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

Beats of defiance

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.

Bored of suppression

Colonial-era censorship bodies continue to stifle African creativity, but a new wave of artists and activists are driving a pan-African push for reform.

Drawing the line

How Sudanese political satirist Khalid Albaih uses his art and writing to confront injustice, challenge authority, and highlight the struggles of marginalized communities worldwide.

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.