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(06/26/11 9:44pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s hard to write about Africa, especially if you want to capture the truth.A few years ago, I took an African pop culture course that began with Binyavanga Wainaina’s essay “How to Write About Africa.” His article sarcastically critiques the way Africa and Africans are portrayed by the Western media. He further challenges people to look beyond the stereotypes and see the far more complex reality of Africans and their unique sense of modernity.After reading his essay, I began to conceptualize Africa in new ways, but it was still hard for me to convey my newfound discovery of the true Africa to others. Whenever people find out I have lived in West Africa, I’m asked questions like “Weren’t you afraid of the lions?” or “Didn’t it make you feel so blessed to be surrounded by such poverty?” Both of these questions and similar inquiries deeply offend me. But more than that, they sadden me. I wish people could see and experience the Africa I know. Throughout my experiences in Ghana, people have shared with me kindness, strength, joy and respect. I wish they could see beyond the wildlife, poverty and sickness they associate with Africa and see the people instead.The great beauty of Africa is its diversity. It is a modern yet traditional continent. These qualities are juxtaposed and manifested in unique ways across the land. Some areas have large shopping malls, universities and boutiques, whereas others are filled with open drainage, shacks and people begging for food. Both images and environments are equally African. They just tell different stories and reflect different realities. Attempting to deem which one is more authentically African is a poor use of time and energy.The problem I always encounter when writing about my experiences in Ghana is capturing reality. Ghana is not perfect. There are many things that are in flux.Yet, there are also a lot of great things happening. The trouble as a writer then becomes the choice of whether to focus on the progress made or critique the failures.In a place as diverse as Ghana, there is not one story. There are many stories. Each individual has a unique experience and perception of his or her environment. Therefore, I encourage each of you reading this article to read what other people have to say about Africa. Do not merely trust my personal opinions and experiences. Instead, venture elsewhere and look for other people’s experiences, especially listening to Africans’ voices and opinions of themselves.It is only through this curiosity one can learn about another group of people, and that is by realizing there are many ways of interpreting Africa and life around the world.— tmkennel@indiana.edu
(06/08/11 9:53pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A lot of my time in Ghana is spent in the house learning how to be a proper lady. I have been learning new mannerisms — in Ghanaians’ terms, the correct way to cook, clean, speak and even eat.The process of relearning 21 years of tacit knowledge acquired from living in the United States has been quite daunting. Many times I feel like I am a child who lacks the basic skills to communicate or provide for herself. I get frustrated when completing the most basic tasks. Then when I finish them correctly, I feel as though a room full of people are smiling and supporting me in the same way they would a toddler learning how to walk. The support is very helpful in the learning process, but it is sometimes difficult to adjust as an American to a culture where self-reliance is almost seen as a negative trait.Life in Ghana is all about respecting those who are older than you and looking to them for guidance in all decisions. This makes for very strong ties between generations. Yet, it means that if you are young you must wait your turn to speak both literally and figuratively.Cooking has taught me a great deal about Ghanaian cultural norms.The first lesson I have learned is the art of waiting. I say art because as an American waiting does not come easy. We expect things to happen immediately and when they don’t we get very frustrated. Thus, when we moved to a culture where every request is met with “mereba (pronounced may-ba)” or “I am coming” in an undetermined set of time, it’s hard to know how to respond other than simply responding “yoo” or “OK.” Sometimes “I am coming” means “I will be there in five minutes,” other times it means “I will be there in five hours.” You just have to learn to wait it out.Another important lesson I have learned is that in Ghana there is no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. Here, it is seen as rude to be in your room doing your own thing when someone is cooking in the kitchen. This does not mean you necessarily have to do the cooking, but it is compulsorily that you talk to the cook while they are preparing the meal.It is often frustrating and not efficient to stop and leave what you are doing, but it is a sign of respect and therefore deemed necessary. Respect rather than time is always the most important thing.The third lesson I have learned is the more time you take to cook, the better the stew tastes. A quick 30-minute stew is OK if you are just cooking for yourself in America; however, if you are planning to prepare a meal for a Ghanaian family to eat you must take your time. Such cooking takes up a lot of time, sometimes even all day, but in the end your stomach will thank you. The time commitment you make to your family and your stomach will reward you with a happier and healthier life.So relax, take some time and try making something yummy for yourself to eat. I’m sure your stomach and your mind will enjoy the break.— tmkennel@indiana.edu
(06/01/11 8:25pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Imagine, if you can, a life without cell phone contracts. A life where all phones are unlocked. Cell phone companies continually must struggle to gain your business and you have the power to simply purchase a new SIM card for a quarter to have a new number. This is the reality of phone service in much of the world outside the US.In countries like the West African nation of Ghana, acquiring a new number used to be as easy as simply going to the mall or your local market and purchasing an MTN, Vodaphone, Airtel and/or a Tigo SIM card — you can have one of each if you would like — and popping it in your phone and purchasing some credit (minutes) to make calls. After purchasing credit, your SIM card would give you a deadline of the number of days you would have to use the credit. Shortly afterwards, if you didn’t purchase more credit, your card would be deactivated. However, if you continued to add credit to your account, you could hypothetically use the card forever without the phone companies knowing even your name and address.Though the convenience and ease of this system is immediately apparent, the lack of any sort of identification linked to numbers could lead to many problems. In a system where numbers aren’t identified, people can do whatever they want with their number without any fear of the repercussions for their actions.Because of this issue, in May 2010, the National Communications Authority of Ghana decided to require all Ghanaian SIM cards to be registered by June 30, 2011. Thus far, 92 percent of SIM cards have been registered. In order to register, you must bring either your passport, National Health Insurance Identity Card, Driver’s License, National Identification Card or Voter’s Identity Card to a cell phone company’s branch to have it registered for free or have a local registering agent register it for you for a small fee. However, if you are a foreigner you must bring your passport.Though I am in favor of the new accountability this system will bring to Ghana, in attempting to register my own MTN chip for the past week, I have also been able to see some of the system’s flaws. One key problem is that one cannot simply register their card online. This change would allow the registering process to occur a lot faster and be easier for individuals who work or can’t make it to an office or afford to register their SIM card on the street.Also, the new system requires that you provide a stranger with your personal information. This is a huge privacy issue that could lead to a lot of problems for Ghanaians. Just yesterday, as I was registering my chip at the MTN branch in Tema, I saw the other three people in line with me copying down my full name so they could add me on Facebook. Though the end result was my card being registered and able to be used, along the way there was a lot of room for improvement. — tmkennel@indiana.edu
