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Yearly Archives: 2010
How do we solve a problem like Malawi?
Southwark Registry office is right on my doorstep and we often watch the weddings and civil ceremonies from our balcony.
On Saturday there was a gay civil ceremony.
Both grooms were young, handsome and black – one West Indian, one African.
It got me thinking about the awful ruling in Malawi last week when a gay couple was jailed for 14 years’ hard labour for being gay and trying to get married.
The Malawian judge, Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa, stated quite clearly that he was handing down such a severe sentence to make a stance against homosexuality. (more…)
Thinly veiled threat to freedom
The new laws could be in place by the summer and are causing a stir in Muslim communities world wide even though many Muslim women don’t wear veils.
Only around 2,000 French women wear veils in public out of a Muslim population of 5 million, but to many the move must feel like an attack on all of Islam.
President Nicolas Sarkozy brought in the change because he sees the burqa and niqab as signs of women’s oppression rather than religious garments.
Secularism
Ever since the forming of the republic in 1789, France has been keen to keep religion and state separate. (more…)
Amandla!
Today marks the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s historic Walk to Freedom.
I remember watching with tears in my eyes as the former ANC leader walked out of prison after 27 years and into the history books.
It was a moment that hadn’t seemed possible in those dark days of the 1980s when the Government under Thatcher refused to back sanctions as she believed they would hurt the poor black majority more than the rich white minority. (more…)
Mouth of the Marmoset 