Coca Cola Boy
Commercials tied to the 2010 World Cup sell brands through a tired global template of African-ness: poverty as texture, hardship as atmosphere, resilience as spectacle.
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.
The Encyclopedia of South Africa
One of the first authoritative, comprehensive reference work covering South Africa’s history, politics, law, society and culture, economy, environment - in one place.
The Missionary Position
The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof who has made Africa his beat, lectures poor Congolese about their leisure time.
Bono Gets Something Right
Has Bono made what is the best TV (you can also watch it on Youtube) commercial in the history of the World Cup?
Make the Circle Bigger
Is this playful ode to coloured identity in South Africa the unofficial 2010 World Cup anthem for the locals?
African Hospitality
The artist Andrew Putter make use of the past to construct images of how we might live together in the future.
Didier Drogba Has a Beer Named for Him
There's a lot of hype around Didier Drogba, including that he stopped a civil war in Cote d'Ivoire. How much truth is there to that story?
Something of an anticlimax
For grounded and textured analysis of the death of Nigeria's President Umaru Yar’adua, it is worth consulting Nigeria’s vibrant media landscape, rather than Western media.
Boers and Bantus
Vintage clips, from 1961, of Nelson Mandela, ZK Matthews, Helen Joseph, among others, on a Dutch TV program talking liberation from white supremacy.
Inter Africa
If the metric is how many African players are on the pitch, then your team in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final is Inter Milan.
Testing Negative and Other Stories
Here for your reading list: 10 things I have read quickly, seen or watched, listened to, been forwarded, did not really have the time to think about properly.
The First Afrikaners
The first group of people who called themselves Afrikaners were Orlams people, who would be called coloured in South Africa today.
Toto meets Mango Groove
FIFA and the South African organizers of the World Cup have unveiled the 2010 World Cup "official" song: It's a rip-off of a Cameroonian military song.
Have a Coke and Smile
Coca-Cola’s ad trivializes Cameroon’s 1990 World Cup breakthrough, ignoring its transformative global impact.
Political Economy
Political scientist Adolph Reed Jr. — whom I first met in 1995 and often joke is “always right” — on what political economy means for cultural studies.
Sleeping Dogs
The poetry of Ronelda Kamfer sheds light on the still marginalized lives of South Africa’s “brown communities.”
Africa’s World Cup
Binyavanga Wainaina and Teju Cole are among those on a panel discussing the historic 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa; the first time on the continent.
The Final Countdown
For those doubting South African can host a successful World Cup, the country has a long history of successfully hosting big tournaments.
Six million dollar paintings
Things I missed or could not give proper attention this week, including artist Marlene Dumas keeping a blacklist barring those who resell her works too quickly from purchasing additional pieces.
Truth and Reconciliation
The contrast between Argentina, where military officials from the dictatorship are still jailed for crimes, while in South Africa apartheid's leaders received amnesty, pensions, and privilege.