Nelson Mandela's Conversations with Myself

You've probably heard about Nelson Mandela's new book - Conversations with Myself - that was launched on 12 October 2010. If you've not read it and shelved it in your personal library yet, make sure you do. Nelson Mandela, former South African President, no doubt, has such an incredible life story that would never fail to inspire you, your children and your children's children to seek progress by promoting social justice and equality for all.

Many people have already read or listened to Nelson Mandela's incredible life story uncountable times from a variety of sources, but a recent report by Bob Simon, contributor for "60 Minutes", about Madiba and the new book is worth watching. The report captures the life of  [arguably] "the most admired human being alive." WATCH...



The new book offers "unique access" to the life and thoughts of the freedom fighter. It reveals the "private man behind the public figure," and guess what - the foreword is written by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Nelson Mandela's Conversations with Myself is available on Amazon.com. It's highly recommended.

Read more about the book on the official website of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

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Remove racist graffiti in Finnish town of Mikkeli

This morning the title of an article, "The tale of two racist spray paintings in an eastern Finnish city" published on Migrant Tales (a blog I read religiously) caught my attention. As the title of the article reveals, it tells the story of racist graffiti in Mikkeli, a town in eastern Finland.

The racist graffiti were reportedly sprayed on walls in a school and a pedestrian tunnel in the small town of about 34, 000 people.

With the intervention of Kansainvälinen Mikkeli Ry (International Mikkeli), a new organization that fosters cooperation between immigrants and all residents of Mikkeli, the graffiti on the wall of the school was removed after a call to the principal. It is worth mentioning that the graffiti had been on the wall for months.

The Mikkeli municipality on its part has failed, as of today, to remove a more disturbing racist graffiti on the wall of a pedestrian tunnel, even though the authorities have reportedly been notified.

The local authorities of Mikkeli should remove the racist graffiti on the wall of the pedestrian tunnel. Inaction on their part sends across a wrong message - that racism is tolerated in Mikkeli and a certain group of people are not welcomed.

I won't post photos of the racist graffiti on this blog because they are offensive, provocative, and violate house rules and regulations.

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Numerous bloggers detained in violation of freedom of expression

Bloggers are increasingly being arrested and thrown behind bars in many countries, arguably in an attempt to silence them and deter the growing number of critical independent bloggers who provide uncensored news from individual perspectives. In violation of the right to freedom of expression, many bloggers have been detained on "vaguely worded" charges directly related to information published on their blogs in countries like Ivory coast, Egypt, Iran, just to name a few.

An article published on CNN on 10 October 2010 highlights the growing threat to freedom of expression and the right to hold and express opinions that are not in line with the views of the authorities. The article showcases photos of detained bloggers, including the following:

1) Pham Minh Hoang: Blogger and mathematics teacher detained in Vietnam. He reportedly blogs about democracy and social justice in Vietnam, and was arrested in August 2010.

2) Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman: Law student, blogger and free speech advocate jailed in Egypt since February 2007.

3) Tal al-Mallohi: 19 year-old student and blogger detained in Syria without charge since December 1999.

4) Ali Abdulemam: Blogger and contributor for Global Voices Advocacy, arrested and detained in Bahrain in September 2010 for "spreading false news" online.

5) Hossein Derakhshan: The "blogfather" of Iran, sentenced to 19.5 years behind bars in Iran on 28 September 2010.

It is worth mentioning that this list is not exhaustive. There are detained bloggers who have not been mentioned. Regardless of their different stories, the numerous detained bloggers share something in common - they're paying a price for expressing opinions online; opinions that "authorities have no wish to see or hear."

The detention of bloggers signals a dwindling right to hold and express opinions online. Freedom of expression is a basic human right and cornerstone of a democratic society. No one should be jailed for peacefully expressing opinions that challenge a regime.

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