African culture

Bullying Africa to accept the gender agenda of the UN

 LINK article from Nov 2023

Holdouts cast shadow over new EU pact with African, Caribbean and Pacific states

The EU this week finally sealed an agreement on a new treaty that will govern relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) community, but the refusal of 35 of the 79 ACP states to sign it has cast a shadow over its merits. ....

so 45 percent of those supposed to sign the agreement refused to go along with it. 

The new treaty is designed to serve as a legal framework guiding relations between the EU’s 27 nations and 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries for the next two decades.

However, at the formal signing ceremony in Samoa on Wednesday (15 November), 35 ACP countries refused to sign the agreement which will provisionally enter into force in January 2024.

The holdouts include 20 African countries, 9 Caribbean states and six in the Pacific.

The repeated delays have been a growing source of frustration for EU officials, with many worrying that the bloc’s failure to ratify the treaty would be viewed as bad faith by its partners.,,...

Obey the EU or else? who died and made them king? 

The article says they won't sign because these countries are mad at the EU's position on the Ukraine and Gaza, but you know, those two wars post date the writing of the treaty.

So maybe it's about something else. 

Warsaw had withheld its signature in protest at the treaty’s language promoting non-discrimination, LGBT+ rights and gender equality, while a handful of African states had previously indicated their reluctance to ratify the treaty over its provisions on non-discrimination which, they say, promote homosexuality....

.

so the problem is that these countries just won't agree to being bullied into the EU's gender agenda, which they hide by using the language of human rights. 

it establishes “common principles” in key areas such as human rights, climate change and migration...

“Now it’s imperative that both the EU and ACP states translate their commitments into concrete actions, involving youth and civil society organisations in working towards the achievement of shared goals,” Goerlitz said.

 shared goals? No, the goals of the EU.

Pope Francis once called this cultural imperialism.

But one Trad Catholic source pointed out that maybe Pope Francis arranged his brand new dogma chief who has only had the job for a couple months to quickly put out a pro gay blessing to impose this on the African church.

From the Remanant

...Fiducia Supplicans – the Vatican Declaration approving blessings for same-sex couples. This has nothing to do with pastoral sensitivity, and everything to do with politics, Agenda 2030, the SDGs of the United Nations, and the EU-ACO Treaty between the European Union and seventy-nine poorer countries...

So why are the African Catholic Bishops resisting Pope Francis to his face? Because forty-seven African countries will be most negatively impacted by the EU-ACP Treaty, which will force African nations to embrace the ... European Union position on human sexuality.

With the Vatican signaling change to the Church’s teaching on sexual morality, African bishops will be cut off at the knees.

the African bishops are of course refusing to sign off on the Pope's so called blessing of gay couples, (and divorced people living with another spouse, and polygamous couples). But no one in the west is listening to them.

So will the prophecy that Africa, who nurtured the Christ child when Herod persecuted him, also nurture the Catholic church faithful when the world decides to persecute them by destroying the faith?

Don't ask me. I'm a doctor, not a prophet.

What's wrong with this picture?

 

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has accused the World Bank of seeking “to coerce” his country over its anti-LGBT legislation.

The bank had said that it was suspending new loans to the country due to its law against same-sex relations. https://t.co/pVTegu0KPZ pic.twitter.com/mrtcBlJoTe

— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) August 10, 2023

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and this is similar to what I have posted on several blogs about the pushing of the sexual agenda on small countries:

About a decade ago, the US had laws like "Don't ask, don't tell" in their military. In the US, LGBTQ is not accepted by everyone. Why do the US and the west think they can force Africa to accept LGBTQ? Let the west keep pushing us like slaves. We will embrace Russia and China.

— Edo DNA (@EdoDNA) August 10, 2023

African music

In Africa, singing and drumming has a long history.

Our German sisters who ran our hospital, brought up on classical music, only heard banging and noise, but I could detect the rhythms, because American popular music tends to be a combination of celtic ballads and African rhythms, and I was amazed to find how complicated the rhythmic patterns are: Often different drummers played different rhythm in complementary forms to each other.

The nurses tried to give me a lesson in using one of the smaller drums, but alas I didn't have the time to actually get into the complicated rhythms of traditional songs.

Here is a lecture on African music at the Library of Congress about it: Downloaded for later watching.



