Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips and the “True Story” of Somali Piracy
The complexity surrounding the social and economic drivers of piracy off the Horn of Africa was lost in the media-friendly version of the story.
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Miguna Miguna
Miguna Miguna is a Kenyan activist and lawyer.
African Writers and the Nobel Prize for Literature
Only five African or African-born writers have been awarded the prize since it was first awarded in 1901: Soyinka, Mahfouz, Gordimer, Coetzee and Lessing.
The scope of the problem
Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s film “Cairo 678” documents the lives of 3 women, all victims of sexual harassment and assault and who organize collectively against it.
The Westgate Mall photographs
The photographs of the terror attack at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall depict an ordinary day for people at the mall gone terribly wrong.
How we tell stories about cities
We must not forget the everyday lived realities and struggles in vanished neighborhoods.
A Hot Mess
Black women have no say in what is pretty considering it is the job of non-white women to dispel the standards of beauty, and white women to reinvent it.
Palestine Scores
European football officials may have missed it, but Palestine already scored several goals in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
Ghana’s Independence Era Through the Lens of S.K. Pobee
The photos below (click to enlarge), offering a glimpse into the joy and optimism of the
The political arrest of Bandile Mdlalose
Bandile is a giant of the Abahlali baseMjondolo social movement, which agitates for housing for poor, black people,
The rains down in Africa
Why is Toto’s ‘Africa,” a song with ridiculous lyrics, so popular with everyone? It has to be the melody and the hook.
Weekend Music Break 56
Three South African videos to start with. Cape Town rapper Youngsta moves between the city's neigbourhoods
What the Italian press said about Lampedusa
After the death of at least 130 Somalian and Eritrean migrants off the coast of the
The Jews of Africa
How some American Zionists make connections between Israel and Rwanda.
In Sudan, “freedom for my mum”
In Sudan, the numbers of women political prisoners are rising, largely because the numbers of women
Democracy is the Best Form of Democracy
Conceiving of the relationship between public space and positions of power as a hall of mirrors.
No wonder Winnie Mandela objected to this
The film “Winnie Mandela” is what happens when you combine bad history and bad filmmaking.
The Story of Sankofa
A former student of Kofi Awoonor remembers the famed Ghanaian writer who was killed in a terror attack by Al Shabaab in Niairobi, Kenya.
Mulatu Astatke is a legend
When the author heard Astatke’s music, it was like listening to hip-hop for the first time.
The last day on earth
The U.S. premiere of Alain Gomis’ new film “Tey (Aujourd’hui),” starring Saul Williams.
Looking beyond beauty
An interview with the artist Lalla Essaydi who seeks to challenge Orientalist mythology in her work.