[geek][politics] Perspectives

Whilst tracking down some links for the previous post, I came across this BBC article describing the efforts of a Nigerian woman to provide an African voice for (among other things) gay and lesbian issues:

[Sokari Ekine] has worked as both an academic and an activist, focusing mainly on feminist issues and gender issues. Ekine's also taken an interest in the violence in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. [...] Ms Ekine started a blog called Black Looks, the Musings and Rants of an African Fem. "There is nothing in this blog that says this is about Africa, or African women, but that's where I'm focusing," she explains. She pulls no punches, especially when it comes to posts on violence in Nigeria, or gay life on the continent. "I think it's important to talk about gay and lesbian issues in Africa," she says. "I do know that there are a lot of gays and lesbians active in Africa, and a lot of straight people working with them. Having said that, Africa is a very homophobic continent." Black Looks has struck a chord among those hungry for news and comment about such issues in Africa. Many bloggers around the world now link to it, and readership has grown.

Let's face it: to most Americans, Nigeria means criminal spam, if they know anything about it at all. Voices like Ekine's are of the utmost importance to the health of the blogosphere, helping to provide a deeper, richer portrait of corners of the world about which many of us know little. Her blog can be found here; I'm going to have to add it to my RSS reader... You can learn more about her in this interview here.