Cuba Archives - Jean-Jacques Cornish

Senegal’s new museum puts it at the helm of decolonizing knowledge

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 22:00:00 +0000

Senegal’s opened its museum of African civilizations that puts at the head of continental efforts to decolonize knowledge.

It comes as France has announced its intention to return African works of art looted during the colonial era.

Senegal’s first President Leopold Senghor presented a post-colonial cultural vision of Africa 52 years ago.

Spending up to a quarter of the national budget on the arts, he hosted world festivals of featuring the greatest international black artists and entertainers.

Economic realities pushed these into the background until a $34-million Chinese investment enabled President Macky Sall to build the museum in Dakar

In a structure modeled on Great Zimbabwe, it’s said to compare with the National Museum of African American History in Washington.

First exhibits are from Mali, Burkina Faso, Cuba and Haiti.

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Beat the world to Sudan

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 22:00:00 +0000

It is one of the great sights on a great continent. In fact, you have not seen Africa until you have seen the confluence of of the White and Blue Nile.
Laying eyes on the meeting of the churning White and the smooth Blue gives meaning to the word arteriaL
A lone angler sits on the aquatically busy corner gently dipping his line into the water where the rivers converge, probably grateful that the Sudanese authorities have not done must to embellish this attraction.
An eight arch bridge nearby joins the capital with Omdurman across the White Nile. The troika of these two cities plus Bahri resemble a giant elephant with the river forming the trunk.
That is what Khartoum means in Arabic: elephant.
The island of Tuti fits in here somewhere – although residents of what amounts to the capital’s vegetable garden are legendary misfits.
Their antiquated water pumps thump noisily. They have refused government offers to replace them with new devices because they are suspicious that there might be strings attached.
They did not like the building of a bridge with the mainland – a gift from Turkey – which brought the first cars onto the island. So they fiercely oppose building hotels and villas.
They say: bLet the residents of the capital have their giant orange-squeezer shaped, Libyan-built Burj, the Hall of Friendship, which is one many Chinese expressions of gratitude for accessing virtually every drop of oil this country can pump, and other impressive pieces of cutting edge architecture. They will keep growing greens.
Sudan is still on Washington’s list of terrorist-sponsoring countries and subject to some US sanctions.
But like Cuba and Iran it is coming in from the cold.
The conventional wisdom is one should get into Cuba and Iran now, before the world does.
The same applies to Sudan.
My advice is take this Madhi-Kalmis-Ter-I tour before the marketing buffs get in.
Arabic is essential for business but English more than gets one buy in this country with a strong British colonial background .
Before you say: ah cricket! remember that the Brits were not here long enough to instill an appreciation of willow on leather.
The Mahdi rather spoiled things by sending his troops from Omdurman just across the river to fetch Gordon who was under siege in Khartoum trying to evacuate British troops and citizens.
The Mahdi’s men went totally off message and removed the British administrator’s head.
There is a brass plaque on the steps of the Presidential Palace indicating the site of this slaying.
I was not able to see it this time because chez Gordon has become the old palace – replaced by an impressive Chinese-built replica. Both old and new are now under security lockdown.
My rambling, slightly-foxed hotel on the banks of the Blue Nile was the first five-star establishment in Khartoum.
It has the same architect as Singapore’s famous Raffles. Don’t try walking into the bar and ordering a Sudanese Sling though. There is no bar is this very dry country.
And don’t trying walking into the fancy hotel next door because that is the headquarters in Sudan of the China National Petroleum Company.
My hotel has housed Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill.
It has also accommodated Thomas Cook which is ironic because foreign credit cards are not accepted in sanctions-hit Sudan.
My source on the famous guests is the editor of Sudan Vision. It is one of three English-language newspapers in this country.
Navigating the convoluted contents confirms the harsh reality that because the King’s tongue is indeed the second most spoken language on the globe does not mean it is always delivered as she should be.
This piece first appeared on jjcornish.com

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Sudan wants to be next in line to fall into US favour

Jean-Jacques Cornish — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 22:00:00 +0000

By Jean-Jacques Cornish
Days after a handshake ended a half century of US enmity with Cuba and weeks after Washington ended 36 years of daggers drawn with Tehran by striking a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, Sudan is voicing expectations of being next in line for better treatment by the last remaining superpower.
The country made it onto the U.S. terrorism list for, among other things, sheltering Osama Bin Laden and stayed there because of its harsh suppression of separatism in its western province of Darfur. Sudan’s president Omar al Bashir is still wanted by the International Criminal court to face charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur.
But in 2011 it accepted the secession by South Sudan, earning kudos from Washington and the international community at large.
On Monday, 13 million registered voters head for the polls for presidential, parliamentary and state elections that the Sudanese government is at pains to demonstrate are free and fair.
It is doing this in the face of a boycott by a small but vociferous group of parties who maintain Bashir has stalled on the political dialogue he launched at the start of 2014.
Washington, together in the western troika on Sudan with Norway and Britain have criticised holding the election before the promised national dialogue.
The European Union holds that this timing undermines the legitimacy of the process.
This provoked an angry response from Khartoum that the EU stance amounts to spiritual support for armed rebel movements fighting the government in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan provinces.
The Sudanese government says its constitutionally obliged to hold elections now. It’s statement stipulates that it will return to national dialogue after the poll.
The dialogue was necessitated by violent protests against Bashir in 2013 that left a number of dead.
Nafi Ali Nafi, who as presidential advisor until last year was considered the third most powerful man in Sudan and is now a parliamentary candidate, says the dialogue was bogged down in procedural issues raised by the opposition.
“They were not interested in engaging on substantive matters,” says Nafi. “They were insisting on the government dissolving and becoming a transitional administration.
“In other words they wanted their prize even before the talks proper started.”
Bashir, who came to powering coup 25 years ago and subsequently won two elections , has further complicated matters by going back on an undertaking not to seek another term.
“That was not his decision to make,” insists Nafi. “It is a matter for the ruling National Congress Party to decide.”
While there is a significant body of international opinion dismissing the poll as a sham, Washington is coming around to the view that Bashir is the best of a number of bad options.
US sources say the strongman manages to maintain stability in a dangerous neighbourhood.
By supporting the government in Yemen against mounting rebel attack, Sudan is squarely onside with the U.S.
Above all, though, the fear in Washington and indeed in other Western capitals, is of a repetition of the Libyan nightmare where they pushed for and won the first prize of getting rid of Muammar Gadaffi and ended up with a catastrophic failed state feeding and arming terrorists in the region and beyond.

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