Africa

Growing International Concerns Over Safety of Sierra Leonean Historian and Journalist

By Anne B. Wallis International human rights groups and press freedom organizations have continued to raise concerns for the safety of Sierra Leonean historian and journalist, Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah. The American Historical Association (AHA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) are among the list of press and academic freedom organizations to recently condemn the […]

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Death of Sierra Leone’s Sheikh Umarr Khan: Unanswered Questions

Those who worked with Khan, including infectious disease experts in universities across the United States and Europe, had since moved on to lucrative academic and professional careers, receiving more grants and awards. In Sierra Leone, both Khan and the Ebola disease that killed him are now distant memory; they form part of the collective public trauma that Sierra Leoneans have experienced in the last two decades and unwillingly learned to forget. 

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Sherbro Alliance and Idris Elba’s Dream City in Sierra Leone

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah Few months ago, the British media enthusiastically reported that “Idris Elba has shared details of his dream to turn an island off the coast of Sierra Leone, the country where his father was born, into an environmentally friendly smart city.“ The Guardian took the lead in the enthusiasm that surrounded

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Academics Condemn Attacks on Sierra Leone’s Endangered Historian and Journalist

By Matthew Anderson and Mark Feldman About 100 academics have signed a letter of support denouncing death threats and harassment orchestrated against Africanist Press editor and Northwestern University-trained historian, Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah.  The academics say the attacks on Dr. Bah “constitute a clear assault on journalistic freedom [and] go to the heart of

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Africanist Press Editor to join Brown University’s Watson Institute

Africanist Press editor, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah has accepted a two-year appointment as Postdoctoral Research Associate with Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.  The Watson Institute is an interdisciplinary research center at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Its mission is to promote a just and peaceful world through research, teaching, and

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Sierra Leone: Julius Maada Bio’s Veiled War Against Free Speech and the Africanist Press

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah On November 2, the world commemorated the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. This day is set aside to help raise awareness of diverse challenges faced by journalists and mass media communicators in the exercise of their profession. The United Nations noted that this year’s events should

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Sierra Leone Should Investigate Death Threats Against Africanist Press Staff

The following is a letter sent to Secretary of State, Anthony John Blinken requesting the United States government to remind the government of Sierra Leone of its obligation to investigate and address threats made Africanist Press staff and determine what steps the government has taken regarding the reported threats and cyber harassment of Africanist Press

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History and the Future of Sierra Leone

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah Five Sierra Leoneans have received doctorate degrees from Northwestern University since the mid-1960s. They include Enid Forde (1966, Geography), Josephus Olufemi Richards (1970, Art History), Gladys Harding (1971, Education), Augustine Stevens (1975, Political Science) and Cecil Magbaily Fyle (1976, History). I am the sixth doctoral graduate and the second historian

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Sierra Leone: Democracy Must Not Be a Rotational Façade of the Elite

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah It is now clear to all those who have been watching developments in West Africa that the June 2023 elections in Sierra Leone have turned out to be the biggest tragedy in African elections. And the embarrassment is not felt by Sierra Leone’s elite alone, but the shame is equally

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Dangers of Endorsing or Participating in an Illegitimate Regime

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah At this point, we are all in agreement that the elections in Sierra Leone lacked transparency; which is a key criterion for any democratic election. We also must make it known that any government that is the result of a non-transparent election is one that holds a stolen mandate. In

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