Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Dignity for the Sahel
The revolutions in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso against the old colonial powers are seldom understood in terms of Africans’ own agency and their rejection of the imperialist humiliation thrust upon them, writes ROGER McKENZIE
The Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali. The first mosque on the site was built around the 13th century, but the current structure dates from 1907
[Andy Gilham/Creative Commons]
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
EVEN the most cursory of glances at recent events in the Sahel should lead most reasonable-minded observers to see the complete disdain that Africans are held in by the collective West.
The discussion about the recent Sahel revolutions — because that’s what they are — take place within the prism of someplace or something else.
It raises the question of whose stories matter? Whose history matters? What does this mean for the now and for the future?
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