A short but poignant piece by Notisha Massaquoi on the life and influence of Sierra Leone lesbian activist, FannyAnn Eddy who was murdered on 29th September 2004. FannyAnn was the founder of the Sierra Leone Gay and Lesbian Association.

The interview is part of the “None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa” series of testimonies and can be heard here.

Tags:
LGBTI
FannyAnn Eddy
Sierra Leone
None On Record

Thembi Ngubane spent a year recording her daily life and struggle living with AIDS in South Africa. The recordings are organised as “chapters” and start with a discussion with her mother about AIDS. Thembi is also blogging at “Thembi’s AIDS Diary Tour: South Africa”

Via DigiActive

Tags:
Thembi Ngubane
South Africa
HIV/AIDS
Blogging

August 12th, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

I haven’t written anything yet about my visit to Haiti - cannot really explain why or maybe I was just too overwhelmed in such a short space of time and met so many people from the Lavalas movement, activists, women who had been tortured, shot, lost husbands and children, people struggling to just hold their lives together, others working with their bare hands to build free schools in the barrios with no help from all the NGOs/Aid workers feeding off the masses and their poverty; the UN occupation with tanks and trucks loaded with automatic weapons patrolling the streets at all hours of the day and night; activists disappearing never to be heard of again, kidnapped by opposition forces, gangs, the government - no one really knows.

One of the first women I spoke to was Voudou Priestess, Madame Evonne Auguste - an amazing beautiful woman with a presence yet so gentle and purposeful. Madame Auguste is a member of Famm Voudou pou Ayiti (Voudou Women for Ayiti). In the interview she explains that Voudou is both a religion and a philosophy and speaks about the relationship between voudou and liberation theology. She also discusses the some of the reasons behind the demonetisation of the religion and why Famm Voudou pou Ayiti want to establish their own school.

Listen to the podcast

Tags:
Haiti
Voudou
Liberation Theology

Damien Ugwu of the Nigerian Civil Liberties talks to me about about endemic police torture in the Nigerian justice system. CLO estimate that five people a day are being extra-judicially killed by the police. Most vulnerable are unemployed youths accused of armed robbery. Damien Ugwu explores the reasons why torture and murder are common place and the cultural and political roots of the problem.

Listen to the interview on Pambazuka broadcasts.

Tags: Nigeria; Police Torture

Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah discusses China’s engagement with Africa and the future of that relationship. Professor Prah is based at the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society

Safaa Elagib Adam from the Community Development Association talks about the role of women in the struggle for peace in the Darfur conflict. Safaa has been involved in the peace negotiations especially in voicing the concerns of women.

HIV/AIDS activist, Mandisa Mbali explains the stranglehold pharmaceutical multinationals have over life-saving drugs and the need to provide generic drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS.