Melissa on the road

Journalist at RFI (ex-DW, BBC...), writer, (first book on Bristol's music/art; e-book on African art), I also work on films, as a journalism lecturer, and a contributor to the New Arab, Art UK, etc. Born in Paris, I was based in Prague, Miami, London, Nairobi (covering East Africa), Bangui, and Bristol, UK. I also travelled to Italy, Haiti, Tunisia, Liberia, Senegal, India, Mexico, Iraq... My passions: Africa, music, arts... This blog is to share my work and cultural discoveries.

30/03/2024

'Entangled Pasts' - in pictures

Insight into the 'Entangled Pasts' exhibition - at the Royal Academy of Arts in London

Entangled Pasts, 1768–now

Art, Colonialism and Change

3 February - 28 April 2024

Main Galleries | Burlington House

J.M.W. Turner and Ellen Gallagher. Joshua Reynolds and Yinka Shonibare. John Singleton Copley and Hew Locke. Past and present collide in one powerful exhibition.

This spring, we bring together over 100 major contemporary and historical works as part of a conversation about art and its role in shaping narratives of empire, enslavement, resistance, abolition and colonialism – and how it may help set a course for the future.

Artworks by leading contemporary British artists of the African, Caribbean and South Asian diasporas, including Sonia Boyce, Frank Bowling and Mohini Chandra will be on display alongside works by artists from the past 250 years including Joshua Reynolds, J.M.W.Turner and John Singleton Copley – creating connections across time which explore questions of power, representation and history.

Experience a powerful exploration of art from 1768 to now. Featuring a room of life-sized cut-out painted figures by Lubaina Himid, an immersive video installation by Isaac Julien, a giant flotilla of model boats by Hew Locke, and a major new sculpture in the Courtyard by Tavares Strachan. Plus, powerful paintings, photographs, sculptures, drawings and prints by El Anatsui, Barbara Walker, Kerry James Marshall, Kara Walker, Shahzia Sikander, John Akomfrah and Betye Saar.

Informed by our ongoing research of the RA and its colonial past, this exhibition engages around 50 artists connected to the RA to explore themes of migration, exchange, artistic traditions, identity and belonging.

In 2020, as the Black Lives Matter movement took hold, a statue was removed from its plinth and toppled into the waters of Bristol Harbour. This act gave birth to a creative movement, generating new ways of thinking about memorialisation and Britain’s colonial past and playing into a long tradition of art taking a central role in grassroots activism.

In this course, we will examine the myriad ways art can harness the power for social change. From the French Revolution and the role of art in revolutionary society to the Guerrilla Girls’ campaign for gender equality, to the work of contemporary artists such as Ana Mendieta on the climate crisis, we will discuss the beginnings of activist movements that have shaped our society, and consider the place of art within these.

Exploring prescient issues such as the fight for racial equity, feminism and climate change, this lecture series examines art as both a constructive and destructive medium. Talks are given by academics, curators and art-world professionals, with the opportunity for questions and discussion.

Course

Week 1: Art and revolution with Melissa Chemam

An introduction to the history of the long relationship between art and conflict, from revolutions such as the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution, to the present day.

Melissa Chemam is a journalist, broadcaster and writer on art, music, social change, multiculturalism, African affairs, North/South relations, and activism. She is the author of the book Massive Attack - Out of the Comfort Zone (2019), and has been published by BBC Culture, Al Jazeera, RFI English, Art UK, CIRCA Art Magazine, the Public Art Review, the New Arab, The Independent, Reader’s Digest, UP Mag and Skin Deep. She also worked as a journalism lecturer and as the writer in residence at the Arnolfini art centre, in Bristol, from 2019 to 2022.

29/03/2024

What's next for Senegal with President-elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye?

My latest:

Five days after the presidential election in Senegal, Faye is getting everything ready for a swift transition next week, and again promised change both in policies and in the way the country is administered.

Read on RFI English's website here: https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20240329-change-afoot-for-senegal-as-bassirou-diomaye-faye-readies-for-power

Macky Sall presided over his last government meeting in Dakar this week.

He also met with both Faye and Sonko on Thursday for a first "working session".

The political crisis triggered by Sall's last-minute postponement of the vote, and the subsequently rushed electoral timetable, for long cast doubt on whether the handover could take place before the end of the incumbent's term.

But Faye and his closest advisers have been reassuring and stated they'd be ready for the handover next week.

A swift handover in the West African nation, known for its stability, peaceful transitions between Presidents, would again reinforce the democratic principles in the coup-hit region.