(05/30/11 4:46pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Around the world, fuel and food prices are on the rise. These increased prices are causing a lot of problems for people in West African countries, such as the nation of Ghana.This article is the first of a series of columns focused on opinions on current events in Ghana. I hope to analyze some of the issues facing Ghanaians and apply them to problems plaguing other people around the world.In Ghana, food and fuel price inflation has led to a higher cost of living, while many wages in the country have remained stagnant.Prior to coming back to Ghana, after being in the US for nearly a year, I was told by many of my friends that prices had gone up significantly. My suspicions where confirmed when I arrived in the country.I saw first hand that nearly every good’s price had increased by 5, 10 or even 15 Pesawas, a Ghanaian coin equal to roughly 70% of a U.S. penny.A key factor for this rapid inflation is the Ghanaian discontinuation of the 1 Pesawa coin. For this reason, the lowest coin in Ghana’s currency is now 5 Pesawas, which means that prices cannot be raised by only a few cents. Rather, they go up in increments of five. This raises prices quickly and further reduces the purchasing power. Ghanaians face high prices wherever they go. Tro-tros, mini-buses that serve as the primary means of transport in Ghana, have raised their fares by nearly 30%, which makes getting to work and school more costly.When Ghanaians go to the market or grocery store to purchase food, they face prices that have increased by as much as 40%. Even the price of a sachet, a plastic bag full of water, has doubled from 5 to 10 Pesawas, approximately 3 cents to 6 cents.To many Americans, these prices may seem trivial. However, in a country where the majority of its citizens must survive on less than $2 a day, the increase in prices mean that many Ghanaians will have to survive with nearly half of the purchasing power then they previously had. With less purchasing power, the rising prices have resulted in a lower demand for products and services, weakening various industries. It also leaves many Ghanaians without the necessary funds to support their family and these problems are further worsened by the ever-rising unemployment rates.Clearly, the rising food and fuel prices are a major global issue that must be recognized by legislatures around the world. Ghana is just one of many countries facing rising prices, high unemployment and low wages. Yet, by exploring Ghana’s situation we can gain a better understanding of the real effects of a global depression and food crisis. — tmkennel@indiana.edu
(05/17/11 7:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Osama Bin Laden’s death really was the shot heard around the world. From the Varsity Villas in Bloomington, Ind. to Accra, Ghana, his death made news all over. Yet, for many people who were watching the events unfold, Americans’ reactions to the killing of Osama influenced their opinions of America more than their opinions of his death.Last week, I arrived back in the West African nation of Ghana to find that all of my Ghanaian friends were fascinated with the idea of Osama’s death. Nearly all of them asked me two questions: how do Americans feel about Osama and how is Obama doing?These questions highlight the global popularity of the two big O’s and the world’s fascination with these two figures. Their simultaneous reference to one after the other sets the stage for a Star Wars-esque deal off between the good and evil of the world.These questions also speak to the complex nature of American politics as they are two big questions to tackle. It’s hard to say indefinitely how an entire country could feel about such an event.Personally, I do not see Osama’s death to be the cause of celebration. Nor do I see another’s death as a reason for partying and fist-bumping Jersey Shore style. Yet, when international news sources broadcasted images and videos of Americans celebrating the death of Osama, they send a message to the world.This message is one that suggests Americans no longer value life or a fair trial. Again and again my Ghanaian friends asked me why America did not try Osama in court or why people celebrated Osama’s death in such happy ways. I was left speechless.I have no answer for why Americans choose to celebrate death, but I feel that it speaks to the ways in which Americans reaffirm our sense of nationalism. By celebrating the success of the U.S. military against Osama, America connected as a nation. However, this connection came at the cost of America’s perception across the world and created many new enemies for the nation.Osama’s death is meaningless in and of itself because he is not the only person threatening America. And yet, this singular event has had such a profound effect on the ways in which Americans view themselves and how others see America.— tmkennel@indiana.edu
(05/06/11 6:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Social media sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have forever changed the way people organize revolutions. Throughout the course of the “Arab Spring” Middle East protests, we have been reminded again and again of just how essential these sites have been to contemporary revolutions.This was proven again in Mauritania April 25 when protestors held a “day of rage” against the government of their President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. This day was the result of a series of YouTube messages and Facebook events which rallied together disempowered citizens and helped them share views with the rest of the country.This newest example mirrors what we have seen throughout North Africa and the Middle East in recent months. The Internet has proven itself to be the 21st century equivalent to the underground newspaper during Polish Solidarity or various other revolutionary movements. It has helped to form a new kind of community amongst people all over the world, particularly in countries where people believe that they are being politically, economically, or socially repressed. In these places, the internet provides a unique opportunity for youth to look outwards to find other people who share their beliefs and also are looking for a medium of expression. For these individuals, social media sites become an informal community in which people can learn and share their revolutionary ideas. This informal community is partly imagined, yet its existence has played a key role in the way Arab youth throughout the Middle East have identified themselves and their revolutions.In thinking about these new online communities, it is helpful to remember Benedict Anderson’s term, “imagined communities.” Anderson argued that nations were “imagined communities.” This means that there is nothing natural about a nation; rather, nations are an artificial construction that helps unite a group of people.In any given nation, there is no possible way that one would meet every other member of the nation. Yet, citizens of nations collectively share an identity that transcends their actual social network; similar to how online sites like Facebook have provided the same sort of community for people. They allow people from a variety of national, political and socio-economical backgrounds to come together and fight for their rights. They also offer repressed voices a realm in which their voices can be heard and encouraged. Through these means, revolutions are formed and democracy stops being a goal and starts becoming a reality.
