Angolan Solutions
Rafael Marques de Morais, despite being labeled a foreign agent by the Angolan state, has always insisted that Angolans need to resolve their own problems.
Blog
Pharoahe Monch is ‘Still Standing’
http://youtu.be/tBfMuf_JjI0 One of the best rappers alive, featuring the lady who sang the original hook on “You Got Me.” Off Monch’s ‘W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)’ — the album has been out for more than 6 months already, but the music video is new. The subtext is Monch’s battle with asthma. Director Terence Nance has done […]
Benetton Politics
The made-upness and the shallowness of the Democratic Alliance of South Africa's vision of a non-racial future.
“Can you think of a country that starts with the letter U?”
You’ve seen those “Are you smarter than a 5 year old” videos on Youtube (it’s an actual TV show) or marveled at the intelligence of Miss Teen South Carolina, now here’s the kids from a suburban high school in Washington State. We learn that “Somebody Bin Laden” is the Vice-President of the United States, that […]
Mdu Ntuli’s ‘Izikhokho Show’
You’ll excuse our South African focus today here and on Twitter. A burger chain writes in braille; author JM Coetzee writes about cricket; “a gym member tells of racist insults”; “Minister of Arts and Culture supports boycott, disinvestment and sanctions against Israel”; and here cartoon artist Mdu Ntuli wraps up the first month of the […]
JM Coetzee’s Cricketing Life
The news that J.M. Coetzee had contributed to a book entitled "Australia: Story of a Cricket Country" rankled the author, a committed Coetzeephile, slightly.
Super Bowl Predictions
The only way to sustain interest in the lives of African and African American NFL players is to either talk about their personal tragedy or show how moved they are by the plight of other black people.
Football Underdogs and Politricks
The fortunes of Sudan and Equatorial Guinea at AFCON 2012. The latter especially, a squad cobbled together by naturalizing players from Brazil and Spain.
Friday Music Bonus Edition
This week saw the passing of Don Cornelius. You’ll remember Letta Mbulu was once a guest on his Soul Train. I wondered what a Soul Train show set to an afrobeat would have looked like. YouTube helped: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4HHwgPG0JE&w=600&h=347] Also on YouTube, the comments to the new Shabazz Palaces video offered a translation of the Amharic […]
Intellectual Property Propaganda
Intellectual property protection has never been shown to promote economic development in developing countries.
Senegalese Sushi
I still mourn the day I walked around to Le Grand Dakar, one of my favorite restaurants in Clinton Hill, and found it was closed. The restaurant, run and owned by Chef Pierre Thiam (check out his interesting family backstory) was a fixture in the block around Grand Ave and Lafayatte.
Steve Biko’s Son
Nkosinati Biko on a close and present relationship with his father that is unusual for children in general and for the children of activists in particular.