The Mbira is another instrument. Usually you see these in craft shops as a single line, but professionals use a larger and more complicated one.

Alex Weeks at English Wikipedia

No, you don't play the melody on it: The melody is sung,  and the mbira is played counterpoint to the song, as can be heard in this film:



People will carry small versions with them and play them in leisure time, but professional musicians have larger versions.

usually the larger version is played inside a gourd or as in this film, with a sounding board.




You can often "buy" one at a craft shop or make your own, but like any instrument, it is part of the musical heritage, so you need to learn not only how to "play" it but the musical forms of Africa.

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cross posted from my other blog

Zimbabwe's art of stone

from the CSMonitor

...

Although communication with Zimbabwe is difficult, it's clear that some of the nation's 1,800 to 3,000 sculptors have scattered to other countries, says Ponter, a northern California art dealer who grew up in Zimbabwe.

...

Shona art is unusual in a number of ways. For one, it's all crafted out of stone and almost entirely formed without the use of power tools, Ponter says. Instead, the stone carvers rely on hand tools and sandpaper. They create the smooth, colorful, and glossy surfaces of the sculptures by heating the stone's surface and then applying a substance such as beeswax.

The use of stone itself is unique in Africa, although it has a history in Zimbabwe. Ancient peoples in the Zimbabwe region of Africa worked with stone as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, creating the magnificent stone structures of the Great Zimbabwe complex that gave the country its name.

Finally, Shona art serves no special purpose, unlike much of African art – such as masks – which is used in spiritual ceremonies. The Shona artists "carve for the sheer joy of it," says Ponter's wife, Laura. The Shona sculptures are often abstract and stylized; they are so contemporary that they're frequently displayed in modern-art museums.

...

African stories

BBC has plays (streaming media) by African writers.

Number two play is about Zimbabwe:


Second prize winner: A Home for Tai by Tawanda Mutero Kanengoni (Zimbabwe)
Director: Alice Muthengi

Taipanei, a young Zimbabwean woman who has failed to fall pregnant a year after her marriage comes under pressure from her in-laws and her husband disappointed that she has not conceived. The mounting social and family pressure eventually leads her to seek help from a traditional healer who gives her roots to use. Her joy in getting pregnant soon turns to tragedy as the medicine man's concoction almost costs her life. She loses her baby but her own life is saved by a most unlikely hero and the process she learns a valuable lesson.

The Book Cafe etc.

Part one of the report...from AlJazeerah TV on YouTube

Harare culture: Book Cafe

Al Jazeera has a story about the cultural life in Harare, and about a Book Cafe...

For over 20 years Harare was known not only as a cultural city, but also as a friendly and unpretentious place.

In recent years the mood has changed drastically in the city and the exuberance of the 1980s and the stoic optimism of the 1990s have been replaced with quiet despair.

The effect of chronic hyperinflation in Zimbabwe is that life has become extremely unpredictable - prices can double overnight with no warning, which often makes it impossible for people plan their lives even a week in advance.

The stress is clearly visible everywhere and most people have little time for luxuries such as culture and self-expression.

People & Power

Watch six nights at the Book Cafe

But the role of the arts in the city is as crucial as ever and because the only radio and TV broadcaster in the country is state-owned ZTV, live performances play a crucial role in getting alternative voices heard.

Harare has always had a huge appetite for live music, and even in the most difficult times you can still find a band 7 nights a week.

But with the power cuts and beer shortages venue after venue is shutting down. The ones that survive often feature escapist light entertainment. Such escapism is popular given the daily hardships many Zimbabweans are forced to endure....

