The nine girls featured in “Girl Rising,” a documentary directed by Richard E. Robbins, show the world that education is not only the means by which young girls can be awakened to their potential but also lets them know their worth.
From inter-religious violence in the Central African Republic which has been labeled as “pre-genocide,” to inter-ethnic violence in South Sudan claiming thousands of lives and displacing over a million from the newest country of the world, various regions in Africa are enduring disastrous conflicts.
Increasingly, repressive governments are using their power to stifle dissent by taking away the basic and fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. More specifically, Article 19 is yet again under attack as threats to freedom of press continue to expand across the world. As World Press Freedom Day is commemorated every… Read more »
The cover of the venerable weekly magazine, the Economist in May 2000 said it all. Inside the outline of the continent of Africa, the magazine showed a photo of a young soldier with a rocket launcher slung over his shoulder. Above it was the headline, “The hopeless continent.” This example, though extreme, is not unusual… Read more »
There is an increasing anger toward how Africa as a continent is covered in the mainstream media. Often, news reports this vast and complex continent have a monolithic tone where all of the negative news is highlighted and accepted by an audience that is not well informed. Even the positive news is met with the… Read more »
This Summer Saudi Arabia announced plans to “regularize residency and employment status” of foreign workers in the country. This euphemistic language was a warning to the thousands of undocumented workers that they had from July 3 to November 4 to get documentation or get out. The move was reportedly made in response to Saudi Arabia’s 13 percent… Read more »
Earlier this month, I was able to meet African journalists from twelve countries who came to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s Department of Journalism and Media Studies through the Edward R. Murrow Program for journalists. The program is funded by the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The journalists were from Botswana, Kenya,… Read more »
Over the past couple of months, I have been following refugee resettlement efforts in the Tampa Bay area. I’ve been able to meet different resettlement agents from churches, governmental organizations and other groups working together to help those who have fled their home countries for one reason or another. The report below is about a garden for refugees in the Tampa Bay… Read more »
Shortly after Kieran Dwyer, the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, gave a presentation about U.N. peacekeeping missions (watch video below), he said that the mission also receives “bad press” for some of its work in Africa. The phrase jumped out at me. Bad press is what happens when a Hollywood movie flops. In Africa,… Read more »