Linking the Malawian Diaspora to the Development of Malawi”
Malawi
Malawi (/məˈlɔːwi,məˈlɑːwi/; Chichewa pronunciation:[maláβi]; Tumbuka: Malaŵi), officially the Republic of Malawi and formerly known as Nyasaland, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south and southwest. Malawi spans over 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 19,431,566 (as of January 2021). Malawi’s capital and largest city is Lilongwe. Its second-largest is Blantyre, its third-largest is Mzuzu and its fourth-largest is its former capital, Zomba.
In the essays “Geo-spatial Verities” and “Mlozi Bin Kazbadema of Mpata,” Phoya reminds the reader that almost none of the current inhabitants of Malawi are native to the land. He illustrates how the indigenous people were the Akafula, who were displaced by the country’s modern-day tribes, who migrated from other regions of Africa. For example, the waNkhonde came from present-day Cameroon and Congo, the Tumbukas from Tanzania, and Yao from Mozambique, with the Ngonis epitomizingthis cross-border composition through their shared origins with the Zulus, the Shanganes in Mozambique, and the Ndebeles in Zimbabwe. Probably the most surprising aspect of this varied history is masked in language, specifically, in names. Phoya shows, for example, how a Malawian name such as Mandala is derived from Mandla while Gomani stems from Ngcamane, highlighting their eSwatini origins. Malawi is, therefore, seemingly a confluence of Africa.
I wonder whether this is one of the reasons Phoya claims “Malawi is a construct—a new one at that.”The country is a collection of people displaced, a refuge that the British drew random borders around. If Malawi is nothing but this, how bizarre would it be for it to smother the freedoms of those also fleeing conflicts and looking for a corner of the world to call home? Unfortunately, following a concerning pattern in Southern Africa, Malawi has also veered into scapegoating refugees for its social and economic problems. It seems states that are failing to deliver sustainable social and economic progress for their people in the face of growing inequalities, deploy the same playbook of redirecting their failures to an “outsider.”
Phoya also touches on another depiction of Malawi’s past that is often ignored: the centrality of the colony in the development of cities. Blantyre is the most glaring example of this. Apart from being named after the birthplace of David Livingstone (more about him later) and being home to the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Phoya mentions how Chipembere Highway (the city’s major road) resulted from “colonial engineering.” It primarily connects Blantyre (a former missionary outpost) to Limbe, a rail station that facilitated the core motive of colonization—the transfer of resources (in this case, tobacco).
Although the book engages with numerous historical figures to varying degrees, I focus on David Livingstone, John Chilembwe, Kamuzu Banda, and Madonna (only because the book is named after the essay on her). Apart from Madonna, these people have had the largest impact on Malawi as we see it today.
Starting with David Livingstone, Phoya stresses that “In the beginning of Malawi, there was a people, an African people mostly. And a lake, and David Livingstone.” Upon witnessing the East African slave trade (and “discovering” Lake Malawi), Livingstone made it his mission to “save”the native Malawian, both spiritually and economically. Following his pleas to British authorities, missionaries began arriving in Malawi, and they were followed by businessmen to introduce commerce—as typified by the African Lakes Company—that would supposedly counter the slave trade.
As in many other colonies, the spread of Christianity, and the capitalism that accompanied it, came with the stratification of society along racial lines, the mass theft of land, and the shift toward commercializedsocial and economic relations. Christianity and capitalism walked hand in hand, as Desmond Tutu once aptly remarked: “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”
The economic blueprint that settlers imposed remains a central pillar of contemporary Malawi. The tobacco industry, which was primarily set up to cater to colonial needs is still Malawi’s main export, and the shadow of imperialism is ever-present, as theorized by economists Utsa and Prabhat Patnaik. The racialized social and economic features that followed from David Livingstone’s vision of Malawi, as seen in the emergence of the white settler class that controlled (and exploited) the country’s production processes, set the backdrop for the emergence of John Chilembwe, one of Malawi’s earliest revolutionaries.
Although Chilembwe is often remembered as the man who staged an unsuccessful revolt against the colonial administration, Phoya shows that there was more to the man. Educated at Virginia Theological College against the backdrop of US Jim Crow, Chilembwe was heavily influenced by the radical black American theological tradition—a theology that did not shy away from the seemingly “political” concerns of social justice. Phoya highlights how these were central to Chilembwe’s progressive principles: his championing of education for Africans, his critique of Malawians participating in British wars, and his support for women’s rights and labor rights.
It is impossible not to see how Chilembwe’s values also mirrored other theologians, especially those of the liberation theology tradition, characterized by its “commitment to prioritize the material needs of the poor, as well as their knowledge, experience and spirituality.” Seen in this light, Chilembwe’s rebellion is not simply a miscalculated or desperate ploy as it is mostly remembered, but also a reflection of his broader influences, politics, and vision of society. Yet portrayals of Chilembwa still mainly focus on his failed rebellion and perceived role in laying the groundwork for the rule of Kamuzu Banda.
Dubbed the father of the nation, Banda was also a cunning manipulator of history. Phoya points out that Banada exaggerated his achievements such as claiming he was Malawi’s first medical doctor (it was Daniel Malikebu), and reorchestrated the story of Chilembwe, the sole standing memory of resistance against imperialism in Malawi, to situate himself in it. Using his control over the media, he pushed the narrative of a Chilembwe that was nothing more than someone who staged a revolt and prophesied the coming of an eventual savior—Banda himself. This amounted to a pernicious strategy to consolidate his legitimacy against the backdrop of colonization. Thus, the nuances of Chilembwe’s radical character were lost, with only fragments that upheld Banda’s narrative.
I did have a minor concern with the role Phoya says Malawian culture played in the broader process of Banda’s narrative. He points out that the “Malawi culture allowed” Banda to manipulate the story of Chilembwe to suit his agenda. Reading this, one assumes that there is a “uniqueness”to Malawian culture, suggesting it makes Malawians more gullible than other groups of people.It is difficult for me to imagine how Banda’s existing legitimacy and goodwill that came with his symbolic role in fighting against an oppressive colonial system would have been undone by a different culture. It may have been useful (even if anecdotally) to show how exactly the culture was complicit and to point out how different cultures managed this pre/post-independence period differently given their historical, material, and social conditions.
Overall, Phoya’s depiction of Banda (in the context of Chilembwe), lays bare an intriguing contradiction. While Banda relied on Chilembwe’s legacy, it is interesting to see that the two individuals held different beliefs, and by implication, different visions of Malawi. While Banda was cozy with the apartheid government of South Africa and maintained colonial economic structures after independence (settlers being replaced by the local political elite), Chilembwe was a pan-Africanist, vehemently opposed to supporting colonial powers, and a strong advocate for laborrights and land reform.
Banda’s fall from grace in 1993 was meant to usher in a new era of peace, prosperity, and freedom. Unfortunately, his departure coincided with the infamous structural adjustment programs, coupled with the continuing paternalist governance structure, which failed to stymie corruption and significantly reduced the state’s capacity to provide accessible essential services. Phoya illustrates how this epoch is epitomized by the singer Madonna’s relationship with Malawi.
