DR FATIMA Meer died last Friday, at the age of 82, following a stroke she suffered two weeks ago. Her death brings to a close a remarkable life: a courageous, selfless, independent-minded scholar-activist, never afraid to speak out and always ready to act on her words. Her legacy, however, is bound to carry on through her vast accomplishments, for which in 2007 Rhodes University awarded her the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature.
Meer has been described as “a redoubtable fighter and doughty champion of the underclass”; as “dynamite in a small package”; as “the most popular and recognisable Indian South African Muslim woman over the past five decades”; and as “a true Gandhian”.
Since I first heard of what folks were calling a ‘YouTube for indigenous media’ in early 2008, the word about IsumaTV has been spreading: in its first nine months the site registered almost 4 million hits. Since its birth, the internet portal for global Indigenous media has been reaching out and making a significant contribution to the online Indigenous media landscape. Though IsumaTV emerged out of a very interesting and prolific history of Inuit filmmaking practice, in this post I will be discussing the platform’s increasingly global and political focus, made possible by a growing user base, new networking capabilities, and issue-based curation. The post is quite long, so if you are short on time, read up to the fold and bookmark IsumaTV to check out later. If you’re really interested, keep scrolling!
Traditional knowledge is an important element of the intellectual and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples. It reflects their social and historical identity and significantly contributes to the future well-being and sustainable development of these peoples. In 2007, the L’auravetl’an Information & Education Network of Indigenous Peoples (LIENIP) organized a series of educational conferences, aimed at fostering greater understanding on the nature and evolution of this phenomenon and encouraging mutually beneficial relationships among representatives of indigenous communities, academia, professional entities and international organizations. This publication is comprised of several articles written for and speeches made at these events, and also includes a glossary of related concepts.
The international community has celebrated the International Mother
Language Day annually on the 21st February since 1999, when the
General Conference of the United Nations decided that the day should
be observed every year throughout the world in order to promote the
recognition and practice of mother tongues. Continue Reading
Elected president at the founding of the ANC Youth League in 1944, Lembede died suddenly in 1947 at the age of 33.
In a tribute to his lifelong friend, AP Mda wrote in the Ilanga lase Natal “Young Lembede, one of the most brilliant students that this land has produced, died ‘before his prime’. . .on the threshold of a scholastic, legal and political career, that might have been unparalleled in Black Africa.”
Commisioned by the Rural ABM. Special thanks to Edista Lembede, Sibongile Lembede Gumede, Jabulani Lembede and the Lembede family. Also thanks to Induna Makhanya of Madundube and the praise poet Kozkubenjani Shange.
