
6450 Article(s) by:
Ladan Osman
Ladan Osman is the author of Exiles of Eden (2019) and The Kitchen-Dweller’s Testimony (2015). She lives in Brooklyn.


More than a Weekend Special
African war criminals face The Hague. As for U.S. war criminals, they get to paint victims of their illegal wars—those whose bodies they broke into subjects of art.

Making Somalia great again

The uncompromising Zoë Wicomb
Zoë Wicomb’s fellow South African, JM Coetzee once wrote: “For years we have been waiting to see what the literature of post-apartheid South Africa will look like. Now Zoe Wicomb delivers the goods.”

How do we talk about rebel groups?
Seeking to interrogate unhelpful media (and official) narratives that permeate everyday discourse and obscure the truth about these terrorist organizations is important.

The President has left the country
What Nigerians know about President Muhammadu Buhari’s health (he’s been in London for more than one month) comes from leaks and anonymous sources.

A sympathetic critique of Thomas Sankara
The judgment that Sankara was a hero rests in part on what was politically possible in Burkina Faso in the early 1980s.

The crisis around Lake Chad
The world’s most extensive humanitarian crises is currently playing out in northeastern Nigeria and around Lake Chad.
Art in dark times
Interview with historian Dan Magaziner about his new book, The Art of Life in South Africa, about one of the few art schools training black art teachers under Apartheid.

Repackaging Third Way liberalism
Vox’s glossy presentations, crisp design and slick animations serve neoliberalism easily digestible to younger people and conducive to social media shares.

Africa’s First Lady
Winnie was everything Africans – and African women in particular – were not supposed to be.

Cape Town’s art fair

Israel’s Scramble for Africa
Israel’s recent rapprochement to African states is part of a coordinated effort by the government to get close to African countries.

What is to be done?
The German government will have to make a substantial move towards accommodating the demands of the Namibian people.

International Criminal Court politricks
Reigniting an important debate on the entanglements between the production of justice and the fragility of continental legal mechanisms.

Pan-Africanism was Peter Abrahams’ Country
Peter Abrahams lived pan-Africanism (in South Africa, Britain and Jamaica) and remained brave enough to challenge those within it.

Weekend Music Break No.105 – Songs from banned countries: Somalia edition

Unusable Nigerians

Marxism and Islam in Africa
Karl Marx can be useful to people fighting for social justice and who at the same time are deeply religious.

Football failures mirror Gabon’s sorry state
The image of striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, descending alone from the field after Gabon was knocked out of AFCON 2017 game, tells the whole story of Gabon’s malaise.