Africa (Re)invented:Africa's Innovative Past

Maker Faire Africa: African Invenmtion fair in Ghana 2009 (Photo credit: whiteafrican)

I can’t recall the number of times I have heard people say ‘nothing’ was invented in Africa or that Africa never contributed anything to modern civilization. Naturally, this statement is far from the truth but is still a popular lingering stereotype about Africa. Although ‘western’ centered (Eurocentric) history has taught us that Africa was a dark continent that was underdeveloped until the European man ‘civilized’ it, this is not the case.

Africans had a different way of living that was not understood or valued during the period of renewed foreign contact with Africa. Africans were just as creative and innovative as any other civilization. Assessing the continent’s history provides insight as to why there is little knowledge of Africa’s innovative past,  why there have been periods  in Africa’s history where few inventions occurred, and why their hasn’t been much recognition for African inventions where they did occur. The idea that Africa was a place where no innovation occurred though needs to be debunked and reassessed.

Africa was a continent where the earliest human beings lived. Therefore many of the inventions made during the earliest moments in human history were made by Africans. This includes the discovery of: 

• ·         Fire in Southern Africa;
• ·         Palm oil in West Africa which is used in cooking and as a lubricant;
• ·         Yam cultivation (and hence, modern farming methods) in West Africa;
• ·         Shaving tools made from glass around the Njoro River;
• ·         Water pipes (bong) for smoking hashish in Ethiopia; and
• ·         Iron smelting methods in Nigeria that enabled tool shaping.

There are many other such types of early innovations by Africans throughout the continent. Egyptians for example, were the inventors of papyrus, embalming and medicines. During the same time, Africans outside of Egypt (Ehiopia, Sudan), were also making their own advances in paper technology and medicine. Africa was also home to architectural super structures like the Pyramids in Egypt and Sudan, the trading center at Great Zimbabwe, and ancient mosques. In addition, some of the world’s earliest universities were in Mali and were the precursors to contemporary educational institutions. Africa was a center of knowledge in ancient and pre-colonial times and information was regularly traded between ancient Greece, Egypt, Ethiopia, Italy and the rest of North Africa. Some of this history has been forgotten or lost due to historical processes like slavery, colonization or war. Many will recall the famous incident where a significant amount of history and knowledge was burned in Egypt by Alexander.

Slavery Museum (Photo credit: timbrauhn)

There is evidence that many advancements in Africa occurred in early human history and Africa’s pre-colonial history. Much of this advancement faced challenges as foreign contact with the continent began in earnest. The Indian Ocean (Arab) slave trade and the Trans Atlantic slave trade that began in the early15 century made it challenging for Africans to continue their progression or continue to innovate. The slave trade led to the forced removal of Africa’s talent and labor that would have otherwise been contributing to African advancements in technologies.  This means that many of the continents innovators and knowledge were transferred outside the continent by enslaved Africans. This includes foods, vaccines, and other methods that they brought from the continent. African slaves were not taught to read write and were made to work much of the day. This provided little time for innovation. In the case of the enslaved in the Atlantic, their own struggle for recognition of their contributions and inventions in their new countries began. It was not fashionable or popular to give slaves recognition for being smart because this threatened the slavery system. Some of the few inventions that were made by enslaved Africans were to become credited to their owners or to the new world but not to Africa.

The Trans Atlantic slave and the removal of Africa’s labor and innovators left a void on the continent. This trade continued through the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th centuries – roughly, a period of 350 years and involved an estimated 12 million enslaved people that made it to the new continents. Many others did not make the journey. Slavery disrupted the way of life for Africa and affected its knowledge base. There was the routine looting of Africa’s artistic treasures, items and artifacts that remain in foreign museums today. Many of the structures, trade routes, villages, and support systems that were responsible for passing on the knowledge were abandoned or destroyed. It meant those left on the continent would need to concentrate on meeting daily needs and on avoiding becoming enslaved themselves. During this time, the remaining young children on the continent had to fill much of this labor void. This situation affected the type and quantity of inventions coming from the continent for nearly 400 years.

The colonial era further placed Africa in a state of arrested development in terms of innovation. For a period ranging from just prior to the 1884 Berlin Conference through the 1960s Independence movements, Africans were under foreign domination.  The colonial system was inefficient for African development. The educational system that was introduced in Africa was largely centered on Biblical knowledge or on domestic sciences. The educational system also only catered to a very small percentage of the African population. In addition, many of the prohibitive taxes under the colonial system meant that Africans were forced to work for little money. There was little time to explore formal education in literature, math, science or philosophy. Much of the knowledge was passed on orally. Many of the innovations that did occur were not given significant international recognition in order to help sustain the colonial system of subjugation. Although there were some innovations that were made during the colonial era, 350 years of slavery followed by nearly 100 years of colonization took a toll on the continent’s ability to invent and be innovative. 

Maker Faire Africa: Buglabs (Photo credit: whiteafrican)

Although there have been some low-tech and high tech inventions in recent years these are not well known. Africans continue not to receive full recognition or acknowledgment for their innovations. This is a part of its historical legacy. During the post-colonial era, Africa has also been plagued with the brain drain. Many of Africa’s innovators are living in the African Diaspora and contributing to the technological advancement in countries that they have moved to voluntarily. Therefore some of the greatest inventions in contemporary times may be coming from Africans in the Diaspora. Africans on the continent have began to contribute greater numbers of low-tech and high tech-inventions. They are also more likely to receive recognition for their inventions. In recent years there have been attempts to chronicle Africa’s former innovative past and its current contributions. Information about African inventions can be found on sites like Afrigadget , International African Inventors Museum, Kumatoo , and South African Info. There are many innovations that have occurred and continue to occur on the continent. The idea that Africa is a place that has no inventions of its own needs a (re)invention. Africa, like any other continent, has contributed to modern civilization.

