Who profits from the production of blackface?
The Dutch state and its economy are profiting generously from their annual blackface partay.
6453 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.
Akon’s “giant Ebola air bubble”
That story about Akon, the Senegalese-American R&B singer, performing in an air bubble to thousands of screaming Congolese in Goma, because he doesn’t want to get Ebola is false
Kampala Gets an Art Biennale
The need to move the art discussion away from Darwinian interests in gorillas to the concern for new audiences for contemporary art in Africa.
The rebirth of a literary dream
The story of Ba re e ne re, now probably Lesotho’s premier literary festival as told by those involved from its start in tragic events.
Edition: Dakar
In June of 2014, My Africa Is decided to dive into Dakar, Senegal, a rarely talked
Get Well Soon, Ashoka
Today the American network NBC announced publicly that friend (and contributor) of Africa is a Country, Ashoka Mukpo, is
5 Questions for Filmmaker: Lodi Matsetela
As a filmmaker, Matsetela wants to be an alternative voice, in a topography that’s filled with stories by others, like Django Unchained, defining black people.
Practicing, Not Preaching
“The metaphysical properties of hip-hop, the metaphors, helped me imagine a better world.”
Brett Bailey, The Barbican and Black Britons
If “Exhibit B” truly offered the profound critique of slavery and colonialism its creators claimed, why the outrage? Why object to confronting silenced, gazing human “tableaux”?
What’s the matter with … Tim Noakes
This July it was announced that Tim Noakes,who rose to prominence as a respected sports scientist
The Upright Citizens of Burkina Faso
Burkinabe want to sweep out bad governance, political patronage, poverty, lack of respect for human rights and freedom of speech.
Transgender in Botswana
For a number of reasons, the LGBTQ community in Botswana experiences less severe social and institutional backlash than elsewhere in Africa.
The Fingo Revolution
How an an annual, independently-run series of events founded in 2011 in the Eastern Cape have propelled the genre in that South African province.
T.O. Molefe on South Africa’s “War on Women”
The essayist T.O. Molefe (he is a contributor here too) has a new op-ed column up at
Can an algorithm be racist?
Google translators limitations make for sometimes funny, sometimes dangerous results.
It’s just like Africa!
What if the author, a Dutch blogger, had the chance to edit an “Africa”-edition of a prominent European magazine.
Make Ignorance History
That old excuse of ‘We didn’t know’ (previously also heard as ‘Ons het nie geweet nie’ and ‘Wir haben es nicht gewuszt’) may be factually accurate, but it is never an ethical defense.
Bam bam riddim
Hipster’s Don’t Dance’s ‘Top 5 World Carnival Tunes’ for September 2014.
The People’s Girls
Egypt has a sexual harassment problem. Two young women decided to make a film about it.
Hip Hop Religion
While hip-hop can still connect us to our higher selves, its mainstream adaptations reveal that it is inherently human and not free from flaws.