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Showing posts from December, 2014

The Life of an American Freelancer in the Middle East

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Published at OpenDemocracy  “What’s more appealing to me as a freelancer is having the autonomy to go and create my own stories… without losing part of my freedom, or having to uphold any editorial line" - Eric Reidy    I met Eric Reidy last April in San Francisco, where we both spoke at Stanford University. We quickly bonded through our passion for writing, photography, listening to and telling people’s stories, a combination of what he defines as the package for freelancing. Knowing him for a short period of time and understanding his motivation when he delivered his speech gave me the impression of him not being a typical American freelance journalist.  In mid October, I received a message from Eric telling me that he was coming to Tunisia in two weeks time, with no plans whatsoever on where he will be staying, for how long or what will he be doing. A few days later, to my surprise, I met him there.  Eric’s life appears to be unplanned, as probably most freelance

The Oldest in Civilization, The Youngest in Population: THE FUTURE LIES IN AFRICA

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Published on Foresight For Development-Africa How can we not think about the future for Africa if the future is Africa itself? Looking at the past and the future, Africa becomes a crucial part of this reflection. Africa developed the world's oldest human civilization and moving forward, it defines the world’s future. With a comprehensive timeline of at least seven million years, Africa is home to the first tools, jewelry, mathematics, astronomy, fishing, and art, among other essential humankind developments. It gave humanity the use of fire around two million years ago and made all nations rely on our land for their markets. However, as much as Africa has given to the world, it has been abusively exploited by colonial and postcolonial powers, and dictatorships. The status, privilege, and wealth of the colonizers were often maintained and upheld through the use of policies that violated our rights. Unjust colonial practices and policies as a means to preserve their dom