Bamako by Night

1.23.2015

Hi! Since it's almost time for my yearly trip to Mali, I figure I will post these photos from my last trip. This is a very late post. So, everyone who's been asking about my trip to Bamako, here's is part one of it.  This night, my childhood friend Faty took me out to the Byblos night club. I thought the club was really nice. It was huge! 

The only thing I didn't like about the club was that smoking is allowed inside. The smoke bothered when I first got there, but it got much better when the guy took us to the VIP area upstairs. I didn't notice much smoke there. Overall, it's definitely a nice area to relax and to also have a good time. 


My bestie Faty in the middle and her friend to the left


Faty and her fiance <3

'cause we're happy

Posing with Faty's parents before heading out

Take 2

Take 3 and add Faty's fiance to the pic


Blurryyyyy 
The lovebirds 

The boyfriend. Open your eyes haha 

Les amies :-)

Friends since childhood....Kalaban Coura days 


14 African Countries Forced by France to Pay Colonial Tax For the Benefits of Slavery and Colonization

1.14.2015

By Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN

Did you know many African countries continue to pay colonial tax to France since their independence till today!

When Sékou Touré of Guinea decided in 1958 to get out of french colonial empire, and opted for the country independence, the french colonial elite in Paris got so furious, and in a historic act of fury the french administration in Guinea destroyed everything in the country which represented what they called the benefits from french colonization.
Three thousand French left the country, taking all their property and destroying anything that which could not be moved: schools, nurseries, public administration buildings were crumbled; cars, books, medicine, research institute instruments, tractors were crushed and sabotaged; horses, cows in the farms were killed, and food in warehouses were burned or poisoned.
The purpose of this outrageous act was to send a clear message to all other colonies that the consequences for rejecting France would be very high.
Slowly fear spread trough the african elite, and none after the Guinea events ever found the courage to follow the example of Sékou Touré, whose slogan was“We prefer freedom in poverty to opulence in slavery.”
Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of the Republic of Togo, a tiny country in west Africa, found a middle ground solution with the French.
He didn’t want his country to continue to be a french dominion, therefore he refused to sign the colonisation continuation pact De Gaule proposed, but agree to pay an annual debt to France for the so called benefits Togo got from french colonization.
It was the only conditions for the French not to destroy the country before leaving. However, the amount estimated by France was so big that the reimbursement of the so called “colonial debt” was close to 40% of the country budget in 1963.
The financial situation of the newly independent Togo was very unstable, so in order to get out the situation, Olympio decided to get out the french colonial money FCFA (the franc for french african colonies), and issue the country own currency.
On January 13, 1963, three days after he started printing his country own currency, a squad of illiterate soldiers backed by France killed the first elected president of newly independent Africa. Olympio was killed by an ex French Foreign Legionnaire army sergeant called Etienne Gnassingbe who supposedly received a bounty of $612 from the local French embassy for the hit man job.
Olympio’s dream was to build an independent and self-sufficient and self-reliant country. But the French didn’t like the idea.
On June 30, 1962, Modiba Keita , the first president of the Republic of Mali, decided to withdraw from the  french colonial currency FCFA which was imposed on 12 newly independent African countries. For the Malian president, who was leaning more to a socialist economy, it was clear that colonisation continuation pact with France was a trap, a burden for the country development.
On November 19, 1968, like, Olympio, Keita will be the victim of a coup carried out by another ex French Foreign legionnaire, the Lieutenant Moussa Traoré.
In fact during that turbulent period of African fighting to liberate themselves from European colonization, France would repeatedly use many ex Foreign legionnaires to carry out coups against elected presidents:
  • - On January 1st, 1966, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, an ex french foreign legionnaire, carried a coup against David Dacko, the first President of the Central African Republic.
  • - On January 3, 1966, Maurice Yaméogo, the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, was victim of a coup carried byAboubacar Sangoulé Lamizana, an ex French legionnaire who fought with french troops in Indonesia and Algeria against these countries independence.
  • - on 26 October 1972, Mathieu Kérékou who was a security guard to President Hubert Maga, the first President of the Republic of Benin, carried a coup against the president, after he attended French military schools from 1968 to 1970.
In fact, during the last 50 years, a total of 67 coups happened in 26 countries in Africa, 16 of those countries are french ex-colonies, which means 61% of the coups happened in Francophone Africa.
Number of Coups in Africa by country
Ex French colonies Other African countries
Country Number of coupCountrynumber of coup
Togo1Egypte1
Tunisia1Libye1
Cote d’Ivoire1Equatorial Guinea1
Madagascar1Guinea Bissau2
Rwanda1Liberia2
Algeria2Nigeria3
Congo – RDC2Ethiopia3
Mali2Ouganda4
Guinea Conakry2Soudan5
SUB-TOTAL 113
Congo3
Tchad3
Burundi4
Central Africa4
Niger4
Mauritania4
Burkina Faso5
Comores5
SUB-TOTAL 232
TOTAL (1 + 2)45TOTAL22
As these numbers demonstrate, France is quite desperate but active to keep a strong hold on his colonies what ever the cost, no matter what.
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NOW PLAYING: Iyeoka & The Rock by Funk Tribe

1.13.2015

Hi dolls! I recently discovered Iyeoka, a Nigerian-American singer and I'm obsessed. Watch her video below and I'm sure you'll fall in love too. 

Where to find her: Website; Youtube; Facebook


Photo Credit: Iyeoka




Iyeoka | Simply Falling (music video) from Salvatore Fullmore on Vimeo.