Are Nigerians the New Asians?
Amy Chua's racist nonsense about "model minorities," peddling the lie that elites are on top because they're better.
Blog
What it means to be Winnie Mandela
Since she has never really spoken about her feelings on the breakdown of her marriage to Nelson Mandela, except to very close friends, we are obliged to speculate.
Political Theater
Robert Mugabe and how how quickly style and showmanship can sweep away an audience, even when the underlying message promotes violence and jingoistic triumphalism.
Elisofon’s Africa
The photographer, Elliot Elisofon's 'choice' of what to see and how was embedded in a visual colonial archive. It was never a unique choice.
Going to the Mall in Brazil
Since last December, Brazilian shopping malls have become the stage for a new style of youth gathering: the rolezinho. Roughly translated as “little excursions” or outings, the rolezinhos can be characterized as planned meetings (via social network) of a large group of youth from poor neighborhoods, with the intent of seeing each other, flirting, eating and drinking at McDonald’s, taking pictures to post on Facebook, and simply having fun.
Did I ever tell you about that time a guy followed me in the NYC subway and offered me $40 to touch my leg?
Real talk: Who else is tired of gender/race swapping to make a point about racism/sexism? I know I am, especially about gender swapping. I’m not sure it makes much of a point to men about male privilege or male sexual entitlement. As a black, queer, mostly masculine, cisgender, middle-class man, I love it when I’m […]
The most important public intellectual of the last 50 years
In gratitude to Stuart Hall, a socialist intellectual who taught us to confront the political with a smile.
How to deal with uncomfortable journalists
If a journalist reports on the unsavory parts of Nigeria, attack them on Twitter. For reporting while white. There's no comeback when you bring race into it.
The #BullshitFiles: Tsunami and the Single Girl — One Woman’s Journey to Become an Aid Worker and Find Love
Every side-eye, cringe, SMH and WTF in the world has gathered for a family reunion in the title of this book. It is the perfect set-up for searing satire, which is what I hoped was on offer when I clicked the link forwarded by my sister with a “hahahahahahaha” subject line – although she did mention […]
British-Nigerian Me?
The issues faced by people of dual heritage who are torn between two different cultures and are confused about their identity.
The first Kenyan mockumentary about NGO’s
"The Samaritans" explores the absurdities of the NGO world. The main characters work for "Aid for Aid," a fictitious NGO that “does nothing.”
Give that man a Bells
There’s a commercial for Bell’s, a popular South African whisky (“Give that man a Bells”), that is currently doing the rounds on the Interwebs and has a lot of people weeping on Twitter and Facebook. The ad was released as part of Super Bowl Weekend. No there’s no Super Bowl in South Africa–it was just […]