(04/28/11 3:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The past few weeks have been filled with rain. As I write this column, it is raining and I am unmotivated beyond belief. The only thing keeping me going is the fact that in a week I will be done with this semester. Done with the stress and multi-tasking that have become my life. And without all the stress, I will be able to focus on what really matters in life: good music.How I long for the days when I will be able to sit and bask in the glory of some of my favorite albums like The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” or Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago” and discover new music to fall in love with.There will be summer concerts, new CD releases and plenty of time to catch up on reading about music via the interwebs.Just thinking about all this quality music has forced me to procrastinate even further and look ahead to a summer’s worth of new CDs. So without further ado, here are some CDs to look forward to this summer.Hip-hop fans can watch out for Kanye West’s new album with Jay-Z titled “Watch the Throne,” Beastie Boys’ “Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2,” and Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV.” All three albums have received positive press thus far. Personally, I am excited to see what West will do as a follow-up to his huge album last year, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” But regardless of what he ends up doing, I am sure we will all hear about it.In terms of the indie scene, there are a lot of new and old bands that sites like Pitchfork have been raving about. This summer’s best and brightest new indie release will probably be Fleet Foxes’ new album “Helplessness Blues.” It’s an album that promises to stay consistent with their mellow, chillaxed sound. Yet it seems that it will be paying more homage to rock influences. Think more bluesy and ballady than their first album, yet still very much true to their original sound. “Helplessness Blues” promises to be the perfect music to write papers to or use as a background CD for studying for finals or just chilling this summer.Another great CD perfect for rainy days is Radiohead’s “The King of Limbs,” which will finally be released in CD format this June. For a first listen, I recommend “Lotus Flower” or “Give Up the Ghost,” but all of the tracks are pretty consistent with Thom Yorke’s signature sound of post-modern lyrics and backing music.Some other bands releasing great new CDs include: Death Cab for Cutie, Okkervil River, Architecture in Helsinki, My Morning Jacket, Arctic Monkeys, tUnE-YarDs, Explosions in the Sky and Gorillaz. All of these CDs seem to be very promising, but only time will tell whether they can live up to all the hype.Whether you spend your time jamming out to fratmusic.com or set Pitchfork as your homepage, I encourage you to spend the time exploring all this summer’s music has to offer. Though listening to Mumford and Sons or the Black Keys for another year may seem like the best option, I assure you there are a lot of other great artists out there just waiting for you to listen.
(04/21/11 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I first encountered K-pop when I was living in Taiwan. I heard a song called “Sorry Sorry” by a band named Super Junior, and I was hooked.I enjoyed the catchy beat and fun dance moves from the beginning. As I continued to listen to the song during my three months living in Taiwan, the playful mix of Korean and English held my attention, and I couldn’t help but dance.K-pop is a genre of music produced in South Korea, yet it has been exported all around East Asia. Recently, Helienne Lindvall of the Guardian wrote an article that called K-pop artists the American equivalent of the Black Eyed Peas.The comparison is fair and makes sense since Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am has been an popular songwriter in Korea. However, these songs seem a bit different to me.K-pop is all about mixing choreographed dance moves with an unforgettable chorus. Yet the themes of the music are far less provocative. Also, popular music throughout South Korea and East Asia is frequently used for karaoke.Young people love going to karaoke bars and singing with their friends. It serves as a means of bonding in a friendly and fun way.The karaoke industry has helped to make big names in K-Pop, including BoA, Super Junior, DBSK and Girls’ Generation. K-Pop may not be exactly the same as pop music in the United States, but it possesses the same qualities. The only major difference is the language used in the song. Pop music is pop music regardless of what language it is in.
