Africa Is a Country

Suing Tintin

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

Suing Tintin

By
Tom Devriendt

It’s been a long time coming. The case that was opened in 2007 by Bienvenu Mbutu Mondono against the publishers of Hergé’s ‘Tintin in the Congo’ (published in some languages as ‘Tintin in Africa’) finally got its hearing at the Brussels court yesterday. “The problem is not Hergé’s,” Mondono’s lawyer told the press. “The problem is the commercialisation of a comic manifestly spreading ideas that are based on racial superiority.” The publisher’s lawyer warned a ban would be like opening Pandora’s Box. “What with the anti-Semitic passages in Dickens’s work? Mark Twain? The Bible?” It’s unlikely the judge will forbid the future publishing of the comic outright. Settling for a warning (like the English editions carry these days) sounds more probable. After being postponed several times, the case should come to a close later this year. That’s when Spielberg’s Hollywood version of Tintin will hit the theatres here. Timing is everything.

Further Reading

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Drip is temporary

The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.

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Behind the fanfare of the Africa Climate Summit, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline shows how neocolonial extraction still drives Africa’s energy future.

The sound of revolt

On his third album, Afro-Portuguese artist Scúru Fitchádu fuses ancestral wisdom with urban revolt, turning memory and militancy into a soundtrack for resistance.

O som da revolta

No seu terceiro álbum, o artista afro-português Scúru Fitchádu funde a sabedoria ancestral com a revolta urbana, transformando memória e militância em uma trilha sonora para a resistência.

Biya forever

As Cameroon nears its presidential elections, a disintegrated opposition paves the way for the world’s oldest leader to claim a fresh mandate.

From Cornell to conscience

Hounded out of the United States for his pro-Palestine activism, Momodou Taal insists that the struggle is global, drawing strength from Malcolm X, faith, and solidarity across borders.