Dual Citizenship in a Post-Federation Era

African students outside of IBM Headquarters (Photo credit: citizenIBM)

Africans have been migrating to neighboring countries and overseas in greater numbers than before. They have been taking up citizenship in countries other than the country of their birth. This new African Diasporas are now increasingly calling for Dual Citizenship. Dual Citizenship is a situation where an individual can be a citizen of two countries. The call for Dual Citizenship has been growing in Africa from the African voluntary Diaspora over the past few years. The unprecedented voluntary movement of African people within the continent and outside the continent is being facilitated by increased access to mass transportation due to globalization. The African Diasporas voices have not fallen on deaf ears. Currently, nearly half of the African nations offer Dual Citizenship for their Diasporas. The African Union has  now also  officially recognized the economic and social benefits of engaging the African Diasporas. The AU has gone as far as to recognize that the involuntary African Diaspora that left Africa in bondage (i.e. African-Americans, Afro-Latinos, Afro-Caribbeans etc) is the sixth region of the African Union’s organizational structure.  In the spirit of Pan Africanism, countries like Ghana have extended citizenship rights to the involuntary African that wish to repatriate to Ghana. In Southern Africa, the call for Dual Citizenship can be heard in the countries that formally comprised the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, namely, Nyasaland (Malawi), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

English: Map of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the 1960s Malawi was at the forefront of dissolving the colonial Federation that brought modern day Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi as one nation under British colonial rule. Whilst the hatred for this federation existed in all three countries, the resistance to the federation was heard the loudest in Malawi. Malawi was not a settler colony so Malawians feared white settlers moving in to its borders. Malawians were also being used as a source of labor for Zimbabwe and Zambia and this led to the underdevelopment of Malawi. Most of the farms and industries in the federation were being formed outside of Malawi’s borders. Therefore Malawians were very opposed to the federation. It was little Malawi, a country one third the size of both Zambia and Zimbabwe, that was persistent  and instrumental in successfully ending the forced federation by 1964. It is therefore very ironic that years later, due to globalization, the people of the same countries are all calling for Dual Citizenship - a distinct step towards becoming more unified. Migration between the three countries has been profound and large settlements of migrants from the other two countries can be found in each country. In Zambia, Dual Citizenship has already been tabled in parliament and the first draft of their constitution includes a provision for Dual Citizenship. In Zimbabwe, a constitutional overhaul was also supposed to usher in Dual Citizenship as an unalienable right. It appears that the provision has left aspects of Dual Citizenship open to subjectivity in the final draft of new constitution.  The draft constitution recognizes that Zimbabweans cannot lose citizenship by acquiring foreign citizenship but adds that  Dual Citizenship would be regulated by Acts of parliament. For the majority of Zimbabweans, it means that they can have Dual Citizenship. For Zimbabweans born outside of Zimbabwe though, it may be an area of concern depending on future acts of parliament.  Lastly, in Malawi, the call for Dual Citizenship is still in its exploratory phase for the government. No formal bill or constitutional amendment has been tabled to parliament although various organizations and individuals have promoted it in the past. The current call for Dual Citizenship there is being pushed forward by non-governmental advocacy groups. This includes the Campaign for Dual Citizenship, a transnational advocacy group based in the U.K. that has an online petition form and is also petitioning the government for Dual Citizenship. Half way across the globe, the Malawi Washington Association is also advocating for Dual Citizenship through the Movement for Dual Citizenship initiative.  The Malawian Diaspora hopes to have a  bill considered in parliament like in the case of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Dual Citizenship however is being promoted in all three nations, largely due to the persistence of their respective growing Diasporas.

English: Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The concepts of citizenship and Dual Citizenship in particular, have become problematic for African nations under the nation-state system. Traditional African cultures in the region allowed for Dual Citizenship. During the pre-colonial era of kingdoms and chiefdoms traditional leaders had accepted Dual Citizenship. Belonging to a particular political unit was not as rigid as it was under the nation-state system that was introduced in the colonial era. As an example, if one was a Chewa through one parent, one would also be recognized as a Bemba through the Kingdom or Chiefdom of another parent. This means that multiple citizenship across groups were possible. The modern day movements toward Dual Citizenship for this region are therefore also rooted in pre-colonial African tradition. Relaxing of rigid citizenship laws for Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe is therefore a step towards addressing the malaise of the colonial borders in the region. Although the idea of the federation itself was not bad with respects to promoting unification of nation-states, the federation itself was intended to serve the particular interests of the colonial government. It was also forced the new political units in Africa that consisted of disparate people to in to yet another forced political unit. Dual Citizenship however, will serve the interests of the governments and citizens of the three countries respectively. It will also bring together Africans in a voluntary manner. Dual Citizenship can therefore be considered as a viable alternative to persistent calls to redraw Africa’s borders altogether. It will help strengthen the region’s economic viability. For the modern day nations of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, fighting against unification is no longer relevant in a globalized world where regional blocs are being formed. Taking steps toward Dual Citizenship is in the region is a step in the right direction.

Is Africa Ready for Female Leadership?

CAPE TOWN/SOUTH AFRICA, 4JUN08 - FLTR: Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi, Bingu Wa Mutharika, President of Malawi, Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, John Agyekum Kufuor, President of Ghana, and Raila Amolo Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya, captured during  the World Economic Forum on Africa 2008 . Image: Eric Miller (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Joyce Banda, Malawi’s First Female President and Head of State, was sworn in this month, many Malawians were ecstatic. During the spectacle that occurred after late President Bingu wa Mutharika’s cardiac arrest which resulted in his death, foreign journalists debated whether Malawi was “ready” for a female president. Some Malawians asked the same question, speculating that a constitutional coup would occur that would prevent her from assuming this role. Forgotten was the role that women such as former Official Hostess (First Lady), Cecilia Kadzamira played in the nation. She was the most powerful woman in Malawi for three decades. Towards the end of Kamuzu Banda’s presidency, she essentially run the country and was the de facto president. Therefore in recent history, Malawi has had a precedence of a strong female leader. However, what was also forgotten was a long tradition of female leadership in Malawi and Africa as a whole that came before her. As Africans, I think that it’s important for us to have a common, accurate and collective memory with regards to historical events on the continent, including societal issues. As Malawi ushered in the First Female Head of State in SADC, the media and public were mis-educating each other about the real progress of female leadership in Africa in various ways.

