grad students have acknowledged the utility of the DDRA program, and lamented its sudden departure for this year. But so far I haven't seen much public comment, beyond this post, and an eloquent post on China Beat, in which Maura Cunningham makes the point that we can ill afford to lose area studies specialists at this geopolitical moment. To quote: "By not providing the funding necessary to support this year's crop of applicants, the government is implying that such work isn't important, that we can exist in a global community but don't need to understand it."

This year's cancellation is devastating to the research plans of a particular cohort of graduate students. Cruel as it is, the loss of one year of research will not cripple a field. But if the program is suspended for several years, or indefinitely, then scholarship that requires specific language training and long in-country research will be restricted to private universities with endowments to support such research.

I trained at a public university, and benefited from the Fulbright-Hays DDRA program for a year of work split between South Africa and the Netherlands, a trajectory I could not have self-financed, and that would not have been possible only with the support of the African Studies Center at UCLA. My research—and more importantly, my teaching of hundreds of undergraduates a year at a public university—would not be possible without the foundation I received in a year of overseas research as a graduate student.

While it is unlikely we can affect the decision to suspend the Fulbright-Hays program for 2011, concerned scholars need to let decision-makers in Washington know that this funding is crucial for what we do now as teachers and researchers, for how we can educate graduate students, and how we can effectively teach undergrads—who deserve to learn about places outside the US from people with a deep first-hand understanding of other cultures. Without ongoing new research, the significant body of knowledge created from the rich history of Fulbright-Hays grants will soon be out of date, and we will have no way to know it.

Urge your university to make a response. Contact your campus Fulbright-Hays coordinator and ask him or her to object (and to contact this year's applicants so they don't hear this news through the grapevine first). Write to your congressional representative and senators, letting them know there is a constituency for informed study and teaching about the world beyond America's shores.

The global financial crisis is real, and its consequences grave. It should not, however, be reason for the US government to retreat from global engagement.

* Laura Mitchell is associate professor of history at the University of California-Irvine.

Music Break

I haven't heard Michael Kiwanuka's debut EP yet, but this song is promising, to say the least.

"Piss Off to Tahrir Square!"

Al Jazeera's documentary on the April 6 Youth Movement ("The Arab Awakening: Seeds of Revolution") follows the group leaders – among them Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel, Amr Ali and Amal Sharif – throughout Egypt's January 25 revolution as well as its aftermath. Chain-smoking their way through the revolution, the documentary focused on the "people power" of the April 6 movement and is quick to credit this particular group for remaining "pushers" for democracy (as opposed to becoming a political party). Of course, the leaders themselves credit 30 years of dictatorship and oppression for their successes. Indeed, the first half of the documentary covers the first 18 days of the revolution, during which April 6 leaders organized access routes to Meydan Tahrir, documented violence on the part of police and pro-Mubarak thugs, kept records of those arrested and beaten, and arranged for food, water and medical care to be distributed in Cairo.

The April 6 movement was essentially founded through the Mahalla textile strike on that date in 2008 – one of many actions the group utilized Facebook to organize. Shortly thereafter, Mohamed Adel traveled to Serbia in order to train in non-violent revolutionary tactics with Otpor!, the youth movement considered vital in the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević. April 6 had organized an anti-Police Day rally every year since, but founder Ahmed Maher emphasizes the fact that events in Tunisia had propelled the January 25 revolution to grow as large as it did. April 6 initially used Facebook to bring out demonstrators on their end, but members of the group quickly rallied Egyptians from all walks of life – including the majority who live without internet access – simply by word of mouth and marching through poor neighborhoods all over the country.

The last half of the documentary is perhaps most important to view. Maher had faith, as many Egyptians did, that the army would be on board with what Egyptians wanted – the complete destruction of the regime's government and immediate release of all political prisoners. His faith in the military actually set him at odds with many other members of April 6. On the other hand, he quickly received invitations to meet with the High Military Council and later, David Cameron. Maher sincerely believed the Egyptian military would not betray the people, even as State Security offices in Alexandria and Cairo were invaded on March 5th and 6th, revealing thousands of documents detailing the arrest and torture of Egyptian citizens (on finding documents listing the S.S. informants within April 6, Mohamed Adel remarks, "this was on Facebook anyway").

This changed in the wee hours of April 9th, where the day before thousands had gathered in Meydan Tahrir and elsewhere to rally on behalf of labor, for jobs, for Palestinian autonomy and especially to call for the arrest and prosecution of Hosni Mubarak and his family. That night, the military revealed once and for all to the people where they stood – they invaded Tahrir and brutalized the citizens and officers that remained there. A few days later, the military interrogated and arrested Mubarak and his sons (Suzanne Mubarak followed, sort of).

The documentary ends where we might have expected it: a brief discussion of hope and the continuing struggle by Maher, but ultimately an expectation that the September elections are already in peril. April 6, now broken from other organizations in the Coalition of Youth Groups, continues to remain a pressure group and focuses on voter recruitment. Ultimately we watch along with them to see what effect, if any at all, a higher voter turnout at the upcoming elections will have on Egypt's future. It may end up that Obama's plan to sic the IMF on Egypt will determine far more about the country's stability.

–Sophia Azeb