(04/14/11 2:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Little 500 week is upon us. For many students, that means seeing Lil Wayne and Pretty Lights in all their glory. However, the traditional Little 500 line-up is missing a key segment of the Bloomington population — women.These concerts lack the voices of many talented female musicians. And this absence speaks to the way the music industry presents and supports female artists. There are a ton of amazing female artists, yet none of their talent seems to be featured in events like Little 500 and music festivals around the country. There simply is a lack of support for women in music. As a result, artists like Kate Nash and Angelique Kidjo have vowed to work to change this. Recently, Kate Nash founded the Kate Nash Rock ’N Roll For Girls After School Music Club. This club attempts to encourage girls of all ages to get involved in music. By exploring music, Nash said she hopes that girls will gain a sense of self-confidence and learn more about female musicians and themselves. Nash has also started expanding her campaign by going to schools and talking about female artists and their music. She said she hopes that by exposing kids to female rockers like Joan Jett and Patti Smith she can help them cultivate an interest in female singers from all sorts of genres.Angelique Kidjo also makes a huge social difference with her music and outside her music. Kidjo is an artist from the West African nation of Benin who is actively involved in promoting women’s rights and female education throughout the continent of Africa. In 2006, she founded The Batonga Foundation, a group that helps to provide an education to African girls. The organization currently works in Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali and Sierra Leone.Each country has different goals and initiatives; the overall projects of the program are to build more schools and provide better teachers and materials to students. It also funds girls’ education and works with the surrounding areas to promote women’s education and help to engage students in their local communities. Both Kate Nash and Angelique Kidjo’s projects illustrate the positive changes that female singers can make with their music. Rather than merely gravitating toward the crazy celebrities that made the headlines, we should be interested in artists that truly make a positive difference with their music. By looking to these women as role models we can listen to music that speaks to more than just the current trends and choose instead to listen to music that means something — music that attempts to empower women around the globe.
(04/13/11 8:21pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a country where overstocked supermarkets, buffets and refrigerators are everywhere, it is difficult to notice that there is currently a global food crisis. It is hard to imagine that nearly a billion people go to bed hungry every night, but that is the reality of the 2011 food crisis. Between October and January, food prices rose 15 percent. This shift in prices is the highest change ever recorded, and according to the World Bank, it has moved 44 million people into poverty in a matter of months. Climate changes, higher rates of livestock production and an increased demand in biofuels are all key contributing factors in the largest food crisis the world has ever seen. These issues have led to a fury of political, social and economic changes and were a key factor in the riots in Egypt, Tunisia and Bangladesh. A few years ago, using corn as a means of fueling vehicles was seen as the ultimate alternative to gasoline. But now, this shift is having extremely negative effects on people all over the globe. Using corn as a means of fueling vehicles raises the demand for corn. This means that either there will be a shortage of corn for human and animal consumption because there is a stagnant supply or that farmers must produce more corn. This is a tricky situation because it’s difficult to allocate more land to farming without displacing people and it’s also hard to feed people when there are not enough of basic food crops like corn and cassava.The result of this problem is the global food crisis. It has led to raising food prices from the Philippines to Liberia and everywhere in between.This weekend, Ghanaians rose up and demanded that prices be lowered. These demands were the result of the release of a Gallup poll that stated that in the past year 53 percent of Ghanaians said they did not have enough money to buy food for themselves and their families. And Ghana is not alone in this problem — 57 percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have said they have been faced with the same food scarcity and price issues. These statistics illustrate that there is a huge dilemma occurring. The World Bank has estimated that poor individuals typically spend between 50 to 75 percent of their income on food, which means that sharp increases in food prices limit the poor’s access to simply eat. Steps must be taken to add to the global food supply and ensure that people have access to the food they need.Everyone should have access to food, education and healthcare. However, with the rising cost of staples like corn and cassava, many people will have to allocate more of their budgets to food and less to things like healthcare and education. These changes will have huge impacts on the future of children and adults around the continent and must be addressed now before it is too late.We have the power to say no to biofuels and yes to more sustainable solutions. We must demand that everyone has access to food and start putting food first.— tmkennel@indiana.edu
(04/07/11 2:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hip-hop is everywhere. All over the world, people listen to different variations of music that incorporate the global genre of hip-hop into their local styles. In the West African nation of Ghana, the manifestation of this incorporation of global and local musical influences is hiplife. The musical genre of hiplife has invaded every facet of the lives of Ghanaians. Regardless of your age, geographical location or profession in Ghana, it seems everyone listens to hiplife. It is played in tro-tros (mini-buses), at clubs and everywhere else one happens to venture within the confines of the country. Hiplife is the popular contemporary fusion of global and indigenous musical forms.Prior to the 1970s, each ethnic group in Ghana has its own form of indigenous or traditional music. Among them are Borborbo, Agbadza, Kpanlogo and Adowa. These musical forms were not enjoyed by the entire Ghanaian community, but rather a smaller ethnic base.In the early 1970s, there was an incorporation of these indigenous musical forms and dances to form the genre of highlife. This was the first genre in Ghanaian history to go beyond ethnic groups and have mass appeal to all Ghanaians, and in doing so it helped to construct a sense of Ghanaian nationalism.Then in the ’80s, hip-hop became popular in the Western world, and its birth led to musical changes around the globe. Ghanaian artists like K.A. Kabobo and Gyedu Blay Ambolley began to sample and create their own hip-hop beats. Through these constructions, hiplife was born. Since then, various hiplife artists have experimented with this genre in many different ways. They have combined traditional Ghanaian dances and beats with Western motifs for their songs.Their songs also generally use multiple languages to represent the multiplicity of Ghanaian life. Some artists perform solely in English or local languages like Twi or Ga, but most combine the two languages or use slangy Pidgin English to better identify with their audience.It has been popularized because of its innovative blend of local and global forms of music to appeal to a wide range of Ghanaian audiences. The very name illustrates a synthesis of the two types of music to form hiplife.Since its conception, hiplife has been spreading rapidly across West Africa. It now serves as a unifying element of popular culture because it is accepted and enjoyed by people across Ghana because of the use of various forms of mass media.Hiplife allows Ghanaians to hold on to traditional forms of culture, yet merge these forms with popularized forms from the West to construct their own unique from of music and dance. Hiplife is not just local or global culture. Rather, it is a culmination of the two in a collective popularized genre.
