Sunday, May 25 was Africa Day, and Twitter marked the occasion with the hashtag "The Africa We Want." Peace, safety, and free expression — in politics locally and in stories told globally — got a lot of play.
#TheAfricaWeWant is one in which guns are silent, impunity is tackled & with dignity, prosperity, protection, equality & justice for all.
How do we create an environment where criticising your president is seen as an act of patriotism & not treason? #theafricawewant #afdbam2014
#TheAfricaWeWant is 1 where our his/herstories are re-written from an African perspective so we can teach our children what REALLY happened.
#TheAfricaWeWant is 1 where our children have African children's books, animated films, & dolls so that they have strong self identities.
#TheAfricaWeWant says no to xenophobia, undertsanding that borderlines over our motherland are actually scars from past brutalisations.
Women and girls are at the center of many of the tweets. Education, freedom from street harassment, and respect for the right of women to say "no" feature prominently. There is even a call for a new kind of feminism.
#TheAfricaWeWant is built alongside fearless and educated women
In #TheAfricaWeWant, we will never ask others to #BringBackOurGirls because they'll all be safe and sound in their homes, schools, streets
#TheAfricaWeWant a place where women can go for a jog without being stared at or harassed
Where men know that a woman's no means NO. Period. #TheAfricaWeWant
#TheAfricaWeWant a radical shift from corporate and NGO Feminism that's taken root - to a Feminism concerned with structural transformation.
Greater opportunity for the young and talented — and greater responsibility among the men (it's still mostly men) who lead families and nations — rose among the concerns.
#TheAfricaWeWant makes it that young people look forward to growing up and working on the continent, and investing in it.
#TheAfricaWeWant is one where #BrainDrain will be totally reversed & all our brilliant minds will be able to thrive within the continent.
RT @majestic_end: #TheAfricaWeWant is one where our men start taking responsibility for their children. Too many single Black mothers! Wher…
#TheAfricaWeWant: leaders who respect each other and thier people before calling on the west to respect them and Africa! #afdbam2014
#TheAfricaWeWant is one where leadership is a service and not a platform to wealth,nepotism and tribalism.
There were calls to keep more of Africa's wealth on the continent — and for Africans to be better stewards of the continent's resources.
#TheAfricaWeWant Is an Africa that controls its means of production. An Africa that connects what it produces to benefit the people.
Less toxic, violent relationship with land #TheAfricaWeWant
And there were some clear ideas about what wasn't wanted.
Searched for ‘Uganda’ on @Shutterstock, 99% of the images are of wild animals. Not a single image of Kampala. This is not #TheAfricaWeWant
Look at #KasaraniConcentrationCamp & deportations across Africa; hang our heads in shame at our narrow idea of community #TheAfricaWeWant