AFRICA IS A COUNTRY

Columbia University

Monday, March 24th, 2014

Redefining Diaspora in Harlem

In "Our Kind of People" (image above) the Harlem-based artist Bayeté Ross Smith examines how clothing, ethnicity and gender affect our ideas about identity, personality and character. Devoid of any context for assessing the personality of the individual in the photograph, each photograph forces the viewer to face his or her own cultural biases. Ross Smith was...

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Africa’s media considered

By Elliot Ross, Guest Blogger We don’t give Africa a pass just because we are Africans. It’s a mistake to respond to blanket negative coverage with blanket positive coverage. Africa is overexposed not underexposed. We just get...

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Tendai Biti @ Columbia University

Tendai Biti tells the story of being on a plane to an international conference with Robert Mugabe. Mugabe approached his finance minister and prodded his shoulder accusingly. “Biti,” he said. “Your trouble is that you forget that...

Monday, February 28th, 2011