Joueur d'Uruncungo (Player of Uruncungo) Women played an active role in business and trade in the markets (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I will start with the terminology. In order to have a head of state, there needs to be a state. Prior to the Berlin Conference of 1884, where African states originated, there were no states in Africa.  However, there were other forms of political units that had leadership like Kingdoms, Empires, Chieftaincies, clans, or ‘tribes’. Many of these political arrangements in Africa were matrilineal (traced ancestral descent through the maternal line), matrilocal (husband goes to live with the wife’s community), or matriarchal societies (A woman who rules a family, clan, or tribe). These arrangements lead to a long list in history of African leaders like Cleopatra of Egypt, Queen Nzinga M’Bandi of Angola, Princess Grace Matamba of Congo, Queen Nana Yita of Nsuta (Ghana), Queen Nana Aberewa Ampen of Juaben (Ghana), Sultan Fatimah of North Zanzibar (Tanzania), Ret Abudok nya Bwoc of Shilluk (Sudan). Over the years this history of female leadership in Africa, has continued in many rural areas. Therefore, if we are to only look at our history, we may conclude that Africa has always been ready.

In fact, prior to colonialism Africa’s real traditional culture, was more gender progressive then the hybrid system that was introduced during the colonial era. Traditional African culture has always been more gender neutral then the cultures of the global north where patriarchy and capitalism have created inequalities that have challenged for female leadership. Gender roles in African culture have traditionally more fluid. Africans women were serving as spiritual leaders (contemporary day pastors, priests), healers or sangomas, (midwives, nurses, doctors), herbalists (pharmacists), traders (business women) and other prominent positions. Women were also able to own property and had political participation.  During this same era, western women were not able to play these roles in their own societies. Therefore when colonialism was introduced state sponsored patriarchy, African women legally lost their social and political positions. African countries became states during the colonial era where Africans were not in charge of their own states. This made the ascension of African women difficult because both African men and women could not be heads of state. They could not practice their traditional leadership roles that included women under this new system. This means that women’s leadership in Africa has been more about reclaiming rights we lost under colonialism rather than achieving them for the first time. In contemporary times, challenged with regaining female leadership on the continent under new political formations, the modern state, African countries have made considerable gains. I compiled a descriptive list of contemporary women Heads of State in Africa that have been head of state that we can draw on to begin to pull our collective memories together:

1. Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry (Liberia) – Appointed, First Female Head of State in Africa, First Female Head of State in West Africa.
2. Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson (Liberia) – Elected, Second Female Head of State in Africa, First Elected Female Head of State in Africa, Second Female Head of State in West Africa.
3. Joyce Hilda Mtila Banda (Malawi) – Appointed, Third Female Head of State In Africa, Second Appointed Female Head of State in Africa, First Female Head of State in Malawi, First Female Head of State in Southern Africa.

Rice (left) and Laura Bush (second from the right) meet Liberian President-Elect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (center), the world's first black female president, before Sirleaf's inauguration in Monrovia on January 16, 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In addition, there have been African women that have acted as head of state like President Rose Francine Rogombé of Gabon who served as interim head of state and Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi, and Carmen Pereira, of Guinea Bissau. Perhaps, the difficulty in including them on the list is can be explained by terminology. The titles ‘Interim’, ‘Acting’, and ‘Appointed’ Heads of State may suggests a short term, temporary arrangement. It can also imply that the person is not the ‘real’ head of state. What is also problematic is confusion that arises over who is the head of state in political units. African countries have mixture of heads of state that have the title of President or Prime Minister – some countries others have both positions. However there is evidence that there is room to extend this list in the African context. Therefore, as journalists frantically try to meet deadlines in the corporate media houses, there is little time for them to take an accurate survey or analysis of female leadership. In addition, many journalists in the global North already have a limited knowledge of Africa. They seldom take the time to do their own research on the history of the continent outside of highlighting data centered on societal factors like the level of poverty, disease and women’s oppression. Therefore, this often leads to the misrepresentations and distortion about the dynamics of topics like gender and leadership on the continent. Many have never heard of Ruth Perry, the first African Head of State in Africa (1996-1997) who was succeeded by Charles Taylor in Liberia. She is sometimes not regarded as Head of State, however, many do differentiate Sirleaf-Johnson by noting that Sirleaf-Johnson is the first elected head of state. However we must decide how we want Perry to be remembered because she is in danger of being forgotten in our collective memories in spite of this achievement. In addition, because of the global practice of sourcing news from a few media outlets like Reuters or the Associated Press, at times, African journalists often source their material from these media outlets and end up unintentionally doing the same. This is why Africans need to have a collective memory about their history in terms of female leadership.

Queen Nzinga in peace negotiations with the Portuguese governor in Luanda, 1657. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is important to note that there have been a countless number of women that have been serving as Prime Ministers, Presidents (that may not necessarily be head of state) or vice-president in Africa in recent history. However, there needs to be recognition that these women, including Sirleaf, Perry and Banda, are following in the footsteps and tradition of Africa’s long record of female leadership. In order to answer burning questions about our countries’ “readiness” for female leadership, we need to understand our own histories outside of the ‘popular imagination’ of what Africa is. This question is based on assumptions on the level of gender equality in Africa. The assumption is that African men and African societies are sexist due to gender inequalities inherent or rooted in African traditional societies. This is simply untrue. African women in traditional societies have been leaders, healers, priestesses, and property owners. These rights that were increasingly denied to them under colonial patriarchy, and this then carried on beyond colonialism. African Women largely lost their rights and never regained them. There are several accounts of women’s participating in the political process by signing treaties as well as accounts of colonialist refusing to negotiate treaties with African women. These attitudes reflected gender relationship inequalities in western societies. These attitudes also continue to affect western women in countries that are highly capitalist and therefore, highly patriarchal. Therefore, our challenge today is to reclaim and regain traditional role as leaders for African women. Our challenge is also to see African tradition as progressive in terms of gender equality. However, we must have a collective memory with regards to our histories and herstories. This means learning about African history and recognizing the achievements of all our women.

*A version of this article appeared on the blog Africa on the Blog.

