Firearms aren’t the only weapons
The writings of revolutionary Angolan leader and intellectual Mário Pinto de Andrade helped galvanize the independence struggle. They are now available in English.
Essays
To honor my father
On Father’s Day, an ode to Namballa Keïta, a nurse, soldier, and seemingly ordinary man, who worked tirelessly to promote education in newly independent Mali.
The wounds that burst open
Writer, filmmaker and activist Tsitsi Dangarembga entwines the troubled story of herself and her country Zimbabwe in the book of essays, 'Black and Female.'
War has arrived
Writer and feminist activist Reem Abbas on the personal costs of the war between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces.
Difference and belonging
No child should choose between having food, love, and a roof over their head or being their full self.
The (Im)possibilities of Ugandan patriotism
To say we are "allies" would be to delude ourselves into thinking that some of us are safe. We are not safe.
On researching in and out of Africa
The writer critiques the legacy of Christian missionaries in Africa and making sure her own engagement with Ethiopia doesn't morph into white saviorism.
South African homophobia goes to parliament
Are postapartheid norms against open homophobia in party politics eroding in South Africa?
Against Zionism
The moral drama of the Israeli occupation plays out at a South African school.
Walter Rodney was way ahead of his time
Rediscovered lectures Walter Rodney gave in 1978 in Hamburg shows a reflective intellectual, thinking critically about postcolonial African governance.
American tribalism
Political 'tribalism' has for far too long been seen as an African problem. It is also an American problem, reflecting parallel legacies of colonialism.
Democracy by numbers
If you want a prejudice to look respectable, put a number to it and compile an index. You can then rule the minds of many people.
The burden of being Nigerian
On xenophobia against Nigerians in Ghana.
The spear of the nation
Apartheid propaganda, white media and Afrikaner nationalists painted Verwoerd's killer as crazy, but Dimitri Tsafendas was a committed political activist.
This is what a neoliberal trade union looks like
Zambia's mining unions increasingly focus on profit-generating businesses, at the expense of collective action.
Schooling desegregation and decolonization are not the same thing
Constant attention to segregation in formerly white South African schools limits our understanding of how race works in the school system.
Ghana’s royal visitors
The contrasting receptions for high profile visitors to Ghana — first Prince Charles and Camilla from the UK, then a group of African-American celebrities from the United States — says a lot.
Bus politics in Dar es Salaam
The secretary of a Tanzanian bus drivers' union explains why the system of privately owned commercial buses is breaking down. He proposes collective ownership.
Meditating on youth in Mogadishu
In Somalia young people are the majority, yet have to act and perform “age" — appear older — to succeed or get anywhere in life.
What’s new? Making money off poor school children again
The latest trick is to transfer tax-payer funded aid aimed at Africa and the Middle East into the pockets of corporations and individuals.