On November 11th of last year, several Mauritanian anti-slavery activists were arrested near the southern border town of Rosso [full disclosure: I am a close personal friend with one of the detained activists, Brahim Ould Bilal Ramdhane, Vice President of the anti-slavery organization Initiative for the Resurgence of Abolitionism (IRA), and have met the organization’s … Continue reading
As the French government announced this week a redeployment of troops back to northern Mali, citing the failure of the UN mission there (MINUSMA) to materialize and control the influx of Libyan arms into the region, I went to see the film “Timbuktu” at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Written and directed by Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, … Continue reading
I often joke that the only media attention Mauritania receives is on one of two subjects: 1) bidan (“white,” Arabophone) women who have traditionally strived to attain obese body size as a mark of wealth and beauty (See this BBC radio piece from 2004 or this video for examples); and 2) the persistence of slavery … Continue reading
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is holding elections today that are certain to re-elect current President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. To learn more about today’s elections and some of the social dynamics driving Mauritanian politics today, journalist Peter Tinti spoke with The Africa Collective contributor Erin Pettigrew, a PhD student at Stanford University who specializes in Mauritanian history, and Nasser Weddady, a Mauritanian-American activist who is best known for his use of social media during the Arab Spring. Continue reading
Anyone who has spent time in Dakar knows how lively the Corniche, or coastal beaches and cliffs that make up the western limits of the Senegalese capital, become in the evenings. University students taking a break from their reading at nearby Cheikh Anta Diop University, women gesturing as they walk together, and young men getting off work all flock to the sidewalks and beaches there to run, lift weights, and stroll along the sidewalks as the ocean brings in some cool evening air. However, this public space is at risk from what activists are calling the “wall of shame”–an unfinished wall built to mark the construction of the new Turkish Embassy. The parallels between the campaigns of Senegalese activists against the wall in Dakar and the protests in Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park cannot be ignored. Continue reading
Mauritanian rapper, Hamzo Bryn, released a music video, “It started from Nouakchott” via his facebook page in September of 2013. The conversations that were sparked by the music video about correct Islamic practice, cultural norms, race, generational differences, and national identity were already happening in Mauritania but reached a new level of importance after the appearance of this video. As one Mauritanian blogger wrote forebodingly, this video signaled a moment when Mauritanian youth could decide what kind of future nation they want but, also, a time when the coming tensions would not be between Islam and the West but between Muslims themselves debating this future and this nation. Continue reading
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