KILIO CHA WATOTO KARATU : TUENDELEE KUHUZUNIKA HADI LINI?

Ingawa muda umepita  tulioko Ughaibuni  tunawapa pole waliofiwa Karatu. Tumeangalia picha zilizosambazwa kwa uchungu, maastajabu na majonzi. Kama mzazi picha moja iliniuma sana. Watoto wa Lucky Vincent wamesimama  wakijitayarisha kuondoka safari yao ya mwisho.  Wamevalia mavazi ya shule: furaha ya mtoto. Masomo, maisha, matumaini. 

Ila picha inayostahili  kujadiliwa zaidi ni ya wanaume kadhaa wakikwea basi , wakijaribu kunyofoa maiti zilizojibana bana.  Hapa ndipo kilipo kilinge na janga letu Waafrika leo.

EAST AFRICAN INPUT AT THE RICH MIX CLUB PIVOTS UP LONDON

 Somali poet, Ahmed Magare reads fervently at Rich Mix. Pic by F Macha

I was part of a beautiful day on Easter Sunday.

Rich Mix is definitely among hottest clubs in London at the moment. Strategically situated. Not just in Hackney but Shoreditch.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JJ ADAMSON OF AFRICANS IN LONDON TV

I first met Joseph Otieno Adamson when he was managing a music studio in Hackney, East London, 1999.  I was then hosting a World Music Nights at two venues in the city. Some of the artists had been recorded and produced or were known to Joseph since the days he was a popular musician in Nairobi in the 1980s.

VIDEO OF FLOGGING WOMAN CAUSES DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK

Usually most images posted on social media do not have captions. Most senders have received them elsewhere and merely want to “pass on” with no comments. Only a few people write meaningful captions. Majority of us think the internet is a place of self exhibition and self reassurance.  I am here. Watch me. Me, me, me.... But the duty of social information, as every true journalist knows is inform, educate, break news to our communities and eventually assist in meaningful change. 

That is why I liked recent captions by a  prominent Tanzanian businessman recently. Both are in the two main official languages of Tanzania. In the first one, displayed last week, Mwafrika Merinyo, wrote :

“Cruelty against women goes unabated in Tanzania

Ukatili dhidi ya wanawake unaendelea bila vikwazo Tanzania!”

STANDING ON THE BEACH WITH A FAG AND A GUITAR

I must admit when I was a young twenty something old, I used to hold a piece of cigarette in my hand, just to look cool. I never liked the damn thing, but I just found it appealing and what is the word? Chic. Chic is “smart” in French. It is also “elegant”, “stylish”... “Dapper”, “debonair”.

Oui. The French might say, “Alors, c’est tres chic!”

The Swahili equivalent is Utanashati. Sharobaro.  In my youth days it was, Bitozi. Alluding to the best band of all time, The Beatles.  Made in Britain. Chic. Mmmh.  

Chic was a name of a 1970s African American band, which we loved to pieces. I still do, I should confess. Recently, the Chic co-founder, Nile Rodgers, (pictured)released an autobiography. Really funny, sad and very tough reading.