History time
The historical novel is in vogue across the continent, challenging how we conceive of the nation, and how we write its histories.
Culture
Out of the pigeonholes
A Nigerian play and its leading man confront western misrepresentations.
What is home?
For immigrants—especially African and black immigrants to Western countries—the question of home is complex.
A cinema for (some of) the people
South African film production house kykNET's dominance skews storytelling on the country's screens.
The virtual reality of Walter Sisulu
While Sisulu's political career was less celebrated than Nelson Mandela, his wasn’t much less remarkable.
Decolonization can’t just be a metaphor
Decolonizing museums requires more than knowledge exchange and lending back stolen artifacts.
A worthy ancestor
The world is out of joint and Immanuel Wallerstein, one of its great public intellectuals, has left us—albeit with tools to battle the dying kicks of capitalism.
The identity politics of wax print
A new film by Aiwan Obinyan explores the origins and "ownership" of a now-famous cloth.
James Barnor, ever young
Riason Naidoo talks to the curator and editor of a book and traveling exhibition about the work of the legendary, 90 year-old Ghanaian photographer.
Can an American TV sitcom get anything ‘right’ about Nigerians?
After having a heart attack, a white American falls in love with his Nigerian nurse in the CBS TV sitcom, Bob Hearts Abishola. It is also about Nigerian-Americans’ visibility on mainstream US television.
Cold sweats and furtive listening in Angola
Historian Marissa Moorman wrote an important book about radio and modern state power.
In praise of disruption
A conversation with the founding editor of Bakwa Magazine—created to amplify new writing from Cameroon and from the African diaspora.
What kind of ancestor do you want to become?
Medical anthropologist Julie Livingston argues that the conditions of capitalist modernity in which we live are not sustainable and are leading to increased rather than lessened inequality.
The imperial legacy in scholarship
What censorship about articles in a French journal tells us about the state of France-Africa relations, imperial legacies and the impact these have on the production of knowledge about Francophone Africa.
Cape Verde’s culture of recalcitrance
The island nation's celebrated political system was never a gift bestowed, but seized through sheer agency and hard-fought autonomy.
Reading John Mbiti from Uganda
The late Mbiti is praised for indigenizing Christianity. However, his veneration of "African" tradition also served as theological justification for authoritarian rule.
The voice of the Republic’s forgotten
The film BACK UP! and important conversations about state violence, racism, global imperialism, and, crucially, the internal workings of social movements.
“Converting Eviction”
A reflection—by one of the group’s artists—on a Swiss-South African art project exploring eviction and extraction.
The reading habits of Ngugi wa Thiong’o
In the wake of yet another Ngugi wa Thiong’o snub by the Nobel Committee, we are at a loss. Perhaps a reconsideration of the author’s body of work can provide insight.
Are you safe? Please stay safe
The statistics and scenes of violence against black immigrants in South Africa are horrible. A young Cameroonian student in South Africa writes about what it is like to live under such insecurity.