Miss Fufu Strikes Back: Decoding How Jay-Z and Eddie Murphy (Re)invented An African Archetype

Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) in concert -Image by NRK P3 via Flick

As I walked out of a store in Silver Spring, Maryland a few years ago, a 30 - something African American gentleman, tried to strike up a conversation with me. Unfortunately for him, the first words that came out of his mouth were, “excuse me, Miss Fufu…” to which I promptly interrupted, “I don’t eat fufu, I am not from Nigeria!”. I then continued to walk past him. His immediate response was apologetic,  “my bad … my apologies, I didn’t mean anything by it”.  Even though this misguided suitor’s intention was not to insult or do harm, his statement carried a lot of baggage. Firstly, his statement projected the stereotype in America that Africa was one country - and that country was Nigeria. Secondly, the idea that he thought I ate fufu because I looked African was misplaced. My denial about eating fufu to him did not stem from a desire to disassociate myself with African food, but rather a desire to be didactic about cultural truths. Having come from southern Africa, I was not too familiar with what exactly fufu was at that time, but I was able to locate it as a West African, specifically Nigerian dish. As I pondered on my drive home about stereotypes about Africa, a few thoughts about African stereotypes raced through my mind. His statement reminded me of how little Americans new about the continent and made me think about where there stereotypes originated. In brief, he had stereotyped me as a young, black, African female - I had become the new stereotypical African archetype, Miss Fufu.

It was during this same year that Jay-Z’s hit song “Girls, Girls, Girls” was playing on the airwaves. The line that stood out to me (and probably to impressionable stranger) when I first heard this song was:

I'm like: "excuse me Ms. Fufu, but when I met your ass
You was dead broke and naked, and now you want half"

These lines from Jay-Z play into popular stereotypes about Africa in a fundamental way. It speaks to popular stereotypes image of Africans being ‘poor’, ‘primitive’ and lacking ‘civilization’. Through this line, Jay-Z takes on the role of Kipling's ‘White Man’s Burden’ - civilizing his African girlfriend. He also becomes an oppressor of women because he feels that his wife is not entitled to half because of her country (continent) of origin – Sending a clear message that African women do not deserve to have material or emotional support because they are somehow not deserving of this because of an association with the stereotypes of ‘poverty’ or ‘coming from nothing’. These lyrics follow, and are a response to a preceding line in the song:

I got this African chick with Eddie Murphy on her skull
She like:"Jigga Man, why you treat me like animal?"

These lines preceding lines set up the players in the song, an African female that is somehow ‘wearing a (bone) skull’ of Eddie Murphy and whom is being treated like an animal by ‘Jigga man’ (another name for Jay Z). The description of the ‘skull wearing’ incidentally, is reminiscent of  his wife Beyonce’s infamous (and equally offensive) ‘tribute to Africa’ photo shoot where she dresses in black face and wears bones, animal print and tribal paint. For well traveled celebrities that have been to the continent (ie Tanzania, and South Africa), it seems that broadening of cultural horizons in the Knowles-Carter household, has so far served to reinforce stereotypes. This line is equally problematic because it plays in to power dynamics between the global North and Global South. Here, he presents himself as famous American rapper in a relationship with a poor African girl that he mistreats. It sends the message that African women are like animals, and such need to be treated accordingly. To show how his attitude translates in his everyday actions, it reminds me of a video that I saw years back of Jay-Z literally treating journalist/girl like an animal by physically assaulting (hitting) her for taking his photo (see Video:Jay-Z assaults African journalist). In some reports, critics have said this occurred in South Africa though this is unconfirmed. For young African women, this type of representation can be damaging at multiple levels ranging from domestic violence to paternalism. From a feminist perspective, it also reminds us of unequal gender roles in relationships. The African woman in this song gets oppressed (treated like an animal), for being female, black and African. The rest of this song is equally ethnically biased and misogynist because he proceeds to name racist and sexist stereotypes about women from all over the world. In fact in this song, no woman in this world is left untouched - the Latino woman who love cooking rice, the Chinese woman bootlegging his music, the African-American woman that snaps her fingers and swings her neck, the list goes on (See lyrics). So how did it come that Jay-Z thought it was okay to treat African women like an animals on video and in real life?

Eddie Murphy Image via Wikipedia

I found out later that with these lyrics, Jay Z was making reference to the famous comedy skit in ‘Raw’ done in the 1980’s by comedian Eddie Murphy (This was his tribute to Africa).  In this skit, Eddie Murphy recounts how he marries an African female from the 'bush' called ‘umfufu’ that he can control. This is a problematic stereotype about indigenous nomadic peoples and the nature of relationships in Africa. It feeds into the popular stereotype of the ‘submissive’ African woman and her stereotypical ‘abusive African man’ (She should be ‘used’ to being treated like that because that how African men treat their women!) Mr. Murphy’s comedy skit, unfortunately, was reproduced from comedy to music. Some may argue that it’s 'harmless' entertainment but the problem here is that in the entertainment industry through Hollywood, music, comedy etc... Africans are only portrayed in one way (backwards and uncivilized) and it is almost always negative. Nevertheless, the problem with ethnic comedy is that comedy is relies on stereotypes. In order for people to find a skit funny, they need to ‘understand’ the stereotype – they need to have a preconceived notion of the subject of the joke. In this case, it is obvious that Jay Z understood the joke based on his understanding on Africa. This is a clear example of how popular stereotypes about Africa are reinforced in mass media outlets like music and live ‘entertainment’ and transferred to the general American public. It is unfortunate that both Eddie Murphy and Jay Z have a large African fan base too. I find it unfortunate when Africans are forced to participate in their own stereotyping or when Africans can’t (or don’t) do more to protest against these offensive stereotypes on music stations like MTV Base (MTV Africa) and perhaps, Channel O. For some reason, when it comes to Africa, the entertainment industry in The U.S. thinks stereotyping is okay. These characterizations are than internalized by the American public, like the man in the store in Maryland. The stereotype is also used as a lens when commenting on the validity of Nomvuyo Mzamane's case against Oprah by another minority blog contributor on the Black Gay Gossip blog article, "Ms. fufu is Suing Oprah".

Jay Zs bestselling book, "Decoded" Image by Urban Mixer via Flickr

A few weeks ago a flier advertising Jay Z’s book ‘decoded’ was sent to one of the teaching assistants (and faculty). The Amazon book review by Juliet Disparte reads “it is a rare glimpse of the unexpectedly deep meanings behind the most recognizable rap lyrics of the last decade”. In the growing wake of university courses that touch on Jay Z, I wondered what lessons Jay Z wanted me, as a young African female teaching assistant to convey to students about decoding his lyrics. I had first heard about the book on a promotional episode of “Oprah”, now I cant help but wonder in what manner Jay Z and Eddie Murphy would talk to the young ladies at her academy in South Africa there during there publicized philanthropy trips, “Excuse me, Ms Fufu? I donated school books, now you want half?”

