Carceral colonialism
On the United Kingdom’s attempts to finance the construction of large-scale prison facilities in former colonies, to where it wants to deport undocumented migrants.
6431 Article(s) by:
Rita Nketiah
Rita Nketiah is a feminist researcher, writer and activist living in Accra, Ghana.
Greening the Sahel isn’t enough
Mitigating climate change’s impact on the Sahel by planting trees across it, is not enough. Averting disaster requires even bigger thinking.
Our women on the ground
A new book of essays offers a nuanced glimpse into the complexities of reporting on the Arab world, including North Africa.
Bottom-up hustling in Nairobi’s slums
Prevailing thoughts on slums stress their transitory character, but the complexity of everyday life in slums, including how people manage survival, is lost in the way they are understood from the outside.
Mauritania’s past doesn’t want to go away
The so-called “peaceful transition” in Mauritania, from colonialism to political independence, isn’t unanimously understood as such inside the country, and it reflects older rivalries.
Lungu’s Livingstone
Where does the idea that Zambia is a Christian nation come from?
Fanon’s mission
The works of Frantz Fanon can be read as architectural renderings of rights, futures, and generations toward a “very different Afro-futurism.”
The politics of Thanksgiving in Ethiopia
Irreecha, an annual ritual celebrated at the end of Ethiopia’s rainy season, offers a window into contemporary socio-political issues.
History time
The historical novel is in vogue across the continent, challenging how we conceive of the nation, and how we write its histories.
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.
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.