Nelson Mandela

Yahoo has published a news feed of various articles that reflect on Nelson Mandela's life.  Choose one and analyze it.

http://news.yahoo.com/nelson-mandela/

Reflections on a Life

The following link will take you through photos of people responding to the death of Nelson Mandela.  It's an interesting reflection.  He lived almost a century.

Which of the following photos appealed to you the most and why?  (This involves reflecting on elements of visual manipulation in addition to just responding briefly to how you feel.)


http://news.yahoo.com/photos/the-world-reacts-to-the-death-of-nelson-mandela-slideshow/

Idi Amin

Here is a brief video that shows you Idi Amin's charisma.  The clip depicts him in various situations, which was intriguing.  Together, they paint an interesting picture of the man.  I'm curious what you think.  You read his radio appeal to Uganda and a brief bio of him.  Does this image contradict or reinforce what you felt?

Watch and respond.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Tns9QKFV8

Mau Mau

You read a brief description of the group and its rebellion.  This news broke earlier THIS MONTH!!!  There is a brief television news brief, but you have to suffer through a commercial first.

Watch and respond.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/05/mau-mau-veterans-win-torture-case

Jean Hatzfeld

Jean Hatzfeld's parents are Shoah survivors.  This impacted him and he connected to the Rwandan survivors.  You read excerpts from his book Machete Season.  This link will provide you a brief overview of his other works on Rwanda.  What are you rethought and opinions?

Read and respond.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/29/strategy-of-antelopes-jean-hatzfeld-reportage

John Bul Dau

He is one the Lost Boys of the Sudan, whose story you read in God Grew Tired of Us.  He is currently living not too far from us in upstate New York and has occasionally traveled to Rochester to speak.  This link is to his website - if you go to the homepage, you can see ways that he has tried to raise money for the Sudan and some of them are surprisingly simple.  If you just click on this link, there is a map in the bottom right that shows you exactly the journey these boys traveled and gives a rough idea of time.

Does this map and these facts help make the story more alive for you?  Should it have been a detail they included in the novel?

Read and respond.

http://johndaufoundation.org/journey

Nelson Mandela

Here is a promotional video for the Nelson Mandela Foundation Centre for Memory.  You read an article from its inaugural ceremony.  Watch and respond.  Nelson himself is speaking at the beginning and he has a delightful sense of humor; in every clip I have ever seen of him, he has been fantastic to listen to.

In an interesting sidenote and connection to another region and historical event, the Jewish communities are also establishing these memory centers.  What are your opinions and ideas on this?

Watch and respond.

http://www.nelsonmandela.org/multimedia/entry/about-the-nelson-mandela-centre-of-memory

Emmanuel Jal

In case I didn't put this up under the music blog, here is Emmanuel Jal's video for War Child, the same name as his autobiography.  Watch and respond.  How does the reading echo the music or the video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT-0NG5_fhw

Halima Bashir

The author of Tears of the Desert, Halima Bashir has had an interesting life.  Her book chronicles the time she spent in Darfur.  Here is brief biography and highlights from her adventures.  Read and respond.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Most-Inspiring-2008/MIPY-Profile-Halima-Bashir.aspx

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

A few years ago, someone was upset that he didn't win the Nobel Prize in Literature.  This turned into a fascinating editorial with a powerful conclusion.  What are your thoughts?  (You don't need to know the works to follow the argument.)  Read and respond.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/oct/08/ngugi-wa-thiong-o-nobel-prize-literature

Kofi Awoonor

Your poet friend who wrote The Sea Eats the Land at Home, which many of you wrote about also wrote a short poem called The Cathedral.  If you follow the link below, you can read it.  There is also a great analysis on the poem.  Reading this may help you get an idea of the analysis the AP readers are hoping you can produce.

Read and respond.

http://afrilingual.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/the-cathedral-kofi-awoonor/

Yusuf Idris

He wrote The Chair Carrier.  He also conducted a lecture entitled Why Don't You Pray?  This is the introduction.  The first minute of this was intriguing (and then I couldn't understand even the English portions).  It's brief.  At the beginning, someone sings the birth and the death songs, which are prayers.  What do you think the connection between prayer and song is - or should be?

I have no idea what they are saying in Arabic, but it was just pretty to listen to.  Would a listener automatically know that it is a prayer?  Could you detect a difference between the death and birth songs/prayers?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CXLvi0PxHk

Madagascar Language

Jared Diamond in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, discusses the development of language in Africa.  Here is an interesting parallel that someone wrote about the languages in Madagascar.  In this excerpt, the author uses specific words to make his point.  Read and respond.  In your opinion, whose argument is easier to follow and why?

http://www.wildmadagascar.org/overview/loc/27-minorities.html

Osiris and Isis

Here is a modern painting of Osiris and Isis, or at least that is the name of this piece.  Be prepared: it's probably not at all what you're going to expect.  What do you think?  What comparisons does the artist make?  Are they effective?

http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artwork/171

I really like this and could not put into words why.  The explanation the art curator (?) gives is especially intriguing.  I would never have "gotten" any of that, but I think it's pretty amazing.  I'm curious what you think or if you feel the complete opposite.

Nefertiti

Here is the page from the Egyptian Museum in Berlin indicating the Nefertiti sculpture and its location in the museum.

http://www.egyptian-museum-berlin.com/c53.php

After reading the excerpt from Loot, what are your opinions on the museum's owning the work?  Do you think enough "fuss" is being made over the work or is there too much?

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