Africa Is a Country

#CaptionThis: What was Madonna pointing at?

#CaptionThis: What was Madonna pointing at?

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Africa is a Country

For some odd reason, last weekend, this striking black and white image by photographer Terry Kane of pop singer Madonna “tour(ing) a UN millennium village in Mtanga, Malawi, in 2007” illustrated a Financial Times book review of The Tyranny of Experts by William Easterly and The Idealist, by Nina Munk. Madonna is not mentioned in the piece at all which you can read here. In any case, we were struck more by the image and posted it on our Facebook page, where we asked readers to #captionthis. We promised that we’d feature a few of your responses on the blog, so here they are. Feel free to add more in the comments: 

Seán Burke: “You can put my self-importance right over there.”

Joseph Miller: “That’s where I want the two of you to perform Hakuna Matata”

Andriannah Mbandi: “Can i get a piggy back ride across to over theeeere?”

Jane Bennett: “(Medem to gardner) Lapha, lapha and lapha….”

Belinda Dodson: “Oh look! It’s a baby in the bulrushes.”

Ryan Justin Cummings: “Right there is where Lupita Nyongo’s parents bequeathed her to me….”

Katie Ubax Carline: “And there’s the crate with my clothing donation: camo trousers and a pair of combat boots for the whole town!”

Chantelle Hammer: “So Africa is right over there” jaaaa there”

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.