The Global Imagination of James Baldwin
An interview with Rich Blint, a James Baldwin scholar. Biggest takeaway: Baldwin lamented the fragile human impulse for categorization.
Politics
What’s So Funny
Tracing the origins and development of newspaper cartooning in South Africa, and its political place.
Letter from Tunis
Tunisia, which kickstarted the "Arab Spring," is in a long pause between longtime dictator Ben Ali’s flight and elections scheduled for July 2011.
Jamming for Sanitation
In some of Cape Town's black townships, residents have to stand in line to use one of the portable chemical toilets made available to them.
We are all Andries Tatane
We shouldn't be surprised when absent of meaningful political change, the structural violence of South African life finds vivid and widespread expression.
Regular people and the international justice system
Images and stories of people being violated still seem to dominate global perceptions of Sierra Leone. Two new films want to undercut that image.
A’na Afriki
The connections and shared lineage between Africa and the countries of the Arabian peninsula.
Against the Values of the Market
Johnny Issel, who has died at age 68, was a prominent activist for leftist social movements in 1980s South Africa.
Akon makes no sense
The Senegalese-American R&B singer, Akon, imagines himself some kind of African political leader and regularly opines on comparisons between African countries and the US. We wished he didn't.
Truth and Reconciliation
The contrast between Argentina, where military officials from the dictatorship are still jailed for crimes, while in South Africa apartheid's leaders received amnesty, pensions, and privilege.