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Friday, 26 September 2014

Praxis - An important course for you

The world has witnessed a surge in civil resistance movements across different regions. Civil resistance and the dynamics of nonviolent conflict have been instrumental in political transitions from authoritarian and oppressive rule for many decades. Organized civic pressure has been used to fight colonialism and foreign occupation, advance women’s and minority rights, and improve transparency and good governance.

This online course is designed to provide an in-depth and multi-disciplinary perspective on civilian-based movements and campaigns that defend and obtain basic rights and justice around the world with the use of nonviolent tactics and strategies.

The deadline to apply is October 2, 2014.

To learn more, visit bit.ly/icncrutgers2014

Thursday, 18 September 2014

Intolerance and People of Faith



I think people of faith are so convinced about the legitimacy of their world view so much so that they cannot even imagine anyone, anywhere can have an alternative. That is fair enough, what is not fair is seeking to make this world view – the one and only, in fact compulsory. 

This creates resentment. To be sure, if the intention is to convert, then such approach is self-defeating.

Friday, 12 September 2014

Some thoughts on forming new alliances



This week I had the luck of re-connecting with an old friend, one that I have known for years the renowned Dr Paul Ssemugoma. In 2005 when we first met, we were young, up and coming activists. With our arrival at the advocacy and activists’ scene – so we thought, all the problems could now be solved because we had the answers. Being young, we were full of hope but also naive. My Bishop from Ghana was there too – life has been one great journey with these friends!

Over time things have changed a lot – new activists have come on board, new organization – some that are now continent wide or – pan African have come into being and on the whole issues have somehow changed – or at least the approach to addressing these issues.

Paul and I reminisced about our involvement in this kind of work over years. Being a doctor, Paul was more focused then as now on health issues. HIV and AIDS was not a big issue then as it is now. During our reminiscence Paul betrayed a sense of fatigue or frustration - “we know what needs to be done” he said, “we have the evidence, we have the tools, but sadly we lack the political capital to expend.”

Paul emphasized the need to expand the political space and on the need to broaden the agenda. Discrimination and exclusion are experienced by so many other groups in the society, he observed. “We need to form alliances with these groups” he said with a sharp focus on the horizon, “things cannot be allowed to go on like this forever.”

Of course broadening the agenda is easier said than done. To broaden the agenda, we have to form alliances with such groups as women rights groups, political parties, academic institutions, cultural institutions and even religious organizations.  But forming requires willingness and support from other parties – it takes two to tangle as they say.

For these alliances to be formed a number of things need to take place/happen

  • We need new actors in the scene adept at creating bridges especially with non-traditional partners and interest groups. This is already beginning to happen – yes there are African universities that are beginning to realize that diversity – including sexuality, enriches the educational experience. We know of Dr. Stella Nyazi and Dr. Silvia Tamale both of Uganda – sadly no Kenyan name comes to mind.
  • New forms of partnerships: Traditionally, the human rights and the progressive movements have been natural allies, as well as some women organizations. But this is also beginning to happen. As new people come into the scene, they also bring with them new advocacy strategies. One such approach is a film by a team of very courageous and gifted youth – watch this interview to see what I mean!
  • Religious leaders: This week a group of progressive religious leaders released what they called The KwaZulu Natal Declaration. Many people both in public health and in human rights have not considered religious leaders as natural partners in their work. Forming alliances with them should being to happen as a matter of priority.
  • Economic empowerment:  it is not possible to emancipate any excluded group, unless we are able to also improve their economic situation.  Fortunately, business is less sensitive to sexuality – the currency [all pun intended] is the currency! On this blog we wrote about the CHAMA’s – which entails forming alliances with micro-finance institutions. The Rafiki Micro-finance bank, a subsidiary of Chase Bank, is a leader in this alliance. In our last CHAMA meeting they sent the head of business development – On a Saturday evening no less, to answer all our questions. I think this is a partnership worth exploring further – banks especially MFIs, are knowledge leaders on risk, - both upside and downside risks (Google that and see what I mean).
  • Lastly the movement is greying – I have noticed on a number of people now. This will bring on board interesting dynamics, as the content of advocacy begins to shift. I am not quite sure what this means but don't you thing it will signify some shifting of paradigms?

Thursday, 4 September 2014

Female Dreamliner Pilot – Feminism is Dead!



Captain Koki Mutungi is the first black female Dreamliner pilot. Now there are not many pilots out there and even fewer of these are the women. Being a pilot is a male dominated profession – yet few female pilots manage to break stereotypes and traditional conception of gender roles. While there are many men out there praising Captain Mutungi, you can be sure many more are feeling threatened and diminished.

Yet these men feeling threatened and diminished, need not worry at all. There are a growing number of women, who are opposed to what they call “radical feminism.” The anti-feminist women say “equal does not mean similar” and that men and women are different and this difference should be respected. 

These women call themselves post-feminist women – which essentially mean women who live after the end of feminism.  They are opposed to feminism because in its quest for gender equality, it seemed to have called for the abrogation of femininity –the essential aspects of being a woman.

So for the modern woman, the ideal female role model is not the “woman who has made it to the top” or as Captain Mutungi says a woman who inspires other women “especially African women that anything is possible…” but rather one who makes it to the top and also juggles with the traditional gender roles.

To make it to the cut of a role-model for the Post-feminists, Captain Mutungi would have to demonstrate how she manages to cook for and clean after her husband. She is even more to be admired if she does that after a grueling 15+ hour flight from Beijing to Nairobi. 

Would it surprise you that the “Polygamous Marriage Law” – the marriage law that allows for Kenyan men to marry as many women as they would like but not a similar provision for women, was actually authored by an erstwhile “radical” feminist organization? To their credit, FIDA Kenya had a proviso that required men to seek their wives permission before adding on to their number - a proviso that was deleted by the male dominated parliament. 

To contextualize this discourse in an area of my work – HIV and AIDS, the seriousness of the post-feminist agenda in rolling back on the gains of feminism becomes even starker. According to the recently released Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey – KAIS 2012, women in polygamous relationships had a HIV prevalence of 8.8% while their male counterparts had a prevalence of 12.!%. It may seem counter-intuitive to assert that women are worse of in this situation given that they seem to have a lesser prevalence than men – but one needs to realize that this is a ratio, and for women the denominator grows at least by a rate of 2.  Detailed analysis of what this really means is not possible in this space – but any woman with half the mathematical knowledge of Captain Mutungi will tell you this is a very bad situation for women.

White male power certifying death of feminism?
Unfortunately the Post-Feminist will hear none of this. To their credit, they have managed to enlist the support of a social movement that advocates for “Family values.” It is ironical that for the family values to be truly family values they have to be traditional. I will not belabor this point, but I will point out another ironical fact that the bedrock of their support comes from the Catholic Church – their hegemonic masculinity orientation notwithstanding. 

Indeed for the Catholic Church (and I should know, because I served them from age of 13 – 27), the “elevated place of women” is in service not in leadership. If God had ever wanted a woman to be a leader – then he would have appointed one of them among the 12 disciples.  

Perhaps I just need to come out and honestly say I have beef with the post-feminists – and on so many levels. On the one hand, I feel like they are trashing my mum’s sacrifice and the sacrifice of so many women of her generation. They struggled against entrenched masculinity and sacrificed so much – well aware that they would not live to benefit from the fruits of their struggle; only for another generation to come and say such struggle and sacrifice is overrated.  At another level as a gay rights activist, I fear that for all the sacrifice of my generation, another will come and trash it as being overrated.