Colonize then, deport now
Trump’s deportation regime revives a colonial blueprint first drafted by the American Colonization Society, when Black lives were exiled to Africa to safeguard a white republic.
United States
The grift tank
In Washington’s think tank ecosystem, Africa is treated as a low-stakes arena where performance substitutes for knowledge. The result: unqualified actors shaping policy on behalf of militarists, lobbyists, and frauds.
Between Washington and Beijing
Amid Trump’s tariffs, Africa faces trade disruptions, corporate power, and emerging partnerships in its quest to control its economic destiny.
Velvet rebellions
The oppositional sartorial lens of Congolese sapeurs exposes the limits and frailties of representation work in New York's Met Gala.
Trump tariffs and US Imperialism
Trump’s April 2025 tariff blitz ignited market chaos and deepened rifts within his own coalition. Beneath the turmoil lies a battle between technocrats, ultranationalists, and anti-imperial populists, all vying to reshape—or destroy—American global power.
The end of US empire is not the end of the world
As American hegemony unravels, the Global South must resist both nostalgia and passivity. Multipolarity won’t arrive on its own—it must be built through struggle.
Sanctions as civilizational warfare
Framed as hard diplomacy, economic sanctions are a subtler form of warfare—one that erodes sovereignty, punishes civilians, and extends colonial power under a new name.
Tariffs, Trump, and the Global South
Trump’s trade war is framed as a battle with China—but its fallout is exposing just how little power African economies have in a rigged global system.
Why the far right needs violence
Javier Milei rose to power promising freedom—but his government is unleashing economic violence, criminalizing dissent, and testing the limits of Argentina’s democracy.
Liberal internationalism after USAID
As US aid falters, the crisis of liberal internationalism deepens. What comes next when even its strongest institutions can no longer hold the facade together?
New route for old exploitation
A US-backed infrastructure project in the DRC is framed as development, but history suggests it’s just another pipeline for foreign powers to profit from Congo’s riches.
Elon Musk’s South African fantasy
Musk’s outrage over land reform in South Africa isn’t about fairness—it’s about fueling right-wing paranoia and preserving economic privilege.
We have the right to political anger
As students face repression for protesting genocide, universities must decide: will they defend freedom or enforce silence?
The wrong way to end aid
The humanitarian industrial complex should be dismantled—but not by a billionaire-backed administration with no plan beyond abandonment.
Elon Musk and the hypocrisy of the West
Musk’s embrace of far-right politics and Zionism reveals the fractures in Western liberal democracy, where whiteness trumps equality and justice.
An allegiance to abusers
This weekend, Chris Brown will perform two sold-out concerts in South Africa. His relationship to the country reveals the twisted dynamic between a black American artist with a track record of violence and a country happy to receive him.
Tyla and the politics of ambiguity
Tyla’s rise as a global pop star highlights the complexities of race, identity, and cultural representation, challenging how Blackness is perceived across the diaspora.
Americans, after all
End of the year reflections on the United States of America, from the Global South.
Hopium kills but hope seeds
Reflections on Trump’s 2024 US presidential victory.
When you get under Antony Blinken’s skin
On the deplatforming of 'African Stream.'