PROGRAMMES PEOPLE AND POWER

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Harare's open cafe culture

Live music has long been a key part of life in Harare Elections in Zimbabwe on March 29 are once again expected to be won by the country's long-term president, Robert Mugabe who is accused by his critics of suppressing any opposition and limiting free speech. However, filmmaker Eugene Ulman visited the capital Harare and found one cafe locals say serves as an oasis of truly open expression. Following independence in 1980, the Zimbabwean capital Harare began to emerge as an urban hub for central and southern Africa. It had a film industry, theatres, art galleries, restaurants and even a stock exchange, with a busy calendar of annual arts events like the film festival, the international arts festival, the jazz festival and the book fair. For over 20 years Harare was known not only as a cultural city, but also as a friendly and unpretentious place. In recent years the mood has changed drastically in the city and the exuberance of the 1980s and the stoic optimism of the 1990s have been replaced with quiet despair. The effect of chronic hyperinflation in Zimbabwe is that life has become extremely unpredictable - prices can double overnight with no warning, which often makes it impossible for people plan their lives even a week in advance. The stress is clearly visible everywhere and most people have little time for luxuries such as culture and self-expression. People & Power Watch six nights at the Book Cafe But the role of the arts in the city is as crucial as ever and because the only radio and TV broadcaster in the country is state-owned ZTV, live performances play a crucial role in getting alternative voices heard. Harare has always had a huge appetite for live music, and even in the most difficult times you can still find a band 7 nights a week. But with the power cuts and beer shortages venue after venue is shutting down. The ones that survive often feature escapist light entertainment. Such escapism is popular given the daily hardships many Zimbabweans are forced to endure. Alternative centre The issue of freedom in Zimbabwe is often confusing, especially for an outsider. Television and radio naturally present a government's perspective on things, but there are private newspapers in Zimbabwe which openly and explicitly criticise the country's leadership. Political discussions and debates can often be very free and open but there is an intense paranoia when it comes to any kind of cameras, photography or video. It is almost impossible to film any images in public without being approached by plainclothes officers. But one venue is different - a simple looking place called the Book Cafe upstairs at the Fife Avenue shopping centre in Inner-City Harare. Since it opened a decade ago, the Book Cafe has developed into the epicentre of Harare's alternative culture and six nights a week the venue attracts a diverse and unpredictable audience of young artists, students, government workers, lawyers, doctors, bankers, businesspeople, street kids and diplomats. Paul Brickhill says the cafe has no official political slant The events might involve music, poetry, theatre, comedy, discussions or competitions - but they have one thing in common in that there is strictly no censorship. "Its not that as though it has a political slant, it's just that it is open, you can say what you want," Paul Brickhill, the cafe's founder, says. His son Tomas, a musician, explains that the point of the cafe is not just that you can criticise the government when performing but also speak in favour of it. "Either way no one's going to beat you up when get outside," he says. "Well, most of the time at least." The Book Cafe began its life as a bookshop called Grassroots Books, founded by Paul in the early years of independence. Before then, any remotely left-wing books - including most African writing - was banned and the mission of the new shop was to make progressive books available to ordinary Zimbabweans. 'Diverse mix' "Literally people streamed in and we sold every book we had in stock," Paul recalls. "I specifically remember a truckload of military guys in their fatigues queuing outside because they had heard there were progressive books there." He says from the very start the cafe became a meeting point for people from across Zimbabwe's racially mixed social spectrum. "You would see someone you knew was a white farmer talking to a black radical gender activist and wonder what that conversation could be about." Samm Farai Monro, a white performance poet better known as Comrade Fatso claims "there is nowhere in the country with such a diverse mix of people". Mashasha, a black musician, was apprehensive that he would fit in when he first performed at the cafe. "But to my surprise it was a different atmosphere when I got there," he says. "It is hard to see class - it is just people enjoying what they are doing." "There is a saying in Zimbabwe: 'Freedom of expression but no freedom after expression'" Comrade Fatso, poet "Maybe after, when one starts to walk home and someone else jumps in their posh car - that is the only time you might see class." However given such an atmosphere it was only a matter of time before the Book Cafe attracted the attention of the Zimbabwean secret police, the CIO. Most of the time performances at the Book Cafe go unhindered, but there are exceptions. Victor Mavedzenge, a painter, poet and one of Zimbabwe's most popular comedians first came to the Book Cafe eight years ago, to perform his poems at the regular Monday open mic night. During a recent performance, Victor, his comedy partner and the person filming their show were all arrested. Blacklist fear "After the show we had about seven guys come backstage and say 'we are going to have to ask you to come to the central police station,'" he says. "They said that someone had called them to say we were saying something subversive about the government." But ultimately what scares the musicians more than the threat of arrest or harassment, is the possibility that they might not be able to make a living if they get blacklisted from relatively well-paid government-funded work. "That's the joke in Zimbabwe, you've got freedom of expression but you don't have freedom after expression," Comrade Fatso says. But for artists, whichever aspect of daily life they might want to touch on, it is hard to avoid stepping out of line....