Thomas Sankara’s Star
Sankara’s enduring popularity rests not only on his words, however much they resonate with today’s disenchanted and angry youth. It is also based on his deeds.
Blog
The Dutch disease (and its prescription)
Even in spite of a recent history of reactionary backlash, the movement against #ZwartePiet (Black Pete) has had some success.
The Cyril Ramaphosa model
The election Monday night of Cyril Ramaphosa as president of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress…
The short life and times of Mamadou Saliou
For many young Africans, going abroad is seen as the only solution to help their parents struggling to make ends meet.
The New Testament
Much of black youth culture in South Africa celebrates constant self-invention, and is built on the gospel of entrepreneurship.
The Return of Muammar Gaddafi
Nostalgia for Gaddafi reflects a depressing understanding of African politics which rules that a dictator is better than a chaotic political void.
The wanderers from Niger
Nigerien band Anewal eschews explicit politics and sings mostly of harmony and brotherhood.
How not to talk about corruption in South Africa
How media and anti-corruption campaigns reinforces, or fail to adequately address, racialized and ahistorical accounts of corruption as a problem in South Africa.
The politics of national sovereignty
What does the Catalan independence movement mean for African separatists?
An allegory for freedom
Blackness, like the nation of Haiti herself, is a thing to be punished for committing the crime of daring to exist and resist.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government loves Africa
A big reason for this is to counter the growing success of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The rise and fall of Mangosuthu Buthelezi
South African public life is rife with revisionism, often opportunistic. Take the case of Mangosuthu Buthelezi.