Tight timetable

The incumbent's term officially ends on 2 April.

Faye already announced that he and his team, formed from members of his party the Pastef, will be ready for a handover on that day.

4 April is the date the Senegalese commemorate the independence.

Then Faye intends to form his first government on 5 April, the day after the national holiday.

Presidential candidates nevertheless have in principle 72 hours after the results are announced to lodge an appeal with the Constitutional Council.

The Constitution states that if no appeals are made in this period, "the Council shall immediately proclaim the final results of the ballot".

If no objection is made, the Council has to confirm the results of the election.

"Faye's victory took many by surprise," Timbuktu Institute senior fellow Babacar Ndiaye told me.

"The days after the election have been really peaceful so it's a success for democracy."

But he underlines as well that Faye and Sonko largely won largely because of people's anger against Sall's outpouring, especially his autocratic and oppressive drift. Now they have to deliver the change they promised.

Daring programme

Faye, who has never held elected office, is set to become the fifth president of the West African country of around 18 million people.

On Monday, he promised to restore national "sovereignty" and implement his programme of "left-wing pan-Africanism".

He said he would prioritise "national reconciliation", "rebuilding institutions" and "significantly reducing the cost of living".

His election could herald a profound overhaul of Senegal's institutions.

He spoke of reducing the "hyper-presidentialism", and of introducing a position of vice president. Some have been speculating that he might use it to give a special position to his mentor and former leader of his party, Ousmane Sonko.

"This happened before in 1962 in Senegal, and it didn't work. So, Faye and Sonko would have to find an effective way to run this government even if it's dual," Ndiaye says.

"It will be a challenge for Faye. He would have to take his place, express himself, and have authority."

Faye and his team intend to rationalise the administration, by getting rid of positions and bureaus considered by many as useless, including the Social and Economic Council, and the High Council for Local Governments.

"This could save billions a year", Ndiaye adds, "and save money for significant programmes especially targeted at reducing inequality."

Faye's programme could also rapidly impact the whole region, as Faye has praised a change in the monetary system, to drop the colonial CFA franc and switch to a regional, Ecowas-led currency first, the Eco, and if this doesn't come about to a national currency.

"This could change Senegal," Ndiaye concludes.

"To address the needs of the people, especially the poorest and the weakest in the country. But it also brings a lot of responsibility on them. It's one thing to be popular, another to deliver and to show good management skills."

28/03/2024

French parliament condemns 1961 Paris massacre of Algerians

Paris, March 28, 2024 (AFP) - The French parliament's lower house on Thursday approved a resolution condemning as "bloody and murderous repression" the killing by Paris police of dozens of Algerians in a crackdown on a 1961 protest to support Algerian independence.

In recent years France has made a series of efforts to come to terms with its colonial past in Algeria.

Dozens of peaceful demonstrators died during a crackdown by Paris police on a protest by Algerians in 1961. The scale of the massacre was covered up for decades by French authorities before President Emmanuel Macron condemned it as "inexcusable" in 2021.

The text of the resolution stressed the crackdown took place "under the authority of police prefect Maurice Papon" and also called for the official commemoration of the massacre.

The bill, put forward by Greens lawmaker Sabrina Sebaihi and ruling Renaissance party MP Julie Delpech, was approved by 67 lawmakers, with 11 against.

Sebaihi said the vote represented the "first step" towards the "recognition of this colonial crime, the recognition of this state crime."

The term "state crime" however does not appear in the text of the resolution, which was jointly drafted by Macron's party and the Elysee Palace.

On the 60th anniversary of the bloodshed in 2021, Macron acknowledged that several dozen protesters had been killed, "their bodies thrown into the River Seine."

The precise number of victims has never been made clear and some activists fear several hundred could have been killed.

"Let us spare a thought here today for these victims and their families, who have been hit hard by the spiral of violence", Dominique Faure, the minister for local and regional authorities, said on Thursday.

She noted that efforts had been made in the past to recognise the massacre.

In 2012, then president Francois Hollande paid "tribute to the victims" of a "bloody crackdown" on the men and women demonstrating for "the right to independence".

The rally was called in the final year of France's increasingly violent attempt to retain Algeria as a north African colony, and in the middle of a bombing campaign targeting mainland France by pro-independence militants.

However, Faure expressed reservations about establishing a special day to commemorate the massacre, pointing out that three dates already existed to "commemorate what happened during the Algerian war".

"I think it is important to let history do the work before considering a new day of commemoration specifically for the victims of October 17, 1961."