Using Madonna’s establishment of the Mercy James Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care Unit as a point of entry, Phoya argues that Madonna’s relationship with the country typifies white saviorism. It is important to recognize that Phoya does not downplay the importance of the medical center, but rather questions how Madonna (and other NGOs) perceive themselves in relation to Malawi. More specifically, he illustrates how their work downplays the ability of Malawians to decide what they need and as seen in the name of Madonna’s NGO, Raising Malawi, exaggerates a paternalistic role.
Given the centrality of Madonna to his essay, I would have loved a more detailed discussion and illustrations of the various ways her white saviorism is reflected and reproduced. While the author aptly sets the backdrop for the discussion of Madonna and her relationship with Malawi by highlighting the complicity of the state in the entire process, I believe more could be done to acquaint the reader with the underlying contradictions and implications of white saviors. How does white saviorism manifest in a country like Malawi? What are the implications of such a phenomenon on the broader development of the country?
Overall, the book is a much-needed contribution to the emerging literature reclaiming the history of Malawi. Considering the growing economic and political uncertainty that has engulfed Malawi and its people, Madonna Is Our Mother is a jolting reminder of both the realities of our past and how these set the backdrop for the country’s contemporary predicaments.
7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:7-11
When one listens to the news, watches the news or reads postings on social media, one or two things are very clear: things are not working well for Malawi, not working well for Africa, and secondly, there are maneuverers, tinker-tankers. Generally many, especially in Malawi are super angry, super accusatory, and ready to pull the plug or carpet from under the feet of the elected leaders. The situation is that bad; on the other hand, there is widespread poverty, structural “things are not working here anymore,” and the anger is causing an unhealthy disrespectful appetite for disparaging people in authority. In such a frame of mind, it is compelling that Malawians see or look for the big picture in all that is happening in Malawi.
The bigger picture is that not all the evil taking place in Malawi or Africa, is home-grown.
Across the proverbial street of our existence, are the Brits, Americans, the tall European Union, Russia, and China micromanaging one country after another in the developing countries, the majority of whom (48) are in Africa and includes Malawi. The micromanagers are seen one day speak from the left side of their mouths and the next day speak out of the right side. There are six points that portrays their tendencies, including the following: 1)ACP/EU New Partnership that takes over from ACP/EU Cotonou Agreement; 2) Privatization program; 3) Independence and forest fire development (to keep unwanted systems such as communism; 4) Africans and others in 2 world wars helping imperialists fight imperialist Germany; 5) Division of Africa in Berlin, Europe; and 6) Slavery.
Following the expiry of the Cotonou trade Agreement in 2019, the European Union flexed its muscles and prevailed, displaying to the world manipulative mastery with the January establishment of the stalled New Partnership Agreement. The new EU-ACP Partnership Agreement is the Post-Cotonou Agreementthat was signed into being on 15 November 2023 in Samoa. With signatures from 27 European countries and 79 African, Caribbean and Asia Pacific countries, the EU has commandeered a very economic trade agreement of buy and sell and craftly woven into it numerous items that have nothing to do with trade, nothing to do with economic matters.
The NPA, also known as the Samoa Agreement, is the overarching framework for EU relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and provides terms of agreement that are binding for the next 20 years for an initial period of 20 years. The NPA has evolved into a stronger arm-twisted institution with binding protocols that will compel the 79 ACP nations co-joined at the hip with the 27 European Union, growing into a big block. With the “voting as one” component of the NPA, it will serve as the new legal framework for EU relations with 47 African, 16 Caribbean, and 15 Pacific countries, and the Republic of Maldives.
The agreement aims to strengthen the capacity of the EU and the ACP countries to address global challenges together and sites six priority areas
It lays down common principles and covers the following six priority areas: democracy and human rights, sustainable economic growth and development, climate change, human and social development, peace and security, and migration and mobility. Nothing about food security, industrialization. And yet, the entity represents around 2 billion people and more than half of the seats at the United Nations. The EU has morphed from 27 to a global 106 giant.
Voila! The big picture: A stronger European Union in the world, rubbing shoulders with its newly diminished partners. TheEU countries are partners from a smaller group (with 27 members) that has robbed 79 independent sovereigns of their right to vote, their right to make decisions, and the small group set agendas for the people that gave them the vote to rule the country. Among the agendas include gay rights, access to contraceptive and abortion rights even for young girls, and sexuality education. OH MALAWI! MY MALAWI! OH AFRICA, MY AFRICA!
It has long been the view of this author that, watching the state players of the Malawi Privatization program, the strategy where the Malawi Government sold all the shares it held in commercial entities, led to the country-wide buying of commercial companies, factories and nation-wide providers of services mostly by non-Malawians. Almost overnight, labor-intensive factories closed, with some uplifting machines, and hurling them across the border and setting up shop in neighboring countries.
During Malawi’s first 31 years of independence, there was forest fire development with the western allies led by the US, the UN and the EU, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and Israel. From 1964 to 1990, Malawi and other African countries experienced rapid growth, with donor countries falling all over themselves to finance projects in Malawi and Africa.
The big picture: to keep unwanted government systems such as communism and socialism out of Africa and other spheres of NATO influence.
The other big picture is three-pronged. The first is that of Africans and others taking part in two major world wars that helped the imperialist western allies fighting with imperialist Germany. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and surely pan-Africanists saw the irony and used it to gain leaps to gain freedom, voting rights, and independent status for the entire continent and India.
The second was the dividing Africa into countries, in 1884, in Berlin, Germany in Europe, and without a single African present in the room. This is the big picture of how the Allies (Africa’s colonial masters, ergo imperialists) were able to entice, lure, or compel African soldiers to fight in World War I and World War II, wars to stop the spread of imperialism. The big picture: the imperialists are still here commandeering, rib-poking our leaders, shaming them into agreeing to or doing some bizarre thing.
Failure to comply: they have been known to drop information about you, use your own country’s media with dirt stories about leaders, corruption, and other vices.
Regrettably the imperialists have been with us (they never left after African countries became independent. This worked out well for them as many African countries have discovered minerals such as gold, diamonds, uranium, and oil, which have been mined and then ferried to European countries, processed, made billions of dollars selling them, and then turned around to loan African countries money for its development projects.
Lastly in 1619 slave ships took Africans from West Africa and later the East. The big picture here is there is animosity between the African-American and the African-African, due to narratives that fly about African chiefs selling them into slavery. The big picture here is the ability the Europeans appear to have in creating this thereby keeping African Americas separated from Africa-Africans.
These are the optics in the big pictures; thus while you are muse and dream about “we are yet to find someone whom we can call a leader,” I hold with love and respect all the six Malawi leaders and their VPs, they are all great leaders that have ruled Malawi with much love in their hearts for Malawi; leaders that are good-natured, kind-hearted but their legends are marred by foreign intervention.
