How do we talk about the memory of Apartheid
The fact that the choices for black people under Apartheid were either martyrdom or compromise was part of the injustice of that system.
392 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.
Akon’s “giant Ebola air bubble”
That story about Akon, the Senegalese-American R&B singer, performing in an air bubble to thousands of screaming Congolese in Goma, because he doesn't want to get Ebola is false
What is the matter with … TB Joshua
T.B. Joshua proffers a version of American tele-evangelism's empty promises to African masses, as nationalism and liberation politics lose their shine.
What would Mandela do
The South African struggle suggests that sports boycotts are effective at forcing change. For white South Africans (and their apologists), sporting isolation was a bitter pill to swallow.
Christmas Day for Football Fans
Football is a Country's Elliot Ross has describes the World Cup Final, every four years, as Christmas Day for football fans, just better. The champion this time is Germany.
The Beautiful T-Shirt
Art, Politics, T-Shirts, Fútbol, Play: Africa is a Country joins forces with Los Angeles artists for a t-shirt project.
There’s something about “ghetto pranks”
Youtube “ghetto pranks" are meant to expose poor black people as "naturally" and irrationally angry.
History Class with Cheta: Who is Herbert Macaulay
Too many people have forgotten about the one Naira coin, and the chap on that coin.
When Maya Angelou lived in Africa
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a group of African Americans moved to Ghana and redefined their relationships to citizenship in the U.S. and their African identities.
Wole Soyinka has opinions about social media
The novelist and Nobel Prize winner on why he avoids social media entirely, saying he doesn’t tweet, blog, or engage with what he calls today’s increasingly promiscuous digital platforms.
The new kid on the block
Admit you didn't expect the Economic Freedom Fighters or EFF, a breakaway from the ANC, to do so well in South Africa's latest elections.
Chris Hani’s political legacy
Chris Hani should not be made into an ideal type or used to settle political scores in the present.
Happy Africans
Pharrell Williams's pop hit, "Happy," is infectious and feel good. But what is it all about really?
The closest thing to real life
The documentary film. “Zoran and his African Tigers,” shows how harsh and unforgiving international football can be.
The “Apartheid-era Robin Hood”
I wrote a long piece on Zola Mahobe, a Soweto businessman who died last December (two
Little Steven’s South African Adventure
The making of Paul Simon's "Graceland" album was controversial. But it seems we didn't know the half of it if Steven Van Zandt is to be believed.
How to Come Out as an African
When Binyavanga Wainaina, came out as gay recently, he wanted that news to appear in African-owned media and not be misrepresented in Euro-American media.
Boss Player
The Newscaster Komla Dumor loved sports, basketball (he had skills), and, above all, the beautiful game. He especially loved his Ghana's Black Stars.
The Black Manager
Can you name at least ten at least 10 black football managers who are in charge of club teams in the top leagues; and by top, we mean Europe.
The problem with the Hollywood Mandelas
Hollywood films about Nelson Mandela separates him from the movement that produced him. The fact is, movements made Mandelas, not the other way around.