The cry of Black worldlessness
Poet Mongane Wally Serote’s 40-year lament, still haunts Black South Africans: “it is only in our memory that this is our land.” The land haunts our memory, and, in turn, we haunt the land’s memory.
Search Result(s) for: “apartheid”
Ronald Reagan’s Africa
Reagan is celebrated as a world statesman and champion of democracy, but this not how many outside the US experienced his time in office.
You Never Walk Alone
It's no accident that so many South Africans watch and support English Premier League football teams.
Why is this the story being told now?
The selective memory of 'Plot for Peace,' documentary film about South Africa's transition.
The story of a lost white boy
The story of Happy Sindane, the lost white boy, who put a lie to South Africa's rainbow shibboleths.
Morning yet on another day of indaba
A response to Panashe Chigumadzi’s essay, “Why I’m No Longer Talking To Nigerians About Race."
The revolution in four-part harmony
A good time to bring back this piece — first written in 2002 — on the power of song to fuel political struggle.
The Legacy of Nat Nakasa
Nat Nakasa was an ambitious journalist who had the cold fortune of being born black in 20th century South Africa.
The king is dead
The death of the Zulu king highlights the unresolved issues that continue to shapes lives in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
David Goldblatt 1930-2018
The South African photographer has left us. He was one of the most significant artists of his time.
No more caricatures
Engaging seriously with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s life could help us understand how South Africa got where it is and where it’s going.
Zambians don’t deserve their politicians
Ugandans make for good soldiers-for-hire, Radiohead and aparthied, the state of Left American politics and other Weekend Specials.
Jakes Gerwel and “the intellectual home of the left”
The fate of the University of the Western Cape, set up for coloureds, radicalized by black consciousness and from where the ANC prepared to govern.
Transnational eugenics
Few works sufficiently recognize the truly transnational character of the eugenics movement, and how colonial Africa served as the launching pad for it.
Building a living archive of struggle
The struggle against the marginalization of students and the exploitation of workers at a historically black university in South Africa.
S is for Samora Machel
We asked about a dozen Africa Is a Country contributors what their favorite books of 2012 were. Here are their picks.
The Che Guevara of the Cape Flats
Ashley Kriel, murdered on 9 July 1987, embodied a kind of politics that people feel are missing from South African politics today: tireless commitment and sacrifice.
Gangsters as people’s champions
In a country like South Africa where government trust is low, gangsters and criminals who provide assistance to their communities are seen as the people’s champions.