In Malawi, in a year when the country was hit hard by hurricane Freddie, Malawi was strong-armed by Washington institutions (IMF and World Bank) to devalue its currency by 44%. This is economic murder because in the same year, the EU was hovering over Malawi with threats and coaxing it to sign the emasculating NPA. The big picture: Malawi on the floor with the effects of Freddie, devaluation, and corruption in high places and all over the government sector.
In my memories are pictures of three uncles who fought in World War II, fighting the evil imperialists Germany and Japan. The irony of this big picture is that the colonial rulers that African countries helped to defeat Hitler and Hirohito, are still here, still controlling, still puppeteering, still dividing us, and still causing us to hate or fight one another.
My plea to Malawians is please can we all proverbially hug our leaders; the weight of foreign influence interference is too much. Pray Malawi, Pray!
While a father-son relationship sounds like there can only be so much to a traditionally awkward dynamic, films have made it clear that there’s so much more to it than we can comprehend. From being supportive to strict to protective to friendly, a dad’s love for his son shape-shifts into all these based on the requirement. In this list, we bring you father-son movies that transcend their roles and, in the process, uplift the dynamic.
16. Father of the Year (2018)
This comedy movie stars David Spade, Nat Faxon, Joey Bragg, and Matt Shively, directed by Tyler Spindel (Adam Sandler’s nephew). In the movie, we meet two college-going guys/friends who end up inadvertently pinning their dads against one another following a mere chit-chat about whose father would win in a fight. What follows is a string of incidents wherein relationships are compromised, among other serious stuff, and the guys come of age in a surreal manner as a result of fathers’ newly-revealed real identities. You can watch this movie right here.
15. Home Team (2022)
Directed by Daniel Kinnane and Charles Kinnane, ‘Home Team’ is a biographical sports drama showcasing the story of Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints head coach, who, after being suspended from the NFL for a year following the Bountygate scandal, returns to his hometown and decides to coach the Pop Warner 6-th grade football team that his 12-year-old son is a part of. In the endeavor, he also tries to reconnect with his son. It is this reconnection, underscored by a common love for sport, which the father-son movie shows. You can watch it here.
14. Hustle (2022)
Starring Adam Sandler and Juancho Hernangomez, and directed by Jeremiah Zagar, ‘Hustle’ is a sports drama that follows an American basketball scout Stanley Sugerman looking for the next big player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. On the verge of losing hope and giving up, he comes across a guy from Spain. Bo Cruz loves basketball but has to support his family which consists of his mother and daughter. However, when Stanley plays the money card, Bo agrees. But getting drafted in the NBA is no small feat, especially with Sugerman’s bosses negating his newfound talent. Thus begins the hustle of both Bo and Sugerman to prove themselves together. The rest of the cast includes Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, and Robert Duvall. You can watch the film here.
Directed by Shawn Levy, this sci-fi action flick stars Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, and Zoe Saldana. A fun-to-watch drama, it shows a 12-year-old, Adam Reed, living in the present (2022) and grieving the death of his father and his future self from 2050. They meet in the present and travel to the past to save their father and the world. In the endeavor, both mutually learn to cope with their father’s demise. What makes for the fun is that the two Adams don’t really like each other despite being the same self, leaving no stone unturned to take a dig at each other in signature Ryan Reynolds-style. The film does a rather good job of addressing the father-son dynamic while offering some great action sequences. You can stream the film here.
12. Dog Gone (2023)
This Stephen Herek directorial uses an effective means to showcase the strength of a father-son dynamic, a missing dog. Based on a true story that occurred in 1998, ‘Dog Gone’ shows Fielding Marshall and his father, John, set off on a journey to find Fielding’s beloved companion, Gonker, a yellow Labrador retriever, who bolted while he and Fielding were hiking along the Appalachian Trail. There is also a catch, which is that Gonker, who has Addison’s disease, is two weeks away from his next medication. The father-son duo’s race against time to find Gonker within 14 days is what the film showcases and does so brilliantly by showing how the quest also brings the duo closer, repairing their estranged relationship. You can stream the film here.
11. Father Soldier Son (2020)
Directed by Leslye Davis and Catrin Einhorn, this is a documentary film showcasing single father/U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Brian Eisch, his deployment, and how it affected his family life, especially his relationship with his two sons, Isaac and Joey. How he copes with the fear of wartime experiences taking a toll on his mind that might affect his loving relationship with his sons is the base on which this film builds itself. A moving experience; you can stream ‘Father Soldier Son’ here.
10. Animal (2023)
Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, this Indian Hindi language drama stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Tripti Dimri and Bobby Deol. The film follows Ranvijay “Vijay” Singh (Ranbir Kapoor) who is the son of wealthy and powerful business tycoon Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor). After a failed assassination attempt on Balbir who ends up the hospital due to multiple gunshot wounds, Vijay vows revenge on the culprits. His act of revenge is underscored by his complex love-hate relationship with his father that adds to his “animal” nature. A film that garnered a lot of controversy due to its take on toxic masculinity and its treatment of women, ‘Animal’ is yet a powerful film with brilliant performances, especially by Ranbir Kapoor as Vijay. You can watch the film here.
9. The Son (2022)
Directed by Florian Zeller, this family drama stars Hugh Jackman, Zen McGrath, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, and Anthony Hopkins. ‘The Son’ showcases a complex father-son case wherein Peter, in his second marriage, has to take care of his 17-year-old son Nicholas, from his first marriage, after he drops out of school. Peter’s childhood trauma made him a bad father to Nicholas. However, Peter is now ready to take him in and provide him with the help he needs to come out of the depression and anxiety, part of which is a result of Peter leaving his mother. Will Peter be successful in helping his son? To find out, you can stream the film here.
8. The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter (2018)
This Jody Hill directorial stars Josh Brolin, Montana Jordan, and Danny McBride and showcases a rite of passage as old as time itself (words borrowed from the film). The film entails famous hunter Buck Ferguson, who decides to take his son Jaden, who now lives with his mother (Buck’s ex-wife) and soon-to-be-stepdad Greg, on a hunting trip to reconnect with him. While the film is a comedy-drama, we get to see a nature-loving father figuring out a way to impress his estranged son, who doesn’t hate him but doesn’t care about him either. And the way the film uses nature as the base of operations is very effective when addressing such an organic bond. You can stream the film here.
7. Jersey (2022)
This is a gripping Indian Hindi-language film starring Shahid Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, and Ronit Kamra and directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri. The film is a remake of the Telugu film of the same title. It tells the story of Arjun Talwar, a father who is a former batsman suspended for bribery, and how he tries to get back to the sport at an age when most cricketers retire, 36. The main force behind his objective is to get his son Ketan a jersey of the Indian Cricket Team that the kid wanted on his birthday.
The father’s struggle, guilt, and pain that is further propelled by a son for whom he cannot get a birthday gift and a wife, Vidya, who is working hard to make ends meet for her family while keeping up with his irresponsible attitude, is showcased in the film. What we also get to see is the loving relationship of the son and the father that is exclusive of the pains of the father’s daily life. When he is with his son, he is the happiest. To see whether Arjun can play and get his son the gift, you can stream the film here.
