tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91316712012-01-27T16:04:18.888-05:00"He looked upon us as sophisticated children - smart but not wise." - Saxton Pope, <i>Ishi in Two Worlds</i><br>This Web log is dedicated to the proposition that it is possible to be both smart and wise. My interests are: Africa, especially Togo; Credit Unions, MicroFinance, and Islamic Finance; Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D); Democracy and Governance; and Community Self-Help Construction.Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.comBlogger81100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1131743617912223862005-11-11T16:09:00.000-05:002007-09-29T19:54:01.519-04:00

One of the assigned texts in the African History survey course that I took as an undergraduate at Duke in 1967 was Mannoni's Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization. The irony of this passage from Mannoni was powerful: "France is unquestionably one the least racialist-minded countries in the world; also colonial policy is officially anti-racialist. But the effects of the colonial

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1126891667514608632005-09-16T13:00:00.000-04:002007-09-29T19:54:28.902-04:00

It is discouraging to see racial stereotypes and inaccuracies that persist in books and articles by authors who otherwise are credible scholars or journalists. These defects undermine the credibility of the authors and diminish the impact of their ideas - at least among those who have more than a passing knowledge of the subject that they are treating.The latest example of this phenomenon is the

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1125187229941175242005-08-27T19:27:00.000-04:002007-09-29T19:54:41.428-04:00

For some reason, I have been motivated lately to write "Letters to the Editor." The most recent one is was addressed to the program Lou Dobbs Tonight that airs nightly Monday though Friday from 6 to 7 pm Eastern US Time on CNN. Lou has taken up the cause of the outsourcing of American jobs to lower-paid workers in countries such as India and the detrimental effects of outsourcing on the US

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1124809397694625832005-08-23T10:56:00.000-04:002007-09-29T19:54:52.640-04:00

In an article in the August 2, 2005, edition of The Washington Post, journalist Alan Cooperman wrote that "the U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is offering to allow recruits to meet part of their military obligations by serving in the Peace Corps, which has resisted any ties to the Defense Department or U.S. intelligence agencies since its founding in 1961 ... Congress

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1122919727764129342005-08-01T13:26:00.000-04:002007-09-29T19:55:19.752-04:00

I have just completed the first draft of "African Democracy; A Primer for Development Workers." The premise of this documentis that democracy is no less a part of African culture than it is an inherent part of European and North American culture. The democratic traditions in African culture can either be cultivated and encouraged in order to help develop modern practices and institutions of

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1114381282523915862005-04-24T18:19:00.000-04:002007-09-29T19:56:26.735-04:00

This afternoon, journalist Glenn Reeder interviewed me in regard to the Presidential election in Togo for KPFA 94.1 FM, Pacifica Radio in Berkeley, California, USA. Part of the interview was aired this evening, Sunday, 24 April 2005 on KPFA's Sunday Evening News at 6-6:30 pm Pacific Time (9-9:30 pm Eastern Time). It can be downloaded at the KPFA Website Archives at:http://www.kpfa.org/archives/or

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1109016796657323942005-02-21T14:58:00.000-05:002007-09-29T19:57:22.366-04:00

The interview about events in Togo that journalist Glenn Reeder conducted with me on Sunday, 13 February 2005, for KPFA, Pacifica Radio in Berkeley, California, was aired on KPFA's Sunday Evening News the same day. It can be downloaded from the KPFA Evening News Archives at:http://www.kpfa.org/archives/archives.php?id=8Just scroll down to the 13 February 2005 show. The interview with me takes

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9131671.post-1109015737971372312005-02-21T14:54:00.000-05:002007-09-29T19:57:35.702-04:00

Version anglaise:On Saturday, February 19, I listened to BBC radio interviewing the Togolese Minister of Communications, Pitang Tchalla. It was the saddest, most ridiculous performance that I have heard in ages. The minister was repeating (I paraphrase here): "We had a crisis. The President died. The Speaker of parliament was out of the country. There was a vacuum we had to fill for the security

Kelly J Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02942255824947278104noreply@blogger.com2