Not a saint, but a hero

„Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.
Let freedom reign!
The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!
God bless Africa!“

(Nelson Mandela, 1994, Inaugural speech as freely elected president of the Republic of South Africa).

Schöne Sätze: Christie

„Wenn man sich mit vier Jahren in die Putzfrau verknallt, hält man sich mit achtunddreißig für den Erzbischof von Canterbury. Ich habe zwar nie kapiert, wieso und warum, aber diese Psychofritzen können es sehr überzeugend erklären.“

(Agatha Christie, Der Tod wartet)

Optimism and death in the face of Cameroon’s „gay scare“

On Monday, July 15, Eric Lembembe, Cameroon’s most prominent LGBTI rights activists, was found dead in his home in Yaoundé. His body showed signs of severe torture. He is only the latest tragic victim of homophobic furor in Africa. He knew what might happen to him as he exposed what had happened to others, but in his very last article which was published after his death he still sounds optimistic.