TOM STONE sings the praises of one of the oldest open-air festivals in Britain
Lumumba’s right hand woman
ROGER MCKENZIE recommends an insider's view of the fight for African independence, as experienced by an important and neglected woman
Andree Blouin, centre, Patrice Lumumba’s adviser and speechwriter, an image used for the film Soundtrack To A Coup D'Etat
[Modern Films/IMDb] 
Chris Searle speaks to accordionist KAREN STREET
MAYER WAKEFIELD speaks to Urielle Klein-Mekongo about activism, musical inspiration and the black British experience
KEVIN BRYAN reviews new releases by The Outlaws, Mark Radcliffe & David Boardman, Clarence White
BOB NEWLAND reviews a book that will take many back to the final years of apartheid in South Africa
GAVIN O’TOOLE examines the fatal relationship between environmental crimes and politics in Brazil and the inspiration provided by Indigenous people
My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria
Andree Blouin, Verso, £18.99
THERE is much to unpick from the title alone of My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria.
The reference to Africa as a country describes the pan-Africanist philosophy of Andree Blouin, a mixed heritage woman born in the Central African Republic. It is important to understand that Blouin’s support for pan-Africanism — as she appears to interpret it, as a United States of Africa — does not mean she was a socialist. She was not.
Blouin makes it clear in this important book that her priority was fighting for the liberation of the African continent from colonial domination.
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