AfricaIs aCountry

Who Are We?

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Who Are We?

By
Sean Jacobs

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoqsw3n8D6g&w=500&h=307&rel=0]
My man Gary Younge, New York-based feature writer and columnist for The Guardian, has a new book out on 21st century identity politics: Who are We–And Should It Matter in the 21st Century? The clips above and below, are from an interview with Gary about the book on the BBC program, “Booktalk.”  After the jump, as they say, is part two. (What’s sort of surreal is that Gary gets to finish his sentences. This is not American TV.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsbyGCt-HAE&w=500&h=307&rel=0]

Gary has also been interviewed by Andrew Marr and The Socialist Review.

Here is an excerpt from the book.  I am reading it now. Gary writes about his ambivalence with identity politics and its uses and abuses after 9/11.  The writer Margaret Atwood tweeted that it is an “excellent” book. The early reviews are also encouraging: Bookbag called it “thoughtful … incisive [and] accessible.”  There’s also a good review here.

— Sean Jacobs

Further Reading

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.