I guess this is what is known as an eventful week. There is just so very much is happening in the world at any given moment. Here’s hoping everyone has what they need to make it through this, and what are sure to be many more, eventful weeks.
One of the big events here in the US is the second impeachment of Donald Trump. I, for one, have really been putting my high-school civics education to use over the past week (and four years). For those who either want to brush up on the impeachment process, or pass along that info to a young learner, Pop Culture Classroom has a free comic about the Watergate Scandal, and “using the Watergate Scandal as context, this comic also provides students insights into the impeachment process and how it protects the checks and balances between Federal branches.” And over at JSTOR Daily (full disclosure: I’m a regular contributor there), they’ve created “Politics and Power in the United States: A Syllabus,” to help put our current political moment into historical context. And the New York Times is soliciting comments on how “teachers, particularly history, social studies, or civics teachers […]” are “addressing last Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol with their students.”
Africa in Words has a wrap-up post featuring all of the literary happenings over the past month. Festivals! Readings! New Books! Events! They’ve even included one of our favorite events from December— our #ReadingAfrica Week celebration and panel discussions.
“Women had always been part and parcel of the independence movement in Africa. In Southern Africa and Tanzania they stood side-by-side with the men to fight, so they were very much part of it.” As part of their series, “Reclaiming Africa’s Early Post-Independence History,” Africa is a Country has an interview with Fatma Alloo of the Tanzania Media Women’s Association on how women have, and continue to, use media to create change.
In Catalyst news, we’ve released two books this week: Divine Justice by Joanne Hichens, and The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. Both also have new essays about their work, and inspirations behind them. At LitHub, Siphiwe writes about her discovery of Zimbabwean literature and how it helped her find her own voice. You can also read a Q&A with Siphiwe here. And at CrimeReads, Joanne talks about the rise of racism and white supremacy, both in the US and in South Africa, and how Divine Justice is her literary hope that “these groups, these miscreants, these racists, will, as the pages turn, be meted out the measure of justice they deserve.”
Congratulations to author Tsitsi Dangarembga who was awarded the PEN Award for Freedom of Expression. The award honors “writers who continue to work for freedom of expression in the face of persecution.” Tsitsi, who is the author of the highly-acclaimed novels Nervous Conditions and This Mournable Body, was arrested while protesting against government corruption in Zimbabwe late last year. She is also a founding member of PEN Zimbabwe.
Not that you needed a reason, but just in case, here’s an animated video making the case that we should read Toni Morrison’s Beloved. In other classics news, here’s a list of the original names of the ten famous characters (Little Orphan Otto?!).
Today is the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are a few stories on his life, his legacy, and what was lost when he was murdered. NPR features an oral history with Clara Jean Ester, a college student who “joined the Memphis Sanitation Strike in 1968, alongside African American sanitation workers who were calling to demand better working conditions and higher wages.” She was also witness to both his final speech and his assassination: “‘In the background of that speech you could hear the thunder and the lightning crashing,” she said. “It was a powerful moment because he did his own eulogy.'” A.O Scott at The New York Time reviews the new documentary MLK/FBI, which “chronicles the F.B.I.’s surveillance and harassment of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” Also at the Times, “9 Ways to Honor His Legacy” which is mostly NYC focused, but so many other cities also have events in commemoration, including Seattle, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and, of course Atlanta.
In more Catalyst news, huge congratulations to Futhi Ntshinglia, author of We Kiss Them with Rain. Her book is going to be released in French by Paris publisher Belleville éditions later this month. This marks the third language for this award-winning book— English, Portuguese, and now French. We thrilled that so many more readers will get to experience this book.
And finally, if you’re still trying to figuring how to cope with our new reality, it’s nice to know you’re not alone in that. In this piece by Cathy Kelly at LitNet, she looks at how writers are making sense of the world in lockdown, including Catalyst’s own Joanne Hichens who says, “I have always wanted to write ‘from the heart’ … so whatever I felt was authentic and genuine to me, about lockdown, would hopefully have resonance with others.”
