• Culture

04.21.2023

No one should be surprised we exist

• Guido Melo

The documentary film, ‘Rolé—Histórias dos Rolezinhos’ by Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Vladimir Seixas uses sharp commentary to expose social, political, and cultural inequalities within Brazilian society.

• Politics

04.20.2023

More than meets the eye

• Umar Aminu Yandaki

The personal archives of Dr. Yusufu Bala Usman, a Nigerian pro-democracy activist, suggests that same-faith presidential tickets are not necessarily about religious domination.

• Culture

04.19.2023

Reading List: Barbara Boswell

• 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.

• Politics

04.18.2023

The politics of maandamano

• Abdirashid Diriye Kalmoy

Kenya’s cost of living demonstrations have as much to do with popular discontent as they do with the opposition capitalizing on frustrations.

• PODCAST
• Politics

04.18.2023

Demystifying austerity

• William Shoki

Government’s around the world are talking about tightening their belts. Austerity is a common economic policy, but what is it actually? On the podcast, we discuss.

• Politics

04.17.2023

Making sense of Sudan’s unrest

• William Shoki

For democracy to succeed in Sudan, the process towards civilian rule must itself be democratized, rather than largely driven by top-down efforts.

• Politics

04.17.2023

Kenya’s stalemate

• Joe Kobuthi

A fundamental contest between two orders is taking place in Kenya. Will its progressives seize the moment to catalyze a vision for social, economic, and political change?

• Politics

04.17.2023

Why Thabo Bester’s grift worked

• William Shoki

South African con-artists Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana are not good people. They’re also an outcome of a system that predisposes individuals to avarice, selfishness and deceit.

• Culture

04.14.2023

How to fight for democracy

• Omole Ibukun

The events of May Day 1998 in Nigeria and lessons from Ola Oni on fighting for democracy in multi-ethnic societies.

• Culture

04.13.2023

An annual awakening

• Nancy Dantas

In the 1980s, the South African arts collective Vakalisa Art Associates reclaimed time as a tool of social control through their subversive calendars.

• Culture

04.13.2023

More than a building

• Annie Nisenson
• Dylan Valley

The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.

• Culture

04.12.2023

A worldly Nubian energy

• Fungai Machirori

The music and art of Lauryn Hill and Chiwoniso Maraire combined sexiness with political consciousness, offering Black women a way out of rigid categorization.

• Politics

04.11.2023

Buharism is dead, long live Buharism

• Sa’eed Husaini

Buharism, the social and economic outlook of Nigeria’s outgoing president, did not seek an alternative to neoliberal globalization, but sought to consolidate Nigeria’s place in it.

• Culture

04.10.2023

The impossibility of actual politics

• Nihal El Aasar

After the Arab Spring, the African left was left demoralized and disorganized. However, a recent book argues that the revolution continues in quotidian life.

• Culture

04.07.2023

The new Zimbabwe soundtrack

• Liam Brickhill

Zimbabwe is not Mugabe, Nkomo, Mnangagwa or Chamisa. A new Afro-electronic music duo is giving the country’s complexity a soundtrack.

• Culture

04.06.2023

In defense of precolonial Africa

• Ọláolúwa Òní

How are we to discuss and deal with colonization in Africa without using language that acknowledges that we were something before colonization?

• Politics

04.06.2023

Defund the police

• Zoltán Glück
• Wangui Kimari

Policing in postcolonial Kenya is at an impasse. What is needed is disinvestment from this system of repression and reinvestment in communities.

• Politics

04.05.2023

Ms. Harris goes to Africa

• Elizabeth Schmidt

For all the coverage about Kamala Harris’ Afrobeats Spotify playlist, or her search for her grandfather’s house in Lusaka, her African trip is about shoring up US positions.

• Culture

04.04.2023

The valley is getting wider and deeper

• Scott Timcke

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. The question is whether we align AI to promote human rights or to defend private property and exploitation.

• Culture

04.03.2023

Reading List: Joel Marie Cabrita

• Joel Marie Cabrita

Instead of listing the books that help her write ‘Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala,’ the author notes five books that shaped Regina Gelana Twala.