(03/31/11 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hao Ge is not your typical Chinese pop star. Sure, he sings the same types of pop love songs so frequently played on the Chinese airwaves. However, he has a pretty different story from most pop stars in China. Hao Ge is originally from Lagos, the largest city in the country of Nigeria. His real name is Emmanuel Uwechue and his journey to fame began a long time ago when he was just another Nigerian boy with a dream to sing for all the world to hear. He told his family of his dreams, but they thought he should be more practical and become an engineer. He decided to listen to his parents’ advice until his Chinese friend Li Yayu invited him to visit him in China. Eventually, he got his big break at the Big Easy, a Beijing bar.Since then, Hao Ge has skyrocketed to the height of fame across China. But what does Hao Ge’s stardom say about Chinese relations with Africa? As the first African pop star in China, Hao Ge’s role is more than just singing pop songs. He has served as a symbol of African-Chinese unity. His popularity suggests that China is looking for something new. But, the Chinese government has also used him as a political tool. This is most clearly illustrated in a skit where he was dressed up as a happy African oil rig worker. These kinds of images attempt to project a perfect relationship between Africans from a variety of different countries and the Chinese. However, the reality of Chinese relations with Africa is far more complex than a simple song can say.Hao Ge complicates the situation because he serves as a symbol of African success in China. Yet many Africans feel that they have been marginalized by the Chinese. They feel that Chinese immigrants have taken away their jobs and are undermining their attempts at constructing new industry. Africans question the intentions of Chinese aid in Africa. However, other Africans are very supportive of China’s role in Africa and see it as distinctly “unique” in comparison to Western aid. Regardless of how one views Chinese involvement in Africa, performers like Hao Ge illustrate the dynamic nature of this relationship and suggest that it should be a topic of further consideration.
(03/30/11 7:25pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Would you rather have a chocolate bar or a gallon of gas? Personally, I love chocolate, and I ride the bus everyday, so I would most certainly choose the chocolate bar. However, most people would choose the gas. America runs on oil — we live our lives according to our desire for it. We live in a country where gas is a necessity and chocolate is a guilty pleasure, but I think it should be the other way around. Yet as much as I like writing about chocolate and gas, this column is really about the politics behind foreign news reporting.In the past few months, the people’s revolutions in North Africa have received a whole lot of press. However, the issues that have plagued the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa have largely been ignored. The most obvious example of this ignorance can be seen in the media’s treatment of Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast is a West African nation that was a former French colony until 1960 and a leading cocoa producer in the world. After 1960, the country quickly became one of the shining beacons of economic and democratic success in West Africa, until 2002 when a civil war broke out. Eventually things became peaceful again, until November 2010 when Ivory Coast held another election.The results of this election proved extraordinarily complicated. Essentially, President Laurent Gbagbo ran for re-election against former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara and the rest is up for debate. The Electoral Commission claims that Outtara won 54 percent of the vote. However, many people have suggested that the election was a fraud and that France only wants Ouattara in place because his views align with their interests. Thus, President Gbagbo and Ouattara were both sworn in at separate ceremonies, and neither will acknowledge the other’s presidency. Furthermore, the divide between Gbagbo and Ouattara supporters has led to violence, including the death of nearly 500 people and the displacement of nearly a million people. In addition, the United States has cut all economic ties with Ivory Coast in an attempt to remove Gbagbo from power. Yet, their actions have only led to more violence and rising chocolate prices. As Ivory Coast is the leading producer of cocoa, the principal ingredient in chocolate, the current ban has led to rapidly rising prices for American consumers. Cocoa prices are the highest that they have been in 30 years. It has been estimated that soon even the large chocolate producers like Mars and Nestle will have to raise their prices or cut the portion sizes of their chocolate bars. These changes will have a key effect on the way we think about chocolate and may actually make it into a luxury good again. The entire situation is very complex and the lack of news coverage of Ivory Coast has made concretely knowing what is going on increasingly difficult. The increased media coverage of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt clearly illustrates that good quality news on important issues in Africa is possible. Yet, until we as readers demand to hear about the news throughout Africa, we will remain in the dark on the issues that face the rest of Africa. So demand chocolate and real world news before it’s too late. I assure you that your mind and stomach will not be disappointed. — tmkennel@indiana.edu
(03/25/11 3:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>We are a playlist generation. We have playlists for nearly every time and place. We make them for family, friends and long drives back home. They provide us with a way to express our musical tastes or at least convince people that we listen to the type of music we want people to think we do. Playlists are the modern take on the classic mixtape. People used to share their favorite songs through mixtapes. The process of putting together a mixtape required a great deal of consideration. First a person has to ponder what to put in the mix. They would then have to go through the long process of recording each song by hand. During this time-consuming process, people thought about what they liked best about both the songs and the person to whom they were making the mixtape for and would make musical connections to people they loved. Few objects could exemplify teen love better than the mixtape. The result of this dedication are scenes like the one from “Say Anything,” where John Cusack holds a jukebox over his head and proclaims his love for the woman of his dreams. Moments like these thrive on the mixtape, and yet love still seems to exist without its presence.We have modernized ourselves and turned first to making playlists on iTunes and now to 8tracks. 8tracks is a site that allows people to upload and listen to others’ playlists of eight or more songs. It markets itself as “handcrafted Internet radio” that allows you to legally share music with the world. 8tracks began when David Porter outlined a plan for the site during his years at Berkley’s business school. It was formally founded in 2006 and was launched in August 2008. Since then, the site has grown rapidly into not only a source of music, but also a source of networking for music lovers all over the world. 8tracks is quickly becoming the new mixtape, allowing us to share our love with not only one person, but rather the world at large. This kind of global sharing is exciting, fresh and new. It fits us, as Internet playlists seem like the perfect medium of reflection for an Internet-obsessed world. And the possibilities for sharing music are endless. With more than 212,200 playlists already available on the site, there is a lot of music at our disposal. We live in an age where there is so much music out there that anyone, aka Rebecca Black, can release a single. 8tracks allows us to sort through all the noise and find music that we actually like that flows together and was handcrafted for us by a person rather than by a machine.Rather than lamenting the loss of the mixtape, we should enjoy it in its new forms. 8tracks lets us fall in love all over again with the good old mixtape — only now the entire world is listening.
