How business news shapes Africa’s image
A study of Reuters suggests news media is not a simple mirror to the world: News content is a crafted, cultural product.
Culture
‘Going out’ – China in African media
China is developing a media footprint in Africa, via providing digital TV services and a global news channel.
Hack, make, sell
How to change the erroneous perception of Africa as technology backwater. Go look, for example, at what the "Maker Movement" is doing in Ghana and Nigeria.
National Geographic’s mea culpa isn’t enough
A deeply colonial institution, with a shameful history, struggles to reinvent itself.
All the colors of jam
I had told many half-truths before, but those little lies were cute compared to this, the first time I told a big lie.
The Importance of Reading ‘Khwezi’
The Jacob Zuma years were especially damaging for re-introducing South Africans to political leaders who did not fear shame.
Discourse on colonialism
Today marks ten years since Aimé Césaire's death. What would he have thought about the state of the former French colonies today?
No more caricatures
Engaging seriously with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s life could help us understand how South Africa got where it is and where it’s going.
Sounds of wisdom
The Sauti za Busara festival in Zanzibar aims to show that music is much more than a collection of tunes.
The double consciousness of Paul Gilroy
2018 marks 25 years since the publication of Gilroy’s seminal work, The Black Atlantic.
Unthinking refugee studies
What use are academic categories when they reinforce conservative concepts scholars seek to challenge?
What is Uber up to in Africa?
Uber’s usual tricks -- to provoke price wars in an attempt to increase their share of markets, evade taxes, and undermine workers’ rights -- are alive and well in Africa.
The boundaries of the Global African Diaspora
New York City's Caribbean Cultural Center seeks to “document and present the creative genius of African Diaspora cultures.”
Wokeness and the professional outrage machine
Social media group-think derails any chance for a progressive political movement.
Black in Berlin
Living in the city that hosted the 1884 conference where Western powers divided up Africa for themselves
Nollywood 3.0
Dare Olaitan’s film Ojukokoro gets some room to breathe in New York, after being stifled at the box office in Lagos.
Nipsey’s immigrant hustle
Eritrean-American rapper Nipsey Hussle mix of immigrant and street hustle.
David Goldblatt at the Centre Georges Pompidou
The South African photographer has a complicated place within his country's photographic culture.
Wakanda’s feminist scorecard
How the celebrated film Black Panther stacks up in its depiction of decolonized African feminism.
Love and life on the flipside of Dar es Salaam
It is nice to see two female leads in an African film that are not doing hair, casting some sort of ju-ju curse or throwing vases at cheating husbands.