France has made several attempts over the years to heal the wounds with Algeria, but it refuses to "apologise or repent" for the 132 years of often brutal rule that ended in 1962.

25/03/2024

Senegal: Bassirou Diomaye Faye is President

Senegal's governing coalition candidate Amadou Ba on Monday recognised a win by anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the first-round of presidential elections and offered his congratulations, a statement said.

"Considering the trends of the presidential election results and awaiting the official declaration, I congratulate the president Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye on his victory in the first round," Ba said in the statement.

Senegal elections: first results out of polls

Senegal opposition candidate Faye leads initial presidential election tallies

Reuters - By Diadie Ba

March 24, 2024 - 10:16 PM

DAKAR, March 24 (Reuters) - The first polling station tallies of Senegal's delayed presidential election on Sunday showed opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye taking the lead, prompting street celebrations after a peaceful day of voting that many hope will bring change.

Millions lined up to elect Senegal's fifth president following three years of unprecedented political
turbulence that sparked violent anti-government protests and buoyed support for the opposition.

At stake is the potential end of an administration that has pushed investor-friendly policies but failed to ease
economic hardship in one of coup-prone West Africa's more stable democracies.

Voters had a choice of 19 contenders to replace President Macky Sall, stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that
Sall wanted to extend his mandate past the constitutional limit.

The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal's history. His ruling coalition picked
former prime minister Amadou Ba, 62, as its candidate.

The election day was smooth with no major incidents reported. Polls closed at 1800 GMT, after which
voting bureaus started publishing their tallies.

The first set of tallies announced on television showed Faye had won the majority of votes, triggering widespread street celebrations among opposition supporters in the capital Dakar.

About 7.3 million people were registered to vote in the country of around 18 million. It was not clear how many of the 15,633 polling stations had finished counting.

Final provisional results are expected by Tuesday. A second round of voting will take place if no candidate secures the more than 50% majority required to prevent a runoff.

Sonko, in jail until recently, was disqualified from the race because of a defamation conviction. He is
backing Faye, the co-creator of his now dissolved Pastef party, who was also detained almost a year ago on charges including defamation and contempt of court.

An amnesty law passed this month allowed their release days before the vote. They have campaigned
together under the banner "Diomaye is Sonko". Some high-profile politicians and opposition candidates
have backed Faye's candidacy.

"The population is choosing between continuation and rupture," Faye said after casting his vote, urging contenders to accept the winner.

22/03/2024

Gaza: still no ceasefire this Friday...

France to work on new UN Gaza ceasefire resolution after Russian and Chinese veto, says Macron

France will work on a new UN resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza following the Russian and Chinese veto against a resolution proposed by the US, French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, reports Reuters.

“Following Russia’s and China’s veto a few minutes ago, we are going to resume work on the basis of the French draft resolution in the security council and work with our American, European and Arab partners to reach an agreement,” Macron said at end of a EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.

France’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it had started drafting a resolution with diplomats, saying they would put a draft forward if the US resolution did not pass.

- Reuters

More here:

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Friday to keep pressing for a Gaza ceasefire call at the UN Security Council, moments after China and Russia vetoed a US-backed draft resolution.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking immediately after the vetoes, said France would keep pushing an alternative resolution for a ceasefire.

"The Security Council must call for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access," Macron told reporters in Brussels, at the end of the European summit.

He promised to resume work based on an alternative French resolution "along with our US, European and Arab partners to reach an agreement".

Russia and China on Friday vetoed a US-sponsored UN resolution calling for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

France’s foreign ministry had said on Thursday it had started drafting a resolution with diplomats, saying they would put a draft forward if the US resolution did not pass.

The Security Council may later Friday consider another resolution with a more explicit call for an immediate ceasefire.

Vetoes

The US resolution aimed to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to more than two million hungry Palestinians.

It was the first of its kind to come from Washington, with a demand for a immediate ceasefire.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the vote in the 15-member security council was 11 members in favour, three against and one abstention.

Before the vote, Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow

supports an immediate ceasefire, but he questioned the language in the resolution and accused the US secretary of state Antony Blinken and US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of “misleading the international community” for “politicised” reasons, AP added.

Pressure

Moscow also accused Washington of a "hypocritical spectacle" that does not pressure Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for talks aimed at ensuring more aid flows into Gaza, amid increasingly tense relations between the two allies over the six-month-old war.

The US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the vetoes would jeopardise the ongoing talks for the release of hostages.

Speaking before the vote on the US draft, she had said, "by adopting the resolution before us, we can put pressure on Hamas to accept the deal on the table."

