South African politics urgently needs an injection of electoral energy from the left, that speaks in a language that resonates with voters, rejects chauvinism and embraces democracy.
Latest
South African homophobia goes to parliament
Are postapartheid norms against open homophobia in party politics eroding in South Africa?
The resilience of culture
The film The Sound of Masks explores dance, memory and the meaning of life, ancestry, culture and political struggle in postcolonial Mozambique.
New histories for an uncharted future in Sudan
In post al-Bashir Sudan, new paradigms animate political action, while old ones have returned. Towards what sort of future might the protesters march?
The question of our time
Ending the capitalist war against nature begins with eco-socialist perspectives and actions.
Morning yet on another day of indaba
A response to Panashe Chigumadzi’s essay, “Why I’m No Longer Talking To Nigerians About Race.”
Before Fallism
The popular myth holds that most South African major resistance leaders come from its coastal regions. That's not been the case since the mid-1970s.
The post-independence fates of Zimbabwean student activists who fought the Rhodesian regime.
Politics
The revolution in Darfur
Lasting peace in Sudan’s Darfur region – 300,000 people dead and millions displaced by regime violence – should be a priority for #SudanUprising.
Drawing the wrong lessons from Magufuli’s rule in Tanzania
The Tanzania government’s brand of heavy-handed state intervention risks fueling skepticism about the role of the state in development.
What are the alternatives to neoliberal trade?
The African Continental Free Trade Area and alternatives to neoliberalism.
The African Lion
Labour challenges in Ethiopia’s industrialization.
Celebrating May Day: Trade unions as schools of democracy
At the heart of the protest movement in Sudan is a trade union. Proving again that democratic influence and change require collective participation and organization.
Football is a Country
When Ruud Gullit won the Ballon d’Or in 1987, he dedicated the award to the imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Then Gullit made a reggae song about Apartheid.
Culture
Nollywood Tackles #MeToo
Director Dare Olaitan’s Knock Out Blessing (2018), is nothing less than a meditation on rape culture.
Singing truth to power
When Ugandan police imprisoned Bobi Wine in his own home, the singer-turned-lawmaker used the internet, music and multiple languages to craft a call for solidarity between civilians and security forces.
When Achieng met Ellen
Ellen DeGeneres wanted an African story. Achieng Agutu obliged. Don’t hate the player, though, hate the game.
Arabic literature and the African other
Racist, anti-black stereotypes persist in Arabic literature. It reveals a racial anxiety and othering of Africa among celebrated Arab authors.
The ruins of a mining economy
A short ‘archeological project’ excavating both the physical and psychic ruins of colonial mining practice in a small town in Liberia.
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.