On Liberia, justice, the TRC and the Diaspora (or, Get thee to Staten Island!)
Here’s an invitation I got by email for a fascinating event on Liberia happening in New York soon. Jerome Verdier, TRC chair, keynotes. If…
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Liberia’s Rape Court
Kigali, Rwanda — Last year, I reported with the intrepid Glenna Gordon a story about Liberia’s Court E, a court chamber in the capital…
Read MoreLiberia’s “Rape Court”: Progress for women and girls delayed?
Last year, I reported with the intrepid Glenna Gordon a story about Liberia’s Court E, a court chamber in the capital city of Monrovia…
Read MoreAfrica: “A whole continent for helping white people understand poverty”
This is a series of photographs called “I Studied Abroad in Africa!” in which white people are called out/picked on for their real or…
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Can diamonds be a (socially responsible) girl’s best friend again?
Recently, I learned about The Clarity Project, an effort to bring fairly-mined, fairly-sourced diamonds into the jewelry market. Impressed by the venture and the…
Read MoreNaomi Blood Diamond Campbell?
I’m watching the live feed of the Taylor trial happening in The Hague. I’m sitting at my hotel in Freetown, with a few Sierra…
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A Sign of Peace in Sierra Leone: A Trash Truck
Freetown, Sierra Leone — In Freetown recently, I came face to face with something that made me a believer: a trash truck.
Read MoreIn Sierra Leone, things are exactly as normal as they appear
In Freetown recently, I came face to face with something that made me a believer: a trash truck. A believer in what? That depends…
Read MoreThe White Reporter’s Burden in Africa II: Journalists who get over it
In an effort to be productive in my criticism, here are nearly two dozen or so Western journalists I think do good work in…
Read MoreOn wads of crisp, clean West African cash
Today I withdrew cash at a bank in Freetown. A dollar here is worth almost 4,000 leones, and the largest bill they print is…
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