Every so often African issues grow beyond the continent and makes it’s way into pop culture. In a capitalist society, social consciousness is a commodity and Africa’s problems are not exempt. As with Somalia (Black Hawk Down), and Sierra Leone (Diamonds from Sierra Leone) the problems in Darfur, Sudan has begun to hit the mass media. What has been a problem for years is peaking everyone’s interest. After Anna Nicole Smith and the Lakers, Darfur is becoming the latest trendy cause. First actor George Clooney speaks out and now everyone’s favorite peddlers of pop culture MTV, is playing it’s part in a way only they can, through a video game: Darfur is Dying. Could it be possible that a simple game of side and seek is enough to inform regular people about the situation at hand? With some questioning the rational behind creating such a game you can only imagine the impression “players” get of the situation and Africans as a whole. Forget guns and diplomacy, you too can save the Africans from themselves. Enjoy.
Liberian wins Environmental Award
For those who were wondering about Google’s latest logo, this past Saturday marked Earth Day 2006. In commemoration of Earth Day and to promote environmental awareness worldwide, The Goldman Environmental Prize will be awarded today in a ceremony in San Francisco. One of the six recipients this year is Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor (36), a Liberian environmentalist who exposed evidence that Liberian President Charles Taylor used the profits of unchecked, rampant logging to pay the costs of a brutal 14-year civil war that left 150,000 people dead. At great personal risk, Siakor collected extremely hard-to-get evidence of falsified logging records, illegal logging practices and associated human rights abuses. He passed the evidence to the United Nations Security Council, which then banned the export of Liberian timber. Fearing for his life Mr. Siakor left Liberia for a period of exile spent in several neighboring countries.
With international sanctions on timber exports set to be lifted in June, Mr. Siakor continues fighting powerful forces that want to tap into Liberia’s forests as a source of income. As director of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), in January he published a report outlining the sort of reforms he feels need to be carried out in order to protect the long term future of Liberia’s forests and the wildlife that depends upon them.
The Goldman Environmental Prize is the world’s largest prize honoring grassroots environmentalist. Described as “the Nobel Prize for grassroots environmentalism” the prize provides International recognition, worldwide visibility, and financial support of $125,000 to the winners to pursue their vision of a renewed and protected environment. After the San Francisco ceremony today at the Opera House, the Prize winners will travel to Washington D.C. for an awards ceremony and events at the National Press Club, on Capitol Hill and at the Brookings Institute with political, policy and environmental leaders.
Info: BBC
Actor Don Cheadle documents Uganda’s “Night Commuters”
In May of 2005, Academy Award-nominated actor Don Cheadle (Crash, Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic, Boogie Nights) traveled with his family to Kampala, Uganda to attend a charity screening of his award-winning film Hotel Rwanda. The screening was held to raise money for a group of children called the “night commuters”. They are called “night commuters” because every night they must flee their homes seeking refuge in large camps in the cities to keep from being kidnapped, dragged into the bush and ultimately forced to fight against the Ugandan government for the rebel Lords Resistance Army.
The Cheadles and a group of filmmakers traveled 5 hours outside the capital to the town of Gulu to see for themselves how these kids and their families are forced to live. Filmmaker and longtime ABC News producer Rick Wilkinson documented what they found in a 24-minute short called Journey Into Sunset. The documentary examines the lives and experiences of several of these boys and girls. Some of them have been able to avoid being kidnapped. Others who weren’t so lucky. They lived or died at the will and whim of their captors. They were forced to fight. And some committed horrible atrocities.
“Journey Into Sunset” will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC on April 26, where both Mr. Wilkinson and producer John Prendergast will be present for a Q&A. The film will also be screening at the Boston Film Festival, and the Atlanta Film Festival in June. Rick Wilkinson is a 4-time Emmy Award winner who has traveled the world, covering many of the pivotal news events as a producer for ABC television’s Nightline.
Info: Boing Boing
Converse sees RED for Africa
The fight against AIDS in Africa has produced yet another initiative. Converse recently joined Armani, the Gap, American Express, and other major brands in support of Product RED. Spearheaded by everyone’s favorite African spokesman, Bono of U2, and Bobby Shriver (Chairman of DATA – Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa ), Product RED is an economic initiative “designed to deliver sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria”. The first model in the Converse RED Collection is the Chuck Taylor All Star mudcloth shoe designed by UK designer Giles Deacon and inspired by Nakunte Diarra, a renowned mudcloth artist and storyteller since the 1950’s who originates from Mali. Bogolanfini, the mud-dyed cloth of the Bamana people of Mali, is a living art form, constantly changing, reflecting new inspirations, while paying homage to the past.
The Converse RED Chuck Taylor All Star African Mudcloth shoe debuted on April 1, 2006 and retails for $295. It will be available at specialty stores in the UK, online globally at the Converse online store and exclusively at Barney’s in the US (New York and Los Angeles). A portion of the proceeds from the Converse RED Mudcloth shoes and will benefit The Global Fund.
China and Africa relations on a fast track
Since 2003, China has overtaken Japan as the second largest consumer of petroleum after the United States. In the search for oil to fuel it famous production cycle, China has begun pumping billions of dollars into Africa with most of the money focused on oil producing nations like Sudan, and Nigeria. The LA Times reports that “China’s demand for resources has driven up prices, propelling significant GDP gains in many countries. China has educated thousands of African university students, and it sends Africa hundreds of doctors and advisors each year. Chinese firms are building roads, rehabilitating infrastructure and bringing cellphone service to places that land lines never reached”. While the infrastructural benefits of this relationship is generally positive a BBC article points out how “Chinese firms are a little less ethically constrained than their Western counterparts” which can encourage human rights violations by African governments.