May 2007
Issue No. 400
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Daring to dream
Dinyar Godrej on what truly inspires.

Revenge
Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy’s song of reconciliation.

Cultural invaders
Afroreggae beat the violence

Power surge
Rural women claim their rights in South Africa.

Sand in the wheels
Walden Bello’s thoughts on turning back globalization

Deep green
Brazil’s small farmers stave off the giants.

Trial by fire
Victor Juliet Mukasa sues the Ugandan Government.

Acts of conscience
AIDS activist Zackie Achmat’s acts of conscience

The indivisible I
Gautam Bhan on the spectrum of queer lives.

Secret service
Afghanistan’s RAWA takes on the fundamentalists.

Learning for life
Burma’s Charm Tong takes on the generals.

Watchful eyes
Corruption busters in India

Screen lives
Activist filmmakers in India

Pump up the volume
Radio revolution in Zambia, Malawi and Namibia.

Continental shift
Carlos M Vilas gauges the gains of people’s politics in Latin America.

The diverse, the multiple, the different
A message of resistance from Oaxaca, Mexico.

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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR

There’s been quite a lot of struggle in this edition. I don’t mean editorial toil and gnashing of teeth. Rather that the word ‘struggle’ kept cropping up in articles, wagging like a persistent tail. There don’t seem to be synonyms that match its particular flavour.

Perhaps one can’t expect anything different. This 400th edition of the NI is devoted to inspirational ideas and activism from the Majority World. It seems that the sapling of hope is quite partial to the soil of struggle.

This edition was conceived as an antidote to the ‘heroes’ editions of more mainstream magazines, which tend to be dominated by Western go-getters. It offers no spurious ‘best of’ lists. There’s no blueprint for a new Left, either. Instead we’ve gone for an eclectic mix of big- and small-scale visions. We hope they will continue to flower, but are aware that some may not.audulent elections that led to the current Government. Pan Mi General’s bread is organic and made from ingredients produced by local farmers.

Today the various paths that lead to global justice seem to be bypassing ideology. Rather there is an embrace of diversity and a belief that the right direction matters more than a detailed, hypothetical road map. As a result there’s a broader base of opposition to the enormity of the problems.

As I write this, a reader from Mexico, Francisco Ramos Stierle, has emailed to tell us about a bit of tasty resistance – the launch of Pan Mi General. A group of angry citizens has started a new bakery and a campaign against Grupo Bimbo, the largest breadmaker in the country and a key financier of the fraudulent elections that led to the current Government. Pan Mi General’s bread is organic and made from ingredients produced by local farmers.

Hey, but why stop there? As Francisco Stierle continues: ‘We have the need and the means to create a true Earth community. The choice is ours. The time is now. We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for.’ That last sentence could be the motto of the visionary people in this edition.

Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe

The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.

Raised Voices video:

Atossa Soltani from Brazil on the Climate Change

Desmond Desai from South Africa on Corporate Power

Iranian women speak out

3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.

Raised Voices audio:

Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power

Vinayan from India on agriculture