Swallowed by the archive
53 years after it was first made in 1968, the Ghanaian filmmaker King Ampaw’s short film ‘Black Is Black’ celebrates its inconspicuous premiere.
6136 Articles by:
Karen Chalamilla
Karen Chalamilla is a culture writer and researcher based in Dar es Salaam.
Abdulrazak Gurnah and the afterlives of German colonialism
Gurnah’s Nobel Prize invites us to ponder Germany’s colonial past between the Scramble for Africa and the First World War in what is now Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda.
What does China want in Africa?
On this week’s AIAC Talk: China’s engagement with Africa is much debated. What exactly does it want on the continent?
The ultimate end of decolonization
Islamic scholarship in Africa and the meaning and end of decolonization in the work of religious studies scholar, Ousmane Kane.
Bring Patrice Lumumba home
The return of Patrice Lumumba’s remains must not be an occasion for Belgium to congratulate itself, but for a full accounting of the colonial violence that led to the assassination and coverup.
Back from Safari
If you hadn’t noticed, we were on our annual break from just before Christmas 2021 until now. We are back, including with some inspiration.
AFCON is decolonization
On this episode of AIAC Talk, Will Shoki and Sean Jacobs discuss the history and politics of the African Cup of Nations football tournament.
South Africa’s morbid symptoms
In South Africa, the old endures and the new is nowhere to be seen. What is to be done? Public intellectual Steven Friedman helps us make sense.
Ignorance, denial and insurgency in Mozambique
A new and different state is necessary to manage the complex problems in the region, but is it possible under the current regime that has fed the conflict?
Against a willing amnesia
Two books, by art historian Bénédicte Savoy and journalist Barnaby Phillips respectively, detail how we got to this point in the restitution of African heritage.
A dedicated teacher of the working class
Oupa Lehulere, revolutionary teacher and mentor, died on November 29. His approach to theoretical study and struggle was the same: there are no shortcuts.
The war on Téra
The death of two protesters last month in Niger, could bring pressure for a meaningful Truth and Reconciliation for French colonialism in Africa.
Not much to see here
Don’t get to excited by the local election results in South Africa. The party system is fragmenting, but old apartheid divides persist.
Back to the future
The grievances of this generation in Kenya are disturbingly similar to those of the generation of the 1940s who took up arms in the Mau Mau movement. For both, it is about land and freedom.
The earth below the surface
The film, ‘We are Zama Zama,’ about illegal miners in South Africa, is a social commentary on the failures of post-colonial liberal democracies in Southern Africa.
Disappearing from view
The multifaceted effects of gender-based violence on girls in Malawi.