(03/10/11 2:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I used to be a music snob — then came this semester.A semester fraught with all the stresses of school, work and everything else thrown at the average college student. This stress has led me to abandon my elitist, indie ways and turn instead to the guilty pleasures of popular music from artists like Taio Cruz and discover the glory of listening to a ridiculous CD.I used to be all about the labels behind the music and the philosophies of the bands. But in the stress of the past semester, I’ve realized that the cure for a bad day is always an outrageously trashy song. Because — let’s be honest — we all love to hear about the craziness in others’ lives. Their stories make us feel more sane and provide us with some entertainment. By far, the greatest new artist, or at least the most played, on my iTunes this semester has been Denise LaSalle. LaSalle is an African-American woman in her early 70s who just happens to enjoy singing about her sexual experiences. She is a very interesting soul who possesses a very independent nature. And with more than 40 years’ experience singing and sexing up young men all over the country, she definitely knows how to tell a story of love gone wrong. I happened upon her CD by chance. After seeing the craziness of the cover after a long day, I thought, “why not take a listen?” And what I heard was the most over-the-top, sexualized album I have ever encountered.Her songs are based in overtly sexual metaphors, narratives of cheating, lewd remarks and a heavy reliance on auto-tune. This hilarious combination has provided my friends and me many nights’ worth of laughter, which leads one to ponder what exactly makes music “good.”Sure, LaSalle isn’t The Beatles, but then again, she doesn’t claim to be. Her music has a very different, yet still important, purpose. Her songs provide an escape from the realities and drama in our lives and offer us exciting soap opera-esque tales of intimacy and lost love. She shares with us her most personal moments in ways that are surprisingly more realistic than the poppy images provided by Akon, Ke$ha and Bruno Mars. She discusses the hard truth that relationships don’t always work out and are often messy.LaSalle isn’t for everyone, but I certainly believe she can help put a smile on anyone’s face. So the next time you need an escape from the craziness of college life, look no further than Denise LaSalle’s station on Pandora. I assure you, you won’t be bored.
(03/09/11 11:14pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Fifty-four years ago, Ghana became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain its independence. On March 6, 1957, Ghana gained its independence and Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first prime minister and later president, said, “The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up to the total liberation of Africa.” His words spoke to the world. He did not merely say, “Wow, look what we have done” or “Let’s celebrate our own accomplishments.” Rather, he made a commitment to the rest of the African continent. He said we have been liberated, and now we must liberate our brothers and sisters around the world. It is not enough to be free in isolation. Isolated freedom is meaningless because economically, politically and socially we thrive when they are free. Democracy around the world is great for human rights but also for the economy. Free people are more successful, they are less afraid and as a result they are more productive.Free people are the people who invent important things that help us live better lives. As I celebrated the Ghanaian Independence Day with friends this weekend, I couldn’t help but think about the concept of independence in the current context of revolution in North Africa. Nkrumah’s words may be more than 50 years old, but they are still relevant to the issues we are facing and the imperative nature of re-evaluating our foreign policies. In dealing with the revolutions occurring in North Africa, we must realize that Libyan and Egyptian freedom from oppression means better lives for everyone. By helping Libyan citizens in this time of unrest and uncertainty, we can help them achieve their goals and create a more stable future for ourselves. However, it is unlikely that we will do so because we do not perceive North African interests to be in line with our own. Instead we merely produce speeches that preach democracy as the answer, without providing the necessary help to bring about this change. Instead of acting in the ways Nkrumah describes, our actions seem to essentially repeat the empty words of the Queen of England on the day of Ghanaian independence. Though she could not make it to the ceremony, she sent the Duchess with her words. She wrote, “The hopes of many, especially in Africa, hang on your endeavours. It is my earnest and confident belief that my people in Ghana will go forward in freedom and justice.” This message mirrors many of the speeches President Obama and other Western officials have been making in the aftermath of the revolutions in Egypt and Libya. Their words consist of a lot of talk but not very much commitment to action.Yet, establishing the reality of freedom and justice in the Middle East requires a lot more than merely voicing the hope and confidence of the West. We cannot merely say that we care about democracy in these countries without providing them the means to conduct with their peaceful democratic revolutions. Rather, we must make a solid commitment, as Nkrumah did in 1957, toward ending the tyrannical rule of dictators like Muammar Gaddafi and bringing true democracy to those who demand it.Freedom is not a gift, it is a basic human right. In our fight for freedom for all, we should follow Nkrumah’s lead facing forward and always looking out for the freedom of our fellow men and women.E-mail: tmkennel@indiana.edu