6. Concrete Cowboy (2020)
Directed by Ricky Staub, ‘Concrete Cowboy’ is set against the backdrop of Philadelphia’s African-American horse-riding culture. It shows the strained relationship between cowboy Harp (Idris Elba) and his fifteen-year-old son, Cole (Caleb McLaughlin), whom his mother has sent to his estranged father to spend the summer with. Cole arrives at a completely different landscape ridden with hardships that are customary in a stable and, more so, a cowboy community. How the father and son get along by overcoming their differences is showcased nicely in an organic environment that is underscored by horses that are symbols of strength, courage, competitiveness, confidence, and nobility, which is a great way to address the titular dynamic. You can check out the film right here.
5. Serious Men (2020)
The second Indian Hindi-language film in this list, ‘Serious Men’ has been directed by Sudhir Mishra and stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Aakshath Das, Indira Tiwari and Shweta Basu Prasad. It revolves around an underprivileged man named Ayyan, who is an astronomer’s assistant, and his ten-year-old son Adi. Enraged with being unable to achieve anything in life, Ayyan plots a con by posing his son as a science prodigy by using a Bluetooth hearing device. Basically, Adi will convey to a crowd what Ayyan will tell him via the device. Ayyan’s plan works as Adi becomes a local celebrity, but when the former is offered a big sum of money by a politician, to which he says yes, trouble ensues. By showing how Ayyan makes use of Adi to fulfill his own dream, the film addresses how parents often put the weight of their own ambitions on the weak shoulders of their children while showcasing the father-son dynamic. A must-watch film; you can stream it here.
4. Udaan (2010)
Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, ‘Udaan’ is a brilliant Indian Hindi-language film about a 16-year-old boy named Rohan Singh who aspires to be a writer. But after being expelled from his boarding school for eight long years, he returns home to his authoritarian and abusive father, Bhairav, who isn’t happy at all with him and forces him to work in their family business as well as pursue his studies in an engineering college after working hours. But unforeseen circumstances follow that only seem to make matters worse between Rohan and Bhairav. To find out whether there is any reconciliation between the father and son, you can stream the film here.
3. OMG 2 (2023)
This Indian Hindi-language movie, directed by Amit Rai, is a standalone sequel to ‘OMG – Oh My God!’ (2012). ‘OMG 2’ shows an orthodox and religious father, Kanti Sharan Mudgal (Pankaj Tripathi), taking on his son’s school and society itself by fighting his son’s legal battle after the latter is expelled from school following a video of him masturbating in school goes viral. A commentary on sex that is a prevalent taboo in major parts of India and the importance of sex education, this film is a topic of discussion especially among Indian audiences, more so since it has an extended cameo from Lord Shiva himself, who sends his messenger to help his devotee. A treat to watch; you can stream ‘OMG 2’ here.
2. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who also stars in the film along with Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Philbert Falakeza, and Joseph Marcell, ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’ is based on the memoir of Malawian inventor/engineer/author William Kamkwamba. The movie tells the story of William whose knack for anything electronic ultimately allows him to build a windmill that brings water to his drought-affected village via its sole water pump. However, before he can do this, he endures a lot, including a fall-out with his father, who doesn’t let him utilize the family’s only asset, a bicycle, for the windmill’s parts. The film shows how the two come to a common ground while throwing light on the different perspectives of a son and a father. A beautiful film and a must-watch father-son flick; you can stream it here.
1. Sr. (2022)
Directed by Chris Smith, ‘Sr.’ is a documentary film that offers an in-depth view of one of the globe’s most popular actors’ relationship with his father as well as their careers. We are talking about Robert Downey Jr. and his father, the late Robert Downey Sr. How the two affected each other’s lives and shaped one another, as is shone in black-and-white, further adds to the organic nature of the film. You can stream it here.
This week, as the NWSL teams start pre-season training for the 2024 season, we begin a multi-part look at some new signings—both domestic and international—on both the playing and coaching side, as well as other interesting news.
We examine Angel City FC, Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, Kansas City Current and North Carolina Courage. Over the next few weeks, we will look at other teams in the league, particularly the two expansion teams: the Utah Royals and Bay FC in the San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland, California area, as well as the 2024 draft.
2024 NWSL Team Updates and News
Angel City FC
On January 14, Angel City FC signed U-18 forward and South Korea 2023 Women’s National Team player Casey Phair (16) through the 2026 season, who comes to the club via the NWSL’s U-18 Entry mechanism. She is an inspired signing by the club and the league; she was the youngest player to ever in a WWC Finals. She will also be the youngest player on the Angel City side. She also was the first Korean-American (and first diaspora) to receive a call up to the senior South Korea Women’s National Team. Prior to joining the senior team, Phair competed with the U-17 team, compiling five goals in two games, including a hat trick against Hong Kong in a Women’s Asian Cup Qualifier. Phair was born in Korea Republic but grew up in New Hampshire and New Jersey in the Northeast U.S.
Sixteen-year-old Casey Phair grew up in the States and played for Korea Republic in the 2023 Women’s World Cup Finals.
Phair now has signed to play with the NWSL’s City FC in Los Angeles.
(Photo courtesy Angel City FC).
Phair talked about her professional signing: “It feels like a dream come true. The first time I came to Los Angeles was last September. I trained with Angel City and fell in love with the culture and LA. All of the players were super welcoming and I really enjoyed everything about the city.”
On January 24, the club signed another AFC international player in Japanese goalkeeper Hannah Stambaugh (25) from Omiya Ardija Ventus of the WE League for a $10,000 transfer fee. Stambaugh spent the past three seasons with Omiya Ardija Ventus, appearing in eight matches for the club and earning one clean sheet. Before that, she spent four seasons with INAC Kobe Leonessa in the then top tier (now second division) Nadeshiko League, where she made 28 match appearances. She had played internationally for Japan at the U-20 level.
On January 12, Angel City acquired midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard (28) from the San Diego Wave FC in exchange for $40,000 in allocation money. Dougherty Howard played 17 games in all competitions with the San Diego Wave in 2023 for the NWSL Shield (regular season) winner, after signing with the club during the 2023 free agency window. Dougherty Howard spent two seasons with the Orlando Pride, appearing in 43 total matches for the Pride. Dougherty Howard, was drafted in the 2017 NWSL Draft out of the University of Florida by the Washington Spirit. Prior to being drafted, she competed on the Spirit Reserves 2015 and 2016 summer teams. With the University of Florida, she scored 14 goals and added 25 assists in 94 appearances.
Midfielder Madison Hammond has re-signed with the club through the 2025 season. Hammond was originally acquired via a trade with OL [now Seattle] Reign ahead of the club’s inaugural 2022 season. Last season, she scored 2 goals and had an 83% success rate on her passes, completing 567. Hammond spent two previous seasons with OL Reign, appearing in 20 games. Hammond, who is Navajo, San Felipe, and African American, is the first and only Native American woman to play in the NWSL and played collegiately at Wake Forest University.
French midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan has also signed a new contract with the club through 2024, with a mutual option for 2025. Le Bihan was acquired via transfer from Montpellier HSC of Division 1 Féminine in June 2022. In the past two seasons with ACFC, Le Bihan scored three goals and four assists in 41 total matches. Le Bihan spent six seasons with Montpellier, appearing in 109 total matches and scoring 29 goals. She has 16 caps with the French Women’s National Team, scoring four times. She also won a European Championship with the U-19 French Women’s National Team in 2013, was a member of the 2016 Olympic French Women’s National Team as a substitute, and played in the 2017 Euro Championships in the Netherlands.
Angel City acquired the rights to Costa Rican international Rachel ‘Rocky’ Rodriguez in exchange for $275,000 in allocation money from the Portland Thorns. Rodriguez appeared in 72 matches, across all competitions during her four seasons with the Thorns with seven goals and three assists. She was part of the 2022 NWSL Championship team, as well as winning the 2021 NWSL Shield, 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup, 2021 Women’s International Champions Cup and 2020 NWSL Community Shield. She also played with Sky Blue FC, where she was selected No. 2 overall in the 2016 NWSL Draft and ended up as the 2016 NWSL Rookie of the Year. She has 45 goals in 85 caps with Costa Rica and was on their 2023 WWC Finals side and played at Penn State University.
On the coaching side, Angel City named Lee Nguyen as assistant coach and promoted Eleri Earnshaw from assistant coach to first assistant to head coach Becki Tweed. Nguyen was an assistant with the Washington Spirit in 2022 but quit the team after six months to resume his professional playing career in Vietnam. He spent last season as an assistant coach with the Kansas City Current under then interim head coach Caroline Sjoblom of Finland, who coached for years in Sweden. He played for years in Major League Soccer with over 250 games, and in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Vietnam. He also was capped by the U.S. Men’s National Team across eight seasons.
Earnshaw has been with the club since its inaugural season in 2022, when she began as a performance analyst before being promoted to assistant coach in 2023. Before joining ACFC, Earnshaw, a native of Wales, coached collegiately at Fordham University, LIU Brooklyn, and Yale University. She led the NJ/NY Gotham FC Reserves team to an undefeated season and WPSL Conference Championship in 2022. Earnshaw is currently pursuing a PhD in performance at Grand Canyon University in Arizona. She played at Iona College where she was a three-year captain under then-head coach and now Chelsea/U.S. WNT head coach Emma Hayes. She played professionally for Arsenal and represented the Welsh Women’s National Team at the senior and youth levels.
Chicago Red Stars
The Chicago Red Stars have signed U.S. international forward Mallory Swanson (25) to a historic long-term contract, as she will earn more than any player ever has in the league—she signed through the 2028 season. Swanson, who was a free agent, will earn about $2 million over the term of the agreement, according to CBS Sports. Swanson joined the Red Stars in 2021 from Sky Blue FC (now New Jersey/New York Gotham FC) and scored 18 goals with 10 assists in 51 games across all competitions with the Illinois-based club. She played for new head coach Lorne Donaldson as a youth with Real Colorado. For the U.S. WNT, Swanson has been in the senior pool since she was 17-years-old.
A Women’s World Cup Champion with the 2019 USWNT, Swanson has made 88 appearances and scored 32 goals with 27 assists with the nats. Despite suffering an injury in April that sidelined the forward for the rest of the year and kept her out of the 2023 WWC Finals, Swanson was the United States’ top goal scorer with seven goals in six appearances. Swanson is married to Chicago Cubs baseball player Dansby Swanson.
The Chicago Red Stars have acquired defender Maximiliane Rall from FC Bayern München in the German Frauen-Bundesliga for an undisclosed transfer fee. Rall joins the Red Stars on a one-year contract through 2024, with a mutual option for 2025. Over three seasons, she made 40 appearances with Bayern, with 15 goals with four assists. She has been capped four times by Germany.
The Red Stars signed midfielder Chardonnay Curran to a two-year contract running through the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season after acquiring her off of waivers. Curran spent two seasons (30 games) with the Kansas City Current after being drafted 17th overall in the 2022 NWSL Draft by from the University of Oregon.
The team boosted their defense by trading for former Washington Spirit defender Sam Staab (26) in exchange for their third overall pick in the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Draft. Staab was a finalist for the NWSL’s 2023 Defender of Year award. Staab is also a three-time NWSL Ironwoman having played every available regular-season minute for the third time in her career.
The club also signed Shea Groom to a two-year contract. Groom is an experienced midfielder who spent four years with the Houston Dash. She played 61 matches with nine goals with seven assists across all competitions. She won the 2020 Challenge Cup and scored a goal in the championship match to give Houston a 2-0 win over Chicago to win the MVP honors. She won a NWSL title as a rookie in 2015 with Kansas City after playing at Texas A&M University. Over Groom’s nine years in the NWSL, the veteran has played for four teams, in 159 matches with 134 starts and scored 33 goals with 20 assists across all competitions.
The Chicago Red Stars have signed Finland international defender, Natalia Kuikka, to a three-year contract. Kuikka joins the club from Portland Thorns FC, where she played in 78 games in all competitions. She won a 2022 NWSL league title for the Thorns and helped the club win the 2021 Challenge Cup and the 2021 NWSL Shield. She has 84 caps for Finland and played in the EURO 2022 Finals. She is a four-time National Player of the Year for Finland (2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022). She played collegiately at Florida State University and with the Seattle Sounders Women of the WPSL in 2016. She won a Damallsvenskan title in 2020 with Kopparbergs/Goteborg FC (now BK Hacken).
On the coaching side, Chicago Red Stars have added Masaki Hemmi as assistant coach for the 2024 season. Hemmi joins from the United Soccer League club, New Mexico United, where he served as director of player personnel and first assistant coach. Hemmi also served as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at the University of Denver. In 2021, Hemmi joined Japanese side, INAC Kobe of the WE League, as associate head coach to help players prepare for the Tokyo Olympics.
Houston Dash
NWSL veteran Japanese international Yuki Nagasato (36) signed a two year contract through the 2025 season with the Houston Dash. Nagasato has 104 NWSL regular season starts in 118 games, scoring 22 goals and tallying 25 assists. Nagasato joins the Dash after five combined seasons with the Chicago Red Stars from 2017-2020 and 2022-2023. Chicago made the playoffs in four of the five seasons she played for Chicago, reaching the NWSL Championship in 2019. She spent the 2021 NWSL regular season with Racing Louisville.
Nagasato said: “I am super excited to join this ambitious club and being part of the Space City community. As a veteran player I want to bring harmony, calmness and a winning mindset to the team, as well as bringing a trophy to Houston. I can’t wait to get started to work with all the talented players and coaching staff and play in front of the fans at Shell Energy Stadium!”
