From broadcaster Esther Armah‘s Facebook page:

Thought for the Day. Idris Elba, 6 ft 2, Chocolate brown, a brother, an actor, formerly of The Wire, will play Norse blond Viking deity Heimdall called “the whitest of gods” in new film Thor by Kenneth Branagh, from Marvel comics. A brother playing a white God? Role choice provoked storm with comic fans. A bro playing a white God? Sweet justice or unacceptable history re-write?

Further Reading

Writing while black

Percival Everett’s novel ‘Erasure’ raised questions about Black middle-class complicity in commodifying the traumas of Black working-class lives, but the film adaptation leaves little room to explore these tensions.

The Mogadishu analogy

In Gaza and Haiti, the specter of another Mogadishu is being raised to alert on-lookers and policymakers of unfolding tragedies. But we have to be careful when making comparisons.

Kwame Nkrumah today

New documents looking at British and American involvement in overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah give us pause to reflect on his legacy, and its resonances today.