African borders don’t stop African people

Also meet the man who drove Malcolm X around in New York City and introduced him to Fidel Castro.

'Immigration blues' by Patrick Marioné. Via Flickr CC

People always say Africans blame too much on colonialism. But the wave of secessionist (or independence) movements inside already existing states and how borders can’t divide communities, have brought cause to look at the cultural legacies that came with how the continent was divided.

(2) One of the first resolution of the Conference of African Heads of States in the 1960s called for an African News Agency. What role does the media have in regional integration today, as much thought and policy is devoted to the project?

(3) Many migrant women arrive pregnant in Europe. To understand why, involves looking at the routes and trajectories of women migrants as they make their way from particularly Nigeria to Europe.

(4) As Libya turns ever deadlier for migrants headed to Europe, some are going through Algeria, getting trapped. Here is a look at some of their journeys.

(5) Meet the man who drove Malcolm X around in New York City and introduced him to Fidel Castro.

(6) It is the 500 year anniversary of the Protestant reformation, but you most likely won’t hear about the role of African Christians in any of the essays, articles and op-eds about it.

(7) Corruption is tearing apart South Africa’s ruling ANC, and political killings are sadly become one of the uglier manifestations of this.

(8) It took African archeologists and researchers–going beyond the assumption and the limits of western academics beliefs about what was possible of African antiquity–to discover 1,000-year-old colored glass beads in Ile-Ife in what is now Nigeria.

(9) Of course it is in Zimbabwe that Bitcoin has taken hold and is breaking price records.

(10) Watch: Nigerian-American fantasy writer Nnedi Okorafor on imagining the future of Africa through sci-fi stories.

Further Reading

A power crisis

Andre De Ruyter, the former CEO of Eskom, has presented himself as a simple hero trying to save South Africa’s struggling power utility against corrupt forces. But this racially charged narrative is ultimately self-serving.

Cinematic universality

Fatou Cissé’s directorial debut meditates on the uncertain fate and importance of Malian cinema amidst the growing dismissiveness towards the humanities across the world.

The meanings of Heath Streak

Zimbabwean cricketing legend Heath Streak’s career mirrors many of the unresolved tensions of race and class in Zimbabwe. Yet few white Zimbabwean sporting figures are able to stir interest and conversation across the nation’s many divides.

Victorious

After winning Italy’s Serie A with Napoli, Victor Osimhen has cemented his claim to being Africa’s biggest footballing icon. But is the trend of individual stardom good for sports and politics?

The magic man

Chris Blackwell’s long-awaited autobiography shows him as a romantic rogue; a risk taker whose life compass has been an open mind and gift to hear and see slightly into the future.

How to think about colonialism

Contemporary approaches to the legacy of colonialism tend to narrowly emphasize political agency as the solution to Africa’s problems. But agency is configured through historically particular relations of which we are not sole authors.

More than just a flag

South Africa’s apartheid flag has been declared hate speech by a top court. But while courts are important and their judgments matter, racism is a long and internationally entrenched social phenomenon that cannot be undone via judicial processes.