(03/03/11 4:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The times they are a-changin’ for people in North Africa. The recent protests in Egypt and Libya have forever changed the way that people in these countries see themselves and their nation. The region is full of uncertainty. Life is no longer what it used to be, and the best place to see these changes is protest songs.For decades, protest songs have played a vital role in both provoking discussion and producing political and social change. These songs express the thoughts of a collective group of people in ways that individual chants or posters never could. Also, songs can be shared with people across the world and help others better understand your cause. The perfect protest songs say a lot with only a few simple lines. They don’t drag on with complex political ideologies. Rather, they aim to mock the current corrupt system or bring people together and promote alternatives. Protest songs like Nigerian Afro-beat musician Fela Kuti’s “Zombie” work because they base themselves in a healthy mix of comedy and truth. The 1970s were a decade of mass military corruption in Nigeria. By 1977, Kuti had grown tired of this corruption and wrote “Zombie” to mock the soldiers’ lack of individuality or free will. The entirety of this nearly 13-minute song is filled with funky afro-beats, shouts of random orders and chants of the word “zombie.” Kuti’s music made a clear and controversial statement. Nigerian listeners immediately identified with the song, and it became a hit. However, the Nigerian government was not so pleased. They instructed their soldiers to attack Fela’s studio and destroy his instruments. They hoped to end Kuti’s movement, but in reality they only make him more popular among his Nigerian listeners. This fan base also expanded to Ghana, where his song led to riots in Accra, and in the end he and his music were banned from the country. Contemporary protest songs have similar aims to that of Kuti’s “Zombie.” With the mass amount of globalization, songs of protest can travel and make a huge impact around the world. Though it remains unclear just how important the role of protest music will be in the recent revolutions, many Egyptian YouTube videos seem to suggest that a similar phenomenon is occurring. “President, Your People Are Dying,” a song by Tunisian artist Ben Amor, aka El General, served as the catalyst for the creation of a plethora of new music videos by Egyptian artists like Amir Eid, Ahmed Mekky, Hamza Namira and Arabian Knightz. These videos show the engagement of a variety of different music genres in the various movements toward democracy.Their songs serve as a call to action, which should also wake us up. They hope to educate those of us who are unaware of their struggles and help provide voices for the voiceless.Protest songs will exist as long as there is inequality in the world. They are ways to both deal with past social, economic and political inequalities and forge new identities in uncertain times. If you are angry and you want the world to know it, sing a protest song. If you want to hear about other people’s frustration, try listening to these songs from various countries in the region. E-mail: tmkennel@umail.iu.edu
(02/24/11 3:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Coupé Décalé is a genre of popular music made primarily by people from the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire. It is popular throughout West Africa, especially in the country’s neighboring Francophone nations and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The genre’s name literally means “to cut and run away.” This name is often seen as a response to French colonists, who essentially came in to countries like Côte d’Ivoire, took their resources and ran away when they encountered problems. It also can be viewed as a critique of modern society, with the primary aim of going against the grain of what is seen as acceptable by “society.”It began in 2002, when Ivorian DJs at the Atlantic, an African nightclub in Paris, started playing dance music. They also handed out wads of cash to the audience to gain a following. The primary group involved in these practices was Jet Set, a group of DJs who charmed the crowd with their outrageous acts.One of the key members of Jet Set was Douk Saga, who released the first hit Coupé Décalé track “Sagacite” in 2002. This song basically set up the genre and described what it was about: having fun and dancing. However, the genre also serves political aims.The year of the song’s conception was also the year that civil war broke out in the country. This led many people to look to the music as both a form of escapism and a means of expressing their political opinions.Coupé-Décalé provides a political voice for the seemingly voiceless people of the Ivory Coast. It provides a medium for them to express their confusion and frustration with local, national and global politics in a less formal manner than starting demonstrations or other acts of rebellion. The genre allows them to make light of their own struggles and escape from the stresses of civil war.It also helps them poke fun at global issues like fear of the Avian Bird Flu and the practices at Guantanamo Bay. Artists’ responses to these serious issues are to make a funny dance about them and create laughter rather than fear. This is best seen in DJ Lewis’ song “La Grippe Aviarire.” In this video, he pretends he is dying of the bird flu and everyone in the video laughs.This coping mechanism does not suggest that these issues are unimportant. It just allows people to deal with them in different ways, with laughter as their medicine.Coupé-Décalé serves as an important music force in the lives of many Africans, especially in the Ivory Coast. It is music to dance to, but it is also music with a soul and a specific political history.If you want to get your dance on to some West African jams, here are my top-five suggestions:1) “Sexy Dance” by Fally Ipupa2) “Ce Magik” by Toofan3) “Soumagaya” by DJ Arafat4) “Abidjan Farot” by Espoir 20005) “Même Pas Fatigué” by Magic System
