“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Restitution of African art from France: "We need this memory"

Yahoo – AFP, Sophie BOUILLON, with African bureau, November 24, 2018

Benin's artefacts from the era of the Kingdom of Dahomey, including these royal
statues, are among 70,000 African objects kept at the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques
Chirac in Paris -- but France says it plans to return 26 works plundered in 1892
"without delay" (AFP Photo/GERARD JULIEN)

Lagos (AFP) - The debate over the restitution of thousands of African cultural artefacts from France has become heated, but in West Africa conservators prefer to call it "collaboration" and are preparing for their return.

The French presidency announced on Friday night that it was restoring "without delay" 26 works plundered by the French army in 1892 and claimed by the authorities in Benin.

The recommendations come with the delivery of a non-binding report that proposes a change in legislation and urges the return of museum artefacts to Africa from France.

Alain Godonou, a Beninese conservator responsible for heritage at the new national agency for tourism promotion in Benin, has been working on this issue for more than 30 years and says now is the time for reflection.

The small West African country of Benin, formerly Dahomey, was home to the kingdom of Abomey (1600-1894) and priceless wealth.

But instead of sitting in the capital of Porto-Novo, the throne of King Glele from 1858 is one of the centrepieces of the 70,000 African objects kept at the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris.

"To keep war booty in countries that are now friends and collaborate doesn't make sense," Godonou told AFP.

"It's a relief but it's only the beginning. There is still so much to be done so that our youth can access this heritage that will make them proud."

Several African countries including Benin, whose pictured 
funerary crown of the Kingdom of Dahomey is in Paris, 
are either planning new museums or looking to inaugurate 
venues already built to house their artistic heritage (AFP 
Photo/GERARD JULIEN)

Sensitive question

"We don't want them to have our objects just for the sake of it," Godonou continues.

"The cultural education of African youth is important and these objects will help to root them."

This includes a rehabilitation of museums. For years, Europeans have justified keeping the treasured artefacts by arguing that African countries didn't have the facilities to take care of their cultural heritage.

But in many countries -- including Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Benin -- plans are underway new museums have been built and plans are underway for yet more.

Beninese President Patrice Talon, whose goal is to make tourism one of the pillars of the national economy, has approved the sites for five museums that will open in 2020 to honour the kings of Abomey and the Amazons, the all-female military regiment in Dahomey.

The country's minister of foreign affairs Aurelien Agbenonci told AFP on Saturday the government is "delighted" with the decision, which he said was "an invitation to get to work quickly."

Ousmane Aledji, in charge of heritage for the Benin presidency, welcomed the "new form of cultural exchange" with France.

"We're not for a violent claim, but we want to put in place measures for progressive restitution," he says.

His sentiment was echoed in Abidjan, where the director of the museum of civilisation of Ivory Coast Silvie Memel Kassi said "it's not a bad thing in itself that they were preserved and indexed in France."

French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to 
Burkina Faso last year, said "Africa's heritage cannot just 
be in European private collections and museums"
(AFP Photo/ludovic MARIN)

"Ancestral pieces"

The national museum of Abidjan was renovated last year, but a larger museum is sill in the works.

In this case, said Kassi, "we could start talking about a definitive restitution."

She added that "the important thing is to work together, we want to have access to these objects, we need this memory, these objects are a memory."

In Dakar, the museum of black civilisation, whose inauguration is scheduled for December 6, will be ready one day to house the objects, pledges Kassi.

"We have operational reserves that can accommodate such objects," said the Senegalese museum director Hamady Bocoum, stressing the works may not necessarily end up in museums and could go back to communities who may "decide to put them in the altars of the ancestors."

"These works came from our ancestors," said Taho Toubo, a traditional leader from Ivory Coast.

"I pray for the ancestors that their pieces are returned."

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