Re: [liberationtech] Sahel Spring

[keit...@gmail.com]

Dear Richard:

I appreciate your putting Burkina on the radar of the community, especially
given that most Americans would not be able to place the country on a map.
That said, Interestingly enough, on Thursday and for a brief period of
time, Burkina Faso was surprisingly a trending topic on Twitter
 in the United
States!

If I may make one important observation: I would not use the term "Sahel
Spring" to describe what's happening with protesters now. The term itself
is problematic in the African context for a number of reasons, which I
explained in this article

I wrote last year.

Thanks.

best,
Mo Keita
Contributing writer, Quartz Africa & True Africa
@M0Keita 

On Thu, Sep 17, 2015 at 6:26 PM, Richard Brooks  wrote:

> As a recap, about 1 year ago a popular uprising called Balai Citoyen:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Balai_Citoyen
>
> started by rappers and tech activists in Ouagadougou got
> a lot of the population in the street to protest moves
> by the President to prolong his 27 years in office.
>
> Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso.
>
> The military eventually asked the President to leave, and
> a transition government was put in place. Elections were
> planned for mid-October.
>
> Yesterday, the presidential guard held the interim government
> hostage and called off the elections. People close to the
> ex-President are leading this action by part of the military.
> Latest news:
>
>
> http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/17/uk-burkina-army-idUKKCN0RG28S20150917
>
> The studio of one of Balai Citoyen's founders was under attack.
> There is a curfew. Some dead protesters. Dozens wounded.
>
> Calls for more protests.
>
> Note that the Sahel Spring in Burkina Faso lead to a number of
> protest movements in Subsaharan Africa. Their actions lead to
> hope of democratic change.
>
> The question is whether the combination of rappers and tech
> activists can mobilize a large enough response to repel
> this attack.
> --
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[liberationtech] Sahel Spring

[Richard Brooks]

As a recap, about 1 year ago a popular uprising called Balai Citoyen:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Balai_Citoyen

started by rappers and tech activists in Ouagadougou got
a lot of the population in the street to protest moves
by the President to prolong his 27 years in office.

Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso.

The military eventually asked the President to leave, and
a transition government was put in place. Elections were
planned for mid-October.

Yesterday, the presidential guard held the interim government
hostage and called off the elections. People close to the
ex-President are leading this action by part of the military.
Latest news:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/17/uk-burkina-army-idUKKCN0RG28S20150917

The studio of one of Balai Citoyen's founders was under attack.
There is a curfew. Some dead protesters. Dozens wounded.

Calls for more protests.

Note that the Sahel Spring in Burkina Faso lead to a number of
protest movements in Subsaharan Africa. Their actions lead to
hope of democratic change.

The question is whether the combination of rappers and tech
activists can mobilize a large enough response to repel
this attack.
-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at 
compa...@stanford.edu.