Raping a woman: one man’s story

“When I was fifteen years old,I look part in a gang rape”

One in four South African men has raped a woman, according to a survey out this month. It’s a saddening, but not suprising statistic for Dumisani Rebombo to learn. When he was fifteen, he joined in the gang rape of a woman, under pressure from his friends to prove that he was ‘a man’. Dumisani has written about the experience for the BBC website. Read his story here.

On air: Are you celebrating Iraq’s National Sovereignty Day?

Here’s a quote from the first e-mail i opened today :

“the atmosphere down here is feverish and electric, like a huge celebration or something, there’s a mixture of joy, pride, fear, and apprehension.”

The e-mailer is Lubna, our long time WHYS friend and contributor, studying medicine in Baghdad. For many of the WHYS community we’ve seen the story in Iraq through Lubna’s eyes.

Are symbolism and revenge part of justice?

Extraordinary evil. That’s how the judge described the actions of Bernard Madoff, before sentencing the convicted fraudster to 150 years behind bars.

There’s no doubt that Madoff has ruined countless lives with his litany of lies over decades. There have even been suicides attributed to the damage he caused.

On air: Does it matter if Michael Jackson was black or white?

This is what Jamie Foxx said at yesterday’s Black Entertainment Awards in LA. “We want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everyone else.” Just a couple of sentences, but it’s brought to the boil a heated debate that was already simmering.

Madoff: did the judge get it right?

150 years for Bernard Madoff. Is that the right figure? His lawyer had complained before the sentence about a sense of “mob vengeance” in the way victims were campaigning? If that’s proved to be the case, would you mind?

Michael, Neda, and us.

The death of two people last week has got you talking – and some of you making comparisons between the two.

Neda Agha-Soltan was shot dead in the street in Tehran, and Michael Jackson died after a cardiac arrest at the age of 50.

When the Iranian protests began, we spent 7 of the next 8 days discussing the issue on-air, and here on the blog.

When Michael Jackson died, it was a huge story (i realise that’s a massive understatement ) but for some of you it wasn’t worth spending any time on.

Are we rewriting history over Michael Jackson?

At the Black Entertainment Television awards on Sunday night, there was one comment that got a bigger cheer than any other. To screams of support, host Jamie Foxx yelled, “We want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else.” Isn’t this the same identity that Michael Jackson rejected as his skin became lighter and lighter? With his death are we rewriting the history of Michael Jackson’s life?

On air: Michael Jackson and you

He clearly means an enormous amount to many of you (we’ve had over 10,000 message already into BBC News). But some of you need persuading that he was this big a deal, and that he warrants this much attention. If you’re mourning, tell us why the man and the music are so important to you. And if you think the reaction is over the top, tell us why too. Is it because you don’t like his music, or just that no musician warrants this level of adoration?

Your favourite MJ tracks

We’re after a nomination and a reason why – and I’ll do my best to post the track if it’s on YouTube. I’ll kick off with Maybe Tomorrow by the Jackson 5. I was living in Johannesburg and went down to a pawn shop at the end of the road. There was a big pile of vinyl and sitting near the bottom was the album Maybe Tomorrow. I had all their big hits on 45, but not this and Michael Jackson’s vocal on the title track hit the spot straight away.

NELSON GOES FOR MAN IN THE MIRROR (see comment below)…

Michael Jackson is dead

The King of Pop, a faded child star, a musical genius with a flawed personal life, there are so many ways to remember Michael Jackson.