(with newswires)

African news: A new podcast!

New podcast alert!!!

Listen from here: https://www.rfi.fr/en/podcasts/spotlight-on-africa/20240322-the-long-path-to-senegal-s-troubled-presidential-elections

SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICA

The long path to
Senegal's troubled presidential elections

Issued on: 22/03/2024 - 12:00

This is a big election year for Africa, with 16 countries heading to the polls. Close attention is being paid to the delayed presidential vote in Senegal – a West African beacon of democracy that is facing increasing instability. RFI spoke to author and economist Ndongo Samba Sylla in the capital Dakar.

RFI is renewing its Spotlight on Africa podcast, and the first episode zeroes in on one of the continent's biggest news stories.

Senegal was plunged into political crisis when President Macky Sall unexpectedly postponed elections that had been due to take place by the end of February.

Protests erupted from those supporting opposition candidates, as well as from all corners of civil society. The polls were finally rescheduled for 24 March.

Voters say they're worried about unemployment and a lack of opportunities for young people – many of whom are quitting the country in search of a better life elsewhere.

Ndongo Samba Sylla helps us to better understand where the unrest has taken the heaviest toll – and what's really at stake in Sunday's election.

Algeria sets presidential election date for September 7

A statement from the president's office announced that the country would 'hold early presidential elections on September 7, 2024,' amid a climate of 'repression of peaceful dissent' decried by Amnesty International.

Algeria will hold early presidential elections in September, three months ahead of schedule, a March 21 statement from the president's office said, without providing further details.

"It was decided to hold early presidential elections on September 7, 2024," read the statement released following a meeting chaired by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and attended by lawmakers and the army's chief of staff. Tebboune has not said if he will seek a second term in office and there was no immediate explanation on why an early presidential election has been called.

Tebboune, who turns 79 in November, was elected in December 2019, after pro-democracy protests that broke out in February of that year forced longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down. This current president, whose five-year term in office was due to expire in December, had won 58 percent of the vote in 2019. He was a former premier under Bouteflika, who died in September 2021.

After Bouteflika stepped down, the demonstrations led by the Hirak protest movement continued, in a push for deep reforms in hydrocarbon-rich Algeria. Yet the movement waned when the coronavirus pandemic struck.

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https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/03/21/algeria-sets-presidential-election-date-for-september-7_6643294_4.html

Tebboune's government later banned demonstrations by the Hirak movements and stepped up legal proceedings against opponents, activists, journalists and academics. Algeria ranks 136 out of 180 countries and territories in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index.

In February, rights watchdog Amnesty International said that five years after the pro-democracy protests erupted, Algerian authorities were still clamping down on the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In a report based on testimonies of detainees, families and lawyers, Amnesty said Algerian authorities had "escalated their repression of peaceful dissent" since the movement ended in early 2020 due to the Covid pandemic and a ban on protests.

"It is a tragedy that five years after brave Algerians took to the streets in their masses to demand political change and reforms, the authorities have continued to wage a chilling campaign of repression," said Heba Morayef, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director.

The London-based human rights group said hundreds of people had been arbitrarily arrested and detained and that dozens of peaceful protesters, journalists and activists still languished behind bars. It called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained.

AFP

La Courneuve in morning, after police killing

Hundreds march in Paris suburb after youth killed in police chase

Bobigny (France) (AFP) – Several hundred marched peacefully in a Paris suburb Thursday to demand justice for a teenager killed last week in a collision with a police car.

Issued on: 21/03/2024 - 19:48

The death of Wanys R. has sparked tensions in the town of La Courneuve near major venues for this summer's Paris Olympics.

Police on March 13 chased a moped that the 18-year-old was driving in the nearby town of Aubervilliers after it said he refused to comply with a traffic stop.

A video widely shared online showed a police car striking his scooter, killing him and injuring his passenger.

Police and the investigation so far say it was an accident, but his family have accused them of "voluntarily" hitting the scooter.

His older brother, who did not wish to give his name, spoke to the press on the steps of the La Courneuve townhall.

"My little brother was killed by the police. They decided to take his life unfairly," he said, his face covered with a black face mask and sunglasses.

"We are only seeking justice. No violence, no excess," he said, before the march set off.

Seventeen-year-old Taif went to the same school as Wanys R.

"The police have made it normal to kill people like him, young people," she said, not wishing to give her full name.

On Sunday evening, people fired a barrage of fireworks at the La Courneuve police station, according to footage posted on social media. Police said the attackers also threw stones and Molotov cocktails.