Johnson Sirleaf: Transforming Liberia Through Traditional African Leadership Roles

Image via Wikipedia

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkul Karman of Yemen and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson for ‘their work on women's rights’. When Liberia’s Johnson Sirleaf was announced as the Nobel Prize winner for 2011, the headlines worldwide noted that Africa’s ‘first’ female president had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Johnson Sirleaf however, is the second female head of state from Africa. This honor should be rightfully accredited to Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry of Liberia. She was the head of state from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997, and succeeded by the notorious Charles Taylor. Sirleaf Johnson made history as the first ‘elected’ head of state for Liberia. Perry became head of state after Wilton G. S. Sankawulo stepped down as head of state (chairman) though the Council of State of Liberia. Liberia has the distinction of being the only African country in recent history to have two female heads of state and this is usually ignored in commentary in efforts to build up the image of Sirleaf Johnson as a pioneer in women’s leadership in Africa. It also reinforces the stereotype that African leadership tradition is inherently gendered (women and men had strict roles), and has traditionally excluded African women until western feminism came to ‘free’ African women from their men. This is the narrative that we usually hear from western countries, unfortunately, it is also the narrative that we hear from within the continent. It is important that when people talk about ‘African traditional culture’, they are not talking about ‘African colonial culture’ and passing it off as an African tradition that is timeless and was ‘always there’. We need to distinguish between African traditional culture and African colonial culture because erosion of leadership roles for African women came at the hands of foreign control, and is anything but ‘traditional’.

Image via Wikipedia

Queen Cleopatra of Egypt

Africa’s true traditional culture has always been inclusive of women’s leadership. The African continent has had a long history of female leadership ranging from Queen Cleopatra from Egypt to Queen Nzinga of Angola. In fact, in traditional African culture, prior to colonialism, female leadership in Africa was not an anomaly. We need to remember that traditional African culture has always been more gender neutral then western culture. Gender roles in African culture have also been traditionally more fluid, and this includes female leadership. Prior to colonialism, women in Africa held roles as priests, spiritual leaders, head of clans or ‘tribes’, and other socio-political organizations (since there were no ‘nation-state’ as we know them today). This is not to say that there was no system of patriarchal domination in Africa. The point is, that in terms of gender equality African women had more equality in the areas of land inheritance, property ownership, tracing lineage (matriarchal, matrilineal and matrilocal residence societies existed), and leadership roles. They also had their own systems of checks and balance so that male power was ‘in check’. For example, this includes traditions like postulating (bowing) to both men and women Priests leadership roles or bowing to females that were older. When foreign influence came to the continent, so did foreign ideas of gendered leadership roles. The European and Islamic tradition of inequality that was strongly patriarchal was forced on African traditional cultures so African women saw that now, they could no longer own land, inherit land, become priests, or trace their heritage through the female’s lineage. This means that African women actually lost their rights to be leaders as a result of colonization.

The gender inequalities that African women are experiencing today in terms of leadership are a result of European and Islamic colonization in Africa. They ‘gendered’ roles in leadership and exacerbated existing gender inequalities. Now, through Johnson Sirleaf, we hear of people celebrating the ‘progress’ African women are making in gaining leadership roles denied to us by our men. The steps that women like Johnson-Sirleaf and Perry are taking, are steps towards reclaiming progressive traditional gender roles. African feminism is about regaining rights that were lost. Perry and Sirleaf are stepping on the shoulders of a long tradition of African leadership that is often overlooked or forgotten because it ‘just doesn’t fit in’ to the stereotype of leadership roles for Africa that we like to cling on to. Just as Perry’s position as the ‘first’ head of state in Africa (which was barely 15 years ago) has just been forgotten by popular media and Africans on the continent, one hopes that Sirleaf’s role is also not forgotten in the near future like the countless African women that were leaders on the continent. At this juncture, questions like, ‘Is Liberia ready for a female head of state?’ shouldn’t have been making headlines in countries like Liberia or in any other country. Traditionally speaking, as Africans, we have always been ready for female leadership.

Miss Universal English: The Language of Beauty, The Beauty of Language

Whilst changing the channel on September 13^th 2011, I stumbled across the 2011 Miss Universe pageant.  When they announced that Miss Angola, Leila Luliana da Costa Vieira Lopes, was a finalist and I saw she was getting a lot of the audience support, I decided to watch it until the end to see if the crown would for the fourth time, land on the continent (South Africa, 1978; Namibia, 1992; and Botswana, 1999). Although Miss Angola had a relatively small delegation of 3 people in the audience, I also noticed that she was popular and had support from most the audience and rightfully so. She was attractive, congenial, and seemed to genuinely be ‘true to herself’. So out of curiosity, I went to the web to find out why she was the clear crowd favorite from the beginning and what people were saying about Miss Lopes.

Amongst the responses were the usual and customary supportive comments that one would expect ‘she’s beautiful’, ‘congratulations’ ‘she deserved it’. There were also the comments from those that had other favorites, ‘I liked Miss China’…or ‘Ukraine was my favorite’ etc… The comments that I didn’t expect to find was commentary over her response to the Q&A since she had answered it decently enough.

Question: “If you could change one of your physical characteristics, which one would it be and why?”

Lopes answered: “Thank God, I’m very well satisfied with the way God created me and I would not change a thing. I consider myself a woman with inner beauty. I have my principles. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family and I plan to follow this through the rest of my life.”

The comments weren’t largely directed towards the content her answer, but towards her decision to deliver her response in Portuguese and through the use of an interpreter. Even though I knew she was from Angola, I thought she would most likely answer the question in English since most Africans are multilingual and are usually conversant in one of the ‘International’ languages like English or French. At international events, African representatives like presidents, government officials, scholars etc…do not use interpreters when speaking to international audiences unless they do so purposefully or strategically. Indeed, the language that one chooses to use in today’s society can be highly political, contributing to how others are going to perceive, and subsequently treat you. For Africans who often get the ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane’ stereotype, language here, is used as a form of cultural imperialism  and this makes it even more problematic. So most of the time, we find African representatives feeling that they need to speak English in order to legitimize their ideas, sound intelligent, or simply to be taken seriously by their western counterparts. There seems to be a stigma towards Africans that do not speak the 'Queens English', which is an extension of the colonial cultural legacy. There is also often the associated assumption by non-Africans that one’s ability to speak English is a reflection of one’s ability to think. These negative perceptions seem to be directed disproportionally at Africans (no one vehemently faults Japanese, Polish, Brazilian, French or Iraqi for the same inability). This stigma towards Africa is reflected through comments made by the general public online websites after the pageant (See Comments: Showbizblog, Tumblr, Pinoyhalo, Ricky).

