Africa Is a Country

June 25th, Mozambican Independence

June 25th, Mozambican Independence

By
Tom Devriendt

In celebrating Mozambican independence day, we made a list of the most popular music videos in mid-2011.

Ilha Mozambique. Image by Stéphane Neckebrock via Flickr (CC).

We had much fun selecting recent videos coming out of South Africa last week, so we decided to follow up on this. At the occasion of each country’s independence day, over the next months we’ll try and collect songs (and videos, if we can sleuth them) we find interesting. We’ve already missed some this month, but if all goes well we’re ending this series May 24th of next year, with Eritrean music. Today is June 25th, Mozambique’s Independence Day. We couldn’t leave out the “ball grabbing, bikini-clad videos” Davy Lane spotted last year, but there is more than that.

Iveth:

Turaz feat. Muzila:

Magnums:

Impro:

Dabo Boys Family:

Ziqo:

And, Dygo:

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.