Police responded with sting-ball grenades, teargas and flash-ball projectiles, it said. The police station suffered no damaged.

La Courneuve is located in Paris's northern suburbs, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department that hosts Olympic venues including the flagship Stade de France stadium.

In June, a video of a police officer shooting dead 17-year-old Nahel M. triggered nights of riots in the Paris suburbs and other deprived areas.

The policeman who fired the fatal shot has been charged with voluntary homicide.

Senegal: Former PMs, outsiders and one woman among contenders in Sunday's vote

My latest for RFI > Read online here

Following a hurried two weeks of campaigning, Senegal's delayed presidential election is set for this Sunday – with more than 7 million people registered to vote for a record 20 then 17 candidates.

Voters will head out to more than 16,000 polling stations across the West African country and its diaspora. Ballots will be counted after voting ends at 6pm.

Vote tallies will be sent to the Constitutional Council, and then the National Election Commission will announce provisional results by the evening or early Monday morning.

Majority and opposition

Election coverage has highlighted polarisation between two main camps – the first led by the former prime minister Amadou Ba.

Born in Dakar in 1961, Ba studied in Paris and the US and returned to Senegal to work in higher administration. Named economy minister by President Macky Sall in 2013, the wealthy individual was prime minister until the campaign was launched earlier this month.

The second dominant camp is a coalition brought together by Ousmane Sonko – former mayor of Ziguinchor in Casamance – and his official candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

Seventeen other candidates have also been running, two leaving the race in recent weeks.

Habib Sy and Cheikh Tidiane Dieye have been defending Bassirou's programme, with the latter even abandoning the race on Wednesday to support Faye fully. Sy did the same on Thursday.

Senegal's Sonko takes election campaign to the south

Fifteen other are now left in the race.

Among these other candidates, more than three were previously in charge of a government, many close to the former prime minister. Only one candidate is a woman.

Observers believe that Senegal is heading towards a second round, as it will be hard for any contenders to achieve 51 percent on 24 March.

Three former prime ministers

Veteran politician Idrissa Seck, 64, served as prime minister from 2002 to 2004 in the Senegalese Democratic Party under former President Abdoulaye Wade.

He was sacked over embezzlement allegations in 2005 and spent some months in jail before his case was dismissed.

In 2006, he founded his own party and challenged Wade in 2007, finishing second. He ran again in 2012 but did not make it to the second round.

He placed second in the 2019 presidential race with 21 percent of the vote, after which his Rewmi party joined the ruling United in Hope (BBY) coalition with Sall. He served as head of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council from November 2020 until April 2023.

Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, 59, is a former close ally of Sall and was a top BBY member.

He left the coalition, resigned as minister and launched his own bid after Ba was selected as the BBY candidate.

Ndiaye is the mayor of Linguere, a town in north Senegal. A civil engineer and former bank executive, he served as energy and interior minister before taking over the agriculture portfolio.

Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, 64, was Sall's third prime minister from 2014 to 2019. He was seen as one of the frontrunners in the race to succeed Sall within the BBY coalition.

An early supporter and ally of Sall before he became president, Dionne held several positions during Sall's two terms in office, including chief of staff at the president's office.

He announced his candidacy in September 2023 and launched his own coalition days after Sall selected Ba as the candidate for the ruling coalition.

Former Dakar mayor

Sall, 68, served as mayor of Dakar from 2009 to 2018.

Unrelated to President Sall, he is, on the contrary, one of his chief political rivals.

Arrested in March 2017 on suspicion of stealing about $3 million in public funds, he was sentenced to five years in 2018, preventing him from contesting the February 2019 presidential election.

Sall pardoned him in September that year, opening the way for him to run again in an election.

According to analysts, he stands a high chance among voters who want to get rid of the current majority but have no faith in Sonko's opposition coalition.

One woman only

Entrepreneur and political newcomer Anta Babacar Ngom, 39, launched the Alternative for the Next Generation of Citizens political movement in August 2023.

Daughter of the founding president of Sedima, a leading poultry production group in the West and Central Africa region which operates Senegal's Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, Ngom was, until recently, executive director of the company.

At least one outsider

Papa Djibril Fall is also running in the presidential election for the first time as an independent candidate.

Originally from Thiadiaye, a journalist and communications consultant, he graduated from the leading journalism school of Dakar, the Center for the Study of Information Sciences and Techniques, in 2014.

He has worked as a former columnist on 2sTV and Radio TFM, then was elected member of The National Assembly during the parliamentary elections of July 2022 in Senegal.