Nagasato has played around the world including a season with Brisbane Roar FC during the 2018-2019 offseason, scoring 5 goals in 10 matches in Australia. Prior to joining the NWSL in 2017, the striker played for FFC Frankfurt in the Frauen-Bundesliga, from 2015-2017 and scored eight goals in 35 appearances. Nagasato won the DFB-Pokal [German Cup], with Wolfsburg in 2015, where she scored four goals and made her Frauen-Bundesliga debut in 2010 for FFC Turbine Potsdam where she scored 48 goals in 71 appearances from 2010 to 2013 and the UEFA Champions League title in 2010. At Potsdam, the team won the Frauen-Bundesliga title in three consecutive campaigns from 2010-2012. From 2013 to 2014, Nagasato played for Chelsea in the Women’s Premier League in England, scoring 5 goals in 18 games. Nagasato made her professional debut for Nippon TV Beleza in Japan in 2002 and played with the team through the 2009 season, where she won six league championships and was one of the league’s leading scorers for the 2006 season.
She played for Japan from 2004 to 2016 before stepping away from the team following the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. Nagasato made 132 appearances for the Japanese Women’s National Team and scored 58 goals. She won the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany and were runners-up in 2015 in Canada. She made her national team debut leading up to the 2004 Olympics. She also participated in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2008 Olympics.
The Dash acquired forward Cece Kizer plus a 2024 international roster spot in a trade with the Kansas City Current; the Dash sent Canadian international forward Nichelle Prince to the Current (see more below). Kizer previously played for the Dash from 2019-2020 and was a member of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup winning team. Over a season and a half with the Current, she appeared in 35 matches and scored 13 goals and added three assists.
On the coaching side, the Dash hired well-respected European men’s and women’s coach Fran Alonso as their new head coach. Alonso joins from Celtic FC Women in Scotland, who he guided to two Scottish Cup titles in 2022 and 2023 plus a Scottish Premier League Cup in 2021. Celtic finished second in the league to long-time powerhouse Glasgow City twice during the past three seasons.
During his time at Celtic, Alonso led the team to a 76-9-11 (W-D-L) record in the Scottish Women’s Premier League. He joined Celtic in 2020 as the first head coach of the women as they turned professional. Under Alonso, 12 Celtic players were named to their respective national team for the first time and nine players earned their first senior appearance.
He told the media: “I am very excited for the opportunity to join the Houston Dash and coach in the NWSL, one of the best leagues in the world. Houston is the perfect place for me. It will be a great honor and a huge responsibility for me, and I can’t wait to meet the players, technical staff and management and work with such a talented group of professionals. I am very confident that we will be able to implement a brave, exciting, dynamic and dominant style of play that can help the Dash build an identity on-and-off the field. I also look forward to connecting with the fans, our community in Houston, and creating something very special. We want to build a team that the city of Houston can be proud of.”
Alonso has also coached Lewes FC Women in England for one season and on the men’s side, was an assistant coach with Everton FC under Dutch coach Ronald Koeman in his first year with the club and then English coach Sam Allardyce as the team competed in the men’s English Premier League, while also assisting the Everton Ladies. Alonso was the first team technical coach under Maurico Pochettino with Southampton Football Club in the English Premier League from 2012-2014 and under Ronald Koeman from 2014-2016, while also serving as the technical director for Southampton Women FC.
As we went to press, we learned from the Swedish media that Pablo Pinones-Arce (42) has left Hammarby of Stockholm, Sweden, after leading their women’s side to the league and cup double in 2023 (joining the side in 2020), to join the Houston Dash at their technical director. He was capped by Sweden at the U-21 level and played for many years for Swedish sides, as well as spells in Denmark and India. One media source who follows the league feels that he is very good in working with players and a better role for him might ultimately be on the field. With the Dash’s constant turnover of coaches in recent years, that may be a possibility if Fran Alonso doesn’t work out or leaves for another position at some point.
Kansas City Current
The Kansas City Current have signed Brazilian international Beatriz Zaneratto João, better known as Bia, to a contract through the 2024 season with a club option for 2025. General manager Camille Ashton said: “Bia is an extraordinary talent that will impact our team immediately.” New head coach and former U.S. international head coach Vlatko Andonovski said: “Bia’s goal scoring ability, creativity in and around the box are extraordinary. She is a world-class forward, proven in club and country.”
Bia signed as a professional as a 13-year-old with Ferroviária in Brazil before transferring to Santos in 2010. She moved to Asia, first to Korea Republic powerhouse Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels, playing in 103 games and scoring 76 goals; she helped the side to seven consecutive WK League titles from 2013 to 2019. In 2020 she played nine games alongside new Current teammate and Malawian international Temwa Chawinga (25) at Wuhan Jianghan University in the Chinese Women’s Super League and scored seven goals before going back to Brazil, first on loan with Palmeiras and then permanently. Chawinga’s sister Tabitha (27) is still contracted to Wuhan but has spent the last two seasons in Europe, on loan first to Inter Milan and is now with Paris St. Germann.
Bia first started playing for Brazil’s youth international side at the age of 14, and was on the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup side in New Zealand. In 2011, she was capped at the senior level and currently has 103 appearances for Brazil, scoring 36 goals. She is a veteran of four FIFA World Cups (2011, 2015, 2019, 2023) and two Olympic games (2016, 2020).
The Kansas City Current acquired Canadian Olympic Gold Medal winning forward Nichelle Prince from the Houston Dash in exchange for forward Cece Kizer and an international slot for 2024. Prince was originally drafted by the Dash with the 28th overall pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft; she played in 88 games and scored 12 times. For Canada she started playing internationally with their U-17 side in 2010. She was first capped at the senior level in 2013 and has 96 caps for her country with 16 goals and 12 assists. She has been part of the two World Cup teams (2019, 2023) and helped her country to a Bronze medal in the 2016 London Olympics and a Gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Sad news is that U.S. international and Current midfielder Samantha Mewis has retired from the game. She won the 2012 U-20 in Japan and 2019 Senior WWC in France. Mewis explained her decision to the media: “Unfortunately, my knee can no longer tolerate the impact that elite soccer requires. Though this isn’t what I wanted, this is the only path forward for me. I want to thank everyone who has been on my team throughout this journey. Soccer has put so many wonderful things in my life, but the most wonderful thing has been the people. To all my family, friends, teammates, and fans, I truly feel that we did this together and I’m extremely grateful.”
She is joining the media as editor-in-chief of the new women’s vertical, The Women’s Game, on the Men in Blazers Media Network.
She was a huge star at the domestic and international level. In 2021, while playing with Manchester City in the WSL, she was named #1 on ESPN FC’s list of the world’s best women’s soccer players. She won the FA Cup with City in 2020. Mewis won three NWSL titles, one with the Western New York Flash and two with the North Carolina Courage. In 2013, Mewis helped lead the UCLA Bruins to their first NCAA Championship.
In 2021, she had arthroscopic surgery after the Olympics and has had to stop playing as she then underwent major knee surgery in January of 2023. She has not played in the NWSL since two Challenge Cup games early in 2022 after being acquired by the club in a trade with the North Carolina Courage in late 2021, missing two full regular seasons. Sam Mewis would have been a shoe-in for the 2023 WWC Finals in New Zealand and Australia if she were healthy. In total, she made 83 appearances for the USA, scoring 24 goals and her final appearance for the national team was against Uzbekistan in April 2022.
