Some refugees more equal than others
Many European governments favor “culturally close[r]” refugees and asylum-seekers: preferably white, educated Christians.
Blog
Mandela Day: 400 women, 800+ care packs for rape survivors, one vision of South Africa
Since 2010, July 18 has been `celebrated’ as Mandela Day. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela aka Madiba was born on July 18, 1918. Last Saturday, South Africa celebrated this day for the second time since Madiba’s passing. Last year, many bemoaned the empty symbolism of “a day of volunteerism”, and that not even a day but a […]
Discover The Ma’Ati, a new storytelling platform for travelers
The Ma’Ati is a new digital storytelling platform created by Africa is a Country contributor Shamira Muhammad. The aim of the project is to share stories about and for the African diaspora via two different online outlets. One is an interactive travel magazine, and the other is a novel, published one chapter at a time, that produces a new […]
The single story of African design
A new book highlights African innovation, challenging dominant perceptions of the continent.
Women and the revolution in Burkina Faso
The “Sankara Generation,” the young people taking on Burkina Faso's dictator, wants radical change. Does it include a better future for the country's women?
Sandra Bland and The Beatles
Bland, who died in police custody after a traffic stop in Texas, embodied a rare charismatic self-possession that disrupts social orders.
What is ‘Champeta Urbana’?
An interview with musician, Kevin Flórez, about how a music imported by West African sailors to 1970s Colombia became the soundtrack of his city, Cartagena.
Israel’s “blackwashing”
Israel's promotion of itself as a technologically-advanced "white savior" on an aid mission to poor black nations, is a marketing ploy to cover the occupation.
Mandela Day: Where is our imagination?
We’ve just passed that time of year when the Charitable Industrial Complex puts on its Sunday best for Mandela Day. This is the time every year when well-meaning South Africans clad in carefully chosen ripped jeans paint murals while wearing crisp protective clothing (in case they actually have to touch the disenfranchised). No rest for those thumbs […]
The ‘Brazil of Africa’
That's not a compliment. It is about how development institutions are financing land grabs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tweezus, Da Gawd
The producer and beatmaker, Tweezy, is behind many of 2014 and 2015's most successful South African hip hop somgs.
Music, Tradition and Race
The combined sounds of indigenous groups from northern Colombia with the drums imported with African slaves in Cartagena, once the biggest slave port of the American continent.