The narrative of homophobia in Africa
The identities, liberal or homophobe are cultural and political. They are not a perfect mirror of the narrative of homophobia in Africa.
Everything must fall
Fees Must Fall (#FMF) brought student activism at South Africa’s elite universities into the global media spotlight. A new documentary zooms in on the case of Wits in Johannesburg.
The lady is not for turning
Nigeria’s former finance minister wrote a book about her time in government. It is a thinly veiled attempt to clean up her image.
Mapping the African land rush
The consequences for land grabbing on the African continent could be devastating for the development goals of nations in the long term.
Eritrea and Ethiopia’s economic dividend
What economic gains are in the peace deal between longstanding foes?
Africa No Filter
The major problem with the term "decolonization" is its status as empty signifier, argues South African psychologist Wahbie Long.
A critical look at some of the problematic assumptions that defined African literature during the decades of its inception.
Culture
The architects of fantasy
Among the Ga people of Ghana, there’s more to a coffin and the rituals of death than meets the western eye.
Achille Mbembe’s Fanonian meditations
Mbembe’s work is written against the backdrop of the disillusionment generated by the crushing of the hopes and aspirations of the decolonizing movement in Africa in the 1950s and 60s.
An enduring European tradition
An interview with Berlin-based Sierra Leonean electronic musician Lamin Fofana on Europe’s longtime fascination with African culture.
Only the soil can free us
Why agricultural change is political change. Take the case of farmers in Burkina Faso.
Pride, prejudice and blackface
A Dutch woman of Ugandan descent reflects on growing up with Zwarte Piet.
Africa is a Radio
INTL BLK radio is back with a border crossing mix of Afrobeats and Zouk, as well as an interview with Sierra Leonean electronic music producer Lamin Fofana.
Politics
Cape Town’s Inner Ugly
Patricia De Lille, one of South Africa’s most popular post-apartheid politicians, claims she tried to redress spatial apartheid in Cape Town, but the legacy of her seven year run as mayor is one of violent forced removals and a refusal to upgrade informal settlements.
The Mandelas at Harlem’s Africa Square
On the anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s passing—December, 5th 2013—reflecting on Africa’s place in African American politics and popular culture.
Student protests and the weakness of democracy in Ghana
Hyper-partisan politics and shallow journalism obscured the implications of the protests at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
The emperor has no clothes
South Africa’s most famous monarch holds fast to power and prestige at no cost to himself.
Double jeopardy
The future looks terrifying for many US-based exiles from Mauritania—facing deportation to Africa’s modern “slave nation” under Trump’s monstrous ICE.
Football is a Country
Who gets to host future editions of the men’s soccer World Cup is not just big business, but also a bargaining chip in international relations.