Africa Is a Country

Africans in New York City

Africans in New York City

By
Boima Tucker

"Afro-Spectacle," a music and film event by DJ collective, Dutty Artz, explores the working class African immigrant experiences in the city.

A promotional image from "God's Own Country."

The film, “God’s Own Country,” by director Femi Agbayewa, presents the story of a young Nigerian lawyer who immigrates to New York City only to discover that life in America is not what he hoped.  A mix between an American hip hop gangster flick and a Nollywood drama, the film is a great initiation into the West African film industry for an American audience unfamiliar it.

A public screening of the film is happening on February 1st, at the Spectacle Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It will form part of “Afro-Spectacle,” hosted by my Dutty Artz brethren, DJ Rupture and Lamin Fofana. Before the screening, they will host a special 2-hour live radio show around these themes. African music videos purchased in the corner stores of New York City, will be projected throughout the show for those present.  The broadcast will also be carried live on WFMU, the  East Orange, New Jersey, community radio station.

The theme of the night dovetails nicely with my own project, African in New York, which is out due out February 21st.

Femi Agbayewa is currently in London developing his television series “Brooklyn Shakara,” so he won’t be able to make it in person.  The space is limited, and it’s first come first serve. If you can’t make it, check us out live, or listen back to the archived show on Lamin’s The Embassy and Rupture’s Mudd Up pages.

Further Reading

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.