The Illusion of Inclusion: Xenophobia in South Africa (Harvard Africa Policy Journal)
Months and years of research go into dissertations and theses only for most of them to lie on a shelf collecting dust... so I decided to make use of my undergraduate thesis on South Africa's migration policy, and turn it into a Harvard Africa Policy Journal blog post.
I once heard a very depressing statistic that 40 percent of World Bank reports have been downloaded fewer than 100 times, so hoping for better results with this article. If you're interested in reading the larger work, give me a shout here.
Abstract of the full-length thesis:
During the Apartheid era, the mobility of black Africans, both those native to South Africa and those from other countries, was strictly regulated. Citizenship was defined as white citizenship against black “others.” Since independence from white-majority rule, South Africa, a country, which has built its modern democracy on inclusivity, has witnessed a rise in xenophobia and violence against migrants. In examining the dynamics of xenophobia towards Zimbabweans, the country’s largest migrant group, this paper argues that the persecution of migrants is tied to the persistent legacy of apartheid, rampant economic inequality, and the international relations of the African National Congress.
"We Were Made For These Times"
This website is primarily a compilation of different stories and projects I'm worked on, but every so often I like to share the words that inspire me. Today, here's an excerpt of "We Were Made For These Times" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. The full version is available here.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.
What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.
Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for."
Black Muslims Face Double Jeopardy, Anxiety In The Heartland (NPR)
I wrote this piece for National Public Radio (NPR) on the intersectional identities of black Muslim immigrants in light of the recent rise in hate crimes and xenophobic rhetoric. You can find the full piece here on NPR's website.
Jammeh’s Departure Isn’t a True Victory for Gambians and ECOWAS Without Justice (OkayAfrica)
The Gambia's former dictator, Yahya Jammeh
My latest op-ed for Okayafrica takes a look at the lessons learned for ECOWAS from Gambia's electoral crisis. Take a look at the original here or read below.
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Joy now runs through Africa’s “Smiling Coast” as The Gambia’s dictator Yahya Jammeh has finally ceded power to President-elect Adama Barrow after 22 years. While the former president’s departure has been heralded as a victory for Gambians, it was a botched opportunity for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to show its diplomatic strength.
While blood drops may not have been shed, Jammeh has bled the country dry. During a press conference in Senegal, President Barrow’s special adviser Mai Ahmad Fatty claimed that Jammeh stole over $11 million dollars during the two-week electoral impasse. The former dictator, who flew to his new life in exile via private plane, also absconded with his fleet of Rolls Royces, Mercedes-Benz, and other luxury cars—each with “His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor Yahya AJJ Jammeh” embroidered on the headrests.
Under the joint declaration by the United Nations, African Union and West African regional bloc ECOWAS, Jammeh is not only at liberty to retain his ill-gotten assets, but he is at liberty to return to The Gambia at the time of his choosing.
Having rejected opportunities for asylum in Morocco and Nigeria, Jammeh heads to Equatorial Guinea, where he will no doubt receive a warm welcome from Teodoro Obiang, Africa’s longest serving dictator. Obiang has his own fearsome reputation for torture and a healthy appetite for corruption and, if rumors are to be believed, cannibalism. Given that Obiang’s own son Teodorin is on trial in France for embezzlement, and, moreover, Obiang and Jammeh own mansions on the same street in the tony Maryland suburb of Potomac, Equatorial Guinea’s aging dictator is unlikely to bat an eye at his peer’s indiscretions. More importantly, he will not hand the Gambian ex-president over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.
With no discussion of prosecution and such a flagrant display of corruption following years of repression, can Jammeh’s departure truly be ruled a victory for ECOWAS? Rather than delivering justice to the Gambian people, ECOWAS handed Jammeh a golden parachute.
On one hand, ECOWAS involvement in the Gambian electoral crisis signals progress for a regional bloc with a reputation for protecting outdated incumbents over democratic leaders. On the other, although ECOWAS has played a previous mediating role in recent regional conflicts in Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, allowing Jammeh to leave The Gambia with de-facto immunity signals toothless diplomacy.
ECOWAS deployed a military operation comprised of tripartite coalition of Senegalese, Nigerian and Ghanaian soldiers with Nigerian air and water support. For The Gambia, a country with little more than a 1,000 soldiers, challenging such an operation would have been foolhardy. In the face of this formidable display of force, the Gambian army chief even admitted that the army would not fight the intervention prior to Jammeh stepping down. Given the backing of the international community and the strength of its military force, ECOWAS had the bargaining chips. Yet it gave them away.
The dawn of The Gambia’s Third Republic is the latest sign that West Africa, a region often troubled by political crisis, is committed to embracing democracy; however, a return to rule of law should be accompanied by justice. In future interventions, ECOWAS, as West Africa’s leading regional bloc, must adopt a stronger stance during such crises or risk undermining its legitimacy.
‘This Feels Like Being Born Again:’ Gambians Hope for Change and Long for Home (New York Times)
Thanks to the team at the New York Times for engaging the voices of Gambians at home and in the diaspora. I shared my thoughts on hope for the regime ahead. Check out the rest of the article, which includes perspectives on joy, limits on power, and the road ahead here.
"The vast majority of my people have left the Gambia because of the culture of intimidation that Jammeh created. There was no point having a successful business because he would crush it. There was no point aspiring to have a dynamic career because he had limited all opportunities for professional advancement. Now, I believe many of my family will return because of the spirit of hope — of possibility — in the air.”
Akinyi Ochieng, 23, a Gambian-American writer and student in London