Little Stan Greenberg is Dead
South African political party, the DA, pivots its election campaign around claiming Nelson Mandela. Who came up with this?
6452 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.
Stone breakers
This edition of Weekend Music Break, number 48, curated by journalist and rapper T’seliso Monaheng, stops over in Senegal, Lesotho, Ghana and South Africa.
Not all the news that’s fit to print
How the U.S.’s paper of record, the New York Times, “debates” South Africa’s “future.”
On African Fiction(s)
Who decides where African fiction begins and ends and which (African) writers fall within its ambit?
While we wait for election results in Mali
Here’s a selection of articles that go the extra mile and poke holes in the narrow frame of the “Malian crisis.”
The Story of South Africa’s Very Violent Farms
Thanks to labor groups in Sweden, a major importer of South African wine, who have recently called attention to labour abuses on farms.
Weekend Music Break 47
Another week, another solid playlist of eclectic African sounds. Yo Chale, feeling fresh after a trip to
Malians educating Malians
SOS Democracy wants to raise voter turnout, educate them on their choices and hold the candidates and government accountable to voters.
Liberian Independence, Staten Island Style
This past Spring I wrote an article for the Red Bull Music Academy about the music and
What’s wrong with the Germans?
German reality shows that travel to Africa have the feel of colonial era ethnographic films in how they perpetuate the image of the ‘primitive other’
Hassan Khan and his 6 minute film “Jewel”
Last year, while visiting Okwui Enwezor’s Triennale at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (titled: “Intense
What is the new image of Africa?
“Africa is finally seizing control of its image” goes the mantra. But which Africa and which image?
National Geographic explores Zimbabwe’s pre-election pulse
Two initial thoughts on Alexandra Fuller’s “Breaking the Silence: Oppression, Fear, and Courage in Zimbabwe” in
The Bicycle Thief
A new Israeli law orders asylum-seekers to be detained for an unlimited period without judicial oversight or criminal proceedings, even for misdemeanors like bicycle or cell-phone theft.
Sympathy for the ‘Devil’
A New York Times article that’s respectful and mostly accurate, including the use of terminology, when covering African Traditional Religion.
Restaging the Death of Patrice Lumumba
The merits of restaging ‘Une Saison au Congo,’ Aimé Césaire’s history of the life and death of Patrice Lumumba, in London, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor.
What does Tony Blair want from Malawi?
Until recently, Tony Blair had never visited Malawi. Last summer there was a lot of international
This Film Has Been Banned
The South African feature film, “Of Good Report,” deals with the relationship of a teacher with his underage student. The local censors decided it is a crime to screen it.
Weekend Music Break 46
Electrique DJs, Fena Gitu and Jaaz Odongo have the perfect Summer tune for you. Technically, we'll
The Making of Hashim Amla
Hashim Amla’s appearances on the cricket pitch and its meaning, reflects similarly on South Africa’s own, ongoing, liberation struggle.