The (Im)possibilities of Ugandan patriotism
To say we are “allies” would be to delude ourselves into thinking that some of us are safe. We are not safe.
6443 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.
Out of the pigeonholes
A Nigerian play and its leading man confront western misrepresentations.
What is home?
For immigrants—especially African and black immigrants to Western countries—the question of home is complex.
A cinema for (some of) the people
South African film production house kykNET’s dominance skews storytelling on the country’s screens.
Jennifer Davis: Fearless and visionary
Davis, who died at 84 on October 15th, was a prominent leader of the anti-apartheid movement in the US and an analytical thinker and visionary.
The virtual reality of Walter Sisulu
While Sisulu’s political career is less celebrated than Nelson Mandela, it was as remarkable.
Decolonization can’t just be a metaphor
Decolonizing museums requires more than knowledge exchange and lending back stolen artifacts.
Tunisia’s surveillance state
Mass monitoring poses a threat to democratic freedoms as the case of Tunisia shows.
A worthy ancestor
The world is out of joint and Immanuel Wallerstein, one of its great public intellectuals, has left us—albeit with tools to battle the dying kicks of capitalism.
The identity politics of wax print
A new film by Aiwan Obinyan explores the origins and “ownership” of a now-famous cloth.
The Kenyan Hunger Games
Philanthropy and celebrities are not enough to remedy the inequalities that persist in Kenya.
James Barnor, ever young
Riason Naidoo talks to the curator and editor of a book and traveling exhibition about the work of the legendary, 90 year-old Ghanaian photographer.
Rugby and rainbows
Reflecting on white joy, black celebration, and the meaning of the Springbok win at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Can an American TV sitcom get anything ‘right’ about Nigerians?
After having a heart attack, a white American falls in love with his Nigerian nurse in the CBS TV sitcom, Bob Hearts Abishola. It is also about Nigerian-Americans’ visibility on mainstream US television.
What’s the point of opposition politics in Southern Africa?
Opposition parties, inequality, and the politics of failure in the Southern African region.
Why, despite it all, I’m still a fan of the Springboks
We should not let the achievements of a multiracial Springbok rugby team, led by its first black captain, be commodified and commercialized in the service of neoliberalism.
Cold sweats and furtive listening in Angola
Historian Marissa Moorman wrote an important book about radio and modern state power.
Chester Williams: pioneer of excellence
The late Springbok rugby wing’s legacy needs to be sustained, and the hope that he represented is perhaps more critical than ever.
The people’s movement in Algeria, eight months on
November 1, 2019, is the 65th anniversary of the War of Liberation against French colonialism. The ongoing protests in Algeria is expected to enter a new phase: civil resistance.
Burkina Faso: Nothing will be as it was before
October 30 marks the 5th anniversary of the start of Burkina Faso’s October 2014 insurrection. We revisit and assess those events.