The politics of conversion in northern Nigeria
Forced conversion as a strategy exclusive is not to Islamist terrorism in northern Nigeria. Everyone's been in on the act.
Culture
Kickin’ It With Christian Tiger School
I arrive in Braamfontein twenty minutes early, at 6pm, for a meeting with Sebastiano Zenasi (or
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.
Toto’s Africa–The Disco Edition
Came across this nice little disco edit of Toto’s “Africa.” Since we have a running series
Afrobeat, Brazilian Style
Brazilians may have produced the first ever afrobeat.
The perfect wall to paint
The illustrators Fuzzy Slipperz and Skubalisto and the photographer Mooki Mooks on being an artist in present-day South Africa.
How much has really changed on South Africa’s wine farms?
Workers in the Western Cape's wine district describe a place where bosses engage in a reign of force and aggression, and where workers are “afraid to die too soon.”
Why Is No One Else Talking About These Musicians?
I got the chance to be part of the Redbull Basscamp in Johannesburg during October 2013.
The Art of Peter Clarke
Peter Clarke, who passed away on April 13, 2014, was an elder statesman of South Africa's arts community.
Rap Battle of the Week on Reddit: Johannesburg’s Tumi vs Atlanta’s Ness Lee
Two weeks ago, Club Zen in downtown Johannesburg got packed to its rafters with hip-hop afficionados
Nollywood in Paris
For many white French, and including African immigrants in France, watching movies like 'Phone Swap,' 'Tango with Me,' 'Last Flight to Abuja' and 'Maami,' is an eye-opener.
Thinking About Genocide
An extract from Mahmood Mamdani's seminal study, 'When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda."
Immune to Bullshit
The second in a series of four posts to commemorate James Baldwin's 90th birthday.
News of an Engagement
Why you've got to love the way the South African tabloid newspaper Daily Sun reported Caster Semenya's marriage to her girlfriend
The music that changed my life
The Cape Town suburb of Observatory is known for being a small bohemian enclave, providing low
Not the Country We’re Sitting in Now
The first in a series of four posts to commemorate what would have been James Baldwin's 90th birthday.
Not just some passing foreign journalist
Lawyer and writer Elnathan John interviewed U.S. photographer Glenna Gordon. Listen.
It’s Time to Stop Laughing
In neoliberal global capitalism, anything can be monetized, even the criminal exploits of a marginal schizophrenic.
The Dangers of a Single Book Cover
The historian Simon Stephens discovers a meme in the book covers of novels set in or with African themes.
Hip hop and electoral politics
South Africans vote on May 2nd, 2014, the country's 5th democratic elections. Do rappers vote?