According to the commentary across these blogs, there was a pattern of suggestions from the general public that was advocating an ‘English’-only language policy for pageants. This was problematic because this was not the ‘Miss England” pageant, and the idea that anyone should conform to a hegemonic language at an international event being held in Latin America is ludicrous. It was also problematic that some of these comments were coming form voices in the Global South – notably, the Spanish speaking Philippines (Some going as far as suggesting that Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup, should have been picked because “she spoke English” (See: Pinoyhalo). For Miss Angola, these comments were compounded by her African identity - Some non-Portuguese speaking, were making reference to her speaking her “native” language over an “international” language (Native here, being a code for ‘African’).  They thought she was speaking an indigenous Bantu language of Angola and not the “international” Portuguese language! It is clear from their comments that because she was speaking in her “African” native tongue, this act being frowned upon –These commentators seemed more fixated on the Angolan’s failure to speak English because she was Angolan. It didn’t seem that there real interest was promoting English. There interests were prompting English relative to an African language. Had they known it was Portuguese, I wondered if they would have made assertions over the importance of speaking an “international” language (as opposed to an African one)? I wondered if the same comments were made for the reigning Miss Mexico, Ximena Navarrete, when she won and if she perhaps, spoke in Spanish during her Question and Answer portion. Notably, one such comment (that had 13 ‘likes’) came from readers of the online version of the Spanish language television network, Telemundo, which prides itself for its substantial Spanish language programming. I didn’t discount that there may have been other factors. I thought about how much this had to do with the persistence of mental enslavement for previously colonized peoples. As an example, it many have been an epitome or reflection of how people in a country like the Philippines viewed Filipino English speakers - in high esteem and at the detriment of indigenous languages like Tagalog or Filipino. 

Statements regarding the idea that the translator somehow  “improved” her answer and that her central idea somehow 'gained intelligence' through translation also surfaced. Based on this, there are clear associations that people make about of the ability to speak English and perceived Intelligence.  Ability to speak the English language though is not a reflection of intelligence. If Lopes wanted to speak in Umbundu, or Kikongo, she should have the universal right to do so without backlash or assumptions about her intelligence or linguistic abilities. It is often rare that I hear the same demands to speak English being made to German, French or Portuguese candidates in “international” competitions. If West Europeans are exempt from this lingual scrutiny why are people from the global south subjected to it? Why do people from the global South subject each other to it as well? This keeps these languages (including Portuguese) that were imposed on people dominant in the world. Some argued that most people understand English and that’s why they advocated this, but going by that logic, Miss Universe should be broadcast in the beautiful language of Madarin (See: the top 10 languages). 

Its clear was that because Lopes chose to speak in Portuguese, everyone further assumed that she could not speak English – even those on the blogs that defended her right to speak the language of her choice. After some investigation, I discovered that Miss Angola is a business management student at a university in England where she has been residing for a few years. She was also Miss Angola – UK in 2010. As a true diplomat and strategist, Miss Angola made a sound decision and showed her linguistic beauty by speaking to a room filled with majority Portuguese speakers in Portuguese!

There are around 5000 languages in use today. There is no universal language. There shouldn't be one. language is a reflection of ones culture (See: Sapir Whorf hypothesis). Differences in language lead to differences in experience, thought and ideas. Requiring the world to speak English will lead to a world where everyone think and act like the English. The problem with this being that they are not all English and will never be English. The other problem with that is that it will suppress ideas that can only manifest or be understood in the context of a particular language, and hence culture. The beauty of this world is that we all speak different languages and no one should be forced to speak another.

The R/Evolution in Malawi May Not be Televised, But it May be Tweeted!

The coverage of the protests in Malawi by the foreign (non-Malawian) press has left some Malawians wide-eyed and more cognizant of the international media climate. When the protests initially began on July 20th, 2011 (dubbed 20/11), the internet was ablaze with information from Malawians on the ground, in the diaspora, and friends of Malawi. In addition, many Malawians posted updates from various cities in the country providing eye witness accounts of the events as they were occurring.  These early reports proved to be vital for those seeking updates on the nationwide protests on both sides of the political spectrum due to limited coverage on Malawian Broadcasting Channel (MBC) & Malawi Radio which continued with its regular line-up that day. Private domestic mass media outlets like Zodiac Radio, Malawi Voice, Capital FM, Radio Joy, Nyasatimes and others were also successfully doing their utmost to provide detailed up-to-date coverage to the world until they started experiencing broadcasting difficulties. Due to their interrupted service, media coverage was left to private Malawian blogs, and the Malawi online community (including Facebook and Twitter) for parts of the day. A chronological account of the some of the postings can be found on the blog haba na haba. The protests began to 'trend' on Twitter - South Africa before they made the news headlines. Ordinary Malawians had proceeded to tweet directly to BBC, Anderson Cooper, CNN, and Sky News during the course of the day to ensure that international attention would be brought on the demonstrations. By day two, Malawi protests began to 'trend' as a hot topic on Google. The online community engaged directly with programs like BBC- Have Your Say (BBCHYS) and France 24, acting much like a watchdog to ensure that the international media was going to cover the protests and was going to cover it with accuracy.

