Why Pambazuka is unique

The 200th edition of Pambazuka News in French is a special issue featuring different contributors who over the years have made this a reality. In the 10 years of Pambazuka’s existence, 2,500 researchers, academics, activists and others, driven by a Pan-African ideal and a commitment to social justice, have made Pambazuka the most prolific African platform for citizen journalism. This special edition hears from these contributors, why they read Pambazuka and why it is important to them. The 200th edition also carries excerpts from the 500th English-language edition of the newsletter published in October 2010 (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/issue/500). Pambazuka is clearly more than just a newsletter.

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The struggle for a new thought world order
Tidiane Kasse

Four years on, we are now at the 200th edition of Pambazuka News in French. After years of cutting one’s teeth in mainstream journalism, working with Pambazuka (which means ‘arise’ in Swahili) and immersing oneself in the fervour of activism has led to a better understanding of the issues at stake in the battle for information in Africa.

http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/75360
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Pambazuka and the struggle against capitalism, imperialism and for the emancipation of peoples
Demba Moussa Dembele

Demba Moussa Dembele pays tribute to Pambazuka’s commitment to the struggle for political, economic and social justice for the peoples of Africa and the diaspora and underlines that ‘its credibility and prestige make it a vital source of information on Africa for other media in the world, many of which reproduce Pambazuka articles, including translations, on their websites.’

http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/75358
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Pambazuka – a constant questioning
Amy Niang

According to Amy Niang, ‘the articles in Pambazuka use a kind of subversion which allows us to break through the dogma of the dominant narrative. Pambazuka generally puts forward subversive thought which allows one to break out of the dogma of the dominant narrative which paints Africa as frozen in time and incapable of following its own rhythm of change rather than one dreamed up elsewhere’.

http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/75361
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The second phase of African decolonisation needs an alternative press
Guy Marius Sagna and Fode Roland Diagne

After reviewing the evolution of the African press since colonisation, Guy Marius Sagna and Fode Roland Diagne make a plea for a different kind of press to tackle Africa’s current challenges, one that will put at the forefront the voices of ‘workers, peasants, workers in the informal sector, women, youth and progressive Africans’ and accompany them in the struggle to take destiny into their own hands and break with the slavish ties imposed on the peoples of Africa by Françafrique, Eurafrique and Usafrique.’ Pambazuka, they say, ‘is the kind of model required for a truly alternative and anti-neoliberal press.’

http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/75357
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Pambazuka – an example of a free, alternative, citizen media
Erika Carmelo

The partnerships and links developed by Pambazuka News over the years have created bridges to several organisations including Ritimo. It is hence important, says Erika Carmelo, that Pambazuka remain ‘a reference and an example of what is meant by a free, alternative, citizen media’.

http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/75347
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Alternative media, a means of struggle against the capitalist system
Bernard Dodji Bokodjin

Amidst the plethora of mainstream media that has swept through the world to consolidate a system of exploitation and servitude, Pambazuka News, according to Bernard Bokodjin, stands out as a platform that enlightens people in Africa and elsewhere on the real issues of governance in Africa and ‘fights for the emancipation of Africa from the yoke of colonialism and the domination of the Françafrique mafia’.

http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/75356
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