The bittersweet pursuit of liberation
Ismay Milford’s new book takes us into the world of anticolonialism, giving us a rich account of the struggles of a cohort of activists from east and central Africa.
History
Reading List: Pedro Monaville
Pedro Monaville selects key texts that helped shape a new book on Congolese student-driven left nationalism in the aftermath of Patrice Lumumba’s assassination.
A slow emancipation
What peanut trading in late 19th century Senegal tells us about the fine line between slavery and freedom.
Archiving pan-Africanism
A project - helmed by historians Benjamin Talton and Jean Allman - to archive post-independence African revolutions, including Kwame Nkrumah's personal and professional papers.
Who was Ndabaningi Sithole?
Zimbabwean founding father, Ndabaningi Sithole, has largely been edited out of the country’s history. But thanks to the tremendous archive of writing Sithole left behind, we can edit him back in.
Saved by memory
A new Brazilian film shows the role memory plays in African spirituality and dreams of liberation.
Paradise forgotten
While there is much to mourn about the passing of legendary American singer and actor Harry Belafonte, we should hold a place for his bold statement-album against apartheid South Africa.
Reading List: Sheila Collins
American civil rights activist George Houser was also active in Africa’s anti-colonial struggle. To write his biography, Sheila Collins widely read 20th century African political history.
Chris Hani’s black Marxism
Chris Hani’s legacy is often reduced to debates about his assassination in April 1993, but his significance goes beyond South Africa’s democratic transition.
Dancing the Twist in Bamako
Set in newly independent Mali, 'Dancing the Twist in Bamako' is neither propagandistically praiseful of socialism nor does it present it through a wholly negative lens.
Reading List: Barbara Boswell
While editing a collection of the writings of South African feminist Lauretta Ngcobo, Barbara Boswell found inspiration in texts that reflected Ngcobo’s sense that writing is an exercise of freedom.
One of the last remaining pieces of history
Against Mahikeng’s failure to honor and preserve his legacy, a new Setswana biography examines Plaatje’s years in this South African town, once a regional capital.
Reading List: Akin Adeṣọkan
The author reflects on books that offer a long-historical perspective on African literature and history.
The phenomenological real
A book by writer Melissa Thackway and director Jean-Marie Teno highlights an ethical and politically engaged partnership between filmmaker and film critic.
Reading List: Zikhona Valela
The author of 'Now You Know How Mapetla Died,' a book on the murder of a leading Black Consciousness leader, writes about her research.
The people have spoken
In its first few years, the magazine 'Révolution Africaine' opened possibilities for Franco-Algerian cooperation. It was then co-opted by the state.
The vanguard of Black American transnationalism in Zimbabwe
Tommie Sankange was the first black American public figure permanently residing in Zimbabwe who was not a missionary. Why don’t we know more about her?
One of the great events in global labor history
2023 marks 50 years since the Durban Strikes. It doesn't fit neatly fit into mainstream accounts of the struggle against South African apartheid.
Bua Komanisi
Despite its proud history, the South African Communist Party has recently taken a backseat in South African politics. Understanding its roots helps us understand how it got here and what it will take to be rejuvenated.
The colonial wounds of Senegal’s girlchild
In ‘Black Girl’ (1966) and ‘Cuties’ (2020), M'Bissine T. Diop is a cautionary figure who warns of colonialism's wounds and afterlives for Black girl belonging in the present day.