This revolt was unprecedented for Malawi. Malawi has historically had a reputation as a peaceful country. It is a country that has enjoyed relative peace within its borders since its liberation struggle and subsequent independence in 1964. Even during Malawi's attempts to topple the regime of the infamous dictator Kamuzu Banda, during the 1993-1994 protests for multiparty state, there was relative peace. Banda who ruled the country for the 30 years as a dictator, finally conceded to the will of Malawian calls for multi-party rule as the protests against his regime grew, and held a national referendum. He stepped down peacefully, conceding defeat in the election, and assisted in ushering the transition where he could. According to the 2010 Global Peace Index  by the Institute of Economics and Peace, Malawi continues to be the second most peaceful country in Africa (Botswana being the first) and 39th in the world out of 155 countries. Being a country that has not seen war or wide scale violence within its borders, Malawi has also been a haven to refugees from troubled countries like Mozambique and Somalia. It is also host to Zimbabweans escaping Mugabe's reign. Malawi has been long known as the "Warm Heart of Africa" due its friendly people, tranquility and rustic appeal. It is a country where virtues like tolerance, non-violence, humility and community ("I am because we are") are encouraged through the four cornerstones of the nation, 'unity, loyalty, obedience, and discipline'. Hence, when a group calling themselves, 'Concerned Citizens' which comprised of civil society, the opposition, NGO's and citizens called for a national day of peaceful protest, this was what was intended and expected (Read: Malawi's Peace at Test). Malawians were not initially calling for 'democratically' elected Mutharika to step down. They wanted a change in the attitude of his administration. Attempts had been made by the opposition to engage with the Mutharika administration prior to this, but many Malawians felt that the administration had not adequately addressed concerns. A diverse group of Malawians, including professionals, students, laborers, rural and urban dwellers, and opposed political parties (collectively known as the 'Red Army'), all joined forces to air their grievances and to let it be known to their government and the larger world, that they wanted their concerns to be addressed.

President Bingu Mutharika had had a prosperous first term and was rightfully given much credit for moving the country forward economically. During his first term he had many successes in which Malawi was called the fastest growing economy. The GDP of Malawi had grown at an annual rate of about 7% (peaking at 9.8% in 1998), Malawi became a food donor nation (proving food Aid to Zimbabwe), FDI increased and the Kwacha remained stable. He was touted as an inspirational and democratic leader by many. He was also regarded as a welcome change after the unpopular Muluzi administration that many argued ruined the country’s economy. During his second term however, many argue that his political and economic ideology began to become more distant from that of the population. Malawians in general began to have grievances about the downward growth in the economy characterized by lack of forex and fuel. Other grievances that the anti-government protestors wanted to bring attention to were:  increased media regulations for newspapers and national radio/TV; a series of unpopular bills that Malawians claimed eroded checks and balances; Mutharika's increasingly close relations with the Mugabe regime; guaranteeing academic freedom and reinstatement of university of Malawi lecturers, an unpopular flag change who's implementation the public felt they were not involved in; the government consolidation of power through the injunction bill and other laws, including the general  direction the country was heading. These grievances were the highlighted in a 15 page petition that Concerned Citizens  say they they presented to the President via the City councils. It included  in 20 actionable points some which were printed in the national paper, The Nation on July 18th. The Pro-government group also highlighted their concerns on the same day in The Nation paper.

The immediate precursors to the protests were the forex and fuel crisis and the diplomatic row with Britain that resulted in the loss of budget support. Earlier in the year diplomatic tensions grew when a cable from Chocraine-Dyet, the British Ambassador, was wiki-leaked. Dyet had expressed concern to his government over Mutharika, accusing him of being 'intolerant' and of being an 'autocrat'. Accusations that Malawians on the ground were already making due to the change in direction that they felt they were witnessing in a once popular administration. Mutharika felt these accusations were unfounded and declared Dyet persona non-gratia, ordering him to leave the country within 48 hours and asking the UK to send a replacement. Subsequently, a diplomatic row began between Malawi and its former colonizer that resulted in UK ordering the Malawi ambassador to UK to leave (including revoking (arguably) the most coveted invitation - the wedding dinner party for popular British royals 'Will and Kate'). More importantly for Malawians, it resulted in UK cutting aid (budgetary support) for Malawians. Other European countries like Germany (perhaps in solidarity with the UK) followed suite. The World Bank also denied aid to Malawi citing budget problems. The Malawi government than began to take austerity measures that included increasing taxes on the poor (via taxes on bread, flour and milk etc...) and on newspapers. It also included the unveiling of a new aid-free 'zero deficit' budget (ZDB). This budget proved to be unpopular by many Malawians though, and was further compacted by unprecedented fuel and forex shortages. Malawian frustrations continued to grow. They were however not able to air their frustrations due to an unpopular 'injunctions bill' which sought to remove the ability for citizens to 'arbitrarily' get injunctions against the government and the introduction of a fee-for-protest that government said would cover government resources during protests. Civil society argued that protesting against the economic woes was a right and not a paid privilege. Due to debates over the 'right to protest' brought about by injunctions, it was not clear on the morning of the planned protests if they would actually occur. 

When the stories were first being broken by international media, they left much to be desired by Malawians due to misinformation some were providing. Part of this information, understandably may be due to communication from professional journalists on the ground being limited due to an order for them to stop reporting abut the protests. Since a number of issues had led to the protests, singling out one issue was not seen as an accurate analysis. Malawi's protests were about the economy and governance (Read: Economic Situation Analysis). Some newspapers reported that Malawi was on strike due to the stoppage of foreign aid by Britain and that Malawians were protesting for commencement of foreign aid alone which is an explanation too simplistic to explain the situation. However, it is important to note that many Malawians do not want to be dependent on 'dead Aid' as an economic policy. They support a 'trade not aid' agenda but they just do not agree that the new ZDB should be sudden or reactionary. Instead, they were calling for it to be strategically and proactively planned over time so that it doesn't hurt the economically vulnerable. In response to the growing problems, Malawians felt that the president had not addressed the issue adequately. Of particular was discontent was the reaction to the fuel crisis that was affecting the bottom line of small, medium and large businesses. It was also affecting dinner plates as maize mills, fishing boats etc... also rely on fuel. With regards to the fuel shortage concerns, Malawians were being told by MERA (Malawi Energy Regulation Authority) to 'get used to it', rather than being given measures MERA was taking to address the shortages which would have been more palatable. Malawi's concerns were and are largely economic at their base - bread and butter issues that don't fall too far from the bread and butter issues that were facing north African countries. A clear difference was that Malawians, at the time were not largely calling for Mutharika to step down until much later in the protest since he is not a dictator and is legitimately serving his term. Closer to home, a country that had watched the economic demise of 'Great Zimbabwe' under the hands of Robert Mugabe, was afraid to see the same happen to them. There was a genuine fear by some in Malawi that that Mutharika was trying to turn Malawi into 'another Zimbabwe' economically (Read: analysis from Zimbabwe standard). It was economic woes that made protesters frustrated but It was the failure for peaceful dialogue and /or measures (governance) being taken to address the economic crisis that made ordinarily passive Malawians take to the streets. Governance issues were brought about because Malawians felt their economic issues were not being addressed adequately - the sleepy giants had risen.

