Germany has its own “Sinterklaas Scandal”
Why is it so difficult to understand when we Africans say that it’s offensive?
Politics
Let’s talk about ethnicity and nationalism in Ethiopia
Politics in and about Ethiopia has become so heavily “ethnicized” that we have a difficult time distinguishing between ideology and identity.
Angola’s Forgotten Massacre
Lara Pawson's book about the complex and violent events on and after the 27th of May, 1977: the date of a supposed coup d’etat in Luanda, Angola.
Who profits from the production of blackface?
The Dutch state and its economy are profiting generously from their annual blackface partay.
The Upright Citizens of Burkina Faso
Burkinabe want to sweep out bad governance, political patronage, poverty, lack of respect for human rights and freedom of speech.
T.O. Molefe on South Africa’s “War on Women”
The essayist T.O. Molefe (he is a contributor here too) has a new op-ed column up at
Can an algorithm be racist?
Google translators limitations make for sometimes funny, sometimes dangerous results.
Make Ignorance History
That old excuse of ‘We didn’t know’ (previously also heard as ‘Ons het nie geweet nie’ and ‘Wir haben es nicht gewuszt’) may be factually accurate, but it is never an ethical defense.
The Contemporary Mark of Assata Shakur
The Black American activist's relevance for today's generation following the killing of Mike Brown by police, and the suppression of protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
To Live and Die with Ebola in Liberia
The idea that this has been a crisis only of the country’s health care systems is wrong. This has also been a crisis of governance.
Necolonialism and Ebola
Why are affected West African states so spectacularly ill-prepared to deal with Ebola?
The Economist has a slavery problem
To repeat: The Economist magazine has had a "Slavery Problem" since 1843.
What’s the matter with … R.W. Johnson
And why is the London Review of Books giving Johnson, a rightwing South African liberal, a regular platform to espouse his rantings?
The Naked Woman on Mandela Square
Her nudity wakes us up, either in protest or solidarity to the fact that everything is not okay in South Africa.
Let’s talk about racism in Colombia
Mainstream media (and therefore, the majority of the population) in Colombia believe that racism is just a problem of a “few bad apples."
What is happening to Mombasa, Kenya?
Historically known for a relaxed pace of life, Mombasa on Kenya’s coast has also been a
The winners and losers of the platinum strike in South Africa
Will the trade union that organized the strike will unify and rally workers outside of the ruling alliance.
Africa and World War I
The story of Africans' involvement in World War I is largely unheard of outside of academia.
Africa’s Last Colony
Western Sahara is the only non-self-governing territory on the African continent awaiting decolonization.
Oscar Pistorius’ anxiety spectacle
Biased media reporting won’t advance popular and professional understandings on how psychiatric conditions interact social and economic sources of stress.