North Carolina Courage end
In arguably the surprise internal move in the league during the off-season, the Courage sent the fifth overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft and $250,000 allocation money to the Washington Spirit for Ashley Sanchez. She has 25 full WNT caps for the U.S., with three goals and four assists, and was on the team that made the Round of 16 last summer at the Women’s World Cup.
Sanchez had 17 goals and eight assists across all competitions with the Spirit since joining the club in 2020. She helped the club to the 2021 NWSL Championship and a runner-up finish in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup.
The Courage made a major international signing with German Women’s National Team defender Felicitas ‘Feli’ Rauch (27) after the club paid a transfer fee to Frauen Bundesliga power Vfl Wolfsburg. She signed a two-year, guaranteed contract through the 2025 NWSL season. She has 36 caps with 4 goals for Germany’s full national team, including playing at the 2022 Women’s EUROS, where Germany finished runners-up to host side England, and 2023 Women’s World Cup Finals.
In Australia, she started in Germany’s opening match, a 6-0 win over Morocco before a training injury sidelined her for the remainder of the tournament as Germany crashed out of the tournament at the group stage. She’s played at the club level for the Frauen-Bundesliga superpower Wolfsburg since 2019, playing in 80 league games and scoring 8 times; this season she had a pair of assists in five matches played thus far. She’s helped the European giant to two Frauen-Bundesliga championships, four straight DFB Pokal Frauen titles, and a pair of runners-up finishes in the UEFA Women’s Champions League in 2019-20 and 2022-23. She started her career in 2010 at FFC Turbine Potsdam’s Academy (who were relegated last season), moved up to the second team in 2012 and then to the first team in 2014, playing in 89 games and scoring 22 times across five seasons.
The North Carolina Courage signed Canadian international and free agent forward Bianca St-Georges to a two-year, guaranteed contract through the 2025 NWSL season. The deal also includes a mutual option for 2026. The former West Virginia Mountaineer has spent her entire professional career in Chicago, drafted by the Red Stars in the third round of the 2019 NWSL Draft; she scored six goals and three assists in 44 games with the Red Stars.
In the 2023 regular season in Chicago, she had four goals and one assist in 21 regular season matches and one goal and one assist in Challenge Cup games. She has nine national team caps at the senior level for Canada and represented Canada at two FIFA youth tournaments.
The North Carolina Courage and free agent midfielder Dani Weatherholt have agreed to terms on a two-year, guaranteed contract through the 2025 NWSL season.. Weatherholt was originally drafted by the Orlando Pride in 2016 and has nearly 10,000 minutes of NWSL regular season experience across seven seasons. Weatherholt spent the last two seasons with her hometown Angel City FC after a selection in the 2022 expansion draft.
Weatherholt was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft and made 74 appearances in four seasons with the Pride. Orlando then traded Weatherholt to Seattle Reign FC ahead of the 2021 season. With Angel City, she made 41 appearances across two seasons in Los Angeles. Weatherholt went on loan to Australian club Melbourne Victory during the 2018-19 offseason and made 12 appearances to help the club win the Premiership [regular season] title. She played collegiately at Santa Clara University in Northern California.
Emily Fox (25), who made the 2023 WWC last summer, joined Arsenal of the WSL in the off-season; she played three seasons in the league and has 39 caps since her debut in 2018. She left the Courage after one season, following two years with Racing Louisville and played collegiately at North Carolina State University. Her new club Arsenal is averaging 26,640 fans per match this season after 5 WSL matches and is on course to set world record for average attendance for women’s league sides.
Arsenal is well ahead of either of her past teams’ gates, with Racing averaging 5,999 last season while the Courage drew on average 5,384—both clubs were in the bottom third of NWSL teams on the attendance table. In the WSL, Arsenal‘s gates are almost double second place Manchester United (13,506), with the other 10 teams are averaging under 10,000 a game, with five clubs averaging less than 4,000 a game: Manchester City (3,617), Brighton and Hove Albion (3,408), Leicester City (2,219), Everton (1,415) and West Ham United (1,217).
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham is on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today.
Racism is an adult disease and parents should stop spreading it through their children. – US civil rights advocate Ruby Bridges who was the first African American to attend an all-white school in segregated education system in southern USA
Children are the spitting image of who we (parents and other adults) demonstrate. We must take care of how we play life out in front or even behind them. Put on the best presentation of your life for them. Their future depends on the drama you parade in front of them. Janet Karim, 01.23.2034: theme for forthcoming book entitled Dear God, are You still there?
Let us face facts, let us get real, and let us properly recollect our history when we consider the third national resolution: one of the many prized jewels, former President H.Kamuzu Banda, left the country was the love for education. What to do about education was part of the famous three Gweru dreams of jailed nationalist Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Through the dream, Kamuzu recounted (as was his nature – if you forgot anything, he was always quick to remind you through his “as I have said many times before…..”) the dreams, among them University in Zomba (also recounted through Mbumba music “University kuZomba chifukwa cha aNgwazi, cheKamuzu!” Translation: University in Zomba because of the Ngwazi, Ngwazi!). Somewhere along the route to 2024 (our 60th anniversary of Independence, the country took a left turn, and many of the established items in the education bucket got thrown out, altered, or replaced. Oh Malawi! My Malawi!
During the 39 years that I knew Kamuzu, looking at his varied degrees (history, medicine, he may even have done some law, classical studies), I saw him as a Jack of all trades and Master of all trades. One had to learn how to fry an egg (sunny side up please!) and make coffee at the same time. Thus during his administration, some have called it the reign of terror (the European Reign of Terror was few thousand degrees higher than the Malawian one – another day), systems were established among them a heavily well-planned education system: primary education (later added the segment M’mela M’poyamba, equivalent of Nursery/Pre-School School), secondary school, and the tertiary school. Then there came the Kamuzu Academy with Latin, Classics, and music.
Outside the formal schooling, through population growth (2 million t0 current 21m), the government set up other schooling opportunities. Among these were the Government upgrading school in Mpemba, augmented by the Malawi Institute of Management, Women’s Magomero Training Centre, and the Malawi Young Pioneer Leadership Training Bases. There were also agricultural training activities, through links with the Republic of Taiwan.
A major boon to the learning process was the presence of the Malawi Book Service that secured books for learning on the international and local markets, making them easily accessible to learners country wide. Thanks to the Malawi Privatization Programme, the World Bank, and its cousin IMF) the MBS died at the dawn of democratic governance in 1995.
The 2024 tertiary education resolution is a plea for the country to introduce the Malawi Diplomatic Academy (MDA) to be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MIM, Mpemba Staff Training College, Ministry of Education, and the Human Resource Department. These departments will coordinate who the resource persons are, and provide space for the training of diplomats.
