Against exceptionalism
Although visibility is important, contemporary queer African literature reveals how easily representation privileges narratives of the resourceful and upwardly mobile.
Blog
Amazon in Cape Town’s murky waters
The predatory tech giant is at the center of a heritage site land grab, pitting indigenous and environmental activists against city authorities.
Divided loyalties
Somalia’s political landscape is increasingly fragmented due to regional and clan differences. Is this the end of the centralized state and a unified, national identity?
Landscapes of ambition and neglect
While Ethiopia’s leaders chase shiny new projects that are grand monuments to themselves and modernity, they ignore the country’s rich, natural heritage.
An ungovernable mind
Frustrated by most of his contemporaries, but supported by like-minded friends, Zimbabwean author Dambudzo Marechera forever changed our notion of what African literature is.
Taking care of each other
How a new underground club in Nairobi offers Kenyans respite from the harshness of everyday life.
Nothing good comes of France
France is not a new problem for Africa. Since the 19th century, it has stood in the way of the continent’s self-determination.
Beyond the headlines
Recent violence across the Eritrean diaspora is being instrumentalized by populists. But the violence is a desperate cry for attention and requires the Eritrean opposition to seize the moment for regime change.
The myth of the apolitical commission
In response to the Johannesburg fire disaster, the South African government has announced a ‘politically free’ commission of inquiry. But there is no such thing.
The venality of the Kenyan MP
In Kenya, elected office does not represent a duty to represent ordinary citizens, but an opportunity for personal enrichment.
Black women write
In her new biography of South African writer Lauretta Ngcobo, Barbara Boswell shows how the publishing industry historically excluded Black women, and how they wrote in spite of that.
A tragic kind of hope
Nigerian and South Sudanese filmmakers give voice to the search for identity, stability, and belonging through the lens of youth and migration.