Table of Contents

Part 1 Taking a stand for gender equality and justice * Ending violence against women * Mothers should not die giving life * Everyday should be a woman's day * Winnie Mandela at 70 * Can Mama Ellen deliver liberty to Liberia? Part 2 Speaking truth to power * Corrupt leaders are mass murderers * Respect term limits for democratic change * Zimbabwe: as good a place as any to draw the line * Justice for Zimbabwe regardless of the West * Mu'ammer Gaddafi: the brother leader is wrong on revolutionaries in power not retiring * Brown is wrong on Zimbabwe - but that does not make Mugabe right * Killing of John Garang: who did it? * The embarrassing grotesqueness of presidents * Does Meles think he's Africa's George Bush? * Welcome to the Latin Americanisation of Nigerian politics * Somalia: who are the real terrorists? * After Taylor, who will be next? * Africa: the many challenges to human rights in Africa * Presidency in perpetuity Part 3 Africa must unite - now! * I'm not signing up to that * East African leaders go into slow motion * Union government of Africa: it's now or never * Don't let them shave our heads from behind: mobilise for 25 May * Pan-African perspectives and the African Union * Africa without borders * From now on I say: not in my name * Pan-African parliament: finding its feet, learning to walk Part 4 Transforming cultural thought and values * Why we must struggle against xenophobia! * Don't criminalise African languages * Woza Africa! * What is in a name? * Football, Davids and Goliaths * Let's emancipate ourselves from mental slavery Part 5 The African diaspora and Africa * Obama's challenge to Africans * Obama: US president or world president? * Keep Walter Rodney alive * Hurricane Katrina: lessons for the US Part 6 Building democratic institutions in Africa * Who needs political parties? * Discussing the state of African universities * Democracy without democrats * In defence of the ten theses on leadership Part 7 Imperialism at work * Greed, pauperisation, and the free market * What can Africa expect from the G8? * Rule of law or law of the rulers? * World Social Forum winds up in Nairobi * France should be in the dock, not Kagame * Africa Day: who says slavery is dead? * Who can be trusted with nuclear weapons? * Slavery is not dead * Bye-Bye to Blair, Brown, Bob and Bono, the B stars in poverty pornography * White men in dark suits, ageing rockers and the AU summit * Live Aid 2: 'It's like trying to shave someone's head in their absence' Part 8 Africa and the world * Three years after the invasion of Iraq * There is something you can do about Lebanon * Between colonialists and China: Africa needs to forge a new path Part 9 Fighting for the Millennium Development Goals * Africa can meet and go beyond the MDGs * MDGs at midterm: is the political will there? * Stand up against poverty Part 10 For an Africa of free, equal and dignified citizens * Taking Pan-Africanism to the people * Restore to us what is naturally ours * The demand for common citizenship * Tajudeen's last Pan-African Postcard: city beautification is destroying livelihoods

About the Author

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem (1961-2009) was a Rhodes scholar and obtained his D.Phil in Politics from Oxford University. In 1990 he became Coordinator of the Africa Research and Information Bureau and the founding editor of Africa World Review. He co-founded and led Justice Africa's work, becoming its Executive Director in 2004, and combined this with his role as General Secretary of the Pan-African Movement. He was chair of the Centre for Democracy and Development and of the Pan-African Development Education and Advocacy Programme in Uganda and became the UN Millennium Development Campaign's Deputy Director in 2006.

Reviews

"Speaking Truth to Power is a testimony of a committed individual's contribution to Africa and the world. I highly recommend the excellent book to all those who would like to learn more about contemporary Africa as well as national and international institutions and political leaders from an unapologetic critical perspective." Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo, PhD"