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 »
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 »
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 »
Lately I’ve been overcome with nostalgia for my days with the most amazing woman in my life, my mother. We had been apart for almost five years when I saw her last fall from August to September when I visited Eritrea. And now, all of a sudden, as months go by, I find myself feeling… Read more »
When the French first intervened in Mali, Ambassador Vicki Huddleston penned an Op-Ed in the New York Times outlining reasons why the U.S. should assist France in fighting the terror group Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Huddleston was the United States ambassador to Mali from 2002 to 2005 and urged the U.S. not to intervene… Read more »