Where are the Progressive African Voices?

One of the many indignities that African countries suffer is that their circumstances are often debated in the absence of voices from the continent. Part of the problem is lack of networks between African universities and policy institutions with partners in the North and also an absence of websites and journals that give the African perspective in a consistent and comprehensive manner.

One project that is trying to even the playing field and bring forward a range of African voices is Pambazuka News, a project of the UK based NGO Fahamu.

Publishing under the stewardship of Firoze Manji (pictured above) in English, French and Portuguese Pambazuka news mixes news, commentary and reviews along with podcasts and videos, all with a decidedly progressive tone from predominantly African contributors. One delightful video segment is a video clip from a human rights themed poetry slam that took place in Zimbabwe.

This is how they describe themselves:

Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some 2,600 citizens and organisations – academics, policy makers, social activists, women’s organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators who together produce insightful, sharp and thoughtful analyses and make it one of the largest and most innovative and influential web forums for social justice in Africa.

Pambazuka’s politics may not be to everyone’s taste but the richness, range and sincerity of their contributors cannot be denied.

You can find them on facebook here.