Musically, Congo is the mothership
The documentary, Rumba Kings, offers a commendable and tireless argument for both an intangible cultural heritage case and a centering of the Congolese way.
12 Articles by:
Vik Sohonie
Vik Sohonie is the founder Ostinato Records, a Grammy-nominated label focusing on music from Africa's past.
The music industry and vaccine apartheid
Music’s ingratiating moral mask has withered, revealing a disfigured face whose true ethical philosophy is, as Lauryn Hill once noted, “paper thin.”
A Black woman in Bali
During the COVID-19 pandemic many people who work online were able to set up shop in lands far away from their pre-pandemic homes. But, for whom is the digital nomad lifestyle?
What Africa and Asia can teach each other
Once African and Asian leaders looked towards each other for guidance. What possibilities can a renewed cross-continental solidarity offer?
Cape Verde’s culture of recalcitrance
The island nation’s celebrated political system was never a gift bestowed, but seized through sheer agency and hard-fought autonomy.
After the scramble
It’s time to return Africa’s vinyl records.
The most powerful currency today
Passport privilege remains an entirely unaddressed, unsustainable inequity, and the most consistently overlooked factor that defines every single immigration debate and “crisis” of movement and migration.
Brazil is Haiti’s national football team
Most national teams have 12 starting players — 11 on the field, and their fans in the stands. Brazil’s has a 13th player: Haitains.
The Indian-African alliance
Little attention is given to how Indians are viewed and treated not only on the African continent, but by peoples of African descent across the world.
Algeria in Queens, New York
Watching the World Cup match between Algeria vs Germany in one of New York City’s most diverse boroughs.
Cote d’Ivoire’s World Cup in Harlem
Ivorian cab driver in East Harlem: “African players never play the same for their European teams and their national teams.”
A Bronx Story: Ghana vs USA
The fate of World Cup draws has fostered an unlikely rivalry between Ghana and the United States.