Africa’s last philosopher king
Although Nelson Mandela lacked the oratory of Nkrumah and the theory of Senghor, his contribution to the world of ideas was something rarer: pragmatism.
Search Result(s) for: “Britain”
Reading List: Nicky Falkof
What happens to the contemporary explosion of moral panics, urban legends, and other paranoid narratives when they manifest in a place like South Africa?
Radio Freedom’s Afrikaans Service
Learning that Radio Freedom, the exiled ANC's radio service, broadcast in Afrikaans, further undermines the idea of the language as belonging to the oppressor.
The Case of the Missing President
The case of Nigeria's missing president, Umaru Yar'Adua, can be added to the already long list of problems in Africa's largest democracy.
We are all potential advocates
Director Shameela Seedat’s film about trainee lawyers provides a sort of celebration of youth on this continent and a vision of the next generation of Africans.
It could happen to us
Climate negotiations have repeatedly floundered on the unwillingness of rich countries, but let's hope their own increasing vulnerability instills greater solidarity.
Colonialism and the war in Ukraine
What can historians of Eastern Europe learn from Ghanaian responses to the Russian invasion?
What is the World Cup for?
The World Cup was born from imperial rivalry and nationalist aspiration. Almost a century later, it still oscillates between mass hope and elite spectacle.
Reading List: Hugo ka Canham
On the publication of his book on black life on the margins, the South African author reflects on work that expand the meaning of being black on the world.
Milk in the Upington sun
Fear of the future, longing for the past: the new story in South African politics.
Dreams of highfalutin philosophies
If an author writes with empathy, precision and authenticity about experiences foreign to their own, they're a good writer and not a cultural appropriator.
Outside the field of African art
Asking whether white people should curate African art anymore, may be outdated. Instead we should ask: what is African art now and does the category matter anymore?
A Lion in Winter
Isaiah Stein was a sports activist and father of footballers, Edwin (Luton Town), Brian (Luton Town and England) and Mark (Chelsea).