[WSIS CS-Plenary] [Amarc-info] Community radio doc "The Ravaging of Africa" - followup

[Kristin Schwartz]

Dear friends in AMARC-Africa:

I sent this message before but could not receive any replies because of a
problem with our email server. If you replied earlier, please write back
again!


My name is Kristin Schwartz and I am a community radio producer from
Toronto, Canada. My colleague Asad Ismi is an award-winning writer on
international politics. Together we produced a four-part radio documentary
series called "The Ravaging of Africa". It is about the destructive impact
of U.S. imperialism on Africa, featuring voices of African activists
interviewed at the 2007 World Social Forum held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Please consider broadcasting this series on your station. We want to share
our work with you and allow the voices of the impressive and dedicated
people we interviewed to be heard throughout the continent.

The series is available online for free download at these sites:
http://wsf.amarc.org/
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=23508
http://www.ncra.ca/exchange/dspProgramDetail.cfm?programID=57759
http://www.getmedia.org.uk/index.php?cat=Internationaldevelopment

We can mail CD copies to broadcasters who are unable to download the files.

The series will be broadcast in part on "Making Contact", the U.S.
National Radio Project's public affairs program heard on over 200 radio
stations in the U.S., Canada, South Africa and Ireland. In addition, 26
U.S. and Canadian radio stations have aired or committed to air the
documentary.

For more information about the series, and the excellent reviews it has
received, please read below. We look forward to hearing from you!

In solidarity,

Kristin Schwartz


THE RAVAGING OF AFRICA

Part 1, "Militarizing Africa" describes how the United States has fomented
the devastating war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as
taken part in and engineered the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia.
Part 2, "Economic War" focuses on the World Bank's and IMF's decimation of
the economies and social sectors of Guinea, Zambia, Kenya and South
Africa.
Part 3, "Corporate Plunder" details the disastrous effects of Royal Dutch
Shell's operations in Nigeria and those of Canada's Tiomin Resources in
Kenya. Also highlighted is the massive tax looting of Africa by Western
corporations.
Part 4, "African Resistance" celebrates the liberation of Southern Africa,
the defeat of U.S. aims in the Congo and Somalia, as well as the diverse
non-military struggles against U.S. domination that were represented at
the World Social Forum.

REVIEWS

1. A must-hear documentary, especially for those entities (both in and
outside Africa) whose role it is to chart a sustainable course for the
continent’s future. It’s also a powerful tool for those individuals and
groups that are actively involved in challenging the Western
bastardization of the African continent. This well-researched documentary
provides credible evidence of how the Western European nations and the
United States have for many years been devastating the African continent
through the plundering of its precious resources, as well as by their
continuing support for and instigations of military wars.  The documentary
successfully highlights some of the serious problems that nations in
Africa continue to face as they struggle against the United States’
selfish determination to dominate their turf. This documentary cannot be
ignored by anyone who cares about Africa’s economic, social, and political
emancipation from the bondage of neo-colonialism.
--Maria Mboono Nghidinwa, Ex-combatant of South West Africa People’s
Organization (SWAPO), the former liberation movement of Namibia. Ph.D.,
Mass Communication and Media Studies, Howard University, Washington D.C.
[SWAPO is presently the ruling political party in Namibia].

2. "A great project. 'The Ravaging of Africa' can be of enormous
educational importance in reinforcing African perceptions of the sources
of their current predicaments, and in educating those searching for ways
out of their present desperate straits.  Warm thanks for your efforts."
--Professor Dennis Brutus, Honorary Professor, Centre for Civil Society
University of Kwazulu-Natal Durban s.a. Professor Emeritus, Department of
Africana Studies, University of Pittsburgh (U.S.).

3. " 'The Ravaging of Africa' must count as one of the very best set of
podcasts available about the way in which Africa has been looted by
multinational corporations and U.S. imperialism. The recordings of the 
voices of African militants were prepared during the Nairobi World Social
Forum. What is remarkable is that there is a coherent political analysis
that enables the listener to have a clear context for the perspectives
provided by African activists. We can only hope that the producers will
continue to publish further series of these outstanding podcasts. These
are vital listening for all those committed to social justice in Africa."
--Firoze Manji, Editor, Pambazuka News; Director, Fahamu - Networks for
Social Justice. www.pambazuka.org [Pambazuka News is a leading African
electronic newsletter and website
focused on social justice].

4. "An excellent series that really gets to the heart of the matter and
lets you listen to those radical African voices you won't hear anywhere
else."
--Roberto Nieto, Media activist and radio-host, CKUT Radio 90.3 fm at
McGill University, Montreal.

5. "A fantastic series. We air tons of good programming, but "The Ravaging
of Africa" really stood out, because it tied together the various ways
Africa is impacted by the imperial project, something you usually don't
get in a single program or news report. I really appreciated the rich
production as well."
--Leigh Robartes, News Director, KRFP / Radio Free Moscow 92.5 fm, Moscow,
Idaho (U.S.)[Pacifica Radio Affiliate]

6. "Thanks for the excellent programming. So many Americans are unaware of
how people live and struggle in other parts of the world. This program
provides vital information about Africa and its people."
--Cathy Murillo, News and Public Affairs Director, KCSB  91.9 FM at
University of California-Santa Barbara, CA [Pacifica Radio Affiliate]

7. "'The Ravaging of Africa' is a compelling and timely new media
presentation of the over 500 years of the West's pillaging of Africa. The
body of work is firmly ensconced in the tradition of Walter Rodney's 'How
Europe Underdeveloped  Africa' and Patrick Bond's 'The Looting of Africa'.
 'The Ravaging of Africa' deserves the widest possible distribution as it
does a tremendous job of sharing with the public a critical prism through
which Africa's relations with the West ought to be viewed and analysed.
--Maurice Carney, Executive Director, Friends of the Congo (U.S.),
www.friendsofthecongo.org/index.php

8. "The unprecedented affluence we enjoy in the Global North is directly
dependent on the violent plunder of resource-rich nations across the
Global South -- particularly the nations of Africa. 'The Ravaging of
Africa' provides both the historical overview and the illuminating details
we need to make sense of this crime-in-progress, and gives prominent place
to the voices of front-line African activists leading the resistance." 
--Dave Oswald Mitchell, Editor of Briarpatch Magazine


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