Africa

Saturday, September 10th, 2011, 7:00 p.m. Come share your energies at the 5th monthly Peña Rebelde, a gathering of souls in verse and rebellion. Gabrilla Ballard, a recent transplant to Boston from New Orleans, will share her singer-songwriter creations.

Thursday, July 7th, 2011, 7:00 p.m.  As millions of people across the Middle East and North Africa fight for freedom against tyrannical regimes, US warplanes bomb Libya with the stated aim of protecting civilians. But what are the real aims of our government's intervention? How do they relate to its wars and other policies in the Middle East? And what can those of us inspired by the democratic uprisings do to help?

On May 13, 2011, Dan Rasmussen visited with the e5 community and spoke to his recent book: American Uprising. We will soon upload a second video featuring the lively conversation between Dan, Marilyn Frankenstein, Dorotea Manuela and our audience. Video by Charngchi Way.

Friday, May 13, 2011, 7:00 p.m. Join author Dan Rasmussen for a discussion of the largest American slave uprisng and its suppressed history. Speaking to his book, American Uprising, Dan will tell a story that reveals the strategic and intellectual creativity of a multinational slave population in rebellion.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010, NEW TIME - 6:30 p.m. Author and activist Steve Fake brings the story of Darfur and the global competition for African resources to encuentro 5. Here's how Tolu Jegede describes the book, The Scramble for Africa: Darfur-Intervention and the USA: "Fake and Funk’s take on the Darfur crisis is a welcome change from the media’s narrow analysis. Instead of focusing primarily on human-interest stories, Fake and Funk place the crisis in a larger context, showing readers a complicated intersection of politics and history. Armed with sources, they provide examples showing Washington’s apathy toward the crisis." For more information and to order the book, visit ScrambleForAfrica.org. 

Friday, April 9, 2010, 12 noon - 2:00 p.m. South Africa now has its 4th post-Apartheid president... But the country is more unequal than ever! It is also under consideration for a World Bank loan to “modernize” it ailing electrical power infrastructure. Revamping its grid would normally be a rare opportunity to set a new course, redress inequalities and implement a green strategy. But activist-intellectual Patrick Bond warns that the opposite seems likely with the Bank loan. It will strengthen the private sector and increase the gap between rich and poor: urban residents prepay their electricity at 4 times the discounted rate available to large corporations. Further, the proposed loan will finance the world's 4th largest coal-fired plant—just the opposite of what is required by our climate crisis—and raise rates on working people. (see attachment for civil society's reaction).