Revolution-one year later

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the Tunisian revolution-the revolution that led to the ousting of then-President Ben Ali in Tunisia and sparked off more than a year of change and upheaval throughout the whole Middle East region.  No one was really sure what the day would bring-the Tunisians I talk to (mostly my students) are by turns hopeful about the future of the country and despairing about how little the government seems to be accomplishing.  With this in mind, I headed down to Avenue Habib Bourguiba to check out the festivities.  As expected, Tunisian flags and nationalistic sentiments were everywhere:

The Ennahda, the majority-holding, moderate Islamist party from October's elections, presented a program from the steps of the theater:

Meanwhile, other political groups, such as the Communist and Salafist Islamic parties, paraded up and down the avenue to win adherents to their respective ideologies:

You can read Tunisia Live's coverage of the events here.

I was also happy to check out the events with my friend Nev, who used the occasion to kick off his new project: Music and Memory.  He'll be travelling around the country interviewing all kinds of people about what music they remember listening to during the revolution.  If the work he has done before is any indication, I'm sure it will be a fascinating project-be sure to check it out!