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

Repoliticizing a generation

Thirty-eight years after Thomas Sankara’s assassination, the struggle for justice and self-determination endures—from stalled archives and unfulfilled verdicts to new calls for pan-African renewal and a 21st-century anti-imperialist front.

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.

Energy for whom?

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.