Here at Enough, we often swap emails with interesting articles and feature stories that we come across in our favorite publications and on our favorite websites. We wanted to share some of these stories with you as part of our effort to keep you up to date on what you need to know in the world of anti-genocide and crimes against humanity work.
Somali musician K’Naan—who gained worldwide recognition with “Wavin’ Flag,” the theme song of the World Cup in South Africa—offered this commentary on the complexity of his country in an interview the The Associated Press:
Somalia's scenario is that it's not good left alone, and it's even worse intervened. That's the dilemma of Somalia, because we do not accept foreign intervention. … It doesn't seem like we can fix our own problems either. That's the tragedy of Somalia.
The band Staff Benda Bilili’s rise from the streets of Kinshasa to some of the world’s premier venues and festivals seems like nothing short of a miracle. Propelled into the spotlight in part by a new film documenting the group, Benda Bilili is now on tour in France, and The LA Times has the story. Describing the filmmakers’ first encounter with the band, the Times writes:
What they heard was hard to categorize, but it had a lot in common with the hand-to-mouth lives that the band's members carved out on the streets of Kinshasa. They played instruments that they made themselves with materials at hand, infusing their ramshackle guitars, drums, and, especially, the satonge with a distinctive, gritty and often sorrowful tone — even in some songs that grooved toward euphoria.
Reporting from an IDP camp in Kitchanga, Congo, Katrina Manson offers a commentary for Reuters on some of the major challenges in eastern Congo, including the mining ban and the integration of CNDP rebels into the national army. It’s a grim outlook but also a valuable overview of the challenges that remain.
Paul Salopek’s op-ed for Foreign Policy, “Land Mines Are War Crimes,” raises some important points about combating land mines – once the cause célèbre of international luminaries like Princess Di but have since slipped out of public view, overtaken by concerns about weapons of mass destruction and IEDs. Salopek’s piece and its accompanying slideshow are also a moving recognition of the fearless work of New York Times photojournalist Joao Silva. Silva stepped on a mine in Afghanistan this week. He survived – and continued to photograph through – the ordeal, but he lost his legs below the knee.
With news emerging of a nominee for Somalia’s new prime minister, Al Jazeera spoke with London’s Times correspondent Tristan McConnell about how the selection of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who moved from New York to Mogadishu for the job, is playing out among Somalia’s leaders.