957 Article(s) by:
Sean Henry Jacobs
Sean Henry Jacobs is the founder of Africa is a Country and Professor of International Affairs at The New School.
El Negrito
Eduardo Galeano once described Diego Maradona: " . . . a short-legged bull, [who] carries the ball sewn to his foot and he’s got eyes all over his body."
Who will play George Weah?
A biopic on the life of Liberian football legend George Weah, a star at PSG and AC Milan and Ballon d'Or in 1995. One question is which actor will get to play the lead role. Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Djimon Honsou and Chiwetel Ejiofor are all good candidates.
More than Graceland
Often lost in narratives of oppression and exile, is that the 1960s and 1970s were also an exceptionally vibrant, creative era for South Africa music too.
The World Cup and Pan-Africanism
In soccer tournaments like the World Cup organized around nations, your nationalism expands as your nation gets knocked out.
World Cup Diary 2010: South America’s World Cup?
On the field, Africa’s World Cup has disappointed: Nigeria faltered, South Africa and Algeria couldn’t finish, Côte d’Ivoire were unlucky, and Cameroon underwhelmed.
World Cup Diary 2010: Alicia Keys channels Brenda Fassie
What was Alicia Keys doing with her rendition of South African icon Brenda Fassie’s “Too Late for Mama” at the World Cup concert two weeks ago?
World Cup Diary 2010: Plastic Horns
Researchers claim to have found evidence that vuvuzelas can lead to permanent hearing damage. But it won't stop the "tradition." Neither will FIFA
Long Live Busi Mhlongo
The South African artist, born in 1948, and who has been suffering from cancer for while, has passed away.
World Cup Diary 2010: The noisiest World Cup ever
I am in South Africa for two weeks to go to a few matches and soak up the atmosphere of the 2010 World Cup. I'll try to keep a diary.
Out of Here
I am spending the opening weeks of the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. I have tickets to a few games. The main aim is to be among football people.
The Twitter World Cup
You can follow Africa Is a Country as well as some of our writers - particularly Sonja, Sean and Herman - on Twitter.
We’re Cool Like That
I don’t normally post manifestoes, open letters, or poems — but sometimes you have to make an exception.
Blue Balls
When white South Africans do ordinary things, like travel to a black neighborhood, they're showered with platitudes. This is not reserved for their black country fellows.
An anthropological mood board
For the next month we'll be bombarded with commercials riffing of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. There'll be lots of "African" themes.
After the Bulldozers
Recommended: a short film about the fate of 10,000 residents displaced after a thriving market in Lagos, Nigeria.