Before moving further into the deep pockets of the MDA, it must be borne in every person’s mind reading this article that every person who goes outside the country, speaks on behalf of Malawi or in a capacity to work with someone who is the representative, IS A DIPLOMAT.
It goes without saying, this fold of the diplomatic corps also envelopes the private sector. Although training for this group will not be as intense or lengthy as the frontline diplomats those people known as ambassadors, first secretaries, and attaches, the brief training in diplomacy is vital because whether sent by the government or a private company, immediately a delegate introduces himself or herself as a Malawian, his or her post as a diplomat is automated. All and anything you do or say will be thrown into the bag labeled “The Malawian delegate Did/Said This or That).
The Academy for diplomacy is self-sustaining and in fact could earn some income for the MOFA and the facilitators. Malawi has been sending diplomats since 1964; while the diplomats from then are not around, the ones that went abroad afterwards are here and can provide helpful facilitations for the MDA. Courses can be from three weeks (persons on the VIP or VVIP entourage), three months, six months, one year, and up to a two-year Masters Course. The MA is for the people that want to secure positions as career diplomats. These in between for various sessions and specializations like trade negotiations, health considerations. Malawians traveling outside the country on behalf of government or private companies or NGOs are all prospective clients of the MDA.
Can all the parliamentary drifters please get into Draft Mode and start drafting such a school into being please?
I am a product of the Banda Administration and his education for national development policy. I soaked in rain, heat and everything in between, listening to the voice of Malawi’s lone Mentor-in-Chief, who also was our President. I once listened to him drone and wax lyrical about Cicero (an Ancient Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer) during one of his Chichewa Public Lectures. I don’t remember anything being said by Kamuzu in Chichewa; everything he said was in English (with Tembo translating in Chichewa). I went to my dormitory at Chancellor College (current University of Malawi), did a little research (three books), wrote a paper for history, and got a distinction.
I told my friends I was going to pay more attention to Kamuzu. Before he was just a dictator who got rid of his challengers (they were not his enemies; they challenged him, THEN they became enemies), made harsh rules, caused me to almost make my children miss the thrill of holding a baby crocodile art Vic Falls (Kamuzu’s “I’ll make you meat for crocodiles” statement on my mind), and other Kamuzu things. When he flew into the past to dig up Chewa, Ngoni, ancient West African, global histories, he always helped me excel in writing my university courses.
Various changes to our tertiary education are mind boggling:
1. Make primary school students learn in their vernacular. NO
2. Bring Malawi Book Service back. YES
3. CHANGE OF Polytechnic to Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. NO because of the acronym MUBAS.
4. Change MUBAS at Malawi Polytechnics and Business University MAPOBU. YES
5. Introduce the MOFA Malawi Diplomatic Academy. YES
Malawi at 60 years of independence and 30 of democratic governance, must leap into the next levels of development. The foundations were laid. If you did not know, now you know!
Five years after he made his directorial debut at Sundance, actor and filmmaker Chiwetel Ejiofor returned to the fest Monday with his sophomore feature, Rob Peace. The film is based on Jeff Hobbs’ 2014 book The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace and tells the true story of a Peace, who grew up in Orange, New Jersey and went on to attend Yale majoring in biochemistry.
In the film, Peace sells marijuana at Yale to earn money that he uses to help overturn his father’s murder conviction, and expresses his desires to return the neighborhood where he grew up.
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Speaking ahead of the fest, Ejiofor points out that “within the African American experience, the connection to home, the connection to place, the connection to community is somehow less valid.” He continues: “Anybody who actually tries to reinstitute themselves within that community is somehow failing, on some level.”
The film holds parallels — especially a commitment to community — with Ejiofor’s first feature, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. That film tells the true story of a young man in Wimbe, Malawi who refuses to give up on his family farm, devastated by drought and famine, instead building a windmill to restart village’s water pump.
Ejiofor talked to THR about the similarities between his directorial works and the importance of filming on location in New Jersey in New Jersey.
How did you find the book?
I read the book not long after it came out. Robert spoke to me in terms of all of the different intersections that he was dealing with. He’s three years younger than me, and a lot of his experiences, thoughts and feelings, I really related. I felt that I really understood. He felt like a character of my time. It was sort of coincidental that, a few a few years later, Rebecca Hart and Antoine Fuqua approached me having seen my first film, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, about getting involved in the film version of this.
What did you want potential audiences to see in Rob’s story?
He grew up in this period of time where we have this idea of social mobility, and he was at the absolute intersection of education and housing and the criminal justice system. There is this idea of how people move through these spaces and are still true to their own community. Here was this very brilliant young man who is trying to juggle all of these thoughts. Rob was maintaining a full, proper, honest connection to who he was. [He was] able to navigate these complex social spaces that are set up, in some way, to his detriment. He was, to some degree, unable to do this, as well. It really speaks to larger circumstances of race, housing, education, and criminal justice.
There’s still this associated blame placed on people; there’s language and ideology that suggests that an idea of not being able to find your way out. As if, within the African American experience, the connection to home, the connection to place, the connection to community is somehow less valid. What Rob is experiencing and the world that he works in, seems to me, entirely legitimate. And somehow the way that those [communities] are discussed, especially if the community is impoverished, it’s as if escaping that said community is the ultimate goal. And anybody who actually tries to reinstitute themselves within that community is somehow failing, on some level. This is not really applied to any other social or economic or racial group. It is quite specific in the African American communities.
Did you film on location in New Jersey?
It was really important to shoot where all of the things happened, as much as possible. So much of it is centered in that experience of East Orange. We shot in houses in East Orange, and you’re relying hugely on the goodwill of the community, especially when it’s running late, and there’s generators everywhere with blaring lights. People really supported the project, and a lot of people were very aware of Rob and his journey and what happened to him.
How did you find your lead?
It was a difficult process until it becomes very, very simple. For me, it was all about interpretation— how people see how people see Rob. Whether they perceive him as somebody who is trying to fit into these different spaces, or whether they see him as a the same stable, solid, individual who is believably in all of these spaces. That proves to be a sticking point. The perception is that there is a, for want of a better expression, a code switching that people lean into. There is the idea that he was playing up these different parts of his personality, or these different parts of his circumstances, which I didn’t believe was true. He felt very at ease in very different spaces. He felt like he was able to move through different places as one person. Jay [Will] came out of the COVID years at Juilliard, so he didn’t really have a showcase. There were some clips of him from school that you could access online. But as soon as I started to see him interact with this material, I was very aware that he was somebody who was capturing all sides of this character without forcing anything. I just believed him in all of these spaces.
This is you second feature as a director. What did you learn from this production that you will be taking with you into your future directing work?
What really struck me was, when watching the film from the first assembly, I started to see the similarities in both films. There is the ton and pacing of scenes, and similar interpersonal relationships. You become aware, as a writer-director, that these are part of how you see the world and therefore how you relay it, artistically. And you can’t really know that until you start seeing more of your own work. It’s an enjoyable feeling to start to see [the connections] and maybe then, when I’m directing in the future, I will lean more into that.