(02/23/11 10:12pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I am overwhelmed.I don’t know about you, but the past few months have really stressed me out in ways that I never thought imaginable. With school, work, friends and everything else that I have to do, sometimes I wonder how I get it all done. I know that I should do less, but I can’t seem to decide what to get rid of, so I just do it all.I am not alone in this; I know you probably feel the same. So I ask why are we so overstimulated?I blame the concept of time.You might think, like I once did, that time has always existed, but you would be wrong. Clocks are a result of the industrial revolution. Scholars like E.P. Thompson have deemed clock-time a Western invention aimed at controlling the public, and if you really think about it, it’s true.Our society obsesses about the utterly mindless concepts of time and efficiency.We fill our time with as many things as we can to maximize our personal efficiency. We also allow our clocks to rule the way in which we live our lives. We go to work from exactly 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., not a minute late. And in the process, we stress ourselves out over issues that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.We have become a society that cares more about respecting time than respecting people. In gaining wealth, we sacrifice the relationships and connections that make us human. And the worst part about this crisis is that we are not even aware that it is occurring.The concept of adhering to time is so ingrained in our culture that we don’t know that there are other ways to live.Some cultures still live in ways that use time but are not controlled by it. Generally, these countries are deemed as “underdeveloped,” but I think we could learn a great deal from the ways that they choose to live.While living in the west African country of Ghana, I learned to devalue clocks. After the first week or so of making plans at a certain time and waiting hours for people to show up, I threw away my watch.This simple act freed me, and since then I have refused to wear a watch. Sure, I have the time on my phone, but I refuse to carry an item whose sole purpose is controlling my life.During my six months of living in Ghana, I learned a lot about facilitating personal relationships and the importance of putting time aside.Though it was hard for me to altogether forsake the notion of time, I tried my best. And at the end of my trip, I was really glad that I did. I learned to relax, appreciate what I saw and focus on quality relationships with people instead of getting a lot of things accomplished. Things took a lot longer, but it was worth it.Upon leaving Ghana, I felt so enlightened. I thought, “Wow, I really have learned a lot from this experience, and I could not wait to practice it my life in the U.S.” Unfortunately, this task was a lot harder than it seems.It’s hard not to care about time, when everyone around you does. I can’t just go into work or class late and say, “Well, I did it in Ghana.” Rather, I have to respect time.But, respecting time is very different from allowing it to rule your existence. I have tried my best to be in places like work and class on time. But, in informal settings with friends and family I prioritize them higher than time. I try not to make solid plans like meeting from 2 to 3 p.m. on Friday. Rather, I say how about sometime Friday, I let them call me when they are free, and we spend time focused on each other rather than thinking about the hour restriction that we have to abide by. Though we can’t all stop time’s power in our lives, we can minimize it. We can choose to focus on the people in our lives and discontinue our obsession with time. By doing so we can have longer and happier lives with those whom we love, and I don’t know about you, but I would choose that before efficiency any day. E-mail: tmkennel@indiana.edu
(02/10/11 2:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When I grow up, I want to be a president with a hit rap single. Though it may seem impossible, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has proved that this dream can become a reality. President Museveni’s life has been filled with monumental moments. At 42, he became Uganda’s commander-in-chief, but the fun really started at age 65 when he became the first president to release a hit rap record. The song, “U Want Another Rap,” provides some background on Museveni’s life. He sings the song in a Ugandan language called Ankole , which highlights the locality of his tune within the global genre of rap. Museveni centers his narrative in a rural Ugandan setting with plenty of talk about gathering chicken eggs, struggling to find enough cows for his bride-prize, and even farming millet. The song isn’t about super-exciting topics like street life or being “gangsta” but his version of his life to align him more closely with those voting for him. Throughout the song, he constructs himself as someone who has risen above his humble beginnings and made it to the top of Ugandan society. He offers his life as an example of what could happen to other Ugandans through hard work and dedication to their country.Though the song may seem like your typical catchy rap tune, it is far more political than one would imagine. The song is the ultimate PSA for Museveni’s campaign. He and his party have been using the song and its popularity to help strengthen his campaign for re-election this month. So far, the song seems to be working, as it has received major airplay on the radio and in Kampala’s major nightclubs.The song attempts to speak to the people of Uganda and help Museveni connect with the people whom he has been ruling for over 25 years. In this way, it closely mirrors the primary aim of a political ad. The only difference is that in this situation the Ugandan people have taken ownership of the song and incorporated it into their social lives. Museveni uses his rap to manipulate his audience. He attempts to make his image more accessible and thus attractive for re-election. Instead of addressing the clear social, economic and political issues at hand in Uganda, he merely released a song to increase his “street cred.”This is not what Ugandans, or anyone for that matter, should want from their leader. Instead, they should be questioning his 25-year inability to address the problems they have faced. He should have to answer in real words, not just funny raps, for what he has and has not done. In a country with an annual GDP of only $1,200, political statements should be more than just raps. Though generally I am a huge fan of the power of music to effect change, I know that rapping from the elite president won’t solve Uganda’s problems. The best we can hope for is this rap will help inspire some counter raps from artists who truly have the interests of the real people of Uganda in mind.