On the day of the protests, Red Army Malawians wanted to make sure that their voices were heard and make clear their grievances. The demonstrations began largely peaceful with people posing for photos in their 'Red Army' gear and singing the national anthem (see: photo and video footage of protests on haba na haba). Some even took to South African style Toy-toying.  Initially, most Malawians were not calling for Mutharika to resign (he is not a dictator after all but was democratically elected and Malawians wanted to see Mutharika serve out his term (some still do). They wanted their concerns to be heard and to be dealt with. As the day progressed however, and protestors clashed with the police because they were allegedly met with 'extreme force' by the police, more demonstrators began to call for his resignation and /or impeachment and become agitated. They waited to hear Mutharika address the nation in his public lecture (that was planned for the same day), but many felt that the issues they wanted to hear in the lecture were not addressed on the first day which lead to more frustrations. Additionally, many of the leaders of the protests were not available to direct the progression of the protests (some had been allegedly arrested, and the whereabouts of some members of the official opposition where unknown). Without proper direction and with aggression by the police, and pro-government supporters holding their march simultaneously, the peaceful protests then began to get increasingly violent.

Prior to the violence, amongst the major international media, there was a single story on Aljazeera that acknowledged that the protests would occur. There was no coverage on the websites or taglines (at bottom of broadcasts) of BBC, CNN, SKY or South African based e-news. Once the protests turned violent, there were reports from Reuters, an hour show on BBC, and coverage on Al Jazeera, BBCHYS, BBC, enews, and lastly CNN. It is important to note that Sky news does not appear to have covered the story at all on either day, and enews only covered it once Reuters had covered it on day two.  Al Jazeera appears to be the first of the big broadcasters to have the protests covered as part of their headline news, including live footage. What is also notable is that most news outlets get their news from the same sources, so if an organization like Reuters provides misinformation, this information is spread ten times fold. This is why it is important for Africa to have news broadcasters like e-news exercise more agency in selecting stories that are relevant to them. As an example, the events in Malawi would have a direct impact on South Africa so it would be in their best interest to cover any disturbances in neighboring countries first, and not with everyone else. e-news has an opportunity to fill a gap in the reporting of issues concerning Africa and in the approach to reporting about Africa.

Of particular concern was that when the 'peaceful protests' for sound economic policies and good governance were not being covered until they turned violent. The message behind the protests began being obscured on international news between fevered attempts to capture the death tolls.  No doubt, Malawi’s protests were probably seen as 'normal African political unrest in a turbulent African country' and not deemed newsworthy until violence occurred. They also seemed reluctant to report protests as long as they were peaceful - it doesn’t sell newspapers nor attract viewers. Once lives were being lost however, the wider media picked up on the story because it may have fit in to the more comfortable newsworthy stereotype 'death caused by political unrest in violent Africa' which is more suitable for their bottom line. Some went as far as reporting that Malawi wanted to topple their 'dictator', Mutharika which is a comfortable narrative (particularly after the Arab Spring) but an incorrect one. These claims prompted some in the Malawi online community to start defending their estranged leader against the onslaught of foreign misreporting - One person on twitter that was part of the red army tweeted that " they are reporting that Mutharika is a dictator ... Mutharika is not a dictator" .

The Malawian online community at first was solely was working frivolously to get the protests covered by sending information about the protests to journalists from BBC and France 24 that asked for it as its own journalists faced challenges in reporting the protests. They then started working frivolously to get accurate information covered. At one stage, when BBCHYS allegedly reported that there was 'Xenophobia in Malawi', appalled Malawians around the world posted "there is no Xenophobia in Malawi" on their Facebook wall (prompted by online newspaper The Malawi Voice's Facebook Page) until BBCHYS - Facebook made an official statement denying that they reported misinformation (Read: Malawi Voice article on Xenophobia in Malawi). Instead, they reported that an Asian Malawian caller concerned that Asian owned shops were now being looted had said it during the broadcast of the BBC show. From most accounts though, the shops that were targeted were those of close business allies to Mutharika and people that Malawians felt had unfairly benefited from business relationships with the president. In addition, the cars and houses that been burned down also largely those of pro-government supporters. Malawians also took to offence when the news outlets began referring to the protests as merely 'riots' a word that denotes anarchy. Hence, implying that Malawians had decided to get up and start looting the country out of anger and to protest through destruction rather than first seek dialogue. As the violence grew, most Malawians on both sides of the political spectrum began to discourage the violence (from protestors and police), looting and destruction that occurred.

For two days, pent up frustrations from both pro-government and anti-government supporters were released on the once quiet streets in Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Karonga, Blantyre, Zomba, and Dedza in unprecedented nationwide protests. On the second day protests continued in Lilongwe and  Blantyre, albeit less violent. It is surprising that in a nationwide violent protest of 14 million, 'only' 18 reported deaths occurred- this may not have been the case in another nation faced with a similar situation. It is important that reporting of the protest in Malawi occurred, but media must take heed to report with accuracy as opposed to pre-written narratives about African riots, dictators, and causeless violence. Furthermore, not much credit (if any) has been given to the contribution of technology during what some have dubbed the 'African Fall'.  During the Arab Spring protests, too much credit was given to the same technologies. There is something to be noted in the way international media may approach the way they source information about sub-Saharan Africa. Whilst technology penetration has not reached the same extent as other regions, there has been an evolution in sub-Saharan Africa with regards to disseminating information. Many were not looking at the impact of the online community (individuals and organizations) were having or considering if cellphone messaging played a role like they did in Kenyans political unrest a few years back. A much richer analysis on the role of technology on information and democracy in Africa would be warranted because technologies are changing grassroots organization in sub-Saharan Africa as well. With increasing media outlets online, they have access to people on the ground, which has been beneficial in some of the reporting on the Malawian events, but more can be done in this era to ensure that African protests, weather pro or anti-government are covered - and are covered accurately. Case in point, there was probably more press on Malawi's problems with Mutharika in the past few years, than there was on Malawi’s success with Mutharika during his prosperity years.