Perhaps most worrying of all is the unwillingness of Obama and other Western leaders to say or do anything to support the hundreds of thousands of Muslim Ethiopians who have been demonstrating peacefully against government interference in their religious affairs for more than a year. (The Ethiopian government claims the country has a Christian majority, but Muslims may account for up to one half of the population.) You’d think a nonviolent Islamic movement would be just the kind of thing the Obama administration would want to showcase to the world. It has no hint of terrorist influence, and its leaders are calling for a secular government under the slogan “We have a cause worth dying for, but not worth killing for.” Indeed, the Ethiopian protesters may be leading Africa’s most promising and important nonviolent human rights campaign since the anti-apartheid struggle.

Source: New York Times Book Review Blog, “Obama: Failing the African Spring?”

Shahbagh Square, Dhaka (Photo via Dhaka Courier)

Lucky Akhtar, one of the main demonstration organisers, says there is more to the protests than just holding those to account for war crimes committed more than 40 years ago.

“The movement is led not by politicians but by those who feel concerned about Bangladesh’s future, those who want the country to return to the secular and liberal spirit of the Liberation War, those who believe in humanity, those who want Bangladesh to be distinctively its own self,” she says.

The movement will go far because it has risen above partisan politics, Akhtar says. “We have touched the soul of the nation.”

(Source: Al Jazeera English, “Dhaka Sit-In Evokes Tahrir Square Spirit”

I’ve felt so conflicted about this. What do those who oppose capital punishment say of this? Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Part of Jon Rafman’s ongoing project, 9 Eyes. All taken using Google Street View.

Pictured above: Burials on Nov. 27 for some of the 112 victims of the garment factory fire in Bangladesh.

Source: “Documents Indicate Walmart Blocked Safety Push in Bangladesh.” Steven Greenhouse for NYTimes.

“Two officials who attended a meeting held in Bangladesh in 2011 to discuss factory safety in the garment industry said on Wednesday that the Walmart official there played the lead role in blocking an effort to have global retailers pay more for apparel to help Bangladesh factories improve their electrical and fire safety.”

If you were looking for yet another reason to never shop at Walmart, here it is.

I’m still not over this article.

“A stuffed animal — but not even a dog-shaped stuffed animal — was used by the instructor,” she said. Owners struggled to get their very real dogs to replicate the stuffed-animal poses, she said, and bags of treats were used to get the dogs to change positions. “It was lunacy,” Ms. Apro recalled. “Peanuts, my retired racer greyhound, didn’t participate at all. Instead, I did downward-facing dog while he ate the most treats he’s ever had in a 60-minute period.”

Source: NY Times

Whether it is “Hopeless Continent” or “Africa Rising,” these kinds of totalizing narratives of the continent are banal and outdated. Of course it is easier to write yet another new beginning for the continent (or rebrand it, if you prefer), than to offer substantial engagement with the current situation.

Source: Africa is a Country