• Culture

Dec 03

Women’s political consciousness in Senegal

• Ruth Bush

A British literature scholar on literary activism in French. This post is part of our series, African Feminisms, edited by Rama Salla Dieng.

• Politics

Dec 02

The agrarian question in Egypt and Tunisia

• Habib Ayeb
• Ray Bush

It is time discuss food sovereignty in the Middle East and North Africa, again.

• Culture

Nov 29

Music is the weapon

• Atiyyah Khan

During Christmas 1980, Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba performed at a concert in Lesotho that deeply challenged and disturbed South Africa’s apartheid regime. The record of that concert is being reissued.

• Culture

Nov 28

Difference and belonging

• Brindley J. Fortuin

No child should choose between having food, love, and a roof over their head or being their full self.

• Culture

Nov 28

An injury to one is an injury to all

• Prexy Nesbitt

Historian Peter Cole’s book on dockworkers in apartheid South Africa and San Francisco gets beyond slogans to vital historical truths.

• Politics

Nov 27

Carceral colonialism

• Caren Holmes

On the United Kingdom’s attempts to finance the construction of large-scale prison facilities in former colonies, to where it wants to deport undocumented migrants.

• Culture

Nov 26

Greening the Sahel isn’t enough

• Jordan G. Teicher

A UN film pushes an ambitious plan to mitigate the impact of climate change on the Sahel by planting trees across it. But, averting disaster requires even bigger thinking.

• Culture

Nov 25

Our women on the ground

• Sarah El-Shaarawi

A new book of essays offers a nuanced glimpse into the complexities of reporting on the Arab world, including North Africa.

• Politics

Nov 22

Bottom-up hustling in Nairobi’s slums

• Magdalena Chulek

Prevailing thoughts on slums stress their transitory character, but the complexity of everyday life in slums, including how people manage survival, is lost in the way they are understood from the outside.

• Politics

Nov 21

Mauritania’s past doesn’t want to go away

• Elemine Moustapha
• Francisco Freire

The so-called “peaceful transition” in Mauritania, from colonialism to political independence, isn’t unanimously understood as such inside the country, and it reflects older rivalries.

• Politics

Nov 20

Lungu’s Livingstone

• Naomi Haynes

Where does the idea that Zambia is a Christian nation come from?

• Culture

Nov 19

Fanon’s mission

• Greg Thomas

The works of Frantz Fanon can be read as architectural renderings of rights, futures, and generations toward a “very different Afro-futurism.”

• Culture

Nov 18

The politics of Thanksgiving in Ethiopia

• Serawit Bekele Debele

Irreecha, an annual ritual celebrated at the end of Ethiopia’s rainy season, offers a window into contemporary socio-political issues.

• Culture

Nov 18

History time

• Lily Saint

The historical novel is in vogue across the continent, challenging how we conceive of the nation, and how we write its histories.

• Politics

Nov 15

The (Im)possibilities of Ugandan patriotism

• Esther Mirembe

To say we are “allies” would be to delude ourselves into thinking that some of us are safe. We are not safe.

• Culture

Nov 15

Out of the pigeonholes

• Charles Etubiebi

A Nigerian play and its leading man confront western misrepresentations.

• Culture

Nov 14

What is home?

• Norbert Odero

For immigrants—especially African and black immigrants to Western countries—the question of home is complex.

• Culture

Nov 14

A cinema for (some of) the people

• Daniel Steyn

South African film production house kykNET’s dominance skews storytelling on the country’s screens.

• Ancestors
• Politics

Nov 13

Jennifer Davis: Fearless and visionary

• Myra Ann Houser

Davis, who died at 84 on October 15th, was a prominent leader of the anti-apartheid movement in the US and an analytical thinker and visionary.

• Culture

Nov 13

The virtual reality of Walter Sisulu

• Nathan Yardy

While Sisulu’s political career was less celebrated than Nelson Mandela, his wasn’t much less remarkable.