AfricaIs aCountry

Father figure

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Father figure

By
Sean Jacobs

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNn2bqNSS6k&w=600&h=369]

Filmmaker Kurt Orderson sent me “The Unseen Ones,” his new 19-minute musical documentary about the very talented Cape Town rasta rapper Nico10long working on his new self-titled EP (produced by Martin Muller). The dialogue is mostly in Afrikaans with subtitles. Rastafari’s appeal, gangsterism, HIV-AIDS, and identity politics, all get a turn. Fellow MC’s Benji Tafari and Silver Tongue make guest appearances.  The film concludes with Nico10long’s new video for the single “Vaderfiguur” (translated: “Father Figure”).

Further Reading

Sovereignty beyond the nation

A new history of the interwar Latin American left recovers the rich debates over race and self-determination that shaped the region’s anti-imperial politics—and still resonate today.

Fields of dependency

As the US-Israel war on Iran disrupts fertilizer supply, Africa’s reliance on imported inputs exposes the deeper political economy driving food insecurity.

Whose progress?

A new documentary reveals how Ethiopia’s manufacturing push redistributes land, labor, and opportunity—delivering gains for some while displacing others.