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I spent this weekend reading through Beyond Kony2012 Atrocity, Awareness, & Activism in the Internet Age. It was compiled and edited by Amanda Taub of Wronging Rights fame. Below are some excerpts from the authors (including yours truly) that contributed to the book. If you are interested in going beyond the slick simplicity of the video […]

Skin in the game

by TMS Ruge on April 23, 2016 ·

 This past weekend I posed some questions on Twitter as to why the African voice isn’t yet prominent in discussions about the continent’s affairs. This question has been on my mind throughout the Kony 2012 affair. Turns out it […]

We received this urgent and sad request to help find the family of Ugandan who passed away in Texas this month. Any information you could provide to help identify her family in Uganda would be greatly helpful. Please leave any information in the comments ~ To the Ugandan Diaspora Community, My dear friend and sister […]

VIDEO: Discussing ‘African aid: helpful or hazardous?’ on Al Jazeera’s The Stream

by TMS Ruge on April 16, 2016 · 4 comments

Yesterday, I had the pleasure being invited to sit on the famous orange sofa so familiar with The Stream’s audience. The topic of discussion was ‘African aid: helpful or hazardous.’ I was joined by Joel R. Charny, Vice President of Humanitarian Policy and Practice at InterAction, and a cast of supporting commentators who joined us […]

Spring 2012: Introducing Another “Day Without Dignity”

by TMS Ruge on April 10, 2016 · 1 comment

For whatever reason, the start of Spring season lately has signaled an emergence of chaos in the world of international development communications. For the past few years, the February – May time frame unveiled the development community’s worst ideas. In 2009, it was Ashton Kutcher and Malaria No More, in 2010 it was Jason Sadler […]

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Africa Reclaiming Africa: Changing the Rules of Engagement

April 3, 2012

Wendy Lee,  a graduate student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, sent us the following notice about an upcoming forum dubbed “Africa Reclaiming Africa: Changing the Rules of Engagement“ taking place on the same campus on April 13-14, 2012. This is the 9th Economic Forum held by Columbia University focused on Africa. Make sure not […]

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Invisible Children wants to talk… to Ugandan Diaspora, tomorrow [ Updated ]

March 23, 2012

Invisible Children has issued a statement calling for a meeting with Ugandan Diaspora tomorrow, March 24th. No doubt the agenda at said meeting is going to be about the controversy surrounding the recent viral success of the Kony 2012 video. I think this is the least that the organization can do. Dialogue is always a […]

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Contributing our voices to the Kony 2012 debate

March 17, 2012

One of the positive unintended consequences of the Kony debate was the rise of the African voices coming to the microphone. This conversation was of particular concern for me because it hit home. Unlike other do-gooder debates (1 million t-shirts, Sevenly, SWEDOW and malaria) I’ve contributed to, which were about Africa in general, the Kony […]

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How to respect local agency, in 19 minutes

March 16, 2012

If you have been under a rock for the last week, you probably didn’t spend 29 minutes to see this video about Joseph Kony, dubbed Kony 2012. But if you did, then you have to take 19 minutes to watch the above video by Hope North. Hope North, “is a 40-acre campus in northern Uganda […]

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Another Year for African Women

March 8, 2012

While African women are not to be represented as a close-knit homogenous group of people who are jointly oppressed and subdued, they are a very important foreground of any African landscape. Thus, as we celebrate small and monumental successes on the continent, we would do well to also celebrate the successes of women and acknowledge […]

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A Peace of my mind: Respect my agency 2012!

March 8, 2012

I have had roughly 24 hours to gather my thoughts about the latest fund-raising stunt undertaken by the long-in-the-tooth Invisible Children (IC) organization. In that time, I have had an opportunity to think and ruminate over exactly what to say, what the right order of the words should be coming out of my soul to […]

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